Chicken Enchiladas

I found this recipe in a Mexican Cookbook I have and since I was looking for something new I went for this recipe. Chicken Enchiladas are something I always order when I go out to Mexican restaurants and it's something I will still do because making them at home was simple but time consuming. For the sauce I used a standard Mexican Red sauce or salsa roja. This sauce can be used as a taco topping or even a dip for chips. To make the dish a little healthier I only used chicken breast meat, I cut down on the cheese, and used whole wheat tortillas. For garnish I whipped up a little guacamole, a black bean and quinoa salad and bought a bag of tortilla chips for some crunch in the final dish.

Ingredients:

1 batch of Salsa Roja (below) or 1 jar bought enchilada sauce
1 cup grated cheese like monterey jack or cheddar
3 cups shredded pre-cooked chicken
salt and pepper
12 tortillas

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450

2. In a bowl mix 1/4 cup of enchilada salsa and 1/4 cup cheese with the chicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Coat 1 tortilla in sauce by dipping it right into the pan of warmed sauce. Place on a plate and put about 1/4 cup of chicken filling. Roll up. Repeat until filling and tortillas are gone. Place each one in a 9 x 13 baking sheet.

4. Spoon the rest of the enchilada sauce over the top of the rolled tortillas and sprinkle with some of the remaining cheese. Bake for 20 minutes of until heated through and bubbling.


Salsa Roja

6 large, ripe tomatoes
3 serrano chiles
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 of an onion, chopped
salt and pepper

1. Place the tomatoes and serrano chiles in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the tomato skins are peeling off and the tomatoes are soft but not mushy, about 5 minutes. Removes tomatoes and chilies with a slotted spoon and let cool for a few minutes, then peel off the tomato skins and stem and seed the chiles.

2. Puree the tomatoes, chilis, and chicken stock in a blender and set aside.

3. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Saute the garlic and onion until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato mixture and cook, stirring until liquid has evaporated and sauce has thickened slightly.

-my tweek on this recipe is at the final step, I blended everything together because I didn't like the chunk of the veg. for the final enchiladas.

Bruschetta

For this appetizer, you can make the tomato mix before hand but you really need to buy fresh bread the day of and toast the bread the day of. Toasting bread under the broiler takes like 2 minutes max and the freshness of the bread adds tremendous flavor to the overall dish. When topping the bread make sure to wait to the last minute so bread doesn't get too soggy.

Ingredients:

2 loafs of fresh bread, cut on the bias into 1/4 inch thick slices
olive oil

Topping:
4 large tomatoes- halved and seeds removed
1 head of garlic
1 bunch of basil (save half the bunch for topping)
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 tbs olive oil


Directions:

1. Place tomatoes on a foil lined pan cut side up and broil for 5 minutes until tomatoes are slightly charred.

2. When tomatoes are cool enough to handle, chop and place in a bowl

3. Slice head of garlic in half and place in aluminum foil. Cup/tent the foil around the garlic and then drizzle a little olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Seal garlic well in foil and roast in oven at 350 for about 45 minutes-1 hr or until garlic is golden brown and soft

4. Squeeze garlic into a separate bowl and mash with some salt and a fork.

5. add garlic mash to tomatoes and combine other ingredients of the mixture. You can do this 2 days in advance.

Day Of:

1. Buy bread, slice and toast. To promote browning, drizzle bread with a little olive oil.

2. Right before the party starts top the toasted bread with the tomato mix. I strained the mixture to get rid of the extra liquid so the bread wouldn't get too soggy.

3. Garnish with a chiffonade of basil.

Stuffed Dates

These are the Shea Center appetizer dates that I have made numerous times and are ALWAYS a huge hit. TRY THESE!!!! You can pit and halve the dates the day before but they need to be assembled the day of. Luckily you can do them early in the day and all you need to do is broil them right before the party starts. These are best eaten piping hot but they're still delicious at room temp.

Ingredients (needed for each one)

1 half of a medjool date, pited
1/2 tsp goat cheese-easier at room temp
1 small basil leaf
1 strip of proscuitto

Directions:

1. fill empty date with goat cheese.

2. Wrap with basil and then wrap with proscuitto

3. Skewer date so everything stays on

4. At last minute, place dates under broiler for 2 minutes or until proscuitto is a little crispy and browned.

South-Western Salsa Cups

Another appetizer for Mom's party.



