Pretzelpalooza!

Hi everyone!  We are back at home, safe and sound.  I had to bid adieu to California Wednesday afternoon.  (Yep, I speak German.)  I had work to do at home, and we missed Chris.  I think he missed us too until we came home and immediately thrashed the house.  He is a pretty neat and clean guy, so I am sure he loved having us gone all week.  We wreck a house pretty quickly.

As you may know, I did a sampling/tasting last weekend at Draeger’s in Blackhawk.  I sample my BBQ sauces with pretzels. Just regular mini pretzels…. Since I buy them in bulk, I run the risk of having a whole lotta pretzels left over.  This time, I ended up with more pretzels then anyone could ever eat.  Ever.  After handing them out to the neighbors like some sort of weird Halloween treat, I still have too much.  I decided to try to mix some pretzels into some easy recipes that I was already planning on making.

My first recipe is for cookies.  Chocolate Toffee Pretzel cookies to be exact.  I really like the combination of sweet and salty, so I pretty much figured these would be a winner.  Oh man, was I right.

The cookies started like a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I creamed together (with a hand mixer) softened butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla.  I beat that mixture until it was creamy and smooth.

Then I tossed in some eggs and beat the heck out of that.

In a separate bowl, I whisked together flour, dark cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  It is important to mix the dry ingredients separately.  This will ensure that you won’t have any lumps of powdery stuff in your cookies. 

I slowly beat the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.  Seriously slowly….otherwise your kitchen will be covered in flour, cocoa, etc.

Once the dough is mixed, I added crushed pretzels and toffee bits. Toffee bits are available right by the chocolate chips in your grocery store.   I stirred these in with a spatula.  I had crushed the pretzels in a plastic bag with a rolling pin.  I wanted crumbs, but not pretzel dust.  I ended up with some big chunks and some small ones…..

I dropped the dough onto a greased cookie sheet with a mini ice cream scoop.  This will ensure equal sized cookies, which means they will all bake for the same amount of time.

Good lord, these cookies were amazing.  They are sweet, salty, chocolaty, crunchy, etc.  They are everything you would want in a cookie.  I gave them out to the kids that were over playing at my house, and they loved them.  You have to make these cookies.  Even if it requires buying pretzels especially for this recipe….you have to try them.

My second idea/recipe was to try making chicken nuggets coated in crushed pretzels.  My kids, like all kids, are obsessed with nuggets.  They could eat chicken nuggets morning, noon and night.  Me?  I like them too, but not quite as often. 

To make these nuggs, I used chicken breasts, pretzels, eggs, panko bread crumbs, flour and pepper.  I didn’t need additional salt, obviously….

Before I started cutting the chicken, or crushing the pretzels, I heated up a shallow pan with about 1 inch of vegetable oil in it.  This will be a shallow fry, not a deep fry.

I crushed my pretzels in my food processor.  I wanted smaller crumbs for the nuggets then what I used for the cookies.  You could still use a plastic bag and a rolling pin….you will just have to work harder.  But hey, it is a good way to work out some aggression.

I cut my chicken into small “nugget” sized pieces.  One package of chicken goes surprisingly far.

I set up a standard breading station…..flour, egg, and then pretzel crumbs mixed with bread crumbs.  That is the order you will coat your chicken in….first flour, then egg, then press the crumbs in.  I breaded all my chicken first and let it sit on a wire rack.

FYI-I put pepper into the flour for additional flavor.

Since I didn’t have my trusty photographer with me, I couldn’t take pictures of me breading my chicken.  My hands were too messy.  Breading is a messy business.

I fried the nuggs in batches.  Too many in the pan at once will bring the temperature of the oil down.  Plus, crowded chicken will steam, not fry.

I cooked the chicken about 4 to 5 minutes per side, until the chicken was browned on both sides and cooked through.  You can see in the picture above that I had already flipped the top right nugget.  It is nice and brown.

I figured this chicken was going to be good, but I didn’t realize that it was going to be freakin’ amazing.  So crunchy, salty and delicious.  I dipped mine in a spicy mustard.  The kiddos stuck with ketchup.  These were a real crowd pleaser, and super easy to make.  You have to try this recipe. The pretzels give the chicken so much more crunch and flavor then plain bread crumbs, or even a beer batter.   Go ahead, buy a bag of pretzels! 

