Quick Chicken Mole.

Ah, the Mole sauce.  Smooth, brown, curiously different from most sauces I am used to using in my daily cooking.  I must confess I have a certain fear of buying condiments with which I have no experience.  Once purchased, if I don't like it after all, I'm left with a large jar of something or other staring at me, which I then hate to throw out, as I spent money on it. Sad, I know, but oh well.

 In any case, I came across this recipe, which afforded me the chance to make my own mole sauce, which is, of course, infinitely preferable to the store bought variety anyway.  I was delighted to find this is a delicious dish, and one I'll make regularly from now on. Unfortunately, once I got a look at it, I also realized that this is not one that I can share photos of.  Brown sludge, atop tan chicken, atop white rice, does not an appetizing photo make.  Still, I'm hoping you'll trust my judgement on this and try it anyway.  You'll not be sorry!

Enjoy!

Quick Chicken Mole (from Better Homes & Garden's Easy Everyday Cooking)

Ingredients:

6 med. chicken breast halves (about 3 lbs. total)(I don't know where they get their chicken, but I usually hit 3 lbs. with 3-4 chicken breasts)

2 T. olive oil or cooking oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 1/2 t. chicli powder

1 t. sesame seeds

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. ground cumin

1/4 t. ground cinnamon

1 small tomato, chopped

1 tomatillo, peeled and cut into wedges, or 1 small tomato, chopped

1/2 c. chicken broth

1/2 c. tomato sauce

2 T. raisins

2 t. unsweetened cocoa powder

Several dashes bottled hot pepper sauce

Hot cooked rice

Pumpkin seeds or slivered almonds (optional) (I used almonds)

Directions:

Skin chicken. (Or just use boneless skinless breasts...) In a large skillet, cook chicken in hot oil over med. heat about 10 minutes or until light brown, turning to brown evenly.  Add onion, chili powder, sesame seeds, garlic, salt, cumin, and cinnamon.  Cook and stir for 30 seconds.

 Stir in tomato, tomatillo, chicken broth, tomato sauce, raisins, cocoa powder, and hot pepper sauce.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, uncovered, about 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.  Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken pieces from skillet.  Simmer the tomato mixture, uncovered, for 4 to 5 minutes or to desired consistency.  

To serve, spoon tomato mixture over chicken and rice.  If desired, sprinkle with pumpkin seeds or almonds. Makes 6 servings.

Spaghetti Squash Italiano.

I did not know I liked spaghetti squash.  The first time I had it, I don't know what exactly I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting the slightly sweet squashy flavor that I did encounter.  Probably because the first time I had it I ate it with spaghetti sauce, which seemed logical, but it tasted horrible. (Plenty of people prefer it this way, but I couldn't get over the idea that I was expecting pasta under my sauce!) In any case, I thought I didn't like spaghetti squash because of this. That is, until I came across this recipe.  It is delicious, let me tell you.  Bonus, almost everything in it is absolutely fresh. (Non-fresh items? Olive oil and Parmesan cheese...not too shabby. And I suppose the pine nuts/walnuts. But I digress.)

If you've been on the fence about trying spaghetti squash, or squash in general, I urge you to try this recipe.  Your family, and your tastebuds, with thank you.

Spaghetti Squash Italiano, from Easy Everyday Cooking (Better Homes & Gardens)

Ingredients:

2 small spaghetti squash (1 1/4 o 1 1/2 lbs. each) (WEIGH BEFORE YOU BUY! I can't find any under 2 lbs. at my supermarket, so I make this recipe with one squash instead of 2)

4 oz. mozzerella cheese, cut into small cubes (1 cup) (Mozzerella, good mozzerella, should be packed in water, or at the very least feel quite squishy. None of this perfect block stuff. Most will be in a ball shape.)

3 med. tomatoes, seeded and chopped (I usually sub in roma tomatoes, which are meatier and have less juice, though they are smaller. If you do this, add at least one extra roma.)

