Category: In the Kitchen

Quick Basic Breakfast Skillet

Many recipes for breakfast skillets take about an hour to complete, because they have you adding water to your skillet with the potatoes.  You have to wait a least 40 minutes for your potatoes to cook through.  In the morning, if I’m hungry and hankering for a good old fashioned breakfast skillet, I ain’t got time for that.  The secret?  Nuke the potatoes in the microwave for 6-10 minutes (depending on their size).  This also has the added benefit of being able to brown them, rather than steam them, in the skillet.

Ingredients:

  1. 4 slices thick bacon, cut into 1″ pieces
  2. 1 small onion, diced
  3. Optional:  Bell peppers, mushrooms, whatever veggies you have on hand/feel like using
  4. 1 stalk green onion, finely sliced
  5. 2 eggs
  6. 2-3 potatoes, nuked on HIGH until soft

Instructions:

  1. Begin my microwaving the potatoes.  Be sure to prick them all over with a fork so they don’t explode.  Start with 6 minutes, then check them.  If they need more time, flip them over and nuke them for another 6 minutes.
  2. While the potatoes are cooking, dice up your onions and veggies and set aside
  3. Heat a 10 or 12 inch cast iron (or stainless steel) skillet over medium-high heat and add bacon slices.  Fry bacon until nice and crispy; remove with a slotted spoon and reserve on a paper towel lined plate to drain excess grease.  Pour off all but 2-3 tablespoons(ish) bacon fat.  Remove skillet from heat.
  4. Dice up your nuked potatoes into 1″ chunks and add them to the pan.  Return skillet to medium heat and fry potatoes in bacon fat until they are golden brown all around.  Try not to move them around too much so they develop a nice crust.  Once browned, remove them from the skillet and set aside.
  5. Add the onions and other veggies to the skillet (along with a little more bacon fat, olive oil, or butter if needed) and sauté until soft and onions are translucent, 5-7 minutes.
  6. Meanwhile, while veggies are cooking, make eggs in a separate, non-stick pan.  For a breakfast skillet, I like my eggs over-easy and still runny in the middle, but do what you want.
  7. Final assembly:  In a medium bowl, add potatoes, followed by sautéed veggies, bacon and fried eggs.  Garnish with green onions and dig in.

 

Chili-Lime Mango Dressing

Sweet, Spicy, Tangy, Creamy – this dressing is a sure fire way to liven up any medley of mixed greens.  Add sliced oranges, dried cranberries, an avocado, some walnuts – whatever suits your fancy – and you’ve got yourself a unique and amazing salad.

Ingredients

  1.  5oz full fat plain Greek yogurt (2% will work fine also, just not “low fat”)
  2.  1 Egg
  3.  2 limes – zested and juiced
  4.  1 medium orange, zested (save the flesh for your salad)
  5.  1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  6.  1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (or to taste)
  7.  Pinch of Kosher Salt
  8. 1 Mango, peeled and finely chopped and divided into two piles
  9.  Approximately 1 cup vegetable oil.

Instructions

  1. Combine ingredients 1-7, plus one of the mango piles, into a food processor or cup that fits an immersion blender. Pulse everything a few times to combine.
  2. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the vegetable oil, starting with a few drops at a time, until a thick emulsion begins to form.  Alternatively, use the immersion blender dressing trick:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7kYiEB4ogYThis trick is really worth learning because in addition to making mayo, you can make aolis, dressings, spreads – whatever your imagination conjures up.
  3. Add the other mango pile to your dressing and refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow to thicken up.  Dressing will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Antipasto Salad

This salad is a meal in itself.  Variety is the key here:  Do what you like, but be sure to include lots of different veggies, greens and Italian deli meats.  Also, be sure to make the dressing from scratch – the dressing really livens up the salad, and since you’re having salad for dinner, you might as well go all out.  Store bought dressing in a salad like this one just won’t meet expectations.

Ingredients & Instructions

For the Dressing:

  1. 1/2 cup olive oil
  2. 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  3. Juice of one lemon
  4. 4-5 cloves garlic, minced or run through a microplane zester
  5. 1 tablespoon dried powdered oregano
  6. 1 teaspoon salt
  7. 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  8. 1 teaspoon sugar

Whisk all ingredients together and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  Dressing can be made 1 day in advance.  When left standing for a while, dressing will separate – not to worry, just re-whisk to incorporate right before serving.

For the Salad

  1. 10oz Romaine lettuce hearts
  2. Jar of marinated artichoke hearts (6-8oz), drained
  3. Jar of pepperoncini (6-8oz), drained
  4. Croutons, as desired
  5. Assortment of fresh veggies: Mushrooms, Asparagus, Broccoli, Tomatoes (steam certain veggies first and the shock in an ice-bath if necessary)
  6. 6oz assorted Italian Deli Meats:  Salami, Prosciutto, Capocollo, Calabrese
  7. Mozzarella or Provolone cheese

Combine ingredients 1-5 in a large tossing bowl.  Chiffonade Deli Meats and cheese into fine strips and add to bowl.  Toss well to combine.

Final Assembly:

Dress salad all at once or allow eaters to dress for themselves in individual serving bowls.

Southern Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad is one of those things that people apparently have really strong opinions about.  That should come as no surprise, considering the number of different versions there are out there; there’s chunky chicken salad, smooth chicken salad, Napa Almond chicken salad.  Some people like to add grapes, some people like to add Indian or Eastern spices; Trader Joe’s actually stocks three entirely different versions on its shelves.  All that being said, I prefer the version here – what I call “Southern Chicken Salad” – a bit tangy, nice and smooth but still with a bit of texture, not too much mayo.  The secret here is using a food processor to chop the chicken rather than doing it by hand.

Level:  Easy
Cost: Cheap (especially if you’re using leftovers)
Serves: A Lot
Times: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

  1. Chicken.  Use leftover chicken, one of those store bought roasted whole chickens, or whatever kind of chicken you like.  Sous Vide chicken breasts are exceptionally nice.
  2. 2 or so stalks celery, finely chopped
  3. 1 carrot, peeled, then peeled some more, with edible shavings finely chopped
  4. Juice of 1 lemon
  5. 2 TBSP minced shallot or sweet onion (optional)
  6. Creole seasoning (Old Bay works well), to taste (optional) – adds a little zing.
  7. Mayonnaise – to taste.

Method:

  1. Add chicken to food processor, work in batches if necessary.  Hit ‘pulse’ a bunch of times to chop the chicken, scraping down the sides between pulses as necessary.  You don’t want to turn it ‘on’ nor do you want to make chicken paste here.  You just want it finely chopped.
  2. Transfer chopped chicken to a large mixing bowl.  Add ingredients 2-6 and stir well to combine.
  3. Begin adding mayo, 1-2 tablespoons at a time, until desired consistency is achieved.

Serve with crackers, over a bed of lettuce, or in a sandwich.  Enjoy!