Chicken & Veggie Stir Fry With Rice

I was teaching one of my friends to cook and thought I`d start with something simple like stir fry. There`s no recipe for this, just add the veggies you like with the meat you like. I paired it with `Summer White` wine from House of Rose. It balanced out the spiciness. Here`s what I did and added.

2 Chicken Breasts (Defrost & Cut into Bite sized chunks)
1 Stalk of Broccoli
1 Piece of Celery
1 Carrot
1 Can of Water Chestnuts
1 Red Pepper
Golden Dragon Stir Fry Sauce
1 TBSP Chili Paste
Garlic Flakes
Onion Flakes
5 Pepper Blend (Epicure)
Chicken Stock

I cooked my rice in Chicken Stock because it adds a good flavour to it and ties it to the Stirfry.

Add 2 TBSP of oil to the Wok and cook your chicken. (Till its White, not pink)
Add all the spices to the chicken and let it sit on it. (2 Mins)
Add The water chestnuts & Carrots (2 Mins)
Add the red pepper & broccoli (2 Mins)
Pour in some chicken stock to get the spices off the bottom of the Wok. This is called Deglazing.

Stir it together for a minute or 2 and remove it from the heat. Serve with the rice (or noodles if you want)

This turned out great and made about 4 servings.

Here's a photo!

Sun Dried Tomato & Cheese Bread

I made this bread a while ago because I got some free sun dried tomato's and thought bread would be the best way to use them. I changed this recipe to fit what I had and to fit what I like in a bread.

I used Cheddar and Mozza because I had them. I would probably use the asiago or something similar like Romano or even Parmesan if you have it because the strong cheese flavour is meant for this bread. If you`re ok with cheddar, use old. I also just used bread flour instead of the amaranth flour. I baked this in a pie plate so I`d have wedges.

I don`t have a bread machine, at All Recipes you can search the comments and usually someone will help you out. This is the comment that helped me!

``I do not have a bread machine, but made this recipe by hand - it turned out really well. First dissolve the yeast in 1 cup warm water, then add the rest of ingredients in order listed. Allow to rise for 1 hour until doubled, then punch down. Allow to rest on baking sheet for 15 minutes. Cook at 375 for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned```

Here`s the link!

Sun Dried Tomato & Cheese Bread

Fish Tacos with Sauce

I`ve made this recipe a few times over the summer and I loved it. You need to make the salsa mix too and it brings it all together. Its the best fish taco recipe I've found and its not all the bad for you without battered fish. The salsa makes it pretty filling and I usually leave out the cabbage, but I've used it a couple times.

I added a few more spices to this and changed out the fish for a cheaper one - I mean its tacos any ways. I also took out the cilantro because I don't really like it, just me though.

For the salsa I added a red pepper too because I happened to have one. I also used this as a bean salad type side dish after I was out of the fish.

**The link for this causes my internet to crash for some reason. But it's there if you'd like!

Fish Taco's With Salsa and Sauce
(Adapted slightly from Rachael Ray)

Ingredients

For the fish tacos:

1 pound cod, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks or cooked as a whole fillet
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon chipolte chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Clove Garlic, grated
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Corn tortillas
Shredded cabbage and/or radishes sliced thin
Black Bean, Mango and Avocado Salsa (Below)

For the sauce:

1/2 Cup light mayo
1/2 Cup 0% Greek Yogurt
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 chipotle pepper from a can of chipotle in adobo (or 1 tbsp of already made paste)

Black Bean, Mango and Avocado Salsa

1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 mango, diced
2 avocados, diced
2 garlic cloves, grated
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 Jalapeno
1 Red Pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. Combine the fish, garlic, spices and lime juice and let marinate while you prepare the salsa.

2. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small food processor and blend until combined with no chunks left.

3. Mix all prepared ingredients for salsa together and let sit while you cook the fish.

4. Cook the fish over medium heat in a skillet until it flakes easily and is cooked through.

5. Add all ingredients, as much as you'd like, in the corn tortillas and serve.

Burgers

I've been making all my own burgers lately since its waaaaay cheaper then buying them and I can actually make them spicy this way. I found this recipe a while ago, I've now made it with hamburger and ground turkey. Both have turned out really well. I did alter it a bit, different for each type of meat. I used a dark beer for both.

