Latin coffee rubbed chicken

I am working on some new recipes for Whole Foods using their Whole Trade products. These products are great because a percentage of their sales go towards giving loans to farmers.

I came up with a delicious coffee rub that can be used on any meat, chicken or fish. It makes quite a bit (about 1 C.) so keep it on hand for an easy dry rub.

Below is a recipe for both the dry rub as well as a yummy Latin chicken recipe that uses the rub. Enjoy!!

Latin coffee rubbed chicken

Coffee dry rub
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. kosher salt
¼ C. ground Mexican Blend Zaragoza blend Allegro coffee
½ C. brown sugar


1 Tbs. olive oil
1 package boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 14.5 oz. can Muir Glen Adobo seasoned diced tomatoes
½ C. chopped fresh cilantro leaves


To make dry rub:
Combine all dry ingredients and store in a left over jam jar.

To make chicken:
Heat oil in a large nonstick pan with a lid. Generously sprinkle chicken with coffee rub. Once oil is hot, add chicken to pan. Brown for 2-3 minutes per side. Once chicken has been browned on both sides, add onions and garlic and stir to combine. Add in diced tomatoes and stir to combine.

Turn heat to medium low and cover. Let cook for 25 minutes. Before serving, add chopped cilantro.

Serve over white rice or in flour tortillas.

Banana oatmeal chocolate cookie muffins, cookins?

I had some leftover bananas and wanted to try something besides our usual standby recipe when we have leftover bananas- banana bread. I envisioned an oatmeal style cookie, but with a more cake like texture, cookie meets muffin feeling.

Here's what I came up with.

Banana oatmeal chocolate cookies

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 ripe banana
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin or apple pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups oatmeal (old-fashioned or quick, not instant)
1 cup shredded coconut
½ cup dark chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine all wet ingredients in a mixer, then add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Dough will be slightly wet, like muffin batter.

Drop large spoonfuls on a Silpat lined baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until cookies are golden brown and feel like a sponge when lightly pressed.

They are delicious, not too sweet and with a fantastic texture. I imagine these will be delicious for breakfast too.

This recipe makes 2 dozen cookins...

Basil and panko crusted Sea Bass

I made a delicious Sea Bass tonight at work and wanted to share the recipe with you.. It's not a 15 minute meal, but is worth the time (still way under 45 minutes)...

2 1/2 pounds of Sea Bass

Make a paste with:
2 cloves chopped garlic (or 2 cubes frozen garlic)
4 cubes frozen basil
1/4 C. olive oil
2 tbs. Dijon mustard
good pinch of kosher salt and pepper
zest from 1 lemon
juice from 1/2 lemon

1 C. panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400. Place the fish in a roasting pan and rub the paste on top of the fish. Add the panko to the top of the paste and gently push the panko down so it adheres to the paste.

Add a little (1/2) c. chicken stock OR white wine (water is fine if you're in a pinch). I also added in 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary to the pan and removed before serving so the fish would have the essence of rosemary.

Roast for 15-20 minutes or until panko has turned a nice golden color.

I served the fish with a simple pasta tossed with fresh peas, garlic slivers and olive oil. I would have added in red pepper flakes, but the kids would have howled!!

The fish is tender and really flavorful. This recipe will probably end up as a future dinner party class.

Enjoy!

WTNH video segment

Here's the video from today.

Easy Meatballs and Cinnamon Stewed apples

We ate lunch in New Canaan yesterday and while wandering around, stopped into a cafe where they had a platter of enormous meatballs. My daughter said she wanted to buy them and I said, "we can make those".

Here's my easy recipe for homemade meat (or turkey) balls and another recipe for cinnamon apples.

Meatball recipe:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 eggs
1/2 C. bread crumbs
pinch of ground black pepper

1 tsp. olive oil
1 jar tomato sauce
1 package of pasta (Linguine or Spaghetti is great)

In a bowl, combine first 6 ingredients, mix with your hands until well combined.

