Mexican Chicken with Jalapeno Popper Sauce

Well I've seen this recipe on three different blogs now. I trust all of those ladies with all of my food-loving heart! So trust me when I say that this is a must-try!

I am only sorry that my photo isn't as beautiful as those from the other three blogs. This was back in my beginning stages of food photography... not that I'm a pro now, but I am better I would say. Recipe=AMAZING! Photo, not so much. So for pretty pics of this dish, feel free to check out the other blogs! They served it with some Mexican rice, which is a great idea but we didn't have any at the time. 

This sauce is YUM! Spicy and creamy. And the seasonings on that chicken really give it a nice flavor as well as add a nice browning color to the chicken. No one wants to see non-seasoned plain chicken. I'm not big on cilantro, so I could do without it. I know, I know... cilantro is a must in Mexican food. I updated the recipe below to only use 1/2 a tbsp of cilantro in the sauce, as opposed to 1 tbsp. That's a bit much for me!

Mexican Chicken with Jalapeno Popper Sauce

slightly adapted from Krista's Kitchen

• 2 chicken breasts
• a sprinkle of cumin per breast
• a sprinkle of chili powder per breast
• a sprinkle of salt per breast
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
• 8 oz. chive and onion cream cheese
• 2 cups of chicken broth
• 3 slices of bacon
• 3/4 cup of shredded mexican cheese
• 1/2 tbsp of fresh cilantro, chopped + more for garnish

Fry bacon in a skillet until crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate, and crumble. Sprinkle chicken with seasonings, then add to the bacon grease in the skillet. Cook chicken, turning every few minutes, until juices run clear and cooked through. Remove from skillet and keep warm. Add chopped jalapenos to the skillet and cook for a couple of minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add chicken broth, deglazing the pan. Bring to a boil. Add cream cheese and stir until melted and smooth. Add in the shredded cheese and bacon, stirring until the cheese is melted. Turn off the heat and stir in cilantro. Serve chicken and top with the sauce. Garnish with additional cilantro.

Printable Recipe

I am linking up to:
Mangia Mondays
MAFF Monday
Melt In Your Mouth Monday
Homemaker Monday
Delicious Dishes
Hunk of Meat Monday
Mouthwatering Monday

Look at my chicken drowning in that sauce! Would you like some chicken served with your sauce?

Peace, and bacon grease!

 

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Menu Planning - Week of 4/18/11

Today's Monday. Guess what that means?

You guessed it!

Menu plan time!

We didn't end up making that Crunchy Garlic Chicken last week. I wasn't too excited about it the more I thought about it. Plus, PJ isn't a big fan of panko (crazy, right?) so he too wasn't very enthused about this recipe. But we've got all the ingredients, so we will probably make that tonight. We made that barbeque jack chicken twice last week! And grilling out was wonderful! I can't wait for more steady warm weather so we can make grilling out a regular part of our cooking rotation. We also didn't make that pork milanese.

Monday 4/18/11:  Crunchy Garlic Chicken

Tuesday 4/19/11:  eat out

Wednesday 4/20/11:  Breaded Garlic Chicken in Lemon Butter Sauce

Thursday 4/21/11:  Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Friday 4/22/11:  Pork Milanese

I know, I know. My menu plans always look the same. Because I carry over recipes I didn't make from the previous week, which is usually most of the recipes! It will be a great day when if I can ever make every recipe on my menu plan for a single week.

And this Sunday is Easter! I get paid on Friday, so hopefully I can run to the grocery store and get some things needed for a few Easter treat recipes. My mama will be cooking I'm sure, but I would love to bring some treats, or at least take some to work.

I am linking up to Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie....

.... And to Marvelous Menu at Ask Ms. Recipe.

Peace, and bacon grease!

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Spring Dessert Tasting and Wine Pairing at Napa Valley Grille

Desserts for dinner? Why not, especially when you're having a whole tasting of them. That's what I and other bloggers ended up doing one night at Napa Valley Grille, where we sampled their new spring dessert menu created by Pastry Chef Manuel Ortega.

Six desserts, with wine paired by their beverage director, Christina Sherwood (who did a great job pairing, I might add). Yep, that's how we roll.

Here's our dessert tasting:
Pineapple Upside-Down Tart coconut sorbet, brown sugar caramel ($9)
2006 Iron Horse Cuvee, Russian River Valley

For a sparkling wine, the Iron Horse Cuvee actually had a thick body that can stand up to the richness of the cake. The pairing enhanced the bright flavors of the pineapple, making the otherwise heavy dessert refreshing.

