In the Name of All That is Holy

Tags

African Americans, Christianity, fundamentalism, GOP, Humor, ice cream, Italian, Joe Walsh, Pizza, teabaggers, terrorism

In order to protect my last shred of sanity, we are going to chat about just about anything OTHER than the debt ceiling and the children who claim to be governing us. Indeed the foxes are in charge of the hen-house.

So take a moment, relax, grab a cuppa joe and let’s see if we can find any remnant of a world we can still hang on to.

There is a really good post (most all of them are) over at we are respectable negroes about the backlash the right is giving to the notion that a Christian fundamentalist reeked the horror in Norway. From Beck’s claiming that the children murdered were attending a Hitler Youth-like camp to O’Reilly’s silly claim that he can be “defined” out of being Christian by his unChristian acts, we see a desperation on the part of the right not to be associated with terrorist acts. Chauncey DeVega weighs in.

♦

I was looking at a neat little recipe site the other day, and was reminded of a simple way to make “pizza” when you don’t have much time or are feeling lazy. While not as good as “real” pizza, it’s a nice substitute and heck, it’s down right perfect for those lazy football afternoons coming soon. It’s as simple as using flour tortillas as the “crust” and then adding your favorite toppings. Take a look at the recipe at JustaPinch and take it from there. The cook there calls her simple version, Pizzatillas.

♦

Joe “Hey Chris” Walsh, the blowheart that takes to YouTube to lecture the President and call him a liar, is a bit of a douche. Well a lot of a douche. The man who dares to claim he has all the answers of fiscal responsibility, and who is a loud-mouth TeaNutz® idiot, is a dead-beat dad. In Illinois, Joey owes his kids something over $117 THOUSAND bucks. Didn’t stop him from loaning his own campaign $35,000, but hey, that was important. Taking care of the kids? Not so much.

♦

Political Irony has a delicious piece entitled “To be a Republican You Need to Believe.” It is true, and funny, and sick, and ironic and well, it’s what a GOPer is, nuttier than a fruitcake. Don’t miss it.

♦

Like to make homemade ice cream? Not many people bother, mostly because left over ice cream becomes hard as a rock. This recipe is quick and promises that that will not happen. All you need is an inexpensive ice cream maker (usually under $40). It’s a rich recipe but only takes about 15 minutes to prepare + the machine time. I’m sure gonna try it.

♦

Just because it was cute!

♦

And because it’s true:

(h/t to Political Irony)

♦

Well, frankly there ain’t a lot going on in the blog world except debt ceiling blah blah blah, and so that’s it today!

In Case You Care

Tags

bechamel sauce, enchiladas, GOP, Mexican food, Ohio, Recipes, unions, wacko right wing

Blitzkrieg literally means “lightning war”. It became the Nazi method of surprise attack with overwhelming force. In American terms, think “shock and awe”.

It seems to me, that the assault on public employee unions is much the same. It seems to have been a plot hatched deep in the bowels of Republican bunkers, unleashed after a favorable 2010 election cycle. Strike while the iron is hot as they say.

Republicans in state after state are facing bills introduced by lock-step following drones of the Party hierarchy, all designed to destroy the union movement in America, and thus attempt to weaken if not utterly destroy the Democratic Party who gets most of its votes.

This is all being done against the wishes of the electorate. Poll after poll, even the deeply flawed and uber right leaning arm of the GOP, the Rasmussen, says that the public is overwhelming in its support of the rights of public workers to unionize. The people are not buying the rhetoric of the right plain and simple.

They are not buying the attempts of Fox and other wacko pundits to paint the union workers as grossly overpaid, and not sharing in the pain of “everyone else.” This from the mouths of jackasses who make millions a year. They are not buying the claims that the demonstrators are largely “paid socialists and commies”. In fact Stephen Colbert caught Fox in another of its deliberate lies. It claimed with appropriate footage that demonstrators were from other states, and were “agitators”. Trouble was the agitators were wearing t-shirts and there were palm trees in the background as they marched. Not exactly Madison I’m thinking.

Nothing is too much to achieve their business currying ends. In Ohio, Republican Senate leadership, removed a fellow GOP committee member and replaced him with another GOPer. Why? Because the sitting Republican was not going to vote for their union killing bill. So they just replaced him with one who would. Yeah, that is the lengths these evil people are prepared to go. No democracy for them. No. Just blatant blitzkrieg, good old shock and awe.

