Better than Amazing Popcorn

 Ingredients
4 quarts cooked Popcorn (about 1/2 cup uncooked)
1/2 Cup butter
1 Cup Brown sugar
1/4 Cup milk
2 T. vanilla extract
1 Cup chocolate chips (or chunked bar chocolate)
1 cup crushed pretzels
salt to taste

Preheat your oven to 250°. Lay out your cooked popcorn on greased cookie sheet. Set aside for later. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. When butter is melted, add brown sugar and milk. Whisk to dissolve brown sugar. Turn heat up to medium-high. Bring to a boil, boil for 5 minutes, whisking continuously. Add vanilla, then remove from heat. While still hot, drizzle all over popcorn. Sprinkle chocolate and pretzels over popcorn and then put into preheated oven. Bake for 50 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with salt. While caramel is still hot, transfer to large bowl (otherwise you are going to have a heck of a time trying to get it off of your cookie sheet). Allow it to cool for a few minutes and enjoy!

Udon (oo-don) Noodles

These noodles are very simple and can be served hot or cold. I actually prefer them cold with a little mirin and ginger, then dipped in a little Mongolian Sauce.

Ingredients
3 Cups all purpose flour
1 T. salt
1 Cup water

Hand mix all of the ingredients until they become cohesive. Place dough on work surface and knead for about 5 minutes. Put it in a ziptop bag and press out all of the air. Allow the dough to rest for a minimum of 2 hours.

Flour your work surface and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough in a rectangular shape. Roll it out until it about 1/8 of an inch thick (a little thicker won't hurt, since you can stretch them thinner). When you have reached your desired thickness, lightly dust both sides with flour and lay the dough lengthwise in front of you. Right now is when you will want to get a large pot of water on to boil. You should also fill a sink with cold water and put a colander in it. This will be used to cool the noodles and keep them from becoming rubbery.

Starting with the left edge being pulled to the right edge, fold your dough in half. Now grab your newly formed left edge (the fold), and fold it over to the right edge again. you should now have 4 layers.

Give the dough a 90 degree turn and lay it out on your cutting board. Now cut vertical strips about 1/8 inch in width. After you have cut about a dozen strips, unfold them and give them a little stretch. Go ahead and toss them into into the pot of boiling water and set a timer for 3 minutes. While those are cooking, go ahead and cut and stretch more noodles.

When your timer dings, remove the noodles from the pot and put them in the colander and submerge them in the cold water for about a minute. Remove them from the water and toss them into a bowl. Repeat until all noodles are cooked.

When all noodles have been cooked, go ahead and drain any remaining water that has collected in the bottom of your noodle bowl. At this point, if you want cold noodles, you can lightly coat these noodles with Mirin, ginger, and green onions. Then use a refrigerated Mongolian dipping sauce.

I will post a recipe for a traditional hot dashi (Japanese broth) very soon.

Enjoy!

Mongolian Sauce

I love this Mongolian sauce recipe. It is so easy to make and very easy to tailor to your liking. I personally like it a bit sweet and very spicy, but it's good even without the heat. This sauce can be put on just about everything: beef, pork, chicken, rice, noodles, small children (they love it).

Ingredients
4 tsp. sesame oil
2 T. minced garlic
1 tsp. red chili flakes
1 Cup soy sauce
1 Cup water
1 tsp. ginger powder
1+1/2 Cups brown sugar

NOTE: If you want this sauce to be more on the spicy side, add the red chili peppers when you add the garlic. If you want it more on the mild/sweet side, add it at the end.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, add sesame oil and garlic. Roast the garlic until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Add soy sauce, water, ginger, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Allow to boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. (If you want just a little heat, this is when you add the red chili flakes.)

Sloppy Chickens?

A few weeks back, I decided to make an alternative to sloppy joes. Enter the sloppy chicken; or, honey mustard chicken, if you prefer. This is a great meal because it takes very little prep and makes for a very cheap filling meal. All of the measurements are approximated as I just throw stuff into the saucepan. The main thing to remember is to add the honey at the end, or the flavor tends to cook away.

