When I first discovered Doña María’s Ready-to-Serve molé sauce I was really, really skeptical. Molé, a spicy chocolate sauce, is one of those things that I’ve tasted done really, really well and really poorly. And, quite frankly, my expectations were so low that I actually reserved some of the sauce and only made half my enchiladas just in case they turned out bad. But when all was said and done, this was absolutely incredible.

I added a chipotle pepper with adobo to the sauce, which added a really necessary spice and complexity to the sauce that really brought it together. But even as I was spooning it over my enchiladas, stuffed with chicken sautéed with chipotle and lime, sweet onions and red pepper and chihuahua cheese, I still wasn’t entirely convinced this would work.

After baking this at 350º for 15 minutes it was bubbly and smelled incredible. And, when all was said and done, it was just delicious!

I served it up with some Mexican rice (leftover rice cooked up with leftover salsa and a little butter) topped with fresh avocado, and a fresh vine-ripe tomato. It was easily one of the best meals I’ve made in a long time, and you can bet I used the leftovers and the rest of the sauce for an impressive lunch tomorrow. Next time, I’m going to stuff these with nothing but vegetables and cheese for an awesome vegetarian meal.

When it comes to Doña María Ready-to-Serve Mole, I’m a believer.

For the chili mac I add fresh shredded cheddar, a little tomato paste to punch up the tomato flavor, some no-salt-added canned tomatoes and lots of my own chili powder to Chili Cheese Hamburger Helper. I also sautéed some bell peppers and onions, tossing them into the mix when everything was cooked through.

I also love fancying up Jiffy Cornbread, which you can usually get for under 50¢ a package at the grocery store. I follow the instructions on the box, but add a few tablespoons of honey (you can eyeball it), frozen corn and some Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic.

Again, it’s nothing special, but who says every meal has to be special? Sometimes simple really hits the spot.

Lee Kum Kee’s prepared sauces are about the same price (often less expensive, depending where you go) as the super-salty-low-on-flavor LaChoy selections, but here’s the difference: great big in-your-face flavor. The Spicy Garlic Eggplant sauce is one of my absolute favorites for restaurant-quality food at home AND, unlike many LaChoy products, is MSG-free.

Plus, it’s so easy to make! I like to peel my eggplant first (not a fan of the skin), but leaving the skin on adds a cool purple color to the dish. I also add onions, whatever pepper I have in the house, and this time the rest of some broccoli rabe that I bought for stir-frying a couple weeks ago.

I’ve made this with pork and, as I did last night, with chicken and tofu, and it never disappoints. Stick with the American brands if you’re cooking for kids or those without a sophisticated palette, I suppose. But if you’re cooking Chinese, buy the brands the Chinese use.

That’s why I took a chance when grilling the steak for this meal, and it made a really big difference! I just grilled it on my Mario Batalli grill pan, since I don’t have the luxury of a nice outdoor barbecue.

This was also my first time trying Archer Farms’ Basil Pesto Cream Sauce, Target’s new house brand of “gourmet” sauces and food products. And the verdict is… meh? This has sadly been the case for every Archer Farms product I’ve tried, and that makes me incredibly sad. They look so promising, with their pretty packaging and exotic flavors, but so far everything I’ve had has been bland as hell until I doctored it up. This sauce was still just cream sauce — barely any basil flavor — even after I added garlic, a few cubes of Dorot Frozen Basil, fresh tomatoes and peppers and shredded parmesan. The steak was well-seasoned, which balanced it out, and it was a yummy dish overall, but I like my basil cream sauce to be overpowering with the flavors of basil and garlic.

In fact, the inspiration for this dish, Bertolli’s Steak Rigatoni & Portobello Mushrooms frozen prepared meal (picked up for a couple dollars on super-sale + coupon), had far more flavor than Target’s jarred sauce. I think I’ve officially sworn off Archer Farms’ sauces, which is just too bad. There’s too much good stuff out there to keep wasting my time with something that doesn’t work.

