Secret Recipe Club: Arroz con Pollo

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned the fabulous blog, Kitchen Trial and Error!  It's written by the lovely Kate, who lives in Rochester, NY with her family.  She's a busy lady but still cooks all kinds of great looking recipes.  I had a very difficult time choosing one this month and seriously had about 20 set aside to pick from.  Tempting recipes included Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting, Tomato & Meatball Soup, Apple Chicken Chili, and Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken.  Her recipe for baked ziti looks fantastic as well, but it's basically the same as my recipe since it's from the same source!
    

The recipe I ended up going with was Arroz con Pollo.  I've always wanted to try this dish and for whatever reason, it's the one my mind kept migrating back to.  My minor changes were to use bacon grease instead of olive oil (I followed the recipe back to its source on another blog and it said to use bacon), my bell pepper was a different color, I used a full 4 C of chicken broth, and I only simmered the rice for 20 minutes since that's how long my rice usually takes to cook and I didn't want it to get mushy.  Next time I would wait to add the chicken back to the pan until I add the rice to prevent it from being overcooked, but that's the only change.
     

Small tinkerings aside, this was a good recipe.  My husband loved it and gave the chicken a 9 and the rice a 10, which surprised me.  He doesn't even like peas, but liked them here.  We actually made this together and it was a lot of fun.  We had an insane amount of rice leftover (no surprise since it uses 3 1/2 cups!), but I'm going to freeze the leftovers to serve with tacos and the like, which will be fun.  In the future, I will use another pound of chicken.

Update:  I have tinkered with the recipe a bit more over subsequent times making it and have updated the recipe to match how I make it now.  We really enjoy it.

Arroz con Pollo

2 Tbsp bacon grease
3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cleaned and cut in half
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz beer
4 C chicken broth
8 oz tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to sprinkle on chicken
1/4 tsp pepper, plus more to sprinkle on chicken
2 tsp cumin, plus more to sprinkle on chicken
2 tsp dried oregano (I used Mexican oregano)
3 1/2 C white rice
1 C frozen peas

In a dutch oven, melt bacon grease over medium high heat.  Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, and cumin, then brown on both sides in bacon grease.  Remove to a plate.  Add onion and bell pepper to dutch oven and saute until they turn translucent, then add garlic and saute another minute or so until it turns golden.  Stir in beer, chicken broth, tomato sauce, bay leaf, oregano, salt, and cumin.  Simmer on low for 10 minutes, then stir in rice.  Top with reserved chicken.  Bring to a boil, cover the dutch oven, and reduce the heat to low.  Let cook without lifting the lid for 20 minutes, then remove the dutch oven from the heat and stir in the peas.  Replace the lid and let it sit for a minute so the peas can thaw.

Yield:  12 servings

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Smashburgers

I have been making so many burgers this year!  This is unusual because I've never been known for my love of hamburgers, but it turns out I like them a lot better when I make them myself.  This is my newest burger adventure, I came upon the recipe on the Pioneer Woman blog a couple of weeks ago and immediately decided to make them for the 4th of July today, along with Cheesy Ranch Potatoes and watermelon.  I've never had a burger like this before because we don't have a Freddy's, Steak 'n Shake, Smashburger, Culver's, or any place like that around here, but the idea of smashing two plain meat patties very thin and melting cheese between them intrigued me.

I will definitely make these again because they turned out really well!  These are the most tender burgers I've made, I think because the meat is handled very little.  They have an awesome, browned crust as well, which makes them super yummy.  I plan to make these when my in-laws visit us next, and I only make our favorite recipes for them!

Quick Note:  I use Stacey's Hamburger Seasoning recipe from AllRecipes and leave out the paprika.  I made a quadruple batch and have it in a little shaker in my spice cabinet.  Also, I found the perfect method for smashing the burgers flat.  Based on all the reading I did online, it can be tricky to flatten the burgers, but my approach was great.  All I did was wrap a medium (about 6 inches in diameter), flat bottomed glass bowl in aluminum foil and then pressed down on it with both hands.  The meat did not stick at all to the foil and it was very easy to clean up.

Smashburgers

1 lb ground beef
butter
hamburger seasoning
sliced cheese
hamburger buns
condiments of choice

Preheat griddle or large nonstick skillet to 350/medium high.  Form the meat into 8 evenly sized balls and place on a plate.

When the griddle/skillet is hot, grease it by melting a burger sized circle of butter in 4 spots on the cooking surface.  Place a ball on each buttered spot, then immediately smush very flat (about 1/6 inch) and sprinkle generously with hamburger seasoning.

