Jamaican Jerk Marinade

This was inspired by something I saw on a Paleo website. Check out this yummy marinade that is perfect for chicken or pork. It can be hot if you use the habanero peppers. I used a serrano instead. You will need a food processor for this recipe.

Marinade (I marinaded chicken for 24 hours...which resulted in delicious delicious chicken)

4 green onions (cut up)
1 whole shallot (peeled and cut up)
5 cloves garlic (roughly chopped)
1/4 cup EVOO
2 splashes of vinegar
Juice of 2 limes
1/2 inch fresh and peeled ginger
1-2 T of honey
1/2 tsp of cinammon
1 tsp of allspice
pinch nutmeg
1 pepper (either habanero, Serrano, or jalapeno) seeded and chopped
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper

Put all of this in the food processor and pulse until very smooth. I put this over a cut up chicken fryer that I grilled. It was so good. It would awesome for pork, but don't marinade it for more than 8 hours.

Happy eating!

Maple and Sage Roasted Butternut Squash

I have not posted in many months. Studying for the licensing exam in psychology is a full time job on top of my full time job. I am still cooking, but finding it difficult to blog about it. Here is a simple roasted squash that I had at my cousin Sarah's house. It is an Ina Garten recipe and just delicious.

Roasted Butternut Squash

1 butternut squash
1 head of garlic (take the head apart so that there are many cloves, but leave the cloves whole and unpeeled)
16 sage leaves (left whole)
2 T of EVOO
2 T of real maple syrup
1/4 pound of chopped bacon or pancetta

Preheat oven to 400

1) cut up squash into bite sized pieces
2) place squash on a cookie sheet (foiled lined may be a good idea)
3) toss with EVOO and liberal amounts of salt and pepper
4) drizzle maple syrup over the squash and toss
5) scatter whole garlic cloves over the top and mix around
6) roast for 20 minutes
7) after 20 minutes, scatter the sage and bacon
8) roast for 20 to 30 more minutes
9) the squash should be soft and caramelized

This is the best squash ever. Try it now. For a vegetarian version, omit the bacon, but it won't be as good. If omitting bacon, maybe place some pats of butter over the top.

Enjoy!

Mexican Salad

I love chopped salads with no lettuce. This is a simple salad that was just delicious. It includes radishes, jicama, bell peppers, tomatoes, and cilantro. Jicama is a strange looking vegetable. It is knobby and covered with a brown skin. You must peel the jicama and then slice and dice it. It is sort of like a cross between an apple and a potato. I used a store bought vinaigrette and I had a nice side dish in 5 minutes. Here is what I did.

Mexican Salad

1/2 Jicama peeled and diced. (don't be scared, it is easy to peel with a knife or peeler and then slice)
8-10 Radishes cut into quarters or halves
1 Bell Pepper (diced)
1 cup of cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)
1 TBL of cilantro (or parsley) (chopped)
Salt/Pepper
Vinaigrette to taste (any kind would do, but I used Newman's Own Oil and Vinegar)
Mexican seasoning, like a little cumin, paprika and chili powder. Just a couple of shakes.

Cut and dice all of the vegetables into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle with cilantro, salt/pepper and spices. Mix together. Then coat the vegetables with the vinaigrette. It is so yummy and easy. Feel free to add avocado, black beans and corn for a bigger salad. YUM!

Mulled Wine

I LOVE LOVE mulled wine. It is spicy and hot and delish. My friend, Melody and I bought a bag of mulled wine spice from Whole Foods. We were both unsuccessful in our attempts to recreate this delicious Christmas concoction. Thanks to the fab Jamie Oliver, I have mastered the art of mulled wine. The key is this mulled wine syrup....Just be careful. This wine will put hair on your chest!

