Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I'm still here and am still cooking!! I never knew how busy things would get with a little one in the house (so much fun!!!). But we have still been doing a lot of cooking - I just haven't taken the time to experiment with new ideas or recipes. Every now and then I do, like on my dad's birthday back in October (yes, this is a post from October finally making it to my blog in December!).

Better than PF Changs - that is what we all said about these Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps. I always liked the wraps at PF Changs, until I made my own, that is. I went to PF Changs a week after making these, and I was not impressed! Their wraps are much saltier, and the chicken mixture has a heavy soy flavor. The wraps I made had more flavor depth and were much lighter and fresher.

I used this recipe from Wasabimom.com, a gluten-free cooking site. To see the original recipe with gluten-free substitutions, see the link above.

The Pouring Sauce

• 1/4 c sugar
• 1/2 c warm water
• 2 tbsp soy sauce (I used low sodium)
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp hot water
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in 1/2 c warm water. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice, and sesame oil. Mix well and throw in fridge until ready to it. Before serving, combine the hot water, Dijon, and garlic - you can add this to the pouring sauce 1 spoonful at a time to taste.

The Stir Fry Sauce

• 2 tbsp soy sauce (I used low sodium)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar

Mix in a small bowl and set aside.
Chicken Stir Fry Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes. I chopped mine even smaller than that.
• 1 8-oz can water chestnuts, chopped into pieces the size of corn kernels
• 1/2 c mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped (Basically I chopped my chicken, water chestnuts, mushrooms, and onion to pieces of the same size)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 large leaves iceberg or Napa cabbage

Cooking the Chicken Stir Fry:

• Heat oils in a large saute pan or wok until glistening
• Add the chicken and cook until mostly cooked, about 5 minutes (max.. mine took less time)
• Turn the heat down to medium-high, add another tbsp oil, then add the onions, garlic, water chestnuts, mushrooms. Saute 1 minute then add the stir fry sauce.
• Cook about 4 minutes and transfer to a serving dish.
• Serve 1-2 spoonfuls of the chicken mixture in a piece of lettuce. Yum!

These wraps disappeared in a matter of minutes. My only suggestion for next time - make more!!!

Asian Orzo

I never would have thought to cook orzo pasta with Asian flavors and ingredients, but it totally worked! This is my new favorite orzo dish, and is a great side with Asian marinated meats, like the grilled marinated pork tenderloin I served this with. It's also a nice alternative to noodles or rice when you need a side for an Asian dinner.

Inspiration - this recipe from the Easy Gourmet Dinners web site. I changed up the cooking method and added a few ingredients so my variation is below.

Ingredients

• 1 c dry orzo pasta
• 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 1/4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 4 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp brown sugar

Directions

• Heat olive oil in a small pot
• Add onion, saute 3-4 minutes or until soft.
• Add orzo, toss to coat/toast for 1 minute
• Mix the broth with the soy sauce, sesame oil, and brown sugar. Add the broth mixture to the pot, stir, bring to a simmer then lower heat and cover.
• Cook on low heat, covered, for about 15 minutes or until done. The broth should just be absorbed as the pasta finishes cooking.
• Stir to fluff and serve.

Great marinade for pork

No picture, just a quick post to share this amazing marinade.

I actually made it, not my master-of-marinades husband, although he was giving me suggestions while I was mixing. We marinated the pork tenderloin for 8 hours before Jon grilled it.

Mix all ingredients together and pour over the tenderloin in a ziploc bag. Note, amounts are approximate, and this was for 1 small tenderloin.

• 1/3 c olive oil
• 3 tbsp soy sauce (I always use low sodium soy sauce)
• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp onion powder

Chicken with Peppers, Onions, and Mushrooms

Quick and easy with a lot of flavor - that's the name of the game these days. Oh, and it helps if we can eat it with one hand while holding a baby in the other.

I threw this dish together because I had some mushrooms leftover. Amounts are approximate.

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts sliced into strips
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1 sm onion, sliced
• Handful of mushrooms, sliced
• White wine, about 3 tbsp
• 1 c chicken broth
• Salt, pepper, thyme, paprika
• Olive oil

Directions

• Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat
• Season chicken with salt, pepper, a touch of thyme, and paprika. Add to pan and cook until just about cooked through, about 5-6 minutes.
• Move chicken to sides of pan and add the onions, peppers, and mushrooms, Saute 2 minutes.
• Deglaze pan with the white wine
• Add chicken broth, adjust seasonings, and let come to a simmer. Lower heat and let it cook another few minutes to thicken. Serve over rice.

Chicken Stuffed with Golden Onions and Fontina Cheese

This is another dish I made several weeks ago but am just now getting around to blogging. I do remember that it was delicious! I have a new love for Fontina cheese after eating this chicken. It is creamy, light, and slightly nutty, and worked well for stuffing chicken. A few nights later I used it to make a cream sauce for pasta - sweet, creamy, and smooth, not too salty.

I found this recipe on the Eating Well web site, and of course made a few changes. My version is below.

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts; cut a pocket in each
• 2.5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/3 c shredded Fontina cheese
• 1 small shallot, chopped
• 1/4 c dry white wine
• 1 c low-sodium chicken broth mixed with 1 tbsp flour or cornstarch
• salt and pepper
• Flour, egg, breadcrumbs (the original recipe did not call for breading the chicken, but I was in the mood for breaded chicken. The recipe would work either way.)
  

