This post is a bit of a risk today, since it breaks the orange/black theme. However, I made this recipe a few days ago, and it’s fast, easy, and mess-free. So: it’s good for eating in front of the TV, and if you put the chicken on skewers, it goes with the general ballpark theme of food-on-sticks. Think of it as an alternative to corn dogs. Or chicken fingers. Or a cross between the two.
The method is this: cut about 1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breast into thin strips. Thread it onto bamboo skewers then marinate for an hour or so in:
2 chopped cloves garlic
olive oil
1 generous tablespoon country mustard
1/4 cup white wine
a good handful of chopped herbs: rosemary, parsley, thyme–whatever you like/have on hand
I grilled mine on my panini press in about 5 minutes, but you could also broil these (remember to soak your skewers first so they don’t burn up!). They were a home run with both kids.
Ideally, you’d serve them with sweet potato fries. Topped with black salt.
On Saturday, we made a black and orange dinner — black bean and sweet potato enchiladas — to cheer on our black and orange team, the Giants, who won their game against the Phillies. On Sunday, we ate sushi and our team lost. Yesterday, I ate the leftover enchilada for lunch and things went better for the Giants. Good as these are, I don’t think I can commit to the same meal every time the Giants play, but I present the recipe in the hope that you can help root on our team with a team colors dinner.
This recipe is an adaptation by Tony of one he read years ago in a vegetarian cooking magazine, and I offer it here just as he wrote it down for me. It scales well, so you can make a couple pans to feed a baseball-watching crowd:
3 sweet potatoes, medium-sized
1 15 oz. can black beans
10-12 flour tortillas
1 package jack cheese, grated (grate it as big as you want — truly whatever is fastest and easiest… it’s all going to get melted)
1 big (28-32 oz.) or 2 small (~15 oz.) cans of plain tomato sauce (just not “Italian flavored”)
1 jar of salsa … thinner is actually better than thicker — I use “Mrs. Renfro’s” which is in a lot of supermarkets
(or if you find a can of “enchilada sauce” that would be fine too)
ground cumin to taste
dash of cayenne pepper or hot sauce, if desired
Peel 3 medium sweet potatoes. Cut them into large chunks and boil them until you can easily stick a fork in them. You’re going to mash these, so they’re pretty forgiving.
Drain the water, and put them back in the pot or into a big bowl. Mash the potatoes well, with a fork or potato masher.
Drain most of the water from a can of black beans and add them to the sweet potatoes
Add a liberal amount of cumin (maybe 2-3 tablespoons? Start with two and you can taste it and add more if you like )
If you’re so inclined, you could add a little heat — a dash of hot sauce or cayenne pepper. That’s the filling.
The sauce I usually just make from plain old canned tomato sauce (since it really kind of wants to be thin… not all homestyle-y like a good homemade pasta sauce). But you do want some kind of Mexican flavor in there… so essentially I just spike it with something…
Some salsa from a jar (Mrs. Renfro’s, enchilada sauce, or some other not-too-chunky salsa) It doesn’t need a ton –just a little something, maybe 1/2 to 3/4 cup. As far as quantity goes, for a big dish of enchiladas, you probably want like a 32 ounce can of sauce to start with. That’s the sauce. NOTE: you don’t even have to cook this… just mix the plain tomato sauce and whatever you’re spiking it with into a bowl.
Then it’s just putting filling into flour tortillas (I’m sure corn would be great, too, but we usually do flour just for size, if no other reason) — maybe 1/4 cup or so… add a little bit of grated cheese (jack is what we usually use), roll ’em up and tuck them in real close to each other in a big rectangular baking dish with the seam down.
It’s nice to have a tight fit… sometimes I use baking dish that’s a little smaller than the tortillas and just slice of 1/2 inch from two sides of the tortillas to “square them off” –but that’s not really necessary. Pour the sauce over and around… add some more grated cheese on top.
