Quick and Easy Overnight Stir Fry

Y'all when I threw this together the other night I'd had a couple glasses of wine and had no idea if it would even be edible the next day. It seems I've replaced my sipping and clicking habit with sipping and marinading as this was the exact same way I came up with my Broken Spoke Pork Chops.

Anyway, all you do is throw all of the marinade ingredients and beef together in a ziploc, chill overnight, then fry up in a wok the next day. It's kind of like frozen food you assemble yourself and is super flexible to your own tastes. If I'd have had red bell pepper, I'd have added it. And on the contrary, if I hadn't of had any of the post marinade additions (onion, peas, baby corn), I think it would've been lovely just the way it was. Though I'd have missed those damn baby corns...

Baby corns! How do they make them? Where do they come from? When I was little I stayed up at nights worrying that the miniature farmers who harvested them would get washed away in a flood or something. But then again, I spent a lot of time alone as a child...

Quick and Easy Overnight Beef Stir Fry

Marinade Ingredients:
1 lb beef sirloin, sliced thin on the diagonal
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 fat green onions, chopped
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 fat/2 small garlic cloves, rough chopped or smashed
2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
1 large carrot, sliced into thin rounds
Throw all of the above into a large ziploc, smush around to incorporate, and refrigerate overnight.

Ingredients for Stir Fry:
couple dashes vegetable oil, enough to lightly coat bottom/sides of wok pan
Half of small onion, cut into 1/4 inch thick slivers
1/3 cup frozen peas
large handful of baby corn, plucked and drained from a jar
Cooked white rice, for serving.

Directions:
Assemble marinade ingredients and chill overnight in the fridge or at least 8 hours.

When ready to cook, heat a wok or large rimmed skillet over medium/high heat and add enough olive oil (not extra virgin) or vegetable oil just to coat the bottom generously. Let heat through for 1 minute, then add the sliced onion and saute, stirring occasionally for 4 minutes, just to take the 'bitter' off. Add the contents of the beef marinade (all of it) and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until the beef is mostly cooked through. Stir in the peas and let heat through, another 2 minutes or so. Finally add in the baby corn and cook another minute.

Serve over white rice.

Seared Pork Chops with Prosciutto, Mushrooms, and Wine

Ingredients:
1-2 tablespoons olive oil (just enough to lightly coat a nonstick pan)
2 boneless pork chops, about 3/4 to 1 inch thick (neither the super thin scallopini ones nor the crazy double cut ones)
salt and pepper for seasoning
1 cup Cremini mushrooms, large ones quartered and small ones halved
1/2 cup white wine (or just enough to create a super shallow pool for the chops to sit in)
5-6 fresh sage leaves
3 slices prosciutto, folded in half length-wise and snipped into lardon (little strips) with kitchen shears
splash chicken stock
small pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon butter
handful chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Directions:
Season both sides of the chops with salt and pepper and set aside. Add the oil to a large nonstick skillet and bring over medium heat. Let heat through for a couple minutes or until the oil moves freely in the pan when tilted then carefully add the chops, leaving them alone for a couple of minutes to brown. Once you have a golden sear, flip to the other side and add in the mushrooms distributing evenly around the pan (they all need contact with the heat and oil - don't let any sit on the chops at this point.)

Stir the mushrooms occasionally around the pan while the pork browns on the second side. After 2 minutes, pour in the white wine and bring to a simmer over medium/high heat. Once simmering, add in the sage leaves, prosciutto, a splash of stock and nutmeg. Let simmer another minute, then remove the chops and set aside while you finish the sauce. Basically you want the amount of moisture to reduce a little and the prosciutto to continue to infuse its flavor for a bit longer without over cooking your chops.

Once the liquid has reduced a little (careful though to not let the pan dry out or you won't have a sauce!) - lower the heat to its lowest setting and remove from the heat a second while you stir in the butter and a teensy bit more of salt and pepper (if you're salt sensitive check it before adding.) Add the chops back into the pan, scoop some of the sauce/mushrooms/prosciutto over the chops, garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley and serve.

