Flavorful Foursome; Pork Chop Suey, Fettuccine Alla Carbonara, Spicy Halibut and Chicken Paprikash

This post had some great meals!  Thanks to Betty Crocker cookbook for the recipes.  I only changed them a little to fit my tastes.

Pork Chop Suey is something that I haven't had in a really long time.  I have never made it myself, but I will again.  Of course I will have to spice it up a little.

1 lb boneless pork

3/4 cup water

3 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs cornstarch

2 tbs dry sherry

1 tsp chicken bouillon

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbs cooking oil

2 tsp grated ginger

2 stalks celery

2 cups bean sprouts

10 green onions

8 oz water chestnuts/bamboo shoots

2-3 cups cooked rice

I first started my rice in the rice cooker.  

Then cut the pork into bit size pieces, chopped the celery and green onions.  I also add Carrots and garlic and omitted the mushrooms it called for.

Mixed up the sauce by combining the soy sauce, water, cornstarch, sherry, bouillon and pepper.  For some heat, add a little Sriracha to your liking. I used ginger paste instead of grated ginger, so I also added that to the sauce mixture.

Cook carrots and celery for a couple minutes, add bean sprouts and green onions.  Cook for another couple minutes and remove from skillet/wok.  

Cook pork in stages.  Cook until no pink remains, cooking 1/2 the pork at a time. When pork is complete, return all to the pan and push towards to the center.  Add sauce and cook until thickened and bubbly.  Add vegetables and water chestnuts or bamboo.  I prefer bamboo and like them julienne. Cook until all is heated.  Serve over hot cooked rice.

Turned our really good and left overs for lunch the next day.  YUMMMMMY

The Fettuccine Alla Carbonara was good and very simple!

6 slices of bacon

6 oz fettuccine or linguine

1 beaten egg

1 cup half and half, light cream or milk

2 tbs butter

1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

1/4 cup parsley

Since I was entertaining, I doubled the recipe  Glad I did, because there were no left overs

Cook the bacon until desired crispness.  I don't like mine to crispy, so when done, I chopped it up to small pieces.

Cook the noodles as directed.  I recommend a little before al dente for all noodles. 

For the sauce, melt butter.  Yes, use real butter and use half n half.  Makes the sauce much richer and more flavor.  Splurge on the extra fat and calories for this meal.  Combine egg, half n half in the melted butter on medium heat.  Stir continuously and make sure the heat isn't too high. When the mixture coats a metal spoon, about six minutes, pour over fettuccine/linguine. Toss to coat.  Add cheese and parsley and mix. 

 Serve immediately.It made 6 large portions. I added a little extra parsley for presentation.

I made a Spicy Halibut.  For me, it was kind of boring.  I made a pineapple salsa that was really good.  It was diced roma tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, Serrano pepper, salt and a little lime juice.  It was good on top of the fish.  Better just by itself.

My last review is for Chicken Paprikash.  It's a creamy Hungarian dish.

2 lbs chicken pieces

1 tbs cooking oil

salt

pepper

1 cup chopped onion

3-4 tsp paprika

3/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 8 oz sour cream

2 tbs flour

3 cups hot cooked noodles or rice

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook until browned.  Remove the chicken.  Add onion and paprika to the skillet.

Cook until the onion is tender and return chicken to skillet, coating chicken with paprika.  Add broth and wine.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 35 minutes.  Remove chicken.  

For the sauce, skim any fat off the top.  Make sure there is enough juice in the pan to equal 1 1/2 cups by adding water if needed.


Mix flour into sour cream.  Add to skillet with pan juices.  Cook for about a minute after it is thickened and bubbly.  Return chicken.

                                                   Serve over noodles.  I used egg noodles.

The Pork Chop Suey was my favorite this time followed by the Chicken Paprikash.  My least favorite was the Halibut.  It just wasn't as flavorful as I wanted, but the salsa made up for it.

And for some fun, I got a new hat!  $5 at Walmart.  Got to love the Sock Monkey!


Next up, I will be trying Feta Burgers, Stuffed Cabbage Rolls and Tortilla-Black Bean Casserole.

Chicken Piccata is a natta tonight

Tonight I made Chicken Piccata.  It was okay, but not something I would make again.  I'm not sure what it was, but it just wasn't something satisfying.

Since I wasn't thrilled with the turnout of this recipe, I wont expand on it too much.

It was a basic recipe, Chicken, butter, garlic, water, chicken base, lemon juice, flour and capers.  

It also wasn't as yellow as it should have been.  I will stick with getting this in a restaurant if I want it.  Someday I may try it again.

I learned at my Thai class how to make a peanut sauce.  So I made that today for lunch with some elbow macaroni.  It was good and pretty simple.  Just mix some curry paste, about 1 tbs and 1/2 can of coconut milk with about a cup of creamy peanut butter.  Then mix with noodles with a little bit to them.

Quick and easy.  I also have some extra to make some Satay for later and have a dipping sauce.

It's a Cajun kind of week

Friday's are the day when I plan out my meals for the week.  I was supposed to go to the store yesterday, but I put it off.  I'll have to go after work this weekend or Monday. I luckily have enough food to make it for a few more days of planned recipes that I have carried over.

Friday night I made Cajun Chicken Pasta.  This was very easy and tasty.  It was a recipe from Skinny Taste website. The website features recipes that are healthy and shows the Weight Watcher points.




