Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Beer Can Chicken


This is one of those "famous" recipes I've been meaning to make for awhile. The chicken was tasty and really juicy, and this was really quick to put together. I served it with sauteed zucchini and garlic.

I posted the recipe below as is, I cooked it in the oven on 350, and it took an hour and 15 minutes. I didn't have a can of beer so I put bottled beer in an empty soda can.

Spice Rubbed Beer Can Chicken
Recipe by food network

Ingredients

Spice Rub:
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon, zested

1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) chicken
1 (12-ounce) can beer

Directions:

Heat a gas or charcoal grill with a lid big enough to accommodate the bird. Put a drip pan below the grates.

Mix the ingredients for the Spice Rub until they are well blended. (This will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for 1 week.) Rub it all over the chicken, inside and out.

Open the beer and take a big swig or just pour out a couple of ounces. Sit the chicken on the beer can so the legs are at the bottom and the wings are at the top. Stand the beer can on the grates over the drip pan. Put the cover on and cook over indirect heat until the juices run clear, about 1 hour. (If using charcoal, push the coals to 1 side so the chicken is not over direct heat.)

Note: This chicken can also be cooked in a 350 degrees F oven. Just stand the beer can in a shallow roasting pan and cook about 1 hour or until juices run clear.


ZACH'S RATING - *** 1/2
Monday, August 23, 2010

Buffalo Chicken Pizza


When I was still pregnant, I made a pizza dough and froze it for later use. Since I had leftover leftover crockpot buffalo chicken, I thought Id use the pizza dough I had on hand to make buffalo chicken pizza. Here is the Pizza Dough Recipe.

It was a great way to use the leftover chicken. Very yummy!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza
A Running Mama Cooks Original Recipe

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough
Crockpot buffalo chicken
Olive Oil
Red Onion, sauteed
2 cups Monterary Jack Cheese
1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup celery, chopped
Creamy blue cheese dressing

Directions:

Arrange pizza dough on a pizza pan. Drizzle olive oil and spread with Monterary Jack cheese. Top with buffalo chicken, red onion, celery, and cheddar cheese. Drizzle with blue cheese dressing

Bake on 450 for 30 minutes.
ZACH'S RATING - ****
Thursday, August 19, 2010

Cuban Ropa Vieja

I have a feeling the crockpot is going to be my best friend for the next few months. This morning while my guy was hanging out in the swing, I was able to put together this crockpot meal before heading out for a playdate.

I've been wanting to make this since I went out for Cuban food with my girlfriends last month, so when this recipe was recommended, I jumped at the chance to try it. I followed it pretty closely, just increasing the amount of garlic and cumin. Here is the original recipe. It was really good and definitely going into my crockpot rotation!

Cuban Ropa Vieja
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 pounds beef flank steak
1 cup beef broth
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 small onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Directions:

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the flank steak on each side, about 4 minutes per side.

Transfer beef to a slow cooker. Pour in the beef broth and tomato sauce, then add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato paste, cumin, cilantro, olive oil and vinegar. Stir until well blended. Cover, and cook on High for 4 hours, or on Low for up to 10 hours. When ready to serve, shred meat and serve over yellow rice.


ZACH'S RATING - ****
Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Tomato Quinoa Salad

My mom made this salad for us the other day, and I really loved it. Very simple and tasty. Since a lot of my meals lately are on the fly, I put this together so I'd have an easy, healthy dish to eat for lunch or a snack.

Tomato Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
2 tbs olive oil
handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

Directions:

Prepare quinoa according to package directions. Cool. Add tomatoes, parsley, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.
Monday, August 16, 2010

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

My first meal in exactly 3 weeks! Allison tried this one out a few weeks ago, so I thought Id give it a try. An easy crockpot meal seemed like the best way to get back into cooking while also juggling 2 kids. Here is the original recipe.

I really liked these sandwiches a lot, but they were very spicy! Definitely depends on what kind of wing sauce you use, the one I used was "medium." I was definitely sweating a bit when I was done!!

I shredded the chicken right in the crockpot about an hour before eating, so it would soak up some of the sauce. We topped them off with some shredded Mexican cheese and Zach put blue cheese on his (I am not a fan).

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches
Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (17.5 fluid ounce) bottle buffalo wing sauce, divided
1/2 (1 ounce) package dry ranch salad dressing mix
2 tablespoons butter
6 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise

Directions


1.Place the chicken breasts into a slow cooker, and pour in 3/4 of the wing sauce and the ranch dressing mix. Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 7 hours.

2.Once the chicken has cooked, add the butter, and shred the meat finely with two forks. Pile the meat onto the hoagie rolls, and splash with the remaining buffalo wing sauce to serve.

Another cute Finn picture :D


ZACH'S RATING - ***

Update - I used the leftovers to make buffalo chicken pizza. It was awesome.

Zucchini Bread

I'm back in the kitchen! Finally got the nerve to take both kids grocery shopping today and it wasn't as tough as I had anticipated! I actually have dinner cooking in the crockpot now, so look out for that post later. Hopefully I will eventually be back to cooking full time soon. But a big thank you to all my friends and family who have feeding us over the past 3 weeks!

This afternoon Finn was content in his swing so I decided to make zucchini bread. I've had this recipe for awhile, not really sure where I originally got it from. Its an easy and delicious way to sneak veggies into Cecily's diet!

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325

Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla.

Combine flour, cinnamon, soda, baking powder and salt. Stir into egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 60-70 mins or until done

My handsome boy :)

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