Teriyaki and Honey Salmon

This is by far one of the easiest meal I have ever made but the taste like I spent a long time preparing it.

Ingredients: 

Slab Salmon --mines was 3lbs 

1/2 Cup honey 

1 Cup teriyaki sauce (I used Kikkoman) 

1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

1/4 teaspoon crack black pepper 

1/2 Teaspoon Tony Chachers (optional) 

1/2 Cup sliced green onion--garnish 

Direction: 

Preheat oven to 350 

On a lined baking pan...lay your salmon slab down and sprinkle with the dry seasoning all over the salmon. Next pour the wet seasoning all over and bake for 20 minutes --uncover. Take out the oven and bast with the liquid then sprinkle the green onion and broil for a few seconds so the top would be caramelize. 

Serve with jasmine rice and veggies 

Happy EATING!! 

Grilled Brussel Sprout

Ingredients: 

1 lb Brussel Sprouts 

1 teaspoon garlic power 

1/2 teaspoon Tony Chacheres 

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper 

2 Tablespoon Olive Oil 

1 teaspoon salt (for blanching) 

Direction: 

Preheat oven to 350 

I would clean the brussel sprouts by cutting off the ends and pulling out all the wilted leaves. Wash really well then in a deep pot fill with water and 1 teaspoon salt. Once water start to boiled...throw in the brussel sprouts and blanch for about 3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. 

Next, on a baking dish drizzle with 2 Tablespoon of olive oil and toss in the seasonings. Make sure to coat all the brussel sprouts really well..add more olive oil or seasoning according to your taste. 

Bake at 350 for about 30-45 minutes. 

Serve immediately ...it's delicious when it's hot 

Enjoy!! 

Crab Ragoon

This past weekend we went to an Asian restaurant for lunch and my son had some crab ragoons. Ever since then  he been requesting for me to make him some. My sister makes them all the time but they used the real crab meats...my kids LOVE imitation crab meats so these are perfect for them.


Ingredients: 
1 package wonton wrap--these are 50 wrap(I got mines from Walmart--in the vegetable refrigerator section)

1 package CREAM Cheese
1 Cup imitation crab meat--finely chopped
1/2 Cup minced ONION--I used a food processor
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon SUGAR
1 Tablespoon finely chopped green onion (only green part)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper


Egg wash Mixture: 
1 egg
1 tablespoon water

***Using a food processor...finely chopped the onions. I wanted the onion to be really fine because the filling is so little in each crab ragoon and I didn't want chucks of onion in the filling. That is why I finely chopped the imitation crab meat also.

Mix all the ingredients together except the wonton wrap in bowl. Mix really well to get the filling creamy and all the seasoning nicely incorporated.

Taking each wonton wrap and dipping all 4 sides in the egg wash.... scoop 1/2 teaspoon of the filling into the middle of the wonton wrap. Folding the wonton wrap the way you are comfortable with. My son likes the "triangle" fold because their is more filling  then the "star" fold.

Taking a deep shallow pot fill it with vegetable oil and fry the wonton until its a golden brown color. Keep an eye on it because it fries really fast.

Lay the FRIED crab ragoon onto a PAPER TOWEL to catch all the excess oil.



 ENJOY!!!

I used a little food processor to grind/chop my onions.

                                       Filling mixture

Dip all 4 sides in the egg wash mixture....then add 1/2 teaspoon of filling to center 

of wonton wrap. 

Wonton all wrap and ready to fry. The "star" fold.

Deep Frying...once its golden brown, it is ready. All the filling is already cooked. 

                           Dipping sauce--optional. 

The "triangle" fold.

You can fold the wonton this way also...its easier but it does take more filling. 

They sale this brand at my local grocery store. This package is perfect amount for 1 pack of cream cheese and 1 package of wonton wrap. All you need to do is minced these really fine. 

Ga Roti (rotisserie chicken)

This is one meal that I cook at least once a month. Its easy and my kids love it. I usually buy a 10lb bag whenever they have a sale at one of my local grocery store. This week they were on sale for $3.90 for a 10 lb bag. I love the way this chicken dish comes out every time because its very flavorful and the kids love the juice over the rice.

***I used Helen's recipe but I tweaked it a little to my taste***


Ingredients: 
4 leg quarters
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoon FIVE SPICE powder
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoon cooking wine
3 Tablespoon BROWN sugar
1/2  teaspoon salt
1/2  teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon garlic powder


BAST mixture:
2 Tablespoon HONEY
2 Tablespoon Vinegar


Green ONION mixture:
1/4 Cup of chopped green onion (green part only)
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
(microwave for about 30 seconds)



In a container with a lid mix all the ingredients together and marinate the leg quarters over night.

