Hoisin Soy Chicken Thighs Over Sesame Soba Noodle Salad

This is one of those dishes when I just grabbed ingredients and created,  I didn't write down what I did and it turned out great. A lot of people are requesting the recipe, so I am going to give it my best shot to explain what I did, and give you a general idea on how to recreate it. The first thing I did was make a sauce for the chicken thighs, I used boneless and skinless. For the sauce I used equal amounts of hoisin, and soy sauce, then I added about a tablespoon each of sesame oil, Shaohsing (Asian cooking wine), rice vinegar, sambal (chili garlic paste), 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cornstarch, 5 smashed garlic cloves, and about 10 slices of peeled ginger, and a little water, whisk good and at this point taste it for the right balance of hot, sour, salty and sweet, adjust if needed, set aside. Next I made a sauce for the Soba noodle salad with about 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1 heaping tablespoon of peanut butter, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar,  and 1 clove of chopped garlic, set aside. Now that my sauces were made I sliced up about 12 raw sugar snap peas length wise, grated 2 large carrots, and 3 green onions sliced, and added them to a large bowl. Next I boiled 2 bunches of soda noodles according to the package directions, make sure not to overcook them or they will fall apart, and be mushy. Drain them and toss with the chopped veggies, and sesame peanut butter sauce and let it sit while you cook the chicken. I cooked the chicken in a pressure cooked but I am sure you can do it in a skillet. I seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper and browned them on both sides in a tablespoon of vegetable oil, put them all back into the pot with the hoisin soy sauce mixture, covered the pressure cooker and let it come to full pressure over medium heat. I cooked it at full pressure for 5 minutes, removed it from the heat, and let it decompress naturally before I opened it. If you are doing it in the skillet, I would do it exactly the same way, and simmer them uncovered for 5 minutes, or until cooked through, and the sauce thickens. I put the noodle salad down on a pretty platter, put the chicken on top, I garnished with a little sauce from the pan, and sesame seeds.
*this looks time consuming but it only took me about an hour to prepare
**you can make the sauces way in advance, they would probably taste better
***better than takeout and healthier too

Thai Style Grilled Pork Skewers

I like to listen to cooking podcasts at work, I was listening to Milk Street Radio the other day and they were describing Moo Ping, and it inspired me to make these, with what I had on hand in my cupboard, and it turned out amazing. I really didn't measure anything, but this is what I basically did. I sliced a 5 pound pork butt as thin as I could and set it a side in a large bowl. Next I made the marinade in a separate bowl with fresh sliced garlic and ginger, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, vegetable oil, sambal, brown sugar, salt, pepper and fresh basil. I just kept tasting and adding, until I had the right balance of hot, sour, salty, and sweet, then added enough water so I could cover all the pork. I poured the marinade over the pork, and put it in the fridge to marinate for 3 hours. 

Next I threaded the pork onto bamboo skewers that I soaked in water, I packed them on pretty tight, I got all 5 pounds on 3 large skewers. Then I grilled them slowly on medium low heat, about 300 degrees on my gas grill, covered until nicely browned and a little charred, about 30 minutes. I served it over a bed of baby greens and sliced tomatoes, simply dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper, because my husband is on the Keto diet, and he loved it. Give it a try, you won't be sorry!

*you can serve this with white rice too

**this easily can serve at least 4-6 people with sides and a salad

***very affordable for a cookout or dinner party

****you can use any marinade you like its very versatile 

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breast Stuffed With Tomato And Mozzarella

Sometimes, I have a basic idea in my mind, and just go into the kitchen and play, tonight was one of those nights. I knew I wanted to stuff chicken breast, and wrap them in bacon. I opened my fridge, and pulled out things I thought would go good together, and this is what I came up with, it was quite tasty! First I made the stuffing with, approximately, because I never measure, 2-3 cups of stale bread, 3 green onions sliced, 1/2 cup of diced mozzarella, 10 grape tomatoes sliced, 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, a handful of grated cheese, a little squirt of balsamic gaze, salt and pepper to taste, and enough water, or chicken stock, to moisten. Let it sit a bit to break down the bread, and distribute the liquid. Next, I butterflied the chicken breast, try to use small breast, that are not too thick. Season the inside and put about 2 tablespoons of stuffing inside. roll, and wrap them in bacon. This takes patience, take your time!

Now I placed them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. I then put a lot of fresh cracked black pepper on top, a nice drizzle of balsamic glaze, and sprinkled with a little more chopped parsley. I baked them at 400, for about 30-40 minutes, or until the bacon was crispy. I served them with garlic and cheese stuffed acorn squash, and tomato and mozzarella flat breads. 
*you can stuff and wrap the chicken breast up to a day ahead of time for an easy company dinner
**any side dishes would go well with this dinner, or just a nice side salad
***Chardonnay, or Rose would pair nice
****the hardest part of preparing this dish is butterflying the chicken, a very sharp knife is a must

Egg Roll In A Bowl Plus

I have been making some low carb meals for my husband, this turned out delicious. Most recipes call for ground pork, but I had some left over pork roast, so I used that. I chopped it up into a small dice, about 2-3 cups worth, then I sauteed it in a tiny bit of oil until brown and crispy. Next I added 2 tablespoons of hoisin sauces, and cooked it for another 3 minutes of so. Next I added 1/4 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, and 1/2 inch fresh ginger, finely chopped, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and a few drops of sesame oil I cooked it another 5 minutes. Next I added 2 cups of finely shredded cabbage, and 1 cup of grated carrots, stirred to combine, cooked it another 3 minutes, and garnished with sliced green onion, and sesame seeds. 

