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Chicken Stir Fry with Udon Noodles

Posted on November 9, 2013 by AnniesChamorroKitchen Leave a comment

According to Chinese folklore, noodles represent long life and good health. So, here’s my contribution to living a long, healthy life! 🙂

All kidding aside, you can add this recipe to you list of healthy options by changing up a few of the ingredients (read more below for my healthy substitutions).

This also is another of those versatile dishes that can be changed up according to the vegetables and meat you prefer. The vegetables I add to this recipe vary depending on what looks most fresh in the grocery store.

Chicken Stir Fry with Udon Noodles

INGREDIENTS:

6 chicken thighs (or 2 chicken breasts if you want a healthier version)
1 small head of cabbage
4 stalks green onions
1 package mushrooms
1 green bell pepper
1 package pre-cut carrots
1 package udon noodles
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
5 tablespoons soy sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Prepare the ingredients — thinly slice the chicken, cabbage, green onions, mushrooms and bell pepper.

Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package. You can substitute the udon noodles for a gluten-free or whole wheat noodle of your choosing.

Set the cooked noodles aside.

Place the chicken in a large skillet over medium high heat. If you use a non-stick skillet, you do not need to add any oil to the pan, although a bit of sesame oil will add flavor to this dish.

Add the garlic, seasonings, hoisin sauce and soy sauce. To cut back on the sodium in this dish, cut the hoisin sauce in half and use low sodium soy sauce.

Add the carrots to the pan.

Add the sliced mushrooms to the pan.

Stir to combine. Cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the sliced cabbage.

Stir and cook for another couple of minutes, just until the cabbage starts to wilt.

Add the bell peppers. If you prefer the peppers to be cooked longer, add them when you add the carrots. I like mine cooked only just a little so that they’re still crunchy, so I add them almost at the end of the cooking process.

Stir to combine.

Gently stir in the noodles.

Add the green onions.

Stir gently so you don’t mash the noodles. Cook for another minute then serve and ENJOY!

Posted in Chicken, Healthy Alternatives ~ Recipes, NOODLES, Uncategorized tagged with Healthy, Stir fry, Vegatables

Hannah’s Teriyaki Burgers

Posted on November 2, 2013 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 4 comments

My daughter is quite the budding chef. She whipped these burgers up from some ingredients she found in the fridge and pantry. She calls them “Hannah’s Teriyaki Burgers” — I must say, they are yummy! Pair it with a side salad and hot rice and you’ve got yourself a fantastic meal!

HANNAH’S TERIYAKI BURGERS

Mix together:

2 pounds lean ground beef
3/4 cup teriyaki sauce (I used Yoshida brand sauce)
1 small bell pepper, diced small
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large egg
2 tablespoons Dashida seasoning
1 teaspoon black pepper
4 large cloves garlic, minced

Directions:

Form into patties and pan-fry over medium-high heat, about 5 minutes on each side (for medium well burgers). These also taste great served on toasted hamburger buns. Makes 14 small or 7 large burgers.

Posted in Beef, Dinner, Hannah's Recipes, Lunch, MEALS, MEAT

Chicken & Spinach Alfredo Lasagne Roll-ups

Posted on October 27, 2013 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 2 comments

I love good pasta. Two of my favorites are chicken alfredo and lasagne, so how about we combine the two?

This is a rolled version. I love how easy it is to serve up individual portions — all you have to do is scoop up a roll (or two). There’s no messy cutting involved here!

To make this dish a bit more nutritious, I added frozen spinach — two entire boxes of it too! Even my daughter (who is an extremely picky eater) scarfed up her dinner, green stuff and all!

Give my recipe a try. It’s so tasty, I know you’ll love it! 🙂

Chicken & Spinach Alfredo Lasagne Roll-ups

Ingredients:

The meat of 1 small roasted chicken
20 lasagne noodles, cooked al dente
2 10-oz packages frozen spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out
1 15-oz. package shredded Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
4 stalks green onions
2 15-oz containers ricotta cheese
3 jars alfredo sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Shred the chicken. I’m all for a bit of convenience here and there so I used a small rotisserie chicken to save time. Here are the Before and After photos. 🙂

Place the spinach into a medium sized mixing bowl.

Add the Parmesan cheese.

Add the eggs.

Add the seasonings.

Add the green onions.

Add the ricotta.

Mix all of the ingredients together. (It looks ‘kinda like spinach dip, doesn’t it?) 🙂

Lay the noodles on a flat surface.

Spread about 4 teaspoons of the spinach mixture onto the noodle.

Add shredded chicken to the top of the spinach mixture.

Roll up the noodle, jelly roll style.

Pour alfredo sauce in the pan, just enough to cover the bottom.

Place the pasta rolls over the sauce.

Pour alfredo sauce over the top of the pasta.

This recipe made enough for one 9×13 pan plus a smaller square pan! Yay! There will be enough leftover to pack 4 lunches the the next day!

Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese all over the top.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

It’s done!

Serve with a slice of garlic toast. Enjoy!

Posted in Chicken, NOODLES tagged with Pasta

Smoked & Grilled Turkey

Posted on October 13, 2013 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 2 comments

Turkey doesn’t have to be served only during Thanksgiving or other holiday meal. Chamorros love to BBQ, but occasionally, we like to smoke and grill a turkey instead of the traditional BBQ fare of ribs and chicken.

