Curried Chicken Salad

I'm always in need of a yummy summer salad. This salad is great for picnics, family parties, or just for a non-oven summer meal. I love all the flavors that this salad has to offer. The grapes are especially good. I have a thing for a sweet taste in a salad or on a sandwich. I actually doubled the grapes in this recipe cause they are just that good.

We made this while my sister was staying at our house and she said, "I've never had cold rice before, it's really good." This salad has rice in it and it's so yummy. I also love the diced celery, it adds the perfect crunchiness. Oh and the peanuts.....wow, this salad is full of the best flavors and they all go so well together.

I use a yellow curry in this recipe. It's McCormick brand, it's not hot/spicy. It's mild and gives the dressing the perfect flavor. I hope you love this as much as we do.

Curried Chicken Salad

Makes 8-10 servings

Printable Version - with picture
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Salad:
4 cups chicken, cooked and cubed
1 cup dry roasted peanuts
2 cups celery, diced
2 + cups red seedless grapes, halved
¼ cup yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cups cooked rice (optional, but recommended)

Dressing:
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
⅛ teaspoon ground pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon curry powder (yellow)

Note about the dressing: The original recipe calls for double the amounts of the dressing ingredients, but I though it was way too much, so if you like a lot of dressing double the above amounts.

In a large mixing bowl, combine chicken, peanuts, celery, grapes, onion, and rice. Mix well.

In a small mixing bowl combine mayonnaise, lemon juice, pepper, salt, and curry, mix until combined. Stir the dressing into the chicken mixture until it is all coated.

Pour salad into a serving bowl and cover with plastic wrap, chill until ready to serve. This salad is best if you can chill it for a few hours to overnight.

Notes:

If I don’t have any pre-cooked chicken I usually boil a few breasts or tenderloins until they are cooked through and then cut them up with scissors into bite size pieces.

If you leave out the rice then you will want to cut the amount of dressing back.

I usually plan this meal when I have another dish with rice on my menu on a preceding day. Then I just cook extra rice and refrigerate it until I am ready to make the salad. It makes for less work that day, which is always nice.

If you want gluten free, make sure mayo is gluten-free.

Recipe Source: slightly adapted from Maureen G.

Cheesesteak Subs

These subs have appeared (not magically, of course) on our dinner table at LEAST twice a month (maybe more) since I've discovered their yumminess and simpleness. The original recipe calls for provolone cheese, which we love. But we've also made them with a spicy pepper jack and they were to-die-for. Either cheese is pleasing to my taste buds. What way will you make them?

These subs are made best with homemade sub rolls, which I posted a recipe for last week. I'm sure they'd be good on a store bought bun, but they will really knock your socks off if you have them on these homemade subs. Really, try them! They are soft and tender and when they are toasted to perfection (like this recipe calls for) it gives them the perfect crunch. I mentioned last week that I usually make a double batch of the rolls. I make some into rolls and some into subs. They freeze great and then I can have a quick tasty meal in minutes!

Cheesesteak Subs

Printable Version - with picture
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Makes about 4 sub-sandwiches

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, halved and sliced into thin half moons
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons A-1 steak sauce
1 pound deli roast beef, cut into 2-inch strips
Salt and pepper to taste (optional)
4 (6-inch) sub rolls, sliced open lengthwise
8 slices provolone or pepper-jack cheese

Preheat the broiler in your oven and adjust a rack to the upper-middle position.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and golden, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and oregano and cook for a minute, until it smells fragrant, be careful to not have the heat to high or your garlic will burn. Add the A-1 steak sauce and the sliced roast beef. Stir well to coat the beef with the sauce and onion/butter mixture. Cook until the meat is heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste (this is optional - and I have to admit I’ve never done it).

Place the sliced rolls on a baking sheet. Place an even amount of beef on each roll. Place sliced cheese on top of the meat. With the buns open, place in the oven on broil and broil until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes - but don’t go far and check on them before 2 minutes. You don’t want them to burn. They are best when the cheese is melted and the top side of the sub roll is nice and toasted. Serve immediately.

Recipe Source: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe - www.melskitchencafe.com

Tres Leches Cake

If you've never had tres leches cake before, you must try it.  My hubby requested it for his birthday cake this year.  I made the cake but hadn't frosted it yet and had it chilling in the fridge while we were eating dinner.  We were going to have some friends over for a little birthday party, but had some tornado warnings for our area so no one really wanted to go out.  This was just shortly after the most deadly tornado in the last 60 years in the US hit Joplin, which is less than a two hour drive from here.  Never having lived in a place with real tornado threats I was freaking out just a tad.  We live on the second floor in an apartment building, so we decided to go to our neighbors' house down the street where we would at least be on the ground if a tornado did touch down in our area.  So, we got the car loaded up with our 72 hour kits and started heading over to our neighbors'.  My husband insisted that we go back in and get the cake and bring the whipping cream with us.  I went back--but only because it was his birthday.  I really couldn't believe he was serious, but I guess this cake is that good. 

