Chinese Style Chicken

This is a Minute Rice recipe (I think I found it on the back of one of their boxes of rice).

• 1 pound chicken breasts, cut into pieces
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 3 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 13 3/4 ounces of chicken broth
• 2 large carrots, cut into rounds
• 1 cup snow pea pods (we used 1 cup of broccoli florets, which was a suggested alternative in the recipe)
• 1 14 ounce can of corn, drained
• 2 scallions, cut into pieces
• 3/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1 1/2 cup rice

1. Cook chicken and garlic in heated oil in a skillet until chicken lightly browned.
2. Mix soy sauce and cornstarch in a small cup. Stir in with the chicken. Add broth, all vegetables and the ginger. Cook until liquid thickens and comes to a full boil.
3. Stir in rice. Cover and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes (we let our stand for 15 because the rice didn’t look cooked after 5).

Verdict: This was a very quick, easy dish to make and it was delicious!

Classic Fudge Brownies

I think I found this recipe online somewhere, but I can’t remember where.

• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 cup butter (we used semi salted butter)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup flour
• Pinch of salt (we didn’t use because we use salted butter)
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Butter an 8 inch square baking pan.
2. In a saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter over low hear. Let cool slightly.
3. In a medium bowl, beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add the melted chocolate and mix until smooth. Stir in the flour and salt (if using). Add the chopped nuts.
4. Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

Verdict: This was a good but not great recipe. I’ve had brownies that had a richer taste, which is what I like in brownies. There wasn’t enough of a chocolate flavour to them.

Beef Stew

I found this recipe in the French language Metro newspaper.

• 2 lbs. beef cubes
• 2 sliced onions (we did not use this much, maybe half an onion)
• 4 celery stalks
• 1 green pepper, sliced (we used baby potatoes instead)
• 1 box of mushrooms (my sister isn’t the biggest fan of mushrooms, so we only used half the box)
• 3 carrots, cut into rounds
• 1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of tomato soup
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Brown the beef in some oil and butter. Place in the bottom of a slow cooker or large oven pot (we cooked ours in the oven).
2. Chop all the vegetables and add to the slow cooker or pot. Add the diced tomatoes and the tomato soup.
3. Mix together the brown sugar, vinegar, ginger, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder. Pour over the stew.
4. Cook in slow cooker for 6 to 7 hours on low or in oven at 350F for 3 hours.

Verdict: This was a delicious stew. It was perfect for the really cold night we had here. As I do not really like gravy, I love finding tomato based beef stews. Definitely a recipe to keep!

Sugar Apple Pie

I found this recipe in the French language newspaper, Metro.

Crust:

• 50g flour
• 50g butter
• 25g sugar
• 25g ground almond

Filling

• 2 apples, peeled and thinly sliced (we used 3 pretty large apples, because we wanted a lot of apple filling)
• 75g butter, melted
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 eggs
• 200g brown sugar
• 2/5 cups whipped cream

1. Butter and flour the pie plate.
2. Mix together the ingredients for the crust. The mixture will be crumbly. Press into the bottom of the pie plate.
3. Preheat oven to 350F.
4. Braise the apples in a bit of butter and the juice from the half lemon. Spread the cooked apples across the crust.
5. Mix together the melted butter, eggs and brown sugar. Fold in the whipped cream. Pour over the apple mixture.
6. Bake for 40min.

Verdict: Just from looking at the recipe I was a little annoyed by it. I measure my ingredients in cups and teaspoons, so I needed to use a scale to get the quantities the recipe called for, which seemed ridiculous.

I’ve always found it odd that while I love almonds (whole almonds, almonds in chocolate) I do not like the taste of almond extract (the cookies I made with almond essence were one of my least favourite). I assumed that I would be okay with ground almonds, but I think they ended being the main reason I disliked the crust of this pie so much.

The filling itself was very good. I’m glad we added the extra apple, because I think there wouldn’t have been enough apple without it.

Sticky Chinese Chicken

I found this recipe online.

• 1 cup finely crushed garlic and onion flavored croutons
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces (we used chicken breast pieces)
• 1/4 cup canola oil

1. In a large bowl, mix together the crouton crumbs and the cornstarch. Stir in the soy sauce. Add the chicken and toss to coat completely. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet. Add the chicken and cook between 20 to 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

Verdict: This was a good but not spectacular dish. The dry rub for the chicken didn’t really have a lot of depth to the flavor.

Snickerdoodles

I found this recipe in a Martha Stewart Cookbook.

• 2 3/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt (if using, we did not because we use salted butter).
3. In another bowl, beat together the butter and 1 and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Mix in the eggs. Gradually add in the flour mixture.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining sugar with the cinnamon.
5. Form the dough into 20 balls. Roll each one in the cinnamon mixture. Place ion baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake cookies, rotating sheets half way through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes.

Verdict: So the recipe didn’t mention anything about flattening the cookies when you put them on the baking sheet and I guess I thought they would expand in the oven. But they did not. I’ll know for next time: flatten snickerdoodles down!

I don’t think I will be making this recipe again. I found that the cookies didn’t have much of a taste. The only thing that gave them any taste was the cinnamon sugar coating.