Pesto Ranch Chicken

This recipe combines two of my favorites: pesto and ranch! The only other ingredient is the chicken. and it's done in the crockpot! Can you hear the angels sing? cause there is no easier or better recipe for chicken.

• 1 jar of pesto (about 6 oz) - homemade pesto is even better.
• 1 bottle of Ranch (16 oz)
• 6 chicken breasts - cut into pieces

 Place everything in the crockpot and give it a stir so it's combined. Cook on low for about 6 or 7 hours. (you can, of course, cook it on high and it should take about half the time)

Tamales a'la Talierci-Olivo

Recipe makes about 35 tamales...

Tamale Prep Ingredients
1 bag of pre-made "Masa"
16 oz of Lard
Salt
1 bag of corn husks (a bag can make up to 100 tamales)

Mole ingredients:
2 lbs of skirt steak
2 cups of Flour
1/4 cup of cooking oil
Chili paste (see Chili paste ingredients)

Chili Paste ingredients:
1 bag of dry hot chili's
1 bag of dry mild chili's
1 small bag of "Chile de Arbol"
Garlic Powder
1 onion (1/2 will be used to boil with the steak)

Preparation Instructions:

Place the corn husks in a bucket of water at least 8 hours before using them. The husks will be dry and they need to be immersed in water to use them when they get soft.

In a pot, boil the chili paste ingredients in a pot. Boil about 10 of each dry chili and half of the onion, this makes a nice balance so they are not too "hot". The chili's will get soft, once they are easy to penetrate a fork in them, you will use a blender to puree all of the chili's to make a paste. Taste the chili paste to make sure its the right "hot" level. Use the water left in the pot to add to the spiciness. Make sure it's a "paste" not a sauce. Set a side for later use.

Next, boil the skirt steak in a separate pot with the other half of onion, garlic powder and salt to taste. Boil until the steak is easy to shred with just using the fork. When done, shred the steak and place in a bowl, set a side for later use. Save the beef broth, you will need it for the mole.

To prepare the mole, in a clean pot large enough to fit the shredded meat, add 1/4 cup of oil. Heat to medium then blend in the flour until it becomes the consistency of peanut butter. Make sure the flour and oil do not burn. While mixing, and you will need help for this, strain the chili paste into the cooking flour. Use the beef broth to add to the chili paste for straining. While someone is mixing the strained chili paste into the flour, someone else is pouring beef broth through the strainer with the paste. Mix this until the pot is filled half way with liquid. Once you made what looks like a chili gravy, add the steak and mix it together.

Let the mole cool down before using for the tamales at least 1 hour.

Finally, prepare the masa with melted lard and about 1/2 cup of salt. Mix the ingredients until the masa is the consistency of a spreadable dough.

Spread the masa on the soft side of the corn husk. Once it is spread evenly on the whole husk, add about a spoonful of beef mole in the center and fold. Fold the short end first and then roll into a small buritto-like shape.

In a large pot, place about 2 inches of water and use a metal rack to steam the tamales. They will steam for about 2 hours before ready to eat.

Enjoy!

they can be made ahead and frozen

Aji de Gallina - Peppered chicken?

We visited Lima and Machu Picchu this year and had an amazing time. We also gained a few pounds cause the food there was DELICIOUS. Carmen was our host and cook most of the time and her food was even better than at restaurants. She was kind enough to share some of the recipes with us. The Aji de Gallina was Jason's favorite.

Ok, so some of the ingredients(for this one, mainly the peppers) were difficult to find so we replaced them, still it came out pretty good.

• 1 chicken breast
• 4 aji amarillo - yellow Peruvian pepper or yellow/orange chili peppers
• 1 small onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 can of evaporated milk
• bread (about 6 slices of a loaf of white bread - remove the crust)
• turmeric or  Spanish saffron
• chicken broth
• Parmesan cheese

Cook the chicken in broth, save the broth. Shred the chicken

Soak the bread in the evaporated milk

Fry the onion with the aji amarillo, garlic and salt. Once cold, put in blender with turmeric,  the bread and evaporated milk, and about 1 cup of broth.

 Put in a pan over low heat, add the chicken, and Parmesan cheese.  We ate it served over rice or potatoes but I'm sure it will be good over pasta as well.

Cheese Pasta Bake

• 1 pkg (16 oz) bow ties (penne, rottini, etc)
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups mozzarella - shredded
• 1 1/3 cups grated Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup minced parsley.

Cook pasta and drain the pasta.

Drain tomatoes but keep separate about 1 1/4 cups of the juice.

In saucepan melt butter, stir in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth; add - slowly - the milk and the tomato juice. Boil - stirring - for about 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat.

Add the sauce and tomatoes to the drained pasta.

Stir in cheeses and parsley.

Transfer to a greased baking dish and bake - uncovered - at 375 for 30-35 minutes.


To make it a full blown casserole, we can add cooked pieces of chicken to the pasta before baking it.
YUMMY!!!!