Potato Latkes

You will need:

• 4 large white potatoes, peeled and grated
• 1 small yellow onion, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp seasoned flour (or rice flour)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Canola Oil

Place the grated potato onto a cloth and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Combine the grated potato and the onion. Add the flour and egg. Mix well. Heat a non stick pan to medium. Add about a tbsp of oil and scoop about 3/4 cup of mixture for each patty. Be sure not to over crowd the pan. Make them in batches.  Spread the mixture out evenly. Wait till each side is dark golden brown before flipping. When both sides are golden and crunchy, they're ready.

Serve with either bacon or any kind of sausage, sour cream, and chives.

Pollo al Chilindron

This is a really popular Spanish dish. You can play around with the ingredients and make it your own, there are so many variations. I like it because of the richness of flavor and the rustic style of one-pot cooking. 

This is one of those dishes  you can tell by looking at the ingredients, it's gotta be good!

You will need:

• A heavy cast iron pot or any heavy large pot that you can transfer from stove top to oven. And a cover or tin foil.
• 4 chicken legs separated from the bone. You can use other varieties of chicken like breasts, but it won't have the same "falling off the bone" goodness. plus the dark meat is great in this recipe.
• Most Chilindron recipes call for Jamon Serrano, which is an Italian thinly sliced cured ham similar to prosciutto. But you can exchange it for chorizo sausage. About 2 cups (or 2 sausages) cut lengthwise then in quarters then diced.
• a few glugs of olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 heaping spoon-fulls of sweet-smoked Spanish Paprika. Note: if you find your paprika doesn't have any smell or taste, it's not a great paprika, it should really have a smokiness to it.
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 lemon (juice and zest)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• a splash of dry white wine (or I would use whatever white I have)
• 2 tbsp of fresh parsley
• salt & pepper, to taste

Fist you're going to start off by making the sauce. It's easy if you start off by prepping all the ingredients before hand. 
Heat the pot to medium, add some olive oil, put in the onion and bell peppers. stir occasionally and let that sit for about ten minutes. Then add the garlic, stir and wait a couple minutes. Then throw in the rest of the ingredients except for the chicken and the tomatoes and the wine...and save 1/2 of the parsley. Stir this mixture and wait a few more minutes. Then when all the flavors combined deglaze the pot with the white wine and then add the diced tomatoes. Simmer a few minutes, then carefully remove the sauce from the pot and put aside. 
Now keeping the temperature at medium, put the chicken into the pot skinside down until browned then flip them over to seal the meat. Remove the chicken from the pot and put the sauce back in then place the chicken on top of the sauce skin side up. With a lid or tin foil over the pot, place in the pre-heated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Then remove the cover and continue cooking for another 15 minutes. Let cool a bit.  Garnish with the remaining parsley.

Serve with rice, salad, baguette, white wine. 

Chicken Jalfrezi

I have so much love for Indian food I don't even know where to start.  The Indian style of cooking is exactly what I crave. Sauces with a variety of perfectly blended spices, unique tastes, a range of colours, sweetness, and heat. Made with either beef, lamb, chicken, veggies, etc. Served with rice and Naan bread. I love a dish with lots of fixings so I prefer to have some pickled chilies (or pickled mangoes) as a side. You really have to cook from the heart when making Indian food, it can't be rushed, it's all about FLAVOR! ..and for me SPICE!

Ingredients:

3 large chicken breast (cubed and made into Tandoori Chicken Skewers)

a few glugs of olive oil

1 large onion, diced

3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 inch piece of minced fresh ginger

1 green bell pepper cut into strips

1 red bell pepper cut into strips

1 green chili (whole)

2 cardamom pods

1/2 jar of "Patak's Mild, Medium or Hot Curry Paste"

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp paprika

2 cans of diced tomatoes

1/2 cup of whipping cream

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

salt & pepper

Directions:

Prepare Tandoori Chicken (see link above).

Heat a large pot to medium heat.  Add a good amount of olive oil.  When the oil is heated add the onion, bell peppers, ginger and cardamom pods and a dash of salt. Once the onions are translucent and the peppers soften, add the garlic. 

