Chicken Wings! Buffalo Wild Wings style

Well, Julien suggested chicken wings this week!  So, why shouldn't I try to make them?

When I think of wings Im used to Hooters or Buffalo Wild Wings.  I love them spicy or flavored... but alas, Julien doesn't prefer spicy food, and likes bbq, which I hate. lol.  SO, I made him bbq wings and then made my favorite recipe for Buffaflo Wild Wings - the parmesan garlic.

Now none of the recipes really match one another when I googled it or looked at copycat recipes.  So, I tested one based off of the ingredients shown on the BWW website.

Here is my tweaked version!
4 garlic cloves - roasted (drizzle some evoo, wrap up in foil, and place in oven 350F 20 min)
Once cool, finely mince.
In a bowl, add to the garlic:
1 tsp EVOO
1/2 cup mayo
1 Tbsp sugar
1/3 cup parmesan
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 and 1/2 tsp italian herbs - I just bought it already combined
and 1/8 tsp black pepper

Finally melt 8 Tbsp of butter and add to the mixture.
Voila!  Fry your chicken in a cup of oil and then once they are out of the oil on a paper toweled plate and dried, just dip into the sauce and place on the plate!  Its that easy.

To go with the wings I made a version of cornbread.

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
2 1/2 cups milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup of creamed corn added

Just mix dry ingredients separate from the wet ones because thats what makes the texture and heighth.  Once mixed, add the two and combine in about 12 turns of a wooden spoon.  Pour into a prepared pan - most people use a 9x9, but I have a silicone loaf pan I prefer - and bake 400F for 20 minutes.  Basically look for the top to be lightly brown.  Voila!  You can add jalapeno slices if you want some spice, but I keep it basic so I can eat it with dinner, or add honeybutter to make it dessert!

Dinner 18 - Bruschetta Chicken, broccoli, garlic bread

Well, I wanted to make something good with the chicken we had... so why not combine my favorite salad with my chicken?

Well, I marinaded the chicken breast in balsamic vinaigrette for 4 hours.  Then, I created a brushcetta topping
1 cup fresh tomatoes
1/4 cup minced onions
fresh basil leaves sliced in 1/2" strips

I girlled the chicken and then I topped the chicken with thinly sliced mozzarella and then the bruschetta topping.  Yum!

ham croquette spread

Well, it was HOT today. I mean hot.  The worst part was the humidity.  So, just another day where I didnt want the oven on.  So, I used up the rest of the meat we had in the house - well it was only ham.  So we did a variation on my mom's ham croquettes.  Only issue was, I added too much white sauce in the humidity and so I didnt have ham patties, I had ham mush.  Tasted exactly the same as the correct ones, just more like ham spread lol.

Dinner 16 - Mac n Cheese

Well, Julien was telling the past few days about his past relationship with Kraft Mac n Cheese.... that it was a staple in his diet for a while.  Well.....  I was asking him if he preferred Velveeta or ever had a good homemade one...  he never heard of Velveeta, but said he would like to try mine!  So, I baked mac n cheese

My favorite mac n cheese I have ever had comes from a little restaurant called the Clarkston Union.  The restaraunt is located in a renovated church. They still use the original furniture- long wooden benches flanked by the pews of a childhood churchgoing past.  The place is such a wonderful surprise with a great microbrew list and a comfy atmosphere.  Every dish is fabulous but they are best known for their mac n cheese.  I have been working on perfecting my recipe to taste very much like theirs!

 
I like to use the creamy bechamel sauce I have perfected then I use 4 kinds of cheese - cheddar, asiago, pinconning, and havarti or swiss.  I then add some cajun spices to give the dish some "uumph" and finally add ham chunks.  I top it all off with breadcrumbs although today I had to make my own and didnt bake them before like I could have to make them brown and covered.!

The TamTam - Finally!

We attempted to get on down to the TamTam for the past three weekends.... but everytime we went, it rained, poured, and prevented us from getting there!  This was the first weekend of sun and we took the time to have a lil picnic.  For those of you who do not know what the TamTam is (I didnt:P) its a weekly gathering at a beautiful local park Mont Royal.  Mont Royal is actually a small mountain - part of the Monteregian Hills  The park located on its side was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed Central Park and is really cool.  However, what makes this gathering interesting are the events that occur there!  in the main section, people bring on out their tam-tams, playing on these drums throughout the entire day.  There's dancing everywhere and people just enjoying all of it!

