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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Crock Pot Orange Chicken w/ Sweet, Spicy & Tangy Broccoli


With every ones busy schedules, crock pot recipes our a lifesaver! This one I found exceptionally easy and delicious!!

Crock Pot Orange Chicken
•2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
•2/3 cup all-purpose flour
•2/3 cup orange marmalade
•1/2 cup mustard
•1/2 cup ketchup
•2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
•2 Tbsp. soy sauce
•2 Tbsp. brown sugar
•1 Tbsp. finely grated fresh ginger
•3 scallions, chopped

Spray crock pot with cooking spray. Cut up chicken into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle flour over chicken and toss to coat. (I browned my chicken pieces first before putting in the crock pot, this takes a little more time, but is well worth it!) Place in crock pot. In separate bowl, mix together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on LOW 6-8 hours or HIGH 4-5 hours. I garnished mine with slivered almonds and scallions.

Recipe courtesy of http://www.crockpotchicken.net/crock-pot-orange-chicken-2.html

SWEET SPICY AND TANGY BROCCOLI

4 cups of broccoli florets
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 to 5 long strips lemon peel
1 teaspoon salt

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add 2 TBSP. of sea salt. Add broccoli and cook for 3 minutes and drain. Return to pan.
In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, brown sugar, and chili flakes until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and lemon peel and cook briefly until beginning to turn golden brown, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Add the vinegar mixture and salt and simmer 2 minutes longer.
Pour dressing over half the broccoli florets and serve immediately.

Recipe courtesy of http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/dave-lieberman/broccoli-dressed-2-ways-recipe/index.html

Hunter Style Chicken


As many of you know, my daughter has a passion for food and cooking as well. She takes culinary classes at Parkway. She recently came home with this fabulous dish. I just had to post it and will have to make it myself soon!!!!

HUNTER STYLE CHICKEN

2-2 1/2 lb. fryer, cut in serving pieces
3 tbsp. olive oil
3 tbsp. clarified butter
1/4 cup of flour
2 eggs
1 c. sliced celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. sliced green pepper
1 1/2 c. sliced onions
4 tomatoes
2 tbsp. sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp. sweet basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 tsp. salt (optional)

Peeling tomatoes:
Bring a medium pan 3/4's full of water to a boil on high heat. Drop tomatoes in for 30 seconds - start timing immediately. Remove tomatoes and drop into a bowl of cold water. Now peel them with a knife or your fingers - peel will come off very easily.

For the tomatoes:

Rinse and pat dry the chicken parts. Dregde the chicken in egg than flour. Shake off excesss. In a large skillet, combine butter and oil; heat. Add chicken and brown. Remove chicken from pan. Add onions, garlic and pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes, celery, sugar, salt, parsley and chicken. Cover and simmer for 45-50 minutes or until tender. Serves 6-8.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Teryaki Chicken Legs


This is a simple, economic, and delicious recipe! I have made these several times and everyone devours them. This simple marinade (Marinade refers to the liquid foods marinate in. Marinades always contain some acidic liquid like lemon juice or vinegar to tenderize the foods, and may contain spices or herbs to add flavor) can be used on any cut of chicken or steak. In this recipe I used the oven, but in the summer I definitely like to grill.

Teryaki Marinade:

1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of soy sauce
1-2 green onions, diced
2 gloves of garlic, minced
1 TBSP. of olive oil
1/4 TSP of black pepper
1/4 TSP of salt

Combine ingredients in a saucepan. Heat on medium-high (3/4) heat to a gentle boil.
When a gentle boil is achieved, stir mixture until it thickens and the brown sugar is dissolved. Let the marinade cool to room temperature. Place your chicken legs in a large bag and pour marinade over the chicken. (reserve 1/4 cup to marinade during the cooking process) Allow to marinade, in the refrigerator, for at least 4 hours.

Pre-heat oven to 375. Place chicken on a cooling rack with a pan underneath. The cooling rack will allow the chicken to cook from underneath as well, allowing the chicken to be crispy on the bottom as well as the top. Bake for 45 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165. While the chicken bakes, spoon a little of the reserved sauce sauce over the meat every 15 minutes.

bon appetit

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Beef Tagine with Butternut Squash and Scallion Couscous


I am a fan of Moroccan cuisine. When I saw this recipe in the Cooking Light Magazine, I was surprised. The recipe was listed as a cook time of 40 minutes. Since typically, tajines in Moroccan cuisine are slow-cooked stews braised at low temperatures, resulting in tender meat with aromatic vegetables and sauce. They are traditionally cooked in the tajine pot. I am a enthusiast of this magazine, so I decided to give it a whirl.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoons of cinnamon
2/3 teaspoons of salt
1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1 pound beef shoulder roast, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon of olive oil
4 shallots, quartered
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup fat-free, lower sodium chicken broth
1 14.5 can of diced tomatoes
3 cups cubed peeled butternut squash
1/2 cup of cilantro

Directions:

Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Add beef; toss to coat. Heat in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef and shallots; cook 4 minutes or until brown, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in broth and tomatoes, bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes. Add squash; cover, reduce heat, and simmer in 15 minutes or until squash is tender. Yields 4 servings.

Calories 284 Protein 26.6 grams

For the Scallion couscous. Bring 3/4 cup of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Gradually stir in 1 cup of uncooked couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork. Stir in 1/3 cup of chopped green onion. Yields 4 servings.
Calories 169

Review: 5 out of 10. What a let down. This dish was bland and one dimensional. It was mediocre as best. The upside was that I was able to get my children to eat squash, which is a feat on it's own. Also, the couscous was acceptable. The consensus among the family was it was edible, but we would not want this again.