For the ground beef I used onion flakes instead of powder and I only have chipotle chili powder. I let the beef sit over night in the spices and beer before making the patties and it definitely makes them a lot hotter then if you make them and throw them on the grill right away.

I did the same as above for the turkey and I also took out the chili flakes and added a lot more Worcestershire. That makes them taste a bit more like beef. I added breadcrumbs to the turkey ones too since they were a bit stickier. I tried a tip that I'd picked up, to lightly coat the burgers on each side with flour to help them stay together on the grill. Since this recipe doesn't use egg I think it definitely helped. I mixed the flour with Epicure Burger Seasoning so it wouldn't be floury tasting.

The link is below!

Zippy Burgers

Pesto

This is a recipe I've been making for a while. My cousin gave it to me when I lived in Australia. It changes everytime I make it but here's the jist of it...

Ingredients:

1 10oz Bag Baby Spinach

1/4 cup Pine Nuts (Optional)

1/2 Cup Basil chopped

4 Cloves of Garlic

2 TBSP Parsley

4 TBSP Olive Oil

1/4 cup Pine Nuts (Optional)

Cubed Feta Cheese (Up to one cup)

Directions:

Pick stems off spinach leaves. Wash spinach in strainer until damp. Cook spinach in low - medium heated non-stick pan for a couple minutes, doesn't take long to cook.

Put the cooked spinach, basil, the first measured pine nuts, garlic and parsley into a food processor, stream in olive oil to loosen. You may need more or less depending on your ingredients. More often than not, I use feta in place of the nuts.

Mix with cooked pasta in a wide pan with cubed feta till coated and cheese is softened slightly. 

Pulled Pork & Buns

On the weekend I bought a pork shoulder for $5, it was 2 pounds. This recipe said that it would make 8 servings of pulled pork. I was pretty skeptical about the root beer idea so I seared the pork first and rubbed it with a BBQ rub before I put it in the slow cooker with the root beer. I also added a small amount of the bbq sauce to it just to keep the flavour in it. I cooked it on high for 3 hours for the first section.

Once the pork was in I started the buns. They were pretty easy to start, I used buttermilk instead of milk because I had it and was hoping it would work fine. Also I accidentally added the melted butter to the dough. It didn't seem to cause any problems. The buns are really easy if you have enough time to let them rise 2 or 3 times. I let them rise in the oven that I had pre-heated and turned off.

At the last rise in the bowl I split them into bun size and put them in the baking sheet to rise for the last time. I shredded the pork and drained it at this time. I also added BBQ sauce, there's no way I used 18oz, I probably used 1/4 cup, maybe 1/3. It didnt shred too easily so I cooked it for another hour on low and shredded it some more. Then I cooked it some more for another hour, stirred it and set it to warm while I cooked the buns. They took 15 minutes to cook. If you want bigger buns it won't make the full amount. Most of mine were fairly small except for a couple.

All in all the meal was a bit sweet tasting. The bbq sauce was sweet and the root beer made the pork sweet and the buns were a bit sweet. It was really good but could have used some pepper probably.
Here are the links and picture!

Pulled Pork & Buns

Vanilla St Patricks Day Cup Cakes

Where better to get a cupcake recipe then from the cake boss. They looked awesome on TV so I had to find a way to use them. I followed the recipe exactly except for vanilla bean in the icing. It took about 23 minutes to cook in my over but they came out really good. Probably the best cake batter I've ever made. I tinted the icing green so they would actually be St  Patrick's Day looking. Here's the link and the pictures!

Vanilla Cup Cakes

Deluxe Waffles

Today I thought I would have a real breakfast, that I didn't have to pay for. I had all the ingredients easily, but you'll need a waffle maker. I didn't add anything, but I should have added some vanilla and maybe a little bit more oil.. Chocolate chips would also make these even better. The recipe says 6, it just made 6 and the last 2 were mutant waffles but now I can freeze them and have real breakfast a few more times!

Deluxe Waffles

Banana Bread

I buy banana's for the sole use of using them in banana bread. I will look at them on the banana hanger for a week until they are the nicest shade of brown and then its time for banana bread! I chose this recipe because it had so many bananas in it. A lot of recipes I had found before only used a couple of banana's, but I want so many in there you wonder how it stays together. I added some extra spices to the original recipe just to add some warmth to the bread. I recommend a metal masher for bananas, especially if they're not quite brown yet.


