Valentines Day!! Ken was home and Alex came over for dinner, so I tried a new recipe! AND it is way amazing!! Served with rice and snow peas and a fresh green salad with grapes and mandarin oranges!! Also fat free corn muffins shaped like hearts! Delish! (and the guys didn't even know they were fat free! ha! of course they put enough butter on for an army!!! kinda defeating the purpose! LOL)
Sweet & Spicy Chicken!
6 chicken breasts 1 131/2 ounce can pineapple tidbits- drained (reserve syrup...I also used an extra can of pineapple juice) 1/4 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 tsp Chinese Chili paste 1 T. shortening 1 tsp. cornstarch
Make sauce with soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar and chili paste. Pour into a zip lock bag with chicken and refrigerate at least 4 hours...turning the bag over once. Drain Chicken. Make another batch of sauce. In frying pan, melt shortening. Brown chicken. Add 1/2 cup of sauce and cover and cook on low for 30-45 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear. In small sauce pan mix cornstarch and water. Stir in remaining sauce. Heat to boiling stirring constantly. Reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes. Add pineapple and serve with chicken! ENJOY!!
Alyssa and I visited Grandma Porter on Monday and made cinnamon rolls....boy did her home smell lovely!!! (Alyssa...what a beauty!)
Yummy, yummy cinnamon rolls!!!
GG and sissa!! Two fabulous women!!
I got this recipe many years ago from a lady and dear friend in Tucson, Wally Bishop. I have tried many recipes...but this one is the very bestest!
CINNAMON ROLLS 2 cups warm water 1 cup sugar 2 T. yeast 2 cups flour 3/4 cups oil 2 eggs 4 1/2 cups flour 2 tsp. salt Mix water and yeast. Wait until bubble (usually takes 5 minutes) Mix in sugar and 2 cups flour. Let rise 1 hour. Add rest of ingredients. (I let my eggs sit out during the hour to get room temp) Cover and let rise till light. Make into desired sweet rolls. Let rise. Bake @ 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. ENJOY!!!
Sunday we all got together to celebrate Alyssa's homecoming and birthday....a little late on the birthday part! We are so glad to have her back, close to us! We had Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon for dinner...it was a huge hit!!! (I even wore my pearls!)
Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon
Serves 6 1 6oz piece of chunk bacon 3 1/2 T. Olive Oil 3 lbs. lean stewing beef, cut into 2 inch cubes 1 carrot (I used baby carrots) 1 onion, sliced salt and pepper 2 T. flour 3 cups red wine (I used cooking wine) 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups brown beef stock 1 T tomato paste 2 cloves garlic, mashed 1/2 tsp. thyme 1 bay leaf 18-24 mini white onions 3 1/2 T Butter Herb bouquet: 4 parsley sprigs, one half bay leaf, 1/4 tsp thyme, tied in cheesecloth
Directions: Preheat oven to 450 degrees cut bacon into lardons (sticks 1/2 in thick and 1 1/2 in long). Simmer in 1 1/2 qts water for 10 minutes. Drain and dry. Saute lardons in 1 T. olive oil for 2-3 minutes to brown lightly. (mine never did brown!) Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.
Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Heat fat until almost smoking. Add beef a FEW pieces at a time. Saute until nicely browned on all sides. Add to bacon. In the same fat, brown the carrots and onions. Pour out excess fat. Add your bacon and beef to the pan and and toss with 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Then lightly toss the flour to coat. Pour all into a 3 qt. casserole ( I tried a 2.5 qt and it was not big enough!!) that has a cover. Set uncovered in the middle rack of oven for 4 minutes. Toss meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes. (this browns the beef and covers it with a light crust. Remove casserole and turn oven to 350 degrees. Stir in wine and enough stock so that the stew is barely covered. Take 1/2 cup stock and mix in the tomato paste, garlic and herbs. Pour over stew and mix. Cover casserole and set in middle of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3-4 hours (I had to turn my oven down 3 times so it wasn't boiling! Also, I only cooked mine for 2 1/2 hours....because of time) While the beef is cooking, prepare onions. Heat 1 1/2 T butter with 1 1/2 T of the oil until bubbling in a skillet. Add onions and saute for 10 minutes so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful NOT to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly. Add 1/2 cup stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet. Cover and simmer slowly fpr 30-40 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape (this was actually my favorite part!) Set aside. When the stew is done, pour contents of the casserole into a sieve with a saucepan underneath. Wash out casserole and return stew to it. Spread onions over the top. Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or 2, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce. Pour sauce over stew. Cover and place in oven for a few minutes. Baste the sauce over stew before serving. Serve in casserole OR on a platter with potatoes, buttered noodles, or rice. We had ours with potatoes. We cooked a whole bag of golden potatoes and it wasn't enough!! ha! ENJOY!!!
OK...so, I thought Alex would hang out with Holly on Sunday.....but, about 11 am I get this text from him asking about dinner! So, I sat in Sacrament Meeting thinking about how little food I have at home and wondering what on earth I can come up with! When I got home, I looked in the frig and freezer and the pantry.....pretty blank!! I turned to my recipe books, knowing what I had on hand...and this is what I came up with. It is a new recipe, but, the gravy is what makes this mouth watering!!! We were both so hungry, that we devoured it! Total comfort food!!
Chicken and Dumplings
1 cup flour 3 tsp paprika- divided 2 tsp salt 5 lbs chicken pieces 1/4 cup butter 3 T. celery flakes 1/2 cup chopped onion 2 1/2 cups chicken broth DUMPLINGS 1 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1 egg 1/2 cup milk GRAVY (best part) 2 T. cornstarch 2 T. water 1 cup sour cream 2 T. parsley
Combine flour, 2 tsp. paprika and salt; dredge chicken. Brown in a large skillet in butter. Remove and set aside. In the same pan, saute onions and celery flakes until tender. Add broth, chicken and the rest of the paprika. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until juices from chicken run clear. Remove chicken to a serving platter. Keep warm. For dumplings, combine all ingredients. Drop dough, 2 T at a time, into simmering broth. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove dumplings and keep warm. For gravy, combine cornstarch and water; stir into broth stirring constantly until thickened. Remove ffrom heat and add sourcream and parsley. Serve with chicken and dumplings. YIELD: 6 servings. I served this with Strawberry Green Salad and Baby Carrots. ENJOY!!!
Valentines Day!! Ken was home and Alex came over for dinner, so I tried a new recipe! AND it is way amazing!! Served with rice and snow peas and a fresh green salad with grapes and mandarin oranges!! Also fat free corn muffins shaped like hearts! Delish! (and the guys didn't even know they were fat free! ha! of course they put enough butter on for an army!!! kinda defeating the purpose! LOL)
