Posts – Page 3 – The Big Kitchen Table

Instant Pot No-Fry Refried Beans

These beans are SO Good and So Easy! You never have to open another can of Mexican style beans ever again. No lard! No frying! No Soaking! Just a bag of dried pinto beans and a few ingredients you probably all ready have on hand. …

Instant Pot, Side Dish

Wolf’s Steam Oven Stuffed Cheesy Bread

Ingredients: 1 large Ciabatta loaf1 stick of butter, melted 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil2 Tbsp. onion, minced3 cloves garlic, grated1-2 Tbsp. Edmond Fallot Dijon Mustard (It really is the best)1 Tbsp. poppy seeds2 Tbsp. curly parsley, chopped (plus extra for garnish)6 oz. …

Appetizer, Bread, Cheese, Comfort Food, Crack Bread, Italian, Steam Oven Recipe

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

My family got sick with Flu A a few weeks ago, and I decided to finally make Bon Appétit’s Classic Chicken Soup recipe. It took some time to make, but was well worth it. My son Harrison enjoyed the soup so much, he couldn’t stop saying how much he loved it. He asked me, “How come you haven’t been making this soup my whole life?”. My reply to him was, “From now on, this is the chicken soup I will make forever.” This soup is that good! The flavor is perfect, and I’m pretty sure that this soup kept me from getting sick on my birthday.

Ingredients:

1 3-4lb. whole chicken

4 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more

2 medium onions

4 medium carrots

4 celery stalks, divided

2 heads garlic

1 Tbsp. black peppercorns
½ small bunch of dill, divided
6 oz. ditalini or any small quick-cooking pasta
Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Season the chicken all over with 4 tsp. salt
Cut 2 medium onions in half, leave skin on for color.
Peel 4 medium carrots. Coarsely chop 2; set aside the 2 remaining.
Coarsely chop 2 celery stalks.
Cut 2 heads of garlic in half crosswise.

Now combine the chicken, cut vegetables, 1 Tbsp. black peppercorns, and 2 dill sprigs in a large pot. Cover with 14 cups cold water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook, reducing heat as needed to maintain a simmer. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface of the pot. Simmer until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 155°, approximately 20-25 minutes.

Using tongs carefully lift the whole chicken out of the pot and transfer to a cutting board. Let rest until cool enough to handle.
Grab the wing and pull it outward, cut through the joint with a chef’s knife to separate the wing from the breast. Do this on both sides.
Cut through the skin connecting 1 leg to carcass. Pull the leg back and cut through the joint to separate the leg. Do this on both sides.
Now for the breasts: Cut along the lefts side of the breastbone. Angling your knife, cut breast meat away from the carcass. Repeat this on the ride side for the other breast.
Pull off and discard any skin from the legs and breasts.

Return the legs, wings, and what remains of the carcass to the pot with vegetables.
(You should now have only the chicken breasts remaining on your cutting board.)

Continue to simmer soup, occasionally skimming fat that rises to the surface with a large spoon, until reduced by an inch or two and full-flavored, about 40 minutes.
NOTE: If you feel like you reduced the soup too much, you can always add in a little more water.

While the soup simmers, shred the chicken breasts with 2 forks into bites-sized pieces.
Thinly slice remaining 2 celery stalks crosswise. Cut remaining 2 medium carrots into ½” diagonal pieces. Finely chop enough dill to yield ¼ cup.

Transfer 2 chicken legs to cutting board to cool. Shred the meat and discard the bones.

Set a fine mesh strainer over another large pot. Strain the soup into second pot, discarding bones, carcass, wings and vegetables.

Bring broth to boil over medium-high heat. Add 6oz of pasta and stir once. Cook 5 minutes.

Add the shredded chicken, carrots, and celery to the pot and cook until the pasta is cooked through, and the vegetables are tender but not mushy, 4-5 minutes longer.

Turn off heat. Stir in dill. Season with salt (it’s going to take a lot!) and pepper.

Recipe: Adapted from Bon Appétit, January 2020

Chicken, Pasta, Soup

Thai Peanut Sauce

I have tried so many peanut sauces and this one is just perfect. I have served it over chicken breasts, I have tossed it with noodles and have even served it with crackers as an appetizer. It reminds me so of the complimentary Trader Vic’s …

Asian, Peanut, Sauce

Miguel’s Jalapeño White Sauce

Miguel’s Cocina in Coronado has such a good queso sauce, I like to use it on so many things. It’s great as a dip for chips, and a yummy cheese sauce for tacos and sandwiches. It’s not too thick, it’s not too thin, and it …

Appetizer, Cheese, Condiment, Mexican

Shredded Beef Taco Meat

We love Tito’s Tacos! And well…I think this meat is pretty similar. Again, while turning to Google for Tito’s recipes, I came across one for the meat. I adapted the recipe and I find that this meat is pretty close to the Tito’s original.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. beef chuck roast
12 oz. beef broth
5 Tbs. all purpose flour
1 tsp. spanish paprika
¼ tsp. Lawry’s garlic powder
⅛ tsp. chili powder
1 pinch ground cloves
1 Tbs.kosher salt
½ Tbs. fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

Trim the roast and cut into 2 inch cubes.
Toss the meat into a Crockpot and then season with all of the dry ingredients. Make sure toss the meat well and cover each piece with the seasonings.

Add the beef broth.

Cook on high for about 6 hours. The meat is done with it can easily be shredded with a fork. After the 6 hours, check the meat and shred it with a fork. If the meat needs a little longer, leave it in for another hour and then shred. The meat should just fall apart.

After shredding, let the meat cook on low for 20-30 minutes to let the flavors meld.

Recipe adapted from: Food.com-(Robert Goodman)

Beef, Crockpot, Meat, Mexican, Slow Cooker, Tito's Taco

Pesto alla Genovese

Pesto is really versatile and adds wonderful flavor to many things. My kids love Pesto alla Genovese on more than just pasta. They like to spread it on sandwiches, use it a dip for bread, or add it on top of caprese salad, steak or …

Basil, Italian, Pasta, Pesto, Sauce

Christy’s Salsa

We love Tito’s Tacos! And we love their salsa too! After having visited Tito’s s few weeks ago, I decided to google Tito’s Tacos Recipes. I found a blog with a recipe I knew I had to try immediately. I made the salsa with a …

Appetizer, Condiment, Mexican

Christmas Crown Pork Roast

I adapted the recipe from the Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook. The recipe is for herb marinated loin of pork, but the marinade can be used for pork or even chicken. For Christmas, I decided to use the recipe for a crown pork roast. The family loved the deliciously, tender meat and the flavor was excellent.

Ingredients:

Pork rib roast – (7lbs.)
Grated lemon zest- 1 lemon
¾ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ cup of olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
kosher salt
fresh black pepper

Directions:
Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, thyme, and mustard in bowl. Whisk the ingredients together until mixed. Pour the marinade over the pork and then salt and pepper the pork well. Let the roast marinate for several hours in the refrigerator. When you are ready to cook the pork, remove the meat from the marinade and place the roast in a roasting pan.

Cook the roast uncovered at 325° until it reads 160°on a meat thermometer. Pull the pork from the oven and then cover and let rest for several minutes before slicing.

Serves 10

Pork

Hamburger Hamlet’s Zucchini Zircles

Hamburger Hamlet was one of my favorite restaurants. My husband and I lived right near the Pasadena location, and we would eat at The Hamlet once a week. The burgers, large steak fries, french onion soup, chicken dinner and the zucchini appetizer were some of …

Appetizer, Vegetable