Saffron Crème Brulee, pistachio nougat cookie ($8.75 - the one pictured is not the regular size but a sampler)

I was afraid the saffron would get lost, but the aroma was still strong, which the whole table loved. After all, we eat not just with our mouths, right?

Blood Orange Crème Caramel candied orange, tarragon crème fraiche ($8.50 - the one pictured is not the regular size but a sampler)
2009 Gundlach Bundschu, Gewurztraminer, Sonoma Valley

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Friday Faves

Looky what I found this week in the food bloggy world - some wonderful recipes that I can't wait to try one of these days! Definitely go check out all of these yum recipes and the masters behind these recipes over at each of their blogs :)  If you are anything like me, you could get lost in each of their blogs for hours! And considering that I follow over 300 blogs, let's just say I spend a lot of time blog surfin!

It's almost Easter time... so of course I have been seeing tons of Easter-related recipes all over the blogosphere. I'm a sucker for themed recipes. I would love to make these Easter treats!

Chocolate PB Eggs with Crunchy Filling

{Vanilla Sugar}

More Easter recipes! I am not a big fan of Peeps, but they are put to great use in these cute Easter goodies that would be great to make for your kids!

Bird's Nest Treats

{The Cutting Back Kitchen}

Ok and one more Easter recipe! They are super cute and ultra easy! I kinda wanna make some and take them into work!

Cereal Treat Easter Eggs

 {In Katrina's Kitchen}

I'm always on the lookout for tasty chicken recipes, since we buy chicken a lot. This one immediately grabbed my attention! Love the photo! I love lemon and garlic, and the breading looks amazing! This one's definitely going into the rotation!

Breaded Garlic Chicken in Lemon Butter Sauce

{This Mommy Cooks} 

 I loves lasagna. And that sauce is intriguing me! I love to find different twists on lasagna! We will be trying this one for sure :)

Taco Lasagna with Cilantro Lime Cream Sauce

{Sweet Peas and Pumpkins}

Peej and I are always on the lookout for delicious burger recipes. We kinda have a dream to open up a burger cart with one of our friends, so we are constantly looking for ways to make the best burger! This burger sounds like it could make the "best burgers" list!

Bacon & Blue Cheese Burgers with 

Crispy Onion Straws

{Sisters in the Kitchen}

What faves did you find this Friday? These were just a handful of my favorite recipes from bloggy world this week. 

I am linking up to Friday Favorites over at Finding Joy in My Kitchen. Won't you join me?

Peace, and bacon grease!

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Kalimantan (Borneo) Food at Little London Cafe (Alhambra, CA)

As an Indonesian food blogger, I try to make my way to all the Indonesian restaurants in town, albeit slowly. When Wandering Chopsticks told me about the Kalimantan (the Indonesian word for Borneo) menu at Little London Cafe in Alhambra (formerly, and pretty much still is, a fish and chips place), I was pretty excited since Kalimantan food is a hard find. The LA Times beat me to the punch, but I feel that there is still some explaining I can do about the food here.

#1: Nasi Campur Kalimantan ($7.25) / Kalimantan Mixed Rice
babi merah panggang, ayam goreng bumbu, sosis babi, telur rasa, timun
(roast pork/char siu, fried marinated chicken, pork sausage, marinated egg, cucumber)

Do those like char siu and chinese sausage to you? Many of the people I knew who had come here said the food was just like Chinese food. Well, that's because it is. There is a big population of Chinese people in Indonesia, and Kalimantan in particular has a big Teochew population (Teochew people come from the eastern region of Guangdong).

The key here is the gravy that's soaking the rice and the amazing fried chicken. I should have gotten the half chicken,but luckily the fried chicken here is as ubiquitous as rice. In fact, it ended up being in all three dishes we ordered. No complaint, though, the chicken was juicy, the skin just the right combination of crispy and fatty.

The other dishes are more decidedly Indonesian rather than Chinese.

#3: Nasi Melayu Kal-Bar ($6.99) / West Kalimantan Malay Rice (Kal-Bar is shorthand for Kalimantan Barat, i.e. West Kalimantan)
Ayam goreng, telur gulai, ikan kacang, timun
(fried chicken, curried egg, peanuts and anchovies in sambal, cucumber - and it's not listed but there's obviously tofu, too)

 

I ended up enjoying the cut-up pieces of chicken in #1 better because the skin was fattier, but this was a great dish to order. More chicken, and the anchovies and peanuts in sambal is always a great accompaniment for rice. The "curried egg" was actually the same as the marinated egg in the other dish.

