Chicken Tacos

We eat a lot of chicken in my house, and most nights we’ll just do some kind of easy stir fry. The other night I realized we had tortillas and salsa so I decided to make some chicken tacos.

I love tacos, and I love chicken, but I usually gravitate towards steak or pork tacos. However, this recipe turned out really good. I found it here. I edited it slightly based on what ingredients I already had.

Here’s what I used:

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 (12 ounce) package corn tortillas
1 (8 ounce) jar salsa
Black beans
Baby spinach
Broccoli slaw

In a large skillet over medium heat, combine chicken, lemon juice, and olive oil. Simmer the chicken for about 15 to 20 minutes until it is no longer pink. Warm the tortillas in the oven until they are soft. Heat the beans in a small pot on the stove top. Once the chicken is cooked, transfer it to a bowl. Put spinach, beans, salsa, and broccoli slaw in serving dishes. Each person then assembles their own taco to their liking.

The spinach and broccoli slaw I just had on hand, but surprisingly it all went together pretty well. This is a good recipe to use what you already have laying around the house.

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Asian-Glazed Pork Shoulder

To continue my recent slow cooker obsession, I wanted to post about the Asian-glazed pork shoulder I made when it was actually cold outside. I found the recipe here.

The recipe actually calls for a pressure cooker, but we just used a slow cooker. I’ve never actually cooked with a pressure cooker, but I’d like to try one of these days.

Here’s what we used:

3 cups soy sauce
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 pound brown sugar
6 scallions, white and light green parts cut into 2-inch lengths, dark green parts thinly sliced
3 small chilies
One 4-inch piece of fresh ginger, thinly sliced
1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
1 medium tangerine, quartered
One 4-inch cinnamon stick
One 4-pound piece of boneless pork shoulder, quartered
Freshly ground pepper

In the slow cooker, combine the soy sauce, wine, water, vinegar, sugar, scallion lengths, chiles, ginger, garlic, tangerine and cinnamon stick. Cook over high heat while stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Season your pork with the pepper and then add it to the slow cooker. Let it cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. Thinly slice the pork and serve over rice.

Enjoy!

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Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

With all of this cold weather we have been having, I was really in the mood for cooking something in the slow cooker. My girlfriend and I found this recipe for slow cooker pepper steak. The recipe can be found here.

Here’s what you need:

2 pounds beef sirloin, cut into 2 inch strips
garlic powder to taste
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cube beef bouillon
1/4 cup hot water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 large green bell peppers, roughly chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Directions

Place the bouillon cube in the slow cooker. Add hot water, then mix in cornstarch until dissolved.
Sprinkle strips of sirloin with garlic powder to taste.
In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil and brown the seasoned beef strips. Transfer to a slow cooker.
Stir in onion, green peppers, stewed tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and salt.
Cover, and cook on High for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

We actually started too late and only had time to cook it for about 2 hours. Even so, it still turned out delicious and the meat was nice and tender. I can only imagine how could this would be if you cooked it the full 6-8 hours.

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I’m Still Alive!

Hello everyone. I hope you all had an excellent Thanksgiving and are enjoying your time with your family and friends.

I haven’t been updating much because I haven’t had too much to report. Being that I’m saving money, I don’t get to try out too many new restaurants these days.

Area Round-Up:

Eatin’ in Wheaton discuss the article about Wheaton’s downtown in Thursday’s Washington Post. The link is here.

They also recently visited Kantutas, a Bolivian restaurant in Wheaton. This is a place I have been meaning to try for some time. The link is here.

Silver Spring Singular takes a look at the “newly renovated” Four Corners Safeway. I visited this Safeway once and will probably never be back. The selection and layout were really poor. The link is here.

A few days ago I stumbled across a really cool blog called Ethnic Food Project. It’s written by a group of people who are trying to see if the D.C. area has a restaurant representing every country in the world. So far they have visited restaurants from 39 countries. Most recently, they visited a Finnish Christmas Bazaar in Bethesda.

Wheaton was in the news again this week, but not in a positive light. A man was abducted from the Giant on University Boulevard and forced to withdraw money from multiple ATM’s. That story is here.

Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday. If you “like” the page on Facebook, you can put in your zipcode and it will give you a list of local small businesses.

Yesterday, I did some cooking for our Thanksgiving feast.

For an appetizer, I made brie with honey, thyme, and rosemary.

What you need:

8oz of brie
2 tablespoons of honey
Fresh thyme and rosemary
Crispy baguette

1. Cut off the top rind of the brie.
2. Take two tablespoons of honey and drizzle it over the cheese.
3. Microwave the brie for a few seconds until bubbly.
4. Top with rosemary and thyme.
5. Serve with thinly sliced crispy baguette.

