Olympics

This has nothing to do with food...
This morning the Today show had the best coverage on the Olympics, with all my Olympic excitement I wanted to share some of my favorite stories.

Follow this link if you want watch the Today Show coverage.

If you use this link there is a sign up to watch the games live.

My personal favorite was the story of the 'Lost Boy', Lopez Lomong, who will be the US flag bearer. Watching his story gives me the chills. He went to Northern Arizona University, just like Matt. I think that he might be my second favorite Olympian, next to my brother in law!
My other favorite thing about these Olympics are the cute little mascots, they are soo Hello Kitty! My first birthday cake had Hello Kitty characters, so Hello Kitty is deeply embedded in my culinary love! What is your favorite thing about these Olympics?

Orange Peel Chicken

With the Olympic opening ceremonies starting tomorrow morning I thought it would be fun to do a Chinese recipe, well an American style one, from P.F. Chang's. I am normally not so excited about the Olympics but my brother in law, pictured here, is an Olympian! Steve Green is on the Canadian Olympic Baseball team. Here is your Chinese food, Tivo the ceremonies to watch tomorrow night! And watch for Steve.

Sauce:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
4 green onions, sliced
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Chicken:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 chicken breast fillets
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
peel from 1/4 orange, julienned (into 1/8-inch thick strips)

Prepare sauce by heating 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sliced green onions. Add tomato sauce and water quickly before the garlic burns. Add sugar, chili garlic sauce and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 to 6 minutes or until sauce thickens, then turn off the heat.

Prepare the chicken by heating 1/2 cup oil in a wok over medium heat. Slice chicken breast fillets into bite-size pieces. Combine beaten egg with milk in a medium bowl. Pour the flour into another medium bowl.

Coat chicken pieces by dropping them into the flour a few at a time, then into the egg/milk mixture and back into the flour. Arrange coated chicken on a plate until all chicken is coated.

When oil in the wok is hot, add about half of the chicken to the oil and cook for a couple minutes or until brown on one side, then flip the chicken over. When chicken is golden brown, remove the pieces to a rack or paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining chicken. When all of the chicken is cooked rinse the oil out of the wok with water and place it back on the stove to heat up.

When wok is hot again add julienned orange peel and chicken. Heat for 20 to 30 seconds or so, stirring gently. Add sauce to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir dish a couple times but do it gently so you don't knock the coating off the chicken. Cook until the sauce thickens then serve up the dish with white or brown rice on the side.

Aioli Dip

Here is another great one from Trish, but I can not resist pictures of Miss Reese! This is actually Dave's recipe, Trish likes to do something that I do quite often in the kitchen take a store bought item & combine it with a homemade item to make it your own. Do you have any little secrets like that?

Dave made it for me while we were living in Arizona and it was amazing!

Aioli:
2 garlic cloves (minced, and mashed)
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 T. vegetable oil

Whisk together yolk, lemon juice, and mustard. Combine Oils and add a few drops at a time to mixture. Whisk constantly, until aioli is emulsified. Whisk in garlic paste and season with salt and pepper. If aioli is too thick, add a few drops of H2o.

Chill until ready to serve.

Serve with Bacon Wrapped Scallops. I buy the scallops from Costco and we wrap them with bacon. Then drizzle or dip with Aioli sauce.

Panzanella by request

My friend Becki was telling me about a bread salad she had. This is a recipe for one that I like to toss together. The fun thing about salads is mixing it up, if you have a veggie that sounds good toss it in! If you want to go fancy with bread salad, here is a link to the bread salad served at San Francisco's famed Zuni Cafe.

1 (1 pound) loaf Italian bread
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 cup cucumber - peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup chopped red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

2 tablespoon chopped parsley

1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons vinegar (you could use balsamic, I have an amazing champagne vinegar I recently bought which would lend a lighter flavor)

This is your base of ingredients, after that I would see what was hanging around! Little left over roasted chicken, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, experiment with extras, let me know how you do!

Pull apart or chop the bread into bite-size pieces.
In a salad bowl, combine the bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, garlic, basil, parsley and thyme. Add enough olive oil and vinegar to lightly coat, toss and serve. Toss in your extras.

Grilled Shrimp with Chipotle Dip

We have another great recipe from Trisha. Trish has shared so many great recipes that I have invited her to be a cook on the blog. I made this over the weekend, since Matt loves shrimp. It was a big hit! Trish recommends this as a great appetizer or meal! Enjoy.

Grilled Shrimp with Chipotle Dip

Marinate 1 lb. Shrimp in:
3 T. Fresh Lime Juice
2 T. extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 C. chopped fresh cilantro
3 green onion (chopped)
2 Large Garlic cloves, minced
pinch of Salt

Toss well and refrigerate for 1-4 hours. Drain Marinade and grill 2-4 minutes each side. Serve with Chipotle Dip.

Chipotle Dip:
1 1/2 C. non-fat plain yogurt
1/2 C. reduced fat sour cream
1-2 canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (chopped finely or pureed)
1 T. fresh lime juice

Combine all dip ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Book Review

If you want to know what I thought of David Sedaris' new book When You Are Engulfed In Flames, head on over to Shoppings My Cardio to read all about it!

Summer Cocktails

Just in time for Friday, Summer Cocktails, I started thinking about this post when Matt & I where at the outdoor mall by our house waiting to meet our friends for a movie. Even though it was 103 in the shade, I knew it would be 40 degrees in the theatre, so I wore jeans. Well Matt asked me if I wanted to walk around & I said no I wanted a refreshing cocktail!

That same day my dear cousin Jeannie sent me a cocktail idea & I stumbled on a list of summery drinks on Forbes (yes, the money mag!). Here are some fun ideas:

Air Mail:
chilled wine glass 2 ounces Mount Gay Special Reserve White Rum 1 ounce fresh lime juice 3/4 ounces honey syrup* 2 to 3 ounces well chilled sparkling wine, such as Prosecco
Add the rum, lime juice and honey syrup to a shaker filled with ice. Shake well. Pour into wine glass and top with sparkling wine.
*Honey syrup dissolves more quickly and is easier to pour than pure honey. To make Siegal's, combine five parts inexpensive honey with two parts very hot water in a small bottle. Seal, and shake vigorously. Let cool.

Bikini-tini

3 ounces Bombay Sapphire gin squeeze of fresh lime juice 2 tbsp Blue Curacao 1 tbsp peach schnapps 1 tsp confectioners' sugar Fill a martini glass with ice and water to chill it. Half-fill a martini shaker with ice and add the gin, lime juice, Curacao, schnapps and sugar. Shake well for at least 30 seconds.
Pour out ice and water from martini glass, and poor in the mixture through a strainer. Garnish with lemon zest.

And my personal favorite J Girl's Summer in a Glass

Lemon & Rosemary! Put a few sprigs of fresh rosemary in a pitcher of sweet lemonade over night, serve on the rocks with vodka & friends!