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Chocolate Chicken Mole

Deborah Smith, Executive Editor
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This was Sunday night’s supper. Taken straight from an episode of Simply Delisioso on the FoodNetwork. My 10 year old actually took the picture, I think he’s got a future if food photography if he wants it. The Mole is out of this world and very easy to prepare. The recipe also calls for a rotisserie chicken, so simple.

The companion dish is a Red Mexican Rice which I will post tomorrow. I halved the chipotle pepper because I was afraid it would be too spicy. If you want to leave it in, follow the recipe below exactly. I thought the heat level was perfect with a little less chipotle pepper.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 chipotle pepper with 1 teaspoon adobo sauce from can (or more to taste), chopped
1 cup raisins
2 cups canned chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate (or 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder)
1 rotisserie chicken, meat removed and shredded (skin and bones discarded)
1/4 cup roughly chopped peanuts, for garnish
1 teaspoon sesame seeds, for garnish
1 orange, zested, for garnish
Fresh cilantro, for serving
Lime wedges, for serving
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced, for serving
Flour tortillas, for servingPlace a pot over medium heat and coat with the oil. Add the onion and garlic, stirring to soften for 5 minutes. Add the chipotle with adobo, raisins, and tomatoes, stirring to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Carefully pour the mixture into a blender. Add the peanut butter, broth, chili powder, and cinnamon. Puree the mixture until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Return the mixture to the pot over medium heat. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chocolate and stir until melted. Add the shredded chicken and heat through.

Transfer the mole to a serving dish and garnish with peanuts, sesame seeds, and orange zest. Serve with cilantro, lime, avocado, and tortillas.

Gourmet Salad Dressings you Must Try!

Deborah Smith, Executive Editor
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I recently had the pleasure of meeting Salad Queen, Valerie Hamilton. Yes, you heard me right, “Salad Queen.” Up until now, I had no idea the land of salad had a queen, but after tasting her amazing gourmet salad dressings, I now know she is the only person for the job. I found Valerie through a series of online twists and turns (you see her product is no longer sold in stores) and she explained to me that her dressings are full of fresh ingredients, no preservatives, and are just not at their best after sitting in retail establishments. That is one reason she is working on a cookbook of all her recipes so the home cook can recreate these divine concoctions. I can’t wait.

Valerie was kind enough to mix up a fresh batch of three of her best selling dressings for me to sample. Just the names alone will tell you these are no ordinary salad dressings; Walnut Orange Ginger, Almond Roasted Balsamic, Italian Country Provolone, and the list goes on. The list of ingredients goes on as well. In the Walnut Orange Ginger dressing (my favorite) she incorporates fresh orange juice, orange liqueur, honey, basil, ginger, and curry with oils, balsamic vinegar and spices to create this thick, nutty and utterly delectable sauce. I tossed a fresh spinach and roasted butternut squash salad with this dressing and it was out of this world. Valerie recommends that you use her dressings as marinades, sandwich spreads, sauces and in stir fry. Do you know she even makes specialty pizzas using her dressings? She assures me these recipes will all be in her book.

So, if you are sick and tired of the same old bottled dressings and want to truly enjoy a salad for a change, order some of Valerie’s Gourmet Salad Dressings. They go a long way and really do turn an everyday salad into something special. Hail to the Queen.

To order Valerie’s Dressings visit her website at: And tell her to get working on that book.

Spaghetti Squash- Recipe courtesy of the Joe Leone Italian Specialty Store

Deborah Smith, Executive Editor
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Well, my begging Joe for his Spaghetti Squash recipe finally paid off, and who knew it would be so simple. Thanks Joe. If you’re a local to Monmouth and Ocean Counties, you probably already know about Joe Leones. If not, visit their site. I can’t wait to try this. I’m sure you could easily halve this. It looks like it would make quite a bit as is. This also calls for roasting the squash in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. If you don’t have the time or patience, you can try the microwave method I wrote about in the other spaghetti squash recipe on the site.

