Thai-Style Mushroom and Chicken Stir-Fry

In the interest of trying something a bit healthier, I pulled out my old copy of The Mayo Clinic Williams-Sonoma Cookbook and set about finding a recipe that Husband would actually eat.  He has finally come around to Thai food, so I adapted this recipe for our tastes. 

This recipe started as Thai-Style Mushroom and Tofu Stir-Fry, but for us, it's out with the tofu and in with the chicken!  I want to try cooking with tofu one day, as I happen to love tofu with my Thai food (Pad See Ew with Tofu is my favorite).  But for now, we start with the safer alternative.
     

Substitutions: Chicken for tofu, obviously.  I used portabella mushrooms, as our Kroger did not have fresh oyster mushrooms available.  And since we had regular Jif in the pantry, I used that instead of the reduced-fat peanut butter.  For more heat, I added sriracha in place of red pepper flakes. This was so fresh, colorful, and delicious served over rice.  I found myself wanting more veggies! 

Here's my recipe below, adapted from the original: 

Thai-Style Mushroom and Chicken Stir-Fry

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cut into strips or bite size pieces
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon sriracha sauce
8 ounces portabella mushrooms, sliced
8 ounces snow peas, ends trimmed and strings pulled
8 ounces canned sliced water chestnuts, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Preparation Instructions
In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, soy sauce, and lime juice until smooth. Add the water, sesame oil, cornstarch, and pepper flakes and whisk until blended. Coat a nonstick wok or a large nonstick frying pan with nonstick cooking spray and heat over high heat. Add the chicken and cook just until opaque. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the snow peas and continue stir-frying until the peas are tender-crisp, 2-3 minutes. Add the peanut butter mixture, water chestnuts, and tofu, and stir-fry until the sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Serve over steamed rice or noodles. Sprinkle with the cilantro.  Serves 3-4.

Mint Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

First off, I have to confess: this recipe isn't from a cookbook.  Also, I've made it before - several times, in fact.  But this time was different.  I tweaked the recipe to make festive St. Patrick's Day treats for Husband's work potluck, and they were a huge hit! 

All that to say, you have to have this recipe.
 

These are a great option if you need a gluten free dessert.  Plus, they're so pretty to look at and are nice and light after a heavy meal.  So refreshing, too, with the hint of mint!  

Adapted from my Christmas party favorite Real Simple recipe.

Mint Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

Ingredients
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
green food coloring, as desired (about 8 drops for pale green as shown)

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 225.  Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until foamy.  Increase mixer speed to high, then add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time.  Allow a few moments between adding tablespoons to sugar to ensure thorough mixing.  Continue mixing on high speed until stiff and glossy with firm peaks, about 2-3 minutes.  Add in peppermint extract and green food coloring.  Once done, turn off mixer and fold in chocolate chips by hand. 

Drop mounds of the meringue mixture onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart.  Bake until firm and dry, 75 to 90 minutes.  After 75 minutes, watch carefully to prevent browning.  Let cool completely on the baking sheets.

Southwestern Cheese Steak Supper

Since I had gotten it out for help with the Pretzel Toffee Chocolate Crunch Cookies, I went back to the original red Betty Crocker's Cookbook looking for dinner ideas.  When I found this one-skillet meal that involved meat + pasta + queso, I knew I would have to try it.

Husband laughed about how it's called "supper."  My grandmother would call the three meals breakfast, dinner, and supper.  In my mind, there's breakfast and lunch, but then dinner and supper are the same thing.  It always confused me as a small child!

*Warning: I followed the directions and ended up with way-overdone steak.  It was pretty disappointing, I must admit, especially after Husband had cooked us some amazing filets a few nights before.  But the pasta was delicious and idiot-proof easy, so next time, I'll wait until further in the pasta cooking process to put the steak back to the skillet.  

Betty has the recipe on her website.

Southwestern Cheese Steak Supper

Ingredients
1 pound beef boneless sirloin steak, 3/4 inch thick
1 1/2 cups mild salsa
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups uncooked rotini pasta (5 ounces)
8 ounces Velveeta, cut into cubes (1 cup)

Preparation Instructions

Spray 12-inch skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Cut beef into 4 serving pieces. Cook beef in skillet about 4 minutes, turning once, until brown. Remove beef from skillet. 

