Chinese chicken in garlic sauce is a dish that is perfect for those who do not have a deep fryer. All of the cooking can be done in a wok or fry pan. This is nothing more than a basic stir-fry dish. Also, unlike many other Chinese chicken recipes on this website, this recipe uses no breading. The chicken is first placed into a marinade and then fried in the wok with broccoli and sauce. The sauce, which is also the marinade, gets most of its flavor from garlic, soy sauce, and honey. It is a very interesting combination that gives this dish a rather unique flavor for Chinese.  Serve with white rice. Enjoy.

Chicken in Garlic Sauce

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” chunks)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup water
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (divided)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 head fresh broccoli (cut into florets)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a bowl combine garlic, soy sauce, water, honey,  1 tablespoon vegetable oil, cornstarch, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Mix well. Stir chicken into the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Step 2: In a large wok or skillet, heat remaining tablespoon of oil over medium high heat. With a slotted spoon remove the chicken from the marinade and add to the wok or fry pan (reserve the marinade). Stir fry chicken for 3 minutes. Add broccoli and stir fry for an addition 2 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.
Step 3: Add the reserved marinade to the wok or fry pan and cook until thickened.
Yield: (4 Servings)

Buffalo chicken flatbread pizza is one of the quickest and easiest pizza recipes you will ever come across. What I like to do is get pre-made flatbreads from Wal-Mart. They have all sorts of different flavors and they aren’t very expensive. The pizza sauce is blue cheese dressing and the pizza is topped with buffalo chicken bits and mozzarella cheese. This recipe is so quick it only takes about 30 minutes. This makes a great dinner or a snack for parties. Enjoy.

Buffalo Chicken Flatbread Pizza

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
2 whole flatbreads
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” chunks)
1 cup franks red hot
4 tablespoons butter
½ cup blue cheese dressing
½ cup mozzarella cheese (or more)
salt and pepper (to taste)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a medium pan over medium high heat melt butter, add hot sauce and stir to combine. Add chicken and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is fully cooked. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Step 2: Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Top flatbreads with blue cheese dressing and diced chicken. Top with mozzarella cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 3: Place into the oven and bake for 8 minutes or until the flatbread is crisp and the cheese has melted.
Yield: (2 Servings)

These Western Burgers are just like the Western bacon cheese burgers at Carl’s Jr. If you had one before you know these burgers are loaded with good stuff. The burgers are topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, onion rings, and BBQ sauce. For the BBQ sauce you can use store bought or even make your own. The burgers should be well seasoned with salt and black pepper for the best flavor. If you don’t have an outdoor grill, you can cook them in the fry pan. These burgers are perfect for summer cookouts. Enjoy.
 

Western Burgers

Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
2lbs ground hamburger
8 frozen onion rings
8 slices bacon
8 tablespoons BBQ sauce
4 slices cheddar cheese
4 hamburger buns

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Deep fry or bake onion rings according to package directions (if deep drying drain on paper towels). Set aside. Add bacon to the fry-pan and cook until crispy, drain on paper towels (if you want some tips on cooking perfectly crispy bacon see my article on How to Cook Crispy Bacon). Set aside.
Step 2: Shape ground burger into 4 patties and season on both sides with salt and pepper. Lightly grease grill grates. Heat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat. Cook hamburger patties until they have reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Within the last few minutes of cooking top each patty with a slice of cheddar cheese. Once cheese has melted, remove from the grill.
Step 3: Place the hamburger buns halves onto the grill and cook on the underside until lightly browned. Remove from the grill. Spread BBQ sauce onto both halves on each bun. Top with a hamburger patty, 2 slices of bacon, and 2 onion rings.
Yield: (4 Servings)

Here is another great Mexican breakfast dish- breakfast enchiladas. Enchiladas are extremely popular all around and this recipe is perfect for anyone looking to try something a little different. It takes a little work but its well worth it in the end. The enchiladas are filled with an egg and hot pork sausage mixture. If you do not want any spice, just use regular pork sausage instead of the hot. The best part about this recipe is the cheese sauce. The cheese sauce gets its great flavor from cheddar cheese and green chilies. After the enchiladas are baked they are topped with tomatoes, green onion and cilantro. Enjoy.
 

