Burritos (Week 4)

BEST burritos in the world. Inspired by Qdoba, which I have loved for years and Nick enjoyed on his visit, Nick and I created a recipe that incorporates my mom's salsa recipe and other various ingredients for a very satisfying meal. This is an easy and relatively cheap meal, and you definitely won't go hungry. At the very least I encourage you to try this salsa recipe out, delicious!


Serves: 6
Prep/Cooking Time: 1 hour


*Note cilantro in America is coriander in England, and green onion is spring onion.


Ingredients for 
Leslie's Salsa:

• 1 15 oz can of shoepeg corn (white) or 1 bag of frozen, rinsed well
• 1  15 oz can black beans, rinsed well
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped finely
• 1 bunch of green onion, chopped
• 1/2 jar of picante' sauce (hot or mild)
• 6 roma or plum tomatoes, chopped
• salt to taste
• tabasco to liking

Ingredients for Burritos:

• large burrito flour tortillas
• 4 medium sized chicken breasts, cubed
• taco or fajita packet of seasoning
• queso salsa if desired
• 12 oz (1.5 c) rice, cooked
• a handful of cilantro, chopped finely
• 1  15 oz can black beans, rinsed well
• small tub of sour cream
• shredded cheese, to taste
• salsa made ahead
• guacamole if desired

Directions for burritos:

1. Mix the salsa ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate.
2. Cook rice, should take approximately 20 minutes.
3. Cube chicken, place in skillet with olive oil and cook. Add taco or fajita seasoning part way through cooking. Should take approximately 10 minutes. Add queso sauce if desired. (I loved it with queso sauce, it's a bit more tender and spicy)
4. Add chopped cilantro to rice.
5. Alternate damp paper towels and tortillas on a plate (stacked). Microwave 30 seconds to 1 minutes (This makes the tortillas a bit stretchier so they don't break when adding ingredients)
6. Layer the burrito however you like. My method was rice with cilantro first, black beans on top, then chicken, sour cream and guacamole, salsa, and cheese. Enjoy the rest of your salsa with chips.

Burrito Party Time

Wow! This is the meal I have been waiting for. Despite success with every other meal, this is the one that I have not stopped thinking about since leaving the US at the end of September. I never got chance to eat enough Burritos, I am glad I have this recipe now everyone found them to be mind blowing. It was nice to be able to share some of the food I ate in the states with my family in England; it really took me back to Qdoba and Michigan. (it made me miss Lake Michigan). This meal is simple, nutritious (full of all sorts of veg and protein) as well as incredibly fun the eat. The etiquette to eat a Burrito is... enjoy it do not aim to be tidy. It will collapse and fall but the trick is to get stuck in. With such a variety of exciting ingredients, it is near impossible not to attack it savagely anyway. Served with Tortilla chips and some the salsa left over from the filling, this meal is world class. Thanks Sam, Michigan and of course Mexico. 100 Stars!!! (out of 5)

3 full English bellies! This meal was a resounding success as agreed

by all parties. It took a little longer for me to make than Sam, mainly because the recipe asked for certain processes I wasn't altogether sure about, but I took a leap of faith and it paid off. My only real downfall was the absence of breadcrumbs as the ones I mixed with milk turned more into an ice cream texture; odd. I ultimately cooked the meal in the oven for a good forty minutes; the result was beautifully balanced flavours and every element was given adequate time and heat to get a good footing in the overall taste. I would strongly recommend that you make this dish, it's easy, tasty and a crowd pleaser. Serve with a bit of Garlic Bread and season the dish. Top with a bit of parmesan cheese and cheddar. 10 out of 10.

Spaghetti and Meatballs (week 3)

This recipe was a definite success on my end. It took me 1 hr 45 min total for prep and cooking, though it took Nick longer and the recipe suggests 2 hr 45 min total time.


A couple things I changed--I put in 1 T of onion powder instead of onions because I don't like the texture of onions in my meat. Also, though I usually prefer to use fresh garlic cloves, I used half the amount called for and pre-minced garlic because my dad's allergic to it and I cooked for my family.


The meatballs bound nicely and the sauce was good. However I wouldn't mind the sauce a little thicker, but my family thought it was just right. Pureeing it is a nice touch. It served my family of six with leftovers.


One other note: my mom was convinced the meatballs wouldn't cook in the sauce over the stove in 20 minutes, but indeed they were cooked to perfection. There is no need to brown them ahead of time, they will cook in the sauce in 15-25 minutes.


Thank you, Epicurious for a fabulous lunch.


