Korean Grilled Chicken Breasts

 Skinnytaste.com has some good recipes.  Here is another one I found which I modified just a bit.  We need more garlic, people!

We had these in a lettuce wrap, which was delish.  We cut the chicken in thin strips with thinly sliced raw red pepper, radish, carrots, and zucchini with the green onion garnish.  Nice.

Korean Grilled Chicken Breast

1 pound of chicken breasts, cut lengthwise or pounded to 1/2 inch thick

1/4 c. soy sauce

1/4 c. unsweetened apple sauce (use this recipe if you want to make your own--I did!)

1/4 c. finely chopped yellow onion (I prefer a sweet Vidalia onion.  yellow onions don't work well for me)

1 t. sesame oil

1 t. grated ginger 

1 T. brown sugar

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

slightly less than 1 t. red pepper flakes (optional, but is it, really?)

1 t. sesame seeds, plus more for garnishing if you like

2 thinly sliced scallions for garnishing

In bowl, combine the soy sauce, apple sauce, onion, sesame oil, ginger, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, and sesame seeds.  Reserve 1/4 c. of the marinade.  Pour the rest in a ziploc bag with the chicken and marinate for at least a couple hours.

Over a medium-high heat, grill the chicken for 3-4 minutes or until it no longer sticks to the grill.  Flip the chicken and baste with the reserved marinade. Grill for another 3-4 minutes.

Garnish and enjoy.

Dutch Apple Crisp

I had never been apple picking.  Can you believe it? So sad.  But, this year was different--my birthday, my pick.  We headed out on a long drive out to Edwards Orchard, purchased our 1/2 bushel basket, climbed up on the wagon pulled by a tractor, and headed out to the trees.  The day we went, we had our choice of Fuji, Golden Delicious, and Autumn Beauty.  We meandered around filling our basket with an assortment of all three kinds.  Not including the ones we had to 'taste test'.  You gotta be sure you like 'em, right?

Side note--Wearing plaid and jeans just screams apple picking outfit.   Did I wear it even though it was warmer than you would expect in October?  Yes.  Do I kinda wish I would have worn shorts?  Also, yes.

Once you get home with that beautiful bounty, you have to figure out what to do with all those apples!   This apple crisp doesn't use much, but it is so good--you simply must warm it up a bit for maximum enjoyment.  My apple sauce recipe is also a great way to use some apples.

Just checked apple picking off my bucket bushel list.

Dutch Apple Crisp

Crisp:

2 c. flour

1 c. brown sugar, packed

1/2 c. quick cooking oats

3/4 c. butter, melted

** You can easily 1/2 this if you only want a single top layer.  Just put the full amount of filling in a pie plate or smaller casserole dish and top with the 1/2 recipe of Crisp.

Filling:

2/3 c. sugar

3 T. cornstarch

1 1/4 c. cold water

4 c. peeled and chopped apples

1 t. vanilla

1 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. nutmeg

Mix the Crisp ingredients and save 1 1/2 cups aside.  Press the remaining in a 9 inch pie plate, on the bottom and up the sides.

In a saucepan, cook the sugar, cornstarch, and water until the mixture is smooth.  Bring it to a boil and cook it and stir until it is thickened, about 2 minutes or so.  Remove it from the heat and stir in the apples, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Pour the mix in the pie plate.   

Crumble 1 1/2 c. crisp topping that was set aside on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.

Let cool on a wire rack.

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c = cup

T = tablespoon

t = teaspoon

Salted Caramel Sauce

This salted caramel sauce is from the Salted Caramel Apple Brie recipe in the previous post and is super-great with ice cream, apple pie, or whatever!

Again, from the site Two Peas & Their Pod.

The batch makes about 2 cups.

Salted Caramel Sauce

2 c. sugar
12 T. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 c. heavy cream
1 T. sea salt flakes or fleur de sel

Have all of the ingredients measured and ready!

Heat the sugar over medium high heat in a heavy 2 - 3 quart sauce pan.   when the sugar starts to melt, start whisking the sugar until it is completely melted and a deep amber color.  Make sure it doesn't burn! You can switch to a wooden spoon if you need to.

As soon as it is the right color, carefully add the butter and whisk until melted.  

Remove from heat and slowly pour in the heavy cream.   Whisk until the caramel is smooth and add the sea salt.

Let the caramel cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then pour it into jars until it is cool to room temp.  Store in the fridge for about 1 month.

Salted Caramel Apple Brie

Brie is one of my favorite cheeses--mild, creamy and versatile!  It's just plain, easy going.  Found this one on Facebook.

