Chicken and Vegetable Curry

I will definitely be making this recipe again! This was delicious! I was a little apprehensive at first because I wasn’t too sure about how much taste it would have. I thought it would be a little bland but that wasn’t true at all. The coconut milk was great and added a fabulous sweet taste to the whole dish! It was also very filling. In all honesty, it has been quite a long time since I have had green curry, or at least, knowingly! The last time I had it was when I visited my cousins in London about 5 years ago. They had recently taken a trip around the world and while they stayed in Thailand they took a cooking class and their favorite recipe was Green Thai Curried Chicken. This recipe reminded me of that dish I had in London. I was surprised at how quickly this recipe all came together. I just hope my husband enjoys this meal as leftovers for his lunch tomorrow!

Enjoy!

source: Food Made Fast: One Pot; Williams Sonoma

Ingredients:

2-3 TB Thai Green Curry Paste

1 can Unsweetened Coconut Milk

1 cup Chicken Broth

2 TB sugar

2 TB Canola oil

1 lb Chicken breast halves (boneless, skinless), cut into 1- inch pieces

2 Zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 clove Garlic, minced

4 cups Baby Spinach

Juice from 1 lime

Salt

Steamed Rice (for serving)

Directions:

In a bowl, stir together the curry paste, coconut milk, chicken broth, and sugar.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the chicken and saute until golden, 4-5 minutes. Add the zucchini and garlic and saute until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a plate.

Add the sauce to the pan, bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, and cook until thickened, 3-4 minutes. Return the chicken and vegetables to the pan and simmer until the chicken is opaque throughout, about 2 minutes. Add the spinach and lime juice, season with salt, and toss to combine. Spoon the rice into bowls, top with the curry mixture and serve.

Baked Sausages with Herbed Beans

If you read my previous post, you know that I received several great new cookbooks for Christmas and my birthday. One that I’m already starting to read through is this great Williams Sonoma cookbook that my husband’s best friend and his wife gave to me. Thanks Pat and Sarah!

This is the first recipe from the cookbook. I used turkey sausage for the sausage that the recipe calls for. I thought this recipe was good but next time I will use less onions for my husband’s sake (he’s not a fan of onions, especially cooked). I also will pair this with some great toasted pumpernickel and whole grain mustard, as the recipe suggests. I did have to make one modification and cook this recipe in a pan that isn’t able to go in the oven when it was on the stove and then I transfered it to a baking dish that was oven safe. I long for a Dutch Oven!!

Baked Sausages with Herbed Beans

source: Williams Sonoma: Food Made Fast One Pot

Ingredients:

2 TB Olive Oil, plus 1 teaspoon

Hot or Sweet Italian Sausages, sliced – about 1 lb (I used turkey)

2 large yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced

Garlic – 2 cloves, minced

Thyme – 2 TB fresh and chopped

1 cup chicken broth

2 cans Cannellini beans

1/4 cup tomato puree

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large dutch oven over medium high heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the sliced sausage and cook, turning occasionally until browned on all sides, between 5 and 10 minutes.

Transfer to a plate. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and saute the onion until softened. Add the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about one minute.

Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Add the beans with their liquid and the tomato puree to the pot and cook until the liquid begins to thicken, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Return sausages to the pot.

In a small bowl, stir together bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and 1 tsp of olive oil. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top and bake until golden brown, about 20 – 25 minutes.

New Toys!!

Okay, well they aren’t exactly toys but they are new! I decided to photograph all of my new cookbooks that I got for both Christmas and my birthday which is in November. We’ll just say that I have some reading ahead of me! I love to read cookbooks! I usually look through them while my husband and I are watching TV or there isn’t anything decent on that interests me! Each year my Birthday/Christmas list includes cookbooks of some sort, sometimes I’m specific in titles and other times I just list an author or celebrity who has written a cookbook. Some of the cookbooks in the stack are ones that I would oogle every time I went into a book store with my husband.

Check out my new toys!

From top to bottom here are my new toys: Martha Stewart’s Cookies; Williams Sonoma: Food Made Fast, One Pot; Martha Stewart’s Cooking School; Barefoot Contessa At Home; The Barefoot Contessa cookbook; and Holiday Get-togethers from Taste of Home. I can hardly wait! I’ve started reading the One Pot cookbook and actually made a recipe out of it. Look for it here!

