MOIST CHICKEN TRICK

I've learned a lot of techniques lately while trying new dishes. These techniques have made a big  improvement on some regular dishes. Here are a few I tricks I learned back in May when I started cooking authentic Chinese and Korean dishes.

For years, I have never liked cooking chicken on the stove top because it always turned out dry. I usually coat the chicken in bread crumbs and pop it in the oven to back but I learned a great way to keep chicken moist and tender when cooking it on the stove top. 

Coat your chicken breast with cornstarch before frying it. This keeps the moisture in the chicken so the chicken will be tender and moist when you're done.

Here I cut up two and a half chicken breasts and added seasonings to them before placing them in the bowl.  I then sprinkled between 2 and 3 tablespoons of cornstarch on top of the chicken breast and then mixed until the breasts pieces are coated. I used my hands for the mixing but you can use a spatula. Start out using only 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. You can always add more and you would be surprised how little you need to coat the chicken. 

Tip 1)  I added about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and then when it was hot, I placed the chicken breast in the pan. Place them in the pan like you place bacon strips in a pan for cooking. They can be next to each other but not on top of each other. Sometimes I need to cook more than one batch of chicken.  I cooked my chicken on medium heat.

Tip 2)  Another tip I learned recently is to NOT try to turn your meat (chicken or beef) for a few minutes. If you go to turn it and it sticks to the pan, that means it's still cooking on that side. Meat is easy to lift up and turn if it's totally cooked on one side.

I added more spices and a little salt along with fresh sliced green onions while the chicken was cooking. 

From the time I placed the chicken in the pan until it was finished cooking was about 10 to 15 minutes. 

Tip 3) I always take the biggest chunk of meat out when I cook and try to use a wooden spoon to break it in half. If the meat is done all the way through, it will break apart easily.

Here is the finished chicken breast and you can see how moist and tender it is.

I hope these hints help and thanks for stopping by today. If you try any of the recipes from my blog, let me know how it turned out. :)

PEANUT BUTTER PIE

This is a great easy dessert that only takes a few minutes to put together and is a hit with the family. You can ask mine if you don't believe me.

Ingredients: 

Ready made graham cracker pie crust

1 - 8 ounce cream cheese (softened)

1 cup creamy peanut butter (You can add extra 1/2 cup peanut butter if you want a more peanut buttery taste)

1 1/4 cup powder sugar

1 - 8 ounce container of Cool Whip (thawed)

Recipe:

In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, mix together the cream cheese and peanut butter.  

Add in the powder sugar and continue to mix

Finally, add the Cool Whip and continue to mix until blended and smooth

Pour mixture into the graham cracker pie crust and put into the refrigerator until chilled

To add an extra touch, shave dark chocolate on top or sprinkle dark chocolate chocolate chips on top.

Simple but Excellent Basic Crepe Recipe

This recipe is from allrecipes.com and submitted by Jennyc819
I have to say the first time I made this, I had clumps so I tried some different ways and this is the one that worked. I got this idea from the comments of others who had tried the recipe.

First time I made this recipe I used by stand mixer. I was getting the water and milk measured out while the mixer was mixing the eggs and flour mixture together. By the time I got back to the stand mixture, I had a clump of dough. The milk and water thinned it out but I had lots of little clumps in the final mixture.

A reviewer said to add the eggs to the milk and water and sift the flour mixture into it. This was what I did for my second attempt. It was perfect!



Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

TERIYAKI PINEAPPLE CHICKEN

I saw a teriyaki pineapple chicken recipe on line and thought it looked good, so I thought I would try it. The problem was that I couldn't find the exact recipe again. I thought I'll just give it a go on my own. This is what I came up with.

What you need:

2 to 3 boneless chicken breasts sliced into bite sized pieces

1- 8 ounce or bigger can of pineapple chunks with juice

1- 10 ounce bottle of  teriyaki marinade and sauce

1- bag of fresh stir fry vegetables

garlic powder to taste

pepper to taste

five spice to taste

cornstarch mixed with water 

Directions:

Cut chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and place them in a big bowl

Add pineapple juice from canned pineapples to bowl. Place pineapples chunks aside.

