Tostones with Chicken and fresh Pico de Gallo and quick Magic Hat Hex review

It has been a while since Julie and I went to Bamaha Breeze but I remember having something like this as an appetizer. But it was really filling so I decided to make it for dinner. Plus I wanted to try something with Plantains. Which kind of taste like sugarless bananas. This tasted really good even though I had no idea what I was doing. 

As a side note, I tried Magic Hat's Seasonal "Ourtoberfest" beer called "Hex". It was a really good fall beer. There were hints of Cherry...Almost like a mixture of Sam Adams Cherry Wheat and Octoberfest. It was a great fall beer... Unfortunately it was like 95 degrees today. Diffenately had to enjoy it in a frozen mug today. Magic Hat has a stronger hops flavor then most beers sold. It is a Micro-brew from Vermont. One of my favorite beers is their Magic Hat #9 Not so Pale Ale.  Enjoy!

Tostones with Chicken and fresh Pico de Gallo

2 Chicken Breasts
2 Plantains
Jerk Marinade (can be store bought but they are usually Sweet)
2 C shredded Cheese

Pico De Gallo

3 Roma Tomatoes, diced
1/2 small white onion, diced
1 shallot, diced
1 Sweet Chili Pepper, diced
1 Tbsp Fresh Cilantro
1/4 C Diced Chives
1 Cooked Cob of Sweet Corn (removed from the cob)
2 Limes
1 Tbps Sugar
Salt to taste

Marinate the chicken in the Jerk Sauce. If you make you own marinade and it has Habanero peppers in it make sure you don't marinate for more than 45 minutes. Habaneros will start to "cook" the chicken and make it tough.

Mix Tomatoes, Onion, Shallots, Pepper, Corn, Cilantro, and Chives in a sealable bowl. Zest the limes and cut in half and sqeeze the juice into mixture. Add sugar and salt. Mix and set in the refigerator.

Peal the Plantains and cut at an angle. Fry the Plantains for 2 minutes to soften. Smash on a cutting board with the bottom of a small frying pan. Set aside.

Remove the chicken from marinade and disgard marinade. Grill the Chicken. After cooked fully dice.

Place plantains back in the fryer and cook fully (about 7-10 minutes).

Layer the Plantains, Chicken and cheese on a plate. Place under the broiler to melt the cheese. Top with the Pico

Great Grilled Pizza but with an user errors

I have wanted to make a good pizza for a while. I have tried the box mixes for crust and the can sauces...and all I can say is that they are terrible. I have searched the internet for a good pizza dough recipe. I found this one on FabulousFoods.com. It had a lot of really good reviews and I can see why. I also made the pizza sauce from a recipe that I made up as I went. Everything tasted great, however I ran into an issue with my pizza stone. The crust stuck to my stone, because I forgot to put flour or Corn meal on it. So that would be my only fix for this. I cooked it on the grill and tasted great. Also you can put whatever pizza topping you want. I used fresh grated Mozzarella, Pepperoni, Sausage, Roasted Red Pepper, Fresh chopped Basil, and Baby Portabellas on half (as I am allergic to Mushrooms and Julie loves them). Enjoy!

Pizza Dough

1 1/2 C very warm Water
2 tsp Yeast
2 tsp Sugar
2 3/4 C Bread Flour
1/2 C Semolina Flour or Wheat Flour
1 tsp Salt

In a Large bowl mix Warm Water, Yeast and Sugar together. After about 2-3 minutes you should see bubbles in the mixture. Add the dry ingredents and mix by hand. In another Large put 1 Tbsp of olive oil and spread around. Transfer the dough to this bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let is sit in at room tempature until it doubles in size (about an hour).

Pizza Sauce

10 Roma Tomatoes
1/2 small white onion
2 cloves of Garlic
10 freash Basil leaves
1 Tbsp Fresh Oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 can Tomato Paste

Boil Tomatoes until skins crack and dump into cold water. Remove the skins and put tomatoes into a blender with the garlic, onion, basil, oregano, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Blend well. Transfer to pot add tomato paste and reduce to a thicker sauce.

 Roll Dough out on to a 14-16" pizza stone (remember to put either corn meal or flour on the stone). Spread Sauce on the dough. Put your choice of topping on it and top with cheese. The better the cheese, less grease you end up with the pizza. Put the pizza stone on the Grill that is pre-heated to at least 350 degrees (a good grill will exceed 550 degrees so keep an eye on your pizza). It took about about 15 minutes for my pizza to cook fully.

Grilled Pork Chops with Tomatillo and Green Apple Sauce

So as most know I work for Verizon Wireless, so cooking is my escape from work. However this time I decided to try out an application on my new DroidX. This phone is Android OS and has access to the Android Market. There I found an application for Epicurious...This application gives access to recipes on Epicurious.com (which I love their recipes), menu planning, and creates a shopping list based off the menu you create. So over my Lunch break on Monday I am eating fast food, which I hate, I am able to find something to cook for dinner and create a shopping list. I knew I had some of ingredients so I was about to remove them from my list right away.

We also made this with Mashed Califlower and Fresh Herbs and Olive Oil Pasta.

Picture also taken with the DroidX.

Grilled Monster Pork Chops with Tomatillo and Green Apple Sauce

Pork Chops


3 tablespoons ground coriander
3 tablespoons ground cumin
2 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 1/2 tablespoons black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 (2-inch-thick) loin pork chops (each about 1 lb)

Marinate chops:

Stir together coriander, cumin, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, then add oil and stir until combined well. Rub spice mixture all over chops. Let chops marinate while making sauce and preparing grill.

Tomatillo and Green Apple sauce


1/2 lb fresh tomatillos (about 5), husks discarded and tomatillos rinsed
2 Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro sprigs
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup apple juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon mild honey
1 teaspoon minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo (I used 1 dried and finely chopped it as I couldnt find canned)

Simmer tomatillos and 3 cups water in a 2 1/2- to 3-quart saucepan, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tomatillos are just soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and cool 15 minutes.

While tomatillos are cooling, core apples and cut into 1/4-inch dice. Purée tomatillos with remaining sauce ingredients except apples in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and stir in apples.

To cook pork using a gas grill: (there is direction for Charcoal in the app and Epicurious.com)


Preheat all burners on high, covered, 10 minutes. Sear pork on lightly oiled grill rack, covered with lid, turning over once, until well browned, 10 to 12 minutes total. Turn off 1 burner (middle burner if there are 3) and put pork above shut off burner. Reduce heat on remaining burner(s) to moderate and grill pork, covered with lid, until thermometer inserted diagonally into center (avoid bone) registers 150°F, 12 to 16 minutes. Transfer pork to a cutting board and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 15 minutes (temperature will rise to 155°F).

Serve Topped with sauce

Mashed Califlower

1 head of Califlower
1 Tbsp butter
1 8oz package 1/3 fat Philly Cream Cheese

Steam  the califlower about 10-15 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and mash. Salt and pepper to tase

Fresh Herb and Olive Oil Pasta
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp fresh Sage, miced
1 Tbsp fresh Thyme, miced
1 Tbsp fresh Cilantro, miced
1 Tbsp freah Basil, miced
1/2 box of whole wheat Linguini pasta

Boil Pasta according boxes instructions. In a saute pan heat the olive oil. Once oil is bubbling add herbs and stir for about 1 minute. Stir in cooked pasta and serve.