Caribbean Grilled Chicken Thighs

I started a new cookbook!  This is another Southern Living one my mother in law sent for my birthday, The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook.  I have pretty much liked everything I've made out of these books.  Those southern people really know what they're talking about.  We had this tonight, and it was soooo good.  It is supposed to marinate for 8 hours, but due to crazy schedules being what they are, mine marinated for 21 hours...

Caribbean Grilled Chicken Thighs
8 large chicken thighs, skinned
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tbsp dark brown sugar (I only had light so that's what I used)
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp dried crushed red pepper flakes (I knew this would be marinating an extra long time, so I only used 1/2 tsp, of the flakes my mom brought me from the Bahamas)
1 garlic clove, minced
Lime wedges and parsley sprigs for garnish, optional (and I opted to not)

Place chicken in an 11x7 baking dish.  Combine next 7 ingredients in a small bowl, then pour over chicken in dish.  Cover and refrigerate 8 hours, turning occasionally.

Drain chicken, reserving marinade.  Place marinade in a small saucepan and bring to a boil (I was nervous about this being "food safe" but Steve Page said it was fine...).  Grill chicken over medium coals 8 minutes on each side or until done, basting often with marinade.  Garnish if desired with lime wedges and parsley sprigs.


You could put this under the broiler, or use a Foreman grill if you have one.  But Steve felt like grillin', so we grilled.  We ate it on the picnic table.  Well, on plates on the picnic table.  Everyone loved the chicken.  It was moist and so delicious.  Even if you don't normally prefer chicken thighs, they do cook nicely on the grill because they are more fatty and don't dry out as quickly (in my experience).  This is another one we will definitely have again.  It would be good with pasta or potato salad, but we had ours with Pasta with Garlic Oil, which you can find as a previous post.  Yummy summer-time meal.

Blueberry Pecan Cobbler

I couldn't wait to make this when I saw the recipe.  I love pecans, and I love pie crust.  But this type of thing I cannot make for us at home, because of my children not liking berries and my husband not liking nuts.  So I made it for home fellowship.  It's from the Southern Living cookbook I'm plowing through.

Blueberry Pecan Cobbler
4 pints (which equals 8 cups--I googled it) fresh or frozen blueberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 (15 oz) pkg refrigerated pie crusts (or two of your own)
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Vanilla ice cream for serving (I used whipped cream instead)

Bring first 7 ingredients to a boil in a large saucepan (I had to use my Dutch oven sized one) over medium heat, stirring until sugar melts.  Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Spoon half of blueberry mixture into a lightly greased 8x8 inch pan.

Roll 1 pie crust to 1/8" thickness (I didn't do this, and I didn't measure to see if it already was...it just seemed like it would be fine without any extra rolling, and I was right) on a lightly floured surface; cut into an 8-inch square.  Place over blueberry mixture; sprinkle with pecans.

Bake at 475 for 10 minutes.

Spoon remaining blueberry mixture over baked crust.  Roll remaining pie crust to 1/8" thickness (if you want), and cut into 1" strips.  Arrange in lattice design (I had to look up how to do it because I forgot) over blueberry mixture.  Bake at 475 for 10 minutes or until golden.  Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

This says 4 servings, but they are kidding.  If you were serving it as a meal, maybe, but not as a dessert.

We warmed this up during the last few minutes of study, and it was perfect when I started serving.  It tasted quite good.  I think I would use more nuts, though.  I really like them.  And someone said, "oh, I couldn't even tell there were nuts in there."  So this tells me that it needs more.  Very yummy.  We'll definitely have it again.

South-of-the-Border Chicken Soup

If I want to make chicken soup in July, I just will (see an earlier post for the method behind my madness).  When I made Slow Cooker Chicken Soft Tacos, I saved the broth to use later, and this is the recipe I saved it to use in.  It sounded like it would be perfect.  From $5 Dinner Mom.

South-of-the-Border Chicken Soup
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 pound chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups hot water
1/4 cup lime juice
1 cup frozen corn kernels, or 1 (15 oz) can corn, drained
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup brown rice (I have fallen for this before and waited what seemed like hours for dinner to be done...I used white rice)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 avocado, seeded and diced (omitted, and interestingly, one of the few things my husband doesn't like)
Sour cream for serving (omitted because I don't like it)

In a Dutch oven, warm the oil over medium high heat.  Add the chicken, onion, and garlic powder and saute for 7-9 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Stir in the broth, hot water, and lime juice.  Add the corn, beans, and rice.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 45-50 minutes or until rice is tender. 

