Coconut Lime Chicken & Coconut Curry Squash Soup

Tonight I made a recipe I found on Pinterest for Coconut Lime Chicken.  I followed it exactly (but used brown sugar instead of white, and didn't bother cooking the marinade afterwards to make a sauce.)  I also found a recipe for Coconut Curry Squash Soup and whipped that up as a side dish for our meal.  For my super sweet baby (who is 7 months old today!) I puréed the two things together and he gobbled it up (twice!)  He's got good taste!!

Thanks for not feeding me boring food, Mom!

Egg Drop Soup

We took the kids to a Japanese restaurant last weekend, and they loved the Egg Drop Soup.  I had big plans tonight to make my own Egg Drop Soup along with homemade Gyozas (Asian dumplings).  I got half the ingredients together for the dumplings and I went to pick up the remaining ingredients on my way home from swimming class, but alas, there was no ground chicken or wonton wrappers.  So I bought the next best thing... frozen shrimp spring rolls in a box.

Turns out it was an incredibly successful meal!  I whipped together the soup in no time, cooked the spring rolls in the oven, and 14 minutes later, supper was on the table.

EGG DROP SOUP (from Tyler Florence on the Food Network)
4 c. chicken stock (low sodium)
1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
1 tbsp. soy sauce (low sodium)
1 tbsp. cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp. chicken stock
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 green onions, chopped

Bring the stock, ginger, and soy sauce to a boil.  Pour in cornstrach and stock mixture, and reduce heat to a simmer.  Slowly add eggs, stirring the soup constantly.  Add green onions.  Let it simmer for a few minutes before serving.

My daughter insisted on arranging the meal on a plate for the photo.  She makes her mama proud.

Perhaps not the healthiest meal we've ever eaten, but guess what, it was damn good!

Birthday Party Food

It was my husband's birthday party last night, so I made tons of appetizers for the event.  Here are the recipes:

BAKED BRIE WITH APRICOT & JALAPENO
1 brie wheel, with the top sliced off
apricot marmalade
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
crushed pecans

Spread the marmalade on top of the cheese, and sprinkle with jalapeno and pecans.  Bake until gooey, and serve with crackers or bread.

I took the picture before it went in the oven, because it's not nearly as pretty after it's all melted
(but it tastes soooo good!)


SALSA (this recipe was used to make the world's largest bowl of salsa!)
4 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
6 tbsp. red onion, diced
1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
6 mint leaves, chopped
1 lime, juiced
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

SUSHI ROLLS (see how to make them here)
nori papers
2 c. sushi rice (soak in 3 1/2 c. water for 30 minutes, then bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover slightly with the lid and simmer for 10 minutes or until water is all gone.  Turn off the burner but leave the pot there and put the lid on tight for 10 minutes.  Stir in 3-4 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar.)
smoked salmon
1/2 cucumber, cut into long skinny pieces
1 avocado. sliced




PINEAPPLE CRAB MUSRHOOMS (adapted from the cookbook "Just Add Rum!" by Angela Spenceley)
1 can crab meat
1/2 small onion, diced
1 garlic cloved, minced
1/8 c. red bell pepper, diced
1/8 c. pineapple, diced
1/8 c. mushroom stems, diced
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 c. panko breadcrumbs
2 tsp. butter
2 tsp. rum
pepper
approx. 30 mushrooms, stems removed

Sauté onions, garlic, red pepper, and mushroom stems in some oil in a frying pan.  Add crab, pineapple, and parsley and sauté for 1-2 minutes.  Add breadcrumbs, butter, rum, and pepper and mix well.  Spoon into mushroom caps and place on a baking sheet.  Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes.

EXTRAORDINARY CHEESE DIP (I don't have a picture, but there is one on the link.)

All of these appetizers were delicious (either that, or our friends are just really polite and ate everything to make me feel good!)

Chinese Take-Out

We used to order Chinese take-out a lot, but for some reason we never do it anymore. When I saw this recipe for Shrimp Fried Rice on Best Recipes Ever last week, I knew my family would love it. I asked the show's host, Kary Osmond, what she would recommend as a main dish to serve with this (thank goodness for Twitter!) and she suggested this recipe for Beef & Broccoli Stir-fry.

I followed the recipes exactly as they are on the website, except on the stir-fry I used fish sauce instead of oyster sauce, and I sprinkled the broccoli with Teriyaki Seasoning instead of pepper. Both dishes were fantastic, and they were a huge hit with the family!

