Chickens!

I love chicken. It's pretty much my favorite meat. You can just do so much with it and to it. It goes well with so many things. And you can cook it so many ways! I'm constantly experimenting and today and last week, I tried two different recipes for chicken.

Last Saturday, I decided to cook lunch at home. My mom was still at work and we had pretty much finished our leftovers from Thursday. I know, they were gone quick! So I made chicken curry. My mom makes the best chicken curry and I wasn't even thinking about trying to match hers, but I just thought I'd try making this dish on my own with my own little touches.

So, I used about 2 1/2 lbs of chicken (I used tenderloins, cut into bite-size pieces), 2 small onions chopped, 1-2 medium potatoes (I used red cuz' it's what my mom had), 1 cup of peas (I used canned, but frozen is fine), fresh minced jalapeño (or two if you like more heat), about a tbs. and a half of minced fresh garlic, 2 cups of low sodium chicken broth, 1 13 oz can of coconut milk, 1 1/2 to 2 tbs. of curry powder, olive oil, salt and pepper, and some fresh cilantro.

I made a lot because you can freeze this dish and it gets better with time. I also wanted to take some back with me to Gainesville, but I forgot. Also, there are two shades of curry because my mom ran out of her regular curry powder so I used this "curry mix" I found in a fancy-looking spice jar. Hey, it had the word curry in it.

So anyway, I sautéd the chicken first (I divided them so they weren't too crowded) in olive oil over high heat, about 2 minutes per side. Then I removed the chickens and set them aside. I then sautéd the onions, jalapeño, and the garlic in some olive oil over medium heat until they were soft.

 Then I added the curry powder, mixed them together, added the chicken broth, then the potatoes. I simmered them for a while until the potatoes were a little tender. After that, I added the coconut milk. If you're using frozen peas, you would add it now. Then I added the chicken and let that simmer for just a few minutes. This is when I added the peas, I didn't want them to get all mushy. Then I seasoned with salt & pepper.

Serve over rice, of course, and top with fresh, yummy, lovely-smelling cilantro! The lighting was bad, but the dish was a nice, rich yellow color. I promise!

And pair with some leftover Martinelli's Sparkling Apple! The chicken curry was delicious, my mom said so. =)

And today, I made some weird chicken dish. I don't even know what it's called. But it had chicken (duh!), garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, Dijon mustard, brown sugar, rice vinegar, olive oil, and rosemary.

They marinated while I went to class.

Then they baked for about 45 minutes on 400 degrees.

And I made brown rice to go with it.

I then transferred the chicken to another oven-proof pan, and while they browned and got a little more crispy in the oven, I took the hot drippings, sprinkled that with a little bit of wheat flour, poured it through a strainer, and spooned a little on top of the cooked chicken. PHEW!

Here's the cooked chicken.

Here's the cooked chicken under bad lighting. 

Here is the chicken over rice.

Oh and we had corn too. And a lot of leftovers. 

Enjoy!

Filipino Thanksgiving.

On Thursday, I went home to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family... and about 40 other people. It was the complete opposite of my American Thanksgiving dinner. This one was outdoor, we had to wear a semi-formal attire (I don't know why), we didn't have turkey (GASP!), it was rambunctious and loud, and some people brought a pecan pie and a pumpkin pie and no one touched them (double GASP!). The foods were very Filipino, with the exception of lasagna, but even that's not a Thanksgiving dish. Okay, so we don't necessarily celebrate Thanksgiving "traditionally," but it was still fun and funny. I've learned to appreciate it more now. My two Thanksgivings were incredibly different, unique in their own special ways. And I love them both!

Clockwise L-R: one of our table decorations; "Thanksgiving"-colored citronella candles to ward off mosquitoes (very important); mini pumpkins in a glass vase; and my dad putting up lights.

Can you believe this is our driveway?

Clockwise L-R: potluck food; meatballs and lingonberry jam; Pinakbet (a dish made with mainly ampalaya or bitter gourd, green beans, okra, squash, and some type of meat); and Lumpia (Filipino spring rolls).

Clockwise L-R: Pancit (a Filipino noodle dish); Lumpia; ShuMai (dumplings, not really Filipino); and of course, lasagna.

L-R: a random shot of my sister grilling; desserts including a pecan pie.

There was also Dinuguan (I suggest you just try this and not know about the ingredients; it's good, trust me), Biryani (a Middle Eastern rice dish) and Caldereta (a Filipino stew dish); and poor pumpkin pie.

Some (well, maybe a lot) of dancing before the night ended.

And then for breakfast, my dad cooked fried rice, eggs over-easy, and ham patties.

HOPE EVERYONE HAD A WONDERFUL TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!

American Thanksgiving.

