Chicken Fajitas

Today's Offering is a totally new to me recipe that was born out of the desire to not turn on the oven. I had planned on making enchiladas, but our AC has been misbehaving, so I tried to think of what I could make using many of the same ingredients and what I had at home- since it happened to be on Sunday. I did a search for fajitas, and found one from Miss Paula Deen which seemed very promising- 5 star rating, and 90 reviews. After reading many of the reviews- I made a modification or two, and off I went. Delish- and rather adaptable. Easy as well.




Ingredients based from Paula Deen: I recommend doubling it

2 TB Canola Oil
3 TB FRESH Lemon Juice
1 TB FRESH Lime Juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
Dash hot sauce ( I gave three shakes of Cholula Hot Sauce- Chili Lime flavor)
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Mix together and place in a strong large baggie (freezer- gallon sized)
Then add and make sure they are well coated:

4 or 5 Thawed pre-frozen Chicken Breasts (can use 1 1/2 pound of shrimp or steak) . The original recipe said to marinate for a much shorter time, but most reviews said longer- I marinated ours for 3 hours.


2 medium onion, halved and sliced lengthwise
2 green bell pepper, sliced ( or you can use 1 green and 1 red bell pepper, sliced)

flour tortillas (We use Raw Tortillas that we cook fresh- if you haven't tried them- you really -really should.)

1 lime, juiced, for topping
Sour cream, for topping
Salsa, for topping
Guacamole, for topping
Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded, for topping


Heat the outside grill or a large indoor grill pan to medium-high heat. Remove the meat from the marinade and place it on the hot grill, discard the marinade. Cook chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side, skirt steak about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare and about 2 minutes for shrimp. Slice the chicken and steak into strips if you are using.

In a large skillet heat up the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and fry the onions and bell peppers until crisp-tender with some salt and pepper.

Serve hot- and if you are cool enough to have the little cast iron servers- check here for the full instructions- and original recipe.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/gold-medal-sizzling-fajitas-recipe/index.html

German Pancakes

German Pancakes:

For 8x8 pan:

3 TB butter
- place in baking dish and put dish in oven while it preheats. do not let the butter burn- just melt!

3 Eggs
1/2 C Milk
1/2 C flour
1/2 tsp salt

Beat eggs. Add remaining ingredients and blend well. Remove preheated pan from oven and pour batter into pan with the melted butter. DO NOT STIR. Return pan to oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees until puffy and lightly golden brown (the puffy will fall somewhat after it leaves the oven. Serves 4

Serve with maple syrup, the fabulous buttermilk syrup, fresh fruit, powdered sugar, whatever pancake topping floats your boat, but you shouldn't need any additional butter on them :)

For a 9x13 pan- double the recipe, and bake for 20-25 minutes- it will serve 6-8 (depending on how big of eaters you have).

Mexican Sides - Rice, Pico De Gallo, Cebiche, Green Salsa

Here are a few authentic recipes gathered by the DR from some of the work crews when we lived in Oregon-

Rice-
fry in a small amount of butter for a few minutes before cooking. Then cook as usual using 2/3 part water and 1/3 part tomato soup-


Pico de gallo (fresh salsa)

2 Tomatoes- finely chopped
1 yellow onion- finely diced
jalapeno- thinly minced- to taste
cilantro- finely minced- to taste
black pepper- to taste
salt - to taste
1/2 to a whole lime- juiced

Mix all ingredients and adjust the flavor-



Cebiche

Shelled, Uncooked Shrimp
Lime juice
same ingredients as pico de gallo except the lime juice for that
shredded carrots

place shrimp in bowl, cover in fresh lime juice. Cover bowl with tin foil and place in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. Take out and drain lime juice. Add vegetables. Put back in freezer for about 10 minutes. Serve on tostada.


Green Salsa

12 Tomitillo (sp)
2 fresh jalapeno peppers
Salt
Finely Chopped onion
Finely chopped Cilantro



These are not the most thorough recipes as they came directly from some of the mexican workers and the DR's writing- but they are close enough.

Manicotti

1/2 lb pork sausage, browned and drained
1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
1 cup plain bread crumbs
8 oz mozzarella cheese- grated
1/2 large onion, chopped
oregano- to taste
garlic salt- to taste
salt and pepper- to taste
2 eggs- beaten
1/2 to 1 C milk
14 Manicotti Noodles (cooked a few minutes less than package directions)
3 or more cups of Tomato Sauce

Additional Mozzarella for topping

Cook and drain meat. Cool. Add bread crumbs, grated cheese, chopped onion, seasonings, and eggs. Add enough milk to make sure the stuffing is moist. Meanwhile, cook the noodles a few minutes less than the directions on the box so they are still a little undercooked. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water- drain completely. Prepare pan with a cup of tomato sauce in the bottom. Carefully stuff each noodle with meat mixture and place in a 9x13 baking dish, lining them up side by side, and across the bottom as needed. Pour remaining tomato sauce over the top of the noodles, using enough to cover the noodles. Top with additional grated mozzarella cheese and bake at 350 degrees, for 35-40 minutes until cooked through.

Any remaining stuffing you can put in the freezer. My original recipe is half of this- but I always double it- at least- and I usually just use a pound of each meat.

Easy Quiche

2 eggs, beaten
1/2 C evaporated milk (make sure it is evaporated milk)
1 pkg crescent roll dough
1/2 - ground sausage ( 1lb if not using mushrooms)
2-3 green onions, sliced
1 C chopped mushrooms (optional)
1/4 lb cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 lb Monterey Jack cheese, grated

Heat oven to 325 F

Brown sausage (and mushrooms) and drain.  Line bottom of pie plate with crescent roll dough sections, covering all the inner surface and up the sides, pinching together to make a crust.  Put drained sausage(mushroom) and green onion slices in bottom of crust and level.  Mix together beaten eggs and evaporated milk and pour over the mix in the crust. Meat mix should be barely covered.  If needed, you can add more egg/milk mixture by an egg and 1/4 C of milk at a time.  Top the mix with the grated cheeses and bake for 40-45 min.

This fits a standard pie pan- if you use a deep dish pan or larger round pan- then you may need to double the recipe.

Chicken-Pasta Salad

12 oz elbow macaroni
10 oz canned chicken
1 C frozen peas
1 C chopped tomatoes
1 C chopped cucumbers
1 C grated cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1 C mayonnaise (or more- I use more because the DR likes really moist salads)

Cook pasta. Place frozen peas in the bottom of colander. When macaroni is cooked, pour over the peas in the colander. Run cold water over both until cool. Drain well. Put in large serving bowl. Add Chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers. In a separate bowl, season mayonnaise- make it a little saltier that you would think because it gets diluted in the salad. Right before serving, add the mayo dressing and the grated cheese.

BBQ Soup

1 lb ground beef
2-4 c uncooked pasta (wagon wheel shapes for example)
2 (14.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes
3 C water
16 oz pkg frozen corn
1 c bbq sauce (kc masterpiece original)
salt and pepper to taste

Season meat, cook and drain. Add all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until pasta is tender. Adjust seasoning. Serves 6-8.

Serve with cornbread, or biscuits