Cider House Chicken

Thanks Rachael Ray!! This looked so good when she made it... Can't wait to try it out... Oh and I forgot... We get to set it on fire... Twice!!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), divided
• 2 small, organic baby chickens, broken down into 4 legs and 4 breasts (or, instead of a whole chicken, buy already-cut, bone-in, skin-on breasts and thighs)
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 3 sprigs parsley
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Calvados or other apple brandy, divided
• 1 cup hard cider, such as Woodchuck brand (if unavailable, mix 1 cup cloudy apple cider with 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• Hot sauce, to taste
• A dash of nutmeg
• 3 Honeycrisp apples, sliced into 1/2 inch disks across the core
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• A handful of parsley, chopped
• 1 multi-grain baguette

Preparation

Preheat a large, heavy-bottomed pot over high heat with EVOO, about two turns of the pan. While the EVOO is heating up, season the chicken with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Once the oil starts to ripple, add in the chicken breasts, seasoned side down, and brown them on both sides, about 4-5 minutes. Remove and reserve on a paper towel-lined platter. Add a little more EVOO to the pot and repeat with the thighs, reserving them on the same platter.

Once all the chicken is browned, add the carrots and onions to the pot, and a drizzle of EVOO if needed. Once the veggies start to get tender, add in the tomato paste and cook for 2-3 minutes.

As the tomato paste cooks, tie the herbs together into a neat little bundle with some butcher twine and toss it in the pot. Season the veggies with salt and freshly ground black pepper then add in the 1/2 cup calvados. Remove the pan from the heat and, using a lighter or match, ignite the brandy to burn off the alcohol.

Once the flame has gone out, place the pot back over medium-high heat and add in the hard cider. Cook and reduce the liquid by 1/2, then add in the chicken stock, hot sauce, and nutmeg. Remove the herb bundle and puree the mixture in a food processor or a blender.

Return the liquid back to the pot, and add the herb bundle back in along with the browned chicken pieces. Cook over medium to low heat, simmering everything for about 15-20 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, melt the butter in a skillet over high heat and sauté the apples slices until lightly browned – don't overcook them, they should still be crispy. Add in the remaining 2 tablespoons of Calvados, remove the pan from the heat and ignite the skillet like before. Let the alcohol cook out and reserve the apples for garnish for the creamy cider chicken.

Add the cream to the chicken and cook to warm through. Just before serving. add in a handful of roughly chopped parley. Serve with caramelized calvados apples on top and a chunk of multi-grain baguette alongside to mop up the sauce.

Huli Huli Chicken

Val's picture below brought me back to the islands. That picture was taken in Maui at Leilani's.

One of my favorite things to make for a luau is Huli Huli Chicken. It's delicious over rice with a side of macaroni salad. YUMMY!!!!!

Ingredients:

1 cup ketchup

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup brown sugar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

20 pieces of boneless, skinless thighs

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger and oil. Set aside for 1 hour before using.

Prepare a charcoal fire or preheat a gas grill to medium hot. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Lightly brush pieces with sauce. Lightly oil grill. Grill chicken over medium heat until cooked through, turning often, about 15-20 minutes. If sauce starts to burn, move chicken to indirect heat and allow it to cook more slowly.

Contawe's Baked Potato Soup

This past weekend, Aaron and I attempted to make our own baked potato soup and I gotta tell you that it turned out really good! Soooo good that we want to share the recipe with you guys! It's perfect to cook together since it takes a while to prepare and I gotta say that we had fun making it!

What you'll need:
4 large baking potatoes
2/3 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup flour
6 cups milk
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp white pepper
4 green onions, chopped, divided use
12 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled, divided use
1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided use
8 ounces sour cream

What you'll need to do:
Wash, dry, and prick potatoes with fork. Bake in 400-degree oven for 1 hour or until done. Let cool.

Cut potatoes into half lengthwise and scoop out pulp; set aside. Use skins for something else, such as stuffed potato skins.

Melt butter in heavy saucepan over low heat; add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Gradually add milk, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thickened and bubbly.

Add potato pulp, salt, pepper, 2 Tbsp. green onion, half the bacon and 1 cup of the cheese. Cook until thoroughly heated.

Stir in sour cream. Add extra milk if necessary for desired consistency.

Serve with remaining green onions, bacon and cheese.