TIP: make sure to taste each appetizer before you start making a bunch of each one to make sure everything is seasoned right. Make one sample of the dish and try it then make 50-60 of them.

Ingredients:

1 cob of corn
1 can of black beans, drained
1 large tomato or 2 small, seeded and chopped
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
2 avocados
2 limes
1 bag tostido scoops or similar tortilla chip cup

Directions:

1. Peel and clean corn cob. Roast on the grill for 5-7 minutes and rotate until all sides are charred.

2. Cut kernels off the cob and place in a bowl. Add beans, tomatoes, red onion, parsley. Season this with the zest of 1 lime and some salt and pepper. You can do this part 2 days in advance.

Day of the party:

1. line up chip cups.

2. squeeze juice of lime. Reserve some for avocado but add some lime juice to your taste to add some freshness to the dish.

3. Right when you're ready to serve spoon bean and corn mixture into the tortilla cups.

4. Remove avocado half from the peel with a large spoon. Chop up on a cutting board and place into lime juice so avocado won't turn brown. Season avocado with a little salt and pepper while in the lime juice.

5. Place one small piece of avocado on top of each cup and serve.

Cheese Tray

I've learned a few techniques to make a cheese tray for appetizers.

1. use 3 different cheeses. it can be diff colors, flavors, textures, heights anything.

2. Slice a few pieces off the block of cheese and cube for easier eating. Leave a big chunk of the cheese for better aesthetics.

3. Use large green leaves on the bottom or green grapes for color

4. Keep items in large groupings. It looks better this way. I don't know why or how but it does haha

5. try to make different shapes to keep the tray interesting.

Caprese Skewers

These are a way to get a caprese salad in a small bite size way. You can either marinate the cheese and tomatoes with a balsamic vinagrette or drizzle the finished skewers.

Ingredients:

cherry tomatoes
basil leaves
mozzarella-cubed into small bite sizes

Vinagrette:
5 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. balsamic vinegar
zest of 1 lemon
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients for vinegrette. Whisk or shack together (can be done in advance. Pour over cheese or tomatoes and cover well or store dressing separately.

2. On day of, skewer 1 cherry tomato, 1 small basil leaf, and 1 piece of cheese.

3. Keep in fridge until ready to serve. Drizzle last minute if you didn't marinate prior

Tea Sandwiches

These are a great appetizer because they are filling and can be made way in advance! I suggest making 3-4 different types of sandwiches so there is a selection. I made chicken salad, turkey and cheese, and ham and cheese. Make sure to get really good stuff from the deli so all you have to do is take it home and assemble.

The way to keep these sandwiches fresh so you can make them early is simple! Make your sandwiches. Get a paper towel and wet it and then wring it out so it is only slightly damp. Layer a paper towel in between each sandwich and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Place them in the fridge until you are ready. When it's time to serve cut off the crusts and cut the sandwich in half or fourths so they are small and easy to eat.

Place them on a large platter in tall stacks so the table has extra height for the overall presentation later.

Mom's Summer Appetizer Party

It's become a tradition for my mom and I to throw a party once every summer. I cater this party for free/fun as a birthday present for her. This year's was the easiest yet and everyone seemed really happy with the food. I've learned to change the menu of the food based on my audience so for this party of all women talking and drinking wine I decided to make healthy finger foods. It's important for a party that the food selection is broad so everyone can get something they like, enough food to be hearty and filling so peopel don't feel gipped, and finally to make the food small so people aren't talking with huge chunks of food in their mouth. Also, when making appetizer selections make sure to think about the setting- are their knifes and forks or should everything be hand held.

Since this is the third year that I've catered this party I've learned a lot and I think the menu below was the best yet!!! I was also happy because I didn't over buy a ton of extra food.

To make this post not be insanely long I made each appetizer its own post. : )

Jerk Chicken

This is the same recipe that I used for the Shea Center parties but in a main course size. I love the flavor of this marinade! I want to try it on fish or beef to see if it's just as good.



When we serve it at parties we do a mango salsa but I personally am not a big fan of fruit flavors so I just served the jerk chicken with rice and a little of the jerk marinade which I reserved before adding to the raw chicken. I then added this marinade to mexican crema but you could use sour cream or yogurt. I liked adding a little fresh herbage to the Jerk Cream sauce for a little freshness for the dish.

