I had a few requests for the mushroom chicken from the Chinese buffet. Unfortunately they don’t have mushroom chicken at any of the buffets where I live so I hope this is similar to what you’re looking for. I thought this recipe turned out great. I mean with mushrooms, zucchini and chicken - you can’t go wrong! This recipe takes a little time to prepare but in the end it’s well worth it. The sauce is really easy to make and is basically a combination of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and balsamic vinegar. There was just enough sauce to cover the chicken, zucchini and mushrooms. So if you are serving with noodles or rice I would recommend doubling the sauce. As far as the chicken goes you can either use boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs, whichever you prefer. I feel frying the chicken in a mixture of vegetable and sesame oil gives it great flavor. I have many more great recipes from the buffet to come in the near future. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
cornstarch  (for dusting)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 package fresh button mushrooms
4 small zucchini

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Cut chicken and zucchini into 1” chunks. Lightly dust chicken with a little bit of corn starch until lightly coated.
Step 2: Add vegetable and sesame oil to the wok and fry chicken pieces until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Step 3: Add zucchini and mushrooms to the wok and stir fry for a few minutes. Add soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, minced fresh garlic, and ground ginger to the wok stirring to coat and stir fry until mushrooms and zucchini are fully cooked.
Step 4: Return chicken pieces to the wok and coat with sauce, heat thoroughly and serve.  
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One of the easiest things to make with chicken is possibly crispy chicken strips. This recipe is great if you are looking for a quick meal. Just marinate overnight, a few minutes to coat, throw them in the deep fryer and you’re done! The marinade for the strips not only enhances the overall flavor but also leaves them super juicy coming out of the deep fryer. The coating tastes amazing and they are double dipped leaving them extra crispy. If you like to add a little heat to your strips not a problem, just throw a little cayenne pepper into the seasoning mixture and your set.  You can either use whole chicken breasts and cut them into strips or just buy chicken tenders from the store. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
6 chicken breasts (or store bought chicken tenders)
Marinade -
½ tablespoon potassium chloride
½ tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon accent salt
1/8 tablespoon garlic powder
¼ cup bottle chicken base
1 ¾ cups water
Coating-
2 cups all purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoon pepper
¾ teaspoon accent salt
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg (beaten)
1 cup milk
oil (for deep frying)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: If using chicken breasts, cut chicken breasts into strips. Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl or sealable bag and marinade chicken strips over night in the refrigerator.
Step 2: In a shallow bowl beat together 1 egg and 1 cup of milk. Combine all of the coating ingredients in another shallow bowl, pie plate, or shaker bag and mix well.
Step 3: Dip the chicken strips into the egg mixture, then into the coating and double dip.

Step 4: Fry in the deeper fryer at 375 degrees until golden brown or until they float. Drain on paper towels.
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I eat Crab Rangoon’s nearly every time I go to the buffet – they are definitely one of my favorite things to eat there. One problem I have is the crab Rangoon’s at some buffets don’t even have crab in them, just cream cheese. In my honest opinion they still taste good with just cream cheese and green onions though but the buffets shouldn’t have them labeled as “Crab Rangoon” if there is no crab in them. So if you don’t eat seafood or you don’t like crab meat then just leave it out. Crab Rangoon’s are fairly easy to make, if you’re making a large batch taking time to stuff and fold them all might take awhile.  These are typically cooked in a deep fryer but if you don’t have one apparently you can bake these as well although I have never tried it. Most crab rangoons are just cream cheese, crab, and green onions. I add a little soy sauce and garlic powder for more flavor. Serving with Sweet and Sour Sauce for dipping is a must. If you need a great recipe for sweet and sour sauce it can be found within my sweet and sour chicken article or you can buy a jar of it from the store. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
12 ounces of cream cheese (at room temperature)
50 wan ton wrappers
1 cup imitation crab meat (or canned)
2 green onions (minced)
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon soy sauce
1 egg (beaten)
oil (for frying)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a bowl cream the cream cheese, soy sauce, green onions and garlic powder. Stir in the crab meat (if using imitation crab it should be chopped into pieces).
Step 2: In a separate bowl beat 1 egg. Lay out a wanton wrapper so it forms a diamond shape and place 1 teaspoon of filling just below the center of each wrapper.
Step 3: Brush the opposite corners of the wanton wrapper with the egg mixture. Fold over the edges of the wrapper to form a triangle and seal tightly.

Step 4: Deep fry in batches at 375 degrees for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.

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Here something interesting for you taco lovers. Instead of regular Italian stuffed shells last night I made Taco stuffed shells! This recipe for taco stuffed shells consists of ground beef and cream cheese for the filling and is topped with tortilla chips and cheese. Make sure to let the filling mixture have enough time to cool before stuffing the shells or you might have a sloppy mess on your handsJ. The traditional pasta sauce is replaced with a combination of salsa and taco sauce… the best part about this is you can make it as hot as you want! Everyone that tried these thought they were great and I thought the flavor was absolutely delicious. The green onions went nicely as a garnish and only adding to the flavor. If you want you can add other things such as black olives, sour cream or whatever you like on tacos on top as well.

