Chinese Chicken Salad

Because it was so hot today I decided to make us a salad and rolls for supper tonight.  And the salad I made is Chinese Chicken Salad.  Very simple ingredients to use and fast on the table!  There is one ingredient that I can't get here in the mainland that I used for this salad in Hawaii and that is won ton chips.. I suppose I could try to make some homemade ones but I know already it wouldn't taste the same so I substituted another ingredient for it.

Note: I had already removed some of this salad and put on two plates for me and hubby.

Ingredients:

lettuce broken up in pieces..

green onions aka leaf onions to me.. chopped

fried chow mein noodles(this is what I substituted for the won ton chips)

cashew nuts

chicken breasts ( I used chicken tenders)

I didn't put amounts here as you can make this a small or big salad.

Directions:

Boil your chicken breast with a little salt. remove when cooked and let cool

in a bowl ( I was making a big salad so used a big bowl)  break up the lettuce into pieces

chop up the onions add to the bowl

cut chicken into bite size pieces add to the bowl

Add the chow mein noodles

Add the cashew nuts

When you are ready to put on the table add the dressing and mix well

i served this salad with rolls.

Dressing:

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup  vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

Boil the above ingredients then remove from heat and add the following:

1/4 cup sesame oil

1/4 cup canola oil

Mix well to combine..I doubled the dressing ingredients to make sure there was enough for this big salad..

Coconut Cream Pie

This is a very good pie.  I made it yesterday.

Ingredients:

1  baked pie crust

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

pinch of salt

4 eggs, seperated

3 cups milk

1/4 cup softened butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups shredded coconut ,lightly toasted in the oven.

Directions:

Preheat oven 425*

Bake the pie crust until brown.  Take out of oven and let cool.

In a heavy saucepan c ombine 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and salt well.

Gradually add the milk and one egg yolk at a time and combine well.

Place saucepan with filling on medium heat and cook until it comes to a full boil.Whisking constantly ,Reduce heat and  cook 2-3 more minutes and remove from heat.Stir in the shredded coconut , butter and vanilla.

Set aside to cool for 25 minutes.  When cool pour into cooled pie crust.

Now make the meringue!

Beat the egg whites to soft peaks.  Add remaining sugar a little at a time , beating until stiff peaks.  Spread on the cool pie filling.  Sprinkle remaining toasted coconut over top of meringue. Bake in oven until meringue is a nice brown.

Remove and let cool before serving.

Luau Stew

Today I made some luau stew.  Sure it was hot weather but my tummy wanted some luau stew!  What is luau stew, you might be asking.  It is made with Taro leaves and beef stew meat and seasonings.. i also made a pan of cornbread to go with it! Of course CORNBREAD is NOT what you would eat at a Hawaiian table with this dish.. it would be poi, poki to go along with it...

These are the Taro leaves.. the root of this plant is what is used to make POI.

so the root was cut off and these are the taro leaves.

These are the stems from the leaves and the outerskin has been peeled off and then the stems broken up into pieces.

Then the leaves and stems are cleaned.  As you can see I placed them in the kitchen sink filled with water and gave them a good swishing around to cleanse them.  I let them sit there for awhile as I start the stew going...

This of course is the beef stew ... I place it in a big old pot with a little oil and brown it a bit then add the water to the pot as you see below.

The beef stew meat is in the pot with water filled to about 1/2 full.  I scoop the scum from the meat boiling off and add the seasonings which I will post with the instructions later.

The next step is to go to the kitchen sink where the leaves and stems are in the water and take about 3-4 leaves and roll them up and cut strips and then add to the pot of meat and water and then add the stems as well. 

This is the stew cooking away and steam coming up so the camera couldn't get too close to the pot.  Now this is good eating!!

I have pretty much showed how to do this stew and as far as the seasonings go I do it by taste.. I make mine a little different from the way I was taught to make it by my Native Hawaiian sister in law who BTW was a wonderful cook!  She just added Hawaiian salt to the water but I put minced garlic and chicken bullion granules in mine.. For this big pot of stew I added about 1 tsp of salt, about 1 TBSP minced garlic and about 1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken boullion granules.  Just do it by taste.. start with a little and add more if needed of all the seasonings.

While that stew was cooking I got out my cast iron skillet and made a batch of corn bread to enjoy with the stew.  We didn't have poi (cause we are living in the mainland now and I forgot to pick up some red snapper for hubby to make his poki but I did get the can of sardines opened and sliced up some onion on top of the sardines and added some ALOHA shoyu ( our favorite brand) to it.

So were were both happy with our meal tonight!! 







Dark Cherry Cobbler

This is a very quick way to make cobbler.  Last summer I canned some dark cherry pie filling and since I had only 2 remaining  jars left I decided to use them for a cobbler.

