Ode to Chipotle

We love spicy food in our house.  High on the list is anything featuring chipotles.  But I have a bad habit of buying chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, using 1-2 for a recipe, and then letting the rest languish in my refrigerator until I wind up throwing them out weeks later.  It's not as if I don't enjoy chipotles, or don't have 10+ recipes that feature them, or don't plan out all my dinners a month in advance (true story).  I just keep forgetting about it.  With a new house purchase on the very imminent horizon, I made a resolution to be more consciously thrifty with my grocery store spending.  That means not purchasing superfluous ingredients that are just for garnish, wasting as little food as possible, and stacking up recipes with similar specialty ingredients.  


Today was the last in a series of recipes that use chipotles - this week has featured Roasted Sweet Potato Salad and Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes (also making the most of sweet potatoes.  see what I did there?) but I also considered a few of our favorites - especially Honey Chipotle Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches or Spicy Poblano Burgers with Chipotle Crema.  


I've had this recipe on my to-make list for a while but this was the perfect opportunity to go for it.  This was featured both in the New York Times several years ago and on Simply Recipes, one of my favorite recipe blogs.  


The verdict: very, very tasty with a good heat level.  We served this over my favorite baked brown rice and I hope to enjoy the leftovers tomorrow.

Chipotle Meatballs

(originally by Rick Bayless, adapted from Simply Recipes)

3 slices bacon, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced
2 eggs
1/2 cup breadcrumbs 
1 tsp salt

2 tsp ground oregano

1 tsp chipotle powder

1 lb ground beef
1/4 - 1/2 lb ground _____ 
(I used lamb, but pork would work too)
1 cup chopped onion
2 chipotle peppers, chopped 
1 tsp adobo sauce
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken broth


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a food processor, combine bacon and 3 garlic cloves and pulse until chopped. Add eggs, breadcrumbs, salt, oregano, and chipotle powder and pulse to combine.  Add ground meats and pulse just enough to combine.  Form meat into 16 balls and place in greased baking dish.  Bake until lightly browned, about fifteen minutes.  While meatballs bake, saute onions over medium heat until just browned.  Add garlic and saute one minute.  Add chopped peppers, crushed tomatoes, and chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Simmer until meatballs are done cooking or until sauce is acceptably thick.  

A Good (Bad) Excuse to Buy New Curry Powder

It had been a while since we did at-home Indian (I find it difficult to get motivated to cook Indian food as long as Sitar continues to offer the special combination for two), but when this month's Cooking Light featured a lentils and lamb recipe, I added it to my list.  The recipe calls for red curry powder, which of course the aforementioned lackluster Kroger did not stock.  They did, however, have hot Madras curry powder which I decided was a worthy substitute.  This recipe also features a whole jalapeno (seeds, ribs, and all) which I figured would put it right in our spiciness wheelhouse.    


After doing some further research: it appears that Kroger is probably off the hook.  Penzeys (also known as the spice mecca) does not sell anything labeled "red curry powder," so who could expect Kroger to?  (I will say that McCormick's - which Kroger stocks - DOES make a red curry powder but its ingredient list is a little vague. ) It seems that red curry powder includes actual powdered chiles (not the same as chilI powder) and additional cayenne pepper.   

The verdict:  flavors were excellent and nicely balanced, but this just did not have enough heat for me.  I am not sure how an entire (large!) jalapeno and generous addition of cayenne turned out so mild.   If I make this again, I will probably just sub in some red curry paste (suggested by some other reviewers on the CL site).

Indian-Spiced Lentils and Lamb

(from Cooking Light October 2011)

Meatless Monday: Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

After too many fancy multi-course meals out in the last four days, we were (as usual) in the mood for something healthier by the time Monday rolled around.  I decided to try out one of Mark Bittman's recipes from his "Less Meat, More Flavor" series in October's Cooking Light.   

