All of our kids adore Chik-Fil-A sandwiches and their nuggets. I came across this copy-cat recipe online and it's just like what you get at the restaurant.
3 cups peanut oil
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
2 - 1/2 tsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise
4 plain hamburger buns
2 tbsp melted butter
8 dill pickle slices
Mix together the egg and milk. Place the filets in this mixture and let sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour. While the breasts are sitting, mix together the flour, sugar, pepper and salt. Once the sitting is done, dredge the chicken in the flour. You can put them back in the milk bath for a few seconds and re-dredge if you prefer. Place the peanut oil in a deep fryer and bring up to a high heat. Once up to 375 degrees, gently drop the coated chicken into the oil and cook until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Lightly butter the buns and grill until heated through. Place two pickles on each bun and place a hot breast on each.
Serves 4
Chicken Nuggets:
Cut the chicken breasts into strips or nuggets and prepare the same as above. Serve the nuggets with ketchup, barbecue sauce and honey mustard salad dressing for dipping sauces.
When David makes homemade sushi, Cassidy always loves to make California Rolls, because they're her absolute favorite food. She has definitely got the art of making these delicious rolls down. The traditional California Roll is stuffed with crab, avocado and cucumber, but Cassidy stuffs her rolls with a combination of sushi-grade seafood as well. These are wonderful tasty treats and make great snacks. Way to go Cassidy...yet another talent of yours for us all to enjoy! You make us so proud!! We love you girly!! =)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 medium avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces
4 sheets nori or roasted seaweed sheets
1/2 batch sushi rice, recipe follows
1/3 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into matchstick-size pieces
combination of any of the following: cooked crab meat, red caviar, sushi-grade tuna or salmon
Pickled ginger, for serving
Wasabi, for serving
Soy sauce, for serving
Squeeze the lemon juice over the avocado to prevent browning.
Cover a bamboo rolling mat with plastic wrap. Cut nori sheets in half crosswise. Lay 1 sheet of nori, shiny side down, on the plastic covered mat. Wet your fingers with water and spread about 1/2 cup of the rice evenly onto the nori. Sprinkle the rice with sesame seeds. Turn the sheet of nori over so that the rice side is down. Place 1/8 of the cucumber, avocado and crab and any combination of seafood in the center of the sheet. Grab the edge of the mat closest to you, keeping the fillings in place with your fingers, and roll it into a tight cylinder, using the mat to shape the cylinder. Pull away the mat and set aside. Cover with a damp cloth. Repeat until all of the rice has been used. Cut each roll into 6 pieces. Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.
Sushi Rice:
2 cups sushi or short grain rice
2 cups water, plus extra for rinsing rice
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
Place the rice into a mixing bowl and cover with cool water. Swirl the rice in the water, pour off and repeat 2 to 3 times or until the water is clear.
Place the rice and 2 cups of water into a medium saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.
Here's another great Asian recipe that our family loves. We like to serve this with plenty of lime wedges because we prefer it to be more "limey". To add some heat serve with some Sriracha Red Chili Sauce that people can add with their own discretion.
8 ounces dried rice noodle sticks
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or white vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 - 1/2 pound peeled and de-veined raw shrimp, halved lengthwise
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
3 tablespoons peanut oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 large eggs
2 cups bean sprouts
2 cups sliced green onions
1/2 cup chopped roasted lightly salted peanuts
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
lime wedges
Cook noodles for 3 minutes in boiling water. Drain and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the fish sauce, vinegar, and sugar, and stir until the sugar dissolves. Set aside. Season the shrimp with cayenne.
In a wok or large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the shrimp and cook until the shrimp are just cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.
Add the eggs and cook, stirring, until just set, about 45 seconds. Add the sprouts, onions, fish sauce mixture, and noodles, and cook, stirring, until warmed through. Add the shrimp and peanuts, and cook for 30 seconds. Transfer to a serving platter and toss with the cilantro and lime juice. Serve immediately.
Today is Avery's 17th birthday.....Happy Birthday to my beautiful girly!!! How on earth did that happen so fast?! We celebrated as a family last night and she specifically requested homemade sushi. Cassidy pitched in and made some California rolls also, which is her specialty (recipe soon to follow). David added a surprise bonus of lobster that he served with a Japanese soy, butter and ginger dipping sauce. It was to die for! He prepared it very similarly to what we eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Tei Tei Robata Bar here in Dallas. It all was so good! David has the homemade sushi down. Here's the link on how David makes the freshest, most wonderful sushi that rivals the finest restaurants in town:
Homemade Sushi
David has long ago mastered the art of boiling live lobster. In our early dating days he would even prepare us a lovely lobster picnic that we would enjoy on the banks of Turtle Creek. It's amazing how 3 kids can change the dynamics so, but in a good way, of course. =) I still get my lobster from time to time and that's all that matters.
