Bonnie Makes The Pollo

Has anyone besides me made this yet ?

IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD !

... and easy to make.

Try it.

You'll like it !

Pollo Guisado con Papas

Foods of The World - Potluck

This is a savory dish, wonderfully complemented by sweet amarillos, the recipe for which also follows. It may seem a little strange--rice and potatoes?!--so let me just say, a Puerto Rican diet is not for the faint of heart, or for those watching their carbs! But trust me, once you get a whiff of this while it's cooking, you won't care how many calories or carbs are in it. If you feel the need to assuage any guilt, though, serve it with a salad.

Pollo Guisado con Papas
Stewed Chicken with Potatoes

6 chicken pieces (I use boneless, skinless thighs, but it's your preference)
2 or 3 large Russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large sweet onion, cubed
6 - 12 cloves garlic, minced (depends how much you like garlic!); can substitute minced garlic you buy in a jar
12 green olives (you can always pick them out if you don't like them, but cook with them for flavor)
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 Cup white cooking wine
1 Cup olive oil (if you're concerned about the amount, you can reduce it, but I wouldn't go less than 1/2 a Cup)
1/4 Cup white vinegar
1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt

Combine everything in a large pot, stirring to coat the chicken and vegetables with the sauce mixture. Push the chicken down, covering it with the vegetables, to keep it tender and ensure it cooks through.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium high. Keep at a steady boil, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and stir, ensuring the chicken is covered again. Cook 30 more minutes. Check potatoes for tenderness; if necessary, cook an additional 15 minutes. If you don't serve it immediately, reduce heat to low and cover.

Serve over white rice with amarillos on the side.

Amarillos
Fried Plantains

These sweet, fried plantains (platanos) are called amarillos in Puerto Rico, and maduros in Cuba. Amarillo means yellow in Spanish, and maduro means mature or ripe, so they're both apt names for the ripe, yellow plantains used to make them!

Ripe plantains (also known as green bananas), 1 plantain per 2 people should be enough
Olive oil (or vegetable oil, if you prefer)

Allow plantains to ripen at room temperature until yellow with black spotting, to the point where they almost look spoiled. Depending on how green they are when you buy them, this could take a week or more, so plan accordingly. You can speed the ripening process by storing the plantains in a brown paper bag with a small apple. Just be sure to keep a close watch on them to prevent spoiling! This is what they should look like.

Using a very sharp knife, cut off the ends of the plantain and split the skin down the length of it. The fruit inside should be pinkish-yellow. Carefully peel. A plantain's skin is thinner than a banana's, and it adheres a bit more to the fruit when it's ripe, so it's not as easily peeled as a banana. Cut off any bruised spots.

Pour oil into a shallow frying pan, about 3/4 inch deep. Heat oil over medium heat. While the oil is heating up, slice plantains into wedges, about 1/4 inch thick.

Place plantain wedges in oil but do not overlap them.

Fry, turning once, until deep golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Serve and eat together. The two flavors mixing and melting in your mouth...heaven!

You can reheat leftover pollo guisado in the microwave or on the stove top, but I recommend reheating amarillos on a lightly greased or foil-covered baking sheet in the oven or toaster oven at about 300 degrees for just a few minutes.

I hope you enjoy this meal as much as I do. ¡Buen provecho!

World Foods - Potluck

Belgian Waffles:

Aunt Kathy got a new toy...a WONDERFUL flippy Belgian waffle maker. We decided that it must be tried out immediately! When we tried to find a recipe, we discovered that there are a wide range of recipes for this particular food. We were a bit overwhelmed at first, but our need for waffles helped us overcome our confusion! We thought we'd share the recipe we discovered...as it was SOO YUMMY!!

2 cups flour (we used un-enriched flour)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs (separated)

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/2 cups milk (we used whole cause that's what we keep in the house)

1/2 cup sparkling water (we ended up using sparkling water that had a hint of lemon flavor and it turned out fine...gave the milk a slight buttermilky flavor)

non-sick cooking spray

Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions (we found that halfway between medium and high produced the done-ness that we liked).

In a medium bowl, mix together (I think I used a fork) flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a second bowl, use a wooden spoon to beat together egg yolks and sugar until sugar is completely dissolved and the eggs have turned a pale yellow. Add the vanilla extract, melted butter, milk and sparkling water. Whisk to combine. Combine the egg-milk mixture with the flour mixture and whisk just until blended. Do not over mix.

