Thai-Inspired Chicken Stir Fry with Rice Noodles

Oh major yum! I started with a recipe from a cookbook that I have, but ended up modifying it so heavily, it's not really the same recipe lol. But what I came up with? So. Very. TASTY! Hubby & I both loved it! Thing is, I did not measure some of the ingredients...so I'm making my best guess on the ones with ~ next to them. Next time, will measure and correct amounts if/as needed.

Ingredients:

~1 1/2 T. canola oil

1 T. Thai red curry paste

~1.25 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut in bite-size pieces

~3/4 c. coconut milk

2 T. fresh lime juice

2 T. fish sauce

1/2 T. bottled minced garlic

1 finger pepper (preferably very ripe/turning orange), seeds removed, finely chopped

~5 oz. bean sprouts

1/2 c. cocktail peanuts (salted), chopped

~1 tsp. dried basil

8 oz. (dry weight) wide rice noodles, cooked according to package directions

Directions:

1. Heat oil in wok over medium-high heat. Add curry paste and stir, cook for around 1 min.

2. Add chicken to wok and stir to combine. Cook for 3-4 min, until chicken no longer has pink showing outside.

3. Add coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, and finger pepper. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to a simmer.

4. Once simmer is reached, add the bean sprouts. Stir in and cook for 1-2 min.

5. Stir in the peanuts and basil. Let cook for 1-2 min.

6. Remove from heat and stir in the cooked rice noodles. Serve and enjoy!

Herb-Roasted Red Potatoes

Excellent and easy potato recipe! Will be making these on the regular for sure.

Original recipe credit: https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a22865719/herb-roasted-potatoes-recipe/

Ingredients:

2 lb. small red potatoes, cut into small chunks

1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 T. chopped fresh rosemary

1 T. chopped fresh curly parsley

1 T. chopped fresh thyme

kosher salt, to taste

freshly ground pepper, to taste

pinch of red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425°F.

2. In a large bowl, pour the oil over the potatoes, then add the remaining ingredients and toss to coat evenly. Pour out into a 9" x 13" baking dish.

3. Transfer to oven and bake for 45-55 min. Enjoy!

Chocolate Soufflé...then "Brownies"

Have made this twice now, really love it. I call it soufflé...brownies because the next day, after deflating, it basically turned into brownies! So don't toss it if you don't eat it all while it's in soufflé form, it's still delicious!

Link to original recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018499-bittersweet-chocolate-souffle

Recipe below contains my modifications.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter (plus more for buttering soufflé dish)

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate (60-65% cacao), finely chopped

6 eggs, separated, room temperature

pinch of fine salt

4 T. sugar (plus more for coating dish)

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Directions:

1. Position a wire rack in the lowest possible position in oven. Remove all other racks. Heat oven to 400°F.

2. Generously butter a 1.5 qt soufflé dish, then coat thoroughly with sugar. Tap out any excess.

3. In the top pan of a double-boiler, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring to combine. Once fully melted and combined, remove from heat and let cool slightly (it should still be warm, though). Stir in the egg yolks and sea salt.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, use the whisk attachment to beat together (medium speed) the egg whites and cream of tartar, until very soft peaks stage is reached.

5. Increase speed slightly and beat in 1 Tablespoon of sugar at a time. Continue beating until whites reach stiff peaks and look glossy.

6. Pour chocolate mixture into a large bowl. Gently whisk a fourth of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Then, fold in remaining whites in two additions.

7. Gently pour batter into prepared soufflé dish. Run your finger around the edge of the top of the batter to create about a 1/4" space between the dish and soufflé mixture.

8. Place the dish on a baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Upon placing in the oven, reduce temperature to 375°F.

9. Bake until soufflé is puffed and center is mostly set, 25-35 minutes (25 for a softer center; I always go 35 min, as I prefer it more "set"). Note: do NOT open oven door during the first 20 minutes of baking!!

10. Serve immediately--seriously, you must serve it right away, as it starts to deflate and lose its texture quickly. Highly suggest and recommend serving with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Should you have leftovers, as I mentioned at the beginning, the deflated soufflé is much like brownies :)

Cabbage Beef Casserole--600th recipe post!!!

