5 Recipes for when it’s too hot to cook
Aug 8, 2011 Appetizers, Beef, Chicken, Dips and Spreads, Food Things, Mexican, Salads, Snacks
Well, it’s officially been the hottest summer in Oklahoma since before I was born. Brian, Hurley and I are surviving, thankful for a working air conditioner and lots of iced tea. Hurley runs around outside after the sun goes down, and sometimes spends half the night outside playing. Brian’s routine hasn’t changed much, and since the grass hasn’t been growing because of the drought he hasn’t had to go outside and mow the lawn. I’ve pretty much given up on running with Hurley until the weather gets back down to highs in the 90′s, but other than those things the main thing that the heat as been affecting is dinner.
The stove and oven put off enough heat in 30 minutes to make life miserable for the evening. I’m sure we aren’t the only ones with this problem. I should have posted this a few weeks ago at the beginning of this long, hot string, but I’m sure there are still plenty of hot days ahead.
Here are some of my favorite recipes for when it’s too hot to cook. These recipes require no grilling, stove, or oven. Now you should have no excuse to go out to eat every night.
1. Sandwiches are a great choice, and this one is one of my favorites. This is a Roast Beef Sandwich with Cranberries that I wrote about a few years ago, but you can easily substitute the roast beef for turkey and it works very well. All ingredients are cold and refreshing.
(photo courtesy of Bon Appetit)
2. This Wild Arugula Salad looks amazing, and if you use store bought croutons you don’t have to use your oven at all.
3. The third recipe I have is Summer Rolls with Peanut Sauce from Mark Bittman’s Food Matters Cookbook. These are presented as an appetizer in restaurants, but I think you’ll find that a few of these are quite substantial as a meal, and they are so good for you. Sorry I don’t have a picture, but just read the recipe and you’ll see how wonderful these are.
4. This might be my favorite recipe from this last year, and even though I’ve made it at least 8 times I don’t have a single picture of it anywhere. There could be two reasons for this. #1, I generally am so excited to eat it once it’s done that I forget to take a picture before it’s gone, or #2, I decide not to take a picture because it’s sort of ugly. I can’t ever get it to bring a good presentation, but the combination of flavors is so amazing that I promise you won’t be disappointed. This recipe uses a slow-cooker, which doesn’t generate a lot of heat but produces a wonderful meal.
Slow Cooked Chicken with Tomatillos, Potatoes, Jalapenos, and Fresh Herbs from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Everyday
Ingredients:
1 medium white onion, cut into 1/4 inch thick rounds
salt
4 medium (about 1 pound) red-skinned or Yukon gold potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (1.5-2 lbs)
1 cup (loosely packed) cilantro leaves or 1/3 cup (loosely packed) fresh epazote leaves
1 1/4 pounds tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup slicked canned pickled jalapenos
2 tbs jalapeno pickling juiceDirections
Spread the onion over the bottom of a slow-cooker. Sprinkle with salt. Continue with layers of the potato slices, chicken thighs, cilantro, and then tomatillos, sprinkling salt evenly over each layer before moving on to the next. Scatter the jalapeno slickes over everything, then drizzle with the picking juice. Cover and slow-cook on high for 6 hours. Serve in bowls and sprinkle with cilantro.
5. Guacamole is probably my favorite no-cook food. I know it’s an appetizer, but use it as the base on tostadas and you’re on your way to a delicious no-cook meal. Tostadas are a great way to clean out the fridge of any leftover taco meat, chorizo, or baked chicken. Sprinkle on some cheese, sour cream, salas, and guacamole, or whatever else you have in your fridge. I generally like tostadas with a base of black beans, and you can microwave those for a minute or two and spread them on the tostada before topping.
I hope everyone stays cool, whether you’re in Oklahoma or somewhere else fantastic. For now, I’ll keep drinking lots of iced tea and dreaming about moving to Alaska.
Stuffed hot peppers with roasted red pepper and tomato sauce
Jul 29, 2010 Appetizers, Food Things, Pastas and Sauces
Reader beware: consuming hot peppers with this delicious filling and sauce creates the powerful and hard to resist “addicting-spicy”. This is when something is spicy but delicious at the same time, and you are physically unable to stop eating the spicy food. Your hands simply will not stop grabbing the fork and lifting it to your mouth. The disease has not yet known to be fatal, but is sure to last until the last bite has been consumed.
Consider yourselves warned.
Peach week is over, although the peaches are not all gone. I froze some and plan to use them for something fun soon. After all the cool peach desserts, I decided it was time for something hot.
Tags: baked peppers, bobby flay stuffed peppers, stuffed jalapenos, stuffed peppers
Peach Week Kickoff with Peaches in Wine
Jul 20, 2010 Appetizers, Desserts, Drinks, Food Things, Peaches, Snacks
I hereby call this week… (drumroll please…)
Peach Week.
The reason?
I have a ton of peaches.
