Salmon Chowder with Artichoke Heart and Asparagus Salad

Salmon Chowder: I love this this soup. It's a variation on the traditional clam chowder, and it makes a wonderful change. So so so good with some crispy sourdough bread. I pretty much followed this recipe except that I used 1 6.5 oz can of red salmon, and 4oz smoked salmon. Fresh salmon is obviously good as well, but this is cheaper, and the taste of the smoked salmon makes it incrediballs!  I swear, you won't regret this shit like you did that questionable one night stand with the lazy eyed dude who asked you to 'be quiet so you don't wake his hamster.'

Artichoke Heart and Asparagus Salad: Got this recipe from a Tapas book, and while sometimes simpler is better, I found it slightly lacking in flavor so added some fresh Thyme and some chopped candied walnuts. Much better.

Meg's Chicken Enchiladas with Meg's Refried Beans and Corn and Roasted Poblano Salad

Chicken Enchiladas: Anyone who knows me, knows I've been making these for years and has most likely had them at some point in time. If you haven't, well now you can make them yourself. I started doing it in college and have since elaborated on and hopefully perfected the recipe. This is the first time I've actually written it down. It may not be exactly accurate to what I always do, but my best advice is to just taste as you go along. This makes about 20 enchiladas, so if you want less, half it, but they reheat well to eat all week if you can't be assed to cook again. 

Here's the recipe:

3 lbs chicken breast (you can mix some thighs in as well-- the dark meat helps keep it moist) 

apprx 32 oz of salsa verde

2-3 jalapenos

1 cup fresh cilantro

1/3 cup ranch dressing

1/3 cup sour cream

1 onion (thinly sliced)

2-3 garlic cloves

20 tortillas

1 TBS Chipotle chile powder

1 TBS cumin

1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp all spice

3-4  TBS tomato paste

1 TBS honey

1 TBS hot sauce (we used this crazy ghost pepper hot sauce this time-- which was delicious-- and very spicy) 

4-6 cups grated cheddar

Salt and pepper to taste.

1.) Put chicken in pot of water with a dash of salt, a few garlic cloves, and a couple slices of the onion. Bring to a slow boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 20 minutes or until chicken is just barely cooked. Don't cook too long or it will get dried out. Remove chicken to cool on plate. Reserve the water with the garlic and onions for later.

2.) In a blender or food processor, blend salsa verde, jalapenos, cilantro, ranch and sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3.) Shred chicken with your fingers or a fork, if it's too hot.

4.) Heat oil in a skillet and add the rest of the onion. Cook until soft. 2-4 minutes

5.) Add chicken, tomato paste, honey, and all of the spices, along with all the garlic and some of the water (1/2 cup?) reserved from the pot (this is to keep the chicken from drying out-- add more water if needed-- the chicken should not be too saucy either.) Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for only a few minutes. turn off heat.

6.) Put a little bit of olive oil in large skillet. Heat to medium high and cook corn tortillas (get the oil on both sides-- just enough to coat lightly-- you should not be frying them in oil), until they are slightly golden. This will keep the tortillas from breaking when you dip them in the sauce and roll them. 

7.) Dip cooked tortillas in green sauce to coat. Roll with chicken and a little cheese (they should be fairly full), and place in a large baking dish (You will probably need at least two of these for all the enchiladas.)

8.) Top with any remaining sauce and cheese. 

9.) Cook in preheated 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until cheese starts to brown on top.

Megan's Beans: I make several versions of my special beans and each of them is slightly different (black beans, baked beans, refried beans), but they are all spicy and have similar flavor profiles. This is my recipe for refried beans. 

Ingredients:

2  40oz cans + 1 16oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed (you can start with dried beans if you want-- I can just never see the point when beans come in cans already cooked. Who wants have those extra hours of preparation? Not I.)

4-6 oz pancetta, chopped

2 jalapenos, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp fennel seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

3/4 cup milk or broth (you can always use some of the broth leftover from cooking the chicken, if you're doing these along with the enchiladas)

1-2 tsp pumpkin spice (to taste)

1/3 cup sour cream

1 TBS liquid smoke

1 TBS hot sauce

1/4 cup BBQ sauce (optional)

Directions:

1.) Heat oil in large deep skillet or wok. Add pancetta. Cook for about 2 minutes until it starts to darken but does not get crispy.

2.) Add jalapeno, garlic, cumin seeds and fennel seeds. Cook until seeds begin to pop: 1-2 minutes

3.) Add beans, milk or broth (or water), pumkin spice, hot sauce, BBQ sauce and liquid smoke. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes, while smashing beans with potato masher (I like to leave them fairly lumpy-- so they're half mashed, half not). Add more water or milk if needed when the beans get too thick or dry. 

4.) Add sour cream. Mix in well. Turn off heat. Serve. 

Again, if you're pussies and can't handle spice, then leave out some of the jalapenos and definitely don't go putting ghost pepper sauce into anything. Taste everything and add more salt or spices as you go. I tend to do these recipes slightly different every time, so I can't say that these measurements are perfect. Also, neither of these recipes are particularly low in fat, with all the sour cream and cheese in them-- I say: Who the fuck cares! As long as you're eating natural home cooked food, it's good in my book.

