My daughter found this recipe in The Disney Princess Cookbook and she was delighted when I ran out to get some whipped-cream for the dessert she suggested. As per the original directions, we substituted Greek vanilla yogurt for the pudding but then we also added some chocolate granola on top. It was beautiful and delicious but I forgot to snap a photo of our creations.
Directions
Spoon a little pudding into the bottoms of two parfait glasses.
Top the pudding with a layer of fresh berries, followed by a big dollop of whipped cream.
Repeat step 1.
Add one more layer of pudding.
Top each parfait with a small blob of whipped cream garnished with 1 or 2 fresh berries.
Cut potatoes into quarters. Toss potatoes with 1 TBSP oil (dbl for 4ppl) on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in the middle of the oven, until golden-brown, 25-28 min.
Prep & Cook Beef
While potatoes roast; strip 1 TBSP thyme leaves (dbl for 4ppl) off stems. Roughly chop parsley. Peel, then mince or grate garlic.
Heat a large pot over medium-high heat.
When hot, add 1 tsp oil (dbl for 4ppl), then beef. Cook, breaking up beef into smaller pieces, until no pink remains, 4-5 min.
Season with salt and pepper. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beef to a large bowl. Discard any remaining beef fat in the pot.
Cook Mirepoix
Reduce heat to medium, then add 1 TBSP butter (dbl for 4ppl), mirepoix, thyme and half the garlic to the same pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mirepoix softens slightly, 3-4 min. Add beef and any juices from the bowl. Sprinkle with flour. Cook, stirring often, until flour coats veggies and beef, 1-2 min.
Cook Stew
Add broth concentrates, vinegar, soy sauce and 2 cups water (db| for 4ppl) to the pot.
Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring together, until stew thickens slightly and veggies are tender, 10-12 min.
Make Garlic Toast
While stew cooks, combine remaining garlic and 1 TBSP oil (double for 4 people) in a small bowl.
Cut each roll in half lengthwise. Place rolls cut-side up on another baking sheet and brush with garlic oil. Toast in the top of the oven, until lightly golden-brown, 5-6 min.
(TIP: Keep an eye on your toast so that it does not burn!)
Finish and Serve
Add roasted potatoes to the stew and stir to combine. Divide stew between bowls. Serve with garlic toast alongside. Sprinkle parsley over both the stew and garlic toasts.
Takes 20 minutes. Serves 4. I usually double the sauce.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup unprocessed natural creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons hot chili oil (2 for moderate spicyness — add more to taste)
3 tablespoons honey
4 chicken breasts
2 cups chopped broccoli
3 green onions
2 shredded carrots
1 (14 ounce) package Thai rice noodles
Direction for Sauce:
Combine peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, oils, vinegar and honey in sauce pan. Simmer, covered, on low heat for 5-10 minutes or until hot, stirring occasionally.
Directions for Chicken:
Cut and sauté chicken breasts over olive oil, adding vegetables when chicken is almost finished cooking. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Directions for Noodles:
Cook rice noodles in water with salt, according to package instructions.
Serve chicken/vegetables over noodles with sauce poured generously on top.
From justataste.com comes a delicious potsticker recipe but I’ve rewritten it here because I want to read recipes without all the unnecessary jabbering and pop-ups covering the screen.
1 pound ground chicken (See Kelly’s Notes)
1/4 cup sliced scallions, green and white parts
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
25 round wonton wrappers
Vegetable oil, for pan-frying
How to make the dipping sauce:
In a medium bowl, whisk together red pepper flakes, rice wine vinegar, scallions, sesame oil, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and sugar. That’s it; set sauce aside.
How to make the potstickers:
In a medium bowl, stir together garlic, ginger, ground chicken, sesame oil, scallions, and soy sauce until well combined.
To assemble potstickers, arrange wonton wrappers on a work surface and fill a small bowl with water. Spoon two teaspoons of the chicken mixture into centre of each wrapper. Dip your finger in the water then slide it around the edges of each wonton wrapper. Fold wrappers in half and pinch pleats along the top. Press bottoms of the potstickers to create flat bottoms.
Add two tablespoons of vegetable oil to a large pan on medium-high heat. Coat bottom of the pan by swirling the oil, then add a single layer portion of the potstickers and sear bottoms until they’re crunchy and golden brown.
After potstickers are browned on the bottom, add ¼ cup water to pan and cover. Steam the potstickers until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Remove lid and continue cooking while swirling the potstickers in the pan until all water is evaporated.
Transfer potstickers to paper towel-lined plate then repeat searing and steaming process with remaining potstickers.
2 tablespoons (30 ml) melted butter, or neutral oil
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 small scoop of ice cream or 1 or 2 teaspoons heavy whipping cream to serve
Add the dry ingredients to the mug and stir:
Place flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, and cinnamon in a microwave safe ceramic mug. Stir well with a fork or spoon and break up any clumps.
Add the wet ingredients and stir:
Add the butter or oil, water, and vanilla to the cup and stir until the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps.
Cook in microwave:
Heat on high power until the mixture is cooked through, about a 1 minute and 40 seconds for a 1000 watt microwave, or 1 minute 10 seconds on a 1650 watt microwave1.
Top with ice cream:
Let cool for a minute and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a teaspoon or two of whipping cream poured over.
1. You may have to experiment and adjust the time for less or more powerful microwaves. If you don’t know the power level on your microwave, start with 60 seconds and increase until the brownie is done. It should still be moist when cooked through.
Update: I tried this recipe with my grade five class and a few of them complained that the chocolate was a bit strong / bitter. I think they may not have been careful about stirring thoroughly but also they may not have a taste for lots of cocoa. I added some sugar on top and they liked that.
I’ve been having fun with time-lapse videos lately. Here’s one of me making Chicken Taco Salad from this evening. All ingredients can be substituted as per what you have and how much you like it. This recipe was basically me just eyeballing it.
Recipe:
two large chicken breasts
1/2 cup corn (I used corn on the cob)
a head of romaine lettuce
1 tomato
1 avocado
1 cucumber
a couple handfuls of nacho chips
some grated cheese
a couple dollops of plain yogurt
an equal amount of your favourite salsa
Cook chicken until brown and reaching an internal temperature of at least 74°C. Mix the rest of the ingredients and serve.
Ingredients
8 cups puffed wheat
2 cups Corn Flakes
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup white sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Combine butter, corn syrup, sugars and cocoa powder in a heavy saucepan.
Bring to a boil. (Very important)
Remove from heat and add vanilla.
Pour over puffed wheat
Mix well and press into a greased 9 x 13 pan.
