Jamaican Jerk Chicken

We went on a wonderful vacation to Jamaica in August shortly after our daughter turned one.  The resort we stayed at had a "jerk hut" on the beach that we literally ate lunch at every single day.  We tried it the first day and fell in love.  It was so flavorful, incredibly spicy, and just plain delicious!  Finally, my husband convinced me to try to recreate it.  While I don't think it came anywhere close to the real thing, it was pretty darn good!  I served it with black beans & rice, grilled corn on the cob tossed w/ cilantro, pineapple, & avocado.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken
via Simply Recipes 

1/2 cup malt vinegar (or white vinegar)
2 Tbsp dark rum
2 Scotch bonnet peppers (or habaneros), with seeds, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
4 green onion tops, chopped
1 Tbsp dried thyme or 2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons ground allspice
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons molasses
1 (5 or 6 pound) roasting chicken, cut in half, lengthwise
1/2 cup lime juice
Salt and pepper

Safety note. Scotch Bonnet and Habanero chile peppers are very hot and can cause extreme pain if they come in contact with your eyes. We strongly recommend wearing protective gloves while handling the chilies and the jerk paste.

1 Put vinegar, rum, hot peppers, onion, green onion tops, thyme, olive oil, salt, pepper, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and molasses into a blender. Pulse until mostly smooth.

2 Place chicken in a large freezer bag, or in a large roasting pan or baking dish. Pour lime juice over the chicken and coat well. Add the jerk paste to the chicken pieces and coat well. Seal the bag or cover the chicken in the pan with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

3 When you are ready to cook the chicken, remove chicken from the marinade bag or pan. Put the remaining marinade into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside to use as a basting sauce for the chicken. If you want you can reserve a little of the marinade (once boiled for 10 minutes since it has been in contact with raw chicken) to serve with the chicken or to mix with some ketchup and a dash of soy sauce for a serving sauce.

4a Grilling Method
Preheat grill to medium high. Sprinkle chicken halves with salt and pepper. Place chicken halves, skin side down on the grill grates. Cover. Cook for approximately one hour, keeping the internal grill temperature between 350°F and 400°F, turning the chickens occasionally and basting with marinade, until the chicken halves are cooked through. The chicken is done when the juices run clear (not pink) when a knife tip is inserted into both the chicken breast and thigh, about 165-170°F for the breast and 180-185°F for the thigh. Transfer chicken to platter. Tent loosely with foil to keep warm and let stand 15 minutes.

4b Oven Method
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place chicken halves in a rimmed baking pan, skin side up. Roast until chicken halves are cooked through, about 50-60 minutes. The chicken is done when the juices run clear (not pink) when a knife tip is inserted into both the chicken breast and thigh, about 165-170°F for the breast and 180-185°F for the thigh. Transfer chicken to platter. Tent loosely with foil to keep warm and let stand 15 minutes.

Cut chicken into pieces. Serve with black beans and rice.

Garlic Ginger Bok Choy

This was our first time trying bok choy and we really loved it!  I don't really know what to compare it to?  The stalk part almost reminded us of the texture of celery and it contained a lot of water like celery, but didn't taste like it to us.  We were huge fans & I loved how incredibly easy and quick it was to prepare.  I served it with teryaki salmon & our favorite honey glazed carrots and we both thought it was a really satisfying meal!

 

Garlic Ginger Bok Choy

via For the Love of Cooking

1 tbsp olive oil
1 head of bok choy, chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
Dash of crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsp soy sauce
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Cut the core out (similar to if you are chopping celery).  Cut each stalk in half & chop. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the garlic, ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes then cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds.  Add the bok choy and soy sauce then stir until evenly coated then sauté for 3-4 minutes or until greens are wilted and the stalks are crisp-tender. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste, if needed.

Chicken Stuffing Stuffed Shells

OK, now this is going to sound like the weirdest combination, and to be honest, probably not one that I would have jumped at making if I hadn't been lucky enough to have been served it first!  My friend Jamie had our bible study group girls over for dinner once and served us this delicious dish.  I couldn't get enough, and I couldn't' stop thinking about it either.  And I'm not even a huge stuffing fan!  I searched and found multiple similar recipes online and after making it a few times, this is how we love it.  I've served it for Christmas dinner for my family and just for cozy nights in for me and Corey, super comfort food.  You can double to sauce as well if you want to make it really creamy and dreamy! ;)

we can pretend I only had two shells ;)

 

Chicken Stuffing Stuffed Shells

inspired by my friend Jamie

adapted from But Mama I'm Hungry blog

 

1/2 package giant pasta shells, cooked & drained
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded (about 2 breasts)*
1 (6 ounce) box chicken flavored stuffing mix, prepared according to box
1 (10.5 ounce) cans cream of chicken soup

1 cup (1 small container) plain greek yogurt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Salt & pepper

Cook and drain pasta, set aside. Prepare the stuffing mix and place in a big bowl.  Combine soup, greek yogurt, milk, parsley, and a little salt & pepper; stir.  Add shredded chicken & half of soup mixture to stuffing and mix.  Stuff shells with chicken mixture and place in a 9x13 inch baking pan that has been greased. Once all of the shells are filled, pour the remaining soup mixture over the shells, cover with foil and bake in a 350° F oven for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Delicious!

