Greek Marinated Chicken

I am no fan of grocery shopping in Aspen. It either takes 45 minutes to get to a store or it takes 30 minutes to get to the world's tiniest grocer in Aspen. They are totally haphazard in what they carry. You want brown rice? Not happening. You want wine?  Not here.  You want a lemon? Nope.  They have no lemons.  Not organic lemons, not plain lemons, not Meyer lemons, not any kind of lemon.  The comical part was that two other shoppers were also looking for lemons.  And the produce guy just sort of shrugged and said "no lemons."  That was that.  So lemony potato rounds were out and mom's potatoes were in.  And C decided a lime would work just fine in the marinade and he was correct.  I cannot tell you how happy I will be to be back home in Houston.  Everything is bigger in Texas, including grocery stores.  Yeehaw!

Greek Marinated Chicken
adapted from Budget Bytes

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 lemon (or a lime if you live in Aspen)
½ teaspoon salt
freshly cracked pepper
3½ to 4 pounds chicken pieces

Whisk together the yogurt, oil, garlic, oregano, juice of the lemon, salt and pepper. Add the chicken and marinade to a gallon Ziploc bag and seal. Massage the bag to completely coat the chicken with the marinade. Refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the marinated chicken in a greased glass baking dish. Bake the chicken for 45-60 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

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Spaghetti Carbonara with Peas

So there are four kinds of Carbonara on So Tasty So Yummy. Four. And all in the past year or so. To say that Carbonara has taken a part of my heart is an understatement.   I love the stuff.  I also love Top Chef, well vintage Top Chef before I learned that they made cities pay them to film there (way to stay strong H-Town!)   Miss F proclaimed this her favorite pasta ever.  I think the bacon just swayed her favor.  I love how quickly this comes together, as with any Carbonara.  One day I will get brave enough to serve it with the egg on top, like they do at Coppa in Houston.  So beautiful!

Spaghetti Carbonara with Peas
adapted from Sam and Elia from Top Chef

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
6 ounces bacon, cut into lardons
1 cup heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
salt
1 cup thawed frozen peas
1 pound spaghetti
freshly ground pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In a large, deep skillet, heat the oil. Add the garlic and cook over moderate heat until golden, about 3 minutes. Discard the garlic. Add the bacon to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp and the fat has been rendered, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a bowl.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the skillet. Add the cream and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet, then pour into a medium bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks and the Parmesan cheese.

Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook per package instructions adding the peas for the last 4 minutes of cooking; drain. Return the pasta and peas to the pot and add the cream mixture and bacon. Season with salt and pepper and toss until the sauce coats the spaghetti. Transfer to bowls and serve immediately.

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Chocolate Guinness Cake

Today is a very special day, it is Jessica from Sunny Side Up's Virtual Baby Shower. The theme of the shower is A Little Pot of Gold, so Irish food is the name of the game.  Miss F was my trusty sous chef in preparing this cake.  Let's hope all the alcohol cooked off while the Guinness was simmering away because she may have had a lick or two of the batter.  I adapted this recipe from Nigella Lawson's recipe for Chocolate Guinness Cake.  I made it into a layer cake and added a chocolate ganache filling to amp up the rich chocolate flavor.  I told Miss F that we were baking this cake to celebrate a new baby, but it was hard to explain the "virtual" part of the shower.  So she said that it was a birthday cake for Bear Friend.  So I hope this cake can be equally shared and enjoyed by Jessica and Bear Friend.  I can only hope Jessica is as blessed with such a sweet little girl as I have been.  We are all anxiously awaiting sweet Maeve's arrival!

This shower has been graciously hosted by Jessica from My Baking Heart and Krystal from Mrs. Reguiero's Plate, please be sure to check out their blogs to see all the fabulous Irish recipes prepared to celebrate the new baby.

Chocolate Guinness Cake

1 cup Guinness
9 ounces unsalted butter
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups sugar
¾ cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking soda

½ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
¼ cup cream

8 ounces cream cheese
1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8" cake pans, line with parchment paper.

Pour the Guinness into a saucepan, add the butter and heat until the butter is melted, then whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla with a mixer, then pour into the saucepan. Whisk in the flour and baking soda.

Divide the cake batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack.

Melt the chocolate chips and cream over a double boiler. Stir until smooth. Spread the chocolate mixture between the two cake layers. Allow to sit for 30 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese with a mixer until smooth, slowly adding the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread the icing over top of the cake, serve.

