I always find it hard to photograph beef but, these kalbi ribs looked pretty appetizing to me. Mmmm…
And, here’s a link to the marinade recipe I used. I loved the story behind this post too! 🙂
I always find it hard to photograph beef but, these kalbi ribs looked pretty appetizing to me. Mmmm…
And, here’s a link to the marinade recipe I used. I loved the story behind this post too! 🙂
Oh, I wish there was smell-a-vision so you could inhale this garlicky, vinegary, soy saucy perfume of happiness!! 🙂 Adobo is probably the most popular filipino dish in the States, and in my opinion, it’s one of the easiest to make. I wasn’t born in the Philippines but, fortunately I did learn how to cook some of my favorite filipino dishes. Here’s my version of adobo (there are TONS of adobo recipes out there). It’s a bit Americanized but, it’s still authentic enough and I have fans far and wide that love my adobo. I haven’t been great at sharing the recipe (I don’t measure…I tend to cook with my nose…seriously) but, I actually measured this morning so here goes!
Please be a recipe tester for me and let me know how it turns out for you!!! I hope you come to love adobo as much as we do!
THANKS and HAPPY COOKING and EATING!!
CHICKEN ADOBO
Serves: 4
Adobo is best if it’s served overnight or if you can make it in the morning to serve for dinner. It just gets better day after day.
Ingredients
9-10 chicken thighs (skin on, bone in)
1 head garlic, smashed and broken into whole cloves, skin on or off
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 – 3/4 cup soy sauce (per your preference of saltiness)
1/4 cup water
1-2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2-1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Suggested accompaniments
Pepperoncinis (for garnish)
White or brown rice
Steamed or sauteed green veggie (broccoli, swiss chard, kale, mustard greens, etc.)
Directions
In large pot add all ingredients, except chicken, and bring to a medium boil. Heat up your frying pan on high. (Add oil if necessary just to prevent chicken from sticking to your pan; non-stick pans require no oil.) When pan is hot add the chicken thighs, skin side down first, ~ 3 minutes to brown on each side. Transfer browned chicken to pot. Bring mixture to a hard boil, with tongs move chicken around in pot to make sure all pieces get coated (all the chicken will NOT be submerged by the liquid.) Cover pot, reduce to simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
OPTIONAL: Halfway through cooking time rotate the chicken pieces, top to bottom, to help disperse the flavor more evenly.
Serving suggestions:
* Chicken is ready to eat after an hour but, if you can let it sit longer, up to a day or two, it tastes better.
* Adobo is traditionally served with steamed rice and a simple vegetable on the side, like steamed broccoli or mustard greens.
* Greek pepperoncinis served as a garnish are a great spicy/sour/acidy compliment to adobo. I HAVE to eat adobo with pepperoncinis! 🙂
* In the summer, a refreshing side is a mix of diced tomatoes, diced white onion, and cilantro tossed with a little olive oil and salt.
* My adobo recipe is saucy compared to others, like my papa’s version, which is less saucy (it’s fattier with pork AND chicken and, super tasty too!), so you’ll end up with leftover sauce. So, after you quickly gobble up the chicken, SAVE your adobo sauce! Just serving it on rice later is so yummy AND, truth be told, I have re-used my adobo sauce by browning up more chicken, adding it to the sauce, and getting another meal out of it. Don’t dump all that umami flavor down the drain! Although, I wouldn’t re-use the sauce more than once. You can freeze the sauce too.
* This recipe serves 4 but, I recommend making a huge batch because it makes for GREAT leftovers and freezes really well.
See more of my 365 Project: Untouched photos from my Nikon D5000 with 50mm lens
School’s started and the crockpot is one of my favorite and easiest ways to get a hot meal on the table at the end of the day. Not only do we end up with a homemade meal but, you walk in and the house smells heavenly and the cleanup is minimal.
