Chipolte Chicken Skewers

These were delicious. Part of the reason for my lack of posts lately is that I don't think much of what I've made lately is worthy. Or they're repeats. But this is wonderful.

I also made a cilantro sauce and sweet potato fries to go with it. The sweet potato fries were chipolte flavored, too, made by Alexi (I think...frozen food section at Publix).

This recipe came from Joe. Like him I used the broiler (about 6 inches from element for about 7 minutes a side) since we were getting our usual Florida evening thunderstorm. I didn't use skewers since I didn't cook them on the grill. Seemed unnecessary.

Oh...this is supposed to be an appetizer or party food, but, obviously we had them for dinner with enough leftover for my lunch tomorrow!

For the chicken

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into 1/2" thick strips

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped (I used two)

2 teaspoons adobo sauce

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

wooden skewers, soaked in water

For the sauce

3/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 small garlic clove, minced (I used two)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 scallions, minced

salt and fresh ground black pepper

To prepare the chicken - In a large bowl, add chicken, brown sugar, cilantro, chipotle, adobo sauce, salt, chili powder, garlic and pepper, tossing well to combined. Cover bowl and place into the refrigerator to marinate for about 2 to 4 hours. Mine actually marinated for about 10 hours.

To prepare the sauce - In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise, lime juice, garlic, cilantro and scallions - season with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Cover bowl and place into the refrigerator to chill while the chicken marinates. I actually put all the ingredients into the food process for a slightly green tinted smooth sauce.

Preheat broiler with a rack placed in the top position.Thread each piece of chicken onto the soaked wooden skewers. Place chicken under the broiler and bake until cooked through, about 5 to 8 minutes, turning skewers over halfway through.

Serve with dipping sauce.

Beef Barbacoa

The Mettille boys love going to Chipolte. I prefer Moe's just because I think you have more choices and it's a bit cheaper. But I do enjoy them both. I found a copy cat recipe online for the beef barbacoa and decided it would make good football food.

I'm not really sure it tasted the same but it was very good and I'd make it again. We topped ours with fresh tomato, seasoned blackbeans, lettuce, chopped green onion, cheese and sour cream. I had to use the small tortillas because I couldn't find burrito size that were whole wheat or low carb. This took quite a while....not something you can do on a work night. At least I can't :)

Here's the thing... Our Seminoles won against #7 BYU which no one thought would happen so do I have to make these meal every Saturday now?? We have rules in the family about game days. You can't wear a shirt that you wore when they lost. I have to wear my new FSU crocs during the game, etc. etc. You get the idea. As good as the beef was, don't want it every week!

Beef Barbacoa

Ingredients

1 1/2 # beef brisket
2 cups diced tomatoes (I used canned)
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup red wine
2 Tbs. lime juice
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp ground oregano
1 seeded and sliced jalapeno (I used two)
3 Tbs. cilantro (I used a handful)
1 large onion,thickly sliced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Directions

Put everything in a slow cooker cook on low for 8 hours. I didn't really time this. I just checked when the meat could be pulled. I took the meat out, and shredded it and then I thought what a shame to throw out all this liquid so I blended it with my immersion blender. I poured it out of the slow cooker, put the beef back in and moistened it with a bit of the sauce.

Super Eats

Superbowl Sunday. Here's the scene.

My cocktail.

Super Dog.

The Food.

During Pre-Game -- we had ham salad 'tea' sandwiches and a veggie tray. Followed by a salami and cheese.

Second Quarter. Crabbie Melts

1/4 cup butter

1 (5 ounce) container sharp processed cheese spread

1 can of cooked crabmeat

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

6 English muffins, split

Preheat oven on broiler setting. In a medium bowl, mix together margarine and cheese spread. Stir in crabmeat, mayonnaise, garlic powder, and parsley. Spread the mixture on the split English muffins. Cut into quarters. At this point I put them on a cookie sheet to flash freeze (about an hour) and then I put them in a freezer bag. When ready to eat, stick under the broiler until hot and bubbly. No need to defrost.

Halftime. Stuffed Mushrooms.

1/2 Pkg of Bulk Sausage (I used hot)

1/4 Onion, finely chopped

12 (about) Large Mushrooms

1 Garlic Clove, minced

Season Salt

8 oz. Cream Cheese

1/4 of Parmesan Cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook sausage, onion, garlic and the mushroom stems (that you chop very fine) until done. Add seasonings. Set aside to cool. Mix in the cream cheese and parmesan cheese. Place on a baking sheet and cook for about 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Enough Said :)

Superbowl Sunday

My menu for the Cardinal's victory on Sunday is --

• Stuffed Mushrooms
• Cheese, Meat (Hickory Farms), Veggie Tray
• Crustless Mini Sandwiches
• Crab Melts

and maybe (because I really want them....but, depends on how lazy I get)

• Crab Rangoon

I met Kurt Warner once. My friend Mary and I were at the Press Party when Tampa hosted the last time (2001?). We actually crashed the party because the person who was supposed to sneak us in didn't show up.....so while I hid around the corner, Mary (who I still can't believe did this) -- went to the check in desk and was like....Uhhhhhhh, yeah, uhhhhhhh, right, we should be on the list! We're not!?!? Well....we're with King World Productions and you can ask 'mumble, mumble, mumble...' and then she grabbed a couple of badges and took off. Ok. I'm kind of exaggerating that last part but we got in due to her making up some name of the person authorizing our attendance and they said ok.

And while I'm confessing -- we didn't really meet Kurt Warner but he was there and we were there so it was dang close! Along with Dante Culpepper, Stone Cold Steve Austin and lots of other sport celebrities that I can't remember because it's been at least 8 years!

More Football Munchies

This is definitely a can-opener meal. Sorry if I offend anyone, but, honestly I defy anyone to make a better plate of nachos.

