Mango Bell Pepper Chicken

One night I visited a couple who live near my house and when I walked in, I smelled the yummiest, sweet/spicey smell permeating from her kitchen.  It was mangoes.  And peppers.  Does anyone else LOVE mangoes?  I asked for the recipe, and she gave.  And it was very yummy and mango-y and also a little peppery, too!  I improvised a little for what I had, so here is what I ended up with.


Mango Bell Pepper Chicken
adapted from a cute girl in my ward


2 tsp. olive oil
1 onion, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
pinch chili powder
2 small mangoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 Tbsp. vinegar
4-5 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. minced, fresh cilantro (I didn't add this, but I bet it would add a lot)
4 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch squares
1/2 c. cornstarch
oil


In a large skillet, heat the oil and cook the onion and bell pepper 5-7 minutes. Doesn't that look pretty?

Stir in the garlic, allspice and chili powder and cook for 30 seconds.  Why 30 and not 35, or even 37, I don't know.  Just obey it.  Stir in the mango, vinegar, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce and cook it until the mango is soft-about 2 minutes.  Don't over cook your mango here.  I did and it made it a little mushy.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cilantro.  Season with salt and pepper. 

While your sauce is cooking, In a large ziplock bag, put chicken and 1/2 cup cornstarch and coat the chicken evenly.  Fry it in a large frying pan with a little oil until the chicken is no longer pink in the middle. Pour the sauce over the chicken and cook it for a couple of minutes (as you can see, I didn't do that, but I should have).  Serve it over rice.  

Brie en Croute

There are not many recipes that I make more than once, and few that I make often. This happens to be one of them. I have made it 3 or 4 times in the last few months for dinner parties that we’ve had, and everyone seems to have liked it as much as we love it! It’s an indulgence that I take every now and then and enjoy every bite! I don’t know how many calories are in this thing, but if calories were based on yumminess (which, sadly, they tend to be) I would be eating my weight in them.

Please, please try this recipe.

Brie en Croute

Adapted from thesisterscafe.com

Ingredients:

One 8 oz. wheel of Brie cheese (see note below)

one sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed to room temperature

2-3 tbsp. brown sugar

2-3 tbsp. chopped pecans

1-2 tbsp. Craisins

one egg, beaten

Directions:

1. With a knife, gently cut off most of the white rind that is covering the cheese. (You can leave it on if you like, it’s edible. It’s a little easier to cut into if it’s off.) Try not to shave off any of the cheese.

2. Let one sheet of puff pastry thaw at room temperature for about 1 hour before using. Roll out on lightly floured surface and pour brown sugar in the center of the rolled out pastry. Top it with chopped pecans and Craisins and place Brie on top.

3. Fold puff pastry up over the Brie and pinch the seams together to seal completely (you don’t want it to overlap too much to ensure it cooks evenly, and with an 8 oz. wheel of Brie I usually cut off a fair amount of the pastry and use it in a later dish). Flip the whole thing over so the seam side is down.

4. Brush beaten egg over entire wrapped Brie. (Helpful tip from thesisterescafe.com: Be thorough with all the seams- the egg will help seal them so that the cheese doesn’t escape while baking.)

5. Now grab a little of the extra pastry, flatten it out, and using a cookie cutter or a knife, cut out any shape you want to adorn the top. Place on the wrapped Brie and brush with egg.

6. Bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325° and cook for another 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Serve with crackers if desired.

Side note: I use a small wheel of Brie (8 oz.) which serves about 4 people. If you’re having a larger party, you can buy a larger wheel (say 19oz.). You’ll end up using most of the pastry puff to cover the cheese. Double the brown sugar, pecans, and Craisins, and increase the baking time to 25 minutes at 400° and 20 minutes at 300°.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

As I've been telling people about how much I love Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp, I've been surprised by how many of them have said that they don't like rhubarb. Most brought up bad memories of rhubarb pie that their grandmothers made, which to me, rhubarb alone doesn't sound too appetizing either.

So if you've had any bad experiences with rhubarb, disregard them, because this is one of the best summery desserts. The sweetness from the strawberries and the tartness from the rhubarb are the perfect balance. It's such a bright dessert too, perfect for this time of year.

And, as you'll see in the ingredients below, although the pictures don't show the ice cream, it is not optional in this dessert. You must eat it hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, preferably with a cold glass of milk on the side.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups sliced fresh strawberries

3 cups diced rhubarb

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup rolled oats

Vanilla ice cream (not optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

In a large bowl, mix white sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, strawberries, and rhubarb. Place the mixture in a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, butter, and oats until crumbly. You may want to use a pastry blender for this. Crumble on top of the rhubarb and strawberry mixture. (You can use less topping if you prefer more fruit and less crunch; this makes a good amount.)

Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crisp and lightly browned.

Bacon Wrapped Pesto Chicken

This recipe was incredibly easy and incredibly tasty. I made it even easier by not wrapping the chicken in the bacon, but just laying it over the top. The bacon, pesto and chicken flavor combo was great. It was super fast, easy and got rave reviews.

Bacon Wrapped Pesto Chicken

adapted from allrecipes.com

chicken breasts

bacon

basil pesto (I bought some Classico brand pesto, but you can also make your own if you have loads of time, no children hanging on your legs and extra energy that you need to expend)

kosher salt (or regular)

pepper

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Cut your chicken breasts into halves and then lay each piece in the dish and sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper (I used kosher salt). Spread approximately 2 Tbsp of pesto onto each piece of chicken. Gently wrap a piece of bacon around each chicken piece-or lay it across the top like I did.