Sauce:

• 2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes in juice, drained, juice reserved, tomatoes finely chopped
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 medium onions, peeled, halved through root end
• 1/2 teaspoon (or more) salt

Meatballs:

• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French or country-style bread
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 8 ounces ground beef (15% fat)
• 8 ounces ground pork
• 1 cup finely ground (not grated) Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 pound spaghetti
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (for serving)

Instructions

Chocolate and lime cream pie

The first thing to say about this dessert is that it was not the success our previous meal was. That's not to say it wasn't nice, it just wasn't anything to write home about. Although a simple recipe, we did find a few transatlantic discrepancies. Though these were not the fault of the recipe, but rather an inability for our two countries to decide what the word 'jelly' actually constituted. For me it's rubbery, gelatin, 'jello' in the US to Sam it was rather like jam. This was responsible for panic at the point we were both about to add our jelly to the chocolate. As it turned out Sam did have a powdered form of lime jelly (UK edition) in stock, however this did ultimately render the pie a forest green. On my side, letting it set over night resulted in an well formed, nice tasting dessert if not a little sickly if consumed in excess. It isn't something I would be desperately want to cook again, but a relatively easy dessert.

The link is below for the recipe.

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/index.jsp?bmUID=1288473471210

• 75g unsalted butter
• 200g digestive biscuits, crushed
• 100g Sainsbury's white chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
• 142ml carton double cream, lightly whipped

• 135g pack Sainsbury's lime jelly made up to 300ml with boiling water, allow to cool but not set
• Mint sprigs and lemon slices to decorate

Method

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and stir in the crushed biscuits then press this mixture firmly into a 20.5 cm loose bottomed flan ring and chill in the refrigerator while making the filling.
2. Mix the melted chocolate with the cream and cooled jelly and pour into the biscuit case then return to the refrigerator for 1-2 hours or until set.
3. Decorate with a mint sprig and some lemon slices if you wish.

Chocolate and Lime Cream Pie

Basically, I would NOT recommend making this week's recipe unless you are IN England, as our "jello" basically ruins the recipe. My pie turned out to be a layered mess (see Nick's to see what it's supposed to look like). First of all, it took way too long to set (3 hours) and when I cut it open, it wasn't actually set, it was a layered goopy mess! Nick's turned out great though, so at least it worked for one of us (see his pic to compare the difference!)

This recipe is deceptively simple. The ingredients and directions are few, but I struggled with the English equivalencies in measurements and ingredients. For example, I searched Meijer high and low for "lime jelly," thinking it was jam. Finally in the foreign foods isle I triumphantly discovered the closest thing (I thought): lime marmalade. What I failed to realize was that in England, "jelly" is actually JELLO! So if you do decide to make this, beware of these differences:

double cream = heavy whipping cream
jelly = jello
digestive biscuits can be substituted with a chocolate graham cracker crust, or you can find them in a foreign food aisle

Nick found this recipe at www.sainsburys.co.uk. I'm not even going to put directions on here because I'm dubious of whether it is possible for any other American cook to have a success with it, unless they import English jelly.

Definitely a waste of 16 perfectly good digestive biscuits!

Overall, thumbs down on my end but I'd love to try Nick's.

Spaghetti al Limone

Nick and I (Samantha) met in England and are long-distance dating. This is our first endeavor to cook one recipe a week together over Skype. 

Recipe: Spaghetti al Limone

Time: 45 minutes

1 lemon
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
3/4 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, to taste
1 pound spaghetti
3 tablespoons butter, in pieces
3 1/2 to 4 ounces Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, to taste
Sea salt and fresh black pepper, to taste.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

(for instructions follow Nick's link)

I loved this recipe. It did not take long to make, although the wine and lemon zest never seemed to become a syrupy mixture. If I were to make this again, I would add more cream than the 1 cup that I added. I thought the balance of the lemon and wine was perfect, but I enjoy the taste of lemon. Freshly grated parmesan was icing on the cake. It is a lighter meal; I added a salad and it could be served with a small portion of chicken. I also may make this with angel hair pasta next time, although that changes the name. Overall I will definitely cook this dish again.

Week 1 Spaghetti al limone

Spaghetti al limone represents our first transatlantic cooking session. A recipe courtesy of the New York Times and hunted down by Sam. The finished dish was beautiful and served as a great accompaniment (on the English side) with pork, mushrooms and tomatoes also garnished with a bit of salad leaf. Nice.

My only quarm with the dish was that I feel the taste of lemon dominated a tad, I have only myself to blame for this I feel. In future I would refrain from adding the lemon juice and allow the strength of the lemon zest's flavour to compliment the wine; that being said the lemon and wine flavour worked in perfect harmony... a truly beautiful flavour. This is only a personal preference and as I said it should be added to taste, it is very nice. This is a truly beautiful dish and very simple to produce, I will certainly be commiting it to memory and reproducing it for people. The general response from my family was that it was extremely nice. All in all a success.

Here is the link to the New York Times site that has the process of making it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/dining/312lrex.html?_r=3