INGREDIENTS

(2) Spaghetti Squash (Medium size)

½ Cup Chopped garlic

1/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

¼ Cup Chopped Basil

S& P As needed

Oven Temperature: 375

Cooking Time 2 ½ Hours

Take Spaghetti Squash, wash and dry off. Place in a shallow baking pan. Add ¾” of water and cover baking dish with foil.

Roast squash for 2 hours.

Remove pan from the oven and let the squash cool slightly (maybe 20 minutes).

Split each squash vertically in ½. Remove the seeds and scoop out the mid-section and set aside.

In a large sauté pan, on medium heat, add the olive oil and garlic. Slightly brown the garlic and then add in the squash. Sauté for about 5-8 minutes until done. Add Salt & Pepper to taste. Sprinkle with Basil, toss and serve hot.

Turkey, Butternut Squash Crockpot Chili

Deborah Smith, Executive Editor
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This is a hearty and healthy slow cooker recipe. Say “Yes” to seconds, no resolution problems here. The ingredients will sound a little strange but the end result is delicious and oh so satisfying on a cold Winter day in good old Jersey. 31 degrees today. Man winter bites, except for the food of course. Oh, the original recipe is from this month’s Better Homes and Gardens. I have doubled the turkey and the squash because I didn’t think there was enough in the original.

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs. turkey breast tenderloin, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz. can black beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup peeled, seeded, and cubed butternut squash or pumpkin
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 clove garlic, minced
More Chicken Broth
2 cups shredded fresh spinach
4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers, shredded

PREPARATION

1. In a 5-quart slow cooker combine turkey, undrained tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce, squash, onion, the 1/2 cup chick broth, corn, cranberries, jalapeno pepper, chili powder, and garlic.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 10 to 12 hours or on high-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours. If desired, stir in additional broth to reach desired consistency. Stir in spinach just before serving. Sprinkle each serving with cheese. Makes 6 servings.

Easy, Reliable Salmon Scallion Potato Pancakes

Deborah Smith, Executive Editor
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Easy, Reliable Salmon Scallion Potato Pancakes

 

This recipe is from Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee. The only variation I made is that the original recipe calls for rose water and I use just regular tap. I love this recipe for two reasons, the actual pancake has some real flavor from the Leek soup mix and the scallions. I find a lot of potato pancakes to be far too bland for my taste buds. The one tablespoon of pancake mix also helps hold everything together better.

The second reason I love this recipe is you can serve it for breakfast like I did this morning or as an hors d’oeuvre for a small dinner party. I would not recommend this for a large party because they really are best right out of the skillet.

Oh, and I guess there is a third reason I love this recipe. It calls for packaged hash browns. No cooking and grating potatoes and soaking the potatoes. Just open the bag and getting cooking. Love it!

[tasty-recipe id=”44279″]

Drunken Chicken Wings

Deborah Smith, Executive Editor
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This recipe comes from Jim Flynn of BestWeekends.com. Jim is a local Jersey boy and avid traveler. He tells me that he got this recipe from Lola 41 in Nantucket. He guarantees it will become one of the favorites. I think I’ll be trying this out for the big Giants game this weekend. Let’s Go Giants!

3lbs. chicken wings
1 cup vodka
1 cup white wine
3/4 cup soy sauce
2 cloves minced garlic
Salt & pepper

Mix all of the above and marinate the wings for 24 hours. Put in a roasting pan with the liquid and cook at 400* for 1 1/2 hours. Drain the liquid and cook another hour. Mmmm.

Fiery Cajun Shrimp

Deborah Smith, Executive Editor
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This is a house favorite and if I tell friends I making it they are guaranteed to show up. I’ve been told that the sauce alone should be bottled and sold. The other night a guest was spooning the sauce onto his salad. The recipe comes from Paula Deen with minimal tweaks by yours truly.

