Chicken Stir-fry

Everyone loves a good stir-fry right? I know I do. It's a quick dinner to make especially on those nights where you are running around like a chicken with its head cut off. The following is a recipe that I have experimented with over the years.

Ingredients

1/3 c soy sauce

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cornstarch

1 1/2 lb chicken (cut into bite size)

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 mixed bag of stir-fry veggies, frozen

Directions

Combine first six ingredients with 1/4 cup water in a bowl, mixing well. Marinate chicken in sauce for 10 minutes. (You can marinate overnight if you desire) 

Drain chicken, reserving marinade. Heat oil in skillet. Add chicken in small amounts to prevent crowding. Stir-fry until brown. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Add frozen veggies to hot skillet, stir-fry for 1 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water, cover and steam for 3 min or until veggies are tender crisp. Return chicken to skillet, adding marinade, heat through stirring constantly.

Serve over rice.

Printer Friendly Recipe

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

The other night I was hankering for something sweet and very yummy tasting. I wasn't sure what I wanted, I just knew I didn't have much on hand to make any kind of dessert. I had an apple pie filling, but I really didn't want to make any pie shells. I saw we had a bunch of raisins though and then the idea formed that I wanted cinnamon raisin bread. So close to midnight, I embarked on an insane late night baking frenzy. I found this recipe here.

This recipe makes a total of 3 loaves.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup milk

1 cup warm water (must be between 110-115 degrees)

2 (1/8 ounce) package active dry yeast

3 eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 

1 cup raisins

8 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp milk

1 cup white sugar

3 Tbsp ground cinnamon

2 Tbsp butter, melted (approx)

Directions

1. Warm the milk in a small sauce pan on the stove until it just starts to bubble, stirring occasionally.

2. Remove from heat.

3. Let cool until lukewarm, about 120-125 degrees.

4. Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside until yeast is frothy, about 10 minutes or so (make sure your water is at the correct temperature or the yeast won't activate.) Then mix in egg, sugar, butter salt and raisins (stir in the cooled milk slowly so you don't cook the egg.) Add the flour gradually to make a stiff dough.

5. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes until smooth.

6. Place in a large, buttered, mixing bowl and turn to grease the surface of the dough.

7. Cover with a warm, damp cloth and let rise. Allow to rise until doubled, usually about 1 1/2 hours.
(It was at this point that I was wondering just how sane I was to embark on this baking expedition.)

8. Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick.

9. Moisten the dough with 2 tablespoons milk and rub all over the dough with your hands.

10. Mix together sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle mixture evenly on top of the moistened dough.

11. Roll up tightly (the long way)

12. The roll should be about 3 inches in diameter.

13. Cut into thirds, and tuck under ends and pinch bottom together.

14. Place loaves into well greased 9x5 inch pans and lightly grease tops of loaves.

15. Let rise in warm place, uncovered, again for about an hour.

(This is where I was starting to get loopy and had to reread the recipe three or four times to make sure I wasn't seeing things.)

16. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped. (I set my timer for 30 minutes and checked the bread. I ended up pulling it out at 35 minutes and it was done)

17. Remove from oven and let cool on rack.

18. Take melted butter and spread over tops of loaves.

19. After about 20 minutes, lay loaves on their sides and remove from pans.

20. Allow to cool before slicing. ( I didn't make it to the cutting part as it was nearly 330am and I was falling over exhausted. But when I tried it the next morning...yummy!)

Printer Friendly Recipe

R.I.P. MCA

I'm sure by now that everyone has heard that Adam 'MCA' Yauch from the Beastie Boys passed away yesterday due to complications from cancer. This was a sad sad day for the music industry...well...they were the voice of a crazy and hectic generation in the 80's and for those of you who grew up in the 80's know what I'm talking about.  As such, in remembrance of MCA, here is our 80's teenage and young adult anthem.

French Bread Pizza

Ingredients:

French Bread loaves

Pizza Sauce

Shredded mozzarella Cheese

Whatever toppings you want.

