Chicken Oriental Salad (Applebee's Knockoff)

This is a delicious, easy, impressive salad. It is inspired by of my favorite menu items at Applebee's. Make this salad for someone and listen to them say "WOW!" :) I like trying to recreate restaurant dishes with fresher and sometimes healthier ingredients... even just the challenge of trying to "crack the code" of their recipe is enjoyable. The dressing is the key to this salad. For the salad portion you can go as creative or as simple as you wish... but don't mess with the dressing... IT IS PERFECT!

DRESSING

3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I recommend Hellman's Canola mayonnaise)
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil

SALAD

Gather up nice plateful of whatever greens you have on hand. I've used red leaf lettuce, romaine or even torn up fresh spinach. Add few chopped up cooked chicken nuggets/strips of some sort (popcorn shrimp would work great too). Top salad 1/4 cup of almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds or a mixture of whatever nuts you have on hand (for extra deliciousness roast nuts in cast iron fry pan before putting on salad). Sprinkle a handful of chow mien noodles on top also.

Chopped green onions make a great additional topping too.
Pour dressing over all and enjoy!

Soba Noodles (made from buckwheat)

Have I been living in a bubble my whole life? How is it I have I have never stumbled across this delicious, nutritious, economical noodle before? I was at the oriental grocery and bought a pack of Soba noodles on a whim. Then I got home and started researching them a little and found all kinds of neat information on them.

Just look at the list of health benefits of buckwheat....
-Decreases cholesterol
-Lowers blood pressure
-Reduces fat accumulation
-Promotes healthy bowel movements

Buckwheat provides vitamins B1 and B2, several minerals, and nearly twice the amount of proteins found in rice. Buckwheat is unique because it is one of the only grains/beans that contains Rutin in great quantity, a kind of bioflavonoid that includes the catechins of green tea and the polyphenols of red wine. This helps fight high blood pressure and is also a powerful antioxidant.

These noodles are cooked after 5 minutes in boiling water. One traditional way they are eaten is... after boiling, rinse in cool water and drain. Then just dip the noodles in soba tsuyu sauce (sort of a sweetened soy sauce available the ethnic grocery store). It's a very refreshing quick meal on a hot day. I also adapted the following recipe for the Soba noodles, and it was equally as delicious.

Quick & Easy Soba Lo mein
2 bunch Soba noodles.
1 T. parsley flakes.
1 tsp. sesame oil.
Dash of soy sauce.
Dash of garlic powder.
Drop the Soba noodles in boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and toss the hot noodles with parsley, sesame oil, soy sauce and garlic powder.

Beer Battered ANYTHING!

I know I’ve been on a health kick lately… but in the words of Ferris Bueller “Sometimes you gotta say what the ****”.  I was craving something greasy and indulgent all day!  I found a nice little deep fryer at the thrift store a while back and figured this was the perfect time to try it out.  I fried up some pollock and onions ring and washed it down with the leftover beer I didn’t need for the recipe…  I then “accidently” opened another bottle of Newcastle, just in case ;)  So I drank that too. :)  I tried a new beer batter recipe this time and it turned out great.  The food didn’t seem as greasy as with my original beer batter recipe… so this one has moved to the top of my “beer batter” recipes list.

Batter-Fried Onion Rings
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt.
1/8 tsp. pepper.
2 egg yolks. 
1 cup Newcastle beer.
2 T. vegetable oil.
2 egg whites.
Fat for frying.

Sift the flour, salt and pepper into a bowl.  Beat together the egg yolks, beer and oil.  Add to the lour mixture stirring only until smooth.  Let stand while you prepare your onions, fish or other goodies you plan on deep frying.  When ready to start frying, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry; fold into batter.  Dip the onions (or whatever) into the batter, coating them thoroughly.  Fry in hot oil, turning, until browned on both sides.  Drain and keep hot on cookie sheet in 350 degree oven while preparing the balance. 

Turn on the Deadliest Catch marathon.  Grab a cold beer to go along with your plate of deep fried goodness and ENJOY!

Sushi Rolls Anonymous

“I’m Joe and I’m addicted to sushi rolls.”