I get to have two Thanksgiving feasts and I am very thankful for that. What's great too is that they're so different that I can't really compare them. They're two different delightful experiences. The first one was on Wednesday at Mr. & Mrs. O's home. B and I joined them for a very relaxing, casual, small, traditional American Thanksgiving feast. It was just the four of us (and the dogs). We had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, green beans, rolls, and three kinds of casseroles. And for dessert we had pecan pie, a pumpkin streusel pie, and a holiday spice loaf. You can't get more traditional than that selection. But the funny thing is, is that it's very new to me. This is only my second time having a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner. And I love it! So B and I documented our dinner. Mr. & Mrs. O were kind enough to let us use their super-duper awesome camera. B took some of the photos because I was busy lounging around and playing with the dogs.

Mrs. O's beautiful place setting and center pieces!

Appetizers, a lit candle, and Bogey waiting on the turkey.

It's ready!

Clockwise L-R: green beans; rolls; butter; and mashed potatoes with Mrs. O's yummy cranberry-ginger relish.

Clockwise L-R: stuffing/dressing; Mr. O carving the turkey; plate sample of all the goodies.

The dogs were excited about Thanksgiving too!

Mrs. O made whip cream to top our desoits!

Clockwise L-R: desserts!; "Hmm, which will it be?"; pecan pie with ice cream; and Mrs. O's pumpkin streusel pie with whip cream.

For breakfast, Mrs. O and I made yummy French toast. [I will put the link of the recipe up here soon]. They were delicious! 

Clockwise L-R: ingredients!; vanilla; glasses of orange juice; toasts waiting to go in the oven.

B wanted pecan pancakes, but we just toasted pecans to top the toasts instead. And he really liked it! PHEW!

We had pecans, pieces of butter, powdered sugar, and maple syrup as topping options. The last picture is of a Jello dish that we were supposed to eat with the Thanksgiving dinner. I ended up eating some with my breakfast. YUM!

Movies + Food

To kick off one of my favorite holidays, I decided to post my top five favorite movies with food in them. These movies not only have food and cooking in them, but also positive messages of family, friendship, fun, love, hope, forgiveness, and faith. These are some of the things that I'm very thankful for. What are you thankful for?

#1 BELLA

  

Courtesy of Martin Baggs

 #2 RATATOUILLE



Courtesy of  Martin van Horn



 

 #3 NO RESERVATIONS

Courtesy of Henning Malbaek

#4 BABETTE'S FEAST

 

Courtesy of buraya tıklayınız

#5 JULIE & JULIA

Courtesy of jellyjules

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"

Apostle Paul in Corinthians 9:15

Ikea Cookbook.

IKEA is my all-time favorite store for 2 reasons:

1. They have great furniture and other household items that look great and are inexpensive. About 85% of our furniture and other little items at home are from IKEA.

2. The place is very nostalgic for me. When my family and I lived in the Middle East, we always went to IKEA either to buy furniture, browse and get ideas, or just hangout and eat dinner. And also, about 97% of our furniture then were from IKEA.

So, when I heard about this new cookbook they were coming out with, I was obviously excited. But when I saw pictures from the cookbook, how organized and symmetrical, and neat everything was, I just freaked out! Now I love them for 3 reasons!

Here's the making of "Homemade is Best."

IKEA – Homemade is Best. from Forsman & Bodenfors on Vimeo.

Taco Meatloaf & Cornbread.

Aside from cooking at a relaxed pace at work, I almost always seem to be rushing when I cook elsewhere. It's not fun and not cool when you're trying to maintain a food blog. Pictures are important. Good pictures are essential. But anyway, I was still able to document parts of our late lunch last night with a very good friend, Ms. Stephanie. It was a last minute decision, but I made taco meatloaf and cornbread. Here are the ingredients for the taco meatloaf.

When I'm in a hurry, I'll usually just take pictures of the finished product (and not very good-angled pictures at that). Here is the finished cornbread. It still looks good and golden. It was crunchy all around and moist inside.

Here's the crazy looking taco meatloaf. Look at that those cheese bubbles. Yum!

And here's a terrible plating job/picture. We were hungry, and B was very hungry.

Tasty Tip 2.

My favorite breakfast restaurant in Gainesville has to be Peach Valley Cafe. They have great coffee and a cozy atmosphere. Best of all, they serve this amazing Café Croissant that I order all the time because it's just so good.

I normally order it with eggs over-easy instead of scrambled, but I was so excited about it I just forgot to ask. But anyway, this is what it's actually supposed to be: with scrambled eggs. Either way, it's good. The creamy brie is the best part!

B ordered a pancake with pecans, which looked amazing... and huge!

Yum!

And we usually order their only appetizer, which are APPLE FRITTERS, but we decided to skip it this time. They are absolutely delicious! They bring it out hot and they toss it in a bag of cinnamon and sugar before dumping it on your plate. They're also served with a cup of strawberry yogurt. The best combination ever!

By Julie