Grilled Chicken with Tamarind Chutney and Basmati Rice

The husband and I recently enjoyed a tasty meal at a local Indian restaurant. One of our favorite appetizers, yes there were more than one, was ragda patties with tamarind chutney and chickpeas. Of course I had to make an attempt to replicate the taste at home.

I found this recipe online and made a few tweaks to it. The original recipe calls for a lot of sugar and we found it to be a bit too sweet so I'll be cutting it back next time I make this and I reflected that cut in my recipe below. Enjoy!

Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup of basmati rice
1 3/4 cups of water

Tamarind Chutney
3/4 cup of white sugar
3 tbsp tamarind paste
2 cups of water
1 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin seeds or ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garlic powder

Chicken Marinade
1/2 white vinegar
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp onion powder

*A word about tamarind paste: You can find it at most Asian food markets. If you can't find the paste, you can purchase a block of tamarind and make your own paste. That's what I did for this recipe.

To make the paste you need to soak the block of tamarind in an equal part of water. In this case I soaked 14 oz. of tamarind in 14 oz. of warm water for fifteen to twenty minutes. Once the tamarind is soft you squeeze the block with your hand until it forms a liquidy paste. You then need to strain the paste to remove the pods and seeds. The remaining liquid is your tamarind paste.


Directions

Mix marinade ingredients together in a glass dish. Add chicken breasts and set aside for 30 minutes. Pre-heat grill to medium high heat.

In a medium saucepan soak rice in water for 20 minutes.

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garam masala, coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Toast for 2 minutes to release flavors. Add water, tamarind paste and sugar, stir until sugar dissolves. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat then reduce to medium heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Sauce will reduce and thicken, if not thick enough for your preference you can make a cornstarch slurry and add to the sauce.

While tamarind sauce is boiling, bring rice to a rapid boil then cover and let simmer for 15 minutes. Add chicken breasts to hot grill and cook thoroughly, discard marinade. Once chicken is cooked, slice into 1 inch chunks.

To plate, pile rice in middle of plate. Nestle chicken pieces into rice bed and top with tamarind sauce.

(A delicious warm piece of naan would make a generate utensil to eat this.)

Sausage, Red Pepper and Broccoli Pasta

While perusing one of my favorite cooking blogs, Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations, I came across this gem. It's a great way to get a good serving of vegetables, something my husband and I fail at a lot. The vegetables were incredibly crisp and brightened up the flavor of the dish.

Ingredients
3/4 lb dry pasta
4-5 medium Italian sausages (your choice hot or sweet)
2 medium or 1 large head of broccoli, chopped
1 large red pepper, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups light cream
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup of white sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp flour

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In a frying pan, cook sausages until brown on all sides. Set aside, slice once cool to handle. Once water has begun to boil, add peppers and broccoli. Cook for 30 seconds and then remove from water. Rinse vegetables to cool. Cook pasta in water until al dente. Drain, do not rinse.

While pasta is cooking, heat oil and butter in a large skillet. Add garlic, cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add flour, cook until just golden brown. Add cream, let reduce slight. Remove from heat and add cheeses, whisk until melted.

Mix sauce, pepper, broccoli, pasta and sausage in a large bowl until thoroughly incorporated. Place in an oven safe casserole dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Italian Chicken Panini with Parmesan Fries

I'm not quite sure how I came up with this idea but it works!

Ingredients
1 loaf of ciabatta bread
2 chicken breasts, sliced into 4 cutlets
8 slices of provolone cheese
1 roasted red pepper, sliced
1/4 cup of Italian dressing
3 tbsp of light mayo
1/2 packet of Good Seasonings Italian dressing mix
2 cups of spring mix, spinach or arugula
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 package of frozen french fries
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Marinate the chicken breasts in dressing for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook chicken in dressing marinade for 35-40 minutes. (Alternatively, you can grill the chicken.) Place fries on a cookie sheet and place on rack below chicken in oven and cook for the same length of time.

While chicken and fries are cooking, mix mayo and dressing mix together. Set aside.