There… it’s out in the open! I cannot get enough of these delectable ovals of deliciousness. Maybe it’s because they are the perfect delivery device for wasabi and soy…? Not only are they tasty, they are healthy too! Thank goodness I learned how to make them on my own… they can get a little bit on the expensive side when buying them from the deli at the grocery store. But making them yourself is VERY economical after your initial investment in a bamboo mat, some high quality sushi soy sauce, a tube of wasabi, a jar of sesame seeds, and a big bag of sushi rice. Tonight my sushi roll filling consisted of salmon, avocado, cucumber and asparagus…. all rolled up in a seaweed wrap with sticky rice and sesame seeds. I’m not going to go into the techniques of making the sushi rolls…. instead I recommend going to youtube and searching for “California sushi rolls”. There are so many good videos demonstrating how to assemble sushi rolls that I’m not even going to try to compete with them. I will share my recipe for sushi rice though. The rice is probably the most complicated thing about sushi rolls… and it’s not that difficult once you find a recipe that you trust.

SUSHI RICE

2 cups short grain rice (go to a oriental market and ask if you don't know what kind to buy.)
2 cups water.
2 T. rice vinegar
2 T. sugar
1 T. kosher salt

Place the rice into a mixing bowl and cover with cool water. Swirl the rice in the water, pour off and repeat 2 to 3 times or until the water is clear.

Place the rice and 2 cups of water into a saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. After it begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.

Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and heat in the microwave on high for 30 to 45 seconds. Transfer the rice into a large non-metal mixing bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Fold thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature before using to make sushi rolls.

Simple Guacamole

2 large avocados (ripened).
2 T. minced onion.
2 cloves of fresh garlic, minced.
The juice from 1 fresh lime.
1 tsp. kosher salt.

Mash the avocados, squeeze lime over mashed avacado. Combine with salt, onion and garlic and mash some more.
...and walla! ...you have a very basic, delicious, fresh-tasting guacamole. Sometimes simpler is better. This is great on many dishes... I especially love it on toasted corn tortillas with leftover grilled meats or fish, and some greens.
Or stretch this out with sour cream for a great tasting dip... about 2 parts guacamole and 1 part sour cream is what I prefer... but go with your own taste buds.

Yummy Yummy CO-CO-Oats (Breakfast Mash-Up)

A new breakfast-mashup brought to you by multi-talented food composer DJ Joe. Growing up our breakfasts would often consist of CoCoWheats or Oatmeal prepared by our mom. There would be 2-3-4 kids sitting around the table scarfing down these lovingly prepared breakfasts. We all would spoon up some oatmeal or CoCoWheats and drop it onto a piece of toast and take a bite. I remember none of us kids ever eating it directly from the spoon. If there was no toast to grab from the plate at the center of the table we would wait while mom made more. Thinking back that toaster must of really gotten a workout! I bet my brothers and I each when through 2-4 slices of toast at every breakfast. To this day this is the way all the Dombek siblings still consume our hot cereal at breakfast. Now we are all a bit older and need to be a bit more health conscious… so the other day I came up with the idea of combining my two favorite hot cereals. Now I can get the healthy goodness of the oats along with the creamy chocolate deliciousness of the CoCoWheats at every breakfast! When prepared correctly this has a thick consistency that goes great on top of hot buttered toast.

CoCoOats

1/3 Cup Old Fashioned Oats

2 T. CoCo Wheats

1 cup water.

Combine into a bowl and microwave uncovered 2-3 minutes. Watch closely to make sure it doesn’t boil over and make a horrendous mess. When it starts to boil up the edge of bowl open the microwave and stir, the start cooking again… continue until it’s all cooked about 3 minutes. The time may vary with different microwave wattages. After cooking add just a tiny bit of milk (this probably doesn’t do anything… it just an old habit I picked up from my mom). Sweeten to taste with a tablespoon or two of sugar.

Fire up the toaster and dig in!

Chocolate Eclair Dessert

1 cup water.
1 cup flour.
1/2 cup butter.
4 eggs.
Dash salt.
2 cups powdered sugar.
1 T. vanilla.
2 pkg. instant vanilla pudding.
2 cups milk.
1 tsp. vanilla.
8 oz. Cool Whip
2 sqs. unsweetened chocolate.
2 T. butter.
CRUST:  Boil water, butter and salt.  Stir i the flour.  Stir with a fork until it sticks together.  Set aside to cool slightly.  Beat in eggs on at a time.  Spread batter onto greased jelly roll pan.  Bake in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 degrees for 15 minutes, then turn off oven and leave pan in oven for another 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.
TOPPING:  Mix 2 packages pudding, 2 cups milk, 1 tsp. vanilla and Cool Whip.  Pour over cooled crust.  Melt 2 squares chocolate and  2 T. butter.  Add to powdered sugar, 1 T. vanilla and 2 to 4 T. milk.  Mix well and drizzle over pudding layer. 