Try and buy your live lobsters as close to cooking time as possible to ensure the freshest, tastiest meal possible. Lobster is one of our all-time favorite meals and is something we cook on most special occasions. I'm including both methods in which David prepares our lobster, the Japanese method and the traditional, boiled method served with a lemon butter dipping sauce.
1)
Here's the Japanese method David prepared for us last night:
3 live lobsters
1 TBSP butter
Keep the lobster in the sink over ice until ready to cook. Bring a very large pot of water to a rapid boil. Add live lobsters and boil for 8 minutes. Drain. Shell the lobster and cut into bit-sized cubes. Melt butter in saucepan and saute' lobster for 1 minute. Serve warm with the Japanese dipping sauce.
Japanese Soy, Ginger and Butter Dipping Sauce:
1" ginger nub, grated
4 TBSP butter
2 TBSP soy sauce
Melt butter in saucepan. Add ginger and soy; mix well and heat through. Serve in a small dipping bowl.
2)
The more traditional method is done like this, which is very similar, but boiled a couple of minutes longer and we don't saute' the meat. We usually serve this method with Caesar Salad, loaded baked potatoes and some crusty bread.
3 live lobsters
Keep the lobster in sink over ice until ready to cook. Bring a very large pot of water to a rapid boil. Add live lobsters and boil for 11 - 12 minutes. Drain. Using scissors, shell the lobster tails, and claws.
Lemon Butter Dipping Sauce:
4 TBSP butter
juice of 1 large lemon
pepper to taste
Melt the butter in the microwave. Add the lemon juice and pepper and place in a small dipping bowl. Add more lemon juice or butter to your taste. I prefer a more lemony sauce.
Many years ago when I was a Travel Consultant a co-worker of mine would bring a similar dish to work for lunch that her Cuban mom, Rosa would make. It looked and smelled so good that I came up with my own version. My kids especially love this recipe and always go for seconds. Rosa's is great served in warmed, buttered flour tortillas and for additional heat I like to add a few squirts of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. This makes wonderful leftovers.
1 lb ground beef
1 cup red onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 - 3 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce
2 - 3 large potatoes, pricked and microwaved for 2 minutes, peeled and diced (you don't want the potatoes too soft because they will crumble, just micro for a little bit)
1 TBSP vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1 - 1/4 cup Minute Rice, prepared as directed
flour tortillas
In a skillet saute' the beef and onions. Add the garlic, Worcestershire and season the meat with salt and pepper. Set aside.
In another skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and brown like you would hash browns. When they get nice and golden in color season with Tony Chachere's and cayenne pepper. Add the meat mixture and the cooked rice to the potatoes and heat through while stirring well. Serve with warm, buttered tortillas, Worcestershire Sauce and Sriracha.
My Mom is one of the best cooks I know and is one of my inspirations for starting this blog and my cookbook. This is the cake she bakes for birthdays and other special occasions. If you're a chocolate fanatic like our family you are going to love this recipe. It is so decadently delicious!
Cake:
1)
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
a pinch of salt
Mix these ingredients together well; set aside.
2)
1 stick of butter
4 TBSP unsweetened cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup Crisco
Mix all of these ingredients in a saucepan. Over medium-high heat bring to a boil. Pour the boiling mixture over flour and sugar mixture. Beat well with an electric mixer.
3)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk. Let it sit for a few minutes.
4)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Add 1 egg at a time to the cocoa mixture. Beat well with an electric mixer. Add buttermilk and then the vanilla.
Bake the cake in a greased and floured 9 x 13" pan at 350 degrees for 40 - 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Icing:
1 stick of butter
2 cups sugar
2 TBSP light Karo syrup
3 TBSP cocoa
1/4 cup milk
Once the cake has cooled prepare the icing. If you let the icing sit to long it will be as hard as fudge.
Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Take off the heat and beat with an electric mixture until the icing is not too runny and is thick enough to spread. Spread the icing on the cake. After several minutes the icing will set to a fudge-like consistency. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