They ran out of the beef soup so we got the Soto Ayam Pot ($6.99) / Chicken Soup
nasi, ayam goreng bumbu, tomat, kol, daun bawang, bawang goreng, kerupuk
(rice, fried marinated chicken, cabbage, green onions, fried shallots, shrimp crackers)

Soto is chicken soup made with various spices (the yellow color of the soup comes from turmeric). The fried chicken appears here again. No complaint, still, but they sure do maximize the use of their ingredients and it seems a bit silly to dump fried chicken in a soup but at least the marinade adds a nice flavor. The soto is pretty similar to what I get in my hometown in Java except for the tomatoes. They do a pretty good version here, though I miss the stronger flavors of Soto Ambengan.

Tea with whole crysanthemum leaves

The menu here is pretty small, but a good Indonesian restaurant is always a welcome addition. Their rujak kalimantan (fruit and vegetable salad with peanut sauce) is supposed to be authentic and rare in this part of the world, but unfortunately they ran out when I was there, as was the beef soup, but they were getting hit by the post-LA Times crowd. I plan on coming back when the crowd settles and try the other items. Or at least have more fried chicken.

Little London Cafe
19 S Garfield Ave
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 282-4477

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Crunchy Onion Chicken Tenders

I noticed something. I cook a lot of chicken, despite my blog name. Hey, it's cheap and versatile. And these tenders are a good example of a cheap and simple, yet tasty, meal. I love to have different breading options for chicken tenders. Bread crumbs and panko and cornflakes are great options, but I had never thought of using french-fried onions. You know, the kind you use to top green bean casseroles? Yes, you know of them.

And you wanna know another great thing about this recipe? It only requires three ingredients! Yes, I said it. Chicken, eggs, and the star of the show... those french-fried onions. Quick, tasty, inexpensive AND not laborious.... that's my kinda meal! 

Crunchy Onion Chicken Tenders

slightful adapted from here

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into long strips
• 2 eggs
• half of a 6 oz. can of French's French-Fried Onions

Beat eggs and place in a shallow dish. Place french-fried onions in a plastic bag and crush. Put crushed onions on a separate plate or shallow dish. 

Dip chicken strips into the eggs, and then in the french-fried onion crumbs. Place strips on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve with your sauce of choice.

Printable Recipe

sorry some weren't strips, more of giant nuggets

We served ours with some honey mustard - I literally just mixed mustard and honey together and served it as a dipping sauce. But if you have already-bottled honey mustard, by all means don't make this more complicated than it has to be! Barbeque dipping sauce would work deliciously here too. Pretty much any sauce that you would find at Wendy's or McDonald's for dipping... you can use here.

This is definitely a kid-friendly meal for all you mamas and daddies out there! Though I don't have any kids yet (sniff, sniff) sometimes feeding my man is like feeding a child lol! When it comes to kids, you can't go wrong with chicken tenders  :)


Peace, and bacon grease!

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The Spice Table (Little Tokyo), Fire Ahead.

One mission had always been in the back of my mind, resurfacing when the opportunity arises: Find a good bowl laksa in LA. The bowl I use as standard is that of Katong Laksa in Singapore. Sadly, memories of that taste is slowly diminishing ... Even if it isn't quite Katong, I think I've finally found a worthy bowl at the newly opened The Spice Table in Little Tokyo.

The Laksa ($12) at The Spice Table is filled with shrimp, fish cakes, and mussels (to substitute for the usual cockles in S'pore, perhaps?), and thick udon-like noodles. The coconut curry broth is rich and thick, and they don't mess around with the spiciness.

If it isn't spicy enough for you (it was plenty spicy for us), a side of sambal is provided.

While the laksa was the main reason for my going to The Spice Table, they have plenty more to offer in the classy space, dimly lit by lightbulbs inside birdcages.

For those without reservations (or waiting for your party members to arrive), food and drinks are available at the bar, where you can watch the wood-and-charcoal-fired grill in action.

The wines were expensive, but the beers on tap were reasonable. I like how they have 4oz pours of their draft beers for $1.75-2.50. I get to try more and *feel* like I'm drinking less. While waiting for e*starLA I had the Orchard White Belgian Witbier from The Bruery ($2) then proceeded to Rugbrod Dark Rye Ale, also from The Bruery (also $2).
There's only one bottled beer here and it's not surprising that it's the Singaporean Tiger Beer.

While I was expecting the peanut dipping sauce with the sinful Lamb Belly Satay ($10) to be sweet, my mouth was immediately on fire.

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