Honey Cashew Chicken

This recipe sounded sooo tasty...and then I sorta failed a little on the ingredients but tried to make it work anyway.  I'm normally quite the stickler about getting the right things and such, yet I know there is usually wiggle room for substitutions and omissions.  While this was indeed good, it wasn't as amazing as I had hoped.  I plan to try it again sometime with the correct ingredients, and of course I will post that when it happens.  For now, I suggest examining the difference between the original and mine, then decide for yourself :)
Link to original recipe:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/honey-cashew-chicken-with-rice

Ingredients:

12 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
2 T. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
1 T. canola oil
1 T. sesame oil (I did not have dark on hand like I thought I did)
1 tsp. bottled minced garlic
1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly in strips
1/2 c. lightly salted cashews
1 T. rice vinegar
3 T. honey
2 T. low sodium soy sauce
1/2 T. sambal oelek (again, thought I had sriracha and turn out I did not!)

Instructions:

1. Combine chicken, cornstarch, salt, and pepper in a bowl.

2. Heat both oils together in a wok (or large skillet) over medium high heat.  Add chicken mixture and cook until no pink is showing, around 5 minutes.

3. Add garlic and bell pepper.  Cook for additional 4-5 minutes.

4. Stir in cashews.

5. Combine vinegar, honey, soy sauce, and sambal oelek in a bowl.  Add mixture to wok and cook for 1 minute.

6. Serve with rice (or preferred side) and enjoy!

Crème Brûlée Cookies

Well, sort of...these are good cookies, but they do not live up to the name on the recipe.  They are fairly easy to make; problem is, the tops do not hold enough sugar after baking to get a nice glossy caramelization of the sugar.  Instead, the sugar tends to want to get too dark too fast.  While the effect did remind me of crème brûlée, it's simply not enough to make the effort on all the cookies; the rest will be eaten just as they are, which make for nice vanilla bean sugar cookies.
Link to original recipe:
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/creme-brulee-cookies.aspx
Side note: be sure to roll the log to make it round--as you can see in my pictures, my cookies are not quite so circular...

Ingredients:

3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c. sugar, plus 1/3 c. for decorating
Seeds scraped from 2 vanilla beans (or 4 tsp. vanilla extract)
2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. In mixing bowl, beat butter for 1 minute.

3. Add the 1 1/2 c. sugar and vanilla bean seeds.  Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.

4. Add flour mixture gradually and mix on low speed until combined.

5. Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap (large enough to wrap it up in).  Shape into a 12" long roll, 3" diameter, then wrap plastic around.

6. Cut an empty paper towel roll open and place dough roll in for support.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 3 days (mine was in for a day).

7. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment.  Put remaining 1/3 c. sugar in a shallow dish or bowl.

8. Use non-scented dental floss to slice the log into 1/4" thick rounds.

9. Coat one side of cookie slice in sugar, then place slice on parchment, sugar side up.

10. Bake for 11-14 minutes, until edges are just turning golden brown (was 14 minutes for me).

11. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

12. Dip cookie in sugar again, then use kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar.

13. Serve with milk and enjoy!

Roman-Style Braised Oxtails and Short Ribs

Originally, I had wanted to make this recipe as written; however, a couple of things happened that got in my way.  1. While out grocery shopping, I looked for the oxtails, of course.  First store had them, but they were not great, especially for the price, so I decided on visiting another store to get them.  2. Second store didn't have them at all, so went to a third store.  At this store, they had just one package of oxtails, and they looked great, but said package only contained 1.38 lbs and I needed 4 lbs.  I did not feel like going to any more stores, so I decided I'd get some beef short ribs to make up the difference.  3. After getting home and starting to gather all the ingredients together, figured out I'd forgotten to get any pancetta (d'oh!!).  Considered trying for a different recipe, yet did not find anything compatible, so I went with subbing the last few pieces left of a package of regular bacon.  At any rate, it still turned out wonderfully tasty, so I will not complain :D
Here is a link to the original:
http://www.williams-sonomawine.com/!oub6kvrg!hxEBQrv4eXy3w!/Recipes/Roman-Style-Braised-Oxtails
I used the instructions to cook in slow cooker.

