Cook It Slow..COQ AU VIN

Ingredients:

• 6 slices cooked and crumbled bacon
• 6-8 chicken thighs [skin removed]
• 8 ounces sliced baby portobello mushrooms
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped or minced
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups red wine
• 2 large fresh thyme sprigs

Directions:

1. Use a 4 quart slow cooker.
2. Cook the bacon on the stovetop and add to the stoneware.
3. Put the chicken on top of the bacon and start to layer in the carrots, mushrooms, onion, and garlic.
4. Top with salt, pepper, chicken broth, and wine. 
5. Float the thyme sprigs on top.
6. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. You can cook it for 4 hours on high, however, it will not taste as good. 

Spicy Coconut Chicken Curry

It's Wednesday night and I've decided to treat my hubby to a meal cooked on the stove in lieu of the slow cooker process of our average Wednesday night. I had been craving curry for the past few days and today was the day to appease it :)!

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 carrots
• 4 tablespoons yellow curry powder
• 16 oz. mixed frozen bell peppers
• 8 oz. frozen peas
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 medium sized apple peeled and chopped into small cubes
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil [To cook chicken in wok.]
• 6 servings of white rice cooked in rice cooker. 
•  crumbled feta cheese, to top each bowl with.

Directions:

1. Cook brown rice in rice cooker.
2. Cut chicken breasts into bite sized pieces.
3. Cook chicken in a wok along with vegetable oil, carrots, and onion.
4. Add curry powder, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and frozen veggies to chicken mixture. 
5. Once vegetables are cooked pour in coconut milk, apple and raisins and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes [until sauce has had a chance to cook down a bit].
6. Add cooked rice to the pan, mix well, taste to see if seasoning is up to par. Season more if necessary. 
7. Top each bowl with feta cheese and you're ready to eat!

Mini Gluten Free Cranberry Scones

I've recently started to really get into baking. It's not I have no experience baking, it's just that I hadn't  really been in love with the act of baking until now. 

That being said, the moment one of my co-workers handed me an entire shopping bag of fresh cranberries I immediately started thinking of how I could incorporate them into a baked good. Yea, I have a problem..well, maybe it's not as much of a PROBLEM as it is an OBSESSION. I can't help it, I just love food [almost as much as I love lamp :)].

I decided to make these little beauties gluten free because the hubby and I really should be living a GF lifestyle and have been slacking hardcore...we just love beer a bit too much..Guinness especially. If you're not into the whole gluten free thing you can easily omit the xanthum gum and replace the flour with regular all purpose flour and you'll have gluten filled scones!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups gluten free all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 tsp. xanthum gum
• 5 tablespoons sugar, plus more for topping
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2/3 cup (plus 1 tablespoon) half-and-half 
• 1/4 cup of honey or vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup halved cranberries, drained on paper towels

NOTE: I used a cookie scoop to portion out the scones.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together flour, xanthum gum, 5 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in half & half and yogurt until moistened. Gently fold in cranberries. 
2. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough gently, 5 to 10 times. Add more flour to surface if dough is sticking to it or to your hands.
3. Using a cookie scoop, drop dough on parchment lined cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Brush tops with remaining half & half, sprinkle with sugar.
4. Bake until golden brown for 12 to 15 minutes. 
5. Let cool on wire rack after removed from stove.

Crispy Wonton Topped Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. of wonton wrappers [You'll likely have some left over, place them in a ziploc bag and refrigerate for later use.]
• 1 pre-cooked chicken breast
• 1 handful of baby carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• 2tsp. ginger powder
• 1tbsp. spicy mandarin orange stir fry sauce [You can use any sauce you'd like.]
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions.

Directions:

