Recipe: Sticky Lemon & Honey Chicken

http://www.greedygourmet.com/2010/02/26/sticky-lemon-honey-chicken-drumsticks/

I was never a fan of Lemon Chicken; I always thought it's too sweet. I read through this recipe and it looked like the ingredients would give a perfect balance of flavor.

My cooking instincts didn't fail me. Although it is not the traditional Chinese Lemon Chicken, I can now say that I like Lemon Chicken. There was a perfect balance of flavors from the honey, vinegar and soy sauce.

Reasons why I'm gonna cook this again (aside from flavor):

- the recipe was very easy to follow. even a new cook can do this without breaking a sweat

- simple ingredients

- ready in 30-40 minutes

- uses just one pan (i hate doing the dishes!)

Restaurant: Kindee (Minneapolis, MN)

http://www.kindeethairestaurant.com/

They were awarded the Best Thai Award by MetroMix.com.

Kindee is located right in front of Guthrie Theater. A small place with modern Thai interior, the place offers a menu with classic Thai drinks and dishes with a western twist.

I forgot what drink I ordered but I think it was something like Snap Dragon Riesling? The menu said that it's perfect with spicy Thai food which we later proved true. My husband ordered Chang which he thought tasted like San Miguel but I thought it tasted more like tamarind beer. We may argue on the flavor but we both agreed it's a good beer so kudos to our server for recommending it.

I started off with Tom Yum soup with shrimp. It's not the best Tom Yum soup around but it had good amount of heat enough to wake up your palette. We also ordered Tamarind Wings. If you are familiar with spicy Thai tamarind, imagine juicing that and using it to coat crispy chicken wings - sweet, sour, spicy on crispy chicken skin...yum-o!

I ordered Green Curry with chicken and shrimp. Soup spicy curry + fluffy white jasmine rice = happy me :) My husband loved this and he's never been a fan of curry. My husband got Thai Basil Fried Rice with Shrimp and Egg. I wasn't able to try the shrimp nor the egg but the sauce alone would have been a good dish on its own since it's full of flavor.

For dessert, my husband ordered a banana-base item which is really just Turon with drizzled chocolate syrup. I ordered, Lychee Panna Cotta. Extremely light, perfect amount of sweetness, and I wanted more and more and more.

All in all we spent 77 bucks including tip and tax.

I haven't been to a lot of Thai restaurants around so I can't really say if Kindee is indeed the best Thai restaurant. Basing it from the ambiance, food, service and price, I'd have to say that Kindee is a good Thai restaurant and I will probably drop by again before I go back home.

Recipe: Nutella Frappe

http://www.bellalimento.com/2010/01/21/frappe-alla-nutella-nutella-milkshake/

It's Nutella Milkshake. What else is there to say?? :)

Recipe: Arroz Caldo by Cristeta

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristeta_Comerford

Cristeta Comerford is the first woman and first Filipina to be named White House Executive Chef. She was granted this position during the Bush administration and has been retained by the Obama's. She gained more popularity when she competed with Bobby Flay against Batali and Lagasse in Iron Chef America.

http://www.pinoylifestyles.com/2009/01/22/one-of-our-own/

Her recipe is pretty much the same as the Arroz Caldo my folks would cook at home. The only thing that's different is the milk. I've never had Arroz Caldo with milk before but I think from now on, I'm cooking Arroz Caldo the Cristeta way.

Recipe: Spicy Shrimp Tempura

http://www.ouichefnetwork.com/oui_chef/2010/01/nobus-spicy-shrimp-tempura.html

We've had too many tempuras the past few months (probably enough til April) so my husband wasn't too excited to hear that I was preparing shrimp tempura.

The picture does not do the recipe justice. Working on the mayo made me swear never to make mayo from scratch ever again. When I finished the recipe, I promised never to speak too soon like that again and include this in my recipes-to-keep list. :)

Recipe: Winter Cranberry Beef Stew

http://www.kayotic.nl/blog/?p=6149

This recipe caught my eye cos I have about 3lbs of untouched cranberries sitting in the freezer. I was a bit discouraged thinking it looked like another tomato-based stew which is quite familiar in the Philippines during Fiestas (they all look the same but the folks say they're called different names).

