Shredded Chicken Sandwiches

No, no picture this time.  This recipe speaks for itself.  It is super easy and super tasty!  Here it is:

chicken thighs (I used a half dozen)
can of coke (I've also used Dr. Pepper and I bet root beer would work too)
BBQ Sauce (lovin' the Sweet Baby Rays right now)

And that is it.

Put the chicken thighs in your slow cooker.  Pour the can of coke over top.  Keep heat on low for 8 hours or so.  Take the meat out and shred it with a fork into a bowl.  Squeeze a little BBQ sauce over top and mix it in to your liking.

I like to serve this meat on a toasted roll with a little potato salad and grilled corn on the cob on the side.

Delicious!

PS - Mom - Dad would love this!

VH Chinese New Year Blog Tour - Recipes and Giveaway!

I like to keep a cooking mindset that food should not be boring.  We love to try food from other cultures and 'theme it up' once in a while for different celebrations; pancakes for Shrove Tuesday, Roast Lamb for Easter and most recently, a Chinese Feast for Chinese New Year!
When we were living in Toronto, we were most fortunate to have become friends with a pair of sisters who were originally from Hong Kong.  One of our most treasured memories was being their guests at an authentic Hong Kong Chinese Dim Sum.  We were the only table in the room with non-Chinese guests at it.  Our hosts ordered for us as the menu was only in Chinese.  The food was fantastic and I've had a longing to recreate those dishes now that we live elsewhere.

(our family at Dim Sum in Toronto last summer)

While I've never been able to recreate those recipes (yet) - we still do enjoy creating our our Canadian Chinese food at home.  That is why I was so happy to be asked to join the VH Chinese New Year Blog Tour.  What better way to celebrate the Year of the Dragon than to have a family feast?  

Whenever dining Chinese it always strikes me how family and friend oriented the meal is.  At a Dim Sum restaurant, the tables are usually round so there is no head.  Dishes are served in large portions so to be shared with the entire table.  We all partake in the meal together.  Chinese tea is often featured, traditionally, you do not pour your own tea, someone else at the table serves you, just as you would serve them.  It is a great reminder of friendship, family and community.

At home, we try to remember this act of family dining by creating many large dishes to share.  Having small children (ages 7, 4 and 2), we also try to find food that will please their choosy palates, while still satisfying our own need for unique and tasty dishes.  The menu we came up with for this Chinese New Year was greatly assisted by the sauces to try out from VH.  We feasted on: Sweet and Sour Shrimp, Pineapple Chicken, Mushroom Chow Mein, Beef & Broccoli and Steamed Rice.

The Giveaway!

Thanks to the generosity of VH and Mom Central Canada you, I invite you to join in on the fun of having your own Chinese New Year Celebration!  Leave a comment below telling your favorite Chinese Dish and you will be entered to win a Chinese New Year Gift Pack valued at $60! Giveaway is open to Canadian residents only.  One name will be drawn at random at the end of the day, February 10th.  Please include your name and contact info (email address) in your comment so I can reach you should you win.  Readers may enter this giveaway on multiple blogs, but may only win one prize.  Prizes will be sent out from Mom Central Canada on behalf of Crafty Kris.

The Recipes!

Mushroom Chow Mein

drizzle of canola oil - heat in large frying pan or wok - add:

1 onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

cook over medium heat until heated through and just beginning to soften - add:

a couple of Tbsp of VH Hoisin Sauce

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp chicken stock powder

1/4 C water

stir it all in together and turn heat up to medium high to get everything really hot! - add:

 4 oz chopped mushrooms

1/2 cup sugar snap peas

1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained

1 can bamboo shoots, drained

a generous drizzling of soya sauce

1 cup bean sprouts

2 cups of chow mein noodles, uncooked

mix it all together, add a bit more water to get some steam going in the wok (1/2 cup).  Cover and allow noodles to steam cook.  This cooks fast so check often and keep stirring to prevent sticking.  Top with green onion slices for garnish when serving.

 *on a happy eating side note - my picky eating boys both ate the noodles (and unknowingly the bean sprouts) from this dish as well as tried the bamboo and water chestnuts and thought it was pretty good!

