Sunset Chicken with Mango Kiwi Salsa

This recipe is originally from here.
Well, I think this is pretty much quite yummy. A few people who don't like recipes that are so much...out of the ordinary...didn't like this as much. Well, that is to say, the people who like more ordinary-kinds of food liked the chicken with the fruit preserves on it. But not the salsa. Oh well.
It serves 6

• 2 whole Mangoes, Peeled And Diced
• 1 whole Vidalia Onion (medium), Diced
• 2 whole Kiwi Fruit, Peeled And Diced
• 1 whole Jalapeno Pepper, Seeded And Finely Chopped (more Or Less, Your Choice)
• ¼ cups Cilantro, Finely Chopped
• ½ cups Key Lime Marmalade (or Any Other Citrus Marmalade), Divided (I used a variety of things for this. Peach preserves work nicely, but I think anything would work)
• 1 pinch Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 3 pounds Chicken Pieces (breast, Thigh, Legs), Bone In

Preparation Instructions

In a mixing bowl, combine mangoes, onion, kiwi, jalapeno pepper, cilantro, and 1/4 cup of marmalade. Add 1 teaspoon salt and mix well. Set aside.

Salt and pepper the chicken pieces. Grill chicken until the juices run clear. Baste with the remaining marmalade. (Or. If you're like me and not grill-savvy, you can broil them on...I think I did on low...for, like, a while...like, I think, 30-40 minutes. In a 13x9" pan.)

Once the chicken is fully cooked, place chicken on serving platter and pour fruit salsa over top. Enjoy!

aloha chicken strips

Okay, okay. So I'm not sure I agree with the whole hide-the-veggies-in-everything-so-the-kids-won't-notice idea. My mom just made us eat our vegetables and told us not to ask what was in stuff...and I think we turned out pretty ok. :) Also, I am now more educated on the whole eating-healthy thing than I would have been had she kept our nutrition a secret from us.
That being said, however, I do like getting to add yummy vegetable-y things in, or use them to substitute for also-yummy-but-not-quite-so-healthy things in recipes. And...sometimes I just like to do weird things and then watch people's faces as I tell them what they're eating. Hehe...
But even though I duly warned all partakers of this meal, this dish was a huge success! The original recipe said to pan-fry the chicken strips, and to put the pieces of chicken onto skewers. All fine and good, I'm sure, but not only did we have no skewers, but...well, I like the idea of baking things better than frying them. I'm weird. But that, I think, was already understood.
We froze some of the leftovers...so we'll see how well they turn out after having been in the freezer for a couple of weeks! :)
This served...three hungry men and one...not so hungry me...with probably enough leftovers to feed a couple of more very hungry men, or several people my size. :)


1 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1 cup sweet potato puree*
1/2 cup pineapple puree
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast or chicken tenders, rinsed dried, and cut into fingers
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons all-purpose or whole-wheat flour
cooking spray

In a bowl, mix the breadcrumbs with the flaxseed meal. Set aside
In a second wide, shallow bowl (pie pan works really well) combined the sweet potato and pineapple purees, soy sauce, egg white, and mix with a fork; set next to the breadcrumbs
In a third bowl, mix the salt and flour
Pat dry each of the chicken "fingers" with a paper towel, then dip in flour, then in egg-white mixture, and then roll it in the breadcrumbs.
Bake at 375 degrees fahrenheit in two greased 13x9" pans for 15 minutes, then flip each and cook for another 15 minutes.

*for the sweet potato puree, wash the sweet potatoes, prick with a fork, and bake (whole, unpeeled) at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 50 to 60 minutes, or cut them into quarters and steam for 40 to 45 minutes. Scoop the flesh out of the peel, and puree. It's really not as weird as it sounds. Just let it cool off before you put it in with the egg whites. :)

Almost-but-not-quite Chocolate Souffle Cake




(Note: I am quite sure about the chocolate part. The "almost-but-not-quite" bit refers to the souffle-ness of the cake. Since this cake gets its lightness from egg whites, it is similar to a regular old souffle. However...it gets more moisture, yumminess, and...yes, fat...from the egg yolks that are used in addition to the egg whites. On the other hand, it means that you only waste one egg yolk, instead of all of the egg yolks you would have had to throw out had you made a proper souffle! Think on that and be encouraged. :))
I made this for our church's birthday Sunday--it was, after all, my birthday today--and thought it turned out to be more like lighter brownies than cake. It was very yummy, and the texture was nice...but really worth all of the effort it took? I haven't decided yet. Maybe I just need more practice at making souffles. Sigh.  

(This recipe is originally from here.) 


Ingredients:
1/2 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
½ cup plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
½ cup boiling water
2 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ cup all-purpose flour
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
½ tsp lemon juice
2 to 3 tsp powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line the bottom of an 8-inch springform pan with a round of parchment paper and line the inside circumference with a strip of parchment. (Since it was for birthday Sunday, and thus to be shared with many more people, I baked it in a 9x9" square pyrex dish. Yeah, yeah...not the best. Maybe that's why I wasn't completely satisfied with it.)

