Chicken Cashew

Several things went wrong with this recipe, and I ended up not really enjoying the taste. The biggest problem was with the cornstarch mixture. I used Tablespoons instead of teaspoons, so when I mixed it with the soy sauce it seized up!! I chose to stir it into the bouillon anyway and there were all sorts of chunks floating around in it. So, I prepared a separate cup of boiling water, stirred in some more bouillon, and added it to the chicken before I strained the chunky cornstarch mixture into the chicken. I boiled it for a while and it didn't seem to be thickening, so I stirred together cornstarch with some water and drizzled that into the mixture. I ended up boiling it down until it thickened up a bit. I ended up with a passable Cashew Chicken, but the taste wasn't quite right. Oh, I used carrots, peas, and celery instead of the mushrooms and green pepper. Also, I didn't have any green onions, so I grated a yellow onion (about 2 tablespoons).

Chicken Cashew

2 teaspoons chicken-flavor bouillon (or 2 chicken-flavored bouillon cubes)
1 3/4 c. boiling water
2 T soy sauce
5 t. cornstarch
2 t. light brown sugar
1/4 t. ground ginger
2 whole chicken breasts, split, boned, skinned, and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 T vegetable oil
2 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 c. sliced green onions
1 small green pepper, sliced
8-oz. can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1/2 c. cashews
hot cooked rice

1. In a small saucepan, dissolve bouillon in water.
2. Combine soy sauce, cornstarch, sugar, and ginger. Stir into bouillon mixture.
3. In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil. Add bouillon mixture and cook, stirring, until sauce is slightly thickened.
4. Stir in remaining ingredients except nuts and rice. Simmer, uncovered, 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Remove from heat, stir in half of the nuts. Serve over rice and garnish with remaining nuts. Serves 4.

Southern Browned Rice

This is a nice variation to regular steamed rice, a bit buttery-tasting. But, if you are eating rice under some other recipe, there is no need to take the time to make this variation. The rice on the bottom got a little bit broken-up. I had never made rice in the oven before, so that was new for me. I had to cover my dutch oven with foil because the lid was not ovenproof.

Southern Browned Rice

1 1/2 c. long-grain white rice
1 1/2 T butter
1 1/2 t. salt
3 1/2 c. water

1. Preheat oven to 300ºF.
2. Place rice and butter in an ovenproof skillet and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until rice is golden brown but not burned.
3. Add salt and water, cover , and put skillet in the oven. Bake until rice is done, about 30 minutes. Serves 4.

White Chocolate-Almond Blondies

The same thing happened with these blondies as with the brownies the other day. I baked them in a glass pan half the size of the original recipe, this time I actually measured the pan against the larger one to make sure. After I finished cooking and cooling them, I tried to get them out of the pan and the edges were done but not the insides. So, I scraped away the doughy insides and placed it in another baking pan. I wonder if it is because of the glass pan? I just have to make sure that I don't go taller than about 3/4" of dough in the pan for future batches of brownies. I loved the flavor of this recipe, so I will keep this recipe.

White Chocolate-Almond Blondies

2 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2/3 c. butter
1 1/2 t. instant coffee
2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 c. whole natural almonds, coarsely chopped and toasted
1 c. white chocolate morsels

1. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add coffee granules, stirring until dissolved. Remove from heat. Add brown sugar and eggs, stir well. Gradually stir in flour mixture. Add almonds and white chocolate morsels, stirring well.
3. Spread batter in a lightly greased 13" x 9" x 2" pan. Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into squares. Makes 2 1/2 dozen.

Szechuan Cold Sesame Noodles

I tweaked this recipe a bit, but it came out good. I used whole wheat spaghetti noodles, and replaced the bean sprouts with baby corn, water chestnuts, and peas. I also used cashews in place of peanuts because I didn't have any peanuts handy. I think I will keep this recipe, because I liked the flavor of the sauce. However, a bit less soy sauce next time.

