Lemon Lime Chicken with Lemon Tomato Pasta

This recipe goes out to my self-proclaimed "Favorite Aunt." (Love you, Aunt Mary)

This is another recipe that starts out with a marinade (I told you that I liked them!) However, unlike many of my recipes, we are going to steer clear of any spices more exotic than salt and pepper. The title of this post tells you almost everything you need to buy for this dish.

What you'll need:

1 Tbsp. of olive oil

3 medium sized tomatoes (Roma or the like)

1 large clove of garlic

2 lemons

1 lime

1/2 lb. pasta (I like Mezzi Rigatoni, but anything with ridges is good)

2 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Salt and pepper

Grated Parmesan cheese

The marinade:

Begin by making garlic paste. If you don't know how to do this, click HERE to view my post with instructions. Roll, cut, and squeeze 1 lemon and 1 lime and whisk together with the garlic paste. It adds a nice visual touch if you cut the squeezed lemon and lime into thin strips and add that to the marinade as well. Add 1/2 tsp. of salt and 1/2 Tbsp. of black pepper.

Trim all excess fat off of your chicken breasts. Slice them in half long way so that you end up with four 1/2" thick pieces of chicken and add them to the marinade. Place the chicken in the fridge for 45 minutes.

Prepping the sauce and cooking the chicken:

30 minutes after putting the chicken in the fridge, put a large pot of water for the pasta on the stove and begin to heat it. After another 15 minutes, take the chicken out of the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.

While the chicken is sitting, you can prep your tomatoes. Slice them in half and then cut them into 1/4" thick strips.

When your pasta water is about 10 minutes away from boiling, heat 1 Tbsp. of oil in a large skillet and add your chicken. Cook until the chicken comes off the pan without sticking. Flip and repeat. You will also want to turn your oven on as low as possible to have a warm place to let your chicken rest while you make your sauce. When the chicken is done cooking, transfer it to an oven safe container (preferably one with a lid) and put it in the warm oven.

Add the tomatoes to the same skillet you used for the chicken. Add the juice of the second lemon and place a lid on the skillet. You will need to stir the sauce every minute or so to keep it from burning.

Generously salt your boiling pasta water and add the pasta. The sauce will cook for as long as it takes to boil the pasta -- about 8 minutes. When the pasta is tender, but not limp, drain it well (reserve about 1/2 cup of the water in a measuring cup), add it to the skillet with the tomatoes and toss. Add some of the pasta water to the pasta and tomatoes if you feel it's not "saucy" enough.

Sprinkle the pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and serve with the chicken.

*Makes 4 servings.

How To: Garlic Paste

One of the things I wanted to do here was to provide not only recipes, but also techniques that I use regularly. One such technique is making garlic paste.

Garlic paste is a means of prepping garlic so that you do not have any large chunks of garlic in your food. it also provides maximum flavor out of a smaller amount of ingredients. You can use this in marinades, on garlic bread, in pasta sauces... Basically anywhere you use garlic.

What you will need:
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp of kosher salt
Cutting board
Knife or board scraper (these are awesome, and if you don't have one I suggest getting one.)

What you will do:
On a cutting board...
Peel and crush/rough chop garlic
Add olive oil and salt
Scrape the garlic/oil/salt mixture across the cutting board using the edge of your knife/board scraper.
Continue until you have made a paste that is roughly as sticky as Elmer's glue (but smells much better.)

Voila... You are done

Why you would do this:
1: No big chunks of garlic to accidentally bite into, potentially ruining your meal.
2: It's fun.
3: You get to smash stuff.

Enjoy.

Asian Mahi Mahi with Rice and Stir Fry Veggies

As you will come to learn, I am all about marinades and vinaigrettes. Laying at the intersection of science and the culinary arts, they pique two of my greater interests. Additionally, they are quick and easy to make, can render even the toughest cuts of meat tender and delicious, and add a complexity to your food that will impress your friends!

Basically: Acids (e.g. citrus juice, vinegar, wine) work to break down the connective tissue; oils help preserve the marinated product over long marinating periods and prevent sticking while cooking; and aromatics (herbs and spices) impart flavor.

