Tasty Chinese Chicken

Greetings friends,


Last night Hannah and I had the chance to try out this amazing "sweet & sour" chicken recipe.  While it turned out more like a cross between sweet & sour and sesame chicken, it was amazing nonetheless.  Without further ado, here it is.

For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:

• 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1½ cup cornstarch
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons ketchup
• ¼ cup white vinegar
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

1. Cut the chicken breasts into strips or bite size pieces. 

2. Salt and pepper the chicken to your liking.

3. Dip the chicken in the cornstarch and then dredge it in the beaten eggs. 

4. Fry the chicken until the outside is brown. (tip: don't put all of your oil in the pan at once as the chicken cornstarch tends to suck it up.

5. Mix the sugar, ketchup, vinegars, soy sauce, and garlic salt together in a mixing bowl.  

6. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish and cover/toss the chicken in the sauce until covered.  

7. Bake the chicken, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 1 hour, stirring once every 15 minutes. 

The chicken is amazing, especially with some simple white rice and broccoli.  We made the mistake of making a double batch to cover the chicken...it doesn't really need it; although, it tasted fine.  Set aside a little extra sauce to pour over your rice/veggies if you wish.   

Sorry for the lack of picture this time.  Being in the dark ages of phone technology real has its drawbacks.  If you would like to see the finished product/the original recipe source, click here.

Lemon Tree Chicken with Fettuccine Alfredo

Greetings Blog-lings,

Well another week has passed and another scrumptious dish has been made. Truth be told I made this two weeks ago, but hey, pictures don't go bad.  This recipe is a family favorite and is one of the first "real" meals I learned to make. 

For this recipe you will need:

Lemon Tree Chicken:

• 4 WHOLE CHICKEN BREASTS
• I TSP. SALT
• 1/2 TSP. PEPPER
• 3/4 CUP FLOUR
• 1/2 STICK OF BUTTER
• I TSP. GRATED LEMON PEEL
• 2 TBS. LEMON JUICE
• 2 TBS. DRY WHITE WINE
• 1/2 CUP HALF & HALF OR CREAM
• 4 to 6 slices of Swiss cheese. 

Salt and pepper your chicken and then dredge it in flour.  Brown the chicken in butter for about 4 to 5 minutes per side.  Remove the chicken and add the rind, lemon juice, and wine to the pan. Heat up these ingredients and scrape the bottom of the pan to remove the brown bits.  Return the chicken to the pan and cover, simmering for at least five minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and place in a broil proof pan.  The trick is that you want the chicken to fit as tightly as possible so the cream sauce doesn't drip off.  Add the cream to the frying pan and cook/stir until bubbly.  Then pour the cream over the chicken.  Place the Swiss cheese on top of the chicken and broil until brown.  Pay close attention so that you don't burn the cheese. 

Again ** THE TRICK: YOU MUST USE THE CORRECT SIZE OF PAN SO THE CHICKEN
FITS TIGHTLY - SO THE CHEESE AND CREAM STAY ON TOP FOR
BROWNING.** Failure to do so will result in mediocre Lemon Tree Chicken.


Fettuccine Alfredo

• 1 POUND PASTA (Fettuccine, or linguine) must be a flat noodle
• 1 stick of buffer (1/4 of a pound)
• 1/2 cup of grated cheese (Parmesan, or Romano or some of each)
• 1/4 cup of half& half (cream and milk) if no cream available can use milk
• 2 eggs

Using a hand mixer (if not available, use a whisk) fluff the softened butter, add the eggs, one at a time, and beat in.  Gradually add the half&half, be sure to mix it in thoroughly. Gradually add in the grated cheese and mix in until all parts are combined. You can definitely use more cheese/Cream (I certainly did and received no complaints).  Add the sauce to your freshly cooked pasta and toss it to coat. 

And there you have it. Lemon Tree Chicken (On our fancy new china, if you didn't notice).  Same bad cell phone photo, but the same tasty food as the rest of the blog.  Let me know what you think in the comments section.  This certainly isn't a healthy dish, so I don't wanna hear about that. 

Slow Cooker Pork Tacos

Greetings Readers,

This past weekend I ventured someplace I've never really dared to venture before; the Pork cooler. Pork, the other white meat, has long frightened me in the kitchen, but alas it has no sway over me no more.

For this recipe you will need a slow cooker, obviously, and the following ingredients:

2 cups store-bought salsa, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 2.5-pound boneless pork butt or shoulder, trimmed of excess fat
18 corn or flour tortillas
1/2 cup fresh cilantro sprigs
3/4 cup sour cream
1 lime, cut into wedges

Combine the salsa, chili powder, oregano, cocoa powder, and salt in the slow cooker. Since I didn't have any unsweetened cocoa powder I used regular, but omitted 1/2 a tablespoon to compensate. After stirring ingredients in the slow cooker, place the pork in the cooker and turn to coat, ensuring all sides are covered in the sauce. Cook the pork for 4 to 5 hours on high, or 7 to 8 hours on low (I cooked mine on low). Heat your tortillas in the oven or lightly brown them in oil in a pan for an even better taste. Serve your tacos garnished with fresh cilantro, fresh salsa, cheese, and a squeeze of fresh lime.


(Photo courtesy of Becky Reed)

Overall my first foray into pork was a success.  If I were to make these again, and I will, I would try it with unsweetened cocoa powder, and I might add a chili pepper or two to the cooker to add a little more kick to the meat.

Don't forget to tell your friends about my blog, and to check back often for more great recipes.

Recipe from http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/pulled-pork-tacos-00000000008021/

Chicken Penne and Broccoli in an Alfredo and Rotel Sauce.

