Something spicy! ( and not soup)

Hello all!

I am a fan of winter, but I am not a fan of the arctic tundra that New England has turned into! I was debating making more winter comfort food today,and yet again I thought about soup, but a friend commented last night on how he doesn't like soup and won't try any of my recipes for it. I don't want people to just read this blog, I want them to actually try the recipes! So I then  decided to make something a little more tropical  and not soup related... wishful cooking.

To the aforementioned friend: I realize that you probably won't like this due to the spiciness and veggies and such, but you should really give it a try!  :)

Spicy Chicken with Mango Salsa and Rice

You need:
2 boneless chicken breasts
2 mangos
1 sweet red pepper
1 Serrano chile pepper
1/2 a red onion
3 roma tomatos
2 limes
2 garlic cloves
olive oil
salt and pepper
Jasmine rice

For the Salsa:
chop the tomatoes, red pepper, onion and mango. Cutting mangos can be very tricky! James found this video and then helped me out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvLdPjpELyU
Then mince about  3/4 of  the Serrano pepper.* Be SUPER careful when cutting this not to touch your face or eyes! The oil will stay on your hands, and it burns! James took care of this part for me, and he wore gloves while doing it.
Next mince the two cloves of garlic. Try laying the flat side of a knife against the clove and pushing down until it smooshes and then mince it.  Combine everything in a bowl. Next juice 1 lime into the bowl, and then add salt and pepper to taste.

For the chicken:
first mince up the remaining serrano pepper. Then cut away any fat on the chicken.  I chose to thinly slice my chicken, mainly because  I was running low on time ( I was really hungry!).  Lightly coat a frying pan with olive oil and heat it up! throw the chicken in the pan and juice 1 lime over the chicken. Also add the minced serrano pepper and then season with salt and pepper. let this cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. When  there is no pink left on the inside of the chicken, its done.

So I must come clean. I was very lazy when it came to the rice. I had the option of buying the organic jasmine rice that needs to be boiled, and takes an hour to make, but instead I took the easy way out. I bought 2 packages of the Uncle Ben's 90  second microwave rice. I'm feeling a little guilty about it now, but hey it was still tasty!


When everything is done plate the rice first, then place a few pieces of chicken on top of that. Then cover it with the salsa and Voila! a yummy tropical dish to warm you up :)

So apparently I only like to blog about soups, because tonight I am making french onion soup!

A couple of weeks ago James convinced me to try french onion soup. Thats right me. I know that it is made from beef broth, but I LOVED it!  The gooey cheese, the sweet onion and the smokey beef taste. I loved every part of it! so tonight, I will be attempting to make it myself...  I yet again found a recipe off the censational girl website, but I'm changing it up a bit :)

I used:
2 lbs yellow onions
3/4 stick of butter
1 tablespoon veggie oil
1/4 cup merlot
black pepper to taste
32 oz  beef broth
as much gyuere cheese as you want
sour dough rolls

I started off by  slicing up  2 lbs of onions.  I then melted 3/4 a stick of butter in a large pot and added the onion in.  I let them caramelize for about 40 min, stirring frequently to make sure they didn't burn. I tasted them around the 40 min mark, and yummm, soft, sweet, oniony perfection! I added the merlot and black pepper, and then let the onions reduce for about 10 minutes. I added in the beef broth, and brought to a boil. After boiling for a few minutes,  I then brought the heat down and let it simmer.

At this point, you could probably  let it cool and then store it in the fridge, but I am impatient, and want to taste this asap!

A quick note on soup crocks: I was against buying them at first. I felt like it was something required for a Meme, but I broke down and bought a pair this fall. Best $12 ever, soup just seems to taste better from them.   you should invest as well :)

Now go ahead and spoon the deliciousness into a soup crock.  place some chucks of sourdough bread on top and then cover that with cheese. Place in the crock in the oven and allow the cheese to melt and brown a little....

Enjoy!