Plum Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons plum sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon scallions, diced
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to use. Refrigerate leftovers for up to four day.


I use this dip with my Skinny Asian Lettuce Wraps.

Hoisin Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon chili paste
1 tablespoon warm water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon scallions, diced
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to use. Refrigerate leftovers for up to four day.


I use this dip with my Skinny Asian Lettuce Wraps.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

* I like to buy a small rotisserie chicken and shred the meat from that to add to soups. It’s flavorful, fast, and tender.
* I usually use 1 or 2 chipotle pepper from a can at a time. I’ve taken to putting the whole can of peppers in my mini prep food processor and then freezing tablespoons of the leftovers.
* Sometimes I cube Mexican Velveeta and stir the cubes into the soup. Other times I forgo the Velveeta and opt to add shredded Monterey jack cheese as a topping to each bowl. It depends on my mood.

Ingredients:
1 small rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 medium zucchini, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon cumin
2-4 tablespoons chipotle peppers in adobo, minced
2 (15 oz) cans stewed tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
4 cups chicken broth
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 roasted red pepper, diced
1 cup frozen corn
½ pound Mexican Velveeta, cubed (optional)

Optional toppings:
Sour cream
Avocado
Onions
Tortilla chips
Monterey jack cheese

Directions:
1. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and zucchini and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, garlic, cumin, and chipotle peppers and sauté for 1 minute.

2. Add stewed tomatoes, stirring quickly to deglaze Dutch oven with juice from tomatoes. Begin breaking up stewed tomatoes with spoon. Add tomato sauce, broth, black beans, roasted red pepper, and chicken. Stir to combine, bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally and continue to break up tomatoes.

3. Add frozen corn and stir. Add Velveeta and stir until melted.

Fried Rice with Teriyaki Steak

Last week I post a recipe for Teriyaki Flank Steak with Scallions. I use all the leftovers to make fried rice. As with my other fried rice recipes, feel free to add other ingredients as you like.

Ingredients:
Leftovers:
Teriyaki flank steak, cut into small pieces
Scallions
3-4 cups cold rice
Broccoli

Other ingedients:
Peanut oil
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
Low-sodium soy sauce to taste
Additional scallions, chopped

Directions:
1. Heat wok over medium heat and swirl in one tablespoon peanut oil. Add bell pepper and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add steak, leftover scallions, and sauce and stir-fry for 1 minute.

2. Add rice, breaking up rice with spatula until heated through.

3. Add broccoli and peas, stir-frying for 5 minutes. Pour soy sauce around edges of wok and stir. Serve topped with chopped scallions.

Teriyaki Flank Steak with Scallions

This recipe is more Asian than Taiwanese, but it is fantastic so I thought I would share it with you anyway. The teriyaki sauce is bold and pairs perfectly with the steak. I serve the meat with white rice and steamed broccoli. The leftovers (steak, rice, and broccoli) make for great fried rice.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 flank steak (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Salt & pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 scallions, cut into 1-inch lengths
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

Directions:
1. Whisk soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, ginger, pepper flakes, and cornstarch in medium bowl.

2. Pat steak dry with paper towels. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook steak until well browned and cooked to desired doneness, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer to cutting board and tent with foil. Let rest for at least 5 minutes.

3. Add remaining oil and scallions to empty skillet and cook until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes; transfer to bowl. Stir soy sauce mixture and any accumulated beef juices into skillet and simmer, scraping up any browned bits, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Slice beef thin on bias against grain. Transfer to platter and top with sauce, scallions, and sesame seeds. Serve with rice.

* Recipe adapted from Cook's Country.

Skinny Asian Lettuce Wraps

* I love lettuce wraps and started searching for recipes online for ideas. I compiled all my ideas and came up with this.
* I find it easiest to mince the water chestnuts in my mini-prep food processor. You don't need a lot of the dipping sauces...a little goes a long way. I will be posting the dipping sauces by themselves later on in case anyone wants to use them apart from this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground chicken
1/4 cup water chestnuts, minced
1/4 cup shiitake mushrooms, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice wine
1/2 teaspoon chili paste
1⁄2 teaspoon sugar
Dash ground white pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
2 tablespoon scallions, diced
Peanut oil
6 lettuce leaves (Boston bibb or butter lettuce)
1 cup carrots, julienned
1 cup cucumber, julienned
1 cup bean sprouts

Hoisin Dipping Sauce:
4 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon chili paste
1 tablespoon warm water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon scallions, diced
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

Plum Dipping Sauce:
4 tablespoons plum sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon scallions, diced
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, combine ground chicken, water chestnuts, and mushrooms. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, rice wine, chili paste, sugar, white pepper, garlic, ginger, and scallions. Pour sauce over chicken, combine and set aside.