Salted Caramel Apple Brie

1 8 oz. wheel of brie
1 T. butter
1 apple, chopped
2 T. brown sugar
3 T. of a batch of salted caramel sauce (next recipe!)
Stacy's cinnamon sugar or salted caramel pita chips (available seasonally)

Put brie on parchment paper and warm it in a 350 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes.

While Brie is baking, melt the butter in a small saucepan.  Add the chopped apples and brown sugar. Cook until apples are soft (about 5 minutes).

Remove brie from the oven and move it to a platter.  Spoon the sauteed apples over the brie and drizzle with the salted caramel sauce.

Serve immediately!

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T = tablespoon

Applesauce

Been doing some apple picking and need to use some apples?  Our neighbor Jody makes an awesome apple sauce and I asked her for the recipe.  Turns out there really isn't one!  This is super healthy and oh-so-delicious.  I just went to a local grocery store that sells bruised and older apples by the box for the low, low price of $2.39.  The box had about 25-28 apples or so.  All different kinds, jonagold, golden delicious, gala, granny smith.   This batch made about 3 quarts.  One went in the fridge for immediate eating and the other two went into the freezer for another time.

Jody uses a food mill after the apples are cooked.  I didn't have good luck with the hand me down food mill I just acquired.  The first couple of turns produced mostly juice and wasn't the consistency I was looking for.  So, I used a potato masher and an immersion blender.  Definitely my preferred method!

Applesauce

Peel the apples, core them and cut them into chunks.

Put the apples in a pot with enough water so they don't burn on the bottom.  Maybe 1/2 - 1 cup or so.  Don't use too much or it will be too runny.  The apples will produce some liquid on their own.

Simmer the apples until they are soft.

Remove from heat and mash the apples.  Finish it off by blending with the immersion blender until you have the desired consistency.

Add some cinnamon if you are looking for a bit of extra flavor.

Shrimp 'Pad Thai'

This dish is a total fraud.   In a good way.   It is so much healthier than real pad thai since it fools you with broccoli slaw instead of using noodles.  For something this tasty, I'll gladly look the other way.

The first time I made this, the hubby could NOT get enough of this.  It received an A+ grade.   (In all honesty, my shrimp-averse daughter did not give this an A+ grade.  She prefers the Pan Asian Noodles and said this was too peanut buttery.  Ummmm….no.)  You could substitute chicken for those in her court.

Shrimp 'Pad Thai'
1/2 - 1 lb. shrimp
2 T. coconut oil
1 T. minced garlic
1/4 c coconut milk
Juice of 2 limes
12 oz. bag of broccoli slaw
2-3 T. soy sauce
2-3 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. peanut butter (I've also subbed PB2 powder, like 4-5 T. cuz I like PB flavor!)
Chopped cilantro and green onion for garnish

In a wok or large pan, cook shrimp in the coconut oil with a splash of coconut milk.

Add the soy sauce, lime juice, vinegar and garlic.

Add the slaw and coconut milk and cook it until it is soft but still a bit crunchy.

Stir in the peanut butter.

Garnish with cilantro and green onion.

Add a dash of siracha chili sauce for a kick.

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Comments:
c = cup
T = Tablespoon
t = teaspoon

• This recipe was inspired by Clean Eating magazine.  It called for light coconut milk but I couldn't find that at Trader Joe's so I went all out with the regular coconut milk.  I know….life on the edge.
• I used Trader Joe's Organic Virgin Coconut Oil and an all-natural peanut butter.

Dessert Jars

I saw this idea in a magazine a while back.  Get creative!  You can layer lots of things.  I did a smores version and a lemon blueberry here, but really, the sky's the limit!

I used a small jelly jar size, about 1 cup.



Smores Jars

Layer crushed graham crackers, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips and chocolate pudding.  Repeat.

Lemon Blueberry Jars


Angel food cake
Lemon curd
Blueberries
Whipped Cream (I used cool whip)
Mint leaf for garnish, is so desired












Other layering ideas:

vanilla pudding and crushed oreo layers
Butter cookies
Pound cake
Brownie pieces
Chopped up cake donuts
Caramel sauce
Jam
Natural peanut butter (so it is a bit thinner)
Vanilla pudding
strawberries
Peaches (Peach Melba inspiration?)
Bananas (Banana Cream Pie version?)
Diced apples (Caramel Apple Jar  anyone?!?)
Peanut butter cups, chopped
Your favorite candy bars, chopped
Chopped nuts