Category Archives: In the Kitchen

Chicken Fajitas for Santa

20 Sunday Dec 2009

Posted by in In the Kitchen, Life at Home

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My husband and I  “unplugged” our Christmas tree last year.

But for the grands and  nieces, who will receive their perennial gift of money —  and a few others like my aunts — gifts no longer play a major role in our Christmas gatherings.

No gift buying keeps life simpler, especially in the days leading up to Christmas.  No longer do we go through the motions of buying something that the other doesn’t really need — or want — since everyone in our family is fortunate enough to tend to their own needs and wants.

However, not everyone in our family unplugged; not desiring to let go of tradition, my kids and their mates kept on plugging.  Last year, everyone drew a name and met at our house to unwrap their “Secret Santa”  gift.   I think Santa’s identity was pretty much unwrapped before the gifts were… though the knowledge only heightened the fun.  In fact, everyone had such a grand time that the kids agreed to keep their new tradition going;  and their fun was so contagious, that my husband and I decided to give it a go and plug-in two lights of our own.

Today we invited all our favorite not-so-secret Santas to our second annual unwrap party.  Thanks to much help from my husband, we unwrapped the party with fajita wraps.

Chicken fajitas with all the fixings takes time to prepare for a crowd (it was a triple recipe for today); but the second nicest part of this meal is that it can be prepared in advance.

The fajita meat stays nice and hot in a foil-lined ice chest, the caramelized onions and bell pepper strips are easily reheated while the guacamole, grated cheese and sour cream can chill out in the fridge until serving time.

Of course, the nicest part of the meal is all the happy smiles it brings.  Parting gifts of home-made Chocolate Biscotti — a lovely recipe from the first blog I ever visited — kept the kids smiling as they walked out the door.

And here’s the bestest part:  After all the good food, including Amy’s Ambosia Cake, and the two hours of playing a old family card game with the kids…

…..I’m still smiling.

Chicken Fajitas

Serves 4       1 hour (includes 30 mins marinade time)  Does not include time for fajita fixings

Ingredient List:

12 flour tortillas
3 chicken breasts, sliced horizontally  into 6 thin breast cutlets

Your favorite fajita toppings (can be prepared several hours in advance)

Grated Cheddar Cheese
Sour Cream

Caramelized Onions: (30 to 45 mins to prepare)  1 large onion, peel and sliced in 1/4 inch rings — saute in 2 Tbsp oil in skillet over low heat until softened — add 1/2 tsp salt and  1 Tbsp butter and continue to cook until golden — if watched closely, may turn up heat once softened.

Bell Pepper Strips – (30 mins to prepare) Wash then cut pepper in half, remove seeds.  Slice in 1/4 inch half-rings.  Saute in 2 Tbsp oil in skillet over low heat until soft .

Guacamole – 2 small ripe avocados, 1/2 to 1 tsp Cavenders’s Greek Seasoning, 1/2 cup Pace Picante Sauce.  Scoop avocado into bowl and mash with fork; mix in seasoning and sauce.  Place avocado seeds on top to keep guacamole from turning brown.  Cover and store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Fajita Marinade

1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup canola oil
2 medium pressed or minced garlic cloves
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper.

Mix above ingredients.  Set aside 1/4 cup to dress cooked chicken.  To remaining marinade, add another 1 tsp salt.  Pour on top of chicken, cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for 30 mins.

To Cook:

Heat 3 Tbsp cooking oil in aluminum skillet over medium to medium high meat.  Take chicken out and discard marinade; remove excess marinade from chicken with paper towels.  Add chicken breast to oil and fry approximately 5 minutes on each side.  Remove when chicken is fork tender and golden brown on both sides.  Store in foil-lined ice chest for 10 minutes before slicing; then on a cutting board, slice chicken in 1/2 inch strips and dress with reserved marinade.  Remove tortillas from packaging, place between two microwaveable dinner plates (one inverted on the other) and warm in microwave for 60 seconds on high setting.

Serve buffet style.

Chicken Fry Steak with Gravy

18 Friday Dec 2009

Posted by in In the Kitchen

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I prepared these steaks for the first time while still cooking in my Lake Jackson kitchen.  I remember it was this time of the year because the boys were home during the day, enjoying their Christmas break from school.

