Category Archives: Dinner

Chicken Shawarma with Roasted Peppers and White Sauce

February 5, 2019

Damn. A kid with flu is no joke. I legit feel like I’ve had the taste of lavender Lysol lingering in my mouth, so I need something to cleanse my fancy ass palate. I would share my secret grilled cheese and soup recipe, but I don’t want HEB to run out of Chicken and Stars and Kraft singles, so this Shawarma recipe will have to do….It involves staples that I usually have in my fridge and pantry, and is pretty no-fuss after you make it a few times.

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I’ve been asked what my favorite cookbooks are, and Pamela Salzman’s Kitchen Matters, is one of my most used right now. I’m not great at following recipes exactly how they’re written, but I love taking inspiration from great recipes from much better chefs than me. Also, I’m not a chef, I’m a bored, slightly overweight housewife who dabbles in healthy-ish cooking accompanied by a martini and chased with a brownie (or 6). Her Chicken Shawarma is amazing, and this recipe is based off of hers. I omit the cinnamon, use more garlic and less lemon juice, but her mixture of turmeric, cayenne, cumin and paprika makes boring chicken so good–we currently eat this at least 2x a month, and it’s the only chicken dish that Crawford doesn’t threaten to divorce me for serving him (he has a vendetta against chicken).  You can actually use 2 lbs. of chicken thighs with the amount of marinade you’ll make, but I hate don’t love leftovers of any kind, so this recipe serves 2 with minimal leftovers, but we’ve actually eaten the whole thing at once before (you lose some of the chicken when you trim it). Her recipe calls for whole thighs, but I prefer to chop the chicken into about 1.5″ cubes because it crisps up really nicely on the flat top (or pan if you don’t have this badass Blackstone griddle).

 

For the chicken

  • 1 lb. boneless skinless (organic if possible) chicken thighs, cut into cubes
  • 1/2 c. Extra virgin olive oil
  • juice of one lemon
  • 5 cloves of chopped garlic
  • 1/2 tsp. Turmeric (this is essential)
  • 2 tsp. Cumin
  • 1 tsp. Kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper—use 1/8th if you don’t tolerate heat
  • 2 tsp. Paprika
  • 1 tbs olive or vegetable oil for cooking chicken (not for marinade)

Mix all the ingredients together and marinate in the fridge for an hour, up to a full day. If you have a black stone griddle, heat it to high heat and cook for about 10 minutes, until the chicken in fully cooked. If you don’t, use a cast iron skillet and heat 1 tbs. oil until hot and add in the chicken, cooking for 10 minutes until fully cooked.

For the white sauce—this is almost identical to Pamela’s recipe…

  • 1 small container of plain Greek yogurt (full fat or nonfat, either is fine)
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise (I use homemade or hellman’s Olive oil mayonnaise if I don’t have any made)
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • juice of one whole lemon
  • 1/2 tsp. Paprika (I like more paprika)
  • fresh salt and pepper to taste

Just mix all the ingredients together. I think it tasted better if it sits in the fridge for a while.

For the roasted peppers either buy a jar of roasted red peppers with garlic to be easy, but I like to make my own. To do so, over an open flame, put the peppers on the stovetop and let the skin burn/get black on all sides, flipping as needed. Once they are charred, put the peppers in a glass bowl and cover with Saran Wrap for 20 minutes. Under cold water, strip the skins off, then slice and drizzle with olive oil and fresh garlic, salt and pepper. These last for 5 days for me in the fridge.

Next up on deck for the next few days…. French onion chicken, Asian meatballs with stir fried veggies, and some sort of Valentine’s Day dessert. Send me requests if you have any!

Beef and Veggie Stir Fry

January 30, 2018

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In keeping with my promise to try and post at least once a week, here is this weeks post… What I’d really like is for someone to pay me to write, because my dad doesn’t give me allowance anymore (but my daddy does), and baby shit is expensive. I can’t continue to buy $40 jammies for my kids and feed my family at the same time. Therefore my children are naked, but me and Craw are well fed. COME AT ME SPONSORS. Anyways, enter this week’s post–easy beef stir fry with veggies. This serves 2 with leftovers. I served with quinoa fried rice and some shrimp potstickers.

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For the meat and vegetables

  • 1 lb. steak, I used a Delmonico cut from Midland Meat Company, if you aren’t in Midland, or that cut isn’t available, grab a ribeye.
  • 1/2 head broccoli, chopped
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped (I used orange)
  • 1/2 white onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 jalapeno, cored and chopped (omit if you can’t handle heat)
  • corn starch
  • 2 tbs. avocado oil (or olive oil if you don’t have avo oil)
  • chopped basil for garnish, if you like basil (about 5 leaves)

For the sauce

  • 1/2 C. soy sauce
  • 1/2 C. beef broth (I used bone broth)
  • 1 tbs. ginger paste or 1″ fresh ginger, minced
  • 1 tbs. oyster sauce
  • 1 tsp. corn starch
  • 1 tbs. sambal chili