I wasn't completely happy with my first version of this so I made some mashed potatoes and served the chicken with the raw marinade that I had reserved. I liked this better because it was spicier but I'm still not 100% satisfied. I think I'll cook the marinade a little so the sauce doesn't have such a raw and bold taste.

Marinade:
4 whole green onions, ends trimmed
2 tbs fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
3 serrano chiles, minced (include seeds for extra spice)
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs cider vinegar
Chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite size pieces

Directions:

Char green onions on the grill or stove burner. Chop when cool enough to handle. In a food processor combine all the ingredients for the jerk marinade. Add chicken and marinade over night.

On the day of the party, remove chicken from marinade and thread onto metal skewers. Grill for a few minutes until chicken is cooked through and has nice grill marks. Rest chicken on the metal skewers and when cool enough to handle place on small wooden toothpicks or skewers.

At the party we served the chicken with a pineapple salsa but you could also serve it with some marinade that you reserved originally. (don't use marinade that had raw chicken in it over night). This is better if its served warm but still tastes really good when its at room temp.

Cucumber Salad

I love making Czech classics, especially when I'm drinking good Czech beer haha. I used the recipe from my October 2009 post for the schnitzel and potatoes. The cucumber salad is a nice touch to the meal because it adds some acidity which cuts the heaviness of the rest of the meal. My grandma makes the best cucumber salad but sadly I'm not at my parents house so I couldn't find her recipe. Instead I used a recipe I found in a czech cookbook from the Czech Republic so it's got to be good still! haha. If you like cucumbers or pickles, this salad is for you!

Cucumber Salad:

Ingredients:

1 large english cucumber, peeled and seeded
salt and pepper
1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
1-3 tsp sugar

Directions:

1. Thinly slice cucumber. You can use a food processor with a slicing blade if you plan to make more than 1 cucumbers worth.

2. Put in a small container and sprinkle with vinegar, sugar, and salt and pepper. Mix together and taste. If it is too acidic for you're taste, add more sugar.

3. Allow to sit in the fridge for a few hours before eating. This dish gets better the longer it sits and marinates.

Variations on Pasta

So I was still super excited about my pasta roller so I made a few other types of ravioli and pasta. To tell them apart I made them different sizes but another cool trick you can do is cut the edges of different ravioli in different ways. Ex: beef ravioli could be straight edged and cheese could have a cool fluted edge and a third type of ravioli could be a different shape.

My best tips from making all the pastas is to season them! Season the dough and the fillings and the sauce so when they're all together, they are delicious!!!


Pasta #1
Cheese Ravioli

For this pasta I used the dough and cheese filling from my egg yolk pasta and simply left out the egg yolk. The method and cooking were all the same, just an egg yolk less.



Pasta #2
Shredded Beef Ravioli

I had some left over beef stew so I shredded it, made sure it was moist with extra stew sauce and used it as filling for the pasta. Same ravioli technique but I cooked this one for an extra minute before serving with marinara sauce



Pasta #3
Spaghetti Marinara

I rolled one ravioli sheet thicker than the others so I used it to cut into thin long strip and serve as ravioli. It was difficult to cut even strips and I had to use lots of flour to make sure they didn't stick to eachother. They make fancy pasta cutters that make awesome noodles but since I'm cheap, I'll be sticky to a knife and lopsided noodles, they still taste great!

Egg Yolk Ravioli

I just ordered a pasta roller attachment for my kitchen aid mixer and I'm really excited to use it! I've seen the idea of putting an egg yolk in a ravioli a few times like on iron chef and it always looks delicious. I wanted to do a dinner time version of Juevos Rancheros which is a sunny side egg dish with beans, tortilla and spicy tomato salsa. I decided to do the egg ravioli with a cheesy filling and serve it with marinara sauce with extra red pepper flakes for more kick. The runny egg yolk combined with the marinara and the sauce was super rich and delicious!

Ingredients:

Basic Pasta Dough
1 tbs olive oil
2 cups All Purpose flour
3 large eggs
punch of salt

Filling:
1 egg yolk per ravioli
1 cup ricotta
1/4 cup grated parm
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbs chopped fresh herbs ex: thyme, chives, basil, parsley, etc.

Directions:

To make pasta dough:
1. mound flour into a pile on a clean surface like granite or a wood cutting board.

2. In separate bowl whisk eggs, oil, and salt with a fork.

3. Make a well in the middle of the flour mound and pour in the liquid mixture. Using the fork slowly mix flour into middle of dough.

