Spicy Eggplant with Chicken

I wanted to get one more meal in from our Hawaiian cookbook before the end of the month, so we tried the Spicy Eggplant with Chicken (pg. 118). This was very simple and tasty. Brian is not a fan of eggplant but thought this was a good dish (he enjoyed this more). I could have used more spice, so if I make this again, it will be with additional peppers. I was actually beginning to think that there was a page missing from this recipe since the instructions just ended without really summing up what to do with the reserve spices... I just threw everything in at the end. I also thought there was not enough liquid in the sauce mixture ("cook until liquid is evaporated..") so I added a little water, which turned out to be a mistake; too much liquid after the bell peppers and onions released their juices. All in all it turned out ok and we had a nice little meal.

Stephanie

April's Cookbook

I love cooking magazines for many reasons. 1) Subscriptions to them are like getting a brand new cookbook in the mail every month for a year! 2) They take up very little space on my cookbook shelf and 3) For someone like me, who finds it difficult to make the same recipe twice - even my most favorite recipes - they give me the variety I crave at a fraction of the cost of purchasing a new cookbook every time I'm looking for new kitchen inspiration.

These are just a few of the reasons why I chose a cooking magazine for April's cookbook! Fellow Food Lovers, I present to you Best of the Sunset Cookbook!

Late last year Sunset magazine published a "masterwork collection" of over 1,000 recipes in The Sunset Cookbook. This magazine features 101 of the best recipes from that book and it's got a little bit of everything - from breakfast to dessert and everything in between. But wait, there's more! It's got full color photographs for every recipe and with the recipe index at the back, it really is like a special edition, best of the best cookbook. I hope you all enjoy!

Happy cooking!

Tempa

Here in the Pacific Northwest, when it feels like spring will never break through the gray, rainy days of winter, we really savor the promise of warmer weather by choosing recipes that remind us of sunny days to come. We were thrilled to try out some tropical flavors from Sam Choy's cookbook. I picked the Macadamia Nut Chicken Breast (pg. 112). What appealed to me about this recipe - beyond the fact that it sounded delicious - was that all I needed to get from the store was the macadamia nuts!

The whole meal really was a cinch to put together. We decided to amp up the tropical appeal by making some coconut rice as a side dish. This chicken would have been delicious with just the panko/macadamia nut coating but what really made it great was the Asian style marinade. We let the chicken sit in the marinade for over an hour to really let the flavors sink in prior to coating in the flour, egg and then panko/macadamia nut mixture.

The chicken turned out moist and flavorful inside and crunchy, golden-brown on the outside. Yum! I also made the Minted Pineapple-Papaya Marmalade (pg. 114) to go along with it but I substituted mango for the papaya since I happened to have a mango on hand. The marmalade was described as being a dipping sauce for the chicken but it was more like a chutney than a sauce which worked just as well. The coconut rice really was a nice addition to this meal. All we did was prepare rice as usual but used coconut milk instead of water.

Thanks for giving us an opportunity to bring some island flavor to the rainy Pacific Northwest!

Aloha!

Tempa

Deep Fried Wontons with Brie Cheese

Thursday night I attended a grade level party at the house of one of the first grade teachers at my school. Everyone was asked to bring a pupu, and I knew from the start exactly what I wanted to bring. I had had my eye on Sam Choy's wonton recipe, and finally had a reason to make them. It was super easy and quick, and the wontons and the marmalade all together consisted of only about 4 ingredients. The wontons were super yummy, though I burned the first few that I fried because myt oil was too hot. The marmalade was good, but I was in such a hurry to get to the party that I didn't have time for the sugar to fully turn into a syrup. I also poured into the pan the pineapple juice along with the pineapple chunks, which I think may have kept it so liquidy. However, the sweetness with pineapple along with the saltiness of the fried wonton and brie made for a delicious pupu! I left the party with none to bring home!

~Crystal

P.S. The picture is of my friend Kristi enjoying the wonton. She teaches first grade with me :)

Stir-Fry Pepper Beef

This past weekend I decided to give this Hawaiian island food a go: it was pouring rain, cold... not exactly the ideal Aloha weather. Nonetheless, I had my eye on this simple Stir-Fry Pepper Beef (page 83) and the results were AMAZING! Brian said his favorite element was the infusion of ginger that perfectly flavored the tender meat and the crisp peppers. We served this over white rice and found it hard not to polish off the entire meal. I will also try using this same recipe, substituting broccoli for the peppers for a convincing home version of my mom's favorite Beef & Broccoli meal.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love the way that Sam Choy begins the dessert section of this book... "Never trust a skinny chef". I feel like he is trying to tell us that we are SUPPOSED to eat dessert, as if life is unsatisfactory without it, and I believe him. I love dessert. You know how they say that the only thing better than meat is meat wrapped in more meat? Well, the only thing better than chocolate is more chocolate (except perhaps chocolate and peanut butter! Mmmmmm!) So I decided to try out Sam's recipe for double chocolate chip cookies. The dough required two and a half sticks of butter! Needless to say, the dough was more like fudge than dough. I then understood why Sam Choy says to refrigerate his cookie doughs for a hour before baking, because all that butter starts to melt. The final product of the cookies were delicious and delectable!

Mango Spiced Chicken

Aloha, Welcome to Crystal's Kitchen!

Tonight I made Sam Choy's Mango Spiced Chicken, and boy was it yummy!

I got to test out my knife skills for the dish while mincing some fresh garlic. I also learned how to peel fresh ginger (all you need it a spoon!).

The sweetness of the mango, the tanginess of the russian dressing and the spiciness of the ginger made for an extremely flavorful dish

~CRYSTAL~