Preheat over to 375

Taking a baking pan (I used foil to cover to make cleaning easier)  lay out the 4 leg quarters SKIN SIDE down. Pour all the marinate over the leg quarters....Bake for 45 minutes then turn the leg quarters to SKIN side UP and BAST with the vinegar and honey mixture over the skin side (which makes the skin nice and crispy) make sure to use the whole basting mixture. Next stick leg quarter back into oven again for another 30 minutes.

Take out and serve...garnish with the green onion mixture

Serve with sliced cucumber and tomato over Jasmine rice

***remember to spoon the dippings over your rice

Skin side up right before BASTING with honey and vinegar mixture. 

After baking with vinegar and honey mixture...right before serving. Skin nice and crispy. 

Drizzling with green onion and oil mixture. Serving with sliced cucumber and jasmine rice. 

ENJOY!!!

Catfish Turmeric, Dill and Onion

I love eating this turmeric catfish in my spring roll. It's simple but FULL of flavor. Super easy to make and gives me another way of eating spring roll instead of just shrimp and boiled pork. 

I usually like to add this to my BUTTER hotpot spring roll...something about cooking this as you eat it is so GOOD...the dill and onion top with toasted peanut gives it so much flavor. 

Ingredients: 

4 piece of Catfish Filet --cut into 2in strip 

2 Tablespoon Turmeric powder 

1 Tablespon fish sauce 

1 t garlic powder 

1 stick BUTTER 

2 sliced onion 

1 Cup of roughly chopped dill 

1/2 C coursely chopped peanut 

In a large bowl marinate the catfish filet with turmeric, fish sauce, garlic powder. Marinate for at least 2 hr in the refrigerator. 

Direction: 

In a medium size platter lay the sliced onion on bottom then add the dill on top. Set platter aside 

In a fry pan...use 1 stick butter and fry up the catfish filet. Takes about 5-7 minutes on each sides. I like it with a little crust on the filet. 

Take out and lay on top of the dill and onion..sprinkle with crush peanuts 

Serve in a spring roll or on top of a vermicelli noodle bowl. 

Dip with homemade FISH SAUCE 

Grilled Pork Chop

5 bone-in pork chop 

5 teaspoon fish sauce 

1 T minced garlic 

Marinate the pork chop in the fish sauce and garlic for at least 3-4 hrs in the refrigerator. I marinated it overnight

In a large frying pan put in some Olive oil fry up the pork chop. I like to get my pork chop sear on high heat so both side will get that nice golden color then I turn down the heat to medium low and cover for about 15 minutes. 

Sauce: 

2 T hoisin sauce 

2 T soy sauce 

2 T fish sauce 

1 teaspoon minced garlic 

3 T sugar 

1/2 C water 

Cook in a sauce pan for about 10-15 minutes...Continuely stir 

***Pour this sauce on top of the pork chop and cook for another 5 minutes so it caramelize ... Serve over rice 

Pate Chaud

They have this bakery here in New Orleans that makes these Pate Chaud that is so good but I can't always run down there and pick them up. So of course I have to try to make them...theirs is very good but also very oily...I am gonna make some next week with crawfish inside or add some water chestnuts inside next time...the optional are endless.


INGREDIENTS: 
1 lb ground PORK
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 gloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoon All Purpose Flour
3 teaspoon Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon cracked BLACK PEPPER ( I like it spicy ...next time I probably add 2 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon SALT
1 teaspoon OYSTER sauce
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
1 Tablespoon SOY sauce


2 BOX of Pepperidge Puff Pastry--they have 2 pastry in each and its folded into 3 sections so I cut each section in 3. So each box gets you 9 pastry. Set out for about 30 minutes before you are ready to use.

1 EGG ( add 1 tablespoon WATER) to make the egg wash.


Preheat OVEN to 400 degrees.

In a BOWL mix all the ingredients together (besides the egg). Unfold each sheet of puff pastry and cut along the crease to make 3 long pieces and then cut each section into another 3 squares..making a total of 9 SQUARES per sheet...try to cut the 2nd sheet the same sizes so you can fold the pieces together.  Lay the square down on a flat surface, making it easier to work with. Spoon about 2 teaspoon full (if you have a small melon scoop..use that)  of meat mixture onto the MIDDLE of each square pieces. Taking another square and lay on top of the meat mixture. Using a FORK....crimp all 4 SIDES of the square. Lay each filled pastry on a grease baking pan or use a SILPAT or parchment paper...Taking the egg wash and brush each pastry. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until the top is GOLDEN BROWN.
Serve immediately.


ENJOY!!!

         Filling each square with a scoop full of meat mixture. 

 Crimping each pastry with a FORK and egg wash ...right before putting it into the oven

                                      Golden BROWN 

Summer Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette

During the SUMMER we eat salad almost with every meal...I love salads. During LUNCH I usually have a salad because the kids are usually eating a pizza or chicken nuggets etc. Its quick and healthy. I got this recipe from a friend of mines. I use this dressing alot but I mix up the salad mix all the time. Depending on what I have on hand.


