Honey Chicken

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. chicken breast, diced
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• salt & pepper to taste (I’ve been loving my Steakhouse Grinder lately & used it for this)
• 6 Tbsp. butter, divided
• 1/2 cup honey
• 6 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 4 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp. ground ginger

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Combine flour, garlic powder, & salt & pepper in a shallow dish.
2. Melt 2 Tbsp. of your butter & pour into the bottom of a baking dish large enough to fit all of your chicken a single layer.
3. Coat chicken pieces evenly in flour, then arrange in bottom of dish.
4. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan on medium heat, combine remaining butter with honey, lemon juice, soy sauce, & ginger. Stir constantly until butter is melted & sauce is well blended.
6. Remove chicken from oven & increase temperature to 375. Flip over each piece of chicken.
7. Pour sauce evenly over chicken, then place back in the oven & bake another 20 minutes, basting with a spoon a few times (twice was fine for me) during that time. The chicken will be nice & glazed & delicious.
8. Serve over rice.

Notes: This is a great dish. Although, I think the name "honey" chicken is a little generous. The sweetness barely registered on my tastebuds. Ryan, who is much more sensitive to sweetness, begs to differ. So next time, I might add even more honey. And more lemon. I was expecting a little bit more of the flavor I get at P.F. Chang's, and this recipe is just a bit more savory. But savory isn't a bad thing. (Just not as good as sweet!)

Gratin Dauphinois

Source: http://www.cuisine-france.com/recipes/gratin_dauphinois.htm

Ingredients
2lb (1kg) potatoes (waxy potatoes such as pink fir apple, russet)
1 or 2 cloves garlic, mashed
2 oz butter
2 cups (50cl) whole milk
5 oz (160g) French or Swiss Gruyère cheese
1 pint double cream
Salt and pepper

Directions

Step 1: Preheat oven to 360ºF (180 ºC). Slice the potatoes into thin slices (1/8 inch thick). Rinse in cold water. Drain and dry in a towel

Step 2: Put the potatoes in a pan and cover with milk. Add salt

Step 3: Bring to the boil starting at moderate heat for 5 minutes then low heat for 10 minutes. Stir from time to time.

Step 4: Rub a fireproof dish with garlic and grease it well with butter. Transfer half of the potatoes in the gratin dish. Add half the cheese, double cream and pepper to the layer. Put the second half of the potatoes and cover with the cheese and double cream left.

Step 5: Put the dish in the oven and cook for 1 hour at 360ºF (180 ºC). Gratin Dauphinois is ready when the top is gold and brown.

Notes: I grew up eating potatoes au gratin on Christmas (even though I usually didn't like cheese growing up, I always loved this dish), with our traditional Christmas ham. When we went to Brussels, I had Gratin Dauphinois (wikipedia provides a nice explanation of the name) that were absolutely unreal. The only way I can describe them is that they tasted like Ryan's love. We wanted to try to recreate them, so we tried this recipe out. For the record, the gratin we had in Brussels was so far beyond what I made, you really can't compare (we were basically eating gourmet food there, so what do you expect?). But, this recipe was still really good. And please, for the love, buy the gruyere (at Walmart the cheapest was $16, but look around because at another grocery store, I found a block for $6). And the cream. If you want to skip the fat and flavor and go with low-fat milk and cheddar, just buy the boxed stuff off the shelf rather than make the effort! Also, this recipe had a ton of extra cheese sauce. We saved it and drizzled it over our stuffed zucchini (great recipe, Laurel!) and it was fabulous!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-chocolate-chip-cookies-i/detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar (can do half brown sugar)
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Notes: Had these at an RS activity this week. Have to be up there in the top 5 cookies I've ever had: just the right sweetness, chocolateyness, and chewiness. Note the option to do half brown sugar, suggested by the woman who made them.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Source: Kim Blanchard

Servings: 6 generous servings

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
Vegetables:
1 peeled thinly sliced small carrot
½ onion diced
1 green pepper coarsely diced
1 lg can drained pineapple tidbits (retain the juice to use in sauce)

Chicken:
3 raw chicken breasts cubed
Cornstarch and flour to coat chicken
Salt
oil

Sauce:
Mix in blender or bowl:
3 cups pineapple juice
¼ cup white vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce
2 T. sugar
2 T. ketchup
3 T. cornstarch


Directions:
Place the diced chicken pieces in a plastic bag and put in about ¼ cup flour and 2 T. cornstarch
Shake bag to lightly coat chicken
Heat 2 – 3 T oil in large fry pan and add chicken. Stir fry, salting lightly, until pink is gone and chicken is cooked, do not overcook
Remove chicken from pan and set aside on plate

In hot fry pan, add 1 T. oil and add onion, carrots and green pepper. Stir fry until vegetables begin to get soft.

Add the sauce mix to fry pan and cook until sauce thickens and bubbles, stir often

When sauce is thick add the pineapple and chicken and heat thoroughly

Simmer for about 5 more minutes

Serve hot and bubbly over cooked rice
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