]]> http://www.shortcutchef.com/archives/451/feed 0 http://www.shortcutchef.com/archives/442 http://www.shortcutchef.com/archives/442#comments Fri, 14 May 2010 19:43:50 +0000 Tiara Lynn http://www.shortcutchef.com/?p=442 Tastefully Simple makes some really great sauces. When my friend Angela hosted a Tastefully Simple party a few months back, I picked up a number of things. Their Garlic Garlic has become a new staple in my house, and the beer bread has been a longtime favorite.

The Bayou Bourbon Glaze was appealing immediately, even though I didn’t have a plan for using it. This recipe came together because of a handful of ingredients that needed to get used. A bunch of carrots and half a green pepper needed some love, so I peered into my pantry to look for some options.

This recipe came out sweet, delicious, and really unique! I know it’s not what the sauce was intended for, but that’s what makes it fun! Here’s what I did…

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Bottle of Tastefully Simple Bayou Bourbon Glaze (you’ll use about half)
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1/2 can of pineapple chunks
• 1/2 lb of gemelli or other pasta, cooked

Sauté the chicken and onion with a little bit of olive oil until browned. Add the green pepper, the carrots and the bourbon glaze. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through and the ca. If the sauce seems very thick, add a bit of pineapple juice. When everything’s cooked through, add the pineapple and heat it through.

Toss the chicken, vegetables and sauce with pasta!

If you’re just learning to cook, write this recipe down. If you’re trying to impress a dinner party full of friends or a date, write this down. It’s brilliant.

Okay, it’s not brilliant, but it’s easy and seriously, everybody loves it. Chicken cacciatore is one of the first fancypants recipes I ever made and one of the things that convinced me that I might actually be good at this cooking thing.

So remember the baby bottles of wine I told you about? The ones that cost about $1 apiece at my local grocery store? Well, they’re back, this time with a yummy cabernet sauvignon.

You can use any red wine, and if you’re really into wine (I’m not), go ahead and buy a fancier bottle. But this will do the trick nicely, I promise you.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 14oz of stewed or diced tomatoes. (I prefer no-salt added so I can have more control over the seasoning)
• 1 jar of spaghetti sauce (Classico Florentine’s my favorite)
  
• 4lb chicken parts. (Bone-in breasts are great, but if you’re looking for cheap this works great with drumsticks or thighs)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced (use whatever veggies you like. Carrots are great in this dish too)
• 4 large cloves of garlic, crushed
• Generous amounts of Italian Herbs, salt and pepper to taste. (I will never tell you how much to spice something. Just remember that the flavor will intensify as the sauce reduces, so beware of over-salting)
• 1 mini bottle of cabernet sauvignon
• 1 tube of prepared polenta. My favorite is San Gennaro, and many grocery stores carry this. Scared of polenta? Serve this over noodles…chicken.
  

Season your chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Drizzle about 2 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the bottom of a high-walled sauté pan and turn the heat on medium. Give the oil a minute or two to heat up, then add the raw onion, garlic and vegetables. Sauté until the onions are translucent and the vegetables begin to soften. Place the chicken parts skin-down in the pan amongst the veggies and cook until the skin is browned. If you’re using drumsticks, brown them all around.

Pour the little bottle of wine over the chicken and sauté for 2 minutes before adding the tomatoes and spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle generously with Italian herbs…

QUICK TIP: Basil’s hard to screw up. Oregano’s easy to screw up. When in doubt, be generous with basil and take it slow with the oregano. Too much oregano will make your sauce bitter. If that happens, try adding some tomato paste to your sauce. The sweetness of the tomato will help balance it out. Also, salt’s about the easiest thing to screw up, and most shortcut dishes (because they start with canned veg or sauce) don’t require any extra salt. [Follow the cut for the rest of the recipe]

Anyway, back to the recipe. Turn the heat to low and cover your pan, leaving the lid a bit off-kilter to allow for some steam to escape. After 15 minutes, check, stir everything and flip your chicken. Repeat this once. When you repeat this a third time, remove the lid entirely. Your chicken should be cooked enough by now to start tasting your sauce. Season as needed. After another 15 minutes, the sauce should be plenty thick, super flavorful and the chicken will be cooked through.

