Foodie Baby: Chinese Food!

It's old news that Piper fell in love with zesty Italian, smokey BBQ, spicy Mexican, pungent liver and onion, and creamy Parmesan flavors, but there were still a couple of taste sensations we had yet to explore.  Tonight I tried baby food with an Asian flare!  As I was preparing the food it smelled INCREDIBLE, but in the back of my mind a little voice was telling me that these flavors were too foreign (no pun intended) for a baby's new taste buds to actually enjoy.  Wrong, again. I think the Chinese Five Spice created a sweetness that combined with the tang of soy sauce created an irresistible dynamic! This time, I managed to get a video of her reaction to the first bite!

~Ingredients~

1 large chicken breast, cut in small pieces
1 medium potato (not skinned), diced
1/2 cup diced white onion
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. of lite soy sauce
1/4 tsp. Chinese Five Spice
1 Tbsp. sweet and sour sauce
1 cup of water

~Instructions~
1.  Melt butter in a large, non-stick skillet.  Add soy sauce and stir over medium heat.
2.  When the mixture just begins to boil and form small bubbles, add chicken, potatoes, and onion.

3.  Stir until thoroughly coated.
4.  When it comes to a high boil, stir and flip once, then reduce heat to med-low.

 5.  Pour into a bowl.  Add the 1 Tbsp. sweet and sour sauce and stir until well coated.

6.  Spoon into a blender.
7.  Pour in the 1 cup of water and stir.
8.  Puree to desired consistency.
Should make approximately 5 jars of baby food.

AND THE VERDICT!!!!

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What's For Dinner? - Chicken Puffs

A friend who shall remain nameless (I've always wanted to have a reason to say that!) contacted me earlier today asking me what I would suggest to cook for a hot date she has Wednesday night.  She really likes him and would like to make a good impression, he eats meat, she does not.  The first thought that came into my head:  CHICKEN PUFFS WITH *PROSCIUTTO-WRAPPED ASPARAGUS.  I know it sounds like a lot of meat going on, but both are easy enough to leave out. The chicken puffs are so cozy and comforting stacked on top of one another (innuendo intended) and pair very nicely with a glass of white wine (bow chicka bow-wow). Asparagus is a known aphrodisiac because of its powerful punch of Vitamin E which can really kick your hormones into gear.  The first cookbook I found in a search, and it undoubtedly has some sexy asparagus recipes while "Intercourses" I actually own, and have cooked from many times:


~Ingredients~

2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into pieces  (leave this out if making a vegetarian version)
3 Tbsp. chopped onion
3 cloves minced garlic
3/4 of an 8oz package of softened cream cheese (or the whole thing...hey, I've done it, and it's delicious)
6 Tbsp. butter
3 (10 oz) cans of refrigerated Pillsbury crescent roll dough (DO NOT use the store brand to try and save money. There is a huge difference in quality. Not in taste, but in the actual separation of the unbaked dough.)
Add 1/8 cups of your favorite veggies until desired amount to make up for the lack of chicken if you're making a vegetarian version
pepper
celery salt
1 egg, beaten (this is key in order to make them very pretty)

~Instructions~

1.  In a medium saucepan slowly stir the chicken chunks with the onion and garlic over medium heat.  Cook until onions are tender and chicken is lightly browned. Simply saute the onions, garlic and added vegetables until the onions are tender if making the vegetarian version.

2.  In a medium bowl, mix the chicken (or vegetable) mixture, cream cheese, desired amount of pepper, desired amount of celery salt, and butter until creamy.

3.  Preheat oven to 325.

4.  Unroll crescent rolls and place approximately 1 Tbsp. of the mixture onto each and fold.

5.  Arrange the balls onto a large baking sheet.

6.  Brush the tops of the rolls generously with the egg washing using a basting brush.

7.  Sprinkle with pepper.

8.  Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.

*will be posted as a separate blog entry

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What's For Dessert? - 4th of July Rhubarb Crumble Pie

It seems as though this time of year is busier and more eventful than the Christmas season! I hope all of you had a wonderfully patriotic Independence Day!  Piper and I attended a killer BBQ at a friend's home and I decided to try my hand at rhubarb. This was totally new for me, and from what I gathered this recipe was a winner!  The best part about it is the freedom to improvise a little and you can cheat by buying frozen rhubarb in the frozen fruit section of your grocery store!

~Ingredients~

Filling - 

1 lb rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces

3/4 cups of white sugar

1/8 cup of all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/8 tsp. ground cardamom

1 graham cracker crust

Crumble topping - 

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup of butter (or a 1/2 stick), cut into pieces

dash of cinnamon

dash of cardamom

dashes of vanilla extract

~Instructions~

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  In a medium bowl, mix together the rhubarb, white sugar, 1/8 cup of flour, vanilla extract, and ground cardamom.  Spoon into a graham cracker crust.

 2.  In a food processor, pulse together the 1/2 cup of flour, salt, and brown sugar.

 3.  Add the butter and pulse until butter pieces are pea-sized.

 4.  Spread topping over rhubarb mixture.  At this point, I sprinkled more cinnamon and cardamom on top and dolloped splashes of vanilla randomly over the crumble topping.

 5.  Bake for 35-45 minutes until the top is slightly browned and your house smells like a baking utopia of goodness.  Enjoy!!

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What's For Breakfast? - German Pancakes

I received an easy and interesting-sounding recipe for German pancakes this morning from Allrecipes.com.  Piper and I jumped on it of course, and it proved to be a really pleasant breakfast dish.  I didn't know what to expect as I had never even heard of German pancakes before, and here is how I would describe it:  A mellow, dense, filling, and somehow sweet (although I don't know how as the recipe doesn't call for any sugar) breakfast that oddly resembles a combination of flan, quiche, and French toast.  I may rename it Germench Fluichoast (pronounced DJUR-MENCH, FLEESH-OST).

First of all you must realize that it is far too early to be doing anything on a Sunday morning besides popping the bubbles surrounding your head while aimlessly wandering through the house with your first mug of coffee.

 Shake it off, now let's get started!

~Ingredients~

1.  1/4 cup of butter  (4 tablespoons), (I used real butter, not margarine)
2.  1 cup of all-purpose flour
3.  1 cup milk (I used whole milk)
4.  6 eggs, lightly beaten
5.  1/8 tsp. salt

~Instructions~

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2.  Melt butter in a medium baking dish.

 3.  In a medium bowl, mix flour, milk, eggs, and salt.

 4.  Pour the mixture into prepared baking dish, in the center of the butter.  It should look like this:

 5.  Bake 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown!

 6. Drizzle with maple syrup....ENJOY!

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