You can easily split this into two pans if need be… I probably get maybe 8 enchiladas in a big baking dish.
Then just bake it until it’s nice and bubbly… maybe 30-40 minutes at 350 or so… it’s all cooked, so you really just need to get it nice and hot.
I usually start with it covered with foil and then sometimes finish it with a few minutes under the broiler to let the cheese get nice and brown. The broiler’s not necessary, but you could at least just take the foil off for the last 5 minutes or so.
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We usually have this with Slammin’ Rice — a really simple spanish/mexican rice.
I’m showing 3 cups of rice here, which is a lot… good if you’re serving 8.
3 cups plain-old white rice… ideally medium or long-grain rather than short grain like you might use for a stir fry
1/2 onion chopped fine
1-2 cloves garlic chopped fine (if you want)
olive oil
3 cups veggie stock
2 1/2 cups plain tomato sauce (just like above for the enchiladas)
1/2 cup “thin” salsa, enchilada sauce, Mrs. Renfro’s — again same as above… you’re just “spiking” the plain tomato sauce with a little flavor.
(the key is 6 cups liquid for 3 cups rice… and you’re essentially doing half veggie stock and half spicy tomato sauce…)
So, this starts out like risotto, but just gets a lot easier because you don’t have to stir. Essentially you’re just making plain rice with 1/2 stock and 1/2 tomato sauce instead of water.
In a good size pot, saute the onion in olive oil (medium heat) until it starts to get brown. Add the garlic, if you’re using it and just saute that for a minute. You might need to add a touch more oil when you put the garlic in so it doesn’t stick.
Add the rice to the onion and garlic… stir them together and cook for 15-20 seconds.
Add all the liquid: stock, tomato sauce, and whatever you’re using to spike it (the key is to use 6 cups liquid total)
Cover the pot, turn the heat to medium high until it starts to boil, give it a good stir (Scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon and make sure nothing’s stuck) and then turn the heat really low and cook for 20 minutes with the lid on.
After 20 minutes, take the lid off, give it a good stir and scrape and see if the rice is cooked. If it seems like it needs a little more time that’s fine… once the rice is all cooked you can just leave this on the stove with the lid on and it will stay hot for awhile.
You can garnish this with the obvious — sour cream, guacamole, chopped cilantro — whatever sounds good.
Our children’s school has a great tradition of hosting a social for the parents (only!) of each grade in the early months of the year. Some of Ella’s third grade class has been together since pre-school & it’s a terrific group of parents and children. This year, our enterprising room parents decided on a wine tasting + bring your own tapas party, and it was inspired. We have a lot of great cooks in the class who brought things like sesame glazed chicken drumettes, bacon-wrapped figs stuffed with an almond, several varieties of stuffed mushrooms, a warm artichoke dip, etc. etc.
Staying with our theme of fall rooting for our team, I made Pumpkin Toast, a recipe I found in Food and Wine years ago and have been making every fall I remember. The original recipe is here. Below is the version that has evolved in my house.
Pumpkin Toast with Cilantro Pesto
Pumpkin puree (from a can, or roasted and pureed fresh)
Pecorino or Parmesan Cheese, finely grated, about 1 cup, depending on pumpkin
Cilantro, 1 bunch
garlic, 1-2 cloves
Toasted walnuts
Olive oil
Bread–whatever you like, a whole grain loaf is terrific with the pumpkin, but I use Italian all the time–sliced into rounds or thin strips.
Mix equal amounts pumpkin puree and grated cheese. One can of pumpkin + an equal amount of cheese is a good amount for one loaf of bread. Set aside
In a food processor, mix one bunch cilantro leaves, garlic, a handful of walnuts, more cheese + enough olive oil to make a pesto.
Spread a layer of pesto on each bread slice.
Top pesto with a generous spoonful of pumpkin + cheese.
Top, if you like, with toasted walnuts, or a little shredded cheese. Or nothing.