4 green onions, sliced (or more...more is good.)

1/2 c. pine nuts or coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

1/4 c. fresh basil or parsley (you can usually find fresh parsley mixed in with all the lettuce at the supermarket, and it's much cheaper than fresh basil, and just as good in this recipe)

1 T. olive oil or cooking oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 T. grated parmesan cheese (we didn't use any)

Directions:

Halve ths squash lengthwise and remove the seeds.  Prick skin all over with a sharp knife.  Place halves, cut sides down, in a 3-qt. rectangular baking dish.  Cover and bake in a 350° oven for 60 to 70 minutes or until squash is tender.

Using a fork, carefully rake the squash pulp to separate it into strands, leaving the strands in the shells.  Sprinkle one-fourth of the mozzerella into each of the pasta shells, toss lightly.  Push the squash mixture up the sides of the shells.

Meanwhile, for filling, in a medium mixing bowl combine tomatoes, green onions, nuts, basil or parsley, oil, and garlic.  Spoon the filling into squash shells.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Return to baking dish.  Bake about 20 minutes more or until filling is heated through. Makes 4 servings.

Ideally, each shell is one serving.  If you find squash like I do, it'll be 2 servings, so again, weigh your squash to check size.  Enjoy!

How to eat a Passionfruit.

This is a passion fruit.

I think it's ripe...

I've never eaten a passion fruit before, and when I saw them on sale at the local Super Saver, I couldn't resist.

This is what the inside looks like.

Chris and I shared this for an afternoon snack. We discovered that it tastes mostly like a tangerine, with the texture of a pomegranate....sort of. It's still all its own fruit. The thing that's most distinct to me about it was the smell. Once you smell one, you'll recognize the scent. It's used in some sports drinks and fruit juices because it smells so good.

To eat, you simply slice open the fruit, over a bowl if you want to save the juice inside, which is pretty good. Then, you have the option of either eating the fruit as is, seeds and all, or eating around the seeds, which we did, (they're quite crunchy, and got stuck in my teeth...not fun), or you can press all the contents through a sieve and then eat. It's up to you.

I don't think we'll be buying passion fruit again any time soon, simply because they cost too much for what you got, but it was a good experience, and I'd recommend that you try one someday.

Grocery List.

I'm working on preparing a grocery list for the upcoming weeks and I thought I'd poll you, my readers.  I'm looking for some new recipes that call for 100% (or nearly, not including seasonings) fresh food.  Veggie recipes would be even better, but anything that calls for mostly or all fresh ingredients would be great.  Any suggestions?

Update on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 3:53PM by Karen De Jabet

I have made Laurie's recipe, since, and it was delicious.

C, that sounds great too, and I will definitely have to try it out! We are huge fans of grilling, so this sounds perfect.

Blueberry Muffins.

I loved this recipe because it was easy to throw together, and I was able to do a workout while it baked, so I felt extra productive! I didn't have skim milk, and so used 1%, but otherwise, the recipe is as is.  These are the first blueberry muffins I've ever made from scratch, and I'll definitely make them again.  They were gone by the next day.

Blueberry Muffins (from BH&G Family Favorites Made Lighter)

Ingredients:

Nonstick spray coating

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/3 c. sugar

2 t. baking powder

1/8 t. salt

1 slightly beaten egg white

3/4 c. skim milk

3 T. cooking oil

1 t. finely shredded orange peel

1 T. orange juice

3/4 c. fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen)

1 to 2 t. sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°. Spray twelve 2 1/2 in. muffin cups with nonstick coating, set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, 1/3 c. sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center.

In another mixing bowl, stir together the egg white, milk, cooking oil, orange peel, and orange juice.  Add all at once to the flour mixture.  Stir just till mixture is moistened but still slightly lumpy.  Gently fold in blueberries.  Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full. Sprinkle lightly with the additional sugar.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or till tops are golden.  Remove muffins from pans.  Serve warm.  (Makes 12 servings)