Mango-Chipotle Chicken and Smoked Potato Salad

I made this chicken tonight and loved it.  I used to hate chicken... and I love this chicken!  The kids liked it too.  They ate it without the extra sauce on it.  We loved the sauce and loaded it up.  The picture shows the chicken with a chimichurri sauce that I made to go with it.  It was good, but it wasn't necessary and almost distracted from the mango-chipotle flavors.  Next time, I'm not bothering with  the chimichurri, so I'm not even bothering with that recipe.  Anyway, tonight's dinner was heavily inspired by some in Food Network Magazine.  I changed the chicken one a bit to reduce how much it made and I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead of chicken on the bone with skin.  I get a little grossed out by chicken on the bone, which doesn't really make sense since I eat steaks and pork chops on the bone.

Mango-Chipotle Chicken

2 mangoes, peeled, pitted, and chopped
3/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro, not chopped
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce plus 1 teaspoon sauce from the can
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 teaspoons canola oil, plus more for the grill
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs

Put the mangoes, cilantro, chipotles, adobo sauce, vinegar, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and canola oil in a food processor and puree until smooth.  Toss half of the mango mixture with the chicken in a resealable plastic bag and massage the chicken to coat with the sauce.  Refrigerate at least 6 hours to marinate.

Put the other half of the mango mixture in a small saucepan and simmer over low heat until slightly thicker, about 15 minutes.

Preheat a grill to medium and brush the grates with canola oil.  Remove the chicken from the marinade and grill for about 20 minutes total turning until cooked through.

Transfer the chicken to a platter and serve with the reserved mango sauce.

2-3 servings (the four of us, two adults and two young kids, finished it off in one sitting)

Smoked Potato Salad


2 tablespoons canola oil, plus more for the grill
2 1/2 pounds yukon gold potatoes
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 1/2 teaspoons chopped capers
juice of half a jumbo lemon

Preheat a grill to low.  Oil the grates.  Slice the potatoes into 3/4-inch thick slices.  Place potatoes in a bowl and add 2 tablespoons canola oil, paprika, salt, and pepper.  Toss to coat.  Place the potatoes on the grill.  Cover and cook 5 minutes.  Rotate potato slices 90 degrees and cook an additional 5-10 minutes.  Flip the potatoes and repeat on the other side.  They should be slightly puffed and golden brown.  Remove and allow to cool completely.  Cut into 3/4 to 1-inch pieces.

In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, celery, red onion, and cilantro.  In a smaller bowl, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, mustard, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, capers, and lemon juice.  Fold the mayonnaise mixture into the potato mixture until coated.  Cover and refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes.  Stir and adjust seasoning as needed.

4-6 servings

Potato and Kale Cakes

Our vegetable CSA started this week and we got kale, arugula, and lettuce.  The arugula and lettuce were easy to figure out what to do with, but I've never gotten excited about kale.  Until now!  I found this delicious recipe on bonappetit.com for potato and kale cakes.  The recipe can be found from this link.  I made it exactly as it's written with one exception.  Instead of pan frying the cakes at medium-high heat, I found that medium-low heat was more appropriate.  I forgot to take a picture, so maybe I'll get a picture of the leftovers tomorrow or I'll get one next time I make these.

Fusilli with Leeks and Hot Italian Sausage

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 leeks, white part only, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground to a powder

salt and freshly ground pepper

3/4 cup dry wine wine

1 cup chicken stock

1 pound hot italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled

splash of sherry vinegar

1 pound fusilli

1/3 cup coarsely chopped parsley

1 1/4 cup pecorino romano cheese

In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the leeks, ground fennel seed, and salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon salt). Saute until the leeks begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the chicken stock, cove, and cook 10 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, warm the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy frying pan over medium high heat. Add the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon. Cook until well browned, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour off most of the fat and add a splash of sherry vinegar.

Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving about a cup of the cooking water.

Add the sausage to the saute pan with the leeks and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add the pasta and about 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking water. Add additional cooking water if it seems dry. Adjust the seasoning. Transfer to a large shallow bowl. Add a generous drizzle of olive oil, the parsley, and romano cheese and stir to combine.

