Berry Yogurt bake

Remember me?

Sorry. Work's been oppressive lately, to the point where a mere10-hour day seems short. I've still cooked every weekend, but was too tired to post about it. I'm still tired, but also way behind. So let's get to it:

Ingredients:

2 whole eggs
2 eggs worth of egg whites (I buy egg whites in a jar as it involves less waste for me)
2-3 Tbsp. granulated Splenda, suitable for baking
1/3 cup brandy
375 gr. plain, non-fat yogurt
a pinch of nutmeg
1/3 teaspoon cinnamon
400-500 gr. berries of your choice, either fresh or frozen (defrost them first!); I used raspberries and blackberries.
2 tsp. Corn starch

In a bowl whisk all the ingredients but the berries. If you used frozen berries and they released some juice as they thawed, add the juice to the mix.

Next place the berries in a baking dish. Add the batter. Place in the oven at about 180 C for around an hour or until it's cooked through.

That's all there is to it.

Coming soon more recipes. I hope sometime this month.

Chilorio and Ginger srambled eggs

I've been experimenting with breakfast cooking (beyond microwave oatmeal) these past few weeks. I lack the time during the week, when fifteen minutes more sleep trump a nice breakfast, but on weekends I do cook breakfast. So:

Chilorio is a dish popular in the north of Mexico, made up of shredded pork with chiles and spices. Lately a lighter kind, made with turkey, has been hitting supermarket shelves. Here's a photo of an opened can:

The small can holds 170 gr., or about half a pound. For my breakfast I use about one third of it. The rest can be refrigerated (not int he can, never refrigerate food in cans; use a small tupperware instead) for a few days. Here's the recipe for about 3 to 4 people:

Ingredients:

1 170 gr. can of Chilorio (your choice turkey or pork)
3 whole eggs
6 egg whites (give or take, I buy a half liter jar of egg whites rather than separate my own)
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
2 Tbsp. olive oil (or any other vegetable oil)
1/2 onion, chopped
3 mushrooms, roughly chopped

You can tell it's just-made because it's still steaming

In a bowl whisk the eggs and egg whites. Next heat the oil in a skillet. Add the, ginger, onion and mushrooms, and saute for 3-5 minutes, or until the mushrooms begin to brown. Add the chilorio. At first you want to keep it separate from the other ingredients and let it cook a minute. Then mix it up with the onion and mushrooms.

When the onions are slightly browned, add the whisked egg mixture. Be careful, as whites cook a lot faster than whole eggs. The mix will tend to make thin films in the sides of the skillet, so scrape them off and mix well with the rest. Cook until the egg mix is done and serve hot.

I hesitated to add more spices, as the ginger has a rather subtle flavor. But I think some pepper and a dash of Worcestershire or Tabasco would add a nice touch.

And now in my list of things to try is to cook my own chilorio. I'm thinking of doing a chicken version...

Kathy's Italian Chicken

This is the one that wore me out today. It's a brand new, 100% original recipe. t began with some 1/2 kilo of ground chicken breast I had in the freezer...

Anyway, it's a bit involved and takes a long time, but it's worth it.

Fresh from the oven

It even rates two photos:

Served with Garlic oven-roasted potatoes

The dish consists in flat chicken croquettes covered in tomato sauce. But it's a bit involved as it takes multiple steps. I'll post the ingredients in parts to make this easier, or so I hope.

1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat bran (or regular breadcrumbs)
2 Tbsp. paprika
1/2 Tbsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. thyme
1 Tbsp. Fine herbs, crushed
1 Tbsp. oregano, crushed
1 Tbsp. garlic powder.

Mix all these ingredients in a bowl and set aside for the moment.

1/2 kilo (1+ lbs.) ground chicken breast
1 whole egg, beaten
1/3 cup green bell pepper, diced very small
1/3 cup jicama, diced very small
2-4 twigs of cilantro, chopped (without stems)
Oil for frying as needed

In a bowl mix the chicken, bell pepper, jicama, cilantro and egg. You'll have to use your hands, sorry! I used disposable plastic gloves (stolen from a supply at the office), but you can get disposable latex gloves if you don't like handling raw ground chicken. Mix well so there's an even mix of vegetables in the chicken.

Now, form small, flat croquettes and roll/dredge them in the mixture you set aside before. Then fry them in s skillet with a little oil of your choice until both sides are golden brown and/or the chicken has cooked through (that's why I want them nice and flat). Set aside.

It's likely you'll be doing them in batches of two or three, as I wound up doing, adding a bit of oil to the skillet. If so, you'd best turn the heat down to minimum, or nearly so, in order to keep the croquettes and the oil from burning. Skillets can get very hot after a while on high flame.

By the way, the mixture of flour and wheat bran above may be too much for 500 gr. of chicken. So if you can't think of another use for it, better adjust the quantities downwards.

Now we make the sauce. This is the easiest part.

1 bottle 680 gr. (about 1lb 8 oz) your choice Spaghetti sauce
1/4 small onion finely chopped
1 small clove of garlic finely minced (if you don't like too much garlic, omit this ingredient)
4-6 mushrooms thinly sliced
1/2 Tbsp. oregano
2 1/2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon olive oil
Grated Parmesan cheese to taste

In a saucepan heat the olive oil and add the garlic and onion. When the onions begin to turn translucent, add the mushrooms. Cook on medium heat until the mushrooms are golden all over. Reduce the heat to low and add the sauce. Stir well, add the oregano and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a slow boil. When it begins to bubble, remove from the flame.

Now get a baking dish and place the croquettes previously set aside on he bottom. Ladle sauce to cover them and sprinkle Parmesan cheese to taste on top of each one. According to the size of your dish, you may need a second layer of croquettes, again ladling sauce and sprinkling more cheese. In the top photo there are two such layers.

Place in an oven pre-heated to 300-350 F (I had to experiment on mine) until the sauce bubbles and the cheese melts. Let it cool and serve.

Whew! This is by far the most complicated dish I ever thought up. And I omitted "stretching" the chicken by adding textured soy to the mix. I didn't simply because I judged I had enough chicken. It was a great dish to cook, too.

One more thing, as the fur mix for coating the croquettes already contains garlic, using more garlic in the sauce may be too much. I love garlic, so for me it was fine. but you can omit either one without affecting the outcome too much.

Enjoy!