Orange chicken ...so yummy

So finally the house is done! We are finally finished remodeling a now 3500 square foot house here in the cities. It was a huge project but worth all the sweat. Now we hope it sells. But now that we are finished, eating out and crock pot meals will no longer grace our table. I am so glad to be back in the kitchen and making healthy, nutritious meals for Alex and I.

I have really been challenged to try and make healthy meals while not spending a fortune at the grocery store. About a month ago, we went on a huge grocery spree, buying up all sorts of staples. Now it is my goal to make healthy and nutritious meals for around $20 a week in groceries. Wish me luck...I think I can do it!

Last week I made this meal that I found on Annie's Eats. Her website is so inspiring with all the yummy looking food. This was a huge hit at our house...only a few changes and the meal was complete.

Orange Chicken (adapted from Annie's Eats)

Ingredients:
For the marinade and sauce:
1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1 ½” pieces (i used breast meat)
¾ cup low sodium chicken broth
¾ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 ½ tsp. grated orange zest
8 thin strips orange peel (optional)
6 tbsp. distilled white vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce
½ cup dark brown sugar
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. fresh grated ginger
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. cold water
i added chopped scallions and some peanuts to the finished product

For coating and frying:
3 large egg whites
1 cup cornstarch
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
3 cups peanut oil (or canola oil) (i only used 1/4 C of canola)

Directions:

For the marinade and sauce, place the chicken in a Ziploc bag; set aside. In a large saucepan, combine the chicken broth, orange juice, zest, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and cayenne pepper; whisk until the sugar is fully dissolved. Measure out ¾ cup of the mixture and pour it into the bag with the chicken; press out as much air as possible and seal the bag, making sure that all pieces are coated with the marinade. Refrigerate 30-60 minutes, but no longer. Bring the remaining mixture in the saucepan to a boil over high heat. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and cold water; whisk the cornstarch mixture into the sauce. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and translucent, about 1 minute. Off the heat, stir in the orange peel (if using); set the sauce aside.

For the coating, place the egg whites in a pie plate and beat with a fork until frothy. In a second pie plate, whisk together the cornstarch, baking soda and cayenne until combined. Drain the chicken in a colander or large mesh strainer; thoroughly pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Place half of the chicken pieces in the egg whites and turn to coat. Transfer the pieces to cornstarch mixture and coat thoroughly. Place the dredged chicken pieces on another plate or a baking sheet.

To fry the chicken, heat the oil in an 11- to 12-inch dutch oven or straight sided sauté pan with at least 3 qt. capacity over high heat until the oil reaches 350° on an instant read or deep fry thermometer. Carefully place half of the chicken in the oil; fry to golden brown, about 5 minutes, turning each piece with tongs halfway through cooking. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Return the oil to 350° and repeat with the remaining chicken.

To serve, reheat the sauce over medium heat until simmering, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and gently toss until evenly coated and heated through. Serve immediately.

Apricot pork chops hit the dinner table!

My husband is not the biggest fan of pork. He is not a picky eater, but pork just doesn't ever set him swooning. Me on the other hand, I don't mind it, especially when it is cooked well. But last week our local grocer had a great deal on pork so I stocked up on tenderloins and chops. Why you might ask if my hubby doesn't like it? Well because he doesn't always get what he wants:)

So the other night in need of a quick meal for dinner, I spied this recipe on Brianna's site for Apricot-Glazed Pork Chops. Knowing that the sweet and spicy glaze might just be the thing to make the pork shine, I went for it. Ready in 30 minutes or less this dish is so good. My hubby even decided that pork was not that bad.

We served these with buttered egg noodles and fresh steamed broccoli. These will definitely be chosen again in this house!

Apricot Glazed Pork Chops (from Brianna)

Ingredients

1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon water
1/4 cup Apricot preserves
1 tablespoon lime juice
1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
3 Boneless Pork Chops, Fat trimmed

In a small saucepan, combine the cornstarch, ginger, soy sauce and water until smooth. Stir in the apricot, oil,lime juice and garlic until blended. Bring to a boil; cook and stir mixture for 1-2 minutes or until thickened.