2. Mix desired dipping sauce(s) and set aside.

3. Heat peanut oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add chicken mixture and stir-fry until browned.

4. To serve, spoon chicken onto a lettuce leaf and top with a small amount of dipping sauce onto each one (a little goes a long way), carrots, cucumber, and bean spouts. Roll lettuce around filling and eat.

Herb Roasted Vegetables

* This recipe was born out of a lack of groceries. I looked around to see what vegetables I had (small red potatoes, green beans, bell pepper, onion) and started chopping...and it turned out wonderful. Be sure to cut all the vegetables into similar shape and size.
* You can use an herbed olive oil or just add your choice of herb (i.e. thyme, rosemary, oregano) to the vegetables with the plain olive oil.

Ingredients:
1 pound small potatoes, cut into strips (I sliced the potatoes into rounds and then julienned the rounds)
1/2 pounds green beans, cut into 2 inch lengths
1 small red bell pepper, cut into 2 inch strips
1 small onion, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoons herbed olive oil
- or -
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon herb of your choice

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place all cut vegetables in a large bowl and add oil, herbs, salt, and pepper. Mix vegetables and spread even out on rimmed cookie sheet.

2. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring half-way through cooking. Serve.

Layered Shrimp Dip

This is a quick and simple, not to mention delicious, shrimp dip.

Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 pound small cooked shrimp, chopped
Old Bay seasoning to taste
1/2 cup cocktail sauce, or to taste
1 teaspoon chives (optional)
Crackers

Directions:
1. Spread softened cream cheese on a medium plate. Top with diced shrimp and sprinkle with Old Bay seasoning. Spoon cocktail sauce evenly over shrimp. Chill for 30 minutes.

2. Bring to room temperature before serving and top with chives. Serve with crackers.

Bacon-Wrapped Smokies

These little babies are like meat candy. Deeeeelicious!

Ingredients:
1 pound sliced bacon, cut into thirds
1 (14 ounce) package beef cocktail wieners
1 cup brown sugar, or to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with foil.

2. Place brown sugar on a plate. Coat both sides of bacon with brown sugar by pressing bacon into brown sugar. Wrap bacon around a cocktail wiener and secure with a toothpick. Place on a large baking sheet. You can sprinkle extra brown sugar over the wieners if desired.

3. Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven. Serve. You can place the wieners in a slow cooker and keep on low setting.

* Adapted slightly from Allrecipes.

Italian Chicken Soup

This is a chicken noodle soup based on a soup we had at an Italian restaurant. It is a little spicy, but you can easily control that by changing up the amounts of the two peppers. Ditalini is a short tubular pasta. If you can’t find it, you can substitute any other short cut pasta. Like most soups, this one is better the second day!

Ingredients:
1 rotisserie chicken, meat removed and shredded
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
3 carrots, diced
Salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon basil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 potato, cubed
4-6 cups chicken broth
1 cup ditalini pasta

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat and saute onion, celery, and carrots for 5 minutes or until soft. Add salt to veggies while cooking.

2. Add garlic and saute for 1 minuet, or until fragrant. Add black pepper, crushed red pepper, oregano, thyme, basil, and tomato paste and stir.

3. Add diced tomatoes, stirring to deglaze pot. Add potatoes, chicken broth, and shredded chicken and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

4. In a medium saucepan, bring water to boil and add ditalini pasta, cooking until just tender. Drain pasta and stir into soup. Serve.

Patatas Bravas (Crisp Spiced Potatoes)

I have had this Spanish tapas dish a number of times and love it. I was pleased to find numerous versions online. I used a recipe I found here.

