I had pictures of these, but accidentally deleted them from my Blackberry before I sent them to myself (silly Shirley!). Trust me--they both looked yummy!
The first dish was from an Ocean Spray ad. They have this whole series of recipes created by Tyler Florence, whose recipes I always like :-). I made the Chicken Tenderloins with Cranberry Mustard Sauce, except I used chicken breasts instead of tenderloins (I really don't like tenderloins because they have that weird tendon thing running down the middle of them and when you try to cut it out, you end up with like zero chicken).
I had a heck of a time trying to find Craisins at Meijer. I don't know what is up with that store lately, but nothing ever seems to be in a logical spot. The Craisins weren't in the canned and dried fruit aisle. Weren't in the snack aisle. Weren't in the baking products aisle (although I found raisins...what was up with that?). They did have a display of raisins and some kind of industrial size bag of Craisins in the veggie section. I didn't need twenty pounds of Craisins, just a small bag.
Finally found them tucked in the dark corner behind the Starbuck's that's inside the store. Oh yeah. FIRST place I'd look.
Anyway, I made this recipe, just using slightly more of all the ingredients to account for the fact that I used six chicken breasts instead of the pound of tenderloins. The sauce was good--a tad mustardy, so next time I'd use just a tiny bit less. Like a teaspoon less. And extra Craisins would be good too. They were the best part, IMO.
Also, because I used chicken breasts instead of tenderloins, I browned them, then baked them at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes while I made risotto to accompany the chicken. It's the same method I use to make Emeril's Pan Roasted Chicken. It works well and if you don't overcook the chicken, it stays moist.
The second recipe I made this week came from a Rachael Ray magazine. I love Chinese food and I love mangoes, so when I saw Teriyaki Pork and Mango Stir-Fry, I thought it sounded really good.
Stir-fry, IMO, is one of those things that seems simple, but always involves more work than you anticipate ;-). This one doesn't have a ton of ingredients (pork, flour, salt, cabbage, oil, garlic, ginger, teriyaki sauce and mangoes) so it wasn't as involved as some things I've made.
I didn't put bean sprouts on top like the recipe called for because I hate bean sprouts, LOL. But other than that, I did it was recommended. It was good...but one of those dishes that you try and at first are like, eh, okay. Then you have another bite, and another, and before you know it you're...going back for seconds and thirds ;-) I ate way too much of this. It's the crispiness of the pork mixed with the mangoes that was great.
FWIW, I've found that cornstarch makes a good breading for Chinese food. I might try that next time.
Shirley
The first dish was from an Ocean Spray ad. They have this whole series of recipes created by Tyler Florence, whose recipes I always like :-). I made the Chicken Tenderloins with Cranberry Mustard Sauce, except I used chicken breasts instead of tenderloins (I really don't like tenderloins because they have that weird tendon thing running down the middle of them and when you try to cut it out, you end up with like zero chicken).
I had a heck of a time trying to find Craisins at Meijer. I don't know what is up with that store lately, but nothing ever seems to be in a logical spot. The Craisins weren't in the canned and dried fruit aisle. Weren't in the snack aisle. Weren't in the baking products aisle (although I found raisins...what was up with that?). They did have a display of raisins and some kind of industrial size bag of Craisins in the veggie section. I didn't need twenty pounds of Craisins, just a small bag.
Finally found them tucked in the dark corner behind the Starbuck's that's inside the store. Oh yeah. FIRST place I'd look.
Anyway, I made this recipe, just using slightly more of all the ingredients to account for the fact that I used six chicken breasts instead of the pound of tenderloins. The sauce was good--a tad mustardy, so next time I'd use just a tiny bit less. Like a teaspoon less. And extra Craisins would be good too. They were the best part, IMO.
Also, because I used chicken breasts instead of tenderloins, I browned them, then baked them at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes while I made risotto to accompany the chicken. It's the same method I use to make Emeril's Pan Roasted Chicken. It works well and if you don't overcook the chicken, it stays moist.
The second recipe I made this week came from a Rachael Ray magazine. I love Chinese food and I love mangoes, so when I saw Teriyaki Pork and Mango Stir-Fry, I thought it sounded really good.
Stir-fry, IMO, is one of those things that seems simple, but always involves more work than you anticipate ;-). This one doesn't have a ton of ingredients (pork, flour, salt, cabbage, oil, garlic, ginger, teriyaki sauce and mangoes) so it wasn't as involved as some things I've made.
I didn't put bean sprouts on top like the recipe called for because I hate bean sprouts, LOL. But other than that, I did it was recommended. It was good...but one of those dishes that you try and at first are like, eh, okay. Then you have another bite, and another, and before you know it you're...going back for seconds and thirds ;-) I ate way too much of this. It's the crispiness of the pork mixed with the mangoes that was great.
FWIW, I've found that cornstarch makes a good breading for Chinese food. I might try that next time.
Shirley
You are making me hungry! These sound yummy! I wish you had the pictures :-(
ReplyDeleteSorry about the pics! I'm normally pretty good about them--this time I was too quick with the delete button on my Blackberry :-(
ReplyDelete