Chicken with Cashew Nuts

Okay. So, tonight, for dinner, I came up with this really great idea. Tom was going to thaw out chicken, Dad had just e-mailed me a recipe for pork with cashews, and the last time Tom and I went out for Chinese, he ordered cashew chicken. So, I was going to make chicken with cashews.

Leg of pork with cashew nuts

You will need

• 5 oz. leg of pork
• little boiled carrot
• 1 oz. bamboo shoots
• little chestnut
• 1/4 onion
• 1 oz. broccoli
• 1/4 pint roasted cashew nuts
• 5 teaspoons sherry
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon monosodium glutamate
• 1 teaspoon cornflour
• 4 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

1. Dice pork, carrot, bamboo shoots, chestnut and onion. Cut broccoli into suitable pieces. (If cashew nuts are not roasted, you must fry them first in oil until brown, then drain and keep crisp.) Add 5 tablespoon sherry, salt, pepper, 1/4 teaspoon monosodium glutamate and cornflour to the meat and mix well. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan and fry the meat until it is cooked and looks white in colour. Remove from the pan.
2. Add another 2 tablespoons oil to the pan, add carrot, bamboo shoots, chestnut, broccoli and onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add the pork, soy sauce, sugar and 1/4 teaspoon monosodium glutamate. Stir all well together for 1 minute. Remove to a heated dish, sprinkle with cashew nuts and serve hot.

So, of course, I made some changes to the recipe you see here. Me, personally, I don't care for bamboo shoots or water chestnuts, so I omitted them. Tom hates onions, so I took them out, too. I used two chicken breasts, which is probably twice the amount of meat that is required in the recipe, and enough broccoli to make up for the lack of bamboo shoots and water chestnuts.
Tom really liked it. You cannot believe how happy I am that he liked it! Woo hoo!

Mediterranean Quiche

I saw recipes for something like this on Pinterest, and since I have many ingredients that would be a good fit for this dish, I thought I'd give it a try.

I used a can of crescent rolls for the crust, pressing the dough into a deep pie pan. For the egg-y mixture: four eggs, 2 cups of half-and-half, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper. This mixture was poured over my Mediterranean elements: 1 box of frozen spinach, chopped roasted red peppers, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chopped Kalamata olives and 8 ounces of crumbled feta cheese. I baked the dish at 350F, and have no idea how long for - there was so much stuff in it, it seemed to take forever!
But, eventually, it was ready to take out of the oven. For my first ever attempt at quiche, I think it turned out pretty good. It incorporated a lot of flavors I enjoy, and got rid a lot of stuff that's been in my refrigerator for a while.

Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken

I received a link to this recipe through an e-newsletter from my former physical therapist, so I thought I'd give it a try tonight.

Spicy Garlic Lime Chicken

Ingredients

• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 3 tablespoons lime juice

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix together salt, black pepper, cayenne, paprika, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, onion powder, thyme and parsley. Sprinkle spice mixture generously on both sides of chicken breasts.
2. Heat butter and olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken until golden brown, about 6 minutes on each side. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons garlic powder and lime juice. Cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently to coat evenly with sauce.

Well, because of a small snafu due to misreading the labels on the meat in the freezer, I made pork instead of chicken. I think it was quite good. Of course, Tom didn't try it - it was pork, it was spicy, it had garlic and onion flavoring, but regardless, it had a slight zing and freshness to it.

OLD BAY Butter Sauce on Fish

Dinner tonight was going to be tilapia, so I looked through a bunch of old recipes I had printed off a long time ago and chose this one.

OLD BAY Butter Sauce on Fish

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 tablespoon OLD BAY® Seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Tarragon Leaves
• 1 pound fish fillets or steaks

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients except fish. Brush both sides of fish fillets with mixture.
2. Grill or broil fish 8-10 minutes per inch of thickness or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Turn once during cooking and brush again with sauce. Discard leftover sauce.

The first good sign was that while the fish was baking at 350°F, Tom asked what smelled so good. He said it tasted good, too, and I agree.