Optional step: If you want to roast your own red pepper, it's very easy. Turn your gas burner on medium high heat and place pepper directly on the burner grate. Cook each side for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes. The pepper will hiss and make noise, fear not. Remove the pepper, let it cool and slice.

In the last 5 minutes that the fries are cooking, sprinkle Parmesan cheese evenly over fries. Once fries and chicken are finished cooking remove from oven. Slice bread lengthwise and then into four sections. Separate the bread, you should have 8 pieces of bread. Spread each slice with mayo. Place chicken cutlets on 4 pieces of bread; top each cutler with 2 slices of Provolone cheese. Top remaining slices of bread with spring mix and peppers. Top each chicken half with a spring mix/pepper half.

Heat a cast iron skillet or flat top grill on medium high heat. Brush with tablespoon of olive oil. Add sandwiches to pan. Press down with a bacon press or a brick wrapped in aluminum foil. Toast sandwich until golden brown; repeat on other side.

Serve each sandwich warm with fries.

Kielbasa with Beer and Onions

This is one of those meals that you didn't know you were craving until you take the first bite, then you don't know how you haven't been eating this for the last week.

This meal also reminds me of a great story of my Nana. She was in active labor with my uncle, her fifth child, and just had to finish her sauerkraut, kielbasa and quart of beer. (Yuengling of course; and it was 1960...women still drank and smoked while pregnant.) I'm not a big fan of sauerkraut so I substitute onions for it and incorporated the beer in a pregnancy friendly way. Enjoy!

Oh and if you're wondering what a Yuengling is...it's a local lager. It's the oldest brewery in America and based right in Pottsville, PA. My grandparents lived in the town and my Nana actually went to grade school across the street for the brewery. I'm pretty particular about my beer and Yuengling is one of my favorites.



Ingredients
6 kielbasa links
3 small yellow onions, sliced
1 tbsp butter
1 Yuengling or another lager if you're not privy to this delicious beer
6 potato rolls

Directions
In a large, deep pan add the butter, kielbasa and onions. Once the kielbasa and onions are brown add the beer. Bring to a boil and then turn heat down so the beer simmers. Simmer the beer until it becomes thick to an almost syrup like consistency; about 20-30 minutes.

Just before serving kielbasa lightly toast the rolls. Place each link on a roll and equally divide the onions and sauce amongst the 6 rolls. I add a slice of American cheese to my sandwich and topped it with yellow mustard. Out of this world!

Eggplant Pizza

My husband and I loved this pizza. It was simple but incredibly flavorful and delicious.

Ingredients
pizza dough
1 - 4 oz can of tomato paste
2 cups shredded whole milk mozzarella
4 oz goat cheese, crumbled
1/2 an eggplant, sliced thin
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp olive oil; more for frying
flour for dredging
water to thin the tomato paste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stretch pizza dough and place on pizza pan or cookie sheet. Set aside to rest.

Heat 1/8 inch of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Dredge eggplant pieces in flour, shake off excess. Fry in batches in hot oil until just golden brown. Drain and set aside.

Mix tomato paste, 2 tbsp olive oil, onion powder, garlic powder and oregano. Add water until you achieve the desired consistency for your sauce. (I like mine super thin.)

Spread tomato sauce on pizza dough. Top with 1 cup of mozzarella. Add eggplant pieces. Top with remaining mozzarella and goat cheese crumbles.

Bake for 12-15 or until crust is golden brown and cheese is browned and bubbling.

Fontina Mac and Cheese

This is another delicious recipe from Annie's Eats. Normally I adjust the recipe as I go but I didn't really see a need to with this one. The only thing I did change was the shape of the pasta I used. (I used bow ties instead of shells. Really any textured pasta shape will work.)

Ingredients
1 lb. small or medium pasta shells
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz. Fontina cheese, shredded
Salt
Pinch of grated nutmeg
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta according to the package directions just until 1-2 minutes shy of al dente.