"Hippie"-like groups exist throughout selling their tokens and enjoying the weather and ambiance.  But, its really more than that.  Montrealers that love being outdoors and love meeting and hanging out!  Many people jsut come to enjoy the music and eat a little picnic, however there are a few other more interesting activities occurrring higher up on the hill including tight rope walking

In addition, how about seeing jazz performers?

And finally, for you World of Warcraft players or people loving dungeons and dragons - or for you that just saw the the movie Role Models..... there is a live sword fighting event where people get dressed up for battle!

People bring their dogs too, so we brought Murph.  Murphey didn't find any puppy friends today, but I hope he does soon!

Murphey - The Little Prince

Well, I couldn't help but laugh at this face the little boy left today.  I don't know why I have neglected to bring him into the blog before, because he's just as important and is the royal taste tester!  The little boy is learning super quickly how to become an Ameri-cadian and enjoying his new lil kitty friend Epolas.  It's quite funny to see these two either chase each other or work together.

During my renovations I was painting the stairwell.  The pukish color walls were turning a nice blue, the stairs white to chocolate, and the peach ground tile covered with a gray stone and a glass tile border.

Well, the animals were NOT going to leave me alone.  I already had the door closed, but they didnt want me to be left alone!  So, Murphey is kicking the door - his usual way to get into a doorway.  Then - I see a little white socked kitty paw wrapping her paw around the door trying to get it moving the right direction.  Then I head the puppy scratching to get the door.... then the kitty paw!  The two worked together to open the door and start bounding down the stairs..... UGH. wet chocolate paint... I ofc was hoping the kitty wouldnt get too close to the paint as she curls up and sits on things!  Murph bounded to the bottom, missing the painted areas.  Annoyed, I shoved them back up, but the team worked together AGAIN to open the door and come down.  I finally had to put a chair in front of the door so they wouldn't run down and finally get so dirty I had to shave them both!

Dinner 14 - Chicken Cordon Bleu and asparagus

Well, I had started off the month trying to make healthy meals and then I turned around to make some fattening treats... so I turned around and made a chicken cordon bleu without breading and less cheese than usual.

I took a nice chicken breast, pounded it flat, and cut it in half because it was so big!  Then I filled it with cheese and slices of ham.  I grilled it, only forgetting to brush on butter periodically to let it brown nicely.  So, turned out good, but now I know how I can improve!

Dinner 13 - Hashbrown Casserole

So today was a lazy weekend day.  The temp dropped from 90 to about 50 in a day and I was sitting around in a blanket wondering when it would start blizzarding.  So, trying to be warm, lazy and not get sick, I decided to make an old winter dish - hashbrown casserole.  I never knew this recipe til college when it was requested like once a week.  So, hashbrown casserole here we come.

Take half of a large bag of hashbrowns and put in a bowl.  Add half a cup of water and let it sit for 5 mn - stirring every few minutes.  So take out a pan - 9x13 and layer the bottom with the hasbrowns.  Drizzle with EVOO, little salt, and pepper.  Brown the hashbrowns (350F for 10-15 minutes).

In a pan, add 1 lb of ground beef.  brown the meat, take off of the heat and then add 2 packets of brown gravy mix.  Next, add 2-3 cups of frozen peas and carrots (to your liking).  Mix all together and layer on top of the hashbrown crust.  Finally grate about 1 cup of cheddar cheese on top and pop back into the oven for about 25 minutes.

Dinner 12 - Fajitas!

the completed dish - Julien angled sideways for an artistic look :P

Well, just wanted to show it rolled up!

Well I think Julien liked his first one!

Well now....  I felt like making fajitas..... woo hoo!

So, I took some wonderful flank steak.... marinated it with EVOO, cajun spices, roasted garlic;  I grilled the steak, and then slied one red pepper, green pepper and onion.  I heated up my "wok" and grilled the veggies in a tiny bit of EVOO.  then, I sliced the steak and added it to the pan so it would all fry again together.

With the oven hot, I heated up the tortillas to make them easy to roll and eat!

And voila... you have fajitas!

Blueberry Pie

So not my typical post, but as I am looking through all of these pictures, it looks as though I missed one that was super fun!  Blueberry pie.

So I bought a membership to Costco pretty much right after I moved here knowing that I can save a lot of money by shopping in bulk.  So, I loaded up on fresh fruit and veggies - tomatoes, cukes, broccoli, raspberries, grapes, nectarines, tangerines etc. 

