Honey Sesame Chicken

My sister is a cast member at Disney World in Orlando.  This means at Christmas time the family gets loaded up with sweet Disney swag.  She got me this great cookbook a few years ago.  This is yet another example of me not using my cookbooks to their full potential.

I've been eying this recipe since I got the book.  This was a little time intensive but not really hard and it tasted great.  The batter is what made this to me.  It was a really light batter, which made really crispy chicken pieces.

Honey Sesame Chicken:
(Nine Dragons Restaurant Recipe- Cooking With Mickey and the Disney Chefs)

¾ lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ½ inch by 2 inch strips

Marinade:
Salt, to taste
Sugar, to taste
½ c. water
½ c. cooking wine
2 tsp. sesame oil

Marinate the chicken; stir the marinade ingredients together in a medium bowl, add chicken and toss gently to coat. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Batter:
¾ c. all-purpose flour
¼ c. cornstarch
1 heaping tbs. baking powder
1 egg white, beaten
2/3 c. water
2 tbs. oil
Pinch of salt

Mix together the flour, cornstarch and baking powder, then add the egg white, water and oil.  Put mixture aside for 30 minutes. Make the Honey Sauce white the batter is resting.

Pour enough oil into a 2-quart saucepan to come to a depth of 2 inches. Heat over med-high heat to 320 F.
Place chicken pieces into batter mixture and coat. Using tongs or chopsticks, drop the chicken into hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels.  Serve immediately with Honey Sauce.

Honey Sauce:
3 tbs. honey
¼ c. sugar
2 tbs. ketchup
1 tbs. white vinegar
Pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside for the use chicken has been prepared.

After chicken is fried, heat Honey Sauce mixture in a clean frying pan over med-high heat. Stir until mixture bubbles.  Mix chicken pieces into sauce with a spatula.  Place on serving dish and serve immediately.  Sprinkle with chopped green onions and toasted white sesame seeds.

Breakfast Potatoes

My wonderful dog Bowzer woke me up at the crack of dawn on Saturday.  (Thank you sweet dog).  We went on a long walk, ran around the dog park, and came back up stairs to relax (or chase the cat around) until Mr. T got out of bed.

As we were watching our favorite tv shows I decided that it would be a nice surprise to make breakfast when Mr. T got out of bed.  After going through the pantry and vegetable bowl I decided on breakfast potatoes.  I took The Pioneer Woman's basic breakfast potato recipe and added a couple of more things to it.

Breakfast Potatoes:
(The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients:
4 whole (to 5) Large Red Potatoes
1 whole Onion, chopped
1 Bell Pepper, Diced
2 cloves of Garlic, diced
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Or Canola Oil
1 Tablespoon Butter
Salt And Pepper, to taste
1 Teaspoon Paprika

Directions:

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover entirely with water. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are fork tender. When they are ready, place the potatoes on a cutting board and dice them into 1-inch pieces.

In a large skillet heat oil and butter over medium-low heat. Put the onions, bell pepper, and garlic in the skillet and sauté until they start to turn brown.

Next, throw in the diced potatoes. Stir well and then slightly press/pack then. Now you will cook them without stirring for several minutes. You want the pan to be hot enough to crisp the potatoes but not hot enough to char them. Sprinkle a spoon full of flour over potatoes as they cook.

Cook for several minutes and then flip them with a spatula. Salt and Pepper them as they cook. Cook until desired brownness.

Buffalo Chickpea Patties

I've been eyeing these for a while.  I love hummus but have never had much more than that when it comes to chickpeas.  I'm officially a convert to the way of the chick pea.  (I don't think that made since)

These came together quickly and cooked very easily.  I made mine a little smaller than Ashlee did because we were using them to make sandwiches.  I put them on top of flatbread with tzatziki sauce, lettuce, and tomato.  I thought it was a pretty good combination.

Mr. T wanted to make sure that this was going to become a regular on the menu.