Pineapple Chicken
By far the easiest of the dishes I made!

drizzle of canola oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into bite sized pieces
1 tbsp flour
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 jar VH pineapple chicken sauce
1/2 can pineapple tidbits

Heat oil in medium cooking pot - medium heat.  Toss the chicken pieces with the flour to coat the chicken.  Put coated chicken and red peppper in the cooking pot, stir frequently.  Add the jar of sauce.  Continue to cook until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce starts to bubble.  Add the pineapple.  Continue to cook until the pineapple is heated.

*my kids loved this dish 

Sweet and Sour Shrimp

My husband's contribution to our feast.  He used a Buttermilk Batter recipe from Food.com (originally intended for onion rings).  

16 shrimp (tails on) - he let the shrimp marinate a little bit in a mix of a little bit of Thai Fish Sauce with a pinch of salt before battering

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups buttermilk

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

canola oil

VH Sweet and Sour Sauce - to serve over the shrimp once cooked.

Whisk together the flour, buttermilk, sugar, baking powder and salt until smooth.  Pour oil to a depth of 2 inches in a dutch oven.  Heat to 375*.  Dip shrimp in batter, coating well.  Fry a few shrimp at a time until golden.  Drain - (my husband uses a 2 step draining process, first in a metal strainer, then onto paper towels.)  Repeat with remaining shrimp.  *We had enough batter to fry up some onion rings as well, which isn't very Chinese Food-ish, but still delicious with the sweet and sour sauce.

Seriously yummy!  The Sweet and Sour is our favorite VH Sauce to use!

Beef & Broccoli

 

This recipe comes from Stephen Yan's Cookbook on Chinese Cooking from the late 70's or early 80's.  He was the charismatic host of Wok With Yan - a Canadian Chinese cooking program that ran for 15 years or more.  This recipe is simple and very tasty.  

 

1 pound of fresh broccoli, sliced into bite sized pieces

1/2 pound beef flank steak, sliced thinly across the grain

1 tbsp light soy sauce

dash of pepper

1 tbsp tapioca starch or cornstarch

a few drops of sesame oil

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

4 tbsp sesame or peanut oil

Marinate the beef with light soy sauce, pepper, few drops sesame oil and starch for 15 minutes.  In a wok or skillet, help up 2 tbsp of oil until smoke begins to rise.  Put in broccoli, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 cup of water.  Mix and cover with lid.  Cook with high heat for 4 minutes, until steam escapes from the edge of the lid.  Remove to a plate.  Use high heat and 2 tbsp of oil; when hot, brown garlic for a minute.  Then add beef, stir fry until the color of the meat changes.  Return broccoli and mix.  Serve hot.

A sprinkle of sesame seeds on top makes a nice garnish!

*This was the first time we used our new rice cooker and I'm in love with it - super easy and perfect rice!  I highly recommend you get one too.

Still in the mood for Chinese, but not so much up to cooking tonight?  Look out for VH Steamers in the freezer section of your local grocery store. 

Disclosure – I am participating in the VH Chinese New Year Celebration program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of VH.  I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Red Thai Chicken Curry

I read in a book recently how cliche the love of Thai food in the west is becoming.  That people are discovering fish sauce like some great new secret ingredient.  It's true, we've got a love affair with Thai food and I'm no exception.  I love it.  My husband and I have been trying to re-create a red curry that would be as good as the one at our favorite restaurant back home in the Maritimes.  This is the closest we have come.  It is really, really good!

Two chicken breasts - chopped into large chunks
Half onion - chopped finely
1 shallot - chopped finely
4 cloves garlic - crushed
Small lump of ginger - chopped finely or grated
2 heaping tsp red curry paste - the curry paste you get makes all the difference in the world, our current one of choice is made by Thai kitchen
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
2 tablespoons of table syrup or brown sugar
Cilantro - a good amount chopped finely
Lime juice 1 small lime
1 tsp butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Half can of coconut milk (I like to use the full can a little at a time, my husband uses just 1/2 a can)





I find it helps to get everything prepped first because this meal comes together so quickly.  My ingredients are listed a little backwards, so you'll have to work with me on this one. 

Fist, heat the oil and melt the butter in a saucepan, or large (deep) frying pan (medium heat so you don't burn the next ingredients).  Add the onions, shallots, garlic and ginger.  Cook to let them become soft, but don't overcook to let them burn.  Add the curry paste, mixing it in to coat the veggies.  Add the chicken and let it cook through.  Pour the coconut milk over everything as the chicken is cooking.  Add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer for a few minutes.  Serve over rice.
 