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts (frozen is fine)
hamburger buns
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup yellow mustard
2 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. dill
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp. Liquid Smoke or to taste
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup bread crumbs

Cut chicken into small cubes (if starting from frozen, cook them in a covered skillet until thawed). Brown the chicken in a skillet over medium-high heat with a little bit of olive oil.

In a small saucepan, add the water and brown sugar. Heat over high heat, whisking continuously. When the mixture comes to a boil, add the yellow mustard and apple cider vinegar. Allow to boil and thicken for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add garlic, onion, and dill (this is also when you should add salt, pepper, and liquid smoke).

When the chicken is done cooking, remove to paper towels to drain. Add the honey and bread crumbs to the sauce, then stir in the chicken pieces.

Serve on hamburger buns with pickles, tomatoes, and lettuce.

Orange Chicken

Who doesn't love orange chicken? 'Nuff said.

Sauce:
1 1/2 cups water
1 medium sized orange, zested and juiced
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar (apple cider or white can be substituted)
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. powdered ginger root
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 T. cornstarch mixed with 2 T. water
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Chicken:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 egg
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
1 T. ginger root powder
1 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs (optional)

Canola oil for frying (add about a tbs sesame seed oil to your fry oil for added flavor)

The sauce is pretty strait forward: put water, orange juice (reserve the zest for the end), lemon juice, vinegar,  soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic into saucepan over high/med-high heat. Whisk constantly until sauce comes to a boil. At this point, add the cornstarch water and allow to boil for 2 min. Remove from heat and stir in green onion, red pepper flakes, and orange zest.

Personally, I don't like the cubes of chicken that you get at places like Panda Express. I prefer super thin slices of chicken breast. I found that the best way to get super thin slices, of any meat, is to freeze it first, and then allow it to slightly thaw. You can get deli thin slices with just a regular chef's knife.

When your chicken is cut into bit sized pieces, crack the egg into a bowl an whisk it until it is uniform. Mix the cornstarch, flour, ginger, salt, and pepper (and panko) in a bowl or ziploc bag. First, dry off the pieces of chicken with a paper towel, then dip into the egg and then dredge it in the flour mixture. Set aside until ready to fry. Repeat process until all pieces of chicken are breaded.

Frying the chicken is quick and easy when it's in bite-sized pieces. I personally do all of my frying outside, in a wok that I put directly on the burner of my gas grill.

Heat the oil to about the 350-375 range. When the oil is hot enough, drop a few pieces of chicken in. Allow them to brown on one side, then flip them over to brown on the other side. It should only take about a minute on each side. Remove the chicken and place on cooling racks with paper towels underneath to drain. **BE AWARE!** The breading will continue to brown and darken, even after you have removed it from the hot oil.

Repeat until all chicken is cooked.
Enjoy!

Pizza Dough 2

I have tried a ton of different pizza dough recipes; trying to get that perfect crunch and chewiness. In the end, I found that the real secret was to use a pizza stone. I don't recommend buying a 'real' pizza stone though. Instead, go to your local home improvement store and buy a few granite tiles (if you live in the southwest, 1" thick UNGLAZED saltillo tiles work even better and are cheaper). You can get more surface area for much cheaper than what you would pay for a premium pizza stone. Here is recipe number 2. This one is fast and easy and makes a pretty decent crust.

Also, if you use all bread flour and replace the olive oil with melted butter, this recipe makes a very good loaf of bread.

Recipe 2
1 Cup hot water (about 125 degrees)
1/4 Cup olive oil
1-1/2 t. salt
1/4 Cup sugar
1 T. active dry yeast
1 Cup all purpose flour
2 Cups bread flour (you may use up to a cup more or less depending on humidity)
Semolina flour OR cornmeal for dusting

Put the water into medium sized mixing bowl. Add olive oil, salt, sugar, and yeast. Stir gently to help activate yeast. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Add the all purpose flour and 1 Cup of the bread flour. Mix in stand mixer with dough hook or by hand. Slowly add second cup of bread flour, just until mixture combines into a ball of dough. The dough should be a little tacky, but not sticky. Knead dough for 5-6 minutes, by hand or with a dough hook.