4. Once liquid mostly incorporated with flour, go ahead and use your hands to knead the dough. You want to knead it for a bit until the dough is no longer sticky. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let rest in fridge for 1 hr. Don't skip the resting period!!!

Making the Filling:

1. Combine cheese, lemon, and herbs in a bowl and set aside. Make sure to season with salt and pepper.

Roll Out the Dough:

1. Divide the dough into 3-4 sections to make it easier to work with. Make sure to have extra flour out if dough starts to get sticky during rolling.

2. Using the pasta roller on its widest setting and at low speed, feed pasta through rollers. Roll again at this setting. Turn knob down one notch and repeat. Keep making the dough thinner until it is the thickness you desire. With the kitchen aid roller I liked #5 for ravioli and #4 (slightly wider) for spaghetti and other noodles.

Tips I found while rolling pasta: make sheets as wide as possible for easier filling later, do this by tri folding the dough into the right size on know 1 (thickest setting). Use back of hands to handle dough or you'll rip it. If you make any mistakes just ball up the dough, go back the widest setting, and try again.

3. Once you have a few pasta sheets rolled out place them on a lightly floured service. Pull out cheese filling, eggs, and an egg wash (1 egg whisked with 1 tbs water) for sealing.

4. starting from one end of the dough, place a large spoonful of the cheese filling in the middle of a noodle. Make a well to hold the yolk. Crack and egg and use your hand to separate the white and yolk. Place yolk in well of cheese mix. Repeat this as many times as possible on one sheet. Try to make each mound about 1-2 inch apart.

5. Once all mounds are done, spread egg wash with a pastry brush or your finger around the mounds.

6. Line-up another sheet of pasta over the mounds. Work slowly, getting all the air out so they don't explode later. Use your fingers to seal everything really well. Cut out ravioli with as much extra pasta outline you want. You can use a knife, ring cutter, or fancy flutted edge roller.

7. Cook the egg ravioli in boiling salted water for 3 minutes. cook a minute or too longer if you like a more well done yolk.

8. Toss cooked ravioli in a separate pan with marinara sauce and cook another 30 seconds. Plate and top with extra parmesan cheese or to be extra fancy-crispy bacon and make it a play on breakfast!

Shrimp and Spaghetti with Pesto Cream Sauce

I wanted something simple that I knew would taste delicious. I always love shrimp and pasta and with the creamy pesto flavored sauce I knew I couldn't go wrong. There's tons of variations for this dish. You can add lots of flavorings to the cream like tomato sauce, chopped veggies, or just simply cheese.

Ingredients:

1 handful of pasta, any shape you like but I prefer a long noodle
1 tbs prepared pesto (can buy at most stores)
1/3 cup heavy cream (or mix of milk and heavy cream if you want a lighter version)
parmesan cheese
3-4 shrimp per serving, peeled and deveined
salt and pepper
lemon (optional)

Directions:

1. Boil a large pot of salted water

2. While water heats up season shrimp with salt and pepper and saute in a large pan that you'll later use for combining everything. Saute each side for about 2 minutes of medium high heat or until pink all the way through. Set aside.

3. Drop pasta into boiling water. Add pesto to the old shrimp pan and cook over low heat for 20 seconds. Add cream and whisk together. Season with salt and pepper (lemon is a nice touch too if you have it). Cook for 1 minute or until cream is slightly thickened.

4. When pasta is done, strain it and add to pan with sauce. Grate fresh parm cheese over the noodles and stir until combined. Cook another minute or two until sauce is the consistency you like- remember that it will thicken while it cools.

5. Add the pasta to a plate and top with pre-cooked shrimp. Add some extra parm cheese and eat!

Chicken Curry

I'm actually really proud of this dish. It tasted delicious but spicy, it's the first Indian food I've made, and the plating turned out well. It's really rare for me to be completely satisfied after cooking all day but this is one of those times. This dish is really spicy, like I'm literally sweating while I'm eating it. If you want to make it more mild you can add more heavy cream and if you want it spicier (I'm a whimp about spicy flavors)then add red pepper flakes but in my opinion the spice level is perfect for the Indian dish. I got this recipe from Aarti on the food network and made a few Klein twists.

