by Ryker Suicide

Ryker: Taqueria Style Chicken Tacos with Fire Roasted Salsa

For a brief time about 5 years ago, I lived in Santa Cruz, California. Of all the things I miss the most about Santa Cruz, I think the taquerías top the list. Where I lived, there were taquerias on every corner and everyone I knew had their favorite stop. Mine, was Tacos Morenos. I literally would dream about their chicken tacos (though they called them quesadillas, the only difference I could see between these and the tacos were the melted cheese on the corn tortilla). For nearly 5 years I have been trying to replicate both the fire roasted salsa, as well as the way they made this incredible pulled chicken. And finally, I think I’ve done it 🙂

Ingredients: For The Tacos

• 1-1.5 lbs chicken breast
• 1 can of diced tomatoes/peppers
• 2 packages of taco seasoning
• 1-2 cups of flour (for dredging)
• Ground cumin
• 1 can of diced green chili peppers
• 1 can of chicken broth
• 1 package of corn tortillas
• Fresh cilantro
• Cheese (such as queso fresco or 4 blend Mexican cheese)
• Shredded cabbage slaw
• 1 can of pinto beans
• olive oil

Directions:

1. Coat pan in olive oil and heat to medium high. Pat chicken dry, and cut each breast into two pieces (smaller pieces cook faster). Mix flour and one packet of taco seasoning. Dredge chicken in flour mixture and brown on both sides. While browning, sprinkle chicken with a bit of ground cumin. After chicken is browned, remove from pan and set aside.

2. In same pan, add 1 can of chicken broth and taco seasoning. Also add chili peppers and tomatoes. Mix together well, scraping up any little brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Return chicken to pan and allow to simmer for 45 minutes covered. (Now is a good time to start on the salsa, recipe follows below). Turn chicken after 45 minutes and allow to simmer for another 20-30 minutes until chicken is fork tender.

3. Once chicken is cooked, remove from pan and turn off heat. Allow chicken to cool a bit and then pull apart. Return pulled chicken to pan and allow to simmer on low for another 30-60 minutes uncovered, letting the liquid reduce a bit.

4. Once chicken is super juicy and tender, you are ready to assemble. Take two corn tortillas (feel free to heat in microwave ahead of time, it makes them more pliable) and add layers of cheese, cabbage, beans, chicken, salsa, and cilantro.

Eat and enjoy!!

Ingredients: For The Salsa

• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 poblano pepper
• 1 large jalapeño or two small ones
• 1-3 habanero (depending on your level of heat. 1 being mild, 3 being hot)
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 onion
• Olive oil
• Sea Salt
• 1 small can of jalapeño verde sauce

Directions: Fire Roasted Salsa:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Quarter tomatoes, seed and cores in tact. Slice peppers by the halves. Quarter onions. Coat everything heavily in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put in roasting pan, skin sides up.

2. For the garlic, slice top end off so the cloves are exposed. Pour with olive oil and wrap garlic in tin foil. Also insert in roasting pan. Roast veggies for 1-2 hours until charred and super soft.

3. In a food processor, blend roasted veggies, a handful of fresh cilantro, verde sauce, and salt (as needed).

Viola! You have fire-roasted salsa 🙂

Mmmmm….soo good!

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by Laurelin

I have always felt a little indifferent about Valentine’s Day. It seems cliché to hate it, stupid to love it, and all in all, just another day of the week. I don’t think I have ever had a spectacular Valentine’s Day even when I was in a relationship. In college, my boyfriend at the time told me we were supposed to go to dinner and then he wound up not being able to afford it. I was crushed. But I remember one other day, in the middle of the summer when he left a single red rose under my windshield wipers, and he hid so when I looked around the parking lot I didn’t see him until when I turned around, he was right there kissing me. It was one of the most romantic moments of my life, and it was also just another day.

