Burrito Bowls

 

As promised, today I am sharing a recipe that incorporates the cilantro lime rice and spicy citrus black beans shared with you earlier this week. I have already raved about both of those recipes, so you can imagine how much I enjoyed having everything combined into one dish. I generally don’t repeat dishes so quickly, but I’ve already made this twice for dinner and will be putting it back on our menu soon. Qdoba is a guilty pleasure of mine; this is the deconstructed version inspired from their burritos, but less messy to eat. The only thing missing which I have yet to perfect is their queso! The layers of flavor presented with each component packs quite a punch in each bite. I have listed the toppings I prefer on burritos, but if you have other toppings that you love, pile them on!

Burrito Bowls

Cilantro Lime Rice

Spicy Citrus Black Beans

Tequila Lime Chicken

Salsa

Shredded Cheese

Sour Cream

Source: Annie’s Eats

One Year Ago Today: Roast with an Onion-and-Mushroom Gravy

Moo Shu Pork Pockets

This is another take-out food, re-made for the home cook. My mother-in-law sometimes orders take-out Moo Shu Pork from our local Chinese restaurant. It comes with tortillas that look almost rubber-like. The pork is generally in the form of strips, which can be packed in the tortilla, similar to a taco. This version provides a more ease for the eater. The pork is shaped into a patty, wrapped in a tortilla, and complimented with hoisin sauce and topped with some veggies. You would never know it, but the pork patty contains a special ingredient of ginger snaps too! I don’t typically go back for seconds, but I enjoyed this so much, I had two and couldn’t wait to eat the leftovers.

Moo Shu Pork Pockets

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1 pound ground pork

2 cups shredded cabbage (1/2 a 16 oz package cole slaw mix)

A few pinches of cayenne pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 gingersnap cookies, ground in a food processor

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

6 (12-inch) flour tortillas

1 cup hoisin sauce

Toppings:

2 cups shredded cabbage

Shredded carrots

Bean Sprouts

Scallions, thinly sliced

Combine the pork, cabbage, cayenne pepper, garlic, gingersnaps, and soy sauce in a bowl. Form mixture into six patties. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add vegetable oil to the pan. Cook patties 7 minutes per side.

Heat tortillas on a nonstick surface over high heat for 30 seconds on each sid. Paint the tortillas with hoisin sauce, leaving a 1-inch rim from edge. Pile shredded mixed toppings in center of tortilla and top with the cooked pork patty. Fold the tortilla up on all four sides and wrap burger in a square package. Invert pork pocket and cut on diagonal.

Source adapted from: www.foodnetwork.com/rachael-ray

One Year Ago Today: Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

I haven't made a confession in the past few weeks, so I guess today I am due for one! Do you remember me telling you about a month ago that we lost power and had to move in to a hotel for a couple of nights?!? Well for one of our meals, we ventured out to Red Lobster. This was my very first Red Lobster experience. Yes, that's right, in all my 25 years of life I had never been to Red Lobster. So I bet you can't guess my favorite part of the meal...the Cheddar Bay Biscuits! In fact, I liked them so much, the waiter hooked me up with 2 bags full of them to take home. Once we finally made it back home I started to flip through one of my cookbooks and was happy to find a similar recipe. I chose to make the biscuits to go with the baked shrimp scampi I posted about yesterday. I am happy to report the biscuits tasted like the real thing. Filled with white cheddar cheese, garlic, and of course butter, I was one happy girl!

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

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For the Biscuits:

2 1/2 cups Bisquick baking mix

4 tablespoons cold butter

1 heaping cup grated Cheddar cheese

3/4 cup cold milk

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

For the Topping:

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Combine bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter or a large fork . There should be small chunks of butter in the mix around pea size. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and 1/4 teaspoon garlic. Mix by hand until combined, but don’t over mix.

Drop approximately 1/4 cup of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet using an ice cream scoop. .Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

When you take the biscuits out of the oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small bowl in your microwave. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and the dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread this garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Use up all of the butter.

