Miguel's Baja Grill Serves it Up Fresh.

Miguel's Baja Grill

51 North Main Street
Moab, Utah, 84532

(435)259-6546

Website: http://www.miguelsbajagrill.com/

After climbing and hiking around Arches National Park, a good meal in a relaxing atmosphere is most welcome. Miguel's Baja Grill may be small in size, but big on taste; based upon the cuisine of Baja California Sur (one of the Mexican States) Our waitress, Rafaela, was all smiles, welcoming and very helpful with the menu questions.


The Salsa was a type we had not tasted before; the taste of lime and cilantro was predominant which enhanced the flavor of the chunky tomatoes and diced onions; heat was medium.


The Guacamole was a chunky mixture of avocado, onion and tomatoes; sprinkling a little salt over it all helped to enhance the flavors.

An appetizer of Chicken Flautas started off this dinner adventure. Tortillas were tightly wrapped around slices of tender chicken, deep fried and served with what could only be described as a salad on top. Taking a bite of flauta with a bit of the salad was a taste sensation and fun to eat.

My husband had Steak Tampiquena for his main course; a nicely seasoned flatiron steak which is grilled; served with two chicken flautas (what can I say, they were good) and an enchilada. He chose mole sauce for the enchilada; however I did not care for it as the chocolate flavor was too overwhelming for me.

I enjoy Baja Fish Tacos, so definitely ordered that dish when I spied it on the menu. It must be popular, as I kept hearing people around me ordering it also. The batter on the deep fried Mahi Mahi was light and the fish was flaky. The "special sauce" served with it tasted like buttermilk ranch dressing, so I ignored it. Instead I used the shredded cabbage, salsa and sour cream; definitely yummy.

Miguel's Baja Grill opens for dinner only at 5pm; we arrived at 5:45; only a few tables were still open. By the time we left, it was packed and there was a waiting list; tourists and locals alike know a good place.  If you're looking for "not run of the mill" Mexican cuisine, try Miguel's.

Mary Cokenour

Feeling Welcomed at Iron Horse Pizza.

Iron Horse Pizza

400 S. Camino Del Rio, Unit B
Durango, CO, 81301

(970) 259-9089

Website: http://www.ironhorsepizza.com/

When we first entered Iron Horse, we were welcomed by Ryan; a very friendly and personable man. We later learned that he originally came from Florida, lived in a primarily Greek area and brought many of the recipes and cooking techniques with him to Iron Horse.

Iron Horse looks like a typical small restaurant, but while red or green diamond patterned tablecloths remind you of a Italian pizzeria, the murals on the wall speak of the Southwest. There is a patio area for outside seating, but what we noticed inside and out was that everyone was laughing, talking and having a good time. The atmosphere at Iron Horse emits good feeling and no one was fighting it.

The menu contains items such as Subs, Gyros, Stromboli, Calzones, Pasta and most especially, Pizza - Neapolitan (round) and Sicilian (square). There is also an extensive salad bar which you can order slices of pizzas with or without, or as a side. I wished I had read the menu a bit more carefully before ordering, as I would have certainly gotten the Sicilian, but we ended up ordering Gyros.

The Greek Gyro is loaded...loaded with thin slices of a beef and lamb mixture, freshly diced tomatoes, sliced onions, delicious gobs of feta cheese and a fabulous tzatziki sauce. Make sure to have plenty of napkins for the sauce runneth over, but is oh so yummy...fresh and delicious are the key words for this and....

the Chicken Gyro. The same ingredients as the Greek Gyro except for large slices of tender and juicy chicken. Oh, and the pita bread for both were warm and tender; delicious bread pillows indeed!

Definitely hit up Iron Horse Pizza if traveling through Durango, Colorado and can't decide where to eat; you will not regret the decision!

They do have specials and the current one we saw advertised was called "Four Corners Family Pizza Special", $35 for 6 sourdough knots, large bowl of salad, 14 inch pizza up to 4 toppings, 4 soft drinks or a 2 liter bottle - take out or dine in.  Save $15 off regular prices.

Mary Cokenour

Getting to the Greek.

While browsing at Amazon.com, I found that they were having a clearance sale on many cookbooks.   I had already decided that I needed to expand my knowledge base on certain cuisines, namely Thai, Indian and Mediterranean, so this was perfect.  I read reviews on many books and finally chose three which arrived on Wednesday of this week.

My first attempt is a dish I have renamed "Greek Chicken" or more commonly known as Lemon Garlic Chicken.  Why the name change?  Basically I changed a few aspects of the recipe, making it my own of course, and the name seemed to fit the concept better.  In the book, a Greek salad was used as a side course; I took out the lettuce component and ...well you see.

