Mexicano!! Enjoy some Enchiladas!

Greetings to all my foodie friends!! Here's the latest instalment of my project. Today I thought I'd give some mexican food a go, but nothing like that Tex-Mex stuff. I made chicken and steak enchiladas this time around. I must say, they turned out FANTASTIC!! I will definitely be making these again, and I'll definitely experiment with other fillings such as beans or maybe try some seafood enchiladas. The recipe for the one I made today is a variation of a recipe I found on the website www.mexicanfoodrecipes.org.

6 large tortillas (original recipe called for 12 corn tortillas)
2 cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts (recipe calls for 3), shredded
1 small to medium sized stead (I used it as there was leftovers instead of the 3rd chicken breast)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 chopped fresh cilantro (I omitted this as I didn't have any and forgot to purchase some)
2 cups of chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 med onion, minced (recipe calls for 3/4 cup)
12 oz. shredded cheddar cheese ( I eyeballed it)
1/3 cup chopped green chilies (recipes calls for 4 oz)
1/4 cup butter (salted)
1/4 cup all purpose flours

Please note: If using the corn tortillas, they will need to be fried for 5 seconds per side in 2 tbsp of vegetable oil until pliable, drained on paper towel and kept warm.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Combine shredded chicken, steak, 10 oz of cheese and minced onions and divide between the tortillas. Roll/wrap tortillas and place in baking dish seam side down. Set aside.
Melt butter in pan over medium heat, then add flour. Whisk until boiling and add chicken broth. Stir continously. Add chilies and sour cream. Stir continuously, do not allow to boil. Once thoroughly heated through, pour mixture over enchiladas and bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove, top with remaining cheese and green onions and bake for an additional 5 minutes.  If so desired, sprinkle with cilantro. Serve with a smile and a Mojito.

I throughly enjoyed this meal. It's fairly easy to make, and absolutely delish!! It's a little heavy, so I think the next time I make it I'll have to wait for a cooler day, or use this as a winter meal. But I'd have to say... SUCCESS!!

Thanks for reading, and happy cooking!

Going for Ghana

Happy Sunday to my foodie friends!
I hope everyone had a lovely week filled with lots of good food! This week I didn't have a lot of time to make a big elaborate meal so I just made a simple snack. I was provided with the suggestion to make "Kelewele": a Ghanian food which is essentially deep fried plantains. I got the recipe from www.congocookbook.com. It's fairly simple in terms of seasoning and the cooking process is also easy.

4-6 ripe plantains cut into bite sized pieces (the recipe calls for cubed)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp water
enough vegetable oil for deep frying the plantains.
I also added in 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Grind all the spices together and mix with water. Toss plantains in seasoning mix to coat and let sit 10-20 minutes. While letting plantains sit, heat oil in deep skillet to 350C. ( I didn't have a thermometer, so I just kept putting in a plantain piece until it would start to fry). Fry plantains until golden brown, turning once. Place fried plantain pieces on a dish with paper towel to absorb excess oil and keep warm in oven while frying the rest. Serve immediately.

I was initially excited to make this recipe as I've had plantains in the past done in a similar fashion, but more as medallions instead of cube or pieces. My previous experience with plantains was an excellent one. Unfortunately, I found today's experience somewhat disappointing. There wasn't much flavour, and the texture wasn't the greatest. I think if I were to make these again, I'd cut the plantains into medallions, increase the seasoning at LEAST twofold, and (although not authentic at this point) create a dip for the medallions, maybe something with lobster... yummy!

I would like some feedback, if anyone has tried them, or if there are any suggestions on how I could make this better, please let me know!

Thanks for reading, and happy cooking!

Southern Cookin' Weekend

Hello to my fellow foodies!!

Well, I must say, I feel that my this weekend was a success! Saturday night I made Shrimp and Okra Gumbo with Cornbread, and today I made Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya. Unfortunately, I'm not 100% certain on their authenticity as I have never ventured to the southern USA and cannot compare. I also was not able to find andouille sausage for the Jambalaya, so I was stuck using italian sausage . That being said, after my cooking weekend I have a strong desire to experience some authentic Southern cooking. Haha, if I could travel the world just to experience different foods, I definitely would. Anyways, onto the recipe portion of today's post!

