Three pretty terrific recipes, three darn good reasons to get in the kitchen and cook! Carol made Bourbon Chicken...I made Amish Caramel Corn....Cyndy made Individual Apple Charlottes. Are you in the kitchen yet!!! HA HA!!!
Bourbon Chicken
I will admit, I've never had Bourbon Chicken. When I saw this recipe, it intrigued me....hmmmm...there's no bourbon in it....so why is it called Bourbon Chicken? No matter.....I didn't have any bourbon in the house anyway!
This is a quick and easy recipe to put together. The ingredients in the sauce are interesting....I never would have thought of mixing apple juice and ketchup for a Chinese dish...but it sure does work!
The aroma of this sauce while it's cooking is intoxicating. It reduces down and coats the chicken in a velvety glaze. The chicken is moist, tender and very flavorful. I used the 3/4 tsp. of red pepper flakes because we like heat....I wouldn't say this is overly spicy, but you know there's red pepper in it. I'm sure it would be just as good with less red pepper in it, or if you don't like spicy food, you could leave it out all together.
I served this over brown rice with some steamed broccoli on the side.
Once again, a recipe for my "Keepers" file that is forever growing...and that's a good thing!
Carol
BOURBON CHICKEN
(Source: Recipezaar)
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned. Remove chicken.
Add remaining ingredients to skillet, heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved. Add chicken and bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve over hot rice.
Bunny made:
Amish Caramel Corn
I made this as Christmas gifts for the staff at work. I needed to make something that would give me a high yield and be terrific. This was the perfect recipe! I'm not kidding when I tell you that this stuff is absolutely addicting!! I couldn't keep my hands off of it when I was making it. The kitchen manager at work told me I should bag and sell it, it's just that darn good!
I did play with the recipe to get it the way I wanted it. First, I used butter instead of margarine. I used 2 tsp. vanilla instead of one, then I had to play with the amount of popcorn to get the right ratio of popcorn to caramel. If I'm gonna eat caramel corn I want LOTS of caramel on the popcorn! HA HA!! I made this recipe so many times I know it by heart. I popped 1/2 cup of Jolly Time popcorn according to the package directions using 3 tablespoons of oil. I know the recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups...but the popcorn didn't get coated with caramel the way I wanted it to be, cutting back on the popcorn was the key to getting it perfectly coated. I used the 2 cups of dry roasted peanuts and followed the recipe for the caramel exactly. The recipe is a little time consuming, stirring every 15 minutes from the oven ( I only baked and stirred 3 times for 45 minutes instead of an hour)....but believe me, your gonna be very happy with the results!
My Amish Friends Caramel Corn
Adapted from All Recipes.com
Ingredients
7 quarts plain popped popcorn ( 1/2 cup Jolly Time Popcorn kernels, popped)
2 cups dry roasted peanuts (optional)
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup margarine ( I used butter)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract ( I used 2 tsp.)
Directions
1. Place the popped popcorn into two shallow greased baking pans. You may use roasting pans, jelly roll pans, or disposable roasting pans. Add the peanuts to the popped corn if using. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, margarine and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring enough to blend. Once the mixture begins to boil, boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly.
3. Remove from the heat, and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. The mixture will be light and foamy. Immediately pour over the popcorn in the pans, and stir to coat. Don't worry too much at this point about getting all of the corn coated.
4. Bake for 1 hour, removing the pans, and giving them each a good stir every 15 minutes. Line the counter top with waxed paper. Dump the corn out onto the waxed paper and separate the pieces. Allow to cool completely, then store in airtight containers or resealable bags.
Bunny's note, I baked for three, fifteen minute intervals.
Cyndy made:
Individual Apple Charlottes
Now, should you attempt to make these, remember to let them cool for about 10 minutes in the ramekins and then loosen them, they will be very hot and may collapse on you. Also, if you leave them in too long.....they get stuck.