BBQ Chicken Pizza

This was one of those 'why didn't I think of this before?' recipes.  I love BBQ chicken pizza, but I've never made it.  It's so easy, I think it may become a regular part of my rotation.

I made 4 of these to enjoy, so you could make 4 different pizzas at once.  I think we'll do that next time and let the boys each do their own.

4 Greek Pitas (the thick ones)
Your favorite BBQ sauce
1 cooked chicken breast - chopped (this was from a rotisserie chicken)
1/4 cup chopped red pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion (red onion would have been even better)
grated cheese (I used cheddar, but mozzarella's traditional)

Place the pitas onto 2 baking sheets.  Spread the ingredients over all of your pitas.  Bake at 350* for 15 minutes, or until cheese is starting to become golden.  Enjoy!

The Rotisserie Chicken

I really think that the rotisserie chicken is one of the greatest gifts that grocery stores have given us shoppers.  Think about it. You get a perfectly cooked, flavorful chicken, usually for less than the cost if you bought a chicken and cooked it yourself.  I get mine at Costco every 2 weeks, only $6.99 (CDN).  You can't beat that.  These chickens are so versatile.  Here's a small sampling of what you can do with one of these.  Please let me know your own uses for these chickens in the comments section - I'm always looking for ways to be inspired.

-chicken dinner
-chicken salad sandwiches
-chicken wraps
-chicken nachos
-BBQ chicken pizza
-chicken for baby food
-butter chicken
-chicken curry
-chicken in salad
-chicken burritos

Chicken Burritos

This blog has been seriously neglected for a while.  I have a backlog of pictures of meals that haven't been posted.  I drifted in my files all the way back to April to find where I left off.  These burritos are another way to use that rotisserie chicken meat.    They were pretty easy.
vegetable oil
1 onion - sliced into rings
1 red pepper - sliced lengthwise
1 green pepper - sliced lengthwise
tex-mex seasoning
pulled chicken meat
tortillas
fresh cilantro - finely chopped
shredded cheese
sour cream
salsa

Lightly oil a large frying pan.  Set heat at medium-low.  Add onions and peppers.  Sprinkle with Tex-Mex seasoning to your liking.  Saute until the veggies are softened.  Add the chicken meat, mix and heat through.  Remove from heat and set aside
Take a tortilla, add a scoop of chicken/veggie mixture into the centre.  Add cilantro.   Fold into wraps.  Place wraps into a baking dish (lasagna pan size) and bake at 350* for 15 minutes.  Top with sour cream and salsa as desired.

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

broccoli florettes - 2 bunches, separated
3 carrots, diagonally sliced
2 or 3 chicken breasts cut into chunks
1c light mayo
1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp curry - or to taste
grated cheese

Layer chicken and veggies.  Mix remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and pour over chicken and veggies.  Bake at 350* for 25 minutes.  Sprinkle grated cheese over casserole just before it is done and melt cheese over just before serving.

Chicken Korma

This is the third recipe I've tried from Jamie's Food Revolution and the third recipe that we've loved (I'm seeing a pattern here with this book).  I made it mild (omitted the chili) so my kids would try it too.  My oldest (who is 5) decided he didn't like it because the chicken was pink (he decided this before tasting, he did admit it tasted good after one bite).  My 2nd (who is 3) surprised the heck out of me by eating all of his because he is usually so picky, but he really like this.  I'll have to make it again.  It was fun plating it out to look pretty with the garnishes.  I served it with basamati rice and Na'an bread.

1 3/4 pounds skinless chicken breasts
2 medium onions
1 fresh green chili (optional)
a thumb size piece of fresh root ginger
a small bunch of cilantro
1 15 oz can of garbanzo beans
peanut or vegetable oil
a pat of butter
1/2 cup korma or other mild curry paste (I used Patak's Tandoori mild)
1 14 oz can of coconut milk
a small handful of sliced almonds (I had slivered on hand)
2 heaped tsp unsweetened shredded coconut
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups natural yogurt
1 lemon

Cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces.  Peel, halve and finely slice onions.  Halve, seed and finely slice the chili (if using).  Peel and finely chop the ginger.  Pick the cilantro leaves and finely chop the stalks.  Drain the garbanzo beans.
Put a large pan on high heat and add a couple lugs of oil.  Add the onions, chili, ginger and cilantro stalks with the butter.  Keep stirring it enough so it doesn't catch and burn but turns evenly golden. Cook for about 10 minutes.  Add the curry paste, coconut milk, half the almonds, the beans, coconut and chicken.  Fill the empty can with water, pour it into the pan and stir again.  Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes with lid on.  Check the curry regularly to make sure it's not drying out (add extra water if neccessary).  When the chicken is tender and cooked, taste and season with salt and pepper.  (I let the korma continue to simmer with the lid off after 30 minutes to let the sauce thicken up a bit).