A few Valentine’s days ago my boyfriend at the time and I went to a romantic dinner at a candlelit historic restaurant in Boston’s Beacon Hill district. The tables were so close together and we were both so tall that we looked like bulls in a china shop trying to be classy and quiet amidst normal sized couples. We wound up eating so much food and dessert that we couldn’t even make room for drinks afterwards, and we were both massively uncomfortable for the rest of the evening. Sexy.

I feel like Valentine’s Day is just one of those days that winds up making people feel bad, so I usually just do what I always do on every other day: hit the bars. If anyone is out at a bar in Boston on Valentine’s Day chances are they’re single. The odds of running into a guy lying about having a girlfriend on Valentine’s Day are slim to none, so I look forward every year to some guilt free bar scene action.

One year ago today I was with four single friends. One guy had just been dumped (they got back together), one had just been snubbed my by best friend and was nursing a bruised ego (he is now happily in a relationship), and then there was me and my friend Lindsay, two girls who can’t seem to be tamed. We were drinking twenty three ounce Harpoon UFO drafts and knocking back shots of Jameson when I glanced up and happened to meet eyes with a guy standing across the bar. I leaned into my friend Jay not-so-stealthily, “he’s CUTE!” I whispered, quickly looking away, my cheeks burning.

Not two seconds later I had a shot of Patron placed in front of me, and the bartender gestured towards that guy across the bar. “It’s on him,” the bartender said. I looked up and the guy was holding a shot as well, and I knew that there was no turning back now, I had to rip this shot and act like tequila didn’t make me throw up in my mouth. Turning down salt and lime, I got the shot down the hatch and stood up to go say thanks. I flashed my best smile and held out my hand, and I met Dan.

I remember leaving the bar that night with a smile stuck to my face. Who goes to a bar and meets a guy on Valentine’s Day? It was perfect, so sappy, so lame, and oh my god, why couldn’t I stop smiling? That night was the start of something that wound up being silly, tumultuous, fun and pretty important. Dan has become a staple in my life, someone I call when I need advice, need a drinking partner, need a pep talk on getting over an ex. We just got back from an 11 day cruise with a few other friends, and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in crime with whom to spend that time in paradise with. Looking back one year later I can’t help but still have a smile stuck on my face.

It’s funny, how life works out. I always thought that Valentine’s Day was just another day, and it is — but you never know when life is going to hand you someone special — and as always, extra points when that someone special is holding a shot of tequila with your name on it.

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by Ryker Suicide

I’m a huge Sriracha fan. I put it on almost everything. While I was visiting a very good friend of mine in Seattle over Thanksgiving, he introduced me to The Sriracha Cookbook by Randy Clemens. There are over 50 awesome recipes with Sriracha sauce as the star ingredient. The first thing we decided to try were these scrumptious Sriracha burgers. We ended up eating them ALL week long and I have been craving them ever since that trip. Last week I decided to make them again, but I changed a few things. I tend to like my food on the much hotter side, so I tripled the Sriracha in this recipe. The original recipe calls for 10 Tablespoons. So here is my take on the “Ultimate Sriracha Burger” from The Sriracha Cookbook 🙂 Enjoy!

Ingredients:

(Serves 8 – I like to form the meat patties and freeze them for quick meals later.)

• 3 lbs ground turkey
• 1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 cup-ish of Sriracha sauce, plus more for drizzling
• 4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• 4 slices thick cut bacon
• 3/4 cup chunky Bleu Cheese dressing
• 2 large sweet onions, julienned
• 8 thick slices of your favorite cheese (personally I am a big fan of muenster with this recipe)
• 8 whole grain hamburger buns
• Romaine lettuce or arugula
• beefsteak tomato, sliced.

Directions:

1. In a pan, cook bacon. After bacon is cooked, remove and sauté julienned onions in bacon fat letting them caramelize slowly. While onions are cooking, start preparing turkey meat.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix half of the Sriracha, Worcestershire, and pepper. Add in ground meat. Do not over-mix, and form into 8 patties. Refrigerate while onions finish cooking.

3. When onions are done, remove from pan. Either pan sear turkey burgers, or grill (to preference) until cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Set burgers aside. Add cheese while cooking, or after, to preference.