Spicy Grilled Buttermilk Chicken

Spicy Grilled Buttermilk Chicken

Ingredients:
1 quart buttermilk
1/2 cup chopped shallots
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
big handful chopped cilantro
1/3 cup chopped green onion
2 jalapenoes, seeded, deveined and chopped
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce or Franks Red Hot Sauce, optional
2 tablespoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried mustard powder
pinch fresh cracked pepper
3-4 pounds chicken pieces. A mix of boneless, skinless breast cutlets and skin-on drums and thighs or whatever you like.
Additional chopped green onions and cilantro, for garnish

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, mix buttermilk, shallots, garlic, cilantro, green onion, jalapeno, hot sauce, salt, sugar, cumin, mustard, and pepper. If you have an extra large ziploc, you can brine the chicken in a bag to save fridge space. Otherwise you a bowl and be sure to cover it with plastic wrap when chilling.
2. Rinse chicken pieces and pat dry. Trim off excess fat on skin pieces. Submerge chicken pieces in buttermilk brine. Cover and chill overnight or at least for 8 hours. Remove from fridge one hour before grilling to take the chill off.
3. Lift chicken from brine; and gently shake off excess herbs and garlic. Blot gently with paper towels (they don't have to be really dry but just not dripping), season lightly with more salt and pepper, and set aside while you prepare the grill do medium heat.
4. Grill for 5-6 minutes per side or until cooked through (dark meat may take longer.) Serve hot with extra tabasco on the side and/or a dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce, Optional (Pesto also works well!):
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons light mayonnaise
handful minced cilantro
handful chopped green onions
1/2-1 teaspoon Frank's Red Hot Sauce, or Tabasco to taste
pinch salt and pepper

Mix together, cover, and keep chilled until ready to serve.

Aunt Glynn's Chewy Cake

This is so easy to put together it's dangerous. You literally dump everything into a bowl, stir it up and pour it into a baking pan. I added this at the last minute to our Thanksgiving line up and I'm SO glad I did. It's what I ended up picking on the most while watching the Texas/A&M game (what? did someone just say poor Aggies?) ;)

It should be noted that this really isn't cake-like at all but more like a blondie (brownie) with extra chew from the shredded coconut. The misnomer didn't bother me though. I mean would you really care if Brad Pitt was named Clarence or even Dweebie? And besides whatever the hell it's called - it's delicious. Plain by itself... Dunked into brandy-spiked egg nog... Over vanilla ice cream... Eaten at 1 in the morning after too many Gueros margaritas... Or after church service. Yes church service is what I meant to say.

Anyway - Happy Holidays Y'all! And God Love Ya Aunt Glynn - whoever you are.

Aunt Glynn's Chewy Cake
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen, mildly adapted by yours truly;)
* Easy peasy to throw together at the last minute!
Yield: 16 servings

Ingredients:
1 (1-pound) package light brown sugar
2 cups self-rising flour
1 stick butter, melted and slightly cooled, plus more for greasing (or nonstick spray)
3 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 (7 oz) package chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (or a lil more)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 7-1/2 by 10-1/2 inch baking pan or glass dish with either butter or cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, flour, and butter. Add eggs and vanilla and stir well. Fold in coconut, pecans, chocolate chips and salt until well combined. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted through the middle comes out clean. Cool the cake completely in the pan before cutting it into squares.

Pumpkin Pie with Vanilla and Orange Zest. Happy Thanksgiving Y'all.

It took me a few years to appreciate the tradition of the Thanksgiving feast. I tried to make it fancy one year, then tried to skip the turkey tradition altogether, and once even to streamline it, doing away with the all-you-can-eat-buffet that we always seem to end up with. But finally I realized that's exactly the point.

So yet again I'm gearing up with the traditional line up. Sausage cornbread stuffing, sweet potato souffle, turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans, and the obligatory pumpkin pie (though I did shake it up a little this year adding in some orange zest and vanilla bean - deeelish!)

Happy Thanksgiving y'all and enjoy it no matter what you eat or how you celebrate!

Pumpkin Pie with Vanilla and Orange Zest

Ingredients:
1 unbaked store bought refrigerated pie crust (deep dish)
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup sugar
seeds from 1 vanilla bean, or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
grating of fresh nutmeg
zest of 1/2 large orange or a whole smaller one
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Whipped cream, for serving

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425.

In a large bowl, mix together the puree, eggs, sugar, vanilla, spices, and zest until well blended. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk and salt then pour into your prepared unbaked crust.

Bake for 20 minutes at 425, then lower the heat to 375 and bake another 40 minutes or until a sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean. You might also need to 'tent' the edges of the crust with aluminum foil if they get to dark while baking.

Let cool and serve with whipped cream if desired. Keep chilled.

Merry...Thanksgiving?

Making dinner the other night I was flipping through the channels when I saw Wheel of Fortune hosting from...the North Pole. I had to check my wine for poison and then my calendar. It was a full week and a half before Thanksgiving let alone Christmas. What happened to decorating with pumpkins and fall leaves or even a ceramic turkey?

But Vanna and Pat weren't the only ones. It seemed the Christmas (PC term - Festivas?) fever had already spread beyond the point of me worrying about it. The grocery store was all decked in holly with Karen Carpenter blasting from the speakers, the ghost decorators had already begun bedazzling the Cedar trees on 360 in red and gold, and truth be told - I was glad for it. It just goes by too fast y'all. (Though I do feel bad for Thanksgiving - will it soon be renamed Christmas, Part 1?)

