Fall, Baby Fall

Well, it's that time of year again. Does anyone else feel like this year has flown by? Living in Texas I consider it fall when temps. stay in the low 90s and 80s. I also know fall is right around the corner or is here when everyone starts having their babies. Fall is by far, hands down, my favorite cooking season of the year. There's just something a little extra special about the flavors of fall; apples and cinnamon, pumpkin and nutmeg, and so many other warm flavors. Recently I cooked up some sweet baked potatoes for dinner and added, what I think, is the best sweet potato filling. When I first found a similar recipe my husband and I were a little hesitant but intrigued at the same time. I always know when a recipe is a winner when my husband is ready to literally lick his plate clean. This recipe is also what I like to refer to as a "dump" recipe; I go through my fridge, see what kind of veggies are in there and use what I have. So with out further adieu, Chipotle Chicken Southwestern Baked Sweet Potatoes.

 

What  You Need:

 

1 sweet potato per person

 

For the Chicken (serves roughly 6):

3/4 lbs Chicken breast

1/4 cup Olive oil

2 tbsp Fresh lime juice

2 Cloves of garlic, minced

1 6 oz can Chipotle chilies in adobo sauce

1 tsp Dried oregano

1 tsp Cumin

Salt and pepper

 

Potato Stuffing (Personal desired about of each ingredient):

(this can all be varied depending on what you have in your fridge)

Bell pepper, diced

Red or white onion, diced

Chili powder

Paprika

Cumin

Salt

Black Beans, drained

Corn, drained

Jalapeno

Scallions, Cilantro or Green Onion

Cheese

 

What to Do:

 

1. Wash and scrub sweet potatoes, dry with towel and wrap in foil. Put potatoes in a crockpot and if you're going to be gone for longer than six hours put temp on low or if you have less that 6 hours put them on high. The microwave works too for faster results.

 

2. When you're ready to start dinner, in a medium bowl mix olive oil, lime juice, garlic, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, oregano, cumin, chili powder, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.

 

3. In a skillet add a tbsp of oil and heat. Add chicken and flavor with salt and pepper. Once cooked through place on a cutting board and shred. Toss chicken in the chicken sauce and set aside.

 

4. Drain any juices left in the skillet and return skillet to medium heat. Saute peppers, onions, jalapeno, chili powder, paprika, cumin, and salt.

 

5.  While the veggies are cooking open and drain black beans and corn. Add to skillet and warm.

 

6. Once all veggie ingredients are warmed, remove chicken from sauce and add to skillet. Turn off heat and cover skillet.

 

7. Remove sweet potatoes from crockpot and cut as desired. Spoon filling on top of potato and top with scallions, cilantro or green onion, cheese, and sour cream.

 

8. Enjoy! 

 

 

Date Night In

Around noon on Fridays I usually send my husband a text saying 'in or out?', aka are we going out for dinner or staying in? While I like date nights out, it sure is nice to get creative at home with dinner, find a good movie to rent and pop open a bottle of wine. One of our favorite date night in dinners is pizza. When we first decided it would be fun to make our own pizza I was a little hesitant about the work involved in making pizza dough but after playing with a few recipes, I found what I think is the best base pizza dough EVER!

What you'll need:

3 1/2 - 4 cups Bread Flour ( you can sub in all-purpose flour but it will be a chewier crust)
1 tsp. Sugar
1 envelope instant dry yeast
2 tsp. Kosher salt
1 1/2 cup water at 110 degrees F
2 tbsp Olive Oil, plus 2 tsp.

What you'll do:

1.Using a stand mixer with a dough hook combine flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.

2. With the mixer running at medium speed, slowly add water and 2 tbsp. olive oil and beat until dough ball forms. The perfect dough ball wont stick to the sides of the bowl or have crumbles in the bottom of the bowl. If the ball sticks to the side, add 1 tbsp of flour at a time until the dough pulls from the side. If there are crumbles in the bottom, it means your dough is to dry so add a tbsp of water at time.

3. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and gently knead into a smooth ball.

4. Coat mixing bowl lightly with 2 tsp of olive oil and place dough back into the bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a towel and place in a warm area to let rise (I usually place in a non-heated oven) for 1 hour.




5. Remove dough from bowl onto a lightly floured surface and divide into the number of desired pizzas ( we've done 2 and 4). Cover with a towel for roughly 10 more minutes.








6. While the dough has it's last rest, now is the perfect time to place your pizza stone in the oven and start heating the oven to 400 degrees.








7. Roll out dough to desired thickness and shape. Take a fork and poke several holes into the crust. This will help the pizza cook.













8. I would suggest building the pizza on the pizza stone as it can be tricky to transfer a pizza from one surface to another once topped.







9. The amount of toppings placed on the pizza will determine the cook time. Well topped pizzas should take about 30 minutes to bake through and create a yummy, crispy crust. Check the bottom of the crust occasionally and when the bottom is slightly golden it should be good to go!

Note: While the entire process take roughly 1 hr 30 mins. there's only about 20 minutes worth of work.
Note: The above recipe is a base recipe. Add what ever flavors desired. Roughly 3 tbsp. of honey give it a sweet flavor and 2-3 tbsp of Italian seasoning gives the crust a very fresh herb taste.

Dinner Challenge #2

With summer winding down and a lot of fruits at the peak of the season I decided I'd try a healthy summery salad from EatingWell for our dinner challenge this week. I don't know about you but I love cooking and eating seasonal flavors. This salad almost made me wish I had another month of summer but I have to say I'm ready for some cooler weather and hearty warm dishes the fall always seems to offer.

Raspberry, Avocado & Mango Salad

 EatingWell Magazine

 

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red-wine vinegar

1 small clove garlic, chopped

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

pinch of ground pepper

Salad greens

1 ripe mango diced

1 avocado, diced

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

1/4 cup nuts

 

1. Dressing: puree 1/2 cup raspberries, oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper in blender until well combine

2. Salad: Mix together salad greens, avocado, mango and onion. Toss with dressing and top with raspberries and nuts.

 

Lake Treats

When I think of summer I think of going to the lake. Most would say they think of going to the beach but not me and my family. Dinners at the lake are usually simple and nothing fussy, I mean who wants to get off the boat after a long day on the lake and go home to cook  a complicated meal. I'm usually charged with bringing dessert. In purging my seasonal recipe binder I found an incredibly perfect Tequila Lime Bar which I have now changed up and call it a Margarita bar (you'll see why shortly).

 

Margarita Bars

 

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup pecans (or any nut), chopped

 

2 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 tbsp. GOOD tequila

2 tbsp. fresh lime juice

2 tbsp. grated lime zest

1 tbsp. cornstarch

 

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees

2. In a large bowl, beat butter till creamy, add sugars and beat till well combine.

3. On low speed, add flour to mixer and beat till just mixed. Fold in pecans.

4. Press mixture into the bottom of a 13x9 inch non-stick baking dish.

5. Bake for 10 minutes and let cool slightly while making the filling.

 

6. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar till well combine.

7. Add eggs one at a time and beat well, add vanilla extract, beat, add tequila, lime juice, and zest, beat well. Add cornstarch and beat well.

8. Add topping over crust. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Cool slightly and refrigerate.

 

I like adding a dollop of cool whip and berries when serving.

 

YUM!