Recipes

Ingredients
For the cornbread
¹⁄₂ cup butter, softened
1 ¹⁄₂ cup plain yogurt (I used Greek.)
2 eggs
¹⁄₂ cup brown sugar plus 2 tablespoons
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 ounces frozen corn

For the barbecue chicken
5 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup ketchup
¹⁄₄ cup water
¹⁄₄ cup balsamic vinegar (I used pomegranate balsamic.)
¹⁄₄ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 ¹⁄₂ cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 375*F. 

2. Beat together butter, yogurt, eggs, and ¹⁄₂ cup brown sugar.  Add cornmeal, flour, baking soda and salt.  Mix until batter forms. 

3. Heat olive oil over high heat in large skillet.  Add frozen corn and 2 tablespoons brown sugar and sauté 5 minutes. 

4. Transfer corn to casserole dish.  Pour batter over corn and stir to combine.  Transfer to oven and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until just barely done. 

5. Heat 5 tablespoon olive oil in now-empty skillet.  Add chicken and cook until done, about 5 to 10 minutes.  Add onion and bell pepper and continue cooking until soft. 

6. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and reduce heat to low.  Simmer 15 minutes or until thickened.

7. Pour chicken mixture over cornbread and top with cheese.  Return to oven and bake until cheese has melted, about 10 to 15 minutes. 

Photo

Comments
This recipe is from Damndelicious although I ended up modifying it quite a bit to use a recipe I love for cornbread and a recipe I love for barbecue sauce.  It was super tasty although a bit on the sweet side due to the sauce and cornbread.  I might reduce the sugar in one of both of those places next time.

Ingredients
4 saltine crackers
4 tablespoons dried parsley
¹⁄₂ tablespoon dill
2 tablespoon onion powder
6 tablespoon garlic powder

Instructions
1. Combine all ingredients in food processor and process until fine powder.  Season with extra salt if necessary.  Store in airtight container. 

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Comments
This recipe is from Kayotic Kitchen and I’ve used it in quite a few recipes since making it!  I haven’t actually used it to make salad dressing, but it’s great for spicing foods up. 

To make salad dressing mix 1 tablespoon seasoning mix with 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 cup buttermilk.

Ingredients
1 bay leaf
2 thyme sprigs
5 black peppercorns
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
4 cups onions, sliced (about 1-2 large onions)
Kosher salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 pound bacon, the thickest you can get, cut into 1 inch long pieces
Canola oil
3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into ¹⁄₂ inch cubes
Kosher salt
1 thyme sprig, leaves only
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chives, minced

Instructions
1. Place bay leaf, thyme sprigs, peppercorns, and garlic clove in piece of cheesecloth and tie to close. 

2. Put the onions in a large sauté pan and set over medium-low heat.  Sprinkle with 1 generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until the onions have released much of their liquid. 

3. Stir in butter, add the cheesecloth bundle, and cover with a piece of parchment paper.  Cook slowly over low to medium-low heat for 30 to 35 minutes.  The onions should look creamy at all times, if they start to look dry, add a bit of cold water and stir well.  Season to taste with salt. 

4. Heat oven to 200*F. 

5. Pour oil to 1 inch in large saucepan or skillet and heat to 300*F.  Set cooling rack over baking sheet and line the rack with paper towels. 

6. Add half the potatoes to the hot oil and cook for 8 minutes until tender and golden brown.  Remove from oil with wire skimmer and drain on paper towels.  Repeat with the remaining potatoes. 

7. Pour 2 tablespoons water into medium saucepan and set over medium heat.  Add bacon, reduce heat to medium-low, and let bacon render its fat for 30 minutes.  The bacon should not crisp.  Using a slotted spoon remove bacon to towels to drain.  Remove excess fat from pan, leaving a thin film to cook the potatoes.  Reserve the extra fat. 

8. Add half the potatoes to the pan, sprinkle with salt, and add half the thyme leaves.  Cook for 3 to 4 minutes to crisp the potatoes and heat through.  Add half the onions and fold in half the bacon.  Transfer potatoes to a large oven safe bowl and keep warm in the oven.  Repeat process with remaining ingredients. 

9.  Mix everything together, toss in chives, and season with salt and pepper before serving. 

Comments
This recipe is from The Splendid Table but it’s a Thomas Keller recipe.  I’ve had it bookmarked for forever and finally got around to making it.  I can only say that I wished I had made this years ago so that I could have been making it regularly ever since.  This was a really awesomely fantastic dish.  The bacon just melted and wow.  I served it with eggs for a really scrumptious breakfast for dinner meal.

