Cajun Chicken Fritters with Cajun Aioli

These fritters were super yummy, and the best part is with all these flavors you could easily swap the meat out for crab or shrimp or any other fish you like. The aioli definitely made this dish so don’t forget to whip up some and refrigerate for a bit while you’re making your fritters.

Cajun Chicken Fritters

3 or 4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 cup flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

4 eggs, separated

1 cup buttermilk

1 T butter, melted

1 tsp srirachi or other hot pepper sauce

1-2 tsp cajun seasoning

1 1/2 tsp liquid crab boil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup chopped bell peppers (any colors)

Cooking oil

Cajun Aioli

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 T grain mustard

1 tsp cajun seasoning

1. Whisk ingredients for aioli together and refrigerate. *This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled, depending on how much you like.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder.

3. In another bowl combine buttermilk, butter, slightly beaten egg yolks, hot pepper sauce, cajun seasoning, and crab boil.

4. Stir to combine the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture. Add in peppers, garlic, and shredded chicken.

5. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form and then fold into the chicken mixture completely.

6. Heat cooking oil (about 1 inch) in a dutch oven or heavy skillet, and drop chicken mixture by spoonfuls into the oil, about 4 at a time so they have room to cook and don’t stick together. Flip and cook until golden brown. Drain on paper towel-lined plate.

7. Serve with cajun aioli and something creamy and crunchy like cole slaw.

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Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken

This was awesome! One of the truly authentic recipes I’ve been able to make. I served this with my Thai Dragon Noodles but you can easily serve this with rice and it would be fabulous. I also love the fact that it’s a slow cooker recipe so all the work was done for me. All I had to do was enjoy the aroma

Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt & pepper

6 green onions, sliced (all of it)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 T EVOO (or sesame oil if you have it)

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

4 tsp cornstarch

1/3 cup water

sesame seeds

1. Spray inside of crock pot with cooking spray. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and salt and pepper them, stirring to cover each piece evenly. Place into bottom of slow cooker.

2. Combine onion whites, garlic, honey, ketchup, soy sauce, oil and red pepper flakes. Stir well. Pour over chicken. Cook on low 4 hours, or high for 2.

3. In a small bowl dissolve the cornstarch into the water. Add to crock pot and stir in well. If you’ve been cooking on low then turn heat up to high. Cover and allow to cook another 15 to 20 minutes, or until sauce begins to thicken some.

4. Spoon chicken over rice or noodles and top with sesame seeds and scallions (green part of onion).

5. Enjoy!

This recipe is featured at Simple Supper Tuesday!!

Thai Dragon Noodles

These noodles are super yummy. You can adjust the heat as much or as little as you want. They went great with my Honey Sesame Chicken and gave me an awesome idea for a Pad Thai recipe (coming soon)! You can use lo mien noodles, or even regular linguine if you’d like, but for an authentic dish try these Thai rice noodles.

8 oz. Thai rice noodles

2 T butter

2 eggs

1/4 tsp red pepper

1 1/2 T brown sugar

3 T soy sauce

2 tsp sesame oil (optional)

1 T Sriracha (rooster sauce)

2 green onions, sliced (all of it)

2 T fresh cilantro, chopped

1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. In small bowl mix together soy sauce, the brown sugar, sriracha, and red pepper flakes. Set aside.

3. Heat skillet up with the butter and scramble the eggs with the chopped whites of the green onions. Reserve the scallions (green bits) for later.

4. Take eggs out of skillet and set aside. Put sesame oil into hot skillet and do a real quick pan fry of the noodles. Combine eggs and sriracha sauce into the skillet with the noodles.

5. Sprinkle top with scallions and cilantro before serving.

May Menu ~ 2013

You may have noticed that I took a little sabbatical from blogging. I didn’t know I was going to take a break but it was obvious that I needed one. It’s also pretty obvious that I didn’t cook nearly as much of my April menu as I intended and I usually try to make those recipes up the next month, but alas, I probably won’t get to those any time soon. But I do have a whole menu of new and exciting recipes to share, and I appreciate all you wonderful readers and fellow bloggers for coming back to see what I’m cooking

Recipes I’m cooking that I’ve shared before:

