Work in Progress

So part of me did not want to post this, but the other part thought I could get some useful hints from all my readers! I attempted the Panda Express Orange Chicken recipe tonight with my awesome friends Megan and Geoff.
As we were cooking, it looked like a success, but the taste was not there.
The orange flavor was not strong enough, it lacked a sweetness, and it just didn't taste the same as Panda Express.

Here is the recipe that we used:

Panda Express Orange Chicken
2 lbs. boneless chicken pieces, skinned
1 egg
1 1/2 teas. salt
white pepper
oil (for frying)
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbl. cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
1 Tbl. minced ginger root
1 teas. minced garlic
dash crushed hot red chiles
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 Tbl. rice wine
1/4 cup water
1/2 to 1 teas. sesame oil

ORANGE SAUCE FOR STIR FRY:
2 teas. Minced zest and
1/4 c Juice from
1 lg Orange
1/2 teas. Sugar
2 Tbl. Chicken stock
1 Tbl. Light soy sauce

Combine all ingredients in small bowl and set aside.

Cut chicken pieces in 2" squares and place in large bowl. Stir in egg,
salt, pepper, and 1 T oil and mix well. Stir cornstarch and flour
together. Add chicken pieces, stirring to coat.

Heat oil for deep−frying in wok or deep−fryer to 375. Add chicken pieces,
a small batch at time, and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden and crisp.
(Do not overcook or chicken will be tough.) Remove chicken from oil with
slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside.

Clean wok and heat 15 seconds over high heat. Add 1 T oil. Add ginger
and garlic and stir−fry until fragrant. Add and stir−fry crushed chiles
and green onions. Add rice wine and stir 3 seconds. Add Orange Sauce
and bring to boil. Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed.
Stir water into remaining 1 T cornstarch until smooth.
Add to chicken and heat until sauce is thick. Stir in 1 teas. sesame oil.

Don't get me wrong, it tasted good. (We ended up adding honey to the top to give it that sweet glazed taste.) But there was definitely something missing.

Next time we make it, we are going to try adding some Orange Marmalade and see if that will give it the extra WOW factor.

SO PLEASE PEOPLE!!! LEAVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS!!
Let me know what YOU would do!

-Bon Apetite!

Pecan Crusted Chicken

My mom loves this chicken. She finally introduced it to me a few weeks ago, and I also LOVE IT! We mostly eat it on salad with lots of dried cranberries and honey mustard dressing. But you can eat it with practically anything! It has great flavor, and if you buy thinly sliced chicken, it cooks incredibly fast! So here is the recipe!




Ingredients:
2 Eggs, whisked (I didn't have eggs so I substituted 1 cup of buttermilk.)
4 pieces of chicken
1 cup of crushed pecans
1/3 cup of flour
cooking spray

Instructions:
-If you don't have eggs, soak the chicken in the buttermilk for 15 minutes. If you do have eggs, just coat the chicken before battering.
- When finished, mix the flour and pecans together and coat the chicken on both sides.
-Spray a pan with cooking spray before putting the chicken on it.
-The chicken I used was very thin, so I baked in in the oven for 7 minutes on each side.
When finished, you should let the chicken cool before putting in on a salad, or you can eat it hot with pasta or potatoes.

This recipe is very versatile, and there are so many things you can eat it with.

-Bon Apetite!

Simple Summer Casserole

This post is to celebrate a favorite casserole of mine. This is a cold casserole, so it can be used for a nice lunch or hearty side dish. It is incredibly easy, and incredibly delicious.

Tuna Noodle Casserole
Ingredients:
1/2 box of any small size pasta
1 can of tuna
1-1/2 Tbsp. Mayo
3/4 cup of slivered almonds
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. Italian style breadcrumbs

Instructions:
-Boil pasta until tender.
- Drain and let cool, spray some cold water throughout to speed up cooling process.
- While waiting for the pasta to cool, place almonds in a food processor and grind up until it becomes an almost fluffy texture. Use the oil while grinding the almonds.
- Combine the almonds and breadcrumbs in a pan and put under a hot broiler for 3-5 minutes. Remove from oven and shake around.
- By this time, the pasta should be cooled enough.
- Combine the pasta and breadcrumb mixture into a bowl.
- Drain tuna and add to the bowl, along with Mayo.
- Mix well and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

**Not a tuna fan? Substitute chicken into the recipe.**

-Bon Apetite!

