Pineapple Orange Chicken

Based on a recipe in an ad. . . . .

Pineapple Orange Chicken
Makes 4 servings

20 oz pineapple chunks, drained; reserve juice
uncooked rice (1 - 2 cups, depending on how much rice you want)
chicken breasts, cut into half-inch pieces (3/4 lb - 1 1/4 lb)
1 tablespoon seame oil or other oil
4 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
veggies - red bell pepper, sugar snap peas, bok choy, etc.
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 - 1/2 cup orange juice

optional toppings: red chilies, cashews, sliced green onions. . .

Cook rice using pineapple juice plus additional water as needed (an uncooked serving of rice is 1/4 cup; for four servings, use a cup of rice and two cups of the water - juice mixture).

Toss chicken with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, then brown in oil.  Add in pineapple and veggies and cook until softened.

Mix together remaining cornstarch in 1/4 cup water, then add rice vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, and orange juice to it.  Stir into chicken - veggie mixture until sauce starts to thicken.  Add red chilies if using.

Serve over rice, topped with cashews and green onions.

Books. . . .

I recently subscribed to eReaderIQ which advertises itself as " The Easier, Faster and Smarter Way to Kindle!"  You specify the type of books you're interested, and they will send you an email of ebooks in that category that are low price (even free!).

Yesterday's free deals included The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook: A lifestyle of Healthy Foods by Stacy Michaels.  The first recipe I looked at was for Margherita Lasagna.  Seems like a pretty typical lasagna recipe - layers of sauce, noodles, ricotta, and mozzarella.  The sauce sounded interesting:

2 pounds of Roma tomatoes
2 pounds Campari or cherry tomatoes
3 cups chopped onion
4 cloves smashed garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup minced fresh basil

I only made half the recipe - a pound of plum tomatoes and a pound of beefsteak tomatoes. And half of an onion, diced plus 5 cloves of garlic.  Less oil - just a little to coat the bottom of the pan.  No red pepper flakes, and dried herbs instead of fresh.  But I more or less followed the directions: quarter the tomatoes, then toss everything in a pan and roast for 45 minutes at 400 degrees.  After it's roasted, puree in a food processor.

I don't know if I've ever made tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes, but this turned out fairly well.  Going to use it make lasagna tomorrow.

And I also made some Onion Soup - onions caramelized in a browned butter, then a little sherry and chicken broth.  Then served with homemade croutons and a salad made with hydroponic lettuce (I've been getting a co-op basket each week, and it routinely has the best lettuce.)

Other new recipes to try this week:
Breakfast Tostadas from www.amuse-your-bouche.com (I found this site looking for a recipe for mushrooms.  This week's co-op basket also included mushrooms, and while this recipe doesn't have mushrooms, it is gluten free).
Baby Gem Salad also from www.amuse-your-bouche.com
Cheese and Walnut Salad also from www.amuse-your-bouche.com

King Ranch Casserole from Found Recipes on npr.org (I heard about this while listening to NPR; I thought it sounded interested, and potentially easy to reduce the fat, etc. to make it healthier, including making mushroom soup from the co-op basket mushrooms.)
KFC-Inspired Chicken (gluten free; made in a slow cooker) also from Found Recipes on npr.org (I found this while browsing the Found Recipes; sounds like a good fit with the King Ranch Casserole which calls for cooked chicken).

I also need to start my tomato plants!  I usually wait until mid-February, but then they never seem big enough when it's time to plant them.

Cashew Chicken

From Foodess.com:

Cashew Chicken

1 cup chicken stock or water
1 tbsp + 2 tbsp cornstarch (divided)
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
6 cloves garlic, minced
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut in bite-sized pieces
1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 baby bok choy, quartered
5 green onions, chopped, green and white parts separated
1 cup raw or roasted cashews

Instructions
For the sauce, mix stock with cornstarch, then add soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and garlic.

In a medium bowl, toss chicken with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Heat the oil in a large skillet or a wok over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook in a single layer until golden on both sides and no longer pink inside (may need to do multiple batches).  Remove from pan, then add bok choy and white part of green onions to the same skillet; cook until the stem of the bok choy is crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Add cooked chicken, sauce, green onion tops, and cashews.  Cook until sauce thickens and everything is heated.