Unfortunately, the Green Hills Kroger managed to run out of both fresh AND frozen cranberries, so I had to resort to using dried cranberries reconstituted in warm water.   The fresh cranberries were supposed to be cooked until they burst and thickened the sauce, so I solved that problem the same way I solve many of my kitchen problems: enter my good friend, Immersion Blender.  

Even with the substitution, this was still a very tasty (and relatively quick) recipe.  We ate it with rice pilaf as a dinner entree, but I will also be adding this to my holiday rotation as a side - the end product is very festive with its red cranberries and green cilantro.  Highly recommend.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Cranberry-Chipotle Dressing

(adapted from Mark Bittman, Cooking Light October 2011)

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1 1/4 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2" pieces

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 tsp honey

1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped

2 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves

Place cranberries in bowl and cover with hot water; let soak for 20-30 minutes and drain.

Preheat oven to 450.  Toss sweet potatoes with 1 tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  Roast at 450 for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes.

Place 1 tbsp olive oil, honey, and chipotle chile in small saucepan.  Add drained cranberries and 2-3 tbsp warm water.   Bring to boil over medium-low heat and simmer for 5 minutes.   Puree with immersion blender to desired consistency.  Combine potatoes, cranberry mixture, and cilantro in large bowl and serve warm.  Makes 2 entree servings or 4 side servings.   

Meatless Monday: Quick Vegetarian Chili

It's let's-try-to-pare-down-our-food-budget week at Theohaus, which means that I'm trying to stack recipes with overlapping ingredients to cut down on our food waste.  Since I can never manage to use a whole can of chipotles at once, that means we have several Mexican/Southwestern-inspired recipes coming up, so that I can look forward to some Chipotle Meatballs from Rick Bayless (via Elise at Simply Recipes.)


Now that the temperature has dropped a little, it's chili weather.  This is the only vegetarian chili I have ever made more than once.  It's quick (~30 minutes), filling, quite tasty, and reheats well.  It also sneaks in a fair bit of vegetables and healthy grains to undo the Chuy's damage from last night.   I usually make this when I have guacamole lying around (especially if it's THIS guacamole, which is worth making your whole house smell irreversibly of garlic for a week).


From Cooking Light:


Quick Vegetarian Chili

2 tsp canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper (or orange or yellow)
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
4.5 oz chopped green chiles
2/3 cup quick-cooking barley
1/4 cup water
15 oz black beans, drained
14.5 oz diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth


Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add onion and bell pepper and saute for 3 minutes.  Add chili powder through green chiles and cook for 1 minute.  Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.  Serve with sour cream and tortilla chips.

Confession:

The primary reason I have been so bad about posting is not that I haven't been cooking.  I'll admit, while we were getting our house ready to go on the market, I was not cooking nearly as often as I usually do.  But the real reason for my unblogginess was this: 

I take terrible food pictures.  

It's probably reasonable to blame maybe  20-30% of this on my camera, which is your basic point and shoot.  But I'd wager at least 70% of the fault is my own camera ignorance.  Yes, I could take a class or maybe even an online tutorial.  But I'd rather be eating.


So I made a decision: I"ll continue to post what I'm cooking (and eating), but please excuse me if I use photos from other sources most of the time.

-------------------------

With that out of the way:

Patrick has been telling me for almost ten years that I don't know what good Tex-Mex food tastes like.  The one time I was in Texas I was underwhelmed by the place he took me (he swears they were having an off day).  So when Chuy's came to Nashville last year, I was not signing up to wait in an hour-plus line for Tex-Mex, no matter how good the creamy jalapeno dip might be.  


Now that there's a midtown location and Sunday evening mass gets out at 6:00 though ... Chuy's is right there, and let's face it: we've gone to all the other walkable restaurants after mass at least five times.  So tonight I caved.    And the verdict?  Not bad.   There were some parts that were pretty good.  We started with the queso - because who can say no to hot cheese and meat that you can spoon onto a chip?  Our waiter was eager to recommend a secret menu item: a steak enchilada with boom-boom sauce in combo with one of their chile rellenos.   The enchilada was pretty good; although the steak was not super flavorful, the boom boom was tasty.  The relleno on the other hand?  Awesome.  That was one spicy poblano, with really tender chicken inside and a smoky ranchero sauce outside.  That will definitely be a repeater.    