Let patties cook until nicely browned on the bottom, then carefully flip with a spatula or tongs.  Sprinkle the uncooked side with more hamburger seasoning, then continue to cook until the patties are cooked through.

Flip 2 of the patties over again, then top those two with a slice of cheese each and the remaining 2 patties.  It will look like you have two sandwiches with layers of meat, cheese, then meat again.  You can add another slice of cheese on top of each if you would like.  Cook until cheese is melted, then remove to the hamburger buns.

Repeat with remaining 4 balls of meat.

Yield: 4 double layer cheeseburgers.

Basil Orzo Salad

Most people understandably are under the impression that it's cold (or at least chilly) in Alaska all the time, but we can have pretty warm summers.  So far this summer, we've had a lot of days in the mid to upper 80s.  Night doesn't offer much relief since the sun doesn't actually really go down, and I don't know anyone around here with air conditioning in their home.  It's usually actually cooler outside than inside.  It's also so far been a very fiery summer, at the moment there are nearly 200 separate wildfires burning in Alaska and it's very smoky out.  As a result of all the heat and smoke, we've been wanting to eat a lot of cold foods, which means I've been making a lot of pasta salad.  

This is my slight twist on a recipe I found on the blog Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  It's one of those recipes that I saw, then made that night after a quick trip to the grocery store.  I served it as a side dish (along with fresh raspberries) for Peperoncini Beef Sandwiches, and it was a very good dinner.  It also keeps well in the refrigerator, as long as you keep the tomatoes and spinach separate!

Basil Orzo Salad
  

12 oz orzo

chicken broth

1/3 C olive oil

1/4 C white vinegar

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp honey

1/4 C pesto, or enough to give it a bit of a basil flavor

2 C cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1/2 C green onions, sliced thinly

1 C feta cheese

about 4 C baby spinach, torn into pieces

salt and pepper to taste
 

Bring chicken broth to a boil and add a little salt.  Stir in orzo and cook over medium-high heat until al dente, stirring occasionally.  Drain thoroughly, but do not rinse.  Stir in oil, vinegar, lemon juice, and pesto, then chill pasta.  Stir in cherry tomatoes, green onions, feta, spinach, and salt and pepper to taste.  Serve cold.  If you won't be eating all the pasta salad within a couple of hours, I suggest storing the sliced tomatoes and spinach separately and stirring it into the orzo before you serve it because the spinach will wilt and the tomatoes will get soft.

Yield:  About 10 side dish servings

Grilled Corn & Tomato Salad

I have made this salad 4 times in the past month or so.  We love grilled corn on the cob, and so far every time I have grilled this summer, I've grilled corn for us to eat immediately as well as corn to use the next day in this salad.  It's nothing fancy, but very good!

 

Grilled Corn & Tomato Salad

 
2 cobs fresh corn

olive oil

salt and pepper

10 oz (by weight) cherry tomatoes, halved

3 Tbsp sliced green onions

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, plus more to taste

1 tsp dried basil

1/8 tsp garlic powder

salt to taste

Remove the corn husks and corn silk from cobs.  Rinse corn and pat dry.  Brush all over with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill on an outdoor grill over medium heat, rotating every couple of minutes and with grill cover shut in between, until there are grill marks all over the corn and it's cooked through, about 15 minutes.  Remove corn from grill and let it sit until cool enough to handle, or wrap it in foil and refrigerate over night.

When you're ready to make the salad, cut the corn off the cobs with a serrated knife.  Place in a medium mixing bowl with the halved tomatoes and green onions, then add the rest of the ingredients.  Toss until everything's well mixed, taste, and add a little more vinegar, salt, garlic powder, or basil if you think it's needed.

I always serve half of the salad immediately, then cover the rest and serve it the next day.  It's good both ways!

Triple Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Fudge Icing

I don't use cake mixes much.  Not because I dislike them per se, it's just that I don't bake cakes that often and when I do, I usually want to make it from scratch!  This particular recipes uses a cake mix as a base, and you add a bunch of other ingredients to it, then top it with peanut butter icing.  I've made it I think 3 times over the past 5 years.  It's really very good, the chocolate cake is dense (in a nice way!), very moist, and very chocolaty because of the added chocolate chips.  I love the mini chips.  They kind of melt into the cake, adding lots of extra flavor and gooey chocolate, and stay soft.  The cake recipe is from AllRecipes, my only change is to replace half the oil with applesauce.
  

The peanut butter icing is from the Southern Plate blog, I changed it to use all butter instead of a mix of butter and shortening.  The icing is perfect for this cake!  It's thick, fudgy, sweet, and firms up rather than staying spreadable like regular frosting.  The chocolate and peanut butter flavors work fantastically together and neither overpowers the other.  This cake is a great choice for a peanut butter-chocolate lover!