Bake it at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and the bacon is lightly crisped. I served mine with pasta and alfredo sauce. Enjoy!

Dutch Cream Waffles with Butter Pecan Syrup

Don't these sound divine.  Any recipe that has the word "cream" in it has got to be good, right?  Right.  These waffles had a great fluffiness and texture.  They didn't get soggy at all, but they were not hard.  It was almost like they had a slightly crisp shell and soft, yummy innards (when I say "innards" does that counteract the "cream" effect?  Sorry.)  They weren't sweet, so you'll want something a little sweet to put on them.  I made butter pecan syrup, and while super delicious, not sweet enough. I have changed that for you, but when you are making it, just give it a little taste and see if it has enough sugar for what you like.

Dutch Cream Waffles

from: www.allrecipes.com

2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

6 eggs, separated

2 c. heavy whipping cream

In a large bowl combine the flour and salt.  In another bowl, mix the egg yolks while adding the whipping cream.  Beat for one minute.  Add that to the flour mixture and mix it well, until it is smooth (as smooth as you can get it-it is pretty thick and I could never get mine completely smooth).  In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and then gently fold them into the batter.  Cook them in your waffle iron normally.  You may want to spray it with cooking spray to start out, just in case.


Butter Pecan Syrup
adapted from: www.allrecipes.com


1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. buttermilk (I used a cup of milk and a tablespoon of lemon juice-let it sit for 5 minutes and voila! buttermilk)
1 Tbsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. chopped pecans


Bring the butter, sugar, buttermilk, vanilla, brown sugar and cinnamon to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat.  Once it is simmering, whisk in the baking soda and cook it for 10 seconds before removing it from the heat.  Stir in the pecans and serve it warm over the waffles (or ice cream, or whatever).

Bacon Waffles

Okay, I know we have posted a lot of breakfast foods lately, but I think breakfast is the best meal of the day and should be eaten at all times of the day. (This is coming from a girl who eats cold cereal for dessert.)

I haven't posted in a long time because we lost our camera while on a trip to Costa Rica. We finally got a new camera this week, so I took the opportunity to snap a picture of my Mothers Day waffles.

These waffles aren't my typical, try-a-new-and-exciting-recipe recipe, these are waffles we eat regularly around here. I like to change things up a lot with our meals, so I don't make the same meals over and over again very often. However, we eat these waffles almost weekly.

Matt's family grew up on "bacon waffles", which I thought was a strange idea when he told me about them, but have since come to realize how amazing bacon waffles really are. I am not a huge fan of "lots of MEAT" like my husband is, I prefer sweeter breakfasts (notice the syrup glistening on those pancakes). This recipe is perfect for both of us. Somehow, bacon inside your waffles tastes so much better than bacon next to your waffles; my husband agrees.

Bacon Waffles

Directions:

To make Bacon Waffles, fry up some bacon like normal and pat dry with a paper towel. Meanwhile, stir up your favorite basic waffle recipe (our favorite is below) and preheat your waffle iron.

Rip bacon strips in half and lay2 or 3 halves on the waffle iron and pour a scoop of batter over the bacon. It takes a little less than normal because of the bacon so don't overfill it. Close the lid and wait for the bacon to be encased in a soft, yet crispy golden brown waffle.

Here is the recipe for our favorite waffles that house the crispy bacon. They are light and golden brown and delicious. I got it out of my Stake cook book from Enoch, Utah (my hometown). Thanks Joan Anderson.

Waffles

Ingredients:

2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

4 tsp. baking powder

1 3/4 c. milk

2 eggs, beaten until light

1/3 c. melted shortening or oil

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the milk gradually. Add the beaten eggs and the melted shortening. Stir quickly until dry ingredients are moistened. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Approximately 1 c. of batter makes a full size waffle.

Do you see the bacon peeking through?

I could probably eat these everyday.

Crunchy Garlic Chicken

The other day I was looking through old recipes, searching for something I hadn't made in while and I found this little gem.  I think I got it out of a food magazine years ago (when I say that, it sounds like I'm 60).  I had forgotten about it, but it is such a delicious, easy way to use chicken.  I was so glad I found it again!

Crunchy Garlic Chicken

1/4 c. butter, melted

2 Tbsp. milk

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. garlic powder (use a little more if you like garlic-this wasn't quite enough for me)

2 c. cornflakes, crushed

3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (I used a little less than a Tbsp. of dried parsley)

1/2 tsp. paprika

6 chicken breasts

Heat your oven to 425 degrees.  Spray a 9X13 pan with cooking spray.  In a shallow dish, mix half of your butter, milk, salt and garlic powder.  In another dish, mix the crushed cereal, parsley and paprika.  Dip the chicken into the milk mixture, then coat it with the cereal mixture and place it in the pan.  Drizzle the remaining butter over the top of the chicken.  Bake it for 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. 

If you don't have cornflakes, any crunchy cereal would probably work (well, not any cereal.  I'd stay away from Cap'n Crunch or Fruity Pebbles).  Once I used Honey Bunches of Oats.  I'm serious!  And it was yummy!  It was a little sweet with the garlic and I liked it.