If it’s not? Remove the chicken and turn the heat on high, stirring often, which will encourage the sauce to reduce.

So about the polenta… Slice your polenta into 1/4″ thick slices. If you’ve got a grill pan, oil it and heat it up. If not, just use a regular frying pan with a little bit of olive oil. Grill or sauté until browned, then flip it over. A few slices creates a great bed for this dish and it’s so much more fun than regular pasta!

Curses! I hate when I forget to take a photograph of the completed meal, and this chicken makhani (Indian Butter Chicken) was absolutely freaking phenomenal. It was, without question, one of the most amazing meals I’ve made at home. And yet, no photos. But I have pics of the biryani, which was also fantastic.

CONFESSION: You don’t want to know how long I’ve had this biryani paste. Seriously. I’ve been terrified of it for awhile. Patak’s branding has changed, possibly twice, since this label design. I’m taking the term “non-perishable food item” to new heights. This paste was actually a part of someone’s freecycle pantry cleanout when they were moving, and I got a bunch of new curry pastes to try. They’ve all been good, but I’ve been a little afraid of the biryani. Still kind of am, to be honest, but I nailed it this time because I cut the amount of biryani paste in half of what’s recommended.

I used the recipe on the jar… sort of. This is what I did.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups basmati rice, rinsed 2 or 3 times
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1/4 cup frozen sweet peas
• 2 cans (14oz) cherry tomatoes with juice (you can use diced tomatoes; I just got a bunch of cans of cherry tomatoes on sale for like 35¢ apiece at our Italian grocer)
• 4 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons biryani paste (the recipe recommends this for a single batch; I used it for a double batch for a lighter flavor)

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Sauté your vegetables in a saucepan with a little olive oil or butter until the onion is clear. Add the biryani paste and combine.

In a casserole dish, add the drained rice, water, vegetables with curry paste, and your tomatoes and combine until well-mixed. Cover with foil and place the casserole dish in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, checking to see if the rice is cooked. You may want to stir halfway through.

I served this with chicken makhani made with Kitchens of India’s Curry Paste for Butter Chicken, which, with the addition of a little half & half to add some creaminess, is perfect when prepared according to package directions. Just sensational, and definitely restaurant quality Indian for when we’re trying to save our pennies.

Recently I made a super cool discovery that’s made cooking with wine so much easier. It’s brilliant, really.

The common advice you’ll get about cooking with wine is “don’t cook with it if you wouldn’t drink it”, which is fine I suppose, but honestly? I can’t justify using an expensive wine in my dishes when the cheap stuff works brilliantly. If I’m making a meal for guests, sure, I’ll pop for a more pricey wine, but when I just want something for my husband and I to enjoy, the cheap stuff is just fine. However, I’ll give you this caveat: We’re not wine snobs AT ALL. We like Wild Vines as much as we like a good Moscato d’Asti. Take that as you will.

So anyway, our local grocery stores has these little baby bottles of Turning Leaf wines — about 2 glasses worth — for $1 apiece. I stocked up on a few white and a few reds and let me tell you, they are PERFECT for cooking!! Just enough for a recipe!

I’ve actually tried to make this before in the past, but I ended up reducing the sauce too much and ruining it all. The turkey had amazing flavor, infused with the wine, but I ended up destroying the sauce. Naturally, when I saw the turkey thighs in the discount meat bin again (<$2 for two!) I picked them up for round two.

This is no shortcut recipe, but it is really simple. It just involves occasionally babysitting while you go about your day. Also? I just made this recipe up. I call it Country French Turkey because the flavor reminds me of Chicken Tonight’s Country French sauce, but I don’t know how French it is. I just know it’s delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

• Two turkey thighs, skin-on
• 3 carrots, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 5 mushrooms, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  
• Thyme and Tarragon
• Salt & pepper
  
• 2 cups chicken/duck/poultry stock or broth (I used some of that duck stock I made a few weeks ago and froze)
  
• 1 baby bottle of Turning Leaf Pinot Noir
• Olive oil

Season the turkey breasts with a little salt and pepper. Coat the bottom of a sauté pan with a thin film of olive oil and, when hot, place the turkey thighs skin side down. Add the onions and vegetables and cook until the turkey skin is browned. Add the stock and wine, a dash of tarragon and a dash of thyme (fresh is better, dried is fine). The liquid should cover the meat about 1/2 way. Bring to a slow boil, then simmer, covered, on low for about 2 hours, checking the liquid levels every 30 minutes or so (my downfall the first time I did this) and flipping the thighs over about halfway through.