 

 

*my favorite (easy) way is to boil the chicken in water until cooked, then throw them in the bowl of my kitchen-aid mixer and turn on with the paddle attachment until shredded.  So easy and it gets the chicken really shredded!

 

 

 

 

Fiesta Egg Casserole

This was an interesting breakfast dish!  I was so excited to try it, and while the flavors were really good, it was just missing something.  Maybe substance?  We loved it however rolls into tortillas as breakfast burritos!!! 

Fiesta Egg Casserole
via The Fitnessista

 

1/2 lb chorizo, or your favorite breakfast sausage

2 sliced tomatoes

1 sliced avocado

1 1/2 cups of frozen hash browns or tater tots (optional), thawed

8 eggs

splash of milk of choice

salt, pepper

 

Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.  In a medium saucepan, brown the chorizo or sausage on medium-low for about 10 minutes.  Add the chorizo or sausage to the baking dish, then top with tomato slices, avocado slices and the hash browns or tater tots.  In a bowl, whisk your eggs with a splash of milk, some salt and pepper, and pour the egg mixture on top.  Bake for 35-45 minutes until set, bubbly and delicious.  This is perfect served in tortillas with salsa & sour cream!

Chile Rellenos

I have tried at least three times prior to make chile rellanos and they just never turn out for me.  While these are not the same as the ones we order at our favorite Mexican restaurant, they are by far the closest, and are really yummy!  We have made these twice so far, and I'm sure will many more times.  The breading is really light and fluffy and they are actually relatively easy to put together.  We saw the recipe on a Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives episode!

 

Chile Rellenos

via Mom's Tamales via Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives

 

4 pasilla chiles

1 pound queso fresco cheese (or monetary jack/pepper jack shredded)

1/4 cup diced onion

Toothpicks

3 eggs

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided

1 cup oil

 

First you will roast the pasillas (pablanos).  Pre-heat your oven to broil and broil peppers on all sides until blackened.  Remove from oven and put in a plastic bag for 10 minutes to sweat out any moisture and cool.  Remove from the bag, peel peppers, slit them down one side and remove the seeds.

Mix cheese and onions.  Use your hands to form into four cylinders (this is easier to do if the cheese has sat out of the fridge for a few minutes).  Stuff the peppers with the cheese and use toothpicks to hold them together.

Separate the egg yolks from the whites.  Add the egg whites to the bowl of your mixer. Reserve the egg yolks.  Beat the egg whites with an electric beater until the whites fluff up (I mean really fluff up!  Like you are making angel food cake or whip cream.  It will take a good few minutes). Add in 1 tablespoon flour and the egg yolks and mix until completely incorporated.

Add the oil to a frying pan over medium heat.  Place the other tablespoon of flour in a low bowl or plate.  Dip the stuffed peppers into the flour, coating all sides, then dip in the egg batter and fry until golden brown on both sides. Remove from the oil to a serving platter.  Serve with salsa!
 

Restaurant Style Salsa

Not even joking when I say I've made this salsa like the last five or six weeks in a row.  It makes a ginormous batch and somehow we continue to finish it off within a few days.  Its incredible.  Oh and so simple!  You basically open a few cans, chop a couple small items, and throw it all in the blender!  Its easy to half this recipe too if you think you won't finish it all.  Its important to taste and season how you and your family likes.  And leave out jalapeno or cilantro if you aren't a fan!

 

Restaurant Style Salsa

via The Pioneer Woman

 

1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
1/4 cup Chopped Onion
1 clove Garlic, Minced
1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
1/4 teaspoon Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 cup Cilantro (more To Taste!)
Juice from 1/2 Lime

 

Note: this is a very large batch. Recommend using a 12-cup food processor or a blender.

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you'd like---I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.

Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with whatever you would like!

 

Mexican Pizzas

These are so easy to whip up, especially since we usually have most of the ingredients on hands at all times.  They are easily customizable too.  We had them again Saturday night, but this time we made smaller ones and used leftover barbacoa beef on a few and left a few with no meat.  While they were delicious with all the below ingredients, they are not all required to get a good Mexican pizza!  Just use whatever you like or have on hand and enjoy!

 

Mexican Pizzas

via Eat Live Run

1 lb lean ground turkey or beef
2 tbsp taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
1 cup Mexican cheese blend
4 flour tortillas
Optional Toppings:
avocado, diced
salsa or taco sauce
red onion, diced
tomato, diced
green onion, diced
cilantro
shredded lettuce (not pictured, but loved adding it the second time!)
sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a large skillet with nonstick spray and crank the heat to medium/high.  When hot, add the turkey and the taco seasoning — use your spatula to break the ground turkey apart.  Continue cooking for about five minutes until the turkey has cooked through.  Remove from heat.

Place a flour tortilla on a sheet tray. Spread refried beans on top of tortilla then top with turkey and grated cheese.  Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Bake “pizzas” for about 10-12 minutes, until cheese has melted and tortilla is crispy. Serve with desired toppings!