Grilled Chicken Tacos from Dos Toros

My daughter likes the burritos at Dos Toros in New York City.  This grilled chicken recipe is from there.  The marinade uses tomatoes--a good way to use up those ripe tomatoes without making pasta sauce.

Grilled Chicken Tacos from Dos Toros
Ingredients:
3 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/3 c fresh lime juice (about 3 lemons)
1 c water
1 tsp salt
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs (4-5)
1 tsp sweet paprika
12 small tortillas, corn or flour

Shredded monterey jack cheese, salsa, sliced avocado, diced tomatoes, chopped onion and cilantro for serving

Directions:
1. In a blender, puree tomatoes with the lime juice, water and salt.  Transfer the puree to a large resealable plastic bag and add the chicken thighs.  Seal the bag, pressing out the air.  Refrigerate the chicken for 5 hour or overnight.
2. Light a grill or preheat a grill pan.  Remove the chicken thighs from the marinade and pat dry.  Brush with oil and sprinkle with paprika.  Grill over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, until the chicken is lightly charred and cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.  Cut the chicken into strips and serve with warmed tortillas, cheese, salsa, avocado, onion, tomatoes, and cilantro.  Makes 12 tacos.

Strawberry Shortcake

One night after a spring training baseball game we walked across the street to Cheesecake Factory and shared a wonderful strawberry shortcake.  It was one of the better shortcakes I've had and found what is supposed to be the recipe.  It makes a lot of shortcakes and ingredients are measured in weight.  I have at times scaled down the recipe to yield about six shortcakes.  The dough was little runnier than when I make the whole recipe but instead of rolling the dough I dropped it for free form shortcakes.  It tasted the same and was actually a few steps easier.  I like to use a good vanilla gelato instead of whipped cream.  Try a little squeeze of lime on the strawberries--it brings out the flavor.  Or add a little minced mint to the berries.

Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients:
For the strawberries:
2 pints strawberries, cored and sliced
4 Tbs sugar or to taste

For the shortcake biscuits
all purpose flour
buttermilk
heavy cream
salt
butter (I use half butter and margarine--I'm not a big fan of butter)
sugar
baking powder

For the Whipped Cream
powdered sugar
heavy cream
vanilla extract

Vanilla gelato or ice cream

Directions:
1.  Wash and drain the strawberries.  Remove the stems and slice.
2.  Put berries in a bowl and add the sugar.  Mix gently.  Chill for about 2 hours.
3.  Mix flour, sugar, salt and baking soda in a mixing bowl.  Cut in the butter until the ingredients are crumbly.
4.  Add butter milk and cream and gently mix 20-30 seconds.
5.  Drop dough into 6 rounds.  Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes.  Let cool.
6.  Split biscuits in half.  Place a scoop of ice cream on the bottom.  Spoon strawberries over the ice cream.  Place biscuit top.  Put some whip cream on top if desired.

Blueberry Hand Pies

This is a recipe from William Sonoma and just as they say it will bring back "memories of finding small, individually wrapped pies tucked into your school lunch box."  Don't overfill and I dusted them with sugar as well as drizzled with the frosting.  The filling isn't overly sweet so the extra sugar doesn't mask the fruit filling.

Ingredients:

2 cups blueberries  

1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs. sugar  

1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice (I used lime juice plus the zest) 

2 teaspoons cornstarch  

2 Tbs. water 

Basic Pie Dough for a double-crust pie

1 large egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water  

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries, the 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the berries begin to give off their juices. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until all of the berries have burst, about 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and water. Add the cornstarch mixture to the blueberry mixture and cook until the juices come to a boil and thicken. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 1/2 cup berries. Place the saucepan in a bowl of ice water and let the mixture cool, stirring frequently. 

Preheat an oven to 375°F. Have ready an ungreased rimmed baking sheet. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and dust the top with flour. Roll it out into a rectangle about 20 by 13 inches and 1/8 inch thick. Using a 6-inch saucer as a template, use a paring knife to cut out 6 rounds. Place about 3 tablespoons of the blueberry filling on one half of a round, leaving a 1/2-inch border uncovered. Fold the dough over so the edges meet, then crimp them with a fork. Transfer to the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough rounds and filling. Refrigerate the pies for 15 minutes. 

Lightly brush the pies with the egg wash, cut an X in the top of each pie and sprinkle with the remaining 1 Tbs. sugar. Bake the pies until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let the pies cool on the pan on a wire rack, then serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 6 hand pies. 

Variation: To make a simple glaze, sift 1 cup confectioners’ sugar into a bowl and whisk in 1–2 Tbs.water until the mixture has the consistency of a thin icing. Brush the icing over the cooled pies, then let set for a few minutes before serving.