Pollo Saltado with a twist

Pollo Saltado with a twist (or Isom Style)

3 lb. bag frozen chicken, thawed, and cut up into chunks

3 red bell peppers, julienned

2 lg. red onions, sliced

2-3 cups snap peas

3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped fine

2 habanero peppers, seeded and chopped fine

8 cloves garlic, finely chopped

cilantro to taste

ground cumin, sprinkle to taste (about 1 t.)

olive oil

In wok, saute garlic and chopped peppers (jalapeno & habanero) about a minute in a tad of olive oil. Add chicken and ground cumin. Cook until no longer pink. Pour into large pot with juices. In the (now empty) wok, add olive oil (another tad) and saute bell peppers for a couple of minutes until they are barely cooked. Then add to "chicken" pot. Repeat for snap peas and sprouts. Add a tad of oil to that very same wok and add the red onion. Cook for about a minute and then add about 2 Tblsp. red wine vinegar. Cook until the vinegar burns off and onion starts to go transluscent. Add to "chicken" pot. Add 4-6 oz. of soy sauce to pot of chicken. Toss all ingredients in "chicken" pot together (this is when you add the cilantro if you like it-we do). Serve over Garth's rice.

*Sometimes we add seeded, julienned tomatoes as well. (Prepared the same as the onions.)

Garth's Rice

4 c. jasmine rice

7 c. water

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 t. salt

1/4 c. olive oil

Saute garlic in oil. Add rice and stir until coated with oil. Cook for another 30 seconds to a minute, stirring continuously. Add water and salt (don't forget the salt-Janelle did and you could tell. That is why it is called "Garth's rice."). Bring to a boil. Then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff rice and serve.

**Janelle's note-Our family LOVES this!! Everyone digs in and it is our favorite leftovers!

**Garth's note-In Peru they eat this with tomatoes & french fries. We usually eat it more authentic. But sometimes (like tonight) we try it with different vegetables for a change. In another post we will show you what it looks like with beef-known as Lomo Saltado.

Oh-and you may have to play with the quantity of water depending on what rice you have, etc.-this is what works for us!

Chocolate Cherry Dr. Pepper Cupcakes

Chocolate Cherry Dr. Pepper Cupcakes (30 cupcakes)

2 ¼ cups of Dr. Pepper
2 cups of sugar
2 ½ cups of cake flour
2 eggs
4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate
½ cup of maraschino cherry syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks of unsalted butter
pinch of salt
1 ½ teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
¼ cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 325º. In a medium size sauce pan bring Dr. Pepper & cherry syrup to a boil. Place chocolate and butter into a bowl and pour hot Dr. Pepper over, cover and let sit for 10 minutes. Whisk mixture till smooth. Stir in sugar, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, and sour cream. Add flour in 2 parts alternating with the eggs and whisk till smooth. The mixture will be runny… but tasty. Fill cupcakes cups and bake approximately 15-20 minutes or until skewer comes out clean

Frost with:
4 eggs whites
1 cup sugar
3/8 c. maraschino cherry syrup

Whisk the egg whites and sugar over a water bath in the standing mixer bowl until it reaches a temperature of 110°F. Transfer to standing mixer and whisk using whisk attachment at high speed until stiff peaks form, about 5-7 minutes. Use to frost cupcake. Oh, and after piping the frosting on-use a kitchen torch to brown the meringue and top it with a cherry! :-)

**I liked these. Garth LOVED them. They are a very moist cupcake and kind of dense-therefore the need for a light frosting. The cherry is very subtle-so for me that was a plus! I will definitely make them again!

Kim's Spinach Salad

(this is the leftover salad-I forgot to take a picture before everyone dug in)

Kim's Spinach Salad

2 bags spinach

1 head Romaine

1 lb. bacon, cooked & crumbled

1 pt. cottage cheese, strained

1 lb. grated swiss

1 red onion, chopped or sliced thin

mushrooms, sliced (optional)

Dressing:

2/3 t. dry mustard

1 1/2 t. salt

2/3 c. sugar

3 T. poppy seeds

1 c. rice vinegar

1 1/4 c. oil

1 1/2 t. onion powder

*Mix together and pour over salad ingredients!

**This is one of Garth's favorite salads! We got the recipe from my Mom who received it from her friend Kim. Kim's sister, Traci, also makes it. So-I am not sure who had it first-but that is probably another story! :-)

Chocolate Pudding Cookies

Normally I will try and do the pictures a little more close up. But, for now here is a quick cookie recipe. We made it with semisweet chips, milk chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips. But, you can pick any mixture you would like. Just a note, this is a "normal" batch of cookies at our house. We usually make cookies a couple of times a week-that way if anyone comes over or we have a chance, we can give some cookies away!

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

3 1/3 c. flour

1 1/2 c. margarine

1/2 c. sugar

1 pkg. instant (6 oz.) chocolate pudding

3 eggs

1 1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

1 1/2 t. baking soda

1 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 t. vanilla

3 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix flour and baking soda. Set aside. Combine butter, sugars, pudding mix, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Beat in eggs. Slowly add flour mixture. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. This is a very stiff dough. Drop by teaspoonful on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Our first post...

So, we are doing it. We are going to try and post what we make (with pictures included-don't you just love it when pictures are included?). If there is no picture because the kids got to it too fast then I will try and add it later...sound good? In the meantime, we hope you enjoy a little bit of what the Isoms ate...