Guacamole Chicken Melt

Sometimes different is good...as long as you have a strong minty piece of gum afterwards.

2 large avocados
1 tomato, diced
1/2 to 1 jalapeño, finely chopped
2 tbsp onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of half a lime, about 1 tbsp
Salt, to taste
4 boneless chicken breasts
Olive oil
Creole seasoning
Pepper Jack cheese, sliced

1. Make guacamole with avocados, tomato, jalapeño, onion, garlic, lime juice and salt. Chill for a couple of hours to allow the flavours to blend.
2. Coat chicken with a little olive oil and creole seasoning; grill.
3. Place grilled chicken in a baking dish and cover with guacamole and cheese slices.
4. Broil a few minutes until cheese is melted and guacamole is warm.

Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Caramelized Onion

I never thought I like pork until I discovered pork tenderloin and a good meat thermometer. Now I'm hooked.

2 pork tenderloins

Montreal Steak Spice 

4 medium onions, sliced
2 or 3 apples, peeled and sliced

3 tbsp olive oil
Montreal Steak Spice
2 cups beef stock
1/2 cup apple juice
2 tsp cornstarch

1. Season tenderloins with a generous amount of Montreal Steak Spice.
2. Grill on a barbecue or roast in the oven at 400 F (200º C) until meat thermometer reads 150 F (65º C). Remove from the grill or oven and wrap in foil for 10 minutes before slicing. Now, don't let the lower temperature scare you. Apparently, it's safe to eat pork at this temperature since pork is not as dangerous as it was in your grandparent's day. Besides, if you leave your thermometer in the meat while it's wrapped in foil, you'll notice the temperature keeps on rising and will hit 160 F, so everyone's happy and Health Canada won't condemn you.
3. While meat is cooking, cook onions (gently!!) in a skillet for 10 minutes. Add the apples and cook another 10 minutes. You want caramelization, not a burnt offering.
4. When the onions and apples are done, remove them from the skillet (but keep them warm) and pour the beef stock and apple juice into the same skillet. Bring to a boil and continue boiling until reduced to about 1 cup.
5. Dissolve cornstarch in a small amount of cold water. Stir into sauce and cook until sauce is thickened. 
6. Arrange onions and apples onto a platter. Top with the tenderloin slices and drizzle with sauce.

Tea Biscuits

I love biscuits! I especially love biscuits with butter, buttermilk, cheese and garlic. My mouth is watering as I type. I'm not kidding. You could make these with margarine but really you should skip the one molecule from plastic and go with the real stuff. I like these with or without cheese and garlic. If you want them plain, also skip the final step of pouring the butter over before they're done baking. What you could do instead, is brush the tops with milk before putting them in the oven. The last time I made these, I skipped the cheddar and in the last five minutes, mixed up some melted butter, garlic and Parmesan and poured over the top. I found it a little salty, so you could probably cut back on the salt in the recipe if you wish. One more thing: when I make the cheese biscuit version, I skip the sugar. You won't miss it.

2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp garlic powder, optional
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup grated cheddar, optional
1 cup cold milk or buttermilk

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp parsley flakes

• Mix together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and garlic powder.
• Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly, or mix in a food processor for a few seconds.
• Add cheese.
• Add milk to make a soft, sticky dough. Sometimes I find the dough is too wet, even though I measure the same way each time, so I have added more flour and no disaster ensued. Try not to over-mix the dough, which could result in tough biscuits.
• Shape into biscuits and arrange in a greased baking dish. You will find the dough too sticky to roll and cut out the biscuits. Never mind, because I find that method a complete waste of time and energy.
• Bake at 375° anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of your biscuits.
• Just before they are finished baking, mix together the butter, garlic powder and parsley and pour over the biscuits. Return biscuits to the oven for about 5 minutes.
• Serve warm!

Chili

Recipes for chili abound. Everyone has a favourite and this might not be yours, but it's mine! It's completely versatile. It's one of those dishes where any ingredient is optional and all ingredients can be increased or decreased according to one's preference or to what you find on your kitchen shelves. I like it spicy. Are you surprised? The exciting thing about adding jalapeños is you never know what you're going to get in the end. Sometimes I'm breathing fire and other times I resort to adding some crushed red chilies and cayenne pepper at the end. I remember one time I added four large jalapeños, seeds and all, to a pot of chili. It kept me warm all night long. You can use canned kidney beans to save on time but you might end up sleeping alone for the night.