Heat olive oil in a deep sided pan with a top on medium high heat. While the oil heats, make large meatballs (ours was a little smaller than the size of a tennis ball). When the oil is shimmering, add the meatballs (this makes about 8 meatballs).

Brown the meatballs on all sides, this takes about 5 minutes. When the meatballs are browned, add in the jar of tomato sauce, reduce the heat to medium, cover and let cook for about 20 minutes.

While the meatballs cook, boil water for pasta.

These meatballs are also perfect as a meatball sandwich.

Cinnamon Stewed Apples Recipe: This is like eating the best part of the apple pie!!

3 peeled apple, cored and cut into 1/8Th's
1 1/2 C. water
1/4 C. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. corn starch
1 tbs. unsalted butter

Combine all ingredients into a deep sided pan with a lid, bring to a low boil and cook until apples are soft, and liquid has reduced down about 20 minutes.

We all agreed these apples would be delicious on either:
pancakes for breakfast
vanilla ice cream
with a little granola sprinkled on top for a snack...

Shrimp Scampi Stir Fry

I'm doing this live on WTNH, Channel 8 this Sunday at 7:50 a.m. and wanted to share the recipe, it's delicious and really easy too.

Italian Shrimp Scampi Stir Fry.

2 Tbs. olive oil
3 cubes frozen garlic or garlic paste
2 cubes frozen basil
1 bag frozen peeled, cleaned and deveined shrimp
1 8 oz. can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 C. cherry tomatoes
1 C. frozen brown rice (available from Whole Foods)
Juice from 1/2 lemon
2 tsp. capers, liquid drained
Kosher salt and pepper (to taste)

Defrost 10 shrimp in a bowl of cool water, this takes about 2 minutes. While the shrimp are defrosting, preheat a large nonstick pan on high heat. Add olive oil, garlic and basil cubes and stir to incorporate. Add in defrosted shrimp, making sure they are in a single layer. Let cook for 30 seconds. Add in beans and stir around to incorporate. Let cook for another 30 seconds while you slice the cherry tomatoes in half. Add to the pan. Stir around and add in 1 C. of frozen brown rice. Continue cooking for a minute and add in the juice from 1/2 lemon (or to taste), the capers and a good pinch of kosher salt and pepper. Serve.

Picked onions

I made these about a month ago and we just ate them on a salad today for lunch, they were amazing and I am considering giving these as xmas gifts next year.

Ingredients:
6 purple onions
1/2 C. granular sugar
1 tbs. ground black pepper
1 tbs. Italian or Greek seasoning
16 oz. red wine vinegar

Thinly slice onions and add to a tupperware or any large-ish container that has a tightly fitting lid. Add sugar, pepper and seasoning next, followed lastly by red wine vinegar. Close container and shake. Leave the your refrigerator for at the minimum 2 days, but the longer the better.

The onions are crunchy and tart and delicious! Give it a try.

White bean and pork loin ragout

I made a delicious stew-like dinner on Sunday called a ragout. A ragout is simply defined as a well seasoned stew of meat and vegetables. It's a great meal to make when you want the house to smell warm and inviting. It takes a couple hours, but there's very little to do once it's cooking.

Ingredients:
2 tbs. olive oil
7 cubes frozen garlic
1 tsp. Greek or Italian seasoning
1 tsp. each-kosher salt and pepper
1 -2 lb. pork loin or any thick rump of lean pork
4 shallots chopped
2 cans white beans
5 carrots, chopped
4 stalks of celery, chopped
16 oz. chicken stalk
1 bay leaf
3 tsp. sun-dried tomato paste or 1/4 C. julienned sun-dried tomatoes

Preheat oven to 425. Add olive oil to a heavy bottomed (like Le Cruset) pot with a lid, heat on stove top to medium heat. Add garlic cubes and stir around until melted. Season pork with seasoning, salt and pepper. Add shallots, carrots, and celery to the pot and stir to combine. Add pork loin, to the pot and brown on all sides, about 3 minutes per side.