Szechuan Cold Sesame Noodles

3 quarts water
1 T corn oil
1 pound fresh Chinese whole-wheat noodles
1 T sesame oil
2 c. canned bean sprouts, drained
1 c. shredded cooked chicken
3 T sesame seeds
2 t. sesame oil
6 T soy sauce
1 T red wine vinegar
1 T oil, heated
1 t. sugar
2 T chopped scallions
2 t grated fresh ginger (or 1/4 t. powdered ginger)
2 t. finely chopped garlic
1 T sesame oil
1 T unsalted peanuts, ground

1. Bring water and corn oil to a boil in a large saucepan. Separate noodles carefully, then cook following package directions. Drain, place on serving platter, and toss with 1 T sesame oil until well coated. Place bean sprouts and chicken on top of noodles.
2. Grind sesame seeds in blender or food processor. Blend with 2 teaspoons sesame oil to form paste. Add soy sauce, vinegar, hot oil, sugar, scallions, ginger, and garlic.
3. Pour sauce over chicken, bean sprouts, and noodles. Sprinkle with 1 Tablespoon sesame oil and peanuts.
4. Refrigerate until well-chilled. Before serving, toss until well mixed. Serves 8.

Elegant Honeyed Chicken Breasts

This was a strange recipe. I think I have tried it before, a long time ago. The proportions were off, and I used much more chicken broth. Perhaps it is because it forgot to cover the pot and the liquid boiled away, or perhaps the "condensed chicken broth" can was huge. But I couldn't find any condensed and just doubled the regular broth and left out the water. I burned the chicken breast on the second "honeying", but the chicken had a great flavor. There is a lot of time that goes into this dish, including boiling the chicken in the broth and vegetables the day before, refrigerating it overnight, and then reheating it again the next day before broiling it!! I didn't have any green grapes or watercress, but I don't know how that would have improved the presentation. The directions got a bit confusing after you reheat the chicken before broiling it. I ended up using 1 cup of the broth in the bottom of the pan while I broiled the chicken. I used skinless, boneless chicken breasts. I think I will keep this recipe, with a note to use more broth and not to burn the chicken on the second broiling!!

Elegant Honeyed Chicken Breasts

1/4 c. sliced almonds
1 med. onion, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1 sprig parsley
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 t. dried rosemary leaves
1 small bay leaf
1 can condensed chicken broth (use WAY more than this)
1 c. water (use only if you use condensed broth)
4 whole chicken breasts
1/3 c. honey
green grapes
water cress

1. The day before, toast almonds. Cool and transfer to a covered container for tomorrow.
2. The day before, in a 6-quart kettle, bring broth, water, onion, celery, carrot, parsley, salt, pepper, rosemary, and bay leaf to a boil. Add chicken and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes. Cool at room temperature and refrigerate overnight.
3. Next day, reheat the chicken and broth at low for 10 minutes.
4. Remove chicken and place in large shallow pan, skin-side up. Strain chicken broth, and cover the chicken with 1 cup of broth. Save remaining broth for another recipe. Brush chicken with half of the honey.
5. Broil 4" from heat source for 2 minutes. Brush chicken with remaining honey (if you have boneless, skinless breasts you may wish to turn the breast before the second broiling). Broil for another 2 minutes.
6. Place chicken on a platter covered in almonds and garnish with green grapes and water cress. Serve immediately. Serves 8.

Roast Chicken in Foil

I was surprised by this recipe. I thought I wouldn't like the seasoning, but once I scraped off the reconstituted onions off the top of the chicken it was fine!! The chicken was very moist, and tasted good. I used the chicken flavor of Rice-a-Roni instead of steamed rice, so the I didn't use as much of the juice to flavor it. Although I liked this chicken, I am not going to keep this recipe because I will be unlikely to ever have dry onion soup mix again. I will remember the technique and try with fresh seasoning and perhaps with some vegetables.

Roast Chicken in Foil

2 broiler chickens, approximately 2 pounds in weight, cut in half lengthwise
2 sticks of butter
2 envelopes of dry onion soup mix
4 c. hot fluffy cooked rice

1. Place the chicken halves on aluminum foil large enough to bring up over the top and wrap tightly (or use two pieces of foil, one for the bottom and one for the top).
2. Cut the butter into 1/4-inch slices and arrange them over the top of the chicken.
3. Sprinkle with the dry onion soup mix.
4. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, making sure that no steam will be able to escape during cooking.
5. Cook at 300ºF for 45 minutes. Open one corner of the foil and test for doneness by piercing the thickest part of the chicken with a fork.
6. Serve with a portion of the rice. Use a spoonful of the gathered juices in the bottom of the foil to top the rice. Serves 4.