3 cups dry kidney beans
2 lbs ground beef
1/2 tsp salt
2 onions, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
2 large jalapeños, chopped
4 cups mushrooms, sliced 
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups frozen corn
1 can brown beans
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
1 can tomato paste 
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp basil
1/4 cup chili powder
Salt, if needed
Sugar, if needed

1. Soak beans in water overnight. Drain and rinse. Cook in salted water until soft - about an hour, sometimes more.
2. Scramble fry the ground beef with a little salt. Drain fat.
3. Sauté  onion, peppers, mushrooms and garlic. I usually do the onion and peppers together, adding the garlic near the end because it doesn't take long to cook. Then I sauté the mushrooms by themselves. They don't behave properly with other vegetables. If you wish, you don't need to sauté any of the vegetables. They can go straight to the pot, but sautéing them enhances the flavour and boiled garlic isn't all that palatable, so <gasp> I would substitute garlic powder.
4. Add all ingredients to a very large pot or crock pot. I prefer a crock pot because I don't want to spend time and energy stirring the chili every ten minutes to keep it from burning on the bottom. You can let it simmer until it's heated through or leave it to simmer for hours. 
5. Make sure you check the flavour before you're done. You might need more spices or salt depending on the sodium content of your canned ingredients. You also might need to add some sugar if it tastes bitter. I use the canned beans with maple syrup, so sugar isn't necessary.
6. Whatever you do, don't throw uncooked beans in the pot with the ingredients thinking to save time. You will spend the rest of your life waiting for them to cook. The acid in the tomatoes prevents them from cooking. Ever.

Crispy Oatmeal Cookies

Now this is a perfect afternoon...

Okay, now before you all get jealous on me, the tea cup was empty, the cookies were still frozen and I was up to my eyeballs in chilli. I made so much I couldn't fit it in the pot. Actually, this happens every time I make chilli, so I should not be surprised. And I have yet to crack open that book.

These cookies were originally called Ranger Cookies. My mom remembers eating them when she was a wee lass. Not these particular ones, of course. I changed the ingredients considerably, so I thought they should have a new name. That, or the fact I've never seen a ranger or his cookies.

1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups crisp rice cereal
2 cups large flake oats
1 cup unsweetened coconut

1. Cream butter and sugars.
2. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
3. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. Get your hands in there and mix in the cereal, oatmeal and coconut.
5. Drop onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 F (180º C) for 8 minutes.

The original recipe called for raisins, which I detest in anything baked, but you may not have the same sentiments, so feel free to add some. I cut out some of the sugar from the original recipe. Feel free to experiment there. You could use all white or all whole wheat flour in this recipe. I wouldn't substitute quick oats. It does horrible things to recipes calling for large flake oats. Crisp rice cereal, AKA Rice Krispies. I was trying to be all 'brand name free'. Which leads me another rabbit trail. The No Name version makes for a ghastly batch of Rice Krispies Squares. Don't do it!

Southwestern Burritos

Several years ago I spent some time in Texas, where people love to eat! It's true, everything is big in Texas - big oil pumps, big cowboy hats, big belt buckles, big dinner plates and big toilet paper rolls (you think I'm kidding). I never ate so much food in my life. I was introduced to jalapeños, enchiladas, breakfast burritos - and Chili's Southwestern Egg Rolls. I have waited nine years to sink my teeth into one of those gems. Of course, now that I've discovered that Fargo has a Chili's and a real Mexican restaurant, I shall return. Just for the food. I also discovered, compliments of Google, that many people have tried copying Chili's Soutwestern Egg Rolls, so here is my version. I don't know why Chili's called them egg rolls because they use tortillas. This one looks more like a burrito and I don't deep fry them, which is sad because it's really good that way! But when you eat as many as I have in the last month or so, it's a good thing they're not coated in grease. I have a confession to make, I hid the last one yesterday so I could have it for lunch. Sorry honey! I'll make you some more, I promise.

2 large chicken breast fillets, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic

Olive oil 

1 cup red pepper, diced

1 jalapeño, diced

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 bag fresh spinach or 1 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained 

1 1/3 cups frozen corn 

1 cup black beans, cooked

1 tsp cumin 

1 tsp chilli powder 

Salt  

Cayenne pepper 

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese 

12 flour tortillas

Avocado Ranch Sauce

1 avocado, mashed

1/2 cup mayonnaise 

1/2 cup sour cream 

2 tbsp buttermilk 

3 tsp white vinegar 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp dried parsley 

1/2 tsp onion powder 

1/4 tsp dried dill weed 

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Cracked Pepper

1. Grill the chicken on a barbecue or indoor grill. I used the George Foreman grill since it is currently minus a billion outside and I draw the line at barbecuing past -20 C. 