Add salsa and water to skillet. Heat to boiling. Stir in pasta. Place beef in pasta mixture. Cover and cook over medium heat 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender.  Stir in cheese until melted.

Skillet Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie is a standby at my house.  I have always followed my family easy cheat recipe with Pillsbury pie crusts, Veg-All, and cream of chicken soup.  Simple, hearty, tasty -- what's not to love?

I did take special pride in this recipe because everything except the crusts was made fresh.  No cans in sight!  While I'm not sure every step was worth the trouble for a simple weeknight, there are some tricks that I'll carry over to my cheat recipe, such as:

• Adding sautéed onions and mushrooms
• Cooking in the cast iron skillet
• Using Creole seasoning
• Egg white wash on the top crust

Would you take a look at how beautifully that crust turned out?  Crispy, crackly, flaky golden brown deliciousness, I say. 

Surprisingly, this pie was listed in the Southern Living booklet Best Fall Baking.  I guess it is a pie, after all, but I went looking through the book for sweet treats and happened upon dinner instead.  And yummy leftovers for lunch, too!

Southern Living also lists the recipe on their website. 

Skillet Chicken Pot Pie 

Ingredients
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 (8-oz.) package sliced fresh mushrooms
4 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 cups frozen cubed hash browns
1 cup matchstick carrots
1 cup frozen small sweet peas
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 (14.1-oz.) package refrigerated pie crusts, brought to room temperature
1 egg white 

Preparation Instructions 

Preheat oven to 350°. Melt 1/3 cup butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; add all-purpose flour, and cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Gradually add chicken broth and milk, and cook, whisking constantly, 6 to 7 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat, and stir in Creole seasoning.  Next, melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add onion and mushrooms, and sauté 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in chicken, next 4 ingredients, and sauce.

Place 1 pie crust in a lightly greased 10-inch cast-iron skillet. Spoon chicken mixture over pie crust, and top with remaining pie crust. Whisk egg white until foamy; brush top of pie crust with egg white. Cut 4 to 5 slits in top of pie for steam to escape. Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 5 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Pretzel Toffee Chocolate Crunch Cookies

Well, March is here, but that didn't stop the winter weather in Nashville last week!  Looks like it's finally going to break this weekend, which sounds amazing since we spent last weekend cooped up avoiding the ice.  Naturally, that called for some sweet treats, and I found a delicious recipe in the Christmas with Southern Living 2013 annual holiday book.

My mom sends me a copy of the book every year, which I love to flip through but, admittedly, rarely get to put into practice.  After having done so with these cookies, I have to say I would happily make them again, but with one small tweak: not using unsweetened chocolate bars!  Chopping the bars was a major pain.  I started by hand, which was taking forever.  So I moved on to the mini food processor, which was slightly faster but still couldn't quite power through the chocolate bars without creating mostly chocolate dust.  Frankly, I think these would be delightful with semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, so next time I'll save myself the hassle.
  
My other regret is somehow adding too much flour.  I measured per the directions, but the cookies didn't quite flatten out enough during the baking process.  To figure out the problem, I looked at my trusty original red Betty Crocker's Cookbook and found her Cookie Troubleshooting Guide.  Next time I'll "spoon flour into a measuring cup, rather than scooping the cup directly into the flour canister."      

Substitutions: none!  Can you believe it?  I used Baker's unsweetened chocolate, Kroger pretzels, and Heath bars -- Husband's favorite.  Now the only remaining challenge is to keep my hand out of the cookie jar every hour when these are around.    

Pretzel Toffee Chocolate Crunch Cookies  

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups coarsely crushed mini pretzel twists
4 (1.4 oz.) chocolate covered toffee bars, chopped
2 (4 oz.) unsweetened chocolate baking bars, chopped
parchment paper

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugars, beating well. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed after each addition. Stir in pretzels, toffee candy, and chocolate. Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls 1 inch apart onto parchment paper lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks and cool completely (about 30 minutes).