Banana Bread
(Adapted Slightly from Here)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups overripe bananas - about 5-6 bananas

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

In another bowl, mash your bananas! I recommend a metal masher.

In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs, vanilla and mashed bananas until well blended.

Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. If you leave anything un-hydrated if will stay that was after baking. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

I topped the one below with walnuts about half way through baking.

Baked Shells

Today I decided I needed to start using random things in my fridge. Most perishable = cheese, spinach. I have kilos of cheese in my fridge, freezer and garage. Seriously. The recipe I chose has alot of cheese in it;

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, divided

1 ball of fresh mozzarella cheese (1/2 pound).

I didn't have mozza in a ball but I had grated mozza so I used that. And I have a parm-gouda blend cheese that I used instead of the regular parm. Its not quite as strong. I changed a few things to fit with what I have in the kitchen. Another thing I changed was it wanted me to make my own tomato sauce, I had one in the pantry so I used it. I have never in my life used frozen spinach, I also always use baby spinach.

Not going to lie, it smelt a bit funky after I poured the tomato sauce on top but it was really good and I made it be 6 servings so I could freeze some. I used Antico Roasted Garlic Sauce, how it tastes could depend on what sauce is used. Its not even that cheesy tasting for the amount that's in it.

Here are pictures and the link. Its not the best looking dish, but it was really really good.

Baked Shells

Mac & Cheese

I make this all the time, probably at least once a week. Its really easy and I make the white sauce in the microwave instead of on the stove because it's much faster. I also use cracker crumbs on the top. Sometimes bread if I have it. This recipe is probably pretty standard and its from my Mom so I don't have a link to it. You'll just have to guess. Or maybe I'll tell you. No promises.



Slow Cooker Chili & Rice

Today I decided to make chili and rice, I think the biscuits linked to would be really good with them but I didn't really want them today. Even without planning I had all the ingredients (except peppers) on hand and it was really easy to throw together. The only thing that took anytime was defrosting the meat and browning it.

I chose to cook it 4 hours on high in my slow cooker, about the 2 hour mark I thought it looked really soupy and was nervous, but it ended up fine. I added double the amount of chili spice plus I added chili flakes and it still couold have been hotter for me. But it said chili powder and I used a blend.

I just made plain old white rice to go with it, the package directions say bring it to a boil (with the rice in it) and then cover, simmer for 20 minutes. I set mine for 17 minutes (because Rachael Ray is my idol) and it boiled over so I probably lost some of the water but at 9 minutes it would have been burnt out. if I let it continue that long. I left it for about 12 minutes total.

I had asparagus, so I put some oil and salt and pepper on it and cooked it for a while at 425.


Chili & Biscuits

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I decided to make chocolate chip muffins today, finding out that I didn't have Muffin tins. Luckily I had mini ones so those are what I used.

The recipe I used had a ton of comments to use more liquid to combat dryness and it also said that it makes more then the 12 muffins. Since I used the little tins I'm not sure but I did get 36 mini muffins out of it. Some bigger then others. Many comments also said that 25 minutes was way too long. Again because of the mini tins, I decreased the cooking time to about 15 minutes and lowered the oven temperature to 375º from 400º.

The muffins turned out pretty light on the tops but were definitely cooked. Link and picture below!

Chocolate Chip Muffins



Cheesy Tortellini Bake

Today I decided I was going to try to stop eating out, so I found a bunch of recipes and started to cook. The first recipe I decided on was Cheesy tortellini bake. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com, there's a link below. Everyone that knows me knows I like pasta and I like cheese, two of my favourite things in one place.

I changed a couple things in this recipe according to past reviews and what I actually had in my fridge. I used prosciutto and cheese tortellini instead of plain cheese, the meat in it helps cut the richness I think. I also used baby spinach instead since it's not as bitter and a pre-grated mozza-cheddar blend in a bag. And, I used less sauce then it said, this was based on the other reviews, half a jar of alfredo and 3/4 of the jar or a roasted tomato and garlic sauce.

I think it turned out really good and probably took less then the 30 minutes it said it would, I would maybe add more veggies next time to try to make it a little less intense. It says it's for 6 servings but you could easily make it 8 depending on what size cooking dish you use.

Here's the link and a photo!

Easy Cheesy Tortellini Bake