Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir-fry

This sweet and sour chicken was really tasty and colorful. It was a little intense to make because it's thrown together so quickly and cooked at such high heat. But it was exciting and fun! Just make sure you have everything chopped and prepped before you start cooking, then everything will run smoothly and come together in just a couple minutes. I'd definitely make this yummy stir fry again.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Stir-Fry

2 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into uniform pieces
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs rice vinegar
2 to 3 Tbs vegetable oil
1/2 medium red onion, peeled and cut into thin strips
1/2 sweet red pepper, cut into strips
1 20 oz. can pineapple chunks
3 medium scallions, green parts cut into ¼-inch lengths and white parts minced
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Stir Fry Sauce:
3 Tbs red wine vinegar
3 Tbs sugar
1 ½ Tbs tomato sauce
1 ½ Tbs pineapple juice from the can
¼ tsp salt

Toss the chicken with the soy sauce and vinegar in a medium bowl; set aside for 15 minutes while you chop vegetables, tossing once or twice.

Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Chop vegetables and measure out ingredients.

Heat a 12- or 14-inch skillet over high heat for 3 to 4 minutes (the pan should be so hot you can hold an outstretched hand 1 inch over the pan for only 3 seconds.) Add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl it so the oil evenly coats the bottom of the pan. Heat the oil until it just starts to shimmer and smoke. Check the heat with your hand as before.

Drain the chicken and add it to the pan. Stir-fry until seared and about three-quarters cooked, 2 ½ to 3 minutes. Scrape the cooked chicken and all of the liquid into a bowl. Cover and keep warm.

Let the pan come back up to temperature, 1 to 2 minutes. When it is hot, drizzle in 2 teaspoons oil. When the oil just starts to smoke, add the onions and peppers and stir-fry until just tender-crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the pineapple and cook 1 minute. Add the scallion greens and cook 15 to 30 seconds.

Clear the center of the pan and add the white parts of the scallions, garlic, and ginger. Drizzle with ½ teaspoon oil. Mash into the pan with the back of a spatula. Cook until fragrant but not colored, about 10 seconds. Remove the pan from heat and stir the scallions, garlic, and ginger into the vegetables for 20 seconds.

Return the pan to the heat and add the cooked chicken. Stir in the sauce and stir-fry until the ingredients are well coated with sauce and sizzling hot, about 1 minute. Serve immediately with rice.

Recipe adapted from My Kitchen Cafe.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

This recipe has been haunting me since Nie posted about them almost a month ago. These cookies are chewy and rich and chocolatey, and also quite pretty.


They're fun to make, too. You get to roll them in powdered sugar before baking them. So pretty!


And the dough is almost as addicting as the finished product.


Be careful, this stuff is dangerous.


What? Oh no, that was already there. Yep.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

2 cups sugar
¾ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup hershey's cocoa powder
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and oil. Add cocoa; blend well. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder & salt; add to cocoa mixture blending well. Cover; chill for 2 hours. Heat oven to 350. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in powdered sugar. Place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched. Remove from cookie sheet; cool on wire rack.

Makes 4 dozen. (I halved this!)

Recipe from the beautiful Stephanie Nielson at Cuisine Nie.

Creme Brulee French Toast

Perfect for a lazy Saturday morning breakfast, this dish is very easy and is prepared the night before so all you have to do in the morning is bake it. I hopped out of bed to put it in, then got back in bed while it baked. It made for a decadent breakfast in bed, and my husband loved waking up to the amazing smell of cinnamon and sugar! It smells absolutely ridiculous coming out of the oven. So so good. The bottom of the toast gets nice and caramelized. Since I'm a sugar junkie I served this with a small drizzle of maple syrup, but it would be great on its own, too.

Creme Brulee French Toast

1 stick unsalted butter (I'm sure salted would be okay too, but I always buy unsalted)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbs corn syrup
1 loaf French bread, preferably a few days old
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups half and half (you could probably just use milk, if needed)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

In a small saucepan melt butter with brown sugar and corn syrup over medium heat, stirring, until smooth and pour into a 9x13 baking dish. Cut thick slices (about 3/4 to 1 inch) from center portion of bread, reserving ends for another use. Arrange bread slices in one layer in baking dish, squeezing them slightly to fit. Use as many slices as will fit in the dish. In a bowl whisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla, cinnamon and salt until combined well and pour evenly over bread. Chill bread mixture, covered, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and set bread mixture on counter during preheating. Bake uncovered, in middle of oven until puffed and edges are pale golden, 35 to 40 minutes. To serve, flip bread slices over so caramelized side is on top.



