First Link Party!

The time has come to host my first Scrumptious Sunday Link Party! Thank you in advance for joining in the fun! Click the link to get started!

Welcome!

Just passing along a WELCOME to all of you joining me through my new monthly blog at Okanagan4Kids, called Adventures in Cooking.  I hope you enjoy this month's post and recipe for Summertime Tomato & Basil Pasta. 

I invite you to follow me here at Addicted to Recipes, by joining this site via the button on the left.  And feel free to take a look around at all the recipes posted so far, hopefully some will catch your eye! 

Thank you for stopping by, and please come back soon!

Kung Pao Pork

When it rains, it pours.  I've been reading so many old and new recipes lately that I'm getting quite the stockpile of new ones to try.  I'm *almost* getting worried that when I go back to work I won't have the time to be cooking all these recipes.  I guess I covered my bases when I made my resolution to try ONE new recipe a week, and on those weeks that I am able to try more, I will be blogging more.  Plus I'm pretty organized, so I'm hopeful that I'll continue with multiple blog entries each week!

Last night it was time to try Kung Pao Pork.  We love stir fry and trying variations of stir fry...and this one caught my eye.  I've adapted it to suit our taste. 

Here is the recipe:

1 pound pork (I used pork loin), cut into 1-inch pieces

1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 cloves garlic, minced (separated)

1 cup chicken broth (I used organic)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

½ cup fennel, thinly sliced

1 medium red pepper, seeded, cut into thin strips

Snow peas

Broccoli, chopped

In a small bowl, make marinade by whisking together soy sauce, fresh ginger, cornstarch, 1 clove of the garlic and the chicken broth.  Add the sliced pork to the marinade, toss to coat.  Marinate for 1 hour in the fridge, stir occasionally.

Over medium-high heat, warm the oil in a large saucepan.  Add onion, pepper and fennel; cook, stirring constantly, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.

Add remaining 1 clove of garlic and cook, stirring often, another minute.

Add broccoli and snow peas to the saucepan and cook, stirring frequently, approximately 4-5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-low and pour pork and marinade into skillet and cook, stirring often, until pork is no longer pink and sauce is warmed through and thickened, approximately 7-8 minutes.

VERDICT:

LOVE LOVE LOVE. This was delicious! We served the dish over fried rice noodles, which was a nice change from our usual rice.  From the first bite we were all in love.  The pork was soooooo tender, it nearly melted in our mouths.  The flavour was awesome, and my husband said right from the start that there wouldn't be any leftovers.  We liked it THAT much!  His only complaint was that there should be more broccoli (he loves broccoli).  That's an easy addition! I might throw some cashews into the mix next time, just to give it a try, but really, we enjoyed the meal just as it was!

Linked to   A Little Nosh  The King's Court 4     This Chick Cooks     Not JUST a Housewife     Chef In Training     Mom on Timeout     Eat Pray Read Love    Tip Junkie

Salmon with Sundried Tomatoes and Capers

We are a family that loves salmon.  We are always looking for new flavours to add to our salmon dishes.  This week I found a recipe that I found in 2001 (yes, I have had the recipe for 11 years and never made it!).  Yesterday was the day! I picked it because my husband has been on a sundried tomato kick lately. 

My husband came home from work last night to me prepping dinner, to which he commented "Wow, looks fancy!" and "I thnk this blogging thing is the best, we are getting spoiled by all these new meals."  I think my responses were along the lines of..."It's not as fancy as it seems" and "Remember I'm going back to work this summer, we might not be as spoiled once I'm working again".  I think I also asked him to win the lottery for us, then I could stay home and cook "fancy" meals all the time, LOL!

Here is the recipe:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

8 sun-dried tomatoes, oil soaked off, chopped

1 tablespoon capers

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste (freshly ground)

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

4 salmon fillets, about 4-6 ounces each

Preheat the broiler (on high) or grill.  I had the rack in the middle of the oven.

Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat.  Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the sun dried tomatoes and capers, season with salt and pepper and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook until it has reduced to a syrup, abour 5 minutes, and set aside.

Meanwhile, season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper.  Broil or grill the fish on each side until it is cooked through, about 4-5 minutes per side.

Please each fillet on a plate and spoon the tomato and caper mixture over it.

VERDICT:
We served the salmon with rice and peas.  We enjoyed the flavour of the salmon with the tomato mixture on the salmon, but not mixed with the rice.  The salmon balanced out the flavour of the sauce, but with the sauce on the rice the flavour was overwhelming.  I made the recipe with 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar (which is what the original recipe called for) but my husband and I both agreed that we would reduce the balsamic to 1/3 cup and I would also add a little more salt and pepper.  It was good, and we will have it again, with our modifications! 