When supper is ready at our house, the outside world ceases to exist — the television is turned off, video and computer games are paused, my husband’s book is set aside — and so it was that day.  We put individual interests aside to gather around our everyday kitchen table .  And though we didn’t know it at the time, we sat down to what I now know as the best chicken fry I’ve ever tasted —  including all those wonderful versions encountered over the years at various mom and pop restaurants.

The meal has become one of our favorite everyday recipes.  The mother of this recipe originates from one of my Junior League cookbooks; but like any good recipe, adaptions are born out of years of preparing it.   It’s  one of those recipes easy to make but good enough to serve company.  Three years ago I made it for Christmas dinner at my folks.  And two years ago I made it for my mother-in-law’s January 2nd birthday party.  Making it for a crowd requires a little more orchestration, but it’s worth the effort.

Of course, like anything fried with gravy, this meal is not on the top of a heart-healthy list.  But it is Southern comfort food at its absolute best.  And sometimes it’s good to splurge, when we can afford to do so.

From my life to yours.

Chicken Fry Steak

Serves 4        30 minutes, start to finish

4 cube steaks — 6 to 8 ounces each
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup buttermilk
Dash of Tabasco Sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

On large plate or pie plate, mix flour with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.  In bowl, mix buttermilk with 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and Tabasco Sauce.  Flour steak  on both sides, dip in buttermilk, and flour steak again.  Set aside on wax paper until ready to fry.  Repeat until all steak is coated.  (Note: if steaks are large, I cut them in half so that they are easy to turn when frying.)

Cooking:

Heat 1/2 cup canola oil in large skillet, over medium to medium-high heat.  When oil is hot, carefully add steak.  Cook approximately 5 minutes on each side until golden brown.  Remove to plate.

Gravy

Carefully remove all but 3 Tbsp on leftover oil from pan.  Leave in flour drippings.  Gradually stir in 5 Tbsp of flour into oil, letting it cook and bubble for a minute.

Add 1 1/2 cups of milk and 3/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.  (You may wish to add extra milk for thinner gravy.) Pour into bowl for serving.

Peanut Butter Cookies

11 Friday Dec 2009

Posted by in In the Kitchen, Life at Home

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I racked my brain for a particular story that goes with these cookies.  But there’s not one.  Maybe because these cookies have just been an everyday fixture in my life, from those days of earliest childhood.

My first memory of these cookies was preserved while swinging on a backyard swing set, in those long ago days when I still called Shawnee “home.”  I must have been seven or eight at the time.  I had a cookie in one hand and a banana in the other, and even now, I partake in the occasional splurge of having this double childhood delight.

My mom liked these cookies.  They may have been her favorite cookie, though I’m not sure.  This cookie is a multi-generational favorite in our family — from Don’s mother Janice, to my daughter Kate and son-in-law Joe to both of my sons to my niece Abigail to my grandson Jackson.

And while they may not be everyone’s favorite cookie, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like them.  They stay fresh a long time, which may have accounted for their popularity with the boys.  During college dorm years, I must have made 200 of these cookies a month.  Perhaps I’m coming into my ‘grandma own’, since this is one recipe I can make without need of words on paper.

These cookies became birthday gifts twice this year.  And now they become my gift to you, at least with words.  From my life to yours.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar (plus 4 Tbsp for coating)
1 16 oz jar of Smucker’s Natural Peanut Butter
3 extra-large eggs
2 Tbsp water
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking soda
3 cups flour

Put 4 Tbsp sugar in a bowl and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix eggs, water and vanilla.   In another small bowl, combine flour and baking soda.  In a large bowl, mix first four ingredients until creamy; gradually add egg mixture and mix well; then gradually add dry ingredients and mix well.

Pinch off 2 Tbsp of dough and form into ball.  Roll balls in bowl of reserved sugar.  Using a large salad fork, criss-cross each cookie, pressing it down to flatten.   The cookies will flatten more in baking process.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes in a 375 oven until slightly golden.  Cool on baking sheet.