Cashew Chicken March 21, 2008

Courtesy of Williams-Sonoma.

This is delightful Asian tasting dish! I often find that Chinese or Thai restaurants will drown the dish in sauce…but with this entree, the chicken, cashews and veggie are lightly but perfectly coated with a tasty Asian spice!

[Also...I should note here: I realize in the beginning I said I'd add lots of photos and videos and as you can see - there are none. I do have a plan to bring those into the blog, but currently I haven't had time to film, shoot and edit. I'm also hoping that when I move into an apartment soon, it will be better suited for video. That's my justification - but I appreciate you reading and sticking with it despite the lack of multimedia!]

Now onto the recipe…

Ingredients
(serves 4)

3 T. soy sauce

1 T. rice wine or dry sherry (or apple juice can be substituted here)

2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized cubes (I’m not a huge fan of chicken thighs, so I opted for boneless. skinless chicken breasts – worked great!)

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. Asian sesame oil

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. cornstarch

3 T. corn or peanut oil (I used canola oil…also fine!)

2 green onions, chopped thinly

1 cup salted roasted cashews

Steamed rice for serving

Directions

The Marinade

In a bowl, stir together: 2 T. of soy sauce, wine and ginger. Add and coat chicken. Cover and put in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes to marinate.

The Sauce

In a small bowl, mix together 2 T. water and remaining ( 1 T.) of soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sesame oil, sugar and cornstarch. stir well, until sugar and cornstarch have dissolved.

Stir-Fry Time!

1. Heat a wok or skillet and pour in 2 T. of corn/peanut/canola oil, until very hot. Remove chicken from fridge, drain well (you can throw away the marinade), then add chicken to wok/skillet (careful of hot-flying-oil!).Stir fry until chicken is cooked all the way through. Since the pan is very hot, it shouldn’t take too long. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

2. Add another tablespoon or so of oil to skillet and turn heat down to medium. Add green onions and stir fry until soft.
3. Return chicken to wok. Add cashews. Mix all together.
4. Give the sauce a quick stir to mix all the ingredients together again and add to skillet. Coat the chicken mixture well with sauce.

Serve with rice and green veggie of your choice.

Voila – you’re done and enjoy!

Turkey Meatballs w/ cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes March 9, 2008

Woo! There’s a lot going on here – but the flavors are fabulous. And although you may think this sounds a lot like a Thanksgiving meal, it’s not quite like that. Key word here: flavors. The sweet, savory and starchy taste of the three combined just create a great meal. They don’t recreate another meal (which, by the way, is one of best meals all year!)

Keep in mind – that the proportions I use here are the original recipe. When I cook, it’s cooking for two so I change them accordingly.

The turkey meatball and cranberry sauce are courtesy of Williams-Sonoma. The mashed potato recipe come from The Washington Post.

Ingredients

turkey meatballs

1 T. unsalted butter

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

1-2 green onions, finely chopped

1-3 small celery stalk(s), finely chopped (eyeball it in proportion to the onions)

salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

1 lb. ground turkey

1 cup bread crumbs

1 egg

2 T. fresh oregano

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

cranberry sauce

2/3 cup fresh orange juice

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

1/4 cup sugar

mashed potatotes

4 lbs. Yokon gold potatoes, cut into 3-inch pieces. (I didn’t quite understand what they meant by ‘3-inch pieces’, so I just cut the potatoes into chunky cubes.)

8 medium cloves garlic, cut in half

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 T. butter

2 T. olive oil

1 1/4 cup low-fat milk

pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 425°F. Lightly grease rimmed baking sheet.

2. Melt the butter in skillet. Add the onion, green onion, celery and sauté until softened. Add little bit of salt, pepper and garlic powder. Spoon into a medium-sized bowl and let cool.

3. Fill pot with water and boil for potatoes.

4. While the water is boiling, wash and cut potatoes and garlic. Place potatoes, garlic and salt in boiling water. Turn down the heat to high simmer and partly cover. Cook until potatoes are soft, about 15-20 mins.

5. While those are cookin’…add turkey, egg, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, oregano to celery mix. Mix it all together! Form 8-12 meatballs and place them on baking sheet. Cover with saran wrap and set aside for a few minutes.