Tres Leches Cake

Printable Version

FOR THE CAKE:

1 cup All-purpose Flour
1-1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
5 whole Eggs
1 cup Sugar, Divided
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/3 cup Milk

FOR THE TOPPING:
1 can Evaporated Milk
1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
1/4 cup Heavy Cream

FOR THE ICING:
1 pint Heavy Cream, For Whipping
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan liberally until coated.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.  

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cake to cool.  (You can remove the cake to a rimmed platter, but I prefer not to because I think the edges stay moister if you top it while it is in the pan, it’s just not as pretty to serve it out of the pan.)

To make the topping, combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times paying special attention to the edges so they aren't dry. Slowly drizzle the milk mixture over the cake, again giving the edges special treatment.

Cover cake and refrigerate for 2+ hours. To make the icing whip one pint of heavy whipping cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar and ½ teaspoon of vanilla.  Ice just before serving.  

Recipe Source: Adapted slightly from the Pioneer Woman as influenced by Alton Brown

{The World's Best} Sloppy Joes

We love sloppy joes around these parts. I know you can buy a seasoning mix to add to ground beef or canned sloppy joe mix, but I'm a make-it-from-scratch kind of girl. And these make-it-from-scratch sloppy joes are so easy and soooooo yummy! I've tried and looked through several sloppy joe recipes, most call for ketchup. I decided that when there is ketchup in the sloppy joes it's just, well, too ketchupy. So I revised a recipe from my mother in law and this recipe is our go-to for a yummy and quick sloppy joe dinner.


I posted a recipe for French Bread Rolls earlier this week, and they make the perfect bun to go along with these sloppy joes. I usually have some of these rolls frozen, so I just pull them out of the freezer and wa-lah....dinner is served.

Enjoy!

Sloppy Joes {The World’s Best}
Recipe adapted from Maureen G.

Printable Version - text only

Makes 4-6 Sloppy Joes

1 pound ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced or ¼ cup dried onion
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper, fresh ground
1 - 1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
⅔ cup water
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
4-6 Rolls for serving on

In a deep 12 inch non-stick skillet brown ground beef until cooked thoroughly, cook diced onion along with the beef (if using dried onions add with other ingredients after the beef is cooked). When beef is done drain excess fat if desired. Return beef to pan and sprinkle with flour. Start with one tablespoon and stir until mixed into beef. Add remaining ingredients and mix until incorporated. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. If it doesn’t seem as thick as you’d like add an extra ½ tablespoon of flour (sprinkle it in and mix well) and continue to simmer.

Serve on rolls. Enjoy!

French Bread Rolls

I love love love love these rolls. This recipe comes from one of my most favorite food blogs - Mel's Kitchen Cafe. She has two tutorials that I'll place links to on working with yeast and shaping rolls if you need some pointers.

These rolls are so soft and yummy, and I use them for pretty much anything and everything. They make a great dinner roll, excellent burger/hot dog bun, great for subs, fabulous for a deli sandwich, the possibilities are endless. Anyway you want to eat them, they'll be good. That is a promise!

You can make them into 12 large rolls, 8 6-inch sub rolls, or into 8-12 hot dog/bratwurst size buns. They also freeze fabulously. When I make them I usually double the recipe and make some rolls and subs and freeze what I'm not going to use in the next day or two. Then when I'm ready to use them I pull them out of the freezer and let them thaw - the great part about this is they still taste oven fresh. I pretty much have banned myself from ever buying those nasty dry rolls/buns from the grocery store. These rolls just rock!

Oh and these rolls are great with 100% all-purpose flour or 1/2 whole white wheat (that is how I always make them). I have yet to try 100% whole wheat, but am sure they'd turn out fabulous.

Below the recipe I've posted several pictures of things we make using these rolls. I'll be posting recipes for cheesesteak subs and the world's best sloppy joe recipe shortly.

French Bread Rolls/Buns

Yield: see notes below

Printable Version {Click Here}

Ingredients:

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1 ½ cups warm water

¾ tablespoon instant yeast (or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast)

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour & 2 whole white wheat flour, give or take a few tablespoons

Directions:

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In a large bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, sugar, oil, salt and 2 cups of the flour (if you are using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast, let the yeast proof in the warm water and sugar for about 3-5 minutes until it is foamy and bubbly before adding the oil, salt and flour). Begin mixing and continue to add the rest of the flour gradually until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Judge the dough not by the amount of flour called for in the recipe but in how the dough feels. The dough should be soft and smooth but still slightly tacky to the touch.