This dish isn't healthy (hello, lots of oil), but it's worth having every once in a while. Delicious! It takes a while for the potatoes to crisp. Be patient. Just let them brown and stir every few minutes.

I was surprised to see that the sauce uses mayonnaise, but I was not disappointed. It is simply fantastic!

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup olive oil
4 large russet potatoes, peeled, and cut to 1-inch cubes
Parsley, minced

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onion is soft. Turn off heat and add paprika, hot sauce, and thyme and stir to combine. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in ketchup and mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

2. Sprinkle potatoes lightly with salt and pepper. Heat 1/2 cup olive oil over medium heat. Fry the potatoes until cooked through and golden-brown, stirring occasionally.

3. Drain potatoes on paper towels and transfer to bowl. Pour sauce over potatoes immediately before serving to ensure that the potatoes retain their crispness. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve warm.

Sausage and Tomato Rigatoni

* This is one of Rusty's favorites!
* Save some of them starchy pasta water (about 1 cup) to add to the sauce.

Ingredients:
4 cups rigatoni pasta (8 ounces), uncooked
1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed
2 red onions, sliced thin
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup Kraft sun-dried tomato dressing
1 cup pasta water
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Brown sausage in large non-stick skillet; drain. Stir in onions and tomato paste; cover. Cook 15 minutes, or until onions are tender and sausage is cooked through, stirring occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, cook pasta as directed on package.

3. Stir in dressing and pasta water. Toss sausage mixture with pasta. Sprinkle with parsley and cheese.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken breasts
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup carrots, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 (4.5 ounce) packages long grain & wild rice with seasoning
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups milk

Directions:
1. In a large pot over medium heat, bring water to boil, and add chicken. Cook until done, remove and let sit 5 minutes before shredding. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat and sauté onion, celery, and carrots until soft. Add salt and pepper. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Stir in rice, seasoning packets and flour. Slowly stir in broth and bring to boil. Cover and cook for 18 minutes or until rice is done.

3. Return chicken to pot and stir in butter and milk. Cook until slightly thickened.

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I love the light pumpkin flavor and delicious cream cheese frosting. I make this at least one around Thanksgiving or Christmas. This recipe does not use pumpkin spice seasoning but instructs you to use ginger, cinnamon, and allspice to give the cake a subtle spiciness. It’s simply fantastic. Recipe from Cook's Country.

Ingredients:
Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree

Frosting:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, cut into 8 pieces and softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in bowl. With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat eggs, oil, and granulated sugar until thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add pumpkin, and mix until incorporated. Slowly add flour mixture and mix until only a few small lumps of flour remain, about 1 minute. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool completely.

2. For the frosting: With electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and confectioners' sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese 1 piece at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla and mix until smooth. Turn cooled cake out onto wire rack, then invert onto serving platter. Frost cake and serve. (Cake can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes

Recipe adapted slightly from here.

This was super easy and quick. We really like the light pumpkin flavor of the cupcakes. I used a store bought vanilla frosting, but these cupcakes definitley need cream cheese frosting. I have a fabulous cream cheese frosting recipe, but I don't want to take a super easy recipe and complicate it. So, next time I will look for cream cheese frosting in the baking aisle.

Ingredients:
1 cake mix - yellow, white, or vanilla
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
Cream cheese frosting

Directions:
1. Combine cake mix, pumpkin, and pumpkin spice. Mix well.
2. Bake according to package directions.
3. Frost and enjoy!

Basil Chicken

Simply put, this chicken is incredible. The basil leaves are a wonderful pairing with the savory sauce.
* Feel free to use chicken breasts if you prefer. I must say that I don't love dark meat but loved this.
* I use a skillet to make this dish, not a wok.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sesame oil
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
10 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup whole basil leaves
4 red chili peppers
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup ginger, sliced
1/2 cup rice wine
2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:
1. Heat sesame oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken in single layer and let sear before stirring until cooked.

2. Stir in soy sauce, wine, sugar, and chili peppers. Lower heat to low and simmer until juice is almost gone.

3. Add basil and stir well. Serve.

BBQ Brisket

This is a fabulous recipe. The brisket turns our amazingly tender and tasty. I heat leftovers up in the oven.