Well, what looked like 5lb of blueberries were just sitting in the fridge for a few days.  Although Julien kept grabbing handfuls for snacks, we both knew we wouldnt finish the container before they went bad - the reality about not prepping things/too much for two people even though Costco rocks!  So, Julien requested that I make a good blueberry pie.  And thats exactly what I did.

Now, I dont have much practice in pie baking.  Pie eating, sure.  But lets see... even in childhood my mom didnt bake pies.  She would grab an apple cobbler each fall from the Franklin Apple Cider Mill or a Lakeshore berry pie from The Grand Traverse Pie Company... or a good old pie from Kate's Kitchen in Monroe.  We never baked pies.  Well, who else to turn to but Williams Sonoma.

Now you can get pre-made pie dough - but I felt that if this were my masterpiece, it would be entirely my creation so I made the pie dough from their basic recipe.

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 3 Tbs. very cold water

Directions:

To make the dough by hand, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix with a fork just until the dough pulls together.

To make the dough in a stand mixer, fit the mixer with the flat beater, and stir together the flour, sugar and salt in the mixer bowl. Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together.

Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk. (Although many dough recipes call for chilling the dough at this point, this dough should be rolled out immediately for the best results.) Lightly flour the work surface, then flatten the disk with 6 to 8 gentle taps of the rolling pin. Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly dust the top of the dough or the rolling pin with flour as needed, then roll out into a round at least 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. Makes enough dough for one 9-inch single-crust pie or one 10-inch galette.


HERE is the recipe for the actual pie :)

• 1 recipe Basic Pie Dough (see related recipe at
    left)
• 3/4 cup plus 5 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup plus 1 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 3/4-
   inch pieces
• 5 cups blueberries

Directions:

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 400°F.

Roll out the dough and transfer to a 9-inch pie dish. Refrigerate until firm. Line the chilled piecrust with a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Fill with dried beans, uncooked rice or pie weights. Bake until the crust dries out, about 15 minutes; to check, lift an edge of the foil. Carefully remove the weights and foil. Reduce the heat to 350°F. Continue to bake until the crust is lightly browned on the edges and dry-looking on the bottom, about 5 minutes more. Transfer the crust to a wire rack.

Increase the heat to 375°F.

In a large bowl, stir together the 3/4 cup flour, 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, the 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 1 tsp. of the cinnamon and the salt. Scatter the butter pieces on top and toss with a fork or your fingers to coat with the flour mixture. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, work the ingredients together until the mixture forms large, coarse crumbs the size of large peas. Set the topping aside.

In a large bowl, combine the blueberries, the remaining 1/3 cup brown sugar, the remaining 1 tsp. cinnamon and 4 Tbs. of the flour. Stir gently to coat the blueberries evenly. Sprinkle the remaining 1 Tbs. flour and the 1 Tbs. granulated sugar over the bottom of the prebaked crust. Pour the filling into the crust, spreading it evenly.

Sprinkle the topping evenly over the blueberry filling. Bake the pie until the topping is golden brown and the blueberry filling just begins to bubble, 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Serve at room temperature. The pie is best served the day it is baked. Makes one 9-inch pie.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma, Essentials of Baking, by Cathy Burgett, Elinor Klivans & Lou Seibert Pappas (Oxmoor House, 2003).

Dinner 11 - Fun dining with friends!

Well today was a quite fun meal!  With many of the renovations underway in the apartment, we finally felt like inviting some friends over for a nice evening.  Nath and Koz, two of Julien's closest friends came to share in the fun.  The saddest part was - we had so much fun that we didn't take any pictures!  So - I will link similar ones from the internet :P  The meal consisted of salad, hot vichyssoise soup (my mother's), chicken piccata and finally dessert - pretzel jello dessert as well as my mother's apple cake!

http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/vichyssoise
(Ill post this recipe in a later post)

Chicken piccata

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, each 8 to 9 oz., cut in half horizontally and pounded 1/4 inch thick
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbs. olive oil
• 3 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 1 Tbs. minced shallot
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 Tbs. capers, drained
• 2 Tbs. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Place the flour in a shallow bowl and dredge the chicken in it. Shake off the excess.

In the nonstick fry pan over medium-high heat, warm 2 Tbs. of the olive oil. Place 2 pieces of chicken in the pan and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter or individual plates. Warm the remaining 1 Tbs. oil in the pan and repeat to brown the remaining chicken.