INGREDIENTS:
10 oz SPRING mix (I usually buy one of those large box from Sam's or Costco)
1 cup toasted pecan halves
1/2 cup dried cranberries or craisins
1 can (20 oz) mandarin oranges--DRAINED
1 package ramen noodles--broken into very small pieces and toasted (don't use the seasoning package--discard)
1 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 cup crumble feta cheese

In a LARGE SALAD bowl..start building your salad. Toss when you are ready to serve.

Red Wine Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crush black pepper
 In an airtight bottle or container combine all the ingredients and SHAKE really well. Refrigerator for at least 1 hr. Right before serving give it another GOOD SHAKE and pour over salad bowl and SERVE IMMEDIATELY.
(I usually like to just pour my dressing as I served because I don't like my salad all soggy)
Enjoy!!

****This salad also goes really well with some grill chicken breast. 

Chicken Satay

We were in Texas during the Easter Holiday and we stopped by the Thai Restaurant and I ordered some Chicken Satay...the flavor was just not there...I wanted it more curry and coconut-ty (is that a word) but it tasted like just regular grilled chicken.  This past week my local grocery store had boneless and skinless chicken breast on sale so I bought like 10 lbs. I was looking through some cookbooks and online recipe and I couldn't find one that I really liked so I ended up mixing up a few different ones to get what I wanted ...Hope you guys like it....Its very curry and has a coconut taste that I like.


INGREDIENTS: 
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 6 oz each pieces) cut into 1-2inch cubes

MARINATE:
2 tablespoon fish sauce
3 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoon curry
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 cloves garlic--minced
1/2 teaspoon white ground pepper (if you don't have white you can use black)
2 inch piece of FRESH ginger--graded and MINCED very finely



PEANUT SAUCE:
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 small onion--finely chopped
2 cloves garlic--minced
1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder or any type of "hot sauce" you prefer
**If you don't have chunky peanut butter you can also used some crushed peanut and sprinkle on top of your sauce***




DIRECTION: 
Put the chicken cubes in a very shallow dish. Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl and pour over chicken cube. Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours (I let mines over night).


Remember to soak your bamboo skewers...I used 15 bamboo skewers because I only threaded the chicken half way up the skewers. You can probably use 12 skewers.

Thread the chicken pieces onto the skewers. Once you are done threading the 12 skewers, transfer the skewers to a GREASE grill pan (if you can grill it outdoors it would taste 10x better).  Each skewers took me about 20  minutes to cook...remember to turn the skewers after 7-9 minutes on each sides. Depending on the grill pan that you are using or if you are grilling these skewers outdoors. You always want your chicken to be FULLY COOKED. Also cooking time depending on how thick the chicken cubes are and how many pieces you have on each skewers.


Meanwhile, to make the peanut sauce, heat the oil in a SAUCEPAN on medium low heat. Add the onion and garlic until fragrant...stirring frequently. Once the onion and garlic are soft add in the peanut butter, water, and chile. If you find that its too thick...thin it out with some more water.  Let it simmer on low for about 3-5 minutes (CONTINUE to STIR). Serve the chicken skewers immediately with the warm sauce.



ENJOY!!!

****Once I bought these thinly sliced chicken breast that I didn't cube them...I just used the WHOLE strips of chicken breast and thread that into the skewers...that is fine too...

Chicken Marsala

Chicken Marsala 

Ingredients

4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Tony Chachere's (any cajun seasoning)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 stick of unsalted butter

16  ounces mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
1/2 cup of thinly sliced onions

4  cup sweet Marsala wine

1 cup chicken stock

Garnish: 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Put the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them; pound with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4-inch thick. Put some flour in a shallow platter and season with Tony and pepper and garlic powder; mix with a fork to distribute evenly.

Heat the olive oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet. When the oil is nice and hot, dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. Slip the cutlets into the pan and fry for 5 minutes on each side until golden, turning once – do this in batches if the pieces don't fit comfortably in the pan. Remove the chicken to a large platter in a single layer to keep warm. in another BIG saute PAN....

Lower the heat to medium and add the sliced mushroom and sliced onions  to the drippings in the pan, saute until they are nicely browned and their moisture has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Pour the Marsala in the pan and boil down for a few seconds to cook out the alcohol. Add the chicken stock and simmer for a minute to reduce the sauce slightly. Then pour the mushroom and the onion mixture into the chicken cutlets. Stir in the butter and let it  simmer gently for 2-4 minute to heat the chicken through. Season with Tony and pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

Serve over butter pasta or steam green beans....

ENJOY!!!

I like to eat my chicken marsala with steam veggies because I am trying to eat healthier, but my kids and husband like to eat it with butter pasta or creamy garlic mash potato.