Crock Pot Sesame Chicken

I got a new job recently, which is good for having a paycheck but bad for being home to cook dinner. Cooking dinner is actually pretty enjoyable for me and I like being home in the evenings to relax and make a home cooked meal I can enjoy with Tyler. Adjusting to my new schedule with two jobs, one of which is through dinner time, is difficult. I've had to work much harder to plan dinners and get them made when I'm home in between jobs or made ahead of time so it can just be reheated. Tyler helps a lot but he works too.

The crock pot is the answer to my problems. I made the sauce at night so in the morning it started in the crock pot and was ready by the time I got home from my first job. It's easy, fast and convenient.

This may seem like a weird combination of ingredients but it tastes really good. I like serving it over rice because it's kind of Asian-inspired flavors.

Here's a picture of this dummy up to his usual shenanigans. He's managed to completely knock over the easy chair by himself a couple times. He jumps on the chair at full speeds and just knocks it over backwards, then looks shocked that it happened.

Exhibit A.



Crock Pot Sesame Chicken

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup canned tomato sauce (once I used spaghetti sauce in a pinch and it worked)
• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 Tblsp vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• sesame seeds

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper and place in crock pot.Mix everything but the sesame oil and sesame seeds together and pour over chicken. Cook on low 3-4 hours, shred the chicken with two forks and allow to cook another half hour or so. Mix in the sesame oil and serve over rice. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Potstickers

I am a dumpling FIEND. I would gladly eat dumplings every day. I don't discriminate in my dumpling adoration. Pierogies, spaetzle, chicken and dumplings, gnocchi, dim sum, every culture has their own riff on dumplings and I love them all. The one nearest and dearest to my heart though, is the potsticker, or gyoza. Sometimes I crave them like crazy and there's not a lot of options for getting them into my mouth. Don't be intimidated by these, they're actually really easy to make.

Previously only attainable at restaurants or from the freezer section I now bring you a recipe to make your own potstickers, and they're amazing. I put fresh ginger, garlic, and green onions in some ground pork and wrap it in a wonton wrapper. You can find them in the refrigerated vegetable section.

Here's the pork mixture pre-wrapper.

In the process. Take about a tablespoon at a time in the middle of the wrapper and wet your finger and run it along the edges to make it stick together. Try to get as much air out as possible. Otherwise they might burst when you cook them, which is only aesthetically troublesome but still.

This recipe makes about 40 dumplings. I cooked up some the night I made them and I put the other plates into the freezer. You want to freeze them in a single layer and then move them into a bag or container or they'll stick together and you'll be sad. I know from experience. There may have been a dumpling tantrum the first time I made them when they all stuck together after freezing.

To cook them, fresh or frozen, heat about a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet and place 5 or 6 in the pan. Let brown on the first side and turn over. Add 1/4 cup water and put a lid on it. Let simmer and steam until the water evaporates. It should be all cooked through at that point. Place on a paper towel and serve with dipping sauce.

Enjoy the fruits of your labors. Tasty, fresh potstickers that don't have any weird ingredients or preservatives and since you froze some, you can make them whenever you want!!!!! POTSTICKERS FOR LIFE.

Potstickers

• 1 lb lean ground pork
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 Tblsp soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 pkg wonton wrappers
• vegetable oil

Mix first 8 ingredients together until well mixed. To fill wontons wrappers, place a small spoonfull of filling in the middle of each wrapper, use your finger to moisten the edges with water and press tightly to seal. Place flat in single layer on plate or tray. At this point you can cook right away or freeze.

When you're ready to cook heat a Tblsp of vegetable oil in skillet and heat over medium-high. When you drop the dumplings in they should sizzle immediately.Don't crowd the pan. Cook for a couple minutes until the first side is golden brown and flip over. Add 1/4 cup water into pan and put a lid on. Reduce heat to medium and cook until the water evaporates and they are cooked through. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.

I made a dipping sauce with 1/4 cup soy sauce, a drizzle of sesame oil, and a pinch of fresh grated ginger and sliced green onions. Yummy!

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies (Only Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe You'll Ever Need)

I'll just let you read that title again.Not only is this the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I've ever tried, I went ahead and added NUTELLA. GET YOUR TASTEBUDS READY.

My search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe was long and trying. The Tollhouse cookie recipe was the one I usually went to but I was never really thrilled with the results. They come out crispier and flatter than I prefer. I like my cookies chewy and soft with perfectly crisp edges. Thankfully I found this recipe and there is no looking back. This should be your go to chocolate chip cookie recipe.