School Potluck Salad

I don't have a picture, but this is a super simple salad that I took to the school bbq last night. It was so tasty, and took probably 2 minutes to prepare.

QUICK & EASY ASIAN SALAD
1 bag coleslaw
1 pkg. ichiban noodles, crushed (I used some chow mein noodles)
handful of strawberries, sliced
1 orange, sliced
1-2 green onions, sliced
1/4 c. (approx) Toasted Sesame Dressing (from the Kraft Asian Chicken Sizzling Salads Entrée Kit)

Cut the peel off the orange slices and dice up the orange segments (or use a can of mandarin orange segments.) Toss everything together and dress with Toasted Sesame Dressing.

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY for a free Kraft Refrigerated Dressing. Spread the word on Facebook to get an extra entry!

Asian Noodle Salad

I had a bag of coleslaw and no idea what to do with it, so two friends suggested a recipe that uses Ichiban noodles, and I figured I'd give it a shot.

I remember eating Ichiban all the time when I was a teenager. I didn't make it as a soup, though. I just boiled the noodles, drained them, and sprinkled the oh-so-good seasoning packet over top. Darn those were good. But today I took a look at the packet, and do you know how much sodium is in HALF a package of Ichiban noodles? 1320 mg! That's 55% of the daily recommended amount! Doesn't that make you feel a little sick??

The recipe that my friends sent me uses the seasoning packet from the noodles (which I'm assuming is where all the sodium comes from), so I figured there must be a way to substitute that. I decided to use 1 tsp. Malaysian Seasoning instead, which has 2mg of sodium and 0% of the daily recommended amount! (Some other alternatives would have been the Vegetable Bouillon, Asian Stirfry Seasoning, or Teriyaki Seasoning.)

So here's the recipe I made:

ASIAN NOODLE SALAD
1 bag coleslaw
1 pkg. Ichiban noodles, crushed
2 c. sliced mushrooms
1-2 handfuls of bean sprouts
3 green onions, sliced
1-2 handfuls of snow peas
1/4 c. crushed peanuts
2 tsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. Malaysian Seasoning

Mix together first 6 ingredients, and then whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over salad. Toss well, and serve.
(I'm not sure why my camera seems to take pictures with an ethereal glow lately... maybe it's just the sunshine coming through my kitchen window. Oh well, I'll take bad pictures if it means we have nice weather!)

Satay Lettuce Wraps

Last week I made these lettuce wraps for lunch - very easy to make, and it's a good way to use up leftover veggies from your fridge. I followed Rachael Ray's recipe, and added 1/2 a red onion, 1/2 a red pepper, and probably some other stuff I've forgotten since I made it last week. Here's a fairly accurate description of what I did:

PORK SATAY LETTUCE WRAPS
1 pork tenderloin, thinly sliced
1 small container of white mushrooms, sliced
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. ginger paste
2 tbsp. peanut butter
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. apple sauce
1/2 c. crushed peanuts


In a grill pan, heat oil over medium-high heat and brown the meat for a couple minutes on each side. Add veggies, garlic, and ginger and stirfry for a few minutes. Make a little well in the pan by moving the meat and veggies to the side, and add peanut butter, soy sauce and apple sauce, stirring until smooth. Mix in meat and veggies and stir well. Serve on vermicelli noodles or pieces of iceberg lettuce, and garnish with crushed peanuts.

Food Revolution #4

I just finished making Jamie Oliver's Chicken Chow Mein, and I can't wait for my husband to get home so we can sit down and have supper! I took a little taste test, and it's pretty darn good. I made a larger batch, so here's my version of it:

CHICKEN CHOW MEIN

3 chicken breasts, cubed and seasoned with salt & pepper

1-2 tsp. ginger paste

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped

3 green onions, sliced

1 handful of cilantro, finely chopped

4-6 white mushrooms, quartered

2 baby bok choy (wash and then cut off the bottom so the leaves separate)

6 oz. chow mein noodles

1-2 tsp. cornstarch

2 tbsp. soy sauce

juice of 1 lime

lime wedges and cilantro for garnish

Put a pot of water on to boil. Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Add chicken and stir fry for a few minutes. Then add ginger, garlic, jalapeno, green onions, cilantro, and mushrooms. When water is boiling, add noodles and baby bok choy and boil for 3 minutes (no longer). While it's boiling, add cornstarch to the wok with about 1/3 c. water from the pot of bok choy and noodles. Stir well and remove from heat. Stir in soy sauce and lime juice. Drain the noodles and bok choy and add to the wok. Stir to combine, and serve on a plate with lime wedges and cilantro.

