Author Archives: Ducks Mahal

Carne Asada (Fajitas)

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Steak:
2 pounds skirt/flank steak and olive oil. I prefer skirt.

Marinade:
    1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
    1/4 cup olive oil
    1 cup soy sauce
    1 cup pineapple juice
    Juice of 1 lime
    2 cloves garlic, minced
   

Bell Pepper Sauce:
Mix of green, yellow, and red bell and red onion. Saute in:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 TBSP red wine
1 TBSP lime juice
1 tsp honey
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Dash onion powder
Dash cumin, ground
S&P

These can be made into fajitas by adding guacamole, salsa and sour cream on a small flour tortilla. 

Directions:
In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine steak and marinade and marinate for at least 4 hours to overnight. Drain the steak from the marinade and pat dry..

Preheat grill. Using paper towels, pat both sides of the steak dry; season with salt and pepper, to taste and add paint a little olive oil on the steak.

Add steak to grill and cook 1 minute on the first side, flip and cook 1 minute on the reverse side, then do again but cross the steak for grill marks for medium rare. Let rest 10 minutes.

Thinly slice steak against the grain and serve.

As of 6/6/24

Egg Salad

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How to boil an egg.  A friend showed me this method and it really works.  Place 5 to 6 eggs in a pan that has a lid and preferably a long handle.  Fill the pan with water but only a quarter inch high (~1 ½ cups).  Bring to a boil on medium high.  When the water starts to boil put the lid on and cook 11 minutes.  Pour out the hot water and fill the pan with cold water to stop the cooking.  Pull each egg and crack it lightly around and place back into the water and leave there until the eggs completely cool.  You will notice the eggs peel perfectly if you do this.  The water seeps in under the shell.  Place on a plate and leave there.

5 to 6 eggs
1 TBSP finely chopped celery
1 TBSP finely chopped yellow or red onion
A dash of Lawry’s season salt
A dash of fine ground black pepper
1 tsp Dijon mustard
A dash of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce
~1/3 cup mayo or better Kewpie Japanese Mayo (I always use Kewpie)

With a fork mash the eggs on the plate and place in a bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients, stir and place in the frig for later use.

As of 5/16/21

Simple Chicken Thai

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Serves 2

1 carrot – cut into matchsticks or cubed
½ red bell pepper – cut into match sticks or cubed
½ orange\yellow bell pepper – cut into match sticks of cubed
½ red onion – chopped
2 green onions (scallions) – chopped
1 TBSP fresh ginger – run through a small shredder
1 TBSP cloves garlic – run through a small shredder
½ Jalapeño cut down the center and sliced
1 TBSP vegetable oil
1 TBSP butter
Salt and pepper
3 chicken thighs
Water, 2 cups strain and retain for chicken broth, use ½ cup of chicken stock
½ cup white wine
1 can Thai Kitchen coconut milk
1 cup rice
Dash (2 TBSP) of cilantro leaves. (Pull leaves from stem)
Sriracha at the end

Start the rice to cook, should be 30 minutes in a rice cooker.

In a large sauce pan, place the chicken in with water up to the chicken. Boil the chicken until almost cooked, still a little pink. Remove the chicken, remove the skin and debone the meat, cutting into bite size pieces and place pieces in a bowl and set aside. Strain the chicken broth and keep the natural stock.

In a large Dutch oven add vegetable oil and butter and sauté red onion, green onion, garlic and ginger. Add the carrots, bell pepper and Jalapeño. Cook on medium several minutes. Add the wine and de-glaze.  Add the chicken broth. Cook several minutes.

Add the can of coconut milk and stir. Cook on medium heat a few more minutes. Add S&P.  Return the chicken.

Serve: When the chicken is cooked, place rice in a bowl, spoon the Thai chicken and sauce over the rice, add the cilantro and even add a little Sriracha if you like a little heat.

As of 5/15/21

Pork Chop with Bok Choy and Peaches

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(click on pic to enlarge)

This is one of the Little Woman’s favorite dishes she makes often. We’ve eaten this dish for a long time and it has always been an easy quick meal.

The recipe calls for baby bok choy but one large bok choy will work just as well, or actually any greens like kale or even spinach will do.

2 Servings

Ingredients:

3 baby bok choy or 1/2 large bok choy chopped
4 thin pork chops or 2 Iowa chops without bone, serve whole or chopped into bite size pieces
1 small can of peaches with the juice (1/2 cup) chopped
1 TBSP oil
5 Shiitake mushrooms fresh or dried and soaked in water – chopped
½ onion chopped
4 chopped scallions
1 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 tsp corn starch mixed in 2 tsp cold water
dash of 5 Spice
dash of soy sauce
Salt and Pepper
1 cup of rice

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In a large pan on medium heat add oil and brown the pork chops. Remove and place in a dish. Add onions and sauté 8 minutes. Add wine and deglaze the pan several minutes. Add mushrooms and peaches and cook for several minutes. Add the bok choy and chicken stock and the corn starch and stir until the sauce begins to thicken. Add a dash of 5 Spice, soy sauce and stir. Salt and pepper to taste. Return the meat, reduce heat to simmer and cover and cook for 30 minutes. While that is cooking cook one cup of rice in a rice cooker or as instructed on the package. Serve dish over a bed of rice.

That.is.it. – A very tasty dish.

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Can it be that easy?

(Someone say yes.)

As of 4/13/21

Split Pea Soup

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(click on pic to enlarge)

I like a silky thick Split Pea Soup. Some like it with roughage, but I like it silky.  The way I make it silky is with a hand blender.

Ingredients:

2 celery stalk (Peeled and chopped)
½ onion (chopped)
3 carrot (shredded) (Retain one carrot for later)
1 garlic clove (minced)
1 potato (peeled and cut into squares)
~4 cups chicken stock
1 cup white wine
1 cup ham cut into squares (I also added Tasso, a Cajun ham and apple chicken sausage)
1/2 Lb. split peas (I use the New Orleans Favorite, Camellia brand, rinsed)
1 bay leaf
Sea Salt
Pepper
Water
Olive Oil

Prepare the onions, carrots and celery and set aside in a bowl and place in the frig. 

Put the pea in a pot and cover with water and gently cook until the pea get medium soft.  Remove and drain.  Put the potatoes in another pot and add water and boil until the potatoes get half cooked.  Remove and drain.  In the soup pot add the oil, onions, carrots, celery, garlic and on low heat sweat the veggies.  Add the white wine.  Return the peas and potato.  Add some broth just to cover the peas, add salt, pepper and bay leaf and cook on medium until the peas get soft. 

Remove the bay leaf and set aside.  With the hand blender blend the peas and veggies until silky.  Return the bay leaf and if needed add broth.  The soup should not be too liquid or too thick.  Just silky.  Add the meat and cook 20 minutes.  Serve with bread.

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As of 3/30/21