Real Margaritas

How do you like your margaritas? I prefer them on the rocks with no salt. Also, I tend to favor drinks that are more tart than sweet. It's been a while since I have had a good margarita, mostly because I prefer wine over cocktails, but I found some tequila and triple sec in my freezer so in the spirit of Cinco de Mayo, I had some margaritas with my fajitas. The biggest effort came from juicing the limes. You need a few of them (5-6) to get that half cup of juice. It's so worth it though...none of that premade stuff! I only had gold tequila, but I would recommend using silver if you have it. Either way, they are really good and definitely reminiscent of my beloved kick-ass margaritas from Marix. They are also STRONG so watch out! In a last minute TWIST, I ended up going to Marix and having a wonderful evening with some close friends. It was a great night and I hope you enjoyed yours as well.



Real Margaritas
(Adapted from Ina Garten)

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup Triple Sec
1 cup tequila
1/2 cup club soda, or to taste

Mix the lime juice, lemon, triple sec and tequila. Add club soda to taste and serve over ice.

Chicken Fajitas with Slow Roasted Tomato Salsa

Happy Cinco de Mayo!! What do you guys do to celebrate the occasion? In college we used to just use the day as an excuse to drink all day (as if we really needed a reason). Now that I am responsible adult (please try not to laugh too hard), I just spend the day at work and maybe grab a few cocktails with friends. This year I don't have any plans, but I wanted to eat something festive over the weekend. I also found an almost full bottle of tequila and an almost full bottle of triple sec in my freezer. What goes better with margaritas than fajitas? At my favorite Tex-Mex restaurant, Marix, we like to order our margaritas "kick ass" style and our fajitas with no peppers and the onions well done. This past Saturday after I was done volunteering, I made a pitcher of margs and these fajitas. They were so yummy and worth the time browning the onions and making tortillas. Homemade tortillas are so easy to make and taste so much better than the store bought variety. I encourage you to try them sometime. I had just a few slow roasted tomatoes left so I combined them with a few things to make a really delicious and spicy salsa. This was a most excellent way to use up leftover chicken.



Chicken Fajitas

Chicken, cut into strips
Caramelized onions (recipe follows)
Tortillas
Slow roasted tomato salsa (recipe follows)
Shredded cheese (optional)
Sour cream (optional)

Spread chicken and onion mixture over each tortillas. Top with the toppings of your choice.

Caramelized Onions
(Adapted from Simply Recipes)

1 1/2 onions, thinly sliced
Pinch sugar
Pinch salt
Extra-virgin olive oil

Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add enough oil to cover the pan. Add the onions and stir to make sure they are all coated in oil. After 10 minutes, sprinkle the onions with salt and sugar and reduce the heat medium-low. Cook, stirring every few minutes for 30 minutes to 1 hour until the onions are rich and brown.

Slow Roasted Tomato Salsa

6-8 slow roasted tomato halves, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
Juice from 1/2 lime
1 jalapeno, seeded if desired and chopped
Kosher salt to taste

Mix everything and let sit 15 minutes to let the flavors come together.

Spring Chicken with Green Marinade

Since I am cooking with a tighter budget lately, one of the things I look for in a recipe is the adaptability of leftovers. Lemme be the one to tell ya. One chicken makes a whole lotta leftovers. Lucky for me, they are really delicious leftovers and can be used in many types of recipes so expect to see many chicken recipes from me this week. First up is the original recipe I used for this young chicken. It's a green, thick marinade made up of all kinds of fresh herbs and one of the best parts about it is that you can adapt the marinade to use whatever herbs you have on hand. For example, I didn't have fresh marjoram, but hottie salad boy at the FM informed me that majoram is basically the same as oregano except less pungent (smart, and deliciously cute...I should marry him!). Anyway, I didn't have fresh oregano on hand so I used a pinch of dried. In true to Esi form, I didn't measure anything so please take these measurements with a grain of salt. I will say that this marinade is very flavorful and makes a wonderful and juicy chicken. I still have to work on my butchering technique, but I think I have my marinade technique down. I served this with some roasted asparagus and a few lemon wedges and it was the perfect light dinner.



Spring Chicken with Green Marinade
(Adapted from Tom Douglas)

1 young chicken, cut into 8 pieces

For the marinade:
1/2 cup chopped scallion, white and green parts
3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
About 1/4 cup olive oil, as needed, for browning the chicken
1/2 lemon, cut into wedges


Marinate the chicken 1 day ahead

Trim excess fat from the chicken pieces. Rinse them under cold running water, pat dry with paper towels, and place them in a nonreactive pan.