As what the recipe says, it's exactly how a stew should be - "The meat melted on your tongue and the golden brown gravy was nothing short of a flavor bomb." Looking at the picture, it probably looks like our very own Kaldereta. I'd say it's close but this has more depth in flavor - thanks to the bouillon, red wine and sweetness of the cranberries, my effort wasn't wasted in creating the same dish.

It took me 20 minutes to prepare the ingredients and 2 hours. Around the 1-hour mark, the aroma was so good my EQ dropped and I just had to try it. :) I never really liked dishes that would take more than an hour to make but this one is worth the wait.

Restaurant: Smash Burger

http://www.smashburger.com/menu_minnesota.php

We've been waiting for Smash Burger to open a few blocks away from our place since we've heard and read good reviews about this place. And it was worth the wait. :)

My husband ordered the Twin Cities smashburger 1/3lb with a side of Haystack Onions (the one on the left). I ordered the Classic smashburger 1/3 lb with a side of smashfries (the one on the right).

My husband and I thought that their burgers are way better than Red Robin because their patties are waaaaay juicier and their buns are waaaaay softer. Their patties are so juicy (and cheesy) it can get messy eating them so be ready to do the Guy Fiery trick.

The haystack onions are crisp and well seasoned - we didn't even need to use the sauce they provided. Smashfries is french fries that won't make you feel guilty. It's tossed with olive oil, rosemary, garlic and other herbs for a savory flavor. Sounds organic and anything organic is good right? Or maybe I'm just convincing myself that it is healthy.

We will probably back next week to try out more of those yummy burgers. And next time we'll save some room for the milkshake or rootbeer float. :)

*iPhone shots

Recipe: Chicken Fingers with Chipotle-Honey

Another recipe from "Cook This, Not That!"

250 Calories

1.5g fat (0g saturated)

350 mg sodium

$2/serving

Pros:

- the only fat used was the nonstick cooking spray

- baked not fried

- sauce had the perfect balance of sweet, spicy and sour

- only egg whites were used for the breading

- cooks in 20 minutes

Cons:

- the chicken fingers can easily be dried if placed on the wrong level in the oven

If you are serving this to kids, make sure you go easy on the chipotle - I'd say it's spiciness is 3/5. Also, I suggest to use the sweet-spicy sauce as a side sauce rather than covering the chicken fingers with the sauce so it won't overpower the natural flavor of the chicken.

**For copyright purposes, I won't be placing the actual recipes lifted from "Cook This, Not That!"

Article: Best Healthy Foods in America

I don't think I can ever stop myself from eating fast food (especially with a husband who craves for KFC, McDonalds and Taco Bell all the time). So good thing I came across this article about the 39 Best Healthy Foods in America.

Here's the link --> http://eatthis.womenshealthmag.com/slide/best-instant-oatmeal?slideshow=98360#title

Recipe: 320-Calorie Burger

This is the second recipe I lifted from "Cook This, Not That!" It's not as good as the California Avocado BLT burger of Food Network but for 320 calories, I'd say 3/5.

First, tips on the recipe:

It is very important that the burger is seasoned well since it is what makes this recipe so feel free to be creative and add more spices when you make your patties (the recipe only indicates adding salt and pepper to the ground sirloin). Make sure that you don't overcook the patties or you'll have a dry burger since this recipe does not use any kind of sauce.

Pros:

- it's 320 calories

- it's a burger

- it's filling but it's not too heavy

- caramelized onion + burger is just perfect

- it's ready in 30 minutes

Cons:

- it can be really dry if you overcook the patties

- can be bland if patties or the onions aren't seasoned well

- no cheese!

Recipe: Oreo Truffles

Recipe from http://delightfuldessert.blogspot.com/.

I was so surprised that such an easy recipe would yield out something really really great.

I've never really been a baker nor a lover of sweets so I was not confident at all that I will have any success in following this recipe (I screw up even insta-bake cupcakes/cookies). Since the recipe didn't tell me to bake, I decided to give it a try - what could go wrong with putting a bunch of choco balls in the fridge right?

