From Our Kitchen To Yours

Chicken Carbonara

2009-11-03T16:42:00-05:00 Donna donna@kitchenfun.net http://kitchenfun.net Ingredients:
About 2/3 of a box of spaghetti (I use linguine)
5 slices bacon, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1-1/2 C cream
4 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch long, thin slices
1/2 lb mushrooms (or 10 oz package)
4 tbsp butter, divided
1/2 C grated parmesan
Pepper (I use Nature’s Seasons)
1 packet G. Washington Golden
4 Egg yolks, lightly beaten

Directions:
To more easily dice bacon, freeze it hard, at least 8 hours or overnight. It’s much easier to dice. Same with the chicken breast...it’s easier to slice when it’s partially frozen.

Pecorino romano can be substituted for parmesano reggiano. Buy the good stuff, I beg of you. It costs more but there are some things you don’t skimp on. This is one of them . Don’t use that crap in a can!! Also, parmesan is a salty cheese. You don’t need to add salt to this dish.

Boil spaghetti to your liking then drain. Run hot water over to rinse off some of the starch. Drain well.

Sauté mushrooms in 2 tbsp butter until golden brown and all moisture is cooked off. Set aside.
In a another large saucepan, sauté the bacon bits and onion until golden. If there’s a lot of bacon fat, drain off some drippings but be sure to keep at least a tbsp or so. Add 2 tbsp butter and the chicken. Season with pepper and G. Washington. Sauté until chicken is fully cooked. Add cream and heat until just simmering. Stir in the the cheese.

Lightly beat the egg yolks. Slowly add some of the hot cream to the eggs, stirring well. Turn heat to low to stop the simmer. Add egg-cream mixture back into the pan and stir well and continuously for a few minutes. Mixture will thicken as it cooks. DO NOT BOIL OR YOU MIGHT SCRAMBLE THE EGGS.

Add mushrooms to pan and heat through. Turn off the heat.

Using a slotted spoon, remove some of the chicken to a plate. Spoon some of the cream mixture over the spaghetti until it is thoroughly coated. Plate the spaghetti and top with chicken and the rest of the sauce.

Makes about 4 servings.

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Devil’s Food Cookies With White Chocolate Chips

2009-10-27T19:08:05-05:00 Donna donna@kitchenfun.net http://kitchenfun.net Cookies

I was talking about my distaste for chocolate chip cookies the other day. I don't much like them. I very much don't like semi-sweet chocolate chips. But these...chocolate cookies with white chips...these are sublime. They're soft and moist and just plain yum.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup white chocolate morsels (I used Ghirardelli)

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl.

Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Gradually beat in flour mixture in three batches. Stir in morsels. Drop by well-rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Put some more chips on top if you like.

Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until cookies are puffed and centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 2 to 2-1/2 dozen.

These cookies are very soft so make sure they're cool before you move them. Try to use mesh racks rather than wire if you have them. They break in half easily when they're warm.]]>

Blondies

2009-10-25T23:49:00-05:00 Donna donna@kitchenfun.net http://kitchenfun.net Cookies, Desserts I got this recipe from my friend, Maureen after she caught me making Nestles Toll House cookie dough and baking it without the chips.

Ingredients:
1/2 C melted butter
1 C packed dark brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
1 C flour
1/4 C any of the following, alone or combined…not to exceed 1/4 cup: butterscotch chips, chopped milk chocolate bar (Ghirardelli Luxe Milk Chocolate is my choice), pecans…or none at all

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 9x9 pan. With a fork mix together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.

Combine flour, soda, powder and salt. Add to brown sugar mixture and stir well. Add the chips and nuts if desired.

Spread evenly in pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Top will be soft. Blondies will continue to set while cooling so make sure to cool completely before cutting. Cut into 9 - 3” squares.

PS: I didn’t take a photo because the batteries in the camera were dead and I couldn’t find anymore.

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Tasty pork marinade

2009-10-22T13:35:00-05:00 Mike devilbunny@gmail.com http://www.mikerzz.com/ So I made this yesterday when I decided to roast a pork tenderloin. It’s an interesting combination of flavors, but it was way tasty. Probably a bit too strong to use on chops though.

Pork Marinade

1/2 cup soy sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 Tbs red wine
1 Tbs honey
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp olive oil
1 1 1/2-2 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed of silverskin

Combine all ingredients but the pork in a medium bowl. Place pork in a heavy freezer bag and add the marinade. Toss in the fridge and let sit for up to 6 hours.

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Thai style chicken thighs

2009-10-14T21:17:01-05:00 Mike devilbunny@gmail.com http://www.mikerzz.com/ Crock Pot, Entrees, Poultry I like chicken thighs because they usually wind up much more tender and have a lot more flavor than breasts but if that’s your thing, more power to you. I’ll admit that they’re fattier, but if you unfold the thigh and trim away the main glob, there’s surprisingly little fat left.

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 8)
1 cup chunky salsa
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 2-3 inch hunk of ginger, peeled and grated
1/4 cup chopped peanuts for garnish
1/4 cup chopped cilantro for garnish

Unfold the chicken and trim away the main glob of fat. Fold back up and arrange chicken in the crockpot. Combine the next 4 ingredients and whisk until well mixed. pour over chicken, cover and cook on high for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or low for 6 to seven hours.

Serve over rice.

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Fettucine with pepperoni sauce

2009-09-23T19:08:00-05:00 Mike devilbunny@gmail.com http://www.mikerzz.com/ Entrees, Pasta This is a really simple Alfredo sauce punched up with sliced mushrooms and diced, browned pepperoni. For only having seven ingredients it’s really tasty.

Fettucine with pepperoni

Ingredients
1 lb fettucine
1/4 lb pepperoni, sliced or not
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained well
2 Tbs unsalted butter
3/4 cup half & half
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 Tbs parsley

Directions
Cook fettucine.