Shrimp and Okra Gumbo.
Ingredients:
Roux - 4 oz butter
            3/4 cup flour (for those gluten free like myself, I used 1/2 cup rice flour and 5 tbsp cornstarch)
          
1 cup chopped onion
1 stalk chopped celery
1 green pepper
1/2 cup green onion (about 4 green onions)
1 can diced tomatoes, juices partially drained
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 & 1/4 lbs okra
5 cups chicken broth
1 lb shrimp (uncooked, peeled and deveined)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne (more if  you like lots of heat)
3 bay leaves

In a stock pot, heat the butter over medium heat until melted, add the flour to make the roux (flour and cornstarch if gluten free). Stir until it turns a dark reddish brown colour (deep caramel if doing gluten free version). Reduce heat to med-low and add the onions, celery, green pepper and green onion. Sautee until soft. Add okra (chopped), chicken broth, tomatoes, seasonings and garlic. Simmer for 20 minutes, then add shrimp. Allow to simmer another 10 minutes. Serve over rice.

I made the gluten free version as I am a gluten intolerant individual, and I REALLY liked how this meal turned out. I had vowed that I wasn't going to have a cheater taste and wait for the final product, but I failed. About 5 minutes from the end I just HAD to taste it to see if I was happy with it, and as it turned out I didn't change a thing! I think I would have added maybe a bit more spice for myself, but since my other half doesn't handle the spice so well I tamed it down a bit.

Now onto the cornbread. This is strictly a gluten free recipe. For a non-gluten free recipe, I believe you can just change the flour mixture to just straight up all purpose flour with the same proportions. This is a recipe that I found online at http://glutenfreegirl.com/gluten-free-cornbread/ . I have made a couple of changes,

1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup rice flour ( I used brown rice flour, but you can swap in sweet rice flour or maybe even corn flour)
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 cup butter (original recipe calls for shortening and only shortening, butter works just fine)
1 cup milk (plain almond or soy milk will make a good substitute)
2 large eggs (equivalent in egg replacer can likely be used, just might need more moisture if it's powdered)
1 cup yellow cornmeal

Preheat oven to 425 F. Mix all dry ingredients (except cornmeal). Cut in butter. Combine eggs and milk and then add to dry mixture. Once combined, add cornmeal and mix until just all cornmeal is mixed in. Grease a 9x9x2 pie dish and sprinkle with cornmeal. Pour cornbread mixture into dish and smooth out. Bake for 20-25 minutes, basically until the centre is cooked and a knife comes out clean.

I really liked the corn bread. Tasted just like normal corn bread to me, and my other half loved it as well.

Now onto the Jambalaya. I think it turned out PERFECTLY!!! I wouldn't change a thing. Well, that's a lie. If I could've found some andouille sausage, then I would've used that instead of the italian sausage that I was stuck with. But despite that, it was AMAZING! Here's the recipe.

3 tbsp butter
1 stalk celery chopped
1 small onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
4-5 fresh tomatoes, chopped seeds left in
3-4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 bay leaf
1 can tomato paste
1-2 tbsp Cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
3 italian sausages (I used mild)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup uncooked white rice

Sautee veggies in butter over med-low heat until soft. Add in tomatoes, broth, and all seasonings. Bring to a boil and then add rice. Reduce heat to low and simmer (covered). Cook chicken and sausage in separate pan/pot/skillet, whatever you choose. Once cooked through, add to Jambalaya and simmer for approx. 20-30 minutes, basically until rice is done.

Please note: I don't fully come up with these recipes myself. I find a few that I find interesting, combine them, and then usually change the spice proportions to what I like, or alter the ingredients (canned vs raw tomatoes for example) depending on what I have on hand. Please feel free to add, change, alter or do whatever you may please! I would also love some feedback and some suggestions on how I can improve my meals!! It's just a fun project for me, but I am always wanting to better myself.

Thanks for reading!!! I hope you enjoy these meals :) Photos will be posted soon!

International Cuisine Project

Hello All!!!

I have decided that every week I'm going to cook 1 international meal... for the next year. I have so far made a Thai meal (pad thai and fresh spring rolls) and an Indian meal (butter chicken and pappadums). This week will be something Southern (thinking Louisiana...) either shrimp jambalaya or gumbo. What I need from all of you is if you're willing, able, and have any recipes, or names of meals from different parts of the world is for you to please share this information with me. I know some of you are very well travelled, so you MUST have the names or some delicious meal from somewhere :) I'd greatly appreciate this, and I plan on creating a recipe book that contains all the recipes I make including any alterations I make to them. If you help me with this project, I would be more than willing to forward you a copy of my recipe book for your cooking pleasures. I think this will be an incredibly fun project, and the more help that I can get, the better it will be! Can you imagine? over 50 different recipes from all over the world!! And the more recipes that I receive, I will likely increase this experiment to 2 meals/week instead of just one. Or I might try combining different meals into something completely new!! Who knows, the sky's the limit!

Thanks a million everybody!! 

PS, if anyone has a recipe for butter chicken sauce from scratch, I'd greatly appreciate it!!