Spicy Carbonara

I threw together this dish after going through the fridge and pulling out everything we needed to use before it went bad. I call it a Spicy Carbonara. It features linguine, red peppers, chicken, chili oil, red onions, garlic and half and half.



I chopped up the chicken and cooked it for about 5-7 minutes in a small bit of olive oil, sprinkling it with hot chili oil and chipotle bouillon. I then put in half of a red onion, half a red pepper and some minced garlic. After about 3 minutes, I stirred in half and half and chicken bouillon. I thickened it with a bit of cornstarch and let it boil until the consistency was just right. I then dumped it over my cooked linguine. Before serving I sprinkled cracked black pepper and bits of bacon over the top.

This was a successful experiment with a good kick! We are definitely going to make this again. :)

Asian Inspirations

This past weekend I decided to pull out the ol' Asian guns and really impress some friends that were coming over for dinner. I chose to try new recipes and overall I was quite pleased with the results. I created Pork Lettuce Wraps, Orange Chicken and Chicken Lo Mein served with Basmati Rice (I know it's not Chinese, but I love the flavor!). The Lo Mein was not bad, but not quite on par with what I was looking for so I won't post about that here. However, the rest of the food was divine!

I made the lettuce wrap filling out of ground pork, seasoned with chili oil, onions, garlic, hoisin sauce and soy sauce. I served it with fresh crisp lettuce leaves for the perfect texture and flavor. Just writing this makes my mouth water!



The orange chicken was marinated and breaded and served in an orange sauce made from orange zest and juice. I mixed in some stir fry veggies for a yummy healthy addition.



Overall the dinner was an absolute success! I will keep working on the Lo Mein recipe until I get it just right. Oh, and dessert was a warm chocolate cake with homemade chocolate icing. Yeah, I think that pretty much cinches up my gourmet chef title. ;)

Jägerschnitzel - Schnitzel with Noodles

These are a few of my favorite things...

I cooked up an awesome German dinner for my hungry German husband this week that was really tasty! I turned boring old pork chops into schnitzel and served it up with noodles and an amazing bacon mushroom sauce.

For those of you who don't know what schnitzel is, it's just German for cutlet (and no, it has absolutely nothing to do with sausages). It can be made of veal, pork, chicken, or really whatever you want. The version I made is called Jägerschnitzel (pronounced Yay-grr-shnitz-el) which means "Hunter Cutlet" and is so named because of the mushroom gravy. Other types of schnitzel include the famous Wienerschnitzel (Vee-ner) or "Viennese Schnitzel" that is breaded and served plain with a slice of lemon, and Zigeunerschnitzel (Tzi-goy-ner) or "Gypsy Schnitzel" that is served with a spicy paprika and red bell pepper sauce, (which I am going to have to make next, because it sounds delicious!).

I've decided to share the love and post my improved directions below. You are welcome! :)



Ingredients:

6 pork chops
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons mustard
2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 pound bacon, diced
1/2 diced yellow onion, approximately 1/2 cup
1 pkg mushroom soup mix (I used a German variation featuring chanterelle mushrooms)
2 teaspoons Maggi or Worcestershire sauce (I recommend Maggi for all gravies)
Vegetable oil, for frying
2 cups half and half
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Directions:

Pound pork chops between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper to 1/4-inch thickness. In a shallow medium bowl, mix together 3/4 cup flour with salt, pepper, garlic and paprika. In another shallow medium bowl, combine egg, milk and mustard. Put the bread crumbs in a third medium shallow bowl. Dredge pork slices first in flour, then in egg wash, and finally in crumbs. This works best if you do it like Alton Brown and have a dry hand and a wet hand. Let set on a baking sheet fitted with a cooling rack for 5 minutes.

In a medium saute pan over medium heat cook the bacon and onions until crispy. Pour half and half into a small saute pan and mix the soup mix into it. Add maggi, bacon & onions, and season with a couple of shakes of salt, parsley and pepper. Depending on your desired thickness, you may want to add more/less half and half. Keep warm.

Heat 1/4-inch oil in thick saute pan. Once heated, add pork and cook evenly on both sides, about 3-5 minutes for the first side, 3-4 minutes for the second. Remove to platter when done. To serve, cover pork with sauce. Either egg noodles or mashed potatoes would be an excellent addition to this dinner.

Crock Pot Cobbler

A few weeks ago, I had purchased a bunch of frozen raspberries for a dessert I was making for a family party. Unfortunately, the turnout at the party was not nearly what I had planned, and I was left with two bags of thawed raspberries that I could not re-freeze. In an effort to avoid wastefulness, I began scouring the internet for an easy recipe that I could use these raspberries in. Lucky for me, I came across this AMAZING crock pot berry cobbler recipe!