I realized I had some phyllo dough in the fridge, so I decided to make some of the mixture into actual egg rolls. I cut the log of phyllo in half, made six layers, brushing with lard in between, but you can use oil if you like. Then I simply stuffed, rolled, brushed the top with more lard, and sprinkled them with sesame seeds. I baked them in a 350 degree oven for 5-8 minutes just until lightly brown and crispy. They were so light and crispy, I served them with some pineapple chutney and my husband loved them.

*this is a quick easy meal to put together on a week night
**you can make the egg rolls smaller for a nice party snack

Gypsy Chicken Carla's Way

Tonight, I decided to put a twist on my favorite pork chops with hot cherry peppers recipe, and used chicken instead. I diced up some skinless, boneless chicken thighs, dredges them in some flour seasoned with salt and pepper, and then browned them nicely in batches, in very shallow oil. I remove all the chicken from the pan, and set it aside. I added a nice chunk of butter and a sliced shallot to the pan and cooked them about 2 minutes. Then I added 4 hot cherry peppers in vinegar that I seeded and sliced, one small jar of red roasted peppers that I sliced, 12 green olives, the ones I used where in a jar stuffed with citrus, I sliced those also, and about 1/4 cup of the hot pepper juice from the jar, making sure to scrape up all the flavorful bits up off the bottom of the pan. I let that cook about 5 minutes or so and added the chicken back to the pan. I tossed it around a bit and then I added about 1/4 cup of white wine, I used a sparkling cava. I lowered the heat and let it simmer until a little of the liquid evaporated, and the flavors married. I served the hot chicken over an escarole salad, simply dressed with grated garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, mixed well with my hands squeezing a bit. I garnish the plate with sliced grape tomatoes and chopped parsley. The only salt and pepper I used was in the seasoned flour, when I tasted it at the end it didn't need any more seasoning.

 *you can also use diced chicken breast or skin on, bone in thighs.
**I left the potatoes out to make it low carb, but I think it would taste delicious over pasta
***an easy one pot meal fit for company with maybe some garlic bread and a nice glass of wine
****use less hot cherry peppers if you don't like your food too spicy

Organic Vegetable and Barley Soup

I recently joined a produce delivery service called Misfits Market. They join organic farmers who would have to throw away perfectly good produce that is too "ugly" for the supermarket shelves, and offer them in a box, delivered directly to your door for a discounted price, brilliant!! I got the small box, including shipping, for $23.50, 10-12 pounds worth. I was so excited when I opened this box and after pondering for a day I decided to make soup. I chopped up and sauteed in a little bit of oil and butter, the smaller onion, the leek, the green beans, and 5 ribs of celery with the leaves and a nice size parsnip from my fridge. I cooked it for about 5 minutes and added a small can of diced tomatoes, a box of chicken stock and then filled the pot up with water. I seasoned it with salt, pepper and Goya Adobo. I simmered it until the veggies were soft, but not mushy, and added 1 cup of pearled barley. When the barley was soft I sliced up the rainbow chard, including the ribs and beautiful stems, added them to the pot.

Look at beautiful colors of these fantastic, organic veggies that were going to get thrown away, I am happy to receive them!! I cooked the soup for another 2 minutes, tasted it, and re seasoned it if it needed. This was one of the most delicious soups I have ever made!!

*you can really taste the difference between mass produced vs. organic fruits and vegetables

**you could probably add any kind of protein to make this heartier

***leave out the chicken stock and butter, add tofu and it's vegan

****https://www.misfitsmarket.com/ 

Easy Dry Rubbed Country Style Pork Ribs

 I found some beautiful country style pork ribs at my local grocery store, and I wanted to do something a little different than wet BBQ sauce, so I decided to dry rub and roast them low and slow. It couldn't have been easier! I made a dry rub with Adobo, Sazon con Achote, smoked paprika, dark chili powder, cayenne pepper, Tajin, brown sugar, salt and pepper. I didn't really measure, it was about 2 tablespoons of the adobo and brown sugar, and a teaspoon each of the rest. I lined a baking sheet with foil for easy clean up, placed the ribs on the sheet and rubbed generously on all sides with the dry rub, make sure there is space in between the ribs. I tossed them into a 325 degree oven and roasted them for 3 hours. They were so moist and delicious, and the color from the rub was amazing!! I served it with a jalapeno and cheddar corn bread, and a green bean, tomato and shallot salad, simply dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

This was such an easy dinner to prepare for a weeknight dinner, I hope you give it a try!!
*This would be a great dinner for a football party, or company, paired with some nice local craft beers
**You can even throw the sheet pan right on the grill for a more smokey flavor, or not to heat the kitchen up for a nice summer deck party.
***My oven is on the low side so you might want to adjust the temperature.