Honey Chicken Stir-Fry

I know what you are thinking. Is this? Could it be? Did Emily post a new recipe? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I went missing for a little over a month, and I really don't have a good excuse. Okay. Okay. Who are we kidding? I can always come up with a "good" excuse. My excuse really is just plain ol' laziness. I blamed it on the time change, but who are we kidding? I was just being lazy. But, I'm back! And, I promise to post more recipes over the Thanksgiving weekend. Anyway, back to this new recipe fromTaste of Home. I've actually made this a couple times since I found it. It's paleo friendly and very delicious plus very simple. I came across it while perusing stir-fry recipes on Yummly. I added broccoli and cauliflower as my veggie, and I didn't cook rice. But, feel free to cook up some rice if you want. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tsp olive oil, divided
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 package (16 oz) frozen broccoli stir-fry vegetable blend
2 tsp corn starch
1 tbsp water
Hot rice

Note: From a lot of reviews; they suggest doubling the honey sauce. I agree with the reviews as well. If you don't double the sauce; then the mixture will get pretty dry. 
Take out your wok and heat to medium. Add in 2 teaspoons oil and the minced garlic. Saute for about a minute and then toss in your chicken pieces. Then, add in the honey, soy sauce, salt, and pepper. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink. Remove the chicken and keep warm.
Next, add in the vegetables and the remaining teaspoon of oil in the same pan. Cook for about 5-10 minutes or until veggies are tender. Now, return the chicken to the pan. Then, take a small bowl and add the corn starch and water. Stir well. Add the corn starch mixture to the wok and stir for a minute. The honey mixture should thicken pretty quickly. Serve on top of rice and enjoy.

Light Sesame Chicken

Well, I just made this recipe tonight, and I have to say it's definitely a keeper. I've been on a bit of an Asian kick lately. I think ever since I tried Peter Chang's restaurant this summer I've been inspired. I wasn't necessarily looking for an Asian-inspired recipe, though. Really, I was looking for a new chicken tenders recipe. Well, I went to the tried and true Tastespotting website, entered chicken in the search engine, and came across this recipe for Lighter Sesame Chicken. I kicked it up a notch by adding a tsp of sesame oil, a tsp of red pepper flakes, and a dash of cayenne pepper. I didn't have broccoli nor onions, but I didn't notice. It was really, really good. I practically licked my plate, and that's saying a lot. It's healthy and delicious. Give it a whirl and I bet you will love it, too. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 egg white
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 small chicken breasts (12oz), cut into 2″ pieces
salt and pepper
2 Tablespoon vegetable oil
2 green onions, chopped
2 cups broccoli florets

First, take out a medium-sized bowl and combine the red pepper flakes, sesame oil, cayenne pepper, honey, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and garlic. Stir well and set aside. Take out your chicken pieces and season with salt and pepper. Take out a medium-sized bowl and combine the egg white and cornstarch. Stir well. Toss the chicken pieces into the corn starch mixture. Get out your sautee pan and add the oil and set the heat to about medium to medium-high. At this point if you are making rice; I would get this going. Add the chicken pieces to the sautee pan and cook both sides for about 5 to 10 minutes. Once the chicken is cook thru; remove the pan from the heat and add some of the prepared sauce and the green onions if using. If using the broccoli; be sure to steam in a saucepan until crisp and tender. Then, add the broccoli to the chicken mixture. Spoon some of the remaining sauce over your rice and add chicken on top. Enjoy!

Honey-Pecan Crusted Chicken

One of my favorite dishes to eat growing up was Fried Chicken. When I was a kid, my favorite piece of the chicken to eat was the leg. Now, my favorite piece to eat is the breast of the chicken. I've grown to favor white meat over dark meat. Lately, I've been wanting to make fried chicken. But, since it's so bad for you, unfortunately, I went looking for a healthier version. Enter the Cooking Light cookbook. Cooking Light offers several different versions of Fried Chicken, but the one that appealed to me the most was this Honey-Pecan Crusted Chicken. I have to say I was very impressed with this recipe. I thought it was very flavorful and I enjoyed the crusty outer layer. Give it a try and I think you will like it, too. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 (6 oz) skinned chicken breast halves (I just used 2 chicken breasts)
8 (4 oz) chicken drumsticks, skinned
1/4 c honey
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
3/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 1/4 tsp cups finely crushed cornflakes (I used frosted flakes)
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
Cooking Spray

First get your oven ready by pre-heating it to 400 degrees. Next, take out your chicken and evenly spread salt and pepper over each piece. Take out a small bowl and combine the honey, mustard, paprika, and garlic powder. Then, in a shallow dish combine the crushed cornflakes and chopped pecans. Brush both sides of the chicken with the honey mixture, and then dredge it in the cornflake mixture.