In case you don't know what it means to "butterfly", after cutting the chicken into two sections, turn each piece "skin side" down. Lightly run a sharp knife through the thickest part, but be careful not to cut all the way through. Carefully open it up, so it becomes thinner, larger piece of chicken.

For the tomatoes, make sure they are firm and meaty; a tomato with a lot of pulp just won't go very well with the dish.

Greek Chicken

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
3/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp each crushed dried oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme and marjoram
3 Tbsp lemon juice

Garnishes:

2 firm, large sized tomatoes, cut each into 10 wedges
4 Tbsp sliced black olives
4 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese

Preparation:

Trim fat off chicken, cut each piece in half (shortways) and butterfly open. Place in plastic resealable bag, add olive oil, herbs and lemon juice; move chicken around to thoroughly coat. Place bag in refrigerator for 8 hours.

When ready to cook, heat a large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat; place chicken in skillet and cook each side for 7-9 minutes. Chicken will caramelize and juices will run clear.

Plate two pieces of chicken; place four wedges of tomato around chicken and one in center, scatter one tablespoon each of olives and cheese over chicken and tomatoes.

Makes 4 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Chicken Soup for What Ails You.

My dear friend Heidi just had a little minor surgery, but unfortunately developed a slight cold afterwards. You know what they say about hospitals though; you're oft to catch something from there that you didn't have when you went in.

I've made her a chicken soup before, using egg noodles, but I wanted her to have something a bit more special. She deserves it for all the pain from the surgery anyway. So here's the recipe for my Chicken Tortellini Soup.

Chicken Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 tsp salt
water
1-32 oz can of chicken broth (low sodium)
2 cups water (if using dried pasta, increase to 4 cups)
½ cup each diced onions, celery and red bell pepper
1 cup frozen crinkle cut carrots, thawed to room temperature
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp crushed, dried thyme leaves
½ tsp paprika
1 tsp crushed, dried marjoram leaves
1 lb package of either frozen or dried cheese tortellini


Preparation:

Place the chicken in a small pan, sprinkle on the salt and cover with water; on high heat, let the chicken cook for 7 minutes. Remove from pan, rinse with cold water and dice up the chicken; set aside. If chicken is slightly undercooked, it will finish cooking in skillet later on.

In a large stock pot, combine broth, water, onions, celery, bell pepper, carrots, black pepper and thyme; cook for 20 minutes on medium heat. Raise heat to high and bring to a rolling boil.

While waiting for broth to boil, place diced chicken in a large skillet, over high heat and add paprika and marjoram leaves; cook for 2 minutes, more if slightly undercooked from before. Add the tortellini to the now boiling broth; if frozen, cook 7 minutes; if dried, cook 11 minutes. Add the chicken and let cook another two minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Shepherd's Pie Goes Wild Game.

Having ground venison(deer) in the freezer, I wanted to do more than just make burgers, meatloaf or a meat sauce for pasta; but what? I had not made Shepherd's or Cottage Pie in a long while and the thought of mashed potatoes with meat was too tempting.

Normally, a
traditional Shepherd's Pie is made with ground lamb; if it's made with ground beef, that is called Cottage Pie. Now why would I call this dish with venison Shepherd's Pie; simply it's based on taste. Lamb has a strong, gamey flavor even though it is an animal basically raised for its wool and meat. Venison, on the other hand, is a creature hunted in the wild; with a strong, gamey flavor. Yes, it's convoluted thinking, but I know for a fact the solution is a great tasting meal.

One thing I knew for sure, to smooth out the flavor of the venison, I needed to marinade it overnight. I placed one pound of the ground meat in a plastic container and added two tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and ground black pepper and mixed it thoroughly. Sealing up the container, I placed it in the refrigerator until I would use it the next day.

In a large skillet, I began browning the meat over medium-high heat. After a couple of minutes, I added in one tablespoon of Worcester sauce and 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder; mixed thoroughly and let it cook until no more redness in color showed.

Now in a large mixing bowl, there was already waiting 1 and 1/2 cups of a pea and diced carrot mixture, a 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms and 1/2 cup of beef broth. Of course I already had the mashed potato topping waiting for its grand entrance. Here's how to make that just in case you haven't followed the link to Shepherd's Pie:

The topping:

6 large potatoes, peeled and cut up
4Tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk
6 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain and mash the potatoes, add butter, milk, grated cheese and pepper to the potatoes.

