Orange Chicken and Rice Bake with Strawberry Cake Mould

Monday night, and we begin activities.   Philip has Chess after school and Cubs at night and Eleanor has dance class after school.   Busy busy.   Need an easy quick prep dinner:

Orange Rice and Chicken Bake
1/8 cup butter
chicken thighs (could use breasts, I used 8 thighs)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
salt
pinch of cinnamon and ginger
1 cup rice
1/4 cup raisins
2 medium carrots, sliced

Preheat oven to 350.  Melt butter and add chicken.  Brown on all sides.  Remove chicken and add onions and saute.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.   Poor into sprayed casserole and top with chicken pieces.   Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.

Verdict
I thought it was very good.  Eleanor and Wilhelmina thought it was to 'Orange-y' tasting.  If I made it again, I'd use less orange juice.   It was such a breeze to prepare, so I'd be tempted to take another run at it.  Cheap, also.

Getting ready

The finished product!

Into the oven

Strawberry Cake Mold

1 small pack strawberry jello

1/2 angel food cake (No Frills didn't have this, so I substituted jelly roll cakes)

1 pint fresh strawberries

whipping cream (I used cool whip)

Tear cake into bite size pieces.  Slice strawberries.  Make jello according to package.   Arrange cake and strawberries into a mould.  Pour jello over this.  Refrigerate until set.  Serve with whip cream

I made this with my sous-chef, Wilhelmina.  She had fun making it.   I didn't have a mould, so I used a bundt pan which probably wasn't the best choice as it was hard to un-mould.   Still, it tasted very good.

the ingredients!

cutting/tasting simultaneously

Verdict!

Despite the hideous appearance caused by the fact that it didn't un-mould, it was very tasty.  Eleanor and Willy really liked it.  Philip, not being a strawberry fan, thought it was ok.   Easy for kids to make.  

Not pretty...

.... but tasty

Back to sanity - School is back - Beef Sate and Corn Cookies

Excuse the absence.  Something about summer that just causes all planning and structure of meals to go out the window.   If it wasn't fast and grill-able, we weren't eating it during July and August.

But, we're back to routine.   Something about September that just makes me want to plan.  This is evidenced by the 30 day meal plan that I made Sept 1 (clearly I have control issues):

yellow is regular meal, green is eating out,
blue is unknown and
orange is Oma recipe day Yes, I'm a freak!

I've been trying to plan on doing a rice table meal, but it is a very overwhelming task.  I didn't want to take it on this month as there is lots to do, but I thought it would be nice to have some Indonesian food for dinner tonight.  So the plan was Sate (grilled beef strips with peanut sauce), corn cookies and for dessert, fried bananas.   I managed to do the sate and the corn cookies, but the bananas got sidelined due to time constraints because of a last minute meeting this afternoon.   Both recipes are part of Oma's rice table instructions, but for the sate, I substituted a different recipe that I wanted to try from my Cook's Monthly magazine.  Here we go!:

Sate - from Cook's Illustrated

Beef
2 tbsp veg oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 flank steak halved lengthwise then cut on straight angle into 1/4 inch slices (I used sirloin)

Whisk first three ingredients and add beef.  Toss to coat.  Let stand for at least 30 minutes.   Weave beef onto metal skewers.

Basting sauce
3/4 cup coconut milk
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp veg oil
3 shallots
2 stalks lemon grass minced (I didn't have this)
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp coriander, ground
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt

Whisk all ingredients in a bowl.  Remove one third that you will use to brush the raw beef with (the rest will be brushed on as the beef cooks)

Put beef on preheated grill.  Brush with the 1/3 of basting sauce.   Cook for 3-4 minutes.   Flip and brush with rest of sauce.  Cook 4 minutes.  Flip one more time and brush again.  Transfer to platter and serve with peanut sauce (below)

Peanut Sauce
1 tbsp veg oil
1 tbsp red thai curry paste
1 tbsp packed dark brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter (I CAN'T stand chunky peanut butter, so used smooth)
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce

Heat oil in pan.  Add curry paste, sugar and garlic.  Stir for one minute.  Add coconut milk and simmer.  Whisk in peanut butter till smooth.  Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.  Cool to room temperature.   Full disclosure - I didn't want to use more than one can of coconut milk as I'm cheap, so I used 1/2 can for the baste and 1/2 can for the peanut sauce.   Still turned out fine.

