Jalapeno Pineapple Chicken

This combo of flavors is actually one that a customer put together at the store, she said she was going to use it on fish. But as my husband prefers chicken...

Oh my. This chicken was actually a breeze to make. Don't be worried by roasting a chicken, if you don't have the time or the inclination, buy a rotisserie one, cut it up, brush it with the Jalapeno Olive Oil and bake it for twenty minutes or so while you finish up the rest of this dish. I like the bigger flavor you get when you roast it yourself, but nothing beats a rotisserie chicken when you are in a hurry!

And there are much more authentic and, well, better Sticky Rice recipes out there, but this is something thrown together in a pinch, using regular minute rice. We were in a rush.

Jalapeno Pineapple Chicken

1 fryer chicken, cut up and roasted

2 tbsp Jalapeno Olive Oil

2 tbsp Pineapple Balsamic

1 tsp minced tarragon

Garnish:

1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened

Slivered almonds

Whole tarragon leaves

Lime wedges

Preheat the oven to 350.°

Rub the chicken down with the Jalapeno Olive Oil and the tarragon. Roast for 20 minutes, lightly covered. 

Brush with the Pineapple Balsamic. Garnish with slivered almonds, shredded coconut and tarragon leaves.

Pineapple Sticky Rice

2 cups instant rice

1 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk, canned

2 tsp Jalapeno Olive Oil

1/4 cup chopped pineapple

1/2 pineapple juice

1/4 cup Pineapple Balsamic

pinch of Thai Ginger Sea Salt

1 tsp minced tarragon

Bring the water and coconut mixture to a boil in a medium saucepan with the Oil. Add the tarragon leaves and rice. Cook according to the package directions. 

When you remove it from the heat to let it sit, add in the balsamic vinegar the reserved pineapples and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Top with sliced almonds and coconut shreds

Guacamole with Bacon and Roasted Tomatillos

Ah, bacon. Glorious bacon. Thick-cut heavily peppered bacon. Mmmm, paired with creamy avocado and tart tomatillos...

Ah, guacamole. Yay!

Guacamole with Bacon and Roasted Tomatillos

1 small Jalapeno, seeded and halved
4 medium tomatillos, halved
3 avocados
4 slices thick bacon
1 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp Jalapeno Olive Oil
4 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
pinch of Applewood Smoked Sea Salt
tortilla chips or toasted pita bread

In my BLT post recently, I told you about the best way in the world to cook bacon. So line a baking sheet with foil and lay out your bacon. Place in the oven and turn to 400 degrees. Take out when done, about 20 minutes.

On another sheet lay out the tomatillos and the jalapeno. Rub the tomatillos with the Jalapeno Olive Oil and sprinkle with the sea salt. Once the oven is preheated and the bacon is done, put them in and roast for about 25-30 minutes.

Dice your avocados and place in a bowl. When the tomatillos and jalapeno are done, they should be nice and collapsed. Let them cool a little bit until you can handle them. Scoop all the flesh away from the tomatillo skins and add to the bowl. Dice the jalapeno and stir it all together. Add in the lime juice.

Mash with a basic potato masher for chunky style guac like I like, or pulse in a food processor for a smoother guac. Stir in the cilantro and crumble the bacon and add, saving a little bit of each for garnish.

Totally NOT Vodka Sauce

Now this is the only think I've cooked this month. It fills the need, but PB&J does not count as cooking.

I've just been too tired to cook. Sleepy cooks burn things. And forget to buy ingredients. Which is great for this recipe, because I had everything I needed somewhere in my cabinet. (or the store here...)

So I needed something that would be fast, tasty, and above all, something that would produce enough leftovers that I wouldn't go hungry at work again today.

This pasta came together so fast. And it ended up looking like vodka sauce. But vodka sauce only wishes it is this good!

Totally NOT Vodka Sauce (even if it's pink)

8oz fettuccine
1 can peas
1 cup milk
3/4 cup jalapeno cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Piquillo Pepper Tapenade*
4 tbsp Spanish Olive Oil
Black Pepper
1 tbsp crushed garlic
pinch of powdered ginger

Cook the pasta. Drain and put back in the pan.

Heat the olive oil in a small sauce pan and add the garlic and the ginger. Stir around, about a minute. Add the cheese shreds. If you can't find Jalapeno Cheddar, feel free to use regular. But then sub in the Jalapeno Olive Oil for the Padilla.

Stir the cheese around until it starts to melt. Add the milk to keep it from burning and increase the heat to medium high. Stir it occasionally, scraping the sides. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Add in the Piquillo Pepper Tapenade (* available in our store) and the black pepper.

Stir into the noodles.

This sauce really ends up pink. Really. Egg noodles suck sauce right in, those pale bits are where the sauce didn't stick!

Jalapeno Tilapia Pouches

I wish that one day I could walk into my kitchen and find everything I need. I don't have a large kitchen or much cabinet space, and as such I tuck things away into small spaces and find them months later. Hopefully, whatever it was hasn't gone bad by then.

Last night, I was walking around my whole apartment looking for my jar of sliced jalapenos.

Not something you expect to lose.

But I did have my bottle of Jalapeno Olive Oil. And that will do.

Jalapeno Tilapia Pouches

Parchment paper
4 Tilapia Fillets
1 tomatillo, diced
1 large red pepper, diced
Himalayan Pink Salt
4 tbsp Jalapeno Olive Oil
Sliced jalapenos, optional

Preheat your oven to 450degrees.

If you have any of these, that is awesome! If not, you get to make your own pouches. I rolled the sides up, put everything inside and then rolled the top down. It worked fine. But if you do a quick search on how to make them, many people have much better ways...that also won't get the tops of the parchment all brown and crispy.