1. Place cooked chicken breast, baby carrots, celery stalks, ginger powder cuisinart/food processor and blend all ingredients together. [The consistency of my filling when done was that of ricotta cheese which we enjoyed when paired with the crispy fried exterior.]
2. Once the filling  is complete combine scallions to it using a spoon to stir them in and then start constructing your wontons, the package comes with directions on how to do this part.
3. When your wonton are finished prepping choose how many you'll need for this meal and set them aside. You'll definitely have a bunch left over and it's wise to freeze them. Lay the ones you plan to freeze on a cookie sheet and freeze them that way first, once they're frozen you can transfer them into tupperware or freezer bags. This step will prevent you from ending up with a ball of wontons [they love to stick together when they're soft.].
4. Add 1/4-1/3 inch of vegetable oil in your wok/frying pan and let it heat up at medium heat. After a minute or so of heating up add your wontons to the oil. Keep your eye on them and make sure to flip them over to keep them from burning on either side. [Keep in mind that this is not a 'deep frying' recipe, so, your wontons will be crispy on the outside but not as crispy as a crab rangoon served in a Chinese restaurant.]
5. Once the wontons are golden brown remove them from the oil and on to a plate that has been lined with a paper towel or two to soak up the excess oil.You then want to toss the wontons in the spicy mandarin sauce concoction. [see recipe below]

Sauce for coating:

• 1/2 cup spicy mandarin orange stir fry sauce
• 2tsp of soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sriracha chili sauce.

Top any salad with these delicious little bundles of fried goodness and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pork Vietnamese Short Ribs with Udon Noodles

Have you ever visited foodgawker.com? If not, you're doing yourself an injustice. It is, hands down, the the best recipe website I have visited thus far. It introduces you to an infinite amount of food blogs and the culinary possibilities are endless!

This Sunday I typed in SHORT RIBS and found this gem from www.jonesing-for.com. We made a few changes to suit our pallets as well as what we had in our fridge/pantry. It still tasted fabulous with the changes and I think it's safe to assume it would without them!

Ingredients

For the short ribs:

• 1 Tbsp. canola or peanut oil
• 2 lbs. beef short ribs, trimmed [We used pork short ribs.]
• 2 shallots, sliced [We used one big onion since it's what we had on hand.]
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small knob fresh ginger, sliced [We were also out of fresh ginger, so powdered ginger was the way I went...I know, it's sacrilegious..shame on me.]
• ¼ cup fish sauce [We used soy sauce in place of fish sauce..my hubby is not a fan.]
• ¼ cup dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. Sriracha
• 2 cups beef stock [We like the flavor of the pork with beef stock, however, you could use chicken stock in its place.]

For the Udon noodles:

• 6 oz. Udon noodles, cooked
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into curls (ribbons)
• 1 package of mushrooms
• Juice of 1 lime
• 3 Tbsp. fish sauce [We also substituted soy sauce for fish sauce here.]
• 2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1 tsp. Sriracha
• ½ cup torn cilantro
• ¼ cup torn mint leaves
• 1 tsp. minced jalapeno
• 1 Package of bean sprouts [The original recipe did not call for these, however, we added them in because we are bean sprout lovers.]

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet over high heat and pour in the oil. Pat the short ribs dry with paper towels, and then sear in hot oil on all sides. Turn after about 1 minute on each side, for a total of 6 minutes. Remove from skillet with a slotted spoon and toss in the shallots and garlic. Quickly stir around for 30 seconds getting some color on the vegetables, but don’t burn them. Remove with a slotted spoon and kill the heat.
2. Pour the ¼ cup fish sauce [or soy sauce], ¼ cup dark soy sauce, 1 Tbsp. brown sugar, 1 Tbsp. Sriracha, and 2 cups beef stock into the bowl of a 5-6 qt. slow cooker. Whisk in the cooked shallot, garlic, and fresh ginger. Put the short ribs into the slow cooker and turn to coat in the sauce a few times. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or until fork tender and the bone slides out easily.
3. Before serving, prepare the rice noodles. Whisk together the lime juice, 3 Tbsp. fish sauce/soy sauce, 2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp. honey, 1 tsp. Sriracha, cilantro, mint, jalapeno, and bean sprouts. Toss noodles with carrots, cucumber, and sauce. Serve alongside or under short ribs.

Ain’t Yo Vovó’s Kale Soup!

Being Portuguese, I love both making and eating kale soup.  It had been dark and gloomy for the better part of the day and soup was sounding awfully perfect as I left work. There was a double rainbow in the sky and the darkness was subsiding as I made my way to the store to gather the ingredients I’d need.

Since I was unsure if Chourico [Portuguese Sausage] contained wheat as a filler, I opted for Andouille Chicken Sausage from Trader Joe’s.  The ingredients I used for this batch were a mixture of both traditional ingredients as well as some creative substitutions I’ve opted for in order to suit our palates.

