Creamy Mustard Chicken with Mushrooms

Creamy Mustard Chicken with Mushrooms
6 chicken pieces, legs and thighs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Olive oil
1/2 cup of low sodium chicken stock
16 cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup of half-fat cream
2 tablespoons of grainy mustard
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
A small handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 F. Place a stockpot on medium high heat and add a good drizzle of olive oil. Dry the chicken pieces on each side with a paper towel and generously season with salt and pepper. Place in the stockpot and leave untouched for 3-4 minutes while the chicken browns. Gently turn the chicken and brown for 3-4 minutes on the other side.

Add the chicken stock to the stockpot, leaving the chicken skin side up so it doesn’t become soggy. Cook for 45 min-1 hour until the chicken is just cooked through. When the chicken is just about done, add a good drizzle of olive oil to a small pan on medium heat. Add the mushrooms and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Saute the mushrooms for 5-6 minutes. Lower the heat and add the reduced chicken stock from the stockpot. Add the cream, grainy mustard and stir. Reduce the sauce until desired consistency and add the lemon juice. Spoon over the chicken. Sprinkle with the parsley. Enjoy!

Prawn Curry

Prawn Curry
Prawn Curry, $2.50 per prawn

The killer dish for me that day was the Curry Prawns. It was an unexpected dish since we usually order the Curry Chicken. The gravy was eye openingly good and the prawns were the fresh sea prawns which were big and succulent. I was told that their curry takes three days to prepare, from the preparation of the ingredients, to the grinding, to the frying of the rempah and finally cooking the curry. The rempah forms the curry base for all their curry dishes. The prawn curry was fragrant and has a natural sweetness that got me lapping it up and thinking of when I am going back again. 4.5/5

Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice
Blk 57 Eng Hoon Street
#01-88
7.45am till 2.30pm
Closed Alt Tuesday

White Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream

White Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream
(Adapted from David Lebovitz)

Ingredients:

* 8 oz white chocolate, finely chopped
* 1 cup whole milk
* 2/3 cup sugar
* pinch of salt
* 5 large egg yolks
* 2 cups heavy cream
* 1 tsp. vanilla extract
* 2 cup strawberries, finely diced

Method:

Put the chocolate pieces in a large bowl and and set a mesh strainer over the top.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. In a separate medium bowl whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer over the white chocolate. Stir until white chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth, then stir in the cream and vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Add the strawberries about 5 minutes before the ice cream maker’s cycle is completed.

Ali’s Tip:

I really recommend going all out with this recipe. But if you’d like to lighten it up, you can always substitute milk for more of the cream (ex. 2 cups milk, and 1 cup cream). Or use 2% instead of whole milk. Or you could also reduce the number of egg yolks.

sweet stack

sweet stack

tv classic barbies

tv classic barbies
I Dream Of Jeannie, Bewitched Samantha Stephens, Beverly Hillbillies’ Elly May Clampett, Krystal Carrington and Alexis. Barbie dolls will be released this coming December, 2010 and in January 2011.

peacock cupcake

peacock cupcake

Wow! watermelon and scallop ceviche

Wow! watermelon and scallop ceviche
Recipe
Prep time: 30 minutes. Cook time: about 2 hours marinating. Serves 3-4. Substitute with a soft fish of your liking if you prefer. Be sure to marinate protein until opaque and cooked through from the citrus. If using shrimp, it’s important to flash steam them until just pink before marinating.
You need:

* 1 cup bay scallops
* 1 cup lightly steamed and chopped shrimp
* 2 green cubanelle peppers sliced paper thin
* 1 1/2 cup grape or cherry tomatoes sliced paper thin
* 1 1/4 cup pinkish white part of watermelon rind sliced in 1/4 inch think pieces
* 1/4 cup onion finely diced
* 1 shallot finely diced
* 1/4 cup scallions diced
* 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
* Diced jalepeño to taste

* Juice from 5 limes and 1 lemon
* 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Chop cubanelle pepper,tomatoes, onion, jalepeño, shallots and scallion paper thin. Roughly chop cilantro. Combine in large bowl and set aside.
2. Cut some watermelon into slices like you typically would and then cut away the sweet bright pink portion and reserve for some other use. Cut a strip (an inch or so thick) of the light pink/transparent white portion that sits about ¼ an inch above the green rind. Refer to image in post. Chop your light pink watermelon rind into pieces about 1/4 inch thick. Add 1/2 cup rind to bowl of veggies and set rest of rind aside.
3. Clean and steam the shrimp until just pink. Remove from heat and run under cold water. Chop into bite-sized pieces and set aside. Rinse bay scallops and set aside.
4. Juice limes and lemon into a bowl. Add rice vinegar sugar and salt. Stir to disolve. Toss in scallops and shrimp. Add to bowl of veggies. Also add garlic powder and black pepper. Toss well.
5. Make sure all fish is submerged in juices, cover and allow to marinate in fridge for about 2 hours or until scallops are cooked through. (If substituting scallops with a more delicate fish, less marinating will probably be required to cook through.)
6. Once cooked through, add remaining watermelon rind, toss and enjoy!

chilly dogs

chilly dog
toasted hot dog bun lined with peanut butter and jelly, then topped with ice cream

No-Flour, No-Butter Peanut Butter Cookies

No-Flour, No-Butter Peanut Butter Cookies
Sensational Peanut Butter Cookies
18 cookies

1 cup peanut butter (see note)
3/4 cup natural cane sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
additional sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees°F.

