This is another delicious recipe from “The Chew”. Anytime Jim happens to be home when I am watching that show he always finds something he wants me to make him. This was exactly what happened with this recipe. After looking at the recipe I found one item that I was not familiar with. It’s the mushroom soy ingredient. When I checked my local grocery store they did not have it. I did order this from Amazon. You could also use low sodium soy sauce, the difference will be slight. The mushroom soy does has a deeper flavor and either product you use will be great. This is a really tasty dish. Jim picked a great recipe!
INGREDIENTS
CHICKEN
1 cup oyster sauce
1/2 cup minced garlic
1/4 cup sriracha
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 pounds bone in, skin on chicken thighs
Canola oil for searing
2 cups white vinegar
1 1/2 cups mushroom soy or low sodium soy sauce
TACOS
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 head of bok choy, sliced
Corn tortillas
2 cups crumbled chicharrones (optional, I did not use)
DIRECTIONS
For the chicken
Combine oyster sauce, garlic, sriracha, sesame oil and black pepper in a large mixing bowl. Add the chicken, toss to coat. Heat a large stockpot over high heat, add the canola oil. Add the chicken mixture into the pot and sauté until the chicken is brown, 5-8 minutes. Add the vinegar, soy and stir, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium/low and place the lid on the pot. Cook and simmer for 35 minutes. Shut the heat off and let the chicken rest for five minutes. Pull the chicken to shred. Reserve 1/2 cup of the sauce from the chicken for the bok choy.
For the tacos
Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the bok choy until slightly wilted, about 2 minutes,. Add the 1/2 cup of sauce from the chicken and cook for one more minute.
Place some of the pulled chicken into the tortilla, top with the bok choy and crumbled chicharrones if desired. Repeat for all of the tacos. Serve warm.
Enjoy!
A few weeks ago we had a really nasty snow storm and one of the things I love to do with a big storm is to get in the kitchen and cook lots of delicious food. I don’t make a lot of cookies, but I have to say these were hands down the best peanut butter cookies I have ever had. I sent some over to my parents and their fantastic neighbors and they all loved the cookies as much as I did. These cookies are soft, buttery rich and full of that great peanut butter flavor. These are my new favorite cookies that I will be making every chance I get.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups plus 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar for rolling
DIRECTIONS
Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cream the softened butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together on medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scape down the sides of the bowl and bottom as needed, add the vanilla and peanut butter mix on high until combined. Set aside.
In a separate bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Add this to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be wet and sticky. Cover dough tightly and chill for at least three hours (up to 2 days) in the refrigerator. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll balls of dough, about a Tablespoon and a half per cookie into the granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Press fork tongs onto the dough forming a cross cross pattern. Bake for 11 minutes until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look soft and slightly under done. Remove from the oven let cool for 5 minutes on the pan and transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!
This recipe comes from sallysbakingaddiction.com
If you have been following me for awhile you know that I already wrote a review on the Tuscan Market in Salem NH. After waiting as patiently as I possibly could, the Portsmouth location is finally open and I can’t wait to tell you all about it! The new location is at 581 Lafayette Road, Portsmouth, NH. I am so thrilled to have this restaurant and market so close to us as the Salem location is an hour away and I would always bring a cooler with me so I could take home all of their amazing dishes!
If you are from the New England area, you may have heard of the Phantom Gourmet. This is a show that reviews New England restaurants. The show is hosted by the Andelman Brothers. Not only do they review various places, they also have various events throughout the year. They have BBQ Festivals and a number of events at Fenway park, but also participate in grand opening events. Well, when I heard the Tuscan Kitchen was having a grand opening event that was going to include the Phantom Gourmet, I knew I had to go! This post is going to be a little different as I will be sharing lots of pictures from the grand opening event. I will also share my typical review as we went back a second time for our anniversary. The Portsmouth location is their biggest location, although as of this post the market side of the restaurant in Portsmouth is not open…but should be open very soon! At the grand opening we were treated to many items that will be sold in the market and all of it was just incredible.
Ok, so…I’m going to give you a quick overview of the grand opening event to start. This event was held the night before the restaurant was open to the public. Everyone going to the event had to register for free tickets through the Phantom Gourmet and only so many were available. Needless to say, I signed up right away! The night of the event they had the red carpet out as you walked up to the door. As you walked in you were handed a glass of Prosecco and welcomed by all of the staff. They had a number of stations set up around the restaurant starting with a slice of Parmesan in truffle honey, a bread and cured meat station, then onto the pizza station where you could sample a number of their creations. This is just the beginning! Next was the seafood station where you had so many choices, shrimp, lobster, and oysters. Then onto the fresh mozzarella station, wine tasting, pasta and being finished off with a wheel of Parmesan and a carving station with prime rib. Are you hungry yet? Still not done…they had a huge table filled with various cookies, pastries, cakes and cannoli’s. Last, but not least, they had a gelato station with a number of different kinds of gelato. We tried the pistachio gelato and it was spectacular! Not only could you go to each station as many times as you wanted, they also had waitresses walking around with various other selections for you to try. This event was hands down the best opening event we have been to. We were so stuffed when we left. If you ever get a chance to go to any event hosted by the Phantom Gourmet, you will not be disappointed.
