Taiwanese Pepper Chicken

A Chinese buffet opened up recently near us. I love buffets especially when it comes to Chinese food. I always want a little bit of everything. But most Chinese food restaurants serve their dishes in family style platters. So we end up ordering around 5 different dishes and then come home with enough left-overs to feed a seven nation army. Anyhow, we decided to try out the new buffet on father's day and we ended up trying a new dish we had never had before: pepper chicken. We loved it so much, I knew I had to come home and try to recreate it. Well, after a few weeks, I had actually forgotten all about it. Then, like a sign from the universe, I stumbled across a recipe for Taiwanese salt and pepper pork while I was browsing the Food board on Reddit. The recipe looked really similar to the chicken we had so I used it as inspiration for this chicken dish. I should note that the dish we had at the restaurant had green bell peppers in it. I didn't happen to have any bell peppers when I made this. But I did have some jalapeño peppers from my garden and, since this family has a pathological love of all things spicy, I thought it would make a decent substitute!

Taiwanese Pepper Chicken
Makes: 4 servings

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 egg
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp flour
3 tbsp corn starch
2 tsp cracked black pepper, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red chili pepper, sliced
1 jalapeño pepper, sliced
canola oil for frying

  

• Fill a stainless steel pan with 1" of oil. Preheat oil over medium-medium-high heat.
• Cut the chicken breasts into 1" cubes.
• Mix together the egg, soy sauce, and 1 tsp of the cracked pepper.
• Toss the chicken in the egg mixture.
• Add the flour and corn starch. Toss to coat.
• Fry the chicken in the oil for about 3 - 4 minutes until it is golden brown and cooked through. You'll probably need to do this in two batches so you don't overcrowd the pan.

• Remove the chicken from the oil and set aside.
• Allow the oil to cool and then transfer it to a holding container so that you can dispose of it later. Reserve about 2 tbsp of the oil in the pan.
• In the reserved oil, saute the garlic and peppers until fragrant, about 1 minute. Then add the remaining 1 tsp of cracked pepper.

• Toss the chicken in the garlic and pepper mixture. Serve with rice and vegetables.

Note: if you don't have an electric spice grinder (I don't!) then it will take you an incredible amount of time to grind up the amount of black pepper needed for this recipe. You're definitely going to feel the burn in your arms. But... it's worth it! I promise!

Blueberry Pancakes

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you'll know that I loathe boxed pancake mixes. Pancakes are about the easiest thing on the planet to make. And it takes the same amount of effort to measure out 1 cup of pancake mix as it does to measure out 1 cup of flour. Yes you have to add some baking powder and salt, but that only takes a few seconds. Anyhow, here's my pancake recipe with some fresh blueberries since they're in season! You can also make waffles with this recipe too. Enjoy!

Blueberry Pancakes
Makes: about 10 pancakes

2 tbsp flour
1 cup blueberries, rinsed & dried
1 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
2 tbsp melted butter or vegetable oil

• Toss the blueberries in the 2 tbsp of flour and set aside. The purpose of doing this is that it will keep the blueberries from staining the batter purple. This is a trick that you can use in any blueberry recipe such as muffins, scones, etc.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
• Add the milk, egg, and melted butter and whisk out any lumps.
• Gently fold in the blueberries.
• Preheat a skillet or griddle on medium heat.
• Spray the skillet with some non-stick spray, then use a spoon to scoop up about 1/3 cup of batter. Spoon the batter onto the skillet and spread it out a little bit into the shape of a circle (the batter will be a little bit thick). Get as many onto the skillet as you can fit, leaving at least 1" in between pancakes.
• Cook for about 2 minutes per side until golden brown.
• Hint: you'll know the pancakes are ready to flip when bubbles start to form and pop.

Spinach Sauté

This recipe is pretty similar to my Spinach and Mushrooms recipe from a couple months ago. But I added a little flair to it with some red pepper so I figured it deserves its own post. Plus spinach is in peak season right now so you can never have too many spinach recipes!

Spinach Sauté
Makes: 4 servings

8 oz mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, very thinly sliced
1 red pepper, 1/2" dice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter or margarine (I used Smart Balance)
4 big handfuls of baby spinach
pinch of sea salt

• Rinse the mushrooms well, cut off the stems, then cut them into thin slices.
• Over medium heat, saute the mushrooms, garlic, onions, and peppers in the olive oil and butter. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over the mixture. The mushrooms will release quite a bit of liquid. The liquid will eventually evaporate. Continue cooking until the mushrooms are a light golden brown and the onion and pepper are soft. Total cooking time will take about 12 - 15 minutes.
• Add the spinach to the mushroom mixture, sprinkle another pinch of sea salt on the spinach. Cook until the spinach is just wilted, about one minute.

