Try it Tuesday

Lemon and Garlic Chicken with Roasted Veggies and Yogurt Sauce
This has a Greek name, but I dare not type it for fear of horrible misspelling! My recipe is a modification of a recipe I found in Cooking Light magazine many years ago. It's a staple in our house.

Ingredients
Chicken Tenders
Veggies for roasting - whatever you like. We use zucchini, summer squash, mushroom, red peppers and onions.
3 Lemons
1 Cucumber
1 Head of garlic
Olive Oil
Oregano
Salt and Pepper
1 Large container plain fat free yogurt.

At least the day before:
Strain your yogurt in a cheese cloth over a colander and bowl (to catch the drippings). I like to leave a good 24 hours for straining. If you don't have cheese cloth, you can use coffee filters or even a thick paper towel. Save the yogurt container in the refrigerator to mix and store the sauce the following day.
If you have Greek Yogurt available, you can skip this whole step and just use that. It's much thicker and will stand up to the ingredients that make the sauce.

Day of meal
Sauce Chop whole head of garlic for marinade and yogurt sauce. I do this in a mini food processor to make my job a little easier. Reserve 3 teaspoons of chopped garlic for yogurt sauce. Add three teaspoons of chopped garlic to saved yogurt container. Put remaining garlic in marinade. Peel and seed the cucumber. Chop the cucumber finely (I coarsely chop it and add it to my food processor. Add this finely chopped cucumber to the yogurt container. Zest one lemon and add it to the yogurt container. Squeeze the zested lemon into the container, then add the strained yogurt. Add a dash of salt. Do this the morning of the meal, if time allows. It will give the sauce more time to develop its flavors.

Marinate the Chicken.
In a food storage bag, squeeze two whole lemons and toss in the lemon halves. Add all but 3 teaspoons of chopped garlic, a few tablespoons of olive oil, a dash of salt and fresh ground pepper to the bag. Add water to the marinade to make it go further. Then add the chicken tenders. You should marinate for at least 4 hours.
When ready to cook, pull chicken out of marinade and discard marinade.
Add a small amount of olive oil to a skillet. Brown both sides of chicken, then cook thoroughly.

Roast Veggies
Chop veggies into large chunks. Spread evenly on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Turning once.





Plate and serve with rice or pita bread. Delish!

In the warmer months, or for those of you blessed enough to live in warm climates, this can be done as kebobs on the grill. If you do it on the grill, add tomatoes - yum!

Try it Tuesday

File this one away for next year...

As many of you know, Little Man is allergic to eggs. A great deal of energy, on my part, is spent finding egg alternative. Easter is no exception to that. We can't decorate real eggs - if they break it would be a very bad thing for him. This year, I ordered some egg craft kits from Oriental Trading Company and we made rice krispies treats and molded them into plastic eggs. The Easter Bunny hid everything and Timmy had a blast.

Next year, when looking for a fun treat on Easter...try molding rice krispies treats into plastic eggs. It's fun and adorable!

Try it Tuesday

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies - egg free

As many of you know, my little man is allergic to eggs and all nuts and seeds. I am often on the look-out for egg free baking recipes. Below is a recipe using an egg substitute. I also used Giradeli Chocolate Chips, as they are the only ones on the market that are not manufactured in a facility that manufactures nuts.

They were/are really quite good (not chewy, but crispy). I am super happy with the results. Timmy helped make them, which really means he stood on a chair and turned the kitchen aide on and off for me. Of course, he likes to turn it on when my rubber spatula is scraping the sides, so I have smartened up and started unplugging it when we turn it off! He seems to be a big fan of cookie dough - go figure??? A child of mine liking cookie dough??? It must be genetic!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (eggless)

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 tblsp water

3 tblsp canola oil

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups oats

bag of chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. In a small bowl, combine the water, oil and baking powder (this is the egg substitute). Add the egg substitute and vanilla to the butter and sugar, and beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to the butter mixture. Beat all well. Once thouroughly mixed, add oats and chocolate chips. Beat until combined.

Bake on parchment paper in oven. I used a small scoop from pampered chef for my cookies - they took about 16 minutes in the oven.

Delish (to borrow a rachel ray-ism).

Try it Tuesday

Egg Free Brownies
I found this recipe in a recent issue of Family Fun Magazine and changed it up a bit to suit what I wanted. It's a quick and easy homemade brownie that happens to work for my egg allergic son. They have a different texture to them, but work as a good substitute for the real thing!

