Mushroom Orzo (with chicken)

Mushroom Orzo (with Chicken)

Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, divided
• 8 pearl onions
• 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
• 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup white wine
• garlic powder to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• 3 regular boneless skinless chicken breast sliced thinly


Directions
1. Melt 1/2 the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onions, and cook until golden brown. Mix in orzo, mushrooms, and remaining butter (At this point I also add thinly sliced pieces of chicken breast). Cook and stir 5 minutes, until butter is melted and mushrooms are tender.
2. Pour water and wine into the skillet, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cook 7 to 10 minutes, until orzo is al dente. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and parsley to serve.

**The chicken is actually an addition to the recipe because let's face it, I'm a meat man, and a meal without meat seems somehow just wrong.  LOL

Bustin' my chops.

Here's a simple little recipe to help keep your "center cut" pork chops tender and juicy.  Brining your pork chops for a couple of days before you grill or fry them can make an unbelievable difference in both tenderness and juiciness, and although it takes a little advanced prep, I assure you that it is well worth the effort.

1/8 cup salt
1/8 cup sugar
500 ml of boiling water
500 ml ice
(To total 1 litre of Brine, for 4-6 chops)

Dissolve the salt and sugar in the boiling water.  Add the ice to the solution to cool it down so as to not start the cooking process on the chops.  Cover the chops fully with the brine (an excellent method for this is to use a zip top bag with as much air as possible removed, much like marinating you want the brine to be in as much contact with the meat as possible.)

Let the chops sit in the brine, in the refrigerator, for 2-3 days (if you use the zip top method, be sure to put them in a bowl in case of leakage).  After the brining time, rinse and cook as desired. 

This is an extremely effective at ensuring excellent grilled pork chops, as grilling can easily dry out a pork chop if you don't watch it like a hawk.

Spicy Thai inspired peanut noodles.

I saw someone make something like this on TV one time, and I REALLY wanted to try them.  I could never find the recipe for the show I watched, so I decided to give it a shot from memory and here's what I came up with.

360g Soba Noodles

Sauce
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup Soya Sauce
3tbsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp Garlic
1/2 tsp Ginger
1-2 tsp Hot Chili sauce (I used 2 tsp of "Sriracha HOT chili sauce", and it was quite spicy)
3 tbsp Brown Sugar
3 Green Onions slice about 1/4 inch on the diagonal
(And if the mixture seems too thick, you can thin it down with some warm water, but just enough to make it easy to coat the noodles.)

Mix the sauce together (Be careful it will splatter when adding liquid to the peanut butter, so be gentle until the peanut butter loosens up and starts to accept the liquid). 
Cook the noodles according to package directions.
Coat Noodles with the peanut mixture.

This recipe is good hot, or room temperature.

Enjoy!

Satay meat marinade.

I created and used this Marinade on both chicken and pork for one meal (marinated individually of course), and it had the exact Asian flavours I was looking for once I grilled the meat.  (This was a throw together recipe where I had an idea of what I wanted, and the results worked out very well!)

1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1 tsp Ground Ginger
1 tsp Garlic
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
1/4 cup Lime Juice
4 tsp Brown Sugar

Mix together and pour over thinly slice meat (Pork, Chicken, or Beef), making sure that all surfaces come in contact with the marinade.  The easiest way to do this is to use a large zip top bag; place the meat and the marinade in the bag and seal it without removing any excess air, next massage the meat and marinade together so that all the solid surfaces come in contact with the liquid, finally remove as much air from the bag as possible and let it marinate for an hour.

Skewer the meat (because thin slices will tend to fall through the grill without them), and grill them until they are done (cooking times very depending on the thickness).  I served these with Costco's "Thai Kitchen sweet red chili sauce", but honestly the flavour from the marinade was so nice it really did not need a sauce.

Enjoy!

Raspbery Iced Tea.

Ingredients

6 quarts water

2 & 1/4 cups sugar 

1 package (600g) frozen unsweetened raspberries (which I have substituted blueberries and strawberries to change the flavour of the tea.) 

15 individual tea bags

1/8 cup lemon juice

Directions In a large kettle or Dutch oven, bring water and sugar to a boil. Remove from the heat; stir until sugar is dissolved. Add the raspberries, tea bags and lemon juice. Cover and steep for 5 minutes. Strain; discard berries and tea bags. Transfer tea to a large container or pitcher. Refrigerate until chilled. Serve over ice.

Of the 3 flavours I've tried so far (Raspberry, Blueberry, and Strawberry), The consensus thus far is that the Strawberry is the best. Strawberry takes a little mashing to get the water fully flavoured, but if you let them boil a little it's nothing to mash them up.  Give it a quick taste after the sugar and berries have steeped for a few minutes, and if it's not strong enough just leave them in longer, or mash them up a bit more.

 

Simple multi use Salad Dressing, (potato or coleslaw).

4 tbs (large) Mayonnaise
1-2 tsp mustard
1-2 tsp Lime juice
1-2 tsp Lemon juice
3 tsp Sugar (or to taste)
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)

For coleslaw add;
A dash celery seeds (to taste)

For my Grainy mustard potato salad add;
2 tbs Whole grain Dijon mustard
Cayenne (to taste)
and sprinkle with paprika when served.

Grainy mustard potato salad

This is definitely a "mustard lover's" dish, but even the not so mustard enthusiastic (like my Wife and Daughter) thought it was good.

Ingredients:
Potatoes - 5 medium Reds (waxy potatoes hold up better in an application like this.)
Eggs - 4-6 hard boiled or as many as preferred.
Onion - 1/4 of a large onion, 1/2 a smaller one.
Green onions - 2-3 stalks

Dressing:
Grainy Dijon Mustard - 2 tbsp
Regular prepared mustard (French's) - 1 & 1/2 tbsp
Mayonnaise - 4 generous tbsp
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Lime Juice - 2 tsp
Sugar - 3 tsp (or to taste)
Cayenne - just a dash (to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
A Sprinkle of paprika when served.

Procedure:
- Peel, and cut potato into bite sized pieces (the size you want in the finished product). I don't usually time this, I simply check my potatoes frequently until they are just fork tender and won't fall apart when I mix the salad (Generally this only takes 5-10 minutes). I also cool my potatoes down quickly to stop the cooking and maintain a firm chunk in the end product.
* Tip - If you have really nice potatoes you can leave the peel on for a more rustic looking salad. This adds the vitamins and minerals that the peel offer, and also another visual interest to the dish.

- Hard boil the eggs for 10 to 12 minutes, and as soon as they are done cool them down as quickly as possible to eliminate the "sulfur ring" that can turn the edges of the yolk grey. I usually runs my eggs under cold water for a few minutes, and I throw in some ice cubes to speed up the process.

- Finely dice the onion, and chop the green onion.

Mix the dressing ingredients together in it own bowl, this gives you the freedom to adjust the flavour to your own preferences. I recommend adding the mustard last, and do so in increments until you find the taste you find most to your liking. If you prefer less of the sharpness of mustard, cut down on the regular prepared mustard and substitute it with mayo and a little extra lemon and lime juices. You can also tone down the mustard if you feel it's too much by adding more mayo to it as well. Finish it off with salt and pepper to taste.

Mix it all together, let sit for a couple of hours to allow the flavours to come together. Serve with a sprinkle of paprika and Enjoy!


My Potato Salad with a touch of paprika on top, and Sweet Chipotle Ribs. :-)  (Added at Maria's request.)