Serve with rice.  Add a few spoonfuls of yogurt dolloped on top, and sprinkle over the rest of the sliced almonds.  Finish by scattering over the cilantro leaves and serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Chicken Chow Mein

This is very much American Chinese food, not authentic Chinese. My mom made this for us a lot when I was growing up and once I started cooking I added it to my repetiore. It's so easy to put together and comes together quite quickly. I'm always amazed that it tastes as good as it does. Pair it up with some egg rolls and you've got yourself dinner.

1 tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cooked chicken, chopped (I usually buy a rotisserie chicken every couple of weeks and use the meat in recipes like this)
1 cup bean sprouts
1 package chow mein noodles
1 cup chicken stock
soy sauce

Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium heat. Add onion and green pepper and cook until veggies soften a little. Turn up the heat to med-high. Add the chicken and bean sprouts - mix altogether. Add chow mein noodles and chicken stock. (Keep extra water on hand just in case the noodles start to stick a little). Dash with soy sauce to your liking. Mix together. Keep cooking and stirring until the noodles are soft. Serve.

*You can add other ingredients to this one. I've used mushrooms, water chestnuts, snow peas, and celery at times, depending what I have on hand.

Chicken Quesadillas

These are my very plain version of chicken quesadillas. They can be spiced up and revved up with veggies, but baby's not having any part of it right now. They were still very tasty (and loved by my kids which was wonderful!)

2 chicken breasts, cubed
1 can of chickpeas
1/4 cup sour cream
(optional 1/4 cup salsa)
(optional - chopped veggies - peppers, onions...of your choice)
1 cup Monteray Jack Cheese
8 flour tortillas

Pre-heat oven to 300*. While the oven is heating, fry the cubed chicken meat in a little bit of oil until browned and cooked inside. Set aside. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Place them into a mixing bowl. Add sour cream. Using a hand blender, blend until somewhat smooth. (Add salsa to the mixture and mix in if using). Take out 2 cookie sheet. Place 2 tortillas on each. Spread 1/4 of the chickpea mixture onto each tortlla, until each tortilla is covered. Divide the chicken evenly amongst the tortillas as well. (Add veggies if using). Grate the Jack cheese over each tortilla. Cover with another tortilla. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, allowing the cheese to melt and the totillas to crisp up (watch they don't burn!). Remove from oven. Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to cut into 4 or 8 wedges per tortilla 'sandwich'. Serve with salsa, sour cream or guacamole.

Guest Recipe - Wraps by my husband

My husband decided to take a bunch of food that I made and combine it into wraps that he declared to be absolute perfection. Here's what he came up with:

First he put some of my hummus on the wrap


Then, he added some tzatziki


Followed by chicken salad mix


And then he wrapped it all up to enjoy!

Summer Greek Feast

This picture gives you the complete wrong impression that my son would actually eat all of this wonderful food. He won't. He'll eat the pita chips and hummus. The rest he will point at and say, 'no like this!'. 'sigh' - one day perhaps.
This Greek themed dinner included hummus, tzatziki, Greek Salad (all of which I've posted before), BBQ chicken skewers and pita chips.

BBQ Greek Chicken Skewers

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup Greek Seasoning

Chop the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Toss everything into a bowl, coating all your chicken pieces well with the seasoning. Thread the chicken cubes onto the skewers. BBQ until the meat is cooked through.



