4th of July Tarts

Have you seen the little tart making tool-a-ma-thing from Pampered Chef?  I've been to many a party and come away with many a product that I rarely use or even remember I own.  The mini tart shell making thing (what is it called?!) is something that I grab often though....it makes mini tarts about as easy as they come.

I started with my fav tart shell recipe from Dorie Greenspan. Food processor makes it easy peasy.

Then all you do to make these shells is just drop a ball into each mini muffin cup, dip the tool into powdered sugar and then press it firmly into each cup.  The dough will push up the sides. You'll want to press the the dough fairly thin as it rises slightly during baking.  I was able to make 30 shells with the one recipe and it took about 15 minutes.  Then you freeze and bake and fill with your favorite filling and fruit.  Lemon and lime curds make some pretty phenomenal fillings and you can't go wrong with any berry (I used the greek yogurt filling from my original tart post above.) Be warned though that mini tarts are a bit dangerous as they are just so easy to pop right in your mouth.  Oh how I do love fresh ripe summer berries...

Happy and safe 4th of July!

Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay

I love toddlers...I love the way they waddle and tip and swagger and well...toddle.  I also love how they start to assert their individualism and show their personalities.  They take their first steps, and they think they can take on the world.  Now that Chipmunk has started walking (and running really) she thinks that places such as the Shark Reef Aquarium inside Mandalay Bay were built just for her. Perhaps they were.

chicken lettuce wraps

Ahhh blogs.  Apparently they are not exempt to the dynamics of human personality.  I was reading recently about a huge uproar caused by some bloggers believing that others are "stealing their recipes" and posting it straight on their blogs...with a small "adapted by" line.  Can very many people really claim to have created a recipe in its entirety?  Most recipes out there are usually an adaptation at the least and even if we think we've created a new one, well, someone else has probably tried those twists too. I really don't get the drama.  I could see the frustration with creating a unique and popular concept and having others post it without linking back to to your site. That's just courtesy.   And if we've used another blog to find a recipe, then followed the recipe precisely and decided to post it, I'd agree that a link back to the original poster is appropriate.   I think adaptations outside of changing the vanilla from 1 tsp to 1.5 tsps, are indeed adaptations though, and pretty fair in the recipe world.

Let's take for instance a recipe that I found in my Food Network magazine for a version of PF Chang's lettuce wraps.  I'd clipped the recipe and finally got around to making it.  Of course, I made adaptations.  I cut a the oyster sauce in half, changed the veggies, added some honey to the sauce, cut the cornstarch,  etc.  I was going to say this recipe was an adaptation of the FN recipe...I think that's pretty fair.  Then I went back on my blog and saw that aside from the oyster sauce, these wraps are more similar to the lettuce wraps I posted a few years ago with the most atrocious photo.  So really, would it be an adaptation of my recipe?  Where did I get the idea for that recipe?  Did FN adapt my recipe for their magazine?  Can you see in that last question the ridiculousness of claiming that a recipe is stolen?  And really, don't most food bloggers blog to share recipes? That's just my two cents. 

Chicken lettuce wraps are pretty phenomenal even if the recipe is stolen from 13th century Mongol tribes.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

adapted from: who knows

Ingredients

For the Chicken:
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, diced

For the Stir-Fry Sauce:
1 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tbsp honey

For the Stir-Fry:
2 tablespoons peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced peeled ginger
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 cup shredded carrots

Small lettuce leaves, for serving

Soy sauce and sweet chili sauce

Directions

1. Prepare the chicken: Dice chicken and toss with sherry Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
2. Make the stir-fry sauce: Whisk 1/3 cup water, the oyster, hoisin and soy sauces,  then whisk in the cornstarch until dissolved.
3. Make the stir-fry: Heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add  in the garlic, ginger and jalapeno and  then add  stir-fry 30 seconds. Add the carrots and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add the stir-fry sauce  and cook 1 minute.
4. Serve chicken with lettuce leaves and soy sauce and or sweet chili sauce for dipping.

Sloppy Lentils

I used to make sloppy joes with crumbled tofu.  Sounds a bit weird but my meat loving friends actually really loved it...in the end it's all about the sauce and the comfort of the squishy but slighly toasted bun.  Last year a friend recommended I try the recipe with lentils....and I've been hooked ever since.  I don't think I've made the tofu version since.  This recipe is quick and easy to throw together and at $1.20 for a bag of lentils, you get some pretty phenomenal protein punch for next to nothing. 

You can serve these up nacho style as well. I once offered to make my BIL any dinner he wanted when I was staying with them for a few weeks in April.  He asked for taco joes which is a dish his mom made-- a combination taco, sloppy joe served on Doritos with cheese...kind of like a big nacho.  I made myself lentil sloppy joes and served it up on tortilla chips with grated cheese and diced onion and have to say it was a thing of beauty.  