Directions

• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onions and season with half of the thyme. Cook slowly until caramelized, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, mix with the Fontina cheese, and set aside.
• Stuff each chicken breast with half of the onion/cheese mixture. If you are breading the chicken, season it with salt and pepper, dip in flour, egg, then breadcrumbs. If you aren't breading it, just season with salt and pepper.
• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in the pan used to cook the onions. Add the chicken and cook over medium high heat until done, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a dish and keep warm.
• Add 0.5 tbsp oil to the pan; add shallots and cook 2 minutes.
• Add wine and remaining thyme to the pan and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes.
• Add broth/flour mixture (make sure it is thoroughly whisked and smooth first). Let reduce 2-3 minutes. Serve sauce over the chicken.

I really enjoyed this chicken dish. The Fontina cheese worked well with the caramelized onions, and the thyme in the sauce brought the right aroma to the dish. Jon suggested adding some bacon next time... we all know bacon makes everything better! I agree that it would work well with this chicken.

Grilled Cauliflower

Nothing says summer like grilled veggies! And this summer we experimenting with grilling everything - it made life easy and we discovered that pretty much any veggies can be grilled. Well, except radishes... I read about grilled radishes in a magazine several months ago so I wanted to give it a shot. Big fail!

Cauliflower was one veggie that we loved on the grill. I made a foil packet, tossed the cauliflower with olive oil, salt, and pepper and tossed it on the grill for about 8 minutes. It was tender, sweet, and slightly caramelized - just delicious!

Lemon-Honey Chicken

Is anybody out there? I know it's been a while, but I hope you are sticking with me! I promise there will be a lot of yummy things coming out of my kitchen again soon.

I can't believe our baby girl is 10 weeks old already - time is flying and life is crazy, but wonderful. Believe it or not, Jon and I have done a lot of cooking since becoming a family of three. Thank goodness for the grill - Jon has been marinating and grilling like crazy, and our meals have mostly consisted of grilled meats, grilled veggies, and easy sides, like baked potatoes, orzo, pasta, rice, or noodles. I have also been cooking meals that we love from my blog, so I haven't had anything new to write about here.

The biggest change in our kitchen is that we usually have to eat one at a time, or cut our food quickly so we can hold our baby girl. Why is it that she can be sound asleep, but as soon as she hears our plates hit the table, she's awake and screaming? And it doesn't matter if we eat at 6, 7, or 8, she knows when it is dinner time.

Ok, back to the food. I did make a few new meals over the summer, one of them being this Lemon-Honey Chicken. Actually, I made it a month ago, but am just now getting around to posting! I bookmarked the recipe a while back when I saw it here on the blog Closet Cooking. I made a few changes, so my version is below.

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• Flour for dredging
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp ginger, grated
• 1 lemon, juice and zest
• 2 tbsp honey (I used 1 tbsp)
• Added: 2 small cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 c chicken stock (I used about 3/4 c)

Directions

• Season chicken with salt and pepper, coat with flour, shaking off excess
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan over high heat
• Add the chicken and cook for 2 min per side, lower heat, and cook another few minutes per side until cooked through. Transfer chicken to a dish and keep warm.
• Add 1 tbsp oil to the pan over medium high heat
• Add ginger and garlic; saute until fragrant
• Add the lemon zest, juice, honey, and stock. Bring to a simmer, reduce to thicken.
• Serve sauce over the chicken (I made this a month ago so I can't remember exactly, but I am pretty sure I returned the chicken to the pan for the last 3-4 minutes of cooking).

This dish was very fragrant, actually a bit too much for Jon's tastes (too much ginger and still too sweet, even with just 1 tbsp of the honey). I agree with him on the ginger, so next time I'll use less, but I did like the sweetness from the honey mixed with the brightness from the lemon.

Easy Peach Cobbler

This summer has been crazy hot. I knew it would be a hot summer since I was pregnant and due at the end of July - figures, right? On July 7 it was around 100 degrees and humid and I was due in 3 weeks. I had a client meeting during the day, and was exhausted that night, but craving baked peaches. I had been thinking of my grandmom's amazing peach pie for days, but no way was I up for making a pie. I did have some peaches hanging around, so I decided to make an easy peach cobbler.

I'm nuts - 100 degrees, 9 months pregnant, and turning on my oven to bake?!? And that was after tearing apart my kitchen and cleaning like crazy. Little did I know that I was nesting - I went into labor just over 24 hours after taking that cobbler out of the oven. While in the hospital waiting to have our baby girl, all I could think of was that cobbler sitting in my fridge, so the next day I had Jon bring me a piece - SO much better than hospital food!

Easy peach cobbler - recipe from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

For the peaches:

• 8 peaches, pitted and sliced. The recipe noted they should be peeled too - I didn't have the energy or patience for that and they were just fine!
• 1/4 c white sugar
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg (I didn't have any and didn't miss it)
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp cornstarch

For the crust:

• 1 c flour
• 1/4 c white sugar
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 c boiling water
• 3 tbsp white sugar mixed with 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees
• In a large bowl, combine the ingredients for the peaches. Toss to coat, then pour into a baking dish. Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes.
  

• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine some of the ingredients for the crust: flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt. Blend in the butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Finally, stir in the water until just combined.
• Remove the peaches from the oven and drop spoonfulls of the crust mixture over the top. Sprinkle the entire cobbler with the sugar/cinnamon mixture and bake for 30 minutes until bubbly.
  

This recipe was quick and easy, especially for someone who doesn't like to bake. It completely satisfied my craving for peach pie, although nothing will ever be as good as my grandmom's! I'm looking forward to making this in the fall with apples - Jon will love that one.

Be back soon....

I haven't been in the kitchen for the past week, but I have a good reason. Jon and I welcomed our baby girl to the world on Friday, July 9! She's amazing and we are so in love with her!

I have an easy peach cobbler, a chicken pasta dish, and a fabulous Mexican dip to blog, and I promise I'll get to it eventually. And I'm looking forward to getting back in the kitchen as soon as we are in more of a routine and not totally sleep deprived!

So stay tuned, there's much more to come!

New blog design!