Menu Monday: 87 Cents A Pound!!!

I have a lot of chicken at my house this week. If you did not get yours, run to Albertson's today because it's the last day for the sale (they also have a deal where you can get Quaker cereal and granola bars for a buck a box if you buy 5 which is no sweat at our house). It's with the skin and bone but I just cut the breast meat out and boil the bones for soup.
(PLEASE NOTE: If you commonly read in google reader, it will not show changes made to a post by the administrator. Many times I come back and add or fix things on here so you may want to click to the actual blog. I'm bad at that)
So, my brain has been on chicken.


I have two dishes to share with you today. A while back we had the one pictured below. It was easy and refreshingly different than our normal fare.

Italian Chicken Cacciatore

3 Chicken boneless, skinless breasts cut in half lengthwise to thin (or beat the tar out of a whole one if you like)

1 can Italian stewed tomatoes (or regular and add your teaspoon of Italian seasoning and some garlic powder which I'd add anyway)

1 pkg sliced mushrooms (Italian ones are better)

1/2 cup halved kamalata olives

1/2 white or red onion sliced

2 cloves garlic crushed or chopped

2 Tbs. Capers (optional)

2 Tbs. or a big splash of cooking Sherry or a dry white wine

salt and pepper to taste

Fresh parsley to top

EVOO

In a nonstick pan coat with EVOO for one min and put in chicken. Cook about 5 minutes on each side or longer depending on thickness. Remove meat. Add remaining ingredients to pan except parsley and let come to a good simmer. Do not cover. (If you feel this is a little dry for your taste, add 1/2 to 1 cup chicken stock but you will really want to simmer it down or you will have soup) Simmer on low until veggies are tender. Season to taste. Return meat to mixture to rewarm.

Serve over brown or white rice or even a favorite pasta. Top with fresh parsley.

This week we will be doing this recipe however which I don't have a picture for. It is way too easy and gets way too much undeserving praise at the dinner table. You just need to pick up one of these at your Costco or a smaller version at your supermarket. McCormick's Grill Mates: Montreal Chicken.

Again, I take about 3 Chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)and half them lengthwise (this just discourages waste in our family and helps us milk out our meat into more appropriate portions...it also allows more flavor with a thinner meat).

I just dust them top and bottom with this puppy right here above. I put them in my cast iron skillet with olive oil on the bottom of the pan. Roast them at 400* for about a half an hour turning them once.

I serve this simply with roasted red potatoes (cut in wedges, add onion and red pepper if I have it) that cook right in there with the meat, and cool tossed salad.

The seasoning and the roasting make for a tender, flavored and juicy chicken dish, and it's so simple.

Oh, and don't forget to make a great pot of sun tea!

Menu Mondays: Mexico's Gift To America- Pozole

(the above is a chicken pozole with very little meat, not how I usually make it)

We moved to this small California town nearly 5 years ago. It's heavy with Mexican culture. The majority of the kids in my children's classes are first generation. Though I have my political opinions on the massive flood of immigration into this state and how it's really bleeding us dry, there are many things I've learned about this culture from living here and having our kids in school. Many of the families we know are hard working people really doing their part to become part of the American society while still respecting their heritage. More than anything, Taco Bell becomes a cheap (literally) joke when you get to taste some of their authentic cooking.

Last year, Princess was in her first year of public school transitioned from homeshooling. She was in 5th grade and Rick and I tried to be as involved as we could. Her teacher did a few holiday occasions by having a lunch pot luck in the classroom. Since most of the families were Hispanic, the foods were as well. This was how I came to have my first bowl of Pozole. Pozole is kind of a sister to the Menudo soup but I'm not into eating tripe (in fact, I find it funny that many times cooked tripe is pictured with beer or other alcohol and yep, that's what it would take for me to eat it, way more than I'm willing to drink) so I prefer this one.

It was rustic, brothy and OH, so tasty.

(next segment is read at your own risk...)

Historically Pozole has a very pagan and disgusting origin. It was a soup made for special ceremonial occasions that took place after human sacrifices. It's 2 main ingredients were corn (more specifically hominy), which was sacred to the ancient Mexicans since they believed the gods made man out of cornmeal (sounds stupid but I'm not sure monkeys sounds any better..lol), and ....ew..cover your ears....human. Yep, from the sacrafices. Please don't let that gross you out to continue.