Foodess.com is a lovely site with lots of beautiful pictures.  

Thanksgiving Menu

Appetizers:
Veggie bird nests
Cheese and crackers
Raw Carrots and Dip

Main meal:
Ham
Meatballs with BBQ sauce
Shrimp and Grits
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potato / Butternut Squash Casserole (Publix recipe card)
Sautéed Brussels Sprouts and carrots (Publix recipe card)
Sautéed green beans with herbs and Parmesan (Publix recipe card)
Oven roasted Radishes and Carrots
Fried Squash / Fried Zucchini
Rolls

Dessert:
Pumpkin Brûlée
Hot Fudge Brownie Cake

Butter vs Lard vs Coconut Oil vs Shortening. . . .

The different melting temperature of different fats:

From King Arthur flour:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/fats.html

From Now Foods
http://www.nowfoods.com/M013397.htm

The melting temperature of Coconut oil is about 78 degrees.

Ranch

Ranch seasoning mix

Based on recipe on: gimmesomeoven.com

1/3 cup buttermilk powder
2 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp. dried dill weed
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. dried onion flakes
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried chives
1 tsp. salt

Mix together.  Probably should be stored in fridge as buttermilk powder does best when stored in the refrigerator.  To make into dip, mix with sour cream, adding mix to desired consistency. 

Cronuts

faux Cronuts

Ingredients

• 1 tube of Pillsbury Big and Buttery Grands Crescent Rolls
• Oil for frying - least 4 inches of oil to fry in
• 1/2 cup Sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

• Using a large pot to prevent splashing, heat oil over medium heat.  Roll each crescent triangle into a loose rope, then into a circle.  
• Fry for about a minute per side.
• Drain, then dip in cinnamon sugar

Biscuit Notes

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/biscuits-recipe

http://theredspoon.com/2011/04/flakiest-buttermilk-biscuits/

http://www.food.com/recipe/bo-berry-biscuits-recipe-373413

For 2 servings

1 cup self rising flour

1/4 cup shortening

3/8 cup buttermilk

1/8 t baking soda

for 4:

2 cups flour

1/2 c

3/4 buttermilk

1/4 t soda

for 10:

3 cups

3/4 cup

1 cup + 2 T buttermilk

3/8 soda

450 degrees at  8 - 12 minutes

Pot De Creme Au Chocolat

Based on my mum's old Betty Crocker Cook book 

1 bar 4 oz sweet cooking chocolate (better: bitter sweet or even chocolate chips)
2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 c. light cream

2 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

More Cookies. . . . .

Just some notes for later. . . .

http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Samoas-Recipe/

First, you'll need the basic shortbread recipe, which you can find here. Just to have it handy, here's a repeat of those ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

 115g (1/2 cup) sugar 

250g (2 cups) all purpose flour 

1/4 teaspoon baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 tablespoons milk

Preheat your oven to 350F (180C) and line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners. Once your dough is firm enough to roll out without making a big mess, roll dough on lightly floured surface. Once your dough is rolled to about 1/8" - 1/4" thickness, use a cookie cutter to cut out whatever shapes your heart desires. Re-roll the scraps and repeat. Bake 10 - 12 minutes. 

For the topping, you'll need:
225g (3 cups) shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted 

15-oz soft caramels 

1/4 tsp salt 

1- 3 tbsp milk (depending on how hard the caramel is) 

8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate 

Melt caramels and milk together; stir in toasted coconut. Spread on cooled cookies. Melt chocolate, then dip bottoms of cookies in chocolate, then drizzle chocolate over top. 
Thin Mint: 
http://www.instructables.com/id/Unauthorized-Girl-Scout-Cookie-Recipes/
Tagalongs:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Tagalong-Cookies-Recipe/

KAF Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Based on Cookies from the King Arthur Cookie Cookbook

Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Yield: 4 dozen

Baking Temperature: 375

Baking Time: 10 minutes

3/4 cup butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons corn syrup

1 tablespoon cider or white vinegar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking power

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375.  Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line one with parchment.  Cream together butter and sugars, then mix in other ingredients expect flour and chocolate chips.  Stir in the flour then fold in the chips.  Drop by spoonful onto the cookie sheet, and bake about 10 minutes until they're just set.  They may look slightly under cooked.