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
1 4 once package cream cheese
12 large pasta shells
1 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 cup Monterey jack cheese (shredded)
1 ½ cups tortilla chips (crushed)
3 green onions (chopped)
1 cup sour cream
 
Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a fry pan cook ground beef and add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. Add cream cheese cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and allow to fully cool. While burger is cooking cook the pasta shells, drain and toss well with butter.
Step 2:  Pour salsa in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
Step 3: Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place the stuffed shells in the baking dish and cover the tops of the shells with taco sauce.
Step 4: Cover and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Step 5: After 30 minutes, uncover, and sprinkle crushed chips and shredded cheddar and Monterey jack cheeses on top.  Cook for about 15 more minutes. Serve with sour cream, additional salsa, black olives or whatever you think goes good with tacos!
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Manhattan meatballs, do they come from New York? I don’t really know a lot about these meatballs but they were great! The meatballs themselves had great texture and flavor and I definitely found the sauce to be a bit interesting. The sauce is nothing more than a simple combination of BBQ sauce and apricot preserves. The combination gives the sauce a tangy, sweet and slightly smokey flavor. The meatballs were very moist due to the use of soft breadcrumbs instead of dry. For browning you have two options – you can either brown in a pan on the stove top or brown in the oven before transferring to a baking dish. I prefer the oven method myself as it saves time and is less work. I served these meatballs on top of white rice. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
½ cup onion (chopped)
2 cups soft breadcrumbs
2 eggs
2 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
2 teaspoons salt
10 ounces apricot preserves
2 tablespoons margarine (if pan frying)
½ cup barbecue sauce
 
Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a large bowl combine beef, crumbs, onion, eggs, fresh parsley and salt. Mix together and shape into meatballs.
Step 2: Brown meatballs in margarine in a pan on the stove top or put on a baking sheet and brown in the oven at 350 degrees to save time.
Step 3: Once browned place meatballs in a casserole dish.

Step 4: In a bowl combine barbecue sauce and apricot preserves. Pour mixture over meatballs and bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
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For weeks now I have been craving the deep dish, and tonight I had to satisfy that craving. Deep dish pizza aka Chicago-style pizza is in my opinion one of the best ways to make pizza. Loaded with tons of cheese, chunky tomato cause, and loads of toppings – what could be better? Tonight for the filling I went with Italian sausage, pepperonis, green peppers and mushrooms… it was simply amazing. Basically you could make just about any kind of pizza with a deep dish and if you have never tried to make a deep dish I think it’s time to give it a try. In this article I will explain 2 simple ways to make a deep dish pizza. Using a deep dish pan would be the best but I will explain how to make a double crust deep dish pizza in a spring form pan or how to make a deep dish pizza in a cast iron pan. Two different methods, both equally delicious. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1-2 packages of your favorite pizza crust (homemade or store bought, 2 packages for spring form, 1 package for cast iron pan.)
Sauce –
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons garlic
1 28 oz can plum tomatoes
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup onion (minced)
1 ½ teaspoons basil
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons red wine
Filling -
1 lb Italian sausage (cooked)
1 package pepperonis
1 can sliced mushrooms
1 onion (sliced)
1 green bell pepper (sliced)
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1 ½ lbs mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon cornmeal
 
Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: To make pizza sauce – sauté garlic in olive oil for 30 seconds. Add canned plum tomatoes, tomato paste, minced onion, basic, oregano, salt, sugar and wine and mix well. Simmer for 20 minutes or until sauce thickens.
Step 2: Lightly grease a 10” inch spring form pan or a cast iron pan (I will be giving separate instructions for each).

Deep Dish Pizza with a Spring Form Pan -

Step 1: Roll out 3/4 of pizza dough in a flat circle so its 3-4 inches bigger than the spring form pan (all the way around). Place into spring form pan letting it overhang the edges.

Step 2: Spoon in half of the sauce, then the Italian sausage, green peppers, mushrooms, and onions. Top with half of the mozzarella cheese. Roll out remaining pizza dough and place on top of the filling. Crimp the edges together including the overlapping crust.

Step 3: Baking in the oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes remove pizza from the oven and add remaining sauce and remaining cheese to the top half. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.  Let cool before cutting.

Deep Dish Pizza with a Cast Iron Pan -

Step 1: Press pizza dough onto the bottom and about 1 ½ inches up the side of a cast iron pan (don’t press all the way to the very top of the pan but close).
Step 2: Layer crust with cheese, sausage, pepperonis, mushrooms, onions, green peppers and sauce. Add additional cheese on top of sauce if desired.
Step 3: Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.and the end result…

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Here’s the recipe you all might have been waiting for – the legendary Kung Pao Chicken! I have wanted to make this for the longest time but have just finally got around to doing so now.  Kung Pao chicken first originated in central-western China and has become very popular in the United States. This is the westernized version of kung pao chicken consisting of wok fried chicken pieces, roasted peanuts, scallions and a spicy sauce. For those of you that have been waiting for a Chinese chicken recipe that doesn’t use a deep fryer – this is it. Even though you can deep fry the chicken pieces this time we are frying the chicken in the wok. Some versions of Kung Pao chicken use vegetables such as zucchini or red bell peppers. This recipe doesn’t call for those but you can add them if you wish. Serve on top of white rice.