In a third bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form (about 1 minute). Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the waffle batter. Do not overmix!!!

On to the cooking!!

Here's Pam coating the waffle iron with pam. :-) Pour enough batter to just cover the waffle grid. Close and cook.

Our nifty new toy is the flippy kind...

Look at that YUMMY waffle!!



We topped our waffles with our homemade plumb preserves and plenty of whipped cream. It was a huge success!

October is almost finished ...

... only 13 days left to get your POT LUCK recipes posted and then we'll be starting on a new country ! I'll be revealing next months country soon !! Which one will it be ..... ??

Our pot luck recipes so far have been ....

Vietnamese Vermicelli
Equadorian Quinoa And Vegetable Soup
Gyoza
Chicken Cous Cous
Korean Spicy Pork Ribs

Ecuadorian Quinoa and Vegetable Soup

I'm posting this now just for you Khrista ! I was sitting at my computer when your menu plan went up and saw that you wanted to try this. You are going to laugh when I tell you where I got the recipe ! From the website that you linked to in your Kale and Avocado Salad post !! I saw it in the drafts and clicked through there !!!

I reckon this meal would qualify for our foods of the world series since it is Ecuadorian ! The whole grain used in this soup ~ quinoa is an ancient Incan grain (that looks like tiny, pin-head sized beads) with a mild, nutty flavor and crunchy texture. You'll find it in health food shops ...


I'm not happy with my photo ... Next time I make it, I will try to take another one. I didn't have time to set up the tripod ... I had a hungry family waiting for dinner and turnip and potato patties in the frying pan. I was holding the spoon up with one hand, holding the camera with another. Add to that the shocking lighting in my kitchen at any time of day but especially at night and well ... here's the result.

It's funny that this is a Moosewood recipe ... I have been reading the Moosewood Restaurant Low Fat Favorites Cookbook ... got it from the library. It's fantastic ! I've flagged like 15 recipes I want to try from it !! Great cookbook ... If you can get your hands on a copy of it, you should !

OK OK ~ I'll stop talking and post the recipe !!!

Ecuadorian Quinoa & Vegetable Soup
from Moosewood Daily Special
serves 4 - 6

1/2 C raw quinoa
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 C chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
1 C diced potatoes
1 C chopped red or green bell peppers
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
3 C water or vegetable stock
1 1/2 C chopped fresh or undrained canned tomatoes (14 1/2 oz. can)
1 C diced zucchini or yellow squash ( I used zucchini )
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice ~ or lime
chopped scallions, fresh cilantro, crumbled tortilla chips and/or grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (optional, for garnish)

Thoroughly rinse quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer under cold water. Set aside to drain. Warm oil in a nonreactive soup pot, add onions and salt, cover and cook on medium heat about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the quinoa, potatoes, peppers, spices, water or stock, and tomatotes. Cover and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Add squash, cover and simmer 15 - 20 minutes, or until all veggies are tender. Stir in lemon juice. If desired, serve with a sprinkling of scallions, cilantro, tortilla chips and/or grated cheese.

I found this soup much less labor intensive than the original QVS posted here. And like I said in my menu plan post ... the kids RAVED about this soup !!! Gotta love that !!!

*** Edited 8-Oct-08 *** to say ... I forgot to mention that I made my own veggie stock for this one ! An hour before I wanted to start dinner, I chopped up a couple of carrots, onions, garlic and some greens. I put them in a stock pot with four or five cups of water, a bayleaf and 10/15 peppercorns. Brought it to the boil, turned down the heat, and let it simmer (covered) for an hour. Drained out the veggies and voila ... veggie stock. It was NICE too !!

Gyoza

Ok ... for my first contribution, the side dish that I was making yesterday when I got this idea for Foods Of The World !! Gyoza ... in Japanese. However, I learned how to make these from my friend Grace who is Korean. So ... I will give you two recipes. One Korean. One Japanese. Both Delicious !

For the Korean ones :

about 400g pork mince ( ground pork )
cabbage
spring onions
bean sprouts
tofu (firm)
salt and pepper
gyoza wrappers (you can see a picture of them here)

To make that mixture, just chop the cabbage ( maybe you need about 1/3 a cup ? chopped ) spring onions, beans sprouts real small. I don't think the proportions matter. At all. Chop the tofu. Mix all those things with the pork. Add salt and pepper.

