General Tso’s Chicken

16 May, 20138 July, 2014Marissa

This is one of the recipes that has earned me the title “Red-Headed Chinese Chef” here at home. The original recipe came from a forwarded e-mail, and I don’t know the exact source. It’s one of the more involved Chinese recipes I make and takes at least an hour to prepare (count on longer for the first time making it), but it’s well worth the effort. We mainly cook this for special occasions — it is the dish my mom requested for Mother’s Day.

The most important step for this dish is frying the chicken. You want to make sure the breading is sticky, almost to the point where you can’t stir the chicken/breading mixture. That will make for a nice crispy coating that won’t get soggy once you add the sauce.

General Tso’s Chicken

Chicken/Breading

3 lbs. chicken meat (this recipe tastes best with thigh meat, but chicken breast works as well)

¼ cup soy sauce

1 tsp pepper

1 egg

1 cup tapioca starch (corn starch will work as well)

Cut chicken into medium-size chunks. In medium bowl, mix chicken, ¼ cup soy sauce and pepper. Stir in egg. Add 1 cup tapioca starch and mix until chicken pieces are coated evenly. Chicken should be sticky with coating. If breading seems too thin, add more starch.

Add a little vegetable oil to help separate chicken pieces. Divide chicken into small quantities and deep−fry until crispy.

Sauce

½ cup tapioca starch

¼ cup water

1 ½ tsp. minced garlic

1 ½ tsp. minced ginger root

¾ cup sugar

½ cup soy sauce

¼ cup rice vinegar

¼ cup rice wine

1½ cup hot chicken broth

For sauce, mix cup tapioca starch with water. Add garlic, ginger, sugar, ½ cup soy sauce, vinegar, wine, and chicken broth. Stir until sugar dissolves. Refrigerate until needed.

Place a small amount of oil in wok and heat until wok is hot. Add 4-10 hot peppers and stir−fry briefly. (The number of peppers depends on how hot you want the dish and the type of peppers you are using. Lately, I’ve been using frozen cyan peppers, and I need 4-6.)

Add desired vegetables and stir-fry. (I use broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. Some General Tso’s Chicken is served without vegetables, others with only broccoli and water chestnuts. It’s an individual choice.) Stir sauce and add to wok. Place chicken in sauce and cook until sauce thickens. Serve with hot rice.

Super Easy Crepes

8 May, 20138 July, 2014Marissa

I woke up this morning with the intention of writing freelance articles, cleaning the closet, and working on a paper quilling wedding present – with no time for a blog post. But when I opened a Mother’s Day Tracfone flyer that came in the mail yesterday, I was greeted by a recipe for “Yummy Crepes.” I wasn’t sure how good a recipe that came from Tracfone could be, but they looked so good that I tried it and it tasted so good I have to share it.

The crepes only took about 20 minutes from start to finish. We filled them with strawberry and raspberry jam and sprinkled them with powdered sugar. I think they would taste really good with fresh fruit, but we didn’t have any.

Yummy Crepes

1 cup all-purpose flour (I replaced ¼ cup of this with white whole wheat flour)

2 eggs

½ cup milk

½ cup water

¼ teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons melted butter

Whisk together flour and eggs. Gradually add in milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter then beat until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled frying pan or griddle over medium high heat. Use approximately ¼ cup for each crape and pour on griddle (this made 9 crepes for me).

Cook crepe until the bottom is light brown. Turn and cook the other side.

Roll up or fold the crepe with fresh fruit, drizzle on some chocolate, or sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve hot.

Applesauce Cake With Cinnamon Frosting

4 May, 20138 July, 2014Marissa

I’ve been writing two blog posts, but I decided on this one for today, since it’s been a while since I posted anything about food (and I know about half my subscribers are more interested in cooking than commentary). We opened a can of our homemade applesauce yesterday that tasted a bit scorched, so I decided to bake with it. Hence, the Spiced Applesauce Cake will be coming to church with us today and shared at the snack table. I confess, I ate some for breakfast this morning. It tastes good warm, but it’s even better after cooling overnight.