Marinating!  

curry paste/brown sugar/garlic sautee.  It smelled awesome!

Corn Cookies - From Oma's Rice Table Collection
1 small can creamed corn
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp unsweetened coconut
2 eggs, beaten
parsley, pinch
salt to taste
flour

Mix the first 6 ingredients.  Add enough flour to make the batter as thick as pancake mix.   Heat vegetable oil in a fry pan.   Fry small amounts in oil just like a pancake.   Serve immediately.

Sizzlin'

Results


It was a yummy meal.  I served it with basmati rice and a spicy cucumber salad (mixed equal parts of lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and hot sauce with sliced cucumber and crushed peanut).  The kids liked the meat, not fussy about the peanut sauce or the corn cookies.   Willy actually ate the beef, which she isn't usually into as she thought it was bacon as it was sliced so thin.   I'd make the sate again, but not sure about the cookies.

FYI-the cooks magazine spent 1 whole page discussing how to marinade the beef without it turning 'mealy'.  After what appears to be about 2 weeks of experimenting, the author realized that adding fresh ginger to a marinade is the culprit as it breaks down the beef's enzymes.   So now you know, don't add ginger to marinade!!

Not bad for 40 minutes work, huh?

yum!!

Special Chicken for Two and Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Well, it's 35 degrees and what better day to make roast chicken.  Seriously, I think I should have my head examined!   Found a recipe in the box called "Special Chicken for Two" and made it for 5.
For a dessert, kept it simple.  I had to dump 2 of my kids on a friend today, so I made some chocolate chip cookies as a bribe.

Special Chicken for Two
1/4 cup chopped parsley (didn't have this in stock)
1 tbsp chopped chives
1 tbsp finely chopped mushrooms (I used more like 1/4-1/3 of a cup)
2 tbsp finely chopped cooked ham (again, I used a bit more of this)
2 tbsp soft buter
3 lb roasting chicken

Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl.  With fingers, loosen skin from chicken breast from neck down to drumsticks.   Spoon butter mixture into this opening and press skin back in place.    Press evenly all over the breast.  Sprinkle inside and out side of chicken with salt and pepper.   Cover with foil and roast at 325 for 45 minutes.   Remove foil and roast for 45 minutes more.

Filling prepared

Filling stuffed under skin, probe in, ready to go!

**I didn't use the temp/times that she called for.  As I was out all day and was very pressed for time to get dinner made, I put my oven on convection (425) and put my handy-dandy oven probe in the breast and programmed the oven to shut down once the breast reached 180 degrees.


Results
Yum!!   I make roast chicken often and usually go with a lemon shoved in the cavity and salt/pepper/butter smeared on top.  This was very tasty and the mushrooms kept it very moist.   I would definitely make this again.   I have a fair bit leftover and have decided to do a bonus Oma meal this week.  Tomorrow I will make Chicken Croquettes.

CRISPY GOODNESS!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies - The writing on this recipe card looks suspiciously like Aunt Lucy's (Oma's youngest daughter)

1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

2 cups flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup nuts (didn't do this)
1 cup chocolate chips

Beat first 5 ingredients until smooth.   Add flour, soda and salt.  Stir in chocolate chips.   Drop onto cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Aunt Lucy, is this yours?

Results:
Have to admit that I had some misgivings as any time I make chocolate chip cookies, the recipe always involves butter, not shortening.  Also I am wondering if vanilla got missed on this.  But, turns out they were very yummy.   Took more like 12 minutes per batch.   A big hit with kids and especially for Philip who got to lick the beater.

THUMB UP!

Batch #1

I'M BACK!!! - Spanish Meatballs and French Strawberry Shortcake

Now that the madness of Paleo is long over, it's time to get cooking again.
(the Paleo challenge involved eating no sugars, dairy, carbs and legumes for one month as a part of a challenge for my gym.  Needless to say, not a dutch friendly idea).

I was procrastinating on getting back into this and after I volunteered to watch a neighbour kid for dinner tonight, I figured no time like now as I cook better for company (even 7 year old company!).

