Showing posts with label What's For Dinner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label What's For Dinner. Show all posts

January 14, 2016

Mini White Chocolate Blackberry Cheesecakes (No-Bake)

I don't normally try the easy-peasy-make-it-in-ten-minutes recipes I find on Facebook and Pinterest, but one caught my eye today so I decided to give it a try.  Besides, how many ways can white chocolate cheesecake to wrong??  And so much could go right... and it did!  Raving reviews from the family encouraged me to share this one with you. 

Here's how it's done. 


Filling
Cream together:
8oz cream cheese
1/4c. soft butter
1/4c. powdered sugar
1tsp vanilla extract

Fold in (one at a time):
1c. melted white chocolate
8oz whipped cream (sweetened)

Set aside.





Crust
1c. graham cracker crumbs
1/4c. melted butter

Press into muffin tins with paper liners** (approx. 1 packed teaspoon per cup).  Leave a small amount of crust mixture for garnish.


They looked bad in the pan, but... you know, cheesecake and all.







Drop in equal amounts of filling (about 2 tablespoons) and smooth into cups. 

Add about 1 teaspoon of canned blackberry pie filling on the top of each cheesecake and sprinkle with leftover crust mixture. 

Freeze for at least one hour before serving. 

Tada!!  You're done! 


**I definitely recommend using the liners.  I didn't have any and it was a little tricky getting them out of the pan... luckily, mutilated mini cheesecakes don't deter brothers too much.  ;) 




November 12, 2015

What's For Dinner: Chicken Katsu Curry

I love eating Asian food, but I don't eat out enough to satisfy my cravings. So I decided to give one of my favorites a try: Japanese Curry. The hardest part was finding a recipe that actually looked like what I wanted to make (and had at least half-way normal sounding ingredients). 
 
Anyway, after hours of recipe searching, ingredient checking, and finally actual food making, here's what happened... 
 

Over all I am very pleased with how it turned out! I changed the recipes some, so I'll put the original sites at the end of the post so you can check those out if you want.   

First I had to make some Garam Masala, a traditional Asian spice blend, because that seems to be a staple in Japanese Curry. This recipe turned out to be amazing: 

Garam Masala

1TB ground cumin
1 1/2tsp ground coriander
1 1/2tsp cardamom
1 1/2tsp ground black pepper
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp ground cloves
1/2tsp ground nutmeg

Mix together and store in an airtight container.  


  
 
 
Curry Sauce
 
1/4c. bacon fat
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
Garlic (the recipe calls for 5 cloves but I totally forgot to add it, so I don't know if that's the right amount or not... it tasted fine without)
6 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
6TBS white flour
4TBS curry powder (3TBS might be enough for some, though)
7 1/2c. beef stock
1/3c. honey
1/4c. soy sauce
3 bay leaves
1TBS garam masala (aren't you glad you made some??)
Heat bacon fat in Dutch oven (or stock pot of your choice) and add onion and garlic (if using) and cook until softened. Stir in carrots and cook over medium/low heat for 10-12 minutes.

Add flour and curry powder; cook for 1 minute. Gradually stir in stock until combined; add honey and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and boil for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Sauce should thicken to a light gravy consistency.) 

Strain out the onions and carrots and blend them in a food processor until smooth. Return to the pot with the rest of the sauce. Stir in garam masala and bay leaves. Boil for another 20 minutes or until thickened sufficiently (you can decide how thick you want it).
 
 
Chicken Katsu

12 thin chicken breasts (I used about 9 and cut the thick ones in half so they were thinner)
1/2-1c. of milk
1c. white flour
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable oil
 
Dunk chicken in milk and then coat with flour. Fry on both sides over medium heat until crispy on the outside and cooked through. 

 
Serve It

I sliced the chicken breast, laid it on a bed of brown rice, and poured a generous amount of sauce over the top. The family loved it! There was plenty of sauce left over, so if you wanted to make a bigger batch it would probably be good up to 15-17 chicken breasts.

Serves about 10 adults.     
 

 

July 02, 2015

What's for Dinner - Sesame Chicken

Helping little hands... "Am I holding this whisk right?"
Here's a family favorite... it takes about one and a half hours, but well worth the time.  :)

Sesame Chicken

12 chicken breasts (cubed)
3/4c. soy sauce
3TBS brown sugar
3TBS sherry wine (or 2TBS of white vinegar, 1/2TBS lemon juice, 1/2TBS white sugar)

Mix together and let sit for 30 min.  Strain off marinade, coat with flour or cornstarch and fry in a 1/4" of oil. 

Sauce:
3/4c. honey
3/4c soy sauce
1c. chicken broth
1TBS ground ginger
1 1/2TBS brown sugar
2TBS cornstarch 

Mix together in sauce pan over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly.  Pour over cooked chicken.  Sprinkle with Sesame seeds and serve hot with rice. 


Serves 10ish (it all depends on who is eating)