In a large oven safe skillet, add the pork chops browning slightly on each side, about a minute each. Add the apricot glaze. Transfer the pork chops to the oven, uncovered, at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until pork juices run clear.

Get out the BBQ sauce, there's a burger waiting!

I love, love , love barbecue sauce...homemade, out of a jar, it really doesn't matter, it's all delicious, especially when grilling season comes around.

One of my favorites is barbecue chicken pizza from Pizza Luce here in the cities. They call their's the Wrangler Pizza, and it is delicious! Crispy crust topped with barbecue sauce, loads of thinly sliced chicken, Monterrey jack and mozzarella cheese, thin slices of red onion and banana peppers...they make the pizza!

So a couple of months ago I decided to try and make a burger resembling the taste of barbecue chicken pizza, and the result, AMAZING! Try it for yourself if you wish...I served our burgers atop crisp buns topped with red onion and jack cheese, accompanied by chipotle slaw, so good!

Barbecue Chicken Burgers (by me)

1 lb. Lean Ground Chicken
1/4 C finely chopped banana peppers
salt and pepper
1 T barbecue grill seasoning

1/2 C barbecue sauce for basting the burgers while grilling

Monterrey Jack cheese, slices of red onion, hamburger buns, and more BBQ sauce for dipping


Grill as normal, basting every time you flip or every couple of minutes with BBQ sauce, top with toppings and enjoy!

Potstickers or dumplings, either way they are delicious!

A couple of weeks ago, after the fried cheese, I was contemplating potstickers for a way to use up the leftover wonton wrappers. I saw a recipe in Cooks Illustrated for potstickers, but for some reason I have always been intimidated!

Well on a Tuesday night I found myself trying to find a plan for dinner and knowing Alex would be home late, I decided ot tackle the dumplings. I don't know what I was so nervous for, they are so simple and easy to put together.

Though I like dumplings more (steamed) the hubby is a fan of potstickers (pan-fried) so potstickers it was. They were delish! In the end we decided they needed a littl emore punch of flavor but that is easy to remedy, so I would think we will be making these again!

Pork Potstickers (adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

Filling
3 cups minced napa cabbage leaves (about ½ medium head)
¾ teaspoon table salt
¾ pound ground pork
4 minced scallions (about 6 tablespoons)
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1½ teaspoons minced or grated fresh ginger
1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepperDumplings
36 round potsticker wrappers (see note)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup water, plus extra for brushing

Instructions:

Toss cabbage with the salt in colander set over a bowl and let stand until cabbage begins to wilt, about 20 minutes. Press the cabbage gently with rubber spatula to squeeze out any excess moisture, the transfer to a medium bowl. (If you can't get moisture to release, squeeze cabbage with hands.)

Add the remaining filling ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until mixture is cold, at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Working with 4 potsticker wrappers at a time (keep the remaining wrappers covered with plastic wrap), fill, seal, and shape the dumplings using a generous 1 teaspoon of the chilled filling per dumpling. Transfer the dumplings to a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling; you should have about 24 dumplings. (The dumplings can be wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 1 day, or frozen for up to 1 month. Once frozen, the dumplings can be transferred to a zipper-lock bag to save space in the freezer; do not thaw before cooking.)

Line a large plate with a double layer of paper towels; set aside.

Brush 1 tablespoon of the oil over the bottom of a 12-inch nonstick skillet and arrange half of the dumplings in the skillet, with a flat side facing down (overlapping just slightly if necessary). Place the skillet over medium-high heat and cook the dumplings, without moving, until golden brown on the bottom, about 5 minutes.

Reduce the heat to low, add ½ cup of the water, and cover immediately. Continue to cook, covered, until most of the water is absorbed and the wrappers are slightly translucent, about 10 minutes.

Uncover the skillet, increase the heat to medium-high, and continue to cook, without stirring, until the dumpling bottoms are well browned and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes more.

Slide the dumplings onto the paper towel-lined plate, browned side facing down, and let drain briefly. Transfer the dumplings to a serving platter. Let the skillet cool until just warm, then wipe it clean with a wad of paper towels and repeat step 3 with the remaining dumplings, oil, and water.