Reduce the heat to medium and melt 1 Tbs. of the butter in the pan. Add the shallot and cook until softened and golden brown, about 30 seconds. Add the wine, lemon juice and broth, increase the heat to medium-high and cook until the liquid is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the remaining 2 Tbs. butter, the capers and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the sauce over the chicken and pass any remaining sauce alongside. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/chicken-piccata.html

and Finally pretzel jello for dessert

1 stick butter (melted)

1 1/2 c. crushed pretzels
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 lg. container Cool Whip
1 c. sugar
1 (6 oz.) pkg. strawberry Jello
1 lg. pkg. frozen strawberries

 

First off, take the pretzels and put in a lg ziploc bag. Use a rolling pin and really crush thought pretzels.  Make sure theyre ppretty fine, but I still like it a little chunky!  Too chunky and it won't create a real crust.

Now, all ya do is mix the melted butter with the pretzels and I say 1/3 cup of sugar.  Now if I buy non salted or lightly salted pretzels (which I prefer) I add less sugar because I dont like things sickening sweet!  So now take this mixture, and press it into a 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 for 6 minutes so that the pretzels create a nice crust. 

 

In a mixing bowl, beat together the cool whip, cream cheese and about 1/4 cup sugar - again sugar to your liking.  Put the mixture on top of the cooked pretzel crust and make sure to really get it to the edges of the pan.

In a pot, boil water.  take off the burner, and add 1 lg package or 2 small packages of jello - I prefer strawberry banana or strawberry/raspberry.  Add frozen strawberries.

And voila!  We had a great dinner party that ended by watching a move on the big screen :)

Dinner 10 - Not mine but fantastic!

It had been a long day.  I was tired; didnt eat lunch; tsk tsk. I know.  Julien needed to head on to the bank, but as we were driving down the street, BAM!  Cannot go any further - it was a street fair!  All the local shops had out tents and were selling stuff at great prices.  So, we drove a few streets over, parked the car, and walked to the bank.  I guess good or bad Ive gone high tech and do my business stuff online never needing to head to the bank.  Well, the line was long, and took us about 40 min to get through.  Finally finished, we walked through the various little tents put out by the local business on the street.  Bras for $3... shoes for $2-20.  Shirts for $10.  Electronics for various prices.  I felt like I was back home in Michigan hitting up the little street fairs.  We stopped by the pet shop where we bought Murph a few chew toys - we HOPE he wont tear apart in one hour - and saw the cute puppies they had.  Those that know me know I hate pet shops for the shear fact many of the pups come from puppy mills....... but I will admit that the little ones are still adorable to see!  Julien is obsessed with pugs and he looked like a little kid in a candy store for about 2 min.  Then we left, tired, crabby and definitely hungry!  The heat wave wasnt helping us either.  90F even with the sun set and rain eminent... I felt like I was in Florida in the dead of summer.... :/

But, we stayed troopers.  After debating for a few minutes if I would cook or what we should do..... Julien finally told me we should just eat here and enjoy ourselves. So that's what we did. As we set ourselves on a mission of finding an affordable, cute place to eat, I remembered a tiny little restaurant full of people I had passed earlier on that week.  Some little Mexican place with a blue front.  So, Julien of course was like... "If you thought it looked interesting, then were going there. Anything you want!"  So, we walked on down in the muggy heat to find the little place callled, "Hecho en Mexico". 

OMG what a totaly surprise!  First impressions were, cute, but doesn't have air conditioning!  Their menu is written in chalk on a chalkboard and the place looked super tiny, but a waiter led us back to the terrace area which changed everything!  We sat down with the sun already set, and the waiter turned on the strings of lantern lights and candles.  We sat there chowing down on chips and salsa while we waited on the food we ordered - me the chorizo tacos($13), Julien the chicken enchiladas($12). 

When they came, not only were we impressed by the artistry/presentation of the mexican classics, but also by the fresh ingredients and smells we got.  To be honest, it tasted better than any mexican I have ever had in Mexican Village of Detroit - THATS hard to beat.  My tacos were so cute.  they had laid out  taco shells (freshly made) on the bottom of the plate, and had created a "souffle" style mound of the chorizo, cheese, beans in the middle.  One bite, and I was hooked. 

I looked over at Julien's plate - nice looking enchiladas with a salsa verde, dabs of sour cream, and again, great plating.  He took one bite, and I knew he would enjoy that dish.  I later grabbed a bite and agreed they were really great.  So, we left happy, satisfied, and with a new hang out place/place for dinner.  They serve awesome looking margaritas and sangria, so we want to go back and try them again!