Whether baking, frying, grilling or smoking a turkey, I recommend brining the turkey at least 24 hours prior to cooking. Brining not only adds flavor to the turkey, but it seals in the juices during the cooking process, yielding an incredibly moist, juicy, tasty turkey.

Smoked & Grilled Turkey

Ingredients:

1 turkey, about 12-15 pounds

For the Brine:

2 gallons water
1 cup sea salt
2 tablespoons rosemary-garlic mix (or 1 tablespoon rosemary, 1 tablespoon garlic powder)
1 tablespoon dried sage
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
2 bay leaves
4 tablespoons good quality honey
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon powdered chicken bouillon
1 orange, sliced
2 limes, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 gallon ice cubes

Stuffing:

1 medium onion, sliced
2 apples, cut into wedges
1 whole head of garlic

Directions:

1. Make the brine.

Place one gallon of water into a large pot.

Add the sea salt to the pot of water.

Add the herbs/spices and bay leaves to the pot.

Add the honey.

Add the brown sugar.

Add the chicken seasoning.

Give it a stir then bring the mixture to a boil.

Pour the brine into a clean bucket (we bought a PBA-free bucket at Lowe’s).

Add the sliced limes, orange and onion to the bucket. My daughter was being funny and called this “turkey punch”. 😉

Let the brine cool completely before adding the turkey.

Remove the giblets and neck from the cavity of the turkey. Rinse well then add the turkey to the cooled brine. I don’t think there’s a “wrong way” to place the turkey into the bucket, but I like to place it with the legs pointing up so that most of the turkey meat is submerged in the brine. Of course, you could just add more water to the bucket until the bird is completely drowned. 😉

Pour in the two gallons of ice cubes — about 2 pitcherfuls.

Place the lid on the bucket (if yours doesn’t come with a lid, use aluminum foil to cover it) then place the bucket in the refrigerator. Let the turkey soak in the brine for at least 24 hours.

2. Smoke/Grill the turkey.

After 24 hours, remove the turkey from the brine. Chop up 2 apples and 1 onion, and peel the skin/paper off each clove in an entire head of garlic.

Stuff the apple, onion and garlic mixture into the cavity of the turkey.

Place the turkey in the smoker/grill. Follow the smoking/grilling directions for your smoker. I have a Traeger smoker/grill that has automatic temperature settings. Here are the procedures for using a grill (like a Traeger) that has automatic temperature settings.

After turning on the grill, set it to 450 degrees; let the heat build up for about 15 minutes. Turn the heat back down to the Smoke setting then place the turkey on the grill, smoking it for approximately 9 hours.

NOTE: If you want to cut down the cooking time, do NOT stuff the turkey until about one hour from being done. An un-stuffed turkey cooks faster than a cooked one. If you decide NOT to stuff the turkey, smoke it for 6 hours instead of 9.

This is what the turkey looked like after 3 hours of smoking.

After 8 hours of smoking, turn the heat up to 275 degrees and grill the turkey for one more hour or until the skin turns a nice dark brown color.

If you don’t own a smoker/grill, bake the turkey at 325 degrees using the chart below as a basic guide.

TURKEY ROASTING TIMES
Stuffed Turkey
Turkey Weight (Pounds)	Cooking Time (Hours)
6 - 8	3 - 3 1/2
8 - 12	3 1/2 - 4 1/2
12 - 16	4 1/2 - 5 1/2
16 - 20	5 1/2 - 6
20 - 24	6 - 6 1/2
Un-Stuffed Turkey
Turkey Weight (Pounds)	Cooking Time (Hours)
6 - 8	2 1/2 - 3
8 - 12	3 - 4
12 - 16	4 - 5
16 - 20	5 - 5 1/2
20 - 24	5 1/2 - 6

Serve with your favorite side dishes. I recommend Chamorro Red Rice, Chamorro Stuffing (Riyenu) and Fina’denne’.

ENJOY!

Posted in MEAT, Thanksgiving, Turkey

Corned Beef with Corn and Tomato Sauce

Posted on October 6, 2013 by AnniesChamorroKitchen 9 comments

Chamorros love canned corned beef! It’s called Latan Kåtne (canned meat) in Chamorro. Corned beef can be prepared many different ways, depending on the ingredients you have on hand.

I love to gisa (in Chamorro, this means to stir fry) corned beef with onions, garlic, and eggplant. For another variation, try adding cabbage or fresh green beans. My dad used to grow winged beans–this is delicious with corned beef too. The options are virtually endless!

This is a photo of winged beans, in case you’ve never heard of them before. Just slice them into small pieces and saute them with a can or two of corned beef; add some onions and garlic and you’ve got yourself a yummy meal. Serve with hot white rice, of course. 🙂

My recipe below calls for canned corn with tomato sauce. A slight variation to this is to omit the tomato sauce entirely (follow the directions below, and omit the part where you pour in the tomato sauce). My husband actually prefers it this way, without the tomato sauce.

Either way you make it–with or without tomato sauce–it’s delicious.

Give my recipe a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Corned Beef with Corn and Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cans corned beef
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cans whole kernel corn (15.25 oz. each), drained
2 small cans tomato sauce (8 oz. each)

Directions:

To make it easier to open, pierce the top of the corned beef can. *Make sure to rinse the top of the can first — there can be lots of dirt or dust on it from sitting on the grocery store shelf.