Peanut Brittle

This recipe wasn't bad, it just wasn't any different from the other brittle recipe I have. I have a lot of these recipes, so until one significantly outshines my Buttery Cashew Brittle, I will have to discard them. The one difference in this recipe was that it called for a skillet specifically. Also, it called for a 290 degree hard crack, my thermometer says 300 degrees for hard crack. I used salted cocktail peanuts, so I left off the salt and watched to make sure they didn't burn since they were already cooked. I think it might have tasted a bit better if I had added a bit of salt. I used a buttered baking sheet instead of "platters" and didn't need to blanch my peanuts as they were already cooked. Also, I accidentally added more corn syrup, having misread my notes!! Perhaps that affected the taste, I don't know!!

Peanut Brittle

2 c. sugar
1 c. corn syrup
1 c. water
2 c. unroasted peanuts, blanched
1/4 t. salt
1 t. butter
1/4 t. baking soda

1. Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in a heavy skillet. Cook slowly until sugar dissolves.
2. Cook to 238ºF (soft ball).
3. Add blanched peanuts and salt. Cook to 290ºF (hard ball) stirring constantly.
4. Remove from heat and add butter and baking soda.
5. Pour on greased platters, lifting occasionally to keep from sticking.

Note: To blanch peanuts, cover with boiling water for 3 minutes, then run under cold water.

Chocolate Mocha Brownies

This is how the bar looked when I followed the directions. It tasted good, but didn't cook in the middle. I scooped out the uncooked part and baked it again and they came out perfectly!!

The thinner brownies were chewy and tasty. I have to say that I didn't taste the coffee as much as I had hoped, but I will add more next time. These would be wonderful with a scoop of ice cream. My advice is to bake the full recipe in a jelly-roll pan, we always called this a cookie sheet. Keep your eyes on it, as you may not need to bake them as long as this recipe calls for. I used Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate chunks and white chips.

Chocolate Mocha Brownies

1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 c. butter
2 T instant coffee
1 T hot water
2 eggs
2 T vanilla
2 c. flour
2 t, baking powder
1/2 t. salt
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
4 oz. white chocolate, broken into small pieces

1. In a medium saucepan, melt sugar and butter over medium-low heat.
2. Dissolve coffee in hot water and stir into butter mixture. Cool to room temperature.
3. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Beat eggs and vanilla into butter mixture.
4. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir butter mixture into dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chunks.
5. Pour batter into a greased 8" x 11" baking pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until light brown.
6. Cool in pan. Cut into 1 1/2-inch squares. Makes about 3 dozen brownies.

Roast Chicken in Brandy Sauce

This was a great-tasting chicken dish, and I am realizing that even though I don't prefer the taste of wine in a dish, I like the taste of brandy!! I used some apple brandy that I had in the cupboard. I also used two chicken breast halves and cut the recipe in thirds. The sauce was a bit runny, which was OK if I had mashed potatoes on the plate, but I had to move the salad to a bowl. I used my dutch oven to cook in so I could put it in the oven. I think this will also be a good left-over meal tomorrow.

Roast Chicken in Brandy Sauce

1 4- to 6-lb. roasting chicken
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
6 T butter
1/4 c. onion, chopped fine
3/4 c. brandy
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 T minced parsley for garnish

1. Cut the chicken into serving pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Melt the butter in an ovenproof skillet and brown the pieces of chicken in it evenly over moderate heat.
3. Add the onion and continue to cook until it is tender and glazed. Add the brandy and turn each piece of chicken so that it is coated with brandy.
4. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and place in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.
5. Remove the foil and pour the cream into the chicken mixture.
6. Continue to cook at 350ºF for 5 minutes longer. Serve at once, piping hot, garnished with the minced parsley. Serves 4-6.

Shaker Chicken and Noodle Soup

Finally, a recipe that is a "keeper"!! It is sure obvious when a good recipe comes along, and this one is it. It is a bit complicated, which is surprising considering it is supposed to be from the simple Shakers. I didn't have Vermouth, so I used some leftover white wine I keep in the fridge for recipes. I didn't slice the celery too thinly, and left some of the leaves in the mix. I am so happy with this recipe, but I will have to work on how to make it even smaller. I halved the recipe and got 4 good-sized bowls of soup. Also, I would love to have a bit more chicken in the soup. I cut the chicken up in large chunks, and I think I would make them smaller next time so I could get noodles, celery, and chicken all in one spoonful. The recipe says to add the wine mixture and chicken, and then to heat up to serving heat. Well, the soup was already boiling, so all I did was stir it in and turn off the heat!! It was quite warm when I sat down to eat it. I heated up some of those sourdough brown and serve rolls to eat with this soup, and the tastes worked well together.