I think mine looks more dry than yours might, because I sliced my bread 1-inch thick and it absorbed more of the egg mixture. If you slice it thinner it might end up having more of the puffy eggy mixture on top. Just FYI. Also, this is obviously easily halved and prepared in an 8x8 pan, as you can see.

Recipe adapted from The Food Network.

Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage

The picture doesn't do this dinner justice. The flavor combinations in this baked pasta dish are fantastic! A gorgeous tomato cream sauce is paired with fontina cheese, fresh spinach and the intense flavor of the sausage to make an amazing taste. You may substitute pork or turkey sausage for the chicken, and mozzarella for the fontina, if those ingredients are too hard to find. I'm sure the result would still taste great. Martha's recipe called for precooked, smoked sausage, but I used regular chicken sausage and cooked it myself before adding it. My changes are noted below.

Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage

Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes with juice, lightly crushed with hands
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pound rigatoni
10 ounces baby spinach
12 ounces chicken sausage (4 links), cooked and diced
9 ounces fontina cheese, 5 ounces cut into 1/2-inch cubes and 4 ounces coarsely grated
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic. Stir in tomatoes and oregano; cook until tomatoes are falling apart, 10 minutes. Add cream; cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper. (The sauce looks gorgeous just after adding the cream. Mmm!)

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook pasta in the boiling water until al dente, according to package instructions. Add spinach, and cook just until wilted. Drain, and return contents to pot.

Add tomato sauce, sausage, and cubed fontina to pot; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into 9x13 (3-quart) baking dish. (Alternately, see Martha's directions for how to freeze half for later.) Top with grated fontina and Parmesan. Bake until browned and edges are crisp, 20 to 30 minutes.

Original recipe from Martha Stewart, referenced at My Kitchen Cafe.

Shrimp Po' Boys

Another meal idea from Klane that I wouldn't have thought to make, but that turned out awesome! We really loved the cajun seasoning on the fried shrimp. We'll say we made this Louisiana inspired recipe in honor of Mardi Gras, which is today. :)

Shrimp Po' Boys

Vegetable oil, for frying
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, deveined
Salt
1/2 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons cajun seasoning
4 soft club rolls or sub rolls, split
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
8 pieces lettuce
1 lemon cut into wedges
Tartar sauce

Preheat 1-inch of oil in a deep skillet over medium to medium-high heat.

Beat egg and milk together. Pull tails off shrimp. Salt shrimp then soak in milk batter. Mix together the flour, cornmeal and cajun seasoning on the plate. Using tongs, remove a few shrimp at a time and coat in breading. Add breaded shrimp to the hot oil and fry them a couple minutes, until firm and deeply golden all over.

Spread tartar sauce on rolls. Put lettuce, tomato and shrimp on rolls, squeeze lemon juice over shrimp.

Makes 4 sandwiches.

Recipe adapted from Rachael Ray.

French Bread

My mom's french bread recipe is so simple, and it produces a wonderfully light, yummy bread. If you've never made bread before, I think a simple french bread is a good place to start. (I say that and this is the only yeast bread I've ever made. But I imagine it's true.)

Mom's French Bread

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
7-8 cups all-purpose white flour

Mix warm water, oil, and sugar in a large bowl to dissolve. Mix in yeast and salt. Slowly, cup by cup, beat in flour, making sure it's all incorporated before you add the next cup. It will take about 7-8 cups of flour. Add enough to make a dough that's not too sticky and not too firm. If you don't have a mixer, you'll have to knead in the last cups on a greased countertop. The key is to not let the dough get lumpy or clumpy, keep it smooth. Cover and let rest 10-20 minutes to get a little air in it so it's easy to work with. Shape and roll the dough into a mini loaf, keeping in mind it will double in length and width. It should be about four times as long as it is wide. Spray a baking sheet and lay dough on it, spray the top of dough with cooking spray. Use a serrated knife to make diagonal slices on top of bread. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle seasonings on top (sesame seeds, parmesan, suddenly salad, etc). Let it rise for 20 minutes, until doubled in size. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 and bake for 10-20 more minutes, until top of bread is nice and golden.

Makes one large loaf of bread.