***

Okay, so I try to keep my word, so here is the awesome enchilada recipe I concocted. Well, the new and revised version since I really, really don’t like Velveeta®. It’s not the taste so much, it’s the viscosity that leaves a gluey like lip smackin’ sensation. Not good.

What this recipe is designed to do is to eliminate the issue I have with traditionally baked enchiladas, namely the soggy, disintegration of the tortillas during the baking process. The sauce, just melts them away.

This is how I fixed that problem.

Sherry’s Basically Great Enchiladas

Poach a good-sized bone in chicken breast with the usual onion, celery, salt and pepper, bay leaf, until done. Or buy a roasted chicken and shred, or use some left over chicken you already have.  Set aside, cool, and debone and cube. I’d say around 3-4 cups. (Any other meat or seafood is also acceptable)

Meanwhile, in a microwave-safe bowl, place 4 oz of creamed cheese, 1 tsp each garlic and onion granules or powder, a pinch of salt, 1/3 tsp pepper, 1 Tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 2 tables fresh cilantro chopped, 1 chopped jalapeno. Microwave just long enough to make the cream cheese stir-able. 

Add chicken and loosen with a bit of milk if it’s too thick to stir easily.

Take your tortillas, flour or corn as you desire. Heat a burner (I have an electric stove, use a griddle pan if you have gas), lay each tortilla on it until it just begins to smoke, turn over and do the other side. Repeat with remaining tortillas (about 6). This leaves nice burnt bits here and there on the tortillas.

Fill the tortillas with about 2 Tbsp of the chicken. Place in a foil lined and oiled baking pan. When finished cover the pan with foil and set aside. I do this in the morning and leave them until ready to warm up for dinner. Otherwise place in oven at 275° for 30 minutes or long enough to warm through.

Meanwhile, make a roux of 1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp flour in a pan. when melted and mixed, add 1 C warm milk. Bring to boil until thickened. Add 1 C shredded cheddar, Monterey jack, or other cheese of choice. Add 1 jalapeno diced, 1/3 c of green pepper.  Loosen the mixture with a bit of milk again. You want this to be ladle-able.

Place the enchiladas and cheese sauce on the table, along with sour cream and salsa (home-made if you like –my recipe is on this blog under I think condiments or Tex-Mex) and green onions and ripe olives sliced for garnish, along with thinly sliced shredded cabbage. I know this sounds weird but the crunch is wonderful. (add it to the top of the enchiladas before the cheese sauce.)

That’s it! 

Related Articles

• Walker Losing Support from Senate Republicans in Wisconsin? (news.firedoglake.com)
• Cracks In Republican Support For Governor Walker Anti-Union Bill (dekerivers.wordpress.com)
• “Wisconsin Republicans Preparing to Break With Union Busting Gov. Walker?” and related posts (guerillawomentn.blogspot.com)
• Republicans to debate Ohio union bill for weeks (reuters.com)
• GOP In Danger of Losing Younger Voters in Wisconsin? (themoderatevoice.com)

Are Ya Hungry?

Tags

Pork, Recipes, tex-mex, wonton tacos

So, a few weeks ago, the Contrarian broke down and took me out to eat during a busy shopping spree in town. We decided on Applebee’s. We had a great appetizer called Wonton Tacos. If you haven’t tried them, do so, but read on.

Course, I assumed that I was the only one who so liked these that I would try to duplicate them myself. Duh. I actually found another recipe, based on Applebee’s format, but thought it rather tacky since it started with “purchased” barbecued pork.

I mean, that is not cooking, that is putting other people’s cooking together to form a dish. Okay, if you want to, feel free, but my recipe is not complicated nor messy as it might appear at first glance.

We made these last Friday and frankly they were not exactly what Applebee’s had, but close enough, and so delicious that the Contrarian swears mine were better. That may or may not be, but, take a look.

The Meat

pork brisket (my butcher said boneless pork ribs would suffice) 1-1½ lbs

salt, pepper, garlic powder, season generously

liquid smoke- 1 tbsp

oil- 1 tbsp

beef broth – low sodium – 3/4 cup

barbecue sauce – 2/3 cup

Add the oil to a large enough (cast iron preferred ) pot to accommodate the meat in one layer without crowding.  Season the meat and brown on all sides over med-high heat. Reduce heat to a low simmer and add beef broth and liquid smoke. Liquid should come up at least 1/3 of the way up the meat.  Cover and braise (very low boil) for at least 2 hours or until the meat starts to fall apart when picked up with tongs. Remove from liquid and set aside to cool. Pull apart into shreds with forks or tongs.

