A New Asian Recipe!

 Hey bloggers! It's no surprise that I am a fan of Asian cuisine, as well as Italian and Spanish cuisine. I try to incorporate such recipes in this blog as much as possible. We are doing exactly that today. We are taking an Asian classic, orange chicken, and making it from scratch in our kitchens! This is one of the best recipes I've ever seen and I am super excited about sharing it with you all today. So if you are ready, let's get in the kitchen and start cooking!

Orange Chicken

You will need:


For the Chicken

•  2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1-1/2” cubes)
•  1.5 cups all purpose flour
•  1 eggs (beaten)
•  1/4 teaspoon salt
•  1/4 teaspoon pepper
•  Oil (for frying)

 For the Orange Sauce

•  1.5 cups water
•  2 tablespoons orange juice
•  1/4 cup lemon juice
•  1/3 cup rice vinegar
•  2.5 tablespoons soy sauce
•  1 tablespoon orange zest (grated)
•  1 cup packed brown sugar
•  1/2 teaspoon ginger root (minced)
•  1/2 teaspoon garlic (minced)
•  2 tablespoons green onion (chopped)
•  1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
•  3 tablespoons cornstarch
•  2 tablespoons water

1. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper.
2. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture and shake it in the flour mixture to coat.
3. Deep fry the chicken in batches at 375 degrees in a deep fryer (or use a wok) until completely cooked.
4. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan combine 1.5 cups water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce.
5. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes.
6. Stir in the brown sugar, orange zest, ginger garlic, and onion and bring to a boil.
7. Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly.
8. Slowly stir the cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens.
9. Pour the sauce over the breaded chicken, and if desired add red pepper flakes and garnish with green onions.
10. Enjoy!

Ta da! You now have an excellent recipe to share with your friends and family. I hope you all enjoy this dish and I will see you all tomorrow! Good night!

A Special Little Fish Dish (Oh...and I'm a Poet and Didn't Know It)

Good evening my trusty and loyal readers! Today was a wonderful Spring day, however, in Texas, it's more like a Summer's day. These are the "seize the day" moments that make life special, and what better way to do that than with a recipe all about fish? I mean, who doesn't love fishing during the Summer? I'm certain that I do! This special recipe is called Halibut Veracruz. I'm anxious to get started, so let's meet in the kitchen and make some delicious food!

Halibut Veracruz

You will need:

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 cups diced tomato
• 1 medium jalapeno, diced
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 (8 ounce) halibut fillets
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup Spanish olives, cut into thin rounds, plus 2 tablespoons olive juice from the can
• 2 medium avocados, peeled and sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
3. Add the onion and garlic, and cook until lightly colored, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the tomato, jalapeno and white wine.
5. Cook until wine is reduced by 2/3, about 5 to 7 minutes.
6. While sauce is reducing, heat butter in a separate skillet over medium heat. Season fish with kosher salt.
7. When butter is melted, add halibut to the pan.
8. Cook for 2 minutes, flip over and then transfer pan to preheated oven and bake until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
9. Remove sauce from heat when reduced and stir in olives and olive juice.
10. To serve, divide sauce equally among 4 dinner plates.
11. Place halibut (caramelized side up) in the center of each plate on top of the sauce.
12. Place avocado slices on top of fish, sprinkle with lime juice and cilantro, as garnish.
13. Serve and enjoy.

And you all have prepared a wonderful dinner dish! Way to go. You are really good at this! That's all for tonight, so, I'll see you tomorrow. Good night!

An Intersting Pizza Recipe, I Promise!

Good evening (very late evening for some) bloggers! I'm so sorry about being this late with a blog entry. Normally, I'm really great on time, but today was a busy day and a nap was in order. So, to kick start tonight's blog, I'm going to tell you all that we have 3 of America's favorite things on the menu tonight: chicken, pizza, and tacos. Yes, together. I know it sounds funny, but once you read the recipe, you will further understand that I'm not just spewing gibberish, but I have a really interesting recipe! So, let's grab some lemonade and head out to the grill. Meet you there!