When I served this tonight as dessert for our Valentine's dinner, my husband and I were both very surprised how good these came out! He thought they taste just like commercial truffles. The only thing I would change about this recipe would be the size of the truffles (make them smaller but maybe that's just me) but everything else is just perfect.

**I was trying to make a smiley face on the plate but I failed! Haha!

Recipe: Valentine's Special

Because we couldn't decide where to eat and because I am still under the influence of "Cook This, Not That" we decided to have our Valentine's dinner at home.

Menu:

- Mixed Green Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette

- Bacon Wrapped Scallops

- Seafood Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

- Pork Chops with Beer and Bacon Gravy

The salad is an original by Giada De Laurentis - she used sherry vinegar while I used red wine vinegar because our local grocery doesn't carry sherry vinegar. If you are to follow her recipe make sure to go easy on the cheese - the first time I made this I went crazy on the cheese and it made the salad super salty.

The scallop dish is the first recipe I lifted from "Cook This, Not That!" and I must say that I'm impressed. Although I almost forgot that I placed this in the broiler (I cooked it for 15 minutes instead of the recommended 10), the scallops didn't turn rubbery and the bacon was still very crisp.

The seafood pasta is by Rachael Ray from 30-Minute Meals. I decided not to include sherry wine but the pasta still turned out to be tasty. My husband loved it so much! This was also a hit the first time I made it for friends during Christmas.

The pork chop is another original by Rachael Ray. This recipe is great because of the gravy...pork chop + beer + bacon = love. Without the gravy the dish would be too boring. Make sure that you pick a beer that won't overpower everything else. I didn't make a good choice so I ended up adding more and more stock to balance out the flavor.

My husband and I assessed that had we had the same meal outside, we would have spent $160 with tip and tax. The meal we prepared only cost us $80 and we still have left over for tomorrow.

I say this is the best Valentine's dinner I've had in a while - the sumptuous dinner made the night great but having my husband help me out in the kitchen is just priceless.

Recipe: Super Bowl Special

Super Bowl day is one of those days that you can be a couch potato and you don't have to feel bad doing so. So my husband and I did all our errands yesterday and decided that today will be spent watching Super Bowl specials and not leaving the couch at all. To accompany our extreme laziness, I prepared us some fatty nibbles...

I'm still feeling sick from last night's dinner so I was only able to finish 1 hotdog sandwich. My husband, on the other hand, downed 3 hotdog sandwiches and most of the onion rings before the first quarter even ended.

Time to prepare the Nachos! :)

Commitment to Fit and Save

I saw this quote earlier at Sports Authority. I told my husband "That should be our motto this year." He agreed.

As part of that commitment, I purchased this book:

It promises to save us "10, 20, 30 pounds - or more!" It's supposed to teach me recipes that are comparable to those you order from restaurants but with way less calories, fat and sodium.

**Cook This, Not That! recipe reviews will probably start a week from now.

Restaurant: Brasa Rotisserie

Brasa was awarded "Best Restaurant" by MetroMix Twin Cities. Brasa is an original of Minneapolis but the place became so popular that they decided to open another branch in Saint Paul. You can choose to order family style or individual meals and mix match different kinds of meat and sides.

It reminds me of those "inihaw" places back in Manila but in my opinion Brasa's food is more tender and has less fat. Perfect saltiness, crispy skin and juicy meat perfectly describe the Brasa's Rotisserie Chicken - very close to KRR's chicken. I thought at first that the Pork Shoulder was bland but as we continued to nibble and nibble the citrus-y flavor of the fork-tender meat started to come out. I had a little help from the Mexican hot sauce to give the pork a little more kick. The Beef Roast is love. The sweet-spicy sauce goes very well with the well-seasoned and extremely tender beef. They also serve Coca-Cola in a 12oz bottle which they call Mexican Coke - I know it's not that special but this reminded me of how Coke was back when I was still in school. :)

We spent 38 bucks (tip included) for - 2 orders of white bean soup, 1/4 rotisserie chicken, 2 meats (which includes 2 sides) and Mexican Coke.