This recipe was a little complicated to follow, but I read through it a few times and got everything ready beside the stove so I was able to cook it up in probably under 10 minutes. I didn't have any waterchestnuts, so that's why I used some of the bok choy water instead (which likely adds a few more nutrients anyway!) I sort of doubled the recipe, but not the soy sauce at the end since I found yesterday's recipe had too much soy sauce. I will definitely make this again (especially since I bought a whole bag of baby bok choy and don't know what else to do with it!) I hope the rest of the family will like it as much as I do.

Food Revolution #2

Tonight we tried another couple recipes from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. These were pretty easy to make, and tasted wonderful!

SIZZLING BEEF WITH SCALLIONS & BLACK BEAN SAUCE (I doubled most of the recipe, so here's my version)
1 c. basmati rice, prepared according to directions
1 lb. sirloin steak, cubed
1 tsp. ginger paste
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
4 green onions, sliced
1 handful cilantro (stems chopped, and leaves set aside for garnish)
2 tbsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. vegetable oil (plus more for stir-frying)
4 tbsp. black bean sauce
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1 lime
1 egg

In a large bowl, combine ginger, garlic, jalapeno, green onoins, cilantro stems, oils, and beef. (I let it marinate while I made the carrot salad listed below.) Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat, and add beef mixture, moving things around often so they don't burn. Stir fry for 2 minutes, then add black bean sauce, 2 tbsp. soy sauce, and the juice of 1 lime. Continue stir-frying for a couple more minutes, then transfer to a bowl and cover with tinfoil to keep warm. Add a bit more oil to the wok and add crack the egg in. Add 1 tbsp. soy sauce and scramble the egg. When it's cooked, stir in the cooked rice, scraping the bottom of the wok. Spoon rice onto a plate and top with beef and sauce. Garnish with cilantro (which I forgot to do.)

EVOLUTION CARROT SALAD

4 large carrots, peeled and grated

1 handful cilantro leaves

1 handful mint leaves

salt & pepper

6 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. lemon juice

1-2 tbsp. pine nuts, toasted

2 clementines, segmented

1/4 c. feta cheese, crumbled

Toss everything together and serve.

This meal was awesome. The meat was tender (for once I didn't over cook it!), and the salad was light and fresh. In the recipe it suggested adding some soy sauce to the rice at the end, which I did, and I found it was too much. But otherwise it was delicious, and the whole family seemed to like it. (The kids didn't eat the salad though, but it really is yummy!) I should have doubled the rice as well, but we usually end up with leftover rice (which I hate), so I didn't bother. Now we have leftover meat instead, and nothing to eat it with. Actually, I have a head of lettuce in the fridge, and I bet this would be fabulous in some sort of lettuce-wrap. Voila - lunch is served for tomorrow!

Fresh Rolls, Potato Skins, Samosas with Chutney, and Pinepple Cream Cheese Carrot Cake

I had the girls over for Splurge Night last night, and spent a good portion of my day making these appetizers! It was well worth the trouble though - everything turned out great (at least I think it did... my friends ate everything, so it was either really good, or they are just extremely considerate of my feelings!)

I made my absolute favourite recipe for Fresh Rolls, served with some store-bought peanut sauce. (Superstore's Schezwan sauce is the best.) I discovered it's so much easier making these rolls if you buy the large rice papers instead of the small ones. I used shrimp instead of pork this time, still in the same marinade (1/4 c. each of soy sauce, Hoisin sauce, and honey, plus a little garlic and chili flakes.) This recipe makes a huge batch... I think I made 18 rolls, and I still have some leftover so I can make more rolls tomorrow for lunch.

Next I made Potato Skins adapted from a friend's recipe blog:

POTATO SKINS
8 baking potatoes
1/3 c. oil
2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Smoked Spanish Paprika
2 tsp. Garlic Potato Topper
salt & pepper
16 slices of bacon, crumbled
4 green onions, sliced
3-4 c. cheddar cheese, grated

Scrub potatoes and pierce on all sides. Place in oven and bake at 400 F for 1 hour, turning once. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides. (Save some for your samosa filling!) Mix together oil, Parmesan, paprika, garlic, salt & pepper, and brush over the inside of each potato. Bake at 475 F for 8 minutes, then fill each potato skin with bacon, green onions, and cheddar cheese. Bake for another 5-8 minutes, and serve with sour cream.

