Saturday, March 27, 2010

How About a Giveaway?

Hey Y'all! I'm learning how to do a giveaway and you can help. Check back early next week for the announcement. Since my kitchen is about to be torn-up big time, I would love to help someone else get cooking. I'm emptying out my fridge and won't be buying any butter or cream for a while. My cooking is about to be put on hold until the remodel is finished. Hmm...I wonder what I'll cook first? Southern fried chicken? Peach cobbler? Meanwhile, I'm having fun planning my first blog giveaway. Talk to you next week!

Hugs,
Renee

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook: Review

steamy-kitchen-cookbook My shelf space is limited so my cookbooks have to earn their spot. The real favorites? Pages steamed and a little warped. Sauce drizzled and stuck in spots. Don’t need to use the index because the page opens automatically, revealing the family favorite. Thanks, Jaden Hair. Steamy Kitchen is hot stuff!
No disappointing recipes, no colossal failures, no missteps that leave me  as frustrated as a shopper with a wayward cart. Her book lives up to its promise of “Asian recipes simple enough for tonight’s dinner.”
I thought the ingredients would be hard to find. My daughters and I enjoyed our trip to the Asian market, scouring the shelves for exotic items with which to begin our far east foray. Guess what? The next week I saw the same things at Kroger. (Except for spring roll wrappers! I learned this lesson the hard way: Authentic wrappers are worth the trip!)
So far we’ve made, and made again:
Shrimp Pad Thai (Why pay for Pei Wei?*)
Mom’s Famous Crispy Egg Rolls (Made these at least 5 times!)
Quick Vietnamese Chicken Pho (Pho-bulous!)
Healthy Chinese Chicken Wraps (Chicken salad minus the mayo. Moist & delicious
Grilled Fish with Kabayaki Sauce (shh…I left off the seaweed shred garnish and no one noticed.) The sauce has 3 ingredients and couldn’t be easier!
Chinese Beef Broccoli (Ever wondered just what’s in that sauce? Now you’ll know.)
Thai Coconut Chicken Curry (This is not like Indian curry. What’s more, you can keep the ingredients on your shelf and throw this together in an instant.)
Thai-style Chicken in Sweet Chili Sauce (Oh my goodness! Colorful, fresh, easy.)
Pan-Fried Tofu with Dark Sweet Soy Sauce (teen girls loved this one)
Chinese Sausage Fried Rice (I didn’t know there was such a thing, but now it’s a favorite. You want authentic? Chinese sausage is the new bacon.)
Ready for a taste? We had these last night and there wasn’t a single bite left over.
Healthy Chinese Chicken Wraps
Honey Mustard Yogurt Vinaigrette: 3 T. honey, 1 T. dijon mustard, 2 T. plain yogurt, 2 T. rice vinegar, 1/2 t. sesame oil, salt
Chinese Chicken Salad: 3/4 lb. cooked chicken in bite sized pieces (I cut up a rotisserie chicken from the deli), 15 or so red seedless grapes (halved), 1 diced celery stalk, 3 T. almond slivers, 1/4 t. Chinese 5 spice powder, salt and pepper
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Mix the salad ingredients. Toss with the dressing. Garnish with arugula or watercress, wrap, and serve.