Ingredients:
4 pounds beef brisket, trimmed
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons paprika, divided
1 1/2 cups ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 1/2 tablespoons liquid smoke
2 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons ground mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Line a baking dish with foil large enough to wrap around meat. Place brisket in dish and rub with onion powder, garlic powder, and 1 tablespoon paprika. Pour liquid smoke over meat and rub in. Wrap brisket in foil and refrigerate overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Cover and bake for 4 hours (or 1 hour per pound). Remove from oven, and let rest for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine ketchup, paprika, brown sugar, butter, water, celery seed, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir, and cook until boiling and set aside.

4. Slice meat across the grain into 1/4" slices. Return meat to dish and pour BBQ sauce over slices. Cover and bake for 1 more hour. Enjoy!

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

* I find Knorr dry leek soup mix in the soup aisle. A lot of recipes call for onion soup mix. I find that I like the taste of the leek soup mix. It’s just a little different and tastes awesome.
* You don’t really need the entire can of water chestnuts. I add about 3/4 of the can. I like to throw the water chestnuts in my mini food processor to get them chopped into really small pieces.
* To drain spinach of excess liquid, put spinach in the middle of a clean dish towel, place over sink, and squeeze.

Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
1 (1.8 ounce) package dry leek soup mix
1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and diced
1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can artichokes, chopped
Crackers

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, mix together mayonnaise, sour cream, dry leek soup mix, water chestnuts, spinach, and artichokes.

2. Chill in the refrigerator 6 hours, or overnight.

Chorizo Stuffed Peppers

I always have stuffing leftover, enough to stuff a couple more peppers. We, however, like to have a spoonful of stuffing on the side of our peppers. Yum.

Ingredients:
5 medium red bell peppers - one pepper diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound Mexican-style chorizo sausage, casing removed
1 onion, diced
1 medium green bell peppers, diced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup white rice
2 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cup colby jack cheese

Direction:
1. Cut tops off 4 peppers and remove seeds. Place in shallow microwave-safe dish and add 1/4 cup water. Microwave on high for 8 minutes. Drain water from dish and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat and brown chorizo. Remove chorizo and saute 1 diced red bell pepper, onion, and green bell pepper. Add tomato paste and stir, cooking for 1 minute. Add rice and stir, cooking for 1 minute. Stir in chicken broth, cover, and and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4. When rice is finished cooking, stir in 1 cup cheese, and spoon mixture into peppers. Top each pepper with a small amount of cheese. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is brown.

Beef Noodles (Niu Rou Mein) - #4

Attempt #4
I think I've done it. I've created my favorite version of Beef Noodles! If you can't find short ribs, you can use 4 pounds of chuck roast, cut into large pieces.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons peanut oil
6-9 beef short ribs (6 boneless and 3 bone-in)
3 scallions, cut into 2 inch pieces
8 slices ginger
1 onion, thickly sliced
1 large tomato, diced
1 tablespoon rice wine
4-5 cups water
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3-4 tablespoons chili paste
1/4 cup black bean sauce
6-7 star anise
2 tablespoon brown sugar
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 scallion, sliced thin - garnish

1 pound wheat noodles (or linguine)
4 baby bok choy - ends trimmed and stalks separated

Directions:
1. Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Pat beef dry and sear in batches.

2. Add scallions, ginger, onion, and tomato and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon rice wine and cook for 1 minute. Return beef to Dutch oven. Add water and bring to a boil.

3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil to skillet over medium heat. Sauté garlic and chili paste for 1 minute. Add black bean sauce, star anise, and brown sugar and stir to combine. Stir mixture into Dutch oven along with bay leaves.

4. Simmer for 2 hours. Turn off heat and let rest for 1 hour.

5. Remove meat and let rest for 30 minutes. You can remove the vegetables from broth and discard or leave them in. Which ever you prefer.

6. Slice meat across grain and return to Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in soy sauce.

7. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add noodles and baby bok choy and cook 5 minutes or until tender.

To serve:
Place noodles and veggies in large soup bowls. Ladle broth over noodles and place meat on top. Garnish with scallions. Happy slurping!

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My other attempts - #1, #2, and #3.