Shooter's Sandwich

Behold: the unassuming wheel of wonder aka shooter's sandwich

Illustrious cast: mushrooms, shallots, garlic, bacon, parsley, mustard, white wine, bread bowl, chicken breast

 Preparing duxelles: finely minced mushroom, shallots, garlic, low heat to evaporate water

 Add wine and reduce

 Chop and add parsley, thyme

 Start some bacon slices

 Hollow your breadbowl.

Line the bottom with half your duxelles, some mustard, and your bacon.

 Pan fry your chicken. Butterfly it for even, fast cooking.

 First and only flip

 Jam it in the bowl.

 Cover with remaining duxelles and more mustard.

 Can you spot the sandwich? Set for an hour.

Really, really, good.

Really fun recipe! Dumping stuff directly from the pan into the bread bowl felt strangely cooperative; I was suddenly involved in a ritual as a supporting cast member. It also reduced the number of dishes I had to use, down to zero.

I used a food processor for the duxelles.

Not sure what I'm going to do with the insides of the breadbowl. 

This is traditionally made with a beef steak and prosciutto. Chicken and bacon is my rookie adaptation.
When panfrying bacon, start with your slices on a cold pan, increase the heat gradually. 

I panfried the chicken in the bacon drippings to shorten cleanup.

Pickled Onions

My new secret weapon.

I have never eaten at Frontera Grill, and frankly, it makes me a little nervous. It's impossible to get in. I called this week hoping for a reservation in December. Every single weekend is booked until mid-February, 2012.

So, for the last six years, I've gotten by in my Rick Bayless-less life by deeming the hoopla completely ridiculous, and breezing into and through much less famous Mexican eateries in town. Until Evan came home from work a few weeks ago and told me about a Rick Bayless outpost in the food court at Macy's.

Food court? Like fast food? Kind of. But not. And, according to Evan, crazy-worthy-of-obsession good.

On my first visit to Frontera Fresco, I ordered carnitas. The pork was tender, the corn tortillas were freakily soft, but the single element that made me stand up and cheer was a hot pink tangle of pickled onion tucked in with the pork. Vinegary, like a sweet relish, it was just perfect.

Perfect and EASY. Here's what you do. Slice up a red onion into paper-thin rings. Pour over 1/2 cup of either red wine vinegar or cider vinegar. Add a few pinches of sugar and salt. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes, turning occasionally.

The onions will shrink slightly and soften while you get the rest of dinner ready, and then you're all set. It keeps in the fridge for a nice long while. 

(Evan knows the secret to a happy marriage which means getting his and hers guacamole from Chipotle.)

Quinoa with Cucumber, Mozzarella, and Tomatoes

Meet my new best friend: quinoa (keen-wah). With being gluten free, I have found that quinoa is one of the best alternatives to anything. It's packed with tons of protein and fiber which allows you to feel full and helps the digestive system too.

I used to think it looked weird (well, it still does) but after this recipe, I began to live off of quinoa. It's a spin off of couscous, but probably way better for you.

I used:

1 cup quinoa per 1.25 cup water

mozzarella

cucumbers

roma tomatoes

red onion (optional)

two tsp canola oil (the healthiest oil for you!)

juice from one lemon (I used pure lemon juice..too lazy)

salt and pepper

1. You want to cook the quinoa as you would rice: soak it for about 15 minutes; drain and rinse.

2. The ratio of quinoa to water should be 1:1.25, place on stove, bring to a boil; lower heat to simmer and cover. Let cook about 20 minutes.

3. While the quinoa simmers, dice the tomatoes, mozzarella, cucumbers.

4. The quinoa is ready when it has absorbed all the water. At this point, I added the oil and lemon juice and stirred it around. I combined all ingredients and added salt and pepper according to taste.

I like it both cold and warm. I usually eat it as dinner once the quinoa is ready, and then the next day I treat it as a salad.

Enjoy!

Mom's Famous Pork Chops Visit Chicago

The illustrious cast: soy sauce, rice vinegar, rice wine, sesame oil. I skipped the powdered garlic because I think it overwhelms the delicate flavor of the pork.

Two chops taking a bath. I let them soak for about 30 minutes while I was getting the kale and rice together.

Supporting characters: potato starch...

...and I added a second dredging stop of Japanese panko to get things extra crispy.

Pork all dressed up in a crispy coat.

Gently add to hot oil.

Fry until golden brown.

Best weeknight dinner ever.

Mom's Famous Pork Chops

This is probably one of the most coveted recipes within the family. I'm happy to finally be able to immortalize it here.

Start with thinly sliced (1/2") pork chops

Marinate 20 min in soy sauce, sesame oil, and white wine vinegar.

Lay out potato starch

Heat up a pan with grapeseed oil (high flashpoint).

Flour each side thoroughly.

Lay the chops in, away from you.

Tilt the pan to get the edges.

First flip.

Remove from heat and place on paper towel.

Use the remaining oil to sautee minced green onions.

Serve with green onion garnish. Top with soy sauce (optional).

White Chicken Enchiladas with Sour Cream Chile Sauce

Helloooooo Hungry Folks,

I tried this recipe and it was actually a pretty good tasty turnout.

Ingredients

8-10 soft taco size flour tortillas

2 cups shredded Monterrey jack cheese, divided

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles

Chopped, fresh cilantro for garnish (optional) (which means, I am not taking that option in this case)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix together 1 cup of the cheese and the chicken. Place an equal amount of the chicken mixture into each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in a lightly greased, 9 x 13-inch pan.

In a skillet or saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, whisking until smooth. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Stir in the sour cream and green chiles. Pour sauce over the top of the enchiladas; sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Chicken Soup

After an unfortunate reaction to deep dish pizza last night (compounded by a similarly driven scene in Bridesmaids), I woke up this morning weak and dehydrated. I needed something warm and restorative. I needed chicken soup.

I wanted something that was light but with a lot of flavor. Usually, I use herbs like thyme or rosemary for chicken stock, but I wasn't in the mood for an Italianesque soup -- I wanted something completely comforting which meant it would need an Asian bent. I decided to use ginger which lends a slightly spicy, almost medicinal, kick. I added a carrot for sweetness and some mashed garlic cloves to keep it super savory. I had some weeks-old shallots on the counter that still felt fresh, so I decided to throw those in too.

I brought this to a boil, skimmed off the foam, added salt, and then let it simmer for nearly two hours. The resulting broth was perfect -- ginger is the star here, but with the other ingredients, it isn't over-powering.

This is most slurp-worthy with steamed rice and a gently (read: the oozier the better) poached egg. Sprinkle over some furikake for extra Asian flair.

Mushroom Leek Sauce

Project: I wanted to learn how to prepare and use leeks. I also wanted to try making a sauce by deglazing a pan and reducing the wine.

My ingredients: Leeks, mushrooms, shallots, garlic, white wine, evaporated milk. Notice the parsley in water, thanks to Special K.

Flour and Susie Q on the chicken breasts.

First flip

Pull the chicken out, turn the heat up, add, in order, white wine, shallots and garlic, leeks, then mushrooms.

Reduce by simmering. Add parsley, salt, pepper. Spoon over chicken to serve.

Surprisingly, this was a pretty bland, watery sauce. Comments:

I suspect that I needed more salt, but I added a lot! Next time, I'll use chicken broth and reduce it longer. 

I'll slice the leek lengthwise  before chopping so that there aren't those concentric rings.

Evaporated milk gives a sweet taste and buttery aroma.