Mix all the ingredients up in a bowl. Roll walnut-sized pieces into balls and roll balls in the additional sugar. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and flatten slightly with a fork in a crisscross pattern. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool before removing from baking sheet.

Note: Peanut butter comes in all kinds of configurations and the kind you choose will influence your outcome. Some peanut butters are very sweet, some have been hydrogenated, some have a whole lot more in them than peanuts! Then there is the chunky versus smooth debate. I used a natural chunky version (Safeway brand) for this recipe that wasn't too sweet although it did have added cane sugar in the ingredient list.

peanut butter popcorn

Fall Snacking Recipe: Peanut Butter Popcorn

Maybe it's the college football parties, the trick-or-treating, or the endless grazing before Thanksgiving dinner, but snacks and fall just seem to go together. Popcorn is a very old harvest snack, prepared in the New World long before Columbus ever got here.

This sweet popcorn may actually improve on the original while using yet one more New World food - the peanut.



This recipe for peanut butter popcorn, sweetened with honey, belongs for me in memories of my family. This was our favorite movie night treat, a quick snack with sweet and gooey peanut butter coating every kernel. I vastly prefer it to crunchier caramel corn. If you leave the popcorn in a covered bowl all night, the popcorn gets a little softer and the kernels and peanut butter meld together like soft, slightly salty taffy with a crunch in the middle.

Peanut Butter Popcorn
makes about 8 cups

1/4 cup popcorn kernels
Vegetable oil
Fine salt
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter (should be free of added sugar)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Prepare a clean paper shopping bag or oversized mixing bowl. Heat a large heavy pan over medium heat and film the bottom with vegetable oil. Add the popcorn, shake to distribute, then put a lid on the pan. Leave a small crack for steam to escape. When the popcorn starts popping, shake vigorously to make sure the kernels pop evenly. When the popping slows, take the pan off the heat.

Pour the popcorn into the paper bag or bowl to cool, being careful to leave any unpopped kernels in the pan. Coated with peanut butter caramel, the unpopped kernels are a serious tooth hazard. Lightly salt the popcorn to taste.

Mix the honey and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for a couple minutes, then remove from the heat and add the peanut butter. Stir vigorously until all the peanut butter is melted, then mix in the vanilla.

Immediately pour the peanut butter caramel over the popcorn and stir with a long-handled wooden spoon until it's all coated. Once it's mixed you can put it in a serving bowl. Cover tightly after it's cooled.

(Images: Faith Hopler)

Re-edited from post originally published on November 10, 2006

Mango Con Chile Paletas

Mango Con Chile Paletas

What you'll need:
2 cups filtered water
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cups ripe mango
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp chili powder (vary amount to taste)
10-12 4-oz popsicle molds

Click through for step-by-step instructions and more helpful hints from Alatorre.

What you'll do:
Boil together filtered water and granulated sugar until the temperature reaches 200˚F.
Remove from heat and blend in 2 cups of the ripe mango until smooth.
Once smooth, mix in lime juice, chili powder (to taste) and remaining cup of ripe mango, chopped into small pieces.
Pour mixture into popsicle molds and freeze in the coldest part of your freezer.

At Paletas Betty, they roast and grind peppers in house for a custom blended chili powder from Alatorre's family recipes. Alatorre recommends using chilis with medium heat and mild flavor, "Smoky or oily flavors can otherwise mute the sweetness of the mangoes."

9. Extreme hoarding.

9. Extreme hoarding.

8. A very severe hoarding problem.

8. A very severe hoarding problem.

7. A severe hoarding problem with substantial impairment.

7. A severe hoarding problem with substantial impairment.

6. A very serious hoarding problem.

6. A very serious hoarding problem.

5. A serious hoarding problem.

5. A serious hoarding problem.

4. A moderate hoarding problem

4. A moderate hoarding problem

3. A mild hoarding problem if the room looks this way most of the time.

3. A mild hoarding problem if the room looks this way most of the time.

2. Beginnings of a problem with clutter. A subclinical hoarding problem.

2. Beginnings of a problem with clutter. A subclinical hoarding problem.

1. No evidence of a hoarding problem.

1. No evidence of a hoarding problem.

watermelon-mint popsicles

Watermelon-Mint Popsicles
by Allen on August 4, 2008 Print This Post Print This Post Email or Bookmark

In the Winter, we crave warm and comforting foods and in the Summer it’s all about cool and refreshing fare. My childhood memories are of eating big slices of juicy, cold watermelon. We raised our own melons and would have several weeks of the biggest and sweetest red watermelon. Oddly though, I don’t remember that we did anything special with it … we simply sliced it up and ate it.

This week, I’ve decided to explore watermelon and make 5 dishes from the wonderful fruit. Today, I’m showcasing a delicious and easy watermelon-mint ice pop made in a shooting star mold. It left me wondering why I hadn’t done this sooner!