Corn and Tomato Salad with Thyme and Roasted Poblanos:

The only things I changed in this recipe were that I used 3 pasillas instead of 2 poblanos-- (they are very similar and in my opinion, interchangeable). I also added a juice from one lime and a tsp of cumin for flavor (otherwise there's basically no dressing on the salad, which I found bland). Also, there's obviously two other recipes on this page. I haven't tried either, but have found that pretty much everything from this book is delicious. If you try them, let me know. 

Eat up my cheesy, corny, farty fatsos!

Chinese Boneless Pork Ribs with Strawberry BBQ Sauce, Indian Spiced Winter Squash, Gingery Creamed Kale and Cabbage

Okay, so the ribs were actually supposed be baby back ribs, and the BBQ sauce was supposed to be Guava not Strawberry, but the boneless ribs were on sale and I couldn't find any guava paste. If you plan ahead, you can order it online..... but surprise surprise, I did not plan ahead and instead I got all experimental and substituted about 4 TBS of seedless strawberry jam for the guava paste. I didn't expect it to turn out as well as it did. Who would've thought strawberries can make good BBQ sauce-- but it was f-ing delicious. Also, because these were boneless ribs, I didn't follow the cooking directions on the recipe below. Instead, I put the ribs in a crock pot with a chopped onion, the spices and the sherry. I cooked them on low for about 5-6 hours. Then I followed the directions for the BBQ sauce: substituting the 4 TBS strawberry jam for the guava paste, and also adding 1 TBS molasses and 1 tsp spicy tamarind dipping sauce. I drained most of the liquid from the crock pot, added the BBQ sauce, and cooked the meat for another hour. So you can follow my recipe or the one below-- which I'm sure is good as well.

Next up: Gingery Creamed Kale and Cabbage. I love this recipe. No adjustments needed. Unless you want to add a few small red chiles for spice like I did. ;-)

Mashed Winter Squash with Indian Spices. This is my new favorite recipe for butternut squash. It's so fucking good I wanted to put my whole face in it and eat like "momma's little piggy piggy." And it's easy to boot! The only thing I changed was I added 3/4 tsp of Garam Masala to pump up the Indian spices. Seriously so good. Better than mashed potatoes. 

Eat up little piggies!

Tomato Buttermilk Soup with Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwiches

Tomato Buttermilk Soup: The soup is super refreshing served cold and does not require cooking-- though I ended up cooking mine for a bit because I opted not to put the tomato puree through a sieve and discard the liquid. It just seemed like way too much waste. As a result, it doubled the amount of tomato puree but made it a lot thinner. So I also doubled the buttermilk, and cooked it with some tomato paste and corn starch to thicken it up. I ended up adding another half cup of buttermilk afterward to make it creamier. I also added two roasted serranos for spice (I dry roasted them on the stove), and about eight cloves of roasted garlic (because I fucking love roasted garlic). I pureed them all together with the tomatoes. Finally, I added about a teaspoon of smoked paprika to the soup, to give it a smoky flavor, complementing the roasted garlic and serranos. All my tomatoes and herbs were fresh and organic from the farmers' market. The end result was delicious. Here's the original recipe:

Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwiches: This is my own invention. I used to make Chicken Cordon Bleu all the time, but this is easier, without having to roll the damn things up, which always proves tricky. Here's my recipe, but keep in mind I didn't measure so these are all guesstimates (also, this made sandwiches for all week, so if you want less, half it):

6 Chicken Breasts, sliced in half to make 12 thin breast filets
A loaf of bread (I used marbled rye from the farmers' market which was fabulous)
2 packages sliced Swiss cheese (or guyere)
Thinly sliced ham (or prosciutto if you don't mind spending a little more money)
10 oz baby spinach
Basil pesto to spread on bread
3 TBS fresh chopped rosemary
2 cups panko bread crumbs (I think)
1 cup flour (I think)
3/4 cup buttermilk (I think)
2 eggs
Oil for frying
Salt
Pepper

1.) Soak thinly sliced breasts in buttermilk, with a pinch of pepper and salt, for about a half hour.
2.) Mix bread crumbs, flour, rosemary, and more salt and pepper in medium bowl.
3.) Beat eggs and stir in to buttermilk and chicken.
4.) Heat oil to moderately high heat in skillet.
5.) Dredge chicken breasts in flour/breadcrumb/rosemary mixture to coat.
6.) Fry chicken in hot oil, 6-8 minutes per side or until deep golden brown.
7.) Remove chicken and dry on paper towel.
8.) Spread pesto on bread (and butter if you want), layer with ham and swiss, then toast in toaster oven or regular oven until cheese is melted and bread is crispy.
9.) Put chicken on top of bread, top with spinach, and second slice of bread (hell, you know how to make a sandwich right?)
tip: dip grilled sandwich in tomato soup. great combo.