GARLICKY SAUCED PAN~SEARED CHICKEN

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GARLICKY SAUCED PAN~SEARED CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS
♥ 4 T. OLIVE OIL
♥ 1 LARGE PACK OF CHICKEN THIGHS
♥ ½ TSP. SALT
♥ ½ TSP. PEPPER
♥ 2 CUPS SLICED FRESH MUSHROOMS
♥ 1 T. CHILI PEPPER FLAKES
♥ 1½ FISTS OF GARLIC
♥ 2½ CUPS SAUVIGNON BLANC WHITE WINE
♥ ¼ CUP MILK
♥ 2 T. BUTTER
♥ ¼ CUP FRESH CHOPPED PARSLEY
♥ 2 SPRIGS FRESH ROSEMARY

DIRECTIONS
PREHEAT OVEN TO 375°F

HEAT THE OIL IN A DEEP DISH PAN ON YOUR STOVE TOP. (OR LARGE DUTCH OVEN OR CAST IRON POT) CAST IRON WORKS BEST I THINK AND THE DEEPER THE BETTER, YOUR APPLIANCE WILL THANK YOU LATER. SPLASHY GREASE BLAH.

SEASON THE CHICKEN THIGHS WITH SALT AND PEPPER AND PLACE CHICKEN IN THE PAN. SEAR THESE BAD BOYS UP UNTIL GOLDEN AND THE JUICES JUST RUN CLEAR. THEY WILL COOK MORE IN THE SAUCE.

REMOVE THE SEARED CHICKEN FROM THE PAN AND SET ASIDE.

SEPARATE THE GARLIC CLOVES AND PEEL THEM. ADD THE MUSHROOMS, PEPPER FLAKES AND GARLIC CLOVES TO THE CHICKEN PAN AND IT’S LEFTOVER LIQUIDS.

SAUTE UNTIL TENDER AND GOLDEN, BUT MAKE CERTAIN NOT TO BURN THE GARLIC. TILL JUST GOLDEN. GARLIC GOES QUITE BITTER WHEN OVERCOOKED.

ADD THE WINE, MILK, BUTTER AND STIR IN THE PARSLEY.

GENTLY ADD THE CHICKEN BACK TO THE PAN.

ADD THE ROSEMARY SPRIGS AND COVER.

PLACE IN PREHEATED OVEN. BAKE FOR 20-30 MINUTES. TURNING THE CHICKEN OVER HALF WAY THROUGH.

REMOVE FROM OVEN WHEN THE SAUCE STARTS TO REDUCE AND THICKEN UP.

I TRANSFERRED ALL OF THIS TO A HOT FRYING PAN FOR APPEARANCE PURPOSES FOR THIS BLOG BUT YOU CAN CERTAINLY FINISH IT UP IN THE OVEN IF YOU CHOOSE. LESS MESS. HOWEVER IF THE SAUCE IS TOO DRY YOU MAY WANT TO ADD MORE WINE AND LET IT SIMMER A BIT LONGER. THIS WAS DEFINITELY EASIER TO DO ON THE STOVE TOP.

SPOON THE GARLICKY SAUCE OVER THE CHICKEN AND SPRINKLE WITH A LITTLE MORE FRESH PARSLEY AND CHILI PEPPER FLAKES.

SERVED SEARING HOT OVER LINGUINE NOODLES.

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I am needing a large tripod and to get my amazing Canon Rebel T3i camera up and running to do these blog photos now that the “Cooking With Hay” Kitchen is nearing completion!

At the time of making this dish I had cabinets, counters and some lighting in. Oh and the backsplash tile was added but had just been grouted. No appliances, no running water, just a much more appealing place for a food blog photo set.

Regardless, it’s all a vast improvement from the basement temp. kitchen, 2×4 studding and insulation backdrops seen in previous blog photos.

Is ‘garlicky’ even a word ? ? ?

The recipe I was using called for white wine… I have drank wine in the past but by any means, don’t consider myself a wine drinker.

However… GalPal is!

She came to my rescue with some suggestions after I let her know my ingredients and what I was making.

Monkey Bay Sauvigon Blanc from New Zealand was the perfect wine, as this dish was phenomenal. Not too sweet, not to dry. I’m not even going to bother experimenting with other wines.