We went back just a few days later for our anniversary, so here is my review of that visit! We made reservations right from their website and I would highly recommend getting reservations anytime you plan to visit. We were promptly seated with menu’s and a plate of bread and dipping oil to enjoy while deciding what we wanted.
We decided on the Calamari Fritti to start. This is a fried calamari and cherry pepper dish with a lemon basil aioli. This was one of our favorite dishes. The calamari had a light crispy coating and paired with the lemon basil aioli…was just delicious! We cleaned that plate pretty fast!
I ordered the Ravioli ai Quattro Formaggi “di nonna”. I know that’s a mouth full, but this is thin pasta pillows stuffed with Parmegiano, Reggiano, Burrata, Fontina and fresh ricotta with sweet Italian sausage in a roasted tomato ragu with torn basil. This dish not only looked great but smelled amazing. One bite was all it took to know this was going to be a favorite. The ravioli was so light, the sweet sausage and the roasted tomato ragu makes this the perfect dish. I would eat this any day of the week!
Jim also had a pasta dish with spinach, pine nuts and Parmesan in a brown butter sauce. His dish was slightly sweet and just as tasty as mine! Needless to say we cleaned both plates. We don’t always order dessert, but it was our anniversary, so we decided to share the Torta Calda al Cioccolato. This is a warm chocolate cake, milk chocolate sauce with toasted almond gelato and candied almonds. This dessert was absolutely sinful. I’m not sure how we possibly finished it, but we did. This will make any day an amazing day. Tuscan Kitchen made it special with the “Happy Anniversary” message.
After eating all that food I bet you think we were done?! Well, not just yet. When we came for the grand opening their was one pizza dish that we could not get over and wanted to take it home with us…so that’s exactly what we did. We ordered the Fichi pizza to go. This pizza is so good! It has black mission figs, Parmesan, rosemary, house made burrata cheese and thin slices of prosciutto. It’s sweet from the figs and savory with the prosciutto, an amazing combination.
As you can see they have some amazing dishes and the service could not have been better on both occasions. Check out their website for more information and to make reservations!
http://www.tuscanbrands.com/Kitchen/Salem/locations-and-hours/
Enjoy!
Spring is finally here and Easter around the corner! What a long winter we have had. I don’t know about you but I’m ready for all of the spring and summer flavors. These strawberry dessert bars are so simple and delicious. Perfect for those flavors we are looking for, and best of all, you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry already.
INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup room temperature butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup strawberry jam
FOR THE GLAZE
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 9 pan with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick spray. Set aside. In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Add in the egg and butter. Combine with a pastry cutter or your hands until the dough comes together. Divide the dough in half and press one half into the bottom of your prepared pan. Spread the strawberry jam on top. Crumble the remaining dough on top of the jam. Bake for 40 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool completely. Mix the glaze ingredients together and drizzle over the cooled bars.
Enjoy!
The calendar says spring but we are having some serious weather issues in NH! One day it’s snowing the next it’s 50 degrees! I usually make this kind of dish on a cold snowy day. Although it’s spring it was snowing when I made this! Welcome to NH! This recipe comes from Martha Stewart, so I knew it was going to be good and it was…very tender with lots of flavor! A delicious comforting dish. I served this with a side salad and garlic mashed potatoes.
INGREDIENTS
5 Tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
4 pounds bone in beef short ribs, cut into 3 inch pieces (8-12 pieces total)
Salt
Pepper
1 yellow onion, cut into wedges
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
10 sprigs of thyme
1/4 cup flour
3 cups pomegranate juice
1 cup dry red wine, merlot
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds for serving, optional
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. In a large heavy pot with a tight fitting lid heat 2 Tablespoons of oil over high heat. Season short ribs with salt and pepper. In batches brown ribs on all sides. Transfer ribs to a plate, pour off oil and scrape to remove loose bits out of pot. Reduce heat to medium-high and add the remaining 3 Tablespoons of oil to the pot. Add onion, garlic and thyme. Cook scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon until onion is soft. About five minutes. Add flour and stir to coat. Whisk in pomegranate juice and wine, bring to a boil stirring frequently. Return ribs to pot, cover and transfer to the preheated oven. Bake until the ribs are easily pierced with the tip of a paring knife. About 3 hours. With a slotted spoon, carefully transfer ribs to a large platter. Strain liquid into a fat separator, let sit briefly and return to pot discarding the fat, or skim fat off with a spoon. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and cook until reduced to a sauce like consistency, 10 minutes. Strain through a fine strainer, season with salt and pepper and pour over ribs. Garnish with pomegranate seeds if desired.
Enjoy!
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