Chocolate Toffee Pretzel Cookies

2 & ¼ cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup dark cocoa powder, unsweetened

2 sticks butter, softened

¾ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

¾ cup toffee bits

¾ cup crushed pretzels

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla.  Beat with a hand mixer until smooth.  Beat in eggs one at a time.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.  Slowly beat dry ingredients into wet.  Once dough is well blended, stir in toffee and pretzels with a spatula.

Drop onto a greased baking sheet with a mini ice cream scoop.  Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

Pretzel Coated Chicken Nuggets

1 pack chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 4 (cut into nugget size)

2 cups pretzel crumbs

1 cup panko bread crumbs

2 cups flour

3 eggs

1 teaspoon pepper

Oil for frying

Set up breading assembly line….in a shallow dish, stir together flour and pepper.  In another shallow bowl, beat eggs.  In third bowl, stir together pretzel crumbs and bread crumbs

Pre-heat oil over medium high heat (about 1 inch deep) in a shallow frying pan. 

Bread chicken by dipping first in flour, then in egg, and finally in crumb mixture.  Fry, about 5 minutes per side, until golden brown and cooked through.  Keep warm in a low oven.

Grillin' it Light

Good morning!  I am at my mom’s house in California enjoying the sunshine…..finally!  We have sun at our house in Nevada too….it’s not like I am escaping the snow or something.  But…I had work to do here, so once Addy got out of school, I packed up the kids and here we are. 

Anyhoo, the kids have had fun.  We have gone to the pool here a couple of times.  It is the pool that I used to swim at when I was little.  I was on swim team so summers at this pool where my life.  I checked on my swim team records….and you will be happy to know that I still have some.  I was quick when I was 6;)  Unfortunately, I peaked at 8.  From there on out, it was downhill….

Since I am still trying to eat a bit healthier, I grilled a light (sort of) meal last night for all of us.  And by all of us, I don’t mean Paisley.  She just ran around the backyard in circles tormenting the dog, but I don’t think she ever ate.  She would prefer to not eat at dinner so she can be “starving” at bed time.  It is way more fun that way.  I grilled a vegetable panzanella salad and Whiskey Apple BBQ glazed salmon.  It was crazy good, and I didn’t even miss the fat.  Much.

A panzanella salad is a “Tuscan Bread Salad”.  It has chunks of old bread and tomatoes, and various other veggies.  The bread soaks up all of the juices from the salad, and is softens a bit.  It is basically a salad where the croutons are the star….and that is a salad I can get behind.  I put in some grilled veggies, fresh mozzarella and a light dressing too.

I used asparagus, red onion, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, a sourdough baguette and Bocconcini (balls of fresh mozzarella).  I didn’t grill the cucumbers because that would be weird.  I also didn’t grill the tomatoes, although this salad would be equally good with grilled tomatoes. 

Above is all of my veggies and bread laid out on pans so they can get sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkled with garlic salt and pepper.  Normally I would use olive oil, but I was keepin’ it light! 

I grilled the veggies and bread on a pre-heated BBQ.  The bread will grill in less than a minute, especially if it is placed over direct heat.  I think we all learned this from my grilled Caesar salad…..You have to be on it with grilled bread.  No walking away, getting a beer, watching YouTube, etc.  Watch your bread.  The veggies also grill quickly, but not as quickly.  Feel free to watch YouTube during the veggie grilling. 

The dressing for this salad is a spin on an old Weight Watchers salad dressing recipe.  I used lime juice, olive oil, a small can of V-8 juice and a pack of dry Italian Salad Dressing mix.  A “Weight Watcher” wouldn’t use oil.  I wouldn’t eat it without oil.  I prefer to not pour a virgin Bloody Mary over my salad, but to each their own.  I did, however, keep it light by not using as much olive oil as I normally would.