Makes about 6 servings.

Bran Flax Muffins

One day in the grocery store I happened to pick up a bag of Bob's Red Mill flaxseed meal, looked at the bag and saw two things that interested me. 1) A delicious looking recipe for Bran Flax Muffins. 2) That you can use flaxseed meal combined with water as an egg substitute. I eat eggs and so does my whole family, but there are others that can't eat eggs, so I'm going to experiment with another recipe to see if I can eliminate the eggs.

Anyway, back to the muffins. I barely changed anything from the recipe on the back of the bag. I reduced the amount of sugar, added a little more cinnamon, and reduced the amount of nuts.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill flaxseed meal

3/4 cup oat bran

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 cups shredded carrots (about 3-4)

2 macintosh apples, peeled, cored and shredded

1/2 cup golden raisins

3/4 cup chopped pecans

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the flour, flaxseed meal, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in the carrots, apples, raisins, and pecans. In another bowl whisk the eggs and brown sugar until sugar dissolves. Whisk in the milk and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Divide evenly into 18 greased muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Optional: I don't give Adeline (my one year old) raisins or nuts yet, so I mix everything together but the raisins and nuts. I fill three muffin cups with the non-raisin and non-nut batter, then I stir in the raisins and nuts and fill the rest of the muffin cups.

Pumpkin Waffles

I made these waffles for breakfast this morning and David is proclaiming them to be his favorite waffles now. I think they're pretty incredible too. I followed a recipe on Epicurious with a few changes. In fact, as I typed in this recipe with my changes, I realized that I used almost twice as much pumpkin as the original recipe specified. I really liked them this way. I might try them with less pumpkin for comparison, but these were so creamy and pumpkiny on the inside. So, sometimes mistakes work out really well.

2 1/2 cups flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoons nutmeg

4 large eggs, separated

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin

1 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 cup whole milk

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and soda, salt and spices.

In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Gradually whisk in the butter. Whisk in the brown sugar until sugar has dissolved. Whisk in the pumpkin. Gradually whisk in the milk and buttermilk.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just blended.  Using an electric mixer, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Fold the egg whites into the batter.

Cook in a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.

Cajun Mac and Cheese

This is so easy and delicious. The most time-consuming part is chopping the scallions and peppers, but it's worth a bit of chopping. We love this. My version of this recipe is based on one from Food Network Magazine.

12 ounces wagon-wheel pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

7-8 ounces uncured, cooked ham, cut into small cubes

2 bunches scallions, white and lighter green parts only, sliced

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, finely chopped

1 tablespoon cajun spice blend

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups whole milk

8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ham and cook, stirring, about 2 minutes. Stir in the scallions and peppers and cook until vegetables are slightly soft, about 3 minutes. Add the cajun seasoning and flour, stirring for 2 more minutes. Gradually stir in the milk and continue to stir until the sauce is thick and smooth, about 5 minutes more.

Add the pasta, cheese, and about 3/4 cup of the cooking water to the sauce. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, tossing to coat the pasta in the sauce and melt the cheese, about a minute or two.

Makes about 4 large servings.

Roasted Pineapple

A little over a month ago I decided that I was a little out of control in my ice cream consumption. So, I've been looking to fruit-based desserts to satisfy my sweet tooth. This is sufficiently sweet and makes me feel just a little fancy as I eat it. It's based on this recipe from bon appetit.

1 medium ripe pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into wedges and slices

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

3 tablespoons honey

coarsely chopped pistachios

mascarpone cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange the pineapple on the baking sheet. Roast on a lower rack in the oven for 10 minutes. Turn over the pineapple and roast again on the bottom rack of the oven for 12 minutes.

Whisk together the brown sugar, orange juice, and honey. Divide the pineapple among four plates. Pour sauce over the pineapple and sprinkle the chopped pistachios over the pineapple. Add a spoonful of mascarpone cheese and serve.

Makes 4 servings.