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I don’t know if other foodie bloggers find themselves, looking for new recipes, rather than making old favorites. I do. I love to try new recipes and see what turns out. No matter what the recipe tells me is going to happen, I really never know what I am going to turn out with. By now, you know, I tend to make changes in recipes. Oh, I have good reasons, like not having a necessary ingredient, or I may not like a particular ingredient or time causes a change in the method. The fun is in the doing and meeting new challenges and seeing the results. This is one of those recipes. The final results are definitely not what Emeril had in mind and not what I had in mind. Despite this, the resulting dish was filled with flavor and had an unexpected texture.
Ingredients:
For the sauce:
3 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce - gluten-free
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
1 frozen chili cube
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons lightly toasted sesame seeds
½ teaspoon sugar
pancakes:
9 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 bunch scallions, trimmed, quartered lengthwise, and cut into 2 inch lengths
4 ounces mushrooms, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups gluten-free flour mixture
1 ½ cups water
2 eggs
Method:
Make the sauce by combining the soy sauce, vinegar, honey, chili, garlic powder, sesame seeds and sugar in a small bowl, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside while you make the pancakes.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, water, and eggs and mix gently until just combined.
Add the cooked scallions, mushrooms, and salt and fold together briefly just to combine.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and, when hot, coat with 2 teaspoons of the vegetable oil.
Add ½ of the pancake batter and use a spoon to spread into a 6 to 8-inch circle, trying to get the filling ingredients as evenly spread out as possible.
Cook the pancake about 4 minutes.
Once the pancake has begun to set and is golden brown on the bottom, flip the pancake to the other side, pressing with a spatula to compress ingredients.
Cook until golden brown on the second side, about 2 minutes longer, transfer to a warm plate and cover loosely with foil to keep warm while you prepare the remaining pancakes.
Once all the pancakes have been cooked, cut into wedges and serve warm with the dipping sauce in small bowls for dipping.
Yield: 4 large pancakes or 10 appetizer servings
Where I went wrong: Four minutes is a long time to cook a thin pancake and mine did not even change color at four minutes. I had this pale, emaciated pancake staring at me and telling me to cook it longer. I did. When it changed to a golden color, I turned it and cooked the other side until it became golden, also, longer than the prescribed two minutes. What happened, was those soft pancakes, hardened and became deliciously crisp. I know , this is not the way, they should be, but they were almost like a favorable cracker but not that crisp. The veggies were soft so I ended up with a crispy pancake with soft vegetables. Everyone ate them and my husband did his usual, mentioned that they were spicy. That was from the chili cube. Spicy is good in this recipe but if you are not a spicy lover, eliminate the chili flavoring. I am getting more and more used to spicy flavoring and like some of them. I have to say, my hubby was a doll, and took seconds. I am hoping, in time, he will adjust to a bit more spice, in his food. In the meanwhile, I modify, most times.
Advanced Happy Birthday to your Blog! My favorite appliance color is Silver. Well, I like Stainless Steel Appliances the best..if the color of steel is Silver, that is what I like best.
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I know I found this recipe in one of my books, but I only wrote down the ingredient list, not the amounts or title. I had to sort of wing it with the measurements, and ended up doing it my own way. If I run across the original recipe again, it will be interesting to compare notes!
I found lump crab meat at Costco, I would not substitute canned crab meat for this dip, it just wouldn't be as tasty. Prepare this delicious dip one day ahead of time to allow the flavors to combine. (this dip is even better the day after the party!)
*If you're concerned about "all that" mayo, not that I am, but some people seem to be, I wouldn't use light mayo, but I bet you could use half sour cream, half mayo. I think that would be acceptable. Please note I haven't tried this substitution, so if you try it, let me know how it works! (and don't hunt me down and hurt me if it's not a fabulous dip...)
Crab Dip
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup mayonnaise
fresh chives, chopped, about 2 tablespoons
scant 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Cholula)
1 pound lump crab meat
Mix all ingredients except crab with a mixer until creamy. Fold in crab meat with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula (not the mixer!) until combined. Cover and store in refrigerator at least 24 hours. Stir before serving with Artisan Bread Crostini.
We're blushing yet again, twice in fact thanks to The Overloaded Mommy and what a way to celebrate our birthday yesterday! Thank you Casey!
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This recipe comes from Rebecca of Cooking With My Kid, who's actually a friend of a friend of mine, and who is on a mission to make 365 recipes in 365 days, with her kid. Although I like cooking with my kids, I still think it's an ambitious project.
When she posted this recipe, I knew I had to make these right away. Just Had To. After all, I'd bought all the ingredients for s'mores recently, but before we could make them someone ate all the Hershey's bars. Someone else snuck half a bag of marshmallows. And who knows who ate most of the graham crackers. It's just the way it works around here I guess.
