Mexican Lasagna with Sabor by Texas Pete

Happy Cinco de Mayo! As a former Spanish major I feel obligated to point out that this holiday is an American invention and not actually celebrated in Mexico, but it is still a delicious excuse to eat lots of Mexican food! (Also it always makes me think of the Sinko de Mayo joke)

I recently discovered ¡Sabor! by Texas Pete® Mexican-Style Hot Sauce. It has a delicious smoky, spicy tomato flavor that really adds to any Mexican dishes. While it is delicious on top of tacos, nachos, etc., I thought it would be fun to try adding it into a dish. And what better excuse to experiment with Mexican food than today? 

My mom made a version of Mexican lasagna growing up, and I remember thinking it was legit Mexican food. I thought it was cool that there were two different countries that had lasagna and I asked my mom what other country’s lasagnas she could make. Eight-year-old Emily wanted to try French lasagna too! (Although now that I think about it, Indian lasagna could be pretty good…)

This recipe is super easy and delicious- I think of it as a cheater’s version of enchiladas! You can cook your own chicken for the shredded chicken or you can even use part of a rotisserie chicken if you want to make it even easier. And don’t forget the margarita!

Jump on over to my food blog Kitchen Climbers to find the recipe! 

This post was sponsored by Texas Pete, but all opinions are my own. Thanks for reading! 

Apple Cider Moscow Mules

Generally I think of the Moscow Mule as a summer drink, but a recent recipe I found may have changed my mind. The Apple Cider Moscow Mule is a perfect drink for fall. And I have also found the perfect cup to drink it in- the AkaiGer Moscow Mule Mug.

This mug is hand-hammered out of 100% copper, and it is beautiful! It is very sturdy with no seams or rivets so you know it will never leak. It would make a stunning addition to any home bar.

INGREDIENTS (Serves One)

 2 ounces ginger flavored vodka

 2 ounces apple cider (store bought or homemade)

 Juice of 1 small lime wedge

 Good quality ginger beer to top off

 Cinnamon to sprinkle

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In your copper mug, add the vodka, apple cider and lime juice.

2. Fill the glass with ice, sprinkle cinnamon over the ice, then top off with ginger beer.

3. Stir well and garnish with an apple slice and cinnamon stick.

I may or may not have still garnished mine with mint instead (our mint plant is taking over our backyard!), but it was still delicious. Definitely a good way to transition a classic summer drink into the colder months.

I received a free mug to review but all opinions are my own.

Homemade Garlic Aioli

I finally acquired a Kuuk garlic press, so I decided the first thing I would do with it is make garlic aioli! The press minced the garlic to the perfect consistency for the aioli without even having to peel the garlic, which made the prep work for this recipe almost non-existent.

I brought this aioli to a potluck at work with a Spanish tortilla, and it was a big hit.

MAKES ABOUT 3/4 CUP

AÏoli can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

INGREDIENTS

• 2large egg yolks
• 4teaspoons lemon juice
• 1garlic clove, minced to paste
• Salt and white pepper
• 1/8teaspoon sugar
• 1/2cup vegetable oil
• 1/4cup extra-virgin olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In large bowl, combine egg yolks, lemon juice, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and sugar. Whisking 
constantly, very slowly drizzle oils into egg mixture until thick and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. (Recipe from Cook's Illustrated.)

The garlic press was easy to use and only required a small amount of effort to squeeze the garlic through even with the skin on. It was a sturdy stainless steel and is dishwasher safe too so it is very easy to clean!

I received a free garlic press to review but all opinions are my own.

Virgin Matcha 'Mojitos'

I finally decided to jump on the Matcha bandwagon and give it a try. I was a little apprehensive to first try it but I have to say I really do like it! Since it's super hot in Texas right now I didn't want to be drinking hot tea, so I tried making an iced matcha drink. I found this recipe and decided to give it a try. It's like a virgin mojito but made with matcha!

There are more detailed instructions in the link, but here is the quick and easy instructions as I made it!