Classic Crunch Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: 4 1/2 dozen cookies

Temp: 350

Time: 12 - 14 minutes

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cider or white vinegar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream together butter and sugars, then mix in other ingredients expect flour and chocolate chips.  Stir in the flour then fold in the chips.  Drop by spoonful onto the cookie sheet, and bake about 10 minutes until they're just set.  They may look slightly under cooked.

Chili and Ravioli. . . .

Chipotle, Beef and Bean Chili
Jerk Turkey Chili
Spicy Slow-Cooker Chili
White Chicken Chili
Ravioli fillings  . . . . 
Chicken Marsala Ravioli Filling
Green Chili Chicken and Lime Soup

Breakfast time!

Chicken-Apple Sausage

Apple Oatmeal

Coconut-Carrot Morning Glorious Muffins

Florentine Hash Skillet

Other notes: Poaching an egg in a microwave

 Basic idea is to take 1/3 to 1/2 cup water (some source say hot, some don't specify), a dash a vinegar (to help egg set better), egg. . . put water in cup / mug. add vinegar, then egg.  Cover with saucer, and microwave 45 - 60 seconds (80% - 100% power depending on how strong the microwave is and how done the eggs should be. . . .).  The link above has lots of pretty pictures.  And lots of other good recipes - need to check it out later (like on a Friday evening / Saturday morning when I'm planning out the menu for the week. . . . )

Chocolate Stuff

When I find an interesting recipe, I'll usually try to post the link here so I can try it / try it again if it was good.  I found a copy cat recipe for Mellow Mushroom's pizza dough, but now I can't find it.  I found a couple of similar ones, but I suspect they have too much sweetener in them (honey and molasses).  In any case, a few new things to track:

Brownie Batter Dip

Cast Iron Skillet Brownies

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour 
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder 
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
8 ounces chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chocolate

• 
  
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and eggs. In another bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, and salt.
• In a medium cast iron skillet, bring butter and cream to a simmer over medium heat. Add chocolate; reduce to medium-low. Cook, stirring constantly, until chocolate has melted, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, and let cool 5 minutes.
• Add chocolate mixture to sugar mixture, whisking until blended (reserve skillet). Fold in flour mixture. Pour batter into skillet, and bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. (for a gooeyer brownie bake for about 35 minutes).

Can also reserve a handful of chocolate chips to sprinkle over the top of the raw batter.

How to temper chocolate in a food processor

(the Rocky Road Bark sounds yummy as well)

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken with Fried Rice

(okay, so not chocolate, but it has the same first letters. . . )

Chicken

3-4 boneless chicken breasts

salt + pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup canola oil

Sweet and Sour Sauce

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Rinse chicken in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.  Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour, turning the chicken every 15 minutes.  

Fried Rice                                                                                             

3 cups cooked white rice (day old or leftover rice works best!)

3 tbs sesame oil

1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed)

1 small onion, chopped

2 tsp minced garlic

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup soy sauce

On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok.  Add the peas/carrots mix, onion and garlic. Stir fry until tender. Lower the heat to medium low and push the mixture off to one side, then pour your eggs on the other side of skillet and stir fry until scrambled. Now add the rice and soy sauce and blend all together well. Stir fry until thoroughly heated!   

Miscellaneous Stuff

A few recipes to try. . . . .


Suggestions for breakfast


Florentine Hash Skillet

Creamy Wheat Berry Hot Cereal



Salad Dressings:

Fresh Strawberry Dressing

Pear Vinaigrette

1 ripe pear - peeled, cored, and chopped

1/2 cup white wine

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup olive oil

Place all in blender and mix.

A new plant to take care of . . . . 

Streptocarpus

Caribbean Chicken Recipe

This morning, I decided to find a nice Caribbean chicken recipe that I'll enjoy as well as the kids.

