Friday, January 16, 2015

Indonesian Chicken

This super easy chicken dish/marinade reminds me of food from the indian restaurant near our home.  Must be the curry ;)  Instead of serving over rice, the chicken and sauce would also be delicious wrapped up in a small piece of naan bread.  We like to buy the small pieces of naan bread from Costco and grill them until they are warm.  Super delicious!


(I double sauce recipe.  Use half for marinade, half for extra sauce for the chicken and rice).

1/2 c orange juice
1/4 c peanut butter
2 tsp curry
4 chicken breasts


Mix and marinade the chicken for at least an hour.  Grill, or put it all in a pan and cook it on the stove top.

When chicken is done cooking garnish with:

1/4 c toasted coconut
1/4 c currants (I use raisins since I always have those on hand)

Top chicken with coconut and currants.  Serve over rice or coconut rice.

Recipe Source:  no idea!
Picture Source: Cooking Asian Food

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Lauren's Latest Fail-Proof Pizza Dough


Fail-Proof Pizza Dough and Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks

You will never need another pizza dough recipe after this one!
yield: 2-12 INCH PIZZA CRUSTS; ABOUT 1 LB. OF DOUGH

INGREDIENTS:

for the pizza dough-
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey {or sugar}
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
3 cups bread flour {give or take 1/2 cup...depending on the heat & humidity}
for the cheesy garlic bread sticks-
1/2 recipe Fail-Proof Pizza Dough from above
2 tablespoons softened salted butter
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese {use the real stuff!}
1/4 pound grated mozzarella cheese
{salt & pepper, if desired}

DIRECTIONS:

For the pizza dough--In a large mixing bowl, preferably that of a stand mixer, stir yeast and honey into warm water. Sit for 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam. This tells you that the yeast is alive and kicking. Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix. Once that flour is incorporated, start adding flour in bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn't stick to your hands. Once you reach this stage, knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away! Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes! That seems to be the magical number. The dough should be smooth and easy to work with. And the bowl should be clean! {*This is the point when you could freeze your dough!! Divide into portions, place into freezer bags, seal removing all air and freeze. To use, remove from freezer and let sit out to get to room temperature and double in size; 6-8 hours. Then use as you'd like.} Lightly grease the bowl & the dough so it doesn't dry out, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours. That's it! Use as desired.
For the Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks- Preheat oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone inside. {If you don't have a pizza stone, use an upside down cookie sheet...a tip I got from Natalie!}
Mix butter and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.
Spread pizza dough out into a 12-inch circle on parchment paper. {This makes it easier to transfer to the pizza stone.}
Spread the butter and garlic mixture over dough and top with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Top with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, if desired. {That step is totally optional!}

Complete Recipe and Photo Source: Lauren's Latest.  Go to the link for awesome step by step pictures!  

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Pumpkin Spice Carmel Dip

4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 c canned pumpkin
1/3 c carmel ice cream topping
1/4 c sour cream
1/2 tsp nutmeg (sounds like a lot to me…)

Directions:
Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar together.  Gradually mix in other ingredients.  Beating until smooth.  Mix well.  It gets fluffier as you mix.