In a cocktail shaker, mix 1 tsp Midori Spring Matcha with 1 cup water and a splash of lime juice. Pour into a glass with ice and stir in a sprig of mint and a little sugar if you'd like. Enjoy!

It's a perfect refreshing drink for hot summer days. I'm super impressed with the quality of the Midori Springs matcha and I'm excited to try it in a few other recipes, and also as a hot drink once it cools down!

I received a free tin of matcha from Midori Spring, but all opinions are my own.

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Coffee Cake Cupcakes

These Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Coffee Cake Cupcakes, (or CCCCCCC as I like to call them for short!) look deceptively like muffins, but they are definitely not at all healthy!

I adapted a Cinnamon Chocolate Chip cake recipe from Penzey's, turning them into cupcakes. I then decided that they tasted alot like coffee cake, and the alliterative name was born. One of my coworkers and I spent about 30 minutes trying to come up with other C foods we could put in the cupcakes. We decided against cayenne, corn, and cheese, but thought that cardamom might make a tasty addition next time. If anyone gives that a try, let me know!

Not a muffin, but you could totally eat this for breakfast if you want!

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Coffee Cake Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 12 oz chocolate chips

What to Do

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cream butter, 1 cup sugar, and eggs. Add sour cream and vanilla.
3. Sift together dry ingredients, then add to wet.
4. Pour half of batter into bottom of lined cupcake tin. Combine remaining sugar, cinnamon, and chocolate chips. Sprinkle half of this mixture over the batter. Pour remaining batter onto cupcakes and top with remaining cinnamon mixture.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out of the center clean. 

Spanakopita

When I studied in Italy my Sophomore year of college, they took our entire class on a trip to Greece for 10 days. While I have many memories of great food while I was there (and a not so great one of eating octopus!), one of the foods that stands out most in my mind was the first dish I ate there, spanakopita.

After getting off our overnight ferry from Italy, we were placed on charter buses to begin our three-hour drive to Olympia. A heavy rainstorm quickly descended and I fell asleep, to awaken several hours later when we pulled up to our hotel. Olympia was a very sleepy little Greek town, distinguished only by it's ruins - the site of the first Olympics. All of the inhabitants, however, were very excited to see us and very welcoming. After dropping off our bags in the hotel we sat down in the restaurant for lunch. I was starving.

Ancient Greek columns

I was pretty confused when they brought out the first dish. It looked something like a hot pocket but with much flakier dough. When I bit into it, a green, cheesy mixture was inside.

As I later learned, this was spanakopita: layers of phyllo dough filled with spinach and feta cheese. While I had amazing memories of this dish, it wasn't anything I had again in Greece, and I never saw it again once I came back to Texas.

Then one day I ran across a recipe for it on Pinterest. I'm going to refer you back there for the assembly pictures because they are so well done I couldn't hope to replicate them myself. Plus the girl is from a Greek family, so I'm pretty sure she knows what she is doing! Then later that week America's Test Kitchen sent out their email newsletter with a spanakopita recipe in it as well. I was pretty sure that was a sign.

After reading both recipes, I decided to combine the two and make a few changes of my own. The ingredients I got almost exactly from America's Test Kitchen but I did add parsley, and sub cottage cheese for the Greek yogurt like the other recipe had. And I followed Alexandra's instructions for assembling it. While I originally wanted to do the hot pocket shaped spanakopitas like I had eaten in Greece, making a large sheet 'cake' of it looked alot easier, so that is what I did.

I've now made this recipe three times, including for Easter, and it is definitely a keeper! I hope you enjoy it as much as my husband has ;)

Underneath that flaky crust of deliciousness is warm spinach and feta cheese!