This one sounds promising with the pineapple and banana:
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=59

The image doesn't match the recipe, and I'd have to drop the green pepper, probably the brown sugar, as well.  And then use fresh ginger and garlic.  Not sure brown rice would be ready in 20 minutes, however. . . .

1 pound skinned and boned chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
2 cups pineapple tidbits, drained, reserve ¼ cup pineapple juice
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
garlic, ginger
1 medium diced banana
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 cup uncooked brown rice

6 servings, 34 carbs per serving including 1/3 cup rice or about 11 without the rice.

This one looks great:
http://castletonbanquet.wordpress.com/2010/06/24/castletons-caribbean-chicken-receipe/

The chicken looks pretty standard - marinade of lemon juice, lime juice, Jerk seasoning, salt, pepper, curry powder and olive oil.  But Lemon Basil Rice Pilaf and Pineapple-Mango Salsa sound lovely!

Pineapple-Mango Salsa 
1 each fresh mango, peeled and cored, cubed ½”
½ ea fresh golden pineapple, peeled and cored, cubed ½”
2 each vine ripened tomatoes, cored and cubed ½”
1 each green bell pepper, cored, seeded, cubed ½”
3 each scallions, stemmed and sliced thin on an angle
1 each cored and seeded jalapeño, fine dice ( more if you like hot )

3 tbsp chopped cilantro, no stems
1 tsp curry powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
juice from 2 limes

Mix everything together and place in refrigerator overnight. Drain liquid and bring to boil in saucepan. Thicken with a small amount of cornstarch mixed with enough cold water to dissolve. Blend well and let come to boil. Remove from heat and pour over salsa ingredients. Mix well. Serve room temperature over grilled chicken, fish or beef.

I think I'll try replacing the brown rice in the first recipe with the Lemon Basil Rice Pilaf in the second (or the Pilaf recipe below that I pieced together from three others), and then serve the Pineapple-Mango Salsa over some coho salmon.  


Rice and Orzo Pilaf
1/2 cup silvered almonds

Celery, Onions (green?), diced

1 Tbsp browned butter

1/2 cup orzo

3/4 cup rice

2 cups chicken stock

1 tsp lemon zest (?)


Sauté vegetables in a heavy bottomed saucepan in 1 tbsp browned butter. When just starting to become translucent, add the orzo and rice and stir for about 30 seconds.   Add two cups chicken stock and lemon zest.

Cover, turn heat to low, and cook 20 minutes.

Fluff with fresh ground pepper, one tbsp fresh parsley and the toasted almonds.

A few recipes to explore. . . .

Quick Chicken-Corn Chowder
Chicken and Lemon Pot Stickers
Chicken Biriyani

The original article was on CookingLight.com

Orzo Soup

Progresso has a Chicken and Orzo Soup with Lemon that my #2 son has decided he loves.  And of course he asked if we could make some.  So here's a few recipe links to try:

Shredded Tex-Mex Chicken (okay, so it's not even soup, but it sounds like it go well with some Teeny Tiny Tacos)
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
Lemon Chicken and Orzo Soup

Berries!

Actually, it's more like berry recipes - from the Driscoll's website.

Some of them sound like they're trying to push things too much, but some of them sound good (or at least interesting):
Blueberry Balsamic Glazed Chicken
Blueberry Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Chunks
Vanilla Mascarpone Cheesecake with Blueberries

Update: The Glazed Chicken was rather blah - wouldn't make it again.  The Blueberry Ice Cream (made without the Chocolate) was wonderful!  Still haven't tried the cheesecake yet - maybe for Father's Day?

Indian?

So, I've never eaten much Indian food - may be because because where I grew up, there was no nearby Indian restaurants?  But every time I've had some, I've loved it. . . .today, at Trader Joe's, they had samples of their Channa Masala which was rather tasty.  Of course, when I got home, I had to look up recipes to see if I could make it.  Which lead me to the Smitten Kitchen with several glorious Indian recipes:

Smitten Kitchen:
      Chana Masala
      Cucumber Scallion Raita
      Indian-Spiced Vegetable Fritters

So maybe I'll put it on the menu next week . . . . .