We hope you guys enjoy it as much as we do!!

Chinese String Bean Chicken

This is a recipe that I experimented with and is now a "go to" recipe. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch chunks
  
• 1 bundle of Chinese string beans or regular green beans washed and cut
  
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
  
• 1 small chopped yellow onion
• 1/2 cup of soy sauce
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 3 tbsp. oil

Heat frying pan and add oil. Sautee onion and garlic until onion is soft. Add chicken and cook through. Add soy sauce and chicken broth simmer for 10 minutes. Add string beans and cook to desired tenderness or crispness.

You can add SRIRACHA HOT CHILI SAUCE to spice it up. Enjoy!

Serve over rice. Be sure to let us know how you like it!!

Slow Cooker Meals and More

These are great recipes for busy days. (Thank you Betty Crocker!!)

Garlic Pork Roast (Slow cooker)
10 servings

3 ½ lbs pork boneless loin roast
1 Tablespoon oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup chicken broth or water

Trim excess fat from pork. Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over med-high heat. Cook pork in oil about 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until brown on all sides. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place onion and garlic in slow cooker. Place pork on onion and garlic and pour broth or water over pork.

Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 10 hours, or until pork is tender.

FOR LEFTOVERS:

You’ll want to make this roast to shred and pop in the freezer for busy days. No one will know it took you less than 30 minutes to make the following delicious recipe!

Remove pork from cooking liquid; reserve the liquid. Cool pork slightly. Shred warm pork using two forks. Place 2 cups shredded pork in each refrigerator or freezer container and add ¼ cup liquid to each container. Cover and refrigerate up to four days or freeze up to four months. To thaw frozen mixture, place container in refrigerator for about 8 hours.

Weeknight Pork Stew (from previous recipe leftovers)
4 servings

1 container (2 cups) Garlic Pork Roast, thawed if frozen
8 small new potatoes, cut into ¼ inch slices
2/3 cup vegetable, chicken, or beef broth
1 ¼ tsp dried basil leaves
½ tsp salt
1 cup frozen green peas
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp water

Mix all ingredients EXCEPT peas, cornstarch and water in 3-quart SAUCEPAN (not slow cooker). Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 10 to 12 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Rinse peas with cold water to separate; stir into pork mixture. Cover and cook 2 minutes. Mix cornstarch and water; stir into pork mixture. Cook and stir about 1 minute, or until sauce is thickened.

Potato and Double Corn Chowder (Slow cooker)
6 servings

1 bag (16 ounces) frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed (4 cups)
1 can (15 ¼ ounces) whole kernel corn, undrained
1 can (14 ¾ ounces) cream-style corn
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
½ tsp salt
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp pepper

Mix all ingredients into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat 6 to 8 hours (or high heat setting 3 to 4 hours).

Spicy Peanut Chicken (or PORK)
Serves 4

¼ cup chicken broth
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
¼ tsp ground red pepper (Cayenne. Can use chili powder or even paprika to make it more mild)

Mix these ingredients together and set aside.

1 Lb Boneless skinless chicken (or PORK) cut into ¾ inch pieces
1 clove garlic, finely chopped or pressed
1 tsp grated ginger root, or ¾ tsp ground ginger powder
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into ¾ inch pieces
1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts
2 green onions, sliced

Heat wok or 12-inch skillet over high heat. Add oil; rotate wok to coat sides. Add chicken (or pork) garlic and ginger root; stir-fry about 3 minutes or until meat is no longer pink in the center.

Add bell pepper to wok and stir-fry 1 minute.

Add cornstarch mixture to wok and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in peanuts and garnish with green onions.

I Love Shrimp!

I love shrimp! I think I'm allergic to it but it doesn't stop me. :)

Italian Shrimp. I got this recipe from my good friend, Greg. It's a very simple, delicious recipe. Be sure to leave a comment if you've tried it and let us know how you like it.
This is a picture of Greg, ME and Ryan at Bing Crosby's for one of Ryan's birthday celebrations. ( Haha! After "previewing" my post I just noticed that I match the background!)

Italian Shrimp

• Marinate large, thawed, headless, peeled and deveined shrimp in Italian salad dressing for 30 minutes to an 1 hour
• Grill on skewers at least 3 minutes on each side until pink
  
• ENJOY!

How easy is that?