The recipe below  filled a 16qt. stock pot. I make a lot of soup in order to have plenty to freeze in individual portions for lunches. Feel free to switch up the sausage used as well as the spices, the key ingredient to making kale soup is as one could assume….KALE!

Ingredients:

• 2 small cans of Kidney beans
• 1 large can of diced tomatoes [I drain the juice, but you can certainly opt not to.]
• 1 bunch of kale [Stemmed and chopped loosely.]
• 2 small yukon gold potatoes or red russet potatoes
• 2 small-ish yams/sweet potatoes
• 4 Andouille Chicken Sausage links [Any other fully cooked sausage would do.]
• 1 large yellow onion
• 3-4 carrots [You can add more or omit entirely.]
• 3 celery stalks[Again, you can add more or omit if you're not a celery fan.]
• 2-1/2 tbsp. dried parsley
• 1-1/2 tbsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp. dried basil
• 4 cups beef broth [Taste the soup...if it needs more, add more! I'd suggest buying "Better than Bouillon" it's a paste that you add to boiling water..it's delicious and easy to work with!]
• 4 cups water [Again, taste the soup..you may need to add more.]
• 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Dice onion, Chop carrots and celery so that they are roughly the same size and add to stock pot along with olive oil, parsley, basil, and paprika. Sautee until onions are translucent.
2. Chop sweet potatoes/yams as small as you cut carrots and celery to insure that they cook properly along with Yukon golds. The Yukon golds are a much softer potato [Which you'll notice as you chop them.]. Add to stock pot and sautee along with onion carrots and celery for at least 3-4 minutes.
3. While potatoes are sauteing chop sausage to whatever size suits you.  If the sausage is a ‘fully cooked’ sausage, you don’t have to worry about them being raw when the other ingredients are already cooked.
4. Add sausage and toss around for about 2 minutes.
5. Add beef stock and water to pot and bring to a boil.
6. Once at a boil add can of tomatoes and kidney beans. Lower temperature to a simmer.
7. Allow to simmer until potatoes are almost at the consistency you’d like, add in chopped kale and allow to simmer until potatoes are fully cooked.
8. Serve accompanied with whatever your soup loving heart desires.  I served mine with rice crackers and rosemary & olive oil Asiago cheese. Yum!

Sweet & Spicy Chipotle Slow Cooked Chicken

Wednesday is the busiest of days for my husband and I. Having the slow cooker make our dinner while we're at work is the light at the end of the tunnel. Knowing we'll have more time to visit with each other  when we get home is simply marvelous!

This dish was DELICIOUS! We toasted up some corn tortillas with cheddar cheese in the toaster oven and topped them with the slow cooked meaty goodness, green onions, and chopped lettuce. We served it with some black beans on the side. I wish I hadn't forgotten to take a photo of it. Boo-urns!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 pounds Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 3 Chipotle Peppers In Adobo, Chopped
• 1 tablespoon of Chipotle In Adobo Sauce from the can
• 3 cloves Garlic Chopped
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• Juice of 1 whole Lime
• 1 Cup Chicken Broth 
• 1/2 cup of Ketchup
• 2 tablespoons of Orange Marmalade
• 2 Carrots sliced into 1/2 inch pieces.
• 3 Celery Stalks sliced into 1/2 inch pieces.
• 1 Onion cut in half and sliced.
 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add onion, celery, and carrots to the bottom of the slow cooker.
2. Salt and pepper the chicken and place on top of veggies. 
3. Combine chopped peppers, pepper sauce, garlic, lime, chicken broth, ketchup, and marmalade in a bowl and mix together. 
4. Pour mixture over chicken and set slow cooker to low and let cook for 7-8 hours. 
5. Serve in soft/crunch corn tortillas, flour tortillas, over rice, etc. The possibilities are endless :).

Putting the Whoop Whoop in Whoopie Pie!

http://shaunasever.com/2010/04/whoopie-pies.htm

I made these puppies for my boss as a birthday gift and he LOVED them! It was my first attempt at making a whoopie pie and I was very proud of the outcome. 

This recipe also gave me an excuse to buy two baking tools I've been wanting for some time, a 2 tablespoon scoop and a sifter. The scoop will make your life easier since it makes portioning out the batter and filling evenly a breeze!