Now I was ready to make Samosas with Mango & Saskatoon Chutney. The samosa recipe came from Rachael Ray's website, but I first heard of it on Sook's blog, My Fabulous Recipes. The filling is easy to make, and tastes heavenly! The pie crust was a bit of an obstacle for me... it was dry and cracking, and it took me a while to start making pretty samosas. The first ones looked like they had seen better days. But they tasted wonderful, and I would definitely make them again. Here's my slight adaptation of the recipe:

SAMOSAS

1 tbsp. oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 tsp. ginger paste
1/2 tsp. garlic paste
1/2 tsp. coriander seeds
1 1/2 tsp. Curry Dip Mix
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 large potato, cooked (I diced up one of the potatoes that I used for potato skins)
1/2 tomato, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 c. frozen peas
2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1 package (2 9-inch rounds) store-bought, raw pie dough
1 egg, beaten

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes. In a small dish, combine jalapeno, ginger, garlic, coriander seeds, curry, cumin, Pumpkin Pie Spice, salt & pepper. Add to onions and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add potato, tomato, peas, and cilantro and cook for couple minutes. (If the filling looks too thick, you can add a splash of vegetable stock, but I didn't need to.) Allow filling to cool.

Roll out each pie crust on a floured surface, and cut into 8 wedges. (Next time I might do 6 wedges so I could make bigger samosas and have better luck with rolling them.) Put 1 tsp. of the potato filling on each wedge. Brush the edges of each wedge with egg. Fold the pointed end up over the filling so it touches the wider end, then fold the two sides over top and pinch it closed. Place samosas on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and brush with egg. Bake at 375 F for 15 minutes, then turn them over and bake for another 5 minutes.

CHUTNEY
1/2 c. saskatoons
1/2 c. mango, chopped (I used frozen mango, and last time I made this recipe I used rhubarb instead)
3 tbsp. raspberry vinegar
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 tbsp. onion, diced
1/8 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. ginger
dash of chili pepper flakes

Put everything in small saucepan and bring to a simmer for 20-30 minutes. Cool before serving.

For a sweet treat, I cracked open a box of carrot cake mix and made 2 round cakes. Then I made a delicious icing and slathered it between the two cakes and all around the outside, and topped it with a few pieces of Crystallized Ginger.

PINEAPPLE CREAM CHEESE ICING

1 container (8 oz.) spreadable cream cheese

1 single-serving container of pineapple yogurt (or whatever flavour you like)

1 1/2 - 2 c. Cool Whip

1/2 c. icing sugar

Beat ingredients until smooth. Add more icing sugar if it's too thin, or more Cool Whip if it's too thick.This icing was awesome. (And the cake was pretty good too, thank you Betty Crocker!)

And that's what we ate last night. Enjoy!

Thai Meatballs

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm planning on trying out 3 meatball recipes that I found in the newspaper this week. Tonight's recipe was a huge success.

THAI MEATBALLS WITH PEANUT SAUCE

Peanut Sauce:

3/4 c. coconut milk (freeze the leftover coconut milk and use it another time)
1/3 c. creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. lime zest
2 tbsp. lime juice
1 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. finely grated fresh ginger
pinch of crushed chili flakes

Combine all ingredients in a pot. Simmer on medium heat until smooth and lightly thickened (about 5 minutes.) If necessary, cool to room temperature and refrigerate, then reheat before serving.

Meatballs:
1 lb. ground pork
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 green onions, sliced
2 tsp. red Thai-style curry paste (I used green)
1 tbsp. lemongrass, finely chopped (peel away the outer green leaves and only use the white part at the bottom)
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 egg
2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, finely chopped (I used Italian parsley cuz that's what my husband bought)
1/3 c. flour (for coating)

Place all ingredients, except flour, in a bowl and mix to combine. Shape the meat mixture into balls, and roll them in the flour. Heat oil in a large frying pan and cook the meatballs, moving them around as necessary to make sure they cook through.

I stir-fried some frozen veggies (Asian blend) with a little ginger and garlic, and boiled some vermicelli to serve with these yummy meatballs and peanut sauce. Everyone loved it!