2. Saute the red pepper, jalapeño, green onion and garlic. If you don't like the heat, remove the seeds from the jalapeño. Really, what's the point of using a jalapeño if you're going to throw away the best part? Just use a green pepper and save your hands from being on fire for a few hours.

3. Add spinach, corn, beans and seasonings. Omit the cayenne pepper if you can't take the heat. Continue cooking until the spinach is wilted and the mixture is hot. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese. (No one will know if you cut off a chunk of that Monterey Jack and eat it.) The last time I made these, they were for a bridal shower. I doubled the recipe and got stingy with the Monterey so I used half Monterey and half mozzarella (minus the one little chunk of Monterey).

4. Assemble burritos. You may end up with more or less, depending on how much filling you put in each one. At this point you can throw them on the grill if you plan on eating them right away or wrap them individually in foil to refrigerate or freeze for later. If you don't have a grill, you can just bake them in the oven, wrapped or unwrapped, depending on how crunchy you want them.

5. Serve with Avocado Ranch Dipping Sauce. You don't have to, but you should. You can cut these in half and use them as an appetizer or leave them whole and make it a meal.

6. To make the sauce, throw everything in a blender or food processor. If you're using something like Miracle Whip instead of mayonnaise (I personally thinking mayo is disgusting unless you disguise it in a recipe), just omit the vinegar.

Apple Pecan Salad

This is my new favourite salad. I will most likely keep eating it until I'm sick of it and then discover a new favourite salad. It's really yummy with avocado slices too. If you want to take it to work, I discovered that if you mix the apple slices with the dressing, they don't turn brown. Take the time to toast the nuts because it really enhances the flavour. I do it in a dry frying pan - and usually forget that I'm toasting them until I see the smoke rising...

Mixed salad greens
Sliced apples
Dried cranberries
Toasted pecans or walnuts
Crumbled feta

Poppyseed dressing

Chicken Pot Pie

Well, here you have it. The end result of making multiple chicken pot pies. Of course I'm not complaining that I have eaten chicken pot pie ten days out of the last month. It's such a forgiving recipe. You can switch it up, add, subtract, multiply and divide, gather your chicken from various sources, use up your leftovers, add some milk or cream, pile biscuits on top instead of a pastry crust, make individual pot pies in ramekins or accidentally drop half a bag of frozen peas in the pot. Incidentally, you might want to line the bottom of your oven with foil. (My oven is getting well acquainted with Easy Off at this very moment.) This recipe makes two pies - because you can never have too many chicken pot pies.

Olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 leek (white and light green part), chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 cups cremini mushrooms, sliced or quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp dried thyme leaves
1 tbsp dried savoury
Cracked pepper, to taste
6 cups chicken stock
2 medium potatoes, diced and cooked
4 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn

Pastry
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt 
1 cup cold butter
Cold water
1 beaten egg

1. Sauté onion, leek and carrot in oil for 10 minutes.
2. Add mushrooms and garlic and sauté another 5 minutes.
3. Stir in flour and seasonings.
4. Add chicken stock and simmer until thickened.
5. Add potatoes, chicken, peas and corn.
6. Divide into two greased deep dish pie plates.
7. Put flour, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse for a few seconds.
8. Transfer to a bowl; add cold water a spoonful at a time until dough forms.
9. Divide in half and roll each piece slightly larger than the top of the pies. Arrange on the pies and brush with egg.
10. Bake at 400 F (200º C) for 15 minutes and then at 350 F (180º C) for 45 minutes.

Notes

• Cremini mushrooms are the brown mushrooms that sit next to the bulk white mushrooms at Superstore. They are the same price, but I think they have more flavour.
• I could write for hours on how to make a successful pie crust without swearing, but just google it if you don't know. Or invite me to lunch at your place and I'll show you. I used a butter crust because I don't like the taste of a lard or shortening crust. I'll warn you, it's a little harder to work with. If you're intimidated by pie crust, just buy a couple of frozen pie crusts. I won't judge you.
• The filling is quite runny when the pie is fresh out of the oven but it firms up if you let it sit. It stays warm for hours!
• This could easily turn into a beef pot pie, using leftover roast beef, beef stock instead of chicken stock and omitting the thyme and savoury.