If you want to make your own french bread, you can find the recipe here


Cut the French Bread loaves in half lengthwise. Then cut to whatever size pizza you want to make. I cut mine in thirds so the slices would be smaller for the kids.

Spread them with the tomato sauce. It's good to be a little stingy here, because you're putting tomato sauce onto a very porous surface, and if your heavy-handed with the sauce, your pizza will be on the soggy end of things. Sprinkle the pizzas with mozzarella cheese and add whatever toppings you like.

Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the crust is crispy and the cheese is melted.

If you like a browner topping, you can put these under the broiler for an extra minute or two.

I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did!

Crock Pot BBQ Ribs

I ended up finding some beef ribs on sale when I went grocery shopping last weekend so that was a great way to continue my quest of making foods I don't like but that my two boys would love. I found this recipe on Food.com.

Ingredients

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/3 tsp cayenne pepper

5/8 tsp ground cumin

1/4 cup brown sugar

5/8 Tbsp Paprika

1 tsp salt

2 1/2lbs beef ribs

1 bottle of barbecue sauce

Directions

1. Combine rub ingredients mixing well.

2. Rub on all sides of ribs.

3. Place ribs meaty side up in crock pot. (I had to break my set of ribs in half and set one on top of the other as they all didn't fit into the crock pot.)

4. Cover, cook on low for 6 hours.

5. Drain the grease from the crock.

6. Place the ribs back in and cover with bbq sauce.

7. Cook for another hour.

By the look on his bbq covered face, I'm thinking these were a hit. What do you guys think?

Printer Friendly Recipe

Pork Chops

So I forgot to take pictures again, but I at least got a picture of one of the chops before it got consumed.

I'm sure this will come as a big surprise to all of you, especially since this blog is mainly focused on cooking, but I am a horribly picky eater. I've tried over the years to overcome my lack of a matured palate, but really to no avail. I have broadened some in what I eat. Like I now eat onions and bell peppers mixed in with food without any problems. But when it comes to meats, I still have a hard time and it's primarily a texture issue and not always a taste thing. For example, I can't eat steak. I gag every time I try it. Same thing with pork chops and tenderloins. I just can't eat them. However, it doesn't mean I won't cook them. In fact, pork chops is the boy child's favorite meat. So for the love of my child and my husband (who is quickly getting tired of me making chicken all the time.) I embarked on a new territory this week. Making pork chops. From the looks of the empty plates and the finger licking, I am assuming this meal was a huge success.  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp soy sauce (I used the reduced sodium version)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp ketchup
6 pork chops, trimmed

*A quick note about this sauce. I reduced it thinking that it would be too much for just two pork chops. I was completely wrong. I barely had enough to cover both sides. I would suggest that for 4 or 6 chops to double or triple the ingredients to get more sauce.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a small bowl, thoroughly blend soy sauce, vegetable oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, and ketchup.

Place pork chops in a medium baking dish, and spread with 1/2 the sauce.

Bake pork chops 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Turn, and spread with remaining sauce. Continue baking 30 minutes, or until internal temperature of the chops has reached 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

Rosemary, Sage and Olive Oil Potatoes

I discovered a few years ago that my favorite herb is rosemary due to some delicious rosemary, olive oil crackers my brother had at his house. Since then, I vowed to cook more with those two ingredients specifically. Since I really didn't dive to much into cooking until the last couple of months, I really didn't get a chance to fulfill that vow until now. I made this recipe before using red skinned potatoes and with a few slight variations. This time I used russet potatoes and they tasted fantastic! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

4 large russet potatoes

2 Tbsp dry rosemary

1 Tbsp dry sage

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I know it seems like over kill. In fact, that could probably coat 6 potatoes instead of 4, but since it's only the three of us, I don't use nearly as many potatoes.

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Peel and thin slice or cut the potatoes into small wedges. Rinse potatoes and dry thoroughly. Put dry herbs and olive oil in a large zip lock baggie. Dump potatoes into the baggie, seal and then shake vigorously until the potatoes are evenly coated. Spread slices onto a cookie sheet and then bake for about an hour or until the edges are crispy and the potatoes are glistening.