Slow Cooker 20 Garlic Chicken

Ingredients
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tsp paprika
* 1/2 tsp pepper
* 2 tsp olive oil
* boneless chicken thighs and breasts, about 2 lbs
* 1 large onion, sliced
* 1 bulb of garlic, separated into cloves (but not peeled)

Directions
1. In a small bowl mix the salt, paprika, pepper and oil to form a paste/rub.
2. Place the sliced onions in the slow cooker.  Arrange the chicken over the onions.
3. Spread the paprika paste on the chicken.
4. Place the unpeeled garlic cloves all around the chicken.
5. Cover, cook on low for 5-6 hours.
6. Remove the garlic and reserve to use on potatoes, bread, etc.  Place the chicken on a serving platter and slice if desired.  Enjoy!

Notes
 This was a very easy dish, and the house smelled delicious while cooking!  You could use bone in pieces of chicken if desired, though you would likely need to increase the cooking time a bit. We served this with "zoodled" veggies, and cucumber side salad.  Everyone loved this!

Easy Tortellini

Ingredients
* Tortellini, refrigerated or frozen(if frozen, let them thaw before cooking)
* 2 cloves crushed garlic
* 1 tsp dried basil
* 1/4 cup butter
* 2 tbsp cornstarch
* 4 cups chicken stock, divided
* red pepper flakes to taste
* 1/3 cup Parmesan, to finish

Directions
1. Bring 3 cups chicken broth to a boil.  Cook tortellini in the chicken broth until tender, and drain well.  If you feel like there is not enough liquid, add another cup of liquid (water or broth).
2. While tortellini is cooking, make the sauce.  In a large saucepan melt the butter.  Saute the garlic, butter and red pepper in butter over medium heat for 2 minutes.
3. Blend the cornstarch and the last cup of chicken stock, then add to the sauce pan.  Cook and stir until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.
4. Place the tortellini in a bowl and pour on sauce.  Gently combine.  Finish with the Parmesan cheese.

Notes
This was a great, quick and easy main course, but you could also serve this as a first course, or even skewered and served at room temperature for an appetizer. I didn't have enough broth to also cook the tortellini in it, so I just used it for the sauce.  But if you cook the tortellini in the broth it will really pick up the chicken flavor!

February 14, 2014

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope your day has been filled with love and joy!

The Olympics are still going on...sure you don't need to get back to watching the action?  We've been watching so many of the different sports - the kids are really into it!  And with all the actions you would think we'd be bursting with American pride.  We are...but for some reason we've been eating a lot of Asian fare!  This past week we made one of my favorite recipes, Chang's Spicy Chicken.  I wanted it for my birthday dinner but we just couldn't all get to the table at the same time that day, so we moved it to this week.  But when I went to get out the recipe I couldn't find it!  ACK!  I'd been thinking about it for a few days, and now the recipe was no where to be found?  Thankfully I remembered that I found it in a cookbook at the library.  I searched for the recipe on the internet, figured out the book I had found it in many years ago, and I headed to the library to pick it up (it was on the shelf and available!).  We've had this dish many times over the years, and each time we do we love it

Now that I had the cookbook in my hands again (Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur), I looked at the table of contents to see what else might be worth trying.  One of Ryan's favorite dishes from PF Chang's is Dan Dan Noodles.  Lo and behold it was in the book!  We made it and it was definitely voted a keeper!  Even Hannah had two helpings...and if you know her well you know she hates Chinese food.  So the fact that she had 2 helpings is a real indication of its keeper status (at least in our household!). Plus the recipe needs julienned cucumbers...put my zoodler to work on that and bam!  Perfect thin cucumbers for the dish!   And just because we clearly hadn't had enough yet, later in the week we had leftover rice, so we whipped up homemade fried rice!  I am not sure why our meal plan ended up with so much Asian cuisine, but it was a delicious week!

Happy Cooking!


