I've been trying to cook. Pasta Roni and frozen pizzas were all that used to be on the menu, but now I am actually using cookbooks and tips, crockpots, and fresh vegetables. Here are the two new things I've made this week and they were mmmmm YUM!
Eggs Baked in Bacon Rings (from the Joy of Cooking)
Preheat oven to 325
Saute or broil lightly: strips of bacon
Grease the bottoms of muffin pans. Line the sides with the bacon. Place in each pan: 1 tablespoon chili sauce
Drop into it: 1 egg
Pour over the egg: 1 teaspoon melted butter
Sprinkle with: salt and paprika
Bake about 10 minutes or until the eggs are set. Turn them out onto: rounds of toast or warm slices of drained pineapple
Garnish with: parsley
My experience with this recipe is that 10 minutes was def. not a enough time. it took about 17 minutes, and i turned the heat up to 365 for the last 5 minutes of that. the eggs still looked so soft. but once we cut into them the yolks were totally cooked and it tasted great. so perhaps i didn't need to turn up the heat. I also didn't buy chili sauce because i couldn't find a small container, just a really big one. i used this mexican hot sauce, just a tad, on 3 of them, sprinkled chili powder on 2 of them, and did one with nothing. All were great. I think the point is to have a stronger flavor there. The plain one went to Grace. she liked it too. I also used french bread for the toast, and I actually put it into the pan of left over bacon grease (I drained most of it first, just left a little bit for flavor) and I buttered them. It was a perfect combo for the eggs.
Pepper Chicken (found in the back of the Family Circle magazine years ago)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 large onion, halved and cut into thin slices
2 green peppers, seeded, cored, and cut into thin slices
1 can (4 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained
Cooked white rice for serving
1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. In a medium-size bowl, whisk 1 cup water, ketchup, soy sauce, and pepper; gradually whisk in the flour
3. Remove chicken from skillet. Stir in the water-ketchup mixture and bring to a boil; add chicken and the onion. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add peppers and mushrooms and simmer, covered, for 15 more minutes, stirring occassionally. Serve with rice.
My experience with this recipe is that I was totally unprepared. I bought all the stuff. But I take forever chopping up things apparently. The onion, peppers, and the chicken. It's time consuming. And as I cooked it, I forgot to put the flour in it. This just means the sauce was thinner than desired, but the flavor was still good. Or so that's what Jay and James say. I didn't actually eat any of it. I don't like rice. I don't like peppers. I don't like onions. I don't like soy sauce. The picture made it look delicious and I thought James would like it, so that's why I made it. I had a bowl of corn chex for dinner. Lame, I know. I don't like that I didn't even taste it because I have no idea if they were lying to me or what it really tasted like. SO from now on, even if it's something I don't think I will like, I will always taste it, just so I know for myself.
It smelled fantastic though. And the boys did seem to enjoy it. Even Grace ate some, though she took out her peppers. :o)
