It’s been unseasonably warm here after our early snow in September, so grilling is on the menu.
On the board:
- Spicy Lime Cilantro Chicken
- Mexican Rice Medley
- Green Beans
- Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe here)
Spicy Lime Cilantro Chicken:
- 4 boneless chicken breasts
- ½ cup lime juice
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup sliced pickled jalapenos and juice
Place ingredients in a zip-lock bag and marinate 1 hour or overnight. Broil or grill for 15 minutes, turning every 5 minutes, until breasts are cooked to 165 degrees.
Mexican Rice Medley:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ small yellow onion, chopped
- 6 oz can chopped green chilies
- ½ tsp crushed garlic
- 1 small tomato, chopped
- 1 cup Jasmine rice
- 1 ¼ cup water
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 tsp chili powder
- salt & pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
large saucepan and bowl
In saucepan, heat oil, add onion, chilies, garlic and tomatoes, sauté until onions are golden. Remove to bowl. In the saucepan add rice, water, tomato sauce and chili powder, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer 20 minutes until all liquid is absorbed. Add onion mixture. Finish with salt and pepper to taste and cilantro. Fluff with a fork and serve.
Dinner menu serves 4
Cooking Tips: If a recipe has meat or poultry that is marinated, a great timesaver is to make the marinades when you purchase the meats. Mix meat and marinades together into a freezer bag and freeze. All that’s left to do is thaw and cook. 10-minute meals are easy with a variety of marinades and meats or poultry, then stir-fry, grill or broil and serve.
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What’s on your menu this weekend?
NotMax
Soapy chicken. Thanks but no thanks.
;)
Catherine D.
@NotMax: Ha! I taste soap too.
I just got a new countertop multifunction convection oven that I will test this weekend. All my Emile Henry bread pans fit in it, and I’ll try veg roasting and herb dehydrating too.
NotMax
@Catherine D.
Woo-hoo! Congrats on the newest acquisition.
jl
thanks for recipe and nice foodpix.
I’m not usually into rice medleys, unless it’s Indian or Middle Eastern pilaf. But this one looks easy to make (key for me) and promising.
dnfree
Thanks for the vegetarian rice recipe! Also, I am intimidated by actual chiles, so I prefer the canned ones even though mostly I use fresh vegetables. Would brown rice be terrible in it?
RSA
I took a shot at chicken carnitas this evening. I guess I was hoping for echoes of the pork version, with the combination of tender and crispy–didn’t happen. The flavor was still good, though, so I wasn’t unhappy with it.
CarolPW
Ex-spousal unit is bringing over a raw butterflied leg of lamb Sunday for my birthday. Will be using a Melissa Clark NYT(FY) garlic and herb rub recipe, with garlic, sage, rosemary and Italian parsley mixed with orange juice, orange zest and olive oil. Picked up garlic and Brussels sprouts for the dinner today at the farmers market (he knows store garlic is shit and left the veg choice to me). I love roasted Brussels sprouts with lamb because they are strong enough to stand up to the taste of the meat.
The birthday part is his purchase of the meat, prepping and cooking the sprouts, and especially doing the dishes.
TaMara (HFG)
@dnfree: That’s actually brown rice in the photo (it’s what I had on hand) and you can get brown jasmine rice, which has amazing flavor.
NotMax
@CarolPW
Big, big fan of lamb and of mutton. Passing thought that the merest smidgen of Dijon mustard mixed into the OJ and oil would bring a little extra zing.
jl
@TaMara (HFG): Thanks for info. I didn’t think of brown Jasmine rice. It is great.
CarolPW
@NotMax: Not to worry – I have a honey-Dijon dipping sauce that is to die for that will be making an appearance. And I love the mustard-rosemary coating from Joy of Cooking for rack of lamb; it is in my top 5 favorite dishes.
ETA: Why do so few people eat lamb? I can sort of understand about mutton, and it is pretty much unavailable anyway.
Catherine D.
@CarolPW: In my family, we call it “snack of lamb.” I’m lucky to live in an area of local farms, and every fall, I get a box of locally raised Icelandic lamb.
CarolPW
@Catherine D.: They are bigger than a snack, but that is a great name for them. My sister and I used to go to the county fair 4-H auction and buy a pig and a couple of lambs. We had them custom butchered and it was about as wonderful as meat could be.
Crashman06
@CarolPW: I love lamb. Maybe my favorite meal to cook all year is a butterflied leg for Easter, which unfortunately I had to skip this year due to the pandemic. I miss it.
Jeffro
I made some turkey meatloaf Monday and some sweet-n-sour shrimp & broccoli Wednesday, both recipes from “Once Upon A Chef” – a recipe site that I lucked into a while back. Both were really good, pretty simple and easy, etc.
OUAC kicks out a weekly newsletter with free recipes, so hey, give it a whirl and let Jenn know what you think!
