Balsamic Chicken

Have I mentioned I love Balsamic vinegar?

Well here is some really easy chicken.
I do give myself props for this one, because I made it up myself.
Not that it is that impressive.
I couldn't win "Top Chef" or anything.
But I am a star in my own mind.

You need:
frozen chicken
Balsamic Vinegar
Honey
Dried onions
Garlic (fresh or powder)
Butter

Put your chicken in a baking dish and basically put the other stuff on it. I can't tell you the measurements because I just poured it on. But make sure you have a good amount of honey. It makes a really sweet and carmely (not a word, I know) sauce.

Bake at 375 degrees until chicken is done.

Honey-Lime Chicken Smothered Burritos

Cook some chicken. I baked mine, then I cut it up.

Then marinate for like a half hour if you've got the time, in this little diddy:
6 TB Honey
4.5 TB lime juice
1 TB chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Then, take your flour tortillas, put some chicken and some cheese (jack or colby) in the middle, roll them up and put them in a pan.Bake them at 375 for a few minutes, make sure you watch them so they don't burn, and make sure the cheese melts.
THEN, add the Green Enchilada sauce (I used and liked Las Palmas brand) on top. I warmed the sauce up and added after I got enchiladas sort of crispy and the cheese melted because if you cook the enchiladas with the sauce, the flour tortillas get all mushy and nasty. And thus, this is why I call them a burrito instead of an enchilada. If you like mushy flour tortillas feel free to cook the enchiladas in the sauce. Garnish with sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese for the full on burrito-enchilada style effect.

Yaki Tacos

"The Islands" is a restaurant that serves these tacos. They sound strange, but they are my favorite menu item. I realized they are also really easy to make.

-About a pound of cut up chicken
-Bottled Terryaki sauce (it should have a sweet flavor and be on the thicker side, if you happen to buy one that is not sweet and really salty, add some brown sugar to sweeten it up, and cornstarch to thicken it up)
-shredded Jack cheese
-green, leafy lettuce, cut up in small pieces
-pineapple tidbits
-diced roma tomatoes
-green onions, chopped
-soft taco sized tortillas

1. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and then cook the chicken until it is nice and golden brown.
2. Add the sauce to the chicken.
3. Warm your tortillas by stovetop (I never learned the proper way to heat tortillas until watching Don's mom. My mom always warmed them up in the microwave. They are much better on the stovetop)
4. Assemble your tacos:
Chicken, lettuce, cheese, pineapple, green onions, tomatoes
5. Eat.

PF Changs Orange Chicken

I lllllloooooovvve Pf Changs infamous orange chicken. I have actually never tried this recipe before, but I am going to-I will let you know. It looks like it has the right ingredients. I think the key is the chili garlic sauce which I am assuming is somewhat pricey and located in the ethnic isle in the grocery store.

Sauce:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
4 green onions, sliced
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup water (I actually would replace the water with orange juice)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
peel from 1/4 orange, julienned (into 1/8″ thick strips)

1. Make the sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat oil; add garlic and onions; do not let the garlic burn; add tomato sauce; bring to boil.
2. Add sugar, chili sauce and soy sauce; bring to boil; simmer five to six minutes or until sauce thickens; remove from heat.
3. Prepare chicken: In wok or large skillet, heat oil. Meanwhilecut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces.
4. In medium bowl combine egg and milk; mix well. Place flour inshallow dish.
5. Coat chicken pieces - first in the flour, then the egg wash andback into the flour. Cook in 2 or 3 batches until all chicken is cooked.
6. When chicken is done, remove oil and rinse out wok or pan with water;reheat pan. When hot, add orange peel and chicken; heat through -about a minute - stirring gently. Add sauce.

Chicken Broccoli Ring

I learned how to make this at a Pampered Chef Party. It looks pretty fancy. Cook it on a circular pan if you have one.