Meanwhile, dice 4 tablespoons of the butter and place in a large mixing bowl. Warm the cream in a small saucepan or the microwave. Cover to keep warm.

Once the pasta is cooked, add to the bowl with the butter and toss to coat well. Stir in the warm cream and the Fontina until the cheese starts to melt. Mix in salt to taste, and add the nutmeg.

Pour the mixture into a buttered 2-quart casserole dish. In a small bowl, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Mix in the panko breadcrumbs and shredded Parmesan. Toss with a fork to coat evenly with the butter. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture evenly over the pasta in the baking dish.

Bake until the sauce is bubbling and the topping turns golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Southwest Quesadilla

I was inspired to make these when I came across a recipe for Southwest Egg Rolls at Annie's Eats. They were delicious and I made a quick spicy ranch dipping sauce for them. (It's just hot sauce and ranch dressing.)

Ingredients

1 pound of cooked shredded chicken (I cooked the chicken in my Crock Pot during the day and seasoned it with garlic powder, onion powder and cumin. You can easily use leftover roast or grilled chicken.)
1 - 8 oz can of whole kernell corn, drained
1 - 10 oz chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 - 15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups of Colby Jack shredded cheese
4 tbsp garlic powder
4 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp cumin
tortillas
vegetable cooking spray

Directions

Mix chicken, corn, spinach, and beans in a large bowl. Season with garlic and onion powders and cumin.

To assemble quesadillas, heat a griddle pan and spray lightly with vegetable cooking spray. Place a tortilla on the griddle. Sprinkle 1/8 cup of cheese on half of the tortilla. Spoon 1/4 cup of chicken mixture on top of cheese. Sprinkle an additional 1/8 cup of cheese on top of the chicken mixture. Fold tortilla over on itself. Press firm with a spatula. Cook for 1 minute and flip cooking other side for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Cut quesadilla into fourths and serve hot.

Creamy Chicken Marsala

First off, I apologize for the craptastic picture above. I was too lazy to get my camera and just snapped this with my camera. It takes much better than it looks I promise.

Ingredients

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced into cutlets
1 shallot, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup marsala wine
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp butter
Flour for dredging
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Directions

In large shallow skillet, pour enough olive oil to just coat bottom. Heat over medium heat. Season cutlet with salt and pepper. Dredge each cutlet into flour, tapping off excess. Fry each cutlet in the oil until golden brown and cooked through, about 5-7 minutes each. Drain and set aside.

Once all the cutlets are cooked add shallots to pan and saute until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and saute for an additional minute. Pour wine into pan and scrape up brown bits. Let the wine reduce by half. Stir in chicken stock and heavy cream. Let thicken slightly, about 2-3 minutes. Add butter and stir until melted.

Add cutlets back to pan and warm thorough. Serve each cutlet with sauce on top.

French Onion Soup

My husband loves French Onion Soup. Any time he orders soup from a restaurant there's a 95% chance it's going to be French Onion. I came across this recipe while perusing Annie's Eats and had to make it for him. I followed the recipe she has posted, except where I note.

I served it with salad and the extra baguettes. It makes about 4 servings. Enjoy!

Ingredients
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
Pinch of sugar
2 leeks, including tender green portions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
¾ cup low-sodium beef broth
¼ cup dry red wine
2 sprigs fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme (I used dried thyme)
1 bay leaf (I omitted...I just do not like bay leaf)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Baguette slices, ¾-inch thick
Sliced Gruyere cheese

Directions
Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add in the sliced red onions, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions have wilted. Mix in the sugar and leeks and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are completely caramelized and dark in color (about 15 more minutes). Add the garlic to the pot and sauté just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the chicken and beef broths and red wine, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the parsley, thyme and bay leaf. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer about 30 minutes. Discard the herbs and season with salt and pepper to taste. Preheat the broiler with an oven rack in the upper-middle position. Portion the soup into oven-safe bowls or crocks placed on a baking sheet. Top each serving with two baguette slices, and layer with thin slices of Gruyere cheese. Place under the broiler until the cheese is browned and bubbly, 2-5 minutes.