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Tortilla and Jack Chicken with Avocado Cream

You cannot go wrong with chicken, tortilla chips and cheese.  This meal is amazingly easy and tastes fantastic.  Our condo in Colorado has no A/C, so it was a bit annoying to have to heat the oven, but this chicken was worth it.  And it will be even better when I prepare it in Texas in the comfort of my air conditioned kitchen.  Even C ate the sauce, which was a bit surprising for me.  Miss F had her chicken plain, but she mainly gorged herself on beans.  She is crazy for beans...such a silly girl.  I have no clue where she gets it since I am not a huge bean fan at all.

Tortilla and Jack Chicken with Avocado Cream
inspired by Bacon, Butter, Cheese and Garlic

1 cup crushed tortillas chips
4 ounces Colby Jack cheese, shredded
½ cup sour cream
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons lime juice
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup sour cream
1 avocado
1 teaspoon lime juice
½ teaspoon salt

1 tomato, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a shallow dish, mix together the chips and cheese. In a separate shallow dish, whisk together the sour cream, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin and lime juice. Dip each chicken breast in the sour cream mixture, then dredge in the chip mixture until completely coated. Place the chicken in a greased baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through.

While the chicken is cooking, blend the sour cream, avocado, lime juice and salt in a food processor. Serve the chicken with the sauce and tomato on top.

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Peppered Pork Tenderloin with Warm Cherry Salsa

I made this during my parents visit to Aspen, thank goodness since neither C or Miss F was interested in the cherry salsa at all. In fact, C requested gravy with it. He was welcome to have cherry gravy if he liked. He also wanted skins on his potatoes, but since my family was over, I got to serve potatoes the way I grew up eating them.  Extra creamy, lots of butter and whipped to perfection.  The original recipe called for a fresh cherry salsa, but I think cooking the cherries really intensified the flavor.  The best part of this recipe for me was that it didn't require any adapting to the altitude...thank goodness!

Peppered Pork Tenderloin with Warm Cherry Salsa

1 pound cherries, pitted and chopped (about 2 cups)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
½ teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon finely chopped seeded fresh jalapeño
1 tablespoon parsley, minced
2 pork tenderloins, trimmed of excess fat
2 tablespoons crushed black peppercorns
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl stir together cherries, lime juice, zest, onion, jalapeño, and parsley. Season pork with salt and press peppercorns into it. In a large heavy skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown pork on all sides. Transfer pork to a shallow baking dish and roast in oven until a meat thermometer registers 155 degrees, about 20 minutes. Sauté the cherry mixture in the skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Transfer the pork to a cutting board and let rest covered with foil for 10 minutes. Slice pork into ½ inch thick medallions and serve with salsa.

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Chicken in Basil Cream

This recipe has been in my Pinterest board forever. The original recipe looked amazing, but I did change things up a bit.  I used tomatoes in place of pimentos, of course C wasn't a fan of that, so I didn't spoon on any on his piece.  The sauce was perfection.  I may have dipped my parmesan potato halves in it.  And my green beans.  And my finger.  It was that good.   I made this for my parents on their first night in Aspen.  It was cold and rainy outside, so this was perfect to warm us all up.

Chicken in Basil Cream

¼ cup milk
¼ cup bread crumbs
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
½ cup grated parmesan
¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
¼ teaspoon pepper

Place the milk and bread crumbs in two shallow bowls. Dip the chicken in the milk, then dredge in the bread crumbs. Heat the butter over medium high heat, add the chicken and sauté for 5 minutes, turn over and sauté for another 5 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

Add the broth to the skillet to deglaze the pan, scrape up the brown bits. Stir in the cream and tomatoes, simmer for a minute. Reduce the heat to low, stir in the parmesan, basil and pepper until heated through. Serve the chicken with the sauce poured over top.

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Ginger Chicken

I usually make a stir fry on Friday night with whatever vegetables I have leftover from the week. It is a great way to clear out the fridge and money saving as well. This recipe can be easily adapted to use up whatever leftover veggies you have on hand, I have even added tomatoes to stir fry with great success (though not in C's eyes!) I adapted this recipe from Tide and Thyme's recipe for Ginger Pork. Miss F wanted chicken, so I made the change for her. The sauce is incredibly easy to make and tasted just perfect. Miss F ate all her veggies except for the mushrooms. I was a huge mushroom fan as a kid, but I understand that many folks just don't like them.  I am still getting used to cooking rice at 8000 feet.  White rice takes over 20 minutes, so I haven't even bothered with brown rice up here...it would probably take hours!

