- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chili garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups water
- 8 oz. uncooked brown rice noodles
- 1 lb. raw chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
- 1-2 red bell peppers, sliced thinly
- peanuts, green onions, and/or sesame seeds for garnish
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Sticky Noodles
Thursday, July 1, 2021
Instant Pot Creamy Sausage Pasta
I am trying to not overheat the house and feed a family of 6. Did I mention our boys are now 15-20? They can eat. I wanted to use the Instant Pot and not have mushy pasta. I took the procedure and inspiration from onehappyhousewife.com. I do not keep jarred marinara on hand but I do have crushed tomatoes.
1 lb. hot Italian sausage links, casing removed
1 sweet onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 baby bell peppers, diced
2 tbsp. Italian herb blend
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup red wine
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 lb. short sturdy dry pasta (I had cavatappi, but penne was what onehappyhousewife used)
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesan
On the sauté setting in the Instant Pot, cook the sausage, breaking it up into small pieces. Add in the onion and bell peppers. Season with salt and pepper When the meat is no longer pink, add the garlic and Italian herbs and cook for 30 seconds or so. Add the wine to deglaze the pan. When the wine has reduced (by half) add the chicken broth and water. Top with the dry pasta and then the crushed tomatoes. Do not stir the pasta in, but try to make sure it is submerged by pressing it down if necessary. Use manual pressure for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, allow to naturally release for 2 minutes and then quick release. Stir in the cream and parmesan, adjust the seasoning, and serve with additional parmesan.
Monday, June 28, 2021
Hummus for Us
Our house has been going through a lot of hummus in the last year. It has become a great to go snack/lunch item. Serve with veggies, crackers, pretzels...whatever you like. The favorite around here is the thin pretzel crisps. We've been tweaking recipes and combining what we like. We have tried the Ultimate Hummus from Cook's Illustrated, Hummus for Real from Alton Brown, and the Best Smooth Hummus on Serious Eats. Each has its own qualities that we like. This is our combination of these recipes with a little help from the Instant Pot.
Hummus for Us
1 lb. dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 head garlic, peeled
water
zest and juice of one lemon
1/3 cup (generous measure) tahini
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch of cayenne (optional)
dash of garlic (to taste)
Start by putting the chickpeas, baking soda, and peeled head of garlic in the instant pot. Fill up to the 6 cup mark with water. Let stand for several hours or over night. Seal the instant pot and cook on the bean setting on high for 60 minutes. Allow to release naturally. Put the chickpeas and garlic in a food processer, reserving the cooking liquid. Process to break up the chickpeas. Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Add the cooking liquid and process to combine. We find that the hummus gets really thick in the refrigerator, so we add all of the liquid. If you prefer, add less. Give it a try and see if you need a bit more salt or some garlic powder. The flavor comes together as it sits in the fridge. Enjoy!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Pork Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 1-1 1/2 lbs thin cut boneless pork loin chops, cut into long strips
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 4 Tbsp peanut oil or other high smoke point oil (canola, rice bran, or grape seed)
- 2 cups cauliflower and broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces
- 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 8 scallions/green onions, sliced into half inch pieces
- splash of soy sauce (optional)
Method
Put the soy sauce, sugar, and corn starch into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the pork strips to the bowl with the marinade and toss to coat completely. Set aside for at least 10 minutes.
Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large sauté pan on high heat. When the oil is hot (shimmering but not smoking) add the cauliflower. After about 2 minutes move the cauliflower to the outside of the pan and add the broccoli. After another 2 minutes move the broccoli to the outside and add the garlic slices and stir-fry until they begin to turn brown at the edges, about 30 seconds. Add the pork strips and stir-fry until the pork changes color, about 90 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the sliced green onions and continue to stir-fry for another minute, or until the green onions wilt. Add about 1/4 cup water to deglaze the pan. Add a splash of soy sauce if desired.
Serve with rice if desired.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Herbed Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon each dried basil, oregano, thyme and rosemary, crushed
- 3-1/4 cups flour
- 2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- Additional butter, melted
- Coarse salt, optional
Directions
- In a bread machine pan, place the water, butter, egg, sugar, salt,
- seasonings, flour and yeast in order suggested by manufacturer.
- Select dough setting(check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to
- 2 tablespoons of water or flour if needed).
- When cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface.
- Divide dough into 16 portions; shape each into a ball. Place 2 in.
- apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place
- until doubled, about 30 minutes.
- Bake at 375° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with
- butter and sprinkle with coarse salt if desired. Remove from pans to
- wire racks. Yield: 16 rolls.
Tacos & Beans
Friday, March 2, 2012
Chocolate Pie
I used my standard pie crust, although I have been tweaking that one too. Sorry Great-Grandma Genevieve. This was always a never-fail pie crust, but over the last several years it hasn't rolled as easily as I remembered (darn Crisco changing the formula). So a while ago I tried doing the crust with lard instead of shortening. It rolled like a dream the way I remembered it working when my mom made the crust when I was little. Over the last few years I have had to add extra flour because it was too sticky and it just didn't roll well. It was much more apt to tear. With lard all my troubles went away. The texture was flaky like we wanted. The only drawback was it tasted a bit oily. Today I only had about 1/3 lard for the recipe and used shortening for the rest. The crust worked better than with just shortening and the taste was much more to our liking. I think half and half would work well for taste and ease of use.
Minny’s Chocolate Pie
Ingredients:
9-inch pie crust, unbaked
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tablespoons sweet butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
Whipped cream, for serving
Directions
Preheat oven to 450°.
In a bowl, whisk sugar with cocoa powder, butter, eggs, evaporated milk, vanilla and salt until smooth.
Pour filling into pie shell and bake for about 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350° and bake another 30 minutes or until filling is set around edges but a little jiggly in the center. Cover the crust with strips of foil halfway through baking, if desired.
Transfer pie to rack and let cool completely before cutting into wedges.
Serve with whipped cream.
Minny's Chocolate Pie can be refrigerated overnight.