Marinade:

1 cup plain yogurt, whisked until smooth
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, put through a garlic press or finely minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into large bite-size chunks

Curry Sauce:

3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
2-inch thumb ginger, peeled and minced
2 jalapeno pepper, minced (seeds removed if you don't want it spicy) 1 with seeds
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons paprika
1 TBS curry powder
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves, optional
1/2 cup heavy cream
Fresh cilantro leaves, minced
Serving suggestion: Cooked rice, warm naan bread or crusty bread.

DIRECTIONS:
For the marinade:

In large bowl, mix the yogurt, ginger, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Poke chicken with a fork, then add to marinade. Fold to cover and marinate at least 30 minutes, at most refrigerated overnight.

For the sauce:

1. When you're ready to make the curry, place a large skillet over medium heat, and add the butter and olive oil. When butter has melted, add the garlic, ginger, and jalepeno pepper. Saute until lightly browned around the edges.

2. Add the tomato paste and cook until the tomato has darkened in color, about 3 minutes.

3. Add the paprika and curry powder, and saute for about 1 minute to draw out their flavors.

4. Add the tomatoes, salt, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer, and cover. Cook for 20 minutes. Take the pan off the fire, and allow the sauce to cool for 5 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, fire up your broiler, and cover your broiler pan in foil. Pull the chicken thigh chunks out of the marinade and place on the sheet. Place under the broiler, and cook about 7 minutes on each side, until charred and cooked through. Cook's Note: Don't worry if the chicken is still a little uncooked, but very charred on the outside; you can finish cooking the chicken in the sauce.
Cook's Note 2: make sure to broil or grill the chicken because baking the yogurt covered chicken won't give it a good consistency, trust me. hah

6. Pour sauce into a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Pour back into the pan, and bring back up to a boil. Add the chicken and fenugreek leaves, if using. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes.

7. Add cream and stir through. Garnish with minced fresh cilantro if you like, and serve over rice, with naan or a crusty piece of bread! To plate the curry fancy like pour just the red curry in and then add the cream later for a color contrast. When you mix everything up together to eat it, it'll taste the same.

CheeseCake

Tomorrow I am going to a hang out with my cousins and make some Duck and Dumplings. My younger cousin, Jenna, really loves cheesecake so I thought I'd surprise her by making one. This recipe takes some time but the end result is so creamy and luscious. The hardest part of this recipe is waiting for the cheesecake to cool down for so long before you can eat it. haha

While waiting for my cheesecake to cool, I was reading some of my first blog posts and saw that I always ended it with Na Zdraví. I don't know when I stopped doing this but I think I'm going to try to bring it back!

INGREDIENTS:
Crust:

33 graham cracker squares, crumbled
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus additional, for brushing the pan
1 tablespoon sugar

Filling:

20 ounces cream cheese
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 yolks
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Brush some of the melted butter around a 9 by 3-inch cake pan. Adhere parchment to the bottom and the sides.

2. In a small bowl, combine crumbled graham crackers, the remaining melted butter, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Press 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the parchment-lined pan. Place remaining crumbs on a sheet pan and bake both the crust and the remaining mixture for 10 minutes. Cool. Reserve additional crumb mixture for sides.

3. In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat sour cream for 10 seconds. Add the cream cheese and sugar and mix on low for 30 seconds and then turn up to medium until everything is well mixed. Scrape the bowl.

4. In a separate container, combine vanilla, eggs, yolks, and heavy cream. With the mixer on medium, slowly pour the liquid mixture in. When half of it is incorporated, stop and scrape. Continue adding the mixture until the rest of the ingredients are incorporated. Once completely combined, pour into the cooled crust.

5. Put in a 300 degrees F oven. Place cheesecake into a preheated water bath, in the oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off and open the door for one minute. Close the door for one more 1/2 hour. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and place in the refrigerator for 6 hours to completely cool before serving.

6. When ready to serve, place the entire cake pan into a hot water bath for about 15 seconds. Unmold onto a cake round or serving dish. Take the remaining graham cracker mixture and press into the sides of the cake.

7. To slice, place your knife into a hot water bath and wipe dry each time you make a pass through the cake.

Na Zdraví

Beef Goulash

My family comes from the Czech Republic so I love the classic Eastern European dishes. My mom recently came back from visiting Prague and brought some Czech cookbooks back with her. There are lots of cool dishes I wanted to try but the goulash was in every single book so I had to try it first. The funniest part of the cookbooks is that fact that all the measurements are in metric units so I had to convert everything to our system haha.