Mulled Wine Syrup

1/2 cup of fine sugar per bottle of wine (use cup of wine for 2 bottles)
2 clementines or oranges cut in half (mash them into the sugar) per bottle
Two handfuls of mulled wine spice (includes cinnamon, orange zest, cloves, star anise) per bottle
1 bottle of red Wine
Brandy (like 1/2 cup or so per bottle of wine)

In a saucepan, pour sugar, oranges, and spices (feel free to make your own concoction of spices). Pour just enough red wine to cover the sugar (like 1/2 cup or so). You are going to make a simple syrup that you will then use later with the actual wine. I did this so as to not burn all of the alcohol off the wine because the mixture needs to boil to make it rich and thick (I am a really good Southerner when it comes to booze). Boil the mixture until a really thick syrup is formed...like 4 or 5 minutes. When you are ready to drink your mulled wine, pour in the brandy and a bottle of wine. You want to heat only what you want to drink. If it is two of you, then use half of the bottle of wine and half of the sugar mixture. Heat the wine with the sugar and brandy until heated through. Maybe like 4 minutes. Then strain and pour into mugs. YUMMY!!!!

The BEST PHO EVER!

Beef Pho at Tank Noodle, Chicago, IL

My friend Danielle and I went to Tank Noodle on Argyle, which is the Vietnamese area of Chicago. It is wonderful to eat in a place where not many people speak English. I love love Asian food, but don't eat it much because my hubs is ambivalent about it. I wanted to post a picture of Pho (pronounced Pha). It is thinly sliced beef that is cooked in a rich broth of cloves, garlic, fish sauce, and ginger. The resulting broth is amazing. The soup is filled with rice noodles, scallion, onions, basil, and mung beans. Lime is a typical accompaniment too. If you have a chance to eat real Vietnamese, run don't walk.

Paleo Coconut Chocolate Truffles

I was invited to a cookie party in the neighborhood and was asked to bake some cookies. I am a horrible baker and I did not have many options for baking without using gluten free mixes. Since I try to regulate my carbs, I decided to make a 100% paleo desert. I ended up making a quick and easy chocolate truffle. They were super rich and perfect for the chocolate purist. Here is what I did. Remember that the whole process including cooling and rolling will take up to 4 hours, but a lot of this time is hands-off. (This makes about 18-20 truffles)

Feel free to do whatever you want. This recipe is versatile. You will need one big pot for the water, a glass bowl for the chocolate and a small saucepan for the milk/butter. I melted a bag of good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips over a double broiler. This is simply melting the chocolate in a glass bowl that you place over a pot of (gently) simmering water. The steam melts it gently.

1) Place several inches of water in a pot.
2) As your pot of water comes to a simmer. Place 8 ounces of heavy cream and two TBL of butter in a small saucepan.
3) Pour your chocolate chips into a glass bowl and place over simmering pot.
4) Slowly begin to melt the chocolate.
5) Heat cream and butter in a small saucepan. Remove when you see bubbles on the side.
6) Once the chocolate is shiny and smooth, slowly add the cream mixture to the melting chocolate.
7) After the chocolate is melted and the butter/cream is added, add 1/2 cup of chopped nuts and 1 TBL of Orange Liquor (Kahlua would be delish). Espresso would also be amazing.
8) Mix this together in the big glass bowl.
9) I placed the bowl of chocolate mixture on my back porch because it is cold in Chicago. You will need the chocolate to cool for 2 hours.
10) Half way through the cooling process, go check on your chocolate and mix it around. It should begin to be firm.
11) Once the mixture is firm (really thick), you will want to roll the truffles.
12) Using a spoon, I scooped a spoonful of chocolate mixture into my hands and rolled it into a ball. You will be covered with chocolate, but just wash your hands when you need to. Do this step quickly, as the chocolate will begin to melt.
13) I covered a plate with coconut and rolled the chocolate around in the coconut. Cocoa powder or powdered sugar would be pretty too.
14) Once the balls are rolled, place them back outside or in the fridge for one more hour.

Now you have rich chocolaty goodness. I have to confess that they were too rich for me. I prefer cheese and salami to chocolate, but for those of you who love chocolate, you will love these.

Orange Glazed Turkey Legs

Here is a picture of the turkey leg recipe I posted yesterday. Enjoy!