And the creamy jalapeno dip?  I'm not going to lie, I poured it all over everything on the plate.   But what I would really like to do is take a bowl of that over to Outback and pour it all over some bacon cheese fries.

Meatless Monday

Back after a lovely vacation in Hilton Head.  Time for a series of healthier recipes to undo all the fried fish, snacking by the pool, and frozen drinks.   For Meatless Monday yesterday, I made black-eyed pea cakes with adobo cream, baked brown rice, and a spinach salad.  Neither Patrick or I could remember eating black-eyed peas (at least not in recent history), but this recipe was hearty, filling, and very tasty.  Reheatability TBA after lunch today.  I might try adding in more finely diced veggies next time, or using a different spice profile.  Either way, will add this to the Monday rotation for sure.

Black-Eyed Pea Cakes with Adobo Cream

(adapted from Cooking Light September 2008)

15 oz can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs, divided
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1.5 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Olive oil
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 tsp adobo sauce (save chipotles for another use)

Place black-eyed peas in bowl and mash (consistency per your preference).  Stir in 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and next ten ingredients (through egg white) and mix together.  Divide mixture into four equal portions and shape into ~1/2" thick patty.  Add additional breadcrumbs as needed to keep patties formed.  Lightly bread in remaining 1/4 cup panko.  Heat olive oil over medium-high heat and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  Top with 1 tbsp cheese each during last minute of cooking.  Combine sour cream and adobo sauce and serve over pea cakes.

My favorite baked brown rice 

(inspired by recipes in Good Eats and Cooks Illustrated):

You need: brown rice, chicken stock, water, salt, seasonings to taste


Preheat oven to 375.  Pour 3/4 cup rice into small baking dish (Pyrex is fine - mine has yet to explode on me).  Combine 3/4 cup water + 1/2 cup chicken stock (or 1 1/4 cups water also is fine) + 1 tbsp butter or oil + 1 tsp salt just to boil. Pour over rice and quickly cover dish tightly with double layer of aluminum foil.  Bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes or until rice is tender (I usually check mine after 50 minutes).  When tender, remove foil and fluff rice with fork.  Add seasonings to taste*.  Cover with clean kitchen towel and rest for 5 minutes, then serve.

Makes 3 generous servings or 4 smaller servings, reheats excellently, doubles easily

*I like:
- fresh Italian herbs (oregano, thyme, basil)
- garlic + salt + pepper
- Cajun seasoning + red pepper
- curry powder + tiny bit of cinnamon

Chicken Tamale Casserole

This one is much closer to the lowbrow end of the spectrum, but still good.  Doable in 45 minutes from preheating the oven to serving, mostly just baking time.  Reheats better than the original.  

Chicken Tamale Casserole

(adapted from Cooking Light, Nov 2008)

The ingredients hint at the pedestrian nature:

6 oz cheese (I use a Trader Joe's Mexican blend)
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ancho chile pepper
1/4 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp ground oregano
1 14.75 oz can cream-style corn

1 4 oz can chopped green chiles, drained

1 8.5 oz box corn muffin mix (such as Jiffy)
1 10 oz can red enchilada sauce (I also like to use Salsa de Chile Fresco on occasion, available at any Kroger worth its money)
1.5 cups shredded, roasted chicken breast
Sour cream

Preheat oven to 400.   Combine in bowl: 1 oz cheese (about 1/4 cup), milk, egg, spices, corn, and green chiles.  Stir in corn muffin mix until just moist.  Spread in 9 x 13" pan coated with cooking spray.  Cook until just set, about 15 minutes.  Pierce surface all over with fork and pour enchilada sauce or salsa de chile fresco over top.  Top with chopped chicken and remaining cheese.  Bake until cheese is melted and sauce bubbly, 13-15 minutes.  Let sit for five minutes before serving.  