Source adapted from: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur, 2007

I’m Addicted…to Maui Zaui!!

This pizza brings back memories of the beach, the palm trees, and the beauty of Maui for me. A year ago last May, my husband and I went back to Maui for the first time since our honeymoon. Being that we now live in an area where you can find great pizza just around the corner, this was the last place I thought I would find my all-time favorite pizza, but we met and fell in love and I haven’t quite been the same since. The pizza is from a company called, Round Table Pizza. Most of their pizzas are unique, but I can’t say that I have tried anything other than Maui Zaui. All the ingredients used are super fresh and the combination of the sweet and spicy Polynesian sauce just brings it over the top.  I’m a little embarrassed to say that it has taken me a whole year to recreate this pizza at home, but my first attempt was a success!! Both my husband and I thought the flavor of the sauce was very similar to the sweet chili sauce we use at home to dip in spring rolls, so when I was on a mission to recreate the dish this was the sauce I went for. Now that I know how to make this at home, I have made it almost every week and I still can’t get enough of it!! We have tried the pizza both on the grill and in the oven. My preference is grilling, but my husband likes it from the oven. So whatever you’re in the mood for, you have to try it!!

Maui Zaui

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12 in Pizza dough – most groceries stores now sell fresh pizza dough, my grocery store stocks their dough’s by the packaged cheeses.

About 1/4 cup Sweet Chili Sauce (pictured at right)

2 slices of thick sliced deli Ham, cubed

About 1 cup Pineapple, cubed

1 Roma Tomato, diced

About 1/4 cup Red Onion, diced

1/4 cup Green onion, chopped

3 to 5 strips of Bacon, cooked and crumbled

3/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese

1/4 cup Provolone Cheese (or whatever you have on hand)

After the pizza dough is rolled out, place sauce down. If you are going for spicy, use more than 1/4 cup of sauce.  If you want a subtle kick, 1/4 cup or a little more will enough to produce  a thin layer of sauce all around the pizza. Cover sauce with the mozzarella and provolone cheese. Then place the ham, pineapple, red onion, bacon, and green onion all around the pizza. Bake or grill according to pizza dough package.

Say Aloha to my New Burger

Before you put away your grills, I have a new burger recipe for you to try! I purchased a book a couple years back titled, Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2, where I found a version of Red Robin's Banzai Burger. When I first made the burgers I used the homemade Teriyaki sauce they recommended, but since then I have found the Lawry's Teriyaki marinade to work just as good without the hassle of making my own. About a month ago, Michael and I took a weekend trip to Boston and we spent one afternoon around the Harvard campus. We found this nice burger joint with space outside to eat, so we sat down and both enjoyed a burger. They had a pineapple burger on their menu that contained an ingredient I had never thought to put on my burger...Ginger. The combination of pineapple and ginger was really, really good, but I do have to say that there was A LOT of ginger on the burger. I wanted to kick our burger recipe up a notch, so I decided that I would create a Ginger-mayo dressing for a more subtle flavor. This was a great addition and I am quite pleased with the results!

Aloha Burgers

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1 1lb Hamburger meat (also can be done with boneless, skinless chicken breast)

4 slices of Pineapple (You can use canned or fresh pineapple)

Teriyaki Marinade

1 Tablespoon Ginger, minced

1/2 cup Mayonnaise

Toppings (adapt to what you like):

Lettuce

Tomato

Red Onion

Cheese

Place hamburger patties in a plastic bag or container. Cover in marinade and let sit for several hours. (I usually prep this in the morning before I leave for work). In a separate plastic bag or container marinate the pineapple slices.

Grill burgers on medium-high heat for 5 minutes before flipping. Once flipped, add the pineapple to the grill and continue cooking until burgers are done to your liking.  I also like to add some more teriyaki sauce after flipping to continue adding flavor. While grilling, prepare the Ginger-Mayo dressing. Combine 1/2 cup of mayo with 1 tablespoons minced ginger.