Ginger Chicken and Sesame Rice

After a rather scary piece of crystalized ginger at a shady Chinese buffet last year, I was certain that I did not like ginger. Wrong. It is quite tasty in the right circumstances, such as the following recipe.

Ginger Chicken with Snow Pea Salad (from the South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Meals cookbook)
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes
1 pound snow peas, strings removed
1 T plus 2 t canola oil, divided
1 T plus 1 t low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1 T minced fresh ginger
1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 scallions, sliced
2 t dark sesame oil

Combine 2 teaspoons of the canola oil, 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, and ginger in a shallow bowl. Add chicken and toss to coat.

Heat remaining canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until golden and no longer pink inside, 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and slice.

Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. While chicken is cooking, boil snow peas for 2 minutes and drain.

Combine snow peas, scallions, sesame oil, and remaining 1 teaspoon of soy sauce in a mixing bowl; toss together. Serve pea salad with chicken.

Note: I usually just add the chicken to the bowl of peas, etc., toss it all up, and serve from there. Also, last time I made it I scrambling 2 eggs with a dash of soy sauce and added it to the final product. Delicious!

Sesame Brown Rice (from the William-Sonoma Essentials of Healthful Cooking book)
1 cup medium-grain brown rice
Kosher salt
2 t sesame seeds
1 t Asian sesame oil
1 T thinly sliced green onion tops

In a saucepan over high heat, bring 2 3/4 cups water to a boil. Add the rice and 1/2 teaspoon salt, stir once, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook, without stirring, until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender, 35-45 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small, dry frying pan over medium heat, toast the sesame seeds until they are fragrant and have taken on color, about 2 minutes. Pour the seeds onto a plate and set aside.

Carefully lift the cover of the saucepan so that no condensation drips into the rice. Drizzle the sesame oil evenly over the top and sprinkle on half of the sesame seeds. Gently fluff the rice with a chopstick or the handle of a wooden spoon.

Spoon the rice into a warmed serving dish. Sprinkle with the remaining sesame seeds and the green onion and serve at once.

Cuban-Style Grilled Flank Steak

For Telfer. And any other grill-masters on this list.

2 pounds flank steak
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T cumin
2 T grill seasoning
1 lime
1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced

Put the flank steak in a shallow dish and drizzle with 2 T extra-virgin olive oil to coat. Mix grill seasoning with cumin in a small dish; add the zest of the lime and mix together with your fingers. Rub the mixture over the steak evenly.

Grill the steak on a hot grill or grill pan and cook 4-5 minutes for medium rare, 10 minutes for medium well. Turn and cook an additional 3 minutes for medium rare, 5-7 for medium well. Remove from heat and let sit five minutes to allow juices to redistribute.

While steak is grilling, saute sliced onions in a skillet with 1 T extra-virgin olive oil.

Very thinly slice the cooked steak on an angle, working against the grain, and pile meat onto a serving platter. Cut the lime that you zested into wedges and squeeze the juice over the meat, then top with the sauteed onions. Serve with rice and black beans, if desired.

Note: While the flank steak is superb and my favorite, this recipe also works for chicken and, for those veggie lovers out there, grilled portabello mushrooms (if you eat that kind of gross thing...). Also, we have started grilling up some peppers and cherry tomatoes with the onions and serving the whole slew of veggies over the meat. Delicious.

Recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray. Again.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 cup chunky salsa

1 small can chopped green chillies (4 oz)

2 teaspoons chilli powder

2 cups chopped,cooked chicken or turkey

1 cup grated monteray jack cheese

1 cup grated sharp chedder cheese

8-10 fajita sized flour 

Mix soup,sour cream,salsa,green chillies and chilli powder.

Mix 1 cup of sauce mixture with chicken and about half of the cheese.

Spread a layer of sauce in the bottom of a 13 x 9 in. pan.

Spread 1/4 cup or more of the chicken mixture down the middle of each tortilla and place seam down in pan.

Spread remaining sauce on top and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.

Cover with tin foil and bake @ 350 for 40 minutes or till hot and bubbly.

Cool a few minutes to thicken and serve with rice and sprinkle with chopped tomato and green onion if desired.

These are the yummiest enchiladas ever! I found the recipe at the campbells soup kitchen website and after reading a bunch of raving reviews I tried it and have made it several times! It doesn't taste like canned soup at all and  Austin really likes it! (which is the only reason I ever make anything twice!:)

This is the first time I've ever posted anything so I hope it works!:) 

Weekend with the Girls

RaChelle asked me for two recipes that I made when they were down earlier this month and I thought I should post them on Foodie Friends....because I am a slacker. I love fritattas a lot - they are easy and fun to make and you can just put almost anything in them. Oh, and both recipes are from Epicurious.

