Puerto Rican Chicken and Potatoes

You can probably tell from reading this blog that I love to cook. It relaxes me and it gives me a feeling of accomplishment when I make a dish that everyone enjoys. I am constantly on the lookout for new recipes and saw a recipe a few months ago in the Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine. As soon as I read it I knew my family and I would enjoy it. I am kind of weird when I try out a recipe, I like to follow the directions exactly so I know what the author meant for it to taste like. Once I have made it once I feel free to play around with ingredients to suit my tastes. I changed around the quantities for this recipe because I wanted more potatoes and more sauce in the finished dish. Feel free to do the same to my recipes.

Puerto Rican Chicken and Potatoes

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 yellow onion
6 cloves of garlic
2 red bell peppers, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1 pound small, red potatoes, halved
Two eight ounce cans of tomato sauce
2 cups of water
Cilantro, for sprinkling

In a large saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste on both sides of the chicken and add to the skillet. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Put the chicken on a plate and set aside. Put the onion and garlic in a food processor and puree until smooth. Add to the skillet (which is still over the flame) and be sure to scrape up any brown bits left from the chicken. Puree the red peppers and add to the skillet. Put the cumin and bay leaves in the skillet and mix well. Increase the heat to medium-high and stir in the potatoes, tomato sauce and 2 cups of water.

Once the mixture is simmering lower the heat and continue simmering for 10 minutes. Add the chicken and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Flip the chicken over and cook 15 more minutes, or until the chicken is done. Be sure to continue stirring or else your potatoes will burn. Throw away the bay leaves and sprinkle with cilantro if desired.

Pureed onion and garlic

After 15 minutes of cooking

The finished chicken and potatoes

One reason I really liked this dish was that I often have to cajole my kids into eating bell pepper. They ate this sauce right up and never even knew they were eating veggies. I usually don't like sneaking healthy food to them, but every once in awhile it is nice to not have to feel like I am the food police. I really hope you try this recipe out; I think you will like it.

Till tomorrow...

Chicken Pot Pie

I thought I would start this blog with an amazing recipe pulled from Gourmet or Bon Appetite. Instead I am starting with a recipe I have been making for years. Chicken Pot Pie.

I love this recipe because it makes two pies. This is a perfect recipe when I have to make dinner for others. I like pot pie because it is easy to make and I usually have all the ingredients on hand. I can't remember where I found this recipe but here it is for your enjoyment.

Chicken Potpies
2 medium potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces, 3 medium carrots cut into 1 inch slices, 1 onion chopped, 2 celery ribs diced, 2 TBSP butter, 1 TBSP olive oil, 6 TBSP flour, 3 cups chicken broth, 4 cups cubed cooked chicken, 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, 1/2 cup milk, 1 tsp garlic salt, 1/4 tsp pepper. 1 refrigerated pastry crust (15 oz).

In a 12 inch skillet saute the potatoes, carrots, onion and celery in the butter/oil until tender. Stir in the flour until the veggies are coated. Add the chicken broth and boil (while stirring) for two minutes. Stir in the chicken, mixed veggies, 1/2 cup milk, garlic salt and the pepper. Put your mixture into two ungreased pie pans. Put your pastry on top of each pie and trim and seal the edges. Cut slits into the pastry. At this point you can cook both pies (if you have a large family) or give one away to someone who needs some comfort food. Cook your potpies at 375 for 40-45 minutes or until your crust is golden brown. Let the pies stand for 10 minutes before you cut into them.

I love this recipe, but it is hard to spend an hour and a half making dinner then seeing your family take 15 minutes to eat it up. The things I do for love. We had a bottle of 2009 Edna Valley Paragon Chardonnay with our pot pie. I am not usually a huge Chardonnay fan, but have recently learned to like the less oaky blends. This was a tasty and affordable (10 dollar range) bottle.

Dessert was supposed to be a batch of lemon poppy seed muffins (not from scratch) but I managed to burn the muffins while I was busy with the pot pies. I decided to try again and made an oatmeal pie I had been wanting to try for awhile. I got the recipe from a spice catalog a few months back. The pie seemed easy to make and I had all the ingredients on hand so I gave it a go.

Oatmeal Pie
1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell, 1/2 cup milk, 2 eggs, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 stick unsalted butter, 3/4 cup light corn syrup, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp salt, 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats, 4 oz shredded coconut.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl beat together the milk, eggs, sugar, butter, corn syrup, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Stir in the coconut and oats. Pour your batter into the pie shell and bake for 40-45 minutes or until it is browned evenly. It will be very liquid like when you first pull it out but will harden after cooling for an hour. Serves 8

I enjoyed this pie, but it was REALLY sweet. I think I will have to save it for those days when I need a quick energy burst. (I liked the pie better the next day, once the flavors had time to meld together).

I hope these recipes inspire some of you to try them out.