Chile-spiced Chicken with Mango Salsa

How is it August 6th already?  It was just fourth of July like two days ago!  This summer is running away from me and I'm even unemployed and can enjoy every day in the sun.

July was jam-packed with travel.  I spent a week in Buffalo, visiting family I hadn't seen in years, eating locals treats and playing with my parents puppies.  After that I was in Arizona with BF for another week, sweating it out in the Phoenix heat, being awed by amazing geography and taking the longest hike I've even done in my life.

Upon our return from Arizona, we returned to New Jersey to find milder temperatures and rain.  Lots of rain.  That's okay though.  I use the rainy days to focus on my future career plans.  I'm really ready to head back to work after three months off.  I'm running out of things to do at home and I really miss working in the lab!  I'm going to try to make the most of my remaining time off (which hopefully isn't too much more!) and enjoy the last few weeks of summer!  Mostly by eating more fruit.

I made this chicken dinner last week and knew I would love it.  I also knew that BF would leave every last bit of mango on his plate.  He just really doesn't like fruit.  Such a weirdo!  Personally I love fruit with savory dishes and loved the mango salsa with the spice rubbed chicken.  I also got to use one of my new OXO tools - the mango splitter!  While it's totally easy to pit a mango without one, it took about three seconds to pit the mango with it!  I also thought I would show my step-by-step how-to cut a mango pics.  Now you know and it's so much easier than you thought!

Thanks go to OXO for sending me an amazing package of summer fruit tools, including this mango splitter, through the blogger outreach program.  All opinions about the tools are my own, but I have yet to find an OXO tool that doesn't do it's job!  Check out some of their fruit tools and enjoy the summers bounty!

Fish (or Chicken) and Mango Salsa & Honey-roasted Parsnips

This past weekend was a sweet one.  In preparation for April 2012 (the month I have declared "Candy Month!) I spent a lot of time in the kitchen.  Some successes, some failures, a whole lot of sugar, chocolate and spices.

Since I spent the majority of my time working with sugar, I wanted something quick to eat for dinner.  It was then that I remembered that I had not yet taste tested my Mrs. Paul's Parchment Bakes!  I was very excited about being selected as a tastemaker for the particular product because I am terrible when it comes to making fish.  Go ahead and have a look in my recipe archive, you will find zero recipes that include fish.

I always have the same problems when it comes to cooking fish.  First, the house always smells like fish for days!  No matter how fresh the fish is, it always leaves its scent behind.  Second, I generally overcook it.  I haven't quite gotten the skills to determine when a fish fillet is done.  Finally, I never know what to pair it with.  Since I don't cook fish a lot, I never know what kind of sauce to pair with it.  I've made some bad decisions in the past!

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Mrs. Pauls took care of all of my complaints!  I went with the classic grilled tilapia since I wanted to add a mango salsa to the fish.  It went in the oven (in its own little parchment bag) and came out perfectly done.  The fish was flakey and moist.  The sauce was mild and paired well with the salsa.  The final bit of wonderful?  While the fish was flavorful and tasty, the house didn't smell like fish at all.  Mrs. Paul's, you've got yourself a winner here.

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a sample of Mrs. Pauls Parchment Bakes.  All comments and opinions are my own.  If you want to give this product a try, here is a coupon for buy one, get one!  (Good through March 30)
 

Thai Chicken Curry

It's been just over a month since boyfriend and I returned from our trip around the world.  While we travelled through Thailand, we had three cameras and two iPhones.  As you can imagine, we came home with over two thousand images and twenty gigabytes of video.  It has taken me this long to go through the pictures!  To celebrate the momentous occasion of finishing my photo editing, I decided to make some curry! 

Keeping it simple today, enjoy some images from Thailand, then make some curry while you plan a trip of your own.

Chatuchak Weekend Market

Grand Palace & Wat Phra Kaeo

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market



The Beautiful Andaman Sea



Phangnga Bay (as seen in this years Amazing Race!)

Thailand has some pretty flowers!

Now, on to the curry...

Fruit and Yogurt Jars

The heat of the summer is starting to hit most of the country and I’m very excited. I’m the type of person who will not put on shorts until it’s at least 80 outside. And that’s a humid 80. When I lived in Colorado, it routinely got up to 100 degrees during the summertime. However, you would still see me going to work in jeans. I know it sounds cliché, but it’s totally true! It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity, blah blah blah…

Well, I’m back on the coast and there’s definitely humidity here. Lots of it. I can see all the humidity hanging in the air when I open my blinds in the morning. My mornings have been going like this… Alarm goes off – I wake up, excited for a new day. I walk to the windows and open the blinds. My day turns to bad as I realize my hair is going to be crazy today. I’m going to look like Einstein, minus the snazzy mustache.