I use a lot of recipes from “Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook” by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann. This, and other recipes from this cookbook, can be found by clicking on this link. Here’s my version of the recipe, adapted from this cookbook, which my family gobbled up last night. 🙂
Probably the main difference in my version is that I like to brown the chicken and saute the onions and garlic before putting them in the crockpot. I also didn’t have dry white wine on hand so I used an opened bottle of champagne instead, which worked fine. And, because it was easy and convenient, I used all chicken thighs instead of mixing it with drumsticks. The original recipe is a bit easier because everything goes into the crockpot, without any cooking on the stove, but, I like the texture and flavor of the chicken better with my added steps.
The original recipe suggests serving this over rice or noodles. I added potatoes so you can eat this as-is right out of the pot. To keep this gluten-free I omitted the flour and I served it up over polenta. I also made my own marinara sauce, which I consider pretty easy to do. I just recommend using San Marzano tomatoes, which you can buy in the can at any store. In my opinion, they just have a richer, sweeter tomato flavor. Lastly, I increased the portions a bit to make this a recipe for 6-8, instead of 4. My family has big appetites. 🙂
I’m curious what you think of this recipe, compared to the original version. Make it and come back to leave a comment with your take on this recipe. Enjoy!
CROCKPOT CHICKEN CACCIATORE
Serves 6
~ 4 cups homemade marinara sauce (see recipe below)
1 medium-size yellow onion, cut in half and sliced into half-moons
1 to 3 cloves garlic, to your taste, minced
1 medium-size green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
1 tbsp coconut or canola oil
8-10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
6 ounces fresh mushrooms, quartered
~ 1/4 cup dry white wine or champagne
3 cups fingerling or red potatoes, in 1/2 inch chunks
Shredded parmesan cheese to garnish (optional)
1. In a skillet or fry pan, heat coconut or canola oil on medium high heat, add your chicken and brown about 1 minute on each side
2. Layer half of the marinara sauce and all of the bell pepper, and browned chicken in the crockpot.
3. To the skillet, on medium high, add the onion and saute 1 minute to slightly soften, add the garlic and saute another minute (turn down the heat if the garlic starts browning), then add the wine or champagne. Heat on high and scrape up all the browned chicken bits. Let reduce a couple minutes then pour into the crockpot.
4. Add the potatoes, sprinkle the mushrooms on top and cover with the remaining marinara sauce.
5. Cover and cook until the chicken is tender and cooked through, 2 1/2 to 3 hours on HIGH or 6 to 7 hours on LOW.
6. Serve as-is or over rice, noodles or polenta. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired.
Additional Notes: I love mushrooms in this recipe but, my daughter doesn’t so I’ve made this without them and it tastes just fine. I’ve also followed the original recipe, by skipping steps 1. and 3. but, I prefer this version with the extra steps of browning the chicken and sauteing the onions and garlic. For sure, I have ADDED steps to this recipe but, I still think it’s pretty easy. It took me about 30 minutes to prep and get this all into the crockpot, including the time it took to make the marinara sauce below.
SIMPLE HOMEMADE MARINARA SAUCE
1/3 cup olive oil
1 medium-size yellow onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 28-oz can San Marzano tomatoes
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1 – 2 tbsp agave syrup or sugar, to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
In medium size skillet saute the onion and garlic in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil until softened, ~ 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the salt and pepper. Heat until bubbly then reduce heat to a simmer. Stir, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Puree with an immersion hand blender to break up whole tomatoes. Taste and season with salt and pepper. If using this sauce in the above chicken cacciatore recipe, the sauce is ready to use since the flavors will continue to develop in the crockpot. Otherwise, cover and let simmer another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week or frozen for 2 months.