Ingredients
For the tzatziki sauce
1 small cucumber, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoon lemon juice
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, minced
1 clove garlic, minced

For the lamb
1 tablespoons olive oil
¹⁄₄ cup onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pound ground lamb or beef
¹⁄₃ cup water
¹⁄₂ teaspoon cinnamon
¹⁄₂ teaspoon oregano
¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground coriander
¹⁄₈ teaspoon cloves

For assembly
4 large flour tortillas
2 cups cooked rice
³⁄₄ cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cucumber, chopped
1 pint small tomatoes, quartered

Instructions
1. Mix together all tzatziki ingredients in small bowl.  Cover and chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. 

2. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and tomato paste and continue cooking until fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Add lamb and cook until browned.  Drain fat if necessary. 

3. Add water and spices then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper. 

3. Place tortillas on plate, cover with damp paper towel, and microwave 30 seconds or until they become soft and pliable. 

4. Mix together tzatziki, lamb, rice, feta, cucumber, and tomatoes then divide mixture between tortillas.  Fold ends up and roll before serving. 

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Comments
This recipe is from Koko Cooks.  I made it so long ago now that I don’t remember it in great detail, but I do remember that we all loved this recipe – especially me because I could bathe in tzatziki and be happy.

Ingredients
1 whole duck (5 pounds), rinsed, membranes and fat removed, dried
2 tablespoons shao hsing wine or sherry (I used sherry.)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 cinnamon sticks
3 pieces star anise
3 slices ginger, 1 ¹⁄₂ inches long each
6 cups water
²⁄₃ cup dragon well tea leaves 

Instructions
1. To prepare the duck, place in large steam-proof dish. Rub duck well with wine, outside and in, then with sugar and salt, outside and in. Place 1 stick of cinnamon, 1 piece of anise, and 1 slice of ginger in the cavity. Place remaining spices on both sides of duck.

2. To steam the duck, place dish with duck in a wok over high heat by setting it on a cake rack above 6 cups of boiling water. Cover wok. Steam for 1 ¹⁄₄ hours. During the process check water in wok; if it evaporates, replace with boiling water at hand. After steaming, remove dish with duck and allow to cool to room temperature. Do not touch duck while it is hot, since you may damage the skin.

3. To smoke the duck, place tea leaves in a dry wok over high heat; roast until smoking. Remove duck from steaming dish, place on a rack over the leaves, and cover with wok cover. Place wet cloth around the rim where it meets the wok to seal it tightly. Lower heat to medium and smoke the duck for 7 to 10 minutes.

4. To roast the duck, preheat oven to 375*F for 20 minutes. Prick the duck all over the body with a fork. This will allow the fat beneath the skin to drain. Place duck on a foil-lined cookie sheet on a rack and roast, breast side down for 30 minutes. Turn duck over and roast for another 30 minutes. Turn off heat remove duck from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

5. To serve, remove skin, discard cavity ingredients and cut duck into bite-size pieces.

Notes: I cooked this whole thing in my new slow cooker, which means I did things a bit differently by not using the wok or an oven.  Here are my recipe notes based on that. 

In steps 1 and 2: I placed the duck on a wire rack (that came with the cooker) in the cooker set to stovetop high.  I boiled the water in the cooker, covered, for the 75 minutes.  I did not need to add any liquid, although I did need to turn the cooker off and on every 20 minutes or so since I guess it has a safety-off. 

In step 3: I wiped out the cooker after steaming and used the stovetop set to high again.  After the leaves started to smell and smoke, I proceeded with the rest of the step as is, reducing the heat to medium.  I left the duck in the same wire rack. 

In step 4: I wiped out the cooker again and set it to 375*F.  I let it heat up for 20 minutes, then returned the duck to the cooker – using the same wire rack.  I followed the rest of the instructions as stated. 
**
In step 5**: Art removed the skin for me, since that’s gross, and cut it into small pieces.  Then I transferred the pieces to a small saucepan set over medium and cooked them up until nice and crispy, like bacon.  Crispy duck skin is delicious!

No photo :(

Comments
This recipe is from The Chinese Way by Yin-Fei Lo.  I’ve had this cookbook for about 15 years and I’ve wanted to make this recipe ever since I saw it.  Sadly, I didn’t have access to Dragon Well tea for many more years!  I finally picked some up at Teaism in DC just in order to make this recipe.  But it still took time to get around to it.  I was finally inspired to tackle the recipe due to the Ninja Cooking System since it seemed like it would make all the steps significantly easier – and I think that it did! 

I wish that I had taken a picture, but we were super hungry and it slipped my mind completely.  I served the duck meat with rice, stir fried veggies, and a little bowl of the cracklings. 

I don’t love duck enough that I’d want to make it super often, but it’s nice to be able to make it once in a while.  The meat was really moist and lovely, with lots of flavor and aroma.  I’ll need to pick up more tea leaves before I can make this recipe again, but it will be worth it.

Ingredients
For the crust
1 ¹⁄₂ cups flour
³⁄₄ cup powdered sugar
1 cup pecans
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
³⁄₄ cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

For the pumpkin layer
15 ounces pumpkin
1 ¹⁄₃ cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 teaspoon cinnamon
¹⁄₂ teaspoon nutmeg
¹⁄₄ teaspoon ginger
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
²⁄₃ cups heavy cream or half and half

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350*F. 