Continue cooking for another minute then add the curry paste, turmeric, garam masala, paprika and the green chili pepper. Mix together and let the oils release from the curry paste and the spices blend together.

 

Cook for a few minutes then add the diced tomatoes, some salt and pepper.  Wait for the sauce to start bubbling then turn the heat down low and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Stir in the whipping cream, add the BBQ Tandoori Chicken, wait a few minutes then turn the heat off. Stir in the cilantro.

Serve with Basmati Rice and/ or 

Naan Bread with a side of "Patak's Chilli Pickle" (my absolute favorite)

 

Here it is! My All Time Favorite Pasta Sauce!!

I really have to force myself to make some other pasta at times because this really is my favorite, and also a huge hit every time I share it. I really don't even know what to call it. It's a Rose sauce with lots of fresh herbs and every time I make it, it's different. I guess the crazy thing about it is that is has cilantro in it, which I've personally never seen in a pasta sauce but works really well in this one.  You definitely have to try it!

Ingredients:
1 large chicken breast seasoned (it's great with Cajun spice or just salt and fresh ground pepper) 
2 Sausages, any kind really like spicy Italian, or Mediterranean, or Andouille, etc.

few tbsp olive oil
1 diced onion
5 cloves of minced or chopped garlic
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 jar (approx. 2 cups) of Roasted Garlic Alfredo Sauce , bought or home made.
1 small handful of  fresh chopped Basil
1 small handful of fresh chopped Cilantro
1 tsp of Sriracha HOT Chili Sauce

*Try adding red wine to the sauce
*Try Gluten free rice noodles or I prefer some kind of Fusilli pasta because it keeps in all the thick sauce!

In one pan cook the seasoned chicken breast until fully cooked then slice the chicken thinly on an angle and put it back in the pan with a dash more seasoning then put aside.
If the sausage is precooked then slice it thin and on an angle and put into a large heated pot then once a little browned add the onions. If your sausages aren't yet cooked then before slicing them, put them in the heated pan until cooked all the way through then slice them and add them to the pot ...then add the onions.

Once the onions have softened, add the garlic, cook for a couple more minutes. Then once the sausage is cooked and the garlic is soft then add the can of chopped tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper.
Simmer on low for 10 minutes.

Now I put the water on for my pasta. Once the water's boiling and the pasta is in the pot, and the tomatoes has simmered, I mix the Alfredo sauce in with the tomatoes. Simmer on low until the pasta noodles are ready. Drain the pasta. Stir the basil and cilantro into the sauce. Add the Sriracha..salt and freshly cracked pepper.

Serve!

Pad Thai

Pad Thai is sooo delicious and good for you! Lots of protein too!
I cheat, I buy the sauce, whatever sauce looks the best. I use the VH Thai Market Pad Thai sauce because it's Gluten Free.

Ingredients:
1 large Chicken Breast
1 bottle of Pad Thai Sauce
LEE KUM KEE Chili Garlic Sauce
1 whole package of Firm Tofu
2 scrambled Eggs
small handful of chopped Peanuts
small handful of chopped Basil and Cilantro
lime slices

First I thinly sliced 1 large chicken breast and put it in a non-stick pan on medium-high heat.
Once the chicken is cooked on the outside I added 1-2 tsp of LEE KUM KEE Chili Garlic Sauce. And a thinly sliced green chili pepper. Cook on medium-low until the chicken is done.
Then heat another non-stick pan to medium-high heat while the chicken is cooking. Add to the pan one whole package of Firm Tofu (diced into even cubes).
While all that is cooking away, start to boil some water for you noodles (One pack of Thai rice noodles..they only take a minute or so, once they're in the hot water)
And then...once the tofu has browned a bit put it into the pan with the chicken and use the empty heated pan to scramble two eggs. Then put the scrambled egg into the chicken and tofu, pour the whole bottle of Pad Thai Sauce into the mix. Add some chopped peanuts and chopped fresh Cilantro and Basil. Top it off with a squeeze of lime!