After the veggies came off the grill, I chopped them into bite sized pieces.  I had already chopped the tomatoes and cucumbers.  I also chopped the grilled bread in half, and chopped the bocconcini into smaller pieces.  I let the veggies cool a bit before I tossed this salad together, otherwise the cheese would have melted all through the salad.  I wanted to keep the cheese chunks whole.  I dressed the salad and then let it sit for about an hour.  This let the dressing soak into the bread and all of the veggies.  This won’t get super soggy like a normal salad would when dressed too early.  The bread will soak up most of the dressing.

Now this is something that will get me eating veggies.  The charred taste of a grilled veggie is something I actually like…..and I think you all know by now that veggies and I are not friendly.  This would be a great dish to bring to a BBQ this summer.  It is different and light….people might prefer that to a heavy potato or macaroni salad.

Now for the fish…..

My Whiskey Apple BBQ glazed salmon is seriously crazy good…..and easy too!  It only has a few ingredients, and the fruitiness is actually really good with salmon. 

Besides salmon fillets, I used a shallot, olive oil, Gourmet Rooster Whiskey Apple BBQ sauce, Dijon mustard and unsweetened apple sauce.  I also used salt and pepper, which is not pictured.

I chose thin salmon fillets because I wanted them to cook fast.  You can use any cut you like.  This glaze will also work on chicken, pork or beef.  It is pretty all purpose.

BTW-Gourmet Rooster BBQ sauces are available at Gene’s Fine Foods in Pleasanton now!!

The glaze cooks on the stovetop, but you could also put a pot on your BBQ if you have enough room.  I used about ½ of a shallot.  I sautéed it a bit in olive oil….just enough to make it translucent, but not brown.

Then, I added the BBQ sauce, apple sauce and mustard.  I also salt and peppered it to taste.  I cooked this until it thickened and reduced, about 15 to 20 minutes.  It will become super thick, and your house will smell amazing!

I grilled the fish on a pan on the grill.  This pan keeps the fish from falling through the grates.  Clearly, I forgot to spray it with cooking spray first.  Once I flipped the fish, I started glazing with a food paint brush.  I cooked it on the 2^nd side, and then flipped it and glazed it on the other side.  I didn’t really cook it any further since the first side was already cooked.  I just wanted to get the glaze on.  The glaze will caramelize on the grill.  Anything with the word "caramel" in it automatically means good.

How long you cook your fish depends on you.  I like mine slightly raw in the middle.  My mom is a buzzkill who likes hers fully cooked;)

This whole meal ended up so yummy!  And even better….I didn’t walk away from the table swearing I would never eat again because I was so full of fatty food!  A nice light meal is perfect in the summer…..I even had room for dessert later!  Yeah!

Thursday’s blog will probably be delayed until Friday as I will be driving back to the ol’ NV on Thursday.  And unless you want a blog about the new chicken tenders at Burger King…..No?  Then Friday it is!

Grilled Veggie Panzanella Salad

1 bunch asparagus, cleaned and trimmed

½ an English Cucumber, chopped into bite sized pieces

1 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped in half

2 zucchini, sliced in half for grill

½ a large red onion, sliced for grill

½ a sourdough baguette, sliced in ½ inch slices

About 5 Bocconcini balls, chopped into smaller pieces

Cooking spray

Garlic salt and pepper

Dressing:

5.5 ounce can V-8 juice

¼ cup lime juice

½ cup olive oil

1 pack Italian Salad Dressing Mix

Spray asparagus, zucchini, red onion, and bread slices with cooking spray.  Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper.  Repeat on other side.  Grill veggies and bread over direct heat, until slightly charred.  Bread-1 to 3 minutes. Asparagus-5 minutes depending on thickness. Onion-5 minutes. Zucchini-about 7 minutes.

Once cooled, chop asparagus, zucchini,  and onion into bite sized pieces.  Chop slices in half. 

In a large salad bowl, toss together, grilled veggies, grilled bread, cucumbers and tomatoes.  Once cooled, add cheese and dressing and toss.

Dressing:

Whisk together V-8, lime juice, oil and salad dressing mix.

