Slow Cooker Ginger Curry Chicken

As a group, we are lucky enough to get to share in each others birthdays. This week was my 31st and Lisa & Lauren F were gracious enough to host. Being at these girls place is great! They are both wine distributors so we have literally hundreds of bottle to choose from out of their custom made wine racks to enjoy with dinner. Sometimes we're even lucky enough to bring a bottle or two home with us :) We were all in for a treat for dinner this week. Lisa made Ginger Curry Chicken in her crock pot. It was so flavorful and, well...yummy! Here is the recipe: (hint: I enjoyed mine with a big scoop of Lauren's Tzatziki over the top!! I'm hoping she'll share that recipe so I can post it to go along with this one)

Ingredients:1/3 cup tomato paste
4 gloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of curry powder
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 tablespoon of grated fresh ginger
1 medium onion
2 lbs of boneless chicken thighs
salt/pepper
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
2 scallions - sliced

Directions: 1. Whisk- tomato paste, garlic, curry, ginger, cumin and 3/4 cup water.  Add onion and stir. Place chicken on top and season with salt and pepper.
2. Put on low for 7-8 hours or high for 4-5 until chicken is tender and cooked.
3. Cook rice about 10-15 minutes before serving (I used chicken broth instead of water when cooking the rice to add a deeper flavor, use about a can for every 2 cups of rice).
4. Before serving add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and yogurt and stir.
5. Serve over your choice of rice, sprinkled with sliced scallions.

If you'd like to stick to the Indian theme serve with Naan bread on the side.

Let me finish by adding that I am so freaking lucky to have such a wonderful group of girls on my side. Thank you all so much for the love and fun you each grace my life with each and every week. I am so blessed! -AK

Enjoy the dish everyone!

Eggplant Parmesan - A Hearty Vegetarian Dish

Thursday the 22nd was at my house. I wanted to try to make something I'd never had before and came across this dish, courtesy of Bobby Flay, on foodnetwork.com. I wasn't sure eggplant was going to be my thing...I proved myself wrong - I'm hooked!

Now before you go following this recipe verbatim, I do have a few tips I want to share that will shorten the prep time for this dish, because although it says prep is 30 mins, it took me nearly an hour. I'm all about a quick & easily prepared dinner.

• Use jarred roasted red peppers if you don't want to make your own (will save you 40 mins of broiling time plus the 15 mins it will take you to let them set and peel them of their skins. Jarred are nearly as good as the real thing)
• Use pre-dried breadcrumbs from the bakery and a food processor to crumble them (will save you 30 mins of baking time)
• Do NOT sub jarred spaghetti sauce for this homemade version. This one is delicious, fun to make and completely worth it in the end. I'll probably use it in the future for lasagna and spaghetti.

Total Time: 1 hr 40 min

Prep: 30 min

Inactive: 10 min
Cook: 1 hr 0 min
Yield: 8 to 12 servings

Ingredients

Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Sauce:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 roasted red peppers, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 2 (28-ounce) cans plum tomatoes and their juices, crushed with your hands
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 3 tablespoons freshly chopped basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped oregano leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Honey, to taste

Eggplant:

• 5 cups fresh dried breadcrumbs (made from dried day-old bread)
• Butter, for greasing the dish
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 to 3 medium eggplants (about 2 1/4-pounds), cut into 1/2-inch-thick round slices (need about 18 slices)
• All-purpose flour, for dredging
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Sauce
• 12 ounces grated mozzarella (not fresh), plus1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
• 12 ounces grated fontina
• 3/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano
• Fresh basil leaves, torn

For the Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Sauce:

Directions

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. Add the red peppers and cook for 1 minute.

Add the tomatoes, bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and process until smooth. Return the mixture back to the pot, add the parsley, basil and oregano and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes longer and season with honey, if needed.

For the Eggplant:

To dry out the bread crumbs:

Preheat the oven to 300 degree F.

Evenly spread the bread crumbs on a large baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes, turn the oven off and let the bread crumbs sit in the oven for 30 minutes or until just dry.
Raise the temperature of the oven up to 400 degrees F. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 15 by 10 by 2-inch baking dish and set aside.
Place the bread crumbs into a large shallow bowl. Add the herbs, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. In another medium shallow bowl, whisk the eggs and 2 tablespoons of water together.
Season each eggplant slice on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge each eggplant slice in the flour, tapping off excess, then dip it in the egg, and finally dredge it in the bread crumb mixture. Shake off any excess breading and transfer the egg plant to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining eggplant.
Heat 1/2-inch of oil in 2 large straight-sided saute pans over medium heat until the oil reaches a temperature of 385 degrees F. Working in small batches, fry a few of the eggplant slices, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes per batch. Using tongs, transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining eggplant.
Cover the bottom of the prepared baking dish with some of the tomato sauce and arrange 1/2 of the eggplant over the sauce. Cover the eggplant with some of the sauce, grated mozzarella, fontina, Romano cheese and some of the basil. Repeat to make 3 layers ending with the sauce. Top with the fresh mozzarella and remaining Romano and bake until hot and just beginning to brown, about 30 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!
Amanda

