Roasted Coconut Chicken

This one takes some time and ingredients you can't find just at your regular grocery store. But it was good!

2 long red chilies, one finely minced, the other whole

1 t grated ginger

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 t coconut oil

Salt and Pepper

1 cup chopped cilantro

3 lb whole chicken 

2 cups chicken stock

1 lemongrass, white part only, bruised but whole

2 kaffir lime leaves

14 oz. canned light coconut milk

Baby potatoes

1 lime

2 t coconut sugar (I used brown sugar)

1 T fish sauce

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 

2. In small bowl, combine minced chili, ginger, garlic, oil, 1/2 of cilantro, salt and pepper and set to a side.

3. Rinse and pat the chicken dry. Starting from the neck end of the chicken, use a teaspoon upside down to loosen the skin from the meat across the surface of the chicken. 

4. Spoon the cilantro mixture between the meat and the skin. Use the spoon to spread it a bit, then to finish it off, use your hands on the skin to spread the mixture as far and evenly as you can. 

5. Place the chicken stock, lime leaves, lemongrass and the whole red chili into a dutch oven.

6. Place the chicken in the broth, cover and roast for 45 minutes. Remove lid, add the coconut milk and potatoes and roast for another 30 minutes.

7. Remove chicken from the broth and cover loosely with foil to rest for 5 minutes.

8. Skim excess fat off the surface of the broth.

9. Add the juice from the lime, sugar and fish sauce. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add remaining cilantro.

10. Serve the chicken with the broth. 

Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwich (also known as "Roast Beef")

 I made these last week and told the kids we were having French Dips. They crinkled up their face and refused to eat. The next day, I asked Ray what she wanted for dinner because she was going to be home for the first time in awhile. She said, "Something savory. Like, roast beef." 

I was driving and almost slammed into the car in front of me. "You know we had roast beef last night, right?"

"French Dips are Roast Beef? Why didn't you tell me that? I would have eaten it!"

So that night we had the rest of the French Dip and both kids cleaned their plate. From now on, we are having roast beef...

3 lb chuck roast

Montreal Seasoning

Canola oil

Salt and Pepper

1 cup beef broth + more

1 T Worcestershire Sauce

1 can beer (preferably dark but use something flavorful)

Rosemary

Thyme

Garlic, chopped

1 yellow onion, sliced thickly

Hoagie Rolls

Butter

Sliced Provolone Cheese

1. Heat oil in pan. Season roast with Montreal Seasoning or just salt and pepper. Sear on each side for 3-5 minutes. Place in slow cooker.

2. Cover roast with Beef broth through onion. Cover and cook for 6 hours in slow cooker.

3. When roast is finished, remove from slow cooker and shred. Place back in juice to keep warm.

4. Butter inside the rolls and lightly grill in pan. Place shredded beef in grilled roll and cover with sliced cheese. Place under broiler until melted. 

French Toast Casserole

 I made this for Easter Brunch with the kids and they loved it. It is a lot of bread, however!

1 loaf of sourdough (or French/Italian)

8 eggs

2 cups milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup sugar

1 T vanilla

Topping

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 t cinnamon

1/4 t salt

1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into pieces

1. Cut loaf into cubes and place in a greased 9x13 pan.

2. In a bowl, mix together eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread.

3. Cover pan and refrigerate overnight. 

4. Mix together topping mixture then cut in butter with the topping mixture until crumbly. Sprinkle over bread once removed from refrigerator the next morning.

5. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.

Roasted mushroom and Wild Rice Chicken Soup

It's March and we had a long string of beautiful warm weather. Then yesterday winter re-visited and I was depressed. It was cold and rainy so I needed soup. Kids even liked it!