You can do this in the morning if you wish and then add the barbecue sauce near dinner time and reheat to just warm in the microwave. Mix the sauce into the shredded meat. The amount here is flexible. I would say you want the meat covered, but not sopping.

As to the barbecue sauce: Use your favorite homemade or bottled. It is better if it is not a sweet sauce, but heat of course is up to you. I like both Cattleman’s and Budweiser commercial brands.

 The Coleslaw

1/4 head of a medium cabbage

mayo – scant 1/3 cup

pepper 1/2 tsp

salt – pinch

vinegar – 2 tsp

hot sauce 1 tbsp or as you wish

sugar – 1 tbsp or to taste

You of course can buy the store bought stuff, but slicing it yourself is certainly not hard. I’d say about 2 cups. As to the dressing, I know there is store dressing, but I have never used it. The point of this dressing is that it needs to be sweet to offset the tang of the barbecue sauce, and not too vinegary.

As to amounts, please understand that I don’t personally use a lot of measuring when I cook, so I’m trying to estimate for you. The coleslaw when dressed should be quite a bit drier than you might normally like for regular coleslaw. It’s the crunch and the sweetness that you want more than the mayo. If you barbecue sauce is quite “hot” then you might want to lessen the heat in the slaw.

 The Wontons

One package – you will use only a fraction of the package. I froze the balance in three packages. Don’t know if it will work or not, but I couldn’t just throw them away!

Oil for deep fat frying

This is the tricky part, and frankly I puzzled for a long time. Wontons are square, so to make them like “taco’s” means to corner them, leaving a fillable pocket. Also we assumed we had to submerge the entire thing and so we were thinking fairly deep oil as well.

All this is off-putting, since I don’t like the mess of deep frying, but in the end, we found it was simple. After trying to make the “taco” shapes, we realized that we could do it faster and easier by ignoring that shape entirely. (The pic above is NOT ours, but Applebee’s)

Use a small-even a 6 inch is fine-cast iron pan. Fill with at least an inch of oil (canola). Heat to around 375.  Lay the wonton in the oil and immediately depress the middle with the flat of a wooden spoon or a gravy ladle. Hold for a few seconds until the form is set and then let fry for a few additional seconds. They take only about 1 minute per, so it goes fast. Remove with tongs and place on a paper towel lined cookie sheet. When all are done, place in a warm oven until you are ready to eat.

The oil can be saved. It is essentially perfectly “clean.” So the mess is minimal and you don’t use much oil at all.

Assemble by placing a tablespoon or so of the pulled pork into the “well” and then add about the same amount of slaw. Enjoy.

I think some sprigs of cilantro might be a nice addition if you like it. We didn’t think of that. You can also of course use chicken or beef for that matter. As long as the meat will pull, it will work.

We ate four apiece. You may want more or less depending on whether you have any sides. The meat will make about 16 tacos I would guess. We tried the remainder of the meat on Sunday on just hamburger buns. The Contrarian thought they were fine, but the crunch of the wontons really really adds to the dish I found.

Short Takes on the Day, 07/19/09

Tags

agnostics, atheists, believers, blogs, book reviewing, fundamentalists, nachos, Recipes, Sarah Palin, tex-mex

I’m layin’ back and enjoying the day, as best as I can, given it’s barely breaking 70 today. Not skipping church, if you were thinking that. I went yesterday, a first time for me. I was obligated to set up for our library book sale, so it obviously made no sense not to go to Saturday evening services. It was different. Not my cup o’ tea as they say. But as our priest said, “now you’ve been to one!”

So, I’m foot loose and fancy free as they say, or don’t as you prefer your metaphor.  I’m not sure what foot loose means, nor fancy free for that matter. Another of those things we take for granted and have no clue where they came from. Probably had something to do with the plague or something. You know that “ring around the rosy” got it’s start there don’t cha?  Yep.

***

Moving right along, I just wanted to announce that I’m a bona fide professional book reviewer. I’m sure you can tell the difference, when I passed through that portal into the rarefied confines of New York publishing heaven. Yes indeed, and the view is quite fine looking down upon the rest of you wannabes.

The proof of my new found status is that I received in the mail, U N S O L I C I T E D, my first book from a publisher. Now I was curious, and somewhat confused to be sure at first. I dutifully looked through my LibraryThing (located to the left down the sidebar), assuming it was one that I had checked off as wanting to review. No such find. I noted that it came from the Hachette  Book Group, which distributes for Little Brown & Co. I noted that the review I just did for “The Evolution of God” came from LB&C. So my interest was piqued.