Salmon Cakes over Quinoa Tabouli topped with a Greek Yogurt Vinaigrette

The last few weeks we've had a few of our girls missing as they have taken on a new 7 week workout routine. We're all trying in different ways to get ready for our trip to Mexico next month for Tiff's wedding. Eventhough we miss having everyone there each week, we also realize that it's nice every once in a while for our Thursday evening to be a little less crowded, loud and crazy seeing that our days are usually that way anyway dealing with our own kids or classrooms full of others. You have got to imagine how loud it can get...most of us have pretty loud personalities and/or are used to speaking in front of groups (students) all day so it's in our nature to take over a conversation. Getting caught up on 10+ different lives isn't always easy but we make it work and love every second of it. For dinner Lauren F made us a super healthy dinner OH MY AMAZINGNESS were these good! Proof that even though it's good for you, doesn't mean it needs to taste like crap :) Here's her recipe:


Mascarpone and Chive Salmon Cakes with a Quinoa Tabouli Salad topped with a Greek Yogurt Vinaigrette.

Quinoa Salad (makes at least 8-12 servings and will store in the fridge and can eat during the week for lunch)
1 small box organic quinoa (trader joes)
1 English cucumber cut into small pieces
1 small container grape tomatoes quartered
½ cup chopped flat leaf parsley2 large lemons (juiced)
½ cup of EVOO
Salt and Pepper to taste

Quinoa- cooks similar to rice in a 2/1 ratio form.  I also added 1 lemon cut in half and some olive oil to give it flavor while cooking.  Cool the quinoa and add the other ingredients.  Feel free to add more or less lemon juice or olive oil depending on your taste.

Greek Yogurt Vinaigrette
8oz container fat free Greek yogurt
1 large lemon juiced
2 TBPS of apple cider vinegar
1 TBPS Honey
1 clove of garlic
SNP to taste

Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. This makes enough sauce to top the cakes and the tabouli for lunches.

Salmon Cakes
2 pounds of fresh salmon (your choice) cubed into about ½ inch pieces
4 oz of mascarpone cheese
1 big handful grated Parmesan
2 eggs
¼ cup of minced fresh chives
2 tbps of lemon juice
SNP to taste
1/2 cup (or so) of panko bread crumbs.

Mix all ingredients together until come together almost like a meatball consistency- you can make the cakes any size you’d like but I grabbed a small handful for each and flattened to about 3 inches in diameter.  In a large non-stick pan (for best results do not use cast iron pan), coat the bottom with EVOO and cook each cake on med-high heat for about 5 min on each side.  Make sure you get a good golden color on them

Plate with salad on the bottom, 1-2 cakes on top of the salad and then top with the yogurt sauce.

Enjoy! I promise you will...

Tiff's Bachelorette Party

2 weeks ago we celebrated our favorite bachelorette in CleElum. Here are a few photos for the big weekend!

We stayed at Suncadia Resort in CleElum and HIGHLY recommend it...especially the private cabins out on the golf course.

Bacon Wrapped Yums, Watermelon Mojitos, ShishKaBobs & Pie...Oh My!

Being that June 30th was the weekend before 3rd of July and many of us were going to be out of town we decided to put Girls Night off until the following week. Soooo, July the 7th we were at my house. The LAST time we will be at this house luckily...as our girls night is growing, I realized that we needed to upgrade to something with a larger kitchen :) Ok, honestly it was for the ever-growing family we have but in the back of my mind was GN when it came to finding just the right kitchen.

I started baking & cooking at nearly 9 am. Even though I had in mind that my DIY (do it yourself) dinner would be the easiest route, I had to bake a pie for dessert.

Appetizers were Bacon Wrapped, Asiago Cheese Stuffed Prunes. Originally I had meant to stuff dates instead but in a hurry grabbed the wrong thing at the grocery store and let's face it ANYTHING wrapped in bacon is A-MAZING, so it worked. This yummy idea courtesy of my friend Cara & her sis. I ate practically all of the ones they brought to a football game party a few years ago. One note: Do buy the chunk of cheese rather than shredded, as it is much easier to stuff into the fruit. Wrap with bacon and secure with a toothpick. Bake at 325 until bacon is golden brown and cheese is oozing out the sides. Now I'm hungry!

