We're going to Disney World..

This week was awesome, Saturday my parents showed up along with my sisters and the next day we headed to Orlando, where we had a fun week filled with Disney world, Universal Studios, and the beach. It was wonderful to see my family, and to get away from the house a little. It's been getting a little bit lonely and the break was refreshing. We just returned last night, and needless to say I didn't have any time to try out new recipes, but I definitely made a point to try some new foods and thought I'd share some of the meals here with you all! Maybe I'll even attempt to recreate some of them sometime on here :) Next week I'll resume my usual pace with some new recipes for you all to try, but for now, here's the awesome vacation food :) (forgive the quality, they were all taken with my cell phone)

 Starting off are these cornish pasties with garden salad, which I had at the Three Broomsticks in the wizarding world of harry potter in Universal studios. They were delicious; warm pastry filled with potatoes, vegetables and ground beef and wonderfully spiced. Also here I got to try butterbeer, which to my best guess is a mixture of cream soda and butterscotch and is simply delicious, especially when partially frozen into a slushy form! Definitely something I'm going to try to recreate at home sometime.

Next up is something I know most people haven't heard of before, or even knew you could eat, and these are fried zucchini flowers. They're the flower of the zucchini plant and are usually stuffed with something, in this case a mixture of ricotta, parmesan and I something else I couldn't quite put my finger on. They might sound weird, but they were actually very tasty, and the flavors mixed together really nicely. Not sure where one would go about finding and purchasing zucchini flowers, but if I can I may have to try these as well.

 Now for something a little more normal, but still something I had yet to try myself, white asparagus with cherry tomatoes. They were drizzled with olive oil and seasoned nicely. I don't think personally I'm too big of a fan of asparagus, but these went very well with the tomatoes and I did like it quite a bit. Was a very nice side dish to the fried zucchini flowers!

It also just so happened to be close to star wars weekend in Disney and I just happen to be a huge nerd. I might have picked up a hitchhiker or two along the way... Well that's it for now, next week I'll have some fresh new recipes to share, but in the meantime, whats the strangest new food that you've tried recently?

Everyone loves pie!

So this will have to be a very quick blog post, my family is visiting, just arrived yesterday, and we're about to leave for Orlando and Disneyworld here in just a little bit. Next week I'll share pictures of all the wonderful foods I get to try there, but for now, lets get to the recipes!
I decided to do pies, so I'll start off with my pie crust recipe, and then the different fillings that go with it. Also I'll share my recipe for oven roasted chicken, you can use whatever chicken you'd like, but I love making chicken this way, it always comes out moist and flavorful and delicious! Sorry I don't have any pictures this week, I'll add them when I get the chance but right now my house is too hectic! Enjoy!

Never-Fail Pie Crust

• 2 cups of flour
• 3/4 cup crisco
• 1/4 cup water

Measure 2 cups flour into bowl. Add crisco. Before blending, take out enough flour to add to the water to make a runny paste. Blend the flour and shortening until it makes a crumb like mixture and then add the paste and mix. Roll into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. This makes enough for one pie, a top and bottom crust.

Oven Roasted Chicken

• Chicken (boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
• Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper
• Any other seasonings you'd like, I use garlic powder personally

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Rub the chicken in the oil and then season liberally with your salt pepper and seasonings. Place in foil and wrap up tightly so all of the moisture stays in. Bake in the oven for about an hour.

Apple Pie

• 1/2 cup of sugar

  1/4 cup flour

  1/2 t cinnamon

  1/2 t nutmeg

  1/8 t salt

  8 cups thinly sliced peeled and cored granny smith apples

  2 T butter

  Heat oven to 425°F. With floured rolling pin, roll one pastry round into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side. 

In large bowl, mix sugar, 1/4 cup flour, the cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Stir in apples until well mixed. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over filling. Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1/2 inch from rim of plate.
5 Roll other round of pastry into 10-inch round. Fold into fourths and cut slits so steam can escape. Unfold top pastry over filling; trim overhanging edge 1 inch from rim of plate. Fold and roll top edge under lower edge, pressing on rim to seal; flute as desired. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excessive browning.
Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust, removing foil for last 15 minutes of baking. Serve warm if desired.  Personally I do a lattice top because my pie crusts always stick to the surface and it looks beautiful. 
Optional: Brush the top of the pie with milk and sprinkle with sugar, it gives it a beautiful top.

Chicken pot pie

• 3 cups of shredded chicken breast
• 2 cups of mixed veggies
• 1/3 cup of butter
• 1/3 cup of chopped onion
• 1/3 cup of flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper
• 1 3/4 cup of chicken broth
• 1/2 cup of milk

Heat oven to 425 F, and prepare the pie crusts as directed in the apple pie recipe. In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk, cooking and stirring until bubbly and thickened.  Stir in chicken and mixed vegetables. Remove from heat. Spoon chicken mixture into crust-lined pan. Top with second crust; seal edge and flute. Cut slits in several places in top crust. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. During last 15 to 20 minutes of baking, cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

I like Chinese

Well all the preparations for this week's blog post have definitely been interesting. I decided to do a few of my favourite Asian dishes: pot stickers, sesame chicken, and veggie chow mein. I got the first recipe from a guy named Alton Brown, if you haven't heard of him he's a personality on the Food Network, and he is what I would consider to be the foremost expert on all things food related. If you haven't seen his show "Good eats" I'd highly suggest checking it out. So while the ingredients may seem a bit odd, trust me, it is delicious! As for everything else, I had an interesting time finding some of these ingredients. A bit of advice, even though it may seem a bit racist, if you can't find any of the ingredients google an asian market in your town or area. If you can't find something there, call you local Chinese restaurant and ask them where to get it, that's how I found my sesame seeds.