Place chicken on a large baking sheet that is coated with cooking spray. Then, lightly coat your chicken with cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until done.

Calories: 336
Fat: 10 g
Protein: 36.5g
Carb: 23.5g
Fiber: .7g
Chol: 109 mg
Iron: 2.6 mg
Sodium: 482 mg
Calc: 22 mg

Honey Cake with Honey Frosting

I tried many, many, many recipes for iron chef honey. Honey was a very difficult ingredient to make work for a dessert. You would think it'd be easy, but, nope; it wasn't. I really did like the honey sesame brittle, but it was too sticky to eat. The doughnuts were delicious but they are best eaten right away. The recipe that I probably should have stuck with was this honey cake with honey frosting from The Cake Blog. It really tasted like honey and it was actually pretty good. I think I just really wanted to do something different than making yet another cake. But, sometimes it is best to stick with the tried and true in the end. The recipe was posted as cupcakes, but since one of our friends isn't a big cupcake fan I just made it into a cake. I didn't change up this recipe at all. I think you will like it. I know I did. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Cake:
1 stick butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla

First set your oven to 350 degrees. If you are making cupcakes take out one dozen cupcake pan and line with cupcake holders. Or, use an 11x7x1.5 inch baking dish and spray liberally with cooking spray.
Now, in a medium sized bowl stir together the dry ingredients (salt, flour, and baking powder). Set aside. Next, take a small bowl and stir together the honey, buttermilk, and vanilla. Set aside. Then, take your mixing bowl and add in the butter and sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat well. Gradually add in the wet and dry ingredients alternating between the two until you end with the dry ingredients. Mix well. Pour into your cupcake liners and/or the baking dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or when a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cake. Set aside to cool.

Ingredients for Frosting:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
3 Tbsp honey
yellow food coloring (optional)
yellow sugar sprinkle

Clean out your bowl from the standing mixer, and then add in the butter and cream cheese. Stir well. Gradually add in the powdered sugar. Stir in the honey, next. Add in a couple drops of the food coloring if desired. Spread on the cupcakes or cake and sprinkle with yellow sugar sprinkles if desired. Enjoy!

(click for printable recipe)

Iron Chef Honey - Honey Glazed Doughnuts

Okay. Okay. I know this was probably one of my worse Iron Chef showings, but really we only had 5 people total. And, I promise you this doughnut is really, really delicious. I probably should have known going into it that not eating these doughnuts right away would probably be my demise. I contemplated making a Honey Cake with a Honey Frosting, but that's been done before. And, I really wanted to do something different; something no one else had tried. So, I decided to stick with these doughnuts (courtesy of All Recipes) even though I knew it would not taste as awesome 3 hours later as it would hot out of the oil. My other downfall was that I decided to use whipped cinnamon honey that I purchased from the Farmer's Market earlier in the day to make my chocolate glaze instead of regular ol' honey. I probably would have done better than fourth had I just stuck with regular honey instead of trying to kick it up a notch. I made a honey sugar glaze and a  chocolate honey glaze. Stick with regular honey and you won't regret it. Live and learn, I guess. But, seriously, make these doughnuts and eat them right away. You won't regret it. Enjoy!

Ingredients for doughnuts:
2 (.25 ounce) envelopes active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup shortening
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 quart vegetable oil for frying

I used instant yeast instead of active dry yeast. Please go to All Recipes to view their directions on using Active Dry Yeast. I'll proceed with my directions for instant yeast.