Zucchini Noodles,  Cilantro Lime Rice,  Spinach Tomato Feta Frittata,  Cheeseburger Salad,  Black Bean & Steak Taquitos

Recipes I’m working on this month:

Quinoa, Black Bean & Corn Burritos

Fish Cakes with Cilantro-Lime Dip

Mushroom & Peas Pulao

Chicken Enchilada Pasta Bake

Skinny Cheeseburger Casserole

Southwest Chicken & Corn Chowder

Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken

White Bean Turkey Chili

Marinated London Broil

Cajun Chicken Fritters with Cajun Aioli

Bourbon BBQ Sliders with Garlic Aioli

Southwest Chicken Wraps

Honey-Lime Chicken Skewers

Chipotle Steak Burritos

Crispy GF Sweet & Sour Chicken

Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup

Crock Pot Short Rib Tacos with Queso

Chopped Thai Chicken Salad

 Sides & Other:

Thai Dragon Noodles

Turkey Bacon & Cheddar Potato Cakes

Four Bean Salad

Breakfast Enchiladas

Slow Cooker Macaroni & Cheese

Desserts:

Gooey Butter Bars with Fresh Strawberries

Mini Apple Tarte Tatin

Strawberry Tart with Basil Cream

Vanilla-Coconut Rice Pudding

Lemon Cake with Raspberries and Yogurt Frosting

Amazing Cashew Chicken

Yay for the slow cooker! This awesome Asian -inspired meal is super easy and really, really good. It only takes a minimal  bit of prep work and then the crock pot does the rest of the work for you. I served this over brown rice with some chicken broth-steamed broccoli. Delicious!

Cashew Chicken

3 or 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup unbleached flour

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 T sesame oil or EVOO

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 T white vinegar*

2 T white balsamic vinegar*

1/4 cup  ketchup

1 1/2 T brown sugar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 cup cashews**

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Combine flour and black pepper into a bowl or ziplock bag and toss the chicken thoroughly. Brown the chicken about 2 or 3 minutes on each side.

2. Whisk soy sauce, vinegars (*you can substitute 1/4 cup white rice vinegar) ketchup, sugar, garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes together until combined.

3. Place browned chicken in sprayed crock pot and pour the soy sauce mixture over it. **You can add the cashews now or toward the end, either is fine.

4. Cook on low for 4 hours. Stir occasionally.

5. Serve over rice.

              

Poor Man’s Mongolian Beef

This was sooooo good! Who would have thought you could get so much flavor from regular old ground beef, and feel like you’ve just ordered from a top-notch Chinese restaurant? Make this soon. You will love it. Seriously. Soon.

2 lb. lean ground beef (nothing less than 85%)

3 T sesame oil

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 cup soy sauce, or more to taste

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 cup green onions, sliced, greens too

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter, or more to taste

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

4 cups cooked rice

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the beef in the sesame oil with the garlic. Cook and stir often until the meat is browned. Allow to simmer so most of the juices and oil are absorbed.

2. Add the ginger, soy, brown sugar, cayenne, wine, vinegar, peanut butter, pepper, and salt. Combine well. Simmer for several minutes for the flavors to fuse together. Toss in a small handful of the onion whites and simmer.

3. Serve over warm rice and top with chives (green part of onion stalk).

 

April Menu ~ 2013

Spring has officially arrived and with it comes some great eating. It’s almost time to pull out the grill and make some awesome Balsamic Grilled Chicken (I’ve been craving that!) or make a Caprese Pasta Salad or some Black Bean Taquitos.

Hot Hamburger Plate (Number One’s birthday) and Caramel Cake

Oven Baked Tacos with Crock Pot Pinto Beans and Pico de Gallo

Balsamic Grilled Chicken with Pesto Parmesan Green Beans and Oven Roasted Potatoes