My favorite nachos are a mountain of chips with dollops of beanless chili (ok, Hormel -- you happy now??), and a cheese sauce made with Velvetta and a bit of cream melted together. I may, if I have some, top with some shredded cheese. I pop the plate in the microwave just to get everything warm. Then I top with chopped scallions, sliced jalapenos (pickled) and then some chopped tomatoes and shredded lettuce if I have them. Tonight I didn't so they were topped with some salsa and sour cream.

These are slap-your-mama good!

BONELESS Chicken

Mark tells me today that he has decided that he's not going to eat 'meat off a bone' anymore. So I ask for clarification, 'does that mean ribs?' No, it didn't. 'does that mean pork chops?'
As I kept asking, I found that it apparently only meant chicken.

Eager (albeit confused) to please I made some boneless fried chicken fingers with a garlic-horseradish mayo for dipping.



This was a good football watching snack for the weekend. I mixed some salt, pepper and a bit of cayenne in flour. Dropped the tenders in beaten egg and cream and a couple of drops of hot sauce and then rolled in the flour. Fried them in a large skillet with about 1/4 of an inch of canola oil until they were nice and brown and crispy.

For the mayo -- it was a bit of a tasting experience. Some mayo, a good dousing of garlic powder and a heaping spoon of horseradish.

Back to Basics

Sometimes you've gotta shove that pile of recipes to the side and pull out a classic. For a football snack today I thought Mark would enjoy the classic spinach dip -- right down to the pumpernickel bread bowl!

You can, of course, find the recipe on the back of the dried vegetable soup mix. We seriously ate the entire thing in one sitting.

Did That Just Happen?

Did the Seminoles forget that this was a REAL GAME, with a REAL TEAM? You're kidding me, right? Oh and Wake Forest -- don't go around celebrating and patting each other on the butt...I would be embarrassed if I were you! Puh-lease.

This is how I got through it.

Seminole Saturday

Mark has had a hankering for Oysters Rockefeller. I keep putting it off. First you have to go to a special store to get the oysters. (yes, truly, I am *that* lazy). Then you have to keep them on ice (or simply put them in the fridge...again...excuses, excuses). Then you have to make the creamed spinach and grate the cheese -- ok see the recipe below. Then you have your husband ask 1) do you know how to open these things? and then 2) what is THAT??? (looking at my oyster knife that I stole years ago from my parents house).

I've been shucking oysters since I was a wee girl and really challenge anyone (maybe not my brother) to do it faster or better than I. My knife (you can't use those wimpy looking things they sell these days) is a relic and is the only tool I'll use. The end result - clean, fresh oysters cooked nicely on the grill to start off the Seminoles game Saturday night.

Let me tell you -- this are OH MY GOD good. Do yourself a favor (and if you don't it won't be my fault because I warned you) get two dozen oysters and double the recipe.

Creamed Spinach


1 pkg Green Giant Frozen Creamed Spinach - Cooked
3 TB Heavy Cream
3 TB (maybe more...I'm not sure) Parmesan Cheese
A couple of heavy dashes of Cayenne Pepper


Oysters Rockefeller


12 Oysters - Shucked, rinsed and detached (I'm sure there's another term for that)


Pile the spinach mixture on each oyster in the shell. Top with additional parmesan cheese. Place on outside grill (set on high) until the mixture is bubbly and you can kind of see the oyster curling up a bit (it's done then). CAREFULLY - remove with tongs avoiding losing one (rolling my eyes) in between the grates of the grill.

More Poppers

Made more poppers for the Bucs game today. Today I used chive and onion cream cheese and baked them in the oven for about 15 minutes.

And this time I remembered to take a picture!

Football is in the air....

Ahhh......football season. Our favorite season of all. Most people get to look forward to spring, fall and even winter. The only season we have is football! For us that means endless text messaging back and forth with the kids (complaining or celebrating), snack foods instead of meals, and cocktails in the jacuzzi while watching the game on the outside tv. Chores are schedule around game time both for the 'Noles and the Bucs!

Today was chicken wings. I marinade for a bit in olive oil, salt, pepper and Crystal's Hot Sauce. Then I throw them on the grill and cook them on medium with the lid down until their done. Lift the lid, crank up the heat a bit and let them crisp up.

When I take them off the grill, I toss them in medium Hooters Sauce. Oh, I know....there are a zillion wing sauces out there and I'm always saying to homemade is best but this stuff can't be beat. Add some crispy celery and bleu cheese dressing and we're ready to watch Florida State beat Chattanooga!! Go Noles!

Cocktail Hour

My normal at-home cocktail is cranberry juice mixed with pineapple juice with a tad (or so...) of vodka. The other day though my mom said she was mixing cranberry juice with lemonade so I gave it a go --

1 can of frozen cranberry juice

1 can of frozen lemonade

5 cans of water

Fill your glass with some crushed ice. Add a couple of glugs of vodka and then fill with the juice.

I need to come up with a name for this.... Buc's Brew; Seminole Slush; Football Juice....

It’s Super Bowl Sunday and I’ve made soup. I think that sums up how I feel about this year’s match up. Spicy Lentil Bean soup that is indeed very spicy. In spite of my lack of enthusiasm for the Super Bowl this year – Go Giants!




Lentil and Sausage Soup

1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 large onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
8 ounces package dry lentils, rinsed
1 cup finely chopped carrot
4 cups water
1 (14.5 ounce) can beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes
Garlic powder
1 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Place sausage in a large pot. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Add onion, celery and carrot and sauté until tender and translucent. Stir in lentils, water, chicken broth and tomatoes. Season with garlic powder, parsley, bay leaves, basil, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Cover, and simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until lentils are tender.