Buffalo Chickpea Patties:
(Veggie by Season)

1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c. rolled oats
1/4 c. buffalo sauce, plus more for serving
1 egg white
1 small yellow onion
1 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Add chickpeas to a bowl, use a potato masher and mash until about 2/3 of the chickpeas are pasty and 1/3 are in pieces or whole.  Add the buffalo sauce to the chickpeas.  Add half of the oats to a food processor, pulse to create a crumb, add to the chickpeas.  Beat the egg white in a small dish to a froth, add to the chickpeas.  Grate onion into the chickpeas, finally add the garlic powder, salt and pepper.   Use a spatula and fold mixture, combining ingredients well.


















Heat a griddle over medium heat and or add 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Since we were using these in sandwiches I used a 1/4 measuring cup to portion out chickpea mixture onto griddle, it made about 7.5 patties.  Cook patties for 5-7 minutes, until crispy and brown, flip gently and cook for another 5-7 minutes.


















Serve immediately to retain maximum crispness.

Roasted Garlic

I recently acquired about 20 heads of garlic.  I've been trying to think of new ways to use it so we don't waste any.  One of thing that I had always seen done on tv but had never tried myself was roasting garlic.  I figured that this was the best time to try it out, if it didn't work... I still had more garlic.

It was seriously easy and made the garlic almost sweet.  It got really soft and I was able to just squeeze the cloves out.

Roasted Garlic:
1 head of garlic
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the top of the garlic off.

Place the head of garlic in a piece of parchment paper or foil and drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Wrap the garlic up and cook for 30 minutes.

Crispy Lemon Tilapia

Tilapia was on sale this week. (It seems like I use that sentence a lot, oh well)  I was on a quest to try a different preparation of a household classic.

I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen and decided to give it a shot.  Most of the ingredients are all things that I keep in the house almost all of the time.














Crispy Lemon Tilapia:
(adapted from Tasty Kitchen)

Ingredients:
1 pound Tilapia Fillets
¼ teaspoons Kosher Salt
⅛ teaspoons Black Pepper
3 Tablespoons Flour
1 Tablespoon Old Bay
1 whole Lemon, Zest And Juice
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 Tablespoons Butter
1 Tablespoon Fresh Parsley

Directions:

Lightly season both sides of the tilapia fillets with kosher salt and pepper to taste.  On a separate plate, mix the flour, seasoning and lemon zest.  Lightly dredge each tilapia fillet in the flour mixture, coating each side and pressing coating onto flesh so that it sticks.

In a large non-stick skillet, heat olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Place the coated fish in the skillet and let it cook, for 2 minutes. Flip the fish and cook for 2 more minutes on the other side.

Remove the fish, squeeze the lemon juice over the fish. Serve immediately.

Buffalo Yogurt Dressing

It's been like 900 degrees outside thanks to those pesky hurricanes in the Atlantic. I was not in the mood to cook a giant dinner on Sunday night so we opted for a salad. I threw some veggies in a bowl, broiled some chicken breast, and topped it with this great salad dressing.

Buffalo Yogurt Dressing:
(Clean Eating Magazine: March 2011)

1/2 cup Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons Buffalo Sauce
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 onion
Salt
Pepper

Chop the onion some so it'll blend easier.  Place everything in a blender. Mix unto it's a smooth consistency.















Serve on top of your salad!

Black Bean Patties

One of our favorite restaurants serves an awesome black bean patty appetizer.  We love them but I have never really thought about making black bean burgers or patties at home.  I don't really know why.

Black Bean Patties:

Ingredients:
1 small onion, diced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 carrot, peeled and cut into small cubes
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoons olive oil for frying

Directions:


In a large bowl, add the black beans and mash with a potato masher until almost smooth. Add the onions, garlic, carrot, bread crumbs, paprika, ted pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.  Mix together.


Form bean mixture into patties, approximately ½ inch thick and fry patties in 1-2 tablespoons of oil until firm and crispy.