One-Pan Stir Fry: Chicken & Spinach

Contributor: K. Cox (K_Commenter)

Author's Notes: These improvised recipes came out of a need to make a family dinner that was (1) quick, and (2) primarily healthful.  This quantity feeds about 2.5 adults.

Chicken & Spinach Stir-Fry

You will need:

• 1 bag pre-washed baby spinach
• roughly 0.5 lb trimmed boneless, skinless chicken breast
• minced garlic (I buy jars and keep 'em in the fridge)
• olive oil
• lemon juice
• crumbled feta (I buy low-fat or fat-free)
• white sugar
• 1/3 box whole-grain pasta of your choice (I like rotini)

1.) Cut the chicken into very thin slices

2.) Put the pasta on to boil

3.) Put roughly 1 tablespoon of minced garlic into a lidded pan (I use one like this) and add roughly 3 tablespoons of olive oil.  (I never measure either.)

4.) Sauté the garlic in the olive oil over medium heat.  When the garlic is mainly starting to turn golden-brown, add the chicken.

5.) Toss the chicken regularly while cooking.  During this time, sprinkle with lemon juice and with crumbled feta.

6.) When the chicken is cooked through (and cooked to taste, I prefer mine slightly browned on the outside), use tongs to remove it from the pan into a bowl.  When the chicken's out, dump in the bag of spinach.

7.) Mix the spinach while you cook it, to make sure it wilts relatively evenly (rather than one half being overcooked) and to make sure the sauce flavors all of it.  Sprinkle in more olive oil, crumbled feta, and lemon juice while cooking the spinach.

8.) When the spinach is cooked, remove it from the pan and put it into the bowl with the chicken.

9.) Take your hopefully cooked-and-drained pasta (from step 2!) and dump it into the bowl with the chicken and spinach.  Toss thoroughly.

10.) Go back to your pan.  Add another couple of tablespoons of olive oil and lemon juice, and a few more sprinkles of feta.  Also add 1/8 tsp (seriously, it only takes a tiny bit) of white sugar.  Stir thoroughly, then put the lid on and crank the heat until all that liquid is boiling like mad.

11.) Once it's boiling like mad, remove from heat.  Remove lid and let sauce sit at least 2-3 minutes (more if you have the patience).  Then spoon sauce over pasta-chicken-spinach mixture and enjoy.  Serve sprinkled with further feta if you like.

Samosas

Contributor: gnikivar

Author's Notes:

Samosas

1 Kilo Potatoes
.5 lbs Peas
Black pepper
Fennel Seeds
Canola Oil
Garam Masala (can be bought at any Indian store)
Ginger
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 cup durum wheat flour

1) Boil potaotes, and peel
2) Cut potatoes up into little pieces, or mash
3) Put in half lb of frozen pease
4) Add 4 tables spoons of Garam Masala
5) Add table spoon of black pepper
6) Add teaspoon of salt
6) Take a small pot, and put one fourth cup worth of oil. Add similar amount of fennel seeds
7) Find ginger, peel ginger and cut into itty bitty pieces
8) Pour all of these elements and mix until well mixed.
9) Should be very dry, if not, cook for a few minutes to take off moisture
- This is the filling for Somosa

The exterior is kind of tough to make, if you don't have practice with Indian food.

1)Take two cups of all purpose flour, and one cup of durum wheat flour. Add one cup of water, and three tablespoons of oil.

2) Knead, until doughy enough.

3) Take rolling pin, and roll into thin circular sheets. I figure this is similar to how tortillas are made. This can be really difficult and time consuming.

4) To do so, break off a small piece of the dough. Roll into sphere, and then flatten

5) Place onto cutting board, (I don't know if there is a western equivalent to the Patlo, which is what you role breads on)

Tips: Keep a soft hand, roll fast, but but very little pressure on the dough while rolling. Also, keep some flour and sprinkle onto the dough you are rolling from time to time. Also, flip dough over from time to time. This will keep if from sticking.

6) Cut resulting circular object in half with a knife. Take one end and connect it to the other. This should form a cone. Pour stuffing into cone, but do not fill all the way, so there is still some room to close the cone. This should get you the triangular Samosa. If you can't get this to work right, just roll stuffing into sphere and wrap the circular dough around. This will get you Kachori (typical of Gujarat) rather than Samosas (typical of Punjab). They will nevertheless taste the same.

7) Deep fry. Wait until the Samosa turns a browninsh pinkish color before taking out.

8) Eat Samosas / feed them to other people. 

