Cha Che Kai Chicken

From Caribbean Cuisine - by Dr. Betty "K"

(purchased in Jamaica while we were on our honeymoon)

2 tsp ground ginger (didn't have, so I left it out and used adobo instead)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 large onion, grated (there was NO WAY I was going to sit and grate an onion! My eyes tear up just thinking about this!!! So I left this out too)

2 tbsp soy sauce (I used a lot more- more like 1/4 cup)

Salt/pepper to taste

1/2 tsp paprika (I gave it a good sprinkle, but didn't actually measure it)

2 lbs chicken cut in serving-size pieces (I used pork, since that's what I had defrosted)

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup flour

vegetable oil, for frying

**This was not included, but I added it anyway--- a healthy drizzle of sesame oil**

1.  Combine ginger, garlic, onion, soy sauce & seasonings to make a marinade.

2.  Spoon marinade over chicken (or pork), cover & marinate overnight in refrigerator. (This overnight marinating is the key.  I didn't intend on it, but DH suggested going out to dinner last night since I was so tired, so hey, I did it.)

3.  Roll chicken (or pork) pieces in beaten egg and then dip in flour.

4.  Heat oil to 365*F; add chicken and fry until golden brown, about 20 minutes.  I kept adding in soy sauce as the oil dried up, and then gave another drizzle of sesame oil at the end.  YUMMY!

Serve with white rice and veggie of your choice.  (I used mixed veggies.)  I thought it was yummy, but when DH eats it in a few, I'll let ya know!!!!

Easy dinner-- baked potato wedges, broccoli rabe & pork tenderloin

I bought a pork tenderloin already marinating in a honey mustard sauce, so that will just be taken out of the package and then thrown onto a baking sheet x 45 minutes.

Next comes the broccoli rabe.  I steam in for about 5 min, then sautee it in a little bit (I'd say about a tbsp) of olive oil and 1 tbsp garlic. Yummy.

Last is Ina's Baked Potato Wedges.  So easy.

Cut potato into 6 pieces (in half once, and then into three pieces.)  In a zip lock bag, pour 4 tbsp olive oil, 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 3/4 tsp pepper, 1 tsp minced garlic and 1 tsp Italian seasoning.  Drop the potato wedges in, coat, and then through on a foil lined baking sheet x 30-35 minutes. Turn the wedges over and bake another 20 minute.  Sprinkle with salt and serve.  thank you Ina.

Mom's matzo ball soup

I had planned on making something with a ham steak I bought last week and froze until DH called and asked me to make matzo ball soup.  I never did it before, but tried it based on my mom's directions.  I used her recipe, but changed it up a bit.  Her original recipe can be found in a September post.  But here is what I did today:

Sautee 1/2 onion in drizzle of canola oil.

Add in about 1 tbsp minced garlic and cook.

Then comes the SUPER EASY PART- follow the directions on the box of matzo ball and soup mix.  ONce the water was boiling, I added in 3 chopped carrots, and 4 chopped celery ribs.  Added the balls in about a handful of chopped dill and cooked for 20 minutes- they were mostly done, although a few were slightly hard inside, so they could've cooked a few more min.  O and then I added in a half of box of cooked elbows after the 20 minutes.  For whatever reason, a lot of the broth was gone when DH went to get some (I guess the noodles and balls absorbed it???) so he added in about another 1-2 cups and heated it all up.

Soup was yummy, DH loved it and I'm glad I have some to take for lunch tomorrow.... now what to make for dinner tomorrow?!

Meatloaf

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup ketchup

3/4 cup water

1 packet dry onion soup mix

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

2 lbs ground beef

Combine eggs, ketchup, water & soup mix.  Mix well.  Add bread crumbs and beef.  Mix well.  Shape into loaf & place in shallow pan or loaf pan.  Back at 350 for 1 1/4 hours.  Serves 8-10.

This is the recipe I always use, and it it good except that I never take it out in time!!  I will definitely have to make sure I get it out before it dries out.  Not sure what I will serve it with- probably whatever fresh veggie looks good in the supermarket tomorrow + a baked potato.  

Braised Beef Cubes in Gravy

From www.hillbillyhousewife.com

I walked to the store and bought beef cubes, not even thinking about what I can do with them.  They just looked good!  I googled "beef cube recipes" and found a bunch of stuff, but this one looked the easiest and most enticing.  I will let ya know how it comes out!

1 1/2 to 2 lbs beef (any cut will do)- I used 2 lbs of stew meat

1/3 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper.

3 tbsp bacon grease or oil 

1 tbsp minced garlic (my own addition)

2 cups hot tap water (I used chicken stock here instead- if I had beef broth, I would've used that instead, but I only had chicken.  O well.)