Blue Cheese Burger with Carmelized Onions

I'm back! Sorry for the lack of updating on the blog. It's been a crazy few months with my sister's wedding, visiting family and finding out my husband and I are expecting our first child in June. I won't bore you with the details of being completely turned off to delicious food for a month and a half but will reward you with a tasty burger recipe.

Ingredients

1lb ground beef (20% fat)
8 oz blue cheese crumbles
3 tbsp sour cream
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp dried dill weed
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
4 rolls

Directions

In a small bowl, mix sour cream, mayonnaise, half the blue cheese, dill weed, salt and pepper. Set aside to allow the flavors to marry.

In a medium bowl, mix ground beef, the remaining half of blue cheese, salt and pepper. Form four (4) patties. Heat grill to medium high heat.

Heat a skillet, over medium low heat. Melt butter in skillet, add sliced onion. Saute for 10-12 minutes. Meanwhile, begin to cook burger patties on grill, approximately 5 minutes for each side. After 10-12 minutes, add sugar to onions, stir to coat. Allow the onions to cook until golden brown. Remove from skillet, drain on paper towel.

Once burgers are cooked completed, place each burger on a roll, top with a quarter of the blue cheese sauce and onions.

Mac n Cheese with Prosciutto and Squash

This dish is what I like to call adult comfort food. It was such a surprise. We found the recipe in an issue of Men's Health magazine. I've never cooked squash so I stuck to the directions in the recipe and the results were fabulous.


Ingredients
1 box of macaroni and cheese
4 oz. of whole milk ricotta cheese
4 oz. of prosciutto, diced
1/2 of squash (I used acorn), cubed
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare macaroni and cheese according to directions on box. In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add squash and saute until golden brown and just tender, approximately 10 minutes. Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel lined plated. Mix ricotta cheese into macaroni. Add sauteed squash and prosciutto. Stir to combine. Pour macaroni into a lightly greased 9 x 9 baking dish. (Optional: you can add breadcrumb to the top of the dish.) Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes or until bubbling.

Creamy Tomato Sauce

I was inspired to make a creamy tomato sauce when I saw a similar recipe on Stephanie Cooks. It was super simple and super quick to make and tastes way better than jarred sauce.


Ingredients
10 oz. heavy cream or half and half (I used half and half)
4 oz. tomato paste
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp olive oil
fresh chopped basil to taste

Directions
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until golden brown. Add tomato paste, cream, cheese, oregano and basil. Stir to combine and cook until just heated throughout. Serve over al dente pasta.

Southwest Corn Chowder

With the cooler temperatures and rainy weather we've been treating ourselves to lots of comfort food. I had some fresh Jersey corn in my freezer that I wanted to use before it was destroyed by frost bite. Velvety and warm corn chowder was just the thing to make. I don't particularly care about the calories from using heavy cream but if you do you could easily substitute half and half or light cream instead. Serve this with some crusty bread and you have a warming and satisfying meal.


Ingredients
5 ears of corn, kernels cut off
1 1/2 cup of heavy cream
32 oz of chicken or vegetable broth
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 tbsp flour
2 tsp of chili powder
2 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions

In a large stock pot, add oil and onions stirring to coat. Cook over medium heat until onions begin to carmelize. Add garlic and continue cooking until pale golden brown, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle flour over onions and garlic and stir to coat. Add chicken broth and bring to a vigorous boil. Continue to boil for 10 minutes. Add the heavy cream and continue to boil for an additional 10 minutes, be sure to stir to prevent the cream from burning or boiling over. Add the corn and red peppers, simmer for 5 minutes or until corn is tender. Add paprika and chili powder, salt and pepper to tasty. Serve hot. You can garnish with cheddar cheese and/or scallions.

