Honey Chicken Salad

This is absolutely divine!
Simply delicious.
One of the best chicken salad
I had ever tried.
It's really that good!

I found the recipe in
Southern Living-40 years of our best recipebook,
and I highly recommend this book.
I've tried a few recipes
and
hadn't made anything bad.
This chicken salad can be eaten on its own,
but I prefer to eat it with these mini
phyllo dough.
Somewhat,
the crispiness of the dough
goes very well with the salad.
The recipe asks
to use frozen tart shells.
You could use that too.
Or use wonton cups as seen
here.

This recipe is for 4 servings.
I halved the recipe
as I made it for myself.
:D

Recipe:

1/2 (10oz) package frozen tart shells
or phyllo dough or wonton cups

4 cups chopped cooked chicken
3 celery ribs, diced
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/3 cup honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Garnish: Chopped toasted pecans

1. Bake tart shells according to manufacturer's instructions.
Set aside.

2. Combine chicken and next 3 ingredients.

3. Whisk together mayonnaise and next 3 ingredients.
Add to chicken mixture, stirring gently until combined.

4. Spoon chicken salad evenly into baked tart shells.
Garnish, if desired.

Update on My Nachos

Farina asked me about the
recipe I used
for the beef in my nachos.
Totally
forgot to mention that.

There are 2 ways in doing it.
The lazy way...
and
the non-lazy way.
When I'm feeling lazy,
I'll buy pre-made beef tacos
"filling" or just the seasoned
beef
from Chi-Chi's.
It comes in either ground beef
or ground chicken.
Personally, I prefer the beef.
It's usually located
in the meat section
at the grocery store,
in a yellow container.

If I'm not lazy,
I'll made it using Emeril Lagasse's
taco recipe
found
here.

Enjoy!

Chicken Curry

Hmmmm...
I'm mad for curry.
Green curry.
Red curry.
Fish curry.
Beef curry.
Chicken curry.
Love 'em all.
I haven't meet a curry
I didnt like.
Wait.
I did.
The ones on the menus
of almost all the Chinese Restaurants here.
You know which one.
I can't stand those.
It's bland.
Too watery.
And way too many onions.
That's not curry.
That's something-that-look-like-curry
soup.

I couldnt find the A-1 curry powder
that everyone seems to be raving about.
The guy at the indian grocery store
told me Shan curry powder
is the best.
So,
I took his words
for it
and it's pretty good.
8.5 out of 10 good.

Recipe:
Vegetable oil
1 onion, sliced
1.5-2 lbs of chicken *I used boned chicken breasts
4-6 teaspoons of Shan curry powder mix
1 cup coconut milk or yogurt
4 tomatoes, sliced
4-5 potatoes, cut in chunks
1-2 glasses of water

Heat the oil and sauteed the onions till they become soft.
Add the chicken and fry them till they are no longer pink.
Add the curry powder and coconut milk/yogurt.
Stir.
Add the tomatoes and potatoes. Cook for a few minutes.
Add in the water.
Bring it to a boil.
Cover the pot and bring the heat down to low.
Cook until chicken is tender.

Award season

Thank you
PSM for the award.
Whoo-hoo!!!

Now,
I will pass it on to
Farina for her many,
many Malay recipes...
that I LOVE, LOVE
and will
try..
one day.
Heh!

My Nachos Grande

You know how when you are
craving for something,
you really, really need to eat it..
no matter what.

I was craving for some nachos
the other day.
So bad.
To make it worse,
I was fasting.
Initially,
I thought of popping into Taco Bell
and buy their Nacho Grande
and have that for Iftar.
Then
I figured,
I might as well made one myself.


So here it is,
my nacho grande..
loaded with refried beans,
ground beef, salsa, sour cream,
cheese
and jalapenos.
And dang...
that jalapenos was actually quite HOT!

And you know what's the
best thing about this?
I can make 2,3 or even 4 bowls
and eat it all!
Heh!

Fusilli with Shrimp and Orange

I made this sometime ago
but didn't put it on my blog.

I LOVE the combination of
pasta and shrimps.
Any kind.
And I will eat it.

I found this recipe at
the Food Network
and adjusted it a bit
according to my taste...
and what's available in my fridge.
It turns out yummy!
Who would've thought that shrimps,oranges,
spinach and pasta will go together?
But it does!
Here's the recipe:


Recipe by Giada Delaurentiis.

Pasta:
1 pound fusilli pasta
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Vinaigrette:
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salad
2 large oranges - I used a can of mandarin oranges.
5 ounces arugula - I used spinach.
15 (5 ounces) large pitted green olives, halved
*didnt use any, coz I HATE olives.


Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta reserving about 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
In a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic. Cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper, Add the shrimp. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and cooked through.


For the Vinaigrette:

Combine the lemon zest and lemon juice in a small bowl. Slowly add the oil, whisking constantly, until mixture is smooth, Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

For the Salad:

Using a paring knife, remove the peel and white pith from the oranges. Over a large serving bowl, cut between the membranes of the oranges to form segments. Allow the juice from the oranges to drip into the serving bowl. Add the arugula and olives to the serving bowl. Toss lightly to combine.
Add the hot pasta and the vinaigrette to the serving bowl and toss until arugula(or spinach) is wilted and all the ingredients are combined.

Chicken Tomesto Panini

My friend, Shelly,
will tell you that I love the
Chicken Tomesto Panini at Panera Bread.
Love, love it so much
that at one point,
that's all I craved
and ate.

So,
this is my version
of that Chicken Tometo Panini.
I used store bought Tomato Pesto-
Love that stuff-
spread it on my French bread,
added some grilled chicken,
sliced red onions,
shredded mozarella cheese
and topped it with arugula.
Put it on my panini maker..
and voila!
All done.
Ready to be eaten.