Back in the Saddle

So it has been a while since I posted anything on this blog.  Life has been crazy this past year.  I have changed careers and am now working from home.  Now with some spare time on my hands I can get back to trying new recipes and using my wonderful husband as my guinea pig.


So for my first blog back I will share one of my husband's new favorite recipes.  He has fallen in love with risotto and I have come up with a recipe that he absolutely loves.


Ashley's Risotto


4 Cups long grain rice
12 Cups water
1 large onion diced
Olive Oil
2 Cups grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbs chicken base (I like to use Farmer Brother's brand)


Combine water and chicken base in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.  In a larger pot combine onion, rice, and enough oil to make the rice not stick to the bottom of the pan and brown the rice.  Once the rice is a medium brown color start adding the boiling chicken stock to the pan one ladle full at a time slowly, allowing the rice to absorb most of the liquid before adding the next one.  Once you have added all of the liquid and the rice is completely cooked stir in the cheese and serve.


This is a little time consuming but it is well worth it in the end.  This is great with any kind of protein.  We had it with smoked pork this week, and we have also had grilled chicken and steak with it. 

Super Bowl

So yesterday was the Super Bowl.  I usually do not care who wins as long as it isn’t the 49ers, this is because my brother Dylan and Ian’s brother Dan are both 49er fans and we would never hear the end of it!  We were rooting for Seattle because it is our friend Gavin’s favorite team.

My favorite part of the Super Bowl is the party food.  I got to spend most of Sunday making finger foods and I absolutely loved it.  I made my homemade chicken nuggets, I brined them for 20 hours and they turned out wonderful.  I also made little smokies wrapped in bacon, I will share the recipe below, and I tried a new wonton recipe.  Both of these went over really well with Ian, since no one else came to the party, but then again we didn’t advertise it much.  I also had fresh veggies and ranch dressing out all day and also a cheese tray we got from Costco.  I am not very adventurous when it comes to cheese, so this is Ian’s way of getting me to try different kinds of cheese.  I have decided that I like aged cheddar and Dutch gouda much more than I like Swiss and havarti. 

Any ways, enough of me rambling on to the recipes.

Bacon Wrapped Little Smokies

Ingredients: 

5 slices of bacon

          20 smokies (I like the Costco brand)

          3 Tbs brown sugar

Directions:

          Cut the bacon slices into 4 pieces each.  Roll the bacon around the little smokies, secure them with a toothpick.  (This also makes them a great snack to have at a party where you are doing just appetizers.) Put in a glass baking dish, they fit in my 9x9 pan.  Sprinkle the brown sugar over the smokies and bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 min or until bacon is cooked through.  Serve while warm.  You can also dip them in barbecue sauce if you need to have the sauce. 

          I got this next recipe off of allrecipies.com.  (Here is the link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cream-Cheese-Won-Tons/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=cream%20cheese%20wontons&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page) 

Cream Cheese Wontons

Ingredients:

          2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

          1 (6.5 ounce) can mixed clams

          2 green onions, chopped or 1 small white onion chopped

          2 (8 ounce) cans water chestnuts, drained

          1 tsp paprika

          1 tsp ground black pepper

          1 (14 ounce) package small wonton wrappers

          Oil for frying

Directions:

1.     In a mixing bowl or stand mixer (I use my stand mixer for just about everything), combine cream cheese, clams, onions, water chestnuts, paprika and ground black pepper.  Place about 1 teaspoon of filling into the wonton and seal it corner to corner forming a triangle.  Some people use a beaten egg to use as a sealer on the wonton wrapper, but I just use water to get it moist and it works just fine.

2.     In a large skillet, heat oil to a high temperature, I like to have mine around 350 degrees F.  Fry the wontons until they are browned on both sides.  It does not take long, and I usually do them in batches of about 6 so that they are not crowded in my skillet.  Drain on paper towels and serve hot. 