Beef Burgundy

I first had a version of this dish at McGuire's Irish Pub (beware of the bathroom signs, read carefully!) in Destin, Florida while I was visiting a friend earlier this year. It was amazing...I'm pretty sure I got food drunk off of this dish instead of regular drunk off of the beers I was drinking. I was hell bent on recreating this when I got home and succeeded the first time about a month after my trip but it definitely needed some tweaking and finesse. This time I nailed it. You can easily make this in a dutch oven but I did a lot of the cooking head of time and put everything in a crock pot on low the morning of the day I wanted to serve it. Don't get hung up with what type of wine to use, I had a Merlot on hand so I used that, you could easily use a Cabernet Sauvignon or a Pinot Noir.


Ingredients
1-1/2 pounds of stew meat
1 package of bacon, sliced in 1 inch sections
1 pound of sliced mushrooms
1 yellow onion, rough chopped
8 oz of beef broth
8 oz of red wine
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp flour

Directions
This first portion can be done up to a day ahead of time and placed in the refrigerator. In a large skillet, cook bacon pieces until crispy. Remove from pan and let drain on paper towels. Drain oil from pan. Place pan back over medium high heat, add meat and brown on all sides. Remove from pan. Add onions and mushrooms, cook until onions are golden brown and mushrooms have released their juices, about 12 minutes. Remove from pan and mix with beef and bacon.

In crock pot, whisk beef broth, wine, tomato paste and thyme together. Add in beef, bacon, onions and mushrooms to broth mixture. Cover and cook on low heat for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.

Once cooking cycle is complete, remove all beef, bacon and vegetables from the crock pot. Pour remaining sauce in a sauce pan and heat over medium high heat. Let reduce by half. Mix flour with 4 tbsp of sauce and pour back into sauce pan, continue to cook until thickened slightly.

Prior to serving, bake a piece of puff pastry large enough to cover serving dish(es) at 400 degrees until golden brown. Serve beef with sauce in casserole dish or individual ramekins and top with puff pastry. (I cooked the pasty over top the casserole but the dish was too big to support the pasty...that explains the concave crust in the picture above. It still tastes delicious though!)

Chicken Pot Pie

We live in New Jersey which is notorious for it's clusterfuck weather. It can easily be 90 degrees one day and 50 degrees the next, this was exactly what happened to us this weekend. We had the air conditioning on up until Friday and today I was bundled up in sweats and was debating turning on the heater. On top of the cooler temperatures it was raining all day, I clearly needed something to warm us up. This meal is an easy and delicious one but time consuming. It's completely worth the effort but don't try to rush it.



Ingredients

2 - 15 inch premade pie crust, room temperature
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
8 oz of frozen mixed veggies
1 yellow onion, rough chopped
16 oz chicken broth
4 - 5 tbsp flour
3 tsp dried sage
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a dutch oven, heat chicken broth. Cut two circles from the pie crust dough large enough to cover the bottom of two small souffle dishes. Place both dishes on a cookie sheet and bake in over for approximately 7-15 minutes, until just flaky, remove and let cool. (If edges get too brown before dough is cooked, cover edges with tin foil.)

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and cook until golden brown, approximately 15 minutes. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken and brown on all sides. Transfer brown chicken and onions to broth. Add in frozen veggies, sage, and thyme. Bring to a vigorous boil and cook for 15 minutes, allowing the liquid to reduce slightly. Whisk flour with 2 tsp of hot broth in a separate dish, once flour is dissolved add back to chicken mixture. Continue to boil for another 5 minutes, mixture will thicken.

To assemble the pot pies, spoon chicken and veggies into each dish, add desired amount of broth to each dish. Cut two additional circles from the second pie crust. Top each dish with one circle of dough. Pinch edges closed. Cut slits in top of the dough to vent steam. Place both dishes on a cookie sheet and bake in oven for an addition 7-10 minutes or until top is golden brown. Let cool slightly before serving.

Finger Sandwiches

Roast Beef and Cheddar


Ingredients
12 slices wheat bread
1/2 pound roast beef, sliced thin
4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, sliced thin
6 tsp horseradish

Directions
Spread horseradish on 6 slices of bread. Divide roast beef between 6 slices of bread spread with horseradish. Divide cheese between remaining 6 slices of bread. Top each roast beef half with a cheese half. Cut crusts off and slice remaining sandwiches in half.