Spanakopita: Greek Spinach and Feta Pie
Makes 1 9x14 pan

Ingredients

• 
  

Filling
16 oz tub of spinach leaves
¼ cup water
2-3 cups crumbled feta cheese
¾ cup cottage cheese
4 medium scallions, sliced thin (about 1/2 cup)
2 large eggs

1/4 cup diced fresh parsley1 TB dried mint
1 TB dill
1 TB garlic paste
1 TB lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Phyllo Layers
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
½ lb. (14 by 9-inch) phyllo, thawed overnight in the refrigerator

What to Do

Place all your spinach in a large, microwave safe bowl with the water. Microwave for five minutes, then let sit for a minute. Drain into a colander in the sink and press as much water out of the spinach as possible. Let it cool before chopping as it will be pretty hot.

While it is cooling, combine the rest of the filling ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.

Chop spinach, and then drain again. You can squeeze dry in a kitchen towel (make sure it is one you don't mind getting green!) or run through a salad spinner. Then add spinach to the cheese mixture.

Now it is time to start layering the phyllo dough. The best instructions for how to do this can really be found here.  Essentially, butter the bottom of a 14x9 baking dish and then start layering the phyllo, drizzling butter over the top of each layer and pressing out any large air bubbles as you go. Don't worry if it rips or tears, once you have all of the layers in place you won't notice! For the bottom section you want to layer 10 sheets of phyllo. 

Once you have layered 10 sheets, spread the spinach and cheese filling evenly through the pan. Then start layering phyllo again. This time you want 7-8 layers. When you are done, score the top couple layers of phyllo with a knife in a grid pattern. 

Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 25 minutes. The top should be golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes before serving. It can be served warm or cold, but in our house we prefer it warm. Enjoy!

Greek-style Stuffed Bell Peppers

We are a big fan of stuffed bell peppers over in our house. I've made Tex-mex stuffed peppers, Italian stuffed peppers, Philly cheese-steak stuffed peppers, and random leftover stuffed peppers. I found this recipe for Greek stuffed peppers early on in my Pinterest years, but it got buried at the bottom of my 100+ recipe dinner board. This weekend I finally pulled it out and dusted it off, and boy was it tasty.
The list of ingredients didn't seem like anything special to me, but I gave it a shot as written anyways. I did sub in ground lamb for ground beef since that's what I had in my freezer and it seemed more Greek that way. I was really amazed though at how well these simple ingredients came together to make an extraordinary dish.

Greek-Style Stuffed Bell Peppers
Serves 4-8 depending on how hungry they are

Ingredients
1 lb ground lamb
1 chopped onion
2 diced cloves of garlic
olive oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 TB dried oregano
1 8 oz can tomato sauce, divided
1/2 cup rice (I used arborio, but any short-grain rice should work)
2 potatoes4-5 bell peppers
feta

What to Do

Cook the diced onions and garlic in a skillet over medium heat with a few TB of olive oil, until onions are tender and translucent. Then add the meat and cook well. Season with fresh parsley, oregano, salt and pepper. Add half of the can of tomato sauce and the rice. Let simmer for a few minutes and then set aside (the rice will not be cooked yet). 

Preheat the oven to 375. While it is heating up, cut the tops off of the bell peppers and remove the seeds from the center. Stand them upright in an oven-safe dish (I used a 5 qt dutch oven). Fill the peppers with the meat and rice mixture and then set the tops of peppers back on. Pour the rest of the can of tomato sauce in the bottom of the pan, along with a can full of water and a little olive oil. 

Slice the potatoes into wedges and put them in the pan too, filling in the cracks around the peppers. Throw a little extra salt on them. 

Bake in the oven for at least an hour, until the rice is done. I cooked mine for 1 hr 15 minutes without a lid and the rice wasn't done yet, so I threw the lid on and let it cook for another 20 minutes. You might be able to get it cooked faster if you leave the lid on the whole time. 

Top the peppers with feta and enjoy! I only needed to eat half of one to feel full, but if you have hungry family members they could probably eat a whole one.

Spaghetti and Meatballs (with a twist)

Everyone loves spaghetti and meatballs. At least, everyone in my family does. I think my little brother could live on pasta alone and my husband loves anything involving meat and carbs. 