Chose Spanish meatballs as I had an abundance of ground beef in stock and went with the French Strawberry Shortcake as it is strawberry season and this weekend is Stouffville's annual "Strawberry Festival"


Spanish Meatballs
1 lb lean ground beef
breadcrumbs (used about 2/3 cup)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery (I omitted this as I don't like celery in my meatballs)
2 eggs
1 tbsp garlic salt
pepper
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 cup thinly sliced zucchini (I also added mushrooms, more on this later)
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp suar
1 tbsp cornstarch

Combine beef with crumbs, onion, celery, eggs, garlic salt and pepper.  Form in to small meatballs and brown in dutch oven.  Add other ingredients, except cornstarch and simmer for 5 minutes.  Blend cornstarch with a small amount of water or broth and pour into meatballs to thicken.  Simmer for 20 minutes and serve over rice.

Verdict
Quite tasty.   As you can see in the picture, I thought I had a zucchini in stock and found this disgusting thing in the fridge.

mmmm!

I was only able to salvage about 1/4 of it, so I added some mushrooms into the meatballs (thinly sliced). They were very good.   All the kids ate it up quickly.  It was a bit chunky which never goes over very well in this house, but no major complaints.  I would make this again.

French Strawberry Shortcake
1 1/3 cups bisquick mix
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp shortening
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups strawberries
whipped cream

Grease and flour a 9" round cake pan.  Mix bisquick mix and sugar.  Add egg, shortening and milk.  Beat for one minute (I just whisked this).  Add vanilla.   Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.  Cool 5 minutes and remove from pan.
Wash, clean and slice strawberries.   Put a tsp of sugar on them so that they get juicy.
Serve cake with strawberries and whipped cream.

Verdict
At first, disaster!!!   I didn't realize that my pan is only 8" and the cake boiled over and made a freaking mess all over the oven.  GRRRR   (I just cleaned it on the weekend, isn't that always the way?)

Insert profanity here

However, all was forgiven when we ate it.  Super yum!!! and Super easy!!!   A hit with everyone.  Will definitely make this again (in a proper sized pan).

soon will be licking the plate clean

Oma's Toadstools - Blog on hold till June - Sorry

Hi all,

Unfortunately, I have to put the blog on hold for 5 weeks.  My gym is doing a food challenge that lasts 35 days and I'm competing.   (caveman diet, or Paleo eating).   Will be back soon!  IN the meantime, here are some pictures of the appetizer plates I made for Easter.  Oma made these 'toadstools' for EAster many years ago and I still remember them.   See you soon!

Ya win some and ya lose some - Nasi Goreng and Caramel Custard

For my birthday last October my cousin, Andrea, bought me a subscription to Cook's Illustrated magazine. Up until now, I wasn't overly inspired by the magazine, but this month's issue was a different story.  For the past few nights, I've been making dishes from it.  On Sunday, I made pub style burgers (made with ground sirloin tip) and last night I made the most delicious chicken brochettes (kept moist with a paste of bacon, sugar and paprika).   Tonight, I used it again.  Although this isn't an "Oma" recipe from the 2 boxes I inherited, I do remember that it was one of her favourites, Nasi Goreng.

Oma was born and raised in Indonesia on a sugar plantation.  As Indonesia was a Dutch colony, many recipes have endured in Dutch cooking.  In fact, Oma's recipe box includes the very involved Rice Table meal which I do plan on attempting this summer for the blog.   Nasi Goreng is a fairly simple meal that makes use of leftover rice and whatever meat is on hand.   This particular version, makes a paste of chiles and garlic and onion as well as a lovely sauce that gets incorporated.

For dessert, I chose a Caramel Custard from the recipe box.

Nasi Goreng - (Fried Rice, Indonesian Style)

5 green or red Thai chiles, stemmed (I couldn't find this so I used one large green chilie)
3 large shallots, peeled.  (forgot to buy these, used one whole yellow onion for the paste)
4 large garlic cloves, peeled
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
Table Salt
4 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
12 oz extra large shrimp (I used less as I also added 1 1/2 cups cooked ham)
2 cups basmati or Jasmine rice, cooked and cooled (2 cups dry, makes approx 8 cups cooked)
2 large scallions, sliced thin
2 limes, cut in wedges (forgot these)

ingredients ready to go

Using food processor or chopper, make a paste out of the chiles, 4 shallots and garlic.  Set aside.   In a second small bowl, mix brown sugar, molasses, soy sauce and fish sauce and 1 1/4 tsp salt.  Set aside.  In a third bowl, whisk together eggs and 1/4 tsp salt.

