Sweetfire Chicken

I was searching for some new recipe ideas one day and I came across Christine's Kitchen Chronicles. She had a copycat recipe for Panda Express' New Sweetfire Chicken. I haven't had their Sweetfire Chicken, but I have had my fair share of Panda Express dishes that I'm not afraid to admit. You really can't blame me. When I'm tired, lazy and am looking for a nice warm meal but I don't want to slave over a stove, I turn to my local Panda Express to feed my hungry family. Don't get me wrong. Real, authentic Chinese food is what I prefer. But Panda Express is a good alternative to satisfy a craving for Chinese food.

I've been in a main dish funk lately. I haven't made a good meal since last memorial day weekend when I made Barbecue Turkey burgers. And even before that, I don't think I made a good meal. You'll always find dessert recipes every other day on this blog, but main dishes are becoming almost scarce. So I was actually relieved to find this recipe to help me get out of my funk. And what a great recipe it is. Very quick and easy. And yummy. Hubby was real pleased with this one.

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch chunks

1 cup all purpose flour

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

salt & pepper to taste

3/4 of a red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1/2 of a small onion, sliced

1 1/2 cups drained pineapple chunks

1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce

vegetable oil for frying

1) Pour enough oil to cover bottom of frying pan. Heat oil.

2) In a gallon ziplock bag, mix together flour, cornstarch, cayenne pepper, salt & pepper. Add chicken pieces and coat evenly. Once oil is heated, add chicken pieces. Discard leftover flour mixture. Cook chicken for 4-5 minutes, stirring several times. If pan gets dry, add a little more oil. Once chicken has browned and cooked, remove from heat and set aside.

3) Add bell pepper and onions to the frying pan and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes. Add sweet chili sauce and stir. Immediately add cooked chicken and pineapple chunks. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Serve over white rice.

Baked Alaska

Sometime last week, one of my co-workers frantically left me a voice message to call her back because it was something really important. And after playing a bit of phone-tag, we finally got a hold of each other and she told me that she wanted to ask for a favor from me. Turns out, that she wanted me to make a dish for her. Her daughter's school was having a fair last week and she was given a recipe to make to bring for the fair. I found it kind of odd that she, a mother of three who knows how to cook, asks me to cook the dish for her. Well, you see, she's a very strict vegetarian and doesn't keep (and is not even allowed to bring) eggs in the house. And because of her culture, she isn't allowed to bring alcohol into the house either. These two ingredients were crucial to the recipe. And because she was a good friend of mine, I told her I'd look at the recipe and let her know if I can do it. So she faxed me the recipe and it turns out that the recipe is for a Baked Alaska. I called her back to let her know that I'd be happy to do it for her. Especially because I have been dying to make Baked Alaska after seeing it on a few cooking shows. So she brought me all the ingredients for the recipe and I went to work.



The recipe was quite easy and looked so yummy. For obvious reasons, I didn't get a chance to taste the dish. But I decided to make it again this past weekend for our Memorial Day BBQ because I had a little bit of the ingredients left. So I made a smaller version of the dessert and I'm so glad I did. It was a yummy, cool and creamy dessert with a delicious crust. I'm glad my co-worker gave me the recipe to make for her. Unfortunately, I don't know the source of the recipe. The recipe called for coffee liqueur, but I didn't have any, so I omitted it. And it still tasted super yummy. Thanks for the recipe Jatinder! I hope your daughter and her teachers enjoyed it as much as I did making it for you :)

3/4 cup vanilla wafer crumbs

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1/2 gallon coffee ice cream, softened

6 (1 1/16 oz) English toffe-flavored candy bars, crushed

1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow creme

1 Tbsp. coffee flavored liqueur (optional)

3 egg whites

1) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Combine vanilla wafer crumbs, graham cracker crumbs, pecans, cocoa and melted butter in a medium bowl. Mix until well combined. Press mixture evenly on the bottom of a 9-inch baking pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool completely.

2) In a large bowl, combine softened ice cream and crushed candy bars. Spoon over cooled crust. Cover and freeze overnight.

3) Whip marshmallow cream. Whisk in liqueur if using. Using a stand mixer, beat white eggs on medium-high until foamy. Gradually add marshmallow mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over the frozen ice cream mixture, making sure edges are sealed. When ready to serve, preheat oven to 475 deg F. Bake for 3 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade

I always have a supply of lemons from my parents' lemon tree. I also bought a huge batch of fresh strawberries from Costco last week and they're starting to wilt and over-ripen. And then I found this great recipe for Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade from Annie's Eats. Perfect timing. I've always loved Strawberry Lemonade. And to have it carbonated takes this yummy beverage to the top. You can definitely use still water for this, but why not make the drink fizzle fo shizzle. lol!