With all this heat and humidity, I have also been avoiding turning on my oven. Mostly because I’m too cheap to turn on my air conditioning. It was the exact opposite in the winter, when I baked a lot because I was too cheap to turn on my heat. What can I say, I’m a postdoc, we are a cheap bunch. So, instead of baking, I’ve been churning ice cream, making no-bake candies and tossing salads. Today I give you a light, refreshing snack. It’s full of vitamins and topped off with a bunch of protein-rich Greek yogurt. Enjoy some and stay cool!

Mango-Lime Muffins

I’ve gone a little mango crazy recently! Last week it was mango curry, today it’s mango muffins! I know the same thing has happened to you. You discover something new and delicious. After a little while you notice that this new ingredient is making its way into all of your recipes. You’re eating your new favorite ingredient morning, noon and night. Mangoes are my new favorite ingredient.

If you have never tried a mango before, now is the perfect time to give them a try. Mexican mangoes are in season now and Florida mangoes are approaching their peak. In season, the mangoes are sweet and full of flavor. You’ll find yourself wanting to eat it straight out of the skin, neglecting to save some for your recipe. Maybe you should buy two, just in case you eat the first one.

Not sure of what to do with a mango? Follow these simple directions and you’ll be able to coax the fruit from the skin, leaving you with perfectly diced mango.


I'm a mango!

I have a flat pit in the middle!  Slice out the center section.

 

Gently cut the fruit into cubes, being sure not to cut through the skin

Flip the fruit inside out!



Slice off the fruit and enjoy!



Mango Shrimp Curry

From Mondays post I learned two things. First, deep fried foods appeal to everyone! Second, apparently I’m the unusual one for my lack of running and arm-flailing in the presence of bees. Most people seem to cringe at the sight and sound of bees. I’m more of the slowly saunter away from the bees-type of person. I say “Hey bee, you’re cool over there. I’m cool over here, but why don’t I get a little further away from you? Thanks!” Bees and wasps totally freak me out, but I try not to let them know, it’s my little secret. To show you I’m normal, how about some bug stories from my childhood? Always a good time.


Gather your ingredients

My childhood home is beautiful. A cream and brick tudor that sits on a hill, it overlooks an acre of bright green grass. That room with all the windows on the second floor? That’s my room. It sits on the corner and gets a nice breeze in the summertime. It also has gaps in the baseboards.

We had lived in the house for at least ten years before the Japanese beetles invaded. One year, no bugs, the next year, swarms of red beetles. And they bite. They smell like lettuce when you squish them. How do I know this? Read on.



Bring them all together

For some reason, the Japanese beetles decided to take up residence in my room. The beetles were in no other room in the entire house, just my room. Maybe it’s because I’m a girl and I was into Bath and Bodyworks in a big way back then. Maybe the beetles had heard about the nice breeze that flowed through the room. Maybe they are just stupid and I hate them. For whatever reason, the bugs started their migration.

Just a few bugs showed up, at first. I would find them crawling along the wall, flying around the light and generally beetling about. Until one night, when it all went down. Me versus the beetles! Or, as it turned out, the Shop Vac versus the beetles!

Late one summer night I returned home from what I can only assume to be a day full of rollerblading and Dorito eating. I walk into my bedroom, flick on the light switch and I’m greeting to a veritable swarm of Japanese beetles! Hundreds of the little buggers (ha!) beetling all over my stuff. Screams and cries ring out and I run from the room. Here’s the fact – I don’t do well with LOTS of bugs. Especially not in my room. Not cool Japanese beetles.



I run downstairs and find my dad, inform him of the situation and wait for rescue. “There are bugs! Lots of bugs! In my room! Help!” Waiting, hoping for dad to come to the rescue. That’s what dad’s do, they kill bugs. What does dad say? “Shop vac is in the garage.” Humpf, not what I was hoping to hear.

I spent the next hour sucking up Japanese beetles with the Shop vac. I also discovered they were sneaking in through the gaps in the floorboards. A whole box of tissues later my room has been beetle free for the past ten years. You’re welcome parents!