Hot Coconut Chicken

Some days don't go as planned.  I had Thai Peanut Chicken on the menu, but after working in the yard all afternoon, I knew that I needed something that would require little effort.  I threw this together, and it turned out great.  Cook rice while the chicken is in the oven.  It would be great with a side of snow peas.

Moist and tender, the chicken is braised in a spicy mix that hints of Asian flavors. No one will guess that it was fast and easy to prepare.

Ingredients

• 8 bone-in chicken thighs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced
• 4 scallions, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Instructions

1. Salt and pepper the chicken and place in a large bowl.
2. Mix the coconut milk with the bell pepper, scallions, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, and cilantro.
3. Pour the coconut milk mixture over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
4. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place the chicken and the marinade in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for one hour, or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees. Uncover chicken and turn the oven up to 375 degrees and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Serve with rice to soak up the wonderful sauce that develops.

Yield: 4 Servings
Prep Time: 0 hrs. 15 mins.

Cook time: 1 hrs. 05 mins.
Total time: 1 hrs. 20 mins.
Tags: chicken

Curry Yogurt Orange Roughy

This is a recipe I made up the other night looking at what I had in the refrigerator. It has a little bit of a bite to it, so it may not be popular with children, but I really liked the flavors, and wanted to remember what I had done, so I am posting it here. I never measure, unless I am baking, so feel free to adjust to your taste.

Servings:  4        Prep Time:  5 minutes     Cook Time:  20 minutes

Ingredients

4 Orange Roughy Fillets
1 Tsp Salt
1/2  Tsp Pepper
1 Tbsp Oil
3/4 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1/2  Cup Chopped Cilantro Leaves
1 Tbsp Curry Powder
!/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease a 8x8 inch baking pan with the oil.  Orange roughy is a very oily fish, so you don't need much oil.  If you substitute a different type of fish, you may need to add a little more oil.   Rinse the fish under cold running water and pat dry.  Salt and pepper both sides of the fish and place in the baking pan.  Orange roughy shrinks during cooking so they can be placed close together.

Mix together the yogurt, cilantro and curry powder.  Spread evenly over the top of the fish.
Sprinkle the parmesan evenly over the  fish.

Bake on the center rack for 20 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Spicy Orange Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry

Source:
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/spicy_orange_beef_broccoli_stir_fry.html 

 

I had seen this recipe, but did not have all the ingredients when I decided to try it. I ended up marinating the meat in the orange juice, soy sauce, garlic and ginger, leaving out the rice wine, and using only 3 chilies. The result did not have enough orange flavor or bite, so I do not recommend following my example. The flavors were very good, however, especially on the second day, so I will have to give it another try following the recipe!

Serve with rice.
6 servings, generous 1 cup each Active Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 oranges
• 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine, or dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 3 teaspoons peanut oil, or canola oil, divided
• 1 pound beef sirloin, trimmed and sliced against the grain into 1/8-inch-thick slices
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 6-8 small dried red chiles
• 2 pounds broccoli, cut into small florets (6 cups)
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1/2 cup sliced scallion greens

Preparation

1. With a small sharp knife or vegetable peeler, carefully pare wide strips of zest from one of the oranges. Cut zest into 1-inch strips and set aside. Squeeze juice from all the oranges into a small bowl (for about 3/4 cup). Add soy sauce, rice wine (or sherry), cornstarch and sugar and stir to combine; set aside.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat until almost smoking. Add beef and stir-fry just until no longer pink on the outside, about 1 minute. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels and set aside.
3. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil to the pan and heat until very hot. Add garlic, ginger, chiles and the reserved orange zest; stir-fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add broccoli and water. Cover and steam, stirring occasionally, until the water has evaporated and the broccoli sizzles, about 3 minutes. Add bell pepper and stir-fry for 1 minute more.
4. Stir the reserved orange sauce and pour it into the wok. Bring to a boil, stirring; cook until the sauce has thickened slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Add scallion greens and the reserved beef and toss to coat with sauce; heat through.

Tips & Notes

• Freezing the beef sirloin for 30 minutes makes it easier to cut into very thin slices.

From EatingWell: January/February 1997, The Essential EatingWell Cookbook (2004)

Easy Feta Chicken Bake

This is a fast recipe with great results. You can use plain feta and it is still great. I like cooked peppers, so I usually top the chicken with the peppers prior to cooking.

Ingredients:

6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 2 lb.)

2 Tbsp. lemon juice, divided

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 pkg. (4 oz.) ATHENOS Crumbled Feta Cheese with Basil & Tomato

1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

Instructions:

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Arrange chicken in 13x9-inch baking dish.

DRIZZLE with 1 Tbsp. of the lemon juice. Season with salt and black pepper. Top with feta cheese; drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp. lemon juice.

BAKE 35 to 40 min. or until chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with red pepper and parsley.

Source: Athenos.com

Paula Dean's Foolproof Standing Rib Roast

This is a never fail recipe. Great for company or special occasions because it is easy to time.

Ingredients

• 1 (5-pound) standing beef rib roast
• 1 tablespoon House Seasoning, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Allow roast to stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour. Rub roast all over with the House Seasoning. Place roast on a rack in a pan with the rib side down and the fatty side up. Roast for 1 hour. Turn off oven. Leave roast in the oven but do not open oven door for another 3 hours. About 1 hour before serving time, turn oven to 375 degrees F to reheat the roast.

Cook's Note: Do not remove roast or re-open the oven door from the time roast is put in until ready to serve.

House Seasoning:

1 cup salt

1/4 cup garlic powder

1/4 cup ground black pepper

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Source: Food Network

Good Eats Roast Turkey

The best turkey I have ever made. Thank you Alton Brown.

Ingredients

• 1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:

• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  
• 1 gallon vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
• 1 gallon heavily iced water

For the aromatics:

• 1 red apple, sliced
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cup water
• 4 sprigs rosemary
• 6 leaves sage
• Canola oil

Directions

Click here to see how it's done.

2 to 3 days before roasting:

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

Source: Food Network

Cider Baked Ham

I am trying a new recipe today from Cook's Country for baked ham.

1 Cinnamon stick, broken into rough pieces
1/4 tsp whole cloves
13 cups apple cider
8 ice cubes
1 cured bone-in half ham, (7-10 pounds) preferably shank end
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp pepper

Toast the cinnamon and cloves in a large sauce pan over medium heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add 4 cups cider and bring to a boil. Pour spiced cider into a larger stockpot or bucket and add 4 more cups of cider and ice. Stir until ice is melted.

Meanwhile, remove the skin from the exterior of ham and trim fat to 1/4-inch thickness. Score remaining fat at 1 inch intervals in criss-cross pattern. Transfer ham to container with chilled cider mixture. (Liquid should nearly cover the ham) Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours.

Discard cider mixture and transfer ham to a large oven bag. Add 1 cup fresh cider to bag, tie securely, and cut 4 slits in top of bag. Place in a large roasting pan and let sit at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Bake ham until internal temperature registers 100 degrees, 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours.

Meanwhile, bring remaining cider and mustard to boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring often, until mixture is very thick and reduced to 1/3 cup, about 1 hour.

Combine sugar and pepper in a a bowl. Remove ham from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Roll back oven bag and brush ham with reduced cider mixture. Carefully press sugar mixture onto the ham. Return to oven and bake until dark brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Transfer to cutting board and loosely tent with foil, let rest 10 minutes.