Chewy Cinnamon Cookies

This is a delicious recipe that my kids love, but it takes about 3 hours to make. To me, I enjoy cooking long meals. Society today has become so hectic, with everyone tossing a TV-dinner into the microwave. There's no love in that! I enjoy cooking, the longer the better.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• cinnamon sugar

Directions:

In a mixer bowl, cream together sugar and butter; beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture.

Blend well. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or till firm enough to roll into balls. Shape dough into small balls about 3/4-inch in diameter.

Roll in cinnamon sugar to coat. Set cookies 1-inch apart on lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or till the edges are lightly browned. Cool slightly on pans, then remove to racks to cool completely.

Turmeric Rice

This is a delicious recipe that my kids love and only takes about 45 minutes to make.

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small chopped yellow onion
• 1 cup long grain white rice (uncooked)
• ½ teaspoon ground Turmeric
• 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup peas or frozen mixed vegetables

Instructions:

Sauté onion in olive oil for 3 minutes. Add 1 cup uncooked white rice. Add Turmeric and Italian Seasoning. Brown for about 2 minutes. Add chicken broth, bring to boil and then cover. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir in vegetables and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Stir. If rice is still a bit grainy, add 1/2 cup of water and continue to cook covered until desired tenderness is reached. I usually fry 2 scrambled eggs on the side and add them at the end.

Cooking Rule: Whenever you cook starches (e.g., rice, potatoes), do not continually stir or it will turn to mush. Rice or potatoes should only be stirred once or twice during the cooking process.

Cooking Rule: When you finally turn the heat off, do not remove the lid. The residual heat and steam will continue cooking your rice.

This meal goes great with Tarragon Fried Chicken. Together, my family calls Tarragon Chicken and Turmeric Rice the “Double-T Special” meal.

Tarragon Fried Chicken

This is a delicious recipe. My children used to love this meal when they were kids. My oldest daughter took the photo below before it was all eaten. 

Ingredients:

• 2-3 lbs. chicken thighs (bone in)
• 1 medium yellow onion diced
• 3-4 crushed garlic bulbs, or 1 Tbsp. ready made garlic in a container
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt (sea salt)
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 4 teaspoons tarragon seasoning (2 to start; add 2 more tsp when you flip chicken over)

Note: Tarragon is the secret ingredient in Jamaica's famous Jerk Seasoning.

Instructions:

Sauté diced onions and shredded garlic in butter and olive oil on medium heat for a bout 3-4 minutes. Place chicken thighs on top of onions and garlic. Sprinkle salt, pepper and tarragon seasoning on top of chicken. Allow chicken to cook until golden brown on both sides, then cover and reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours until meat falls off the bone. Test with a fork. Turn chicken over half way through cooking time. I usually add a little more salt, pepper and tarragon after I turn the chicken over. Garnish with fresh chopped green onions after placing chicken onto serving plate.

This meal goes great with my Turmeric Rice. Together, my family calls Tarragon Chicken and Turmeric Rice the “Double-T Special” meal. Enjoy!

Milanesa Breaded Steak

This is one of my favorite Mexican recipes to cook and eat. It's very simple to make and unbelievably delicious.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. of thinly sliced beef. You can use round steak, sirloin, rib-eye, et cetera. Most markets sell thin sliced beef.
4 eggs
½ cup milk
½2 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 cups bread crumbs (seasoned or unseasoned, it's your preference. I like seasoned.)
½ cup extra virgin olive oil (it has a robust fruity flavor)

Breading & Cooking Directions:

In a shallow baking dish scramble the eggs well. Next, combine with the milk, salt, and pepper. In a separate baking dish spread out the bread crumbs. Dip a slice of beef in the egg mixture. Coat evenly and completely. Now dip the slice of beef into the bread crumbs. Coat both sides with the breadcrumbs. If there are uncovered spots on the slice of beef, sprinkle bread crumbs on the area and gently pat it down. Use a little egg if you need to to make the bread crumbs stick.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Have a serving plate ready with paper towels. Fry the slices of breaded beef on each side for 1 to 2 minutes until golden brown. Since the meat is so thin it will cook quickly. Milanesa will be hot so be careful. Allow to cool for a couple minutes before eating.

Serving Suggestions:

Milanesa goes great with slices of lime. In fact, I wouldn't think of eating it without limes. You can also use lemons, but they're not the same. Limes are traditional in Mexican food. Cut the limes into one-fourth slices. Squeeze a piece of lime and let the juice drip onto your steak. Awesome!

I highly recommend a cold scoop of sour cream to go along with the Milanesa steak. If nothing else, get the sour cream and limes to eat with the Milanesa. Mexican rice goes along with this too. Since Milanesa is a Mexican dish, anything south of the border perfectly compliments this recipe.

My homemade guacamole dip recipe is absolutely delicious with a fresh bag of tortilla chips.

Some people like dipping mustard on the side, but I don't use it.

I sometimes serve this meal with refried beans from a can (which are far better than a lot of the bland and soupy refried beans I've been served in restaurants). You can also put some refried beans onto a couple dozen tortilla chips, sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and then bake them in a broiler for a couple minutes. Dip them in the guacamole dip. I open a can of diced tomatoes and green chilies and pour it into a bowl to dip the tortilla chips into. It's a taste-bud frenzy of flavors.

Enjoy Amigos!