This is one luscious and yummy dessert!  I took it work last week and everyone liked it.  So much for our offices' new years resolution to eat better and lose weight ;)  Oh well... what'cha'gonna'do?  And another plus for this dessert… it is a good for inspiring the youth of today in the completion of their scholarly duties.

Perfect Panini

Here’s a handy technique for making a perfect panini. The primary cooking tools required are two cast iron fry pans, one larger than the other. Put both pans on the stove and preheat. Butter the outside of the bread. I used the previously blogged “bread machine white bread” for this sandwich. Place buttered bread in the larger preheated fry pan. Top one sliced of the bread with your favorite fillings. The fillings for this sandwich consisted of fried ham, sauteed onions, mushrooms and green peppers topped with shredded pepperjack and colby cheese. Lay the other half of the bread on top of the filling. Then place the smaller preheated cast iron fry pan on top of the panini to both apply pressure to the sandwich and to toast the top of the sandwich. The results are a perfectly toasted, pressed panini without the need of a specialized sandwich press. Who needs one of them cluttering up your cupboard when you already have the tools you need to make a perfect panini? The only limits to this variety of paninis you can create using this technique are your imagination and the contents of your refrigerator. Enjoy!

On a side note... everyone into cooking should invest in a set of cast iron fry pans. I've acquired mine over a period of time here and there until I had one of every possible size. The best thing about them is the more you use them the better the become! Just remember to never, and I mean NEVER use soap on them. Start out by putting good seasoning on them. (You can find instructions on the web). And then just use and use and use them. Pretty soon you have the best, most wonderful pans with great non-stick patinas on them. When cleaning, just rinse them out and scrub with a rag or a a non-stick pan type scouring pad. When extra scouring power is needed sprinkle the pans with salt and then scrub. The salt particles with help remove whatever happens to be stuck on your pan. A good set of cast iron can become a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation.

Scrumptious Seafood Enchiladas

Ingredients:
10 oz Cream of Chicken soup.
1/2 cup onions, chopped
8 oz. crab meat (real or imitation).
1 3/4 c Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded.
4 large flour tortillas.
1 cup milk.
Dash nutmeg.
Dash of pepper.
Directions:
In mixing bowl; stir together soup, onion, nutmeg and pepper. In another bowl, place 1/2 of the soup mixture with crab and 1 cup of the cheese. Set aside. Warm the tortillas to make them pliable. Place 1/4 of crab soup mixture on each tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down in a greased baking dish. Choose an arrangement that lets your folded, filled, tortillas cover the bottom of the entire baking dish. Stir milk into the reserved soup mixture and pour over the enchiladas. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. (remove foil last 5 minutes). Let stand for 10 minutes.
Number Of Servings: 4

NOTE: You can also jazz these up a bit. As you can kind of see in the picture I added some chopped mushrooms this particular time.

These scrumptious gooey pockets of goodness will satisfy your cravings on a cold ND night. Maybe everybody has a recipe similar to this... but it is new to me. I've never cooked alot with "Cream Of" soups. ....Yeah I know.. a Minnesotan who doesn't eat cream of mushroom soup!?! That's like someone from Memphis who doesn't like BBQ...

Avis, a friend from work gave me this recipe. (Avis is the biggest ND hockey fan in the world!) She’s not literally the biggest, she is normal size. :) But her love of ND Hockey in craaaaazeee big! She even has the personalized license plates… “NDHKY”.

Deb’s World Renown and Quite Famous Scalloped Oysters

1 pint oysters, drain juice (and reserve).
Stir 2 cups crushed saltines into 2/3 cup melted butter.
Put 1/3 mixture in baking dish (just enough to cover bottom).
Put 1/2 oysters in the dish on top of the cracker layer.     Drizzle 2 T. of Heavy Cream over the top.
Drizzle 2 T. of reserved oyster juice over the top.
Salt & pepper to taste.
Repeat layers.
Take remaining 1/3 of cracker crumbs and put on top, then dot the top with butter.  Place into a 350 degree oven until crackers appear quite brown.  Approximately 30 minutes.