Drinks (along with wine - a staple at GN) were Watermelon Mojitos. And although my cookbooks are already packed, I can tell you to puree 1/2 of a small watermelon and a small bunch of fresh mint leaves in a food processor until smooth (this is great because you still get that great mint flavor without having to suck it up a straw or worry that it's in your teeth). Add to a large drink pitcher. Stir in 1/2 a cup of fresh lime juice and 12 oz white rum. Garnish with a small watermelon slice and sprig of mint. Optional is a splash of sparkling water or club soda if you want it to have some fizz.

My DIY dinner was building your own Shish-Ka-Bobs. The key is to cut everything into the same size pieces so that everything cooks evenly. Options to add to your (olive oil soaked) sticks were:

Chicken - marinated with lime juice and minced garlic
Pork Loin - Hormel Italian Cheese
Elk Sirloin - coated with a special Montreal Steak Seasoning. I WISH I knew what was in this because when I run out I'm going to be a VERY sad girl!

White Onions
Crimini Mushrooms
Red & Green Peppers

I had the girls build their masterpiece, brush it with melted garlic & herb butter and put them on the BBQ. Cook them at approximately 350-400 until the meats are cooked all the way through. I served them with Roasted Butternut Squash, which I cubed into 1" pieces, coated with olive oil, butter, garlic, salt, red pepper flakes & chopped fresh rosemary. Roast them in a 350 pre-heated oven for about 30 mins, taking time to turn them once or twice.

After we stuffed ourselves and settled in with some wine I served a Peach, Rhubarb & Nectarine Cream Pie:

Pre-heat oven to 375

1 1/2 lbs clean & dry fruit - Any combo of the 3 or others of your choosing are fine. Blackberries are great!
3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

Toss fruit into a bowl of well mixed flour & sugar. Fill into pre-made crust (I prefer Pillsbury flat crusts). Pour in whipping cream. Sprinkle 1tsp flour on top. Put top crust on. Cut slits to allow ventilation. Use marinating brush to apply 1 Tbsp milk or remaining cream. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp sugar.

Heat in 375 oven for 10 mins. Reduce temp to 325 for 40 mins. If edges of crust brown to fast cover with foil, but remove for last 10 mins of baking.

We have since decided that someone each week is going to volunteer to bring a side dish or dessert since our group has been growing. Cooking for 10-12 is fun, but sure is work too. It's great to share the passion of cooking with so many wonderful women!

Thanks for reading! Become a follower of the blog so you don't miss any of the great recipes.

Amanda

Savory Jambalaya & Healthy Rosemary Almond Cookies

Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend Girls' Night at Teresa's house on June the 23rd (wow, I am behind on posts) but I was sent the recipes to share with everyone.

Her Jambalaya recipe is as follows:

(Serves 4-6)

4-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2#)
table salt and ground black pepper
5 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 pound andouille sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 1/2 c long grain white rice
1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 (8oz) bottle clam juice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 pound large shrimp (31-40 per pound), peeled and deveined
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Heat 2 tsp of oil in skillet over med-high.  Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.  Cook until sides are golden. Set aside on plate.
2. Add andouille and cook in skillet until light brown. Set aside.
3. Add remaining 3 tsp of oil to skillet.  Add onion, bell pepper, garlic and 1/2 tsp salt, cook until onion is softened.  Add rice and stir until edges turn translucent.  Stir in tomatoes, clam juice and chicken broth, bring to a simmer. Add chicken. Cover and reduce the heat to low and cook until the rice is tender (~35-40mins)
4. Stir in the shrimp and sausage. Stir in parsley. Season w/ salt, pepper and cayenne or hot sauce.

Sounds amazing! Normally I wouldn't have been able to eat this dinner due to a shellfish allergy but T was nice enough to offer to prepare me a serving that was shellfish-free. So, feel free to omit it as well if you have the same problem or just don't care for seafood much. It's sure to be just as delicious.

Now, being the nutritionist in the group, Teresa found a healthy recipe for cookies. I am a SUCKER for rosemary in anything so I will definitely be trying this recipe out in the near future.

Almond Rosemary Cookies:

INGREDIENTS2 cups Almonds (soaked in water ~2 hours)
4 sprigs fresh Rosemary
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
2/3 cup Real Maple Syrup
2 Egg Whites or 1 whole egg

DIRECTIONS1) Heat oven to 325
2) Place soaked almonds and rosemary in food processor. Run until a fine meal is produced.
3) Place almond meal mixture in medium bowl and stir int the other dry ingredients, baking soda and salt.
4) Add the maple syrup and mix well
5) Put egg whites or egg in food processor and mix until light a fluffy
6) Add egg to batter
7) Using a tablespoon drop dough onto greased or nonstick cookie sheet.
8) Bake ~15 min or until golden brown

Again I wasn't there to enjoy these but it sounds like they would pair well with a cup of after-dinner coffee (a little Bailey's in there for me).

More great recipes on their way...

