Huevos al Horno con Pollo y Garbanzos en Salsa Morita

Tonight I made baked eggs with chicken and garbanzos with salsa morita.  I used left over chicken meat and chickpeas from a soup a made to form the main protein element in an egg bake.  To begin I sauteed the chicken and chick peas in olive oil in garlic.  There was no need to add salt, the chicken was sitting in broth for a couple of days.  I tossed in a few handfuls of spinach and wilted it for a couple of minutes.  After cooking the chicken I set this aside to cool for a bit.

Another element that I added to this was a salsa that I made from chile morita, chile guajillo, garlic, bay leaves, oreganod and cumin.  I soaked the chiles in boiling water for a bit before blending all the ingredients.  The chile morita (roasted, dried red jalapeño) adds a smokey flavor while the dried guajillo chile adds a deep red color and a bit of sweetness. 

In a large casserole I used tostadas to form a bottom layer to this dish.  I covered the tostadas with the chicken and cracked some eggs over the top.

I baked in the oven until the whites set a little, trying to keep the yolks runny.  I put the rest of the salsa in a bowl which I served on the side.

Chicken and Spinach with Gnocchi

I found some whole grain potato gnocchi at the store a while back that I've been dying to use so I decided to cook these with chicken and spinach. The result was a heartier gnocchi dish that was very filling.

In a large pan I caramelized thin slices of garlic in olive oil. To this I added some red chile flakes and sliced pieces of chicken breast that I cooked until brown.  I removed the chicken, deglazed the pan with some white wine and threw in a few handfuls of spinach.  At this point I dropped the gnocchi in boiling water and added the chicken back to the pan with some thinly sliced red onion.

To finish the dish I added the cooked gnocchi to the pan along with some cooking water to create a sauce.  I added pieces of Spanish goat cheese to give the dish some richness and depth of flavor.  I loved that this was relatively quick to put together, but it yields delicious results.  Something I will definitely be making again.

It went great with a glass of wine.

Extreme close-up!

Grillin' and Chillin'

I love weekday grill nights, I'm always presented with something that can be relatively quick and easy to make with tons of flavor.  I did a mixed grill of chicken breast and veggies with some grilled flour tortillas to stuff it all in.

I butterflied some chicken breasts that I then marinated in the juice of two oranges, honey, red chili flake, garlic, cumin and olive oil.

In a separate bowl I added zucchini, eggplant, brussels sprouts and green onions.  These were then tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and the zest from the oranges.

I tossed these all on the grill, added some flour tortillas on the side and we had a great light but delicious weeknight meal, with tons of leftovers!

Cherry beer and almond cake!

The main focus of this cake is the Wisconin Belgian Red from New Glarus Brewing Co. in Wisconsin.  This ale is brewed with fresh Wisconsin cherries and the flavor really comes through, I highly recommend this stuff.

For the cake I combined butter, sugar, almond extract, eggs, buttermilk and a cup of the Belgian Red.  To this mixture I added flour, baking power, baking soda, and cinnamon to form the batter.  After folding in some almond slivers I put the mixture in the oven to bake.  This is the finished product:

I had some beer left so I cooked this with sugar, butter and some cream to make a cherry beer dulce de leche.  The caramel sauce added additional sweetness and gave extra tart cherry flavor towards the end.
mmmmm cake and beer

Green Coconut Curry with Beef

So I had a ton of skirt steak left over that I really wanted to cook.  I was also craving coconut, so I decided to make some green curry.  I cut the steak and placed the meat in the slow cooker.  I blended cilantro, green onions, garlic, ginger and serrano and poured this mixture over the beef.  I also added garam masala, tumeric, cumin and coriander. I added some coconut milk to finish it off, and slow cooked for about 3 hours until the meat was tender.  I made some basmati rice on the side to help cool down the heat a bit.

Pozole

Pozole is probably one of my favorite dishes.  This soup contains hominy and pork shoulder meat.  I slowly boiled a bone-in pork shoulder and utilized the resulting broth as a base for the soup.  To the broth I add a mixture of guajillo chiles, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.  This is what gives pozole its red color.  Once the soup is served various garnishes are added to complete the dish: diced onion, sliced radishes, shredded cabbage, limes and tostadas.  The resulting soup is very hearty and porky; the garnishes add a bit of freshness and crunch.  A perfect meal!

First!

Hi and welcome to my blog.  I am a food lover and home cook looking to share some of my food and thoughts.

The name Comal Caliente translates to ¨Hot Griddle¨ in English.  The comal is an essential part of the Mexican kitchen and I have memories of seeing my mom use this tool on a daily basis.

I am very interested in experimenting with new flavors and techniques.  Through this blog I hope to document various dishes I make in my kitchen.  Come back often and see the new dish I have posted!

Thanks for following and please comment, I would love any feedback.