4. In a small bowl, mix together remaining Sriracha sauce and bleu cheese.

5. Now it’s time to assemble! Spoon some of the Sriracha-bleu cheese dressing on bottom bun and add turkey cheeseburger on top. Add two half strips of bacon, and a portion of caramelized onion. Top with another spoonful of Bleu-Sriracha dressing. Feel free to drizzle with more Sriracha. Add top bun, serve with lettuce and tomato on side.

Eat and enjoy!!!

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by Laurelin

There are a lot of things I remember about certain people, and a lot of things I’m sure I forget. A lot of the things I remember I wish I didn’t, some things make me smile, things remind me that I’m human, that things change, people change. I remember tracing outlines, wanting my fingertips to remember every dimple, every muscle line, every tattoo. I remember smells, sounds, songs playing before I drift off to sleep, songs playing in clubs when our eyes meet across the dance floor and I can just breathe in a beat. But always with these memories, I remember that things change.

I feel like I have already lived a lifetime of change when it comes to my friend Ben. I remember the first time I ever saw him, a fleeting moment of eye contact in a filthy frat house and I thought, “who is THAT…” and he was gone, and it didn’t matter because whoever he was, this was my boyfriend’s frat house. Ben and I wouldn’t talk much that summer, but I always remembered him.

Fast-forward to a year later, long after my boyfriend and I had broken up, and I was turning 21. It was a Tuesday night, and as the lights flashed for last call at my first bar my best friend Lisa ran up to me. I was drunker than I’d ever been before, and she was smiling as she gestured towards the door.

“I found him,” she said, “for your birthday. I found him, that guy from the frat house.” And there he was, she had found him somehow, and that was the beginning. It was a fairy tale in a sense, a sorority girl in a pink lettered sweatshirt and a smirking sarcastic guy with tattoos, something that didn’t make such sense but would be all and none of the sense I knew from then on.

It seems so far off now, but all those year ago I did love him, or I thought I did. We dated, we were inseparable, we would hit a rough patch and take a break. We would fight, like really fight; screaming and crying, nights where I would just want to die if he wouldn’t speak to me again. I did things that I haven’t done since and will never do again, things I can’t even say out loud let alone type. I am the most ambitious person I know, but I remember I wrote him a letter, saying that I could lay with him forever and be happy with everything I never did. Time stood still and moved like liquid at the same time. It wasn’t right, perfect to no one else but me. Then one day, he was gone.

When I say gone, I mean gone. Years together and then just gone, disappeared, fallen off the planet. It was one year almost to the day until I heard from him again. I can’t say what happened in that year; but finally, after indescribable hurt, I was eventually healing. Everything that’s happened to me since that moment has seemed like nothing I can’t conquer, every break up since then has been tough, but almost laughable. It was the longest year of my life, and then one day, it was over. 12 months later I looked down at the glow of my flip phone and recognized his number. I should have known better than to answer it I’m sure, but the apology on the other end of the phone was really a long time coming.

Add a few more years, a lot of bad choices (meeting his father for the first time while I was drunk at work at a strip club in a naughty nurse uniform), and a few good choices (endless concerts, dancing all night, swimming at the beach by moonlight, traveling to Ireland together) and we somehow found ourselves over the worst, over the on and off dating and finally, just plain friends. I don’t know when I stopped loving him, but somewhere along the line I finally found ME, and I realized that while I had always thought there was no me without him, that wasn’t the case at all.

Ten years later he would have the perfect description of what happened to us between now and then: “You moved to Boston, you found this life, this strong personality and you stopped being that small town girl from Rhode Island, that girl who just wanted someone to love her.” Our strong personalities clash, and one afternoon a few weeks ago I made a call, and he must have recognized my number. Ten years later, after yet another year of not speaking, I’m finally looking at him from across my bar. We’re both smirking with tattoos now, and I see our life together in a blur of colors, sounds, hurt feelings, songs and traced outlines. We order a round of shots and I rest my head on his shoulder, finally with my best friend again after all this time.