Chocolate Almond Cake

Now I know why Betty Crocker became famous for her cake mixes. 'Just add water' sounds like a great alternative to 'I think I'll hide in the the kitchen for half the day so I can have this cake for supper'...until of course you sit down and take that first bite...

Cake
2 1/2 cups ground almonds
1/2 cup butter
180g chocolate
1 cup sugar
5 eggs, separated
1/4 tsp salt

Glaze

250g chocolate
1/2 cup butter
5 tbsp water

Fresh berries
Shaved chocolate

1. Line the base of a round 9” (24cm) springform pan with parchment paper.
2. Toast almonds at 350 F (180°C) until pale golden, about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring about halfway through baking time.
3. Melt butter, chocolate and sugar in a double boiler. Cool to lukewarm.
4. Whisk egg yolks and add to chocolate.
5. Add almonds.
6. Beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.
7. Add to chocolate 1/3 at a time.  Don’t over mix.
8. Bake at 350 F (180°C) for 35 minutes. Keep the cake in the pan as it cools.
9. For the glaze, melt chocolate, butter and water in a double boiler. Let it cool to lukewarm
10. Remove the cake from the pan and put it on whatever you plan on serving the cake in. Pour the glaze over the cake, letting it run over the sides.
11. Decorate with fresh berries and shaved chocolate - or get creative and do something different. Recipes are made to be altered!

Notes

• The darker the chocolate, the richer the end result. Go dark! 
• Don't have a double boiler? Me neither. Just put water in a large pot and put a smaller pot on top. Whatever you do, don't attempt to melt chocolate in the microwave. Disaster awaits those who do...
• I read somewhere you should never mix water with chocolate because the chocolate will clump and never melt. To the person who made that statement, you don't know everything.

Maple Spiced Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

It's been 9 weeks and 2 days since November 20th. I've written pages and pages since then. I haven't posted any of them. Maybe one day I will share this journey with the world but for now it's just me. I no longer burst into tears without warning, the nightmares have ceased - mostly - and I've been cooking up a storm. It's a great January day for comfort food and so I created this. (I made some notes at the end if you're interested in the finer details.)

























4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1” cubes
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cumin
Salt
Cracked pepper

1/2 cup flour 
1 tsp cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 to 1 tsp chipotle chilli powder
Chicken pieces, bone in, skin removed

1/3 cup maple syrup
Cracked pepper
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried thyme leaves (or a handful of fresh)
1/3 cup chopped pecans

1. Arrange sweet potatoes, onion and garlic in a baking pan lined with parchment paper. 
2. Sprinkle brown sugar, cumin, salt and pepper.
3. Mix together flour, cumin, salt, onion powder, garlic powder and chipotle chilli powder.
4. Dredge chicken in seasoned flour and arrange over potatoes.
5. Bake uncovered at 350 F (180º C) for 2 hours, or until chicken and sweet potatoes are cooked.
6. In the last 30 minutes of baking time, baste chicken with maple syrup 3 times (every 10 minutes). In the last 10 minutes of cooking time, sprinkle cracked pepper, Parmesan cheese, thyme leaves and pecans.

Notes:

• I measured absolutely nothing. All the measurements above are an estimate of what I think I might have used. (I know I say this every time!)
• Chipotle chilli powder tastes nothing like your regular chilli powder so don't think about substituting because the flavours are not similar. This one's my new favourite discovery. It's got some heat, because as you all know, I like to live on the fiery side of things. Surprisingly enough, I didn't find the end result spicy. Next time, I'll probably increase this spice and add some cayenne pepper.
• Cumin - crazy expensive in the spice aisle; super cheap in the ethnic food aisle at Superstore. $7-8 dollars for a tiny spice bottle (40 grams); less than $4 for 350 grams. 
• Don't use boneless chicken because it will cook long before the potatoes and dry out. If you must use boneless chicken, boil the potatoes for 10 to 15 minutes before putting them in the pan.
• Coating the chicken with flour gives it a crispier finish, since the skin is removed. If you have declared war on all things flour-based, just sprinkle the chicken with the spices (the amounts used might be less??).
• Parmesan cheese. I buy a wedge of real Parmesan cheese at the deli, grate it up in a food processor or Magic Bullet and keep it in the freezer. I don't like the taste of the stuff that sits on the shelf. This is much nicer.
• I didn't use pecans when I made this recipe but I will try it next time.
• Aunt Jemima never laid eyes on a maple tree. Enough said.