Sloppy Lentils

1 cup chopped onion
1-2 diced jalapenos (optional)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup lentils, rinsed
2 1/2 cups water
1/2-1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon mustard powder
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tbsp worcestershire (optional--leave out for a vegan version)
salt and ground black pepper to taste
4 hamburger buns, split

Directions
1. In a medium saucepan combine lentils, onions, jalapeno and garlic and mix well. Add ketchup, tomato paste, water, vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire (if using), brown sugar, Bring to bubbling, then reduce heat, and cover.
3. Cook for about 30 mins, stirring regularly, adding more water if needed until lentils are cooked but still hold their shape.  Season with salt and pepper.
4. Serve on toasted buns.
Serves 4

Cookbook #75 Mesa Grill and Ranch Style Eggs Tostada

Mmmm...Mesa Grill...love those southwestern flavors.  I came home from my sister's bday brunch at Mesa Grill thinking about all of the phenomenal sounding recipes on the menu.  It took me a good 2 weeks to remember I had a Mesa Grill cookbook.  That is danger in having entirely way too many of them.

Funny thing is, I adored this cookbook for the first few months--I  used it nonstop.  How I forgot it was in my library is beyond me, especially after visiting Mesa Grill at Caesars. When I remembered, I skipped (okay I don't skip, but why is that we stop skipping and galloping as adults?) over to the bookshelf, pulled it off the shelf and flipped expectantly through the pages to see if anything sounded similar to the current menu items.  Know what?  Mesa Grill apparently does not radically change their menu a lot because there were tons of recipes that I'd seen on the menu, that I could now try at home.  I'm definitely not complaining here because I had the hardest time deciding what to order when I was there.  I wanted to try a little of everything....Queso Fundido,  Blue Corn Waffle, Scrambled Eggs Chilaquiles. All of these, or some variation are in the cookbook.  I wish I could write some indepth and profound cookbook review here, but really, it can all be summed up with, "I love this cookbook...again."

When we were at Mesa Grill I finally decided upon the Ranch Style Eggs Tostada.  Remember how I mentioned in that post that I didn't get a good shot?  Well, I'll share the bad shot just so you can see how clever Mesa Grill really is.  Crispy tortilla, scrambled eggs, cheese and the most outstanding chili sauce...

I was a bit dubious on whether the cookbook had the real recipe.  The restaurant sauce was a bit fiery, but also had a bit of sweetness.  It was definitely worth trying at least.

I substituted 1 tbsp of Chipotle powder because I didn't have the pasilla powder that the cookbook called for.  And here's where I'll share the most profound cooking info ever.  If a recipe calls for a 15 oz can of tomatoes (or 15 oz can of anything really) and you only happen to have a 28oz can, you don't actually have to tear your pantry apart for a 15 oz can or become sad at the anticipation of making a grocery store run for one ingredient.  You can actually open the big can and use less.  You would think that is obvious, but it took me a good hour of scouring and cleaning my pantry out and almost getting dressed for the store, to realize this. 

Some would say this onion and chili powder concoction looks a bit scary, but for those who appreciate a fiery pepper, this screams yummy heat.

A bit of red wine, and the tomatoes...

And you have the deliciousness that is the tomato chili sauce.  The cookbook calls for finely dicing the ingredients, but I opted for a regular dice and an immersion blender to make a less chunky sauce.  I swear I couldn't live without that stick blender.

The sauce is probably the major force in this recipe since all of the other parts are just your standard scrambled cheesy eggs or fried tortilla.  I added some mushrooms to my pan before adding the scrambled egg.  I'm sure Mr. Flay thought long and hard about not adding any veggies or other items to this dish.  I thought long and hard about what I would do with the mushrooms in my fridge quickly moving towards the inedible stage. 

I may have gotten a bit carried away with the sauce, but it was pretty darned tasty.  It had that sweet hint that the restaurant sauce had too.  The best thing is that you can make this sauce the day before and your Saturday morning breakfast or brunch comes together in no time at all.

Ranch Style Eggs Tostada

adapted from Mesa Grill by Bobby Flay

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup dry red wine
2 1/2 cups canned plum tomatoes and their juices, pureed until smooth and strained
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
1 tablespoon chipotle chile powder
2 tablespoons honey
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
4 flour tortillas
8 eggs
2 tsp butter
shredded cheddar
avocados (opt)

Directions

1. To make tomato chili sauce, heat the oil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
2. Add the wine and cook for additional 10 mins.
3. Add the tomatoes, water, ancho chili,  chipotle chili, honey and cook over medium-high heat until the sauce has thickened, stirring occasionally, about 20 to 30 minutes.
4. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the lime juice just before removing from the heat. Sauce can be made the day before and refrigerated overnight.
5. Heat frying pan with a few tbsp of olive oil, enough to coat bottom or pan.  Fry tortilla in pan about 30 seconds on each side.  Remove and drain on paper towel.  Repeat with remaining tortillas, adding more oil if needed.
6. Crack eggs into bowl, add a few tbsp of water and scramble well with fork.
7. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium. Add the butter to the pan, melt and swirl to coat pan.
8. Add eggs and gently scramble until cooked through
9. Place one tortilla on each plate, top with eggs and cheese and tomato chili sauce.  Garnish with sour cream and/or avocado if desired.