Showing posts with label Jalapeño. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jalapeño. Show all posts

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Spicy Chicken Salad

When I was a young mother with one child, and managing our first house in California, I loved trying to find new recipes for Summer potlucks we were invited to attend.  This recipe was one of those recipes.  I don't have the recipe anymore, so today I made one up based on my memories.  We had the best Summer's in California with friends and family spending time together and playing in parks, at the beach, or in different backyards.  My memories are what I cherish now being so far away from family and friends we left behind in California.  Cooking brings me joy, and cooking and preparing food that reminds me of my California home really lets me feel better about my future.  Today I wanted food to lift my mood, and nothing like a nostalgic meal to help that along.  This is a very simple chicken salad, and it doesn't have mayonnaise.  My husband doesn't like the white stuff, so this was just for him.  

 Chicken Salad Torta, this was so yummy, you have to try this easy recipe.

Ingredients:

2 Cooked Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (leftover rotisserie chicken works well for this)
1/2 English Cucumber
1 Orange Bell Pepper
4 Campari Tomatoes (or 1 large tomato)
2 Green Onions
1/2 Seeded Jalapeño
1 Avocado
1 Lemon
1/2 cup Avocado Oil (or Olive Oil)
1 clove Garlic
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
 Clean cucumber, bell pepper, and tomatoes.  Dice into 1/2-1/4 inch pieces.

Shred the chicken breasts.  I had to go shopping at Costco, so I picked up a rotisserie chicken
from the deli section to use for this.  I removed the two breasts and the skin.  Using
my fingers, I shredded the chicken into a small metal bowl.

You don't have to do this part the way I did, but it does do wonders for the salad, and if you like to crush stuff.  
Cut greens onions, jalapeño, and garlic into small pieces and with the salt add them to a molcajete.

Otherwise you can add the ingredients already cut up to a small bowl.

 Grind into a paste.

 Cut lemon and squeeze lemon juice and pour avocado oil into molcajete or small bowl with
the paste and mix.  


Cut avocado in half.  Remove pit, and cut the avocado down and across inside the skin and 
remove from the peel.  

 Add cut up vegetables and fruits to the chicken, pour in the sauce and stir.  

This salad gets better if you refrigerate it for at least an hour.

Spoon some of your salad on a Torta roll, which I also purchased from Costco.

Enjoy!

Spicy Chicken Salad
Printable recipe Found Here

Ingredients:

2 Cooked Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (leftover rotisserie chicken works well for this)
1/2 English Cucumber
1 Orange Bell Pepper
4 Campari Tomatoes (or 1 large tomato)
2 Green Onions
1/2 Seeded Jalapeño
1 Avocado
1 Lemon
1/2 cup Avocado Oil (or Olive Oil)
1 clove Garlic
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Process:

Clean cucumber, bell pepper, and tomatoes.  Dice into 1/2-1/4 inch pieces.
Shred chicken breast. (Rotisserie chicken from any grocery store deli works well for this recipe)
Cut greens onions, jalapeño, and garlic into small pieces and with the salt add them to a molcajete.
Otherwise you can add the ingredients already cut up to a small bowl or food processor.
Grind into a paste, or process in a food processor.
Cut lemon and squeeze lemon juice and pour avocado oil into molcajete or small bowl or food processor with the paste and mix.
Cut avocado in half.  Remove pit, and cut the avocado down and across inside the skin and remove from the peel.  
Add cut up vegetables and fruits to the chicken, pour in the sauce and stir.  
This salad gets better if you refrigerate it for at least an hour.  

Enjoy!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Ketchup

We ran out of ketchup the other day and I love making homemade versions of food, so I made ketchup to eat with our french fries and dinner.  My ketchup recipe is similar to Saveur's recipe found here.  Do you know the history of ketchup?  This link talks about the history.  The short version is, ketchup is the modern day ancestor to "ke-tsiap, a 17th-century Chinese brine of pickled fish and spices."  Heinz of course found this recipe and changed it completely to what we now affectionately call ketchup and some of us are like my nephew and put it on everything. 

 Homemade ketchup, I might start liking ketchup now.


Ingredients for this recipe are:  

1  22-oz. can tomato Purée
1 medium Yellow Onion, peeled and quartered
1 clove Garlic (not pictured)
1⁄2 fresh Jalapeño
2 tablespoons Turbinado Sugar (You can use dark brown sugar) 
1⁄2 cup Cider Vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Dry Mustard
1/4 teaspoon Allspice (ground would also work)
1/4 teaspoon  Cloves (Ground would also work)
1/4  teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper

 Grind sugar and spices together in spice/coffee grinder, even the already ground spices.
Skip this step if you only used ground spices.

 All ground up.

 Press Jalapeño, and garlic separately through garlic press.

 Add everything but the vinegar and water.   Blend until puréed.

 Pour in water and vinegar and blend some more.

 Pour mixture into saucepan and heat over low for 45 minutes, only stirring occasionally.

Pour into a lidded container and refrigerate for up to a month.

Enjoy!

Ketchup  

Printable Recipe Found Here

Ingredients:
1  22-oz. can tomato purée
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and quartered
1 clove Garlic, and peeled and pushed through garlic press
1⁄2 fresh Jalapeño, stemmed, seeded and pushed through garlic press
2 tablespoons Turbinado Sugar (You can use dark brown sugar)
1⁄2 cup Cider Vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Dry Mustard
1/4 teaspoon Allspice (Ground would also work)
1/4 teaspoon  Cloves (Ground would also work)
1/4  teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper


Grind spices, and sugar  in spice/coffee grinder. Put tomato purée, onions, garlic, spice mixture, and jalapeño into a blender or food processor and pulse until blended. Add vinegar and 1 cup water and purée until smooth.

Transfer mix to a medium saucepan.  Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Store in refrigerator, covered, for up to 1 month.