Add 1/2 bottle of teriyaki marinade and sauce to chicken

Add garlic powder, pepper, five spice to chicken and mix all well

Heat a skillet over medium low heat and add sesame oil

When the oil is hot, add the chicken and once it starts cooking add fresh vegetables and stir.

Pour in the rest of the bottle of teriyaki marinade and sauce (or you could use less if you like) and stir everything once again.

Put cover on top and let it cook until the chicken is cooked through - about 10 minutes.

Put the pineapple chunks in at the end and let them warm through.

Mix cornstarch with water

Push meat and veggies to the outer rim of the skillet and add the cornstarch to the sauce in the middle. 

Mix cornstarch with sauce until sauce thickens. If you need to add more cornstarch/water mixture to thicken sauce, do so until the sauce is the thickness you want it.

Mix chicken, veggies, pineapple and sauce together. 

Pour mixture over rice and serve.

Spaghetti Sauce

 A few years back I started making my own spaghetti sauce because I could add what I wanted and make it less sweet than jarred sauce.  Here is the simple recipe.

Recipe and directions:

1 pound hamburger

1 28 ounce canned crushed tomatoes (I use basil and garlic.)

1 6 ounce can tomato paste

1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce

1 container of mushrooms (I like portabella.)

3 cloves garlic or garlic powder to taste

1 tablespoon basil or Italian seasonings

pepper to taste

1/4 cup sugar (more or less to taste)

Brown the burger.

In a food processor, combine diced tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, mushrooms, garlic cloves, Italian seasons and pepper. Blend all ingredients. Slowly spread sugar over top of sauce and blend some more.

Poor sauce mixture over browned burger and let simmer for 20 minutes on medium low heat with cover on.

Cook your noodles while the sauce is simmering. 

Blueberry Pie

I've tried a few different recipes for fresh blueberry pie but the one out of the 1989 Betty Crocker cookbook is the best. 

Recipe...

Buy 2 ready made pie crusts for a 9 inch pie

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (if desired)
4 cups fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice (store bought or fresh squeezed)
2 tablespoons margarine or butter (you can use salted or unsalted)

Heat oven to 425 degrees
Prepare your bottom pastry in the pie pan
Mix sugar, flour and cinnamon together and then stir in blueberries
Pour blueberry mixture into pie crust and sprinkle lemon juice on top
Cut up butter into small pieces and place all over top of blueberries
Cover with top crust and cut slits into top
Press edges of top and bottom pie crusts together
Cover edges of pie with 2 to 3 inch strip of aluminum foil. Remove foil last 15 minutes of baking

Bake until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust - 35 to 45 minutes

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I made an egg wash and added pink course sugar since I couldn't find my clear course sugar.

If you try this recipe, let me know what you think.

Thanks, Jearise

Crepe Recipes (easy verses regular recipe)

I tried two different recipes and I have to say it's best to take the long road instead of the easy road.

I made the easy recipe first and tried it twice with two different variations but it still made more like pancakes instead of crepes. I finally took the good things out of the Betty Crocker recipe and added them to the easy recipe and it made the crepes much better.  If you want a quick crepe recipe that only makes a enough crepes for four people, this will work but follow my variations of the recipe.


Easy Crepe Recipe: 

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup milk 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs

Combine all dry ingredients and then mix in milk, vanilla and salt plus and 2 eggs.  Add all ingredients to your blender and blend until it's a thin runny consistency without lumps.

Heat a small round non stick pan over medium low heat. 

Pour a round amount of batter in the pan and then swirl the batter around in the pan to thinly coat the whole bottom of the pan.

When bubbles form, time to flip the crepe. Crepes cook fast so be ready!

Put your favorite filling in your crepes and serve. 

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Betty Crocker Crepe Recipe taken from the 1989 cookbook.

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons margarine or butter melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Mix all dry ingredients and add in milk and butter plus vanilla. Finally blend in eggs.  I have mixed this in a bowl and then added it to a blender and blend it to make sure there were no clumps. I also found it's easier to pour from the mixer carafe. 

Heat a small round non stick pan over medium low heat. 