“How do you guys know each other?” my friend asks, pulling up a bar stool. Ben and I look at each other.

“It’s a long story,” I say, smiling.

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by Ryker Suicide

Yesterday I made my momma’s recipe for Chicken and Dumplings. I’ve changed it a little bit over the years, but its one of my favorite comfort foods. Especially on a cold day in the winter when I can’t stand the thought of going outside 🙂 Enjoy! – Ryker Suicide

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken breast
• 1 lb chicken thighs (skins removed)
• 1 carton of chicken stock (home made is even better)
• Fresh Parsley
• Fresh Thyme
• 2 1/4 cups of Bisquick
• 2/3 cup of milk
• Salt & pepper
• 1 1/2 TBS Poultry Seasoning
• Flour (for dredging)
• 2-3 cups of water
• 1/2 TBS Garlic powder
• 1 bag baby carrots (chopped)
• 1 bunch of celery (chopped)
• 2-3 small onions (2 onions chopped, 1 grated for dumplings)
• Olive oil

Directions:

Heat large pot with olive oil over medium-high heat. Pat chicken dry and make sure skins are removed from breasts. Dredge in flour, poultry seasoning, about 1/8 cup of chopped fresh parsley and thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Brown chicken in pan, After chicken is browned, add vegetables and 1 cup of water, cover pot immediately and turn heat down to medium low. Let chicken/veggies cook for about 15 minutes.

Add another cup or two of water until chicken is JUST covered. Allow to cook about 20 minutes, flip chicken/stir veggies. Add chicken stock and 1/2 cup of chopped parsley, and 3-4 sprigs of chopped thyme. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover pot again and allow chicken/vegetables to cook another 20 minutes or so until chicken is fork tender. You may have to turn the heat up to medium after adding stock. While you are allowing chicken to cook last 20 minutes, start on your dumplings.

In a mixing bowl, mix milk and Bisquick. Add grated onion, salt, pepper, and fresh parsley. Mix well. Remove cooked chicken from pot and cool. In near boiling broth, add dropfuls of dumplings to pot. When they float to the top they are ready. For a thinner broth, go easy on dumplings as they will thicken up the broth. Alternatively, you can cook them separately if you like a lot of dumplings. (I prefer a thicker broth for this dish.) If you are not familiar with making dumplings, I suggest testing one or two first to make sure they are at your preferred consistency. For thicker dumplings, add more Bisquick, for lighter, add more milk (not much!). Dumplings are always an experiment. You can also add potatoes to your dumplings as well. After dumplings are in your broth, turn heat down to low. When chicken is finished cooling, pull it off of bone and into bite sized pieces. I even shred some of it, but this is all to preference. Add to soup, and enjoy!

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by Laurelin

It’s a weird thing, a girl’s heart. I like to think that no matter what my brain says, I can always make the right choice if I use both organs. Speak with your brain, think with your heart. As much as I wanted to open my mouth and protest as the last two important guys in my life let me go, I didn’t, because my heart told my brain that what they were doing was right, that we weren’t right, and it was time to be on my own again. I trust that my heart will always guide me, even if it sometimes gets lost. And I trust that even when I have to hurt someone else, I am only doing what’s right for me, and that’s what’s most important.

It was this situation I found myself in recently, and I still can’t help but feel so guilty for actually not feeling anything at all. I’m not sure when I arrived at the decision that I wasn’t exactly over my ex, but somewhere along the lines he crept back into my mind and there is nothing worse than a girl who can’t think straight who’s become involved with someone else. My “someone else” was another bartender, a fit and cocky guy who fit my unfortunate type perfectly. We had gone out a few times and what I thought was going to be something slow and fun quickly took a turn — this guy seemed to want to get serious almost immediately. I froze, unable to see his smiling face through the red flags that suddenly clouded my vision.