The bottle… as GalPal mentioned, coordinated nicely with the ingredients needed to make this dish. Thanks for the help Amber!! Guess I should make this for you now hey?!

This pepper tho! Gift from Mother-In-Law and I’ve become quite addicted to it. I use it on my sunny side up eggs in the morning to grilled salmon and everything in between. It’s made just a few hours from my house in Keremeos BC. It’s pepper, onions garlic and herbs and is a great change-up to the regular black pepper or fresh ground peppercorns.

Season the chicken thighs with a little salt and sprinkle of pepper. There is enough flavour coming in the garlic and wine and parsley that not much seasonings are needed on the chicken.

I assure you. This dish packs a savory garlic KA-POW with a mix of fragrant herbs. Absolutely delish my gosh!

My mom is a wonderful cook, and I’ve used many of her recipes to get me into cooking. She got me this gorgeous glazed cast iron KitchenAid dish and this is what I used to pan~sear my chicken thighs. Keeps even heat and kept the splatter in the dish rather than on my stove-top.

I used this dish on the stove top to brown the chicken and saute the mushrooms, chili pepper flakes and the garlic. It also has a lid to cover so this same dish was what I used to baked it up into the perfect saucy chicken while in the oven. From Canadian Tire and I definitely recommend one for your cooking adventures also.

After transferring the chicken, there was a fair amount of liquids, chicken grease and juices, left in the bottom of the pan. I removed most of it and left just a small amount in the bottom to saute the mushrooms and garlic in. Your choice.

Now on the bottom of this dish was a dark golden layer from the chicken juices etc. searing up. Don’t be alarmed… I was thinking to myself… Oh shit, did I ruin this whole thing? Is everything now going to stick and burn?

But the mushrooms and garlic seemed to soften it up and cook together and created such a rich flavourful sauce.

I couldn’t have been more pleased. It is really a good day when things work out for me, haha. I’m sure you’d feel the same. Yay for good cooking. Go me Go. Feel free to do a little booty shakin touchdown dance when things like this happen. It’s all about the simple things in life am I right My Lovelies?! LOL

Adding wine to things like this also acts as a de-glazer for your well cooked pans. Don’t waste that seared liquid. That’s your concentrated flavour right there. Just the same as the bottom of your roaster from your roasts and hams make the best gravies and soup broths.

In this case it’s our deglazer and the base for this sauce. I am not a wino so I will admit that I have always been apprehensive about dishes that are made with wine. If someone made this for me and I ate the whole thing… I don’t think I would have even known it was made with wine. I’m serious! So so so so so so good!

**NOTE: Milk is added for volume. This will help create that thicker fuller sauce to coat the chicken. If you wanted a more concentrated demi-glaze like sauce, you can omit the milk completely. As mentioned in the recipe, you may need to add more wine if you find the sauce to dry when you turn over the chicken half way through cooking.**

Time for the fun! Let’s bring it all together. Gently add the chicken back in once you’ve mixed in the wine, milk, butter and parsley.

Nestle it down in that fragrant garlic bath. Time for these thighs to tantalize.

Cover it with a tight-fitting lid and place it in a preheated oven and bake it up so the sauce can thicken up.

Don’t forget to check it half way through and flip that chicken over. Keep it saucy!

It will look soupy at first. As it continues to cook the sauce will get darker and richer in colour and of course flavour.

Be patient and wait for it. It will look ‘blah’ before it looks ‘ta da’

There it is! TA DA!!!

As mentioned in my recipe, I then transferred my contents of my kitchen aid glazed cast iron dutch oven to a pan for appearance purposes for this blog. LOL

Got to love dirty dishes! LMAO

This pan is worthy of a few photos though. Another splendid purchase from Canadian Tire. I think I’ve gotten every single one of my pans from Canadian Tire over my years. They always have good deals on cookware FYI. Watch the flyers. This is a Heritage Rock Forged Non Stick Pan. It’s got a big capital ‘H’ on the stunning stainless steel handle. My name, being Haley… thus…H-Town bitches…. hahah. Nah my Mommy has one and I used it while at my parents place this spring and of course I fell in love. It having a big ole ‘H’ on it for ‘Cooking With Hay’ is just an added perk. I love this pan so much that I don’t really use any other pans besides The H Rock, this KitchenAid glazed dutch oven or my cast iron dutch oven and griller.