This project is really inspiring me to try new recipes.  My former boss and current buddy from the Independent shared this recipe with me.  She always raved about it and so she should have!      It is delicious!  The luscious creaminess of the oysters when they are baked within the buttery cracker crumbs is too much to resist.  The oyster stew prepared by my dad on xmas eve use to be my favorite oyster dish, but this surpasses it.  My dad would of gone nuts for this. :) 

WARNING:  Not recommended for picky teenage girls.

 

 

2010 Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup shortening
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups bread flour
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, bowl, beat together the white sugar, brown sugar, oil and shortening until smooth. Stir in eggs and vanilla, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt, stir into the sugar mixture. Finally , fold in the chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto an unprepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-11 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.  Place on plate and deliver to daughter.

This a new recipe I made for the first time tonight. It’s similar to a recipe we use to make when the kids were little.  The cream of tarter is what makes these cookies unique.  Kinda crumbly (in a good way).

Beer Batter

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

1 cup beer

Mix dry ingredients. Add egg and beer.

Dip your "whatever" in this wonderful batter and deep fry.

I've used this on mostly fish and onions rings. It gives anything you coat in it a nice substantive coating. Not the healthiest option for cooking food... but every once in a while you just gotta have it... it's good for the soul.

Rhubarb Dumplings

2 Tbls. butter

1/3 - 1/2 cup sugar

2 cups diced fresh rhubarb

dash of salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 cups boiling water

2 Cups Bisquick

Combine butter, sugar, rhubarb, salt, cinnamon, and boiling water in a skillet. Bring to a boil - reduce heat - simmer 5 minutes.

Prepare dumplings, using 2 cups of Bisquick.

Drop over sauce. Cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes on low heat.

Cover and steam gently for 15 minutes longer (do not open cover).

Remove from heat. Serve warm.

This dish is one of my ultimate comfort foods. Its good as a main course, a dessert or just because.... hot or cold... it's YUMMY! And I suspect it's choc full of vitamin C and it is rumoured to have mysterious cathartic powers. This is another recipe that was handed down from my mom. If there was going to be an official "Dombek Family Food"... this could be it!

Bread Machine White Bread

1 1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 cups white flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoon bread machine yeast

This is a trusty old fall back for the bread machine..... After much tweaking I've finally got it where I want it for my current bread machine (Oster 5834). I'm good until my Oster gives out and I have to purchase a new machine. I've found that every bread machine has it's own personality and each recipe must be tweaked to fit each machine. This makes the most wonderful toast in the world.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

3 cups shortening
2 cups brown sugar
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 T. vanilla
6 eggs
1 T. soda
1 T. salt
Combine above ingredients and add:
6 cups flour (I ususally use bread machine flour for all my recipes)
3 cup oatmeal
12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips
Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until brown.

This is an old favorite cookie recipe. Originally made by my ex when our kids were little, I found it buried in some old files. I can remember that they were awesome, but it's been a long time since I've had them.

Easy Polish Pierogi

12 oz. container of cottage cheese, drained
4 eggs beaten
1 small onion, minched
1 T. plus 1 tsp. salt
About 1 1/2 cups flour
3 T. butter

In large bowl mix cottage cheese, eggs, onion and 1 tsp. salt. Gradually add enough flour for the batter to just hold together. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add remaining 1 T. salt. In batches, drop batter into water by tablespoon fulls and boil for 3 minutes. With a slotted spoon transfer piergoi to a colander and rise with cold running water. In large skillet, melt 1 1/2 T. butter over medium heat. Cook half the pierogi in until lightly brown, turning occaisionally. Repeat with remaining pierogi & butter.

This is a recipe my dear mother found somewhere and I've since claimed it as my own. Everyone I've ever made these for has loved them. They are called pierogi, but they are not true pierogi.... BUT they are DELICIOUS and if you like pierogi you will LOVE these... plus they are must easier to prepare than tradtional pierogi.

Hmmmm

My plan for this pseudo blog is just to be an online repository of my favorite recipes. Will it turn into more... I don't know...?