6. Drain potatoes. Transfer them to large bowl, using potato masher, mash them up! In saucepan, heat butter, milk and olive oil. Once heated, pour over potatoes, use whisk to whip them into shape.

7. Place turkey meatballs in the oven. Cook for 10-12 minutes, or until cooked all the way through.
8. Meanwhile…in saucepan (or frypan with high edges) add orange juice, sugar and cranberries over medium heat. Stir often until orange juice bubbles and cranberry’s pop open.

9. Spoon cranberry sauce over turkey meatballs and potatoes.

And voila! Enjoy!

***

I apologize if the directions were confusing, but I tried to write them out to coincide with the right timing so everything comes out at once! But per usual – do what suits your style best!

Divine Minty Fudge Brownies March 4, 2008

Courtesy of Cooking Light magazine. Although I’m afraid to say these brownies probably aren’t the lightest things in the magazine…but delicious nonetheless.

Ingredients

for the brownie:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt.

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup egg substitute (i used egg whites instead)

1/4 cup melted butter/margarine

2 T. water

1 T. vanilla extract

2 large eggs, beaten

1 can (16 oz.) chocolate syrup (a squeeze bottle of chocolate sauce, usually, has the same amount)

for the mint layer:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup melted butter/margarine

3 T. skim milk

1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

2 drops green food coloring

for the chocolate glaze:

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 T. melted butter/margarine
Directions
1. Preheat over to 350

2. In small bowl mix flour and salt.

3. In separate medium sized bowl, mix sugar, egg, butter, water, vanilla extract, eggs and syrup, until smooth.

4. Fold flour mixture into chocolate syrup mix. Pour batter into greased glass baking dish (recommended size: 13×9)

5. Bake for 2-25 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick can be inserted in the middle and come out clean. Cool completely.

6. The mint layer: in medium bowl, mix powdered sugar, butter, milk, peppermint extract and food coloring. Spread mint mixture over cooled brownies.

7. The final layer/chocolate glaze: combine chocolate chips and butter in small bowl. Microwave together for 1minute or until melted. Mix well until smooth. Let mixture cool before spreading gently over the mint layer.
8. Cover and refridgerate for about 10 minutes or so, cut and serve!
Can be served with a side of fresh strawberries and glass of cold milk.
Enjoy!

Creamy Fettucine with Porcini Mushrooms March 3, 2008

This recipe comes from the magazine Cooking Light.

The personal touches are indicated by italics.

Ingredients

1/2 cup boiling water

1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms (i used fresh, regular button mushrooms and it was still very good. vouched for by James)

12 oz. fettucine pasta

1/2 cup whipping cream (or half-and-half)

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

6 T. grated parmesan-reggiano cheese (i used just regular parmesan and it tastes delicious)

2 T. chives

Directions

1. if you’re using fresh mushrooms: Boil 1/2 cup water. Add mushrooms. Let boil for 5-10 minutes. Drain in colinder over a bowl, reserving the liquid. Put mushrooms aside.

if you’re using dried mushrooms: boil 1/2 cup water. add mushrooms to boiling water. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes or until soft. Drain in colinder over a bowl, reserving the liquid. Put mushrooms aside.

the purpose overall is to get the water to develop that mushroom taste so it can be used in the sauce later, that’s why I think it’s okay to use either fresh or dried mushrooms. Although I’m sure a wiser cook than I would say differently. Anyway…moving on.

2 . Cook pasta according to the package. When you go to drain the water after the pasta is done, reserve 1/4 of the water in a bowl. Cool off the pot, then return pasta to the pot.

3. Combine mushrooms and whipping cream in a medium saucepan, bring to a simmer. Stir in salt, pepper and reserved mushroom water. Simmer for 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened (you can also add a little bit of flour to help thicken the sauce).

4. Add pasta water. Add chives, half of the parmesan cheese and even throw in some garlic to taste.

5. Pour sauce over pasta and mix well. Add the rest of the parmesan cheese and garnish with thyme or extra chives.

Can be served with a side salad.

* * *

I also added chicken to make it a chicken alfredo – and to do that: take chicken tenderloins, sautee them. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Then cut them up into mite-size chunks and mixed it in.

Also, I found this made a little too little in proportion to the pasta. So if you’re using fresh mushrooms it’s easy to quickly boil water, toss in the mushrooms and add a little extra whipping cream and water.