Whiskey Apple BBQ Glaze for Salmon

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ a medium sized shallot, minced

2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce

6 ounces Gourmet Rooster Whiskey Apple BBQ Sauce

2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard

In a small sauce pot, sauté shallot in olive oil until slightly translucent.  Add apple sauce, BBQ sauce and mustard.  Simmer, uncovered, for about 15 to 20 minutes until thickened and reduced.

Salad on the Grill....Say What?

Now that the weather is finally doing what I want it to…..I guess I have to seriously start considering bathing suit season.  Boo.  While it is super necessary for me to shed my winter coat….I just really hate the process.  I decided to ease into this year by starting with something that has a healthy sounding name, but really isn’t all that healthy.  You know….the “salad” that really has no skinny components except for a bit of lettuce?  I will trick my body into thinking it is on a diet.  That should work, right?

Now I am not one of those people that feels that something must be diet food if it has the word “salad” in it.  I am not fooled by a Taco Salad or a Cobb Salad.  I know those are just as bad for me as a cheeseburger.  But like I said, I have to ease into it…..I can’t go from eating fried chicken straight to eating steamed chicken.  So I created a recipe for a grilled chicken Caesar salad.  And by grilled, I don’t just mean the chicken.  I mean the whole damn thing.  And yes, the only skinny part is the lettuce….and the grilled chicken too, I guess.  But never fear….I will suck the skinny right out of it with dressing and cheese….and amazing croutons.

Have you ever grilled your salad?  I know it sounds weird, but you actually can, and should in my opinion, grill your romaine.  It gives it a smoky taste that is so good!  And it is kind of all the rage right now too.  Being that I am always “in the know”, I have to grill my romaine too.  You can feel the sarcasm in that, right?   I am also grilling the croutons.  Yum.  And the best part is no mess in your kitchen.

I will show you all that you need for this fabulous salad.  Warning:  You need Gourmet Rooster Carolina Style BBQ Sauce. 

For this salad, I used romaine hearts because I need it to hold together on the grill.  A bag of salad will obviously not work.  I also used garlic olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Gourmet Rooster Carolina Style BBS sauce, egg (I used egg beaters to prevent a horrific case of salmonella in my family), asiago cheese, and salt and pepper.  Not in this picture is the chicken or baguette that will be used later.

I start by cooking the chicken on the grill because that will take the longest.  I marinated my chicken breasts in Gourmet Rooster Carolina Style BBQ Sauce, which is a mustard based sauce.  You can sub in Dijon, but it won’t be the same;)

You probably are noticing that I also have my croutons on the grill.  I sliced a baguette in about ½ inch slices.  I brushed both sides with garlic olive oil and sprinkled them with salt and pepper.  These will grill super-fast!  If they are on direct heat, they will get brown and toasty in under a minute.  You have to be on it….don’t walk away!

Then, you need to get the romaine hearts on the grill.  I sliced them in half, lengthwise.  You can’t tell in this picture, but I brushed them with garlic olive oil and then sprinkled salt and pepper all over. 

Yes that baking sheet is gross.  I am well aware of that.  But it is old, and I like it.  I am not a quitter, and I won’t quit on that baking sheet.  You hear me?  I won’t quit!

These will cook on the grill for about 3 to 4 minutes each side.  Just enough to get a slight char on them and wilt the leaves a bit.  This goes fast.

While the lettuce grilled, I made the dressing.  In my Magic Bullet is enough egg beaters to equal one egg, garlic olive oil, a clove of garlic, lemon juice, BBQ sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper.  Normally a Caesar dressing would contain anchovies but my husband is adamant that I not use them.  I would have just thrown them in, as you can’t taste them, but he was watching.  Anchovies add a nutty taste, not a fishy taste.  But Chris is not so adventurous. 

I blended the ingredients in my Magic Bullet, but you could use a blender.  You could whisk the ingredients together, but that would require mincing the garlic….and I wasn’t feelin’ that.

Keep reading for the proportions….I will provide that at the bottom.

By now your lettuce should be done.  Remember, you have to flip it!  Once you pull it off the grill, smother it with asiago cheese.  Or parmesan…maybe Romano….take your pick.  I love asiago.  The cheese will melt onto the lettuce.  Mmmmmmmmm.