Chocolate Cherry Upside-Down Cake

I made this the past weekend and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite desserts. My husband and I went to my mom’s house to celebrate Christmas early with her because we will be celebrating Christmas with my husband’s family. Over the past ten years or so I have been in charge of dessert for Christmas Eve dinner. We always made a special dinner on that night. In the past when my grandparents were alive they would come over to my mom’s house for dinner and our traditional one gift opening that night. My mom usually made her fabulous Lasagna or sometimes a quiche. This year I talked her into the Lasagna!

This year I made this dessert. I have a confession though, I made this last year too but I thought it was so great that I had to make it again! Usually my mom makes a Cherry Pie for Christmas dinner dessert but since I wasn’t sure if there would be one at dessert this year I had to make something with cherries! I love cherries and I also love chocolate cake. As soon as I read this recipe in the Hershey Holiday Recipe cookbook (you know those little magazines tempting you at the cash register in the grocery store), I knew that I had to make it! I also love that this recipe has everyday normal ingredients that you most likely have around your house, even if you don’t have them you will find a use for them after you purchase them.

Enjoy! Happy Holidays!

source: Hershey’s Kitchens

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon almond extract(optional)
• 1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling
• 1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Stir together cornstarch, 1 tablespoon water and almond extract, if desired, until cornstarch is dissolved. Gently stir in pie filling; spread mixture evenly on bottom of ungreased 9-inch square baking pan.

2. Stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add 1 cup water, oil, vinegar and vanilla; beat with spoon until batter is smooth and well blended. Pour batter evenly over cherries.

3. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; invert onto serving plate. Serve warm with whipped cream. About 9 servings.

How Sweet It Is…

This little list has been popping up in my Google Reader a lot lately so I figured I might as well fill it out and see what all I’ve eaten and what I need to try.  I think it might be time for some trips and some sampling!  Enjoy!  I look forward to seeing what you’ve eaten!

How the Sweet 100 Works:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Italicize any items that you would never consider eating.

1. Red Velvet Cake
2. Princess Torte
3. Whoopie Pie
4. Apple Pie either topped or baked with sharp cheddar
5. Beignet
6. Baklava
7. Black and White Cookie
8. Seven Layer Bar (also known as the Magic Bar or Hello Dolly bars)
9. Fried Fruit pie (sometimes called hand pies)
10. Kringle
11. Just-fried (still hot) doughnut
12. Scone with clotted cream
13. Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle or Pandowdy
14. Halvah
15. Macaroons
16. Banana Pudding with nilla wafers
17. Bubble tea (with tapioca “pearls”)
18. Dixie Cup
19. Rice Krispie treats
20. Alfajores
21. Blondies
22. Croquembouche
23. Girl Scout cookies
24. Moon cake
25. Candy Apple
26. Baked Alaska
27. Brooklyn Egg Cream
28. Nanaimo bar
29. Baba au rhum
30. King Cake
31. Sachertorte
32. Pavolva
33. Tres Leches Cake
34. Trifle
35. Shoofly Pie
36. Key Lime Pie (made with real key lime)
37. Panna Cotta
38. New York Cheesecake
39. Napoleon/mille-fueille
40. Russian Tea Cake/Mexican Wedding Cake
41. Anzac Biscuits
42. Pizzelle
43. Kolache
44. Buckeyes
45. Malasadas
46. Moon Pie
47. Dutch Baby
48. Boston Cream Pie
49. Homemade chocolate chip cookies
50. Pralines
51. Gooey butter cake
52. Rusks
53. Daifuku
54. Green tea cake or cookies
55. Cupcakes from a cupcake shop
56. Creme Brulee
57. Some sort of deep fried fair food (twinkie, candy bar, cupcake)
58. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
59. Jelly Roll
60. Pop Tarts
61. Charlotte Russe
62. An “upside down” dessert (Pineapple upside down cake or Tarte Tatin)
63. Hummingbird Cake
64. Jell-O from a mold
65. Black Forest Cake
66. Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
67. Kulfi
68. Linzer torte
69. Churro
70. Stollen
71. Angel Food Cake
72. Mincemeat pie
73. Concha
74. Opera Cake
75. Sfogliatelle / Lobster tail
76. Pain au chocolat
77. A piece of Gingerbread House
78. Cassata
79. Cannoli
80. Rainbow cookies
81. Religieuse
82. Petits fours
83. Chocolate Souffle
84. Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
85. Rugelach
86. Hamenstashen
87. Homemade marshmallows
88. Rigo Janci
89. Pie or cake made with candy bar flavors (Snickers pie, Reeses pie, etc)
90. Divinity
91. Coke or Cola cake
92. Gateau Basque
93. S’mores
94. Figgy Pudding
95. Bananas foster or other flaming dessert
96. Joe Froggers
97. Sables
98. Millionaire’s Shortbread
99. Animal crackers
100. Basbousa

