Recipe Modifications | Adventures in Thyme

Wild Rice & Chicken Casserole

October 30, 2014 by Ginger Leave a Comment

Wild Rice and Chicken Casserole

The holidays loom before us; many are already planning the meals that will be shared with friends and family. So today we’re offering a very customizable recipe that will benefit from holiday leftovers. Tonight we’re using store bought ingredients, but I’ll notate where you can use those yummy leftovers to your advantage and the relief of your refrigerator. Our best advice is as you stand in your kitchen channel your favorite Iron Chef and go for it!

Wild Rice & Chicken Casserole

Leg & Thigh meat from Roasted Chicken cut or pulled into small bite sized pieces (substitute: Turkey)
1 6 oz box Wild Rice mix, cooked (substitute: any rice with seasoning to taste)
1 10 oz package of broccoli florets (substitute: leftover crudité)
1 heaping teaspoon flour
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup almond milk (substitute: rice milk, milk, cream)
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 cup grated pecorino cheese (substitute: parmesan)
~3 pats of butter
optional: nuts (we used almonds but if you have walnuts that would work too)

We used a small convection oven set to 350 degrees and a casserole dish. Use some of your butter to coat the inside of the casserole dish. I use a sandwich sized zip baggie to hold a pat of butter and swirl around inside. Whatever is left of the pat will be added to your dish later – no waste!

While the oven is warming up, into a small saucepan add the remaining butter pats, stock, milk, rosemary, thyme and poultry seasoning, bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and whisk in flour. Set aside.

In your casserole dish gently combine the chicken pieces, cooked rice and the broccoli, then pour the stock mixture over the top. Sprinkle 1/2 the cheese over the top and add some nuts. Loosely cover with aluminum foil and bake 30 mins. Then remove the foil and bake an additional ~10 mins or until the top is browned.

Serve with a little extra cheese on the top. Enjoy!

Tagine Tikka Masala

September 25, 2014 by Ginger Leave a Comment

Chicken Tikka Masala

I’m still obsessing over the lovely tagine my husband gave me for our anniversary. Converting recipes over to cook has infused new life (and flavors) into our meal rotations. This dish worked very well for a meal that could cook slowly on a back burner while I worked on other endeavors. My inspiration for this recipe comes from Rachael Ray’s latest magazine, so please consider this a tagine makeover of her simple and inspired recipe. (The original dish is a 30 minute meal, but I made mine in the early afternoon to bubble happily away on the stovetop until we were ready to eat later.)

Ingredients:

pat of butter
1 Tablespoon of garlic infused olive oil (but extra virgin olive oil will work too)
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 inches of fresh ginger, peeled and shredded on a microplane grader (chopping finely works too)
1 small shallot finely chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled & cubed
1 – 2 lbs of boneless chicken thighs, cubed (depending on how many people you are feeding!)
1 – 2 cans of fire roasted tomatoes (depending on how many people you are feeding!)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 10 oz bag of frozen peas, thawed

optional: jalapenos, finely chopped
optional: shelled edamame, cooked (I used a 12 oz bag)
optional: rice (this recipe has potatoes in it, but if you want rice too – go for it!)
optional garnish: slivered almonds, cilantro

In your tagine (or pot), heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat; add cloves, ginger, jalapenos, and shallot and stir until shallots are translucent (about 5 mins). Add garam masala & paprika stirring quickly to incorporate the spices throughout the oil mixture. Add the cubed chicken and mix well; then add tomatoes and cream. Once the dish begins to bubble, cover and turn down to medium low. About 30 mins before you intend on eating add the cubed potatoes, then add the peas about 10 mins prior to serving. Although not pictured, I love edamame, so my bowl included about 1/4 cup of precooked edamame.

Serve over rice, or with a slice of naan, and garnish as pictured. Enjoy!

Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes

August 20, 2014 by Dan Leave a Comment

Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes

Ever have one of those days where a comforting breakfast after work is just what you need to unwind? Well, we had one of those days. So what better to forget the stress of deadlines and ease “ruffled feathers” then a blueberry pancake with warm maple syrup. Oh, and I did I mention the ricotta? Silly me…

This pancake recipe is based on a standard recipe in many old cookbooks. We’ve modified it for our use here.

