Recipes

Mongolian Chicken

Ingredients
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
¹⁄₂ cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 white onion, sliced
2 green onions, sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
Oil for frying

For the sauce
¹⁄₄ cup chicken broth
¹⁄₂ tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sherry
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
 
Instructions
1. Combine all sauce ingredients in medium bowl and whisk well to mix. 

2. Heat 1 inch oil in large skillet, Dutch oven, or wok over medium-high heat.  Toss chicken in cornstarch and fry in batches until cooked through and golden brown.  Remove to paper towel lined plate. 

3. Remove all but 2 tablespoons oil and return heat to medium-high.  Add garlic, onion, and green onions.  Season vegetables with salt and pepper and stir fry until vegetables are tender crisp.  Remove vegetables to plate with chicken.  Pour sauce mixture into pot and cook until thickened.  Stir in vegetables and chicken and toss to coat.  Serve with rice or noodles. 

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Comments
This recipe is from Jo Cooks.  I think I fried the chicken like the recipe says?  But I might have skipped the cornstarch step and just sautéed it up in the skillet instead since I was pressed for time.  I seem to recall that’s what I did.  You can always skip the frying in a recipe like this if that’s what you’d like to do!  I’ve never had Mongolian Chicken in a restaurant so I can’t compare this, but it was delicious nonetheless!

Oven Roasted Green Beans

Ingredients
1 ¹⁄₂ pounds green beans, ends trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Heat oven to 425*F.

2. Spread green beans on baking sheet then toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Transfer to oven and cook until lightly caramelized and crisp-tender, about 12 to 15 minutes.  Stir halfway through cooking time. 

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Comments
This recipe is from Emeril of Food Network.  It’s super simple and a nice way to cook a veg when your stovetop is full up.  Roasting vegetables is a newer thing in the scheme of my cooking experience, but I’ve really come to love the simplicity in the preparation as well as the nice browning that the veggies get.  You can use any sort of seasoning you like, depending on your own palate and what you’re serving these with.  I’ve been loving the Country French Vinaigrette from Penzeys.

Pasta Milano Soup

Ingredients
10 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound short pasta, such as bowties
6 tablespoons butter
2 yellow onion, diced
16 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
¹⁄₂ cup white wine
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth
6 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream or half and half
6 cubes chicken or vegetable bouillon
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked or grilled, and cut into pieces
1 cup sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
4 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Fresh chopped parsley, for garnish

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 400*F.  Place garlic on piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil, and roast 30 minutes or until tender.  Remove from oven and mince. 

2. Bring large pot salted water to boil and cook pasta as instructed by package.  Drain. 

3. Heat butter in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add roasted minced garlic and stir to combine.  Add mushrooms and cook until tender, about 4 minutes. 

4. Add flour and stir to combine.  Add wine and simmer for 1 minute, scraping pot to loosen any stuck bits with wooden spoon.  Add chicken and tomatoes and stir to combine.  Add broth, milk, and bouillon cubes.  Stir to combine and bring soup to simmer.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

5. Stir in parsley, Parmesan cheese, and cream then simmer, covered, for 5 minutes.  Add cooked pasta and stir to combine.  Season with salt and pepper to taste then garnish with fresh parsley. 

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Comments
This recipe is from Daring Gourmet and it was super delicious.  It turned out very thick which is just the way we like soup, if you want something thinner, add more broth and/or cream.  The leftovers will get thicker as well.  This was a great, warming, lovely soup for a cold winter day.

Sour Cream Hamburger Rice Bake

Ingredients
1 ¹⁄₂ cups white rice (You can use brown rice, or a mixture, it will just require a longer cooking time or more liquid.)
3 cups water or beef broth
1 pound ground beef
15 ounces tomato sauce
1 cup cottage cheese
¹⁄₂ cup sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper

Instructions
1. Bring rice and water or beef broth to boil in medium saucepan over high heat.  Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until done, about 15 to 20 minutes.  (You could also do this in your rice cooker.) 

2. Heat oven to 350*F. 

3. While rice is cooking, cook ground beef in large skillet over medium heat until cooked through.  Remove from skillet and drain if necessary.  Return to skillet and add tomato sauce. 

4. Stir sour cream and cottage cheese into rice and stir to combine.  Pour rice mixture into baking dish and top with meat mixture.  Top with cheese. 

5. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. 

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Comments
This recipe is from Buns In My Oven and is pretty much identical to a previous recipe I posted just with rice instead of pasta.  Sadly that other recipe also had a lot more flavor and texture elements than this did and this one was, on the whole, bland and lacking.

Mascarpone Chive Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients
3 pounds russet potatoes, cut into cubes
2 bay leaves
¹⁄₄ cup chicken broth
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon pepper
¹⁄₄ cup fresh chives, minced

Instructions
1. Place potatoes and bay leaves in large pot of salted water and bring to boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Drain and discard bay leaves.  Return potatoes to pot and mash. 

2. Add chicken broth, mascarpone, butter, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Mix until blended.  Add chives just prior to serving. 

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Comments
This recipe is from Easy Everyday Eats.  I’m a big lover of mascarpone and it works very well in mashed potatoes!  I’ve made a simpler Mascarpone Mashed Potato recipe in the past, but this was is delicious too with a bunch of extra flavors if you’re looking for a more flavorful side.