Combine the scallion, herbs, garlic, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth, gradually adding the oil last to emulsify. The marinade will be very thick, like a pesto. Pour the marinade over the chicken pieces and coat the pieces on both sides. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

To cook the chicken, preheat the oven to 450°F. Heat 2 large sauté pans over medium-high heat with about 2 tablespoons of oil in each pan. If you don’t have 2 large sauté pans, brown the chicken in batches.

Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving any excess marinade. Put the chicken pieces in the pans skin side down and sauté until the skin is nicely browned.

Turn and brown the other side, adjusting the heat between medium and medium-high as necessary so you don’t burn the chicken. When the chicken pieces are browned on both sides, 8 to 10 minutes total for each piece, transfer them to a roasting pan (my skillets are oven-safe so I roasted them in the pan).

Squeeze the lemon halves over the chicken and throw the lemon halves into the pan. Scrape any extra marinade into the roasting pan. Put the roasting pan in the oven and roast until the chicken is cooked, the juices run clear, and the thigh meat reads 175°F on an instant-read thermometer, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the chicken from the oven.

Remove the chicken from the roasting pan and arrange on a platter. Whisk the pan juices to break up any clumps of the marinade and drizzle a little over the chicken. Pour the rest of the pan juices into a gravy boat, discarding the lemon halves, and pass with the chicken.

New Orleans BBQ Shrimp

This past weekend, I was supposed to have joined my friends in New Orleans for a bachelorette party and Jazz Fest. Unfortunately I was unable to join. I am sure my friends had an amazing time and my weekend ended up being not so depressing. Tony and I volunteered at Big Sunday (on Saturday) helping out with pet adoptions and I had some lovely cocktails and an amazing dinner (more on that later). To fuel myself for spending the day outdoors, I made this shrimp recipe. I pretended it was one of the things I could have been enjoying if I had actually made it to New Orleans this weekend. It's exactly the kind of food that I imagine my friends have been feasting on for the past few days. Rich and flavorful. Even with only one tablespoon of butter, I found this to be rich, but it is definitely worth it. There are some big flavors and they all work well together. Enjoy this with a nice hunk of bread and a glass of white wine with John Coltrane or Miles Davis or Albert Ayler (whose music reminds me of NOLA funeral marches) is playing in the background. You'll feel like you're in Cajun territory in no time.



New Orleans BBQ Shrimp
(Adapted from Food is Luv)

1/2 pound of raw shrimp, deveined and peeled with tails on
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon of butter
2-3 dashes paprika
Dash cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoons of flat leaf parsley, chopped

Drizzle a thin layer of olive oil in a skillet and heat over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the shrimp in a single layer and season with salt and pepper. as they begin turn pink, turn them over. when they turn opaque remove from the skillet and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium and saute the garlic, about 2 minutes. Add wine and cook until it reduces to about half. Add the butter, paprika, cayenne pepper, and Worcestershire sauce and stir well. when the butter is melted, toss the shrimp back into the skillet and mix well.

Top with parsley and serve with crusty bread for dipping.

Asparagus, Poached Egg, Prosciutto, and Fontina Cheese Sandwich

Yesterday's bread became today's sandwich. Doesn't it look delicious? It really was. Asparagus seems to be my vegetable of choice these days so when I came across this recipe is wasn't a question of how, but when. As I mentioned, I am going to be doing a bit more budget cooking in the next few weeks and you may see less posts, but one of the keys to keeping me going is my well-stocked pantry. I emptied out my freezer a bit, but I still had a package of prosciutto and since I always have things like eggs on hand, this didn't break the bank too much. Besides, anything to give a chance to practice my poaching skills is welcomed! I found the directions to be a little strange, but took the basic components and broke it down to what I have below. I actually liked that the cheese didn't cover the whole sandwich. The poached egg was really good with the slight garlicky flavor on the toast and there was just enough salty prosciutto to bring it all together. In the interest of saving a few calories and fat grams, I didn't drizzle the sandwich with extra oil, but I didn't feel that I missed anything. This would be an excellent addition to your weekend brunch.


Asparagus, Poached Egg, Prosciutto, and Fontina Cheese Sandwich
(Adapted from Nancy Silverton)

Makes 1 sandwich

4 stalks large asparagus, tough ends broken off
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 slice honey wheat bread (or whatever bread you have, the original recipe calls for sourdough)
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 large egg
3 ounces Fontina or Gruyere cheese, sliced into 4 1/8-inch-thick slices
1 slice prosciutto
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with foil and lay down the thyme sprigs. Toss the asparagus with a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast 10-15 until tender, but still firm.