In all, I may not have cooked, but was happier for it as I found a wonderful local place that is on my top restaurants in Montreal/Verdun!

Dinner 9 - Steaks w/ chimichurri sauce, cheesy mashed potatoes, and asparagus

Man oh man do I love chimichurri sauce.  For those of you Cuban food/puerto rican food lovers, you know what I mean.  the tangy light spicy sauce - which I recently learned was considered their "ketchup" - is phenomenal on steak.  Albeit you think flank steak traditionally, but why doesnt it go on every type of steak? well it does.  So, I whipped up some chimichurri with my new hand grater/mixer - makes it so easy!

When I think sauces, I usually go to my trusted source - Williams-Sonoma if the local recipe has ingredients not readily available.  If a recipe's not from the source, I always turn to them first.  http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/chimichurri-sauce.html

 3⁄4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1⁄3 cup red wine vinegar
1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp. salt
1⁄2 tsp. red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper, to tast

Mind you - if you find it too spicy, just add a bit more EVOO and it will cut the "BAM"! of herb flavor your mouth gets with each bite.  Remember, use it sparingly so you dont overpower your dish.

My mashed potatoes - well, they were good, but too cheesy!  Dare I say it? Yes!  I added parmesan, asiago, white cheddar to the potatoes and used the hand grater because I already had it out and was feeling lazy - didnt want to use the potato masher.  Well, I think my mistake was basically puree-ing the potatoes instead of leaving them wirh some lumps.  So, don't make the same mistake and add cheese as you go!

Dinner 8 - bacon wrapped pork and chicken filets, asparagus with hollandaise; brie toasties

So today I really wanted to use up some of our fresh veggies while creating something that suited better portion control.  Working in diabetes for so long helped me learn about the importance of portion control rather than just the caloric intake.  So, I made a few things that better suited what we SHOULD be eating while still filling our tummies. 

Brie and toasted baguette.  Well, I love brie.  I used to eat brie on hot paninis and inside my eggs.  I can't help myself when I find a great single or double cream variety.  Today I was walking around Wellington - AGAIN - and came across the cutest little cheese shop - Fromagerie Copette Et Cie - I havent had this much fun in a while!  The shop, very quaint, greets you with fresh aromas of unique, fresh cheeses from throughout Canada and the world.  Phenomenal!  The lovely vendeuse offered me samples of several aged cheeses - ALL yummy choices.  But of course, I came home with my double creme brie. 

So I didnt go fancy.  I wanted to taste the brie. enjoy it for being an artisanl cheese.  So, just heated up in the oven at 400 for 15 minutes.  I topped it off with fresh raspberries and toasted slices of baguetts to taste.

For the main dish, I took one chicken breast and one pork chop - cut them in half and wrapped each in a slice of bacon.  Marinated each piece with 1 Tbsp of EVOO and let sit for and hour.  Sprinkle a pinch of garlic salt and pepper onto the filets and let them broil in the oven for a nice texture.  Broil for 20-25 minutes until cooked thoroughly.

Asparagus are easy.  Steam em a bit, and add a nice hollandaise sauce on top!
Hollandaise

3 egg yolks - lg eggs
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter - melted.
Pinch cayenne
Pinch salt

Whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a bowl and until the mixture is thickened (double volume). Use a double boiler or make your own with a heat resistant bowl placed over boiling water (not toughing the bottom of the water so the eggs dont cook).  Add the melted butter and continue to whisk until the sauce is thickened (again double in volume). Remove from heat, whisk in cayenne and salt.  Voila!

Dinner 7 - Healthy chicken and raspberry salad

So with a new month came a new resolution - start eating right.  Julien got himself a nice bench press and decided today... I'm running with you, working on the bench press and eating healthier!  So, trying to be supportive, we pulled out the quick and easy chicken salad.

All I did was marinade the chicken (1 single large breast) for 4 hours in balsamic vinaigrette.  I broiled it for 23 minutes; sliced it, and threw it on top of a bed of spinach, romaine, and butter lettuce - my fav!  Then added raspberries, cucumbers, tossed in balsamic vinaigrette and topped off with freshly grated parmesan.  Simple, refreshing in the 90F heat wave, and healthy.

Another dinner - Steak burritos!

