A Little Throw Together Vegetarian Meal (Chicken, in a lemon, white wine, tarragon sauce)

As most of you know, I am not a cook. But as time passes, I am becoming more daring in the kitchen. Cooking is truly a learning experience. I've spent years watching a very good cook, but never doing much by way of assistance with the main meals. Rather, I came in for dessert duty. Slowly I am moving away from just baking and into actual cooking.

Last night I decided to throw together Quorn “chicken” (a meat alternative which is also soy free), in a lemon, white wine, tarragon sauce, sautéed spinach and garlic and roasted rosemary potatoes. I whipped up this little meal sans recipe.

Ingredients:

Chicken, in a lemon, white wine, tarragon sauce

Package of Quorn cutlets (can substitute in actual chicken if you so choose)
5 cloves of garlic (sliced)
3 sprigs of tarragon (whole)
Bay leaf
“No Chicken” or vegetable broth (2 cups)
white wine (approx 1 cup or so)
Salt
Pepper
1 whole lemon (cut in half. One half will be used to cut slices of lemon to place on top of cutlets)
Olive oil
1 tsp butter
1 tsp corn starch

Sauteed Spinach with garlic

1 package of spinach (fresh)
4 cloves of garlic
Olive oil

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

4 Yukon gold potatoes
2 tablespoons dried rosemary (or 2 fresh sprigs)
1 tsp of dried garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

Pulling the meal together:

Begin with the potatoes. Preheat the oven to 425°. Cut potatoes into cubes (leave skin). In a 9 inch baking dish drizzle oil and then toss in potatoes to coat with oil. Sprinkle garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. Toss again to cover all pieces and place in the oven for about 45 minutes- making sure to turn them every 15 or so minutes to avoid burning.

While the potatoes are baking, heat deep skillet pan, place olive oil (about 1 tablespoon) and butter. Then sauté the garlic slices. Place the cutlets in pan next (carefully to avoid splatter). Once these are slightly browned, add the (about 1 cup) white wine, broth, tarragon, bay leaf, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Place lemon slices in the sauce. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes to release the flavors into the sauce. You can cover it to keep in the moisture. Within the last 5 minutes or so, mix in the corn starch to thicken the sauce a bit.

While the chicken and the potatoes are cooking, go ahead and start the spinach. Heat wok (the wok is easiest way to fit all the greens in while the leaves are still firm). Once heated, place about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in wok and sauté the garlic. Before the garlic turns brown add the spinach and sauté until the spinach is wilted, but still whole.

At this point you are ready to plate and serve. I would suggest a nice white wine to go with this meal- maybe Evolution (an Oregon wine). It is a heartier wine (e.g. it also can hold up to many meat dishes too). Or, you can always go with a good standby from Trader Joe's.

Bon Appetite!

Roll Those Tamales

Over the weekend, I got the cooking bug again- this time it was for tamales. Yes, tamales. They are not as hard as they seem, they just take some time and patience. I decided to fill them with refried beans, pieces of jalapeno, and of course Chihuahua cheese. I also threw together a side of salsa, because, really, tamales without salsa are just sad lonely things on your plate.

The salsa should be made first. It will need to cool so if you make it first it can hang out in the refrigerator while the tamales are being prepared. That is unless you have a little someone taste testing the salsa...

Salsa:

(Everyone has their own heat levels, mine is fairly high. The hotter the better and if I don't get hiccups, why bother eating it at all?)

5 Roma tomatoes- diced
1/2 bunch cilantro- cut up
1 small garlic bulb- finely diced
1/2 medium side read onion- finely diced
3 jalapenos- (seed 2 of them, leave the last one alone)- finely diced
1 lime
pinch of adobe spice
pinch of black pepper
pinch of Cayenne
pinch of cumin

mix everything up, then puree 1/3 to 2/3 of the mixture (add the pureed portion back in with the remaining mix) and chill. (Once again, unless you have someone "tasting" it at this point. Once they are finished "tasting" it, then chill :))

Next, on to the tamales!!!

Corn Husks:

You will need the dried corn husks. I get them from a little store in my neighborhood- I am sure you can probably get them most places. You want the larger ones since the small ones are a pain to work with. I know, I was stuck with the small ones on this batch.

Soak these in water while you are preparing the other ingredients.

Filling:

Really, you can put in whatever you desire. I chose the refried beans, jalapenos and cheese because that was what we had around.

1 can refried (vegetarian) beans
2 jalapenos (both seeded, but throw some of the seeds in anyway- like I said, no hiccups, no good!)
1/4 package of Chihuahua cheese
1/2 bunch cilantro- cut up with stems removed.
pinch chili powder
pinch adobo powder
pinch garlic powder
pinch cumin

Mix those together and put aside for the moment. Don't worry about cooking the mixture. It will cook when you steam the tamale.

Next, the masa...

Masa:

I cheat a bit here. There is a mix for the masa that can be found at most stores. It is called MaSeCa for Tamales. It works well.

4 cups MaSeCa mix
2 cups vegetable broth (or use a veg. bullion cube)
2 cups lukewarm water
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
11/3 cup of vegetable shortening- I use a palm version from Whole Foods

In a smaller bowl, whip the shortening until fluffy. Set aside

Then, in a larger bowl, combine the mix, salt and baking powder together. Add your water and broth and mix with your hands to make sure all is absorbed and evenly distributed. Then mix in the shortening.

Get your steamer started at this point.


Rolling the tamales:

Take your well soaked corn husks, dry each one off- I don't dry them well, just well enough so the masa sticks.

take one of the husks, grab enough masa to cover about 2/3 of the husk, spread it on beginning from the side you are going to roll until it is about 1/4 inch thick, leaving space at the top and bottom of the husk (so you can tie them off) and then add your filing to the middle of the masa. Roll from the masa side and make sure you form a seal with the masa so your filing doesn't escape. (It probably will on a couple, don't worry, those are for "tasting.") Tie each end with either kitchen tine or use your longer husks torn in strips as ties.

Place into steamer for approximately 45 minutes.

These do freeze well, that is, if you have any left after "tasting" them...

Enjoy!