Green Papaya Salad

We are currently living in an area that doesn't have green papaya. However, someone told me to use cucumber as a substitute. I actually tried it this time, and it worked well. The texture is pretty much the same, yet doesn't retain its firmness as well.

Green Papaya Salad

 Ingredients:  

1 clove Garlic

1 or 2 red Thai Chilies

2 tablespoons dried Shrimp

Thai palm sugar, to taste

1/4 cup roasted Peanuts

2 cups green Papaya strands

6 cherry Tomatoes

Juice of 1 fresh lime- to taste

Soy sauce

Fish sauce, to taste

Method:

Pound the garlic and bird’s eye chilies until they form a smooth paste.

Add the dried shrimp and pound until the pieces are broken up, but not completely pulverized.

Add the palm sugar (cut into small pieces), maybe 2-3 teaspoons at first. Add the peanuts and lightly pound until they are broken into small pieces, but not to the point where they form a thick paste.

Add the papaya and tomatoes and pound on them until the tomatoes begin to burst. Add a few teaspoons of fish sauce and a couple of teaspoons of lime juice to the mix.

Adjust taste by adding additional palm sugar, soy sauce, lime juice and fish sauce. Serve cold immediately.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ever stop & wonder what those green tomatoes at the grocery store are used for? Well, now you know. I watched the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" years ago, but never tried these until I was with my hubby in Montgomery Alabama, heart of the South. Boy-did these knock our socks off.

We loved them so much we set out to replicate them. It was so much easier than we thought. These are highly addicting, and almost a meal in themselves. Enjoy.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients:

3-4 medium, firm Green tomatoes

Natures Seasoning (or salt & pepper) to taste

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup Buttermilk

2 Eggs-beaten

A pinch of Salt

1/3 cup Breadcrumbs

3/4 cup yellow Cornmeal

1/8 teaspoon Cayenne/Paprika mix

1/2 cup Vegetable oil

 

Directions:

Cut unpeeled tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle slices with salt. Let tomato slices stand for 5 minutes.

Place in separate bowls: Flour, Natures seasoning, and paprika/cayenne.

In Another bowl: Buttermilk, egg, & a pinch of salt. 

In the last bowl: Cornmeal, a pinch of salt, & breadcrumbs.

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet on medium heat. Beat the egg and the buttermilk together. Dip tomato slices in the flour-seasoning mix, then buttermilk-egg mixture, then the cornmeal-bread crumb mix. In the skillet, fry half of the coated tomato slices at a time, for 3-5 minutes on each side or until brown. Set the cooked tomatoes on paper towels to cool & drain oil. Serve immediately, with a spicy mustard or remoulade sauce.

Chicken and Tomato Kabobs with Spicy Cilantro Sauce

This is truly an easy meal to prepare. The best part is that you can make the sauce the night before, throw your chicken into a bag, & let it sit overnight. The next day all you need to do it slide them into the skewers with your tomatoes, & pop them into the oven or onto the grill.

In the summer, we grill these outdoors, but it is just too cold right now. It’s still a nice summery and healthy meal, which we serve over Jasmine rice….and a little of the sauce we saved. The tomatoes get a really flavorful caramelized flavor, and the chicken is delicious when you marinate it overnight. Mmmmmm!

Chicken & Tomato Kabobs with Cilantro Sauce

Ingredients:

1 pound whole, skin removed Chicken Breasts (about 3 chicken breasts)

1 large bunch of Cilantro-Washed, dried & roughly chopped

3 large cloves fresh Garlic-peeled

2 teaspoons ground Cumin

Salt & pepper

¼ - ½ cup Olive Oil

½ Serrano pepper-1/2 seeds removed

1 & ½ quarts Grape Tomatoes

Wooden skewers

Directions:

Begin by adding cilantro, garlic, cumin, Serrano pepper, and salt & pepper to food processor. As you pulse the ingredients, slowly add olive oil. Adjust & increase amount of olive oil as you reach the desired consistency for cilantro sauce. It should be fairly thick, somewhat like a dipping sauce. Retain a small amount of sauce before you add the chicken to use to serve as a dipping sauce the next day.

Cut chicken into bite sized cubes. They need to be thick enough so that they will stay on the skewer. Add cilantro sauce & chicken cubes to a large zip lock bag, and allow to marinade for at least 4 hours, and up to the next day.

 The next day:

Preheat oven to 400. Remove chicken cubes from bag, and alternate a tomato, and a chicken cube in skewers. Rub remaining marinade onto the tomatoes & place in a large greased baking sheet with sides. It should look somewhat like this:

And then this after it's cooked:

Bake for about 25 minutes, gradually turning the chicken in the pan so that all sides cook evenly. Serve immediately with rice, and a side of the sauce.

Chipotle Turkey Chili

It snowed ALL DAY yesterday, & this morning was 1 degree. Icicles are covering the patio. I think a warm, hearty turkey chili is in order. Along with a little homemade cornbread....a good hearty bowl of comfort food is just what we needed. Substituting beef for turkey made for an even lighter meal. Enjoy!