You can serve these plain or with a dipping sauce.  I have made sweet and sour sauce for wontons before, or I even ate them with some of the sticky wing sauce that I shared last time.  I have tried other recipes with imitation crab and I prefer the texture with the clams, then again I am a clam fanatic.  It all depends on your taste and what you like.

          I adapted this sweet and sour sauce from a recipe I found on allrecipes.com.  I know that is two in one blog, but it has some great ideas that are easily adaptable for your own taste.  Here is the link to the original recipe.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sweet-and-Sour-Sauce-I/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=sweet%20and%20sour%20sauce&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ingredients:

          ¾ C white sugar

          1/3 C white vinegar

          2/3 C water, or the juice drained off of a large can of pineapple chunks (I like it better with the pineapple juice)

          3 Tbs Soy Sauce

          1 Tbs Ketchup (I am a ketchup snob and use only Heinz)

          2 Tbs corn starch, plus cold water to start

Directions:

1.     In a medium saucepan combine sugar, vinegar and water or juice.  Boil until the sugar is dissolved.

2.     Add soy sauce and ketchup and stir into the mix.

3.     In a separate bowl combine corn starch and cold water until smooth, add corn starch mix to saucepan.  Cook until thickened. 

So that is all for this blog.  If you have any great recipes or have something you want me to test out just let me know!

Lighter fare

So for dinner last night we wanted to do a lighter fare.  We are both trying to get into shape so that we can go on a 17 mile hike this fall into Yellowstone National Park.  So far we have added a lot of veggies and cut back on portions.  When we are home for a day and are just milling around the house I set out broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots for us to munch on instead of candy and chips.  So far we have noticed that we are filling better.  So now I am looking for tasty yet healthy meals to make for us.  Here is what I came up with for dinner.

Protein:

        2 chicken breasts halved

        2 Tbls extra virgin olive oil

        Salt & Pepper

Starch:

        2 C rice

        3 C water

Veggies:

2 C cauliflower – cut up (I even use the stems if I am steaming it)

2 C broccoli – cut up (again I use the stems for steaming)

2 C carrotts

Directions:

        I always like to start my rice first when I have a simple meal going on with rice.  I have a basic rice cooker that I absolutely love.  Go ahead and get your rice going according to package directions or however you like to make it.

        I then like to get my veggies steaming.  I usually already have my broccoli and cauliflower already cut up and then I add in some of the stocks of the vegetables.  They taste the same as the florets, they can be really chewy when raw, but they get tenderer when you steam them.

In a large skillet heat the extra virgin olive oil till almost smoking, it gets a shimmery look to it.  Season each side of the chicken with salt and pepper.  Place the chicken onto the hot pan.  Brown on each side, I usually leave it on each side for about 4 minutes.  Then you can start checking temps.  Poultry needs to be cooked to an internal temperature of 175 degrees F.  I always have my kitchen thermometer handy to check this.  

You can put sauce on your chicken or eat it plain.  I like to put the wing sauce on and my husband likes barbecue sauce. 

 I usually put a little bit of butter on my rice and veggies for a little bit of flavor.  I do not use margarine or any butter substitute.  I like the way real butter works in recipes and it is actually better for you than the substitute products.

Hope you all enjoy eating a little healthier with us.  That doesn't mean that I won’t share some really not good for you recipes for you too, because every once in a while you just need a really good hamburger and greasy french fries to make your day better.

So fitting with my last blog about chicken nuggets, I have found a wing sauce recipe that is awesome.  I have always loved Winger’s wing sauce and nothing else at their restaurant.  Well I stumbled upon this blog where there is an awesome recipe for the sauce.  I made it and it tastes almost exactly like Winger’s wing sauce.  I didn’t have Frank’s Wing Sauce, but I had the original Red Hot Sauce and it was wonderful.  I have put this on many different things, up to and including left over ham.  I know I am a nut case when it comes to my spicy condiments, but this is one of my all time favorites.  Now I no longer have to beg my husband to go to Wingers so I can have sticky fingers.  So I am sure that he appreciates this recipe as well, since that is one of his least favorite places to go eat!