Grace said you could substitute beef for the pork. Or even prawns (shrimp). Or squid tubes. Cut up. She said sometimes she used a marinara mix.

For the Japanese ones :

about 400g pork mince ( ground pork )
cabbage
spring onions
bean sprouts
garlic
ginger
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
gyoza wrappers

Again, chop up all the veg, mince the garlic, grate the ginger, add everything to a bowl and mix.

Ok ... now for my little video tutorials on how to make these. My voice is so embarrassing ... but come on ... I was talking to a camera !! It's like talking to an answering machine ! I hate it. Ya'll should appreciate me putting these video's on line ... what with sounding like an idiot in them and all !!

Now, it was taking forever to upload these little videos onto blogger. So, I put them into photobucket ... then, I noticed that you could remix your videos. I wondered if I could make all four videos into one. Low and behold, I could !! So ... I present to you, my first video tutorial. All 3 minutes and 44 seconds of it !! (VIDEO IS CURRENTLY MISSING BUT I'LL TRY TO GET IT BACK...)



Also, in reading some blogs this afternoon, I've discovered a recipe that I'm going to go make tonight, using the gyoza mix I have leftover from yesterday. Here is the link ... Wonton Noodle Soup

Foods of the World - Couscous

I cannot believe I've never posted this baby, it is sooooooo good! Plus, I have a wild passion for couscous. Obviously, I was already planning to make this, but I'm going to post this as my month's contribution to the World Foods thing. Sadly, there will be no pictures, until and unless someone wants to buy me a camera!

Chicken Cous Cous (I'm gonna go ahead and say it's from Morocco)

4 chicken drumsticks, skinned
4 chicken thighs or breasts, skinned
Lime sauce (recipe follows)
2 T olive oil
1 med. onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chicken broth, warmed
2 T lime juice
3 carrots, sliced across (I frequently use a handful of baby carrots)
1 15oz. can garbanzo beans/chickpeas
1 14oz. jar artichoke hearts, drained
Couscous (cooked according to the directions on the box)

Spread lime sauce over chicken and set aside about 15 min. In large Dutch oven (I just use a regular stick skillet), heat oil to med. high temperature. Add chicken and cook about 5 min. Turn chicken; add onion and garlic stirring as chicken continues to brown, about 5 min. Pour chicken broth and lime juice over chicken; stir to loosen pan drippings. Add carrots and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until chicken is tender, about 20 min. Bring back to a boil, stir in garbanzo beans and gently place artichoke hearts across the top. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 5 min. more. With slotted spoon, remove chicken and vegetables to warm serving bowl. Skim off any fat in pan, boil juices about 5 min and pour into gravy boat with spout (I usually skip this part unless I'm cooking for company).
To serve, mound couscous, top with chicken and vegetables and pour juice over all. (I find it particularly yummy to sprinkle a little cayenne pepper over the top)

Makes 4 servings

Lime Sauce:
In small bowl, mix together 1 T fresh lime juice, 1 t coriander, 1 t salt and 1/2 t each of ground cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and pepper.

Foods Of The World - October 2008

Our first month is going to be ... POT LUCK. Pick a dish, any dish, from any country ... cook it, photograph it, and post it. Ok ok ... you can eat it before you post it !! You can post as few or as many dishes as you like in the month !!

Since I only came up with this idea yesterday and am still receiving feedback, I'll wait to decide the country we will do next month ! And yes, I think monthly is good. It gives plenty of time ... and those who are super keen can do more than one dish in a month !

One of the reasons I went for POT LUCK this month is that I've had two friends say ... if you do this country, I've got a great recipe ... SO ... we should have a Guernsey dish from Karen, and a Puerto Rican dish from Michelle this month !! I'll be sending you two invites so you can post directly to the beans blog ...

For those of you who have your own food blogs and want to participate, just link through the comments section ... I've still got to work out how to put up a Mr. Linky !!!

Ok ... I think that's it !! I'm soooo excited to see what everyone decides to do this month !! I was cooking something Korean/Japanese yesterday when I came up with this idea so I'll be posting that recipe ... probably in a few minutes to start us off !! I did some little video clip tutorials ... if my voice doesn't sound OVERLY CHEESY then I'll add those too !!