This will be a regular meal cooked in my kitchen. Please give it a try guys! Feedback is always appreciated. As is your SHARES and LIKES on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc…. Sharing is Caring and it would really help expand my page! Love you all! Thanks for your support.

There you have it. Garlicky Sauced Pan~Seared Chicken ♥

♥♥ Thanks for visiting, if you liked this blog please click LIKE below. If you want to follow my blog please scroll to the bottom, click the FOLLOW button and enter in your email address.
Love Haleykins♥♥

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Blackened Fish Tacos with Chipotle Cilantro Dressing (salmon or cod or whichever fish you want)

Finally, this post is done. I still consider myself a beginner food blogger even though this blog has recently had it’s 3rd anniversary. Blogging recipes takes work. Writing an accurate recipe takes work. It’s work but it’s work I enjoy. I just wish I could do nothing but cook, take pics, and blog… Haha True story.

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Been talking about these a lot, I know, I apologize for the redundancy. Finally got all the components together….

You’re going to need to check out my last 2 posts!

Click on the photo to the left to get this yummy Chipotle Cilantro Dressing recipe for these Blackened Fish Tacos that we’re about to make.

Click this photo to see the ingredients needed to make the Blackened Seasoning that will crispify (is that a word?)the fish to a nice golden crunch on the outside and give it a deep savory flavour.

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BLACKENED FISH TACOS
♥ 2 BAGS COLESLAW
♥ 1½ C. CORN KERNELS
♥ SALT + PEPPER
♥ FLOUR TORTILLAS
♥ 1 BIG SALMON FILET or 4 LARGE COD FILETS
♥ HIGH SMOKE POINT OIL FOR FRYING (i used Canola Oil)
♥ 1 BATCH OF BLACKENED SEASONING
♥ 1 BATCH OF CHIPOTLE CILANTRO DRESSING
♥ AVOCADO, FRESH, CHOPPED
♥ CILANTRO + LIME FOR GARNISH

Saute the coleslaw and corn with salt and pepper until just tender.
Set aside, but keep warm.
Heat oven to low temp and slowly warm the tortillas. I like em just before they get toasted.
Cut salmon or fish into large pieces suitable for frying.
Heat oil, just above medium, not too hot or the fish won’t cook thoroughly and not too cold or the fish will soak up to much oil and become soggy.
Fry till dark and golden on each side.
If you’re using salmon you may have to do the ends too. Use tongs. They work best.
When they are done gently remove from hot oil onto a papertowel lined dish to remove excess oil.
Let cool for about 5 minutes and break into good chunks.

THE ASSEMBLY
Warmed Tortilla
Sauteed slaw and corn
Blackened fish
Drizzle with some Chipotle Cilantro Dressing
Top with chopped fresh avocado, cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice

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Place the Blackened Seasoning in a shallow flat bottom container of some sort so you can press the fish into it.  Coating every inch of it.  The better it’s coated the better the crisp.

You don’t want to over cook the cabbage, or it will lose all it’s structure.  You want to saute it till it just starts to wilt.  Keeping it warm will also allow it to keep cooking so with the pan on medium heat, just keep an eye on it.
This is the cod I used last night.  Seasoned all over every surface of fish with the Blackened Seasoning.

Fried in some oil till golden and delicious. I use a large cast iron flat bottom deep dish for frying. Allows maximum room for the fish to fry properly without over crowding the pan.   The heavy duty cast iron can withstand the high temperatures and will maintain it’s heat better when you drop in the fish.

I fried the fish in 2 batches to ensure it cooked evenly and properly. Or you can use a deep fryer but I’ve only used one once and I didn’t like it…. it was too small for what I needed and I don’t want a big greasy appliance kicking around here. I fry as little as possible.
Frying foods took a lot of practice for me over the years.  So many times chicken or potatoes or whatever it was I was cooking, was either undercooked or well well well done. Practice makes perfect.

Frying can be very unhealthy if done incorrectly.  When done the right way you are using the least amount of oil to get that desired crunch and crispiness.