Last year, I learned about spaghetti squash, which is essentially a squash that, when you cook it, looks like spaghetti. It's a great substitute for normal pasta if you are looking to cut back on calories or carbs, or just add more vegetables into your diet. When paired with these tasty homemade meatballs, it makes a really delicious meal. 

Spaghetti (squash) and Meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley
• 1 tablespoon basil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 large spaghetti squash (or normal pasta if you can't find the squash)

1 jar pasta sauce

various diced vegetables (I used zucchini, yellow squash and mushrooms)

parmesan cheese

Instructions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Stab a few holes in the spaghetti squash with a knife and stick it in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour, or until it gives when you press on it. Alternately, boil pasta according to instructions on the box. 

Combine ingredients for meatballs and shape into balls. Heat the oil in a saucepan and brown the meatballs. Once they are well-browned, simmer in the tomato sauce for about 25 minutes with the diced vegetables.

When spaghetti squash is done, let cool a few minutes. Cut in half, and separate the flesh with a fork. It will come apart into spaghetti like strands. Toss in a bowl with a little butter, salt, and pepper. 

Serve spaghetti squash topped with sauce, meatballs, and a little parmesan cheese. Yum!

Strawberry-Banana Muffins

It seems that I can never eat an entire bunch of bananas before half of them turn brown. Fortunately, that just gives me an excuse to make lots of banana bread! I decided to switch it up this time and make these strawberry-banana muffins I found on Joy of Baking. They were quite tasty and husband and co-worker approved! 

Strawberry-Banana Muffins
Makes 12 Muffins

Ingredients

1 stick of melted butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 very ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup strawberries, quartered

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin tin.

Mix butter, eggs, vanilla, and bananas in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Mix until combined.

In a smaller bowl, measure out the flour. Add the strawberries and stir until the strawberries are coated in flour. Combine flour and strawberries with the batter. Mix just until the flour is absorbed into the batter. 

Divide evenly between greased muffin tins and bake 15-20 minutes. Mine were perfect after 20 minutes but my oven does sometimes seem to take longer than normal so I would check them around 15 minutes.

Enjoy warm with butter and a glass of milk!

Linking up with Future Expat for their Required Ingredient Link Party, strawberry edition!

Best Bacon Chile

Every year in the fall my office has a chile cook-off. Crockpots line the wall of our large conference room, and everyone follows the delicious smells and tastes a dozen different kinds of chile. The three judges, one of whom is the company president, choose the tastiest chile and a runner up. 

I decided to try my luck this year, so Seth and I got to work planning what we hoped would be the winning recipe. We knew we could make a mean chile, but we needed something to really impress the judges. First, we started the chile on Saturday, five days before the cook-off, to really give the flavors time to meld together. Then we decided to add bacon. Everyone loves bacon right? 

Sadly, despite all the rave reviews from my coworkers, my chile was not one of the chosen two. However, I was glad to see that it was one of the fastest disappearing chiles.  If you too would like to experience the joys of bacon chile, here is the recipe for your tasting pleasure.

Bacon Chile

Serves a whole office of coworkers!

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef

1 onion, diced

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp chile powder

3 chipotles in adobo sauce, diced (3 peppers, not three cans!)

2 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes w/ chiles

2 quarts canned tomatoes

3 anaheim chiles, diced

8 slices bacon

1 clove garlic, minced

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 can hominy

1 TB flour or cornstarch, optional

What to Do

Begin by browning the ground beef and the onion in the largest pot you have. Season with spices, salt and pepper. Feel free to use more or less spices depending on what you like, I didn't actually measure mine. 

When beef is mostly cooked and onions are tender, add the diced chipotle peppers along with all the cans of tomato. Make sure to include any liquid in the cans. Add the diced anaheim chile peppers.

In a separate fry pan, fry up the bacon until crispy, then dice. Add to the chile pot. 

Dice and add the garlic and bell pepper. Add the can of hominy. 

