Roasted Chicken and Potatoes with Ancho Enchilada Sauce

This one is fairly simple. But you'll love it.

Potatoes:
- 6 small red potatoes
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 teas garlic powder
- 1 teas thyme
- 1 teas onion powder
- s/p heavily

Cut potatoes in small squares, add to a baking dish, and spread them out as best as possible. Add spice mix evenly throughout. Add oil, and get your hands messy. Mix all of the oil and spice with the potatoes to make sure each potatoe slice is covered. Add to the oven at 425 degrees for 45 min, or until roasted to a nice light brown color.

Chicken - 3 chicken thighs. 3 tbsp New Mexican Spice mix, 2 tbsp olive oil. Rub the oil and spice on the chicken. Sear in a pan for 2-3 minutes per side, then add to the 425 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Sauce: Ancho Enchilada Sauce

Spice Rubbed Chicken on Three Sauces with Baked Potatoes and Asparagus

Sauces: Corn Sauce, Pasilla Pepper Reduction, Cilantro Tomatillo

Spice Rub: New Mexican Variation

Ingredients:
- 3 chicken thighs (boneless & skinless)
- 6 large gourmet asparagus stalks (Costco)
- 6 small red baked potatoes
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 teas thyme
- 1 teas ancho chile powder
- 1 teas garlic powder
- s/p
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp canola oil

Rub the chickens and sear them in a hot pan with canola oil. Sear on both sides. Then add to a 400 degree oven for 15 min. Cut off the bottom inch of asparagus. Peel the bottom half with a peeler to remove the tough fibery/stringy outside skin. Turn heat on high and add to a a sauce pan. Lay them down next to each other, add water until it is half as deep as the asparagus. Add salt. After 3 minutes, turn each asparagus, and cook the other side for another 3 minutes. The water should almost be cooked out. At this point add the butter, thyme, garlic powder, and ancho chili powder. Sear the asparagus on each side for a minute or two, or until the butter turns a light nutty brown. Cut the baked potatoes in half, and lay them on the plate. Add the corn sauce, then the pasilla sauce, and finally the cilantro tomatillo sauce. Criss-Cross the asparagus on top of the chicken and serve.

Three sauces spice rubbed chicken burrito

I've been really into experimenting with - Latin/Mexican/Southwest/Indian with a bit of French thrown in - cooking lately. I love spicey foods with bold flavors. I used to look down on Latin Food until my eyes were opened at a certain Mexican Restaurant in Las Vegas. I talked with our waiter about it for 30 minutes after our meal, because after Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, Malto Mario's B&B, (both overrated) this place just floored me. Now on to my creation.

The Three Sauces: You can make all three in advance, and store in squeeze bottles.
1. Cilantro and Tomatillo Sauce
2. Roasted Sweet Peppers and Honey Sauce (in burrito)
3. Pasilla and New Mexican Pepper and Mango Chutney Reduction (bottom)

OK. Now we have the sauces down. I saved a lot of the spice for the chicken. I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs...because of flavor. You can use breasts I guess if you're that boring.

For the stuffing you'll need:
- 3 chicken thighs
- 1/2 large yellow onion, cut in thin slices (shoelaces)
- 6 crimini mushrooms
- 3 slices of a good smoked bacon (cubed)
- 3 tbsp of sweet yellow corn

Spice Rub:
1 tbsp ancho chili powder
1 tbsp "straight up" chili powder
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 teas cumin
1 teas oregano
1 teas garlic powder
1/2 teas cloves
1/2 teas allspice
1/2 teas cinnamon
1 teas salt

Mix the rub and use half on the chicken to litely coat it (sauce will be added later). Roast the chicken in the oven for 20 min, then pull apart in strips. And set aside. Add the bacon to a hot pan and cook until crisp. Add the onions and mushrooms to the bacon and it's yummy fat. Stir until caramelized and yummy. Add salt. (don't want to add salt on mushrooms as soon as they go in or they will give up their water too soon). Now add the other half of the spice rub. It should be smelling good by now. In a separate oan add the chicken, corn, and stir in the roasted sweet pepper sauce. Cook on high heat for about about 2 minutes. Just enough to coat the chicken and reduce the sauce a bit.