Alton Brown's Perfect Pot Stickers

 (You're gonna want a bit of "burnt" looking on the outside, gives them a nice crisp done texture)

• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons ketchup
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 35 to 40 small wonton wrappers
• Water, for sealing wontons
• 3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 1/3 cups chicken stock, divided

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Combine the first 11 ingredients in a medium-size mixing bowl (pork through cayenne). Set aside.
To form the dumplings, remove 1 wonton wrapper from the package, covering the others with a damp cloth (I used a sheet of paper towel soaked in water). Brush 2 of the edges of the wrapper lightly with water. Place 1/2 rounded teaspoon of the pork mixture in the center of the wrapper. Fold over, seal edges, and shape as desired. Set on a sheet pan and cover with a damp cloth. Repeat procedure until all of the filling is gone.
Heat a 12-inch saute pan over medium heat. Brush with vegetable oil once hot. Add 8 to 10 potstickers at a time to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, without touching. Once the 2 minutes are up, gently add 1/3 cup chicken stock to the pan, turn the heat down to low, cover, and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove wontons to a heatproof platter and place in the warm oven. Clean the pan in between batches by pouring in water and allowing the pan to deglaze. (heat the pan til it's screaming hot and pour the water in, loosening up all the burnt and cooked in food) Repeat until all the wontons are cooked. Serve immediately.

Sesame Chicken
 

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dry sherry
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 dash sesame oil
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon chile paste
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 quart olive oil for frying
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Sift flour, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, baking soda, and baking powder into a bowl. Pour in low-sodium soy sauce, sherry, 2 tablespoons water, vegetable oil, and a dash of sesame oil; stir until smooth. Stir in chicken until coated with the batter, then cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, bring chicken broth, sugar, vinegar, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, chile paste, and garlic to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Dissolve 1/4 cup cornstarch into 1/2 cup of water, and stir into boiling sauce. Simmer until the sauce thickens and turns clear, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and keep sauce warm.Heat olive oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan to a temperature of 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Drop in the battered chicken pieces, a few at a time, and fry until they turn golden brown and float to the top of the oil, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. To serve, place fried chicken pieces onto a serving platter, and pour the hot sauce overtop. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds to garnish. Makes 6 servings.

 

Veggie Chow Mein 

• 12 cups of water
• 10.5 oz fresh, thin chinese style egg noodles (any thin egg noodles will do)
• 2 t sesame oil
• 1 T cooking oil
• 2 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 2 cups sugar snap peas, trimmed
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1/2 cup canned, sliced bamboo shoots, drained
• 1/3 cup chopped green onion
• 3 T dry sherry
• 3 T oyster sauce
• 3 T soy sauce
• 1 t sugar
• 1 t sesame seeds

Measure water into dutch oven or large pot. Bring to a boil and add noodles. Boil, uncovered, for about 1 minute until tender but firm. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain once more and return to the same pot. Add sesame oil and toss, set aside. Heat wok or large frying pan on medium-high heat until very hot. Add cooking oil and the next 4 ingredients. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes and then add the green onion. Stir and then add the next 4 ingredients. Stir once more before adding the noodles. Stir fry for about a minute until heated through. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve! Makes about 8 servings.

Meat in a loaf!

So this week was another rather random week, trying to throw together relatively cheap recipes that would still taste awesome! I settled on meatloaf, because well everyone loves meatloaf, and it's one of the most fun things to play around with. I've done mexican meatloaf before, adding salsa, green peppers, queso fresco and tortilla chips, but this time I wanted to do something a little simpler, while still being fun and different. Then I was craving something sweet, so I decided to make a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Sadly I couldn't eat it all, so I gave some to my friend Amanda, but I'd be a bit worried if I ate the whole thing on my own!

Awesome Meatloaf

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 4 slices of bread
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of ketchup
• 1 packet of dried onion soup mix
• 6 slices of bacon
• 1 block of pepperjack
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Mix first 5 ingredients in a bowl, and add the salt and pepper to taste. Place into a loaf pan and hollow out a depression in the middle large enough for the cheese, and wrap the rest of the beef mixture around it. Top with the bacon and bake for about an hour, or until browned all the way through. The bacon may turn the beef a bit pink on top, but don't worry, as long as it's brown through the middle it's done :) I baked mine on a pan because my loaf pan was full, and you can do it this way if you'd like, but is up to you :)


Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting

 Cake ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Frosting ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans

  
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

Enjoy! How do you like to make your meatloaf? Let me know!