2 cups cooked chicken (canned is okay)

1 cup broccoli (frozen okay)

1/2 cup red bell pepper

1 garlic clove (fresh garlic makes all the difference in the world)

4 ounces sharp chedder cheese, shredded

1/2 cup mayo

2 tsp. Dill seasoning

1/4 tsp salt

2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls

Combine all the filling ingredients. Then assemble your ring. Okay so how do I explain this.

Your cresents come in triangles. you want to take the base of the triangles and arrange them in a circle, overlapping eachother on the side. This should leave the one point, or top of the triangle facing outwards. Then take the filling and spoon closer to the base of the triangle. Then take the top of the triange and fold it over.

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until crescents are completely cooked.

Welcome and Tropical Chicken with Mango Salsa and Coconut Rice

So I started a food blog. Just for kicks. It is named "Mottsy's Kitchen" because this is the name of the restaurant I started when I was a kid. It was open once a year. On Mother's Day. I made a menu and gave it to my mom to pick something off of. Of course I had only one real option to choose from- I think I called it the Mother's Day Special. My mom was smart. She always picked the Mother's Day Special. I think one year I made her a BLT and one year was French toast. That's all I can remember. I told Don this story and he started calling me Mottsy while we were dating. If I ever start a restaurant, it will be named "Mottsy's." Catchy, don't you think?

I have to apologize in advance, I don't know if you have noticed, I am wordy. Too wordy. But I figure I will share with you what I have learned through trial and error with these recipes. Then maybe you won't make the same mistakes. And sometimes I am not good with exact measurements, because with recipes I have noticed sometimes they are off. Sometimes you have to adjust to make it work. I think that is what cooking is all about.

So for my first entree, and entry (little play on words there) I bring you:

Tropical Chicken with Mango Salsa and Coconut Rice
Background: I took a cooking class over at the community college almost 4 years ago. I was hoping to learn how to be a fancy chef, but basically I learned variations on the basics. I learned some things, but overall, I was a little disappointed to tell you the truth. I know how to make a white sauce, and just because I learned it's french name did not fool me into thinking I was learning something revolutionary.
Anyway, the last class we had to cook something that could use up all the ingredients the kitchen already had. And so my little group made this. It was awesome and seriously is one of my favorite things to eat.

To live up to its awesomeness, these must be obtained
*The main tip is to get good mangos. You HAVE to wait for them to ripen and be soft otherwise it will be he** trying to get the fruit from them, and it will taste blah as well. You have no idea how many times I have learned this lesson.
*Rice must be moist and have a good amount of coconut milk in it.
*Plenty of extra marinade to spoon over rice and chicken.
*Mango salsa must be juicy.

Chicken:
1 lb. chicken
Marinate the chicken in 1/4c. soy sauce and some ginger. It is best with fresh ginger, I squeeze the juice out with a garlic press. You can also add some terryaki sauce for extra flavor. If you are really lazy, just get a bottle of terryaki marinade, there are a ton to chose from. Give it 30 min. to 2 hrs.

Cook the meat. If you really want to impress, grill it so it gets those nice grill marks. Did you know you can even by a frying pan will grilling ridges to give you the same look? When cooking chicken, it is best to sear the outside to lock in the juices. For example, heat some olive oil in a pan, and just brown both sides of the meat, and then let it cook in the oven for the rest of the time.
Make sure you save some of the marinade to spoon over the chicken and rice when it is finished.

Rice:
So depending on how much rice you want to make...
Basically you want to cook the rice according to the directions on the box, but substitute half of the water with coconut milk. Watch the rice and make sure it has enough water. Actually the best it ever turned out was when I used a coconut milk that was more like a goopy consistency. Then I just added some after the rice was cooked and it made the rice really moist and all around delectable.

Mango Salsa (did you hear a chorus of heavenly angels singing when you read that? Because I did.)
3-4 ripe mangos
1/2 chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
lime juice to taste
minced fresh ginger to taste
salt to taste