This is a great side dish for dinner or toss in some sliced grilled chicken for a filling lunch!

Bruschetta

At this point, I think everyone has heard of bruschetta. It's one of those foods that has really picked up in popularity over the last decade or so. In its simplest form, bruschetta is made of diced tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, olive oil, and salt. That's it. You might see some folks make it their own by adding something special like red wine vinegar, scallions, or something else. But sometimes I really like the classic. Just very basic - and delicious - flavors.

Bruschetta is usually served on top of crostini. That's just a piece of toasted bread, usually with some garlic rubbed on there. Crostini can be served with all kinds of great toppings including bruschetta, olive tapanade, or other meats, cheeses, and vegetables.

 Bruschetta
Makes: 4 servings

4 ripe tomatoes, cut into a 1/2" dice
2 cloves garlic, very finely minced
1 tbsp fresh basil, minced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt

Crostini:
1 baguette, ciabatta, or other crusty bread
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic

• Make the crostini by slicing the bread on a bias (that means at an angle). Toast the bread pieces either on a grill or under a broiler.
• Remove the bread from the heat, immediately rub each piece with the garlic while the bread is still hot. Then brush with a small amount of the olive oil.
• Now make the bruschetta. Mix together the tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, and salt.
• Serve the bruschetta on the crostini pieces right before serving. If you do this too early, the bread with get soggy.

Some people like to serve their bruschetta with a little sprinkle of shredded parmesan or asiago cheese. I'm a firm believer that not everything can be improved with the addition of cheese. I think this recipe is just the right balance of flavors as is. That being said, if you're a cheese fiend, go ahead and sprinkle some on there.

Bruschetta can also be used to top a piece of grilled chicken or fish or even mixed in with some hot pasta. Go ahead and get creative!

I was so excited to use the fresh tomatoes and basil from my container garden in this recipe. It stinks living in an apartment sometimes but I won't let that stop me from growing fresh veggies!

Baked Tacos

We really love tacos in this house. We'll turn anything into a taco flavored version of the original - taco pizza, taco salad, you name it! Tonight, we just wanted plain tacos. We've always had soft tacos. For some reason, I've never made hard shell tacos in the entire 10 years Matt and I have been together. Come to find out, the corn taco shells actually have a lot less carbs in them than the soft flour tortillas. I think we'll be making these a lot more often now!

I got the idea to bake the tacos from a friend. And they turned out great! I hope you like them.

Baked Tacos
Makes: 4 servings

8 corn taco shells
1 lb ground beef, turkey, or chicken
taco seasoning
1 cup shredded cheese such as cheddar or Monterey Jack
Taco toppings such as lettuce, tomatoes, scallions, salsa, hot sauce, etc.

• First, bake the empty taco shells so they get warm and crispy. Place the taco shells on a baking sheet and bake at 325° F for 5 - 6 minutes.
• While the shells are baking, brown up the meat in a skillet on high heat until thoroughly cooked and no longer pink, about 4 - 5 minutes. Stir in the taco seasoning and remove from the heat.
• Remove the taco shells from the oven, stuff them with the taco meat, then top them all with shredded cheese.
• Place the tacos back in the oven for about 2 - 3 minutes until the cheese is melted.
• Top with your favorite toppings!

Honey Ginger Glazed Carrots

I've said this before and I'll say it again: if you don't like vegetables, it's probably because you're making them wrong. And not that it's your fault, you were probably shown wrong. But today is a new day! Vegetables, like any other food, need to be cooked well and seasoned well in order to taste good. Just steaming them and plopping some butter on there just isn't enough (in most cases). Imagine if you just steamed a piece of chicken and then sprinkled a little salt on there and that's it? Yuck...

So how do you add flavor? There are two ways:

1. Cooking method - grilled, braised, roasted, sauteed, etc.
2. Flavorings - compound butter, various herbs and spices, cheese sauce, teriyaki sauce, pesto, etc.

Honey Ginger Carrots

Makes: 4 servings

1 lb baby carrots

1 tbsp butter or butter substitute (I use smart balance)

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp ground ginger

parsley for garnish

• Saute the carrots in the butter and olive oil over medium high heat for about 10 - 12 minutes until the carrots are soft but still slightly crunchy - not mushy at all.
• Add the soy sauce, honey, and ginger and toss the carrots. Continue to cook for about one more minute. The sauce will thicken into a nice sticky glaze.
• Serve with some fresh parsley. I picked mine fresh from my garden! It added a nice delicate lemony flavor.

That's it! This is a nice quick recipe that you can pull together while you've got some chicken or fish baking in the oven. It will taste way better that those frozen deals with the pre-made sauces

*You could also use fresh grated ginger for this recipe if you want. Just remember to double the amount.