BBQ Tacos with Pickled Red Onion

I had a ridiculous craving for mexican food a while ago, which may or may not have been due to $1 drafts at a local bar. Here's my conspiracy theory: beer companies have some sort of illicit pact with the mexican food industry, covertly adding chemicals that make beans, cheese, and tortillas extremely appetizing to college-age individuals. Like, waking up at 4am and considering a run to La Bamba ("Burritos As Big As Your Head!") appetizing. And guacamole. Never forget the guacamole.

I decided searching through Rick Bayless' (Top Chef and Mexican Food Master) website recipes was a good bet for quelling my craving. But most of his recipes involve 3490280 steps and/or ingredients I'm not sure even exist in this solar system. And then I found his recipe for pickled red onions, which calls for red onion, lime juice, and salt. Bingo.

BBQ Tacos with Pickled Red Onion   serves: 2

1/2 red onion, sliced thinly

1/4 cup lime juice

Salt

1 cup cooked and shredded chicken

2-3 T. BBQ sauce

4 6-in tortillas ( I used flour)

Sour cream, for serving

1.) Place the thinly sliced red onion into a medium-sized bowl. Pour boiling water over the onions, count to 10, then immediately drain in a strainer. Shake off the water and place back into the bowl. Pour in lime juice and 3/4 t. salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

2.) For the tacos: Mix BBQ sauce and chicken together, adding more sauce if necessary. Add a pat of butter to a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Once butter melts, add tortillas and place 1/4 of the shredded chicken on one side of each tortilla. Fold tortillas and let cook until golden brown on one side. Flip and let cook until well-browned and crispy on the other side. Top with pickled red onions and serve with sour cream.

Pickled Red Onion recipe courtesy of Rick Bayless

Emeril's Potato Salad

What's a summer meal without potato salad? An incomplete one, if you ask me. That's like going to the pool without a swimsuit. It's just. not. right.  And potato salad is right up any college culinarian's alley-- no precise measurements required: couple of diced potatoes, scoop of mayo, a little of this-and-that, and ta-da! You've just made a bowlful of spudsy heaven. Mr. Potato Head would be proud.

 So, when my friend Lara came to visit me over the weekend, potato salad was clearly going to be on the menu. I mean, what else could be a more perfect pairing for our cheese-stuffed hot dogs? (Grilled to do the dogs justice, of course.) Lara was raving about some Emeril Lagasse potato salad she made, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I trust her smarts...most of the time. By the way, don't ask her if the Pope is Catholic.

The potato salad tastes great. It originally calls for bacon, but I left it out because the only other meat stored in my fridge were more hot dogs. (Consider yourselves saved, arteries.) Don't leave out the ranch dressing. It definitely gives the salad that Emeril-y "BAM!" feeling.

(I'd like to give a shout-out to Ashley Brown, a fellow college student and College Culinarian fan. Happy 21st!)
Emeril's Potato Salad    Serves: 3
2 red potatoes, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 T. chopped red onion
1 hard-boiled egg, diced
1 T. fresh (or 1 t. dried) parsley
1 heaping T. mayonnaise
1 heaping T. ranch dressing
Salt
Pepper
1.) Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, or about 10-15 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.
2.) In a medium-sized bowl, add celery, red onion, egg, parsley, mayo, and ranch dressing. Stir in cooled potatoes and toss to coat. Generously season with salt and pepper.

Adapted from: Emeril Lagasse.

BBQ Rub

For an archaeology project back in spring term, my group and I decided to compare the differences between inorganic and organic chicken bones. And when I say "my group and I", it really means 90% of the effort was "I". If there's any lesson everyone learns in college, it's that group projects are rarely a group effort. Parasites.