1/2 cup milk

Cut beef into cubes, trimming the fat as you are cutting.  In a bowl, combine the flour, salt & pepper.  Place the meat in the flour, coating it on all sides.  Heat up the oil & cook the garlic.  Brown meat on all sides (about 10 min.)  After the meat is well browned, add the water.  Bring to a simmer. The original recipe instructs you to cover and cook the meat/water mixture for 2 hours, but I found that by an hour, it was completely cooked and o so delicious.  Of course, I added in some seasonings that both DH and I like while it was simmering, like this Shanghai rub that I bought in the store, a whole lot of garlic powder, and a nice sprinkling of Italian seasoning.  O and I also sprinkled on some seasoned salt.  

Mix remaining flour and milk.  Pour mixture into the skillet and bring to a boil, cooking for a full minute.  If the gravy gets too thick, add water until it is the consistency you like.

Serve over mashed potatoes, cooked rice or egg noodles.  (Thinking about it now that it's done, this would be fabulous over mashed potatoes, but I don't have any nor do I have the desire to mash them, so we shall be using egg noodles.)

Definitely a great recipe that you can adapt to your liking.  Give it a try.  Unfortunately, DH hated it, and he really eats anything.  Very odd.  O well, now I have lunch for tomorrow@

Chocolate Spritz Cookies

I am going to a BBQ on Saturday and have to bring something, so I figured this would be a good time to try out my new cookie gun!  I am going to make the dough tonight and bake them off tomorrow after work, so they will be perfect and ready to go for Saturday!

Recipe from Wilton.com

1 1/4 cups butter

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

2/3 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375F.  In a large mixing bowl, cream butter & sugars at mediums peed until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add vanilla.  Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Add flour mixture gradually and beat well.  Shape dough into small log and place in cookie press.  Press cookie onto cool ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake at 375F for 10-12 minutes.  Remove from sheet and cool.  Store in airtight container at cool room temperature for several weeks or freeze for two months.

Ok I just want to make a comment about these cookies.  Making the dough itself was a breeze.  There's not much too them, really.  But using that damn cookie press was a royal PITA!  Maybe it was the shape I chose, but they were not coming out right, some weren't sticking, sometimes I had to press it twice to get one cookie, I don't know.  But I wound up baking off what I will bring to the BBQ Saturday, and I made 2 baggies- one for DH to bring to work, and one for the house.  

O and back to the taste of them- yummy but a little blah.  Towards the end, I tried putting a chocolate chip in the middle 5 min before it was done baking.  Well, I dropped the bag and wound up with chips ALL OVER MY KITCHEN and that was it.  I took the leftover dough (about a handful) and just put it in a ziplock bag and threw it in the freezer.  Baking done for today!

Low-Fat Fettuccine Alfredo

Adapted from a recipe by Juan Carlos Cruz

foodnetwork.com

Salt

1 tbsp minced garlic

pepper

8 oz fettuccine

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup non-fat half and half

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/2 lb chicken tenders, cubed

Drizzles of canola oil

Cook the pasta until al dente.

Season chicken cubes with salt/pepper to taste.  Saute in a frying pan in canola oil.  Remove chicken from pan, drizzle with more oil and cook the garlic.  Add chicken stock & the chicekn and bring to a boil, until it reduces by half.  Add the half and half, and simmer until the sauce thickens.  Add the Parmesan cheese and salt/pepper to taste.  Add noodles to pan and toss to coat.  Garnish with parsley.

I made this for DH Tuesday night.  I doubled everything, and felt that it just wasn't enough sauce for all the pasta.  (DH agreed.)  But it was ok and I didn't feel guilty eating a whole bowl of it.  I will probably try it again.

Creamy Mac & Cheese

Recipe by Paula Deen

Foodnetwork.com

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

4 tbsp butter, cut into pieces

2 1/2 cups (about 10 oz) grated sharp cheddar cheese

3 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup sour cream (didn't have so I used non-fat yogurt)

1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup (10 3/4 oz)

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup whole milk (I used skim plus)

1/2 tsp dry mustard (I used 1 tbsp regular mustard from the bottle)

1/2 tsp black pepper

Boil the macaroni in plenty of water until tender, about 7 min.  Drain.  In a medium saucepan, mix butter & cheese.  Stir until cheese melts. In a slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and add eggs, yogurt (or sour cream), soup, salt, milk, mustard, pepper and stir well.  Add drained macaroni and stir again.  Set slow cooker on low and cook x 3 hours, stirring occasionally.  

DH likes it crispy so we added about 1 cup of toasted breadcrumbs. 

Yummy recipe, but probably would've been better off being baked so the top could get really crunchy.  I would def make it again though!!