Knead the dough in mixer or by hand until it is very smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes in mixer or 8-10 minutes by hand. Lightly spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until it has doubled (it usually takes about an hour).

Lightly punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly greased counter top. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (or see notes below for making sub rolls/hot dog size buns) and form the dough into round balls. Place the rolls on a lightly greased or silicone-lined baking sheet about an inch or two apart. Cover the rolls with lightly greased plastic wrap taking care not to pin the plastic wrap under the baking sheet or else the rolls will flatten while rising. Let the plastic wrap gently hang over the sides of the pan to fully cover the rolls but not press them down. Let the rolls rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned and cooked through.

Notes:

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For hamburger buns I like to shape one batch into 12 round dough balls and then give them a squish flat and let them rise from there.  That way they rise fat and wide, not just tall.  Makes it the perfect size for a patty.

Makes 12 dozen rolls (good for a dinner size roll, hamburger bun, deli-style roll, etc.), 6 6-inch sub sandwich rolls, or 8-10 hot dog/bratwurst size buns. These rolls freeze great - pull them out of the freezer several hours before serving or defrost in the microwave on about 70% power for 2-3 minutes..

Recipe Source:

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From Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.

The BEST hamburger bun

The BEST sub-roll bun (especially for these babies)

The BEST deli-style sandwich roll

The BEST bun for a sloppy joe!

Stromboli

We love this stuff.  The hubby requests it for his birthday meal or anytime we have people over for dinner.  He's a bread, meat, and cheese kind of guy, and for him this encompasses all three.  He also loves the leftovers with a glass of chocolate milk for breakfast the next morning.  Not really a breakfast food, but really it's no different than cold pizza for breakfast and who doesn't love that? When my mom would make this, leftovers (which were rare) were definitely eaten for breakfast.  With 6 kids in the house it was survival of the fittest--if you didn't eat it for breakfast, there wouldn't be a trace of it if you wanted it for lunch.

Stromboli

Printable Version

1 recipe breadstick dough

Your favorite pizza/spaghetti sauce (We love Hunt's--Four Cheese or Garlic & Herb)

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Your favorite fillings--ham, pepperoni, sausage, pineapple, olives, peppers...whatever floats your boat.  

Olive Oil

Garlic Salt

Shredded Asiago or Parmesan cheese

Roll out dough into a rectangle almost as long as and almost 2x wider than the width of the cookie sheet(precise measurements, I know).  Transfer dough onto cookie sheet and center it with sides draped over.  Put sauce (not too much or it can get soggy), cheese, and toppings inside.  Fold each edge over to meet in the middle and pinch seam and edges to seal shut.  With kitchen scissors, cut a few small vent holes in the top.  Brush on olive oil to cover surface.  Sprinkle with garlic salt and top with asiago or parmesan cheese.  Bake for 35 minutes at 350.  Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.  

Recipe Source: Diana K.

Coconut-Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats

Recently I've had an OBSESSION with coconut and chocolate. They are two flavors that are meant to be together! Seriously....I have some more creations of coconut and chocolate in the works. I've been dreaming up these treats for a while. My sister, Anna, came to stay and she helped me create them! We think they are pretty much the best kind of rice crispy treat known to man. We ate the whole pan in less than 2 days (oops!).

This recipe has extra marshmallows than your average rice crispy treat, so they are soft and chewy and oh-so-irresistible.

So please, try them, and tell us what you think!


Coconut-Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats
By: Anna K. & Lu Lu

Printable Version
Printable Version - with picture

6 cups crisp rice cereal
1/4 cup butter
16 ounces marshmallows
1 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips, divided
1/8 cup chocolate chips, melted
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1/8 cup coconut flakes

In a saucepan over medium low heat, melt butter. Add marshmallows and stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat, add coconut extract, and stir. Pour marshmallow mixture over cereal in a large mixing bowl. Mix until combined. Sprinkle half of cereal mixture in greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with a 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, sprinkle the rest of cereal mixture over top, wait for 2 minutes. Press mixture down firmly with greased hands, or greased gloves. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, and garnish with coconut flakes. Press chocolate chips on to cereal mixture. Melt 1/8 cup of chocolate chips, with 1 teaspoon of coconut oil, and drizzle over top. Let cool until firm, in a cool place for 1-2 hours. ENJOY!