Note: when opening a jar of marshmallow fluff at altitude, just for a "taste," be prepared to immediately make your recipe because it will just keep expanding and you won't be able to "taste" that much without making yourself sick. Just trust me on this.
I didn't do the shopping yesterday, and to be honest my entire grocery list was this:
1 large jar marshmallow fluff
2 king-size Hershey's Special Dark bars
1 box graham crackers
=)
I took Rebecca's advice and planned to use dark chocolate from the start. So Number One brought home 4 bars of Hershey's Special Dark, in two sizes. I'm guessing that the 4.25 ounce bar is the "king size," but I didn't come to that realization until I already had the "giant size" bars unwrapped and discovered they wouldn't fit as neatly as Rebecca's had in the pan. Oh well, we've got some extra dark chocolate to eat!
Now that I'm thinking about it, I can't say I recall ever eating marshmallow fluff. I know that seems like blasphemy for a Midwestern girl like myself to admit, but I just don't remember it in my life. Of course I've seen the jars around, and of course when someone took that little taste, it tasted like heaven, but it didn't ring any bells. I didn't remember the stickiness, or anything. I do love it though, so I think that makes up for my possibly faulty memory.
The verdict: These are very good, but dare I say it, with dark chocolate, I think you need to use MORE fluff. There, I said it. It really needs more fluff!! Next time, I will try it with milk chocolate, which is probably the more classic flavor, and maybe just a little extra fluff.
Let me know which chocolate YOU would use, and how you like them!
S’More Bars
Prep Time:15 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 to 35 minutes
Makes 16 squares
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (~7 full-sized graham cracker sheets, processed until fine)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 king-sized dark chocolate bars (*note: I believe "king-size" is 4.25 ounces. "giant-size" is too big, but will work if you use a little more than one bar. I know because we used "giant-size.")
1-1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. (I used butter). Use an electric mixer to cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Set aside.
Meanwhile,whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.
Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side.
Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together). Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Be sure to cool completely before cutting into 16 squares.
1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders, cut into bite sized pieces
2 tablespoons butter
1 & 1/2 cups carrot slices
2 stalks celery, sliced thin
1 really large bunch green onions, sliced thin (I used Mexican green onions)
1 & 1/2 cups white zinfandel
2 tablespoons Better Than Chicken Base
2 cups boiling hot water
fresh parsley sprigs
fresh tarragon sprigs
Place flour in a large plastic bag, add chicken, seal and shake to coat chicken with flour.
In a large saute' pan brown bacon until crumbly. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
In the bacon drippings stir fry the chicken pieces until browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Add butter. Scrape bottom to loosen and browned bits. These will add great flavor. When butter is melted add carrots and cook 2-3 minutes. Add celery and onions and saute until tender.
Whisk together wine, boiling water, chicken base and seasonings. Pour over vegetables.
Add back in the chicken and bacon pieces.
Cover and bring to a boil.
Lower heat and simmer 15-20 minutes until sauce is thick.
Now just for your pleasure, here is Julia's recipe that I found on the net.
This is Julia Child's recipe for her famous Coq Au Vin (Casserole of Chicken in Red Wine). Most of Julia's cookbooks included this recipe. In every version in Julia's cookbooks, she slightly updates the recipe.
Coq au Vin (literally "rooster in red wine") is probably the most famous of all French chicken dishes, and certainly one of the most delicious, with its rich red wine sauce, its tender onions and mushrooms and its browned pieces of chicken with their wonderful flavor. Ideal for a party because you may prepare it completely a day or more before serving. In fact, Coq au Vin seems to be even better when done ahead so all its elements have time to steep together.
The History:Coq Au Vin is a Burgundian dish, and is considered a French comfort food. The traditional recipe for Coq au Vin did not include chicken, but rather a "Coq," which is a rooster. A lot of recipes originally called for old barnyard fowl, roosters, capon (a de-sexed rooster), and old laying hens. Coq au Vin was originally considered peasant food, and the farmers would make do with what they had on hand.
The red wine in the recipe was used not to mask flavor, but to allow the acids to help break down the old meat of the rooster True coq Au Vin was actually finished with the blood of the rooster stabilized with brandy and vinegar, this would help the blood not clot.
Julia Child's Coq au Vin
2 1/2 to 3 pounds cut-up frying chicken, skin on and thoroughly dried (I used skinless boneless breasts and thighs instead)*
4 ounces lean thick-cut bacon
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup cognac
2 cups red wine (Pinot Noir, Burgundy, Beaujolais or Chianti)**
2 cup homemade chicken stock or low-sodium chicken stock or broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, mashed or minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon thyme
Brown-Braised Onions (see recipe below)
Mushrooms (see recipe below)
3 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, softened
Parsley sprigs
Dry chicken thoroughly in a towel. Season chicken with salt and pepper; set aside.