I originally started looking for a recipe like this after tasting the Hot & Spicy Shrimp at Sally T’s in Monmouth Beach. I just had to try to make it at home. It comes pretty darn close. It’s very important to use unpeeled shrimp. The shrimp peels are what give the sauce a lot of its flavor. It’s a peel and eat party. Just hand out plenty of napkins.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/8 cup lemon juice

2 Tbs. ground pepper

2 Tbs. hot sauce (recommended; Texas Pete)

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. salt

2 pounds unpeeled large shrimp

1 lemon, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Stir together the butter, worchstershire sauce, lemon juice, hot sauce, pepper, garlic and salt. Mix with shrimp in 9 x 13 glass baking dish. Place lemon slices on top. Bake uncoverd for 20 minutes stirring half way through.

Serve in a bowl with sauce and crusty bread for dipping. Heaven!

Chocolate Lamb Chili

Deborah Smith, Executive Editor
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This is one tasty bowl of chili. If you like lamb, you will love this recipe. It’s the first time I’ve used cocoa powder in a chili recipe but I plan to do it more in the future. It gives the dish a beautiful dark color and rich flavor. I didn’t really taste a chocolate flavor at all but Peter said he could taste it. So, you’ll just have to try it and find out for yourself. I used Stone Smoked Porter for the beer but any smoky beer would do.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Large onion, chopped

1 Green bell pepper, chopped

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 Tsp. dried basil

2 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

4 large cloves of garlic, minced

6 Tbs. chili powder

1 Tbs. Smoked Paprika

1 tsp. oregano

2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp. white sugar

2 dried bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes with juice

2 Cups Stone Smoked Porter

DIRECTIONS

Add red pepper flakes, basil, cumin, cinnamon, chili powder, oregano, and paprika to large dutch oven and toast until fragrant and just beginning to smoke. Remove spices.

Add onions and pepper to pot and saute until onions are translucent. Add lamb and brown. Add spice mixture, salt and pepper. Deglaze with beer. Add tomatoes, beans and bay leaves. Increase heat to bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hours. Remove bay leaves.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro. (optional)

Baked Spaghetti Squash

Deborah Smith, Executive Editor
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Happy New Year everyone,

I’m sure you will be thrilled to hear that I lost 2 1/2 pounds over the holidays. Woohoo!! Yey me. Alright, alright I can already hear the groans and the ” Good for you, you skinny b*&@#.” Well, don’t worry, I still have about 15 more to go.

And, this is where the problem lies. I am not a dieter. I absolutely hate depriving myself of good food. And I am cranky as hell when I’m hungry. The good new is that I’ve never been afraid of working out and that’s basically how I lost the weight over the holidays. Now, while I don’t and won’t “diet” what I will do is try to cook healthy meals and scale back on the carbs as much as possible, because that is where I pack on the pounds. So, last night when I was feeling like a nice bowl of comfort food, I decided to try this recipe that I clipped from Better Homes and Gardens in 2006. I’m so sorry it took me this long to try it. It’s delicious, and you could cut back on the fat even more by using turkey sausage. It was just what I needed to satisfy my craving and the carbs were under control. I even used Monterey Jack cheese which is a low carb cheese. Please try this one. The spaghetti squash is so easy to cook in the microwave and magically turns to spaghetti before your very eyes. I’ll be looking for more recipes using spaghetti squash so if you have any recommendations, send them my way. I know Joe Leone’s used to serve a fabulous “ss” dish. Maybe I’ll be able to persuade him to give JerseyBites the recipe. Whata you say Joe?

Baked Spaghetti Squash
1 Medium spaghetti squash (2 1/4 lbs.)
12 oz. bulk Italian Sausage (or Turkey sausage)
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 medium green or red sweet pepper, chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can chopped pitted ripe olives (4 1/4 -oz.)
1/2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
1 1/2 cups pasta sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack, mozzarella, or Italian blend cheese
1/4 cup snipped fresh Italian parsley

1. Halve squash crosswise, remove seeds. Place cut sides down in 2 quart rectangular baking dish. Add 1/4 cup water. Cover with vented plastic wrap. Microwave on high 13 to 15 minutes or until squash is tender when pierced with fork. In a large skillet cook sausage mushrooms, sweet pepper, onion and garlic over medium heat until sausage is no longer pink; stir to break up sausage. Drain off fat.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scrape pulp from squash with fork (about 3 cups) Wipe out baking dish, coat with nonstick cooking spray. Spread half of the squash in dish; coat with nonstick cooking spray. Spread half the squash in dish. Add half the sausage mixture and half the olives. Sprinkle with seasoning and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Top with half the sauce and half the cheese. Top with remaining squash, sausage, olives, and sauce. Bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley. Serves 6.