Parsley Peppercorn Beef Patties

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced
³⁄₄ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
¹⁄₃ cup beef or chicken broth
¹⁄₃ cup half and half
 
Instructions
1. Combine beef, garlic, parsley, and salt and form into small patties. 

2. Sprinkle patties with pepper on both sides and press to adhere.  Let patties rest 15 minutes. 

3. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Sear patties until browned on both sides, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.  Remove from skillet and set aside. 

4. Add broth to skillet and scrape with wood spoon to loosen any browned bits.  Add half and half and stir.  Return patties to skillet and simmer over low heat until patties are cooked to desired doneness and sauce has reduced a bit, about 3 to 5 minutes. 

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Comments
This recipe is from Beyond Kimchee.  It was tasty enough, but I think we all would have liked more flavor in the patties themselves.

Asian Meatballs

Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

For the sauce
¹⁄₃ cup hoisin sauce
¹⁄₃ cup sugar or honey
¹⁄₄ cup rice vinegar
¹⁄₄ cup ketchup
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 400*F. 

2. Mix together beef, Worcestershire, and sesame oil in bowl.  Shape mixture into meatballs.  Grease baking sheet with olive oil, place meatballs on sheet and bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until meatballs are cooked through. 

3. While meatballs are baking, whisk together hoisin sauce, sugar or honey, rice vinegar, ketchup, and sesame oil in large bowl. 

4. Transfer meatballs to bowl and toss gently to coat.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving. 

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Comments
This recipe is from Eat Good 4 Life.  I served these with a noodle dish and thought they were fantastic.  The sauce from these meatballs went very well with the noodles and it was fantastic.  These meatballs had a lot of flavor and we all enjoyed them.

Breakfast Pasta Bake

Ingredients
1 pound short pasta (I used shells.)
3 cups evaporated milk
2 bunches green onions, chopped
4 eggs
8 ounces deli ham, chopped
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
¹⁄₂ teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon seasoned salt, such as adobo
1 clove garlic, minced
¹⁄₄ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon dried parsley

Instructions
1.Bring large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta 2 minutes less than package directs.  Drain.  Heat oven to 350*F. 

2. In a large bowl, mix together evaporated milk, green onion, eggs, ham, half cheddar cheese, mustard powder, seasoned salt, garlic, and pepper.  Stir well then add pasta and stir to coat.

3. Pour mixture into baking dish and top with remaining cheese.  Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until top is bubbly and brown. 

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Comments
This recipe is from my favorite Kayotic Kitchen.  I’ve made other breakfast casserole type things before, but they’ve always had bread or potatoes as the carb base.  The use of pasta in this dish is really exciting and different!  We enjoyed this quite a bit and I could see making it for breakfast with company some day.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Pesto Torta

Ingredients
8 ounces pesto (storebought or homemade)
¹⁄₄ cup pine nuts
21 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
8 ounces sundried tomatoes in oil, drained
¹⁄₃ cup tomato paste
³⁄₄ cup butter, room temperature

Instructions
1. Combine pesto and ¹⁄₃ cup cream cheese in food processor and process until smooth.  Transfer to medium bowl and stir in pine nuts. 

2. Combine sundried tomatoes, tomato paste, and ¹⁄₃ cup cream cheese in food processor and process until smooth.  Transfer to medium bowl. 

3. Combine remaining cream cheese and butter in food processor and process until smooth and fluffy.  Season with salt and pepper. 

4. Spray casserole dish with cooking spray and line with plastic wrap, extending plastic over sides.  Spread ³⁄₄ cup cream cheese-butter mixture over bottom of dish.  Top with half of tomato mixture then ¹⁄₂ cup cream cheese-butter mixture, then half of pesto mixture.  Repeat layering with remaining tomato mixture, ¹⁄₂ cup cream cheese-butter mixture, then remaining pesto mixture.  Top with remaining cream cheese mixture.  Cover and chill overnight. 

5. To serve, invert torta onto platter and peel off plastic.  Serve with crackers or baguette slices. 

Note: You can skip the baking dish prep and just serve this out of the casserole dish without inverting onto a platter. 

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Comments
This recipe is from Epicurious.  My parents received a similar torta from their neighbors while we were visiting at Christmas and it was delicious!  I decided to find something similar and this was delicious.  I do think it was a bit heavy on the sundried tomatoes, but that will be an easy enough thing to tweak next time and is just my own preference.  This makes a LOT, so be prepared.

Creamy Coleslaw

Ingredients
1 cup mayonnaise
¹⁄₂ cup sour cream
4 tablespoons cider vinegar (I used red apple balsamic.)
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 pounds green cabbage, quartered, cored, and thinly sliced, about 8 cups
3 medium carrots, shredded

Instructions
1. Whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar, sugar, celery seed, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until combined well.  Toss with cabbage and carrots.  Let stand, uncovered, tossing occasionally, until wilted, about 30 minutes.  Serve at room temperature or chilled. 

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Comments
This recipe is from epicurious.com.  I thought it had a lot of potential but I did not like the cabbage being as wilted as it was.  If I make this again, I think I’ll only wilt it for 15 minutes or so.