Corn and Roasted Poblano Pepper Stuffed Chicken

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Luis De Avila

I was struck by inspiration this morning and cooked this up. The recipe is rough. I’ll update it at some point with more detail… maybe. :)

Ingredients

  • 4 skinless chicken breasts
  • 4 strips of bacon
  • 2 Poblano Peppers
  • 1 small white onion, diced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 2 cups of corn kernels
  • salt and pepper
  • Mexican queso fresc
Corn And Roasted Poblano Pepper Stuffed Chicken Breast

Directions

  1. Roast the poblano peppers. Peel the skins off. Dice the poblano peppers.
  2. In a large skillet saute the garlic and onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook until the onion is translucent. Once translucent, mix in the poblano peppers and corn. . Continue cooking over moderately high heat until a light amount of browning occurs. Make sure to season again if needed. Set the mixture aside and let it cool.
  3. Pound the chicken breasts flat to a thickness of about 1/4 of an inch. Try to pound the breasts into a square shape if possible.
  4. Take half the corn, poblano, and onion mixture and puree it in a blender until it is smooth. Pass the puree through a sieve.
  5. Fold half the puree into the remaining corn, poblano, and onion mixture to create the chicken breast filling.
  6. Season the bacon and chicken breasts on both sides with salt.
  7. Place 2 or 3 spoonfuls of the filling in the center of a chicken breast. Roll the breasts so they contain the filling. Use toothpicks to keep the chicken breasts rolled and the ends closed. Wrap a strip of bacon around the rolled chicken breast. Continue this process with the remaining breasts.
  8. Place a small amount of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Fry the chicken breast rolls on all sides such that the bacon becomes crispy and the breasts are nicely browned. Careful not to over cook the chicken or burn the bacon.
  9. Serve the chicken breasts on a plate with some of the remaining puree and queso fresco
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Tonight at Baker Ben’s Barn of Bran…

Posted on July 10, 2010 by Luis De Avila

Tonight at Baker Ben’s Barn of Bran… No bran but we did bake a cake. Baked a German Chocolate Cake with my sister. We used an excellent recipe from Cook’s Illustrated. Also on the menu is…

  • Course 1: Spinach Salad with Roasted Egg Plant and Reb Bell Pepper and Goat Cheese.
  • Course 2: Miguel’s Elven Carrot, Parsnip, and Lemon Soup
  • Course 3: Grilled Pork Chops or Grilled Chicken with Mo’s BBQ Sauce
  • Course 4: The German Chocolate Cake of course

Here are some cake pics:

Cooking The Cake Filling

Making The Batter

The Chef

The Cake Layers

Putting It All Together

The Finished Product
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Tonight at Vern’s Vegetable Vehicle…

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Luis De Avila

Tonight at Vern’s Vegetable Vehicle (yes we’ve gone mobile) we’re attempting to recreate the Carrot and Lemon Soup from Elf Cafe in Echo Park, CA… We’re using our Tierra Miguel Farms CSA produce from last week and making  Carrot, Parsnip, and Lemon Soup.

Cash Only. Please form line along the left side of the truck. Follow us on Tweeter. ;)

Here’s a quick and dirty recipe for Miguel’s Elven Carrot, Parsnip, and Lemon Soup. I promise, not really, to take better notes when I cook and to take pics as well.

Ingredients

  • About 4 fist fulls of carrots
  • About 1 fist full of parsnips
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Olive Oil
  • 1 Lemon
  • About 1 cup of water

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  2. Chop the carrots and parsnips into 1 inch thick discs and place them in a large bowl.
  3. Pour enough olive oil on the carrots and parsnips so they are lightly coated and season with salt and pepper.
  4. Evenly distribute the carrots and parsnips on a baking pan and roast them for about 45 minutes.
  5. After 45 minutes remove the carrots and parsnips from the oven and let them cool for about 10 minutes.
  6. Place the vegetables in a food processor along with the 1 cup of water.
  7. Puree the vegetables until they are smooth… about 5 minutes.
  8. Take small batches of the carrot and parsnip puree, about 4 batches in total, and pass them through a mesh strainer sieve so most of the thicker fibers and particles are trapped by the sieve.
  9. Place sieved puree in a large sauce pan to warm the puree. If necessary, add more water to the puree so it becomes more soup-like. It should have the consistency of a bisque. If you aren’t familiar with the consistency of bisque, then sucks to be you… you’ll have to guess.
  10. Bring the soup to a boil and remove it from heat.
  11. Add the lemon juice and mix well.
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J.R.’s Ratatouille – A.K.A. I Suck At Keeping Promises Sometimes

Posted on June 27, 2010 by Luis De Avila

Here is my version of ratatouille. It’s called J.R.’s Ratatouille because my friend J.R. has been bugging me for the recipe for ages now. In all fairness… I promised her the recipe but haven’t delivered. Boo on me…. until now. So J.R. Here it is. The ratatouille you love. Just for you…

Ingredients

  • 2 Japanese Eggplants
  • 4 Small Tomatoes
  • 1 Small Yellow Onion
  • 1 Red Bell Pepper
  • 2 Zucchini
  • 2 Yellow Squash
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Fresh Oregano
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Fresh Thyme
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Fresh Rosemary
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Fresh Salt? ;)
  • 1/4 Tablespoon Freshly Ground Pepper
  • 6 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

Directions

NOTE: When purchasing the produce try to get produce of similar diameter. The reason for this is mainly for aesthetics.

ANOTHER NOTE: I’m going off memory here so I may be a little off on the herbs… On the low end.

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.
  2. Finely chop all the herbs. Mix the herbs together with the salt and pepper. Set the mixture aside.
  3. Cut the tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and onion into 1 and1/2  inch wide pieces/discs.
  4. Cut the bell pepper into cubes that are about the size of the vegetable discs.
  5. Place all the vegetables in a very large bowl and sprinkle 1/3 of the oil and herbs all over the top. Toss the vegetables with your hands.
  6. Repeat step five.
  7. Repeat step five again.
  8. Arrange the vegetables vertically in a 3-quart casserole. (Usually these dishes are 5inches by 9 inches. Approx.)
  9. Place the casserole on the lowest rack in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
  10. After 30 minutes turn up the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes until the tops of the vegetables are nice and brown.
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Our First Tierra Miguel CSA Produce Box

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Luis De Avila

As a foodie I push myself to appreciate as many aspects of food culture as I can. For the last few months I’ve wanted to better understand where my food comes from. Well, I did something about it recently. It started with shopping at farmer’s markets and after deciding farmer’s market produce was too expensive and time consuming it culminated in signing up for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. The program I chose to join was the one offered by the Tierra Miguel Foundation. I chose Tierra Miguel’s CSA program because it’s in Southern California, organic, and non-profit. Yes. I am as much a Green foodie as I am a cutthroat capitalist. (No. Those things are not mutually exclusive.)

After some initial confusion last week… THIS week we received our first Tierra Miguel box of produce. My intent with future blog posts is to share our experience with cooking with CSA produce. I know I will find it fun to cook within the limits of what each week’s box of produce contains. Maybe you’ll find it fun too.

This week’s box included:

  • carrots
  • beets
  • parsnips
  • chard
  • strawberries
  • oregano
  • zucchini

Oye! This could be challenging. :) If you have any recipe suggestion please share them via comments!

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