Let cook on the stove for several hours on low. If it is too thick, add some more water. If it isn't thick enough, add a TB or so of flour or cornstarch to thicken it up. 

It tastes great to eat the same day you cook it, but the longer it sits, (within reason, of course!) the tastier it gets. 

Happy Thanksgiving! Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Seth's family came over to our house for Thanksgiving yesterday. We were in charge of making dessert and potatoes, so we made both pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake bars (I'll be posting the recipe for those later). Despite all assertions that no one wanted to take any leftovers home with them, as soon as the pumpkin pie was brought out, my brother-in-law decided that he was going to take some of that home with him.
I was really relieved to hear this because a.) I'd never made pumpkin pie before, and b.) Seth had picked a random recipe from online and we hadn't even really followed it completely. So when we served the pie I had absolutely no idea what it was going to taste like. Luckily it was a big hit and everyone asked for the recipe.

Pumpkin Pie

Makes 1 9-inch pie. 

Pie recipe adapted from Simply Recipes, crust recipe from Penzey's Spice catalog. 

Ingredients

Pie Crust:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup canola oil

3 TB milk

Pie Filling:

2 cups pumpkin puree (we roasted our own pumpkin, but you could use canned as well)

1 1/2 cups half and half

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs plus one egg yolk

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp cardamom

What to do

Preheat the oven to 350. 

Place all the ingredients for the pie crust into a 9" pie pan. Mix with a fork until blended and then pat into the pan with your fingers. Push it up the sides of the pie pan and try to ensure it's a uniform thickness throughout the whole crust. 

Combine ingredients for the pie filling in a large bowl in the order listed. Mix well. If the pumpkin seems to clumpy you can throw it in the blender for a minute.

Pour the pie filling into the unbaked pie crust. Depending on how deep your pie pan is, you may have a little more than will fit in the crust. I used more of a 'deep dish' pie pan, and it barely fit!

Place in the preheated oven and bake until the filling is set. I suggest checking it after 40 minutes, and then every 10 minutes after that. Ours took about an hour and 20 minutes, but depending on your oven and the thickness of your pie, it might not take as long. 

Remove from oven and let cool. Serve with whipped cream and ice cream!

Linking up with Jam Hands and Future Expat.

Easy Homemade Pasta, Two Ways

Pasta has always been a last minute dinner for me. I grab a box of penne, a jar of sauce, maybe some meat, and I can have food on the table in 20 minutes. This past weekend, however, Seth and I broke out the pasta maker we got for our wedding and made our own homemade fettuccine. And I'm not sure I ever want to go back to boxed pasta again. Homemade pasta has so much more flavor, and it's really fun to make!

Aside from making the pasta from scratch, we made two kinds of sauces. The first was a basic marinara and the second was a Roman-style chicken sauce. All of the recipes we got from Giada de Laurentiis' cookbook Everyday Pasta. I don't use cookbooks very often, but I think I'll be using this one more frequently in the future.

We started out making the fettuccine. It's a really simple recipe, but just a little flour, eggs, salt, and olive oil is all you need! Once we mixed the dough up we started rolling it out into sheets with our pasta maker.

If you do this at home you will want to read the specific instructions for your pasta maker, but we had to roll the pasta through the machine several times, decreasing the thickness each time. We settled on the 2 setting on our machine as the perfect thickness, but depending on your machine there might be different measurements.

Once the sheets dried a little we ran them through the cutting portion of our pasta maker. 

 MMMM pasta.

And that was it, until we were ready to cook it that is. The great thing about fresh pasta is that it only takes about two minutes to cook. We piled it on a plate and waited until right before dinner time.

Then it was sauce time. The marinara sauce really needs to cook for about an hour in order to thicken up and have all of the flavors meld together. What I really liked about this sauce was that it was full of vegetables like carrots and celery, but you didn't taste it. It's great for picky husbands that don't always like to eat their veggies. 

We made a huge batch, and froze half of it. I love leftovers. 