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips
4 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 (14-ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk

Begin by melting the butter in a pot, then add the sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips. Stir until just melted.






Remove from heat and add the graham cracker crumbs. Stir until combined.







Pour batter into a greased 9 inch square pan. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 25 minutes. Let them cool, then slice and enjoy.

Try it Tuesday

Make your own Taco Bar

Brown the ground meat of your choice (I used ground pork b/c I had it on hand) with garlic, salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin. Do this to your taste. None of the spices are spicy hot, so don't shy away from them. If you have not used cumin before, use it lightly to see if you like it - it has a smoky flavor to it.



Rather than buying pre-fab hard taco shells (which, being a cali girl almost floored me when hubs suggested that we have tacos and he bought the shells - I had never known anyone that bought or used them. My mom always fried her own and they were delish), buy some corn tortillas and warm them on a skillet - no oil required. It takes about 30 seconds on each side. You can use a spatula to turn them, but I use my fingers. Sometimes, when the hubs and I are feeling adventurous, we make our own tortillas using corn flour, water and a tortilla press - they are so good!

Wrap the warmed tortilla in foil. I am lucky enough to have a tortilla keeper for keeping mine warm, but if you don't have a cali source (like my mom who sent me this warmer she bought in the local grocery store for a few bucks) foil works well. You just want to make sure they stay warm and moist.




Finally, cut up your favorite toppings for your tacos. In this case, I used lettuce (all I had was the fancy kind, but normally I would use iceburg), tomatoes, avocados, onions and cheese (if you can find Mexican queso fresco in your grocery store - I recommend it - nice and mild soft cheese). I also use taco sauce for my tacos. In this case we used red and green sauce (the green sauce is nice and tangy - made from tomatillos - again, delish). Sometimes, if I am feeling ambitious or for a party, I make homemade salsa for the tacos, but that's a post for another Try it Tuesday.

Pass all the things around the table - do it family style, making one taco at a time. It's worth it - try something different this week.

Tags:

Try it Tuesday

Here's something different for Try it Tuesday. Try having the hubs cook dinner! I have a terrible cold that has traveled to my chest and is making me miserable. The hubs took pity on me and cooked Sunday night (I will give credit to him for cooking last night too). He actually enjoys cooking and is pretty good at it. Somewhere along the line of being with me for 9 years, he stopped cooking. Why did that happen? Don't get me wrong, he still grills food in the summer time. It's the day to day that he stopped doing. Having said that...I will say that he picked it up again for a few weeks when I went back to work. I would come home and he would already be there working on dinner; this was a great turn of events. Like most good things, however, that came to an end too.

Anyway, the Try it Tuesday this week is for making your own take out. The hubs is on a Fried Rice kick, so he gave it a go.

Cold Sticky Rice (servings to cook should equal amount of people you are serving - he did two servings). the rice needs to be cooked and cooled. I never believed it before, but now I know - it doesn't stick to the wok. After many failed attempts at buying the right kind of rice (we tried short grain, long grain, jasmine, basmati....), I finally bought the rice in the white paper sack in the Asian food section - oh what a difference - it's perfect for any kind of Asian food!
Garlic - to your taste
2 Onions (white) - chopped - we live a little big to keep the sweet taste.
Onions - green for garnish
1 carrot - finely diced
1 celery - finely diced
1/2 orange bell pepper - finely diced (we happened to have this in the fridge, otherwise it wouldn't have been used)
1/2 cup frozen peas - defrosted
2 pieces chicken breast - cut into bit size pieces
soy sauce - to your own taste
oil - enough to saute

Pre-heat the wok over high heat. Add the oil, garlic and soy sauce, stirring constantly so as not to burn garlic. Add chicken and cook 3/4 of the way. Add the onions and saute until soft. Add the carrots, celery and any other non cooked veggie you choose. Cook until veggies are soft. Add the rice and more soy sauce. Heat the rice through. Add the peas and green onions. Stir until peas are heated through.

Some people add an egg at the end by making a well in the center and scrambling the egg in the well, then stirring the cooked egg throughout the rice. With the little man's egg allergy, we skip that part.

It's yummy and simple to do. The most difficult part is chopping the vegetables.