Additional stuff: 6 tortillas, uncooked from costco. Cook them and cut two of the edges to make it sort of a square.

Stuff the burrito. Lay the tortilla down and on one end add the mushroom mixture, and then add the chicken and corn mixture. On your first roll make sure it is tight. This will kind of be like rolling Sushi. Roll the rest of the wat and start on the other ones.

Once done lay the pepper and mango sauce down on the plate, add two burritos, and squeeze the cilantro sauce on with some lines, and serve.

Bacon Wrapped Spiced Scallops with Corn Sauce and Red Wine shallot reduction

These are so good. I love corn sauces. People are always like corn sauce? And I'm like hell ya. And then they get it. When I say parsely I mean Flat leaf Italian.

Sauces: Corn Sauce, Red Wine Sauce

Scallops:
- 3 scallops
- 3 slices of bacon (cut 3/4 in length)
- bunch of fresh parsely
- 2 teas paprika
- 1 teas chili powder
- 1 teas garlic powder
- s/p
- 2 tbsp butter

Wash scallops (some may contain sand on outside) and pat dry. Try to stand them as straight up as possible. Take the bacon and wrap it around the scallop, and tie with string. Mix the spices together, and pat the top and bottom of each scallop. Add parsely to the top and bottom of each. Melt butter in a hot pan and add scallops. Preheat oven to 425. Sear the scallops on each side for 3 min. Add to oven for 7 min. Let rest for a couple of minutes before plating.

Plating - Add the scallops in three. Then add a strip of red wine sauce like spokes coming out of the scallops. Fill in corn sauce inbetween. Enjoy. Serve hot.

NOTES: Depending on how thick your bacon is, you may want to cook your bacon in the oven first to the point that it is still workable, but a little more cooked than raw. That way when the shallots are done cooking you bacon can be more crispy.

I Me Mine

All of these recipes are mine. If they are like other recipes you like, then you just happen to like good food. I don't believe in cookbooks, and these all came from a combination of time spent in the kitchen, a good nose, a hungry stomach, and that unquenchable thirst we have as being non stop foodies...I cook like this every night. Literally, every night. Why do you think I'm so fat?

Mussels Pasta with Mushrooms and Bacon in a White Wine sauce

Recipe Coming Soon...

Best Chicken Pot Pie

Recipe Comning...

Jumbo Shrimp Pasta with Buerre Blanc Blue Cheese Sauce

Recipe coming...

Ancho Enchilada Sauce

- 2 ancho chiles (rehydrated)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup sherry
- 1/2 can crushed tomatoes
- 2 cloves roasted garlic
- 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teas liquid smoke
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 2 teas thyme
- 1 teas onion powder
- 1 teas ginger powder
- 1 teas allspice
- s/p

Add tomatoes, ancho peppers, roasted garlic to a FP. Puree. Add to chicken stock and sherry in medium high heat in a sauce pan. Add dry ingredients. Stir constantly, reduce by half.

New Mexican Spice Rub Variation

- 2 tbsp ancho chili powder
- 2 tbsp "straight up" chili powder
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 teas thyme
- 1 teas cumin
- 1 teas allspice
- 1 teas cloves
- 1 teas cinnamon
- 1 teas garlic powder
- 1 teas ginger
- s/p

Red wine and Shallot reduction

- 1/2 cup red wine (pinot)
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 1 sprig of parsely, chopped fine.
- 1 tbsp butter
- s/p

Add shallots and butter to a pan. Sweat the shallots. Add the wine. Reduce by half and add parsely.

Pasilla and New Mexican Pepper and Mango Chutney Reduction

- three pasilla peppers (dried)
- one new mexican pepper (dried)
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 2 tbsp mango chutney
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 tbsp butter (optional)
- s/p

Reconstitute the dried peppers in hot water until they are soft again. Then add them to the FP with 1/2 cup of chicken stock and puree. Add them to a pot with the other cup of chicken stock, and stir in. Add the mango chutney and honey, and reduce by half. Stir in butter at the end just after the heat is off.

