Tortilla Soup

Deep Dish Quiche

I haven’t been in the mood to cook but on Sunday, I decided that I wanted to make something I normally wouldn’t make, and something “fall-like”. I landed on a Deep Dish Mushroom, Bacon, Gruyere Quiche recipe from “Milk Street” magazine.

It took basically all evening and since I let it refrigerate overnight, we didn’t eat it until today. It was delicious! I added chopped butternut squash for a little sweetness and I’m glad I did.

You can find the recipe in the May/June issue of the magazine.

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Spicy Honey Baked Chicken Sandwich

We had leftover chicken breasts in the refrigerated and I was spent the morning deciding on how I wanted to cook them up. I finally landed on a sandwich inspired by most favorite chicken sandwich ever! The DeFrisco chicken sandwich in Eugene, OR. When I was in college, I would frequent the DeFrisco cart, which was parked outside of the University of Oregon bookstore, frequently. Just thiking about it, almost 35 years later, still makes my mouth water! It was asian/Thai in flavor, but it was more of a fusion of different Southeast Asian culture. Delicious.

For my DeFrisco inspired sandwich, I wanted a sweet and spicy marinade. After reading through some recipes, I decide to use the “Honey Sriracha Baked Chicken” recipe from Diethood.com. I followed the recipe pretty much as written, expected I used 1/2 Sriracha and 1/2 Sambal for the spicy component.

The DeFrisco cart topped their sandwich with a Thai(?) slaw, so I remembered that one of my favorite chefs had a Peanut Satay Slaw recipe, so I decided to use her recipe (minus the cruncy peanuts) for the slaw.

To assemble the sandwich, I toasted an Onion Bun and spread Hoisin sauce ont buns. I then put the chicken breast on the bun, drizzeled some of sauce from the baking dish on the chicken, then topped it with a generous amount of cole slaw. Then I topped it off with the other bun. While not the same flavor profile as the DeFrisco sandwich, it was very delicious! The Sambal/Sriracha mixture gave the sandwich a nice kick in the pants!

I’m glad the sandwich turned out well and with the leftover chicken, I can use the chicken to make additional dishes.

Hawaiian Style Somen Salad

One of my favorite summer meals is a refreshing Somen Salad. This is a Hawaiian Style version with char siu and ham. I accompany it with a side serving of Takuwan (Pickled Daikon radish). It’s so Ono (delicious)!.

Vietnamese Chicken Curry

“Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street” September/October magazine contained an interesting recipe blending Indian and Vietnamese flavors into a chicken curry. It turned out very flavorful, however, I think I added too much Ginger as the Ginger flavor was very pronounced. Next time, less Ginger and less Garlic (I should have used smaller heads).

Throwback Thursday Dinner – Sloppy Joes!

Or is it “Sloppy Joe’s”? And why is it named Sloppy Joes? Who’s this messy Joe person? I really should look this up. I mean, it’s important information to know, correct?

Our favorite Joe recipe is one from Ree Drummond, aka, The Pioneer Women. It’s simple to make, yet very tasty. It only takes 30 minutes from prep to table. If you don’t have buns, then well, that’s your problem and now, your 30 minute Sloppy Joe will take 2 hours because you will have to go to the supermarket and come on, now, who can go “in and out” of a supermarket in less than 10 minutes. You have to browse the aisles and pick up a bunch of items that you really don’t need!

Anyhoo, here’s the recipe if you want a throwback to small kid time meal. Sloppy Joes/Sloppy Joe’s.

https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a11699/sloppy-joes/

Mac Salad.

We are having Hamburgers for supper. Hubs wanted Hawaiian Mac Salad as a side, so, I made some. We didn’t have potatoes, so it’s not my Grandma’s Potato Mac Salad. Instead, I made what I call restaurant style Mac salad.

And to my dismay, I did not have macaroni in the pantry! I had to improvise and use the salad pasta, or what I call mini tube pasta.

Add-ins were simple: Grated carrots, peas, and chopped onions.

Once the pasta has been cooked, drain it, add to a bowl along with 2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar and the add-ins.

The “Sauce” is simply 2 – 2-1/2 cups cups Mayo, 1/4 cup milk, and a little sugar.

Mix the sauce into the pasta, stir it up, add salt and pepper to taste, then chill in the fridge. The longer, the better.

And that’s it. No hard boiled egg on this version. So Ono and such a comfort dish, especially if you’re from Hawai’i!

Pork Fried Rice prep work. Dishes, dishes, dishes!

We had leftover pork so I decided to make pork fried rice.

There is a lot of prep work before making the fried rice but it is kind of therapeutic chopping all the vegetables and garlic, and measuring out all the liquids.

Once you get going you really get going and when it’s all over, this is the aftermath. Look at all those dishes.

But the end result was totally worth it!

Tonight’s version was basically using leftover and extra items in the fridge; Pork, Onions, Carrots, Peas, Green Onion, Jalapeno Peppers, and Eggs.

The sauce was primarily soy sauce, and splashes of oyster sauce, sesame oil, and Xioaxing wine.

What do you put in your pork fried rice?

Lemon Lavender Earl Grey Cookies

I took a Lavender Earl Grey cookie recipe and added Lemon zest and the juice from half of the lemon for a fresh, tasty cookie.

Cinnamon Pepper Brownies

Dessert! This is my favorite hack to jazz up boxed brownie mix.  Take your regular box brownie mix, follow the mix instructions, then add a smidge of cream, a tsp or more of Saigon cinnamon and about 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper and smoked jalepeno pepper. Eat it warm and you’ll faster taste the cinnamon, and then you’ll feel the warmth from the papers at the back of your throat! Add some whipped cream to balance out the chocolate. Delicious!