Wednesday, August 22, 2012

WW: Chinese Jamaican Jerk Chicken Fried Rice

Wok Wednesdays cooking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young




I have never had fried rice quite like this. The chicken replaced the pork and there was no egg whatsoever. The chicken was marinated in a Jamaican jerk sauce for several hours and roasted. The drippings from the chicken were added to the stir-fry which gave it wonderful flavor ~ and added fat ~ but don't skip this ~ we must all indulge once in a while.

Success meter (1-3): 3


Too lazy to go to the upscale market,
I went to our local chain grocery and
bought chicken thighs in place of
whole chicken legs.

Look at this wonderful jerk sauce!
The recipe called for dark soy sauce in addition to
regular soy sauce. I was unable to find the dark soy
sauce at any of the supermarkets or the Asian market.
Dark soy sauce is aged longer than regular. It is
sweeter and thicker. So I thought to add brown sugar
to the regular soy sauce; only to find that is one of
the ingredients in the recipe. So I opted to add
an extra tabelspoon of regular soy sauce and
call it day. I did check Amazon.com  and they
do have the dark soy sauce, but the shipping
is more than the product by one and a
half times. Forget that!


mmm... good.

I used brown rice, for that is what I had on hand.
The hubby said he would have liked this better
if it was made with the white rice.







You will not find the recipe here on my blog or within the Wok Wednesdays community. We encourage readers to go and purchase this book at their local independent bookstore or on-line.


Make sure to visit my co-wokkers to see their results on this stir-fry.
Look for the LYL link on the Wok Wednesdays page.



Tuesday, August 21, 2012

TWD: Gruyère Popovers

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking with Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Recipe contributed by Marion Cunningham




This weeks recipe was to make plain and simple popovers. I have never had a popover before. Plain, crispy, hollow popovers were not sounding so appealing, so I chose to add Gruyère cheese to the top of the batter before placing into the oven.

Since I have not had great results with the recipes from this book, I did a Google search for Gruyére Popovers and decided to go with this way of making them, still using Marion's ingredients, with the addition of cheese.

The aroma wafting through the kitchen as I sit and type this, is once again heavenly. If these taste as good as they smell and look so far, these are going to be awesome!

O.M.G. These are fabulous!!!

Success meter (1-3): 3+


How can so few ingredients turn
into such deliciousness.


Left one plain - only because I ran out of cheese.
 (well laziness won over ~ did not want to shred more.)

Oh the excitement!!!

The plain popover poofed up higher - but the ones
with cheese made these to die for.
I covered the rolls with foil for the last ten minutes
of cooking to keep them from browning too much.

Cheesy goodness.


Beautiful. No need for a fancy popover pan.

Perfect inside.



Excellent dinner once again.
The popover was bigger than the chicken!
The salad was simple and tasty too.
You can find the recipe for the salad here.

To get this simple popover recipe visit our host's sites:
Paula of Vintage Kitchen Notes and Amy of Bake With Amy



Check out my fellow bloggers posts for their versions of this recipe.
Look for the LYL: Popovers post over at Tuesdays with Dorie.



Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The Cold Kitchen ~ Eating in the Raw



Fun, fun, fun!!!

There is a new cooking school/production kitchen in town called Back to the Table. My friend Dorothy and I decided to check it out and give it a try. We took the class called Raw. I'm sure you get the idea; nothing is cooked.

The menu consisted of the following:

Almond Milk
Cream of Zucchini Soup
Mediterranean Kale Salad
Zucchini Noodles Marinara
"Chocolate Mousse"

The good thing about a new business is the word is not out yet. We were fortunate enough to be the only two in the class this day. It was more of a one-on-one un-cooking session. There were a few minor kinks they need to work out, but we had a fabulous time and and are anxious to take another class.

Upon deciding on a class, I was thinking that this was a good choice, for I am interested in looking for meals I can prepare for our vegetarian daughter, and this was also a good choice for my friend whom is on a restricted diet.

Success meter (1-3): 3



Such a cute store!
The picture does not do it justice.

Here I am making almond milk ~ yummm!

Awesome kitchen!

Cream of Zucchini Soup


My dear friend Dorothy.
Isn't she just a cutie patootie!

Our wonderful instructor, Chef Erin!
She does not label herself as a vegetarian
or vegan, but a "choicetarian".

Kale salad ~ so good.
Dorothy calls it a "bowl of health"

Chef Erin demonstrating zucchini "noodles"
made with a very cool tool called a spirooli.
I want one, as well as a Blendtec.

This is what is leftover from
making the "noodles".

Raw marinara sauce.

An example of zucchini ribbons
made with the spirooli.

"Chocolate Mousse"
(made of dates, avocado, and cocoa)

A very cool whirl-a-ma-jig!
I want one of these too!



Out of respect of Chef Erin and Back to the Table cooking school, I am not posting the recipes. You'll need to sign up for the class yourself; and that's a good thing.

Thanks to my daughter Ashley and her boyfriend Jake for the great catch phrase!


Sunday, August 12, 2012

Strawberry Basil Ice Cream



         Recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

I was never really fond of ice cream. Sure I would have a small cup if that is what was being offered for dessert; however it was not something I would buy or order for myself. My husband on the other hand used to have ice cream every single night!

I have made two ice cream flavors this summer; the first being coffee flavored, both which are fabulous, am now coming around to this delectable treat. I think I need to start working out again. This can spell trouble for sure.

This may sound like an odd combination, but don't let that put you off. The ice cream is amazingly refreshing. The basil gives it a cool (aside from being cold on its own) kind of wow sensation - think mint without the mint taste. It's really hard to explain ~ you'll just have to try it for yourself.

Yeah... this is good.

Success meter (1-3): 3








Ready to chill.

Yikes! Starting to overflow!




Mmmm...