I think it's an important life skill to be able to make a perfect chocolate chip cookie.

Here's the most important bit. It's not really about the ingredients, they are all pretty standard chocolate chip cookie ingredients. The secret to perfect chocolate chip cookies is letting the dough sit. The recipe calls for at least 2 hours but I will make a couple chocolate chip cookies a day for several days and let the dough sit in the fridge and the cookies turn out better and better the longer the dough sits.Some kind of magic happens in the fridge. The chocolate chip cookie gods smile upon them and bless them or something.

The point is, let your dough set for a while and you too can have the most amazing chocolate chip cookies. It takes some patience but it's totally worth it.

Throw some nutella on there too and you'll be the hero wherever you take these.


Nutella Swirled Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla 
• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2-3/4 tsp salt (I used 3/4 tsp to make them saltier because the salty/sweet combo is my favorite)
• 11/4 cup chocolate chips
• Nutella

In a large bowl whisk together flour, soda, cornstarch and salt.

In another bowl beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add egg, yolk, vanilla, and beat until smooth. Slowly stir in flour mixture until batter comes together. Stir in chocolate chips.

IMPORTANT: Cover and chill dough at least 2 hours or up to several days, the cookies get chewier the longer you let it sit. 

When ready to bake preheat oven to 325. Scoop dough onto cookie sheet. Flatten slightly and scoop 3/4 tsp nutella onto each cookie. Top with some more cookie dough.

Bake cookies 11-13 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Let cool.

Grandma's Kumquat Cake

When I was growing up my cousins and I would go over to my uncle's yard and steal all kinds of goodies off his trees. There were loquats, mulberries, tangerines, oranges that he would cut so we could drink the juice, sugarcane stalks to chew, and of course, kumquats. Kumquats are these weird little citrus fruits that have a thick skin and a very tart flesh. You can eat them whole, or what we learned to do was eat the skin and throw the inside away. Kind of counter-intuitive but that's how we do.

Sometimes my grandma would task us with collecting some kumquats so she could make her kumquat cake. I have no idea where she found this recipe but this cake was beloved by the whole family. It's a good way of using up the fruit and making it tasty instead of being very sour.

 This past year one of my cousins reminded me about that delicious cake so I went to my grandma's cookbook that is falling apart and colored with age and countless uses and actually found the recipe! My cousins and I went out that night after dark to pick what remained from the kumquat tree and I baked this cake the next day. The first bite brought me right back to sitting at my grandma's kitchen table eating this cake and talking to her about whatever we used to talk about. It was a powerfully emotional experience because taste memory is so strong. Do you have a flavor that just brings you back to a time and place like that?

Around that time I made another cake to bring to Tyler's house for dinner and his mom fell in love with the cake. She said that she wanted this to be her birthday cake, which was quite the compliment! Since her birthday is in August and there are no kumquats to be found that time of year, I froze some kumquat puree so I could make it for her.

And here we are! I pulled some of the puree out of the freezer and made this for her birthday. Everyone loved it! It's such an embarrassingly simple cake but it has such a nice flavor. It's citrus but it's different from the usual lemon or orange. If you can't get your hands on kumquats you can substitute Calamondin oranges or a meyer lemon, I think, but it won't have the same signature flavor. Kumquats are hard to find and have a short season. I pick mine from my uncle's tree but you can find them in stores in the winter. If you're a kumquat nut like me make sure you're prepared for the long off-season!

This cake holds a lot of memories for me and is one of my favorite things to make. I love using fruit that grows on my family's property and I love making a cake with such personal ties. I always think of my grandma when I make it and thank her for a recipe that is still making people happy to this day. So if you make this, please enjoy and know that the recipe comes from a loving Grandma's kitchen.

Grandma's Kumquat Cake

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 cup kumquat puree, divided
• eggs
• vegetable oil 
• 2 cups powdered sugar

To make the puree slice and seed the kumquats and place in a blender. They should puree without any additional water but you can add a little water if you need to.

To make the cake, substitute 3/4 cup of the puree for the water called for in the recipe.If the recipe calls for more than3/4 cup water, add the remaining amount of water. (So if it calls for 1 cup water, add 3/4 cup puree and 1/4 cup water). Add the remaining ingredients to make the cake as normal. Bake according to box instructions.

Take the remaining puree and add 2 cups powdered sugar and stir until combined. If too runny add more sugar, if too thick add some water. It should be thick enough to not run all over the place.

Once the cake is done prick all over with a fork and let cool. Spread the glaze all over the top of the cake. Enjoy!

