Peanut Butter Chicken on the Grill



The recipe title Peanut Butter Chicken intrigued me as did the list of ingredients.  What a unique combination of flavors and one I'd certainly never put together, really quite delicious.

 

I've tried it all sorts of ways, but my favorite is grilled on the bar-b-que.

 

In a small saucepan combine the following ingredients:

1/2 C creamy peanut butter

1/2 C water

1/4 C soy sauce

2 tsp. minced garlic

3 T lemon juice

2 T brown sugar

3/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper

 

Cook and stir over medium to high heat for 5 minutes or until smooth.  Set half of the sauce aside.

 

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

 

Option #1:

Slice chicken into strips about 1" wide and as long as the breast.  Place onto skewers which have been soaked in water for at least 20 minutes.

 

Option #2:

Leave breasts whole.

 

Brush chicken with sauce often while grilling.  Skewers will take 4-6 minutes to cook.  Whole breasts, of course, will take longer.

 

Serve chicken with reserved sauce and sprinkled with sliced green onion tops (optional).  However, no onions in my family.  :(

 

 

Something to consider:  This is one recipe I wish I'd never had my kids help me prepare.  The ingredients have scared a few away from eating it. 

Cold and Rainy Calls for Crock-Pot Creamy Chicken

There is nothing like coming home to warm meal ready to serve or to smelling it cook all day at home either.  Today I went out-of-order on my menu calendar to choose a dish that would slow-cook all day warming the kitchen and my senses.  The choice was Crock-Pot Creamy Chicken.

Put 4-6 large boneless, skinless chicken breast in the crock pot.

Mix together and pour over the chicken:
1 package of dry onion soup mix
2 C sour cream
1 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup

Set to cook for 8 hours.

Serving options: over rice, noodles or mashed potatoes.  This will be determined by my time at the end of the day.  :)

To prepare ahead, simply freeze the portion of chicken in a Ziploc-style bag and label.  Save the soup and soup mix in your pantry or cupboards with the word "save" written on the outside so it doesn't get used before you cook this meal.  You can do the same with the sour cream in the fridge.

This is one cook looking forward to a warm, comforting meal at the day's end. 

Maple-Dijon Salmon

Combine the following in a small bowl.  Cover and let set for several hours.
1/4 C maple syrup
2 T Dijon mustard
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Preheat grill.  Brush salmon with oil.  Grill 4 minutes on each side, basting with the sauce.
1 lb. salmon fillets
oil

This time I broiled the salmon two ways.  One on a foil-lined pan for easy clean-up.  The second on a cedar board which was soaked in water before baking.  Both were delicious.

The salmon can be purchased ahead and frozen, or bought fresh close to the day you choose to cook it.

 

 



Beef Broccoli

Beef Broccoli is one of my favorite Asian dishes, and one that most of my family will eat.  I remember finding this version among my mother-in-law's recipes, a remnant from her days learning to cook.  She truly could not boil water when she married, but attended class after class until she was quite adept in the kitchen.  I learned a lot from her and spent many hours trying to write a "recipe" for her "a little bit of this" and "a pinch of that" style cooking.

I haven't made Beef Broccoli in a long while, but did so recently and once again fell in deep-like with this recipe.  I left out the onions for my family, and we still enjoyed the flavor of the meat served over rice.

Slice the meat thinly across the grain.  Add baking soda and water and let stand for several hours or overnight.
1 lb. beef flank or other thin cut
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 C water

Combine the following ingredients and mix well.  Set aside. 
1/4 C soy sauce, reduced sodium
2 T oyster sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt

Heat a wok or heavy frying pan.  Add the oil and stir fry the meat until no longer pink.  Remove the meat.  Add the broccoli and green onions.  Toss for a few minutes and return the meat.  Add the sauce and stir until it thickens.  Serve at once.
2 T oil
2 C broccoli florets blanched for 1 minute
3 green onions, cut into 2-inch lengths

This meal is best prepared fresh, however, you can purchase the meat and freeze it, along with a bag of frozen broccoli.

French Bread Pizza

Need a quick after school snack?  How about an easy weekend dinner?  Have a small army of friends to feed?  Here's a great option.

Slice a loaf of French Bread lengthwise.  Spread pizza sauce over each half.  Generously sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the sauce.  Lay pepperoni or other meat over cheese.

Broil until cheese is melted.  Cool slightly before slicing and serving.
Do not expect leftovers.

One Happy Kid!

 

What can you do ahead?

Keep pizza sauce in your pantry.  Freeze a pint-sized baggie of pepperoni or salami.  Freeze the cheese.  If it's shredded it will thaw quickly and can be crumbled pretty easily.  Run to the store to buy fresh bread for a tastier pizza!

 



Planning to be a Short-order Cook, Almost

It's only 8am, but dinner is ready to go!  Every morning I take a look at my dinner calendar and take out the listed food from my freezer.  Today it's Joes to Go (sloppy Joes) and Meatball Sandwiches so that all of my family members will eat dinner.'

Do two meals count as being a short-order cook?  I guess not really when you think of going to a restaurant and ordering a different meal for each family member.  However, if I can meet the taste buds of six people with only two flavors, I count myself blessed!

Some of us will be eating Joes to Go.  This is my FAVORITE recipe for sloppy Joes originally posted Sept-21-2012.  This sauce will be served on small dinner rolls in an attempt to use up the extra bread from another meal.  Topped with a sprinkle of cheese they are a good portion, although my taste buds always want more.

The others will be eating Meatball Sandwiches.

• French rolls
• Purchased Italian-style meatballs
• red sauce - spaghetti or pizza
• mozzarella cheese, shredded

Warm meatballs according to package directions (about 6 per French roll).  Spoon onto French rolls.  Drizzle or cover with sauce to taste.  Sprinkle generously with cheese.  Serve warm.

Add a tossed salad or fresh fruit and you have a quick and easy meal!

Soft Spice Bars are a Perfect Fall Treat

It's always fun to have someone ask for a recipe isn't it?  I am especially inspired by these requests lately as I have ideas for two cookbooks that I'd love to write and publish.  Well, honestly, not write, but certainly publish.  I've often wished that I had a ticker-tape feature in my head such that all those great letters, emails, thank you notes, blogs and such would just be spit out in written form without my having to type a single thing.  Perhaps someday as I hear there are programs getting very close to that kind of technology.  But back to the recipe at hand, Soft Spice Bars.

I discovered the original recipe in the Taste of Home Cookbook in 2000 and have found it to be a surefire treat in the fall.  (I have tweaked it to fill a half-sheet baking pan.) In fact, I incorporated it into our menu for the Honduran Women's Bible Conference with great success.  It has just the right amount of spice and really does stay soft, but is not gooey.  We served it this weekend at a church event promoting the conference and once again were asked, "Can I have the recipe?" 

Cream together
1 1/2 C melted butter
2 C sugar
1/2 C molasses, I prefer Grandma's brand

Beat in 2 eggs

Mix in:
4 C flour
4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt

Spread this into a greased half-sheet baking pan or jelly roll pan.  Sprinkle with 4 T sugar.  Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes.  Do not over bake.  Cool before cutting.

Yield:  In Honduras I cut this into 24 bars (cut 4 by 6).  You can also get 32 nice sized portions (cutting 4 by 8) or 48 mini-bars cutting 6 by 8.  These are not inches, but the number of cuts made into the pan.  I try to avoid odd numbers, but even the 6 rows can lead to some unevenness unless you use a ruler and run your knife along the ruler's edge as with a rotary cutter in crafting.