✰ Oil thats too hot will scortch the food on the outside while leaving it raw inside. ✰

✰ Oil that isn’t hot enough won’t seal the food as it should when you drop it in. ✰

(Rather it will sit and soak up the oil.  This results in that drippy soggy mess we’ve gagged on one too many times.

The first time I made these I used some fresh plump salmon and they were to die for! This time around i used cod. I preferred the salmon over any white fish but both were really good.

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BLACKENED SALMON TACOS

Here are some pics from the salmon ones I made last week!  These ones were my favourite!

Since the photos were taken down in my temporary basement dungeon kitchen they aren’t of the greatest quality.  We can only go up from here my friends ☺

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Love Haleykins❤️

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BAKED TURKEY & SPINACH MEATBALLS

Hello Everyone. Since adding a Facebook Page, Cooking With Hay, {please come by and LIKE my page} I have some more followers this time around and I just wanted to take this opportunity to say ‘Hello and Thank You’
I appreciate every single one of you, and any LIKE or SHARE that you can throw my way as well. You keep this fun for me.

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In just 10 days Hubby and I will be off to Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. If you’re on my personal FB, you’re most likely annoyed with my daily countdown photos… sorry about that. I’m just super excited! The point to this rambling… I’ve been trying to empty out the freezer before we go. Don’t ask me why, because I don’t have an answer. 😜 One of the last few things In the freezer was 2 lbs of extra lean ground turkey breast!! Awesome. I bought this for one purpose and one purpose only…. our favorite meatballs, Baked Turkey & Spinach Meatballs to be exact! So lean, so good! I will serve these with some turkey gravy, garlic mashed potatoes made with no butter or milk. {I use chicken stock, salt and garlic} and sweet corn.
You may remember an older post about these meatballs, but it didn’t contain any pictures and I’ve since jacked up the spinach and the seasonings a bit. I hope you like this new tweek!

BAKED TUREY & SPINACH MEATBALLS

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional – adjust to your preference)
• 2 x 16 oz pkg. frozen chopped spinach (defrosted, drained, and squeezed to remove excess water)
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 2 1/2 lbs lean ground turkey
• 1 cup bread crumbs, {I make my own from the loaf ends if my favorite 12 grain bread.
• 2 large eggs

 
INSTRUCTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a large baking sheet by spraying with cooking spray.
• In a frying pan on medium heat, heat olive oil until hot. Then add onion, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Sauté until onion is tender.
• Add spinach to pan and combine with onion mixture. Add Worcestershire sauce and chicken broth and mix well to combine. Cook until most of the liquid has cooked out. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
• In a large bowl, combine the turkey, bread crumbs, and egg. Add cooled onion/spinach mixture to the meat.
• 5. With your hands, create meatballs that are about 1 – 1 1/2 inches in diameter and place them on the baking sheet. Leave a little bit of space between each meatball. When you are done shaping your meatballs, you will probably have about 40-42 meatballs from this recipe. If you don’t need this many, you can freeze them after baking or cut this recipe in half.
• Bake until your meatballs are cooked through with an internal temperature of 160 degrees F – which was about 20 minutes for my oven. Remove from oven and serve as desired.

 
One my favourite smells is onions in a frying pan. Adding in the garlic and seasonings and you are suddenly transported to a very happy happy land. Haha. Ok it’s good, but maybe not that good… No, it IS that good!!

When they are done they are golden and smell divine. Here’s the before and after!
Ha! I’m supposed to freeze some if these. Dude, by the time we are finished with these, there won’t be enough to bother freezing!!

Like I said ,way back there up above, I served these with garlic mashed potatoes {no butter, no milk}. I put in 1 Garlic Ball {click this link to make them yourself} add in some salt. I use Sea Salt and some of that leftover chicken stock because I know what you were thinking when you had so much stock left… “What am I going to do with this leftover stock?” {Ok maybe you’re not thinking that, but I’m always trying to use everything. Waste not want not after all.}. So you should still have stock left after the meatballs, and the mashed potatoes so tomorrow morning you can add it to some fresh cut hash brown potatoes in a ‘barely’ oiled hot pan. So you don’t need as much oil! Hahaha! Oh, I got sidetracked…. I also served this with turkey gravy, spiced up with oregano and red pepper flake because I idolize red pepper flake hahaha and sweet juicy corn!