Grab your standing mixture bowl and add in the instant yeast, the sugar, salt, shortening, 3 cups of flour, the lukewarm milk, warm water, and eggs.  Beat at low speed and gradually add in 1/2 cup at a time the remaining flour. Beat for 5 minutes at medium speed until the dough starts flapping away from the bowl or until the dough is smooth and not very sticky. Take a large bowl, lightly oil it, and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm enclosed place. I use my oven for this and set the temperature to around 100 degrees. Let rise for an hour or two until doubled in size. Remove the dough from the oven and punch it down with your fist. Pour it onto a floured surface and roll out to about 1/2 thickness. Using a doughnut cutter cut out the dough and set on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. You will probably have to use 2 to 3 cookie sheets. Let rise in the oven for 45 minutes. While the dough is almost finished rising take out a heavy pot and add in about a quart of vegetable oil. Using a dessert thermometer make sure the temperature reaches about 360 degrees and then add in 4 doughnuts at a time. Cook on both sides until it reaches a golden color. Use a wide spatula to remove doughnuts from the oil and set on a wired rack. Dip the doughnuts into your glaze and set back on the wired rack.

Honey Sugar Glaze:
150 grams (1 1/2 cups) powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon honey (I'm using orange blossom)
3-4 tablespoons milk or water

Take a medium sized bowl; and mix the powdered sugar, honey, and milk.

Chocolate Honey Glaze:
30g butter (2 tbsp butter)
1/4 cup (90g) honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
110g dark chocolate (I used milk chocolate)

In a small saucepan, cook the butter, honey, vanilla, and chocolate over low heat until melted.

(Click for printable recipe)

Honey, Lemon and Rosemary Grilled Chicken

I have an abundant amount of rosemary growing, so I thought this would be a great recipe to help use it up. I really enjoyed this marinade. It was really easy to make and I let it marinade for about an hour and a half. You could certainly taste a hint of lemon and rosemary. I hope you like it, too. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup honey
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Really, all you do is take a small bowl mix all the ingredients from the honey to the black pepper. Dump your chicken into a zip lock bag and pour the honey mixture on top. Mush the chicken so all the pieces are incorporated with the marinade. Marinate from 30 minutes to over night in the fridge. Heat up your grill and grill away. Enjoy!

(Click here for printable recipe)

Iron Chef Honey Recap

When we set the date for Iron Chef Honey last March; it started out promising. We had 8 possibly 9 people lined up for this event, and the ingredient sounded like it would be delicious. I mean who doesn't love honey, right? Well, we ended up with just 5 people participating (our lowest number) and it probably ranked as one of the worst Iron Chefs food-wise. Okay. Okay. Looking back on the night; it wasn't that bad, but it sure seemed like it at the time. However, we did have a lot of great conversation and tons of laughter.


We started out the night with Morgan's Honey Spread. She came into this swearing we would hate it. She almost didn't bring it thinking for sure we would think it's awful. Well, she was wrong. So wrong in fact that she ended up in 2nd place for her dish. It was quite tasty with all the different components incorporated such as dates, olives, feta cheese, nuts, and, of course, honey. She served it with toasted (but "hard"...according to Kim...ha!) pita chips. 

Morgan's "really awful" Honey Spread - 2nd Place Finish

Next up was Cara and her Pear, Honey, and Goat Cheese Crostini. This dish was an immediate hit. I'm beginning to think there is a goat cheese theme here. Kim came in second with her Pistachio Goat Cheese Grapes. I came in second with the Goat Cheese and Basil Oil with baguettes. And, now, Cara came in first with her Pear, Honey, and Goat Cheese crostini. Congrats to Cara for her win. They were delicious!!

Cara's "really good" Honey Crostini - First Place Finish

Kim started out the Main Course with her Cajun Shrimp Pasta. Kim's dish had a ton of flavor and a ton of spice. So much spice that Cara declared she might have won Iron Chef Spicy with this dish. It was really delicious and well made!

Kim's Spicy Cajun Shrimp Pasta

Then the night got interesting with Shu's main course. Shu made a Honey BBQ Pork Chop. Her recipe called for broiling the pork chop for a couple minutes. Well, cooking in a different house probably factored into her over-cooking the pork chop.
  