Grilled Chicken Taco Pizzas

You will need:



For the Taco Seasoning:

• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Pizzas:

• 1/4 cup canola oil, plus more for brushing
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 16-ounce tube pizza dough
• All-purpose flour, for dusting
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar

Ready?

1. Make the taco seasoning: Mix all of the ingredients with 1 tablespoon each salt and black pepper in a bowl.
2. To prepare the pizza: Mix 2 tablespoons of the taco seasoning and the canola oil in a shallow bowl.
3. Pound the chicken between 2 pieces of plastic wrap to 1/4 inch thick.
4. Add the chicken to the bowl, turning to coat, and marinate 30 minutes.
5. Preheat a grill to medium high.
6. Grill the chicken until cooked through, about 4 minutes per side.
7. Let cool, then cut into bite-size pieces.
8. Divide the dough into 3 pieces.
9. Roll out each on a floured surface into an 8 inch round.
10. Brush with canola oil, sprinkle with taco seasoning and grill until crisp, 3 to 5 minutes per side and remove from the grill.
11. Mix the cheeses in a bowl, then sprinkle on the crusts and top with the chicken. Return the pizzas to the grill, and cook until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the avocado, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, red onion, and salt and pepper to taste.
12. Top the pizzas with the avocado mixture, salsa, sour cream and cilantro.

And voila! A delicious (and not disgusting) pizza recipe to share with friends this summer. I hope you all enjoy it and I will see you all tomorrow! Good night.

Firecracker!

Good evening fellow bloggers! I'm going to start out by stating that today has been a horrible day. Completely drab. When you think of horrible days, I'm sure you start thinking of how everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. That is my story today. So, to combat the stress of what today brought, I'm fighting back with fire. A little spice to kick away the harshness that the day brought. We are making a casserole today. It's chock full of 'kick in the mouth' flavor. It's sure to take your mind off of any troubles you may have as well! So, grab your skillet and let's go!

Firecracker Casserole

You will need:

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 flour tortillas
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Ready?

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Mean while, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Cook and stir the ground beef with the onion in the hot skillet until it's completely browned, 7 to 10 minutes and drain any excess fat.
5. Stir the black beans, chili powder, cumin, and salt into the beef mixture.
6. Cook and stir until hot, about 5 minutes.
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
8. Arrange the tortillas atop the beef mixture.
9. Mix the tomatoes with green chile peppers and cream of mushroom soup together in a bowl and spread over the tortillas.
10. Top with the Cheddar cheese.
11. Bake in the preheated oven until cooked through and the cheese is melted completely, 25 to 30 minutes.
12. Serve!

I hope you are ready to take that glass of milk and forget about your problems. I sure am! Enjoy this dish and I will see you all tomorrow. Good night!

Soup! It's What's for Dinner!

Good evening fellow bloggers! I come bearing soup for you all today. I love soup, almost like I love pancakes. This is a recipe that my family has in our recipe books and I would like to share it with you. As I have previously stated before, we are Italian. We love our starchy food, including but not limited to: bread, pasta, olives, and so much more. This soup is a vegetarian dish, meaning it contains no meat, just vegetables. If you are all ready, let's get cooking!

Genoese Vegetable Soup

You will need:

• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 3/4 cup green beans, cut into 1 inch lengths
• 1 cup peas
• 4.5 cups fresh spinach leaves, course stalks removed, shredded
• 2 zucchinis, diced
• 8 ounces plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 8 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• salt
• pepper
• 5 ounces of any soup pasta
• Parmesan cheese, grated
• green pesto sauce

Are you ready?

1. Put the onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, beans, peas, spinach, zucchinis, tomatoes, and garlic in a large, heavy-bottom pan.
2. Pour in the olive oil and stock and bring to a boil over medium-low heat.
3. Reduce heat and let simmer gently for 1 and 1/2 hours.
4. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper and add the pasta.
5. Cook for an additional 8 to 10 minutes, until the pasta is Al dente. The soup should be very thick at this point.
6. Stir in half of the green pesto sauce and remove the pan from the heat.
7. Let rest for 4 minutes.
8. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, and green pesto sauce if needed.
9. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately.
10. Top with Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

And there we go! We have a wonderful soup that will delight the stomach on any day. I hope you all enjoy it and thanks for sticking around to listen to my ramblings above. You all are the best! Good night!