Recipe makes 8 whoopie pies

Ingredients for the cakes:

• 1 1/2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (60-62% cacao–I used Ghiradelli 60% chips and it was fine)
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons canola oil [I used vegetable oil.]
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cool room temperature
• 1 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour (sift first, then measure)
• 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sifted unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• [I didn't have any buttermilk on hand so I made my own using this buttermilk substitution recipe http://frugalliving.about.com/od/condimentsandspices/r/Buttermilk_Sub.htm and it worked out just fine :). Saved me some $ as well.]

Ingredients for the filling:

• 1/2 c Butter (room temp is best)
• 1/2 c Crisco Shortening
• 1 c White sugar [Don't try to use larger granulated sugar, you will be left with crunchy sugar granules in your filling.]
• 1 tbsp  Flour
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1/2 c Warm whole milk (20 seconds in the microwave should do it...I used a mixture of milk and heavy whipping cream.]

Directions for the cakes:

1. Position a rack to the center of the oven and preheat it to 400 degrees. Line two unrimmed baking sheets (or invert two rimmed half-sheet pans) with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, or spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water or in a microwave at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds. Let cool until the chocolate is no longer warm to the touch, but still fluid.
3. While the chocolate is cooling, place the brown sugar, egg, oil and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment [I am not lucky enough to own one of those fancy electric mixers, so, I simply placed the ingredients in a bowl and used a regular handheld electric mixer with a beater attachment]. Beat at medium speed for about 5 minutes–the mixture will become smooth and paler in color. Reduce the speed to low and stir in the melted chocolate.
4. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture in three additions on low speed, alternating with the buttermilk, beating just until each addition begins to disappear into the batter, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. With a 1-ounce (2 tablespoons) ice cream scoop, portion the batter onto the sheets, 8 evenly spaced mounds per sheet.
5. Bake one sheet at a time, rotating halfway through baking, until the centers spring back when lightly touched, about 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool on the sheet on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes before transferring the cakes to the rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container until ready to fill.

Directions for the filling:

1. Beat with a mixer (stand or hand, your choice) for-freakin-ever. It will start out just like, well, lumps of Crisco floating in milk, then bits will get smaller and smaller, then it’ll slosh around for a little bit, you’ll be wondering if this will ever become anything or if you maybe messed it up somehow. Suddenly, about five minutes later, your mix will look weird for a second, and within moments your slushy mess will turn into a glorious white creme, smooth and perfect!

Assembling the cakes:

Pair up cakes that are the closest in shape/size, using 2 tablespoon scoop apply a scoop of filling in between the two cakes and press until filling meets up with the ends of the cakes [see picture above.].

ENJOY!

Chicken Pad Thai with a QUICKNESS!

After feeding my sick hubby soup for days, he finally felt up for something more substantial. I was craving Chicken Pad Thai and he was feeling adventurous, what was the worst that could happen? He'd get sick? Too late! We at this for numerous meals during the weekend and he didn't yack once, success!
My noodle to sauce ratio wasn't so good, so I ended up making a bit more sauce using some tamarind paste, peanut butter, rice vinegar, and soy sauce.

Ingredients:

• 2 Boneless Chicken Breasts
• 8 Ounces of Flat Semi-Wide Rice Noodles
• Olive Oil [It was the only oil I had on hand.]
• 3 Shredded Carrots
• 1 Medium Onion
• 3  Garlic Cloves
• Bottle of Trader Joe's Asian Style Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette
• Bag of Bean Sprouts
• 1/4 cup of chopped Green Onions

Garnish:

• Green onion
• Cilantro
• Peanuts
• Sriracha Chili Sauce [If you're like me and you like to bring the heat.]
• Soy Sauce 

Directions:

1. Cut chicken breasts into bite sized pieces.
2. Chop onion and garlic.
3. Shred Carrot.
4. Chop scallions and set aside.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a wok or large frying pan.
6. Add chicken, onion, and garlic to oil and saute until chicken is fully cooked and onions are translucent.
7. Add carrots to chicken mixture and saute until carrots are al dente [It's nice when they have a bit of a crunch].
8. Toss in 1/4 cup of green onions.
9. Boil a pot of water for the noodles and cook as package suggests.
10. Once noodles are cooked add them to your pot and pour in bottle of Peanut Vinaigrette and toss until sauce coats everything. 
11. Serve garnished with green onion, cilantro, and peanuts.  
12. If the noodles aren't salty or spicy enough, add soy sauce and/or sriracha sauce.