Habanero Soup

8.23.10:

Habanero Carrot Soup

I have been on the lookout for a spicy soup recipe ever since our trip to the Outer Banks in the fall of 2007.  We ate at Chilli Pepper's (MP 5.5 on the bypass) on a whim.  They had a menu that (at least at that time) specialized in spicy foods and fresh seafood.  Yes, and yes please.  Aside from the best swordfish either of us has ever had,  I also had an outstanding habanero soup.  

I'm not going to post the recipe for this one since I found my reproduction disappointing.  Interesting flavor combinations (leeks, carrots, sweet potato, habanero, coriander) but a little bit bland(!).   Other reviewers noted that it was too spicy as is - so I foolishly believed them,  made it as instructed, and was disappointed.   Should have chopped up the whole habanero and included it.   For me, the rest of the flavors were just not outstanding enough to try a second time, but here's the link for anyone who's interested:

Carrot Habanero Soup

A Currant Affair

Breakfast (guest appearance by Patrick):

Flaky Currant Scones 

(from Rose Leventhal's The Bread Bible)

As part of Patrick's adventure through baking, he is working his way slowly through The Bread Bible.  The scones were flaky and very tasty, although the currant flavor was somewhat muted.  

Dinner:

Black bean tostadas

(adapted from Cooking Light January 2006)

Salsa: 

1/2 cup chopped avocado

1/2 cup chopped yellow tomato

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

Freshly ground black pepper

Tostadas:

Habanero & lime tortillas (from Trader Joe's)

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

15 oz can spicy black beans, drained

1 cup roasted chicken breast, shredded

Grated cheese (I used a blend of Jack & Cheddar)

Shredded lettuce

Sour cream

Combine together avocado, tomato, lime juice, salt, and cumin; add black pepper to taste, set aside.

Broil tortillas for 2 minutes on each side or until just crispy.

Combine 2 tbsp lime juice, cumin, salt, cayenne, and black beans.   Mix with immersion blender until desired consistency.  

Spread 1/2 cup black bean mixture on each tortilla.  Top with 1/4 cup chicken and 3 tbsp cheese mixture.   Broil for 2-3 minutes or until tortillas are just brown on edges.  Top with lettuce, salsa, and sour cream.

Ad Hoc

FINALLY after seven months of patience my library hold of Thomas Keller's ad hoc at home finally came to fruition.  After flipping through the whole book I have to admit it's probably not something I will add to my permanent cookbook shelf, but I'm looking forward to making as many of the recipes as I can over the next several weeks.


Tonight:

Sauteed chicken breasts with tarragon

Essentially chicken breasts dusted with sweet paprika & curry powder then pan-seared.  Sauce is shallots cooked in butter deglazed with wine and chicken broth with more butter & tarragon stirred in at the end.  Tarragon is one of those flavors that I like only occasionally, since I feel lukewarm about licorice-type flavors.  I was a little skeptical of what sounded like a very French sauce in combination with paprika & curry powder, but the more I ate of this the more I loved it.  This had spectacular layers of flavor for the time it took - will definitely add this to the weeknight rotation.

Summer vegetable gratin 

Deceptively simply.  Layers of thinly cut (~1/4") squash, zucchini, Roma tomatoes, and Japanese eggplant, all layered with breadcrumbs and Asiago cheese and plenty of salt, on a bed of sauteed onions and garlic.  All roasted for fifty minutes at 350 degrees.  Probably some of the best vegetables I've ever had.  This will definitely be a repeater.

Other recipes I'm looking forward to trying out: 

• Buttermilk fried chicken
• Braised beef short ribs
• Meatballs with pappardalle
• Crispy fried fish
• Heirloom bean and escarole soup
• Leek bread pudding
• Scallion potato cakes
• Brioche