Then I made the Roman-style fettuccine with chicken. I was getting a little tired of cooking at this point but it was all worth it! This was a pretty simple dish to throw together. Cook some chicken, shred it, and then mix it up with a few other ingredients and serve over pasta. Seth and I both loved this dish and will definitely make it again. It would be a great pasta dish to make for company. 

And now for the best part - the recipes! 

Homemade Fettuccine

Makes 1 1/2 pounds of pasta

Ingredients

3 cups flour 

4 large eggs

1 TB kosher salt

1 TB olive oil

What to Do:

You don't have to use a food processor for this, but if you have one it makes it pretty easy. Otherwise, just mix it by hand.

Beat the eggs, olive oil and salt in a small bowl. Mix with the flour in either the food processor or mixing bowl. Pulse the mixture until everything is evenly mixed and clumpy. It should hold together if you squeeze it. 

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and kneed it. The dough will be very tough and difficult to manipulate, but that's ok. Cover and let rest for about 30 minutes. This will keep the pasta from getting too tough. 

At this point you can roll and cut using your pasta maker (or by hand, if you have a rolling pin and want a good arm workout!).  When you are ready to cook, boil a large pot of salted water and then place the pasta in it. Cook for about two minutes, or until the pasta is al dente.

Marinara Sauce

Makes 2 quarts

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil

2 small onions, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 celery stalks, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

2- 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes

2 dried bay leaves

handful fresh basil (optional)

What to do

In a large pot, heat the oil on medium heat. Cook onions and garlic for about 10 minutes, then add the rest of the vegetables, along with the salt and pepper. When everything is tender, add the canned tomatoes, bay leaves, and basil. Let it simmer for at least an hour, or until it is your desired thickness. Remove the bay leaves and add extra salt and pepper to taste. 

Roman Style Fettuccine with Chicken

4 servings

Ingredients

1/8 cup olive oil

3 chicken breasts

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

2 oz prosciutto, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1- 14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1/2 TB oregano

1/2 TB thyme

1/4 cup water or chicken stock

1 TB capers

chopped fresh parsley 

What to do

Heat the oil in a saucepan, and cook the chicken with salt and pepper until browned on both sides. Remove and set aside. 

Add bell peppers and prosciutto and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add garlic, tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, thyme and oregano. Cook and stir for a few minutes, then add water or chicken stock and place the chicken breasts back in the pan. Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink. 

Remove and shred the chicken, then stir back in. Add capers and parsley.

Serve over fresh fettuccine and top with Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Linking up with Future Expat for the required ingredient link party! 

Indian Butter Chicken

Growing up, I never ate Indian food. Never ate curry, tikka masala, paneer, dosa, or tandoori. It just wasn't something my family ever cooked, nor was it very prevalent in the city where I grew up.

When I moved to the DFW area for college, however, my boyfriend (now husband) introduced me to the wonders of Indian food. There were many cheap and delicious restaurants in the area surrounding our school. After graduating, I got a job in the IT department of a nearby company, where many of my coworkers are Indian. They have introduced me to many more delicious varieties of their native cuisine.

Despite the plethora of authentic Indian food surrounding me, I still like to cook my own. Mainly because it is cheaper than eating out, but also because I can control the spice level in the food! One of my coworkers shared their lunch with me the other day. I asked them if it was spicy, and they said no, it's very mild. After eating it though, I thought I might start breathing fire. So when I make my own, I can give it a little kick, but not overwhelm myself with heat.

Last night I made some Indian butter chicken (aka chicken makhani). It was a recipe I'd pinned months ago and never got around to making. (You can find the original here). Now that I've made it, I'm sorry that I waited so long. I think this is going to be a new regular in my kitchen. I made a few changes, of course, based on what I had on hand and some suggestions I read in the comments, but overall I followed the recipe.

So without further ado.... I present my version of Butter Chicken. Make it this week- it's that good!