Here, I used my fork and broke one of these scrumptious meatballs open. I have doubled the amount of spinach originally called for to 2 packages. This ensures lots of Popeye strength, and so much healthy goodness and flavour! Your call. I say use 2 packages of spinach and if it’s too much for you cut it down next time but it’s not like it’s intolerable, I swear, you’ll thank me! Hehe!

I thought there would be some sort of drippings in the pan that I could use to make some good gravy but check out this cooking sheet…. Dem are some lean mean healthy machines…. Depending on how much gravy you put on! Another reason to make a shitload of gravy at Christmas time. Freeze it in portions for occasions such as this. I just said ‘shitload’ on my blog. Is that completely inappropriate, it’s just that that seemed like the most appropriate wording. I don’t know. I’m still learning…..

Seriously hearty, mostly healthy and your tummy will be forever thankful! Please hit me up with a comment below if you make these and what your thoughts were! I love feedback.

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Love Haleykins

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Tandoori Chicken Pizza

Tonight’s Dinner…. My man’s favorite!!!
Tandoori Chicken Pizza

Click the link to see the recipe.
Please click LIKE and SHARE.
Thank you ❤

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Steak & Prawn Fajita Plate with Avocado Sauce

Oh wow, was it ever a beautiful day yesterday. I had the pleasure of joining hubby on a drive out to West Vancouver. When he knows he’s making a long drive for a short meeting he invites me to go with. Let me tell you, I’m so glad I did, for a few reasons. The first being…. The sunshine!!! So much sunshine that the moment I felt it hit my face, I was overcome with happiness and full on smiles. Working from home….. sometimes I only see the light of day if I need groceries or if I need to do a mail run… Unfortunately tho, I was so preoccupied with the new stereo, navigation, satellite radio, DVD player thingy, AND the sunshine that my camera didn’t come out even once to capture it. BOO!

A few days ago I posted about some Fajita Seasoning, click that link to see the recipe. Easy and it tasted quite good. I put it to good use a few nights ago. I actually had Hubby in the Temp. Basement Kitchen giving me a hand. That was wonderful, until he spilled some of that lovely homemade Fajita Seasoning Mix into the sink….

ME: “Well, it was nice having you in here. There are other ways to tell me that you don’t want to be in here tho, you know… You can go now!”
HIM: *laughter with no sound is all that I got from him*
It was pretty funny as I had just finished telling him what seasonings and spices were in it. LOL
ME: “Mix a few tablespoons of this seasoning with a bit of olive oil and then marinade these steaks in it please”
HIM: “I can do that, let me handle it Babe”
I look over a few minutes later and he’s got the steaks in an empty bowl and the dry seasoning as a mountain on top. No oil….
ME: “*sigh* Justin! Take those steaks out and shake that spice into the bowl, add the oil and mix it up. Then add the steaks.”
HIM: *again he is laughing but I can’t hear him*
At least he’s having a good time!

He was in between his own tasks but I managed to snag him to help me with the prawns and the Avocado Sauce. I gave him a fresh lime and asked him to squeeze it and put all the juice in the food processor {please and thank you of course} and I should have realized that he is a man and he squeezed every little bit of juice out of that little green lime and all the moisture in the peel too! Whoa! The sauce should have been renamed to Lime and a Hint-Of-Everything Else Sauce. It was still good tho. The contrast in flavours was cool on my tongue. He told me that Avocado Sauce is out if his hands next time. HAHA

K, so I didn’t want to make the usual Chicken Fajita’s. Let’s cut out the tortilla wrap and the cheese! Give this thing a new spin. Low and behold, Steak & Prawn Fajita Plate. There aren’t enough meals with baby corns and the Avocado Sauce just makes it fun and fresh! Hope you like this take on a classic!