Thinly slice the beef, trimming any excess fat. The meat will have some good marbling so some fat is normal, I just trimmed off any huge chunks. Toss the beef in some cornstarch to coat, and set aside. You don’t need the meat completely doused in the corn starch, just dusted. Steam your broccoli (I added a splash of water and microwaved for 3 minutes). While the broccoli is steaming, in a cast iron pan (or any heavy bottomed skillet) saute the onions, bell pepper, garlic and jalapeno in 1 tbs. avocado oil until softened, approximately 5 minutes. Add to the steamed broccoli (drain any excess liquid from the broccoli before) and set aside. Heat the pan to medium high and add in the other tablespoon of avocado oil. Once the oil is shimmering and realllllly hot, add in half the beef. Cook for one minute then flip, cook another 30 seconds and remove, doing the same to the other half of the meat. If your meat is sliced thin and your pan is hot enough, this is plenty of time. In the same pan where you cooked the beef and veggies, add in the sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, add in the veggies and beef and cook for another 3 minutes until the sauce has reduced and everything is coated in the sauce. Serve with steamed rice or this quinoa fried rice.

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Bibimbap & Babies

January 17, 2018

IMG_1288Well, it’s been almost a year since I last posted, my bad. Turns out, growing spawn that makes you puke your entire first and third trimester while chasing around a toddler doesn’t exactly inspire you to cook. Now that I’ve hatched my latest creature, I have picked the knife back up, and am ready to entertain again. Most of my recipes lately have been on the healthy-ish side because I’m trying to burn off the remaining baby fupa and I somehow thought it would be a wise idea to go to Mexico 3 months post partum. I’ll post plenty of pictures wearing my burka while poolside, grubbing on chicken fingers and margs–get excited. That being said, a lady needs her carb fix every now and then, and since I’m doing dry January**,  I figure a little rice here and there won’t kill me. Enter these bibimbap inspired bowls….forbidden (black) rice topped with chopped veggies, meat and a fried egg. Crawdad and I saw an episode of DDD this weekend where Guy Fieri got some pork dish and it inspired me to make this braised pork. Trim as much of the fat off the pork before braising it so that you don’t end up with greasy meat.

Braised pork 

  • 3.5 lb pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat, and cut into 3×3 inch cubes
  • 1 c. low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 c. sake
  • 1/4 c. sugar
  • 1/3 c. miso paste (white miso paste is preferable, found in refrigerated section)
  • 2 tbs. ginger paste (found near the herbs)

Whisk all the marinade ingredients and pour over the cubed pork. Go ahead and marinate it in the pan you’ll be cooking it in, marinate in fridge overnight. Bake at 350 for 3 hours then shred into small pieces/chunks with forks. Let it sit in it’s sauce. This recipe makes a ton of leftover pork.

Bibimbap Bowls (serves 2)

  • 1 c. black rice
  • 1 3/4 c. water
  • 2 portobello mushrooms, chopped (you can also use a 6oz. package of baby bellas or white shrooms)
  • 1 tbs. olive oil
  • 1/2 tbs. sesame oil
  • 1/2 seedless cucumber, julienned (Crawford said he would do without this, so if you don’t like cukes, don’t include)
  • 2 green onions, chopped
  • 1/4 c. pork braising liquid (after it’s been cooked)
  • 2 fried eggs
  • however much pork you want in the dish
  • sriracha or sambal chile paste for heat
  • cilantro, for garnish
  1. Combine water and rice and bring to a boil. Once it’s boiling, lower to simmer and cover, cooking for 25 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Remove lid and let it sit until you assemble.
  2. Saute the shrooms in the olive and sesame oils for 10 minutes until the shrooms are browned and cooked. If you want the have the mushrooms separate (like in the photo), remove from the heat. Since you’ll be mixing all the sh*t together anyways, I recommend just mixing the mushrooms and rice together with the sake/miso/soy sauce. If combining, add in the cooked rice and the braising liquid and cook for 5 minutes.
  3. While the rice and mushroom mixture is cooking, fry 2 eggs to your liking.
  4. Once the rice and mushrooms have absorbed the sauce, transfer to two bowls, and top with the pork, green onions and cucumber. Garnish with chopped cilantro and spicy sauce of choice.

I’ll be writing up more recipes with the hope of posting weekly. However, I make no promises since the 2 hours of free time I have a day have been strictly dedicated to re-watching Gossip Girl. Each season has 25 episodes, and I’ve shamefully made it to season 5. I forget how ridiculous and wonderful it is. Plus, I was forced into watching The Killing, which is horribly terrifying, so I like my Upper East Side escape. Makes me forget that I’m covered in other peoples boogers and a human napkin 95% of the time. Kids are great.

 

peace.

 

**by dry January, I mean I had the flu, then was on steroids so I didn’t drink. Until now. Now I am sitting in my bed, on my laptop, obviously watching GG, drinking a glass of wine because one of my kids screamed like they were on fire and the other threatened the push in her brother’s soft spot. And one of them just woke up but I put the monitor on mute because I’m a good mom. She’ll survive…

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