Contest Entry #2

Yesterday I skipped out on making supper, and decided to stuff my face full of pancakes at church instead. But tonight's recipe comes from my friend Jackie (one of two recipes she sent me!) Jackie and I met at one of my Epicure parties a couple years ago, and thankfully she told me about her tea business that was just starting up. Since then, we have bonded over our love of good food and tea by hosting Epicure/Tea parties together, swapping cookbooks, sharing recipes, and planning a girls' night so we can finally sit down and watch "Julie & Julia" together!

Jackie always amazes me with her baking skills (I mean, honestly, who whips up their own sourdough breadbowl as if it's no big deal? Jackie does!) so I was a little worried she might send me something complicated. Instead, she sent me a tasty Asian salad recipe that looks delicious.

GRILLED PORK AND RICE NOODLE SALAD (I would have followed the recipe exactly, but I forgot a few ingredients, so here's what I did)

2/3 c. boiling water

1/4 c. sugar

1/3 c. fresh lime juice

3 tbsp. fish sauce

1/2 tsp. garlic paste

2 tsp. Szechwan sauce (from Superstore)

1/2 lb. rice noodles

2 c. lettuce, chopped

2 c. cucumber, julienne-cut (like matchsticks)

1 1/2 c. carrot, julienne-cut

1/2 c. fresh mint, chopped

1/2 c. fresh basil, chopped

7 Hoisin-Marinated Pork Chops, thinly sliced

1/4 c. peanuts, chopped (I left these out, but I would have added them if I had any peanuts in the house)

Dissolve sugar in boiling water and mix in lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, and Szechwan sauce. Place rice noodles in boiling water for about 5 minutes, then drain and toss together with vegetables and herbs. Pour liquid overtop and mix well.

To serve as a salad: Toss porkchops into the salad and serve.

To serve as fresh rolls: Soak a rice paper wrapper in warm water until it's soft. Lay on a plate and put about 1/2 c. of salad mixture in the middle. Place a few pieces of porkchop on top (you could put some shrimp too if you like.) Fold the top and bottom in, then fold one side over, tucking it in slightly under the salad mixture to keep things contained. Then roll towards the other side to seal it up.I've made fresh rolls before and I love them. This recipe was awesome, and makes a huge batch. You could easily leave out the meat and make this a vegetarian dish (although what fun would that be?!!) My daughter loved the fresh rolls, but my son would only eat the meat and the cucumbers out of the salad. This was really no surprise. I think I'm going to make the rest of the salad into fresh rolls later on, so they are handy little snacks/lunches.

Thanks for a great recipe, Jackie!

Mexicasian Lettuce Wraps

PLEASE NOTE: If you haven't read my profile on the right-hand side of this page, go read it now. That part at the bottom, about the scrambled eggs... it totally applies tonight.

I took out an extra pound of ground beef yesterday, so I had to come up with something for tonight. I was hoping to create something a little lighter than yesterday's magnificent burgers, so I opted for some lettuce wraps. I was going to do a peanut sauce with the beef (which really would have been delicious), but then I thought I'd just keep it simple... lime, ginger, garlic, and cilantro. However, I was not happy with the name "Lime Ginger Beef Lettuce Wraps". Too descriptive. I stumbled upon the word Mexicasian and figured there must be some way to spice this dish up a little. And this is what I came up with:

MEXICASIAN LETTUCE WRAPS
1 lb. ground beef
1 leek, diced (or try some lemongrass if you like)
3-4 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. Chipotle Chili Powder
1 tbsp. cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
lettuce leaves
diced avocado, green onion, and tomato

Brown beef with leek and garlic. Drain well. Stir in ginger, chipotle, cilantro, and lime juice. Mix well to combine flavours. Combine diced veggies together in a bowl. To assemble lettuce wraps, place a scoop of beef on a lettuce leaf along with a scoop of diced veggies. Wrap it up and enjoy!

Enjoy. Easier said than done. Today my daughter graced us with one of her after-school tantrums. They are a sight to behold. The poor thing is starving at 4pm, but one snack is never enough, and then by 5pm she wants nothing to do with supper. So we limit her snacks to a reasonable amount, and she responds with sobbing, whining, the occasional kicking of walls, and usually the screaming of, "I CAN'T DO NOTHING!!!"

