Paella

Today I hosted girl's dinner at my place and I decided to make paella, it's a traditional Spanish dish that can be made with a combination of meats and seafood, depending on the chef's mood. I like to keep it simple and use just chicken, pork and shrimp. I have made it before whit mussels and calamari as well, but I just personally do not enjoy mussels at all....

It is very very easy to make this dish, it just takes a little bit of time:
Serves around 6 - 7 people

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 pound of shrimp
2 butterfly cut pork chops with no bones
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 large red onion
3 garlic cloves
1 chicken buillon cube
salt/pepper
Soy sauce
Whorcheshire sauce
1 tbs of dijon mustard
4 cups of rice

Preparation:
Slice the meats in small cubes, slice very thinly the peppers and onion, mix them with the chicken and pork in a bowl, sprinkle salt and pepper, add a generous pour of soy sauce and whorecheshire and mix, set in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Peel the shrimp and mix with soy sauce and whorcheshire sauce, add the mustard and the garlic, minced. Let it rest in the fridge as well.

around 45 mins before serving:
In a large pan over medium - high heat add some olive oil and cook the pork and chicken mix, around 7 - 10 minutes. place it in a bowl and let it seat for a second.
In the same pan add a little more olive oil and cook the shrimp, around 6 - 8 minutes, set aside.
In a big sauce pan boil 4 cups of water with the chicken buillon, turn the heat off and add the 4 cups of rice, let it cook, when it is done add the cooked meats and shrimp and make sure to use the juices as well, stir until the rice is completely covered with the sauce and it's ready to serve!

You can also add some cilantro and achiote powder if you would like to make the rice a little more orange, by adding it in the boiling water.
If you would like to use mussels, you can cook them in white onions, garlic, white wine and parsley, boil the spices together add some season all and put the mussels, cook them until they open. If you see any mussels open before cooking discard them, that means they are not fresh!

Parsley is a great garnish!
Enjoy!

Chicken with Artichokes and Capers

Oh my gosh, I had never tried to make this, but I will have to say kuddos for me! lol

First I started by pat drying a chicken breast, then with a very sharp knife I cut open the breast into one big thin piece. (My technique, cut 1/3 on the top not getting to the edge of the breast, open it like a book and then from that same end cut another fillet to the opposite end, again not getting to the end)

Season the open breast with salt and pepper, with the mallet gently hit the breast to make sure the thickness is even all around. Set aside and sprinkle olive oil.

Cut 2 garlic cloves in small squares, use 3 table spoons of capers and 1/3 of a can of artichoke hearts, cut one lemon in 4 pieces. (For the artichoke, i like to cut the top part off, to make sure you are only getting the softer ends of the heart)

In a medium size skillet drizzle a little bit of olive oil, mix the capers and artichoke hearts with the garlic and saute for 4 minutes, then squeeze the lemon juice on top of them and add 1 table spoon of butter, keep sauteing for another 3 minutes and add a tiny bit of all purpose flour to add thickness. Afterwards add 1/4 of a cup a heavy whipping cream, and whip it!

In a separate pan put the other garlic clove with a little bit of olive oil and cook the chicken breast, about 5 minutes on each side, or until you see a little bit of brown in the meat. Add the mix of capers and artichoke with it's juices and keep cooking the chicken breast for another 4 minutes.

And voila! It is ready to serve!

Chicken Soup, Grandma's Recipe

Yesterday my husband went and had sushi with some coworkers of his, before we went to bed he was running a 103 degrees fever, his boy was shaking and needless to say he got really really sick... After a whole night of drinking Pedialite, today I  made him my super special chicken soup, it is the best thing to boost your immune system and get you back on track!

For 4 servings, prep time 30 minutes, cooking time 1.5 - 2 hours

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts
1 white onion
8 fingerling potatoes
1/2 bag of pre cut broccoli and cauliflower
3 medium size carrots
5 celery sticks
6 - 8 branches of cilantro and/or parsley
2 garlic cloves
2 chicken bouillon cubes
3 tbs of season all or any seasoning salt
4 1/2 cups of water


Preparation

In a large size boiling pan at medium high temperature, heat the water with the chicken bouillon cubes and the pealed garlic cloves, when the bouillon cubes are melted, chop the onion in four pieces and put it in the boiling water as well, lower the temperature to medium low.

Peal and chop the carrots, clean the broccoli and the cauliflower, and chop the celery sticks, add all the vegetables to the boiling water. With some twain put together in a bunch the cilantro and parsley and add to the boiling water. Let it seat for 15 minutes.

Clean the chicken breasts and cut it in cubes, add to the boiling water and cover for 25 minutes, so the juices of all the vegetables and the chicken can mix properly.

Note: You can add many other vegetables like green beans and zucchinis, also if you would like the soup with a little kick you may want to use Tony Chachere's for your seasoning salt!


Chop the potatoes and add them to the mix, let it cook for another 15 - 20 minutes, try the soup and add salt or pepper if needed.

Now after this step you need to take it out of the heat and let it cool down for a couple of minutes before serving! Hope you enjoy it!

Cream Rigatoni with Red Onions, Peas and Bacon

My husband and I have some meats leftover from breakfast today, so we decided to reduce, reuse, recycle... Super easy lunch or dinner recipe, it takes maybe 30 minutes to make.

Ingredients:

Rigatoni Pasta, I like to use Barilla.
1 medium size red onion
1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1/4 of a butter stick, unsalted
1 cup of shaved Parmesan cheese
4 strips of bacon (chopped)
1/2 cup of peas
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley

Preparation:

In on small sauce pan boil water and make the pasta, you can take the pasta a little before it's ready, take it off the flame but leave it in the water so it remains hot while you are cooking the rest.

In a small pan sautee the onions with some olive oil until they become kind of yellowish and the white coloring to it have become more of a light brown.

For the sauce: Melt the butter in a medium size skillet, then add the cream, use medium heat, let it come to a boil, lower the heat to lox/medium and add the Parmesan cheese in batches, making sure you stir it while you are doing it. (5 minutes)
When you see the bubble become thicker lower the flame to low and add the chopped pieces of bacon, the peas, the red onions, and parsley, let is sit for a second, always remember to stir the sauce. (4 minutes)

In a bowl mix the sauce with the pasta,  little by little add some pasta and stir with some sauce to make sure the noodles get sauce all around them and also inside. Let it sit for 2 minutes so the pasta and the sauce solidify. It is ready to serve!

*Note: You can add grilled chicken to this recipe and make it even better!