Peanut butter Jelly Bars

I needed something quick to whip up before dinner guests came over and this recipe seemed promising. It came together quickly and tasted like a jacked up peanut butter cookie. Everything you love about peanut butter and jelly sandwich in bar form.

Some people go years without having a peanut butter jelly sandwich but I advocate frequent consumption. Those babies got me through my freshman year of college and are getting me through this summer of field work. What's your favorite flavor of jelly? I was raised on grape which will always have a special place in my heart but I really prefer raspberry most of the time. Last time I bought jelly I decided to get wild and crazy and bought blackberry which is what I used in these bars.

I halved the recipe and made it in an 8x8 pan and it worked really well. We didn't need a whole pan of these sitting around. They were a great hit at dinner! It's a good summertime treat.

Peanut Butter Jelly Bars
 Adapted from girlversusdough.com

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 extra-large eggs, room temperature
• 18 ounces creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy Natural!)
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 18 ounces raspberry jam
• ⅔ cup salted peanuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease it again.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.
3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour to the peanut butter mixture and mix until combined.
4. Spread ⅔ of the dough into the prepared cake pan, making sure it covers the entire surface evenly. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Sprinkle with the peanuts. Bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool and cut into squares.

Steak Tips with Peppered Gravy

My camera is on the fritz and all the pictures turned out really weird. I apologize. It's not as brown as it looks. It also didn't help the sun had gone down before I made dinner so the lighting is garbage. Which, by the way, I'm already depressed summer is ending and days are getting shorter. I'm not done with summer yet! Anyone else feel like this or am I alone? Sure it's hot and muggy but I love every bit of summer in Florida. As I type the afternoon thunderstorm is brewing and the rumbles of thunder roll about outside.

I haven't made this recipe for a couple years for some reason but it won't be another couple years before I make it again. It comes together pretty quickly and works perfectly for a week night dinner. It got two thumbs up from the boyfriend so it's sure to make a repeat performance soon.

I have a few ideas for next time, I think a splash of red wine would be quite tasty and give a little more depth of flavor. Also it's probably possible to cook this in the crock pot instead of the stove top. I'll report back.

Steak Tips with Peppered Gravy

• 1 pound sirloin steak, cut into cubes
• 1 Tblsp butter
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 pkg sliced baby bellas
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 Tblsp soy sauce
• 3 Tblsp flour
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• egg noodles

Heat pan over medium high heat and spray with cooking spray. Brown steak on all sides, does not have to be cooked through. Remove from pan, cover. Melt butter in pan and add shallots, garlic, and mushrooms. Saute until softened. Stir in soy sauce. Sprinkle flour over and cook for a minute. Add broth, stirring constantly. Add pepper, thyme, and salt. Bring to boil, cook 2 minutes or until thickened. Return beef to pan and cook for several more minutes until gravy thickens and steak is cooked through. Serve with egg noodles.

Crock pot Barbeque Chicken

I'm sorry for the hiatus! We've had so many social obligations I've hardly had to cook at all, and then I was visiting my family in Washington, D.C. But before I left I made this delicious barbeque.

 I've been craving barbeque for months but it's never on my radar when we go out to eat and most recipes call for using a whole pork butt which makes A LOT of food. So I switched pork for chicken in this recipe and my craving was satisfied. I apologize for the pictures but Tyler and I were so busy shoving this dinner in our faces I didn't have time to take good pictures. We seriously ate this over the kitchen sink because we couldn't be bothered to take our plates and sit at the table like civilized people. It was that good. Consider yourself warned.

I made a mandarin orange slaw to go along with it, and I was really excited about it but the flavor wasn't as different as I hoped. It kind of just tasted like regular slaw.

By the way, I've mentioned how much I love my crock pot right? It's the best. Dinner cooked itself and all I had to do was toast the buns a little and cooked up some tater tots because why not. I used just 2 chicken breasts and wondered if it would be enough for the two of us but we actually got 2 square meals out of it so it was economical too!

Crock Pot Barbeque Chicken

•  2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or 2-3 lb pork tenderloin)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1 cup barbeque sauce (I like Pat's Homemade Barbeque Sauce available at Publix)
• hamburger buns
• pickles or slaw for serving

Spray crock pot lightly with cooking spray and place meat in the bottom. Mix the brown sugar and spices together. Sprinkle evenly over meat. Mix the garlic, juice and bbq sauce together and pour into bottom of crock pot. Cook on low 5-6 hours. Shred chicken with 2 forks and allow to cook another 30 -60 minutes. Serve on hamburger buns with pickles or slaw of your choice.