I knew the kids wouldn't eat the lettuce and veggies, so I cut up some cucumber slices, and wrapped up their meat in a whole wheat tortilla. My daughter took one bite and her head just about spun off. (She was less than impressed with the Mexicasian-ness of my meal.) I whipped up some scrambled eggs quicker than you can say, "I CAN'T DO NOTHING!!!" and then I finally assembled my own lettuce wrap to see what all the fuss was about.

I thought they were pretty good. The chipotle added a teeny bit of heat, but nothing really noticeable. The ginger and cilantro were pretty mild, too. In all honesty, I kinda wish I had gone with the peanut sauce idea. But hey, at least I tried something new, and at least I had enough eggs in the fridge to wage off a full-blown supper crisis..... until tomorrow night!

Bonne fête, part deux

Today is the big birthday party, so I'm re-posting the appetizer recipes from the other day. I've made a few changes, and added some pictures (and I'll add more later, once everything is made.)

EXTRAORDINARY CHEESE DIP (an Epicure classic!)
1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 c. mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)
1-2 c. cheddar and mozzarella cheese, grated
1 tsp. Cheese Chives & Bacon Dip Mix
1 tsp. 3 Onion Dip Mix (I didn't have any 3 Onion, so I used an extra tsp. of Cheese Chives & Bacon)
1 tsp. Lemon Dilly Dip Mix
1 tbsp. Red Pepper Jelly (optional)

Combine everything together, except the Red Pepper Jelly. Hollow out a round loaf of bread and scoop in the cheese mixture. Drizzle with Red Pepper Jelly. Toss it in the oven at 375 F for 20-30 minutes, until cheese is golden brown. Serve with reserved pieces of bread.

MEXICAN LAYERED DIP (sort of a mix from lots of good recipes I've seen/tasted)
1 can refried beans (with green chilies)
2 tbsp. Pueblo Bean Dip Mix
1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 c. sour cream
1 c. salsa
grated cheese (I used mozzarella and jalapeno havarti)
2 green onions, diced

Mix the beans with the Pueblo Bean Dip Mix and spread into a glass dish. Mix cream cheese and sour cream together and spread over the beans. Spread salsa over top, then sprinkle with green onion and grated cheese. Serve with tortilla chips.

ISLAND GUACAMOLE (inspired by an Epicure customer who emailed me her recipe)
3 ripe avocaos, mashed
1 tbsp. Guacamole Dip Mix or Chili Lime Sansel or Fajita Seasoning
1/3 can mandarin orange segments (about 6-8 segments)
1 lime
1/4 c. mango, diced

Cut lime in half and then into segments (like a grapefruit.) Dice the segments and put them in a bowl with the juice from 1/2 the lime. Dice mandarin segments and mango and add to the bowl. Stir in seasonings. Mash or purée the avocado and stir in the fruit mixture. Serve with tortilla chips. This was a disappointment. I had made guacamole a couple weeks ago with oranges and fajita seasoning and it was delicious. This time I added the lime and mango and used Chili Lime and it was way too limey.

POTATO SKINS (from my friend's blog)
I followed her recipe, but I used Epicure's Garlic Potato Topper and Smoked Paprika. I put twice the amount of garlic, just because.

These were awesome!! I found I only had enough oil mixture to brush on the insides of the potatoes, so I didn't flip them over and cook them an extra 8 minutes like the recipe suggests. They were delicious though, and I'd definitely make them again! Thanks Jen!

SUSHI ROLLS
seaweed papers
sticky rice, prepared according to directions
avocado
cucumber
lettuce
crab meat (I ususally use smoked salmon, but I'm cheaping out this time)

For regular rolls: Lay seaweed on a bamboo mat and spread rice on top (leaving about an inch at the top.) Place thin strips of veggies and small pieces of seafood along the bottom, and then start to roll it up using the bamboo mat. Slice into pieces with a wet knife.

For inside-out rolls: Lay a piece of saran-wrap on the bamboo mat. Put the seaweed on it and spread out the rice, but then flip the seaweed over (so the rice is stuck to the saran-wrap.) Place your veggies and seafood on the seaweed and then roll it up. You should end up with the rice on the outside. Sprinkle with seasme seeds if you like.