Ingredients:
1lb boneless-skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” pieces)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons green onions (chopped)
3 garlic cloves (minced)
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon powdered ginger
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: combine chicken and cornstarch in a small bowl and toss to coat. Heat sesame oil in wok over medium heat, add chicken and stir fry 5-7 minutes or until no longer pink inside. Remove chicken from wok.
Step 2: Add green onions, garlic, red pepper flakes and powdered ginger to the wok and stir fry for 15 seconds.
Step 3: Combine vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Mix well and add the sauce to the wok.
 
Step 4: Return chicken to the wok and coat with sauce. Stir in roasted peanuts. Heat thoroughly. Top with additional green onions if desired and serve over white rice.
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If you enjoy Chinese food it’s almost a sure thing you have at least heard of Chinese fried rice. Fried rice is very popular in many parts of the world and can be found at nearly any Chinese restaurant or buffet in the US. A question you might wonder or hear a lot is – what’s the best version of Chinese fried rice? Unfortunately this can be a hard question to answer. A major part in making great Chinese fried rice is adding the ingredients to your taste. There are so many recipes out there all with different ingredients, the possibilities are nearly endless. You could add more vegetables such as celery or red peppers or maybe you want to throw in some chicken, shrimp or ham? When making fried rice do not use freshly cooked rice (if you do you will have a sticky mess) instead use left over cooked rice that is at least a day old (the rice should be kept in the refrigerator).  If you don’t have any left over rice and don’t want to wait you can cook the rice and spread it out on a baking sheet and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes. This is a version of fried rice that I happen to enjoy – it consists of a lot of soy sauce and a lot of garlic!

Ingredients:
3 cups white rice (preferably long grain, cooked and a day or so old)
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1 cup frozen peas and carrots mix (thawed)
1 small onion (chopped)
2 teaspoons minced garlic (or more)
2 eggs (slightly beaten)
½ cup soy sauce

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a wok heat sesame oil. Add peas and carrots mix, onions and garlic and stir fry until tender.

Step 2: Lower the heat and add the eggs and stir fry until finely scrambled.
Step 3: Add rice and soy sauce and blend well. Stir fry a few seconds or until heated thoroughly.
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Here’s another great side dish to go with your Chinese dinner – a recipe for Oyster mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms are very good to eat and you should be able to find them at any decent market. They are commonly used in Japanese and Chinese cuisine as a delicacy. This recipe is very easy and is nothing more than a basic stir fry. Normally I just sauté my mushrooms in garlic and butter and that tastes great, but I think this is a lot better! Instead of just adding garlic and butter we are adding other ingredients such as soy sauce, white wine and rosemary. I was really amazing by the great flavor that the mushrooms had after frying them. If by some chance Oyster mushrooms are not available to you, I would think this recipe would go great with many other types of mushrooms as well. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
8 ounces fresh oyster mushrooms (rinsed)
1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon rosemary (minced)
1 teaspoon butter
2 teaspoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon dry white wine (or sherry)
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Slice mushrooms into pieces. Sauté garlic in olive oil for 15 seconds. Add mushrooms and sauté 3 minutes.   
Step 2: Add rosemary and butter and stir fry until butter is melted. Sprinkle mushrooms with flour and stir fry.
Step 3: Add wine and soy sauce and cook until liquid slightly thickens and the mushrooms are tender.
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Yeah, I confess, my sugar addictions are getting a little out of control. Last week I posted a recipe for The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. Now I have for you non other than a recipe for the best peanut butter cookies!! I seriously don’t know if these recipes are really the best, but there one thing I can assure you of – they are definitely close! These turned out great and they had amazingly good flavor to them. I decided peanut butter alone wasn’t enough so I decided to add M&M’s as well. The M&M’s are totally optional – they still taste fantastic without them. Like most easy cookies recipes this will take very little time. The baking time differs depending on how chewy or how crunchy you like your cookies. Make a batch… or two of these and everyone is sure to love you J. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup butter
½ cup vegetable shortening
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs (beaten)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup M&M’s (optional)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl. Beat butter, shortening, and peanut butter until smooth. Add white sugar and brown sugar and beat until smooth.
Step 2: Add the eggs on at a time and then add vanilla extract until blended. Use your hands or a spoon and add the flour mixture to complete cookie dough.
Step 3: One at time scoop dough with a teaspoon (can use a tablespoon for larger cookies) and drop dough in 1” balls onto a cookie sheet. Place 2 inches apart. With a fork dipped in flour flatten cookies. Then flatten in the opposite direction (so they cross).
Step 4: Bake in the oven for 9-10 minutes for chewy cookies or 11-12 for crispy.
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