After those 2 dinners plus a couple others this week, I’m going super-simple this coming week. We have a lot of odd and ends to clear out of the pantry, so some creativity is in order! Chunky Soup over egg noodles, anyone? ;)
Sure Lurkalot
I also note that many people I know don’t like lamb but also an inordinate number who have never even tried it.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi5gcuu4KjsAhUZX80KHYN7ALEQFjAAegQIBRAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bonappetit.com%2Frecipe%2Fspicy-lamb-meatballs-with-raisin-pesto&usg=AOvVaw0HJ-XzsJ4yINTTauKr0ChV
Hope the above link works but it’s a Bon Appétit lamb meatball recipe with a parsley mint pesto…sweetened slightly with raisins…sounds odd but delish!
Kent
Looks great!
Anyone here grow their own cilantro? I’m wondering how easy it is because that is the one thing I’m almost always running out of since it doesn’t keep long and they don’t stock it at Costco where I normally buy most groceries. A patch of cilantro in an herb garden would be useful.
We have so many deer and rabbits that I have given up on trying to grow most vegetables except for herbs and tomatoes on the deck where they can’t reach. Next year when the middle child leaves for college I might get rid of the trampoline and put in raised beds inside an enclosed wire cage to keep all the critters out and try that way.
CarolPW
@Kent: If you live in a warm climate it will bolt almost immediately. Successive plantings work, but don’t count on just a couple seedings doing the trick.
NYCMT
Tomorrow is our sixteenth wedding anniversary and we are at the shore where we got engaged seventeen years ago, with the progeny of our eternal love.
So, on our way from Queens to Absecon island, we stopped at the pick-your-own farms in New Egypt for squash and sweet potatoes and string beans and fresh basil and freshly dug potatoes tomatoes and baby eggplant, and then at the dockside fish wholesaler for freshly landed fluke and bluefish, and then at the Asian grocery for Thai curry paste fixings and holy basil. we got to the house, and the freshly dug potatoes were roasted and the fluke breaded and fried and the broccoli steamed with garlic and olive oil and the bluefish is marinating and my boys ate some of all that but preferred the Tillamook ice cream.
Children!
(The plan is to make a jungle curry with the bitterballs, garden eggs, and fresh greenbeans with the krachai and the galanga that I found in the freezer case along with the fried pressed tofu., leaving out the chili heat by replacing with paprika, and swapping anchovy paste for shrimp paste.)
Shana
@dnfree: I’m leery of chiles too but since quarantine started we joined a weekly delivery service of veggies. You can swap things out but on the whole we’ve accepted what’s on offer for the week. As a result we’ve tried poblanos and cubanelles to good results. The cubanelles fried with sliced potatoes are my new favorite food. We’ve enjoyed the experience a lot. We find out what is coming on Saturdays and get our delivery on Thursdays so there’s plenty of time to plan menus and research ideas.
Kent
Pacific Northwest (Portland metro). Most stuff grows but it’s not really a warm climate. It is usually so cheap at the grocery that it hardly seems worth it compared to say, tomatoes. But I hate having to make separate trips to the grocery just for a few odds and ends like cilantro which I never seem to have around. I don’t usually see it at the farmers markets around here but then I haven’t specifically looked.
MobiusKlein
@Kent: I’ve had issues finding Cilantro on random occasions in the SF Bay Area, which is weird.
Having some growing makes it easier to use just what you need, not have a slime covered one in your fridge after 3 days
Ken
TaMara: In a dead thread below, Quiltingfool asked a baking question:
My answer would be to freeze the dough in convenient batches (one cookie sheet’s worth for example), and thaw it before forming the cookies.
rikyrah
@NYCMT:
Happy Anniversary ????
rikyrah
The entire meal looks delicious ?
CarolPW
@Kent: I’m on the east side, so if I want it from my garden it’s weekly planting. You have a much better climate for it and should be able to get by with 2 or 3 plantings. The seed is cheap so you should try.
I see parsley (another bolter here but not so quick at it) at the farmers market but not cilantro. Maybe because of all the soap people?
NotMax
@Ken
One suggestion is to form the dough into cylinders before freezing. Once a cylinder taken out of the freezer is thawed enough to easily slice it should also be thawed enough to bake.
Catherine D.
@Kent: A hydroponic garden might work for you. I have an herb garden going crazy with the herbs I like. Cilantro is not one ?
NotMax
As if indoor dining at restaurants isn’t a sketchy enough risk these days –
Manhattan’s first axe-throwing bar opens today
Catherine D.
@NotMax: Maida Heatter’s icebox cookies are great for this. I particularly like her Mexican Spicebox recipe. Roll the log, freeze it, and slice off what you want.
Thor Heyerdahl
It’s Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend. I have an annual tradition of roasting a capon with the recipe below (the recipe asks for salt and unsalted butter, I just use salted butter).
