Kishy's Kitchen

Chimichuri

kishyskitchen — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:06:03 +0000

Chimichuri is a South American Pesto made from a combination of green herbs, Garlic, Chili, and Lime Juice or Wine Vinegar. It is a fantastic condiment on burgers; a great addition to grilled meats, fish, and chicken; a great sandwich topper; delicious as a dip or with a slice of bread; and can be used as a marinade. I have seen it with Basil and Oregano, Cilantro (Corriander) alone, and the way I make it, Cilantro and Parsley. I blend mine most of the time, but have chopped it to serve on a nice steak or piece of fish. You can control the “heat” by limiting the amount of chili pepper you put in.

2 Bunches of Cilantro (coriander) (Stems are OK but it looks nicer without stems, and try to get rid of the big stems)
1 Bunch of Parsley (Trim off the stems – they are bitter, just keep the upper 2/3)
5 Cloves of Garlic
1 Red Bell Pepper (Chopped Coarsely)
1/2 a Chili Pepper (Take out Seeds if you don’t want it too spicy)
1/4 Cup of Olive Oil or Canola Oil (Taste Preference- in a marinade use Olive Oil)
1/3 Cup White Wine Vinegar

Throw everything into the Food Processor and Blend until desired consistency. I usually scrape the food processor and push the ingredients to the bottom to help get an even blend. As I often say, TASTE the food before you serve it. You might need to add more of a Base (oil) or more Acid (Vinegar) to get it right. I personally don’t add salt to this; in fact I think salt ruins the taste. I keep this in a jar in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. The color will fade with time, but the taste is almost as good.

Apricot Chicken

kishyskitchen — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:49:12 +0000

About a year ago we went to somebody’s house who made “Apricot Chicken” and I thought it was delicious. I asked for the recipe and then I got to work to improve something that was already quite good. Now, I find myself passing this recipe on to almost all who eat it and I’m sure they too are tweaking it to meet their taste buds.

4 Chicken Quarters (I use Legs and Thighs only, white meat dries out)
1 Coarsely chopped Onion
1 T oil for frying
5 T Apricot Jelly
2 T Ketchup
1 T Lemon Juice
3 T Mayonnaise
1 t Mustard powder (optional)
2 T Onion Soup mix

In a sauce pan, lightly sauté onions until just lightly golden brown. Add rest of ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes and color is a nice Browny Orange color.

Spread a small amount of the sauce in a roasting pan and place chicken on top of sauce. Pour rest of sauce all over the chicken making sure that almost no skin is left uncovered.

Cover the Roasting pan and bake at 180°c (350° f) for 2 hours. Uncover the chicken and baste and put back into the oven for another 20 minutes to get the skin crispy.

Man Potatoes

kishyskitchen — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:45:02 +0000

These potatoes got their name about 5 years ago when I had some people over for a bar b q and everybody commented how Robust and Manly these potatoes were. They’re easy and very tasty.

Cut Potatoes into 8 Wedges. When cutting wedges, the rule is to cut in half, just like when you cut sushi. First, cut the potato in half along the length of the potato. Second, cut the 1/2 potato in 1/2 down the middle. Then, cut the 2 halves of the 1/2 and cut the potato into 2 more halves.

Put the wedges into a plastic bag (make sure it doesn’t have holes) and add Canola Oil, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Salt, Pepper, and Chili Powder.

Place them onto a Greased Cookie Sheet, and bake on the bottom of the oven on High Heat (225° C or 450° F) for about 30 minutes. If you have the patience, you can flip the potatoes 20 minutes into the cooking to insure that both sides get cooked evenly, but I find that it’s not that important.

Josh’s Famous Onions

kishyskitchen — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:09:13 +0000

It seems like you can never make enough of these. If the BBQ is Sandwich heavy, Burgers, Hot Dogs, Steak sandwiches, Chicken sandwiches, etc., then make more. I generally figure about 3/4 of a large onion per “Customer”. Worst case scenario, you can put them in the fridge for a couple of days and eat them with a salami sandwich or put them into a deli roll or meat roll. Yes, they are that good!

6 Large Onions Sliced Thinly (not paper thin) into Half Circles
Canola Oil for frying
Favorite BBQ sauce
Ketchup
Mustard

Heat up a large Frying pan on Med. High Heat and add a couple tablespoons of oil. Add onions and let cook until they are golden brown and caramelized, mixing them around every few minutes to insure even cooking. Once Golden Brown, try to drain excess oil. Add 3 Tablespoons BBQ sauce, 3 Tablespoons Ketchup, and 2 Tablespoons Mustard to the hot pan and mix it around until all 3 are incorporated. Now mix the onions into the mixture and let them cook for a good 5 minutes, mixing constantly to avoid burning of the BBQ sauce. Serve as a condiment for pretty much anything. This Recipe should accommodate at least 8 people.

Stuffed Mushrooms

kishyskitchen — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:05:48 +0000

Whether or not you like mushrooms, it’s hard to pass up a nice looking mushroom at the market. Champignion, Shitake, Portobello, etc., pretty mushrooms are really pretty. Yesterday, my wife bought some champignion mushrooms and it inspired me to check the fridge to see what I could throw together for dinner. At the end, I decided that these mushrooms, although not nearly as large as a a Portobello (generally what I use for stuffed mushrooms), had big enough pockets to work with. So I stemmed the mushrooms, chopped em the stems, chopped some garlic, onion, and spinach, added some salt and pepper and a little Italian seasoning, and sauteed them in some olive oil. Once they were softened, I threw them into the blender with 1 egg, 2 T of Ricotta Cheese, a small handful of grated cheese (mozzarella would have been great, but I just had a mild yellow cheese), and Blitzed it all together into a paste. I lightly greased the cookie sheet, placed the mushrooms down and filled them just so that the mixture was overflowing a bit at the top. Baked for 10 minutes at 180°c (350°f), and then broiled for a few minutes to get a golden brown color at the top. They were delicious, even if you don’t like mushrooms.

12 Mushrooms (if you are using Portobello, less would suffice, but I like to mix more than one mushroom, at least for the mixture)
1/2 Red Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
Chopped Spinach (I used 2 Frozen “balls” of spinach)
2 T. Ricotta
Handful of Grated Cheese (Mozzarella is recommended – any melting cheese is fine)
1 Egg
1 T. Italian spices
Olive Oil for frying
Bread Crumbs (only if your mixture comes out “too” loose or you want some added flavor

Just good old fashioned Hamburgers

kishyskitchen — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:46:40 +0000

100 % Beef Patty or adding flavor to the patty before it’s grilled…..That’s the question.

I personally like to make a mixture to my ground beef before I turn it into a patty. Like this you can vary the entire flavor of the burger and not just rely on condiments to achieve a specific taste. In this post, I’m going to give the basic recipe for what I think is a classic burger. Stay tuned for the Asian Sliders recipe. That’s a real crowd pleaser.!

1 Pound of Ground Beef
1 Egg
1/2 Finely Chopped Onion
1 Crushed Clove Garlic
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Ketchup
Black Pepper (Hold off on the salt, the soy should take care of that!)

Mix all the ingredients together and then add the Beef. Make sure mixture is well mixed and firmly packed.

Make Patties ahead of time and Chill (I put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes before grilling). By chilling the patties, your burgers will not fall apart and into the grill when you put them on the grill. After 3 minutes, rotate your patties 90 degrees to ensure that they will cook evenly and to show off your fancy grill marks.

Flip the burgers and repeat above steps.

Shredded Lettuce, Sliced Tomatoes, Josh’s Famous Onions, Mayonnaise, Ketchup, and Don’t Forget to Toast the Bun on the grill!!!