This is one treat you want to eat warm, with a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche.
MY NOTE: I got 5 ramekins and ran out of filling so I made one with canned peaches and added pumpkin pie spice....it was good!! I dotted it with butter and sprinkled a little bit of brown sugar into it. YUM.
Thanks Bunny....this is excellent!
Individual Apple Charlottes
adapted from Fine Cooking
by Ris Lacoste
Serves 8.
Ingredients:
crème fraîche
vanilla beans
raisins
dried cranberries~~my addition
apples
lemons
butter
granulated sugar
Calvados
white bread
ice cream
For the filling:
3 lb. Braeburn or Golden Delicious apples (6 or 7 apples) ~~Used Honey Crisps
1 lemon, rinsed
1 vanilla bean
1/3 cup raisins~~ Used Dried Cranberries
1/3 cup golden raisins
2-1/2 oz. (5 Tbs.) unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs. Calvados (or other apple brandy)~~Skipped the brandy and used Boiled Cider and a shot of Cointreau
For the crust:
1 loaf sliced white bread (I use Pepperidge Farm Classic White; you may want to buy an extra loaf just in case)
1/2 lb. (1 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream for serving
Make the filling:
Peel, core, and dice the apples into 1/4-inch pieces (you’ll have about 6-1/2 cups). Using a vegetable peeler, peel the zest off half the lemon in long strips, taking care to avoid the bitter white pith (if necessary, remove any pith from the zest strips by scraping it off with a knife). Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the back of a paring knife. In a large bowl, toss the apples, lemon zest, vanilla bean seeds and spent pod, raisins, and golden raisins.
In a 12-inch skillet or 5-quart Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-high heat and then add the sugar. When the sugar is fully moistened, add the apple mixture and cook, stirring almost constantly, until the apples start to release liquid and look soft on the outside (they’ll still be a little crunchy inside), about 7 min. (you want to just start the cooking process at this point while still leaving the apples crunchy). Set the apple mixture aside to cool slightly and then add the Calvados.
Prepare the crust:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven; heat the oven to 475°F. Trim the bread crusts. Cut eight rounds to fit the bottoms of eight 8-ounce ramekins. Cut enough rectangles to line the sides. (The bread should come to within at least 3/4 inch of the ramekin’s rim, if not the top.) Melt butter in a medium skillet and put the sugar in a shallow dish. Brush the insides of the ramekins with butter. Generously dip both sides of each piece of bread in butter followed by sugar on one side. Lay one round in each ramekin, sugared side down. Nestle the rectangles, sugared side facing outward toward the ramekin, so they line the sides of each one.
Trace around the ramekin bottom with a paring knife to cut a round of bread to line each ramekin. Strips of bread line the sides. They needn't come all the way to the top, but they should be close to the rim.
Assemble and bake:
Pick the lemon zest and vanilla bean halves out of the apple filling and fill each ramekin, pressing on the filling to get rid of air pockets. Be generous; the filling will cook down. Set the ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet (leaving a few inches between each) and cover snugly with one sheet of foil. Bake for 40 min. To see if the charlottes are done, run a paring knife around the side, knock on the ramekin bottom, and invert a ramekin onto a plate to check the bottom; it should be nicely caramelized, and will have caramelized more than the sides. (If they’re not done yet, return them to the oven for a few more minutes). Unmold and serve with a spoonful of crème fraîche or a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.
Make Ahead Tips
Apple Charlottes can be completely prepared a day ahead, covered (still in the molds) with plastic, and refrigerated. To reheat, let them sit at room temperature while you heat the oven to 350°F. Bake until hot, about 12 min., and unmold.
Bread was dipped in butter, both sides and then one side dipped in sugar. The sugar sides faced outward towards the ramekin
Spooned the filling in and pressed down to remove air bubbles. The filling will rise a little, but it will go back down. Definitely line the rimmed baking pan with foil, you'll have sugar and butter all over your pan and oven if not.