Last month, Erin of Erin Cooks featured her ice pop creations and it inspired me to give it a try. She made pistachio pudding pops and irresistible root beer float pops — what’s not to love?

While researching watermelon ideas, I came across a recipe from Emeril that sounded like a winning flavor combination. I didn’t like how he structured his recipe so I rewrote it in a simpler version that made more sense to me (i.e. why say 6 tablespoons of sugar when that’s approximately 1/3 cup?).

Watermelon-Mint Ice Pops
4 cups cubed watermelon
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup mint leaves
juice of 1 lime

Watermelon and mint are an amazing combination, like Bogart and Bacall. Begin by removing the watermelon rind and slicing your watermelon into small cubes. It’s easiest if you use a seedless watermelon but if you buy one with seeds (like I did), you’ll need to seed the watermelon before you puree it.


Place all ingredients into a food processor or blender then puree. I used a stick blender and it made quick work of the job. Pour the mix into your molds and freeze!

Allow them to freeze until fully firm before trying to remove from the molds. When you remove them from the freezer run the molds under warm water for a few seconds. This will loosen the pops so they will easily slip out. Then lick, suck, or bite your way through the pop until you give yourself brain freeze. If serving at a backyard barbecue, set the butt end of a watermelon in a bowl and stick the pops into the melon as I’ve shown in the photo.

Unfortunately, I had a hard time finding the molds locally but finally found this set at Macy’s (yes, they are Martha’s). I had hoped to find the Tovolo brand which so many people seem to like and which come in several shapes: shooting stars, groovy, and rockets.

Regardless of the shape though, the pops will taste delicious. I’m now experimenting with other flavors since these make such a satisfying and healthy treat. Why spend big bucks on a package of popsicles when you can make these at home for a fraction of the cost (and with natural fruit puree instead of dyes and synthetic flavors).

Last weekend, I used a combination of 1 cup vanilla low-fat yogurt, 1 cup fresh peach puree (about 3), and some raspberry preserves. I combined the peaches and yogurt and filled the molds, leaving a bit of space at the top. I then added a dollop of raspberry preserves and used a knife to poke it downward along the sides of the pop. Not only did it add extra flavor but it made for stylish shooting star.

Hmmm, if you think about it, yogurt and fresh peaches is basically breakfast on a stick. Now that’s a breakfast I could eat every day :-)

ANNA AND I GET MARRIED

ANNA AND I GET MARRIED
The SS that attacked Marwencol were killed and hung upside down in town. This was to show any other Nazis the treatment they would receive if they messed with us. Anna felt like it was the perfect backdrop for our wedding pictures.

cracker barrel campfire dinner

cracker barrel campfire dinner
comes in beef or chicken. beef ($8.99) was dried out, overly salted. veggies were EXCELLENT. the chicken version ($8.29, not shown) was much more tasty. my first visit to the chain.

elephant knit, blue

elephant knit, blue
$12.95/yard

baked alaska

baked alaska

sweet and smoky oven spareribs

sweet and smoky oven spareribs
5 pounds should serve four people, we halved this and found 2 1/2 pounds to be generous for 2 people and might estimate 1 pound per person next time
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons chili powder (ancho is recommended) or paprika
2 teaspoons salt (see Note above about increasing it)
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 pounds spareribs, cut into 4 slabs, rinsed and patted dry
2 teaspoons mild or hot pimentón (smoked Spanish paprika)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar or red or white vinegar

Heat oven to 200 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, chili powder or paprika, salt, garlic powder, cloves and cinnamon; you can do this easily with a fork. Place each slab of ribs on a piece of foil large enough to fold into a packet. Sprinkle spice rub over the ribs, patting it in generously on all sides — you’ll be glad you did. Turn the ribs meat side down and tightly fold the foil to make sealed packets.

Put a rack on a baking sheet (I needed two racks and two sheets; a cookie cooling rack works for this) and place it in the oven. Bake for 4 hours at 200 degrees, then reduce the temperature to 175 for another two hours or until a fork easily penetrates the meat. Open each packet carefully and pour the accumulated juices into a saucepan. Boil the juices and reduce them by half, at which point you will have a syrupy sauce that easily coats a spoon. Stir in paprika and vinegar.

Remove the ribs from the foil and either coat them with the sauce or serve the sauce alongside the ribs. (I have friends who consider barbecue sauce on ribs heretic, thus would give them the choice.) For extra caramelization, the ribs can be finished for a few minutes under the broiler, before being coated with sauce.

more brownies and pineapple ginger lassi

more brownies and pineapple ginger lassi

sprinkle party cake ice cream

sprinkle party cake ice cream
vanilla ice cream with vanilla icing ripple, pound cake pieces and colored candy sprinkles.

tiger tiger ice cream

tiger tiger ice cream
orange ice cream striped with licorice. sometimes found sold as "tiger tail ice cream".

@orange county county fair deep fried foods sign 2

Zooooom
Great, thanks. Yeah. That's a chicken sandwich with Krispy Kreme doughnuts instead of buns. The worst part? THEY'RE JELLY DOUGHNUTS. I saw it in person. It was terrifying.