See more of my 365 Project: Untouched photos from my Nikon D5000 with 50mm lens
For Mother’s Day weekend I made this lemon dream tart topped with fruit for our Sunday dinner as well as the lemon cream tartlets below for a dessert auction to raise money for our local farmer’s market. Because I used a gluten-free crust, I received many requests for this recipe. The recipe for the crust is from Oven Spoonful, a local catering company, who taught a gluten-free cooking class in my house for my birthday last year. These lemon tarts were one of the highlights however, I did modify the recipe slightly which was a result of wanting more filling in my tart. Instead of just putting the lemon curd in the crust (which is tasty as-is), I folded in some whipped cream which made this my “lemon dream tart.” In the end, I actually ended up liking this filling better because it cut the tartness and even the sweetness of the lemon curd a bit. It also served to give me the volume I was looking for. And, the crust recipe is exactly the same. I am just adding some extra details to the instruction portion of this recipe. There are four recipes in this post: 1) lemon curd which you should make hours or the night before, 2) lemon dream filling, 3) gluten-free almond tart crust, and 4) fruit glaze. Here you go!
LEMON CURD
Ingredients
8 large egg yolks
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
1 cup sugar
1/3 tsp salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 TBSP) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
Instructions:
Combine yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar in a heavy-bottom saucepan; whisk to combine
Cook over medium=high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (be sure to scrape the sides of the pan), until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, 8-10 minutes, and registers 160 degrees F on an instant read thermometer. Remove saucepan from heat.
Add salt and butter, one piece at a time, stirring until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve into a medium bowl.
Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming.
Refrigerate until chilled and set, at least 1 hour or up to 1 day
Fill your tartlets or tarts using the gluten-free almond crust below.
OPTIONAL: top with fruit brushed with fruit glaze (recipe below) and dollops of whipped cream. Grate lemon zest on top.
NOTE: save your egg whites up to 3 days in the refrigerator or freeze them in ice cube trays. make egg white omelettes, meringues, pavlovas, angel food cake, etc. don’t throw them away! 🙂
LEMON DREAM FILLING
Ingredients:
1/2- 1 cup of pre-made whipped cream or make this one from Food Network
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
Lemon curd – chilled at least an hour (see above)
Instructions:
Whip the vanilla extract into your whipped cream. Fold this whipped cream into your lemon curd to your preference of puckerness or firmness; the whipped cream dilutes the lemon flavor and you may need more time for your filling to firm up. The filling will not be firm like a gelatin, it will be slightly soft because of the cream. But, it should not be runny.
Fill your tartlets or tart and let chill at least an hour. Overnight is recommended.
OPTIONAL: Top with fresh fruit and brush with fruit glaze (recipe below); if possible add the fruit and glaze as close to serving time as possible. It is also fine to add the fruit and glaze up to a night before.
ALMOND TART CRUST
Ingredients
2 cups almonds – finely chopped
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup sugar
4 oz. butter – softened
Instructions
Grind the almonds in the food processor until finely chopped but, not to an almond flour; some coarsely chopped almonds are okay
Add the flour and sugar to the food processor and pulse; add the butter 1 oz. at a time until mixed
*Press into ungreased tart shells or a tart pan
Bake at preheated oven at 350 degrees until nuts are toasted; in tart shells or muffin pan: 8-10 min., tart pan: 12-20 min.
Let sit in pan(s) at least 5 minutes before gently removing tarts and transferring to wire rack. Let cool completely until filling.
* This makes approximately 10 tartlets or an 8″ or 9″ tart. To make it easier to transport your tart, cut out a circle of parchment paper a little bigger than the bottom of your tart pan so that the paper goes up the sides a bit. Press your crust on top of the paper.
* If you don’t have tart pans you can press the crust into an ungreased muffin tin; press halfway up the sides of each muffin cup. I used ~ 3/4 of a standard sized ice cream scoop for each muffin cup. When pressing the crust up the sides use a substantial amount to give your tart more structure and make it easier to remove from the pan. Your tart may crumble if the sides of your crust are too thin. To loosen from the muffin pan, gently use a butter knife in one spot to start the loosen and lift the tart out of the pan.
* Baked tarts can also be refrigerated or frozen to be used later.