Preheating the oven to 375F, I sprayed a 2 quart casserole dish with nonstick spray. First I spooned in the venison filling, then spread the mashed potatoes over the filling; finishing with the sprinkling of paprika over the topping. 40 minutes later it was ready to eat.

The ground venison had the taste of fine steak with the underlying flavor of red wine; the vegetables were tender, not mushy; the mashed potatoes were smooth with a buttery, cheesy flavor. The scent however was heady with a mixture of meat, potato, cheese and wine; you knew what you were in for and you wanted it.

Don't be afraid to try out wild game such as venison. Begin with a simple recipe, such as one of the many recipes I've posted on this blog concerning venison and elk. You will be surprised how easy and flavorful it is.

Mary Cokenour

Winter's Last Hurrah.

Crazy weather here in Monticello; after having temperatures reaching to almost 70 degrees, it is now windy, cold and snowing. We're expecting about 3 to 4 inches tonight and then the temperatures will be going back up into the 60's.

With the spring like weather last week, I was planning out my vegetable and herbal gardens; making lists of plants to buy, soils, etc. Suddenly Mother Nature decides to slap us in the face with another dose of winter; sort of letting us know that she wasn't finished with that season just yet.

While I had roasted some chicken breasts to use to add into leafy salads; the idea of having soup popped into my mind. Not just any soup though, I wanted a chowder; thick, hearty, stick to the ribs chowder. There is something about soup, but chowder especially, that makes one feel so warm and comfortable when it is cold outside. A picture enters the mind of sitting in front of a lit fireplace, blanket wrapped around the shoulders, sitting in a rocking chair and cradling a bowl of chowder.

Now I usually have biscuits as an accompaniment for chowder, but this time I used one as a centerpiece in my bowl. A nice grind of freshly cracked black pepper over the biscuit and chowder was the final touch to perfect comfort.

Chicken Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/8 tsp salt
¼ tsp paprika and ground black pepper
4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, peeled and large diced
2 stalks celery, large diced
1 small onion, diced
6 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
3 cups milk
2 cups cooked whole kernel corn
2 hardboiled eggs, diced

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F; spray roasting pan with nonstick spray. Season chicken with the salt, black pepper and paprika; roast for 15-20 minutes; juices in chicken will run clear. Remove and cut into cubes. While chicken is roasting, place potatoes, carrots and celery in a large pot, cover with salted water; cook on high heat until potatoes are fork tender. Drain, but retain 1 cup of water.

In the large pot, melt butter on medium-high heat, add onion and cook for 5 minutes; add in flour and mix thoroughly. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring to make sure the flour is well incorporated. Add in milk, retained water and corn; bring to a boil, stir and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Mix in diced eggs and serve.

Makes 6 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Coffeebark is Energizing Sweetness.

Coffeebark

332 Summit Avenue
Center City, MN

(651) 335-0189

Website: http://www.coffeebark.com/index.html

While on Facebook, an advertisement came up on the sidebar for Coffeebark and I was curious. I clicked on the page and was presented with details about a candy which contained three classic food groups, ok, flavors: chocolate, toffee and coffee. Now I was even more curious and I tried ordering a sample through the link available. I know it was me, but I had some difficulty getting the ordering done through Facebook, so I went to Coffeebark's homepage instead.

Besides the sample size, you can also order 1/4 lb, 1/2 lb, 1 lb or bulk sizes of the regular or decaf. I decided to order the "Why Not" or 1/4 lb bags of both; wanted to give it a good try and let others take a nibble too.

After opening my Priority Mail box, I put the packages to my face and inhaled; oh my, the coffee scent was enticing. Opening the packages, the scent becomes more intense, sort of like when you open that vacuum sealed package of fresh, roasted coffee and get that first whiff.   The crushed coffee layer on the decaf is slightly lighter in color and less bitter than the regular, but that is where the differences ends.  The toffee is nicely sweet and balances with the bitterness of the coffee; the chocolate keeps the layers together.  Actually the chocolate gets a bit lost between the flavors of the toffee and coffee, but as you're eating the candy, you simply don't care.

Here's the warning, if strong coffee effects you, eat the regular Coffeebark sparingly, or stick to the decaf.  I did get a slight headache after eating the regular Coffeebark, but I knew I would, since that happens when I eat regular chocolate covered coffee beans.   That's the breaks when trying out products, but I've no regrets on this one.

Basically, if you enjoy coffee or just want to try a new type of candy treat, then go to Coffeebark's website and order a sample; you'll be back for more.

Mary Cokenour