Anywho, since I did the majority of the work, I felt no guilt in keeping the leftover chicken drumsticks we used. Yet that also meant my freezer was stuffed to capacity with chicken. It looked like I was preparing for the Great Poultry Shortage 2010. I found this recipe in an old Woman's Day magazine and figured it would be perfect for me. Why?-- because I am the Queen of Forgetting to Marinate. The rub is flavorful and slightly sweet. I also plan on trying it on burgers and fish. But for now, I've got a whole lot of organic and inorganic chickies to finish up.

ps- Free-range, organic chicken is ridiculously better for you. It doesn't have that big of a price difference, either. (*Descending from my soapbox*)

"The Only Rub You'll Ever Need"  Seasons about 2 lbs. of meat
1/2 t. cumin
1/2 T. chili powder
1/2 T. kosher salt
1/2 t. oregano
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
1/2 T. paprika
2 T. firmly packed brown sugar
1.) Mix all spices together and rub on chicken, fish, burgers, etc before grilling.

Recipe: Woman's Day

Cold Pesto and Pancetta Pasta

Sometimes dinner inspiration comes from uncommon sources. My creative juices started flowing while riding buttcheek-to-buttcheek on a jammed CTA train home from my summer internship. The trains were running ridiculously slow, the cars felt like Satan's oven, and I'm pretty sure someone in my personal space farted.

Topping the situation off was a fanny-packing tourist family with a weasly 10 year-old in tow, who loudly exclaimed "MA! WHY ARE THERE SO MANY PEOPLE ON THE TRAIN?! MAAAAAAA!! HOW MANY MORE STOPS??" approximately five times. She then proceeded to smack and pop her bubble gum so fast it was like watching a chipmunk on speed. I wanted to steal the gum from her mouth with my bare hands, but I was blockaded by the mass of sweaty commuters. Next time, kiddo. Next time.

So, when I finally got home, eating hot food sounded about as appetizing as swallowing an entire garlic clove. Papery skin and all. This pasta turned out to be light and refreshing, but you could certainly serve it warm, too. Who knew culinary creativity could be sparked by flatulent commuters and train cars hot enough to bake cakes in? There's a bright side to everything.

Cold Pesto and Pancetta Pasta     Serves: 1
1 cup spaghetti, cooked and cooled
2 t. pesto
Handful of baby spinach
1 slice pancetta
2 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
Parmesan cheese for topping
Salt and Pepper (if needed)
1.) Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add pancetta and cook until crispy. Remove from skillet, chop, and set aside to cool.
2.) In same skillet, add a handful of spinach and cook over medium-low heat until wilted. Remove from skillet and set aside to cool.
3.) Toss spaghetti, pesto, pancetta, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes. Add salt and pepper, if necessary (pancetta is salty). Top with shaved parmesan cheese.

Berry Cream Cheese Brownies

My sister, Carolyn, is a budding college culinarian. She claims all she'll be cooking in her new apartment is ramen and cereal, but I don't believe her for a second. First of all, her interest in cooking sparked way before mine. (She totally had the hots for Bobby Flay.) Secondly, it's common knowledge that sisters are full of Grade A crap...except for me, of course.

Carolyn operated Carolyn's Cafe, which served only the finest in plastic foodery, out of our basement for at least five years. I was a regular customer, and also went on double-duty as a waitress when the cafe was busy-- i.e. when our friend Jennifer was over. Carolyn could also whip out a mean tray of lasagna roll-ups, courtesy of the PBS show ZOOM featuring the recipe. (Does anyone else remember that annoying cast-member, Caroline? Her voice tempted me to shoot a whole bottle of Cheez-Whiz in my ears.)

So, when Carolyn decided to make these cream cheese and berry brownies for the 4th, it only furthered my assertion that she's crap-laden. She found the recipe and voluntarily made them. And they were absofruitly delicious. The brownie is fudgy and dense, and the berries, uh, practically make this health food. I'd better watch my back-- I sense a college culinarian sibling rivalry brewing.

Berry Cream Cheese Brownies
1 box brownie mix
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on brownie mix box
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh raspberries

1.)Heat oven to 350°F (or 325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only of 12-inch pizza pan with cooking spray or shortening.
2.)In medium bowl, stir brownie mix, pouch of chocolate syrup, water, oil and eggs until well blended. Spread in pan.
3.)Bake 28 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out clean or almost clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
4.)In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over brownie base. Arrange berries over cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate about 1 hour or until chilled. Cut into wedges. Store covered in refrigerator.

Recipe: bettycrocker.com
Photo: Carolyn's super-awesome Canon 7D camera. Me likey.