Leave uncovered for the last half hour to help the sauce reduction along. Keep an eye on it at this point! When all is cooked, you can continue reducing the sauce or you can thicken it with a little cornstarch. I serve this with a white-and-wild rice mix, but it would also be awesome with garlic mashed potatoes. It’s beautiful comfort food and a super elegant meal that certainly doesn’t taste like it costs so little per serving!

When I made my Shrimp Scampi a couple weeks ago I knew I’d be craving jambalaya come Mardi Gras, and while I was too busy the week of Fat Tuesday to make one of my signature dishes, I was happy to have the shrimp stock I made conveniently frozen and ready to add to this dish. I didn’t want to use my beautiful jumbo shrimp in this dish, but the flavor of the shrimp was still intense!!

Whenever Woodmans has a sale on Daisy Brand Chicken Sausage I always stock up to freeze it, especially when it’s the Andouille Smoked Sauage. Perfectly spiced with the lightness of chicken sausage — seriously, does it get any better?

Here’s how tonight’s Jambalaya came together so you can try it for yourself. Want a shortcut version? Try my Fat Cat Tuesday Jambalaya from the archives!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups seafood stock, chicken broth or water
• 1 Knorr Chipotle Bouillon Cube (a bit of powdered chipotle or chili powder works too); leave out if you don’t want your jambalaya spicy)
• Juice from 1 can of tomatoes
• 1 cup brown rice

Start the broth, juice and bouillon on a back burner. When boiling, add the rice and reduce heat to simmer. Cover and let this go while you get the rest going. Pay attention to when you started this!

• 2 Links Andouille Chicken Sausage, diced (a regular smoked sausage works too)
• 1 chicken breast, diced
• 1/2 medium onion or one small onion, chopped
• 1 red or green pepper, diced
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced (or 1 tbsp jarred garlic)
• 1/2 cup Trader Joe’s Roasted Corn
• 1 can tomatoes (add the juice to the rice)
• Penzey’s Cajun Seasoning (generously, to taste)
• Dash of Penzey’s Gumbo Filé.

Add the onion and garlic to a deep sauté pan (I love my Pampered Chef Flat-bottomed Wok for this) with a little bit of olive oil and sauté until the onions start to sweat. Toss in the chicken breast and sausage and a few shakes of Cajun Seasoning and cook until the chicken is white on the outside.

Add the tomatoes and some more seasoning and toss until everything is coated. Add the rice and the cooking liquid and toss to combine. Reduce heat to low and cover, checking to stir and taste every 10 minutes. Add more cajun seasoning to taste, a little each time.

You’ll want the rice to go about a total of 45 minutes, so continue cooking until your rice has hit 45 minutes.  When it’s nearly done, add the roasted corn.

Recently I spotted a new addition to the always interesting ethnic foods section at our local Woodmans. Something South African’s bagged sauces caught my attention immediately and I knew I had to try them. I started with the Durban curry, and I’m so glad I did.

Earlier in the week I roasted my first duck, a feat that went kind of wasted in some ways — one duck is entirely too much food for two people. But, live and learn, and use the leftovers!! In addition to making an awesome stock, I also used the leftovers for this very unique meal. I’m not sure if duck is ever used traditionally in Durban curry, but it worked beautifully in this dish.

Truth be told, I’d never even heard of durban curry, so I just kind of made the dish up as I went, chopping a green pepper and half an onion and dicing some golden potatoes and carrots and tossing some peas in at the end. I added a little curry powder when I cooked up the vegetables to enrich the flavor a bit and a tiny splash of Sriracha to spice it up some more, but it didn’t need much.

I served this over some basmati rice. I can’t recommend this sauce enough and cannot wait to try the other varieties!