Once cannibalism was outlawed, pork took it's place because...well, I won't tell you why, it may just be too much. You can also use chicken or turkey. In more recent (barely) history, Pozole was mentioned by Bernardino de Sahagún, a 16th century Spanish Missionary to the Aztec people.

Ironically what started out as a special occasion dish has become the pot of soup for the everyday family. It's ingredients vary according to region. Just like grandma's chicken soup in America, everyone does it differently. I'll give you my version. Play around with some others if you like, I'm sure they are all good.

Mrs. Oz Pozole

1 Pork Shoulder or Butt

1 30 oz. can Hominy

1 Head of Cabbage

1 Large white onion

3-5 cloves fresh garlic

2-4 Limes + lime juice to taste

1 Tbs. cumin

1/2 cup red chili sauce (a spicy enchilada sauce will do)

1/2 bunch of Cilantro (if you don't like cilantro one, I feel sorry for you, but two, you can use a few small cans of green chilies)

Half a stock pot of water (I don't measure water...you'll have to eye ball that one)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Pig's foot (optional)

Place pork (and pork foot should you want to use) in stock pot and cover with water till pot is at least half full. For a low fat soup, you can cook the pork till it's falling apart and refrigerate the broth. Later you can skim off the fat and continue the soup from there. Otherwise....

Remove tender pork to a large platter or bowl. Discard any bones or fat (and foot if you used it)and return meat pieces to the broth after they are separated into bite size pieces. Put on high heat and chop onion, garlic and cabbage. Add to pot followed by seasonings and red chili sauce. Drain can of hominy and add to pot. Half two limes and squeeze juice into broth (many recipes use lemon juice and serve the soup with a wedge of lime, I prefer just using lime because of it's Mexican flavor) and drop halves right into the pot for about half an hour to release lime flavor into the broth. You can skip this if it's too much for you, I came up with this myself because I love the depth of flavor it adds to the soup. Just remove the halves after they have simmered in there a while.

Cook until cabbage is tender. Chop half head of cilantro and add to soup. Taste to see if you need more lime juice (you want a bit of a tangy broth but taste to your liking) or salt and pepper.

Serve in bowls with a wedge of lime for squeezing and either corn bread or warm tortillas with butter. Pozole is great made the day ahead and then reheated. It's also great with quesadilla wedges.

Hope you enjoyed your little history lesson but try to forget it when you eat the soup. :)

I'm very exited about my next adventure. I seem to be on a soup theme without meaning to. I've been very interested about the traditional soup of Vietnam called pho (sounds like "foe"). It sounds very unique and I'm hoping to share about it next week or the week after depending on how life goes.

Menu Monday: Way Too Easy St. Patty's Day Dinner

I love holidays and many of them for food reasons, but I don't think I crave any holiday dinner like I do St. Patrick's Day fare. Turkey and sides are good but not my fav, a gorgeous ham is great but a finely cooked plate of corned beef and cabbage with a nice glass of Irish Beer is delish beyond words. The SADDEST thing ever is that some people hate it. I declare to you....if you hate it, you made it wrong! There is no way to hate this meal when it's done right. Still, it is an easy one to screw up royally and I have. I want to save you from that and take ALL the stress out of the process because I have found it one of the easiest dishes to make. WAY easier than Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner.

The fact is, corned beef on it's own is easy to get wrong, and cabbage on it's own is easy to get wrong. You don't want a tough meat, and you don't want soggy cabbage. Trust me, you're kids will learn to hate this meal if it comes out that way. I found a secret that allowed perfection ever time and my kids beg for more cabbage when it's done this way! All you need are two crock pots!

Many corned beef pkgs come with oven instructions....well, ignore them. Many call for boiling the meat which just KILLS me! Do you know what happens when you boil meat? All the flavor leaves and goes out into the water and unless you plan to make St.Patty's day SOUP, this is insane. All that briny goodness is going to be put to work to make your cabbage the best you have ever had, and you don't want to waste it! Boiled cabbage is just as gross so just throw that idea out the window as far as I'm recommending. The one time I followed their advice for the oven, I had tough meat that would not cut and no one wanted. If you have done it with success, please post your comment and suggestions and I may try again someday but my method is a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" for me. Also, it is so easy it could make you cry.

I use a very large crock pot for the meat and cabbage. I'm not sure the size, but this is the one I use:

I either use one large brisket or two small ones. Just put them from the package into the crock pot in the morning (around 8 am should do). SET ASIDE the seasoning pkg for a moment though that comes with the brisket.