Leek and Asparagus Frittata
Ingredients
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 cup chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only)
1 12-ounce bunch thin asparagus, trimmed, cut on diagonal into 1-inch pieces (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 cup sliced stemmed shiitake mushrooms
8 large omega-3 eggs
1 cup diced Fontina cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation
Preheat broiler. Melt butter in heavy broilerproof 10-inch-diameter nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add leeks and sauté 4 minutes. Add asparagus and shiitake mushrooms, sprinkle lightly with salt, and sauté until tender, about 6 minutes. Whisk eggs, 3/4 cup Fontina cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in medium bowl. Add egg mixture to skillet; fold gently to combine. Cook until almost set. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup Fontina cheese and Parmesan cheese over. Broil until frittata is puffed and cheese begins to turn golden, about 3 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

Notes: I hate mushrooms, so I left those out. I also added a bit of smoked salmon to about 2/3 of the fritatta - just dropped them on top - some of our group likes salmon and some don't.

Cinnamon Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups blueberries (7 1/2 oz)

Special equipment: a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups; 12 foil or paper muffin liners

Preparation
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Put liners in muffin cups.

Whisk together butter, brown sugar, milk, and egg in a bowl until combined well. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Add milk mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in blueberries gently.

Divide batter among muffin cups and bake until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Notes: these are my favorite muffins of all time.

Shaker Chicken and Noodle Soup

My mom and I made a double recipe of this soup over Christmas. We feed 8 people and had leftovers for later. It is quite the comfort soup.

Shaker Chicken and Noodle Soup
From: Carolyn (Mom) Marble Serves: 4

7 cups chicken stock
2 T dry vermouth
2 T butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 oz medium egg noodles -- we find these in the freezer section
6 T flour
2/3 cups water
1 cup diced cooked chicken

Combine 1 cup stock, vermouth, butter. Bring to boil and reduce to 1/4 cup. Stir in cream. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat remaining stock to boil. Add noodles, cook just until tender. Blend flour with water until smooth. Add to noodles/stock and stir. Boil 1-2 minutes.

Add cream mixture and chicken. Season to taste (my mom prefers white pepper, as the dish is mono-color) and serve.

Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies

I'm trying to cook more and bake less in 2008-- but it doesn't mean I can't share one of my favorite cookie recipes . I have no self-control when it comes to these cookies.

Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1- 3 oz pkg cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 T grated lemon rind
1 egg
1 T lemon juice
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

Blend ingredients. Shape into small balls (approx. 1 in) and place on baking sheet. Flatten with glass dipped in flour. Bake 8-10 mins. Do not overbake. Frosh while warm with glaze.

Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, 3-4 tsp milk until smooth. (You can use less milk and more lemon juice).

Indian Spiced Chickpea and Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

At the risk of being the nerdy one who posts twice in a row, here we go. It's soup season (we're ignoring the fact that it was so warm here today that I went running outside. In shorts. And a tank top.), and I recently discovered a real winner. This soup is simple, warm, delicious, and healthy, and (because this is the true test of a great soup) even better the next day. I made it last week and took the last tiny bit to work today--my colleague finally asked for the recipe, since I was mmming and ahhhing so much.

This is straight from Rachael Ray, and it goes along with a pretty good Indian lamb chop dish, but the soup was the real winner. I have done a half batch for the two of us, and it yields just enough for one round of leftovers apiece.

Serves 4 as a first course
Ingredients:
1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cans chickpeas, drained
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
2 t ground cumin
1/2 t ground cardamom
1/2 t turmeric
salt and pepper
2 c chicken of vegetable stock
1 (28-oz) can fire roasted tomatoes*
1 cup plain yogurt
Warm pita, any flavor or variety, toasted

*note about the tomatoes: on the show, Rachael used crushed fire roasted tomatoes, but at my store they only sell diced fire roasted tomatoes (which are actually a new addition to the tomato aisle, thank goodness). I just popped them in the food processor for a couple seconds once I was done with the chickpeas and it comes out splendidly.

1. Heat a medium pot with the extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Grind the chickpeas and onion in food processor. Add to pot and cook 5 minutes to sweeten onion.

3. Season the chickpeas with cumin, cardamom, turmeric, salt and pepper. Stir in stock, then tomatoes.

4. Simmer soup 5-10 minutes to combine flavors. Serve with a dollop of yogurt and warm pita for dipping.

There you go! It's, like, 5 minutes of active cooking (unless you have a crappy food processor that requires babysitting...how old does it make me to want a new food processor for my birthday?). Seriously, just typing this up makes me want to go make a batch. Yum!

On another note, Marbs, we had your chicken couscous recipe again last week, and it was even better the second time!