Shu's Honey BBQ "Tumor" Pork Chop

Actually, we had a bit of an adventure trying to turn off Kim's smoke alarm, opening windows, and turning on the vent. It was really quite hilarious. Fortunately, nothing caught fire; just a toasty pork chop. We all agree that had the pork chop been executed well it might have had a good chance for the win because you could definitely taste a hint of honey. Next time, Shu!! 

We ended the night with my homemade doughnuts. Unfortunately, the glaze on my chocolate doughnuts ended up being a bit too sticky. As a matter of fact, Morgan was caught with a small glob of the glaze on her tooth. However, the honey and powdered sugar glaze was much more successful. Even though the doughnuts didn't do too well at the iron chef; they were a hit at my work and they really are best right out of the hot oil. I will post the recipe soon!

Emily's "too sticky" Honey Glazed Doughnuts

Overall, the food certainly could have been better but it was still another successful iron chef! Sounds like the next one will be at Shu's house and the "secret" ingredient is possibly basil. Till next time...

Honey Sesame Cashew Brittle

The second honey recipe I tried is from Cake Batter and Bowl's blog. I didn't take any pictures, but I also tried a honey fudge and honey caramels. I didn't really care for either of these, because they didn't turn out too great. However, I really loved this brittle. The only caveat is that it's very, very sticky to eat. It's best to chop them in little pieces. The honey flavor really came thru in this brittle. I also loved the taste of the sesame seeds and the cashews. It was pretty easy to make, but you do need a candy thermometer. I will definitely make this recipe again. I hope you enjoy it. It's really delicious. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup water
1 cup salted cashews
2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Prepare an 8x8 baking pan by placing parchment paper in it. Spray parchment paper with cooking spray. Set aside. Now, take a small sauce pan and turn on your stove to medium-high heat. Pour in the sugar, honey, and water. Stir. Bring to a boil and continue boiling until the candy thermometer reaches a temperature of 250 degrees. Pour in your cashews, and keep boiling until the thermometer reaches 300 degrees. Pour the mixture into your prepared pan. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. Cool for an hour or so. I actually ended up refridgerating mine for an hour longer. Then, I took it out of the fridge and used my the bottom of the knife sharpener and chopped the brittle into pieces. Store in an air-tight container and keep cool. Enjoy!

Chamomile Cupcakes w/ Honey Glaze

So, the secret ingredient for our next Iron Chef is...honey!! I chose to make a dessert, and I have to say this one is a doozey. I've made 4 different recipes, and nothing is really making me go; wow! These cupcakes are the first recipe I tried. This recipe came out of my newest cookbook; Joy the Baker. I love her blog, and she published this beautiful cookbook. For $12; I highly recommend it. Mainly the recipes are yummy desserts, but she threw in a couple appetizer options, breakfast, and drinks. The best way to describe these cupcakes is; interesting. The chamomile tea leaves give the cupcake a bit of crunch, which was odd. I found that people either liked this recipe or didn't. I liked it, but it didn't make me go wow! So, it's onward to the next recipe for iron chef honey! Enjoy!

Ingredients for cupcake:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons dried chamomile (I got mine from tea bags)
1/2 cup milk (I used two percent)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To make the cupcakes, line 1 cupcake pan with liners. It really only makes enough batter for 12 cupcakes. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
In your standing mixture bowl; combine the flour, butter, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and chamomile. Stir for about 5 minutes until it becomes a sandy mixture. While that's beating; combine the milk, egg, and vanilla extract into a small bowl. Pour half the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine. Pour the remaining milk mixture into the bowl. Beat for 1 minute. Pour the batter using an ice cream scooper into the prepared cupcake pan. Bake in the oven for 17 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick (when inserted) comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Onto the glaze...

Ingredients for Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon honey
about 5 tablespoons heavy cream
pinch of salt

Take a medium sized bowl, and whisk together the honey, heavy cream powdered sugar, and salt. The glaze will be rather thick, so you may need to add additional heavy cream. Use a butter knife, or whatever makes it easy for you, spread the glaze on top of the cupcakes. Sprinkle with chamomile leaves. Enjoy!

(click here for printable recipe)