Cornbread-and-beef skillet pie

I’ve been digging into my old Everyday Food magazine issues for recipe ideas and came across this one. This recipe turned out quite well considering some of the mistakes and changes we made. Tonight my husband volunteered (no I didn’t force him) to help with dinner. Unfortunately this time too many cooks spoiled the broth. I gave him the task of making the cornbread, sounds simple enough but he mistakenly added the extra flour that was reserved for my meat mixture. So I forget the flour and water for my mixture. The reason I forgot it was because I didn’t read on in the recipe and just assumed the rest talked about how long to cook the meat! Oops! All in all the recipe turned out just fine! We are eager to try this again, but this time we will be following the directions more closely.

I did make a few changes to the recipe. I omitted the mushrooms and replaced them with 2 red potatoes chopped into cubes. In the future I will follow the recipe and add the flour and water. I even found myself thinking that the meat mixture looked like it needed some water. I’m also tempted to add some garlic next time. One more change that I made was that I didn’t cook it in the oven in a skillet because I don’t have a pan that can go from the stove to the oven. I hope Santa heard me!!! So I transfered the mixture to a pie pan and baked it in the oven.

Enjoy!

source: Everyday Food, Martha Stewart

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1 package (10 ounces) white mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together cornmeal, 1/2 cup flour, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; set aside.
2. In a large ovenproof skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add peppers, onion, and mushrooms; season with salt and pepper. Cook until tender, 6 to 8 minutes, tossing occasionally.
3. Raise heat to high; add beef and tomato paste. Cook, stirring, until meat is no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons flour and 2/3 cup water; season with salt and pepper.
4. Make cornmeal batter: Add sour cream and egg to reserved cornmeal mixture; stir just until moistened. Drop tablespoons of batter over beef mixture in skillet, 1 inch apart. Bake until biscuits are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.

Spritz Cookies or Snow Day #2

Well we had another snow day yesterday but this one was valid. We got about 4 inches during the night and into Thursday during the day. I think all total we probably have about 6 to 8 inches. Since I was stuck inside, driving out in that weather is not my idea of fun, I decided that I would pass the time by making some Spritz. I can drive in the snow but there are too many people here who don’t know what to do and we live in a pretty hilly area. I also don’t have snow tires anymore. I used to have them for my car but unfortunately I gave them back to the tire company during my last year of school. I went to school in eastern Washington. I didn’t think I would need them! Oops! Sorry Mom! Little did I know that I would marry someone with family who lives in, eastern Washington, the part of the state that actually get snow and also that I would actually keep the car for another 5 years! It usually doesn’t snow in western Washington.

Spritz are another one of my favorite Christmas cookies. I don’t make these any other time of the year than Christmas. I might have to change that and make some red hearts for Valentine’s Day. Hmm! My grandma always made these cookies. I think she would usually make 2 batches of these because we all ate them so quickly. Since my grandma passed away back in 2001 I have taken over the Christmas cookie duties. I made these last year for Christmas and sent a box of them to my uncle. He said that he nearly cried when he opened the box and found them. They reminded him so much of his mom. Ahhh memories!

These cookies require a cookie press, which really is a good investment. My mom has my grandma’s cookie press and we not only use it for cookies but also filling Deviled Eggs. It makes that chore so easy and it looks very nice. I like to add sprinkles to the top of my cookies before I bake them, instead of the icing that the recipe calls for. I also strongly suggest you add the almond extract! Yum!

Good luck and enjoy!

Spritz Cookies

source: Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• Colored sugar (optional)
• 1 recipe Powdered Sugar Icing (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar and baking powder. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, vanilla, and, if desired, almond extract until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour.

2. Force unchilled dough through a cookie press onto an ungreased cookie sheet. If desired, sprinkle cookies with colored sugar. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are firm but not brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. If desired, drizzle cookies with Powdered Sugar Icing.