Everybody liked this!  We had it with tortilla chips on the side.  This wasn't spicy at all, and if not for the black beans I think it would have been just like regular chicken soup.  But the lime juice did add something to it, and the peppery broth from last week helped, too.  I'll keep this one, since it can be a rare thing to find something that everybody eats without complaining...Leftovers are going to Grampie, so it does make plenty...I think he won't notice that it's south-of-the-border-ish, just that it's chicken and rice soup.

Peach-Blueberry Crumble

Last night my mom's oldest brother and his wife were here for dinner.  They live in Utah, and we hardly ever see them...for my two youngest children, it was their first time meeting them.  We had a very nice dinner, and then we had this for dessert.  In my mind I was going to use our own blueberries, but of course they aren't ready to pick yet.  I do have some that are still frozen, but I had to buy some fresh ones for the dinner recipe anyway, so I bought a few more for this dessert.  From $5 Dinner Mom.

Peach-Blueberry Crumble
1 pint blueberries
4 peaches, pitted and diced (it didn't say to peel them, so I didn't...you couldn't tell once you were eating it so I 'm glad I left the peel on...less work, and I think the peaches would have disintegrated if I'd tried to peel them because they were very ripe...)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp flour
Topping:
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2" chunks

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 8x8 glass baking dish with cooking spray (I used a metal pan and it was fine).  Gently toss the blueberries, diced peaches, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour in the prepared baking dish.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the topping ingredients, cutting in butter with pastry blender or two forks., until mixture is crumbly.  Pour topping over the fruit mixture.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.  Serve warm with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream.

This came out perfect!  I made it ahead of time, in the afternoon, then when we sat down to eat dinner, I put it back in the oven at 200 to warm up. By the time we were ready to eat, it was nice and warm.  It tasted very good.  Everyone liked it, except the two younger children, who just had ice cream. 

Black Bean and Rice Bake with "Pina de Gallo"

Once in Haiti I had a sauce on the beans and rice with several ingredients I could not (and did not try to) identify, but it was tasty.  When I saw this recipe, it reminded me of that dish, so I thought I would try it.  Also, it's meatless, so it counts for the meatless meal that I try to do every week (but do not always do because I really like meat...).  I think the "Pina" part of the name of the fruity salsa is supposed to be a play on the "pico de gallo" you often see in Mexican recipes.  From $5 Dinner Mom.

Black Bean and Rice Bake with "Pina de Gallo"
3 cups cooked black beans (or 2 15 oz cans, rinsed and drained)
1 1/4 cups brown rice
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups hot water
2 garlic cloves, crushed
salt & pepper to taste
Pina de Gallo:
2 cups fresh pineapple, cut into bite-size pieces
1 plum tomato, seeded and diced
1 small red onion, finely chopped
3 sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 9x13 glass baking dish with cooking spray.  To the prepared dish, add the beans, rice, broth, and hot water (I put the 2 cups of water and the 1 cup of chicken broth in a saucepan, brought it to a boil, then added it to the pan...that way I knew the rice would be done when she said it would be...).  Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, toss together the pineapple, tomato, onion, cilantro, cumin, and salt and pepper (I put all of this in my Tupperware choppy thing and chopped it all up until it was the consistency I wanted).

Serve the beans and rice with the "Pina de Gallo" over the top.

The rice smelled great while it was cooking (I think it was the garlic).  The salsa was yummy too.  The kids did not like this at all.  Even Sam, who likes everything.  Nathan & Emma were complaining about it, and Sam chimed in with "No comment."  This was surprising coming from him.  Steve and I both thought it was good, although it didn't really feel like a complete meal (probably because we are used to meat...??).  I think some bread and butter would have been a good addition.  In Haiti we would have had this with a folded tortilla or two...anyway it was good but we won't have it again...gotta give the people what they want.

