Mango Glazed Chicken

Really great sauce for chicken - heavy-duty clean up though because of all of the sugar.

Mango (or Apricot) Glazed Chicken
4 oz mango/aprocot preserves
1.5 tbsp Dijon mustard
1.5 tbsp cider vinegar
dash salt/pepper
red pepper flakes to taste
2 chicken breasts or 4 chicken thighs

• Mix preserves, mustard, vinegar, salt/pepper and red pepper until smooth.
• Use a grill pan if you have one. Heat and spray with Pam or brush with oil. Use pastry brush to spread the sauce on each side of the chicken. Flip every few minutes, brushing with the sauce each time.
• If you decide to use a real grill, make twice as much sauce because some of it will fall through the grill.
• NOTE: Do not use the leftover sauce - since you probably dipped your brush in the it several times, it will be contaminated with chicken germs. (I spend too much time with lawyers.)

Gyros

I just made the most amazing gyros type thing. There's a great Persian market in Irvine that makes fresh bread (sangak?) but you can use pita instead.

olive oil
1 1/2 lb boneless leg of lamb, cut into large (2x2) chunks

Rub:
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp crushed red pepper
pinch salt
pinch pepper

Yogurt Sauce:
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 tbsp honey
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbsp minced red onion
5 fresh mint leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin

Sandwich:
hummus
Red onion slices
tomato slices
cucumber slices
lettuce leaf
etc.

1. Heat olive oil in a pan, medium high. Meanwhile, mix rub spices together and sprinkle over lamb chunks, on all sides.
2. Put lamb into heated pan and cook each side for 1-2 minutes. Cover and reduce heat to low/medium-low. Depends on how much you have to slice/mince.
   
3. Meanwhile, slice your veggies and mix together yogurt sauce ingredients.
4. Remove lamb chunks from pan and slice for sandwich.
5. Spread yogurt sauce and hummus on sangak or pita.
   
6. Put together your sandwich/wrap and enjoy!!
   

Julia Child Coq au Vin

[Chicken in Red Wine with Onions, Mushrooms, and bacon]

My brother bought me "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" for my bday and this is the first recipe I made with the help of my parents.

The book says it's typically served with parsley potatoes and a green vegetable, along with the same kind of wine used in the recipe.

Brown-Braised Onion Ingredients

• 18-24 peeled small white onions (roughly 1 in in diameter)
• 1.5 Tb butter
• 1.5 Tb oil
• 1/2 cup of canned beef bouillon, dry white wine, red wine, or just water
• salt and pepper to taste
• herb bouquet: consists of 4 parsley sprigs, 1/2 bay leaf, 1/4 tsp thyme tied in a cheesecloth

Mushroom Ingredients

• 2 Tb butter
• 1 Tb oil
• 1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms well dried (leave small ones whole and quarter large ones)

Main Dish Ingredients

• 3-4 oz of lean bacon
• 2 Tb butter
• 2 Tb softened butter
• 2.5-3 lbs cut-up chicken dried thoroughly (We just used chicken thighs)
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup Cognac
• 3 cups young full bodied wine (Burgundy, Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone, Chianti)
• 1-2 cups of brown chicken stock or canned beef bouillon
• 1/2 Tb tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• onions and mushrooms
• 3 Tb flour

Making the Coq au Vin:

• Cut the bacon into 1/4 inch x 1 inch rectangles and simmer for 10 minutes in 2 quarts of water.
• rinse in cold water and then dry.

• in a large pot or casserole saute the bacon slowly in butter until lightly browned (~260 degrees F) then remove to a side dish.
• Add the dried chicken and brown it in the hot fat of the casserole.
• Season the chicken with the salt and pepper and return the bacon and cover and cook slowly for 10 minutes turning the chicken half way through (~360 degrees F). While waiting, blend the softened butter and flower together into a smooth paste and set aside for later. (I think this is a rue).
  
• Uncover and add the Cognac, avert your face and light the Cognac. Then shake the casserole back and forth until the flames go out.
• Pour the wine into the casserole along with just enough of the stock or bouillon to cover the chicken. Next, stir in the tomato paste, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf and bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer slowly for 25-30 minutes.

At this point the onions and mushrooms should be prepared, the onions will take about an hour so get those started first, the recipe for both are below.

• Poke the chicken with a fork after simmering and if the juices run a clear yellow then it is done, remove to a side dish.
• simmer the chicken cooking liquid for a minute or two while skimming off the fat.
• then boil the liquid rapidly until the liqued reduces to about 2 1/4 cups. Taste the liquid and add salt or pepper if needed, remove from heat, and remove the bay leaf.
  