Woohoo! This is my 600th recipe post!!! My goal this year is to post more recipes than I did in my inaugural year of this blog (2015, posted 127 recipes that year)...so far, seems like I'm getting there!

Need a hearty, filling, easy recipe that won't break the bank? Here you go! I've had this recipe in my collection for a very long time now, remember really liking it, yet hadn't made it in quite sometime...until now :D And very glad I did! Hubby loved it, and it was as yummy as I recalled. 10/10!

Link to my YouTube "making of the recipe" video: https://youtu.be/SOZvYqNDkS0

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 c. chopped yellow onion

1 1/4 lb. chopped cabbage

16 oz. regular tomato sauce

8 oz. tomato sauce with basil, oregano, and garlic

***(if you don't have the herbed tomato sauce (like in my video), use 24 oz. regular sauce plus 1/2 tsp. dried basil, 1/2 tsp. dried oregano, and 1 tsp. bottled mince garlic)

1/2 c. uncooked instant white rice

1/2 tsp. salt

dash ground pepper

dash garlic salt

10.5 oz. beef broth

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and break up into crumbles. Add the onion and stir to combine. Cook until ground beef is browned/cooked through and onion has softened. Dab out/drain any excess rendered fat. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all remaining ingredients EXCEPT the beef broth.

4. Stir in the reserved ground beef, then pour and spread mixture into a 9" x 13" casserole baking dish.

5. Pour the beef broth as evenly as possible atop the mixture in the casserole dish. Cover dish and transfer to oven.

6. Bake for 30 min. Open cover, stir mixture, then re-cover. Increase oven temperature to 365°F and bake for additional 30 min.

7. When finished baking, let rest (uncovered) for at least 5 min before serving. Enjoy!

Crispy & Soft Sugar Cookies (with video link)

Happy Spring! The picture below doesn't capture how pretty these turned out (I used pastel colors of sanding sugar, I swear)...and oh so yummy! It's a nice small batch cookie with only a few ingredients, thanks to using self-rising flour. Please measure by weight if you can, they are far more likely to turn out correct.

Link to my YouTube "making of the recipe" video: https://youtu.be/BDQaGBU3yXc

Original recipe credit: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/self-rising-crunchy-sugar-cookies-recipe

Recipe below contains my modifications.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter

198g (1 c.) sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 large egg

227g (2 c.) self-rising flour

sanding sugar (or regular sugar) for coating

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and creamy (2-3 min).

2. Beat in the egg.

3. Mix in the flour.

4. Cover dough and refrigerate for 30 min. Depending on your oven, heat it so it will be ready when the dough is done chilling. Temperature: 375°F.

5. Line baking sheets with parchment. Form dough into 1 to 1 1/2" balls, then roll in the sanding sugar to coat all over. Place on prepared sheets, spacing 2" apart.

6. Bake for 10-12 min (I went 12). Let cookies rest on sheet for 5 min after removing from oven, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Creamy Paprika Sauced Shrimp with Spinach (with video link)

This is verrry yummy! It's easy, quick (once you have all the ingredients together) and makes about 3 servings. Highly suggest serving with rice, is a perfect pairing :)

Link to my YouTube video "making of the recipe": https://youtu.be/qsSbR44ElXU

Original recipe credit: https://dishingouthealth.com/garlic-paprika-shrimp-skillet/

Recipe below contains my modifications.

Ingredients:

1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

~1 tsp. sea salt, divided

~3/4 tsp. coarse ground black pepper, divided

3 T. extra-virgin olive oil, divided

half of a medium orange (or other color) bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 small yellow onion (or 1 large shallot), thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 T. tomato paste

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (omit if you prefer non-spicy)

1/2 c. chicken broth

1/4 c. dry white wine

2 tsp. paprika

2 handfuls fresh spinach leaves

1/2 c. heavy cream

1 T. fresh lemon juice

chopped fresh Italian parsley, for garnish (I forgot to mention this in my video!)

