Orange Chicken

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today is the Chinese New Year. It is now the year of the Dragon. The Oriental Dragon is a symbol of good fortune. I wish you all some good fortune. 

 When we order Chinese, I normally do not order Orange Chicken. It is just too expensive to try something new unless it is at the buffet. My oldest daughter is always asking me to cook up a Chinese dish. My oldest daughter loved this dish. We served our chicken with rice.

Orange Chicken
For the marinade and sauce
3/4 cup chicken broth, low sodium
1 1/2 tsp orange zest, finely grated
3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
6 Tbsp white vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 lb chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp cold water

For the chicken coating
3 large egg whites
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cup canola oil

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, add the chicken broth, orange zest, orange juice, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and cayenne pepper. Whisk well.
2. Remove 3/4 cups of the mixture and add to a large zipper lock plastic bag.
3. Add the chicken pieces to the bag and remove the excess air before sealing. 
4. Refrigerate for only 30-60 minutes in the refrigerator.
5. Heat the saucepan mixture over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer.
6. In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch and water until smooth.
7. Add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan. 
8. Continue to simmer until the sauce becomes thick and translucent about 1 minute. Remove from heat to cool.
9. Whisk the egg whites until frothy and add to a pie plate.
10. Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Heat the oil to 350 degrees.
11. In a second pie plate, combine the cornstarch, baking soda, and cayenne pepper. 
12. Drain the chicken of the marinade and pat dry with a paper towel. 
13. Coat the chicken in the egg whites and then coat in the cornstarch mixture. Shake off any excess coating.
14. Carefully add the coated chicken to the hot oil. Work in batches so the oil isn't over crowded.
15. Turn the chicken in the hot oil.
16. Cook the chicken until golden brown or until cooked through about 5 minutes.
17. Remove the cooked chicken with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. 
18. Make sure the oil is at 350 degrees before repeating with the remaining chicken.
19. Coat the cooked chicken pieces with the sauce.

Recipe adapted from Smells Like Home. Originally found on Cooking at Home with America's Test Kitchen Cookbook.

 Did you already know...........
-People born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Dragon are suppose to be warm hearted, energetic, charismatic, lucky at love, and egotistic.
-People born under the Dragon are natural born leaders.
-Some famous people born under the Dragon sign are Joan of Arc, Susan B. Anthony, Florence Nightingale, John Lennon, and Bruce Lee.

Football Crackers

My husband loves football. He watches it while he eats his dip and crackers. I decided to give his traditional snack a creative twist. The kids preferred this twist. Can you tell what we will be watching this weekend?

 My oldest daughter is very creative so she took the football themed twist to another level with her background.

Football Cheese and crackers
3 slices of cheddar cheese
1 package of chicken sausage, buffalo style
1 sleeve of crackers
food dye

Directions:

1. Take the cheese and using a biscuit cutter press only half of the cutter into cheese. 
2. Flip the cheese over and cut into the second part of the cheese to form the shape of a football.
3. Cook the sausage according to the directions. Slice the sausage into 1/2 inch circles.
4. Top each cracker with the cheese and sausage. Can add dressing in between each layers to hold the items together.
5. Top the cheese with food dye to look like the stitching of the football if desired.

Recipe adapted from Gimme Some Oven. 

 Did you already know...........
-Football evolved from rugby and soccer.
-In 1869, Yale and McGill played the first game of football.
-In 1892, the first professional football player was paid $500 for one game. 

Banana Bread

When I was a little kid, we lived in Hawaii. In our backyard was a banana tree. My Mom said any time we saw a banana on the tree we wanted it. We did not want to eat it when it was ripe. Today I still prefer my bananas with a little green on them. When they are all yellow, bananas seem slimy to me. My children enjoy their bananas the same way I do. 

If we still have any bananas that are ripe, I will either cut them up and freeze them. They make a great addition to smoothies. I will also make banana bread for gifts.