Cheeseburger Salad

Black Bean Taquitos with Salad and Mexican Rice

Caprese Pasta Salad

Romano-Crusted Chicken with Skillet Veggies and Cheesy Pesto Bread

Pan-Seared Tuna Steaks with Lima Bean Butter 

 Homemade Mac ‘n Cheese

Taco Cornbread Pizza

Chicken and Rice Pilaf with Roasted Asparagus

~ Recipes I am working on this month ~

Chili Lime Chicken Fiesta Salad with Chili Lime Ranch

Poor Man’s Mongolian Beef

Wonton Taco Cups

Amazing Cashew Chicken

Poached Salmon with Sour Cream & Dill Dressing 

Beer Battered Fish & Chips

Chicken Asadero Chimichanga

Artichoke Crusted Chicken

Eggplant Pizza

Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad

Asian Chicken Pizza with Peanut Sauce

Crock Pot Chipotle Chicken Tacos

~ Sides ~

Smoked Salmon & Creme Fraiche Bruschetta

Macaroni Salad

Spinach Squares

Cheesy Stuffed Zucchini with Ragu

Asparagus Feta Tart

Crispy Parmesan Baked Potaotes

Arancini w/ Marinara

Homemade French Bread

~ Desserts ~

A Little Bit of Everything Cookie Bars

Raspberry Coconut Squares

30 Minute Mini-Cini Buns

Margarita Cupcakes

Pineapple Galette

From looking at a few recipes for this yummy dessert, it seems that in general they are quite involved. I suppose that’s possible with most recipes but I certainly don’t think it’s necessary. So what I have for you is a bit of a quick version of a galette.

First I have to admit that I used leftover Roasted Caramel Pineapple for this, which made it even easier. But in the event you do not have caramelized pineapple in your refrigerator, I will give you a few instructions on how to prepare the pineapple from fresh.

Butter Crust (recipe included)

1/2 fresh pineapple, caramelized

If you don’t want to follow the recipe for the baked caramelized pineapple, you can simply do the following:

Slice pineapple and cook them down in a sugar and butter reduction, very similar to the caramelized pineapple recipe, but you do not have to bake it.

Get them good and caramelized and cooked through. You may want to allow them to cool a bit before handling them. Once ready, simply place on the crust and then use all the leftover caramelized butter over the top.

Although this was sweet enough on its own, a dollop of whipped cream would be good, or even a powdered sugar icing piped on top.

Butter Crust:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 1/2 T powdered sugar

Blend ingredients together and roll out to fit your baking sheet. I use a sheet of parchment paper to line the baking sheet with. It helps for transferring the dough easily. It also helps if you chill the dough first- maybe 10 minutes.

Prick with fork and bake at 350* for about 10 minutes, or until it is set but not very brown.

Place thin slices of caramelized pineapple in rows on the crust. Using a small brush, paint the leftover juices over the pineapple slices. You probably won’t need all the juices.

Put back into oven and cover with a sheet of foil. Cook for 20 -30 minutes.

Cool completely. Top with whipped cream or serve with vanilla ice cream. Galette is delicious served cold the next day, too.

Slow Cooker Coq au Vin

Holy Cow this was good! The picture does not do the flavor of this dish justice. It was sooooooo delicious! Traditionally Coq au Vin is made with chicken thighs and served with mashed potatoes, but here I simplified everything by making it in the crock pot with boneless, skinless breasts and serving it with little baby bakers. If you are a Coq au Vin fan you will not be diasappointed.

nonstick cooking spray

4 large chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

1 envelope onion soup mix

8 0z. quartered mushrooms

1 large shallot, sliced

1 cup baby carrots

1/2 cup dry red wine

1/4 cup water

Lightly coat large skillet and brown chicken pieces (I cut my breasts into halves). Drain off fat.

In crock pot, spray the inside of the cooker and place browned chicken in the bottom. Sprinkle with dry soup mix. Add mushrooms, shallots, and carrots. Pour wine and water over all.

Place on low for 6 hours, or high for 3, and stir it every once in a while. Serve with potatoes or egg noodles.

GF French Toast with Caramel Apple Syrup

Remember my Baked Caramel Apples? Well, not only are they great with ice cream but they also go with french toast quite well. I used GF bread for this breakfast but you certainly can use any bread you’d like.

French Toast with Baked Apples

2 slices bread

1 egg

1 T butter

1 tsp sugar

1/2 cup baked caramel apples

Whip the egg and soak the bread in it. You should use up all the egg.

In a skillet, heat up the butter and sugar. Place the bread into the pan and let both sides fry up in the caramelized butter. Reheat your apples and use the caramel sauce from the apples as a syrup. Top the french toast with apples and caramel sauce and a bit of powdered sugar.

It’s that easy. Enjoy!