Ingredients

Filling:

• 1 (10-ounce) bag frozen strawberries
• 1 (10-ounce) bag frozen blackberries
• 1 (10-ounce) bag frozen raspberries
• 1/3 to 2/3 cup sugar, depending on your level of preferred sweetness
• 1/2 cup baking mix

Topping:

• 2 1/4 cups baking mix
• 1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

Spray the insert of a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray

In a large mixing bowl, toss together all the frozen fruit, sugar and 1/2 cup baking mix. Transfer the fruit to the slow cooker. In another large mixing bowl, stir together 2 1/4 cups baking mix, 1/4 cup sugar, melted butter and milk with a wooden spoon. With your hands, drop bits of dough on top of the fruit in the slow cooker. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and ground cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of the dough and place the lid on the slow cooker. Turn the power onto high and slow cook for 3 to 4 hours until the topping has puffed and the fruit is bubbling.

Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

My assumption is that you can use any type of berry in this recipe, but I just included my favorites. I love this recipe because it's fast and amazingly delicious! The prep only took me about ten minutes, and then I just left it for 4 hours. With 4 kids at home, my time is precious, so I really love the simplicity. It's a perfect dessert recipe!

Chimijitas - A Taste of Pure Happiness

Seriously, pure happiness! Today I was craving Mexican. Okay, I actually ALWAYS crave Mexican (or technically, tex-mex) but today was my breaking point so I decided to do something about it. Depressed by the lack luster offerings of the surrounding El Gross-o restaurants, I sent myself to the kitchen to see if the fridge had anything useful in it. Luckily for us, it did.

I set to work with no recipe, just a vague idea of what I wanted the end result to taste like. I took all my favorite parts of tex-mex cuisine and combined them. The filling was based on fajita filling, with green & red peppers, onions and chicken. I added a special and unique blend of spices to get it just right. Once I had rolled the filling up in tortillas, I fried them up a few seconds on each side in a little bit of oil.

After they were plated, I spooned on some of the special sauce I had made. The sauce is a green chili sauce, made with a mixture of cream of chicken soup, green enchilada sauce, diced green chilis and an assortment of spices. The idea was to make the inside hot and spicy and the outside cool and refreshing, mixing the two in perfect harmony. Because they are a mixture of fajitas and chimichangas, I named them Chimijitas. :)

I served the chimijitas with mexican rice/black beans, corn, and romaine lettuce, creating a fairly balanced plate of flavors. The end result was shockingly good. They needed no salsa or cheese, they were simply perfect displaying all the flavors I had been craving. Success is rarely so tasty!

What's For Dinner: Korroke Potatoes

On tonight's menu is Korroke Potatoes, which are Japanese potato croquettes. This is one of Zuke's favorite meals that his mom used to make while growing up. The recipe is really easy, but kind of time-consuming, so make sure that you give yourself plenty of time for prep. You can link to the original recipe here, but I've typed up the recipe below with our own little changes that we've made over time.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lb potatoes
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 tsp curry powder, to taste
• Salt & pepper
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup flour
• 2 cups Panko or unseasoned breadcrumbs
• 3 cups peanut or vegetable oil (for deep frying)

DIRECTIONS

1. Boil the diced potatoes in salted water, until tender.

2 Meanwhile, crumble the ground beef into a heavy skillet and cook, stirring, until browning.

3 Add the chopped onion to the beef, and saute until tender.

4 Combine salt, pepper, and curry powder and add to the meat/onion mixture.

5 Cook for a few minutes, then remove from heat.

6 Drain cooked potatoes and mash until smooth.

7 Combine the meat mixture with the mashed potatoes.

8 Add a quarter of the beaten egg to the meat and potato mixture and blend together thoroughly.

9 Divide the mashed combination into 16 equal portions.

10 Form each portion into a small sausage shape.

11 Dredge each portion in flour, then dip each into the remainder of the beaten egg.

12 Coat each croquette with panko or unseasoned breadcrumbs.

13 Arrange the breaded croquettes on a waxed paper-covered tray or cookie sheet.

14 Refrigerate for at least 2 hours- this ensures a crunchier result when deep-fried.

15 Heat peanut oil in a wok on high, or until just smoking.

16 Deep-fry the croquettes a couple at time until lightly browned.

17 Drain on paper towels and keep warm.

18 Repeat with remaining croquettes until finished.

In Japanese tradition, these are usually served with Tonkatsu Sauce (or Bulldog Sauce), which you can either make at home or purchase at any oriental market. My kids and I prefer them with ketchup, so you have many options on how to serve them. Enjoy!