Ingredients:

4 cups Flour
2 tablespoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Sugar
4 Eggs
3 cups Milk
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Ricotta (we used ricotta made from sheep’s milk)
1 pound fresh Blueberries
Maple syrup, warmed

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Form a bowl in the center of the dry ingredients.

Lightly beat the 4 eggs and combine the wet ingredients, except for the cheese. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir gently to combine. Gently mix the cheese into the batter. Be careful not to over mix the cheese, just gently fold it into the batter. You’ll want some lumps to retain their plumpness – this will make for a yummier pancake later.

Let the batter stand for a few minutes while your griddle heats.

Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to measure out your batter onto your lightly greased griddle, spread slightly as you pour it on. Immediately place some blueberries into the batter for each pancake (this keeps your pancakes from turning blue.) Cool until golden brown on one side, flip and cook on the other side.

Serve hot with butter, fresh blueberries and warm syrup; and don’t forget your fuzzy slippers. Enjoy!

Ice Cream Bread

November 13, 2013 by Dan Leave a Comment

Ice Cream Bread

“Did you say Ice Cream Bread? Seriously, I can have my cake and ice cream in one baked bite?!” Yes siree Bob! Three ingredients is all it takes.

Our baking normally involves the consideration of a bovine-dairy free and wheat/gluten free restricted diet. So this adventure began with a pint of LaLoo’s Vanilla Snowflake Goat Milk Ice Cream, 1.5 cups of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour (now available at Costco!) and approximately 2 tsp of baking powder.

Set the pint out on the kitchen counter to melt, once it’s runny add the flour and baking powder. Pour this into a buttered loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees F. until a test toothpick comes out clean. Approximately 20-30 mins. Set the loaf out to cool for a few minutes before turning it out onto a rack to finish cooling to yummy perfection.

Now, you may be looking at the photo above and saying “3 ingredients huh? I see fruit chunkies in that bread.” You would be correct. At the time we took this photo I had added a homegrown diced peach into the mix. It added a wonderful peachy undertone and made for a fond farewell to the riches of our peach harvest.

So next time your ice cream melts, don’t worry – make bread!

The Biggest Little Pork Meatballs in town

November 6, 2013 by Dan Leave a Comment

Pork Meatballs

In our humble home, quick and easy tend to be the meals we gravitate to. These little pork balls are fairly no fuss and are baked in the oven giving you time to decompress after a long day. They’d work well at a party with a selection of sauces too!

Before you get started, set the oven to 400 degrees F, and prep a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Recipe for the Meatballs:

1.5lbs of ground pork
2 eggs + 1 egg white
~3 minced scallions
~3 minced garlic cloves
~1 Tablespoon grated ginger
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
~ 2 teaspoons sugar
~ 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Roll up your sleeves and mix all these ingredients, yes, get your hands in there and add some elbow grease. It’s the secret ingredient. Sssshhh, don’t tell…

Now, start rolling these into balls and placing onto your prepared baking sheet. No more than 2″ in diameter, but if you’ve got little ones in the house, you could make them smaller for easier bites, just adjust your baking time accordingly.

Recipe for the Sauce:

1/2 cup Hoisin (usually in the International or Asian section of the grocery store)
~1 teaspoon rice vinegar (usually in the vinegar aisle but may also be found in the Asian section)
~ 1 Tablespoon of sugar
A dollup of honey (roughly a spoon size)

Divide out a portion of this sauce for later dipping and set aside. If there are eaters in your home that prefer a little more spice in their culinary life, add some Sriracha sauce to taste.

Brush each of the meatballs with sauce from the original bowl and place sheet in oven. Check back in about 20 mins. Our oven is persnickety, but once they begin getting a lovely golden brown I sacrifice one on the alter of my tastebuds. If they’re cooked thru – they’re done!

I serve these with homemade fried rice, but if your grocery store sells fresh Chinese food (ex: Raley’s) you could always buy a pint on the way home. Enjoy!