Shaker Chicken and Noodle Soup

1 c. chicken broth
12 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. dry vermouth
1/4 c. butter
1 c. heavy cream
12 oz. wide egg noodles
1 c. thinly sliced celery
1 1/2 c. water
3/4 c. flour
2 c. cooked chicken, diced
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c. finely chopped fresh parsley

1. Combine 1 cup broth, vermouth, and butter in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Continue to boil 15 to 20 minutes or until liquid is reduced to 1/4 cup and has a syrupy consistency. Stir in cream. Set aside.
2. Bring remaining broth to a boil in a Dutch oven. Add noodles and celery. Cook until noodles are just tender.
3. Combine water and flour in a medium bowl until smooth. Stir into broth mixture. Boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Stir in reserved cream mixture and add chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Heat just to serving temperature, do not boil. Sprinkle with parsley. Garnish as desired. Makes 8-15 servings.

Oven-Fried Chicken Italienne

I needed to use up some cream of mushroom soup, so I searched my recipe box until I found this recipe. It was designed for a fryer, but I used boneless breasts. I have to say that the chicken was dry, and the outside was too crunchy. I didn't overcook it, so I don't know what happened. Perhaps I didn't have enough of the soup between the crumbs and the chicken? Anyway, I will use the leftover chicken without the crust, and won't be keeping this recipe.

Oven-Fried Chicken Italienne

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 c. milk
2 fryers, cut up
1 c. Italian-seasoned bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Dilute soup with milk.
3. Coat chicken pieces with this mixture and then roll in seasoned bread crumbs.
4. Bake in a shallow pan for 1 hour. Serves 5-6.

Fluffy Rice and Chicken

I imagined this dish would turn out like one of my favorites that my mother made, I think it was called Chicken Supreme. She would make it for big parties in a huge pan. This was nowhere close to that dish. Again, I am realizing that I don't like certain "easy" cooking ingredients, like cream of mushroom soup. The rice wasn't cooked (probably because I forgot to cover the pan), even though I added extra milk to the soup because it seemed too thick. I am not a fan of mushrooms, so I spent half of the time picking out the mushrooms from the rice. The chicken was well-cooked, moist and the texture was good. However, overall I didn't like the taste of this dish. Someone who enjoys mushrooms might like this better.

Fluffy Rice and Chicken

10 1/2 oz. can condensed cream of mushroom soup
3/4 soup can milk
3/4 c. uncooked white rice
4 oz. canned mushroom stem and pieces
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 chicken breasts, halved

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2. Mix mushroom soup and milk, reserve 1/2 cup of the mixture.
3. Mix remaining soup mixture, rice, mushrooms (including liquid), and half of the onion soup mix. Pour into un-greased baking dish.
4. Place chicken breasts on top and pour reserved soup mixture over chicken breasts. Sprinkle with remaining onion soup mix.
5. Cover and bake 1 hour.
6. Uncover and bake 15 minutes longer. Serves 4.

Quick Scotch Bars

This was a strange recipe. Basically you mix a ton of sugar and butter with some oats and bake it. The optional chocolate topping was necessary in my mind. The result was a brown sugary bar, almost like candy. I really can't keep this extremely sweet dessert recipe, though!! I can't even imagine a scenario where anyone but me would like this. I was afraid it wouldn't hold together, but it set up fine after cooling well. I can't believe I am saying this, but this bar is WAY TOO SWEET!!

Note: Later, since I didn't want to waste it, I crumbled these bars over ice cream and it was yummy. Sort of caramel flavored.

Quick Scotch-Teas

1 c. butter, softened
2 c. brown sugar
4 c. quick-cooking oats
1/2 t. salt
2 t. baking powder
chocolate chips, optional

1. Combine butter and brown sugar in saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring, until melted. Remove from heat.
2. Blend in oats, salt, and baking powder, mixing well.
3. Pour into greased 13" x 9" x 2" baking pan. Bake at 350ºF for 20-25 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with chocolate chips immediately after taking from oven. Spread chocolate chips as they melt.
5. Cool and cut into bars.

