Honeymoon Chicken

 Easy chicken fingers made with Bisquick. Adapted from Betty Crocker.

Ingredients:

2/3

cup Bisquick mix

1/2

cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2

teaspoon salt (or garlic salt)

1/2

teaspoon paprika

3

chicken breast, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips

1

egg, beaten

3

tablespoons butter, melted

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 450ºF (230ºC). Line baking sheet with foil or baking paper and spray with cooking spray.

Mix Bisquick, parmesan, salt, and paprika in a medium mixing bowl. 

Dip chicken strips in beaten egg. Roll in Bisquick mixture and place on baking sheet. Drizzle with melted butter. 

Bake 12 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Chicken Shish Kabobs

We usually double the marinade—one batch for the meat and one for the veggies.

Ingredients 

• 1 pound chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 red bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 yellow bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 small zucchini cut into 1 inch slices
• 1 red onion cut into 1 inch pieces

Directions

Mix marinade and add meat and veggies. Allow to marinade for at least 1 hour, or over night. 

Assemble skewers and grill, 4 minutes per side. 

Beef Shish Kabobs

We often double the marinade in order to keep the veggies separate from the meat. 

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 pounds lean beef, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 16 mushroom caps
• 8 wood skewers, or as needed
• 2 green bell peppers, cut into chunks
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks
• 1 large onion, cut into large squares

Directions

Mix marinade. Add beef and veggies, and allow to marinade 8 hours. 

Assemble meat and veggies on skewers and grill, 4 minutes a side. 

No-Bake Cheesecake

A favorite, especially for summer barbecues. Adapted from Nigella Lawson.

Ingredients 

• 160 g Tea biscuits
• 95 g butter
• 375 g cream cheese
• 75 g powdered sugar 
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 tsp lemon juice
• 315 ml heavy cream
• 350 g black cherry jam

Procedure

1. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until they begin to turn to crumbs, then add the butter and blitz again to make the mixture clump.
2. Press this mixture into a 9 inch springform tin; press a little up the sides to form a slight ridge.
3. Beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth.
4. Lightly whip the heavy cream, and then fold it into the cream cheese mixture.
5. Spoon the cheesecake filling on top of the biscuit base and smooth with a spatula. Put it in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight.
6. When you are ready to serve the cheesecake, unmould it and spread the black cherry over the top.

Bacon & Swiss Quiche

A great quiche. Much better warm, but can also serve cold. Original recipe calls for ham, but we used diced bacon (spek sneedjes). Use our pie crust recipe. A large serving (quarter of the quiche) is about 30g of carbs.

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 5 large eggs, plus 2 egg whites
• 1 cup diced bacon (spek sneedjes), cooked
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup whole milk (or cream)
• 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400º (200ºC). Toss onion in olive oil and mix in thyme, salt, and pepper. Spread on baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, until onion is soft.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and egg whites, milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir in onion, bacon, and cheese. Pour mixture into crust and bake on top rack until center is just set, about 25 minutes.

Pie Crust - no shortening

A great pie crust for baking here in Belgium, where we can’t get Crisco. The original recipe called for shortening, but we substituted with ghee (clarified butter), and it worked great. Don’t worry if it feels a little dry, can add a little water, but not much. First step calls for mixing ingredients in a food processor, which is much more efficient than a pastry blender.

Great for fruit pie or quiche.

Makes 2 pie crusts

Ingredients:

• 170g very cold unsalted butter
• 420g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 15g granulated sugar
• 70g very cold ghee 
• 6 to 8 tbsp (about 120ml) ice water

Directions:

Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix.

Add the butter and ghee. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball.

Dump the dough out onto a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough in half. Place a piece onto a well-floured board and roll into a circle, rolling from the centre to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board.

Fold the dough in half, place in a pie dish, and unfold to fit the dish. Repeat with the top crust after filling the pie.

To blind bake: line with parchment paper and fill with baking weights or dry beans. Bake at 400º (200ºC) for about 20 minutes, until edges turn golden brown.

Really Good Chili

Nothing fancy; just really good chili. Great for doubling the recipe and freezing. One batch makes about 10 servings.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground beef (=1 kg)
• 1 L (2 500ml boxes) diced tomatoes (tomatostukjes) 
• 1 L (2 500 mL boxes) tomato sauce or sieved tomato
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 small green pepper, chopped (1/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp cayenne
• 2 cans red beans, drained

Method:

Brown meat, drain, and set aside. Sauté onion, celery, and bell pepper until softened. 

Combine ingredients in large pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.