Seasoned Pita Chips

This recipe comes from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry by Janet and Greta Podleski. (Titled Bewedged)

1 1/2 tbsp dried rosemary
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used the shaker, not grated, it was fine)
3 6 inch pita rounds (with pockets)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp each garlic powder and onion powder

Preheat oven to 350*. Crush the dried rosemary with your fingers and combine it with the Parmesan cheese in a small bowl. Set aside. Using a sharp knife or kithen scissors (I used a pizza cutter), cut each pita into 6 equal wedges (I thought these were too big so I cut them into 12). Peel back the layers so you end up with double the wedges. Place the wedges, rough side up, on a large baking sheet. Do not overlap (I ended up using 2 sheets). In another small bowl combine the melted butter and olive oil. Brush the olive oil mixture over all the wedges. Sprinkle wit the cheese/rosemary mixture. Bake on a middle oven rack for about 10 minutes. Watch that they don't burn! Excellent dipped in hummus!

Chicken Salad Wrap

This is one of my favorite easy things to make. I will make a bunch on a Sunday and have wraps ready for the week for lunches. Now that most supermarkets sell cooked rotisserie chickens for a reasonable cost, I'm finding they are a great way to get some delicious meat for recipes needing pre-cooked chicken. I'm putting this post in this week at Deb's Kahakai Kitchen for Souper Sunday (and Salad and Sammie Sunday too). Her blogroll will be up sometime tomorrow. Check it out for some good eats!

1 rotisserie chicken, chopped into chunks
1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
1/2 cup grated cheese (I use sharp cheddar)
2 generous spoonfuls of light mayo (to your liking)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together in a medium mixing bowl. Scoop onto a wrap of your choice and roll and fold. They keep well if wrapped in saran wrap right away and kept refrigerated.

Fiddle-dee-dee

This is my first post request! Chef E posted about fiddleheads a couple of weeks back. Knowing that fiddleheads were a local dish where I live (New Brunswick, Canada) she asked if I would write about them too. So here I go.
I will be honest, I had never heard of fiddleheads until I first came to visit my (then) fiance during his college Christmas Break. We were having a New Years Supper with some people that he had gotten to know and one of the ladies had made a dish from fiddleheads that she had frozen the spring previous. I liked them. Fiddleheads are a kind of fern that is edible. I've eaten them plain (as seen in this post) and cooked in a casserole in place of broccoli. They are available fresh in May, so you have to get them when you see them.

We often see fiddleheads growing wild around here. This picture was taken on a recent hike at the Nature Park. There are so many of them along the path.

This is the fiddlehead statue at the Saint John Arts Centre uptown. Kind of a neat local landmark celebrating both something local as well as something arty (an actual fiddle). This statue is right around the corner from the church my husband works at.
So how to cook fiddleheads? Well, pretty much the same as any other green veggie. Wash them first. Steam them. That's what a did this time around. Some people like to soak them first. I added a little butter and salt and pepper when they were cooked.
I served these with baked potatoes, corn and honey mustard chicken. (mix equal parts dijon mustard and honey - pour over boneless, skinless chicken breast, bake at 350* for 40 minutes, until chicken is cooked through). Nice meal altogether.

Thai inspired dinner with a good friend

I've been wanting to visit my favorite Thai restaurant, Suwanna for a while now. It's a nicer place to go and we usually reserve it for special occasions (the last time we were there was my birthday back in November. We were going to go there for Jonathan's birthday a couple of weeks ago but it was closed (they take a couple of week's holiday each year). So while we went elsewhere for dinner that night, my Thai craving didn't go away. While I make a decent Thai stir-fry, there are other dishes that I love eating but have never made myself. Tonight was the night to search and experiment. Can I make more than a stir-fry? Can I brave a carrot salad and succeed? How about Chicken Satay and peanut sauce?
I did some googling and found a few recipes for each. Some I followed as written, others I tweaked.
1st up was the carrot salad. Carrot salad is something I would never have ordered were it not for the encouragement of my friend Erin on her birthday at Suwanna one year. She raved about it. I thought how good could a pile of shredded carrot be? I am not a huge coleslaw fan to begin with, why would I order something resembling coleslaw at a fancy restaurant? I am so glad I did. This carrot salad was so delicious. I found a highly rated version at Group Recipes and gave it a go.

3 cups grated carrots
Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 cup chopped peanuts
Finely chopped fresh mint for garnish (I didn't have fresh mint so I left this out)

Directions
In a food processor blend all the vinaigrette ingredients except peanuts and mint. (I used a hand blender to mix)
Wash the carrots with a brush and grate into a large bowl.
Add the dressing and marinate for 20 minutes before serving. (ours marinated for closer to an hour)
Garnish with chopped peanuts and mint.