Okay, that's not my sushi, but it's the prettiest sushi I ever ate! It's from a restaurant at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas called Shibuya. Here's my sushi:

TIRAMISU CHEESE BALL
1/2 pkg. cream cheese
1/4 c. softened butter (not margarine)
1/4 tsp. vanilla
6 tbsp. icing sugar
2 tbsp. brown sugar (I forgot to put this in... oops)
1 tbsp. Tiramisu Fruit Dip Mix (or you could use cocoa)

Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Gradually add vanilla, sugars, and Tiramisu dip mix and beat until stirred. Form into a ball. If it's too soft, let it chill and then form ball. Should be chilled at least 2 hours before serving. Best served on thin chocolate cookies, banana loaf, or graham crackers. May be frozen.
CRATER CAKE (from "Best of Bridge" cookbook)
I followed the recipe, but only used 1 1/2 c. sugar and used some maple-flavoured chocolate chips (because they're yummy, and because I only had 1/2 c. regular chocolate chips.)
This cake is so moist and delicious, but it's HUGE so make sure you use a 9x13" pan.

I'm so excited about the party tonight! I love having friends over.... we get to visit, I get to make awesome food, and my husband cleans up the house like nobody's business! We should do this every weekend!!

Bonne fête!

It's my husband's birthday today, so we're having lobster tails for supper. I got frozen ones at Safeway, and we're just going to boil them up and eat them with garlic butter. Do I even need to take a picture of that? Of course I do, because I have no other hobbies.
The kids shared a bit of leftover salmon I saved from the salmon burgers the other night, and they loved it.

MAPLE HOISIN SALMON
2 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tbsp. Hoisin sauce
1 salmon filet

Bake at 450 F for 10-15 minutes.

I'm also getting ready for the big birthday bash this weekend. I wanted to make some appetizers that are simple (ie: here's a bowl of dippy stuff, here's a bowl of scoopy things.... scoop up the dip, and enjoy the party!) But of course, I need to do something a little creative, so here's what's on the menu.

Thursday is Thai night!

No it's not, but it's been ridiculously cold all week, so I'm going to heat things up a little in the kitchen tonight with a Thai-inspired dish. And while I'm at it, I'll share a few of my favourite recipes from an awesome Thai cookbook that a friend gave to me last year.

But first, here's what we're having for supper tonight. A few months ago, a friend sent me this recipe from her blog and I was missing a few ingredients, so I used what I had and came up with this instead:

CHICKEN SATAY STIRFRY
4 chicken breasts, pounded out and cut into small pieces
1/2 c. flour
sea salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 c. bell peppers, sliced
1 tbsp. Satay Seasoning
1 tsp. lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 tsp. chili pepper flakes
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. peanut butter
1 green onion, diced

Put chicken in a ziploc bag with flour, salt & pepper. Shake until well coated. Heat oil in a pan and brown chicken on all sides, and cook through. Add bell peppers and sauté. Remove from pan and keep warm in a covered dish. Combine remaining ingredients and pour into the pan. Simmer until slightly thickened, then stir in cooked chicken and veggies. Cover and let it simmer until heated through. Serve over vermicelli rice noodles.I thought this tasted like ginger chicken that you'd get from a Chinese restaurant, but way better.

Now, here's one of my all-time favourite meals (from the Thai cookbook). It's so simple and quick to make, and it's delicious!

SCALLOPS & SHRIMP WITH LEMONGRASS & COCONUT MILK

3/4 c. coconut milk

3 stalks lemongrass, thinly sliced (white part only)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1 red chili, diced

2 tbsp. fish sauce

2 tsp. sugar

Combine ingredients and bring to a gentle boil for 4 minutes. Add 1 c. raw shrimp + 1 c. raw scallops and cook for 4-5 minutes. Squeeze in the juice of 1/2 a lime and sprinkle in 1 tbsp. shredded cilantro leaves.

And here's a nice salad recipe (although I think I'd leave out some of the shallots next time, it was a little potent.)

CRISPY CUCUMBER SALAD (from Thai cookbook)

3 tbsp. lime juice

2 tbsp. water

1 tbsp. fish sauce

2 tsp. sugar

1 english cucumber, thinly sliced

1 tomato, sliced

2 shallots, thinly sliced

1 red chili, diced

chopped cashews, mint leaves, and cilantro to garnish

If you like Thai food, seriously, you should get the cookbook I mentioned. It's so easy to follow, and there are tons of great recipes. Get yourself some lemongrass, coconut milk, chilies, lime, and ginger, and you can pretty much make half the cookbook. You can throw a little Thai-themed dinner party, and pretend it's not -35 C outside anymore!