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/golden-oven-roasted-capon-recipe-1938263
Aleta
@NYCMT: Congratulations ! Idyllic eating sounds like. Fresh dug potatoes are something special.
Aleta
@Thor Heyerdahl: Happy Thanksgiving. Wish I was in Canada.
Danielx
@NotMax:
You got the soapy cilantro gene ?
NotMax
@Thor Heyerdahl
Super-hero supper!
Because it has a capon.
:)
cope
@NotMax: The mrs. is cilantro averse as well and has the same response to its taste. I’ve also seen Ina Garten state that she is “not a fan”.
We’ve been making a baked lemon chicken and orzo recipe pretty regularly. Also made a big batch of 15 bean veggie soup earlier in the week and froze a bunch of it. I dose my own servings with a good bit of hot sauce. I am convinced the vinegar in the hot sauce keeps the beans from misbehaving during their trip down my alimentary canal.
CaseyL
@NotMax: Groooooaaaaaaannnnnn.
I love hearing (reading) other people talk about cooking. That whole “starting out with two dozen ingredients,” and each one has its own prep step…
Me, I do casseroles and quickie meals. I love the idea of elaborate cooking, and maybe if I had a kitchen bigger than a ship’s galley might even do some. But for decades, serious cooking has been a spectator sport for me.
MisterForkbeard
@CarolPW: My wife didn’t really like lamb until I started cooking it for her.
It’s easy to overcook lamb and if you do then it just isn’t that good. A lot of americans grew up with parents who mangle food by doing stuff like… boiling chicken or microwaving meatloaf.
cope
@NotMax: I love roast leg of lamb especially with some roasted potatoes (fondant potatoes if I’m feeling creative) and hearty green veg. When I was a kid, it was our Sunday dinner. I do lamb chops every now and then but miss the days of having kids and family enough around to justify cooking a whole roast leg and using the leftover meat to put in a curry.
dnfree
@Ken: my college roommate and I just discussed this. When she bakes chocolate chip cookies she makes a bigger batch of dough and forms the extra into cookie-sized balls and freezes in sets of two or four In a baggie. Then when they feel like a cookie she bakes them. I don’t think she even thaws them.
cope
@MisterForkbeard: Yes, boiling chicken is a waste. However, poaching it in simmering water and cooking to temperature is a great way to cook it through, keep in most of the flavor and make some tasty stock all at once. I do this for chicken that’s going into a pot pie or enchiladas.
CaseyL
I don’t care for the flavor of lamb generally – but I have to say, the absolute BEST shepherd’s pie I have ever had was in Christchurch, New Zealand, where it was made with lamb. Ten years later, I still think about it.
TaMara (HFG)
@Ken: I make round balls, flatten them and then freeze them. Then I just pop them on the baking sheet and bake. No need to thaw. They take a couple more minutes to bake.’
And thanks for making sure I saw that!
Ken
@TaMara (HFG): A full-service blog is only possible if everyone does their microscopically small part.
Steeplejack
@Catherine D.:
Brand/model? Send in a review at your leisure.
Steeplejack
@Sure Lurkalot:
Pro tip: Don’t copy the link from the Google search page; click on through to the actual page and take the link from there. You get a much shorter and cleaner link, viz.,
Steeplejack
@CaseyL:
I go in fits and starts. I like to cook, but I often find it hard to get motivated to cook (more than the basics) just for myself, which is most of the time, especially during the quarantine. With the advent of cold weather, I am being drawn to soups and stews; I can make a big batch and store portions for later. And I can use the slow cooker or Instant Pot to simplify the process.
Aleta
@Catherine D.: I’d like to know too. Looking for a countertop one that a pie would be comfortable in.
Steeplejack
@Aleta:
For what it’s worth, America’s Test Kitchen (August 2019) likes the Breville Smart Oven ($269).
Interior dimensions 13″ x 11″ x 5″, which would accommodate a pie (if not too tall).
Sure Lurkalot
As for counter ovens, I have lots of experience. My experience with Breville was not great. Though I liked the range, it died at 15 months and its replacement sounded like an airplane.
I recently purchased a Calphalon counter oven and it’s good for many things…toast, roasted vegetables, brownies. Convection too. I’ve had it for about 3 months and use it every day.
laura
I’m pulling out a pair of lamb chateau’s from the freezer and a pair of local pitas for grilling and serving with grilled veg, hummus and the perfect rice recipe from the NYT Cookbook. That will be the Sunday dish.
Sab
I just pulled out my Foreman grill for the first time in many years to grill eggplant for eggplant parmesan. Worked great. I need to do it more often.
The cats were startled. I don’t think I have used it since we got them. That’s how long it has been. None of the cats are spring chickens.
Catherine D.
@Aleta: It’s a Ninja Foodi XL. I’ve had good luck with Ninja appliances, so I’m hopeful. First loaf of bread goes in it today.