Greetings readers,

It has been a while since I wrote on this blog. A lot has happened since then, married, moved (three times),etc. But I am still cooking like a champ. So read on and let me know what you think. It is my hope that I add to this every week...we'll see how that goes.

Today I have for you an insanely simple recipe that is sure to delight most and will take you less than 30 minutes to make. Here is what you'll need to make Chicken Penne and Broccoli in an Alfredo and Rotel Sauce: 1 Can Rotel 1 tbs of oil (any will do) 1 Jar Alfredo Sauce 16 oz Penne Pasta (or any pasta you prefer) 2 Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts 16 oz Broccoli Florets. Preparation: In a large pot, place water on the stove to boil. Cut your chicken into bite-sized pieces. Cooking: Boil your noodles until Al dente. Place 1 tablespoon of oil in a large sauce pan, heat to a medium temperature and place the chicken in to cook, stirring occasionally. After chicken is cooked add the alfredo sauce and drained Rotel tomatoes to the pan (hint: if you want a spicier sauce, drain the Rotel into the alfredo jar, shake the water to clear the jar of leftover sauce, and add to pan). Mix until througouly incorporated. Next, add your broccoli florets to pan and bring to a simmer. Cook until broccoli reaches your desired level of tenderness. Finally, mix the chicken, broccoli, and sauce in with the noodles to finish your easy dinner.

Please feel free to comment and share this blog with others!

Bacon Wrapped BBQ Water Chestnuts

Greetings to my 4 subscribers!

Friday night here in the convent and that can mean only one thing...time to do a little experimental cooking!

Tonight I whipped up a scrumptious hors d'oeuvre from scratch. A long time ago I remember having a water chestnut appetizer wrapped in bacon and covered in BBQ sauce. So, this evening I tried my best to recreate it...success(for the most part)!

The recipe was simple enough:

2 cans whole water chestnuts
1 lb bacon
Favorite BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Rays...of course)

Today's lesson/word is: Preparation

One would think I would understand this word fully. An Eagle Scout is always prepared...but I guess I missed that day of boy scouts. When you prepare bacon wrapped water chestnuts it is essential to have a way to bind them together, lest they fall apart while you are brushing the sauce on them. However, I forgot the simplest ingredient to make these treats: toothpicks.

No problem, one would think, everyone has toothpicks in a house. Nope. Convents don't come pre-stocked with toothpicks (or normal cookware for that matter(post about cooking pancakes in a pot to come)). Luckily, I play jazz and know how to improvise. I found some skewers and a pair of scissors and started cutting until I had enough to assemble my 20 bite-sized morsels of goodness. [Note to self...buy the toothpicks next time]

I preheated the oven to 350 and baked the bacon-wrapped water chestnuts covered in sauce for 45 minutes. The cooking time was just about perfect; however, if I were to do this again, I would reapply BBQ sauce during cooking to make sure they are fully coated.

The hors d'oeuvres turned out great and will surely be made again in the future!

If you have any crafty ideas for hors d'oeuvres, post them in the comment section and I'll make them in the future.

Chipotle Style Chicken Burritos

Greetings food lovers and people I suckered into looking at my blog. Within these hallowed confines of the world of blogging I will submit to you, the customers, my valuable experiences in learning to cook things that are actually edible and tasty. Sometimes I succeed and the food I prepare is fit for serving to others; however, with every success there is a failure. I will write about both here for your reading pleasure.

Tonight I dabbled in making chicken burritos; however, these aren't just any chicken burritos, these are SUPPOSED to taste like everyone's favorite burrito stand...Chipotle. The recipe seemed simple (read: how could I screw this up) and in the end I should have ended up with farm-fresh chipotle chicken....not so much.

The recipe called for the following ingredients to be processed together into a marinade for the chicken.
1 (2 ounce) package dried ancho chiles
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons cumin powder
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
6 cloves garlic
1/2 red onion, quartered
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Problem #1: Normal stores don't carry packages of dried ancho chiles. So I substituted some diced peppers in a can.

The paste turned out fine, didn't smell like I screwed it up, and sufficiently covered the chicken: time to wait a few hours for it to soak in.

Time to cook.

After marinading I prepared the griddle for cooking.
Items needed:

Flipper: ✓

Vegetable oil: ✓

Brick wrapped in foil: WTF?

Apparently you are supposed to cook the chicken and flatten it out at the same time. SOOOOO I put on my shoes and go searching in the backyard for a brick to wrap in foil. Our once pristine back yard has been slowly turned into a wasteland of broken chairs and a random assortment of other items people have left outside. On top of that, there is currently 8 inches of snow outside. Yes, you read correctly, Baltimore (which was 70 and sunny as recently as last Friday) has snow. Miraculously I found a brick...to wrap in foil...to flatten the chicken.

Now, the recipe said I should use happy, organic chicken instead of the chickens who were cooped up their entire lives...when my chicken starts complaining about how it was treated, then I'll know it has had too many chemicals, but until that day I'll continue using the cheapest chicken money can buy.

So I cooked the chicken and...it was O.K.. Not too bad, but not like Chipotle either. It had a nice flavor, but it couldn't hold a candle to the real deal. Maybe it was my lack of ancho chiles, or my refusal to use organic chicken....but, in all actuality, it was probably just a poor attempt on my part. In the future, I will prepare the marinade the night before so that more of the flavor soaks in.

All in all it was pretty good. I didn't screw it up (aside from the lime-rice recipe which is also on the website)and will attempt this again in the future. For more Chipotle-esque recipes see the link below.

Chipotle Recipes