With all of the hot humid weather we have been having, I did not want to heat the kitchen up so this was the perfect recipe on a hot summer day. I served this with jasmine rice. This recipe is sweet, but still has as much heat as you want to put in with the addition of red pepper flakes. We really enjoyed this dish and will be making this again. We also made this into a wrap the next day!
INGREDIENTS
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup blackberry jam
3 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 cup of honey
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or to taste
1 Tablespoon corn starch
Rice, cooked as directed
DIRECTIONS
Arrange chicken on the bottom of the slow cooker so they are not over lapping. In a medium bowl whisk together honey, soy sauce, blackberry jam, hoisin, olive oil, garlic, onion and crushed red pepper flakes. Pour mixture over the chicken, cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours until chicken is cooked through. Using tongs remove chicken from slow cooker, reserving the liquids and place on a cutting board. Shred the chicken placing the chicken in a large bowl. In a small bowl whisk the corn starch with 3 tablespoons of water to make a slurry.
Transfer the liquid from the slow cooker to a small saucepan. Set over medium high heat and whisk in the slurry.
Bring the sauce to a boil and cook until reduced to your desired thickness. I left my sauce slightly loose so it would cover the rice slightly. Put the chicken back in the slow cooker along with the sauce and mix to coat. Serve warm over rice.
Enjoy!
This recipe comes from www.justataste.com
I am always looking for a new breakfast muffin recipe and this was perfect! This was easy, delicious and not only has apples, but has grated zucchini that you can’t even taste. So this is a perfect recipe to sneak in some veggies to the kiddos before school! I can’t believe it’s that time of year again…back to school, where did summer go?!
This recipe makes 12 regular size muffins.
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup peeled and shredded apple (I used Granny Smith)
Turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line or spray muffin pan with liners or non-stick baking spray, set aside.
In a medium bowl add the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla extract, whisk until smooth. Add in flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder and stir until combined. Fold in the shredded zucchini and apple (along with any juice from shredding). Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 of the way full filling 12 cups. Sprinkle with the turbinado sugar.
Bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temp.
Enjoy!
This recipe was found at www.persnickety plate.com
This is going to be an interesting restaurant review with some ups and some downs. If I have a really bad restaurant experience I typically will not write a review but will go back to the restaurant a second time and hope that it was just one bad experience. Firefly American Bistro & Bar at 22 Concord street in Manchester, NH. has a ton of great things going for them! So let’s start with something good shall we?
Just walking up to the restaurant we felt it had a great vibe, along with a great outside seating area. We chose to sit inside as the warm humid weather was getting the best of me! As soon as we walked in we were promptly seated in a great corner round booth across from the bar. Our waitress was quick to take our drink and appetizer order. Both Jim and I were very hungry and ready for a good dinner, so this was a great start. We ordered their GoGo Bread for two to start (for 2 it was $8.00 for 4 it would be $10.00). GoGo Bread is warm thin slices of garlic bread with a warm Gorgonzola fondue. Jim and both dove right into this and loved every bite! This was lick the bowl clean delicious. We devoured that dish in just moments! We both agreed next time we might have to order enough for 4! Our drinks also arrived at the same time. Jim had a Corona and I had their version of a rum punch. Both excellent, BUT, we did start to notice small fruit flies, and if you have any experience with fruit flies they are small and ridiculous to try and remove! I made a very quick note to only order bottled drinks next time, if there is a next time.
For our main course Jim had the Bourbon Street Fettuccine ($22.00). This includes blackened shrimp, crawfish, andouille sausage with tomatoes and green onions in a spicy Cajun cream sauce. Jim’s dish transported me back to the south where we lived for a year while Jim was in flight school. This was spicy with plenty of sausage and seafood! You don’t find a lot of crawfish in our area so this dish was a great reminder of good ole southern cookin’ and we loved it! Jim also ordered some garlic bread to soften the heat and mop up some of that delicious sauce! This was a fabulous dish!
I ordered the baked stuffed haddock with lobster stuffing ($25.00) in a cream sauce. I don’t cook a lot of fish so I do tend to order it out quite often and how can anyone resist lobster stuffing with a side of jasmine rice and asparagus? It was hitting all the perfect notes for me! When the dish arrived it looked and smelled fabulous. First bite confirmed it was indeed excellent, I would say one of the best stuffed haddock meals I have ever had. A few bites in and take one look at that lobster meat…they don’t mess around with seafood!