3. Makes about 84 cookies

Snow Day!!!

Well, the school district that I am a substitute for has called a Snow Day. “How much snow do you have?”, you ask. About an inch on the ground! They have called a snow day because of the “imminent snow forecast”, as in we might get dumped on this afternoon, but we aren’t sure so stay home! I was ready and raring to go this morning and took a few minutes to check Facebook and saw that some of my teacher friends were talking about how happy they were to have a Snow Day! Good thing I didn’t drive to work today to find an empty parking lot!

So here I am, bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready for the world! Before I become completely productive and finish my Christmas card and bake some cookies, I figured I would show you a few cooking related things that I am currently oogling in the stores.

Nate and I went to an Arts & Crafts Festival this summer and saw some great bowls for soup and chili but they were out of our price range at the time. While browsing around Crate and Barrel this weekend, we spotted these and these. I would show you a picture but Crate and Barrel won’t let me nab the picture!

How cute are these:

Here is a non cooking related item that I’m dreaming about. I would love a wreath but apartment living doesn’t really lend itself to wreaths. Oh well! There is always next year!

Happy Snow Day! I’m off to bake some cookies and work on some Christmas cards.

Banana Chiffon Cake

This was the cake that I made for my mom for her birthday earlier this month. She always requests an Angel Food Cake with real whipped cream and crushed peanut on top. This year she decided to go for something a little different, with my encouragement. This was actually my second time making this cake and it turned out just as delicious the second time. This is a perfect cake to make if you have bananas sitting around and aren’t sure what to do with them. If you’ve never made an angel food cake because they make you nervous I suggest you give this cake a whirl! It really is quite easy! The nice thing was that you also are able to use all of the eggs that the recipe calls for. Normally you end up needing more egg whites than yolk but with this recipe you use equal parts egg yolk and egg white. You also need an Angel Food cake pan for this cake.

I found this recipe in my Everyday Food magazine about a year ago but have been unable to find it on Martha Stewart’s website! Argh!! I did find it on someone else’s food blog, here is a link to that blog.

Enjoy!

Banana Chiffon Cake
(from Everyday Food Magazine, Jan/Feb 2007)

found on When Adobo Met Feijoada

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 ripe banana
1/2 cup vegetable oil
7 large eggs, separated
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup cold water
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
confectioner’s sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a medium bowl, mash banana. Add oil, egg yolks, vanilla, and water; mix to combine. Add to flour mixture and whisk until smooth.

In another large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar using an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.

With a rubber spatula, gently fold beaten egg whites into batter just until incorporated. (DO NOT OVER MIX or you will deflate the air bubbles and cake will not be light and airy.)

Pour into an angel-cake or tube pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes.

Invert pan and let it cool completely; about 1 1/2 hour. Reinvert pan, release cake and place on platter. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I would like to start off by thanking my wonderful husband for putting this meal together! He is working a different shift with his current job, that I have dubbed the “night shift” he gets home in the evenings around when I should be going to bed but he has managed to come home on his “lunch” break and have dinner with me a few nights a week. It is so nice to eat with someone else rather than cook a large meal for yourself. I suppose I could eat cereal but this blog would get very boring, very fast!

We have had this meal several times since I received the cookbook it is in for a Christmas gift last year. We got a crockpot for our wedding but I was antsy for some recipes that we could throw together in the morning or even the night before and have it waiting for us when we got home from work in the evenings. This is just one of those perfect meals. I love that the ingredients are very easy to find and are relatively good for you too! We topped our bowls with chopped cashews instead of the almonds that were called for. We have also tossed in canned water chestnuts and some pineapple and let that meld for about 30 minutes also. Yummy! Enjoy!

source: Better Homes and Gardens: 5 Ingredient Slow Cooker Recipes

Ingredients:

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

2 9-ounce jars sweet and sour sauce

1 16-ounce package frozen loose-pack broccoli, carrots and water chestnuts

2 1/2 cups hot cooked rice

1/4 cup toasted almonds

Preparation:

1. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. In a 3 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker combine chicken, sweet-and-sour sauce, and frozen vegetables.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat for 5 to 5 1/2 hours or on high-heat setting for 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 hours. Serve with hot cooked rice. Sprinkle with almonds.

Enjoy!