Puerto Rican Soupy Chicken and Rice

I've been traveling for work in Asia lately and came home with a little tummy bug.  The funny thing is, I am pretty positive it's not from something I ate in Thailand, but actually something I ate on the airplane!  Yikes.  

When  you've been gone so long and eating all sorts of fresh, spicy and delicious food, you want a bit of comfort food.  I had saved this recipe from a Food & Wine issue as it looked delicious. I am happy to say this one is a keeper.  Easy to make, mostly healthy and not too spicy.  

This makes a large batch, and I had to swap out my 5.5 qt dutch oven for my 7 qt dutch oven once I got all the ingredients into the pan and ready to cook it. I could tell that once the rice cooked, it was going to overflow, so plan accordingly.  These leftovers make great lunches, but it isn't as saucy when it gets reheated as the rice continues to soak in all the liquids. No worries... I think you will still enjoy it.

The recipe calls for Adobo seasoning, which I didn't have, and since I had all the spices I needed, I made some.  At the end of this post is the recipe I found online for Adobo seasoning. I did reduce the salt as I felt it was too salty, it would be better to add your own salt than risk over seasoning with this mix.

Ingredients
Serves about 8

5 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1 teaspoon adobo seasoning* (Goya brand is good, or make your own)

Salt  and freshly ground black pepper

2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced

1 onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth

2 (14.5-ounces) cans diced tomatoes

2 cups water

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 1/2 cups medium-grain rice

2 cup thawed frozen peas

1 cup small pimiento-stuffed olives

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

In a large enameled cast-iron Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season the chicken with the adobo and black pepper. Brown the chicken in 3 batches over moderately high heat, 6 to 8 minutes per batch, turning each halfway through. Transfer the browned chicken thighs to a plate.

In the pot, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Add the bell peppers, onion, and garlic to the pot, and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 6 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until it turns brick red, about 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes and their juice, 2 cups water, bay leaf, and crushed red pepper. Bring to a simmer. 

Return the chicken to the pot, stir in the rice, and cook, covered, over moderately low heat until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Stir in the peas and olives, and let stand until heated through, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving.

Here it is once it was browned.

Peppers, onions and garlic, oh my!

Mixing in the tomato paste

Adobo Seasoning

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1 1⁄2 teaspoons onion powder

1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon chili Powder

Elvis Presley Pineapple Sheet Cake

I know now why Elvis is dead.
If this is his favorite cake, then I know he ate entirely too much sugar!  LOL, it is a delicious cake though, and very, very easy to make. 

I was very intrigued when I saw this recipe online, but I was expecting that an Elvis cake would be peanut butter, banana and bacon. I mean, I always heard that was his favorite sandwich?  Obviously Elvis needed the help of a good dietitian.

This is a great recipe to bring to a pot luck, it travels well and it is very moist and yummy.
My advice?  Don't eat cake like this every day...

Note- (This makes a LOT of frosting, you could halve the recipe...)

Serves a bunch

Ingredients

1 package (18.25 ounce) yellow cake mix- prepared per the box

1 can (8 ounce) crushed pineapple, with juice

1 2/3 cup white sugar

1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese

1⁄2 cup butter, softened

4 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

Prepare cake according to instructions on the package. Bake in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Allow to cool.

Combine pineapple and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Spoon over cooled cake.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add vanilla extract and pecans and mix well.

Spread cream cheese frosting over the cake.

Here's the cooled cake with the pineapple syrup poured over.

I used all of this frosting, but it was thick!  It would be just as good with half as much frosting.

Polly's Everything but the Kitchen Sink Cookies

I texted my sister and asked about those "kitchen sink" cookies, hoping she'd send me her recipe for these fantastic cookies that she makes that have so many great flavors- fruit, nuts, coconut, chocolate- you name it, it's in there.

She was funny, as you can see from our text interchange. 
Since I didn't get a real recipe out of my sister, my recipe is loosely based this one from Martha Stewart. 

One note, I used walnuts in this recipe and didn't stop to taste them before mixing them up.  Yep, my walnuts were bad/rancid and I did have to throw away my first batch as the bad taste permeated the whole batch.

They say "one bad apple can spoil the whole cart", but why don't they say "one bad walnut can wreck the whole batch of cookies"?.  Because it is a real thing! When in doubt, throw them out!

Makes about 3 dozen
Ingredients

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup old-fashioned rolled, or steel cut*, oats

1 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup flake coconut (sweetened, or unsweetened- either works)

1 cup raisins, or a mixture of apricots, raisins and cranberries

3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnut

1/4 cup pistachios, or almonds, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper.

In a large bowl with a wooden spoon, beat butter, sugar and brown sugar together until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Stir in vanilla. 

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually stir into butter mixture until well blended. Add oats, chips, coconut, raisins, and walnuts, and stir until well blended.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoons or with a 2 ounce cookie scoop onto parchment or a Silpat mat about 2 inches apart. Bake until golden, about 16 to 18 minutes. Cool on pan for 2 minutes.  Remove from pan, and finish cooling completely on wire rack

*Steel cut oats can be used in cookies and give it a crunchier texture.  Regular rolled oats are more traditional.

Below- I used dried cranberries, apricots and golden raisins.

I like to use mini chocolate chips instead of regular size ones, but any kind work.

It's a lumpy bumpy mixture.