Duck Breast with Raspberry Sauce

Verrrrry tasty! Needs salt at the end for serving. There is no indication of when the salt and pepper are to be added. I am guessing they were to season the breasts? (I added this in the directions to try next time.) 9.5/10, will make again, but with salt and pepper on duck before it goes to pan (will re-rate if this pushes it to 10). Be sure to wear an apron, lots of spattering. We (my mom and I) made 1.5 times the sauce recipe (for 3 breasts)--was not necessary, should have just made regular amount. For those cooking on induction (as we were): in step 6, it turned out fine to not preheat the pan, went just slightly longer to crisp the skin.

Original recipe credit: https://www.justalittlebitofbacon.com/crispy-pan-seared-duck-breast-with-zinfandel-raspberry-sauce/

Am changing the amounts back to original for sauce in listing below. Only part I modified was amount of butter at end.

Recipe below contains our modifications.

Ingredients:

for the raspberry sauce--

3 T. unsalted butter, divided

1 clove garlic, smashed

1 medium shallot, chopped

1 T. flour

1 c. red Zinfandel

1 c. chicken stock

1/2 c. ruby port

1 c. raspberries

1 tsp. honey

1/4 tsp. ground chipotle pepper

for the duck breast--

2 duck breasts (original recipe lists 8 oz. size; we used three 5 oz. sized ones and it was fine)

kosher salt and fresh black pepper (see note in intro)

Directions:

1. Season duck breasts with kosher salt and fresh black pepper. Score the skin of the duck breast in a diamond pattern (be careful not to cut into the meat). 

2. In a medium saucepan, melt 1 T. of the butter over medium heat. Once it starts to bubble, add the garlic and shallot. Cook, stirring frequently, until softened (around 4-5 min.)

3. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Continue whisking and slowly pour in the Zinfandel, chicken stock, and ruby port. Bring sauce to a simmer which continuing to whisk frequently.

4. Stir in the raspberries and honey. Increase the heat to bring the sauce to a rolling boil. Keep at boil and reduce to 1 1/2 c., stirring occasionally (around 15-17 min.) The sauce should coat a spoon. Stir in the chipotle pepper.

5. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain into a medium bowl. Discard remaining solids.

6. Heat a heavy sauté pan over medium-high heat (if using induction, skip the pre-heat!) Add the duck breasts, skin side down, then reduce heat immediately to low. Sear for 5-6 min, or until skin is deep golden brown. Turn and continue cooking until thermometer inserted in center of breast reaches 125-130°F. 

7. Transfer breasts to a plate and let them rest for 5 min.

8. While they are resting, reheat sauce to simmer, remove from heat, then add the remaining 2 T. of butter. Spoon sauce over duck breasts, serve, and enjoy!

Lemongrass & Ginger Pork Stir Fry

This is good, but I think the cornstarch amount needs adjusting, as it came out super thick at the end. I had to add more than a "splash" of water, as it suggested--more like 3 or 4 large splashes of water, probably near 1/3 to 1/2 c., if I had to guess. It was still quite thick for a "sauce", yet did taste good. I would like to try making this again with maybe half the cornstarch. 8.5/10 for recipe as tried, will update when I try it again. 

Link to original recipe: https://www.epicurean.com/featured/lemongrass-stir-fry-pork-recipe.html

Note: I omitted the fresh red chilies and only used around 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes, and I might have accidentally left out the sugar. I lightly chopped the peanuts (which I used salted)--will not do this next time, as the small crumbs tend to burn up during toasting. With using salted peanuts, I will try low-sodium soy sauce next time.

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless pork loin chops, trimmed, cut in bite-size chunks

1/4 c. cornstarch <-- this is original amount, needs modification!

1/4 c. soy sauce

1/4 c. rice wine or dry sherry

1/2 c. water

2/3 c. shelled unsalted peanuts

2 T. canola oil

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 lemongrass stalk, tough outer leaves removed, minced

1 piece (1 inch) gingerroot, peeled and grated

4 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced

1 T. rice wine vinegar

1 T. sugar

4 scallions, thinly sliced

chopped cilantro, for garnish

Directions:

1. Add the pork to a large bowl. Sprinkle the cornstarch over it, then add the soy sauce and rice wine. Mix everything together and let marinate for 30 minutes.