Asian Style Meatballs

When Alex and I were dating, I went to a restaurant we were thinking about as a caterer, for lunch with his mother in Stillwater. I ordered an asian salad that had a skewer of glazed pork meatballs on top. They were so delicious! The flavor was that of a potsticker, but better because of the glaze.

With a pound of ground chicken in the freezer I decided to try and recreate the flavor of that delicious meal. I mixed asian flavors into the meatballs and added a few plain breadcrumbs as a binder. The end product was really quite good. We had them over white rice with a little steamed broccoli on the side.

While I don't know if I would make them the same again, I am already thinking about how I could make them better!

Asian Style Meatballs

1 pound ground chicken
2 scallions minced
1/4 C plain breadcrumbs
1/4 C hoisin sauce
3 T soy sauce
1 T minced ginger
1/2 crushed red pepper
Salt and Pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Form into golf ball sized balls and place on broiler pan. Heat broiler to high and place broiler pan on rack, closer to the bottom. Let cook for 10 minutes, turn meatballs and cook for 5-10 minutes more. Remove from oven, brush with glaze.

Glaze

In a small saucepan combine 3 T hoisin sauce, 2 T soy sauce, 1-2 T cornstarch, 2 T sugar, 1 t ginger, 1/2 C chicken broth, 2 T chile garlic sauce

Heat over low heat and reduce, adding as much cornstarch for a glaze texture. Using a pastry brush, brush meatballs with glaze. Use rest of glaze for pouring over rice.

Black Bean Quesadillas!

These are so delicious! A couple of months ago, I found a similar recipe in a Cooks Illustrated email. There was a demonstration video on making quesadillas, and because mine just never come out quite right, my eyes were glued to the computer screen.

One thing jumped out on me during preparation and that was how to make the tortillas crispy. I always thought you needed to use oil or butter and because of that, quesdadillas really never hit our table except for a quick lunch. What was the trick for crispy tortillas? Letting them sit on a hot skillet, unprepped, until air bubbles form, then flip. The result, so good quesdadillas!

And the best part, the combinations are now endless! We've made chicken, black bean, bacon and cheese...try them, you'll see how great they are!


Black Bean Quesdadillas

1 Can of Black Beans/diced chicken cooked/diced bacon cooked
2 C Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded
1/2 red onion, minced
1/4 Bell Pepper, minced
1/4 C frozen corn
Salt and Pepper
1/4-1/2 t adobo chile powder (chile powder will also work or cumin)
4 Fajita size flour tortillas

Minced cilantro/sour cream/guacamole/salsa/etc. for the fixins

1. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat for a couple of minutes
2. Add one tortilla, let sit on skillet until large air bubbles form, flip. When air bubbles form again, remove from skillet and repeat with remaining tortillas.
3. In skillet, spray with cooking spray or add a little oil. Add onions and bell pepper, season addording to your tastes, cook about 5 minutes or until soft and beginning to blacken. Remove from skillet.
4. Add corn to skillet, no oil, let blacken on skillet for about 5 minutes.
5. Add pepper/onion mixture to corn along with black beans, season with chile powder, cook until beans are warm, remove from skillet.
6. Place one tortilla in skillet, cover 1/2 with cheese, spoon bean mixture on cheese, top with more cheese, fold in half and cook for a couple of minutes on each side. Continue with rest.
At this point, you can place cooked quesadillas on a cookie sheet and place under broiler on low, to keep warm.

ENJOY!

Fried Cheese...Delish!

My husband and I are both from Wisconsin, and though we like cheese, that's not the reason for this connection. He is from Milwaukee and in Milwaukee is a restaurant known for thier BBQ, Saz's. Well, hubby and I love the restaurant for other reasons, for their Mozzarella Sticks. They are just like these, which I found on Our Sweet Life, mozzarella enrobed in wonton wrappers.

Quick, easy and so delicious. I even think you could bake them if you didn't want to fry them, I'd say 400* would work just great. Try them, you know you want to!

Fried Cheese

Wrap a string cheese in an egg roll wrapper

Lay one string cheese on one egg roll wrapper diagonally so the cheese starts at one corner and ends at the opposite. Roll up like a burrito and seal with water or egg.

Fry in a frying pan using oil (vegetable or olive oil heated to about 350) until golden.