Banana Caramel Cream Pie

I thought it was about time I posted a dessert recipe!  This afternoon I thought I would whip up a little pie for tonight's dessert.  I had bananas on hand, and my husband loves banana anything.  He also loves caramel, so I decided to throw together a little pie that had both banana and caramel.  Really easy, really light and of course, tasty.  There are a few parts to the recipe, and it might seem like a lot when you read it, but there is nothing too hard and the pie really took very little time at all to whip together.  Here is the recipe:

Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/4 cup  graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup melted butter

Combine crumbs, brown sugar and butter in a pie plate. Press firmly into plate.  Bake in 350F oven for 8 minutes.  Cool before adding fillings.

Caramel Sauce
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Reduce to low and add brown sugar.  Simmer on low for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until sugar and butter are completely incorporated.

Add the whipping cream and let cook (on low), for another 5 minutes. Stirring constantly.  Once done, turn off heat and allow the caramel sauce to start to thicken.

Vanilla Pudding
Feel free to use whatever version of vanilla pudding that you prefer.  Because I was doing this on the fly, I only had Jello Instant Vanilla Pudding in the cupboard, so that's what I used!

Whipping Cream
I don't use any measurements when I make whipping cream, just a little of this, a lot of that.
Whipping cream
Vanilla (to taste)
Sugar (to taste)

Pour whipping cream into deep metal bowl.  Whip with electric mixer on high until the cream starts to thicken.  Add a little vanilla and sugar.  Continue whipping until you attain your desired consistency. 

Note: Be sure to put your deep metal bowl and beaters into the fridge or freezer for at least 15 minutes prior to whipping the cream.  Just makes the job that much easier! 

And finally, put it all together!!

Banana Caramel Cream Pie

2 bananas

Line cooled pie crust with cut bananas (you'll probably use 1.5-2 bananas, depending on the size of your pie plate).  Drizzle the cooling caramel sauce over the bananas.  Pour/spoon the vanilla pudding on top of the bananas and caramel sauce.  Top with whipped cream.  Store in fridge.  Enjoy!

VERDICT:
Hubby had two pieces for dessert, that's always a good sign! It was a nice, light dessert and easy to make!

Linked to Tip Junkie     A Well Seasoned Life    Flour Me With Love       Things That Make You Say: Mmmmm       Mandy's Recipe Box     Sweet Temptations

Chicken Asiago Dijon

For dinner tonight I made a pasta favourite of ours that we discovered last summer when we had an abundance of tomatoes in the garden - and I needed to find new recipes for those tomatoes.  Typically we serve this dish with grilled chicken, but my husband was in meetings until late tonight so I had to come up with a "Plan B".  A little digging and I found a new recipe...what a surprise!

Before I get into tonight's new recipe, I have to share.  My oldest son is getting in on this project too.  I have my "binder" of collected recipes out and I have been tagging some of them to try.  This afternoon he called me into the living room as he was going through the binder, tagging all the recipes that he wants me to make for our family.  Sooooo cute and so funny, he was very serious about his choices.  I'll have to take a closer look and see if any catch my eye!

Back to today's new recipe.  I don't BBQ (had a bad experience once when I was much younger...I leave the grilling to our resident grill master, aka my husband!), so the grilled chicken was out.  I found a recipe using Panko, which I adjusted to compliment the pasta dish we were having.  Here is the recipe:

Chicken Asiago Dijon

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup Panko
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese (dried)
2 tablespoons asiago cheese, grated
1 tablespoon parsley flakes

In a bowl, mix melted butter, garlic and mustard.  Set aside.

In a pie dish, mix Panko, parmesan cheese, asiago cheese and parsley.

Coat chicken in mustard sauce on both sides; dip chicken in crumb mixture to coat (all sides).  Lay chicken in baking pan (I used a foil lined baking pan with a light layer of olive oil).

Bake at 400F for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

VERDICT:
What a delightful surprise!  Warning though, if you are not a fan of stronger cheeses, asiago cheese does have a stronger flavour, you may wish to substitute with a less potent cheese.  We all enjoyed the chicken, it was very tasty, crunchy, and yet seemed light.  We were fighting over the lefotver bits!  Unfortunately the picture doesn't do the meal much justice...but at least it's an idea of what it looks like when cooked!

Coming Soon!

I am pretty excited with an upcoming venture.  Starting in March, I will be a "Mommy Blogger" with Okanagan4Kids, a local online resource for all things kids in the Okanagan!  I am looking forward to this new challenge - my blog (Adventures in Cooking) will be food related but I will be posting different recipes than the ones here.  You'll have to check out both sites for all my good eats!