Try it Tuesday

Kid's Party Cake
1 box cake mix, prepared according to directions.
Bake 1 9 inch round and 12 cupcakes according to directions.
2 containers of white frosting - do not used whipped frosting.
4 different food colors - use the gel or paste colors, not the liquid (it thins the icing too much)
Skittles sorted into 4 different colors.

Mix the frosting colors. Choose colors to match the party theme or taste of the child your making the cake for. Prepare 4 different colors of frosting. Keeping in mind there is one color for the 9 inch round, one color for seven cupcakes, one color for 4 cupcakes and one color for one cupcake.

Frost the 9 inch round.
Frost the 7 cupcakes.
Place one cupcake in the center of the 9 inch round cake, then place the remaining 6 cupcakes around the center cupcake (making sure the sides touch on each cupcake - tight circle).
Place the next 4 cupcakes on top of the seven.
Place the final cupcake on top of the 4.
Decorate with skittles to your liking.
Add candles - I used the spiral candles for a little extra something.

The cake is a big hit with the younger crowd and other parents are usually impressed.

Below, I posted the same cake with a Spiderman theme for a Spiderman party. All the cupcakes and cake are white. I made webs on each cupcake with gray icing. I drew a bullseye with icing on each cupcake, then pulled a toothpick from the center out to make it look like a web. I topped each cupcake with a small plastic spider (easily found in any party store). Once the cake was put together, I dusted the whole thing with clear edible glitter. It made the cake sparkle like dew on a morning spiderweb. It was very cool and made for a very happy 5 year old and his mommy, who happens to be a good friend of mine.

Try it Tuesday - Bailey's Irish Cream Cake

If you want a cake to impress them all, try this one! My family has been making this cake for over 15 years. It came to us by a friend of the family who offered it to my Dad one holiday season. I can't remember if it was during a secret santa or an auction at work, but my dad was the lucky recipient. I do believe the woman came up with this recipe on her own. It's a winner and a crowd pleaser. try it for people once, and it will be the most requested dessert you take to a party.

Ingredients:
1 yellow cake mix, baked according to package directions for 2 9 inch round pans
2 pints heavy cream
2 Cans rolled wafer cookies - There are several brands out there. The most readily available at grocery stores are the Pepperidge Farm Pirouette cookies.
1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons of Bailey's Irish Cream
powdered sugar to taste
1 tsp vanilla
large chocolate bar
decorative, wired ribbon

With an electric mixer, beat 1 pint of heavy cream, halfway to whipped cream. At the half way point, add 1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream and powdered sugar to taste (I added about a 1/3 of a cup). Continue whipping the cream until it is stiff and the consistency of whipped cream.

Slice each round in half using unflavored dental floss (easiest way to slice a layer of cake in half).

Place one layer of cake on cake plate, cut side up. Drizzle layer with 1 tablespoon of Bailey's Irish Cream.

Repeat the process (drizzle with 1 tablespoon of Bailey's and top with whipped cream) on 2 more layers - a total of 3 layers should have the Bailey's drizzle and the Bailey's whipped cream. Don't forget to place the cake layers cut side up.

Clean out mixing bowl and make another batch of whipped cream, this time without the Bailey's. Whip the cream half way to whipped cream, then add powdered sugar to taste and a teaspoon of vanilla. Then beat the rest of the way to whipped cream.
Place the top layer, cut side down, on the top of cake.
Cover with fresh whipped cream (do not drizzle with Bailey's Irish Cream).
Cover the sides of the cake with fresh whipped cream.
While you want the cake to be smooth, do not worry about crumbs showing in the whipped cream - they will be covered.
Line the outside edge of cake with rolled wafer cookies, placing each cookie side-by-side. The cookies will be taller than the cake, which is okay.










Tie a wired ribbon around outside of cake and make a large bow. There are plenty of ribbon choices out there. Use whatever works for the cake's occasion.










Finally, shave chocolate curls with a vegetable peeler and add to the top of the cake. You should do enough chocolate curls to come to the top of the cookies.

This works best with room temperature chocolate. Just hold the chocolate in your hands. You'll find as the chocolate warms up in your hands the curls become easier to do.

Refrigerate the cake for several hours before serving. I typically refrigerate overnight.
This might be a time consuming cake, but it is so worth the effort. Since Christmas is past, might I suggest you make it for your love at Valentine's Day or make it for Easter. We have friends that are newly engaged. When they get around to having an engagement party, my plan is to make it for them and have the cake plate (a new one, of course) serve as the present for the bride that is a newly emerging baker.