Sweet and Sour Chicken

Tonight, I decided to be adventurous and make Laura's favorite Chinese food - Sweet and Sour Chicken. I found a great recipe and tried it out fully expecting it to be underwhelming. It actually turned out really, really good! We both loved it, and I sure this will now go in our normal rotation of dinners. It's easy to make, but can take a long time. So here it is:

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 egg
• 2 cups water
• 1 quart vegetable oil for frying
• 4-5 Large Chicken Breasts

Take the large chicken breasts and cut them up into small 1 inch cubes. Place frying oil in a wok or pot and heat up to 365 degrees. Mix the flour, oil, cornstarch, salt, pepper, egg, and water in a bowl. Dip each cube of chicken in the batter , making sure it is fully covered, then place in hot oil. Fry until golden brown. Take out and place on a cooling rack. Serve with your favorite Sweet and Sour Sauce.

This recipe also makes really good and much more healthy chicken nuggets. Way better than fast food or freezer nuggets. Just leave out the sweet and sour sauce.

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Banana Perfection

Here is an oldie but a goodie: We got this from one of the neighbors that came to Laura's parents 4th of July BBQ. We call it "Banana Perfection." It's basically a really good Banana pudding trifle. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
- 1 5.1oz of Instant Vanilla Pudding
- 1 Pint of real whipping cream (or 1 container of Cool Whip)
- 1 1/2 Cups of cold water
- 1 Can of sweetened condensed milk
- 3 Bananas
- 1 Box of Vanilla wafers (like Nilla)

Instructions:
Mix the box of pudding, water, and sweetened condensed milk in a large bowl. Put the pudding mix into fridge to set for 5-10 minutes. When pudding is set, gentle fold the most of the whipping cream in with the pudding, setting aside enough whipping cream to make a layer on top of the trifle. In the serving dish, place a layer of wafers, then a layer of sliced bananas, then a layer of pudding. Repeat these layers three or four times. Finally finish the trifle with a layer of the left over whipping cream you set aside earlier. Now garnish with vanilla wafers and bananas. Place in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

Well, There you have it. Enjoy! Let us know if you like it. We sure did! Also, If anyone has a special request for a recipe, let us know!

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Penne Rustica

For the past few days, Laura and I have had a strong urging for some pasta. And not just any pasta, the best pasta on the planet! I've had an obsession with the Penne Rustica at Macaroni Grill for quiet a while and wanted to try and recreate it. However, all the recipes online were really complicated and very time consuming. But one day, my friend Matt showed me a recipe book that his family had in North Carolina and in it was a pretty easy looking recipe for Penne Rustica. We tried it, and have loved it ever since. So here is that recipe with a few minor adjustments from us: Enjoy!

Penne Rustica

Gratinata Sauce-

- 3 Tbls. Butter
- 2 Tbls. Minced Garlic
- 2 Cups Heavy Cream
- 1 Cup Parmesan Cheese
- ½ Cup Milk
- ½ Cup Chicken Broth
- 1 ½ Tbls. Corn Starch
- 1 Tbls. Dijon Mustard
- 2 t. Rosemary
- ½ t. Salt
- ½ t. Thyme
- ¼ t. Ground Cayenne Pepper
- 2 t. Sugar

Main Ingredients-

- 1 lbs. Penne Noodles
- 3 Chicken Breasts
- ½ Cup diced Prosciutto (or bacon for a cheaper substitute)
- 4 large shrimps for each person (or more if love shrimp!)

Gratinata Sauce-

Melt butter. Add garlic and sweat for 5 minutes. Add all the rest of the ingredients and whisk until smooth. When adding the cornstarch, mix it well with the chicken broth before adding to avoid lumping. Simmer for 5 minutes until thick.

Main Dish-

Cook penne in boiling water until al dente and set aside. Grill or bake chicken until done and cut in strips. Fry prosciutto or bacon until done, cut into small bits. Grill or cook shrimp for 2 minutes or until done. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Load pasta in a large casserole or individual over safe bowls. Place some strips of chicken prosciutto, and shrimp on the pasta and cover with sauce. Toss. Garnish with diced prosciutto and parmesan cheese. Place in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Serves 6-8.

Yeah this recipe makes a ton so expect some good leftovers for lunches after making it. Yum!

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Mile High Apple Pie

We made this awesome pie for thanksgiving and it was so good that we couldn't stop eating it. (And I am not a fan of apple pies, so that goes to show how good this really is!)

Recipe For The Mile High Apple Pie (Adapted From Paula Deen)

For the Deep Dish Pie Crust:
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups butter-flavored solid shortening (recommended: Crisco)
1 tablespoon salt
3/4 cup cold water

For the Filling:
18 apples, preferably Golden Delicious or Granny Smith, peeled, quartered and thinly sliced*
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

For the streusel:
1 cup (2 stick) butter, softened
2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup pecans
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk
4 tablespoons sugar

1 recipe Caramel Pecan Topping, recipe follows - Optional
*The number of apples depends on the size of the pie.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

For the Deep Dish Pie Crust:
Cut flour into butter-flavored shortening. Add salt and stir in enough water to make stiff dough. Knead slightly together. Chill dough before using. Use 1/3 of pie dough for bottom crust. Roll bottom crust. Lay in pie pan.

For the filling:
Combine apples, flour, sugar, and cinnamon and mix lightly with spatula.
For the streusel:
In a small bowl combine together butter, brown sugar, flour, pecans and cinnamon. Layer this mix every so often between apples.

Using a stainless bowl, begin layering apples slice by slice, slightly overlapping starting at the outside circle of the bowl and working towards the center. Push firmly as the layers build. Round off top layer of apple slices when you reach the top. Put a single layer of sliced apples in the bottom crust.

Take the pie pan with the bottom crust in left hand and the stainless bowl of sliced apples in right hand and invert. Put finger tips under edge of bowl to release the air and gently lift off. Press and firm apples and straighten. Add slices of apple to take away sharp edges (so as not to puncture the pie dough). Add slices of apples to top of pie to round off.

Add 4 tablespoons of butter pats on top of pie.

Roll out top crust using remaining pie dough. Gently place top crust over the mound of apples. Smooth the sides of pie crust towards bottom of pie pulling out on extra crust. Pinch down to seal 2 layers together. Crimp pie for first time. Cut extra crust with the back of a sharp knife. Re-crimp the edges and push towards the pie.

Brush with milk and sprinkle sugar rubbing your left hand from the bottom up to evenly spread your sugar.
Put 5 steam vents with a small knife towards the upper part of the pie. Do not vent at the top as it will cause the pie to split open as it bakes.
Bake between 350 to 375 degrees F for 1 hour, 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let cool for at least 1 hour

Spread warm Caramel Pecan Topping on top of crust beginning at the base of the pie above the fluting and working towards the top.

Serving suggestions:
Drizzle caramel pecan topping with semisweet chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate.

Caramel Pecan Topping:
2 (12-ounce) cups melted caramel
3 tablespoons evaporated milk
1 1/2 cup chopped pecan pieces

Melt caramels completely in microwave. Add evaporated milk and stir until smooth consistency. Add chopped pecans and stir. Spread over pie starting at base and working in.

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Welcome to Our Recipe Blog!

Laura and I were thinking about how much we love to cook, and how so many of our friends have begged us to post our recipes online. So we have started this blog to share our love of cooking with everyone! So we will be posting all of our favorite recipes online soon!

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