Another bite and my opinion turned very quickly. I bit into a fish bone. Ugh, so very thankful I did not swallow it. I put it on the side of my plate and I was done with my dinner. The waitress did come over to check on us and I did explain that I found a fish bone. This is yet another downfall to the story. our waitress told her manager, we were comped a drink and told that they were sorry I found a shell in my dinner. This was no SHELL, this was in fact a fish bone that could have caused significant damage. Insult to injury. We asked for our check paid the bill and that was the end.
Had our experience been a little different this is a place Jim and I would go to on a regular basis. This is a little more upscale than your average bar food, no nacho’s or fried chicken fingers here, but still has many familiar choices. Some appetizers choices you will find are crab cakes, calamari or short rib taquitos! Soups and salads are also on the menu but with a twist like maybe a spinach salad with fried goat cheese. If you have never had fried goat cheese…it is delicious and highly recommended!
Other entree’s you will find are steak, roasted duck or how about braised lamb? If Pad Thai is your thing, they have that too. Lots of fabulous choices. They are open for lunch and dinner along with brunch and dinner on Sunday’s. Visit their website for hours and menu selections!
Are you wondering if we will go back? As of today, not anytime soon, but if we did go back I am not ordering seafood and will order a bottled drink!
Firefly American Bistro & Bar is voted one of the top restaurants in Manchester. I think I am going to search a little further for now. Check out their website: http://fireflynh.com/
This is another fantastic recipe from Pinterest. This was sweet, full of milk chocolate, white chocolate and a chocolate chip cookie crust! This can be made with many different combinations of chocolate chips. Peanut butter chips, coconut, pecans or other nuts! This is a definite “make it your way” kind of recipe. We really enjoyed this combination and it became an instant favorite!
INGREDIENTS
8.5 ounces of prepared cookie dough, (I used the Pillsbury roll) softened to room temp. For easier forming
3/4 white chocolate chips
3/4 semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 toffee bits
3/4 chopped pecans
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 9 square pan with foil and lightly spray with non-stick spray. Press cookie dough onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle all of the chocolate chips, toffee bits and nuts evenly over the cookie dough crust. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top. Bake 25-27 minutes until edges are golden brown and the center looks somewhat firm. Cool completely before cutting into bars (waiting is the most difficult part!) Store in an airtight container.
Enjoy!
Pioneer Woman is one of my favorite Food Network personalities. Not only is she down to earth, she and her family also like a little spice in their food as much as we do. This casserole does take a bit of time but it makes a lot and is great to split it and share with a friend or neighbor! Well, unless you are feeding a group of teenagers! In this case we shared. This definitely hits all the notes of a lasagna, but takes it a little further with the spice level, but still not over the top. We all enjoyed this. A simple salad with garlic bread and dinner is done!
INGREDIENTS
12 ounces of pasta, I used a spiral pasta
1 pound hot Italian pork sausage
1 pound lean ground beef
1 large onion diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 ounces), diced tomatoes, drained
1 can (14.5 ounce), tomato sauce
1 can (6 ounce) tomato paste
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
15 ounce, ricotta
1 large egg
4 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
3/4 cup grated Parmesan, divided
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley for garnish, optional
DIRECTIONS
Cook the pasta according to package directions, just until al Dante. Drain in colander and set aside.
While the pasta is cooking brown sausage and ground beef in a very large skillet with tall sides over medium to medium high heat. Break up the meat as it cooks. When the meat is almost cooked through, drain and discard the extra fat drippings from the skillet. Stir in onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste along with oregano, basil, thyme, red pepper flakes, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Let simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Fold in drained noodles and place half of the noodle mixture in a large casserole dish.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl whisk together ricotta and egg until well combined. Stir in two cups of the shredded mozzarella, 1/2 cup of Parmesan, 2 Tablespoons minced parsley. Spread ricotta mixture evenly over the pasta mixture leaving a one inch boarder around the edge, then top ricotta with the remaining noodles mixture.
Cover the hot dish with foil and bake 30 minutes or until the dish starts to bubble a bit. Remove foil and top with remaining mozzarella and cheddar cheese. Sprinkle the top with the Parmesan. Place back in oven and bake another 10-15 minutes uncovered until cheese is melted and bubbling hot. Sprinkle with fresh parsley if desired.
Serve warm.
Enjoy!
Stay In Touch
Follow me!
Recent Pins