Strawberry syrup

1 heaping cup chopped strawberries

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. cold water

pinch of salt

Lemonade

1 cup very hot water

2/3 - 3/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)

1 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

4 1/2 cups cold sparkling water or seltzer (or you can use still water)

1) To make the syrup, combine strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, water and salt in a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Pour mixture through a fine-mesh strainer to remove seeds, pressing down to extract as much liquid as possible.

2) To make the lemonade, combine the sugar and hot water in a pitcher. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Mix in lemon juice and strawberry syrup. Pour in sparkling water when ready to serve.

3) To serve, rub a lemon wedge around the rim of the serving glass and then dip in sugar. Fill glass with ice, if desired, and then the lemonade. Garnish with sliced lemon or strawberry. Serve immediately.

Barbecue Turkey Burgers

Leave it to Annie, from Annie's Eats, to provide me with a great Memorial Day menu. My folks are joining us today for a barbecue and I decided to make Annie's Barbecue Chicken Burgers and Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade as our beverage (more on that recipe for tomorrow's post).

I've been looking for another great chicken/turkey burger and I'm so glad I found this recipe. I decided to use ground turkey for this recipe because its all I had. And because turkey is such a lean meat, I added 3 tablespoons of olive oil so it wouldn't stick to the grill. Annie's recipe uses homemade barbecue sauce recipe. But I decided to use a store bought barbecue sauce. This was a great burger, which probably would be even better if I had pulled pork barbecue to top it with. I'll probably do that next time. Which means I'll definitely be making this dish again.

2 Tbsp. prepared barbecue sauce, plus more for garnish

1 lb. ground turkey

1/4 cup cornmeal (or 1/2 cup crumbled cornbread)

1 stalk green onion, minced

1 Tbsp. minced cilantro

2 tsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. dry mustard (or 2 tsp. prepared mustard)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

3 Tbsp. vegetable oil, plus more for cooking

pinch of cayenne pepper

2/3 cup chopped pulled pork (optional)

hamburger buns

sliced cheese

grilled red onion slices

1) In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, cornmeal, green onions, cilantro brown sugar and spices, 3 tablespoons oil, and 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce. Mix together gently until well combined. Form mixture into four equal patties. Transfer to a plate and refrigerate until ready to grill.

2) Oil grates of the grill. Place patties on the heated grill and cook for 3-5 minutes. Flip the burgers and brush the cooked sides generously with barbecue sauce. Cook for another 3-5 minutes. Flip the burgers again to brush the other cooked side with more barbecue sauce. Top with cheese slices and continue to grill until burgers are cooked through until cheese has melted. Place burger on toasted bun and top with a grilled onion slice and more barbecue sauce as desired.

Chicken Pasta Salad

We decided to take a family trip to Universal Studios Hollywood today, since its a 3-day weekend. Tomorrow, we decided we wanted to do a barbecue with my folks while my brother helped hubby put up some shelves in the garage. So that means all the prep work is all up to me. I decided my menu to consist of my Korean Bulgogi Beef, Grilled corn, a side salad, and turkey burgers. I found a great burger recipe I wanted to try out from Annie's Eats (more on that recipe for tomorrow's post). I also found a great side pasta salad recipe from The Nest, which I've started to frequent again.

This recipe for Chicken Pasta Salad is a twist to another chicken pasta salad that I love eating from a local restaurant. It has fresh ingredients like strawberries and grapes. I love mixing sweet with savory, which is why this recipe really caught my eye. This salad was quite refreshing. My mom loved it and decided to take some home. I'll be making this dish again.

1 1/2 cup dried pasta shells (I used a tri color spiral pasta)

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

3 cups halved seedless grapes

1 1/2 cups quartered fresh strawberries

2/3 cups bottled cucumber ranch salad dressing

a pinch of cayenne pepper

1-2 Tbsp. milk

leaf lettuce

toasted sliced almonds

1) Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain again.

2) In a large bowl, combine pasta, chicken, grapes and strawberries.

3) In a small bowl, mix together salad dressing and cayenne pepper. Pour dressing over pasta mixture. Toss gently to coat. Cover and chill for 4-24 hours.

4) When ready to serve, if pasta salad is dry, stir in enough milk to moisten. Stir in almond slices. Line serving tray with lettuce leaves and mound pasta salad on top of lettuce. Serve.

Neri's Curbside Cravings

We were so excited when we received an invitation to one of my friend's daughter, Natalie's, 5th birthday party today. We were stoked to hear that a food truck was going to cater the food. And my daughter was even more excited to hear that the party will be held at a park with a Tangled theme.

Neri's Curbside Cravings is another Filipino food truck mixing fusion and tradition into their menu. They have a good menu of Filipino favorites such as Tocino, Tapa, and Pork Barbecue, as well as Asian favorites such as Chicken Teriyaki. These meats can be served the traditional way by serving it with rice. The "fusion" part of the menu is that they also serve these meats in a burger style. However you order it, your meal will come with 2 sides: either Lumpia (Filipino egg rolls) or Lobster balls (equivalent to fish balls) and Spaghetti or Pancit (Filipino noodles).