Ham and Swiss

Ingredients
12 slices of white bread
6 tsp of stone ground mustard
1/2 pound of Virgina tavern ham, sliced thin
1/4 pound of Swiss cheese

Directions
Spread mustard on 6 slices of breads. Divide ham between 6 slices of bread spread with mustard. Divide cheese between remaining slices of bread. Top each ham half with a cheese ham. Cut crusts off and slice remaining sandwiches in half.

Smoked Salmon, Cucumber and Dill

Ingredients
12 slices wheat bread
6 oz cream cheese, softened
4 tbsp fresh dill, chopped fine
8 oz smoked salmon, sliced
half a large cucumber, sliced thin

Directions
In a small bowl mix cream cheese and dill together, chill for 2 hours or overnight. (NOTE: you don't have to let the cream cheese and dill chill, however the flavors won't be as blended).

Remove cream cheese mixture from refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Spread 6 slices of bread with cream cheese mixture. Divide smoked salmon between 6 slices of bread spread with cream cheese. Top remaining 6 slices of bread with cucumbers. Top each smoked salmon half with a cucumber half. Cut crusts off and cut remaining sandwiches in half.

Garlic and Herb Cheese Pinwheels

I've made these several times for different events. I just made them for a wine festival we attended and they traveled well and stood up to the warm weather and sun.

Ingredients

1 package of crescent rolls
4 oz garlic and herb pub cheese
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll crescent roll dough and close any open seams. Spread pub cheese over the dough. Sprinkle Parmesan over pub cheese. Roll the dough up lengthwise. Chill in freezer for 5-10 minutes. Cut 1/2 inch slices of chilled dough. Arrange on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve immediately.

Chicken Terriyaki

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts, diced
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp garlic powder
salt
pepper

Directions

Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, ginger and garlic in a 9 x 13 dish. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken and coat with marinade; refrigerate for one hour or overnight.

Heat a large deep skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and marinade to skillet. Cook chicken thoroughly, about 10-15 minutes. Add peppers to skillet, coat for an additional minute.

Serve over rice or noodles.

Creamy Onion Soup

This is my version of the Walkabout Soup from Outback Steakhouse.

Ingredients

2 large sweet onions, sliced thin
1 yellow onion, sliced thin
42 oz beef broth
3/4 cup hot water
4 tspb cornstarch
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt
pepper

Directions

In a large pot, bring beef broth to a boil. Add onions to broth and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Mix cornstarch with hot water until completely dissolved. Add cornstarch mixture to beef broth, stir until thoroughly incorporated. Simmer for 2-3 minutes or until soup thickens slightly. Turn heat to low and add heavy cream and stir to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper.

I served this with a simple steak and toasted pumpernickel bread just like they do at Outback.

Meatballs Stroganoff

I didn't even know what stroganoff was until I was about 21 and the first taste I had was of the Hamburger Helper variety. I was hell bent on having a homemade version of it. I had some frozen meatballs that I substituted from the normal ground beef (HH style) or sliced beef strips from original recipes.

Ingredients

10 meatballs
10 oz of sour cream
1 medium yellow onion
2 tbsp onion powder
2 tsp olive oil
1lb egg noodles
salt
pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large and deep skillet, heat 1 tsp olive oil over medium high heat. Brown meatballs on all sides. While meatballs are browning, bring a pot of water to a boil. Transfer meatballs to an oven safe pan and finish cooking in oven, about 15 minutes. Add egg noodles to boil water, cook until tender about seven minutes. Drain thoroughly and do not rinse. Heat remaining tsp of oil in pan and add onion. Cook until golden and translucent, about 7-10 minutes. Turn heat to low, add sour cream and onion powder. Stir frequently to keep cream from burning.

Add meatballs and coat with sauce. Serve meatballs and sauce over egg noodles.