Simple Summer Casserole

This post is to celebrate a favorite casserole of mine. This is a cold casserole, so it can be used for a nice lunch or hearty side dish. It is incredibly easy, and incredibly delicious.

Tuna Noodle Casserole
Ingredients:
1/2 box of any small size pasta
1 can of tuna
1-1/2 Tbsp. Mayo
3/4 cup of slivered almonds
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. Italian style breadcrumbs

Instructions:
-Boil pasta until tender.
- Drain and let cool, spray some cold water throughout to speed up cooling process.
- While waiting for the pasta to cool, place almonds in a food processor and grind up until it becomes an almost fluffy texture. Use the oil while grinding the almonds.
- Combine the almonds and breadcrumbs in a pan and put under a hot broiler for 3-5 minutes. Remove from oven and shake around.
- By this time, the pasta should be cooled enough.
- Combine the pasta and breadcrumb mixture into a bowl.
- Drain tuna and add to the bowl, along with Mayo.
- Mix well and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

**Not a tuna fan? Substitute chicken into the recipe.**

-Bon Apetite!

Chocolate Bars!

I LOVE CHOCOLATE! So when my sister taught me the ideal way to melt chocolate it was like Christmas! :) This is an extremely simple technique and turns out like a "peanut brittle" look. I used almonds in this recipe but you can use any sort of ingredients you want. Just remember, the more ingredients, the more chocolate you need.

Ingredients:
1 12oz. bag of milk chocolate chips
1 cup of chopped almonds

Instructions:
I use a make-shift chocolate melting technique that requires a pot half filled with water and a glass heat-proof bowl that can sit inside the pot, but barely touches the water.
Place the glass bowl inside the pot and bring the water to a boil.
Add the bag of chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate becomes smooth (NO LUMPS!)

Turn off the heat and add your ingredients. I chose to add almonds. I used about 1 1/2 cups of roughly chopped almonds.
Next, use a greased pan to put the mixture into.Finally, I place the pan into the freezer for about 10 minutes so it can harden quickly. I then wrap the rest in wax paper and save it in the fridge.

This is simple and something you can make with little ones.

-Bon Apetite!

Coconut Shrimp and Chicken with Pina Colada Dipping Sauce

Today I was woken up with the request of making coconut shrimp from my brother-in-law. This has turned into a family favorite! This is actually the second time that I made this recipe. It takes some time to get used to and can get tricky. One thing that I do when battering the shrimp is keep one hand for the dry batter and one hand for the wet batter. They are delicious! And one thing that I enjoy about this recipe is that it turns out the same way each time! Any questions or tips, feel free to ask.


Pina Colada Dipping Sauce
* 1 C. Pina Colada Mix
* 1/4 C. Water
* 2 Tbsp. Crush Pineapple (drained)
* 1 Tbs. + 1 tsp. Sweetened Coconut Flakes
* 3 Tbs. + 1 tsp. Powder Sugar
* 1+1/2 tsp. Corn Starch
* 3 tsp. Cold Water

-Mix the Pina Colada Mix, water, crushed pineapple, coconut, and powdered sugar in a saucepan. Heat on medium low temperature until sauce begins to simmer, stirring frequently. Let mixture simmer slowly 10-12 minutes Mix cornstarch and water together (making sure there are no clumps), add to sauce and blend well. Let mixture simmer for 3-5 minutes longer while continuing to stir. Remove from heat and bring to room temperature or you can chill it in the fridge.

