Chef and I have been married for three and a half years....and I do most of the cooking.
Seriously. I do.
Chef is well, a Chef. He is temperamental. He is moody. He throws things....but only in the kitchen. He can take a pantry full of mismatched ingredients and turn them into something magnificent. He makes me sick....but he cooks all the time and he doesn't want to cook at home so that leaves me to do all the cooking. I decided that I would start this blog about how I deal with being married to a Chef, how I feed him and his two kiddos, along with our friends and family... and sometimes just ME!!
People think that we eat gourmet every single day.... it could not be farther from the truth. Although we cook really great things for our clients and for the restaurant... we tend to eat just like everyone else when we get home... and there are several nights when we are just like you and we pick up a roasted chicken or a pizza and call it a meal. Did I mention that Chef is also on the local fire department and he is gone a lot? I never know if I should cook a big ole meal or something light because he just worked a huge grass fire for four hours.
Earlier in the year we made a decision to cut back on eating out because we were literally eating out every night of the week. Not only were we traveling over twenty miles each way to get to a restaurant, we were spending at LEAST forty dollars a pop. That is a lot of money. So we have limited our dining out experiences and we stay in more often. We also decided to send the kids to school with a healthy lunch everyday, in reusable containers with reusable drink containers. It really is easy to make a creative lunch for your kids each evening, pack the lunchbox and just grab it out the door every morning.
I have also made it a personal goal to teach the kids how to cook. I want them to learn how to cook Southern favorites but also healthy alternatives so that we can watch what we eat. So each week we plan a tentative menu, we shop and the kids help me cook. Chef sits in his recliner and tends to watch anything that has to do with Fast and Loud, Duck Dynasty or Razorback Football.
So for this first blog I wanted to give an indication of a normal meal in THIS Chef's home... tonight we had the following:
Tequila Lime Chicken
Cilantro Rice
Mexican Street Corn
Here goes the easy recipes!!!!
4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup tequila
handful of fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
dash or two of black pepper
two cloves of garlic
drizzle in olive oil
OK- take those chicken breasts and cut them in half... then get a big ole Ziploc bag and throw them in there...
Now, get your food processor (or blender) out and add the rest of the ingredients and pulse a few times... add more or less tequila ( I like more) and you can even toss in a dash of cayenne pepper or a seeded jalepeno if your family likes heat. I tend to add about 1/2 cup of olive oil to make a nice marinade.
Then you just pour this tasty mixture in the bag with your chicken and zip it up.... lay the bag in the fridge , making sure that the marinade is touching every bit of the meat.... and let it chill for a little while (I do a couple of hours or so)
Heat up your grill or griddle on the stove, toss that marinated meat on there and cook away... now don't cook it to death.. you want to experience the yumminess that this tequila has imbibed your chicken with.
Slice up some lime wedges and get that chicken on a plate... squeeze lime juice over the top and I am telling you, you are going to love me for sharing this recipe and your family will ADORE you!!!!
And PLEASE, for the love of all things with salt, lime and tequila.... don't think that you are feeding your family something that is full of alcohol. It evaporates out during the cooking process. The only way you are gonna get intoxicated is if you drink one or three margaritas with this chicken... I totally suggest doing that, by the way.
Cilantro Rice- The total and complete easy way.....
Get some boil in a bag rice... cook it according to the directions. When it is done just throw it in a pan, add a squeeze of ginger paste (found in the produce section of grocer), the zest of two limes, a handful of cilantro leaves that have been chopped (no stems, please) a little salt and a dash of garlic powder.
Done! Now put this stuff under that chicken that you just made and watch the looks at the table as they taste it!
Mexican Street Corn
I just take some petite corn on the cobs and cook on my griddle until there are some nice grill marks/caramelization going on...
In a bowl add some light mayo, greek yogurt, dash of cumin, paprika, salt and chili powder and stir together.
Take that grilled corn and roll it in this yogurt mixture... then top with a shake or two of parmesan cheese and cilantro... honey, this is the best corn you will ever eat!
Now let me know what you all think!
Questions and results are welcome.....
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