The result was a lovely salad. All adults at the table loved it. I say adults because my kids took one look at their plate of salad, rice and chicken and kind of shook their head. Elijah ate the rice, tried the chicken and salad before rejecting it. Jeremy didn't even get that far. He immediately grabbed the salad into his hands and said, 'No like this' and started to pile it onto my husband's plate. At that point I figured it would be a lot easier (and quieter) to make them each a snack plate supper of cheese and crackers, yogurt cups and dried fruit. It worked!




Thai stir-fry and basamati rice I could probably make in my sleep by now. I made the stir-fry and curry sauce plain (no shrimp or anything) and added more veg than I would if I were making this with a meat. I halved the sauce from my usual as I had only half a can of coconut milk left over from the satay marinade.

Stir-fry

1 tbsp cooking oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped

Stir-fry all of the above over medium low heat until just soft, add the sauce (below) and allow to cook together to let the flavours blend into each other. Add some fresh chopped cilantro just before serving.

Curry Sauce (1/2)

1/2 can coconut milk
1/2 tsp red curry paste
few dashes of fish sauce

Boil altogether in a small saucepan, whisking well.



Chicken Satay

The chicken satay recipe I found at All Recipes.

1/2 cup canned coconut milk
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon yellow curry powder
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into strips
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (did not add)
1 tablespoon chopped unsalted peanuts (did not add)
12 wooden skewers, soaked in water for 15 minutes (we just grilled the chicken without being on skewers)

In a medium bowl, stir together the coconut milk, ground coriander, curry powder, fish sauce, and chili oil. Add the chicken breast strips, and stir to coat. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and up to 2 hours.
Preheat an indoor or outdoor grill for high heat. Thread the chicken strips onto skewers. Discard marinade.
Grill chicken for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until no longer pink. Time will depend on how thick your strips are. Transfer to a serving plate, and garnish with cilantro and peanuts. Serve with peanut sauce for dipping.

*We didn't skewer it and I didn't add the cilantro and peanuts at the end because I already had a couple of dishes with both. Also, when I started the marinade I was out of ground corriander so I used 1 tsp thyme and 1/2 tsp parsley in it instead. I did have to make a grocery run for a couple of things (highly unusual for me, I know) and ended up picking up some ground coriander while I was there and adding it to the marinade when I got home. I think the chicken sat in the marindade for a good 3 hours before we grilled it on the BBQ. I also managed to convince my husband to BBQ in the rain for me for this, which I am very grateful.

This chicken was really tasty. I would definately make it again.



Peanut Sauce

The peanut sauce I had a harder time finding. I read a lot of peanut sauce recipes and never did find one that I thought would be really good. What I ended up doing was basing mine on a recipe I found at All Recipes and then adapting it based on the comments it had received. It made a lot more sauce than I was expecting, and I ended up cooking it in a small saucepan over low-medium heat in order to get the peanut butter to a really smooth consistancy.

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter (I used smooth, natural)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon white sugar (I used brown sugar instead and increased it to 1 tbsp)
2 drops hot pepper sauce (I increased this quite a bit, probably 4 or 5 good shakes, not drops)
1 clove garlic, minced (I increased this to 2 cloves crushed)
1/2 cup water
*I added a little bit of chili oil and threw in some sesame seeds too

In a small bowl, stir together peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, hot pepper sauce and garlic until well mixed. Gradually stir in water until texture is smooth and creamy.
*These directions didn't work for me. I combined everything into a small saucepan and whisked it together over low-medium heat instead.

The results were quite tasty.

Dinner was followed by mango sorbet and chocolate chip cookies. Very tasty.

So a little while back, Mommy Gourmet challenged us to have a meal with a friend (or friends) and write about it. I really wanted to do this, not for the contest of it, but because I really enjoy spending time with my friends. Because of the chaos that is our lives at present I was starting to think that I wouldn't have the time to share an evening with everyone. We did have dinner with friends over the past month, but it's been dinner out, not dinner in.