The final step is to assemble your salad. 

I plated one half of a romaine heart smothered in cheese with a few croutons.  Then, I poured dressing all over it.  I also plated one chicken breast.  You could also cover the chicken in the dressing.  Chris did, I did not.  Bathing suit season, dude!

See how toasty and delicious the croutons got?  They will break up in your salad and give the salad great crunchiness.

Another view…..

And a picture of the chicken….

Normally I am not a fan of a grilled chicken breast.  I think they are boring.  But when the chicken marinates all day in Gourmet Rooster sauce….I can get on board.

I sincerely hope that you try grilling your salad.  It is so different and unexpected.  It will take your salad to a new level.  A chicken Caesar salad can get so boring, but not when it is grilled!  And like I said above….the best part is no mess in your kitchen!

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

One bag of romaine hearts

One baguette

1 pound chicken breasts

1 cup asiago cheese, grated

Garlic olive oil for brushing on lettuce and bread

Salt and pepper

6 ounces Gourmet Rooster Carolina Style BBQ Sauce

BBQ Caesar Dressing (recipe below)

Marinate chicken breasts in BBQ sauce, at least 8 hours.

Slice baguette into ½ inch slices.  Brush with garlic olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place on grill over indirect heat.  Grill until brown and toasty on both sides.

Grill chicken over direct heat for about 3 minutes each side.  Then, move to indirect heat, cover and cook another 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  Remove from grill and tent under foil to keep chicken warm.

Slice romaine hearts in half, lengthwise.  Brush with garlic olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill, over direct heat, for about 3 minutes per side, or until lettuce is slightly charred.  Remove from grill and cover in cheese.

Place lettuce, croutons and chicken on a plate, pour dressing over top.

BBQ Caesar Dressing

1 clove garlic

¼ cup egg beaters or other egg substitute

¼ cup Gourmet Rooster Carolina Style BBQ Sauce

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

¼ lemon juice

½ cup garlic olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Easy Party Ideas

Good morning!  Another early post for me……..I have a big meeting today.  I am super excited, but I can’t share details yet!  Wish me luck……

So we were back in California for the weekend.  I was a co-host of an after-the-fact baby shower.  I handled all of the food.  We all had a great time, and of course, the baby is adorable!  I took pictures of all of the food, and I am very excited to share them with you all. I am thinking this will give you some easy summer party ideas….in terms of food.  This is definitely baby/bridal shower season!   Most aren’t really “recipes”, more like ideas.  I made quick, easy food….that was still fancy!!

Here is kind of a faraway picture of all the food.  We did it as a “finger food” only type thing.  Please excuse the counter in the background.  That was our bar, and it got pretty hairy back there as it was a co-ed shower.  We did this shower at my friend Marc’s parent’s house…..If for some reason you are reading this, Mrs. Kaneko….don’t worry, we cleaned up.

Here is a close-up of my shrimp and grits.  I have given you my recipe for a “hand-held” shrimp and grits before….I did this one a bit differently.  I used the same recipe for the shrimp, but I used real grits.  I put a whole bunch of butter and cheese in the grits and spooned the grits into cute little jars that I found at Walmart.  They hold 4 ounces which is a perfect size.  Using jars looks cuter then plastic bowls, and it is a whole lot cheaper than buying little glass bowls.  You can re-use them for so many different things too!

This dip was actually artichoke and spinach dip that I bought from the deli section of the grocery store.  I stirred in a can of crab meat and sprinkled the top with parmesan cheese.  This totally makes it look homemade.   I put the whole thing under the broiler to heat it through.  I served it with sliced sourdough baguette and breadsticks.  You can also see some of my pimento cheese in the background.  The recipe for that is under the “appetizer” section of my blog.

Above is my favorite new recipe.  I boiled little baby red potatoes for about 10 minutes.  I drained them and cut their bottoms off so they would stand up.  I used a melon baller to scoop a bit of the top out, and then I piped pimento cheese into the top.  I waited until the potatoes cooled a bit before I piped the cheese in because I didn’t want it to melt right in.  I sprinkled green onions over the top.  These babies were delicious.