Slow Cooker Chicken Soft Tacos

I worked Thursday night, came home Friday morning, threw all this in the crock pot, went to sleep for 3.5 hours, woke up and went to Taco Bell with some friends (woot!), came home and laid down...but didn't sleep!  Then Barbie came over and we made the brownie recipe I just posted, then we ate these tacos.  They basically made themselves, which is a huge plus because I was in quite a sleep deprived state.  Very easy meal.  From $5 Dinner Mom.  I doubled the recipe because I knew Barbie would be here...

Slow Cooker Chicken Soft Tacos
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound)
1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 bag (12 oz) frozen pepper and onion blend (I did not double this, because we have no great love for peppers here)
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt & pepper to taste
8 tortillas
1/2 cup shredded cheese
shredded iceberg lettuce
Sour cream

Add chicken breasts, tomatoes, peppers and onion, cumin, and salt and pepper to slow cooker.  Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

Drain liquid from crock pot (I used a soup spoon and spooned it out because I couldn't think of a better way.  The liquid smelled so good that I froze it to use in the tortilla soup recipe I'm trying next week).  Shred the chicken with a fork.  Use filling for tacos, topping with cheese, lettuce, and sour cream (if you like that gross stuff).

Emma and Nathan were rather traumatized by the "RED" stuff in with their chicken.  They did not like it one bit.  But everybody else thought they were quite good.  Not spicy at all, just yummy and flavorful. Depending on your tortillas, and if you use cheese or not, these could be diary and/or gluten free, too, so I put them in those categories as well.

Frosted Peanut Butter Brownies

I made this for home fellowship.  It is baked in a 15x10 jelly roll pan so I knew it would make a lot and be perfect for our crowd.  Plus my husband reeeeeally likes peanut butter.  This one is from the Southern Living cookbook I've been working through.  Also, I wish I had taken a picture, but it was a zombie day and I forgot.

Frosted Peanut Butter Brownies
1 1/2 cups butter, divided
1/3 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
18 oz jar peanut butter (they say chunky but I never use chunky...and I buy BIG peanut butter jars, not 18 oz ones, so this equals a little more than 2 cups)
1/3 cup milk
10 large marshmallows
1/4 cup cocoa
16 oz pkg powdered sugar (about 3 1/2 cups or so)

Cook 1 cup butter and 1/3 cup cocoa in a saucepan over low heat until butter melts, stirring often.  Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Combine sugar, flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Add chocolate mixture, and beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended.  Add eggs and vanilla, beating until blended.  Spread mixture into greased 15x10 jelly roll pan.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes back clean. 

Remove lid from peanut butter jar (or put the peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl) and microwave at medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring once.  Pour over warm brownies.  Chill 30 minutes.

Cook remaining 1/2 cup butter, milk, and marshmallows in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until marshmallows melt.  Remove from heat.  Whisk in 1/4 cup cocoa.  Gradually stir in powdered sugar until smooth.  Spread over peanut butter layer.  Chill 20 minutes.  Cut into squares.

So good!  Everybody liked this.  The peanut butter layer, which is just peanut butter, was the best part.  The frosting was perfect.  Really really good, I know we'll make these again.

Sesame-Ginger Chicken Quesadillas

This recipe makes a dressing, and then only uses 3 tbsp of it.  But since I had almost all the ingredients anyway, I decided to just make it, even though the remainder of it will likely be wasted, unless I buy a bunch of lettuce and have salad every day for a week, which seems unlikely.  This recipe sounded like it would be so yummy.  It's from the Southern Living cookbook that I am simultaneously working through along with $5 Dinner Mom.

Sesame-Ginger Chicken Quesadillas
3 tbsp sesame ginger sauce (recipe follows)
1 cup chopped cooked chicken
3 carrots, shredded (I bought matchstick carrots)
1/4 cup diced red onion
4 (8-inch) flour tortillas
8 oz pkg shredded Mexican cheese blend
Dressing:
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup canola oil (I used olive oil because it's lighter and I think canola oil is too thick in homemade dressings)
1/3 cup sesame oil
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger (I bought a tube of pre-minced in the veggie section)
1 garlic clove, minced

Whisk together all dressing ingredients until well blended (remaining can be stored in refrigerator up to 1 week).

Heat the 3 tbsp sesame-ginger sauce in a large skillet over medium heat; add chicken, carrots, and onions.  Cook, stirring occasionally, 2-4 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Spoon chicken mixture evenly on half of each tortilla; sprinkle with shredded cheese.  Wipe skillet clean.