New Recipes
Dan Dan Noodles

Tried and True
Chang's Spicy Chicken

Dan Dan Noodles

Ingredients
* 2 chicken breasts, cooked and minced (approximately 2 cups)
* 6 oz lo mein noodles, cooked as directed on package
* 2 tbs vegetable oil
* 1 tbs minced garlic
* 1/4 cup green onions, green parts only
* 6 tbsp soy sauce
* 1/2 cup chicken broth
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 1 tsp chili-garlic sauce
* 4 tsp cornstarch
* 1/2 cup water
* 1 cup julienned cucumber (seedless if possible)
* 1 cup bean sprouts

Directions
1. Cook the chicken.  Once the chicken is cooled, mince it.
2. Prepare the lo mein noodles according to the package.
3.  Make the sauce by heating the oil over medium heat in a large saucepan or wok.  Add the garlic and green onions and saute for just a few seconds being careful not to burn the garlic.  Add the soy sauce, chicken broth, brown sugar and chili-garlic sauce. Stir well.
4. Combine the cornstarch and water, and stir this in the sauce.  Simmer the sauce for 2-3 minutes on until it thickens.
5. When the sauce is thick add the chicken to the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes to heat the chicken.
6. To serve, pile the noodles on a platter.  Spoon the chicken and sauce over the noodles.  Garnish the platter with the cucumbers on one side and on the other side, the bean sprouts.

Notes
Wow!  What a great recipe!  We really thought this tasted like Ryan's favorite dish from PF Chang's.  And the kids really enjoyed it as well, including Hannah - which is amazing!  I used my zoodler to julienne the cucumbers and it was perfect!  

Chang's Spicy Chicken

Ingredients
* 2 tsp vegetable oil
* 2 tbs chopped garlic (3-4 cloves)
* 3 tbs chopped green onions
* 1 cup pineapple juice
* 2 tbsp chili sauce
* 2 tbsp rice vinegar
* 4 tsp granulated sugar
* 1 tsp soy sauce
* 2 tbsp water
* 1/2 tsp cornstarch
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 1 lb chicken breast, cut into small pieces
* 1/4 cup cornstarch
* rice

Directions
1. Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp vegetable oil in a small saucepan.  Saute the garlic and green onions in the oil for just a few seconds making sure the garlic does not burn.  Add the pineapple juice, chile sauce, vinegar, sugar and soy sauce.
2. Dissolve the 1/2 tsp cornstarch in 2 tbsp of water.  Add this to the other sauce ingredients.  Bring the sauce to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium/high and cook for 3-5 minutes or until the sauce is thick and syrupy.  Set aside.
3. Heat the cup of vegetable oil in a wok or large sauce pan over medium heat.
4. While the oil is heating, toss the bite size pieces of chicken with the cornstarch.
5. Saute the chicken in oil, stirring occasionally, until light brown. Remove the chicken to a plate with paper towels on it and let it drain.
6. Put the chicken in a serving bowl and pour the sauce over top.  Toss to coat the chicken.  Serve the chicken with rice on the side.

Notes
We have followed this recipe as is, but have also found that you can just saute the chicken without dusting it in cornstarch and lightly frying it.  The sauce is so good that even if the chicken isn't crunchy it is still delicious!  But if you do really want to a dinner akin to the restaurant experience, dust the chicken with cornstarch and lightly fry it.  Either way you are bound to love this!

February 7, 2014

What are you doing reading my blog...shouldn't you be watching the Olympics?  :)

Well, since you are here, at least it will be short.  Only one keeper this week - but it is a GREAT one!  Carrot cake!  It was my birthday and I decided to try to make carrot cake.  Turns out it is pretty easy.  And the best part  - my kids loved it!

Now, get back to the Olympics!

Happy Cooking!

New Recipe
Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake

Ingredients
* 2 1/2 cups AP flour
* 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 4 large eggs, at room temperature
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
* 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
* 1 lb carrots, peeled and grated

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare two 9 inch round pans with baking spray and parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pie spice and salt in a large bowl.
3. Whisk the eggs and sugars together in another bowl until frothy and the sugar has mostly dissolved., about 2 minutes.  While whisking, slowly add the oil until the mixture is thoroughly combined and emulsified, approximately another 2 minutes.
4. Mix the dry ingredients into the liquid until no streaks of flour remain.  Stir in the carrots.
5. Pour the batter unto the prepared pans.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 2 hours.  Then run a knife along the sides to loosen the cake, then invert the pans to release the cakes.  Peel off the parchment.  Frost with cream cheese or vanilla frosting, and serve!

Notes
My kids loved this!  Liam even asked if he could have this kind of cake for his next birthday!!!  Delicious, pretty easy, and hey - it has a pound of carrots in it!