FRUIT GLAZE
Instructions:
Heat 1/4 cup of jelly with 2 tablespoons with water in a saucepan and mix until jelly is diluted.
Cool completely before brushing glaze on your fruit with a pastry brush.
* The fruit glaze is optional but, it adds a nice sheen to the fruit and it also adds some sweetness to fruit which may not be fully ripe. In the tart photo above I made the mistake of using a marionberry fruit glaze on the kiwi fruit. It was great for the raspberries and tasted wonderful but, a lighter colored jelly would have been a better choice for the kiwi slices. Maybe an apricot or apple jelly would be better for a lighter colored fruit glaze. When choosing a jelly, keep in mind the flavor of the fresh fruit you’re using and pick a complementary flavor and color.
Enjoy these recipes. If you try them out, please come back and let me know how they turned out! Share your photos on my food photography flickr page here!
See more of my 365 Project: Untouched photos from my Nikon D5000 with 50mm lens
Nora says these look like furry seahorses. I can totally see that, the green body with a brown mane. In fact, this is a close up of a fiddlehead, the furled frond of a young fern, according to Wikipedia. They are also supposed to be tasty to eat, according to what I’ve read online. Here on the Olympic Peninsula we boast a bounty of ferns but, as long as I’ve lived here I have never eaten a fiddlehead. A few years ago I finally tried harvesting and cooking nettles (yes, stinging nettles that you want to avoid while hiking) and they were sooo yummy, as well as great source of iron. I think this may be my year to delve into my next native plant culinary adventure with the fiddleheads.
If any of you are fiddlehead experts, in terms of harvesting, cooking…anything, I’d love to learn more about these edible furry-seahorses. Hmmm…I guess I better not refer to them as seahorses if I’m going to ask my daughter to try them! LOL I promise to do a post on whatever fiddlehead recipe I try. Thanks for stopping by and PLEASE share your fiddlehead expertise! 🙂
See more of my 365 Project: Untouched photos from my Nikon D5000 with 50mm lens
See more of my 365 Project: Untouched photos from my Nikon D5000 with 50mm lens
Note: The Barefoot Contessa cookbook includes gravy as part of this recipe but, to make this a gluten-free recipe the gravy instructions are not mentioned here. My family isn’t into gravy and this chicken doesn’t need it. So, without those 2 tablespoons of flour in the gravy, this meal is completely gluten-free! 🙂 And, I’ve also made this recipe without the carrots and fennel when I’m rushed or lacking the ingredients. It’s still FABULOUS! Don’t omit any of the other ingredients though.
Gluten-free Spritz Cookies
Makes 5 dozen cookies.
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/4 c Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free All Purpose Flour
heaping 1/2 tsp xanthum gum
1 tsp almond or vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the butter and sugar. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
Place dough in cookie press; forming desired shapes on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until set but not brown, 6-7 minutes (in my oven, as i made several batches it took less time to bake). Immediately remove from cookie sheet.
Immediately after removing the cookies to a wire rack, sprinkle with decorating sugars. The faster you sprinkle the better chance the sugars will actually stick to the cookies. As an option, at the last minute of baking you could quickly sprinkle the cookies with decorating sugars.
I love Spritz because the different shapes are so festive and they make small holiday bites. They can be a bit dry so I like to decorate or dip them in chocolate or white chocolate. In the microwave or in a double-boiler (my preferred method) melt semi-sweet chocolate chips or chocolate baking bars. My decorating method is organic and NOT refined. I take either a spoon or toothpick an drizzle or “paint” the chocolate on the cookies. My daughter is at the ready to decorate so the sprinkles adhere to the melted chocolate. Although not pictured here, I like to double dip the spritz with dark chocolate on one side and white chocolate on the other. Leave as is or lightly sprinkle. Get creative, make it a fun holiday activity, or like us, make it an annual tradition. These cookies make great homemade holiday gifts. Happy baking, decorating, eating and giving!