Ahh I love a good burrito.  And its too hard to truly classify what good is!  In college I lived by Big Ten Burrito - great on a late night walking on State St. in Ann Arbor.  And come on $5 and no need to drive there.  Of course there are your chipotle or qdoba fans too.  Don't get me wrong as I could talk mexican food/americanized mexican food all day.  Alas, there seems to be a lack of little mexican places everywhere here.  No $5 burritos.  So, I made em!

I think the best advice I can give anyone on the subject is the let the steak marinade for atleast 30 min to 5 hours.  THATS what makes it taste so juicy and yummy.  And when you roll up those burritos, dont forget your salsa or sour cream or both and avocados/guacamole.  All those give it that great flavor.  Now I find a lot of places fill their burritos with rice and beans, but Id rather have the healthy fillings of fresh veggies to make it taste yummy.  Oh yeah - grated cheese melts the best and tastes great!

Dinner 5 - My other fav P. F. Chang crispy honey chicken

So, I don't know why I felt so inclined to keep making food that I know, but I find it fun to try and duplicate well known recipes. So, I decided it was time to try a P.F. Chang recipe.  Crispy Honey chicken called out to me.  Issue 1: in Quebec it is hard to find Sake.  Since alcohol is regulated here, you can't find it in every grocery store like the states.  In fact, now that I think about it, I dont think there is even a place here to Sake bomb.  Weird.  So, we went to the IGA - no sake.  In fact, no asian beers either.  I thought, well if were cooking with sake, perhaps we can sake bomb with the left over, but nowhere to be found.  We next went to the International asian market... Im thinking OFC the asian market has it.  But, no.  In the coolers labelled beer - was juice, water, iced tea, some asian sodas, and then 1 24 pack of Boreale.  Not much of a beer selection anyways.  We finally go to the SAQ, where we should have started.  There, they atleast have Sake.  And let us know they are the only place that sells it in the area legally.  So, I guess the trusty liquor store is it - although they had no Sapporo or kirin either.  But, sake situation averted.  I think its pretty similar to the P.F. Changs one, but be sparing on the sauce.  It doesnt taste exactly the same, and is very thick and fragrant.


1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into medium size chunks
1 T. minced garlic
vegetable oil for frying
red bell pepper and/or scallions, julliene
Crispy noodles, rice or egg noodles or steamed rice for serving

Batter:
4 oz. all purpose flour
2-1/2 oz. cornstarch
1 egg
6 oz. water
1/8 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda

Chicken Seasoning:
1 T. lite soy sauce
1/8 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 T. corn starch

Sauce:
1/2 cup sake or rice wine
1/2 cup honey
3 oz. rice vinegar
3 T. lite soy sauce
6 T. sugar
cornstarch slurry--1/4 c. corn starch mixed with 1/4 c. water

Directions

To make batter: mix ingredients till just combined. Let rest in refrigerator for a couple of hours. Coat chicken well with seasonings and marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Combine sauce ingredients, mix thoroughly and reserve for serving.

Pour vegetable oil into fryer or heavy bottomed sauce pot. Heat slowly to 340-350 degrees. Put 1/4 of the marinated chicken in a clean bowl and pour enough better over to coat. Remove a few pieces at a time from the batter, using slotted spoon or large fork. Shake off excess batter. Carefully lower chicken into the hot oil. Suspend the chicken until the batter "sets," 20-30 seconds. Chicken is done when golden to light brown and crisp. Remove to platter with paper towels to drain. Repeat for all the chicken. Remember to check the oil temperature, it must remain hot.

To finish the sauce, heat it in sauce pan, bring to a boil. Add cornstarch slurry, a little at a time.The sauce will thicken, let it come to a thickness of "loose honey." Let cook for a minute or two.

Heat 2 T. oil in a wok and add some minced garlic, red bell pepper and scallions and stir-fry briefly. Add 1/3 to 1/2 of the chicken (depending on pan size) and stir-fry briefly. Add enough sauce to just coat chicken. Stir-fry again briefly. Serve over noodles or rice.

Dinner 4 - Pad Sew

So several weeks back Julien and I went to go pick up our appliances.  We didnt realize how crazy that adventure would be!  We started out by meeting at the rental center, which was harder to find than we imagined.  Both of us had google mapped it, looked at the aerial view, and still circled the street three times before guessing it was ahead of us - which is was.  So, we picked up our big yellow truck which was missing a side view mirror, and we headed out around 6pm.  We decided we were majorly hungry before we would be lifting a fridge, washer, dryer, stove out of this lady's condo and then later into our apartment, so we stopped at Thai Express.  I happen to love asian food, and recognizing 99% of the things on the menu, choosing Pad Sew pretty fast.  Julien, not as frequent of a Thai Express/asian food eatery as I am, just took my advice and got the same thing.  We sat down with our paper plates full of food on our trays and ate it all.  He loved it saying he'd be back to try it again sometime soon.

