#38 Peruvian Kabobs

I love entertaining people. Not in the comedic or performing sense, but in the hosting and having people over sense. This week, Walter helped me host a little Peruviandinner party with some friends. While he did most of the work with the main dish: ceviche. I marinated some meat and made some kabobs along with apple crisp for the sweet tooth. We made a good team serving dinner this week and here's a yummy recipe from Peru to try if you please.

Peruvian Kabobs

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

3 tbsp. red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons paprika (use aji amarillo if you can find it!!)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 - 2 onions chopped into chunks for skewers

1 - 2 green peppers chopped into chunks for skewers

Fiery Rub:

1 teaspoon ground paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

cooking spray

Directions:

1. To prepare the beef, combine the first 7 ingredients in a large bowl; toss well. Cover and Chill 3 hours.

2. To prepare fiery rub, combine 1 tsp. paprika, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, turmeric and

parsley.

3. Prepare grill or oven. (We baked ours, because we don't have a grill!)

4. Remove beef from bowl, discarding marinade. Thread beef along with onions and peppers onto skewers. Press fiery rub onto beef. Place kebabs on grill rack or baking dish in the oven. Grill for 6 minutes or until desired doneness, turning once.

(Thanks to http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/anticuchos-peruvian-beef-kebabs-10000000234994/ for the yummy recipe!)

Buen Provecho!

#37 Potato Pizza

Well, better late than never. As I looked at my blog this morning (it is January 11th of the new year - yikes!) I realized that I had fallen way behind. So though the dates and meals match up, I'm writing everything 3 months later. Oh well, this recipe was made in effort to rid my fridge of the many potatoes and vegetables I had on hand.

Potato Pizza

Ingredients:

4 potatoes, shredded

1 medium onion, grated

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup flour

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 zucchini, thinly sliced

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tomatoes, sliced

1 cup chopped broccoli

2 tbsps. chopped fresh basil

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 cup shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Coat a 12 inch pizza dish with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, shredded onion, eggs and flour. Mix well and press into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 15 minutes. Spray the crust with cooking oil and bake for 10 more minutes. Place under broil and broil for 3 minutes (I couldn't do this "broil" in my oven - but it still turned out!). Once the crust is golden and crips, remove from the oven but leave the oven on.

4. In a large bowl, combine the zucchini, green pepper, thinly sliced onion, garlic and any other veggies you have. Toss to combine.

5. In a large nonstick skillet, saute the veggies until tender crisp.

6. Combine the tomato sauce and basil. Spread half of the sauce over the top of the potato crust. Top with the sauteed vegetables and tomatoes. Pour the remaining sauce over all. Top with cheese.

7. Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 7 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Slice into wedges and serve.

Buen Provecho!

#36 Italian Pesto Chicken Noodle Soup

Without fail, within the first 2 months of every school year, I get sick. I lose my voice, I have a sore throat, I cough, I am miserable for a week. And for the last couple years this sad turn of events has culminated over a long weekend break. Boo. So here I am, with no audible voice and three days off from school. All the things I had dreamed of doing this weekend have come down to herbal tea, movies, blogging and cooking.

Wanting to prove this sickness that I am stronger than it, this morning I invented an exquisite chicken noodle soup with a heavy Italian twist. The Italian flavor comes from the homemade pesto I made last week for ladies' night, which works surprisingly well in a chicken and vegetable broth. So though much of my weekend has been limited to my apartment, I at least still get to enjoy some new flavors and good cooking. Now, the real question is, can I follow my soup with a cup of coffee? I may have a cup even though everything I read says coffee is not good for sore throats. Darn it, I'm living on the wild side, coffee here I come.

Italian Pesto Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

• ½ cup diced onion
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 6 - 7 cups chicken broth
• 4 tbsp. pesto sauce (I used my homemade pesto sauce from last week)
• 2 zucchini, peeled and chopped
• 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 tomato, diced
• 2 cups broccoli (I steamed fresh broccoli, but frozen would work too)
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 1 lime
• ¼ cup white wine
• 1 cup noodles
• Salt, Pepper and Cayenne Pepper
• 1 avocado
• shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Chop all vegetables and defrost chicken.
2. In large pot, pour olive oil and sauté the onion and garlic until tender. Add the chicken stock and pesto sauce. Add tomato, green pepper, zucchini, broccoli (if frozen add it with the rest of the vegetables but wait until the noodles go in if you are using steamed broccoli) and potatoes. Heat to a boil and then lower to a simmer, stirring often. While the soup is heating up, cut the chicken and squeeze one lime over the chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. After lowering the heat on the soup, add the lime-soaked chicken to the pot and ¼ cup of wine. Sprinkle the soup with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper (if you want some spice!). Cover the soup and let cook for 10 minutes.
4. Add the noodles and cover for another 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on the soup, as soon as the noodles are done, the soup is ready!
5. To serve, ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheese and diced avocado. Yummy stuff.

Buen Provecho

#35 Pesto and Hummus made the night

One thing that has been fun about having the boys play soccer on Saturdays is that us girls can get together for a little ladies' afternoon/night. This week, the chicas came to my apartment and we enjoyed some white sangria, chocolate chip peanut butter cookies, curried hummus and bruschetta.

After discovering how easy it is to make hummus and much you can save ($$) by making it yourself, I don't think I'll be buying hummus again anytime soon.

Curried Hummus

Ingredients:

1 can garbanzo beans with half the liquid of the can

1 tbsp olive oil

1-2 garlic cloves, crushed

2-3 tsp curry powder

1 tsp cumin

2 little limes - squeeze the juice out

a couple shakes of cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

salt to taste

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in the blender and thoroughly mix together to the right pasty consistency.

For the occasion, I made my usual bruschetta but decided to make my own pesto sauce and did what I could with the ingredients I could find and was pleasantly surprised.

Homemade Pesto Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh basil, chopped

1 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 cup olive oil

1/2 cup almonds, crushed

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Chop the necessary ingredients and put all the solid ingredients into the blender, slowly add the olive oil as you blend the ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste after blending all the ingredients. It's very simple and very good!

Buen Provecho!

#34 Chorizo, Potato and Cabbage Stew

This was tastier than it sounds, trust me. It's a nice change for a soup and tastes delicious with some corn tortilla chips on the side. Besides the yummy taste, it's super simple and can be adjusted based on whatever vegetables you have on hand.

Chorizo, Potato and Cabbage Stew

Ingredients:

4 large carrots, thinly sliced

2 large potatoes, thinly sliced

1 large onion, thinly sliced

1/4 medium head cabbage, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, smashed

6 cups chicken stock

1 cup cooked chorizo (sausage)

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp salt

ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Combine the all ingredients and simmer until the carrots are tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a blender in small batches and blend until smooth.

Buen Provecho!