Combine the chocolate, ¼ cup sugar, cocoa and salt in a medium bowl. Pour in the boiling water and whisk until mixture is smooth and the chocolate is completely melted. Let cool while you beat the egg yolks.

In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks with vanilla extract using an electric mixer on high speed until blended. Gradually beat in ¼ cup sugar until pale yellow and thick, about 2 minutes. Fold in chocolate mixture using a rubber spatula until well combined.

Combine the egg whites and lemon juice in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/3 cup of sugar and beat on high speed until stiff but not dry peaks form.

Sift flour into chocolate mixture and fold it in until well blended. Quickly fold about a one third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, and then gently fold in the remaining egg whites in two parts. Pour batter into prepared pan and gently smooth the top if necessary.

Bake until puffed and cracked at the surface, about 30 minutes. A toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center should come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Cool the pan on a wire rack. The torte will sink as it cools like a soufflé should.

Remove the sides of the pan and pull off the parchment paper. Using a fine mesh sieve, sift a little powdered sugar over the top and serve with a little whipped cream if desired.

Peanut-butter chocolate-chip (and garbanzo bean) cookies!

Okay...calm down. They really are good! And hey, they have lots and lots of protein! :) Everyone who has tried them so far has asked for the recipe. So they must be good. So there. I got the original recipe from here, but changed it up a bit, so that you can use an entire 15.5 oz. can of chick peas, instead of just 1 1/4 cups of that can.
Here goes:
Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (one 15.5 oz. can) chick peas, drained, rinsed and patted dry.
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cups peanut butter
1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon honey
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Blend the chick peas by themselves in a food processor until completely smooth. (give the boys absolutely NO reasons to complain! :)) Add all of the rest of the ingredients except for the chocolate chips, and blend till smooth. (Note: don't blend for too long, or else the dough will get too hot! I guess you can use it as an opportunity to teach kids about friction and heat and stuff...but if you try to stir in the chocolate chips to dough that's too hot, it looks funny. I should know...:)) Take the sharp blade out of the processor and stir in the chocolate chips. Wet your hands a bit, then begin the cookie ball-making process! :) (Alyson the Great Sister-in-Law did that job for this batch...I think she did a pretty fantastic job, don't you?) Roll the dough into about 1-inch balls, and place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. (You can put the cookies pretty close together--they don't rise too much!) Then pop them into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.
I'm guessing that you could do a lot of fun things to make them look even more fantastic--roll them in powdered sugar, drizzle them with chocolate...or cover them with chocolate...or roll in nuts or mini chocolate chips...whatever you can think up!
Enjoy, and happy white rabbit day! :)

Peach sandwich scone recipe

Okay, so this is pretty much an amazing recipe. Basically just because we went on a...peaches "kick" for about a week and a half. That is, until our peaches ran out. With the remnants of our bushel of peaches, we made peach butter! Which is also amazing. Recipe to follow, hopefully.
I'm afraid we ate all of these before I could take a picture of them...so you'll just have to trust me that they are wonderful and tasty and scrumptious and...yup. :) All of those adjectives.

Peach sandwich scone recipe

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 dashes salt

2 tablespoons chilled butter or 2 tablespoons margarine, cut into small pieces

2/3 cup yogurt--vanilla, plain, peach...whatever. :) If you decide to go for peach or vanilla, you might want to    take out some of the sugar. 

1-2 ripe peaches, sliced thin

1/4 cup buttermilk, for brushing

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add yogurt to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 4 or 5 times; dough may be slightly sticky. If the butter has warmed too much in the making of the dough, shape the batter into a dish, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.  If the butter is still cool, shape the dough into a disk and, on a well floured surface, roll dough to a little less than 1/2-inch thickness.  My dough was about 12-inches long and 10-inches tall.  The dough will be rolled just thinner than a biscuit dough that you would cut biscuits from.

Brush half of the rolled out dough with buttermilk.  Arrange peach slices, in a single layer, across the buttermilk moistened dough.  Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture.  Carefully fold the empty side of dough over the peach sliced layer.  Press gently together.  Add a bit of flour to your hands and press the edges of the dough in, creating more of a rectangle shape than a half circle shape.  Using a floured knife, slice dough into sixteen even pieces.

Place dough on prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch of room around each scone for spread while baking.  If dough has warmed, and feels mushy, place in the fridge for 20 minutes to rechill.  Remove from the fridge.  Brush each scone top with buttermilk, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar.

Bake scones for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.  Scones are best served warm, on the day they’re made, with soft butter.
(Or you can do what we did...make them the night before, and then eat them on the road, on our way down to Dallas the next morning. :)