Ingredients:

          1 1/3 C brown sugar

          6 Tbls Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

          4 Tbls water

15 frozen breaded chicken tenders (or the home made ones from my recipe work great as well)

Directions:

1.     Bake chicken tenders, or make home made chicken nuggets

2.     In a small sauce pan, heat the brown sugar, Frank’s, and water until boiling and the sugar dissolves.  I let it boil for about 2 minutes to make the sauce a little thicker.  Serve over chicken or on the side for those who are not as adventurous.  This can also be served with Ranch or Blue Cheese dipping sauce.

Here is the link to the blog that I go this recipe from: http://www.dessertnowdinnerlater.com/2013/12/copycat-wingers-sticky-fingers/

Winner Winner Chicken Nugget Dinner

One of my favorite things to make when our nephew is over at our house are my home made chicken nuggets. I came up with this idea by combining a few different recipes to make up what I usually do.  I started out with the chicken nugget recipe that I found in one of the Cook’s Country Kitchen magazines.  They do a marinated chicken nugget.  I have adapted this recipe to make it all my own.

Ingredients:

          For the marinade:

2-4 chicken breasts, cubed into 1x1 inch cubes

¼ C Worchestershire sauce

4 Tbls salt

1 tsp granulated garlic

4 C water

          For the dredge:

          2 C all purpose flour

          2 Tbls salt

          1 Tbls pepper

          1 tsp paprika

          2 Tbls Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning

         

          Canola oil

Directions:

          Mix the ingredients for the marinade and let the chicken sit in the marinade for at least 30 minutes.  I have found it works best overnight.  If you are doing it overnight add 2 bay leaves, it just gives it an even better flavor. 

          Heat the canola oil in a skillet or Dutch oven to 375 degrees F.  If it is any colder than this the breading will not stick to the chicken and it gets very greasy.

          Mix the dredge ingredients.  In small batches, I usually do about 5 nuggets per batch, cover the chicken with the dredge.  One way you can do this is by putting it in a plastic bag and do the shake it up method.  I usually just end up mixing it up on a paper plate, then I can add more ingredients if needed.

          Carefully put the chicken in the hot oil and cook 4-6 minutes, or until it reaches an internal temp of at least 165 degrees F.  Once cooked through remove from oil and place on a paper towel lined plate until cooled. 

These great little treats can be served with ranch, fry sauce, ketchup, barbeque sauce, wing sauce, etc… So far they have been a hit with everyone I have made them for.  They are an easy non processed way for kids to eat protein.  I have also just cut the chicken into long tenders and it works great for chicken tenders.

Here is the link to the original recipe: http://www.cookscountry.com/recipes/6177-chicken-nuggets?incode=M00KSCR00

So this is a new experiment for me.  I enjoy cooking and do a lot of it.  Most of the recipes I use I get from pintrest, so I will be adding locations to anything that I use that I haven’t completely changed.  I figured that as long as I am using and making up new recipes I might as well write about it and share the experience with those who also love to cook.  I like to play with different kinds of cooking and you never know what I will be in the mood for at any given point in time. 

Please feel free to share this blog site with any one else who also enjoys cooking.  I love to get feedback and hear about other people’s experimenting with similar kinds of food.  I have found that it is great to get all different kinds of feedback when it comes to cooking.  Also, it is fun to bounce ideas off of another cook.  I will provide pictures as often as possible.  I am horrible at remembering to take pictures of what I have made. 

And just so I don’t get in trouble.  I will not be sharing any of the secret family recipes.  My husband would kill me if I put some of his old world recipes on here.  But anything that I come up with will be added.  I will also try to find some fun new places to shop and get different supplies.

Till next time….  Happy Cooking!