Spray the dough with cooking spray and sprinkle it with flour, then cover it tightly (in the bowl) with saran wrap. Allow it to sit and rise in a warm area for 20-30 min.

Remove the saran wrap and knead the dough for a few minutes. Allow the dough to rest for 3-5 minutes (this is when I make my tomato sauce). Once the dough has rested for the second time, place it on a well floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll it to the desired size. There should be enough dough to make 1 pretty darn big pizza (can feed a family of 5).

Rub the outer crust with olive oil and add toppings. This can be baked on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 30 min. or throw it on a 450 degree preheated pizza stone for about 10-15 min.

Pizza Dough 1

I have tried a ton of different pizza dough recipes; trying to get that perfect crunch and chewiness. In the end, I found that the real secret was to use a pizza stone. I don't recommend buying a 'real' pizza stone though. Instead, go to your local home improvement store and buy a few granite tiles (if you live in the southwest, 1" thick UNGLAZED saltillo tiles work even better and are cheaper). You can get more surface area for much cheaper than what you would pay for a premium pizza stone. Here are the 2 different recipes that I use. You can get a better crisp (even without a pizza stone) with the first recipe, but it must be made 24 hours in advance.

Recipe 1
1 3/4 (.44 ounce) teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
1/4 cup (2 ounces) olive oil
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) water, ice cold (40°F)
4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached flour (I use 1/2 bread flour and 1/2 all purpose flour), chilled
Semolina flour OR cornmeal for dusting
Add the first four ingredients to a chilled bowl and mix together. Add the flour and use dough hook on mixer to combine. Knead for 6 minutes on medium speed in mixer. If the dough works its way all the way up the hook, then add about 2 teaspoons of cold water. If the dough is sticking to the sides, add flour a pinch at a time until it holds to the hook and not the sides. Ideally, the dough should be mostly on the hook and just on the bottom of the bowl, it should not stick to the sides. If kneading by hand, just work the dough until is pretty stiff, usually about 10 min.

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper that has been lightly sprayed with cooking oil. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces and generously flour them then transfer them to the cookie sheet. Generously coat the dough with cooking spray then cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Remove the pizzas from the refrigerator 2 hours before you are ready to bake them. Let them sit for 15 minutes, then knead them for about 2-3 minutes on a floured counter. Re-cover the dough with the saran and allow it to rest for the remaining hour and forty-five minutes.

Hand Toss Method
It takes some practice, but this is the only dough recipe that I have ever been able to hand toss. Flour your hands and the dough well. Press the dough into a round 6" disc with your fingers. When you pick up the dough, it should be soft, but shouldn't stretch out under it's own weight. First lay it over the backs of your partially closed hands. Gently give it a stretch and give it a little 'hop' turn. Repeat. As the dough gets bigger, your hands will be further and further apart.

Rolling Pin Method
Lightly flour the dough, work surface, and rolling pin. Start the dough by pressing it into a 6" disc with your fingers. Start in the center with the rolling pin and roll outwards with minimal pressure. Give the dough about 1/8 of a turn and repeat all the way around. If the dough pulls back to its original shape, allow it to rest for a few more minutes.

Finishing
To make the crust 'lip' just make the pizza a little bit bigger than you want the final product to be, then roll the edge in on itself.

I like to top this pizza crust rather minimally. Very little sauce, very fresh ingredients. I generally try to keep it to no more than 3 toppings (plus sauce and cheese).

Rub the outer crust with olive oil and add toppings. This can be baked on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 30 min. or throw it on a 450 degree preheated pizza stone for about 10-15 min.

For a family of 5, I usually use 2 of the 4 balls of dough and I make 2 medium sized pizzas.