Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Asian Stir Fry Kale

Whenever I made Asian food I like to have a vegetable side dish in addition to rice. Many times I make steamed broccoli or stir fry vegetables. Sometimes I want to have something a little different. This past weekend I was making a tofu dish that I normally serve with sauteed spinach. It just so happened I was out of spinach.

I did have a bag of fresh kale so used that instead and added some Asian flavors to it. It softened up some but was still more firm then the spinach normally is. I enjoyed the flavor from the soy sauce and the sesame oil. It paired really well with the jasmine rice and tofu.

Asian Stir Fry Kale (a Hezzi-D original recipe)
4 c. Cut 'n Clean Greens Organic Rainbow Kale, thick stems removed
2 t. sesame oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
2 T. soy sauce

1. In a large skillet heat the sesame oil and kale over medium high heat. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the kale begins to wilt.

2. Add in the garlic, ginger, and soy sauce. Saute for 5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and serve with entree.

Teriyaki Pork Stir Fry

It's time for another recipe swap hosted by Sarah at A Taste of Home Cooking! I really love participating when I can because I enjoy looking at other blogger's recipes and choosing something to make. This time around I received Kate's Recipe Box. I had to laugh when I started looking at her recipes because we obviously have very similar tastes. In fact, I counted at least 15 recipes that she has on her blog that I've made as well!

I had pork chops in the refrigerator ready to cook so I knew what I was looking for. I found it in a teriyaki pork chop stir fry. My husband really enjoys cabbage in stir fry and I liked the sound of the sauce so it was perfect. It was also great for a weeknight meal because it cooked up quickly.

We ended up enjoying the flavor and the crunch of the vegetables. I wasn't thrilled with the carrots but I did enjoy the cabbage, celery, and broccoli in the stir fry. The sauce was just slightly sweet and was really yummy. I'll definitely be making this stir fry again!

Teriyaki Pork Stir Fry (adapted from Kate's Recipe Box)
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. soy sauce
2 T. rice vinegar
2 t. honey
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. boneless pork chops, cut into thin strips
1 T. olive oil
2 c. broccoli florets
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 c. shredded cabbage
1 T. cornstarch

1 t. black pepper
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
Brown Rice

1. In a small bowl combine half the broth, all of the soy sauce, vinegar, honey, and garlic. Mix well.
2. Pour 1/2 cup of the mixture into a zip top bag and add the pork. Seal the bag and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade.

3. Drain pork from marinade. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the oil and stir fry the pork for 3 minutes or until no longer pink.

4. Add in the broccoli, carrots, celery, and remaining marinade and stir fry for 3 minutes. Add cabbage and continue cooking for 3 minutes.

5. Combine cornstarch with remaining broth and mix until smooth. Stir into the pork and vegetable mixture. Bring to a boil and cook for 3-4 minutes or until sauce has thickened.

6. Remove from heat and serve over rice.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

CSA Wednesdays: New series on the blog!

I'm excited to tell you all that starting next week I'll be starting a new series on my blog every Wednesday! It will run from now until the fall and it's all about cooking with fresh fruits and vegetables from my CSA! What is a CSA? A CSA is community supported agriculture. Basically you pay a yearly fee to a local farm and each week receive a box filled with fruits and vegetables.

I've never had a CSA before but my husband used to work on a farm that was part of a CSA. My parents bought us a share from Goodness Grows in Bedford, PA for a housewarming present. Our first box will be ready for pick up on Friday and I can't wait to see what's in it! This farm is all organic and will be giving us a variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and even goat's milk soap!

Each week I'll be sharing photos of what we received in our CSA box, a list of what we received, and I'll share at least one recipe using the ingredients that came in our box. I'm looking forward to cooking with fresh, organic, local ingredients! I hope you'll stop by next Wednesday and see what's I've cooked up!

The Joy of Cooking Cupcakes: Guest Post by Ivy of Little Bertha

The Joy of Cooking Cupcakes

Guest Post by Ivy of Little Bertha

Although home cooking is a great way to get nutritious and healthful food into your diet, it's also for fun. Cooking sweet things, and cooking with chocolate, is so much fun. It's purely cooking for pleasure. Browsing through sweet cooking blogs and sites and getting ideas about what to try next is so much fun.

Pistachio and raspberry teacake from Little Bertha catering.

Here are my top tips for baking sweets and cupcakes, no matter what your taste.

• Always use free range, large A grade eggs. Never use cage eggs, they are inferior in quality. To check egg freshness, put it in a bowl of water. If it sinks, it's fresh. If it floats and sits on one end, it's not.

• Buttermilk can be made by mixing a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon into a cup of room temperature milk. Buttermilk can also be frozen.

• Always use unsalted butter when baking, unless the recipe specifies salted butter. On the other hand, a pinch of slat is a great thing to add to sweet mixtures. It makes them more flavoursome and acts as a natural preservative.

• The darker the chocolate the better. You don't need milk solids and emulsifiers in your mixture, you just want the pure cocoa flavour.

• Always incorporate the dry ingredients together and sift them before you add them to the wet ingredients. Start and end with the dry, alternating with the wet.

• Moderate the amount of sugar very carefully. Using electrical scales is the best option for accuracy.

• Cane sugar alternatives include honey, maple syrup, agave, date paste, yacon, coconut sugar, and molasses.

Frangipane and berry tart, also from Little Bertha.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Brie en Croute: What's Baking?

This month the What's Baking challenge is hosted by Cara from The Boys Made Me Do It! Her theme for the month was puff pastry. If you haven't seen any of my other posts on puff pastry then I need to tell you that puff pastry and I are mortal enemies. It does not like me and I do not like it. We do not get along. So when I saw the theme for the month my first reaction was to skip this month's challenge.

Then we decided to have people over for snacks one evening. I was scrolling through my list of recipes I wanted to make and I came to one for Brie en Croute. It looked extremely simple and I absolutely adore baked Brie. The bonus is that it uses puff pastry and if I could get it to work then this would be my entry for this month.

Luckily I put the puff pastry out almost an hour before I needed it to thaw. It was fairly workable by that time and cooperated better then it had in the past. This recipe was a cinch to make and it ended up tasting amazing! I'd have to say this was a good experience with puff pastry and I'd even make this recipe again!

Brie en Croute (recipe from Pepperidge Farm)

1 Puff Pastry sheet,thawed according to package directions

8 oz. Brie cheese , preferably round (of course I couldn't find a round at my market)

1 egg

1 T. water

1 T. fruit jam, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry and wrap it around the cheese.

3. Beat the egg with the water and brush it on the seam of the pastry. Place seam side down on a baking sheet then brush the top with the egg mixture.

4. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately spread a thin layer of jam on top if using. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving with crackers.

Private Selection Upside Down Cakes-The Perfect Ending to any Meal

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Monday, May 20, 2013

35 BBQ and Picnic Ideas for Memorial Day and Summer Celebrations!

Summer is coming! Summer is coming! I am so happy I could jump up and down. I absolutely love the warm weather and sun. Running around outside in my bare feet with a sundress on or shorts and a tank top. For me the beginning of summer is officially Memorial Day. We usually end up having a picnic or BBQ at my parents house and my dad opens up the pool. As long as it doesn't rain it's the perfect start to summer.

Since I feel like we often have the same foods at our summer parties I wanted to share some of my favorite picnic and BBQ ideas as well as some from my favorite bloggers! I hope these help with your Memorial Day parties and other summer celebrations. I've also included a few fun project ideas for Memorial Day as well.

Main Dishes on the Grill:

Bison Beer Burgers with Blue Cheese from I Love My Disorganized Life