Dad's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Contributor: j_luck

Author's Notes: This recipe has been tweaked a LOT by me and my Dad over several years. My Dad’s recipe is a little more conservative with the cinnamon, vanilla, lemon juice, and oats; you can decrease the amounts of each if you feel the need.

Warning: These things are addictive as hell. And they’ll ruin your diet. Trust me.

Dad's Chocolate Chip Cookies



1 cup rolled oats
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. Cinnamon (I am a cinnamon fiend; I almost go to 3, but my Dad’s personal variant
is just 1)
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened but not room temperature
3/4 cup (dark) brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 eggs (Large)
2 cups semi-sweet, chocolate chips (1 ½ Bags Nestlé’s 24 oz.); Baker’s Chocolate or dark
chocolate can be used at your discretion. I just made a batch with ¾ a bag of 12 oz. mini
chocolate chips to great success if you’re feeling a chocolate overload.
Half a small bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips
1 cup chopped walnuts


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. My Dad usually finely grinds the oats but since I don’t have a food processor, I just mix
them with the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl with a wire wisk.

3. Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in another large bowl. I swear
by an electric stand mixer with a dough hook [Oh Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer, how I love
thee], but it works just fine with a regular electric hand mixer. Add the eggs and mix
until smooth.

4. Add the flour mixture, chips, and nuts into the butter, sugar, and eggs and blend well
– do not use an electric hand mixer for this part! - mix by hand or dough hook until
ingredients are well blended. Make sure to get that bit at the bottom of the bowl; there’s
always some flour down there that never gets mixed properly.

5. Spoon rounded portions onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the scoops about 2 inches
apart. You should keep the dough in the fridge when not using it. Bake in a 350°F oven
for 12 –15 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle. Let them cool
on a wire rack until cool and store in a sealed container to keep soft. These things last a
week? I dunno, they usually get eaten within the next day and a half, I’m not really sure
about their shelf life.

6. From j_luck and j_luck’s Dad, Enjoy!

Borscht

Contributor: Josh Jasper

Author's Notes: This recipe made a total of 10 two-cup servings. It should freeze and reheat very well.

Borscht


1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium onion , chopped medium
2 medium carrots , chopped medium
2 medium garlic cloves , minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 quarts beef stock
2 lb stew beef or lamb
1/2 small head cabbage , green or red, shredded* (about 5 cups)
1 3/4 pounds beets, peeled, half grated and half cubed** (about 5 cups)
5 - 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 bay leaf
3/4 pound small red potatoes (each 1 to 1 1/4 inches in diameter), scrubbed***
Ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh dill , chopped

* How to shred cabbage: Cut the half-cabbage in half again, cut out the stem, cut each quarter-cabbage in half again, separate each eighth-cabbage into a front section and a back section, feed each section into a food processor equipped with a SLICING (not shredding) blade.

** Last time we made it, we agreed that there wasn't enough beet flavor. Cubing some of the beets instead of shredding them helps a lot with this.

*** We now make a point of having small boiled potatoes in the fridge at all times, so we skipped this bit.

1. Heat the butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds.

2. Add the tomato paste and stir in 1/2 cup of the stock to dissolve the tomato paste. Add the remaining stock, cabbage, beets, 4 tablespoons vinegar, sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer. Brown the meat and add it to the soup, adjusting heat as necessary to keep at a simmer. Cook until the vegetables and meat are soft and tender, 40 to 45 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a medium saucepan, cover with cold water, and add the remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer, stirring once or twice to ensure even cooking. Cook until a thin-bladed paring knife or metal cake tester inserted into a potato can be removed with no resistance, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes, cool slightly, and cut into quarters.

4. Remove the bay leaf. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding the remaining 1 to 2 tablespoons of vinegar, pepper to taste, and 1/4 cup dill. Place 4 potato quarters in each individual soup bowl and ladle some soup over the potatoes. Top with 2 more pieces of potato, a generous dollop of sour cream, and a generous sprinkling of dill. Serve immediately. 

Homemade Hostess Cupcakes

Contributor: anibundel

Author's Notes: This is for 12 cupcakes, and is based on the recipe seen on America's test kitchen.

INGREDIENTS

CUPCAKES
1cup all purpose flour
1/2tsp baking soda
1/4tsp Salt

1/2cup boiling water
1/3cup cocoa powder
1/3cup semisweet chocolate chips
1tbsp instant espresso

3/4cup sugar
1/2cup sour cream
1/2cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract

FILLING
3tbsp water
3/4tsp unflavored gelatin
4tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/8tsp salt
1tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4cups marshmallow creme (Be sure to use marshmallow creme, not marshmallow sauce!  Otherwise the filling won't set up correctly.)