Rub one side of the bread with the garlic clove, and toast until lightly golden. Meanwhile, preheat the broiler

Arrange the asparagus over each slice of bread and place on a baking sheet.

In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil. Turn the heat down to just below a simmer and add the vinegar and a pinch of salt. Crack an egg into a small bowl to check that the yolk isn’t broken. Slowly stir the water in one direction to create a whirlpool effect. Once the whirlpool has slowed down a little, carefully slide the egg into the water against the side of the pan, following the current of the water as you pour the egg in, so that the white envelops the yolk. Poach the egg for 2 to 2½ minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks are runny. Carefully remove with a slotted spoon to a plate to drain. Cupping the eggs in your hand, tip the plate to pour off the excess water.

Place the egg centered over the asparagus. Drape a slice of Fontina cheese over each egg, and heat the sandwiches under the broiler for a minute or so, just until the cheese is melted.

Remove the sandwiches from the oven, and crumble the prosciutto over the sandwich. Drizzle a little olive oil over, sprinkle with pepper, and place a thyme sprig on each sandwich if desired.

Honey Wheat Bread

This week, I find myself baking my own loaves of bread from scratch. Luckily, I also have a pretty well-stocked pantry and I have been wanting to perfect my bread making skills so it was nice to try out this bread. In terms of texture, I am not sure I got it exactly right. It was dense, but not heavy feeling once I ate it and the honey gave it a wonderful flavor, but I am just not sure it rose as much as it should have. Also, I took the lazy person option and let my stand mixer do the kneading instead of releasing my frustrations into the loaf of bread. Either way, it was still delicious (which in the end, isn't that the point), and it made a fabulous sandwich that I will tell you more about later.

Honey Wheat Bread
(Adapted from All Recipes)

Makes 1 loaf

1 cup warm water (110 degrees Farenheit/45 degrees Celsius)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add honey, and stir well. Mix in whole wheat flour, salt, and vegetable oil. Work all-purpose flour in gradually. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead for at least 10 to 15 minutes (I used a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook). When dough is smooth and elastic, place it in a well oiled bowl. Turn it several times in the bowl to coat the surface of the dough, and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Punch down the dough. Shape into a loaf, and place into a well greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Allow to rise until dough is 1 to 1 1/2 inches above pans.

Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes.

Chocolate Cinnamon Gelato

Lately, so many of my posts come from inspiration I see from other food bloggers. Like this gelato that I spotted on Delectable Deliciousness. It's been a while since I gave my ice cream maker a workout and since I absolutely adore the combination of chocolate and cinnamon (see here, and here), I thought I would give it a whirl. I had just enough whole milk leftover from the hot toddy cake to make this so, like Jayme, I replaced the cream with the milk. I also left out the toffee bits since I didn't have them, but I just found these mini peanut butter cups at TJs that I ended up enjoying with a bit of the gelato later. So good. Is it just me or is food in mini form better? Anyway, I loooooved this gelato. It's rich without feeling heavy and the balance of chocolate and cinnamon is perfect. If you let the gelato freeze overnight, it gets a bit hard so before you want to eat it, I suggest letting it sit out for 10-15 minutes at room temperature before serving.


Chocolate-Cinnamon Gelato
(Adapted from Bon Appetit, June 2006)

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
pinch salt
2 1/2 cups whole milk, divided into 1/4 cup 1 3/4 cups, and 1/2 cup
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 cup coarsely chopped toffee bits/candy bar pieces (optional)

Whisk sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt in heavy medium saucepan until blended. Gradually add 1/4 cup milk, whisking until cornstarch is dissolved. Whisk in 1 3/4 cups milk. Whisk over medium-high heat until mixture thickens and comes to boil, about 6 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and cook 1 minute longer, whisking occasionally. Remove from heat; add chocolate. Let stand 1 minute, then whisk until melted and smooth.

Transfer gelato base to medium bowl. Mix in the last 1/2 cup milk . Place bowl over large bowl filled with ice and water and cool, stirring often, about 30 minutes.

Process gelato base in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions, adding toffee (if using) during last minute of churning. Transfer to container; cover. Freeze at least 3 hours and up to 2 days.

Pork Souvlaki

Ever since I made that shrimp saganaki a couple of weeks ago, I have been thinking about more Greek food. Souvlaki and gyros were some of my favorite things we ate in Greece (especially after a night of drinking and dancing), but I haven't had it too many times here in the US and I have certainly never made it before. This recipe for pork souvlaki is really good and I think the marinade would work well with chicken or lamb as well. I let my meat marinate for 24 hours so the flavors went all through it. Of course since I am a garlic fiend, I kicked up the amount of garlic, but if you have someone to kiss, you may want to reduce the amount if you try it yourself. I used whole wheat pitas to make it a little healthier and grilling them in the pan after the souvlaki gave them a nice texture and flavor. I was a little lazy about taking the cover off my outdoor grill so I made these on the grill pan and was pleased with the grill marks and flavor.