2. Remove pork from marinade and reserve the marinade. Stir in the water with marinade.

3. Toast peanuts in a dry wok (or large skillet) over medium heat for 3-4 min. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

4. Add the canola oil to the wok and increase heat to med-high. When oil is hot, add the pepper flakes, lemongrass, ginger, and garlic. Stir-fry for 1 minute, then add the pork. Continue stir-frying for 4-5 minutes.

5. Add the reserved marinade and bring to a boil, stirring, until sauce thickens. Add extra water to reach desired thickness; the sauce should just cling to the meat.

6. Remove from heat and stir in the peanuts, vinegar, and sugar. Adjust sugar for sweetness if preferred. Top with scallions and cilantro, serve with desired side (I chose rice). Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake

Delicious cake! I made this quite a while back and as you can see, the ganache was very thin. Not sure if it was because the "vanilla white chocolate" was not available here (doubt it) or maybe I added the wrong amount of cream? I subbed a regular Lindt white chocolate bar and added the seeds of one vanilla bean. The taste was great, but as it was so thin in texture and distribution, it didn't shine through as expected to complement the cake, and didn't look like the photo on the site, either. I plan to make this again and will update when I do :)

Link to original recipe: https://www.lindt.ca/en/recipes/dark-chocolate-bundt-cake-white-chocolate-ganache-recipe

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. Dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. canola oil

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 bar (100g) Lindt Excellent 85% Cacao Dark Chocolate, melted

1 1/2 c. whole milk

for the ganache (the one that turned out thin)--

1 bar (100g) Lindt white chocolate

seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean

3 T. cream

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Generously butter a Bundt pan (10-12 cup size).

2. Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together into a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

4. With mixer on low, slowly stream in the melted chocolate and continue mixing until fully incorporated.

5. Beat in half of the flour mixture, followed by half of the milk. Repeat with other half of flour mixture and other half of milk.

6. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth out the top. Transfer to oven and bake 45-50 min, or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

7. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn cake out of pan. Continue cooling on rack for at least one hour.

8. Make the ganache: Finely chop the white chocolate into a heavy, microwave-safe bowl. Add the cream. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir. If lumps remain, microwave in 5-10 second increments and stir each time until smooth. Stir in the vanilla bean seeds. Then let stand for 5 minutes before spooning over cake. Serve and enjoy!

Muddy buddies with Nutella & pistachios

This version is of muddy buddies is just as addictive and tasty as the original, 10/10! Be sure to use a very large bowl if you wish to mix all in the bowl. I only made half of the recipe and barely had room enough in my largest mixing bowl. Also, I used Rice Chex instead of the Honey Nut and it was plenty sweet enough, but I think the Honey Nut would be tasty. I will try that sometime in the future and report back when I do.

Link to original recipe: https://www.layersofhappiness.com/sea-salt-nutella-pistachio-puppy-chow-peanut-free/

Recipe below contains my modifications. Amounts listed are for half of original.

Ingredients:

1/4 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter

5/8 c. Nutella

3/8 tsp. sea salt

1/2 c. pistachios (dry roasted and salted type)

4 c. Honey Nut Corn Chex cereal (or Rice Chex, as noted above)

1 1/4 c. powdered sugar (or more, if prefer sweeter flavor)

Directions:

1. Add butter and Nutella to a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat and stir constantly, until completely combined and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the salt.

2. Add the pistachios and cereal to a large bowl. Pour the warm Nutella mixture around the outside edge of the bowl (this prevents clumping in big globs). Gently fold in the Nutella mixture until evenly distributed and cereal is all coated.

3. Fold in around 1/4-1/2c. of the powdered sugar at a time until all is used up. (Alternatively, you can pour the coated cereal into a zip close bag, add the powdered sugar, and shake to coat.)

4. Pour out onto a baking sheet and let set for 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Sesame Chicken

This is so good, you might should just stay in and make it instead of getting takeout! Sure, it takes longer than going out, yet it's soooo worth it, I assure you. Hubby and I loved this at first bite, so we will be making it again and again, 10/10. I have made 1.5 times the recipe and still turned out great, too. 

Link to my YouTube of preparation: https://youtu.be/J5PTLEx1ct4

Link to original recipe: https://dinnerthendessert.com/crispy-sesame-chicken/

Recipe below contains my modifications.

