Chicken Soup Weather

The weather cools down and the kitchen heats up!

Nothing like a warm bowl of homemade chicken soup to signal winter on the horizon.

And yes, my inner child chose star pasta.

Happy Fall!

Eat with all of your heart,

G

Baked Orange Chicken

 

Keeping up with the trend of food I crave, and decided to learn how to make, here is a recipe for homemade baked orange chicken.

The kicker on this recipe, is that you actually forget halfway through eating it that it’s pretty good for you in comparison to its deep fried counterpart. I served this recipe on a bed of quinoa instead of rice to make it even healthier. The quinoa nicely soaked up the rich and tangy orange sauce and made for a delightful and light meal!

 

 

Baked Orange Chicken

Pleadings & Pasta 2013

4 chicken breasts, cut into cubes

Panko bread crumbs

salt and pepper

One egg, beaten

Sauce:

1/4 cup orange juice

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

2 tablespoons Sriracha

1 teaspoon cornstarch (or 2 teaspoons flour) to thicken the sauce.

 

1. Mix panko, salt, and pepper into a bowl.
2. Take the cubed raw chicken and dunk it in the beaten egg mixture.
3. Then take the chicken and dip it into the panko mixture and place on an oiled cookie sheet.
4. Continue until all are done and put in the oven at 400 degrees. Cook approximately 15 minutes until the panko is niceand crispy and the chicken is cooked within. Place the stove on broil quickly if you need to give the panko an extra crisp.
5. Remove from oven.
6. Prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients except the corn starch into a pan to boil. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes then add the corn starch and keep stirring until the sauce thickens. (Feel free to double this recipe if you want it really saucy!)
7. Mix the baked chicken tenders into the sauce, and serve immediately over rice or quinoa.

 

I loved the sauce so much, I decided to pour the rest on top!

 

Eat with all of your heart,

 

G

Kick Ass Pad Thai

Pad Thai is my go-to for Asian takeout. Words cannot express how much joy a fresh batch of pad thai brings to my soul.

For many years now, I dreamed of being able to conquer the pad thai recipe. It truly has been my Everest. I would research “authentic pad thai” and get frustrated, or intimidated, and give up. To be honest, I was afraid to ruin this coveted dish I adored so much with just an “ok” version of my own doing.

However, for some strange reason I mustered up the courage, I researched endlessly, put together a combination of several recipes and added a few tweaks of my own, and finally did it. Yes, I made Pad Thai. Not only did I make it, but it tasted wonderful. Not only that, I loved it so much that I started to make it an ungodly amount of times until I got it down and could make it in my sleep. And now today, I share with you the crown jewel of my recipe box.

This recipe stands for more than just deliciousness. Nay, it stands as a reminder that you can achieve the impossible. It stands for a symbol of not being intimidated and for believing in yourself. And, when this beautiful recipe came into creation, it marked a time where I found my passion for cooking re-ignited, and inspired to push my own limits of my culinary creativity.

So with that, I present to you, kick ass pad thai!

Kick Ass Pad Thai

Pleadings & Pasta 2013

• 8 oz. Thai rice noodles (or enough for 2 people), linguini-width, available at Asian grocer
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped chicken breast or tofu
• Marinade for Chicken/Tofu: 3 Tbsp. soy sauce, 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh coriander/cilantro
• 1/3 cup crushed peanuts
• olive oil or sesame oil for stir-frying, and lots of wedges of lime
• PAD THAI SAUCE  (Highly suggest doubling this in proportion to the number of noodles you have and adding it to taste. Loved this sauce and wanted more of it on my noodles!)
• 3/4 Tbsp. tamarind paste dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water (look for tamarind at Asian or Indian grocer)
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce+ more to taste
• 3 tsp of Sriracha Sauce (I added some more because I love the kick)
• 3 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar (can add a bit more if you want a richer sauce)

1. Bring a large pot of pot to a boil and dunk in your rice noodles. Cook until firm, you don’t want them too mushy so you can fry them later. Drain and rinse with cold water to prevent sticking. Set aside.
2. Make pad Thai sauce by combining the sauce ingredients together in a cup. Stir well.
3. Marinate chicken for 10 minutes. Stir well and set aside. (For a vegetarian option, use tofu! Marinade and prepare the same way).
4. Add a little oil to the pan, and add the tofu or chicken and cook until done.
5. Add the noodles, and pour the Pad Thai sauce over. Using two utensils, use a gentle “lift and turn” method to fry noodles (like tossing a salad). Stir-fry in this way 1-2 minutes. If you pan is too dry, push noodles aside and add a little more oil to the bottom of the pan.
6. Stir in bean sprouts.
7. Place noodles in plate and top with lots of fresh cilantro, onions, and peanuts. Add fresh lime wedges to squeeze over each portion.

There are no words, other than YUM!

Eat with all of your heart,

G