Roasted Sweet Peppers and Honey Sauce

- 6 sweet peppers (red, orange, and yellow) - these are small. roasted.
- 1 clove roasted garlic
- 2 teas mustard (GP)
- 2 teas honey
- 1 teas balsamic vinegar
- s/p
- 2 tbsp chicken stock

Roasting Peppers and Garlic:
Cut the peppers in half and add them skin side up to a cookie sheet. Put a little bit of olive oil over the peppers and some s/p. Cut the top off of one whole head of garlic, and olive oil and s/p. Add to the oven for 45 min - an hour on 350-375. Then remove the skins of the peppers, and squeeze the contents of the roasted garlic (they will be soft).

The Sauce: Add the roasted peppers, brown mustard, honey, vinegar, and chicken stock, s/p to the FP, blend, and set aside. You can also add cilantro if you prefer, however I usually use this just to poach some already seasoned meats.

Cilantro and Tomatillo Sauce

- 4 fairly large tomatillo's
- one handful of cilantro
- 1/2 of a Jalapeno, sliced
- one clove of roasted garlic
- 2 teas balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- one tbsp of onion (one thin slice)
- 1 lime, zested and half of lime squeezed
- s/p

Tomatillo's are bitter, so I boiled them for 15-20 minutes along with the jalapenos. This will also take away some of the heat in the pepper. Once cooked, add them to a the FP. Then remove them and strain out the seeds with a wire strainer, and add back to the FP along with the cilantro, jalapenos, garlic, vinegar, onion, lime zest, lime juice, and s/p. Blend these together, and add the oil slowly while it blends to allow it to emulsify. Put in a condiment squeeze container for easy storage and fancy presentations.

Corn Sauce

Corn Sauce
- 1 can corn (drained), or 2 ears of corn. Whichever
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 teas of thyme
- 1 teas paprika
- 2 cloves roasted garlic
- s/p
- 1/2 cup cream or 3/4 cup milk

Cook corn in butter with the paprika, thyme, and s/p in a pot. Cook for a few minutes, stirring every so often, for a total of 5 minutes. Add to FP with milk or cream (I prefer milk) and blend. Add back to the pot. Lower heat just a tad. Stir in cream. Wait till cream bubbles rises, stir it down repeat a few times until it is a little bit thicker than the consistancy you are looking for (it will thin out once you strain the sauce). Strain sauce in wire mesh strainer, press through, and sit aside in a bowl.

Rules of the Dojo (I mean my kitchen)

Some things you might want to do or consider.

1. When I say salt I mean Kosher Salt. I use it almost exclusively. You should too.
2. When cooking on the stove top, generally, I cook at an extremely high heat. If you can't stand that, then you know the saying.
3. Buy your spices from oriental or "world" markets, and in their whole form. Go home and grind them when you need them. Grocery stores sell sawdust.
4. When I say mushrooms, I mean every mushroom but the white button mushroom. Get that the hell out of my kitchen. It has no flavor.
5. Don't OVERCOOK your meats. If there's one thing people do wrong, it's this.
6. Don't you dare cook your mussels, clams, squid, and shrimp longer than 4 minutes. Unless of course you like eating rubber.
7. If you're going to grill, don't use propane. That is so grasshopper.
8. Don't call grilling barbeque. It's not. Barbeque is slow cooked.
9. Don't put Parmesan on everything. Especially shellfish.
10. When I say Parmesan, I don't mean the kind in a green can, I mean Parmigiano Reggiano.
11. Use a good extra virgin olive oil.
12. Use good vinegars. Whether they be balsamic or red wine.
13. I don't care if you use "good wine", but don't use "cooking wines".
14. Use basmati or brown rice, because they taste better. Unless of course you're cooking asian food. Which I don't yet. Someday when I'm ambitious enough.
15. Buy good tools. Ricer for mashed potatoes, microplaners for zesting, wire mesh strainers, immersion blenders, Food Processors, spice grinders (coffee), and by all means, use sharp knives.
16. Buy good bacon.
17. Use fresh herbs. They are sold in every grocery store now, so you have no excuse.
17. Use unsalted butter.
18. Never use packets of anything, unless of course you can't get enough of MSG.
19. Finally...Shop at Costco.
20. Many more rules to come....