Ginger Chicken

2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
½ cup mushrooms, quartered
½ red bell pepper, chopped
½ onion, chopped
1 cup broccoli florets
½ cup chopped green beans

Sauce:
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons sherry

Combine soy sauce, 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, garlic, and grated ginger in a Ziploc bag. Add chicken to the bag and toss to coat. Let marinade 30 minutes at room temperature.

Whisk together the broth, corn starch, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sherry in a two cup measure. Set aside.

Heat two teaspoons of vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and marinade to the pan, stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, bell pepper and onion, stir fry for a minute more. Add the broccoli and green beans, stir fry for two minutes more. Add the sauce, stirring until thickened, about 3 minutes. Serve over rice.

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Chipotle and Lime Roasted Potatoes

I cannot get enough roasted potatoes. My mom's roasted potatoes are still my favorite (extra crunchy please...I even enjoy them cold) but I am always on the lookout for new ways to roast potatoes.  This recipe from In Sock Monkey Slippers instantly piqued my interest.  I love lemony potatoes, so spicy lime potatoes sounded just perfect.  Please excuse the messy looking potatoes, I am still getting a bit used to how things cook at 8000 feet, especially in the oven.  Though they weren't beautiful, they tasted amazing, so still a winner in my book.

Chipotle and Lime Roasted Potatoes

2 pounds small new potatoes
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 chipotle pepper from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced
2 teaspoons adobo sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice the potatoes into eighths and toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil and salt. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 35 to 45 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the chipotle, adobo sauce, garlic, lime zest, lime juice and 2 teaspoons oil. When the potatoes are done roasting, add them to the chipotle lime sauce and toss to coat. Serve.

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Green Chili Chicken Tacos

I have never purchased hard taco shells before. I am just not usually a crunchy taco fan, but these Green Chili Chicken Tacos from My Life as a Mrs. looked too good to pass up.  I did make some changes (olives on tacos?!?!), but I adored this recipe.  And they couldn't be easier, even easier than my favorite crockpot chicken tacos.  C wanted to know why they didn't have ground beef in them and requested to make them with beef next time.  He also requested Sloppy Joes.  Those two things aren't going to happen with me cooking, so he can keep on dreaming.  This was Miss F's first crunchy taco experience and she was a huge fan.  I think her favorite part was serving her own black beans, which created a giant mess, but at least she ate it all.

Green Chili Chicken Tacos

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into ½" cubes
4.5 ounce can of chopped green chilies

taco shells
shredded Monterey Jack cheese
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes
guacamole
lime wedges

Whisk together the oil, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Toss the chicken in oil mixture to coat. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, sauté for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chilies and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes more. Reduce heat to low and simmer until ready to serve.

Warm the taco shells and fill each with a tablespoon of cheese, then top with hot chicken and green chili mixture. Top with lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole and a squeeze of lime juice.

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Spicy Pineapple Chicken Drumsticks

This has been on my Pinterest to make for quite awhile. I knew it would be an easy meal to prepare in Aspen and I was pretty sure it would be a hit. I was super correct. Miss F said it was better than "boat chicken." For the record, "boat chicken" is fried chicken that we pick up on the way to our boat, usually from KFC. Miss F can eat lots of boat chicken. Even though both she and C were sick the night I made this, they both cleared their plates. With Miss F eating only the beans inside her green beans, such a weirdo. I had initially planned to make baked creamed corn with bell peppers as a side, but the corn cobs were too big and beautiful not to be eaten on there own.  Colorado corn just may rival Maryland corn in sweetness.

Spicy Pineapple Chicken Drumsticks
adapted from Juanita's Cocina

8 chicken drumsticks
¼ cup flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 ¾ cup pineapple juice
½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Sriracha

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a 9×13 baking pan with foil.

Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, and salt in a shallow dish. Dredge the chicken drumsticks in the flour mixture and set them in the baking pan. Bake the chicken drumsticks for 20 minutes, flipping once halfway through.

While the chicken drumsticks are baking, whisk together the pineapple juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, and Sriracha in a small saucepan. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and allow the sauce to simmer and thicken while the chicken is baking.

After the chicken has baked for 20 minutes, pour the sauce over the chicken. Toss the drumsticks in the sauce to coat.. Bake the chicken for 20 to 30 minutes more, until cooked through, flipping the chicken once more halfway through. Serve.