2. Add flour, powdered sugar, pecans, and salt to food processor bowl.  Process until nuts are chopped and all ingredients are combined.  Add cubed butter and pulse until the texture of cornmeal.  Press into 9 by 13-inch baking pan and bake for 12 minutes. 

3. Meanwhile, add all ingredients for pumpkin layer into food processor bowl and process until smooth and combined.  Pour pumpkin mixture over shortbread crust and spread evenly with spatula.  Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until center has set.  Let cool then refrigerate until ready to serve. 

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Comments
This recipe is from Perfecting the Pairing and I made it to take to Christmas with my parents.  It was really awesome.  If I could change it at all, I’d try to put a cream cheese layer in there somewhere to be more like the pumpkin squares I loved as a kid, but this pretty much just rocked.

Ingredients
8 tablespoons butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons cornmeal
3 large eggs, beaten
Pinch of salt
³⁄₄ cups buttermilk
¹⁄₄ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 piecrust (storebought or homemade, I used Pillsbury)

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350*F.  Place piecrust in pie plate and bake 10 minutes. 

2. Meanwhile, beat butter in mixer on high speed until light and fluffy.  Mix sugar with cornmeal in small bowl and add to butter.  Continue mixing on low speed and add eggs, salt, buttermilk, baking soda, vanilla, and vinegar. 

3. Pour filling into the piecrust and bake until brown on top and set, about 45 to 50 minutes. 

No photo!

Comments
This recipe is from Alyssa B. Young.  Sadly, over the holidays, I neglected to take many pictures that I should have taken.  You can follow the link for the original recipe’s great pictures instead.  This pie was really yummy and we enjoyed it for our Thanksgiving feast.  The recipe is also super simple, which is a plus!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, minced
2-3 small shallots, minced
1-3 thai chiles
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
¹⁄₂ teaspoon black pepper
¹⁄₄ cup water
6-8 green onions, chopped

Instructions
1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and cook, stirring, until no longer pink.  Add garlic, ginger, shallots, chilies, and cook until softened and fragrant. 

2. Combine fish sauce, brown sugar, white sugar, and pepper in a small bowl and stir to mix.  Pour mixture into skillet and stir to coat.  Bring to boil for 1 minute than add water.  Adjust heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened and chicken has cooked through.  Add green onions and serve over rice. 

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Comments
This recipe is from Girl Cooks World.  Sadly I made it so long ago that I don’t really remember how it tasted!  I remember that we all enjoyed it, though, so I guess I’ll just have to revisit it sometime in the future.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon mild paprika
¹⁄₄ teaspoons cayenne
¹⁄₄ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¹⁄₃ cups cold butter, diced
1 cup onion, diced
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, with their liquid
1 can (19 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
¹⁄₃ cups heavy cream or half and half
1 cup cooked basmati rice
¹⁄₂ cups paneer (queso blanco is acceptable if you can’t find paneer)
¹⁄₄ cups fresh cilantro, chopped
4 large flour tortillas

Instructions
1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat and cook chicken until done, about 5 to 10 minutes per side depending on thickness of chicken breasts.  Remove from skillet and cut into bite size pieces. 

2. Combine garam masala, ginger, paprika, cayenne, and cinnamon in small bowl. 

3. Heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat in the same skillet used for the chicken.  Once melted, add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add spice mixture and garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add tomatoes and stir well.  Simmer until liquid has reduced and mixture has thickened, about 10 minutes. 

4. Transfer sauce to blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Use caution since mixture is hot.  (I used my hand blender directly in the skillet since I like to live dangerously.) 

5. Return tomato mixture to skillet set over low heat.  Add chicken and chickpeas and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken and beans are heated through, about 5 minutes.  Add cream and stir gently.  Add remaining butter a piece at a time and stir, adding more butter once each piece has melted.  Do not allow sauce to come to a boil.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

6. Stir in rice, cheese, and cilantro and serve in tortilla shells. 

No photo!

Comments
This recipe is from Canadian Family and it had lots of great aspects!  However, through fault of mine or the recipe, it was entirely too soupy to work in tortilla shells.  We sort of scooped it up with the tortillas instead.  This might be resolved by letting the sauce thicken more in step 3.

However, the flavors and ingredients were great.  I used queso blano for the cheese and we all really liked the addition of chickpeas to the butter chicken sauce.  This was also a heck of a lot simpler to make than my regular butter chicken recipe which takes two days thanks to the marinade process.  I hope to make these again and to get a photo to share with you all!

Ingredients
8 ounces feta
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
6 tablespoons of olive oil

Instructions
1. Place feta, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.

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Comments
This recipe is from Love U Madly.  It was super lemony and awesome.  We ate it with crackers and enjoyed it quite a bit.