• Now, beat the blended butter/flour paste into the hot liquid with a wire whisk and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly for a minute or two. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon lightly

• Arrange the chicken back in the casserole and place the prepared mushrooms and onions around them. Baste everything with the sauce in the pan so that everything is covered lightly and simmer covered for 4-5 minutes.

• If not serving immediately, after basting everything with the sauce just set aside uncovered and it can wait "indefinitely". When ready to serve perform the simmering, 4-5 minutes should be enough to bring everything up to temperature.

This recipe has a decent amount of steps but everything is surprisingly simple to do. Good luck and enjoy!



Making the onions (this was super delicious) ~ 1 hour

• add butter and oil to a 9-10 in skillet and heat

• once butter and oil are bubbling add the onions and saute over moderate heat for 10 minutes, rolling so the onions brown evenly

• Pour in the liquid you chose, salt and pepper to taste and add the herb bouquet. cover and simmer slowly for 40-50 minutes until onions are tender but still have their shape and the liquid has evaporated.

Making the mushrooms

• place butter and oil in a skillet over high heat

• once the butter foam subsides add the mushrooms, toss and shake the pan for 4-5 minutes, the mushrooms will absorb the fat and then the fat will appear on the surface of the mushrooms allowing them to brown. Do not allow the mushrooms to release their juices, also do not over crowd the pan, otherwise the mushrooms steam rather than fry

• Once the mushrooms are lightly browned, remove them from the heat

Chicken Picatta

I just got off the phone with my mom, who requested I post this chicken picatta recipe. I'm not sure of the exact measurements but try it out!

Chicken breasts - pounded to an even thickness
Olive Oil
1 Egg
flour
salt/pepper
lemon juice
dry white wine
capers

1. Heat a little bit of olive oil (medium heat). Beat the egg in a bowl. Cover a large plate with flour and sprinkle in salt and pepper.
2. Coat the pounded chicken in the egg, dredge in flour mixture, and move to the pan. Cook each breast and transfer to a plate. Cover with foil to keep warm. Add more oil to the pan if the breasts start to burn/char.
3. After the last breast, add about a cup of dry white wine and scrape up the brown bits. As the alcohol is burning off, add in juice from about half a lemon, salt/pepper, and about a tablespoon of juice from the jar of capers. Let it reduce and thicken. It will taste strong. Add a couple of spoons full of capers, pour over chicken and serve.
   

Pork w/ Honey Butter

Really simple and good:

4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp honey
1.5 lb pork tenderloin
salt/pepper
1/4 cup water

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Melt butter over medium heat in an oven-proof pan and combine with honey.
2. Salt/Pepper the tenderloin lightly and add to the pan, searing on each side for a couple of minutes.
3. Move pan to the oven and cook for 12-15 minutes until cooked through. Remove from the oven and take the tenderloin out of the pan. Slice and arrange on plate, cover w/ foil to keep warm.
4. Put the pan back on medium heat and add water to scrape up all bitlets. Reduce until thickened and drizzle over pork.
   

Gougeres

These little puffs of cheese are actually pretty easy to make, and cute and delicious to boot!

Ingredients:

1/2 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup milk (or water)
1/4 tsp salt
dash of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated* (keep some to use as topping at the end)
1 cup cheddar, grated*
1 cup flour
3 eggs
1/2 tsp paprika
coarse salt for sprinkling on top
herbs (you can use whichever you like! I used dried thyme because I didn't want to buy fresh thyme at the store (but fresh will taste better!). You can use sage, or parsley, chives, or anything else you like!)

* Traditionally, gougeres are made with gruyere cheese, but really, you can sub in anything that's your favorite! I plan on making these again with chives and goat cheese!

Directions:
1. Melt butter in saucepan with milk, 1/4 tsp salt, and cayenne pepper.
2. Once melted, bring to a boil, and remove from heat.
3. Add flour and quickly stir to mix well. This should form a sticky dough (called coux paste).
4. Put saucepan back on heat, and cook while mixing dough with a wooden spoon for another 1-2 minutes, to remove some residual moisture.
5. Dump dough into a stand mixer (or a food processor if you don't have a mixer) and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

**at this point, I preheat the oven to 375 F.

6. Add 1 egg at a time, beating to fully incorporate it before adding the next one. At first, it will look like the egg won't mix with the dough, but it'll eventually incorporate.
7. Once all the egg is beat in, the dough should be thick and shiny. Throw in the cheese and paprika, mixing until incorporated. Add any herbs you want, and mix them in too.
8. Take a baking sheet and line with either silicone mats, or parchment paper.
9. You can either use a tablespoon to scoop out balls and put them on the sheet, or you can use a pastry bag. I took a Ziploc bag, stuffed all my dough into it, and then snipped off the corner, turning it into my own ghetto bag. Pipe about 1 tbs mounds onto your sheet.
10. Top off with shredded parmesan and a bit of your course salt.
11. Bake for about 30 minutes, until puffed and browned. If your oven does not bake evenly, you can turn your baking sheet around at 15 minutes.
12. Take out, let it sit for a couple minutes, and then enjoy!!