This is shredded chicken in BBQ sauce stuffed into mini corn muffins.  This recipe is also under the “appetizer” section of my blog.  Clearly I need to work on my photography as this picture and the one above it have some pretty sweet shadows on the bottom.  That’s what you get when you hire cheap help;)  Plus, I had partaken in a couple of adult beverages by that point.

For the chicken above, I used a tub of Llyod’s brand pulled, smoked chicken.  It doesn’t come with sauce.  If you have never tried this chicken….you have too.  The smoked taste is delicious.  It doesn’t even need sauce….but I throw some on for glue.  And because making BBQ sauce is what I do for a living.

This is my strawberry salad recipe from a few weeks ago.  You remember….when we had the Barnes’ family strawberrypalooza?  I used ½ pint jars for this salad.  Again, super cute and re-usable.  I dressed the salad right before the guests came so the salad wouldn’t get too soggy.

Isn’t that a good picture?  I got my dear friend Jessica to snap a few.  She is an actual photographer, so I am sure you can see the difference;)

Aren’t those cookies super cute?  I didn’t make them.  I tried to keep up the charade that I did, but then I spilled the truth.  Those are Pepperidge Farm sugar cookies.  I glazed them with a glaze of powdered sugar and milk.  Once the glaze set, I piped pink frosting on.  The baby’s name is Addison….in case you were wondering.  I think this is a super cute idea for a birthday party, baby shower or bridal shower.  They look really good, and they taste good too!

The cupcakes that I made were super yummy.  I used a boxed white cake mix.  Instead of water, I used pink grapefruit juice.  This gave the cupcakes a really pretty pink color.  I made a vanilla frosting that I piped on the tops.  Frosting from scratch is easy….it is one stick of butter, 16 ounces of powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons of vanilla, and about 3 tablespoons of milk, beaten together.  Store bought would work too;)    I sprinkled the tops with crushed pink grapefruit candies.

You could make these cupcakes with any kind of fruit juice.  Then, you can match the flavor juice with candies on top.  Peach nectar would be great, lemonade, strawberry nectar, etc. would all work.  Candies in all of these flavors are readily available too.  Lemonade and crushed lemon drops are my next kind, I think.

So pretty.  Here is another tip.  I made the cupcakes a few days in advance.  I put them in the freezer without frosting them, in a tightly sealed bag.  I took them out to defrost the night before, and I frosted them once they were completely defrosted.  This makes things really easy on you….and it makes the cupcakes really moist.  Just don’t frost them before you freeze them.

There are plenty of other things that can be done in advance too.  The pimento cheese can be made about 2 to 3 days in advance.  It will keep in the fridge.  The chicken for the corn bread cups can be chopped, mixed with sauce and frozen well ahead of time too.  It just needs to defrost and get heated up a bit before it is put in the cornbread.  I also glazed the cookies the day before.

I am a firm believer in getting what I can get done early…early;)  This makes the day of the party really easy.  I also take help from the grocery store when I can.  Boxed cake mix, store bought cookies, store bought dip, etc.  If it looks good and tastes good, who cares who made it?

Here is the lady of the hour…..Miss Addison Elizabeth.  She was kind of giving me the stink eye in this picture, but I promise….she liked me;)

Above is my Addy holding Addison.  Next to her is Addison’s big sis, Ashley. 

There is the happy family!  They had a great time, and I did too!  I hope you try some of these easy recipes for your next party!

For Seafood and Basketballs

Hello everybody!  You are probably wondering what on earth I am talking about in the title.  Well, let me tell you a little story.  A few years ago, quite a few years ago really…I went to Benihana with a couple of friends.  You all are familiar with Benihana, right?  The Japanese food restaurant where they cook the food right in front of you?  Yep, that place.  Normally, you would expect a Japanese cook, or at least an Asian one.  Not that day.  We had a very nice…..big white dude.  He was, apparently, of Eastern European descent. 