You can serve this up with a rice or potato side dish and if you want to be really traditional, bread dumplings. I love how this dish uses really Czech flavors like caraway seeds and paprika.

Ingredients:

2-3 Tbs Olive Oil
2 lbs stew beef
1 large onion, sliced
2 Tbs paprika
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
3 clove garlic
beef stock or water to cover
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp marjoram
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs flour

Directions:

1. Pour olive oil in a large pan and heat over medium high. Season beef chunks with salt and pepper. Sear beef in oil until browned.

2. Add sliced onion and saute about 5 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.

3. Add paprika and caraway and toast for 30 seconds. Cover beef with stock. Make sure to scrap the bottom of the pan to get up all the browned bits of flavor.

4. Simmer this mixture over low heat until meat is soft, about 1- 2 hours.

5. While beef is cooking make mashed potatoes or dumplings.

6. Once meat is soft, add a mixture of 1 tbs butter to 1 tbs flour that has been mashed to a paste to a small separate bowl. Whisk a ladle worth of the goulash liquid into the flour-butter mash (roux) and stir until smooth mixture. Add 1 more ladle worth and whisk in separate bowl. Once side mixture is smooth and well incorporated, add back the the goulash pan and mix well. Allow to cook over a simmer until sauce is thickened to your liking. Once thickened, add a squeeze of lemon and the marjoram to add some brightness to the heavy dish.

7. Cut dumplings or spoon out some potatoes and then top with the goulash and lots of extra sauce!

Shrimp Fried Rice

I was in the mood for some asian food and while looking through the cabinets I found everything I needed for this dish. I love how quick cooking this dish is!

Ingredients:
1 - 2 green onions, if you have them
1 large eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed
2 cups cold cooked rice
1 - 2 tablespoons light soy sauce or oyster sauce
1 cooked chicken piece like thigh or breast cut into bite size pieces

Directions:

1. Wash and finely chop the green onion. Lightly beat the eggs with the salt and pepper. Clean and peel shrimp.

2. Heat a wok or frying pan and add 1 tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp. Cook on each side for about 2 minutes. Set aside. Clean out pan.

3. Reheat pan and add 1 tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add the eggs. Cook, stirring, until they are lightly scrambled but not too dry. Remove the eggs and clean out the pan.

4. Add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the rice. Stir-fry for a minute, using chopsticks or a wooden spoon to break it apart. Add in the soy sauce or oyster sauce as desired.

4. When the rice is heated through, add the scrambled egg and shrimp back into the pan. Mix thoroughly. Stir in the green onion. Serve hot.

Caramel Ice Cream

This ice cream was a big hit with pretty much everyone. It almost tasted like a werther's caramel but in cold creamy form. Once you make the ice cream there's lots of awesome things to do with it like add candies or chocolate chips to the mix, make milkshakes and smoothies, and ice cream sandwiches to name a few. Something I really wanted to do with it was Caramel Apple Pie- an apple pie with a scoop of the caramel ice cream on top so the flavors are literally a combo of a caramel apple and pie. This idea then lead to maple syrup ice cream on waffles.

My first batch of caramel ended up getting really crystallized and chunky. It happened because there were too many sugar crystals on the sides of the pan. To prevent this add the sugar to the pan first and then pour the water slowly all around the pan to wash sugar off sides. Stir carefully with the fork until all sugar is covered in water but none is one sides.

If you don't want caramel ice cream but just a hint of caramel, churn the vanilla ice cream base and then swirl the caramel in before you freeze the ice cream.

Ingredients:

Ice Cream Base: yields about 3 cups of Ice cream (good for a standard ice cream machine)

1 cup whole milk
4 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream

For Caramel:
3/4 cups sugar
1/6 cup water (just measure by filling a 1/3 cup half way)
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean

To Make Ice Cream Base:

1. Heat the milk in a sauce pan over medium-low heat.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow in color and the sugar has dissolved.

3. Gradually pour the warmed milk into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly.

4. Pour the mixture back into the same saucepan you used to warm the milk. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.

5. Strain the custard with a very fine strainer or seive into a heat proof bowl.

6. Add the heavy cream and stir until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly, at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.



To make Caramel:

1. Heat the sugar and water in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan over medium heat, stirring with a fork to heat the sugar evenly, until it starts to melt, then stop stirring and swirl the pan so the sugar melts evenly, and continue cooking until it is a dark amber color.

