Orange Chicken

My husband LOVES orange chicken. It seems like no matter where we eat "Chinese" or get "Chinese" take out, Orange Chicken is what he orders. I feel like that is probably one of the worst dishes you can order off the menu -- the chicken is fried, the sauce has something obviously sweet in it and there aren't even too many vegetables. I always scold him about his choice, but alas, it really does NO good. So, I decided to try to make some myself. Since this was my first try at making a "fried" Chinese dish, I figured I better follow a recipe. I saw "The Pioneer Woman" do it on the Food Network, so I used her recipe. Here's how mine turned out:

I must say that the dish was absolutely delicious, but it honestly was kind of a pain to make. Frying up the chicken thighs which had been soaked in egg white and corn starch was not easy. I don't know if my oil wasn't hot enough or if it wasn't deep enough, but the pieces of chicken kept sinking to the bottom of my pan and sticking! That made the pan a mess to clean up. On the plus side, you could absolutely make this dish ahead of time, like way early in the day and then just put it together at meal time. I used the orange zest as she suggested and it added a lot of flavor. The sweetener that I chose for the dish was honey, since that's what I found first in the cupboard! I also halved the recipe to make just enough for the two of us. I added broccoli, which is sometimes included when you order take-out, to make things a little more balanced and healthy. I also used a 50/50 mixture of brown and white rice, with that same interest in mind. If you feel like experimenting in the kitchen, go for it. The taste was absolutely wonderful!

Here's the recipe I used :  Pioneer Woman Orange Chicken

Let me know how it goes, I'd love to hear. Maybe I can figure out what I can do to keep the chicken from sinking and sticking! I'd make it again if I could!

Fathers Day, Crabs and Hushpuppies

It's Fathers Day weekend, so like most moms out there in blogland, I am busy worshipping the Father of My Children. It's his weekend, so he gets to do what he wants and eat what he wants. Last night, he wanted to pick crabs. Since this was going to be dinner, I whipped up some dessert and hushpuppies to go along with the crabs. (Dessert turned out great, but that's for another post!)

Picking crabs takes a long time, and when all is said and done, you really don't get THAT much meat, but what you do get sure is good! There's nothing better than Chesapeake Bay Blue crabs, and that's the truth! Pair them with some fluffy balls of fried cornbread with Vidalia Onion and man, oh, man, that's good eatin'! I don't know if you can get some Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs to pick where you are, but I know you can make these hushpuppies. They were light and fluffy, with a crispy crust and surprisingly easy to make!

Crabs & hush puppies with all the fixin's!

Hushpuppies
2/3 c. yellow cornmeal
1/3 c. all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 heaping T. minced Vidalia Onion
1 tsp. hot sauce (I used Texas Pete)
1/3 c. milk
2 large eggs
vegetable oil for frying

Mix together your dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, hot sauce and onions. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix well.
 In a large, heavy skillet, heat about 1 to 1 1/2" vegetable oil until hot. The oil is ready when you drip a little bit of the batter in and it starts to sizzle immediately and floats to the surface. Drop the batter by rounded spoonfuls into the hot oil. Don't overcrowd the pan -- keep an inch or two between each hushpuppy.

Cook them for a minute or 2 on each side, flipping them once, until they are lightly browned and crisp looking. Drain them on paper towels. I like to eat them with butter, but my guys like to dip them into catsup and sprinkle on a little extra hot sauce.

Hush Puppies draining on paper towels

And while I am posting on Fathers Day, I can't forget to mention my dad. Long gone, but not forgotten. He was a nice guy.

My dad, with his mom, going off to boot camp at age 17

That's him and his mom, circa 1941, right after he finished high school early, so he could enlist in the army and serve in WWII. He was a career army officer, who came up through the ranks and served his country in 3 wars, WWII, Korea and Viet Nam. Love you, Dad!

Making Homemade Onion Rings

Onion Rings?? REALLY??!!?? I know, not exactly healthy eating, but OK once in a while, in limited amounts. My family loves onion rings and often bake up a few frozen ones for eating alongside burgers and such. My mom used to fry up homemade ones every now and then, and I've always remembered them fondly, so I decided to try some myself. I did this YEARS ago and decided it was more trouble than it was worth, but forged ahead out of motherly love. The results were absolutely delish, and only a little trouble. Halfway through the frying process, dear husband came in to man the frying pan, because, Baby, IT'S HOT standing over one, dipping and turning! I even remembered to take some pictures along the way so you could see exactly how to do them!!

Homemade Onion Rings

First, start slicing some onions. Slice them about 1/4' thick and separate them into rings. Discard the very center of the onions and save them for another dish in a baggie. Lay them out in a single layer on paper towels and let them dry out a little while you prepare the batter. I tried to take a picture of them laid out on paper towels, but you could not see the onions against the white towels, so here is a representation for size.

Cut the onions kind of thick, like this.

The batter:

2/3 cup Bisquick

1 small egg

a few ounces of beer

Break the egg into the bottom of a shallow dish, wide enough to put a few of your rings into. A pie plate will work for this. Add the Bisquick and then drizzle in a little beer, whisking together until you get a thick batter. The batter should be thicker than pancake batter but not like dough.

Preheat a large skillet with an inch of vegetable oil in it. The oil is ready for frying when a drop of batter sizzles and rises immediately to the top. Begin frying your onion rings in a single layer, without crowding the pan.

Don't crowd the pan while cooking!

Turn them once as they begin to brown. Watch them closely so they don't burn. As they are done, drain them on some more paper towels. This takes a little time, but it's worth the extra work. We had them alongside some sloppy joes, a few french fries and marinated cucumbers from my neighbors garden. YUMMY!

Ther's nothing like Homemade Onion Rings!