Breakfast Enchiladas

Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1lb hot pork sausage
2 tablespoons butter
4 green onions (thinly sliced)
2 tablespoons cilantro (chopped)
14 eggs (beaten)
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 ½ cups cheese sauce
8 (8 inch) flour tortillas
1 cup shredded jalapeno jack cheese
Cheese Sauce-
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 (4 ½ ounce) can chopped green chilies
¾ teaspoon salt
Toppings-
diced tomatoes
sliced green onion
chopped cilantro

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: To make the cheese sauce- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Cook while whisking constantly for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk a little at a time. Cook over medium heat while whisking for 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in cheddar cheese, green chilies and salt.
Step 2: Heat and large skillet to medium high heat. Add pork sausage and cook until sausage crumbles and is no longer pink. Remove the sausage from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Drain any excess grease from the pan.
Step 3: In the same skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add green onions and cilantro, sauté for 1 minute. Add eggs, salt and pepper. Cook without stirring until the eggs begin to set on the bottom of the pan. Draw a spatula across the bottom of the pan to form large curds. Cook until the eggs are thickened but still moist. Remove from heat and fold in 1 ½ cups of the cheese sauce and the cooked sausage.

Step 4: Spoon about 1/3 cup of the egg mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in a lightly greased 13×9” baking dish. Pour the remaining cheese sauce over the tortillas. Sprinkle with jack cheese.
Step 5: Place into the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly. Remove from the oven and serve with tomatoes, cilantro, and green onions.
Yield: (4 Servings)

Another must try item on the Chinese buffet for me is the delicious black pepper beef. Black pepper beef consists of sliced beef tossed in a black pepper sauce; often vegetables such as broccoli, onion, and green pepper are added into the mixture as well. The beef is first marinated in a soy sauce and wine mixture, fried, and then tossed with a black pepper sauce. You can add the amount of black pepper to your taste. Just make sure not to overdo it or it could get way too spicy. I enjoy this dish with fried rice and homemade egg rolls. Enjoy.
 

Black Pepper Beef

Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
Marinade-
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon rice wine
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 garlic cloves (minced)
Black Pepper Sauce-
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon water
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
Other-
1/2lb flank steak (sliced into thin strips)
1 cup broccoli florets
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a medium bowl or sealable bag combine 2 tablespoons soy sauce, ½ tablespoon wine, ½ teaspoon sesame oil, and 2 minced garlic cloves. Add steak, toss with the marinade and cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Step 2: In a medium bowl mix together 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon water, ½ tablespoon rice wine, 1 tablespoon sugar, ½ teaspoon sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
Step 3: Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok or large skillet to high heat. Remove beef from the marinade with a slotted spoon and add to the wok. Stir fry for about 3 minutes or until the steak is fully cooked. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Step 4: Add another tablespoon of oil to the wok or skillet. Add broccoli florets and stir fry until they have reached your desired tenderness. Return the beef to the wok. Add the sauce to the skillet and cook until heated through.
Yield: (2 Servings)

French Dip Sliders

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
Sliders-
24 slider rolls(or dinner rolls, ect)
24 slices deli roast beef
24 slices swiss cheese
Au Jus-
2 cups water
1 tablespoon better than bouillon beef base
2 teaspoons better than bouillon beef base
1/2 stalk celery
1/2 small onion
1 pinch thyme
salt and pepper (to taste)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: To make the Au Jus- in a saucepan combine water, beef base, celery, onion, thyme, salt and pepper. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Strain and places into small bowls for serving.
Step 2: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Split the slider rolls in half. Lay the bottom half of a slider roll on a baking sheet. Top with a folded slice of roast beef, top with Swiss cheese. Place the top half of the slider roll on top of the cheese. Repeat until all of the rolls are used up. Place into the oven and bake until cheese has melted. Serve with Au Jus.
Yield: (5 Servings)

There is nothing as good as making cheeseburgers on the grill. In this article I will explain how to make cheeseburgers using the grill. Of course, these can be done in the fry pan as well. A couple important tips for making perfect cheese burgers would be. First, make sure the burgers are well seasoned on both sides with freshly ground salt and black pepper. Second, make sure not to overcook the burgers. The internal temperate of ground beef should be 160 degrees. Third, resist the urge to press down on the burger patties while cooking. This will make all of the juices run out. There is nothing worse than a dry over cooked burger. These burgers include your typical condiments such as lettuce and tomato but what is special about this is the sauce. The burger sauce that goes on these burgers really kicks things up a notch.

How to Make Cheeseburgers

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: To make the burger sauce- in a blender combine mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, dill pickle slices, garlic powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until needed.
Step 2: Form ground hamburger into 4 patties. Season on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat. Grill hamburgers for 5-7 minutes per side or until the internal temperature has reached 160 degrees. During the last few minutes of cooking top each burger with a slice of cheddar cheese. Once the cheese has melted remove from the grill.
Step 3: To assemble burgers. Place a hamburger patty on the bottom half of a bun. Top with lettuce and tomato. Spread a layer of the burger sauce onto the bottom of the top half of the bun. Place on top burger.
Yield: (4 Servings)