Toast in a 400 degree oven until bread is slightly crisp and pumpkin is warmed through.
We ate a variation of this last night with our dinner. To make it quicker for a weeknight, we toasted just the pumpkin + cheese mix on bread. It’s not quite as good without the pesto, but it’s a great family side dish/appetizer for a cold night.
The other day we were brainstorming about foods we could make to celebrate our team — the San Francisco Giants — moving into the playoffs. Conveniently, their uniforms are a seasonal black and orange so we were thinking pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips (or chocolate frosting), and for dinner, black bean and sweet potato enchiladas. Lisa, always working the cocktail angle, suggested orange soda with black licorice straws, and of course we’ve already seen her gorgeous Giant Marys.
Then my friend Liz reminded me about the oreo cookie recipe I sent her long ago (and then promptly lost), and suggested making an orange filling. Perfect! Now, there are many recipes online for homemade oreos (including one that calls for devil’s food cake mix; hmmm), and most use an egg — which I’m sure makes a nice chocolate cookie; but, if you’re after the crumbly shortbread texture of the oreos of your youth, use this recipe (which Liz typed up and saved on her computer, thank goodness.) I’m sorry I can’t recall it’s source, so please, if you recognize it, let me know so I can offer proper credit!
“Oreo” Cookies
In a mixing bowl, beat till fluffy
1 cup room temperature unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
In a separate bowl, sift together
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa*
1/2 tsp salt
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter to make a stiff dough. Remove from the bowl, knead a couple times on a lightly floured board to make sure it’s fully combined, then shape into a disk and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
To bake:
Preheat oven to 350°. Cut the dough into quarters. Working with one quarter at a time and keeping the remainder cold, roll out to about 1/4” thickness. Cut into circles or whatever shape you desire, place on a cookie sheet, and bake 15 minutes or till firm. Cool on a rack. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
When cool, make sandwiches with the following filling:
1/2 cup room temperature unsalted butter beaten till fluffy with
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar and
1/2 tsp. vanilla
*Note: I use half regular cocoa and half black cocoa (available from King Arthur Flour) for a real “oreo” color.
It’s 4 pm and I have no desire to cook dinner nor do I really feel inspired. I have lots of options: tofu, kielbasa, any variation on the egg, many variations on pasta, tacos…However, it’s 90 degrees, October, and I just have that in-between/nothing- feels-just-right feeling. That, plus we have 2 great parties to go to this weekend, so I am, perhaps, starting my cooking-holiday a day early, psychologically speaking.
But we do have to eat, especially the kids, and eat soon. And the plan is to get this one:
The 8-year-old
together with this:
My late in the week refrigerator: salamis, cheeses, lettuces, green and yellow beans,
tofu, sausages (in freezer), lots of fruit, leftover french toast, eggs…
She’s been asking to cook dinner for a while now, so I’m going to let her–with supervision. Stay tuned. In a few hours, I imagine she’ll have something from the following list:
eggs, scrambled or omelet
fresh bread
white beans
salad
yellow bean vinaigrette
charcuterie plate
pasta with fried egg
mystery meal?
I’ll post the result before the end of the night…
6:16 PM
One 3rd grader’s homework done, one Lincolon Log cabin, and one major meltdown over conflicting building priorities later, we took the easy way out:
Egg sandwiches on the sesame buns left over from the panelle, yellow beans & shredded carrots w/olive oil and red wine vinegar, and padrones.
Finn set the table.
I made the beans, but Ella–with close supervision–fried & served the peppers.
She cracked two eggs–but the yolks broke so they became test cases. I cracked the two more (since they were the only two left), and she gently fried and successfully placed the eggs on the buns without breaking the yolks.
And she took the final photo of a perfectly successful dinner that is pretty much their version of comfort food. It’s certainly not fancy, but it was fast and fresh, and well, some dinners are like that. (Here, and probably in Australia, too.) It was a nice way to bring the three of us back together and around the table.