Since the delivery story is one to remember, Ill continue on the timeline of that evening.  We left with our bellies full for the 2 hour drive to St. Saveur.  We blasted the old classic rock hits and laughed at the cheesy songs to pass the time.  When we arrived at our exit - we were both excited, and it was a site to see as well!  The town is basically on a ski slope.  It has wonderful fun shops and eateries and people walking around everywhere.  There is even an outlet mall, which I of course, would like to go back to some day.  Well, at this point our google directions fail us again.  Take a right at the first light - ok we do that.  the next street should be your street!  - Well, its not.  And so we stop at the gas station. The attendant and the locals have NO idea where this street is.  So, we go for a ride, exploring the tiny town with its tiny streets.  It's getting dark outside, and this place is nowhere to be seen.  At this point, were losing our excitement and sort of worried this lady is going to think we aren't coming.  So, my final idea is to go back to the highway exit and turn left instead of right into town like the directions say.... and about 10 turns later - we find the street!  Only problem is.... where did we put that house number?  Frantic now, we realize that google maps delivered us to the street and cut out the number (most likely it didnt register on the map).  So, we grab his original notes and voila.  Now, where are the house numbers?  We go back and forth 4 times on that street until we finally stop at this condo complex which has a closed gate on the front, and we find it.  So, two hours later, we have everything loaded and taken care of.  We make the ritual Tim Horton's stop for some frozen cappuchinos and head on home.

You prolly think the story is done at this point, but no.  We arrive at about 11:30pm and have to now get these appliances up a narrow staircase that turns at the top.  The stove, the washer, dryer, we get in, no problem other than the weight.  The fridge........... NOT so easy.  We had the fridge on the hand cart moving it step by step up the stairs.  Near the top, we get in a jam.  one wheel lifts up, the other is stuck under the stair edge.  Julien's lifting with all his might from above with me below this thing... waiting for it to fall on my body and crush me to death.  With about 15 tries and me pushing from the bottom we finally get the last 5 stairs without any bodily damage to us.  We we soo tired we went straight to bed without barely talking to one another other than joking that my death wouldn't have been very news worthy or cool so were both glad it didnt happen.  So, welcome to the life of apartment living on the second floor without having appliances come with the place!

SOOO Finally
Dinner 4.  I decided we needed a reminder of our hard work and our adventure into the beautiful town of St. Saveur.  So, I made Pad Sew.  Now mind you, I don't have a seasoned wok here.  I have never cooked thai food. I dont know about frying noodles.  But, I believe that if you have patience and can follow a recipe, you can make anything. ANYTHING.  So, I went the the International Asia market and found all the ingredients I was looking for - the flat rice noodles, fish sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, and SPECIAL dark soy, and sesame oil.  Now, I couldnt find the soy at first, but I found that if you add sugar to your soy and then cook it and let it thicken, its about the same thing as the original.  So - first marinade your meat.  I like chicken, and had it in the fridge, so we did chicken instead of the traditional pork.  I couldn't find chinese broccoli, so I got rapini instead.  As for the noodles, they need to be softened enough to cook without being brittle.  Throw them in water for a while, or like me, put them in boiling water for about 5 minutes.  You don't want them limp, but you want them soft enough to be edible.  It took me two attempts to do this right and the first was just a wasted crisp bowl that I threw away. 

So heat up your Wok.  Stir fry the broccoli with a dash of fish sauce.  You may want to start with the stems, then toss in the leafs.  When it all looks a bit wilted, dump the wok out into a bowl.  Your veggies are done for now.

Noodle time - make sure you dry them off a bit with a paper towel or they will spray hot oil at you in the wok.  Add lots of oil and toss in your noodles. Add 1 tbsp thick soy and a dash of fish sauce.  Mix the sauce into the noodles to give them nice colour, add some more oil if things start to stick badly.  Spread the noodles in a thin layer over the wok and let them cook a bit.  Dump the wok out into the same bowl as the vegetables.