Butter

1 pound chicken

1 1/2 cups dry wild rice blend

4 carrots, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 onion, chopped

6-7 cups chicken stock

Thyme (2T fresh or 2t dried)

Sage (1T fresh or 1t dried)

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup grated parmesan

2 pounds mushrooms, roughly chopped or sliced

Rosemary

4 garlic cloves, smashed

Zest from 1 lemon

1. Preheat oven to 425. On a baking sheet lightly coated with olive oil, combine 6 T butter (sliced), mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, lemon zest and salt and pepper. Transfer to the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes, stirring halfway through. 

2. In a large soup pot, melt 2 T butter. Add carrots, celery, onion and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until softened and caramelized. Stir in the broth, chicken, thyme, sage. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

3. Remove chicken and let cool enough to shred. While shredding chicken, pour rice into soup pot and cook for 15 minutes. Replace shredded chicken and add the mushrooms and their drippings to the pot. Stir in cream and parmesan and cook over medium heat until warmed through, about ten minutes. 

Banh Mi Rice Bowl

We are in the middle of this year's Whole 30, but due to COVID, I just can't bring myself to be as strict as I have in years past. If we can't go hang out at bars/restraunts, go to concerts, travel, I am not going to deprive myself of everything that is good. 

But this was a good compromise. I left out the sugar in the pickling juice, and it still tasted delicious. I used 1 T soy sauce and 1 T coconut aminos to add a little sweet instead of the brown sugar. I used brown rice instead of white, but if I was being strict Whole 30, I would use cauliflower rice. You could use the sauce as a marinade for a full pork tenderloin, too. Its adaptable!

For the pickled vegetables:

Shredded carrots

Red onion

Rice vinegar

Sugar

Salt

Mix together in a bowl and let sit for at least one hour.

For the rice bowl:

White, brown or cauliflower rice

Cucumber, thinly sliced or matchsticks

Green onion

Jalapeno slices

Cilantro

For the Sriracha mayo:

1/2 cup mayonnaise 

1 T sriracha

1 t soy sauce

Mix together and let sit for about an hour.

For the pork:

Sesame Oil

1 lb ground pork (or thinly sliced pork tenderloin)

1 T soy sauce (or coconut aminos for Whole 30)

2 T fish sauce

2 T brown sugar (or see above for alternative)

1 T lime juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 t ground ginger (or fresh)

Black pepper

2 t olive oil (leave out if not marinating)

1. If marinating, place ingredients in bag and marinate for at least 1 hour. 

2. Heat sesame oil in pan over high heat. Cook the pork (ground or slices) until brown. Pour the marinade over the pork and cook until reduced. 

Peanut Butter Cookies with Reese's pieces

 I got a new stand mixer for Christmas and this was the first thing I made because I love peanut butter, chocolate and Reese's. It was a no brainer.

Not going to lie, these cookies are really sweet and need to be tweeked. But here is a starting point to perfect.

Note to myself: Everything should be room temperature!

1 cup butter (room temp)

1 cup creamy peanut butter (Regular Jif is best!)

1 t vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs (room temperature)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t kosher salt

Reese's pieces and chocolate chips to taste

1. Beat the butter until smooth and creamy.

2. Mix in the peanut butter and vanilla until well-combined, about 2 minutes.

3. Add in sugars and beat until well-combined, scraping down the sides as needed, about 2 minutes.

4. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

6. Add candies and chocolate chips, and stir to combine.

7. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheet with parchment paper.

9. Scoop 1 1/2 T of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, spacing cookies 2 inches apart.

10. Bake for 9-13 minutes, until the edges are golden and the centers are set.

11. Cool cookies on the cookie tray before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Great for soup and panini night.

9 Roma tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise

Extra virgin olive oil

2 T unsalted butter

1 onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 T fresh thyme, minced

Salt and pepper

1 28 oz. can San Marzano tomatoes, crushed

1 cup fresh basil, torn

1 T sugar

2 cups chicken stock

2/3 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Spread tomato slices on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast tomatoes for 1 hour. Remove from oven and set aside.