A Little Italian Dish in Celebration!

Good evening fellow bloggers! Welcome to another edition of Everyday Meals. As you have all noticed, Blogger has been in read only mode for the past 2 or 3 days. A lot of posts were removed, but now everything is back in working order. I was a little worried this past week because I hadn't been able to post anything for you wonderful readers. But, I'm glad everything is back online. To celebrate this, we are having an Italian favorite. This dish screams "Italiano" and by goodness, I love it! So, grab your cooking utensils and let's meet back in the kitchen!

Chicken Parmigiana

You will need:

• 4 whole (up To 6) Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Trimmed And Pounded Flat
• 1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 3/4 cup Wine (white Or Red Is Fine)
• 3 cans (14.5 Oz.) Crushed Tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1/4 cube Chopped Fresh Parsley
• 1 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 pound Thin Linguine

Ready? Excellent!

1. Mix flour, salt, and pepper together on a large plate.
2. Dredge flattened chicken breasts in flour mixture. Set aside.
3. At this time, you can start a pot of water for your pasta.
4. Cook linguine until al dente.
5. Heat olive oil and butter together in a large skillet over medium heat.
6. When butter is melted and oil/butter mixture is hot, fry chicken breasts until nice and golden brown on each side, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
7. Remove chicken breasts from the skillet and keep warm.
8. Without cleaning skillet, add onions and garlic and gently stir for 2 minutes.
9. Pour in wine and scrape the bottom of the pan, getting all the flavorful bits off the bottom.
10. Allow wine to cook down until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
11. Pour in crushed tomatoes and stir to combine.
12. Add sugar and more salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cook for 30 minutes.
13. Toward the end of cooking time, add chopped parsley and give sauce a final stir.
14. Carefully lay chicken breasts on top of the sauce and completely cover them in grated Parmesan.
15. Place lid on skillet and reduce heat to low.
16. Allow to simmer until cheese is melted and chicken is thoroughly heated.
17. Add more cheese to taste.
18. Place cooked noodles on a plate and cover with sauce.
19. Place chicken breast on top and sprinkle with more parsley. Serve immediately.

I sure hope you all enjoy this dinner and thank you for sticking through the hassle. You all are the best! So, until tomorrow, I bid you good night. ^_^

Meen Varuval

Good evening fellow bloggers! I'm sorry about posting this so late. I had a delay with my laptop. My power cord decided it didn't like life and it passed on, so I was forced to go buy another one, however, it works and I'm back in action! Today, I wanted a little foreign culture in our diet, so I grabbed a recipe from Madras, India. It's called Meen Varuval. It's basically spicy, pan-fried fish steaks. So, let's grab that apron (please, make sure it's the one that states: kiss the cook) and let's go cook!

Meen Varuval

You will need:

• 2.5 tablespoons ground coriander
• 2.5 tablespoons cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 6 tablespoons water
• 5 to 6 teaspoons fresh lime or lemon juice
• 4 swordfish steaks, 1/2 inch thick
• Vegetable oil for frying
• Lime or lemon wedges for garnish 
• Naan bread
• Jasmine rice

Ready?

1. Place the coriander, cayenne, turmeric, cumin, salt and lime juice on a large plate and stir to combine.
2. Add about 6 tablespoons of water and stir to form a thick paste.
3. Taste the mixture for a good balance of salty and sour, but it should be fairly salty at this stage.
4. Rub both sides of the fish steaks with the paste and set aside to marinate for at least 15 minutes.
5. Prepare the saffron rice and keep warm.
6. Rub the bottom of a large, heavy frying pan (cast iron works great) with vegetable oil and place over medium-high heat.
7. When the pan is hot, fry the steaks 2 at a time until nicely browned and just cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes per side, turning once.
8. Transfer to a heatproof plate and keep warm in a low oven.
9. Repeat with the remaining two filets, adding more oil if necessary.
10. Garnish steaks with lime wedges.
11. Serve with rice and naan!

And once again, you have masterfully cooked a wonderful dinner. Way to go everyone! I'll see you all tomorrow. Good night!