Dice pepperoni and cook over medium heat until browned. Remove from pan, drain and set aside. Pour off rendered fat. Melt butter in saucepan and add mushrooms and sautee for about 5 minutes or more. Stir in half & half and parmesan and heat through. Return pepperoni to the sauce. When heated up, add sauce to noodles and toss to coat.

Serves four

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Chicken liver casserole

2009-06-18T15:15:00-05:00 Mike devilbunny@gmail.com http://www.mikerzz.com/ Oh stop it. Yes, You. I can see the look of horror and disgust on your faces after reading the title of this post. I even hear you thinking that this sounds like something that should appear in one of my odd and/or disgusting foods posts. I, however, love those creamy little poultry-based poison filters. Give it a shot. Like most casseroles, it’s not much to look at, but it’s darn tasty in a retro 50’s sorta way.

Ingredients

2 10 oz packages of frozen french style grean beans
4 slices bacon, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound chicken livers, nasty connective tissue removed and cut in half
2 Tbs sherry or marsala*
1/2 tsp seasoned salt **
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup crushed barbeque potato chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. Cook green beans according to directions. Drain well and spread out on a rack or paper towels to dry. Once they’re dry, spread them into the bottom of a greased 8x8 baking dish.

Saute the bacon until crisp and spread over beans. Add the garlic and sautee until golden. Add the livers to the fat and garlic in the pan and fry/simmer until they are no longer pink (the livers will give off a fair amount of liquid). Add the next four ingredients and stir until heated through. Once heated, pour inot the pan of bacon and beans, spreading so that it makes a fairly uniform layer. Top with crushed potato chips and bake for 15 minutes, or until bubbly.

Serves 5-6

* It goes without saying that you should spring for a bottle of sherry or marsala from the wine aisle rather than the salt-laden swill that styles itself “cooking sherry” found elsewhere in your grocery store of choice.

** I don’t like to use much salt when cooking. In the future I’ll probably take a pinch of various herbs and grind them together instead.

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Biscochitos

2009-06-14T19:02:00-05:00 chnnature chlnaturester@gmail.com http://www.chnnature.blogspot.com Cookies 2/3 cups margarine
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup whole milk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground anise seed
1/4 tsp. salt
4 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp. cinnamon

Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and set aside.
Cream together margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Approx 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile whisk eggs in a seperate bowl and add slowly to the maragarine and sugar mixture. Beat again or another 3 minutes. Add the anise seeds.
In a seperate bowl combine all the dry ingredients.
Add the baking soda and milk into the wet ingredient mixture and stir until just incorporated.
Add the dry ingredients 1 cup at a time- mixing until incorporated between each cupful.

Dough should bind together. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into diamonds (or use cookie cutters if you prefer).

Bake at 400 for 8 minutes.

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Battered fried fish

2009-06-14T04:54:00-05:00 Donna donna@kitchenfun.net http://kitchenfun.net Fish & Seafood This recipe came about through a happy accident. I think it’s the best fried fish I’ve ever had. I had a beer batter fish fry recipe that I really like but I couldn’t find it. I decided to wing it. We don’t drink and I had forgotten to go to the liquor store to buy a can of beer. I was about to run to the convenience store for a bottle of carbonated water when I thought, “Maybe a Coke would work here.” So I tried it and well, just plain yum.

INGREDIENTS:
For fish soak:
2 eggs, beaten
2-3 cups milk - enough to cover fish
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp each garlic and onion powders

Combine all ingredients, add fish and soak for an hour or so turning fish once or twice.

For batter:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper, preferably white pepper.
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning.
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup cola - Coke, Pepsi, etc. (I use diet caffeine free because it’s what I drink)
1-2 pounds cod loins. (You want the loins. They’re thick and consistent in size so they all cook at once. Haddock loins are good too but I prefer codfish.)

1/2 of one bag Dixie Fry (Or other dry seasoned flour for dredging fish. I think Dixie Fry is the awesomest stuff ever next to G. Washington’s broth.)

Heat a deep fryer to 375°. If using a pan on the stove, make sure you use a deep pot with at least 5-7” of oil.

Mix dry ingredients except for Dixie Fry. Add coke. Batter will fizz and be about the consistency of pancake batter...maybe a bit thicker.

One piece at a time, dredge fish in Dixie Fry and place on paper plates to allow the seasoned flour to set a bit. Using tongs, dip fish in batter one piece at a time. Allow excess to drip off. Place on plate while you do the other pieces.

Fry 2 or 3 pieces at a time for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Fish will turn opaque and break apart relatively easy.

I like to make homemade french fries when I fry fish. Bill loves them and they just go with the fish really well. The cola really adds a very nice flavour to the batter, way better than beer I think. I’m positive you will enjoy this batter recipe.

And finally, yum yum yum.

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Vegetable Potato Salad

2009-05-31T12:33:00-05:00 chnnature chlnaturester@gmail.com http://www.chnnature.blogspot.com Salads, Veggies 3 lbs small red potatoes, unpeeled
2 cups choped red onions
12 oz fresh green beans, trimmed and cooked al dente
3 1/2 cups roughly chopped red cabbage
1 pint grape tomatoes
3 tablespoons capers, drained
2 oz basil leaves, trimmed and roughly copped
salt and pepper to taste
dressing*

In a large pot boil whole potatoes until fork tender. Cool and cut into bite-sized peices.
In a large bowl combine all ingredients from potatoes to basil.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Drizzle dressing* over and toss to coat.
Chill and serve.

*Dressing
1 shallot, chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
a few splashes of white vinegar

microwave shallot and olive oil for 30 seconds. Whisk in vinegar. Pour over salad immedietly.

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