Late Summer Grilling: Beef and Chicken Fajitas

I have been meaning to post this recipe for ages now and haven't gotten around to it for some reason.  Wade grilled these fajitas way back on Father's Day.  Now that the days are beginning to shorten and Fall is just around the corner, the days for grilling will soon be over.  I can't think of a better way to celebrate the end of summer than with fajitas and all the fixings and ice cold beers.

Chicken Marinade

•1 Tablespoon chili powder, more or less to taste- we used a New Mexico chili powder

•1 small onion, sliced

•4 cloves garlic, minced

•3/4 cup lime juice

•A couple large handfuls of cilantro, finely chopped

•Salt and Pepper, to taste

•2 1/2 pounds chicken breast

Marinade meat at least four hours ahead of time.  Mix the chili powder, onion, garlic, lime juice, and cilantro together in a large plastic container with a lid.  Season with salt and pepper.  Taste.  Adjust seasonings.  Add chicken and combine thoroughly.  Refrigerate until grilling time.

Beef Marinade

•3 cloves garlic, minced

•1 Tablespoon chili powder

•1/4 cup lime juice

•1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

•a large handful of cilantro, finely chopped

•Salt and pepper, to taste

•2 pounds boneless round steak

Mix the garlic, chili powder, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, and cilantro in a small bowl.  Season with a bit of salt and pepper.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Rub the marinade into both sides of the steak.  Place in a shallow container and pour any remaining marinade over the meat.  Cover and refrigerate.  Remove from refrigerator a few minutes before grilling time to take off the chill.

Grill the meat until chicken is cooked through and the beef is cooked to your desired level of doneness.  Slice thinly and put on a serving platter.  Keep warm



Meanwhile, make the veggies.



•3 large bell peppers, sliced- use one each of red, yellow, and green

•2 large onions, halved and sliced thickly

•Olive oil

Toss the bell peppers and onions in a large bowl with a bit of olive oil to coat.

Heat up a grill pan over high heat.  If you have a  veggie basket for the grill, go ahead and use that.  We don't have one, so I made them inside

Cook the veggies over high heat very briefly.  You want them just barely tender and nicely browned in places.

Serve the meat and veggies with all the fixings.

Bacon and Scallop Pizza

March seems to be passing me by at a ridiculous speed.  Between two trips up to the mountains to meet up with Wade's family, out of state guests, and several trips to Denver I seem to have accomplished nothing this month on the blog or on my thesis.  Hopefully that will change for the remainder of the month.  Wade has taken up most of the cooking the last couple weeks and this is my favorite dinner that he has made recently.

We eat a lot of pizza.  There is a really good pizza restaurant in our tiny town that is known all around for having really good food and my parents like to meet us there for dinner every week or so.  I also delivered pizzas for about a year when I was in college.  So, you'd think I'd be pretty tired of it by now,  but this is a pizza I don't mind having at home because it is out of the ordinary and so good. I made the crust and Wade finished up the rest of the pizza, which adapted from this Paula Dean recipe.  The crust is the best pizza crust you can possibly make at home: Jay's from Allrecipes.

We enjoyed this dinner for a relaxing midweek movie night.

•1 recipe of your favorite pizza crust,  I like this one
•1 cup pizza sauce- we used some that was home canned last summer
•1 cup sour cream
•4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
•1 12 oz bag frozen sea scallops, thawed
•4-6 cloves fresh garlic, minced (adjust to your taste)
•2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
•1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
•1-2 tablespoons butter, melted
•2 Tablespoons dried parsley
•1 teaspoon oregano
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350.

Dust a pizza stone with cornmeal and pat out the dough.  Bake the dough for 5-7 minutes, until the top is just slightly browned.

Cook scallops in a skillet over medium high heat until the excess moisture is evaporated.  Set aside.

Mix the pizza sauce and sour cream together.  Spread over crust.  Top with bacon pieces and scallops.  Top with both of the cheeses.

Brush the edges of the crust with melted butter.  Mix the parsley, oregano, salt, and garlic powder together.  Sprinkle over the edges of the crust.  Sprinkle any remaining herbs over the rest of the pizza.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the crust is fully baked and the cheese on top in browned and bubbly.

Wade's Penne Pasta

I haven't done much cooking lately, at least not anything worth posting.  I've been spending my days writing and job hunting, so when it comes time to make dinner I've been feeling a bit uninspired.  So, we have been revisiting some old recipes like the sausage and squash casserole, cactus casserole, refried beans and tortillas for quick burritos.  And the other night I cooked up some chicken legs in the crock pot and used the leftover bones to make more stock.