2. Carefully add the heavy cream (the mixture will splatter) and cook, stirring until all the caramel has dissolved. Transfer to a heat-proof bowl and stir in the sea salt and vanilla.

3. Set the caramel mixture over a bowl filled with ice water and stir until chilled to room temperature.

4. Combine the caramel mixture with the Ice Cream Base by pouring the caramel slowly into the cream base and whisking constantly. Keep mixing until caramel is evenly distributed.

5. Place mixture back in fridge to cool. The cooler the mix is before churning, the better the ice cream will be.

6. To churn ice cream simply follow the directions for your ice cream machine. Once churned, place in a container with an air tight lid and freeze until ice cream is super cold.

Shrimp Risotto

I love shrimp in rice and pasta! I feel like I'm being healthy and it tastes so satisfying. This meal could be used as a side dish because it tastes good warm as well as at room temp. It is also really filling and can totally pass as a main dish. Want to add some veggies? Here are some suggestions: broccoli, peas, green beans, and artichoke hearts. Once you get the basic idea of risotto feel free to play around with different meats and veggies to create different flavors and textures.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup arborio rice
4 cups chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 large onion, chopped
10-12 shrimp (frozen and thawed or fresh)
1 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs butter
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

serves 2

Directions:
1. Place chicken stock in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer.

2. In another large saute pan add olive oil. Add thinly sliced garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add shrimp to pan and saute 1 minute then flip and cook another minute. Remove shrimp and garlic from pan and set aside.

3. Add butter to pan that shrimp was cooked in and melt. Add onions and a pinch of salt, cook on low heat until translucent.

4. Add rice and a small pinch of salt and allow to cook with butter and onions for 3 minutes. You want rice to brown a little but not burn! try to stir a lot so it won't burn.

5. Add 2 ladelfuls of warm stock to pan. It will bubble violently but don't worry just keep stirring.

6. The trick to a good risotto is to keep adding stock when the rice has absorbed what was already added. Keep stirring! It'll take about 20 minutes to add all the stock. When most of the stock is added start tasting the rice to make sure it's tender and cooked.

7. Once rice is finished, add Parmesan cheese and stir. Then stir in cooked shrimp and garlic.

8. Serve and garnish with snipped chives or parsley and extra cheese.

Deviled Eggs

It's July 4th and there's lots of parties going on. Yay! My neighbors are throwing a party and my mom didn't want to go over empty handed so I decided to make something really quick and delicious, deviled eggs. I love that this takes only an hour and most of that is waiting for water to boil and it can be made ahead of time! I did it a few hours before the party, the morning of but you could easily make them up to 2 days before, cover them really tightly with plastic wrap, and then refrigerate until you're ready to party. I know I'm definitely going to make this one again because it has few ingredients, can be made ahead, and is a real crowd pleaser!

Ingredients:

12 eggs
3-5 tbs mayo (light mayo if you're watching calories)
1 tbs dijon mustard (or any really good, spicy mustard)
salt
pepper
paprika

Directions:

1. Place eggs in a pan that is big enough to hold them in a single layer with some room between them. Fill pan with cold water so there is at least 1 inch of water above eggs.

2. Bring pan to a roiling boil, cover with a lid and then turn off heat. Let eggs continue to cook in hot water for 15-20 minutes.

3. Remove eggs from water and put in an ice bath (ice bath= a bowl of cold water and lots of ice) to stop the cooking.

4. Once eggs are cooled, peel off shells. I did this by cracking egg gently on a hard surface and then using the cracks to take pieces off.

5. Once all eggs are peeled, wash them!!!! You don't want someone to bit into a shell while eating a creamy egg

6. Slice cleaned and peeled eggs in half, long ways. Remove yolks and put in a bowl. Set aside egg whites.

7. Mash yolks with mayo, mustard and salt and pepper. Make sure to taste the yolk mixture to make sure it has enough seasoning for the whole egg.

8. Lay all the egg whites hole up and fill with yolk mixture. I found a really cool piping tip (star tip) to pipe out the yolk in a nice design. If you don't have one, put all the yolk in a small plastic bag. Cut a tiny hole in one corner and squeeze yolk out of corner like a pastry bag. Bonus with this method-no clean up, just toss the bag!

9. Once eggs are assembled finish with a tiny pinch of paprika for color and a little extra kick (this is optional!)

10. Place all the eggs on a nice platter and store in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap, until it's time to party!