Chipotle-Turkey Chili

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons Olive oil

1 pound ground Turkey

1 medium yellow Onion-diced

5-6 cloves Garlic-minced

1/2 teaspoon Penzey’s Chili 3000

1 tablespoon Chipotle Chili

3 tablespoons Hungarian Paprika

2 tablespoons ground Cumin

1 tablespoon ground Ancho chili

1/4 teaspoon ground Allspice

1 can Beans

1 Carrot- peeled and diced

1 Green Bell pepper

6 ounces of dark Beer

2 ½ cups whole peeled Tomatoes-chopped finely (retain juice)

1 teaspoon Oregano

2 teaspoons coarse Salt

4 tablespoon tomato paste

2 tablespoons Corn Masa (corn tortilla mix)

Directions:

Over medium-high heat, sauté onions & garlic till golden brown in olive oil. Add turkey, chili powders, & cumin. Sauté for 5 minutes. Add bell pepper, tomatoes & tomato paste. Cook for an additional 3 minutes. Add beer, beans, water & remaining seasonings. Simmer for 45 minutes on low heat. In the last 5 minutes, add Masa, stirring well to thicken.

Chicken Sausage Paella

This recipe came out delicious, but if you prefer seafood, you can very easily substitute the chicken sausage for shrimp or other types of seafood. You could also add chicken (I didn't have any) & I wanted to make a meal with what I had in the house already.

Chicken Sausage Paella

Ingredients for Broth:

1 clove Garlic-peeled & to be removed before adding to rice

1/2 teaspoon Saffron threads

4 cups Chicken or Veggie Stock

2 Tablespoons Sun dried Tomato paste

½ teaspoon Green peppercorns

1 large sprig fresh Sage (to be removed later)

½ cup dry Red Wine

3 tablespoons Penzey’s Northwood Seasoning

Ingredients for Rice:

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Basil

1 package (about 6) spicy Chicken Sausage

Nature’s Seasoning

Salt & Pepper

3-4 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 yellow Onion-diced

3-4 cloves fresh Garlic-minced

½ green Bell Pepper-cored, seeded & diced

2 cups uncooked Jasmine rice

2 teaspoons smoked Spanish Paprika

2 cups peeled whole tomatoes-roughly chopped (I used the ones I canned last summer). Then extract juice to add to broth pot.

1 cup frozen Peas

4 Celery stalks-diced

Lemon wedges (for garnish)

Directions:

In a large pot, over medium heat, bring to a boil all of the ingredients for broth. Reduce heat & allow to simmer for about 10-15 minutes covered.

In either a Paella pan, or a dutch oven, over high heat, heat olive oil. Sauté onions, garlic, & basil. Add chicken sausage & cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add celery, & bell pepper & seasonings. Cook until tender. Add tomatoes, peas & rice. With a ladle, add exactly 4 & ½ cups of broth to your pot & stir briefly & gently so that all ingredients are evenly dispersed. Reduce heat to low & cover until rice is tender & all liquid is gone.

**I used exactly 4 ½ cups of broth & my rice was perfect. Remember that if your tomatoes had a lot of juice you may want to decrease the broth measurement a little. I use the following measurement for making Jasmine rice:

1 cup uncooked rice + 1 & ¼ cup liquid = perfect rice!

Spanish Turkey-Black Bean Tacos

Yes, I know, your all tired of turkey. But for the life of me I just can't waste good turkey meat (or anything else for that matter). I was racking my brain yesterday trying to come up with just one more way to prepare the leftover turkey meat, and it hit me.....use my recipe for Spanish chicken, but substitute it for TURKEY! Genius...if I must say so myself.

And as soon as you get over this recipe, I'll have yet another use for the leftover Spanish turkey mixture from last night....(insert cheesy smile)!

Spanish Turkey-Black Bean Tacos

1 package Corn Tortilla

2-3 large Chicken Breasts (skinless & boneless)**I used the leftover Turkey meat & reduced the cooking time to 15 minutes.

1 can Black Beans

1 cup Cilantro

2 cups Cherry or small Tomatoes

3-4 cloves fresh garlic-Minced

1 yellow Onion-diced

2 teaspoons Spanish Smoked Paprika

1 Green Bell Pepper-diced

1 Serrano pepper-with half the seeds removed-minced

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

Salt & pepper to taste

¼ cup Olive Oil

½ cup Corn or Vegetable oil

Begin by chopping veggies, & heating olive oil over stovetop. Add garlic and onions, and cook until golden brown. Add bell pepper, tomatoes and whole chicken breasts. Add salt, pepper, and paprika. Add stock, then cover & reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for about 20 minutes, and then remove chicken and place on a cutting board. Slice or shred chicken into small pieces, then add back to pit & cook for an additional 5 minutes on low.

Heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add three tortillas at a time to hot oil. Flip tortillas every minute or so, until golden brown, and edges have become crispy. Remove & place on paper towel to drain, & immediately fold each tortilla in half.

Heat beans & ¾ cup chopped cilantro, salt & pepper over stove top. Serve with tacos, chicken meat & top with remaining cilantro, sour cream or queso fresca.