I finally wrote an email to the distributor, and received a reply rather quickly. Indeed, they had thought I might enjoy the book sent, and would be most pleased should I review it. A cheesy smile encompasses my face, as I am back in the throes of “professional” something or other, albeit, no word of $$$ seemed to cross a lip either way. I’m not sure if money is required to seal the deal, but I’m choosing to revel in my new found glory. I assume of course that you are all suitably impressed and will announce this fact around your neighborhood, family, and professional associations as well.

***

Moving on to the short takes as it were. I was alerted via email by Shannon of a blog I should look at, a post in particular and found myself at “Caught a glimpse of Jesus down by the railroad tracks…”  This in reference to my mini rant of two days about  “What is the Message?”  Said blogger is in discernment for the diaconate in TEC, and runs a homeless shelter. Interesting and compelling reading, so take a look.

***

I ran across this piece and found it highly amusing and well, heck far be it from me to stop beating a dead horse. I say turn it into horseburger! Sarah, well known, for being the most incurious politician in America, unless the curiosity has to do with herself, is almost unintelligible as you well know. Her inability to capture a single thought and expound on it in any rational way are legend. This post from John Lundberg at HuffPo, shows just how easy it is to find the poet in Sarah’s words, if not any sense. Since poetry need not contain sense, well it all makes perfect sense doesn’t it? Enjoy. Few laughs are as cheap as this one.

***

A couple of atheists took me to task for my post last week about atheists and that I found them intellectually wanting. Seems at least one person agrees with me, lumping their “certainty” of no God as about as obnoxious as the “certainty” of fundamentalists. Now I hadn’t thought of that. Just a short piece by worth a gander. As I continued compiling this post, more was generated in comments to the above and so another post ensued. It makes for good reading if you are so inclined in the atheist-vs-agnostic-vs-believer saga.

***

And just cuz it’s been forever since I posted a recipe, I thought I’d do one that makes my mouth water, nachos! Good homemade nachos are priceless in the Tex-Mex inventory, and this one just says, yowie, that’s a spicy nacho! As with all nachos you can add or subtract ingredients here and there as your taste dictates. Let’s hear it for Spicy Chicken Nachos!

I think that next week, we shall be trying some of these! No need to thank me for helping you with menu planning! lol.

***

Okay, go out and enjoy what’s left of Sunday. And bring back the sun and some heat. I’m sick of fall weather in July.

Bring on the Food!

Tags

Casseroles, Quesadillas, recipe, salsa

Oh it was a good Sunday past for me. Hope it was for you as well. A couple of things made it special for me. First of all, I was a chalice bearer for the first time. I had a fifteen minute training in all the issues that come up with serving the cup. I had no idea so many things could go wrong, but thankfully nothing did on my first time around.

I had a veteran server kind of lead me around. I sure made a few mistakes, but on the whole, it went well. I think I was not prepared for how emotional it would make me, and I nearly choked on the first, “The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation.” It is a solemn and awesome experience and I look forward to serving my parish in this way.

The one thing I learned, was to pick up the cossack going up the stairs to the altar. I stepped on it the first time, and remembered always to hike it up. I already knew to pull it up off my heels when kneeling.

Okay, enough of that, which was interesting to three people in the world who read this and have done chalice serving! The second great part of the day, was that we had our church picnic after services.

That was just a nice time. We women bet against the men in accumulating funds that would be going to various missions, I think half  went to our sister parish in Swaziland. One of our younger members was having to get his hair cut for a play I believe, and so his haircut was auctioned. We left before the deed, but I think they had raised a fair amount. I think the Contrarian enjoyed himself and he met a couple we are going to visit on Friday at a gallery where they are having drinks and hors d’oeuvres to celebrate an anniversary.  We had a very nice time. But then, it’s quite easy since my parish is just filled with wonderful people!

Anyway, I decided, that since this is my blog, I’d go off on a tangent today and give you another of my recipes. Since no one has sent a threatening e-mail telling me to knock it off, I hope that you enjoy them here and there and even try one or two on occasion.

Since I love Mexican food, this is another. This is my creation, but I am positive I’ve seen recipes like this, and to some extent I’m recalling some parts from various ones. It’s called: (trumpets and flourishes please)> > > >

Quesadillas la Torre al la Sherry

1 lb. ground round

1 jalapeno pepper finally diced

   Add your favorite Mexican spices and fry it up. I use salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, chipotle powder, cumin. I’d use about 1/2 tsp of each.