Today's menu was especially prepared for the birthday girl, Natalie. Complete with her very own customized menu.

The owner was suggesting that we order her renowned Toci Burger, which apparently received great reviews on Yelp. So I ordered the Toci Burger with Lobster balls and Spaghetti.

I can see how the Toci burger was quite popular. I love tocino. Its a favorite breakfast dish of mine, with rice and scrambled egg. But the Toci burger puts a twist on the tocino by putting it in between buns (which is a common practice among hard core Filipinos) and topping the meat with a fried egg, bell peppers, carrots, green onions and cilantro. It was quite tasty. The side dishes of spaghetti and lobster balls, I could do without. They were cold and tasted pre-made and not fresh.

We also had a dessert choice of either Ube Mamon cupcake (purple yam sponge cupcake) or Halo Halo. Halo Halo (which literally translates to "mix-mix") is a popular iced dessert. Its a concoction of ingredients such as sweet beans, shredded young coconut, purple yam or flan (to name a few), mixed together with shaved ice and sweetened milk. I was never a huge fan of Halo Halo, so I opted to order the cupcake.

I wasn't all that impressed with the cupcake. It was pretty dry. I thought the frosting, which is my favorite part of the cupcake, would make up for it. But it didn't. I should've just waited to eat dessert from birthday cake.

Even though I liked the Toci burger, I'm not impressed with the service they provided. They were quite slow in serving their food. Many of the guests were complaining about how it took too long to get their food. The owner tried to justify the fact that the burgers usually take longer because they had to be assembled, as opposed to the rice plates where they just threw things on the plate. I haven't experienced too many food trucks, but the ones that I have tried where the lines are super long, like the ever-popular Kogi BBQ truck, usually had their food ready to serve within a few minutes. Maybe because these faster trucks had 2 people cooking and another person taking the orders. Neri was the only one cooking and had just one other person taking the orders.

I gotta hand it to them though, and all the other Filipino fusion trucks out there. They are trying to teach others to learn to love Filipino cuisine without losing the traditional flavors.

Kelsey's Chocolate Popcorn Brittle

We were visiting my mother-in-law on Saturday and we were watching "Big Daddy's House" on the Food Network when I saw him make this recipe for Chocolate Popcorn Brittle with Kelsey Nixon of Kelsey's Essentials. I've been looking for another good snack to make and I love fresh caramel corn. Not the kind you get from a bag or a box. I like honest-to-goodness, made-from-scratch caramel corn. I also love Popcornopolis popcorn, but I don't like spending mucho dinero just for popcorn. The recipe looked really easy and I happen to have all the ingredients, so I decided to make it.

I have to say these were "the bomb dot com." Super yummy and I love the contrast of the sweet and the salty from the pretzel. It really is easy to make and I even had my daughter help me drizzle on the chocolate. These are definitely going to be a regular recipe. Especially when we have those lazy weekends where all we do is bum around the house and watch TV and sleep all day.

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

10 cups plain popped popcorn

3/4 cup chocolate chips, melted

3/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted

1 cup crushed pretzels

1) Mix sugar and honey in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in peanut butter. Continue to stir until peanut butter is smooth. Stir in vanilla until well incorporated.

2) In a large mixing bowl, pour in popcorn. Pour warm peanut butter mixture over popcorn and stir until completely coated.

3) Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Pour coated popcorn and distribute evenly on baking sheet. Drizzle melted chocolate on top of popcorn, and then drizzle melted white chocolate. Top with crushed pretzels. Allow chocolate to set for about 20 minutes (or place in refrigerator). Once chocolate has set, break up the popcorn into bite-sized pieces and store in an air-tight container until ready to serve.

Pasta with Thai Peanut Sauce

I love the Thai Chicken Pasta at the Cheesecake Factory. When I first ordered it, I thought it would be something like Pad Thai, which I also love. But its definitely far from being Pad Thai. Its a pasta with a Thai peanut butter sauce. I came across this recipe from The Nest which I frequent often for cooking advice, toddler advice, or just browsing about anything that has to do with married life or life in general. Its where I got my ideas for our wedding almost 8 years ago.

The flavors of this dish was quite yummy. However, the consistency of the sauce was too thick, that it dried out pretty quickly. I like my Thai pasta to be pretty saucy. I may modify this recipe by lessening the peanut butter and adding some type of broth to make it more saucy.

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup light unsweetened coconut milk

3 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed orange juice

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

a pinch ground cumin

a pinch ground allspice

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 lb. spaghetti, cooked al dente and drained

1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro for garnish

1) In a medium saucepan, whisk together peanut butter, coconut milk, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, orange juice, ground ginger, crushed red pepper, cumin, allspice, and salt until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently for about 2 minutes. Add shrimp. Continue cooking until mixture begins to boil and shrimp has turned pink in color. Remove from heat. Toss in cooked spaghetti until it is well coated. Serve warm and garnish with chopped cilantro.