Sunday, February 28, 2010

Day 59: Pad Garlic and Black Pepper with Chicken

Day 59.

Third and final post of the Thai feast!

This chicken was the reason I decided to have the feast. I had eaten this with my friend, Jennifer, in St. Louis when we went to The Pioneer Woman's cookbook signing. Funny thing is, Jennifer and I had not met before we road tripped to STL. She is the sister-in-law of my friend, Lori. Lori was supposed to go as well, but got sick, so Jennifer and I decided to go ahead. We had a blast! Across the street from the book signing, there was a Thai restaurant, so that's where we ate. This is what I had. It was amazing there. Making it at home, I've decided to make some modifications for next time. I'll type out the recipe as written, but clue you in on my changes as well. The recipe is written for one serving, but I quadrupled it since I was serving 4, so the pictures may not totally jive with the written recipe.

Here's what you'll need (One serving)
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1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced into bite sized pieces
1/4 c. garlic cloves, smashed (about 1/2 head)
3/4 tsp. palm or white sugar
3/4 tsp. black pepper
1 3/4 tsp. soy sauce
1-2 tbsp. cooking oil, enough to coat pan
2-3 tbsp. water

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Break garlic cloves off the head.

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Using the back of your knife, press on the clove, separating the skin, and smashing it a bit.

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The aftermath. Remember, I quadrupled this, so I used 2 heads of garlic!

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Heat the oil in a pan, then add the garlic. Cook for about 10 seconds, then add chicken. Cook until browned.

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Add the sugar, pepper and soy sauce to the pan.

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Stir well to combine. Serve over rice.


**Now for the changes**
1. Be sure to actually "smash" the garlic. I had too many whole cloves, and needed to crush them better to get more garlic flavor.
2. Cut the pepper in half. There was waaaayy too much pepper flavor, and not enough garlic. I think change #1 will help with that too.



Saturday, February 27, 2010

Day 58: Drunken Noodles

Day 58.

Post #2 of the Thai feast!! These noodles are AMAZING!!

Here's what you'll need for them.
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1 package stirfry noodles
1 tsp. brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Sliced broccoli
3 green onions, sliced
Basil flakes

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Cook noodles according to package directions.

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Rinse with cold water

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Stir together the brown sugar and soy sauce.

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Heat some oil in a skillet.

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Add the garlic, green onions and broccoli. Heat through for just a few minutes.

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Add in the soy sauce mixture.

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Add the noodles and stir together.

Delish!!!

Day 57: Baked Egg Rolls

Day 57.

I made a Thai feast! Our friends, Wain and Kathy, and their two boys came over for supper. I made three different dishes, and I'll be blogging them over the next 3 days.

Here's what our plates looked like minus egg rolls.

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Here's what you'll need for egg rolls.
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1 bag broccoli slaw
1 package egg roll wrappers
1 steam bag
Basil
Lemon pepper seasoning

**Preheat your oven to 375**

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Put the slaw in a steam bag. Season with basil and lemon pepper. Steam according to package directions.

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Lay out some wrappers.

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Spoon some of the steamed slaw into the center of a wrapper.

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Fold up the bottom corner.

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Fold in the sides.

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And roll it up!

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Spray with some cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes, turn and bake 15 more.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Day 56: Chicken Stir Fry

Day 56.

Here's a super easy recipe for stir fry. It's nice and healthy too!

Here's what you'll need
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2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 bag frozen stir fry veggies, thawed
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing

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Dice the chicken into bite sized chunks.

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Throw it in a big pan and cook it through.

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Once the chicken is browned, add in the veggies. I also put a couple tablespoons of water in the pan then slap a lid on it, letting the veggies steam.

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Ta-da!

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Stir in the dressing and cook it for just a minute, until heated through.

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Serve over rice.

Day 55: Potato Soup

Day 55.

I had so much fun photographing this meal, because I did it with my friend, Sherry. Sherry is a fellow blogger whose blog is much more popular than mine! She came and watched me cook, and will feature me on her blog on Friday. I'm so excited! Here is the link to her blog if you would like to check it out.

http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

She does a different theme for each day of the week. My favorite day is Thursday, when she blogs a tablescape. She is so talented!

Also, for you local readers, Sherry and I will be offering an evening workshop on creating an Easter meal and tablescape. Watch the blog for more details. I'm so thrilled to be working with her on this!!

Ahem. Now. Onto the recipe. ;)

Here's what you'll need.
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2 cans of Cream of Potato soup
6 cups milk
1/2 bag Southern Style hash browns
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. dried parsley
Shredded cheese to pass at the table

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Open up the cans of soup.

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Empty the cans into a soup pot.

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Measure out 6 cups of milk.

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Add that to the pot.

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Stir in the seasonings, and bring to a boil.

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Once the soup is boiling, add in the hash browns. Cook for 10 minutes, or until hash browns are tender.

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Top with cheese if desired.

If you're a single person, or a small family, you can cut this recipe in half. Just use one can of soup, 3 cups milk, and 1/4 bag of hash browns. We're a fairly small family of 3 adults and one 4 year old, but I make the full batch because it's so good. We'll reheat the leftovers for lunch the next day as well.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Day 54: Crusty Italiano Loaf

Day 54.

I love this bread, and making it in the bread machine means it's super easy to do.

Here's what you'll need
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1 1/3 C. water
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 Tbsp. milk
4 C. bread flour
1 envelope dry italian dressing mix
1/4 C. sugar
1 3/4 tsp. salt
2 1/4 tsp. bread machine yeast

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Using your machine pan, add the water, butter and milk.

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Add the flour.

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Then, add the dressing mix, sugar and salt.

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Make a little pocket in the dry ingredients, then add the yeast.

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Drop the pan into the machine.

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When it comes to the settings, use the Basic/White cycle. Medium or light crust, and you can use the rapid option if your machine has it.

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Once the cycle is finished, let the bread cool a bit.

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Finish cooling, then slice!

Sometimes, we'll make garlic bread out of this. Other times, we just toast it up a bit to have with soup. Delish!


Monday, February 22, 2010

Day 53: Chewy Cashew Cookies

Day 53.

OMG! These cookies are AMAZING. Seriously.
Make them. You'll thank me. I promise. :)

Here's what you need.
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1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped cashews
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350.

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Combine the butter, sugar and egg in a mixing bowl. Mix until well combined.

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Add the baking soda, salt and flour.

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Mix well.

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Add the cashews.

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Mix until just incorporated.

Use a cookie scoop to portion out dough. Bake for about 12 minutes. You'll want to pull them out when they're just barely done. The dough will spread as it cooks, but it makes the edges crispy and the middle nice and soft.

Like this.
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But seriously. Make these. Your family will thank you.
As mine did.
By eating all the cookies.
:)