Finally the meat.  Throw it into the wok with a little bit of oil  Once its browned nicely, spread the meat away from the hot part of the wok and crack the egg into that spot.  Scramble the egg and mix the meat in.  Once the meat and egg are cooked, dump the bowl with the noodles and vegetables back in.  Add the rice vinegar and stir.

1/2 a container (~400g) of flat rice noodle
1 egg
200g Chinese broccoli
2 cloves garlic, sliced
3 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp dark soy
dash of fish sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar

Meat & Marinade
250g chicken - you can use pork
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
splash sesame oil

Dinner 3 - My Craving for Noodles & Co.

So, I may be enjoying every day here and trying new things, but sometimes you're craving that comfort food you're used to.  Well, today it was the pesto cavatappi (http://www.noodles.com/home/food/Mediterranean.aspx?EntityId=10).  So, it seems pretty straight forward and it is. 

Tomatoes. Mushrooms. Garlic cloves. Cream. Parmesan. Wine. Parsley. Olive Oil. Cavatappi noodles.

First you have to make your pesto sauce. 

3 cloves garlic
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 dash salt and pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated

As you can see - no pine nuts here - with a nut allergy in the house, I try to be super careful.  But, you could add pine nuts if you wanted.

All I did was dice up garlic, tomatoes and slice the mushrooms.  I added them to the pan with EVOO.  Then I added the noodles that I had previously cooked.  I added three twirls of white wine, then about 1 oz of cream.  Then I added my pesto sauce, stirred together, and topped with grated parmesan and parmesan encrusted chicken.

The chicken was just coated in a beaten egg and dipped into a mixture of breadcrumbs and parmesan and then I just threw it in a warm skillet with EVOO.  Slice it once cooked, and throw it on top of the noodles! Voila.  Pretty dang close to Noodles & Co.

Cooking Attempt 2

I spent most of the day walking all around Wellington St. with Murphey.  The two of us went in and out of each store looking at the fresh fruits and veggies, the wonderful juice bar, and the cheese shop.  Pretty cool to get stuff so fresh!  A few days previously I asked Julien if he liked white nectarines at the grocery store.  He saw it, said, "oh peaches?" So I decided after stopping at the Pomme Vert market that I must pick some up.  I took one bite out of the nectarine and knew it was the best one I think I had EVER had.  So, happy with my purchase, I walked home with a bag full for the two of us to test for dessert.
 
So that night I tried stuffing steaks.  I put in spinach and Camembert cheese after marinating the meat in a red wine sauce for 3 hours.  I then seasoned them with basil, a bit of thyme, salt, and pepper.  Then threw them in the broiler and voila! Not bad for a quick throw together the ingredients in the fridge meal :P

2 1 in. thick steaks -  slice them 3/4 of the way across. 
12 stems of spinach
several 2mm thick slices of camembert or brie - your choice

Post 2: Cooking attempt 1

So, each day I'm here, I find myself on an adventure to a new location and then coming back to test out some of my cooking skills.  So, I guess I'll share my trials and tribulations of testing recipes and making some great food!

So, my first attempt was flank steak with chimichurri sauce along with caprese salad.  Surprisingly, it was the most tender flank steak I think I have ever had.  Here in Montreal, I really don't have my kitchen stocked with all the pots and pans and grills and spices and all that I'm used to at home, so every step comes with a little improvisation.  So, I cooked the steak using the oven broiler which I think is my new best cooking friend and a great substitute for my Delonghi indoor grill. It took about 7 minutes per side to be cooked medium - but that depends on the thickness of your flank steak.  And make sure to use a nice baking sheet/grill grate because heat that high will warp your cheap pans.

First I marinated the flank steak with EVOO and cajun spices (mix of salt, cayenne, paprika, peppers, garlic powder, basil, chili, thyme, cloves, and mustard) for about 2 hours.  Then, I made my chimichurri sauce - thanks to the wonderful recipe provided by Williams-Sonoma (http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/chimichurri-sauce.html).  I didn't have a food processor, but a hand chopper works perfectly, so I whipped that up too.  And that's that!

 

My Adventures in Cooking: Day 1

Hello there! My name is Christie and I have recently decided to make the huge step in my life to move from middle America to the great city of Montreal.  And as many of my friends have asked, "Why?"  But after giving the explanation of meeting my other half who happens to live in one of the coolest cities, many go.... "Oh! Very cool. When can I come visit?"  So, for those of you who want to stay connected or see what my life is like as I transition from American culture to becoming french-canadian, here's my blog!  Welcome to the winter wonderland filled with maple syrup