This morning after church, my husband was chatting with a very good friend of ours, Debbie. As I joined them I kept getting the nudge to invite her over for dinner, so I did. (Hey, when God speaks, I've learned to listen). As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Jonathan said, "I was just thinking that, yes, you should come over for supper tonight." So she agreed.
It has been too long since we've had Debbie over. We don't live close to our family (life having taken us to the complete opposite side of Canada), but we've been fortunate enough to make some friendships here that truly have become more than friendship. I would count Debbie as someone who is more family to us. She is one of Jeremy's godparents. She is someone that we have travelled with. She is someone who has cared for our children when we've gone away (she looked after Elijah when I was labouring with Jeremy). She's one of the first people to know what's going on with us. She prays for us and with us. She's just a really lovely person. Her daughter, Christy is also very close to us and is the first person we call to take care of the boys when we want a night out. Christy was away tonight for the long weekend, so it was just Debbie, which was neat because we often don't get to see Debbie, just Debbie.
The boys were so excited to see her. She is one of their favorite people. You can always tell with the kids who they like and who they don't by how much they show off, and it was full force show off mode tonight.
Most of the night took place in the kitchen (because let's face it, I'm somewhat of a Maritmer now and that's what Maritimers do) and we just talked. We talked while I finished up supper. We talked while we ate. We talked while I cleaned up. We talked during dessert. And we talked over tea (Darjeeling - me) and coffee (Starbucks blend - Jonathan and Debbie) afterwards. Those are some of the best nights. You don't need to plan any entertainment (and really, a two year old running around in his diaper telling you he's naked is entertainment - and hey, there's always his four year old brother doing his best Elvis impersonation using a hockey stick as a guitar too). It's just friends being friends, catching up and being comfortable with each other. There's no pressure to be anyone in particular, just yourself.
Debbie loved the food. She fully admits to being a functional cook. She makes sure that there is always a nutritious meal set out (she and another friend of ours run a place called Jordan House, which boards women who need a place to stay), but she's not one to experiment with food. She had a good laugh that my kids would turn down this 'gourmet meal' for cheese and crackers. She thought the carrot salad was so tasty (never having had Suwanna's to compare to). She asked how I made the stir-fry (and had seconds, always a compliment to the cook). And just seemed to really enjoy the meal. She also had a giggle over me taking pictures of what we were eating, but was intregued enough to want to see the blog after supper.
I don't think you can ask for much more than that. Good friend, good food, good time.



Debbie with Elijah

BBQ Baked Chicken and Beans

While my stomach was out of commission, my boys' were not. My oldest who is 4 has been asking for sloppy joes lately, and while these aren't exactly sloppy joe's, they are a close cousin. This is a great way to use up leftover chicken meat.

Pulled chicken meat (I had 3/4 chicken left over from the crockpot chicken dinner)
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 cans (14 oz) beans in tomato sauce
1/2 cup BBQ sauce of your choice (I used the Chicken and Ribs flavour)
Hamburger Buns

Pre-heat oven to 300*. Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Add the chicken meat, onion, beans and BBQ sauce in and mix together well. Let bake for about an hour and a half. Scoop onto hamburger buns to serve.

My husband changed his a bit for his second helping to make it less kid friendly (a little more kick). He toasted his bun, added some mayonnaise, some Frank's Red Hot Pepper Sauce and some cheddar cheese. He declared them good before, perfect with his additions.

All In One Chicken Dinner

This to me is home cooking. This is my childhood. This was a weekly traditional dish in my house, and it's darned easy. When I was a kid we called it Chicken in a Pot, but that title just doesn't seem kosher to print, so I changed the name.

1 whole chicken (rinsed and dried)
1 onion (chopped)
4 carrots (chopped into medalions)
4 potatoes (chopped into bite sized pieces)
1 tbsp margarine
salt & pepper to taste
dried sage to sprinkle on top

Spray a crockpot with non-stick spray. Coat the chicken with the margarine. Put it in the crockpot. Add the vegetables. Sprinkle everything with a little salt, pepper and sage. Cover and cook on low heat for 8-10 hours. It's that easy.

Greek Chicken Cubes

I like these much better in summer when I can BBQ them on a skewer, but pan frying them is tasty too.

2 chicken breasts, chopped into 1 inch cubes (can use more chicken if serving for more people, usually it's just my husband, myself and our little picky eaters eating so 2 does fine for us)
Greek Seasoning Mix
1 tbps olive oil.

Heat olive oil in frying pan. Coat chicken cubes in seasoning (use enough until nicely coated). Fry chicken in pan, turning often until chicken is cooked (no pink left).