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Fried Shrimp with Tartar Sauce

Miss F waivers back and forth in her love of shrimp. Some days she likes it crispy, some days she wants them plain and some days she just isn't interested at all. The only true way to guarantee her to eat them is for me to fish out the shrimp from Pad Thai. She goes nuts for those shrimp, which always leaves me without enough shrimp and too many noodles. That being said, lately she has been going through a crispy shrimp phase. I made her some fried shrimp on the day before we left for a week in Chicago, because as much as I love fried shrimp, I don't enjoy my house smelling like a fast food joint after frying food. I should invest in a deep fryer only so I can take it out and deep fry on the patio. Any suggestions on how to dispose of the oil? I used to put it in applesauce jars, but now they are plastic and I am not sure at what point they wouldn't melt from the heat of the oil.

Fried Shrimp with Tartar Sauce

½ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons capers, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
juice from ½ lemon
hot sauce

1 egg
½ cup milk
½ cup Panko breadcrumbs
½ cup flour
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

½ lemon, cut into wedges

In a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, capers, pickles, mustard, lemon juice and hot sauce to taste. Cover and chill for one hour.

In a shallow dish, whisk together the egg and milk. In another shallow dish, combine the Panko and flour. Toss the shrimp in the egg and milk mixture and then dredge in the Panko mixture. Refrigerate the shrimp for 15 minutes to set the coating. Heat two inches of oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Fry the shrimp for 3 to 4 minutes, remove and drain on paper towels.

Serve the shrimp with the tartar sauce and lemon wedges.

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Mexican Red Snapper Sandwiches

One of my most favorite sandwiches is a Fishamajig from Friendly's (don't judge!) This sandwich here may overtake the Fishamajig in my heart.  Snapper is usually two or three bucks a pound at the seafood market, so it is usually my go to fish.  These sandwiches were on the table in less than 15 minutes and tasted amazing.  If your grocer doesn't have bolillo rolls, any sub roll will work.  Though if you can get your hands on bolillos, it will be best (and they only cost 25 cents!)  I always forget how much I love radishes, these add such a great crunch.  I probably should have only eaten half of the sandwich, but I devoured the whole thing.

Mexican Red Snapper Sandwiches
adapted from Rachael Ray

2 avocados, mashed
1 tablespoons minced red onion
1 jalapeno, minced
1 lime, ½ juiced and ½ cut into 4 wedges
Salt
6 radishes, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon white vinegar
4 boneless, red snapper fillets, patted dry
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 bolillo rolls, split

In a medium bowl, combine the avocados, onion, jalapeno and lime juice; season with salt and set aside. Toss the radishes with the vinegar in a small bowl, set aside. Dust the fish fillets on both sides with the flour and chili powder; season with salt. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the fish to the skillet, cook until opaque around the edges, about 1 ½ minutes; turn and cook for 30seconds more. Spread the guacamole on the roll bottoms, then top with a layer of radishes and the fish fillets. Set the roll tops into place and serve with the lime wedges.

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Cha Cha Corn Chowder

My mom is an over server. Whenever we eat at my parents, I am always wondering who else is coming over to finish off the massive spread. On the 4th of July we had enough corn on the cob to serve a small army, which meant I was heading home with some corn. Around the same time I saw an episode of Sandwich King that featured Cha Cha Corn Chowder. I love a good corn chowder and I am even more excited with the addition of poblano to spice it up a bit. This soup is wonderful for the summer, when corn is fresh and sweet. Even though it is 100 degrees outside, I still enjoy soup. I know, it is a bit strange. Apparently Panera agrees with me, since the only time they ever serve corn chowder is in the summertime.  I added a few Firecracker Shrimp on top to spice it up a bit more!

Cha Cha Corn Chowder

4 cups chicken broth
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ears corn, kernels removed (about 3 cups)
1 tablespoon butter
1 poblano peppers, stems, seeds and ribs removed, diced
½ yellow onion, diced (about 2 cups)
6 ounces Yukon Gold potatoes, diced into ¼" cubes
½ cup half-and-half

In a large pot, combine the broth, thyme, bay leaf, and some salt and pepper. With the back of a bench scraper, scrape the "milk" from the cobs into the pot. Then add the cobs to the pot as well. Simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove the cobs, bay leaf and thyme.

In another large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the poblano and onion, sauté for 5 to 8 minutes. Add the corn stock, then the corn kernels and the potatoes, and simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Use an immersion blender to roughly puree about half of the soup, leaving some texture. Stir in the half and half.  Serve.

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