Arroz con Pollo

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Chef John Fuller

In English, chicken & rice, another good cold weather meal that makes the house smell so good and is relatively easy to make. So here we go.

I started with bone in chicken thighs that I generously salted and peppered and cooked skin side down first in a heavy pot until golden brown and then took them out and set them aside on a plate for a few minutes.

While the chicken was cooking, I cut up 2 medium onions, 1 of each green and yellow peppers into medium-sized pieces. Once the chicken was out of the pot, leave the fat that has collected in the bottom. Add to it the onions and peppers plus two tablespoons of each tomato paste and chopped garlic and cook for about two minutes. At this time I added 2 cups of brown rice instead of the usual white.

Now for the secret ingredient, I had some saffron in the cabinet so I threw in a very health pinch of it. You don’t have to but it just gives the dish an indescribable flavor coupled with the brown rice.

Now that everything is coated and stirred around with the oil from the bottom of the pot add your 5 cups of chicken broth and bring the pot to a boil. After it boils reduce the heat to a simmer and add the chicken back to the pot and put the lid on. Now the hard part, you have to wait about 40 minutes or so until the rice cooks. For the brown rice it takes almost an hour. Taste the rice to make sure it is done. Also you will see the chicken resting on a bed of rice in the pot. By then the chicken is cooked all the way through.

Here are few shots of the juicy chicken on top of a bed of rice with all the soft and flavorful vegetables mixed in. Go pour yourself another glass of wine and dig into the goodness.

Enjoy~

Oxtail Stew

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Chef John Fuller

I know that there was a request for this item a while ago but I had to track down a Jamaican woman that used to work for me who made this dish and it was always really good. So here we go. My take on oxtail stew.

Start with 2.5 to 3 pounds of oxtails washed and dried and dredge them in a mixture of 50% flour 50% sugar and sear them in a hot pan on all sides. When done set aside for a few minutes.

To the hot pot add 2 chopped onions, 2 chopped carrots, 2 stalks of celery, 2 Tbsp of chopped garlic, some fresh thyme, 17 whole allspice, and I had a scallion kicking around the refrigerator, so I threw it in too. Cook together making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan.

Put the meat back into the pot and the juices. Now add ½ cup of red wine, 2 cups of water, a quart of beef stock, 3 tbsp of soy sauce, 3 tbsp of ketchup, 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 3 tbsp brown sugar and one whole scotch bonnet pepper. Even though I had 2, I only used one, being this is the first time making ox tails. In retrospect, I should have used them both for more spice.

Here is the easy part, put the lid on, turn the pot down to the lowest simmer your stove allows and let it cook for the next 4 hours. Stir once in a while and you will see the broth reduce and thicken by itself. Now add 2 cans of drained and rinsed cannelloni beans, stir them in and let simmer uncovered for about an hour. About this time make some rice to serve with the stew. I made brown rice in this case.

This dish made the house smell so good. When eating just watch out of the little bones, the meat is tasty and just falls off the bone. So sit back, grab a bowl and Enjoy!

Spinach and Bacon Quiche

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Chef John Fuller

For a nice weekend brunch or even a light weeknight dinner a quiche always works. You can change the fillings and spices to have something different every time. My wife makes the dough as she enjoys baking.

For the dough:

1 1/2 cup flour
4-5 tablespoons cold milk
4 tbsp unsalted butter cold – cut into small chunks
4 tbsp shortening cold – broken up into small chunks
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Mix the flour, salt and pepper together. Add in, alternating, the butter and shortening into the flour. Using a dough blender or a fork, combine until the dough is coarse pebbles. Add in 4 tbsp of milk and bring the dough together in a ball, if it is still dry, add more cold milk. Take the dough and wrap with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes to chill.

Roll out the dough and place in a nine in pie plate.

For the filling:

6 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
6 strips of bacon
1 cup frozen spinach, drained and chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp garlic, finely diced
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper

In a large saucepan cook the bacon until crispy, place them on a paper towel to drain any excess oil. Do not discard the bacon grease left in the pan. Chop the bacon into chunks.

In the saucepan add in the onions and garlic and cook until softened. Remove from pan.

In a large bowl whisk the eggs and milk. Stir in salt, pepper, onions and garlic.

Place the egg mixture in the rolled out dough in the pie plate. Place the chopped bacon, cheese and spinach carefully in the egg mixture.

Cook at 375 F for about 35-45 minutes until eggs are set.

Enjoy!

Skirt Steak and Onions

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Chef John Fuller

As you can tell, we love steak. On this night we had skirt steak with marinated onions

To start marinate some skirt steak in your favorite seasonings, here I had some frozen left over chimichurri sauce that I found in the back of the freezer, set that aside.

Cut about 3 onions into small strips put in a pan over medium low heat with 2 tbsp of butter and oil sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until soft about an hour until nice and caramelized.

Add 1 jalapeño that has been cut in half and the seeds taken out sliced thin and the juice of 2 limes to the onion mixture, check for salt and pepper, set aside.

Make however much yellow rice to go along with dinner. Remember its 2 cups of water to every cup of rice. Add some butter, Adobo seasoning and pepper to the pot, bring to a boil then cover and reduce temperature to a simmer. Cook until the rice is done to your liking.

Fire up the grill to the hottest setting you have, take the meat out of your marinade, drop it on the hot grill and cook about 3-4 minutes a side. You’re looking for rare to medium rare on the steaks (125 F) at most. Take meat off the grill and let rest for about 15 minutes. While the meat is resting, reheat the spicy caramelized onions, sauté some vegetables, check the rice and plate it up!

Lastly make sure after the meat rests to cut it across the grain or perpendicular to the striations in the meat. Otherwise you will end up with very chewy steak.

Enjoy with fresh sauteed vegetables, and the onions on the steak!

Bourbon & Brown Sugar Baked Beans

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Chef John Fuller

A couple of weeks ago a reader requested a baked beans recipe. Here is one that my family loves.

Ingredients:

2 lbs navy beans, canned, drained
1 lb bacon, diced
2 medium white onions, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
20 oz water
1/2 cup your favorite bourbon
1/2 cup cola
1 box dark brown sugar
4 Tbsp ketchup
4 Tbsp BBQ sauce
6 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp tomato paste
3 Tbsp Sriracha

Baked Beans

Take the beans and cook them in a pot on simmer until tender for about 45 minutes.
Drain the beans and set aside.

In a heavy bottomed pot cook the bacon until crispy.

Add the diced onions and peppers and sauté until soft.
Add the beans, water, bourbon, coke, brown sugar, ketchup, BBQ sauce, molasses, tomato paste, Sriracha
Bring everything to a low boil for about an hour stirring frequently and then simmer for 2 hours.
Turn the heat off and let it sit on the stove for about 2 hours to cool, then refrigerate overnight

Now here is the cheat, transfer the beans to a crock pot on high and heat for another 4 hours and then they will be ready to enjoy!

Chef John

To Eat Well is to Live Well!

Tag Archives: onions

Arroz con Pollo

Oxtail Stew

Spinach and Bacon Quiche

Skirt Steak and Onions

Bourbon & Brown Sugar Baked Beans

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