Directions:

1. Pat shrimp dry, then season with sea salt and pepper, to taste. 

2. In a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat, add 2 T. of the olive oil. Once heated, add the shrimp. Cook for around 3 min, then flip and cook around 2 more minutes (until firm and no longer opaque). Transfer to a plate.

3. Reduce heat slightly. Add remaining 1 T. olive oil to the skillet. Once it is heated, add the bell pepper and onion. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until starting to soften.

4. Stir in the garlic, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes. Cook 2-3 min, stirring frequently.

5. Deglaze pan with chicken broth and white wine. Simmer for 3-5 minutes, until reduced by around half.

6. Stir in the paprika and spinach. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until spinach has wilted.

7. Stir in the heavy cream and lemon juice. Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste.

8. Return shrimp to skillet and stir to coat in sauce/rewarm. Serve, garnished with parsley (if desired), and enjoy!

Black Cocoa Kouign-Amann

Last year around this time, I attempted regular/traditional Kouign-Amann for the first time. That recipe is still in my drafts lol. My comment on it is that the consistency turned out on the heavy side and I had to bake it longer than indicated. Funny enough, I had to bake these for extra time, too--likely in part because my oven isn't great. Anyhow, these are better than that recipe was, though the chocolate flavor is surprisingly mild. They are a bit of work, not diet food--a special, decadent treat!

Link to my YouTube video 'making of the recipe': https://youtu.be/X6x-a1MqSN4

Original recipe credit: https://bakefromscratch.com/black-cocoa-kouign-amann/

Recipe below contains my modifications.

Ingredients:

381g (3 c.) bread flour

2 c. + 36g (3 T.) sugar, divided

12.5g (2 1/2 T.) black cocoa powder

1/2 T. natural (or Dutch-processed) cocoa powder

1 T. kosher salt

340g (~3 sticks) + 1 T. unsalted butter, softened, divided

2 tsp. instant yeast

1 c. plus 2 T. cold/tap water

Directions:

1. Generously butter a 12-cavity muffin/cupcake pan and set aside. 

2. Attach the dough hook on stand mixer. In the mixer's bowl, add the bread flour, 36g of sugar, black cocoa, natural cocoa, kosher salt, 1 T. of the butter, yeast, and water. Mix on low speed until moistened (around 1-2 min), then increase speed to medium/medium high to mix for 8 min.

3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 1 hr. (I went slightly longer and it was still okay, just FYI).

4. Punch dough down, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle some flour atop the dough and roll into a 10" square. Wrap dough square in plastic wrap, place on a flat tray and freeze for 30 min.

5. Meanwhile, on a sheet of parchment paper, draw a 6 1/2" square. Turn the parchment over and place remaining butter (340g/3 sticks) onto the square. Press together, flatten, and shape to match the square's dimensions. Wrap in the parchment and refrigerate for 10-15 min.

6. Place chilled dough on a lightly floured surface. Unwrap the butter block and place in center of dough square. Fold the dough edges up and over (stretch if needed) to cover the butter entirely, pinching and pressing to close dough together.

7. Roll the dough into a 24 x 10" rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter. Roll the dough back into a 24 x 10" rectangle. Repeat the fold and roll one more time. After the last roll, fold up in thirds again, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 45 min.

8. Coat a work surface with 1/2 c. of the sugar. Place the chilled dough on the surface and roll into a 24 x 8" rectangle. Sprinkle the dough with 1/2 c, of the sugar. Fold into thirds, then roll into a 24 x 8" rectangle, sprinkling with sugar as needed to keep dough from sticking to rolling pin. Repeat the sugar/roll process one last time.

9. Cut the dough into twelve 4" squares. Fold the corners of each square into the center, pressing firmly to adhere. Place each into the prepared muffin/cupcake pan. Leave to rest and rise a little on counter for 20 minutes (while you do next step).

10. Place a rimmed baking sheet (larger than the cupcake pan) on the lower rack of oven to catch any drips. Heat oven to 365°F.

11. Transfer cupcake pan to oven and bake until the sugar turns golden and pastries are mostly set in center--at least 30 min (mine took closer to 45). Upon removing from oven, immediately remove pastries from pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool for at least 20 min. Serve and enjoy!