Heat one tsp oil in skillet.  Add half of eggs and cook as a thin omlette.   Slide onto cutting board and roll up into a tight log.  Using a knife, cut the lot crosswise into 1 inch segments.  Repeat with 2nd half of eggs.
Heat 3 tbsp oil in wok or skillet.   Add chile mixture and cook for 3-5 minutes until golden.  Add shrimp and cook until opaque (2 minutes).

Push shrimp to sides of skillet and pour sauce in middle.  Once sauce boils, add rice, breaking up large pieces.   I added the ham with the rice.   Once heated (after 3 minutes or so), add scallions and stir.   Transfer to serving platter and decorate with rolled up egg.  Serve immediately with lime wedges on the side, if using.

finished

Caramel Custard (recipe was given doubled, I halved it)
2 jumbo eggs or 3 if regular size
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Whisk eggs until light.  Add sugar and salt.  In a pot, scald milk and add to egg mixture, SLOWLY.  Add vanilla   Blend with whisk.
In bottom of mold (I used a pie plate) sprinkle 1/2 cup brown sugar.  Add custard slowly on top.   Bake at 350 in a big pan with warm water.

custard in pan surrounded by boiling water

Bake until firm (took about 40 minutes).   Cool.  Invert and serve.   Melted brown sugar will form sauce.

Verdict
The rice was awesome.   I've eaten this before, many times but this was better.   The sauce and the chile paste really added to it.   The kids didnt' love it, but they are never big fans when it comes to rice.    Mike and I ate it with Sambal (chile paste that is really hot, but really good):

Sambal spices it up!

As far as the custard goes, that is another story.  2 things went wrong.  First, I completely forgot to add the vanilla.  Got lazy and didn't pre-arrange my ingredients.   Second problem:  When I unmolded it, it fell apart:

Doesn't this look appealing?

But, I figured it would still taste good.   WRONG!!!   Kind of tasted like gooey eggs with some melted sugar on top.  Here's Philips' reaction to it:

Hungarian Chicken and Mom Forester's Pudding Cake

Typical Tuesday night.    Just the 5 of us.   Philip came home with an assignment to practice and observe weights and measurements.  Figured the best practice for measurements was for him to make dessert!!   Dessert recipe first:

Mom Forester's Pudding Cake
(before you ask, I have no idea who Mom Forester is.   Anyway, looked like a chocolate rich, kid friendly dessert).
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup self rising flour (as the recipes call for it so often, I finally bought some)
2 tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup milk
3 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp vanilla

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa

1 3/4 cup water

Stir 3/4 cup sugar, flour and 2 tbsp cocoa together.  Stir in milk, melted butter and vanilla.  Spread in 9X9 pan (I greased it).   In separate bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa together.  Sprinkle mixture over the batter.    Carefully pour the water on top.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  Cake is done when it springs back when touched.
Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Practicing measurements and capacity.   Delicious
homework assignment!

Very rich and oozing warm fudge.  Yum!

Hungarian Chicken
2 tbsp butter
1 cut up chicken (I just used thighs and drumsticks)
2 medium onions, sliced (I just used one)
4 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
paprika
In a skillet, melt butter.  Add chicken and sprinkle very liberally with paprika.  Turn over and brown on the side.  Sprinkle with more paprika.   After 15 minutes on each side, remove chicken.  Drain fat, reserving 2 tbsp.   In this reserved fat, saute onion and mushrooms until tender.  Add chicken back in.  Pour cream over chicken and baste once.  Add salt and more paprika to make make sauce pale orange.  Cover skillet with foil and simmer until meat is tender, 1/2 to 1 hour.  Serve over egg noodles.

Preparing chicken with paprika.  Didn't use a fancy paprika
as I assume Oma wouldn't have due to lack of interesting
ingredients in the north. 

Finished product.  A good, square meal. 

The Verdict
Definitely a success.  The chicken was not the most exciting recipe in the world, but it was very tasty.   All of the kids enjoyed the chicken.   Suggested serving was with noodles, but I used mashed potatoes.  Served with a side of salad and broccoli.   I would make this again.  

Dessert - very rich.  The kids liked it.  It was very oozy with hot fudge.   Served with rolo ice cream (had no vanilla).  Vanilla  would have been better.  Mike complained endlessly about how messy the kids hands and faces got.  Oh well.