Nom nom nom!!

Chocolate Pudding Pie

I had a huge hankering for chocolate pudding pie ever since I saw this beautiful post by Smitten Kitchen.I basically followed her recipe to a tee, and it was so delicious and wonderful. The most difficult part is pie crust (of which I also used her recipe for all-butter crust...but that's b/c I abhor shortening), but if you're feeling lazy, you could always just sub in a pre-made crust from the store

This pie totally hit the spot!

Easy Pork Medallions with Red Wine Reduction

I made this the other day and it was super good and very easy

Pork Tenderloin, ~1.5 lbs
salt/pepper
Olive Oil
~1 tbsp finely chopped shallot
~1 tsp finely chopped fresh tarragon
1/2-1 cup red wine
1/2-1 tbsp butter

1. Remove "silver skin" from the tenderloin. Slice tenderloin 3/4 inch thick. Pound into approx 1/2 inch, and make sure the thickness is even! Sprinkle each side with salt and pepper.
   
2. Heat a little bit of oil to lubricate pan. Cook the pork medallions - my guess is 3-5 minutes each side so that they're still tender and juicy. Don't let the sides brown too much. As the pieces finish, remove and place in your serving dish, covered with foil to keep warm.
3. Cook shallots in the same pan for a couple of minutes. Throw in tarragon for another minute. Add wine and cook keep mixing as it steams and reduces. When it's reduced to about 1/2 the original amount, add the butter and mix until melted. Pour sauce over pork and serve!
   

Cheesecake Cookies

Here's an incredibly easy cookie recipe that I've made a few times now (both because of how easy it is, and because everyone I know seems to love them).


CHEESECAKE COOKIES:

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup All Purpose flour

(optional): toppings/flavors. Examples include zest with a squeeze of juice, chocolate chips, craisins, etc.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. Line baking sheet with Silpat (or parchment paper)

3. In a large bowl, beat together butter, cream cheese, and sugar

4. Add flour and mix until dough forms

5. Add any flavors you want

6. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto Silpat or parchment paper. You can add additional toppings at this point.

7. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until the bottom edge starts to brown.

These are flavored with orange zest/juice and topped with Craisins.

Shrimp and Papaya Salad

I've made this twice before and both times everyone loved it. Again, from another recipe. This makes a really good side dish. I really want to try it with canned crab instead of shrimp, but haven't yet.

Shrimp and Papaya Salad

4 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp picked ginger, minced
3 tbsp of the juice from the ginger jar
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 bag broccoli slaw mix
1 lb. bag frozen shrimp, peeled, thawed and cut into little chunks
1 small papaya, diced
1 mango, diced
1/4 c chopped cilantro
salt

1. Wisk together first four ingredients
2. Toss in the rest of the ingredients
   

Innaugural Recipe! Summer Cake - Pear Raspberry

So I don't bake much anymore, but this cake was pretty amazing, and I thought I'd share. I got it from my sister's weight watcher magazine, but modified it making it less healthy and slightly easier. I'll just write exactly what I did.

15 oz. can of pear halves, drained
1 box yellow cake mix
3/4 c. whole milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 container (6 oz.) fresh raspberries

GLAZE:
1 c. powdered sugar
2 tbsp. orange juice
sliced toasted almonds for garnish

1. Puree the pears in a food processor. Boil/simmer in a sauce pan until it's about a cup. This took me like an hour, so I did it the night before. (If you're ambitious, use 2 cans of pears instead of one and boil down to a cup, but I think the fact that I only used 1 can made it way more moist.) Refrigerate for approx 15 min until cool.
2. Preheat oven to 350 deg. Spray bundt pan with pam and dust with flour.
3. Mix until smooth: puree, cake mix, milk, eggs, vanilla, almond extract.
4. Pour half batter into the pan. Arrange the raspberries on top of the batter. Pour the rest on top.
5. Bake 45 minutes.
6. Cool completely. Otherwise the icing will run or soak in and not look pretty.
   
7. Mix powdered sugar and orange juice for icing.

Enjoy!

Welcome!

As promised, a recipe blog!