I have been kind of lazy on tracking my food and keeping points value. Of course, I changed up this recipe somewhat.  I had to Doug-a-fy it.  But when do I not do that in the kitchen?

Here is what I used:
8 oz of linguine - cooked according to package (I say a little al dente)
1 lbs chicken tenders
1-2 tsp Cajun seasoning (I make up my own.  recipe below)
2 bell peppers thinly sliced. Red and orange make it pretty
1/2 red onion, sliced
3 cloves minced garlic
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
Chicken base and water for 1 cup of broth
1/3 cup skim milk
1 tbs flour
3oz cream cheese
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
Green Tabasco

• Cook the pasta in a dutch oven.
• Season chicken tenders with Cajun season on both sides and cook chicken in little bit of olive oil.  
• When done, remove from pan.  
• Add a little more olive oil if need and cook peppers, onions and garlic about 4 minutes.  
• Add tomatoes and cook for about 4 minutes more.  Reduce to medium low.  
• In a blender, blend milk, flour and cream cheese; add to pan with chicken base mix.  
• Stir for about two minutes.  
• Add chicken and add salt and pepper.  
• If needed, add more Cajun seasoning.  
• For added spice, add Green Tabasco.  
• Cook until hot.  
• Drain pasta and return to dutch oven.  Add chicken mixture.  
• Serve up with a little scallions on the top if desired. 

 Does this not look good?  Trust me, it was filling and good.  I was full after 1 serving.  I felt it needed the spiciness of the Tabasco or other hot sauce.






For the Cajun season, here is what I make up ahead of time and keep around.  Works great to season French Fries.

Cajun Seasoning:

1/2 cup Paprika
1/4 cup Garlic Powder
1/4 cup Onion Powder
1/4 cup cayenne
1 tbsp white pepper
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp thyme
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp sugar

For Saturday's lunch, my wonderful coworker Darcy went to Taste of China.  I couldn't decide on what to get, so I got enough for lunch tomorrow also.  I got the boneless pork ribs, broccoli in garlic sauce and the Singapore style rice noodles.  I have enough for lunch on Sunday and Monday.  YAY!

Sorry about not posting last night, but What's for dinner tonight?

I was going to make some Asian meat ball recipe, but that got postponed as did the blog post:

Last night we ended up going to dinner with a friend.  We went to Fat Tuesday.  One of our favorite places to eat.  The special was a Steak and Cheese Po-Boy.  It was very good.  I got it with just onions and the special hot sauce and added a little extra Frank's Hot Sauce. I had the sweet potatoes for the side.  Tough choice since I also love the collard greens there.  I have yet to be disappointed going there.  I've tried most everything and liked it all.  Most of the time I need to add a little extra hot sauce, but I'm good with that.

For tonight, I needed to make something for dinner that could be made ahead but also sit for a while in case I was going to be eating later.  So I decided something in the crock pot would be best of course.  I didn't have a recipe ready, so I searched the internet.  I found a few recipes that sounded good.  Many would have required me to run to the store for items I didn't have.  Then I came across a recipe for Chicken Pot Pie Stew.  It sounded good, but again didn't have everything.  So I kept looking for other Chicken Pot Pie Stew recipes.After what felt like hundreds of  recipes (more like 4 or 5) I decided, I will just create my own.  Since many of the recipes had similar ingredients, I just used stuff I had on hand and decided to just wing a recipe.  Here is what I had:

Oh, I forgot the broccoli bits in the photo.  Sorry about that broccoli  since I also forgot about you in the freezer for so long.

1lbs Chicken, cut up into bite-size pieces

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

1 can Milk

7-8 Potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 cup Carrots chopped

1 can Green Beans, french cut

1 cup Corn

1 cup Broccoli bits

6 teaspoons Chicken base

Few cloves Garlic to taste

1/2 Tbls Onion Powder

1/2 Tbls Garlic Powder

1 teaspoon Celery Salt

dash Salt

dash Pepper

While preparing, I was watching the Food Network.  I know that isn't a shock to those that know me.  I watched Rachael Ray.  She made a comment that she dirties a ton of dishes when she cooks and it was a good thing she doesn't do the dishes.  She was making Hot 'N Sweet Shrimp Lettuce Wraps and Orange-Sesame Pork Chops with Teriyaki Whole-Wheat Noodles.  They looked great!  I going to have to try this out sometime.

Back to the recipe.  I started out pealing, washing and chopping the carrots and potatoes and throwing them in the crock pot.  And thanks to Rachael Ray, I used a garbage bowl to through all my peels and scraps into so that I didn't make a mess.

Then added the cream of chicken soup and milk.  I mixed it up a little.  Added the chicken base and spices.  Mixed it up again.  

The added the corn, broccoli and green beans. I then cut up the chicken, 

added it to the crock pot.  The broccoli had a little bit of ice crystals on it, okay a lot, but I figured it would just add some moisture to it.  And I only have a cup of it anyway.

Cooked on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-8.  Heck, if it is bubbly  the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are done, eat up!  :)

***For a cheesy chicken pot pie, add some sharp cheddar cheese and cook on high until it is melted.  I would recommend 1-2 cups depending on how much cheese you want.  Or just though a little on top of you bowl before serving.

***Turkey would also be good instead of chicken.

*** For beef, I would use beef base for the chicken base and cream of mushroom or cream of celery for the cream of chicken.  And water instead of milk.