Indian Butter Chicken

Makes 6 servings

For Sauce:

1 TB olive oil

2 shallots, diced (The original recipe called for them and I had these on hand but you could probably just use onions instead)

1/2 onion, diced

5 TB butter

4 tsp lemon juice

2 TB garlic paste (I found this at the Indian grocery store, but you could just use a couple of cloves of fresh garlic instead)

1 TB fresh grated ginger

2 tsp garam masala (found in spice aisle)

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

2 bay leaves

2/3 cup PLAIN greek yogurt

2 cup dairy liquid of choice (I used whey, which I had leftover from making cheese. The original recipe called for half and half. I think it would be delicious with coconut milk as well)

1 can tomato paste

salt and pepper to taste

For Chicken:

1 1/2 - 2 lbs cubed chicken (breasts or thighs will work)

2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Instructions:

Start by heating some olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan on medium high heat. Cook the onions and shallots until they start to become tender. Then mix in the butter, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, and other spices. Next add the can of tomato paste and mix everything well. It will seem like it needs some liquid but don't worry, that part is coming! After about two minutes stir in your milk product of choice and the yogurt. Mix it up well until there are no big chunks of yogurt or tomato paste and it has a creamy consistency. Now turn the heat down and let it simmer.

While it's simmering, start cooking the diced chicken. Season with salt, pepper, garam masala and cayenne and cook on the stove on medium heat. When the chicken is cooked, transfer to the sauce. Make sure you leave any juices behind, otherwise they will make your sauce too watery. Let it simmer for a few more minutes on the stove before serving. 

I served with some white rice, it would also be delicious with some fresh naan bread. I hope you enjoy! 

Tortillas Españolas

Tonight I made tortillas for dinner. Just not the Mexican kind.

There's another kind of tortilla? You say.

Yes, there is. And it is the tastiest kind. In Spain, if you order a tortilla at a restaurant, you will not be served a very flat piece of bread. You would be served a slice of something akin to a potato and egg quiche, but without the pie crust. I discovered these while visiting Spain, and over the course of the two months I spent there, I tried many varieties of this Spanish staple. The standard tortillas with potatoes, onions, and egg were always delicious, but I also had ones with jamón and others that were made with zucchini instead of potato. And I was always excited when they were served with a slice of manchego cheese on top.

Back in America, I tried to make them myself, but I had alot of trouble for a while. In Spain, they have somehow mastered the art of flipping a potato and egg mixture like a pancake. Every time I tried it though, I ended up with a scrambled eggs and potato mixture. Tasty, but not quite what I was going for.

Finally, I had a revelation while watching Seth cook a frittata. What if I didn't flip the tortilla to cook the other side, but put it under the broiler instead? While not exactly the traditional Spanish method, it yields very similar results. And it's so much easier and foolproof. (Well, almost. Just don't be like me and accidentally stick the skillet under the broiler with a rubber grip still on the handle. Your house will smell like burning plastic for hours.)

Tortilla Española (Spanish Tortilla)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes, cubed (or frozen cubed potatoes)

1/2 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

4 eggs

1 tsp paprika

salt and pepper

manchego cheese (optional)

Instructions:

Start by cooking the potatoes, onions, and garlic in a skillet over medium heat. You will need to add a little oil or butter in, and stir them frequently so they don't stick to the bottom of the pan. When the potatoes are almost completely cooked through, remove from the heat.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk four eggs with paprika, salt, and pepper. Now you can either pour this into the pan with the potatoes, or pour the potatoes into the bowl. Either way, mix everything up together. Put the skillet with the egg/potato mixture back on the stove on medium/low heat. Cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the bottom starts to brown. You can check this by sliding a spatula down the side and lifting up the edge slightly. 

When the bottom seems to be well cooked, put the skillet into the oven (make sure you are using an oven-safe skillet!). Turn the broiler on high for 5 minutes. The tortilla should be a nice golden brown color on top when you take it out.

Slice into wedges and serve. Top with manchego cheese if you want them to be especially delicious.