My brain started going a mile a minute. Was I scared to commit? If I didn’t want to be in relationship with this guy, why were we dating in the first place? Am I not ready to date? Or did I just know in my heart that he wasn’t the one for me? Was I just using these recent thoughts about my ex as a crutch to not have to feel anything for anyone right now? I was feeling overwhelmed and guilty almost immediately, even though I guess the point of dating is to get to know someone. If it wasn’t working out for me, all I had to do was end it. All I could do was tell the truth.

They weren’t kidding when they say the truth hurts. I kept faltering, stuttering, unable to find the words to say what I was feeling, unable to make this guy really understand why I couldn’t see him anymore. It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done, and it did not go well. All I kept thinking was that at least I was being honest, but it’s never easy to hurt someone, even if you have only just started seeing them. I wasn’t ready for this, I had to clear my own head and heart before I was willing to let someone else into either of them.

The amount of relief I felt when it was finally over was so great that I could have jumped for joy, and at the same time I could have burst into tears. Knowing that someone out there was so hurt and angry with me was like a punch in the gut. I’m so used to being the one who gets hurt that I forgot what it was like to do the hurting; it isn’t any easier.

So now I’m back to just me; my usual lingering unwelcome thoughts about the ex, back to sleeping with the cat and brewing only one cup of coffee in the morning. I kind of like it; my choice to be alone rather than be with someone who wasn’t right for me just for the sake of being with someone. I always did sleep better alone, and it’s a sound sleep, knowing that my heart and brain were on the same page and for once, did the right thing.

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by Ryker Suicide

I’m making these meatballs for a holiday party. I’m not making the figs this year, unfortunately, because they are expensive to make and I’m broke. But they are incredible! – Ryker Suicide

Prosciutto Wrapped Figs

Ingredients:

• Figs (dried work as well!)
• Cream cheese (go with regular cream cheese, low fat just isn’t as indulgent!)
• Fresh Basil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Sugar (as needed)
• Almond slivers
• Prosciutto (ab 8 oz will be good for 12-16 figs, depending on size).

Directions:

1. First make your balsamic reduction. For those of you unfamiliar with this delicious sauce recipe, it’s super easy! Simply pour desired amount of vinegar into pan (about a cup will do for, say, 16 figs since this is basically just a drizzle/garnish) and heat over high heat. Whisk vinegar constantly to prevent vinegar from burning until it starts to reduce, thicken, and glaze. Add sugar to taste. I usually like to add a TINY bit of sugar to this recipe just to sweeten it a bit, but keep in mind the figs are sweet on their own so you shouldn’t need too much.

2. Slice your figs in half length-wise and split open slightly. Stuff with cream cheese (I usually stir up the cream cheese and whip it a bit to get it softer. You can also add a bit of mascarpone if you are feeling fancy!). Add a fresh basil leaf (sizeable to fig, I usually end up using about a half of a basil leaf since they can be rather large) and then an almond sliver. Wrap fig in a thin slice of prosciutto.

3. Drizzle in balsamic reduction. Repeat for rest of figs.

4. Broil until just crisp on the outside (maybe 5 minutes? depending on your broiler). Keep an eye on them because you don’t want to burn the prosciutto.

Spicy Cocktail Meatballs

Ingredients for the meatballs:

• 1 pound ground turkey (or beef for a more traditional meatball)
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 eggs
• 2-3 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped (obviously, the more you use the spicier they will turn out to be – I usually use around 3-4)
• 2 tablespoons adobo sauce (from can of chipotle peppers in adobo)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon canola oil

Ingredients for the sauce:

Directions for the meatballs:

In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients, except the canola oil. Shape heaping teaspoons of the mixture into 1-inch balls. In a Dutch oven (or heavy, heavy pan), heat a tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, wiping pan in between, sauté the meatballs, turning frequently for even browning, until cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes. (For those who prefer a lower fat option, meatballs also can be baked on 350 for about 25-30 minutes.) Place on a paper towel-lined plate.

Directions for the sauce:

Heat oil in the same Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Add the crushed red pepper and cook 1 minute. Stir in the remaining ingredients and reduce heat to low.

Add the browned meatballs to the Dutch oven and toss gently to coat with sauce.

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