STEAK & PRAWN FAJITA PLATE with AVOCADO SAUCE
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
FOR THE AVOCADO SAUCE
2 avocados
1/3 cup fat free sour cream
{or greek yogurt, if I had Greek yog. I would have used Greek yog. Love Greek yog!}
1 Premade Homemade Garlic Ball {or 4 cloves of garlic, chopped}
2 tablespoons of water
Juice of half a lime {don’t want it to end up like mine}
Sea salt, to taste
Fresh cracked pepper, to taste
Red pepper flakes, can you handle say… A teaspoon? Mom, you can skip this ingredient if you can’t handle the heat!

This all goes in your food processor. Blend until smooth! Chill it in the fridge while you’re making the rest.

INGREDIENTS
2-3 sirloin steaks, enough for 4 servings
20 pack of raw prawns, peeled and deveined
4 cups cooked hot white rice
3-4 peppers, pick your colours, thinly sliced
1 white onion, thinly sliced
1 can baby corns, drained
1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
3-4 tablespoons of the Fajita Seasoning Mix
3 tablespoons of water
Sprinkle of red pepper flakes
Olive oil

DIRECTIONS
In a bowl combine 1 tablespoon of the
Fajita Seasoning Mix and a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add in the steaks and let them marinade in the fridge for at least an hour.
In a hot oiled pan, add in the peppers, onions, baby corn, tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of the Fajita Seasoning Mix and the sprinkle of red pepper flakes.

Fry them up till they are tender. Add in the water and let simmer for a couple minutes to thicken a little. When they’re done they’ll look like this. Set the veggies aside.
In another hot hot hot oiled pan fry up the steaks, you want them medium rare, but a good cooked outside. Yum. Slice them up into thin strips

Sprinkle the prawns with 1/2 – 1 tablespoons of the Fajita Seasoning Mix, depending on how much flavor you like. Fry them up in a hot oiled pan. Don’t over cook them tho. Chewy.
Plate with 1 cup of hot rice, some veggies, sliced steak, prawns and then add a little of your chilled Avocado sauce.
Then enjoy!
Ok obviously if I had nice big bowls these would be Steak & Prawn Fajita Bowls but…. Hubby was doing me a favor by washing a football field of dirty dishes for me. { I’m kinda famous for dirtying every dish in the house… Yikes!!!} he ended up breaking 1 of 2 of my nice bowls. He apologized, I said it was ok, just a dish… But then not 3 minutes later… BOOM, there goes the other one. “Like really?!?!?” Hahahaha. So there you have it, Steak & Prawn Fajita Plate!

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Love Haleykins

Fajita Seasoning

Hey Guys!  I had been using a fajita seasoning mix recipe that I got a few years back.  I had posted about some yummy Chicken Fajita’s back in 2012 and I’ve been using this combo ever since.  I just came across one that sounds even better on Food.com.  In previous years I had used those Old El Paso packets when I made fajita’s and this one claims to be alot like it if not better.  I am making some fajita’s tomorrow night for dinner, shrimp ones, chicken ones and some steak ones.  Only because I can’t settle for just one kind.  I just made up a batch of this seasoning and I am going to give it a go tomorrow.  I have high faith that this is a keeper.

Here’s the recipe!

FAJITA SEASONING
2 tablespoons – cornstarch
4 teaspoons – chili powder
2 teaspoons – salt
2 teaspoons – paprika
2 teaspoons – sugar
1.5 teaspoons – chicken bouillon crushed
1 teaspoon – onion powder
1/2 teaspoon – garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon – cayenne powder
1/2 teaspoon – cumin

Mix it all together and keep it in a dry container. 

Approximately 2 tablespoons of this mixture equals a packet of that store bought stuff. 
This recipe made just over 6.5 Tablespoons.

This will save you money too as those packets can start to add up after a while.

Please give it a try! 
If you do make it, please leave me a comment below and let me know what you think. 

I will be writing a new blog tomorrow after I make up these fajita’s so I’ll have a final verdict for you soon.

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Love Haleykins

Sushi with Hay

First toast your seasame seeds in a hot pan.  Just toasty not too toasty.

Rinse your uncooked sticky/sushi rice for a few minutes until the water runs clear.  This gets rid of all the starch that can burn.

2 cups of uncooked rice and 2 1/2 cups water in the rice cooker and when it’s done add about 2 tbsp of rice vinegar to season the rice.  Don’t forget this step or your sushi will taste like rice and not sushi.