Remove any rind off the bacon and cut the bacon into lardons (rectangles 1/4-inch across and 1-inch long). In a saucepan, simmer the bacon sticks in 2 quarts of water for 10 minutes; remove from heat, drain, rinse in cold water, and pat dry.
In a large heavy frying pan, casserole dish, or electric skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil until moderately hot. Add the bacon and saute slowly until they are lightly browned. Remove bacon to a side dish. Place chicken pieces into the hot oil (not crowding pan), and brown on all sides. Return bacon to the pan, cover pan, and cook slowly for 10 minutes, turning chicken once.
Pour the red wine into the pan and add just enough chicken broth to completely cover the chicken pieces. Stir in tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring the liquid to a simmer, then cover pan, and simmer slowly for about 30 minutes or until the chicken meat is tender when pierced with a fork or an instant-read meat thermometerregisters an internal temperatureof165 degrees F.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the Brown-Braised Onions and the Mushrooms.
When the chicken is done cooking, remove from the pan to a platter, leaving the cooking liquid in the pan. Increase heat to high and boil the cooking liquid rapidly until approximately 2 cups of liquid remains.
While the liquid is boiling, in a small bowl, blend the 3 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons softened butter into a smooth paste; beat the flour/butter mixture into the approximately 2 cups hot cooking liquid with a whisk. Simmer and stir for a minute or two until the sauce has thickened (the result will be a sauce thick enough to lightly coat a spoon - just thick enough to coat the chicken and vegetables lightly). If sauce is too thin, boil down rapidly to concentrate; if sauce is too thick, thin out with additional spoonfuls of chicken stock. Taste the final sauce, adding more salt and pepper if necessary.
Before serving, reheat the onions and mushrooms (if necessary).
Storing: Chicken is now ready for final reheating, but can be set aside in the sauce until cool, then covered and refrigerated for 1 to 2 days. To reheat, simmer slowly, covered, over low heat. Baste and turn chicken every 2 minutes until thoroughly warmed through (6 to 8 minutes). NOTE: Do not overcook chicken at this point.
To serve immediately: Shortly before serving, bring the sauce and the cooked chicken to a simmer, cover and simmer slowly for 4 to 5 minutes, until chicken is hot through. NOTE: Do not overcook chicken at this point.
To serve: Either serve from the casserole dish or arrange the chicken on a large platter. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Arrange the Brown-Braised Onions on one side of the chicken and the Mushrooms on the other side. Decorate with sprigs of parsley. Accompany with parsley potatoes, rice, or noodles; buttered green peas or a green salad; hot French bread; and the same red wine you used for cooking the chicken. NOTE: This dish is traditionally served with wide egg noodles.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Brown-Braised Onions:
12 to 24 small white onions, peeled (or double the amount if you want to use tiny frozen peeled raw onions)*
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste
* If neither frozen nor fresh pearl onions are available, substitute one large onion cut into 1/2-inch pieces. (Do not use jarred pearl onions, which will turn mushy and disintegrate into the sauce.)
While chicken is cooking, drop onions into boiling water, bring water back to the boil, and let boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and drain. Cool onions in ice water. Shave off the two ends (root and stem ends) of each onion, peel carefully, and pierce a deep cross in the root end with a small knife (to keep onions whole during cooking).
In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil, add parboiled onions, and toss for several minutes until lightly browned (this will be a patchy brown). Add water to halfway up onions and add 1/4 to1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover pan and simmer slowly for 25 to 30 minutes or until onions are tender when pierce with a knife.
NOTE: Onions may be cooked in advance, set aside, then reheated when needed. Season to taste just before serving.
Mushrooms:
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, washed, well dried, left whole if small, sliced or quartered if large
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat butter and olive oil; when bubbling hot, toss in mushrooms and saute over high heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from heat.
NOTE: Mushrooms may be cooked in advance, set aside, then reheated when needed. Season to taste just before serving.
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This is simple down to the core, or should I say corn? But the flavors are fantastic, and the vegetables are perfection. The next time you are craving chips and dip, make a veggie salsa salad like this one instead! It could almost be considered vegetable ceviche! Ole!
What you'll need:
1 cucumber (skinned and diced)
1 can black beans (rinsed)
2-3 cups chopped heirloom tomatoes (mine were green)
1 red onion (diced)
1 can corn (rinsed)
1/4 cup Cilantro
2 limes (zest and juice)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
What you'll do:
Just throw all of the ingredients into a bowl and toss.
In almost any neighborhood on any given night during the summer, you can smell the aroma of one of your neighbors grilling out. That and soft green grass are two of my favorite things of summer.
One of my favorite things to grill on hot summer nights are honey grilled pork chops. They are a great change up from the usual burgers, dogs, and beef. Plus these are simple and quick to make.