Wade tends to make up recipes as he goes, and while there are a lot of things he makes that I'd like to post on the blog it is hard to pin him down and tell me all of the ingredients and steps that he used to make a recipe.  This pasta dish was pretty tasty, so I kept bugging him for a few days to get him to write the recipe. Now I'm glad that we have a copy so either of us can make it again.  It made a big batch, so we both had it for lunch for a few days in a row.  I hope you like it as much as we did.

•1/2 pound Italian sausage
•3/4 lb. ground beef
•crushed red pepper, to taste (optional)
•salt and pepper, to taste
•1/2 cup dry red wine

•1 Tablespoon olive oil
•1 green pepper, chopped into large chunks
•1 large onion, chopped
•6 cloves garlic, minced
•1 8 oz package sliced mushrooms
•2 jarred roasted red peppers, chopped
•1 15 oz can black olives
•1 teaspoon herbs de Provence
•1/2 teaspoon oregano
•1 Tablespoon capers
•2 16 oz. jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce- we used some of the Mrs. Wages that I canned last summer
•A large handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

•1 lb whole wheat penne pasta
•Mozarella or Parmesan cheese for garnish

Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta.  Cook the pasta to package directions.  Drain and set aside.  Do not rinse.

Meanwhile, brown the sausage and beef together in a medium sized skillet.  Season to taste with the crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper.  Add the wine and cook until the liquid has mostly evaporated.  Set aside.

While the meat is cooking heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add the green pepper, onions, and garlic.  Cook until the pepper and onions become slightly tender, about five minutes.

Add the mushrooms and cook until they become slightly tender and browned. Add the roasted red peppers and the can of black olives.

Add the herbs de Provence, oregano, capers, and sauce.  Simmer until the meat is done cooking, if it isn't done already.  Add the meat mixture and the cilantro to the sauce and simmer to heat through.

Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce and serve with the cheese on top and a tossed salad.

Wade's Homemade Sushi

Wade made sushi for New Year's Eve.  He's been making it for years, first learning how in Japanese club during college.

You really don't need too many ingredients to make sushi at home.  You'll need seafood sheets, called nori, short grain rice, rice wine vinegar, and sushi grade fish, vegetables, or a combination.  The exact amounts will depend on how much sushi you want to make.

Cook some short grain rice in a rice cooker.  About 3 cups cooked rice will make a large amount.  Add rice wine vinegar to the rice until it sticks together nicely.  Depending on your rice this will take about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of vinegar.

Place a sheet of nori on a bamboo sushi rolling mat, or a piece of waxed paper or plastic wrap if you don't have a mat.  Pat down some sticky rice on the bottom section of the nori.

Top with the fish and vegetables you want.  Don't add too many though, or the sushi will be too big and will fall apart more easily.  We used sushi grade tuna, cream cheese, and cucumber.  You can add just about any combination you like.  We have used tempura shrimp, imitation crabmeat, asparagus and avocado before.  Feel free to experiment.

Using the mat, roll up the sushi roll tightly.  Slice with a very sharp knife and serve with wasabi and pickled ginger.

Winging It: Summer Squash Curry

The end of the summer is always a bittersweet time in the kitchen.  I look forward to heartier meals of winter squash, pumpkin, apples, cabbage, sausage, red meats, etc. but I also try to hang on to the last bit of summer produce for as long as possible.  


We had a ton of leftover rice from when we had beef enchiladas the other night, (I never make the right amount, there is always way too much or not enough) so we decided that we needed to use that up.  We also had a few summer squash on the counter that needed to be used before they got all shriveled.


Wade and I originally planned to make Madhur Jaffrey's recipe for Mushroom Curry, subbing out  the mushrooms for summer squash, but as usually happens when we cook together, the dish turned into something completely different altogether.  It was spicy, filling, and complex, and luckily also super easy.


•1 large zucchini, sliced
•1 large summer squash, sliced
•1 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger
•1 large onion, cut into large chunks
•3 cloves garlic, peeled
•2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (or ghee, if you have it)
•1/2 cup plain yogurt
•1 medium to large tomato, chopped finely
•2 teaspoons ground coriander
•1/2 teaspoon tumeric
•1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
•1 teaspoon ground cumin
•Salt and Pepper to taste
•1 teaspoon garam masala
•A handful of fresh, chopped cilantro
•Cooked rice


Pulse the ginger, garlic, and onion together in a food processor until very, very finely chopped.  Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute the sliced squash just until it starts to soften.  This should only take about 3-4 minutes.  You don't want to overcook the squash. Remove the squash with a slotted spoon and set aside.  

Add the onion mixture to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to brown.  Add the yogurt, a little at a time, until thoroughly incorporated into the onion mixture.  Add the chopped tomato. Add all of the spices, except for the garam masala and stir well.  Add the squash back into the sauce and heat through.  Stir in the cilantro and garam masala just before serving. Serve over rice.