Prepare the following fillings in sufficient amounts for about 4 traditional quesadillas:

chopped tomatoes (I used Romas because they have few seeds, about 3)

chopped green onions, white and green, about 5 

shredded monterey jack cheese, about a lb.

1 pkg of flour tortillas, corn if you prefer

I used a spring form pan that the 8 inch tortillas fit in. I lined the pan with foil so that I could fold it over the tower and keep things tight.

I have an electric stove, so I heated the large burner and dropped a tortilla on and left for about 6 sec. As it starts to smoke, turn over with tongs, and do the other side. This makes a nice charred flavor. Place in the foiled pan.

Add some meat, tomatoes, onions and cheese. Top with another charred tortilla. Continue building until you run out of meat. I used, I believe, eight tortillas in all, ending with a tortilla on top. Cover with foil. (NOTE: I didn’t use a lot of filling between each tortilla, probably at best a cup total of all the ingredients.)

Bake in the over  at 350 for a minimum of 30 min. 45 might be better. If 30, be sure to preheat the oven. You basically just want to melt the cheese and get everything nice and warm.

Cut into wedges, and serve with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa, on a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce. You can find my salsa recipe under “Condiments” in recipes on the sidebar. (It’s the first entry) Oh and serve with some lime quarters too.

You of course can vary this recipe according to your particular likes and dislikes. Chicken would be fine, as would shredded pork or roast beef. Corn might be a fun addition. Cheddar cheese or some of the Mexican cheeses would work as well. Be creative. If you use corn tortillas I think I might bake them to the crunchy stage, but that will change the texture of the entire tower quite a bit. You don’t need to do that of course. There are lots of alternatives. I used the iceburg lettuce as a crunchy cold foil to the hot spicy effect of the quesadillas. Depending on how much jalepeno or other pepper you decide to use, you could eliminate this. I thought it did look nice though as well on the plating.

Here’s to Yummy!

Bet You Can Cook!

Tags

eggs, frittata, herbs, salsa

I don’t want to be presumptuous or anything, but do you have trouble finding a way to save your fresh parsley and cilantro? For that matter, any fresh herb? I used to, but I found a sure proof way of saving it, keeping it fresh, and ALWAYS having some on hand.

This of course is much less of a problem in the summer time when those of us with outdoor space of any kind can grow our own, and always have it ready to pick. But even then, plants don’t always grow enough, and at the right time.

Although with most recipes you can eliminate the herbs like parsley, they do add a definite sparkle to a dish, as well as impart flavor. And no, dried don’t always work as well. Rosemary most definitely is great dried, but things like basil just suck dried, and parsley and cilantro aren’t a lot better.

While I’ve only used this method on parsley and cilantro, I think it would work fine on any herb. So here we go:

You come home with a banded bouquet of parsley. Leave on the band or not as you desire. Depending on the size of the bundle you may want to work in a couple of smaller bundles. The stems of parsley can be fibrous, so you don’t want to be chopping the lower parts of the stems into the mix. Hold in the hand by the stems like you would a bouquet, and “shave” off the leaves, pointing the bundle downward as you do. Turn as needed until it’s clean. Some stem is okay, but you will get most of the leaves this way and quickly.

You can of course do it piece by piece, stripping the leaves but this will take a long time, and none of us usually has time.

Once you have  nice pile on the cutting board, use a big chef’s knife and chop the mess. Periodically pile the outside to the center as the parsley chops up into nice bits. Use a rocking motion, guiding with the free hand on top of the blade at the end of the knife. You’ve seen this on TV no doubt.

If you are not a good hand chopper, throw it into a food processor and pulse it until the desired size. Be careful here, you don’t want puree, so just a second at a time.

Once it has reached the right chop size, place in a bowl. Now drizzle olive oil over it. You don’t need to submerge it, just enough to coat all of it. Pour a little, then stir and when it starts to really cling together, you have added enough.

Now take a pan of some sort, I small loaf pan, a 8 x 8 or something like that. Line with wax paper, and spoon your parsley into it. Spread it a bit and then add a layer of plastic wrap and then you can gently pat it out into a rectangle. Keep it somewhere around 1/4 inch thick.

Pop it into the freezer and leave until it’s frozen. Now the oil won’t freeze, but it will stiffen, and the water in the parsley will also harden it. Take out and score with a knife into what approximates 1 tablespoon. You can actually cut into cubes if you wish, but I leave it on the wax paper, and then pop it into a plastic bag.