Rinse beans before adding to the pot. Next, add in chicken stock, bay leaf and sun dried-tomato paste.

Stir to combine, cover and continue cooking in preheated oven for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Before serving, remove pork loin and slice, then add back into pot.

I served this with some rice, and it was delicious leftover last night.

Turkey pot stickers

It was a snowy day here today and the girls are obsessed with their new DS game "Cooking Mama". I thought we'd actually cook something that the girls had "made" on their game.

We made turkey pot stickers tonight and everyone got involved in the process.

To begin:

Brown 1 lb. of ground turkey meat in 1 tbs. of peanut oil, 3 cubes of frozen garlic and 3 cubes of frozen ginger. Saute until almost cooked through, being sure to break up the bits as it cooks, about 7 minutes.

Add 3 tbs. soy sauce, 2 tbs. rice wine vinegar, and 1/4 C. of sweet and sour sauce. Add in 2 cups of cabbage, 4 scallions, and 1/2 C. bamboo shoots (the canned ones). Cook on medium high until all of the liquid has evaporated. Taste and add more soy sauce as needed.

Boil water in a pot while you prepare the 2nd step.

Add the turkey/cabbage mixture into a Cuisinart and pulse until the meat and vegetables are finely chopped but not smooth. Just a couple pulses. There should be no big chunks of anything (see photo).

Put a little water into a bowl and open your wonton wrappers.

Dip your finger into the water and line the edges of the wrapper. Add a small spoonful of turkey mixture onto 1 half of the wrapper and cover with the other half being sure to seal the wonton. If it won't seal, add a little more water to the edges and press down firmly.

Make a bunch, then drop into the boiling water for 15 seconds tops. You can either eat them like this or pan fry the pot stickers in a little peanut oil (which is what we did).

The brown quickly in the peanut oil.

After doing a demo of the wonton, the girls quickly got the hang of it. Kirk brought them to the boiling water. I boiled and removed the pot stickers and added them to the pan to quickly pan fry them.

I had the girls cut 2 scallions with a pair of scissors to garnish the pot stickers and I made a quick dipping sauce of:
1/4 C. soy sauce
2 tsp. rice wine vinegar
1 pinch of sugar
1 tsp. sweet and sour sauce

We all enjoyed our dinner and can't wait to make these again.

Better than Bouillon

I had a great dinner with some old friends tonight, we hadn't seen each other in at least 20 years. My friend Suzie made a delicious French Onion Soup and used this product that I wanted to share, it's called Better than Bouillon-vegetable.

It had a great flavor and seasoned the soup beautifully, she even had the French Onion soup bowls. It was so nice to enjoy a meal at home; we were able to talk and reminisce and I left feeling grateful (once again) for all of my friends, old and new.

Olive, goat cheese and sun-dried tomato tart

We have a (post) holiday party to go to tonight and were asked to bring something.

I made a delicious tart that I wanted to share with you. As always, it is easy and super fast, and if you're like me, the ingredients are staples in your pantry.

1 package DuFour Puff Pastry (may be kept in the freezer, but refrigerate for at least 4 hours before using)
1 12 oz. log goat cheese
3/4 of a tube of sun-dried tomato paste
1/2 C. julienned sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
pinch of ground black pepper
1/2 C. prepared olive tapenade or olivada
1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Lay puff pastry on a Silpat lined cookie sheet, or brush cookie sheet with olive oil before laying pastry down.

Combine goat cheese, tomato paste and sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl, mix to combine. Spread goat cheese mixture on puff pastry with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.

Next spread tapenade over goat cheese and a pinch of ground black pepper. Finally, sprinkle Parmesan cheese over tapenade and bake for 10-12 minutes or until Parmesan cheese is melted and brown and the puff pastry of golden brown.

Remove and either cut into bite sized pieces or cut with a small round biscuit cutter. Serve warm or room temperature.