Ingredients:

vegetable/canola oil, for deep frying

for the sauce--

1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1/2 c. brown sugar

1 T. cornstarch

1/3 c. water

2 tsp. sesame oil

1/2 T. sesame seeds

for the tempura batter--

1/2 c. cornstarch

1/2 c. flour

2 egg whites

1/2 c. cold seltzer water (I have used room temperature and still achieved good results)

for the chicken/stir fry--

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size chunks

2 tsp. sesame oil

1 T. minced garlic

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper, optional

additional sesame seeds for garnish

Directions:

1. Pour around 2 1/2 to 3" of oil into a Fry Daddy/deep fryer and heat to 350°F.

2. Combine all sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl, set aside.

3. Combine all tempura batter ingredients in a large bowl.

4. Add chicken pieces to tempura batter bowl and stir to coat.

5. Drop pieces of coated chicken into fryer--be careful not to get too many at once--and fry, stirring occasionally with a slotted metal spoon, until starting to brown (around 6-8 min). Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and repeat process until all chicken has been fried. Hint: if you have a basket for your fryer, use it!

6. Heat a wok (or large skillet) over just past medium heat. Add the sesame oil, followed by the garlic and red pepper flakes (if using). Cook for 30 seconds.

7. Add sauce (medium bowl) to wok and cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the fried chicken. Stir fry chicken until sauce begins to thicken and coat chicken well (takes a few minutes). Note: you may need to increase heat to med-high to achieve thickening.

8. Garnish with additional sesame seeds, serve, and enjoy!

Potatoes on the grill

This is a recipe I threw together just to see if it would work...and it sure does, 10/10!  I've made it twice now and loved it both times.  Problem is, I didn't measure anything...so there are not set amounts, my apologies!  I'll try to measure next time and add them in if I can.  I also made two variations--one for me with onions, one for hubby without, as he doesn't handle onions well.  Both are great!  Note: If you don't have a foil pan, you can just use thick/heavy foil and wrap them in it instead.

Ingredients:

Yukon gold potatoes, cut in bite-size chunks

3 garlic cloves, minced

drizzle of olive oil

herbes de Provence

salt

pepper

small red onion, cut in half and then in slices to make half-rings (this was for my one serving)

small drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Prepare grill as you normally would.

2. Place potatoes in a microwave safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap (or a cover that will seal the top safely without risk of explosion).  Microwave on HI for 5-8 min, depending on your microwave and how much potatoes using.  Goal is for them to get slightly fork tender but not falling apart/mushy.

3. Pour potatoes into aluminum foil grill pan (I used two small ones), then add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.  Cover top with foil, then place on direct heat of grill.  Let cook for around 15 min, then enjoy!

Homemade Mint Chocolate Frozen Custard

My mom recently got an ice cream maker and it's amazing! During my recent visit to her house, we made two different frozen custard recipes and both were great, so I shall be posting both. I highly recommend getting one of these machines if you are even remotely interested in making ice cream:

https://www.cuisinart.com/shopping/appliances/ice-cream-and-yogurt-makers/ice-21p1/

And this recipe is sooooo tasty! I could eat way too much of this, very good thing I had to share with the rest of the family lol.

Link to original recipe: https://themessybaker.com/2014/06/24/chocolate-mint-ice-cream-chocolate-crackle/

Recipe below contains our modifications.

Ingredients:

2 c. heavy cream

1 c. whole milk

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. loosely packed chocolate mint leaves

4 large egg yolks

green food coloring

4 oz. Ghirardelli 60% cacao baking bar, finely chopped

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine cream, milk, sugar, and chocolate mint leaves. Stir near constantly until mixture is beginning to simmer--do NOT let it scorch or boil! Remove from heat and let rest for 30 minutes, then remove chocolate mint leaves and discard them.

2. In a large, heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks for at least 1 minute. Reheat the cream mixture over medium heat, stirring near constantly, until mixture is steaming. Remove from heat. Very slowly and in a steady stream, pour a ladle of the heated cream into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Repeat with a second ladle of cream. 

3. Whisk the egg yolk mixture into the cream mixture in the saucepan. Return to just past medium heat and stir constantly, being very careful not to scorch, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

4. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain mixture into a large, heatproof bowl. Place on a cooling rack and let cool, stirring occasionally, until mixture is near room temperature (our took just over an hour).

5. Cover mixture with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap down gently into the bowl to make contact with the surface of the liquid all the way across (to prevent a skin from forming). Transfer to fridge and chill for at least 2 hours.

6. When ready to make the frozen custard, set up machine and add mixture according to manufacturer's directions. For the machine listed above, it will need to run 15 minutes, then add the chopped chocolate pieces and run for additional 5 minutes (20 total).

7. Scoop it up and enjoy! Store remaining frozen custard in an airtight container in the freezer.