Duck Coconut Green Curry Chili

Deborah Smith, Executive Editor
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This may sound a bit wacky but it is really delicious. If you have a friend or family member who enjoys duck hunting, share this recipe with them. They’ll love you for it. The recipe comes from the Beer Advocate magazine so of course the recipe calls for beer, very specific beer. The recipe also calls for Green Curry Paste which I found at Wegmans in the Asian section and is also available in our online store.

1 Tsp. cumin, ground
1 Tsp. coriander, ground
1 Tsp. paprika
1 Tsp. salt, kosher or sea
1 Tsp. black pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 Green bell pepper, chopped
2 Garlic cloves, chopped
1 lb. duck, cubed
2 Tbsp. Green Curry Paste
1 Bottle German Pilsner Beer
1 Can Coconut Milk
1 Can (14.5 oz) chopped tomatoes
1 Tbsp. Corn Meal or flour
Salt and Pepper to taste

Add spices including salt and pepper to medium sized dutch oven. Toast spices over medium heat until you smell the spices and they begin to smoke (approximately 2 minutes). Remove spices and add onion and bell pepper to pot. Saute until onion begins to brown, approximately 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Push the onions and peppers to one side of the pan and add duck to rest of the pan. Brown duck. Add Green Curry Paste and deglaze with Pilsner beer and 1 can of coconut milk. Add 1 Tbsp. Corn meal stirring well. Finally add can of chopped tomatoes. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours stirring occasionally. Very good served over Jasmin rice.

Our New Store

Deborah Smith, Executive Editor
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Jersey Bites is excited to introduce our new store of personal favorites. We’ve hand-picked our top picks for kitchen tools, cookbooks and hard to find spices.

If you have a favorite gadget or kitchen essential that we’ve forgotten, please send us your suggestions and a personal description of why you love it.

Thanks and happy cooking.

Shop Jersey Bites, Our Personal Favorites

Chili Beef Stew

Deborah Smith, Executive Editor
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Yesterday was a cold and windy day in New Jersey. Just the type of day for a pot of stew simmering all day on the stove. As usual, I really didn’t have a plan, so I did a random search on Google and came up with zillions of stew recipes. I wasn’t in the mood for the traditional beef with potatoes and carrots, etc., so the idea of a Chili flavored beef stew was intriguing to me. I have to say it was “okay.” I’m going to try tweaking it in the future. Actually, I did some tweaking to the original recipe already. I added one more tablespoon of chili powder, a teaspoon of ground cumin and a can of black beans. I also omitted the corn which the original recipe called for. So here it is. If you have any suggestions for future tweaks, I’d love to hear them. I served the “stew” over rice.

INGREDIENTS:

2 pounds beef stew meat, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Cup chopped onion
1/2 Cup chopped green bell pepper
2 Cloves garlic, minced
3 Tablespoons Chili Powder
1 Teaspoon Groun Cumin
1 (14.5 ounces) tomatoes
1 can (4 ounces) chopped mild green chle peppers
1 Cup heated beef broth
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Can Kidney beans
1 Can Black Beans

PREPARATION:

In a heavy Dutch oven, brown stew beef in vegetable oil. Remove meat; set aside and drain off all but 2 T. of drippings In the same pot, saute the onion, green pepper and garlic. Stir in 2 T. chili powder and stir constantly for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and green chile, stir in beef broth, salt and return meat to pot. Lower heat and cover. Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until meat is tender. Add in beans and additional T. of chili powder. Cook until thickened. (I transferred the stew to my crockpot and set it on low.) We went to the movies and came back to a nice thick stew.)

Serve over rice.

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