I know I’m starting this sort of in the middle of the week so it’s not really Peach Week, more like Peach mid-week or Peach Weekend, but nevertheless, we are going to talk peaches for a few posts. Since I’m drowning in peaches over here I feel like it’s all I can think about, therefore it’s all I am going to write about for a few days.
I hope that’s ok with you.
Tags: bellaire peach, peach dessert, peaches and wine, peaches in wine, peeling a peach, peeling peaches, Porter peach, Red Haven Peach, wine poached peach
Homemade Edible Fruit Arrangement
Jul 11, 2010 Appetizers, Food Things, Healthy, Tips and Tricks
It all started with a dream…and a very tight budget.
The dream of the perfect wedding shower for my friend Melissa that included an edible fruit arrangement.
Here is Erin who hosted the shower, with Melissa (the bride) admiring the napkins that Erin picked out. Melissa loves the small details.
The edible bouquet was going to be fun. We had the rest of the menu planned out but we wanted a way to display the fruit that was cute and different. Special touches like that are what make showers special, right?
So, we looked online and quickly found that fruit bouquets are expensive. A tiny one was over $60, and we didn’t want to focus on that as something we spent a lot of our money on. But Erin kept looking at the picture of the arrangement on the screen longingly, and after a while she said, “I think we could make that.”
I had my doubts, but I was willing. The day of the shower I showed up to Erin’s apartment with all of the fruit that the arrangement in the picture contained, and Erin was ready with a melon baller, skewers, a bucket, a cookie cutter, and a foam block. We used one of the green foam blocks you would used in a flower arrangement that crumble green flakes when you rub them. That worked perfect.
And we started cutting fruit. The melon baller was giving me LOTS of trouble, but we were able to form the balls well enough for them to look like spheres and stick them on the arrangement. The pineapple was cut with a flower shaped cookie cutter. The grapes and strawberries were just washed and used as is. That part was easy.
We laid a bunch of kale on top of the foam block to hide it, and then Erin stuck all of the skewers into the block. It may have been easier to stick them in as she went, because she did stab herself several times putting the fruit on the skewers with forest of sharp skewers around. It worked out though.
After a while, it started to look pretty much like the picture.
And it looked great with the rest of our spread.
If you want to try making one of these, basically all you need is a LOT of grapes (they go on almost every stick), some pineapple, honeydew, and strawberries. You’re welcome to copy off of our picture! If you come up with a different but cute arrangement send me the photos. I would love to see them!
Tags: edible arrangement, edible flower arrangement, fruit arrangement, home made edible arrangement, home made fruit arrangement
Perfect Guacamole
May 3, 2010 Appetizers, Dips and Spreads, Food Things, Mexican
I love people who love guacamole. Sometimes when I hear an acquaintance say that they like guacamole I secretly think about being their best friend. I can envision cutting up tomatoes and garlic with them and laughing because we are so excited about what is about to go into our mouths. It’s weird, but I’m not lying. That actually happens.
There used to be only one way I would make guacamole and I didn’t really know any other way. I would mix up avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, jalapenos, and red onion and splash a little hot sauce in. It was fine back when that was the way, but my friends, I have a new way. Someone I don’t know (but I want to become best friends with more than anyone else) taught me how to make the perfect guacamole for any mood. YES- Rick Bayless taught me how to make guacamole in 3 ways. Simple, Herby, or Luxurious.
Since it’s almost Cinco de Mayo, I thought this would be the perfect time to post these recipes. I have to tell you, if you like Mexican food Rick Bayless’s book Mexican Everyday is by far the best Mexican cookbook I’ve ever read. I’ve tried several things from it and every single recipe is awesome. A while back I made his tortilla soup and shared it with all of you. It’s amazing.
This guacamole is amazing too. Here is a picture of the salsa spread we had a a party, and I want to point out that the guacamole is going fast.
So, thanks to Rick Bayless here is a guacamole recipe that can be changed to fit any mood. I personally love it Luxurious.
Guacamole Three Ways: Simple, Herby, or Luxurious
Ingredients:
- 2 medium ripe avocados
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped or crushed through a garlic press
- salt
To make it herby, add:
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- about 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
To make it luxurious, also add:
- Fresh hot green chile to taste (Use 1 serrano or 1/2 to 1 jalepeno) finely chopped
- 1/4 small white onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 medium tomato, chopped into 1/4-inch dice
Directions:
Cut the avocados in half, running your knife around the pit from stem to blossom end and back up again. Twist the halves in opposite directions to free the pit, and pull the halves apart. Dislodge the pit, then scoop the avocado flesh into a medium bowl.
Mash the avocado with a large fork or potato masher. Sir in the garlic and about 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus any other sets of ingredients you’ve chosen. If your list includes white onion, rinse it first under cold water, then shake well to rid it of excess moisture before adding to the avocado. (This reduces the risk of having the onion flavor overwhelm the guacamole.) Taste and season with additional salt if appropriate. If not using immediately, cover with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface of the guacamole and refrigerate- preferably for no more than a few hours.
Tags: guacamole, mexican appetizer, Rick Bayless