Lemon Squares with Jam Filling

I was craving something sweet for dessert, so I made this variation on a lemon bar. It was good, but not so different from my standard lemon bar recipe that I need to keep a separate recipe. Basically, you just add a layer of jam between the crust and the lemon curd topping for a standard lemon bar recipe. I wish I had cooked it a bit longer, so the top of the lemon curd was more crispy.

Lemon Squares with Jam Filling

2 c. flour
1/3 c. powdered sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 c. butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/4 t. baking powder
3 eggs
1/3 c. lemon juice
2 T grated lemon zest
3/4 c. strawberry or raspberry jam
3 T. flour
confectioner's sugar for dusting on bars

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Grease and flour an 11" x 7" baking pan.
3. In a large bowl, stir together 2 cups flour, 1/3 cup powdered sugar, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes, or just until firm.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, baking powder, and 3 Tablespoons flour. Add the eggs, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix until well blended.
5. Remove the pan from the oven and spread the jam over the crust. Spread the lemon topping over the jam and bake for another 25-30 minutes, or until the topping is set.
6. Let cool in the pan on a rack. Dust the top lightly with powdered sugar before cutting into squares. Makes 15 squares.

Creamy Chicken and Potatoes

This recipe was selected to use up some cream of chicken soup. I didn't really like the taste of the soup in my last recipe, but I don't like to waste anything!! Of course I didn't like the taste of the sauce of this recipe. Plus, there was no flavor to this dish. The sweet potatoes didn't work with the sour cream flavor. The only flavor was from the green onions!! Also, I had to add some milk to the sauce because it was not liquidy enough. This is not a keeper.

Creamy Chicken and Potatoes

10 oz. can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 c. sour cream
4 medium green onions, chopped
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 lb. new potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch wedges

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, and all but 2 Tablespoons of the onions and set aside.
2. Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, smooth side down, and cook 1-2 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn pieces over, add potatoes, and pour soup mixture evenly over all.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover tightly. and simmer for 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center and potatoes are tender, stirring midway. Top with remaining green onions to serve.

Best Chicken Croquettes

I have tried several recipes for "croquettes" and I haven't been happy with any of them, although this is the best so far. Perhaps, like fudge, I don't actually like croquettes. The sauce was horrible, I now know I don't like the taste of cream of chicken soup. The croquettes were so oily tasting, but at least they didn't fall apart on me!! I won't be keeping this recipe, perhaps one of my other croquette recipe will be a success ...

Best Chicken Croquettes

10 3/4 oz. can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 c. finely chopped cooked chicken
1/4 c. fine dry bread crumbs
2 T finely chopped celery
1 T finely chopped onion
1/4 t. poultry seasoning
shortening
1/2 c. milk

1. To make croquettes, combine 1/3 c. soup, chicken, bread crumbs, celery, onion, and 1/8 teaspoon poultry seasoning. Mix well. Shape into 6 croquettes or patties (if mixture is difficult to handle, chill before shaping). Roll in additional bread crumbs.
2. In a skillet, brown croquettes in melted shortening.
3. Meanwhile, in saucepan, combine remaining soup, 1/8 teaspoon poultry seasoning, and milk. Heat, stirring occasionally. Serve with croquettes. Makes 3 servings.

Chicken Chow Mein

I had some water chestnuts, chicken broth, and cooked chicken to use up, so I decided to make my chicken chow mein. It had been a while since I had made it and didn't know if I would still like it. I did, I will be keeping this recipe. I served it over some white rice. I left out the bean sprouts, and added some carrots instead.

Chicken Chow Mein

1/4 c. cooking oil
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 onion, sliced
3 c. thinly & diagonally sliced celery
17 oz. canned bean sprouts
4 oz. canned sliced water chestnuts
2 t. sugar
2 c. chicken broth or water
2 c. sliced, cooked chicken
2 1/2 T cornstarch
1/4 c. cold water
1/4 c. soy sauce

1. Heat oil in deep skillet. Add salt, pepper, onion, celery, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, sugar, and chicken broth. Cook about 10 minutes. Don't over-cook veggies.
2. Blend together cornstarch, water, and soy sauce. Add to veggies and stir until mixture thickens.
3. Stir in chicken and serve immediately over chow mein noodles or cooked rice. Makes 5-6 servings.