Honey Grilled Pork Chops
2 ea boneless pork chops, at least 1" thick
2-4 Tbsp pork chop rub (see recipe)
2 Tbsp creamed honey
When selecting pork chops, look for ones that deeper red in color as opposed to pale. Sure it's "the other white meat" but you want chops with the most color. That's a tip Chris Lilly gave at a recent cooking class and he knows his pork.
For the "creamed honey", this is a specially crystallized honey. It's not a mix of honey and cream. If you can't find it locally, you can just use a good local honey.
Season all sides of the chops with the Pork Chop Rub. I made this rub specifically for pork chops following the section in Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book on creating your own dry rub. It will make about a cup and will keep for 6 months in an airtight container.
NMT Pork Chop Rub
1/4 c white sugar
1/4 c turninado sugar
1/4 c smoked paprika
2 T garlic salt
2 T kosher salt
1 t black pepper, smoked
1 t cayenne pepper
1 t cumin
1/4 t allspice
1/2 t dried thyme
Get your grill cooking with direct heat at 350 to 375f. Grill the chops on the first side for 2 minutes. Flip and grill the second side for two minutes (now at 4 minutes total cooking time).
Flip back to the first side and grill for two more minutes (6 minutes total). At the very end of those two minutes, glaze some of the creamed honey on both chops. Flip, glaze again, and let finish cooking for 2 minutes (8 minutes total at this point).
At two minutes check the internal temp and it should be around 140-145f. If so, pull and let rest for 10 minutes. If not, switch to indirect heat (move to the side of grill and roast it) until it hits 140-145f.
These are crispy and a little sticky on the outside and juicy & tender on the inside!
Have a great weekend everyone and try to stay cool!
I LOVE Szechuan anything. Beef, chicken, fish... It is one of my "go to" items to order at the storefront Chinese takeout restaurants that seem to be on every other street corner. My wife... Not so much.
By definition, Szechuan is ...
a style of Chinese cuisine originating in Sichuan Province of southwestern China is famed for bold flavors, particularly the spiciness resulting from liberal use of chilies and "numb" or "tingling" flavor (Chinese: 麻) of the Sichuanhe peppercorn (花椒)
WOW... just reading this definition is numbing my mouth! And striking fear into my wife. Once again, the ugly divide between our taste buds rears its ugly head. While in Kansas, ordering Chinese take-out is easy and inexpensive, and every one can order what they wish... Here in the paradise that is St Thomas (US Virgin Islands), there are no Chinese take-out joints (that I have found). So, my dreams of numb tongue were to be put on hold... Until I saw this recipe from one of my favorite bloggers... ANGEL IN THE KITCHEN!
Szechwan dishes are typically on the spicier side, and although I've had my share that have made my eyes water and my nose run, this dish (which is fromBetter Homes and Gardens), is actually on the milder side. You can certainly increase the amount of crushed red pepper flakes, or even add some sriracha or other hot sauce, to amp up the heat.
OK... I can work with this. First, DO NOT TELL JACKIE SHE IS EATING Szechwan Beef! Just the words will scare her and prejudice her about liking the dish. Next... I can pull her bit out, keep it warm, while I add and finagle it into something mouth numbing (yeah).
Here's what Angel says to do..
Szechwan Beef Serves 4 3 Tbsp. dry sherry 3 Tbsp. soy sauce 2 Tbsp. water 2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce 2 tsp. cornstarch 2 tsp. grated ginger 1 tsp. sugar 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes 1/4 tsp. black pepper 2 cloves garlic, minced. 1 lb. steak, thinly sliced 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced 2 green bell peppers, cut in cubes 1 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil Cooked rice, for serving 1. Combine the sherry, soy sauce, water, hoisin sauce, cornstarch, ginger, sugar, red pepper flakes, pepper, and garlic in a small bowl. Set aside. 2. Put oil in wok and heat over medium-high heat until hot. 3. Add carrots and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add peppers and stir-fry another 1-2 minutes.4. Remove vegetables from pan and set aside. 5. Add beef and stir-fry 2-3 minutes, or until cooked. 6. Push beef away from center of wok, and add sauce. Reduce heat to medium, and cook and stir sauce until thick and bubbly. 7. Add veggies back to wok, and combine with beef and sauce. 8. Serve over rice.
Pretty much, just what I did...
Slice and dice... I did add Onions... Caused I like onions!
I used skirt steak... be sure to slice against the grain of the meat so that the bits are more tender.
As the Kitchen Angel advertised, it was WONDERFUL. The little kick from the red pepper flakes was there. but not overpowering. I did happen to have a pepper grinder full of actual Sichuanhe peppercorns (god bless my "spice guy back in Kansas). So, once I plated Jackie's dish, I doctored mine up a bit.
9 teaspoons vegetable oil