Double Baked BIG Potatoes

First: Wash four large baking potatoes. Place them onto a tray. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake at 350ºF for 60 minutes.

Once you take the potatoes out of the oven, let cool for a couple minutes then cut a slit down the center of each potato, squeeze the sides inward and gently scoop out the potato (as much as you can) and place the potato into a bowl along with: 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 1/2 cups of old cheddar cheese, 1 tsp cumin, 2 cloves of garlic minced, 1 tbsp Dijon or honey Dijon mustard, chopped chives or green onion, and either 6-8 strips of bacon (fried and chopped into bits) or one Spicy Sausage/ Spicy Chorizo Sausage squeezed out of it's casing and cooked in a heated pan and chopped up with a wooden spoon.. add it to the bowl with some salt and pepper and a bit of whatever hot sauce or a charred jalapeno pepper (diced and seeded). Mix all the ingredients until smooth and creamy add more sour cream if you need to. And shove it back into the potato skins gently. Then sprinkle the tops with a bit more cheese and put them back into the oven for about 10 more minutes. Until the cheese on top is golden and bubbly.

BBQ Jerk Chicken

Marinate Chicken pieces (as much as you like)
in the following combined ingredients over night for the best results or for at least 2 hours.
*Reserve 1/4 cup of marinade to use for basting the chicken while cooking.

Ingredients :
1 cup vegetable oil
1 large onion
3 scallions
2 scotch bonnet peppers
2 tbsp grated piece of ginger
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of fresh nutmeng
pinch of ground cloves
2 tbsp thyme
1 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
juice from 1 lime
juice from 1 large orange


Once chicken is done marinating, discard excess marinade and throw the chicken onto the grill. Use the marinade that was put aside to baste the chicken throughout.


*Gluten Free

Mexican Pulled Chicken Tacos

This is my favorite recipe to pass around. I came up with this recipe while waiting in line at a Mexican "tienda" in Kensington market while living in Toronto. I was just making conversation with the woman behind me about how I wanted to make real Mexican tacos.
About five years ago my boyfriend and I had lived in Zihuatanejo Mexico for about six months. That's where my love for spice really emerged. The most unforgettable, out of all the delicious meals has to be the Tacos. And once I was back in Canada I had to re-create them!
So between the woman in line at the "tienda" and some of my own memory and experiences while in Zihuatanejo I came up with this recipe for Pulled Chicken Tacos:

Ingredients:

approx. 1 chicken breast per person
a piece of El Yucateco Annatto paste
juice of 1 orange
1-1 1/2 cups chicken stalk
4 tbsp (approx) olive oil

taco seasoning (mix ingredients):
1 tbsp garlic salt
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp cumin
about 1/2 tbsp chipotle powder
1/4 tsp chili powder (optional)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Fixings:
corn tortillas
1/2 cup of red onions
1/4 cup cilantro
guacamole
lime slices
grilled pineapple pieces
salsa verde (green) or..
salsa rojo (red)


Boil chicken in a pot with enough water to cover. Boil for about 15-20 minutes, until chicken is able to pull apart easily. Remove and reserve the water. Pull the chicken apart with two forks until it's very stringy, no big pieces..

Heat pan to medium. Put a bit of oil into the pan and throw in the chicken. Add the Annatto paste and work it into the chicken with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle the taco seasoning mix over the chicken, mix and let the flavors come out a bit. Cut a big orange and squeeze as much juice as you can out of both halves into the pan. Then take about a cup/ cup and a half of the leftover stock (boiled chicken water) and pour that into the pan. Give it a little shake bring it to a bubble then let simmer on med- low heat until all the juices are soaked in.

While the chicken is simmering, prep the tortillas, and guacamole and salsa.
chop the red onion into small pieces and finely chop the cilantro. Mix the two together and drizzle in some olive oil, salt and pepper. Chop some pineapple and grill it (optional, but delicious!).

Set it all up and dig in while it's hot!