Pour a round amount of batter in the pan and then swirl the batter around in the pan to thinly coat the whole bottom of the pan.

When bubbles form, time to flip the crepe. Crepes cook fast so be ready!

Put your favorite filling in your crepes and serve.

I found this Citron Tea at our local H Mart. It's a type of orange marmalade that is perfect for the inside of the crepes.

Fruit Pizza

I used packaged puff pastry to make this fruit pizza. It makes the fruit pizza taste like cream cheese strudel with fruit. The family LOVED it!

Recipe:

Crust...

cookie sheet sprayed with non stick spray
refrigerator puff pastry, rolled out out on a cookie sheet and bake according to package directions
*Leave rolled out pastry in the over for around 10 minutes. You'll need to check it so it doesn't over bake.

** The package directions on the brand I used were for filled puff pastry baking and I realized to late that leaving the pastry in the oven for the full 15 to 20 minutes was too much.

Let the pastry cool completely. It'll be easier to spread the cream cheese mix on and easier to get the pastry off the pan once cut into squares.

Cream Cheese Spread...

1 package cream cheese (8 oz package) softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Fruit Topping...

2 kiwi peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup halved or cubed strawberries
1 cup fresh blueberries

**Stay away from fruits that turn brown like bananas and apples.

Spread the cream cheese mixture on the cooled puff pastry and then add cut up fruit.

Cut your fruit pizza into squares and serve.

NOTES...

You can use a sugar cookie recipe for the crust just follow the recipe and pat out in a round pizza pan and then bake according to recipe temperature and time.

You can also use the packaged sugar cookie recipe and just do as above.

As always, if you try this recipe or have tried another one, let me know how it went.

Deep Fried Shrimp

I love shrimp but always steam it because it's an easy peasy recipe for me but tonight I thought I would try deep frying it instead. I found the recipe I used in my Betty Crocker 1980's cookbook and thought I would give it a try.

I learned a few tips while making this so follow along and the recipe is at the end.

I had one pound fresh shrimp with shells on so the first thing I did was take the shells off. Trick to this is to pinch the tail until that comes off and then take the rest of the shell off.

The recipe says to get your oil heated as you are prepping. I was using a cast iron Dutch oven and discovered the oil got too hot way before I was done prepping the shrimp.

I found that the flour mixture that is used first in the recipe can be combined in a bowl and poured over the shrimp and then the flour mixture bowl can be used again at the end to put the fried shrimp in once you fried them.

Sorry the pictures blurred. I usually take multiple pictures to ensure a good one but didn't this time. Yikes!

I found it's easiest to put only a few shrimp in the egg mixture at a time and then the key to not having the bread crumbs clump on the shrimp is to shake the excess egg off before dredging the shrimp in the breadcrumbs.

I also found using a spoon to spoon the breadcrumbs over the shrimp was a lot easier then trying to move them around in the breadcrumbs.

Finally, make sure to use a thermometer that reaches at least 375 degrees. I couldn't find mine for the first batch and they were a little on the overdone side. I also discovered that my shrimp cooked in less than 2 minutes like the recipe calls for. That could be because of using the cast iron Dutch oven and because I only cooked small batches at a time. You'll know they're done when they break apart from the clump that they are in when you first submerge them and float to the top. You'll be able to see the brownness of the breadcrumbs.

Here is the recipe...

Deep Fried Shrimp

Vegetable oil for frying
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper or to taste
1 pound shelled shrimp
2 eggs, beaten (the recipe says slightly beaten but I think it's better to beat them fully.)
1 cup dry bread crumbs (I used Progresso parmesan breadcrumbs.)

Get oil ready in deep fryer or dutch oven. Turn temperature on low to begin. Once shrimp are ready to fry, get oil temperature up to 375 degrees F.

Shell shrimp.

Mix flour, salt and pepper. Coat shrimp with flour mixture; dip into beaten eggs, and then coat with bread crumbs. 

Fry until golden brown around 2 minutes or less.

*Recipe from the Betty Crocker Cookbook revised edition 1989.