When I need some fresh parsley, I just take a knife and cut through the size I need and return the rest to the freezer.

For Cilantro, do the same, but the stems here are much more tender and harder to shave, so don’t worry about removing so much stem.

This will work on basil and frankly, all fresh herbs that I can think of. Make sure that you label the freezer bag since there is a big difference between parsley and cilantro in taste, and once chopped and stored you won’t be able to tell the difference by looking!

Here’s my favorite homemade salsa recipe just cuz I love ya!

• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes (fresh of course is fine)
• 2 cloves of garlic minced (use a micro plane if you have it, and get one if you don’t, they are priceless for doing this fast!)
• 1/3 c of minced onion (more or less, diced fine or not as you like)
• 1 jalepeno pepper diced fine (I freeze these whole and just defrost and remove the seeds which turn brown anyway. Use more or less heat or other peppers as you like)
• Salt and pepper
• 1-2 Tbsps fresh cilantro
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• juice of one lime (optional–it brightens everything, but you can get away without it. you can freeze lime juice in cubes too so it can be another item always on hand.)

Mix and let set for a couple of hours in the fridge before serving on your favorite Mexican dish.

We’re having a frittata today. That’s just eggs with whatever in it. We are having a pork sausage, onion, potato, asparagus, smoked Gruyere, parsley frittata. Cook everything separately, layer all starting with potatoes on the bottom, ending with the cheese. Whisk eggs (4-6) add 1 to 1 1/2 c  milk and/or cream, salt, pepper, fresh parsley, pour on top, cook until set, then under the broiler to cook the top lightly. Add a salad and your set!

Latin Fling

Tags

Arroz con Pollo, carribean, chicken, Latin, Recipes, rice, tex-mex

Yesterday, I spend the day at a church retreat as a special Lenten kickoff. We had a wonderful time and it was a good beginning to the season. We were blessed to have with us our former diocesan bishop and he offered much wisdom and lots of useful techniques to help us explore our relationship with God in a deeper way.

Following that, I ran off to collect some food for dinner, but was delayed again in arriving home by stopping to help a man who had accidently left a gate open. Two nice quarterhorses were viewing the world from the highway. I was able to be of some minor assistance in collecting them and giving him time to lead them back to their pasture. It was nice to get my hands on a horse again!

So, what that all meant is that I was tired and not at all interested in posting yesterday. So I thought I would post today the recipe for Arroz con Pollo I mentioned the other day. I got the recipe from Cook Magazine’s Test Kitchen show, shown on PBS. It turned out fabulously and we loved it. As there are about as many recipes for chicken and rice as their are chickens, you can feel free to substitute. Many of the photos I found clearly had green peas in them, so you might add that, but I would only do so at the very end, since they really don’t need cooking.

~~~

Traditional recipes start with a whole fryer cut up. This recipe called for only chicken thighs. I think that works better because not all pieces otherwise need the same cooking time.

6 thighs ( trim excess fat, but don’t remove skin yet)

Place in a marinade of:

6 cloves garlic mashed, or minced

1 tsp salt

1/2 oregano

1 tsp white vinegar

1/2 pepper

1/4 tsp red chili flakes

Marinate at room temp for 15 min. If longer, in the fridge.

Meanwhile:

In a oven ready pot:

1-2 TBSP oil

Add 1 lg. onion, 1 green pepper, and 1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes

Cook until softened (omit the extra chili peppers if you don’t like a little spice.

Add Chicken to the pot, skin side down, brown lightly at medium heat, turn and do other side.

When this is complete, add:

1 3/4 c. chicken stock

1/4 c. H20

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

2 TBSP cilantro, chopped

cover, reduce to a low simmer and cook for 20 min.

Add:

3 c rice

1/2 c pimentoed olives

1 TBSP capers, rinsed,

return to a simmer while heating oven to 350.

When ready, put in over for 20 min. Then stir, and if needed add a bit more water, and cook another 10 min.

Remove from oven and removed chicken.

With spoons or forks, remove meat from the bones and place in a separate dish. Discard skin.

Add to this:

1tsp olive oil

2 tsp vinegar

2 TBSP Cilantro chopped

1/4 to 1/2 c roasted peppers chopped roughly.

Mix and then add back to the rice and stir, and let sit a couple of minutes to rewarm.

Serve with tortillas. I’d say it serves about 6 comfortably.

Enjoy!