greek tacos?

so i had some feta cheese sitting in the back of my fridge, and i decided it was time to use it up.  my initial thought was to get some lamb and play around with that.  but then i realized how expensive lamb was.  so i decided to play with something else.  i got some ground pork and ground chicken (on sale!) and decided to make some stuffed pitas.

unfortunately, the pita bread i got turned out not to be the pocketed variety.  so it turned into tacos.  and given the feta cheese and spinach (not to mention the pita bread), it seemed to be more of a greek version.  which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

this took me maybe 30 minutes total...and it only took that long because i didn't realize at first that i turned on the wrong stove burner.  silly me.  this probably amounts to four "tacos."

ingredients:
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 lb ground pork
- garlic (~3 cloves)
- crumbled feta cheese
- baby spinach
- grape tomatoes
- assorted spices (ground hot pepper, celery seed, basil, sage, rosemary, paprika)

preparation:
mix the ground meat into a large pan, and add the garlic (chopped up).  brown over medium-high heat (with the various herbs and spices) until the meat is cooked.  drain the grease.

add the meat, cheese, spinach, and chopped grape tomatoes to a pita.  enjoy.

results:
the bread wasn't doing what i wanted.  first, it wasn't a pocket pita...something that can be dealt with.  but second, the pita fell apart when i tried to eat it like a taco.  so i ended up using a fork to eat it like a salad.  that said, it all mixed together nicely.  except i really could have used a crunchy element.

i don't necessarily think i used traditional greek flavors, and the meat itself wasn't well-seasoned (i tried a couple pieces alone just to check), but it did work with the saltiness of the feta.  i suspect if i made some sort of sauce, things would've come together even better.  the long and the short is a worthwhile dinner...but my "greek" cooking obviously needs work.

chicken pie

it's been awhile since i've cooked something that hasn't already been posted and/or is worthy of documenting.  and although it got warm again (seriously, what's with the 9°F temperatures one day and 60°F temperatures the next?), i decided i wanted some chicken pie.  this is a recipe that's made its way through the family...i got the basic recipe from my mom, and i'm pretty sure she got it from someone from my dad's side of the family (cynthia).

total prep/cook time was about 2 hours (give or take), and the recipe makes what i will guess is about eight brian-sized servings.

ingredients:
- about 3-4 lbs chicken parts (i got split chicken breasts and some chicken livers)
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- 1 cup milk
- 3/4 stick margarine
- celery (2 ribs)
- carrot (1 large)
- 1 small white potato
- 1 medium sweet potato
- green peas
- garlic
- seasonings

prepping the chicken:
put the chicken in a big pot and add enough water to cover.  add a stalk of celery, a couple cloves of garlic, and lemon pepper for seasoning.  simmer over mediumish heat for about 40 minutes.  remove the chicken, pull the meat off the bones, and put it in the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan.

prepping the vegetables:
peel/slice the carrots, slice a rib of celery, cube the white potato, and peel/cube the sweet potato.  spread the vegetables in the pan with the chicken.  sprinkle peas on top; i probably used a half-pound of them.

filling:
put about two cups of the chicken broth (from cooking the chicken) into a separate pot and mix in the soup.  bring the mixture almost to a boil and pour over the chicken.

crust:
mix the flour, milk, and melted margarine and pour over the top of the casserole dish.  i added black pepper to the flour (for taste) and paprika (for color).

bake at 425°F for 35 minutes (or until lightly browned).

results:
this recipe does not originally call for potato (or sweet potato).  i figured potato would work well, and i thought i'd try sweet potato just to see what would happen.  in this case, it adds a touch of sweetness that works well...especially in combination with the carrot.  overall, i am pleased.

i will say, though, that i had a lot of filling in my dish, and some of it bubbled over the top.  fortunately, i had the oven liner on the bottom, so i won't have to deal with cleaning it up later.  also, i decided that freezing the remaining chicken broth was worthwhile.

i have plenty of leftovers for awhile!

Amateur Crockpot Chicken Vindaloo

Guest Entree Entry

This recipe is inspired by a trip to one of my favorite small cities - Brevard, NC.  If you haven't been to Brevard, you need to go, today; seriously, stop what you are doing and head that way!  There are so many awesome little shops, including a new favorite - Spice it to a Tea.  Highly recommended by all the chefs on this blog. ;)

 

Now, the recipe below is a mash up from about 4 recipes I found online.  I picked the ingredients I knew I could attain at a reasonable price as well as the ingredients I was familiar with... This Indian cuisine typically has a lot more steps, but I am somewhat lazy... I mean afterall I used a Crockpot!

2 tbsp extra light olive oil

½ c Swanson’s 99% fat free chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 + ½ onions chopped
2 tbsp garlic minced
6 garlic cloves
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 Vindaloo Curry Powder tester packet from Spice it to a Tea Brevard, NC
1lb skinless boneless chicken breast cut into 1 inch cubes

If possible, marinate all the above ingredients overnight (which I did).  Place everything into a Crockpot and stir around until it’s evenly mixed.  Let it cook for either 4hrs on HIGH or 8hrs on LOW.  I did 4hrs on HIGH.

Serve over Jasmine or Basmati rice (I use the Basmati Uncle Ben’s 90 second rice). 

In case anyone was interested in the calories of this meal, we are looking at ¼ of the Vindaloo concoction at 280 calories (11g Fat, 20g Carbs, and 24g Protein). And half of the pouch of the rice is 220 calories.  Add the two together and you get a well balanced 500 calorie meal (50% Carbs, 25% Protein, 25% Fat).

 

Verdict:  It was OK for "Vindaloo" but I could tell it was very Americanized since I used common American ingredients.  I would tweak this recipe in the future.  With it being cooked in a Crockpot, the original moisture was retained, so I would nix the chicken broth.  It was a little too soupy for what I was expecting.  Also, some of the recipes I looked at said to use tomato paste.  With that being said, I would also incorporate that in the future to make it a little thicker.  But if you are looking for a semi-cultured dish with mild Indian-inspired flavor, this is it.