Banana Bread
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease 2 loaf pans.
3. Cream sugar with the butter until well blended.
4. Mix in the eggs and blend well.
5. Add the bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
6. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt until just moistened.
7. Bake the loaves for one hour on the lowest position rack in the oven.
8. Check with a tooth pick and it should come out clean when inserted into the middle of the loaf.
9. Allow the loaves to cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pans. 
10. Allow to cool completely before slicing.
11. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days or 10 days in the refrigerator.

Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker 40th Anniversary Edition Cookbook.

Did You already know..............
-A cluster of bananas are called a hand.
-Banana beer is available for purchase.
-Americans on average purchase 28 pounds of bananas a year.
-A pound of bananas are roughly 3 medium bananas.

Chicken and Rice Soup

My husband hasn't been feeling the best lately. I asked him if he wanted me to make him some soup. His request was Chicken and Rice. I have made this recipe several times before for him. My husband loves rice. He prefers rice over noodles so this is his favorite chicken soup.

Chicken and Rice Soup

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped 
3 carrots, shredded
2 celery stalks with tops, chopped
2 cups of rice
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp flour
2 quarts of chicken stock
1 cup chicken, cooked and shredded
3 cups of water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper


Directions:

1. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large pot.
2. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook for 4 minutes.
3. Add the garlic cloves and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add one cup of rice and stir for 1 minute so the rice toast.
5. Clear a corner of the pot with no vegetables. 
6. Add 1 Tbsp oil and add the flour to a corner of the pot. 
7. Stir the flour and cook for 1 minute.
8. Add the chicken stock and water. Cook for 5 minutes.  Stir.
9. Add the other cup of rice and stir. Cook for 10 minutes.
10. Add the cooked chicken and season to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Recipe created by Jen of Sweet Morris.

Did you already know........
-The flu vaccine lasts at least a year.
-Over 200 viruses can cause the common cold.
-Many studies have shown hicken soup and other hot liquids will make a person with a cold feel better.

PPQ: Creme Brulee

I received The Pastry Queen Cookbook last month. The neat thing about finally having the cookbook is I can now participate in the Project Pastry Queen. Each week a member will pick a recipe from the cookbook for us to try.

This weeks pick is Espresso Creme Brulee. Since I already have crazy children, I decided to try the rather sweet variation and top it with bananas instead. My husband helped me make this recipe. This is an awesome recipe. If you are looking for a special dessert, this is the one to try!

Creme Brulee
1/4 cup whole milk
2 3/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean
7 large egg yolks
2/3 cups plus 1/2 cups sugar
1 banana, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Lightly spray 6 six ounce ramekins with cooking spray.
3.  Heat the milk with the cream in a pot over medium-high heat.
4. While the milk is heating, scrap the vanilla bean pod in half and scrap the inside of the pod with a knife. Add the vanilla pod and scraped beans into the heating milk.
5. Bring the milk to a boil and remove immediate from the heat.
6. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until well combined.
7. While whisking continuously, slowly add a little of the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture at a time. 
8. After blending thoroughly, pour the custard through a fine mesh sieve to remove any vanilla pod and any overcooked egg. 
9. Place the ramekins in a baking dish and fill the dish with hot water until it reaches 3/4 up the outside of the ramekins.
10. Fill the ramekins half way with the custard.
11. Carefully, place the dish into the oven without allowing any of the water bath to touch the custard.
12. Bake the ramekins for 1 hour. The custard should just set and jiggle when shaken but not browning or bubbling.
13. Allow the custard to cool for 30 minutes. 
14. Top each custard with a single layer of thinly sliced banana.
15. Top each custard with a thin even layer of sugar. 
16. With a kitchen torch, caramelize the sugar or broil the custard in the oven 4 inches from the flame until sugar is caramelized and lightly browned.
17. Serve immediately. 

Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen Cookbook.  

Did you already know.................
-Creme brulee is a custard topped with a hard caramel.
-Creme brulee means burnt custard in French.
-The recipe can be found in a 1691 French cookbook by Francois Massialot.