Shrimp and Chicken
* 1lb. of shrimp and 1/2 pack of boneless skinless chicken tenders
* 6-8 cups canola oil (as required by fryer)
* 25 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup milk
* 2 tablespoons coconut rum
* 1 cup panko Japanese-style bread crumbs
* 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes

**I COOK THE CHICKEN BEFORE BATTERING AND FRYING**

1. Heat oil to 350 degrees or med/high on stove-top
2. Measure ¾ cup of flour into a medium bowl.
3. In a 2nd Medium bowl, mix together the remaining ¾ cup of flour, sugar, salt and mix together. Stir in milk and rum. Let this batter stand for 5-10 minutes.
4. In a 3rd medium bowl, combine panko breadcrumbs and coconut.

5. Butterfly each shrimp before you start the battering. Make sure to leave the tail intact.

6. Batter Sequence: Flour, Wet Batter Mixture, then Panko/Coconut
- It’s easiest if you batter all the shrimp before you start frying.

7. Drop the shrimp into the oil, and cook until golden brown on the outside. Follow the same steps for the chicken (excluding, of course, the butterflying part)

I tried to include as many pictures into this recipe as I could, so you can get a better idea of how everything should look during the process. This recipe is not my own, but a compilation of different recipes I found online. I have tweaked some of the measurements for the proper combination. This may look difficult, but is VERY do-able. Try something new today!

-Bon Apetite!

Cheesy Chicken Burritos

I was not planning on posting any new recipes today, but since the chili turned out so great yesterday it inspired me to keep trying new things! My cousin, sister, and I set out to make chicken taco's for lunch. They slowly evolved in to this enormous, delicious masterpiece. My talented cousin took most of these pictures, and let me tell you, just looking at them makes my mouth water! Here is the recipe. Again, this one is very simple.


Cheesy Chicken Burritos
-4 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken
-1 large vadalia onion, sliced into long strips
-1 orange pepper, cut julienne style
-1 red pepper, cut julienne style
-1 Tbsp. of cooking oil
-½ head of lettuce
-1 large tomato, cubed
-1 packet of taco seasoning
-¾ cup of water
-¼ cup of cheese
-1 packet of tortilla's
-You can also add beans and rice into your burrito for added flavors.

Cook chicken in a pan, until no longer pink in the center. Cube into small pieces.

Mix taco seasoning and water into a small bowl. (You can add more water if needed). Mix in with the chicken. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

While chicken is simmering combine oil, onions, red and orange peppers into a hot wok. Cook until tender.

Prepare “add in” items.

Before taking chicken off the heat, combine the cheese straight into the pan. This will give the chicken some extra flavor.

Create burrito with desired ingredients.

The great thing about burrito's and taco's is their versatility. You can manipulate the ingredients however best suits you.

-Bon Apetite!

Chicken and Yucca Chili

Today I was finally able to try out my new Chicken and Yucca Recipe! I was so nervous, but it actually turned out amazing! My sister helped me along the way with all the steps and ingredients that needed to be prepped.
I cook very low sodium, so my recipes will not include salt. If you wish, you can add salt to taste. Now, a word to the wise, this does have a kick to it, so you can tone down the poblano and chili paste if you wish.

This is a quick and easy chili that is super simple to make.

1 Tablespoon of oil
1 bunch of scallions, white and green parts included, sliced
3 cloves of garlic (or 3 tablespoons of minced)
½ poblano pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
½ orange pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
6 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
1 18-oz bag of frozen yucca, thawed
1 cup of corn kernels
2 carrots, thinly sliced
½ rotisserie chicken, skinned and shredded into large pieces
1 can of low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
½ teaspoon of chili paste

Heat the oil in a large pot, medium-high heat.
Add the scallions, garlic, pablano, cayenne pepper, and orange pepper and cook until soft.
Add the chicken broth, yucca, corn, carrots, beans, and chili paste and bring to a boil.
Cover, and reduce to a simmer and cook until yucca is tender.
Stir to break up the yucca and thicken the broth slightly.
Add the chicken.
Allow thickening for about 10-15 minutes.
Salt and Pepper to taste.

-Bon Apetite!