Anyways sorry to jump on the 'skipping ahead to Christmas' bandwagon but my Thanksgiving recipes are all going to be pretty standard this year aside from doing the turkey on the Big Green Egg which I'll share with you later so I thought I'd post The Homesick Texan's Strawberry Guajillo Jam. This jam would make a fantastic gift or stocking stuffer. And if you're leery of making homemade jam like I was - don't be. Easy as pie y'all. Just make sure you put hot jam in a hot, just sterilized jar (you can do it in the dishwasher) and that's all there is to it.

This jam is lovely - the only kind Kris will eat now - not spicy but with just enough kick to be interesting. Come to think of it - it'd be fantastic on a leftover turkey sandwich instead of the usual cranberry sauce!

Strawberry Guajillo Jam, from The Homesick Texan
Yields 2 pints.
* Very easy but allow for 4 hours of letting the strawberries to sit before making.

Ingredients:
2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
2 cups granulated sugar
1 dried guajillo chile, stem and seeds removed OR 1/4 teaspoon dried guajillo powder
1/2 cup lime juice
pinch kosher salt

Equipment:
2 pint-size jars or 4 half-pint size jars with lids and bands

Directions:
Toss the strawberries in a pot with the sugar and let stand for 4 hours until soft and juicy.

Place a plate in the freezer. Dice the dried guajillo and add it to the strawberry pot (or powder) along with the lime juice, salt and 1/4 cup of water. Bring the pot to a boil and then turn the heat down to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, sterilize the jars and lids in either a pot of boiling water or dishwasher (just don't do this too early or the jars will become too cool - you want them still hot when you put the jam into them.)

After 30 minutes, take the plate out of the freezer and place a spoonful of the jam on the plate. After a minute, tilt the plate, and if the jam doesn't run then it's ready. If it does run, cook it for 5 more minutes and test again. Continue to test until it doesn't run.

Pour jam into hot jars, leaving a bit of headspace. Cover with lids and fasten with rings. Allow to cool and then refrigerate. I find that it can last for a few months in the refrigerator.

PS - I already might have already started decorating...

Creamy Parmesan and Lemon Chicken

This is one of those recipes you can make as is or bedazzle the hell out of. Mushrooms, olives, or artichoke hearts would be welcome additions though it's pretty damn good as is. I labelled it 'fast' because you don't have to saute the shallots or green onions first but can just chop and mix them with the rest of the ingredients. Even better you can whip up the 'sauce' the night before and keep in the fridge until you're ready to assemble. Or even assemble the whole dish, cover it, and refrigerate overnight before baking off uncovered in a cold oven at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Though it's not a pretty dish I'd serve this to friends who wouldn't judge me for it. Come to think of it I wouldn't serve food to any other kind. And since I'm laying it all out on the line here, I have to admit if I had my druthers, I'd flatten the chicken a little to keep the sauce-to-chicken-ratio equal from start to finish. Because at the end of the day, ain't it all about the sauce?

Creamy Parmesan and Lemon Chicken
* recipe easily doubled. As is, sauce will accommodate up to 3 medium chicken breast cutlets

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets
1/2 cup sour cream (light is fine)
3 oz cream cheese (sold in little 3 oz packages in some stores)
2 teaspoons whole grain dijon mustard
1/4 cup white wine or chicken stock (use less salt if using stock)
1 fat green onion, chopped plus another for garnish
1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
zest of a small lemon or 1/2 of a large
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan, plus additional for topping (if desired)
pinch black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus a tiny pinch to season breasts
pinch red pepper flakes, optional
handful chopped fresh basil, optional

Directions:
Spray a small/medium casserole dish with nonstick spray and set aside. Meanwhile, mix together the sour cream, cream cheese, dijon, wine or stock, green onion, shallot, garlic powder, lemon zest, Parmesan, peppers, salt and basil if using in a medium bowl.

Place your chicken breasts in your greased dish, lightly season with salt and pepper, then pour the sauce evenly over and around the chicken covering them completely.

Either cover and refrigerate overnight until baking or bake right away at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until the edges of the dish are bubbling and the chicken is cooked through. If topping with extra Parmesan, be sure to sprinkle it over in the last 10 minutes of baking so it gets brown but doesn't burn. Garnish with additional green onions or fresh herbs and serve with rice or noodles.

*As stated above, if you are assembling this ahead and refrigerating it, place the dish uncovered in a cold oven, heat to 350 and bake for 35 minutes just until the sauce around the edges is bubbling and the chicken is cooked all the way through.