Cheater Sweet and Sour Chicken

Really, the best reason for this post is to brag on the fact that I had the coolest guest speakers today!! :) My grandparents drove two hours to come to my classroom to teach my ProStart students the art of the cream puff (and give away the secret that they're really not that hard!!) Gram makes them look even easier after fifty-some years of practice. She won't give away the exact number of years--Granddad threw in that it is definitely over fifty though. She has done all sorts of experimenting to come up with her perfect recipe for them, and shared that with my students today. They got to stuff their faces with beautiful little cream puffs, and they will be making themselves tomorrow! Thanks so much for coming!!


So, dinner after I might have consumed a couple of those lovely little puffs... (I did go to the gym though!)...

This is truly my kind of weeknight meal--use up leftover stuff, get it done quickly. Not really a recipe, just my "note to self" to remember to do it again!

20 minute meal:

chicken

frozen precut pepper and onion blend

brown rice

prepared sweet and sour sauce (leftover from food sale Friday)

crunchy thingies (La Choy things) leftover from salad!

Chop chicken into bite sized pieces and coat with a SMALL amount of cornstarch and stir fry seasonings (ginger, sesame seed, crushed red pepper).

Cook rice. Heat up pepper/onion blend. Heat up sweet and sour sauce.

Heat up 1 1/2 t oil in a wok. Once hot, stir fry chicken in it.

Plate rice, then chicken, vegetables, sauce, and crunchies. Done!

Back tomorrow with the cream puff recipe!

Happy Birthday little sis!!!

She's 22 today! This is the first birthday in four years that I haven't spent with her, and it's sad!! They were supposed to get to come here, but that blizzard thing yesterday kept them off the roads. Miss you lots and love you! Happy Birthday!!! (of course I also told her this myself, don't worry:)

Cinnamon Raisin Pull Apart Bread

Since we were blizzarding Friday night, it was a good chili night. When it's cold outside, I go into baking mode even more, and cinnamon rolls were always what went with chili in the elementary school cafeteria, and that stuck with me!

I saw these monkey bread like muffin things on this website, complete with droolworthy pictures (seriously, for good pictures, click that link; for my not good pictures, keep scrolling). If you're going to make these, make sure you read through the whole thing first to catch all of the ingredients...I took a couple pictures along the way to help me remember next time, so the recipe is written as we go here, too.

First, you make the dough:

Stir this together:
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c AP flour
2 t salt
1 1/2 t active dry yeast

Add:
1 c + 2 T lukewarm water
2 T olive oil

Stir this together, then turn out onto floured surface (every last bit!), put the bowl over it, and let it sit there five minutes (great tip from Joy!).
Go back and knead it for a couple minutes to form a smooth ball (again, look at her great step by step pictures for more info...)

Spray your bowl (yes, you can keep using the same one!) with Pam, then toss the dough back in, turn it to coat, and cover it with sprayed plastic wrap. Let it sit in a warm place for 2 to 2.5 hours, or put it in the fridge overnight to return to it tomorrow. (read her instructions for more on that...)

After the first rise, lightly press out the dough, knead it again for about three minutes, and let it sit for another thirty.

Preheat your oven to 350--you're almost there!

Grease a muffin pan (12) or baking dish with spray and sprinkle with flour.

Get the dough back out onto your floured surface and press it out to 3/4 inch thick. Start cutting into 1 inch chunks. After all your chunks are cut, sprinkle them with flour, then sugar, then cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, combine: (I changed my measurements slightly to reflect my preferences..)
1/2 c unsalted butter
1 c brown sugar
1/3 c granulated sugar
3 T flour
1/2 t cornstarch
1/2 c raisins
1 1/2 t cinnamon

Start filling your muffin tins/baking dish--
for the muffins-- put about three chunks in the bottom, loosely filling it halfway. Top with 1 T of the brown sugar mixture, a few more chunks, and another part of the brown sugar mixture. If using a baking dish, just layer chunks, brown sugar mixture, chunks, b.s. mixture... (again, look at her pictures!)

