Fajitas, French-style bread with dipping oil and Sweet Corn Soup

First up, a delicious fajita combo that makes for a quick and easy dinner.  Slice up some steak (or chicken if you'd rather), onions and green peppers with a splash of oil, salt, peppers, chili powder, paprika, bouillon, onion powder, minced garlic, cayenne pepper and cumin.  Load into a small tortilla with avocado slices and sour cream (I may have overdone it a little...), and you've got yourself a good dinner.

Next up, a french-style bread and a couple ideas for dipping sauces.  For the dough, start off by combining 3C warm water, 2C bread flour, 2C whole wheat flour, 2T honey and 2.25T activated yeast into a well-mixed soup, and let rise for about an hour.  Mix in about 2.5C bread flour, 1C whole wheat flour and 4t salt, then kneed well.  Let rise another hour, then form into loaves.  To make the loaves (I made 3 loaves out of this recipe that each can serve 2-4 people) stretch the dough into a square, roll tightly and pinch the seams.  Let rise another 30 minutes to an hour, then slash the loaf and bake at 425 for 10 minutes and then turn the oven down to 375 for another 35 minutes or until nicely browned.  Wonderful right out of the oven, especially dipped in olive oil with Balsamic vinegar, Parmesan cheese, fresh herbs or garlic.

Finally, a tasty sweet corn soup.  Boil 4C milk, 4C chicken stock, 6-12 ears of fresh sweet corn with the kernels cut off, 2t salt, 1t sugar half an onion, 5T butter, 1T flour, pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper, cardamom and salt in a stockpot for about an hour, then puree with an immersion blender until the desired consistency.

Chicken Cashew Lettuce Wraps, Roasted Chicken Risotto with Caramelized Onions, Orange-scented Olive Oil Cake, and Two Types of Dinner Rolls

So, last Monday I moved to a new apartment in downtown Chicago for my job, which starts June 7th. As a result, I have had a LOT of free time to cook! Therefore, this post may get a little lengthy, but eh, deal with it.

First off, we have a Mu Shu-type chicken lettuce wrap. To start off, cook a couple sliced chicken breasts lightly seasoned with pepper in canola oil until they begin to brown. Then, add 2+ cloves of garlic, a little cayenne pepper and grated (or dried, as it was all I had) ginger to taste and whatever vegetables you want to add and sauté for a minute or so (I used red bell pepper, but pretty much anything would work; water chestnuts would be great). Then, add 3T honey and 3T low-sodium soy sauce and continue to cook until the chicken is well done and the veggies are softened. Serve in large lettuce leaves, and drizzle some sauce from the pan over the top for added bonus. This was really good and came together in about 15 minutes, so would be great for a busy evening. A little messy to eat, but that just added to the fun!

Next, we have a roasted chicken with Risotto and caramelized onions. This ended up to be absolutely delicious, and made 5-6 servings. I started off with a rotisserie chicken, which I picked the meat off of and saved, then made a stock from the carcass (sauté onions and carrots in olive oil, then add carcass, water, garlic, thyme, parsley, basil, salt, pepper and simmer for 2 hours, strain, refrigerate and skim). Then, to make the dish, heat 2T olive oil in a pan and caramelize an onion or two, then set aside in a dish with 1/4C balsamic vinegar. Heat 2T more olive oil in a pan, stir in 1.5C uncooked rice and stir well for 2 minutes, then add 1/2C dry white wine. Then, reduce heat and add 7C chicken broth one cup at a time (waiting until it is absorbed to add more). Once all the broth is absorbed, add the onion and vinegar mixture, 2C of the roasted chicken (chopped), and 2T butter. Looks a little ugly, but is absolutely delicious.

Next up is the orange-scented olive oil cake. This didn't turn out quite as well as I had expected, but was quite good nonetheless. To start, you basically candy some oranges after making them not quite as pungent. To do do, quarter 2 oranges and add to a pot of boiling water for a couple minutes. Discard the water and repeat. Then, add the orange quarters, 4C water and 1C sugar to a saucepan and boil until the orange rinds can easily be pierced with a fork. Discard the syrup, and food-process the orange quarters to form a chunky puree. Then, add to the food processor 2.5C flour, 2t baking powder, 1t baking soda, 1.3C sugar, 1t vanilla and 4 eggs and process until well incorporated. Then add 6T olive oil and process more until combined. Pour into 9''-10'' buttered and pam'd pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Make sure the center is done; that seemed to be the part that bakes slowest for me. When it comes out, drizzle with a reduced syrup made from 1/4C orange juice and 1/4C sugar that have been simmered for a couple minutes. If you'd like, sprinkle with coarse sea salt to finish. Flavors meld well, and none of them are overpowering to the rest. A good dense cake that is not too sweet either. The liquid around the base of the second picture is the glaze.

Finally, I made 2 different types of dinner rolls to have on hand in the freezer so I could have fresh rolls in short order.

First, sweet dinner rolls (the ones of the left). To make the dough, combine 1/2C warm water, 1/2C warm milk, 1 egg, 1/3C softened butter, 1/3C sugar, 1t salt, 3.75C flour and 1.5t activated yeast and knead until kneaded. Then, divide dough in half and press each into a ~12 inch circle. Then, cut each into 8 wedges and roll up from large end to small end. I rolled a small pat of butter inside to make them extra-tasty. Then, let rise for an hour and either bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes or freeze for later baking. When freezing rolls, place them on a pan or place and freeze individually, then place together into a bag once frozen for storage. These come out of the oven (after being frozen) soft and buttery, and are very tasty.

Next, the honey wheat sandwich rolls. To make, combine 1.25C warm milk, 1 egg, 2T softened butter, 1/4C honey, 2/4t salt, 2.75C bread flour, 1C whole wheat flour and 1.25t activated yeast and knead until kneaded. Form into rolls sized appropriately for what you want to do with them (sandwiches, dinner rolls, etc), let rise for an hour and either bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes or freeze as described above. These come out of the oven (after being frozen) tasting like your standard fresh homemade whole-wheat bread. Certainly more healthy than the previous recipe, and I think would be awesome for a cold-cut sandwich.

French Bread and Awesome Scrambled Eggs

Today I've got a basic french bread recipe that is pretty easy to make and adds some class to a meal, as well as my version of scrambled eggs that taste pretty awesome.

First, the French bread. To make the dough, combine 3C all-purpose flour, 2.5t yeast, 3/4t salt and 1C warm water. mix and kneed for about 10 minutes, then let rise for an hour or two. Then, roll or stretch out into a largish rectangle, and roll up from a wide end. Moisten the edge with water to seal it, taper the edges and place onto a lightly cornmeal'd pan. If you want a lightly brown and glossy top like in my picture, brush lightly beaten egg whites on top. Then, cut 3-4 about 1cm deep slices into the top of the bread and bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top. This is best right out of the oven and, once sliced into, will begin to become stale rather quickly. I made a dipping sauce for this out of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red pepper, black pepper, oregano, rosemary, basil, parsley, garlic powder and minced garlic, and it was fantastic. Based on http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/French-Bread/Detail.aspx

Next, my version of scrambled eggs. This is largely personal preference, but I make them by combining 3 eggs, about 1.5t each of basil, oregano and thyme, and about 1.5T Parmesan. Whisk well, then cook on high heat. When the eggs are beginning to become differentiated, take the pan off the heat for about 15 seconds while still stirring. This makes them fluffier for some reason. Then, continue cooking until they are 97% done and put them on a plate; they will finish with their internal heat.