Ingredients:

Cherrries

2 tbsp butter/margerine

cornstarch/water for thickening

no need to add sugar as it is already in the pie filling if using canned cherrie pie filling

Bisquick or self rising flour

3 Tbsp butter

1/3 cup sugar/splenda

 Milk .. enough to wet the dry ingredients like bisquit dough

Directions:

Open the lids of the jars of Cherries in a baking dish..I used my meat loaf dish

stir the cornstarch and water together and mix in with the cherries good.  Add the 2 Tbsp butter

For the dough add the sugar and stir into the flour good and then

using a fork mash the butter into the flour like you would do a pie crust

Add the milk with enough to make to the consistancy of biscuit dough.

Add the dough one Tbsp at a time on top of the filling. 

Place the cobbler in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 1/2 hr or until crust is a golden brown.



Easy Spareribs

I forgot to take a picture of these spareribs before they went on the table so what you see is the leftovers.  I got this recipe some years ago from an old Hawaiian cookbook and it has been a favorite around my house ever since.  Since there are just 2 of us this recipe makes enough for 2 meals.. its good served with chinese chow mein noodles..

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs ribs cut for making spareribs

4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup vinegar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup shoyu

Hawaiian salt to taste (or sea salt)

Pineapple chunks (save the juice)

Directions:

Brown the ribs. Add the sauce ingredients and simmer until  cooked.

Thicken the pineapple juice with cornstarch and add to the ribs.



BBQ Pork

Tomorrow, we are going to be celebrating a birthday as well as Fathers Day.

The birthday boy is my 4 yr old gr grandson, Mana.  And we are having a BBQ.

I called and asked my daughter what they were having and she said they were serving the "kids" hot dogs and hamburgers etc.  So knowing my hubby would be wanting to eat BBQ Shoyu chicken and potato salad I got that all ready to take over.. marinading the chicken now.  As for ME I love pulled pork and so that will be what I have and anyone else that wants some! LOL  I like the pulled pork placed on a bun then add cole slaw on top and cover with the top bun..

I saw Pioneer woman had made a pulled pork recipe using Dr. Pepper and that looked interesting so I decided that I would try it out for tomorrow.. And I did a slow cook in the oven and it came out great!  So credit for this recipe goes to

Ree the pioneer woman!  She calls it " Spicy Dr Pepper shredded pork". And she places the shredded pork in a flour tortilla.. Just look at the bottom of her instructions.. she'll fill you in on how she did hers with the torilla.

Ingredients

• 1 whole Large Onion
• 1 whole Pork Shoulder ("pork Butt") - 5 To 7 Pounds
• Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1 can (11 Ounce) Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce
• 2 cans Dr. Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Peel the onion and cut it into wedges. Lay them in the bottom of a large dutch oven.
Generously salt and pepper the pork roast, then set it on top of the onions in the pan.
Pour the can of chipotle peppers over the pork (include the sauce.) Pour in both cans of Dr Pepper. Add brown sugar to the juice and stir in.
Place lid tightly on pot, then set pot in the oven. Cook for at least six hours, turning roast two or three times during the cooking process. Check meat after six hours; it should be absolutely falling apart (use two forks to test.) If it’s not falling apart, return to the oven for another hour.
Remove meat from pot and place on a cutting board or other work surface. Use two forks to shred meat, discarding large pieces of fat. Strain as much of the fat off the top of the cooking liquid as you can and discard it. Return the shredded meat to the cooking liquid, and keep warm until ready to serve. (You can also refrigerate the meat and liquid separately, then remove hardened fat once it’s cold. Then heat up the liquid on the stovetop and return the meat to the liquid to warm up.
Serve on warm flour tortillas. Top with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, grated cheese, avocado slices, salsa, and whatever else you’d like.

Posted by Ree on March 22 2011



Confetti Jello (sugar free)

This is a really good jello recipe.  I used sugar free jello and made the sugar free 

 condensed milk from a recipe from a recipe I found online.

I could have cut the colored jello's into smaller cubes but I had another project going at about the same time so these were cubed in a hurry! LOL

Ingredients:

1  3oz regular orsugar free  strawberry, orange, lime and lemon jello

4 cups boiling water

1 can condensed milk ( I made my own sugar free version)

1/2 can hot water

1/2 can tap water

4 envelopes unflavored gelatine

1 cup hot water

Directions:

Dissolve each package of jello into one cup of boiling water in separate bowls.

Chill till set.  In a large bowl, blend condensed milk 1/2 can hot water and 1/2 can tap water. Stir to blend well.  Mix 4 envelopes gelatine into 1 cup hot water, stirring well.  Pour through strainer then combine with condensed milk.

Set aside to cool.  Mince jello into 9x13 pan.  Mix to evenly spread flavors. Pour milk mixture into pan.  Mix well. Chill until set.  Cut and serve.

Here is the sugar free condensed milk recipe I used: 

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 Tablespoon cold water

1 1/4 cup nonfat powdered milk

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup splenda

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Combine cornstarch and cold water in a small dish and set aside.

In a microwavable container, stir together the powder and water.

Cover and microwave 45 seconds or until hot but not boiling.

Stir in cornstarch slurry and microwave  10-15 seconds  longer until thick.

Stir in splenda and vanilla thoroughly.

Chill minimum of 2 hrs before using.