This was very easy, cheap, and delicious!

For dinner, I made Au Gratin Potatoes.

What you need:

4 Russet potatoes, sliced
1 onion, chopped
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Butter a 3 quart casserole dish.
3. Layer half of the potatoes on the bottom of the dish.
4. Top this layer with the chopped onions.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Add the second half of potatoes.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter on medium heat.
9. Mix in the flour and salt, while constantly stirring.
10. Whisk for 1 minute.
11. Add the milk, then stir until the sauce is thick.
12. Stir in cheese, and continue stirring for about 30 seconds.
13. Pour the sauce over the potatoes, then cover with aluminum foil.
14. Cook the potatoes for an hour and 30 minutes.

This dish is very easy, and always a hit.

For drinks, I bought a couple of different beers for us to try.

Red Hook Winterhook

This is the winter seasonal from Red Hook Brewery. It’s a nice, dark beer that goes down smooth.

Tröegs Mad Elf Ale

This beer is fantastic! It’s brewed with cherries and honey. Normally I don’t like beers that style but this one is delicious. Be wary of the 11% ABV because this beer will catch up with you. Highly recommended.

Brooklyn Winter Ale

I’m a big fan of Brooklyn Brewery, so I was interested to try their Winter Ale. It’s a Scottish Style Ale, very smooth and bready. This is everything a Winter Ale should be.

Hope you enjoyed this post!

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Crispy Pork Belly

Last weekend, my friends and I decided to cook an Asian feast.

I went to H-Mart for some supplies. I bought pork belly, beef short ribs, enoki mushrooms, bok choy, dried black fungus, seaweed salad and wonton wrappers.

I made the crispy pork belly. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

Pork Belly
Cooking oil (not olive oil)
White Pepper
Salt
Ginger Powder
Chinese Five Spice

1. Wash the pork belly in cold water, then put it in a large pot.
2. Fill the pot with enough water to cover the meat.
3. Boil for roughly 15 minutes.
4. Take it out of the water, dry it off using paper towels.
5. Let it dry for roughly 10 minutes.
6. Using a knife, make a few slits into the meat (not the skin) of the pork belly.
7. Place the pork belly in a large bowl, then add your spices to taste.
8. Using your hands, mix everything together, ensuring you spread the spices evenly.
9. Leave it to marinade for roughly an hour.
10. Place the pork belly in a large cast iron skillet, then pour just enough oil to cover the skin.
11. You’ll need a cover for your skillet because the oil WILL pop!
12. Fry the skin side first, roughly 5 minutes or until brown. The meat side will cook much faster.
13. Fry all of the pieces to taste.
14. Enjoy!

This is how it turned out:

The skin was nice and crispy and the meat was very flavorful. Very easy and delicious.

My friends made short ribs, dumplings, and fried rice. It was an amazing meal!

If you make the pork belly, let me know how it turns out.

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Huevos Rancheros

I have been getting very lazy about doing my own cooking these days. Last weekend, I decided to try my hand at huevos rancheros. This a very easy and delicious recipe to make. I adjusted the recipe to serve two people.

I found the recipe on the Food Network website, from Emeril Lagasse.

Here is the link to the recipe.

Total Time: 45 min
Prep: 30 min
Cook: 15 min
Yield: 2 servings
Level: Intermediate

Ingredients –

1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 chopped white onion
1 chopped red bell pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 chopped jalapeno
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 chopped tomato
1 cup chicken stock
1 and 1/2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 large corn tortillas
1/4 cup warm refried beans
1 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1/3 cups pepper Jack

Directions:

To make the Ranchero Sauce, in a medium pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and bell peppers, and cook, stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the cumin, salt, cayenne, jalapeno, and garlic, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and their juices and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the stock and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cilantro. Adjust the seasoning, to taste, and cover to keep warm.

In a large skillet, heat 1/2 teaspoon of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add 1 tortilla and cook until warmed through and just starting to brown about 30 seconds. Turn and cook on the second side. Remove, cover to keep warm, and repeat with the remaining oil and tortillas.

In a medium skillets, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat. Break 2 eggs into the skillet and fry until beginning to set, about 1 minute. Sprinkle the eggs with the cheese and cover to finish cooking, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Place warm tortillas on a plate and spread with 2 tablespoons of warm refried beans. Place eggs on top of each tortilla and top with the warm Ranchero Sauce. Serve immediately.

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