Bake for about 15 minutes, let cool for 15 minutes, loosen with knife, and take out of tin to devour, because you've waited long enough!! Ours was gone by the next morning's breakfast....



Mine didn't stick together, and I think it's because there was too much brown sugar compared to the melty butter...that's why I changed my measurements to cut back on the b.s. and keep the same amount of butter.
I don't think anybody noticed though...they were awesome!
If you don't feel like waiting around for dough to rise, you could just cut lots of corners and use refrigerated biscuit dough, but then that just isn't the same, is it??

March Blizzard

I am pretty sure my calendar says March 28, but this is what it looked like outside this morning:

Trees were bending over with ice and it was more of a winter scene that we had all winter.

By this afternoon, icicles were falling off the power lines and trees like crazy. I just tried not to get hit when we took Bruno outside. He loved it!

It will just be a river of slush by the morning, and then probably back to shorts weather in a few days!

Barbecue Sauce

This is the BBQ sauce for the brisket, but I bet it would be good on anything...

Barbecue Sauce

Emeril Lagasse
Yield: 5 cups


4 cups ketchup
1 c finely chopped yellow onions
½ c Steen’s 100% pure cane syrup (I used dark corn syrup, couldn't find Steen's)
½ c dry red wine (I used cooking wine...we were at school!)
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T Creole mustard (spicy brown)
2 T dark brown sugar
1 T minced garlic
1 T minced jalapenos
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t hot pepper sauce
1 t salt
½ t cayenne

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir to mix well. Use immediately, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Barbecue Brisket

We made this at school as part of our cooking techniques unit, and I had to share the recipe. It is SO good! I would think you could put it at lower temp and cook it all day while you're gone at work if you need to....would be a great meal to come home to!

Definitely don't know how to get a decent picture of a huge hunk of meat...

Barbecued Beef Brisket Sandwiches

Emeril Lagasse

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 5 hours Serves: 8 to 10
Ingredients:
1 (5 to 6 lb) beef brisket, trimmed
3 T Essence
3 ½ t salt
1 T olive oil
4 c Barbecue sauce
2 c low sodium beef broth
8 to 10 rolls, warmed

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 F.
Season the brisket on both sides with the Essence and 1 ½ t of the salt.
Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet or large roasting pan over high heat. Add the meat and sear, turning once, until evenly browned, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a large roasting pan.
Combine the barbecue sauce, stock, and the remaining 2 t salt in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Pour the mixture over the brisket and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 2 ½ hours. (**If unable to find low sodium beef broth, use regular broth and omit the salt in this step.)
Turn the meat over, cover again, and continue baking for another 2 ½ hours, or until very tender.
Let stand for 15 minutes before carving. Slice the meat across the grain and arrange onto warm onion rolls. Serve with the pan juices spooned over each sandwich.



Essence Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast)
Emeril Lagasse
Yield: 2/3 c

2 ½ T paprika
2 T salt
2 T garlic powder
1 T black pepper
1 T onion powder
1 T cayenne pepper
1 T dried oregano
1 T dried thyme
Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Lemon Parmesan Shrimp Pasta

Sometimes when things are on sale, I stock up, and then wonder what in the heck I will do with them. This week's sale was lemons, and I wound up with four. Not a ton, but I sure didn't have any plans for them.


I remember seeing lemon pasta a lot from Giada on the Food Network, so I went in search of something similar.

This is a SparkPeople recipe that looked really great, and springy! I am so excited for the storms and sun and everything else spring and summer bring.

Lemon Parmesan Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients
1/2 lb. whole wheat angel hair pasta
1 lb. peeled, deveined shrimp (medium or small sized)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter (or whatever butter like substance you have)
1/4 c lemon juice
1/3-1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, depending on your taste
1 cup reserved pasta water

Directions
1. Bring large pot of water to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, heat butter in large skillet. Saute shrimp and garlic until cooked through.
3. Cook pasta according to package directions.
4. Add lemon juice and parmesan to chicken shortly before pasta is done.
5. Toss the cooked pasta with the chicken mixture.
6. Ladle in 1 cup of pasta water to extend the sauce.