Ingredients:

3 T. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt, plus more (to taste)
1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
1/2 c. olive oil (I didn't actually measure, but I think I used less than this due to using a non-stick skillet)
4 lbs. total of oxtails and beef short ribs
2 yellow onions, finely chopped (I used food processor)
2 tsp. bottled minced garlic
4 slices bacon, cut into small pieces (I use kitchen shears and cut across all 4 strips at a time, about 1/4" thick each time)
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
1 T. sugar
1 1/2 c. Chianti wine
1 can (14 oz.) beef broth
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 large sprigs fresh oregano

Instructions:

1. In a shallow dish, combine flour, salt, and pepper.  In a large skillet, add the olive oil over medium-high heat.

2. Coat oxtails and short ribs in flour mixture, then place in skillet.  Cook until browned well on all sides.

3. Transfer browned meats to slow cooker, then add onion to skillet.  Cook for around 3 minutes.

4. Stir in the garlic and bacon.  Cook for around 3 more minutes.

5. Add tomato paste and sugar.  Stir to combine and cook 1 minute.

6. Add wine and stir until well combined.  Bring to boil.

7. Stir in the beef broth, bring mixture back to boiling.

8. Pour wine mixture over browned meats in slow cooker.

9. Add carrots, celery, and oregano.

10. Cover and cook for 3 1/2 hours on high, then reduce to low heat and cook until meat is falling off bones (this took a little over one additional hour for mine, particularly for the ribs).

11. Serve with preferred side and enjoy!  (I chose medium egg noodles.)

Chicken with White Wine Cream Sauce

This is another recipe from "Easy Everyday Cooking"; the original title is just "Chicken with Wine Sauce", but since I make a lot of chicken and wine combos, I figured I'd better change it to be a bit more specific.  I served it with boiled Basmati rice; it would be equally good with some angel hair pasta or medium egg noodles, I believe.  I only modified the recipe slightly, and upon serving discovered it could use some salt added at the end.

Ingredients:

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 3 or 4 portions (I cut mine into 3)
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. butter (or margarine)
8 oz. sliced white mushrooms
1/3 c. white wine (I used Chardonnay)
1 T. herbes de Provence
3/4 c. heavy cream

Instructions:

1. Pound the chicken breasts to 1/4" thickness (I did this with the breast between two sheets of plastic wrap).

2. Mix flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish.

3. Dredge chicken pieces in flour mixture and shake off excess.

4. Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Place chicken pieces in butter and cook for 3-4 minutes each side, until golden brown.  Remove from pan and set aside.

5. Add mushrooms and white wine to skillet.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have softened (for me, this took around 5-6 minutes because the mushrooms were sliced somewhat thick).

6. Add herbes and cream to skillet.  Lower heat to medium and cook for 3 minutes, stirring continually, until sauce thickens.

7. Add chicken and accumulated juice back to pan.  Turn chicken to coat in sauce and cook 1 minute.  Add salt to taste/if desired.

8. Serve with favorite side and enjoy!

Zucchini Bread

This is my family's recipe for zucchini bread, which we all think is the best (of course). Very easy and keeps well, too. Make some today!

Link to my YouTube video for the recipe: https://youtu.be/XLuQrYHzay0

Ingredients:

1 c. canola oil
2 c. chopped zucchini (one large usually yields this much)
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 c. flour

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Pour oil into blender and add zucchini.  Blend on medium speed until a smooth purée forms.

3. Add eggs and vanilla to blended mixture.  Blend on medium speed for 1 minute.

4. Whisk together remaining ingredients in a large bowl.

5. Add blended zucchini mixture to large bowl and stir until well combined.

6. Divide mixture evenly among two loaf pans.

7. Bake for 1 hour.

8. Cool for at least 30 minutes before removing from pan and enjoy!

Rosemary Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Green Beans with Mushrooms

In yesterday's post, I mentioned the green beans side dish; true to my post, I am writing about it today, but also about the other side dish in the picture: roasted fingerling potatoes.  Both of these are great sides and easy enough that they are not stressful to make along with a main dish.  The original recipes have been modified only slightly; they can be found here:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/rosemary-roasted-fingerling-potatoes
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/buttered-green-beans-mushrooms

--Rosemary Roasted Fingerling Potatoes--

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lb. fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise
2 T. olive oil
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Place potatoes in a bowl and toss with olive oil.

3. Pour potatoes out onto a jelly-roll pan and turn all potatoes to cut side up.  Sprinkle salt, rosemary, and pepper all over (I ended up adding slightly more than recipe called for).

4. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until lightly browned and tender.

--Buttered Green Beans and Mushrooms--

Ingredients:

1 can (14.5 oz) French style green beans, drained
2 T. butter
6 oz. cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
4 oz. shiitake mushroom caps, thinly sliced
3/4 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1/2 tsp. coarse ground black pepper, divided
1 tsp. bottled minced garlic

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add mushrooms, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper.  Sauté for 8 minutes or until mushroom liquid evaporates.

2. Stir in garlic and sauté for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

3. Add remaining salt, pepper, and the drained green beans.  Cook 2 minutes.