Avocados, cucumber and crab meat for the California rolls.  Don’t cut your avocado too early or it will brown on you.  Cut the cucumber into strips as wide as the roasted seaweed wraps.  Cut the crab sticks in half

I used the big jumbo prawns.  Raw, peeled and deveined with the tails on.  Make 2 or 3 small slices on the bottom side of the prawn to help keep them straight when frying and not curling up tight like they like to do.  See the pictures above. I made my tempura batter exactly as the instructions said on the package but what I got was so thick and doughy… so I added more water but I could have added even more…. mine were awful at first and my oil was way too hot….. by the end of it they turned out much better but nothing like the picture they had…. I’ll keep practicing… Practice makes perfect after all.  Hubby says… “why are you taking pictures of the burnt ones?”  well, because, that’s what happens when you are trying something new.  You fail and then you learn how not to fail…. IMPROVE.

This is the Tempura I bought… Yup, Cock Brand Tempura…..

I made a spicy mayo for the Dynamite Rolls.  Very basic, Mayo and Srirracha sauce… mix it up.  Put it in a baggy for easy piping and snip the tip before using.

Wrap your rice mat with saran wrap otherwise that rice will stick to everything.  Including your hands.  A tip…. rub your hands with a bit of mayo…. like lotion,  creates a barrier and nothing for the rice to stick to.

Next place your roasted seaweed on the mat.  Cover it with some rice, I use the back of a flat wooden spoon to help smooth it out.  Then sprinkle the rice with the toasted seasame seeds.

Now you can choose to flip it so that the rice will be on the outside of the sushi roll or you can leave it and the seaweed is on the outside.  I actually like them with the seaweed on the outside more.  Make a few of each to keep the presentation pretty!

Layer with cucumber, avocado and crab.  Roll em up and roll em up tight.  Practice makes perfect for this as well.  TIGHT!!!!

Rinse a sharp knife under water or a light spray of cooking oil and slice the ends of the roll first.  then cut the main section in half and then cut those halves into smaller pieces.  Depending on your preference.  Plate them!  Yum

For the Dynamite rolls you do the same thing as before, rice on the mat, sprinkled with seasame seeds.  Now here’s where you at a squirt of that spicy mayo lengthwise to the rice, add cucumber, and avocado and I add 2 of the prawns tails out.  Roll it up, TIGHT and  cut the same way.  Ends off, then in half, then into smaller pieces.

Meatloaf Macaroni Cupcakes, Mashed Potato Icing, Bacon & Green Onion Sprinkles

Oh yes! Recipe/directions to follow but you get the idea. These had macaroni noodles in them, onions and even a cup of grated carrot. Super yum!

Love Hay
XoXoX

Marianne’s Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing

While Hubby and I were back home for the holidays, we got to experience my Mom’s Caesar Salad. It’s just so perfectly good and I ate a lot of it.
I made my Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs yesterday and completely forgot to make a Caesar Salad…. The balls were just that good I guess.
Tonight we do salad! I add fresh sliced mushrooms to mine to give it a bit more substance… Sometimes I add cucumbers too.

Marianne’s Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing
1 egg
Dash or 2 of Worcester Sauce
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic, grated or more
2 Tsp anchovies paste or more
Dash of sugar
Salt & Pepper
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Blend and chill. I actually put it all in a jar and shook the shit out of it. Then passed the jar to Hubby and he shook the shit out of it.

Rub the bowl with garlic.
Rip up some fresh romaine leaves
Add sliced fresh mushrooms
Add your own mixed bread croutons
Add fresh grated parmesan cheese.
Taste it and adjust to your liking
Toss with the dressing when it’s time to serve. It will go slightly soggy if you don’t wait.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do! PS, it’s not too strong in flavor, it’s just right, so not to worry you won’t offend your guests with bad breath. Ok well maybe a little. It’s totally worth it! Maybe set up a side dish of Brush Strips! LOL

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Love Haleykins

Roast Beef & Jalapeno Halvarti Panini’s

After a long rainy afternoon of shopping and errands… A hot, crispy and fresh Panini is a must!
Treat yourself to something yummy…. Could be your last meal of this year!!

Love Hay 💋
XoXoX