Triple Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Fudge Icing
  

Chocolate Cake:

 

1 box devil's food cake mix (use the biggest you can find, mine was 16 oz)

6 oz box instant chocolate pudding mix

1/2 C water

1/2 C vegetable oil

1/2 C applesauce

1 C sour cream

4 eggs

12 oz bag mini chocolate chips
  

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 by 13 baking dish.
  

Mix together everything except chocolate chips until smooth, then stir in chocolate chips.  The batter will be thick.  Spread it in the prepared baking dish and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean (the chocolate chips will prevent it from being completely clean), about 45 minutes.
  

Allow cake to cool completely before making icing.

Peanut Butter Icing:
 

1 1/2 C sugar

4 Tbsp butter

7 Tbsp milk

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 C peanut butter
  

Stir together sugar, butter, milk, and salt in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-high, stirring frequently, until it comes to a boil.  Set a timer for 2 minutes and let the mixture boil that entire time, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon.  When the time is up, remove immediately from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and peanut butter until smooth.  Quickly spread the icing over the cooled cake, it will set up rapidly.

Cherry Rhubarb Crumble

I've mentioned this a couple of times before, but my husband and I bought our first house last August.  We've been here for 9 months now and I'm still amazed by and in love with our house.  I can't really believe it's ours!  It's nothing fancy, not very big and over 40 years old with its share of issues, but I love it anyway.  One of the many things I love about our house is the giant rhubarb plants in the yard.  I always wanted rhubarb and I definitely have it now!  All winter long I waited until I could finally make something with my rhubarb, and the rhubarb has grown an insane amount in the past 2 weeks.  This recipe needed only 4 stalks because each stalk was about 3 feet long!
 

During the winter, I periodically thought about what kind of rhubarb recipe I wanted to make.  I settled on something with cherries because we got a jar of amazing cherry rhubarb jam from my mother-in-law's friend.  We haven't had to buy jam in 9 years because this friend always gives us lots of jars of her wonderful creations, and the cherry rhubarb jam was really something else.

This crumble recipe came from Taste of Home and it sure didn't disappoint!  It's on the tart side for sure, but my husband and I both loved it and had seconds.  Here's to many more years of desserts with our homegrown rhubarb!
 

Cherry Rhubarb Crumble

 
4 C diced rhubarb, leaves discarded

1 C sugar

1 C water

2 Tbsp cornstarch

21 oz can cherry pie filling

1 tsp almond extract

1 C oats

1 C flour

1 C brown sugar (I used dark)

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick cold butter
 

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 by 13 baking dish.

 

Stir together diced rhubarb, sugar, water, and cornstarch in a large saucepan until the liquid portion is smooth.  Heat over high, stirring frequently, until the liquid comes to a boil and thickens.  Remove from heat and stir in cherry pie filling and almond extract.  Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and set aside.
 

Stir together oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt, then cut the butter into small cubes and work it into the oat mixture until crumbly.  Sprinkle evenly over the rhubarb mixture and bake until golden on top and bubbly around the edges, 30-40 minutes.
 

Yield: 12 servings

Sticky Chicken

This is yet another recipe from Southern Plate.  Christy originally got it as a copycat recipe for some chicken served at Cracker Barrel.  I've never had the chicken at the restaurant (haven't even been to one since I think 1996!), but I've made this chicken probably 5 or 6 times over the past couple of years and we really enjoy it.  It really does taste like a great grilled chicken and does NOT taste like the sauce is salad dressing!  This recipe takes about 40 minutes to cook, but is pretty low effort. 

 

 

Sticky Chicken

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cleaned and cut into 8 pieces

1 C bottled Italian dressing

1 Tbsp lime juice

2 Tbsp honey
 

Place chicken pieces into a gallon sized Ziploc bag and add marinade ingredients.  Seal bag and squish it around to mix up the marinade and coat the chicken.  Refrigerate from 1-8 hours.
 

When you're ready to cook the chicken, heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium.  Dump in the entire contents of the bag, including all the marinade.  Cook the chicken over medium, turning the pieces about every 10 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken and get sticky.  This will take about 30 minutes.  At this point, you may want to reduce the heat to low.  Continue cooking, stirring and flipping the chicken frequently, until the chicken gets browned spots on it.  Be careful not to burn the sauce.  Swipe the pieces of chicken through the thick sauce before removing to a serving plate.
 

Yield: 4 servings, 2 pieces of chicken each.