Thanks for stopping by and let me know if you try this recipe.

iKon i Decide CD Unboxing

Chicken and Spinach easy recipe

I love making fancy recipes but I also love the ease of a quick and easy one and I find Campbell's soups to be a big time saver that makes a terrific comfort food meal.  Here is another one for you to try.

Ingredients for this simple recipe.

1 regular sized Campbell's Cream of Chicken with herbs soup
1/2 soup can of heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 T. minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1 to 2 T. olive oil
4 T. butter
1 bag (22 oz) Tyson already grilled Chicken Breast Strips

1/2 bag of frozen spinach

1 lb. bag of thin spaghetti

Directions:

Cook chicken according to package directions. You can throw it in the pot frozen with the olive oil and let it thaw out and heat in the pan. Break up chicken into small bite size pieces as it becomes tender.

..Place chicken on the side when it's done cooking

Cook spaghetti according to package directions and place on the side.

Using the same frying pan, add 4 T. butter, minced garlic and mushrooms.  Cook them until tender but not overcooked. Add this to the cooked chicken.

Add can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken with herbs soup to same frying pan.

Measure out a half a can of heavy whipping cream and add to soup.

..Use the whisk to mix soup 

Add in grated parmesan cheese and continue to whisk until it's melted.

Add salt, pepper and any other seasoning to taste.

Mix chicken, mushrooms and garlic into the cheese and soup mixture and stir it altogether.

Dump a half a package of frozen Spinach on top. Place a cover on it and let it simmer a few minutes until the spinach is thawed and heated through.

Take off the cover, mix everything together and serve!

A simple comfort food recipe that is fast and yummy. 

STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS WITH CAMPBELL'S SOUP

I went looking in the refrigerator and found a pound of sausage, three cups left over rice, and three green peppers and a red one. What to make for dinner with this? Stuffed green peppers.

This is a quick and simple recipe that is a family pleaser.

RECIPE

3 cups cold rice

6 bell peppers

1 pound ground sausage

1 half sweet or white onion

1 package of mushrooms

2 cans of Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup

1/2 soup can of milk

1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese plus extra for sprinkling on top

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Slice the tops off the peppers and clean out the seeds and ribs.
• Place the peppers cut side down in a brownie or cake dish. 
• Add 1 1/2 cups of water to the dish.
• Cover the dish with foil and bake for 25 minutes.
• While peppers are cooking, prepare the sausage as directed on package. Break the meat up while cooking.
• Add the onion to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes or until softened. 
• Add chopped up mushrooms to the sausage and onion mixture and cook that also.
• Add the rice and mix everything together
• Add two cans of Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup and 1/2 soup can of milk. 
• Mix everything together and then add in 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese and stir everything until the cheese is melted.
• Remove the peppers from the oven and drain off the water. Turn the peppers over and fill each one with the sausage and cheese mixture.
• Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. 
• Sprinkle extra shredded cheese on top of each bell pepper and serve.

If you try this, let me know in the comments what you think. 

Enjoy!

Jearise

Disney Themed Arts and Crafts Party

Our theme for the Sunday, May 31st ZOOM arts and crafts party was DISNEY. It was suppose to be Disney Villains but I am drawing challenged and there was no way I was going to be able to draw one of those Disney bad guys so I made it a more general term - DISNEY.

My Disney themed scarp booking paper from Michael's finally arrived so I thought I would do a Disney scrapbook layout. My friend, Carina, has been to Disney World like 20 times, so I reached out to her for some photos. My colored printer isn't working like is use to so the pictures are on the red side but they worked to get the layout done for now.

These are the full pages I did and here are some close ups of the different embellishments I made. The Mickeys, Mickey's gloves and words are cut out with my Cricut and from Cricut Disney cartridges. The castle is my own design. I used a glitter pen on the castle and glitter glue in red for Mickey.

Here are the other projects that were done by participants in our fun Disney ZOOM party.

Drawing by Mya.

Tracing by Mya.

Drawing by Bev.

Tracing by Bev.

Pencil drawing by Carina.

Acrylic painting by Chris.

Acrylic painting by Chris.

Pencil and chalk drawing by me.

Thanks for stopping by and comment below and I'll share with the other artists. 

Happy day to y'all.

Lorby