Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Lettuce Wrap Chicken Satay

I haven't been blogging much - we've been making "regulars" and trying to watch our waist lines. I've started South Beach Diet, so my recipes (should) be pretty low carb from here on out. This recipe I found at allrecipes.com. The directions call for putting this chicken on skewers and serving that way, we decided to but into chunks and turn it into a lettuce wrap. Also, in order to serve my husband and I dinner, plus me for lunch the next day - I tripled the recipe. Here is the original recipe.

Chicken Satay
Source: All Recipes

Ingredients:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 TBSP light soy sauce
salt & pepper

Peanut Sauce:
1 1/2 TBSP trans-fat free peanut butter
1/4 TSP garlic powder
1/2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1/4 packet sugar substitute
1 1/2 TBSP water
sprinkle of cayenne pepper to taste

Directions:

1. To make peanut sauce: Place the ingrendents in a bowl and stir well. Microwave for 30 seconds.
2. Pound chicken breasts between pieces of plastic wrap to a uniform thickness. Rub each breast with about 1 TBSP of light soy sauce. Then season both sides of each breast with a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Place in a skillet and grill a couple minutes per side. Remove and cut into strips or cubes and thread onto skewers. Dip into peanut sauce and enjoy.

This was very different for my husband and I, but we both enjoyed it very much. I hope you do too!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

TWD: French Chocolate Brownies



I looove brownies. So, thanks to Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook for choosing this weeks recipe: French Chocolate Brownies.

Now, I have yet to come across a brownie that I enjoy more than the "box kind" brownie mix. This was a strange recipe for me - I had really high hopes for it. But I was disappointed. I thought it was dry and dense. It just didn't work for me. But others *raved* about it, I guess it's just personal preference.

So, head over to Tuesday's With Dorie to check out everyones work this week!

French Chocolate Brownies
- makes 16 brownies

-Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours.

Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden (I omitted)
1 1/2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum (I omitted)
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you're using it.

Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the water, bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the water almost evaporates. Add the rum, let it warm for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat, stand back and ignite the rum. Allow the flames to die down, and set the raisins aside until needed.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.

Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you'll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the raisins along with any liquid remaining in the pan.

Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.

Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.

Serving: The brownies are good just warm or at room temperature; they're even fine cold. I like these with a little something on top or alongside—good go-alongs are whipped crème fraiche or whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce or even all three!

Storing: Wrapped well, these can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

Ranch Panko Chicken



This is such a simple dish to bring together, and is so yummy! I had concerns that it would be dry after being in the oven for 30 minutes, but the chicken was moist and tender and full of flavor. I highly recommend this dish for a quick go-to weeknight meal!


Ranch Panko Chicken

I can't remember where I got the original recipe, but this is my interpretation


1 pack of ranch dressing mix

1 cup of panko bread brumbs

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast

1 egg


Combine the ranch dressing mix and panko bread crumbs in a small bowl. Whisk the egg in another small bowl. Dip chicken breasts in egg, then in panko mixture. Spray a 9x13 glass baking dish with non-stick spray and bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.


I served this alongside corn on the cob and mashed potatoes! Yummy - enjoy!