Chicken Adobo

Chicken Adobo is a Filipino classic. We've tried making it many different ways; one of the most fun efforts was when our friend Michelle and her mom, who is from the Philippines, came over to teach us their method. We made a huge pot of adobo along with many other tasty treats.

This recipe is a slight modificiation of the one Michelle taught us. I have to warn you that it will smell up your house for quite a few days with a potent aroma. But it's fairly simple, exceptionally delicious and also quite inexpensive.

Chicken Adobo
(Makes 6 main dish servings)

12 bone-in chicken thighs (I take the skin off because it's healthier and also because I don't think there's anything quite so creepy as boiled chicken skin on your plate)
2 cups soy sauce
1  cup white  vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
4 teaspoons minced garlic
3 bay leaves
1 large onion, sliced in large slices
fresh ground black pepper to taste (other recipes we've tried call for whole peppercorns; one thing I like about this recipe is that you don't have to pick out the pepper corns).
Trim skin and excess fat from chicken. Put chicken in single layer in heavy pan. Mix other ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on very low simmer for 1/2 hour, then turn chicken and cook additional 1/2 hour. Remove chicken and place on broiler tray or in shallow glass casserole which will fit under your broiler.

Strain liquid to remove onion pieces and bay leaves. Drain off as much fat as possible, using a fat seperater if you have one. After fat is removed, boil down the liquid until the sauce is thick enough to barely coat your spoon.

Preheat the broiler. Put chicken under broiler for 5-10 minutes. Turn and broil the other side another 5-10 minutes (depending on how hot your broiler gets). Serve immediately.

Baked Potato Soup

This is not the healthiest recipe you'll ever make. But it's luxuriously delicious, and it's not as fat-filled as it looks.

The name says it all--this soup tastes just like a loaded baked potato, primarily because it has all of the same ingredients. We tried this for the first time a few months ago, and it has quickly become a family favorite. And if you bake the potatoes ahead of time, it's a pretty quick meal as well.

I combined a couple of recipes I found online to create my own version. It serves 6 to 8 generously.

Baked Potato Soup
4 baked potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 pound bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled (reserve a couple of tablespoons for topping)
3 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup flour
7 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
4 green onions, sliced thin, with a couple of tablespoons of them reserved for topping
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, grated (reserve a couple of tablespoons for topping)
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a large pot or dutch oven. Whisk in the flour until completely mixed, breaking up any lumps. Slowly add the milk, stirring into the butter mixture gradually. Bring to a simmer and let cook on low for about ten minutes, until soup is thick and bubbly, stirring frequently. Add the potatoes, green onions, sour cream, salt, pepper and cheese, reserving some of the bacon, onions and cheese for topping. Cook over low heat until  well heated, about ten minutes. Sprinkle each serving with cheese, onion and bacon.

Chile Verde

I know that those of you who are still hanging around thought I was gone for good. But I'm back. At least for a minute.

This recipe was so easy that I didn't think there was any way it could taste good. I found it on Food.com when I was looking for a way to use a pork loin roast in my freezer. I was taken in by the easiness of it and figured we would choke it down somehow. It had the very romantic name of Crock Pot Mexican Pork., promising that it's "a low-fat way to serve Mexican." Now if that doesn't entice you to make it, I don't know what will!

In the meantime, I should tell you that one of Bob's specialty dishes is called Chile Verde. He has spent years acquiring the recipe and adapting it to perfection; when he makes it, it seems like he slaves for hours. And the result is truly amazing. He often makes a very large batch because he knows we'll want more.

Back to my story. I am not kidding when I say that I made this dish in five minutes in the morning before I went to work. I was late. I had forgotten that it needed to be done. So I threw it all in the crock pot and wondered what else we could eat for dinner if it didn't turn out (but at least I wouldn't feel guilty about the unused roast in the freezer anymore).

When I came home after work that night, my daughter Sara said, "I didn't know you knew how to make chile verde." I quickly insisted that it was a different dish. But even I had to admit that it smelled an awful lot like Bob's chile verde. Later, we discovered that, except for not having any potatoes in it, it tasted an awful lot like chile verde. So I've named it after Bob's famous dish, even though we all recognize and accept that it's just Mom's emergency substitute.

Chile Verde
1 pound boneless pork loin roast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 20-ounce jar salsa (I used Pace mild)
4 ounces chopped green chiles,drained
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

In a 4-quart slow cooker, mix together the pork, salsa and green chiles. Cover and cook on low for six to eight hours or until pork is tender. The original recipe calls for 1 can of black beans, which you can add to the slow cooker, turning the stew up to high and heating for five to ten minutes. I didn't add the beans, because we as a family do not necessarily agree on which kind of beans we prefer.

The recipe also calls for sprinkling the stew with the cheese. We ate it with tortillas, with the cheese and a little squirt of sour cream on top. We ate it all, and we'll make it again!