Amanda

Summer Salmon Burgers

I have to say I was a little weirded out thinking salmon on a burger was going to be dinner at Danielle's house. It totally worked and tasted amazing! Super simple with a delicious garlic-dill aioli. Make your neighbors jealous as you fire them up on the grill.

Danielle buys the  packaged frozen salmon burgers from Costco and says "It is important
to get wild Alaskan salmon as opposed to farmed Atlantic salmon.".

She grilled the burgers for about 7 minutes on each side and topped
them with provolone cheese. Atop toasted buns we slathered on a garlic-dill
aioli sauce. She found the recipe on food network and modified it
slightly:

Ingredients-
1/2 cup light mayo
2-3 TBSP Dijon mustard
1 small package fresh dill- chopped (about 2-3 oz)
1-2 tsp minced garlic (to taste)
3 TBSP chives
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
lemon juice to taste
-Mix all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Along with the burgers we had a classic fave- Suddenly Salad and a
spinach salad with white balsamic vinaigrette.

The perfect Summer BBQ plate.

We have been asked to review a site on our blog but want to get a few opinions firts. Has anyone used CouponChief.com before? A few of us will be looking into it to see what we can post as far as a review of the site goes. If you are familiar with it please email us with your thoughts (thursdaygirlsnights@gmail.com). Thanks!

-Amanda

An Asian Invasion Menu

Vacations, early Spring camping & a just plain busy schedule are to blame for my lack of updated posts and I apologize. I am back....with a new "girls night favorite" recipe! HOLY GUACAMOLE (Ok, not exactly, but it will satisfy your avocado craving)!

We hung at Em's house this week and were brought to life by the goodness her Avocado Egg Rolls and Thai Lettuce Wraps. (recipes to follow)

After dinner we all got caught up with each other. A few of us have been missing in action for a few weeks. Our teachers have been busy with end of the year stuff, sick kids, families and Hawaiian vacations have kept us apart. Lauren hosted a Bic Soleil Razor party so she gave us a bunch of goodies. The razors are amazing...best disposable ones I've ever used, and they even smell like coconut (perfect for Summer). Emily unveiled the couponing stockpile she has in her garage to us. Pretty impressive... Aaaaand I told stories of our trip to Hawaii, flash floods and wild boars...exciting stuff.

So, the recipes are as follows (you will NOT be disappointed!) If you've ever had the Avocado Egg Rolls at The Cheesecake Factory or the Lettuce Wraps at PF Changs, these might taste familiar ;-)

Lettuce Wraps (serves 4)
Ingredients:
2-3 tablespoons oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup water chestnut
2/3 cup mushroom
3 tablespoons chopped onions
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 -5 leaves iceberg lettuce

Special Sauce1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon hot mustard
2 teaspoons water
1 -2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste

Stir Fry Sauce2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
Directions:Prep Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 25 mins1 Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl.
2 Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil.
3 Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve.
4 Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well.
5 Eventually add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps.
6 Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan.
7 Saute chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or done.
8 Remove chicken from the pan and cool.
9 Keep oil in the pan, keep hot.
10 As chicken cools mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas.
11 Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.
12 When chicken is cool, mince it as the mushrooms and water chestnuts are.
13 With the pan still on high heat, add another Tbsp of vegetable oil.
14 Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan.
15 Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce"cups".
16 Top with"Special Sauce".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Avocado Egg Rolls (serves 2 as an appetizer)

dipping sauce:
3 -4 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon tamarind pulp
1/2 cup honey
1 pinch powdered saffron
1/2 cup chopped cashews
2/3 cup fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves
2 green onions
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup olive oil

egg rolls:
1 large avocado, peeled, pitted, & diced
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
1 tablespoon minced red onion
1/2 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1 pinch salt
3 egg roll wraps
1 egg, beaten
Directions:
1 Stir together vinegars, tamarind, honey, and saffron in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave for 1 minute.
2 Stir until tamarind is dissolved.
3 In a blender, Puree tamarind mixture, cashews, 2/3 cup cilantro, garlic, onions, sugar, pepper, and cumin.
4 Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in oil.
5 Refrigerate until ready to use.
6 Gently stir together avocado, tomatoes, onion, 1/2 teaspoon cilantro, and salt.
7 Distribute filling evenly onto center of each egg roll wrapper.
8 Position a wrapper so that a corner is pointing toward you; fold the bottom corner up, 1/4 of the way over the filling.
9 Brush remaining corners and edges of the wrapper with egg, roll up from side to side, fold top corner over all and press to seal.
10 Repeat with remaining wrappers.
11 Continue by deep-frying the egg rolls in 375 degree oil for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown.
12 Drain on brown paper bags.
13 Slice egg rolls diagonally across middle and serve with prepared dipping sauce!

Until next week...