Cook, tortilla side down (how else would you do it?), in lightly greased skillet over medium-high heat, 1 minute or until lightly browned.  Fold tortillas over filling and serve immediately.

The two younger children didn't want theirs in a tortilla, so they had the filling separate.  But Emma still wanted a tortilla, so she had one, folded up, on the side.  Nathan had ritz crackers on the side with his.  The three of us that had these as they were intended all liked them. Sam said they were the best "dang quesadiLLas" he had ever had.  I love that he knows Napoleon Dynamite references.  I thought they were good, but I wanted them to be better, somehow.  I don't know how.  I just didn't love them.  

 

Beef Stew Biscuit Bake

I can be ridiculous, and sometimes be a slave to myself, my schedule, and my meal plan.  This recipe is just one example of that.  When I am working through a cookbook, I like to make everything in there that I'm going to make, not save certain things for different seasons, because I either want to put the cookbook back in my cupboard (for the really good ones that I want to keep and potentially pass to Emma someday) or put it in the Goodwill bag (for the ones that had a few good recipes but not enough to keep the whole book).  I write little notes in the margins (like my mom does) so years later Emma will have little notes from me about the recipes.  At any given time I have 1 or 2 cookbooks that I'm going through, as well as the latest Simple & Delicious magazine.  I have over half of a shelf of cookbooks that I haven't started working through yet.  So I feel sometimes like the pressure is on to get through a book so I can start on the next one. 

Every two weeks I plan my meals.  If I have a meal planned for a certain day, there have to be huge circumstances to get me to change the order around, because I usually plan based on when I've bought the fresh meat and veggies (to be used soon after the shopping trip) vs. the canned veggies and frozen meat (to be used closer to the end of the two weeks).  Examples of when I would change a meal plan--1. Earthquake (which has never happened but I anticipate that would throw a wrench in the gears).  2. Unexpected friends coming over, requiring a reworking, but the fellowship is worth it.  3. Husband wants to take me for a date, which I will do, but first have to agonize over the meal planning calendar to make sure I still use up my fresh ingredients.  Aren't you glad for this glimpse into my head?? 

At the end of last week, we had a heat wave.  It was something like 90 degrees with 95% humidity.  Unfortunately for me, I had planned Beef Stew Biscuit Bake during my meal planning several days prior, without consulting a weather forecast.  I do have a (somewhat flimsy) theory that when it's 100 degrees out, it doesn't matter if your oven is on or not, your kitchen will be hot.  But who wants to prepare and then eat beef stew on a hot day?  Apparently we do.  So on Saturday, after a hot afternoon at a park for a friend's birthday party, we came home and I made this.  The kids had two friends over, who looked askance at me when I said "beef stew" in reply to the kids' question "what's for dinner?"  But after I explained that I did not want to throw the meat away, or freeze it, I wanted to use it up, they appeared to understand.  This recipe is from $5 Dinner Mom.

Beef Stew Biscuit Bake
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 lb beef stew meat (I used 1 1/2 lbs because I have found her recipes to be lacking in the meat dept)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small onion, diced
4 carrots, peeled and chopped (I used a big handful of matchstick carrots)
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
Salt & pepper to taste
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Biscuit Topping:
2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large ovenproof pot or Dutch oven, warm the oil over medium-high heat, then brown the stew meat.  Stir in the garlic, onion, carrots, tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper.  Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 8-10 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and garlic powder.  Then whisk in the melted butter and milk.

When the batter is mixed, sprinkle the shredded cheese over the bubbling stew and then pour the biscuit batter over the top (mine kind of plopped out in the center and then was hard to spread...next time I will plop big spoonfuls over it so it will be spread out more).  Transfer the pot or Dutch oven to preheated oven and bake for 20-24 minutes, until the biscuit crust has baked through and begun to turn golden on top.

Using heavy duty oven mitts, carefully remove the pot from the oven and let cool slightly before serving.

Everyone liked this!  Even though it was beef stew on a hot summer day.  Our two visitors both remarked on how good it was and cleaned their plates.  My kids of course picked out their favorite parts, but overall they liked it.  Steve and I did, too.  Even though I doubled the meat, there was still plenty of "stew" to it (not too thick, I mean).  This one's a keeper, although next time I will not purposefully plan this during a heat wave.