Asian Noodles

It's no secret that I love all food Chinese, even bad Chinese. So it's pretty frequent that we eat pseudo Chinese for dinner. This was an Asian noodle stir fry that had a little zip to the sauce. The night that I made this I didn't have any fresh veggies hanging out in the fridge but I really think it would be awesome with some celery, carrots and peppers in it. Next time that is what I'm going to do assuming I plan farther ahead than 3 minutes. :)

The original recipe that I saw used ground turkey but I had some chicken breasts already thawed out and honestly I don't think that the ground turkey can even compete.


Asian Noodles
Serves 4-6

12 oz thin spaghetti
1 T oil
1 lb boneless, skinless, chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 1/2 tsp Thai red curry paste (I found it at Target)
8 oz button mushrooms, finely chopped
Sesame oil

Sauce:
1 T. oyster sauce
4 T. soy sauce
4 T. water
4 T. rice vinegar
3 T. sugar

In a small bowl, whish all of the sauce ingredients together. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring lightly salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until desired tenderness. Drain and set aside.

While the noodles are boiling, in a large skillet over medium heat heat the oil. Brown the chicken and set aside. Add the mushrooms and curry paste and cook stirring frequently until the mushrooms are browned, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken back in and cook until it's cooked through.

Add the cooked noodles and with a pair of tongs lift and separate the noodles and incorporate them with the other ingredients. Pour the sauce over the noodle mixture and again, mix everything together with the tongs. Cook stirring frequently, until the noodles have absorbed all the flavors and all the ingredients are heated through.

Drizzle a TINY amount of sesame oil to finish. (It's really strong so don't get carried away.)

Serve immediately.

Island Spice Pork Tenderloin

We love pork tenderloin for dinner on Sundays. When I saw this recipe on Annie's Eats I knew that it was one that we needed to try.

We all really liked the sweetness of the sugar and cinnamon with the heat that followed it. We will be making this one again, probably with no changes whatsoever.

Island Spice Pork Tenderloin
6 servings

Spice Rub:
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 pork tenderloins (about 2-2 1/2 lbs total)
2 Tbsp olive oil

Glaze:
1 /2 cup pack brown sugar
1 Tbsp finely minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp

Directions:
Preheat the oven too 350 degrees. Combine the salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Stir together with a fork to blend. Pat the mixture over the pork tenderloins.

Heat the olive oil in an oven proof skillet over medium high heat. Place the tenderloins in the skillet and brown on all sides, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes total. Remove from heat, leaving the pork in the skillet.

Stir together the brown sugar, garlic and Tabasco in a small bowl until blended. Spread the mixture evenly over the tops of the tenderloins.

Place the skillet in the preheated oven and roast about 20 minutes, until and instant read thermometer inserted in the center of each tenderloin registers 140 degrees (I will only roast for 17-18 min next time). Loosely tent the skillet with foil and let stand 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

It seems like Sundays are the one day of the week that I actually have time to cook something. Sometimes it's just dinner but sometimes, like yesterday, there is time to do something fun as well. Cookies are always a hit at our house, even though I grumble about making them, and now that Jeff is home Oatmeal Raisin cookies are back on the menu! I love them but Randy and Bri are not sure that the raisins are not poisonous...the big chickens. :)

This is a recipe I found on http://www.allrecipes.com/ and have made several times. Part of its appeal is that it only makes 3 doz so it doesn't take as long but if I am being honest it's the spices that bring this one out again and again. I love the combination of cinnamon and cloves in just about anything; it smells like Christmas!

Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
3 doz cookies

1 c. butter, softened
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
3 c. rolled oats
1 c. raisins
1/2 c. chocolate chips (opt)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a large bowl cream together the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins.
3. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets
4. Bake 10-12 min or until golden brown. Don't overbake! Let the cookies cool slightly before removing from cookies sheets to cool completely.

Pumpkin Butterscotch Bars

I'm still on a quest to find the perfect bar cookie...this is pretty good. It received a unanimous "do again" from the family but I don't think that it's the ONE. It has a very moist, dense texture and the butterscotch chips are super yum. I like to eat them straight out of the bag...did I say that out loud??

Pumpkin Butterscotch Bars
adapted from Martha Stewart

2 c. all purpose flour
1 T. pumpkin pie spice
1 t. baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 c. white chocolate chips
1 1/2 c. butterscotch chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly spray a 9x13 baking dish with non stick spray. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Stir together and set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitter with the paddle attachement, beat together the butter and sugar on Med/High until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree. With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the white chocolate and 1 cup butterscotch chips with a rubber spatula.
3. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan and sprinke remaining 1/2 cup butterscotch chips over the top of the batter. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 35 minutes. Cool pan on wire rack. Let cool completely before cutting.