Different meats require different lengths of time in the marinade. While beef can reside in a marinade for days and come out tender and delicious, fish will become tougher and actually begin to cook if exposed to an acid-based marinade for more than about 30 minutes (this is how ceviche is made).

A longer explanation can be found HERE.

For the marinade:

In a resealable bag, combine:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup white wine vinegar (If you don't have any, buy it! It's inexpensive and awesome!)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp sesame oil (A little goes a LONG way)

1 garlic clove crushed and roughly chopped

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

**This marinade gets better with age. If you can make it and let it sit for an hour, that is what I would suggest.

Fish - Two Mahi Mahi filets (approx. 4oz each)

Rice - Boil in a bag is fine if you don't have or don't want to deal with the regular stuff. I like short grain brown rice for this recipe.

Stir Fry Veggies - We have a frozen mix from Trader Joe's that we like, but feel free to use whatever you like. Carrots, broccoli, water chestnuts, mushrooms, baby corn, snap peas, etc.

Read the instructions on your rice and veggies to plan accordingly. It will take 15 minutes to marinate your fish, and 12 minutes/inch of thickness to cook it.

Begin by thawing your fish (if frozen) in cold water. While this is happening, reserve 2 Tbsp of the marinade to add to the vegetables while they cook.

Once the fish is thawed, add the filets to the marinade bag and allow it to sit, unrefrigerated, for 15 minutes. Normally you would refrigerate a marinade to prevent bacterial growth, but because the period is so short and you want your fish at room temp when you cook it, allowing this to sit on the counter is OK. I would also suggest putting the bag on a plate to prevent any possible spillage.

While your fish is marinating, heat one cooking surface for your fish and one for your veggies. After 15 minutes in the bag, remove the fish, take off and large pieces of garlic, and place on your stovetop cooking surface.

Two things to remember:

1) You don't need to add oil to your pan/grill because there was some in the marinade.

2) Fish need to cook for 12 minutes/inch of thickness, flipped once halfway through.

Sine we usually use frozen stir fry veggies, it generally takes the same amount of time to thaw and heat the veggies as it does to cook the fish. Throw the veggies into a hot pan, and add the reserved marinade. Cover the pan and allow to steam. Stir once to prevent sticking.

Toss the cooked veggies and rice together and plate under the fish.

Potato Tacos

I thought for my first entry I would do something that was near and dear to my heart: Potato Tacos.

It is possible that some of you may have never heard those two words put together in such a way, but let me assure you that these are akin to a religion in San Diego. Finding the real deal can be difficult, but the search is well worth the reward!

For the potatoes:

6-8 medium potatoes (I prefer red skin or Yukon Gold. NO RUSSETS!)

3-4 Tbsp oil: Canola or corn are good due to their high smoke points.

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp Thyme

1 tsp Savory

Salt

¼ cup Greek yogurt

Toppings:

1 Can refried beans (whichever you like)

Hot sauce (which ever you like)

1 tomato

Mexican white sauce (Click HERE for the recipe)

6-8 flour tortillas

Cheese (jack, pepper jack, queso fresco, queso blanco, or a Mexican blend)

Directions:

Begin by making your Mexican white sauce early - an hour before is OK, the night before is better. Also, I like to add a little crushed red pepper to the recipe above.

Chop the potatoes into bite sized pieces; put them in a large pot with enough water to cover them by 1”; add a healthy amount of salt (think pasta water here) and bring to a boil. Allow to cook for until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain the potatoes and heat your oil.

When the oil is hot (but not smoking) add 2/3 of the cooked potatoes to the oil. Toss once and add your rosemary, thyme and savory. Toss again and allow to cook for an additional 10-15 minutes, tossing occasionally. The potatoes should develop a crispy brown skin.

Mash the remaining 1/3 of the potatoes while still hot and add the Greek yogurt. You can add pepper here if you want, but I like them just like this. You don’t want to overdo it on the spices with the massed potatoes because the pan fried potatoes are going to be very flavorful. These are more just about the hint of tartness (from the Greek yogurt) and texture.

Dice your tomato, heat your tortillas, and serve.