Spiced Applesauce Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Frosting (makes enough for 2-3 cakes)

5 oz cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8- or 9-inch square or round cake pan (alternately, a double-batch can be baked in a 13”x9” baking dish).

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Beat butter, brown sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in applesauce. At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just combined, then stir in walnuts (if using).

a piece of applesauce cake cinnamon cream cheese frosting — a piece of Applesauce Cake

Spread batter evenly in pan and bake until golden-brown and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake to loosen, then invert onto a plate (larger cakes can be left in pan). Reinvert cake onto a rack to cool completely.

Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy. Sift confectioners sugar and cinnamon over cream cheese mixture, then beat at medium speed until incorporated. Spread frosting over top of cooled cake.

More Cheesecake, No Sugar

18 April, 201330 April, 2013Marissa

Between writing about cheesecake yesterday and baking one today, I have cheesecake on my mind. Ergo, here’s another recipe, this time sugar-free. I came up with this recipe for a friend who loves cheesecake but can’t eat sugar or artificial sweeteners (which I refuse to use anyway).

The entire cake is sweetened with honey. This crust can be a little hard to work with, but the taste is worth the extra effort. The first time I baked this, the crust stuck to the bottom of the pan and people were scraping it off to eat by itself. The filling has a really nice texture, even smoother than a regular cheesecake, and the honey taste isn’t overpowering.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a photograph of this cheesecake. I found a picture on Google, though, which looks similar to mine. Most other recipes top honey cheesecakes with honey or caramel before serving, but I’ve never done that with mine. I think it would be way too sweet.

Honey Cheesecake

Crust

1 cup walnuts, ground
2 Tablespoons honey
¼ cup butter
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
add flour as needed to hold it together (about 1/2 cup)

Mix crust and press into 9-inch spring-form pan. (crust is sticky, so I line the pan with aluminum foil). Bake at 325°F for 5-10 minutes.

Filling

3 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
¾ cup honey
3 eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

While crust is baking, beat cream cheese and ¾ cup honey with a mixer in large bowl at medium speed until smooth, scraping down bowl’s sides occasionally, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time; beat in cream and vanilla. Beat in flour, cinnamon and salt. Pour into crust.

Bake at 325°F for about 1 hour or until lightly browned and a little puffed. Cheesecake will jiggle in the center but will set as it cools. Cool on a wire rack 2 hours. Once cool, you should be able to lift the cake and peal off the aluminum foil. Cover and refrigerate.

The Way To A Man’s Heart …

17 April, 20138 July, 2014Marissa

I may have discovered compelling Biblical evidence to support the old saying, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

While reading Song of Solomon this morning, I noticed that my study Bible had a note that “Thou hast ravished my heart” (Song 4:9) could also be translated “Thou hast taken away my heart.” I thought oh, that’s so cute, and looked up the Hebrew word. According to the lexical aids in my Bible, lâvav (H3823) can also mean “to be wise, be intelligent (Job 11:12); to make cakes (2Sam. 13:6, 8).”

So, what I’m getting from this is that it is wise to bake cakes and thereby capture a man’s heart.

I have tried this approach in the past, to no avail. I comfort myself by thinking this is due to the lack of single men in the local church areas rather than a flaw in my cooking, and still have high hopes for my cheesecakes.

I’m particularly proud of this turtle cheesecake. You won’t find this particular recipe anywhere else, because it’s one of my own. A friend of mine talked me into trying Fazoli’s turtle cheesecake, and I promptly went online to try and find a similar recipe. After browsing recipe sites unsuccessfully for an hour, I decided I’d just come up with my own.

Turtle Cheesecake

Crust

1 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup melted butter
3 tablespoons caramel ice cream topping

Mix cracker crumbs and butter. Press into a greased 9-inch spring-form pan. Drizzle caramel over crust.

Filling

3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over caramel layer in crust.

Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim.

Topping

3 tablespoons hot fudge
3 tablespoons caramel syrup
¼ cup chopped pecans
¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Melt hot fudge and drizzle with caramel syrup over cooled cheese cake. Sprinkle with pecans and chocolate morsels. Refrigerate 4 hours.