Place the fish inside your pouch, toss the peppers and tomatillos inside as well. If you can find your jar of sliced jalapenos, toss a few of those in too.

Sprinkle 1 tbsp of the Jalapeno Olive Oil over each fillet. Roll your pouch closed and bake for 15 minutes.

I enjoyed this with some salad and white rice. Go Fish!

Sticky Balsamic Chicken

I was craving fried chicken wings this week. I decided to be healthier and make this. It's pretty awesome and solved my craving. Yay chicken!

Sticky Balsamic Chicken

10 chicken drumsticks
3 tbsp Olive Oil*
1/4 cup Vanilla Balsamic
1/4 cup molassas
2 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger paste

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Arrange your chicken in a large casserole pan. Brush the olive oil over them and bake 20 minutes. *I like to use the Jalapeno or Chipotle for this one. Gives it an extra zing!

Whisk all the sauce ingredients together in a large bowl. Remove the chicken from the oven and pour the sauce over top. Turn them to coat and return to the oven for another 30 minutes. Turning once while cooking.

No Meat Chili and Pineapple Cornbread

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Turkey Day.

My day was fun, but my families celebration combined with the cooking I've been doing for you guys, I am turkey-ed out!

To get completely away from turkey, I made this no meat chili. I'm going to show you some good things to do with leftovers this coming week, you could even put shredded turkey into this. But right now, turkey is out and beans are in!

No Meat Chili

2 cans black beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 can chopped carrots,
         or 2 fresh carrots
1 can, diced new potatoes,
          or 1 large baking potato, diced
1 cup chopped or crushed pineapple in juice
1/2 cup juice from the can of pineapple
1 large onion, diced
3-4 tbsp Taco, Southwest, Jerk or Wings seasoning blends
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
2-4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp Jalapeno Olive Oil
1 cup vegetable stock

Heat the Olive Oil on medium heat in a large stock pot. Add in the onion and saute 5-7 minutes, until they start to become translucent. Add in the potatoes and the carrot and one tbsp of your seasoning blend. Saute 2-3 minutes.

Rinse and drain all your beans. Add them to the pot along with the vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer and stir occasionally. Cook for 10 minutes. Taste. Add the rest of your seasonings blend one tbsp at a time along with 2 tbsp of the brown sugar. Simmer 5-10 mins. Taste again. If still too spicy, add a little more brown sugar. If too sweet, add more spices. The spices will intensify a bit as you cook.

Add the pineapple bits, juice and tomatoes and simmer 1- 1 1/2 hours. Sauce will thicken and turn darker.

Serve with Pineapple Cornbread (recipe follows)

Pineapple Cornbread

Take one package cornbread mix and empty it into a bowl. If the directions call for water or milk, substitute an equal amount of crushed or chopped pineapple in juice, plus 2 tbsp of the juice.

Add in eggs if it calls for it, also 2 tbsp Jalapeno Olive Oil.

Stir and bake as directed. Remember to grease your pan well. The pineapple bits make it stick more than usual.

Cool slightly and turn out onto wire racks. Slice and brush the tops with White Pineapple Balsamic. Serve warm with chili.




*If you would like to make a meat chili, I would saute the meat in one of the spicy oils before I put in the onions. I would use Jalapeno for preference, but Citrus Habanero if you are feeling the need to breathe fire. If you do, you may only need 1-2 tbsp additional spices.

Salsa Chicken With Chipotle Fried Rice

I was in the mood for something spicy and easy tonight. So chicken and rice it is!

Salsa Chicken and Chipotle Fried Rice

Serves 4

For Chicken:

1 package chicken tenderloins

2 Tbsp Chipotle Olive Oil (or Jalapeno)

1/2 of a 16oz. jar of salsa, whatever heat level you prefer

Black Pepper to taste

Stream the Chipotle or Jalapeno oil into your pan. Season the chicken with pepper and saute about 4 minutes on each side, until lightly browned.

Add the salsa and reduce the heat to low. Cover and let simmer no more than 5 minutes.

For Rice:

4 Tbsp Chipotle Olive Oil

1 medium diced tomato

1/2 medium onion, diced

4 cups cooked white rice, cooled

Saute onion in 1Tbsp oil over medium heat until they have a little color. About  2-4 minutes. 

Add the rice and the remaining 3Tbsp oil. Toss to coat and leave alone for one or two minutes. You want to let the rice get some color too. Scrape the rice around. Keep doing this until most of the rice has some nice color. Add the tomato and keep stirring for another minute.

Serve with additional salsa on top and sprinkle with Jalapeno Sea Salt.

Steak with Polenta

So I made a whole bunch of polenta. I have so much left over that I froze about half of the leftovers. Every couple days I grab it and slice off some to go with my dinner.

Today I decided to make steak. I wanted to serve it with some smashed red-skin potatoes, but when I got home I realized I had used the last of them on Monday night.

What to do?

I sliced it up and sent it to the frying pan.

Steak and Polenta 

You need a nice frying pan, some sliced polenta and some steaks. This will serve as many people or as few people as you need it to. This is directions for each serving.

Salt (Himalayan Pink) and Pepper
Steaks
2 Tbsp for each steak, I like Jalapeno, Bacon or Roasted Garlic Olive Oil. I used Portobello and Garlic Olive Oil for this one.


Salt and pepper your steaks liberally. Add 2 Tbsp of olive oil to a frying pan and heat over medium high heat.

Add the steak and cook until desired level of 'done'. This will vary according to how well-done you like your meat. I prefer medium-well, and cooked mine for about five minutes a side.

Keep it warm.

Slice your polenta into thin slices. Add it to the pan and cook until crispy. Also about five minutes.

Serve together and enjoy!