GCC: Arroz Imperial [Imperial Rice]

October 17, 2011 by Monica in Chicken, Dinner, Entertaining, Gutsy Cooks Club, Latin, Main Courses, Rice

The first time I tried this dish was when I lived in Miami and was invited to a birthday party by a friend from Cuba.

When I first saw it, I figure it was the typical Arroz con pollo – [chicken and rice] dish found in most Latin birthday parties.

Boy, was I wrong.

Is anything BUT, the typical chicken and yellow rice.

I would call it a dress up version of Chicken and yellow rice with a couple of twist - Mayonnaise is added to the cooked rice and the chicken is cooked in a sofrito/tomato base giving it a rich flavor, then its layered like a lasagna, and topped with mozzarella or any other mild white cheese.

Living in Miami, I never had the need to make it at home, since about 80% of the Cuban restaurants would have it as a catering/menu choice and all I had to do, was place the order and pick it up.

I had not had this dish in over 10 years.

GCC: Chicken-Filled Enchiladas with Tangy Crema Tomatillo Sauce

September 18, 2011 by Monica in Chicken, Cooking Club, Gutsy Cooks Club

And after a very hot summer, the Gutsy Cooks are back in action. With a new format, new cooks and new visions we are ready to rock on in our kitches the rest of the year.

This time around we are using tons of different creative outlets to set our monthly menus. Inspirations now can come from a cookbook, or a particular chef, or a theme, maybe a particular technique or even our own cookbooks/recipes – because after cooking with this group of gutsy home cooks, there is huge amount of talent there and I’m really excited to see what they come up with.

For the month of September I decided to go the Mexican route

Mediterranean Chicken [on the fly]

September 11, 2011 by Monica in Chicken, Dinner, Family, Family Cookbook, Main Courses, Savory

That is what I’m calling this last minute, “lets-see-what I have in the refrigerator to cook the chicken with”.

As I mentioned before, I’m supper gutsy when it comes to cooking savory recipes. I tend to go a bit off the beaten path and cook with my heart and with no set of rules.

Sort of like how my mother cooks - By the seat of our pants.

I cannot help myself from deviating as soon as I start any given recipe that I’m trying out. I blame the fact that I read tons of recipes – I have over 100 cookbooks, 5 different subscriptions to major food magazines and over 50 feeds to food blogs that I read daily in my reader. When I want to make a recipe with one single ingredient, I tap all of these motivation sources by pulling bits and pieces of every single thing that I read, saw or even tasted.