3. Heat oil or butter in a large pot over medium high heat (I like to use both).

4. Add onion and saute for 5 minutes.

5. Stir in the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Saute for another minute.

6. Add crushed tomatoes, basil and sugar. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

7. Add the stock and roasted tomatoes into the pot. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

8. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. 

9. Stir in the cream and heat through. 

10. Top with homemade croutons or dippable panini/grilled cheese. 

Fish Taco Slaw x 2

 Awhile ago, Keith and Marsha had a group of us over for fish tacos and they asked me to make coleslaw. I don't eat coleslaw. Passionately hate cabbage. But I made it and Keith loved it. Then I completely forgot how I made it. 

Flash forward a few months, and they invited us over again. And asked me to make slaw again. The second batch was no where as good because I couldn't remember how I did it.

Flash forward again, and they invited us over again. I did some research and refreshed my memory and came up with these two versions. Everyone seemed to like them, so I am preserving them for memory sake.

Mix all ingredients together per recipe. Prepare in advance to allow breakdown of cabbage.

Cilantro Slaw

A bag or two of shredded green cabbage or coleslaw mix/purple cabbage mix

Handful of cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

1/2 T honey

Salt and Pepper

Cilantro Lime Slaw

A bag or two of shredded green cabbage or coleslaw mix/purple cabbage mix

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup tightly-packed fresh cilantro

1/4 cup freshly-squeezed lime juice

1/2 t ground cumin

Salt and Pepper

3 green onions (just the green parts)

2 garlic cloves

Jalapeno or serrano pepper, stemmed and cored, chopped

Make Your Own Take Out Beef and Vegetable Stir Fry

My take on Beef and Broccoli take out. Ray and Chay requested more vegetables. Who replaced my kids? Serve with white rice.

For the beef

1/2 cup beef broth

3 T light soy sauce

3 T dark soy sauce

1 T toasted sesame oil

1 t brown sugar

1 t cornstarch

1 t dried onion powder

1/2 t dried garlic powder

1/4 t ground ginger

Pinch of Chinese 5-Spice powder

Minced garlic and fresh ginger

1 lb flank steak or beef round cut into strips across the grain (place in freezer for 30 minutes before slicing to make it easier to slice thin)

For the vegetables

1 T oil

Whatever vegetables you want, chopped (we use zucchini, carrots and broccoli)

1. Marinate the beef with the ingredients listed above in a medium bowl. Stir in the beef and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 

2. Heat the oil in a large wok over medium heat. Add the vegetables and stir fry until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

3. Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the beef with the marinade to the hot pan and stir-fry until beef is just cooked, 30 seconds to 2 minutes.

4. Stir the vegetables back in and simmer for 30-60 seconds until sauce has thickened. 

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

 Delicious with any special meal. We had this the first time with Christmas Dinner 2020.

Warm Bacon Dressing

1 T warm bacon grease

2 T apple cider vinegar

1 T Dijon mustard

1 T maple syrup

Pepper

1. Cook the bacon and reserve bacon grease. Crumble bacon and set aside.

2. Whisk together bacon grease, vinegar, mustard, maple syrup and pepper. Immediately serve with prepared salad.

Spinach Salad

Spinach

Bacon crumbles

Hard boiled eggs, sliced

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1. In a small bowl, add sliced red onion, cover with cold water and allow to soak while the remainder of the salad is being prepared.

2. Toss spinach with bacon, eggs and onion.

Au Jus Sauce

 Serve with beef of all kinds, especially Prime Rib.

2 T beef drippings, butter, or a combination of the two

2 T all-purpose flour

3 cups beef broth

3/4 t soy sauce

Salt and Pepper

1. Add beef drippings or butter to a large saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour and whick for 30-45 seconds.

2. Add 1 cup of the beef broth a splash at a time, whisking for after each addition. Slowly pour in the remaining beef broth, whisking all the while. Add the soy sauce, salt and pepper and increase the heat to medium-high. 

3. Simmer for 4-5 minutes, allowing to reduce slightly.