Pork Souvlaki
(Adapted from Serious Eats)

Makes 8 skewers (2 servings)

For the marinade
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Greek oregano
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 pound pork tenderloin
Tzatziki
Pocketless pitas or flatbread

Mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a small bowl. Place pork cubes in a plastic bag and pour in the marinade. Seal the bag and toss to coat pork evenly with the marinade, then open the bag and reseal, removing as much air as possible. Place the pork in the refrigerator for at least two hours to overnight.

Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. While the grill is heating, thread the pork cubes onto the skewers.

Grill the pork skewers until they browned on all sides and cooked through, about 8 minutes, turning once during cooking. Remove the skewers to a plate and allow to rest for 5 minutes. While the pork rests, grill the pita until lightly browned on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Remove the pita from the grill and served topped with the pork and tzatziki.

So as I briefly mentioned the other day, my friends and I made our way to UCLA to go see Giada at the Festival of Books (we just missed the hotness of Curtis Stone). Barbara Fairchild of Bon Appetit interviewed Giada about her inspiration, influences, and thoughts about Italian cooking. In all honesty, it was a bit boring especially if you have ever caught her "Chefography" on FN, but it was really nice to be outside in the sun forgetting about my recent troubles. Afterwords there was a meet and greet where people could get copies of her new book autographed. We opted to skip the long ass line for that. Here are a couple of pics from the event.

Daring Bakers April Challenge: Cheesecake

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

The thing I enjoyed most about this April challenge was the freedom we were given in creating a cheesecake of our liking. I made these cheesecake cupcakes for our Easter brunch. Originally, I was going to do a red velvet cheesecake since our brunch had a Louisiana/Southern theme, but then I saw a recipe for cheesecake cupcakes topped with lemon curd so I decided to use the rest of my Meyer lemon curd and make lemon cheesecakes instead. I made very few changes to the recipe. I left out the vanilla in the crust and instead of using lemon juice in the cheese mixture, I used a few teaspoons of zest from the large batch of lemons that Raulito gave me a while ago. Also, instead of cream, I used a bit of sour cream and no vanilla. Making the cheesecake was really easy. I pressed the crust into the wrappers in the muffin tin, filled with the batter and baked. This was a straightforward challenge that I really enjoyed and I am pretty sure my friends enjoyed the results. Making little cheesecakes like this was a great way to enjoy cheesecake without too much guilt. The original recipe can be found on Jenny's site. The other Daring Bakers got really creative with their flavor combinations. Visit the blogroll to check them out!


(Couldn't decide which plate I liked better, lol)

PS, Didn't meet Curtis Stone yesterday (unfortch), but Giada was nice. More on that tomorrow.

Vodka Rosemary Lemonade Fizz

When life gives you lemons...make vodka rosemary lemonade fizz. Since this past week was pretty crappy, I knew I wanted to have a nice relaxing weekend. I still have a surplus of lemons from my favorite Mexican and when I saw this post on TasteSpotting the other day, I knew I would have to make it while sitting outside and enjoying the beautiful sunshine. Unfortunately, my apartment doesn't get a lot of light and it was rather windy and cool yesterday, but nevertheless it was a beautiful day and this cocktail is amazing. Remember back when I made the lemon-rosemary sorbet? Well maybe you don't, but this recipe is basically that in a drink form. So refreshing and perfect for warm weather and even though it has cooled down considerably from the unbearable heat last weekend, it was perfect for my Saturday out on my patio with Us Weekly (and of course my new Gourmet and Saveur) and some tunes.

I'm off to the farmers market and then the LA Times Festival of Books so Raul can stalk Giada and I can hopefully stalk Curtis Stone. Enjoy your Sunday!



Vodka Rosemary Lemonade Fizz
(From Gourmet, May 2009)

Makes 8 servings

1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar (I used a little less than 1 cup)
2 (8-inch) rosemary sprigs, plus extra for garnish
1/2 cup (or more, to taste) vodka
Chilled club soda or seltzer

Bring lemon juice, sugar, and rosemary to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Discard rosemary sprigs.

Fill glass halfway with ice. Pour about 2-3 tablespoons of lemon syrup and add 1-2 tablespoons vodka. Top with selzter and stir. Garnish with rosemary sprigs.