Honey Sesame Chicken October 2013

Honey Sesame Chicken

ingredients

• 2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or thighs)
• salt and pepper
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup diced onion (optional)
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 6 Tablespoons water
• sesame seeds
• 3 scallions, chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. Lightly season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, and place into your crock pot.
2. In a medium bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour mixture over chicken. Cook on low for 4 hours.
3. Remove chicken from crock pot, but reserve sauce in the pot. Dissolve 4 teaspoons of cornstarch in 6 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace the lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until it thickens slightly.
4. Shred chicken into bite size pieces. Serve chicken over cooked rice and spoon some sauce on top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and chopped scallions.

Lasagna

1 lb lean ground beef OR

        ½ lean ground beef and ½ of Italian sausage

1 cup chopped onion

1 can Italian diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 8oz cans of tomato sauce (or more if you like your sauce saucy J)

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons basil

1 cup Ricotta cheese

1 cup cottage cheese

¼ cup shredded fresh Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

½ teaspoon oregano

4 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

½ cup shredded fresh Parmesan cheese

8-12 Lasagna noodles uncooked

Brown beef (and sausage) with onion.

Add tomatoes, garlic, tomato sauce, 1 Tablespoon parsley, sugar, salt, and basil.

Heat to boiling. Reduce heat simmer for 1 hour.

Mix Ricotta, cottage cheese, ¼ cup Parmesan, 1 tsp parsley, and 1 tsp oregano. 

Reserve ½ cup to 1 cup of meat sauce for the top. I

n ungreased foil baking pan, make 2 to 3 layers each of sauce, uncooked noodles , mozzarella cheese mixture. 

Spread reserved sauce over top. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cover with extra heavy foil. Label and freeze. Aprx. 12 serving.

Serve with Bread Sticks and salad.   

 JEANS BREAD STICKS                  

1 ½ cups warm water            ½ tsp salt
2 Tbl sugar                            1 cube butter
1 Tbl yeast                            Garlic salt
3 to 4 cups bread flour          Grated Parmesan cheese

Dissolve yeast in water and sugar.  Add flour and salt.  Mix and knead 5 to 6 minutes.  Let rest 10 minutes.  Break off into golf ball size balls and roll into bread sticks.  Put in deep cookie sheet.  Melt butter and spoon over each bread stick.  Lift each bread stick to get butter under .  Sprinkle with garlic salt and Parmesan cheese (liberally).  Let rise 15 to 20 minutes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Won Ton Tacos - October

I will be doing Won Ton Tacos for October. The recipe is pretty easy:


Cook ground hamburger. Add Taco Seasoning. Cook s instructed. Let cool. Place in zip-loc freezer bag and freeze.

Defrost frozen meat. Reheat. Spray muffin tin with Pam. Place won ton in each muffin tin. Add warmed hamburger meat, top with shredded cheese if you would like. Cook in Oven at 350 until won ton is golden and cheese is melted. Serve with taco toppings. Enjoy!

Chipotle Chicken Skewers

INGREDIENTS

Chicken Skewers:
• 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4-5 medium chicken breasts)
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, minced (scrape out the seeds before mincing to reduce spiciness)
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 12 bamboo or metal skewers
Creamy Dipping Sauce:
• 3/4 cup lowfat sour cream
• 1/4 cup lowfat mayonnaise or Greek yogurt
• Juice from one lime
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, minced
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Slice the chicken breasts into long, thin strips, about 1/2-inch thick. You should have right around 30 strips. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cilantro, chipotle chile, adobo sauce, salt, chili powder, garlic powder, and pepper. Toss the chicken with the brown sugar mixture coating all the pieces evenly. Cover the chicken (or place in a ziploc bag) and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
2. For the dipping sauce, in a bowl, stir all the ingredients together. Cover the mixture and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes until the flavors combine. Alternately, you can make the dipping sauce in advance and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Be sure to season the dipping sauce with additional lime juice, salt and pepper to taste before serving.
3. 30 minutes before grilling, cover the bamboo skewers with water and soak. Skip this step if using metal skewers.
4. Preheat an oven broiler or gas/charcoal grill. Weave two strips of chicken onto each skewer. Broil or grill the chicken for 5-8 minutes until cooked through, using nonstick cooking spray on a foil-lined pan if you are broiling. Serve immediately (if you broil, you may need to cook in batches) with the dipping sauce.

Freezer Instructions: 

Thaw chicken; thread on skewers and grill!

Cilantro Thai Grilled Chicken

Cilantro Thai Grilled Chicken

Cilantro Thai Grilled Chicken (serves 8)

4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 cup cilantro
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

8 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Grill or put under broiler

(I thought I was going to do Huli Huli Chicken - but this recipe is so yummy and a little different - great on the grill! Hope you guys like it!)

Fresh Basil Pesto Linguini with Homemade French Bread

Fresh Basil Pesto w/ Linguini

Ingredients:

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup of pinenuts
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino, Romano, or Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Combine basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coursely chopped. I like to add slowly the olive oil until it is incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

FREEZER DIRECTIONS:

Thaw pesto in the refrigerator. Cook Linguini as shown on package. Toss the pesto into the warm pasta. Serve.  You may need to add a bit of olive oil to help cover the pasta.


European French Bread Recipe

Ingredients
2 1/2 c warm water
2 T sugar
2 pkgs yeast (2 T)
1 T oil
1 T salt
6 c flour
1 egg, Beaten
Sesame seeds (optional)

In a large bowl, mix water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand until dissolved. Add salt, oil and 3 cups of flour. Beat vigorously. Stir in remaining flour until well mixed. Let rest 10 min. Stir down. Repeat resting and stirring down 5 times. Turn onto floured surface. Knead only enough to coat dough enough to handle. Divide into 2 parts. Roll 1 part into a 9 x 12 inch rectangle. Roll up jellyroll fashion starting with the long portion of dough. Place lengthwise on greased cookie sheet. Let rise for 30 minutes. Make 3 diagonal slashes across loaf with a sharp knife. Brush the surface with beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Remove to cool. Wait at least 5 to 10  minutes before cutting into slices.

I will be doing Korean Fire Sticks this month for our food group. I have put the recipe on the blog before, look under beef or my name.
Thanks, Darla