Take one to two cabbages depending on size (remember, they shrink so use as much as your pot will hold..sometimes I put a heavy item on my crock lid if it's a tiny bit lifted from the cabbage to squish it down until it softens and falls...but don't leave a space or it won't cook right). Wash the cabbage and cut it in half lengthwise. Cut out the core at the bottom but only the core. Now cut each half in thirds or quarter large wedges depending on the size of the head. Take a moment to sprinkle half of the seasoning pkg on the meat. Simply keep wedges whole (separating them makes them cook too soon and the pieces fall down into the broth getting ...yep..soggy) and arrange tightly on top of the meat. Sprinkle remaining seasoning pkg. Don't add salt, or pepper or anything else! NO WATER! PLEASE....NO WATER!

Put the lid on and set on high for about a half an hour if you can and then set to low. If you are leaving just set to low. Around dinner time you should have perfectly falling apart corned beef and soft but textured and VERY flavorful cabbage. More on removing and serving below.

The potatoes should be small and red ones. Wash and half only if they are a bit large. If they are small, just leave them whole. I use my regular size crock pot for this. Mine is the blue one pictured here with the crock pot lady who btw has an great website I have down in my left hand links.

(I believe the ME one I have is comparable to the large one on the right so that gives you an idea...I'm sorry I don't have measurements for you!)

Just clean the potatoes and put them in with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of parsley if you like. Put on low and they will be perfect by dinner.

The soda bread has been my only problem. Last year I made a recipe that was more of a sweet bread and although it was good, I really wanted more authentic fare this time. I will be trying the traditional southern Ireland cake version demonstrated well here. The page also has a fun history of soda bread that you can read over or share with your kids. They usually like that kind of stuff and it makes the holiday a full adventure.

Serving the corned beef and cabbage I have a particular method that gives fuller flavor to the dish. About half an hour to an hour (depending on how well cooked your cabbage is) before serving open the crock pot and switch the order of the meat and cabbage. Just take the brisket out and let the cabbage fall down in the juices. Replace the brisket on top of the cabbage and put the lid back on. Again, don't do this long if your cabbage is pretty soft all ready. When you serve place the brisket on a platter and slice into portions. You can either surround it with the cabbage wedges and drizzle with the juices, or you can serve the cabbage in a bowl (my preference) and pour a great deal of the juices over them so they stay warm and still season at the table. The potatoes are pretty easy, just take them out and serve!

Top this off with a nice Guinness for you and the hubby and enjoy! If you like you can finish off with an authentic Irish dessert (suggestionshere (that Guinness cake looks good..mmm...or here) or just some green jello or ice cream. If you can manage an Irish cream coffee, that would be a great ending as well. Of course, put on some great Celtic sounds! Pandora is great for this and you can just start with Celtic Woman to get your station going.

We always finish off St.Patrick's Day with the reading of his story and watching the Veggie Tales short on St.Patrick found on the Sumo Of the Opera DVD. It's important, just like with the real St.Nicolas, for kids to know the heart and sacrifices these men made for the love of Christ. I believe Focus On the Family may even have a radio drama for St.Patrick. I'll have to confirm that but you may want to check out their website.

I get a special treat this year because Rick is off St. Patty's day! I'm looking forward to it and I'm planing on having the girls help me with the bread so they can learn.

Menu Monday: You Share

I'm not quite on a roll yet with which cookbook to work through. My kids are off today and I won't be doing my normal SAHM thang today making menu's and cleaning the kitchen out so....I'm crying out to YOU! Yes you, the reader.

Got a favorite receipe you are going to try this week?

Leave a link to your blog in the comments or the receipe itself.

Also, Don't forget to check out Erin's Epicurean Travels for some ethic ideas.

Amy at Not My Words gave a go at the famous Beef Bourgauignon from the fab movie "Julie & Julia". She talks about her mouth watering adventure here.

Lastly, I just started following a blog from the ladies at my bible reading blog who is from Down Under and has a recipe blog. You can check her out too if you mind is on food today. Her blog is That Smells Yum (cute title). I thought it was neat that clicking over to their she was talking about the harvest from her garden about a month ago. It's funny to remember that they are ending their summer over there!

Enjoy...and share, share, share!

btw: don't you want one of those posters in YOUR kitchen, ha, I do!