GLAZE
1/2cup semisweet chocolate chips
3tbsp unsalted butter

INSTRUCTIONS

Cupcakes:

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.
• Grease and flour 12-cup muffin tin.
• Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in bowl, set aside
• Whisk water, cocoa, chocolate chips, and espresso in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar, sour cream, oil, eggs, and vanilla and mix until combined. Whisk in flour mixture until incorporated.
• Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out with few dry crumbs attached, 18 to 22 minutes.
• Cool cupcakes in tin 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack and cool completely, about one hour.

At the 30 minute mark on the cupcake cooling cycle, make the filling, and then the glaze.

Filling:

• Combine water and gelatin in large bowl and let sit until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes.
• Microwave until mixture is bubbling around edges and gelatin dissolves, about 30 seconds.
• Stir in butter, vanilla, and salt until combined. Let mixture cool until just warm to touch, about 5 minutes
• Whisk in marshmallow creme until smooth; refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.
• Transfer 1/3 cup marshmallow mixture to pastry bag fitted with small plain tip; reserve remaining mixture for filling cupcakes.

Glaze:

• Microwave chocolate and butter in small bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 30 seconds.
• Cool glaze to room temperature, about 10 minutes.

Assembly:

• Cut a cone out from the topside center of each cupcake. Cut the point off each cone to leave a cupcake "lid." (Be careful you keep each lid with it's proper cupcake, otherwise you'll have lumpy lids that don't fit right!)
• Fill cupcakes with 1 tablespoon filling each. Replace tops.
• Frost with 2 teaspoons cooled glaze, and let sit 10 minutes.
• Using pastry bag and reserved filling, pipe curlicues (or whatever design you want, really.  The curlicues are just to scream "hostess") across glazed cupcakes.
• Serve.

Peppermint Meringue Drops

Contributor: K_Commenter

Author's Notes: My mom's peppermint meringues -- famous among friends and family.  Dad likes 'em with the nuts in; I like to make variations and skip the nuts entirely.  Bonus: when you watch your add-ins, they're friendly desserts for the gluten-free eaters in your life.  Just be careful not to drop the box and shatter meringue all over your office.  Such as.  Um.  That might be really hard to clean up.  Just sayin'...

Peppermint Meringues

2 Egg whites at room temperature
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt (may be omitted)
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
3 tbs crushed candy cane or starlight mints

• Beat egg whites on high speed until foamy
• Add cream of tartar and salt
• Beat until soft peaks form
• Add sugar a little at a time, beating in completely

• Remove beaters, fold in choc chips, nuts and candy
• Drop teaspoon fulls of mix 1.5" apart on lightly greased cookie sheet (or use parchment paper on cookie sheet)
• Bake at 250 for 40 minutes

Brown Sugar Cookies

Contributor: anibundel


Brown Sugar Cookies


14 tablespoons butter (unsalted)
2 cups dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cup+2 tbsp all purpose flour (10 2/3oz if you are a by-weight baker)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table salt
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Melt 10 tbsp butter in skillet. Cook butter, stirring constantly until butter browns and has nutty aroma--about 1-3minutes. Transfer browned butter to bowl, add remaining four tbsp butter to it and stir until all is melted and let sit until roomish temperature, about 15 minutes or so.

Whisk the flour, baking soda and baking power in another bowl.  Set aside.

Meanwhile, set oven to 350 with rack in center position. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a shallow dish mix 1/4 cup brown sugar with 1/4 cup white, rubbing together until well combined. Set aside.

Add remaining 1 3/4 cup brown sugar and table salt to bowl with now-cooled butter and mix with wooden spoon until no sugar lumps remain.

Scrape down bowl, add egg, egg yolk and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated.

Scrape down bowl, add flour mixture, 1/3rd at a time. Give a final stir to make sure no flour pocket remain.

Turn out dough. Divide into 24 even pieces. Roll into balls and then roll balls in white/brown sugar mixture.

Set dough balls on baking sheets, 12 a piece.

Bake sheets *One At A Time.*  12 minutes per cookie sheet, turning sheet at 6 minute mark. Cookies will NOT look done when they come out. That's ok. Leave them sit on the baking sheet for five minutes while you start baking the second sheet.

After letting them "carry over bake" for five minutes on the sheet, carefully transfer to cooling rack using wide flat spatula. Repeat method with second cookie sheets worth of cookies. Cool to room temperature.

Eat Cookies.