*Little disclaimer:  I am not making fun of this man.  Yes, he had a thick accent, but I am not being mean about it.  I rather enjoyed it.  In fact, I wish I had an accent!  I feel I would be a much more interesting person.  Please feel free to read my blogs in the accent of your choice.*

So anyway, sometimes we had a hard time understanding him with his super thick accent.  Especially when he was talking about the “Yinger Sauce”.  We figured out he meant “ginger sauce”, but when he said the yinger sauce was for “seafood and basketballs” we were stumped.  I questioned it.  He laughed and said “No, basketballs!”  We went back and forth, until my genius friend said “Aha! Vegetables!”  From them on, the yinger sauce was always for ……seafood and basketballs.

So in case you haven’t noticed….from here on out, “ginger” sauce will be known as “yinger” sauce.

So last week, I was craving Benihana.  We don’t have one in Reno, so I made my own Hibachi chicken and shrimp…..and yinger sauce.  I found a recipe for the yinger sauce online, but I tweaked it to make it my own.  Not to toot my own horn, but I think I made it better.  Toot toot!  I will show you how to make my version of yinger sauce, and how to make a yummy recipe for sesame noodles with the sauce.

This sauce is made from things you might already have in your pantry.  I used 2 shallots, soy sauce, white vinegar, rice vinegar, lemon juice and ginger from a squeezy tube.  You can totally use fresh ginger.  This goes in the food processor, so the processor will mince it up.  I had this tube in my fridge….so that is what I used. 

You can see by my “Great Value” labels that I really busted out the good stuff for this;)

Like I said, it all goes in the processor or blender.  I did give the shallots a rough chop first.

You will get about a cup and a quarter of sauce.  This sauce is good with beef, chicken, pork, seafood, and vegetables.  And vegetables!  I like to just eat it with a spoon too!

We had eaten the sauce with a couple of meals, and I still had about ½ cup left.  While it will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks, I wanted to use mine up.  My kids LOVE sesame noodles, so I decided to see what this sauce could add to my usual sesame noodle recipe.

For my noodles, I used vermicelli, garlic, broccoli slaw, mushrooms, more soy sauce, chili oil, vegetable oil, sesame seeds and yinger sauce.  And oh yeah, green onion.

You can use any vegetables you want.  This recipe is really just to show you how to make the “sauce” that goes over the noodles.  I chose these because I already had them on hand.  Plus, they are 2 of the very few veggies that I will eat.  And it is all about me, people.

I sautéed my veggies over very high heat…in a bit of oil.  Basically, I stir fried them.

My sauce or “dressing” for the noodles started with 2 cloves of garlic that I minced.

Then, I added my yinger sauce, more soy, some chili oil, and enough vegetable oil to emulsify it.  That means to “bring it together”.  You will have almost 1 and ¼ cups dressing.

I cooked my noodles according to the package directions and stirred the cooked veggies in.  Then, I added my dressing.  Now this is one of those noodle recipes that is good warm, room temp and cold.  I prefer the noodles cold, but everyone is different. 

I served mine with some thinly sliced grilled steak on top.  Don’t forget to sprinkle the noodles with sesame seeds and green onions!

These noodles turned out really good!  Addy has an obsession with the sesame noodles at Draeger’s….and she said these were better.  She even took some in her lunch to school…..which says a lot because normally anything that isn’t a turkey sandwich embarrasses her;)

I hope you try this recipe for yinger sauce.  Like I said, it is great with meat, veggies and seafood….just as a dipping sauce.  And if you make the sauce, you might as well make the noodles!!

See you next week!

BTW-here is Peepers with her missing tooth.  And her sister;)

CutiesJ

Ginger “Yinger” Sauce

2 shallots, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons ginger

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup white vinegar

¼ cup rice vinegar

1 cup soy sauce

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth

Sesame Yinger Noodles

2 pounds vermicelli, cooked

12 ounce package broccoli slaw, stir-fried with mushrooms

1 cup mushrooms, chopped and stir-fried with slaw

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup yinger sauce

½ cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons chili oil

¼ cup vegetable oil

Green onions and sesame seeds for garnish

For dressing:  Combine garlic, yinger sauce, soy, chili oil and veg oil.  Whisk until blended.  Pour over noodles and veggies.  Garnish with green onion and sesame seeds.  Serve warm or cold.