Nicole Wilker

Just me, in your face!

Posts Tagged Recipes

Caramel Corn

Dec 27

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Caramel Corn

Ingredients

    Cooking spray
    1 cup packed dark brown sugar
    1/2 cup light-colored corn syrup
    1/4 cup butter
    1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    12 cups air-popped popcorn (6 T kernels)

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat a large jelly roll pan or baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
Combine sugar, corn syrup, and butter in a medium or large heavy bottomed saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook 4-5 minutes, stirring 3-4 times to scrape down the sides of the pan and keep the mixture from bubbling up. If you have a pastry brush, dip it in cool water and use it to brush down the sides of the pan. Be careful; the mixture will burn you if it boils over. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Place popcorn in a large bowl; pour sugar mixture over popcorn in a steady stream, stirring to coat.  (find a second person or spouse to stir while the other pours!)

Spread popcorn mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Remove from oven; stir to break up any large clumps. Cool 15 minutes. Serve at room temperature.

Let the popcorn cool completely before storing. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Serving size is about 2/3 cup.

Number of Servings: 18

(for some extra umph – melt chocolate in the microwave and sprinkle it over the popcorn – put the tray in the fridge to harden the chocolate)

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Spicy Almonds!

Dec 23

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I finally re-created the recipe i used last year! Yeah!!!

Ingredients

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp cayene

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 rounded cup of almonds

Preparation:

Spray pan with pam. Add spicy olive oil – a drizzle or 2.

Once oil and spray is heated over medium heat, add spices to pan.

Move around the pan till it forms small clumps.

Add another drizzle of spicy oil

Add almonds

Combine almonds with spices until almonds are toasted. Stiring occasionally

Cool on aluminum foil.

Store in an air tight container.

Enjoy!

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Thai Rice Noodles with Chicken

Oct 10

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I cooked this little number up for hubby and I for dinner Saturday night. I adapted it from Cooking Light – I uped the heat! Next time i would definitely cook the noodles longer, and more salt on the chicken peices! It was quick cook and something I could do on a “school night”.

Thai Rice Noodles with Chicken

Ingredients

  • 1/4  cup  fresh lime juice, divided
  • 2  (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
  • 8  ounces  1/2-inch-thick rice noodles
  • 1  tablespoon  brown sugar
  • 1  tablespoon  water
  • 1  tablespoon  fish sauce
  • 1  tablespoon  low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1  tablespoon  fresh chile paste with garlic (such as sambal oelek)
  • 1/4  teaspoon  salt, divided
  • 4  teaspoons  canola oil, divided
  • 3  tablespoons  thinly diagonally sliced green onions
  • 1  teaspoon  grated peeled fresh ginger
  • 1  teaspoon  minced garlic

Preparation

1. Combine 2 tablespoons juice and chicken in a bowl. Let stand 15 minutes.

2. Soak noodles in hot water 15 minutes or until somewhat soft but still slightly chewy. Drain well.

3. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons juice, sugar, and next 4 ingredients (through chile paste). Stir in 1/8 teaspoon salt.

4. Heat a large wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Remove chicken from juice; discard juice. Add chicken to pan; stir-fry 4 minutes or until done. Transfer to large bowl; sprinkle with remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Add green onions, ginger, and garlic; stir-fry 45 seconds or just until golden and fragrant. Add noodles; cook 30 seconds, tossing well. Stir in sugar mixture. Add chicken; cook 30 seconds. Place 1 1/4 cups noodle mixture on each of 4 plates.

Nutritional Information

Calories:343
Fat:5.5g (sat 0.6g,mono 2.9g,poly 1.6g)
Protein:17.5g
Carbohydrate:54.4g
Fiber:0.7g
Cholesterol:34mg
Iron:2.1mg
Sodium:615mg
Calcium:36mg

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Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers!!

Jun 25

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Saturday hubby and i found a new produce store within a couple blocks.

We got 6 jalapeno peppers for a buck! Woohoo!

We also got 4 Anaheim Peppers for a buck as well!

We had big ideas of stuffing and frying these suckers!

After some research it was clear to me that Anaheim chilies are high maintenance.

The directions state roasting them under the broiler. No biggie except every time we turned on the broiler the whole house fuse would blow. Sigh. Gotta love new construction.

Hubby volunteered to get the roasting going on the grill.

That went well till the roasting was completed and the skin removed and then these suckers were limp and squishy. Not my idea of something worth stuffing… We ended up using wonton wrappers and making mini fried burritos with anaheim peppers, cheese and bacon. Not bad, but not repeatable.

We decided to go with the Jalapenos for stuffing! I used a recipe that halved the peppers and used cream cheese – which hubby hates. And since it was just shredded cheese we decided to go through the tops to keep it contained and together for easier frying. We did squish some cream cheese in the top to hold it together. That was just ok, not recommended. In the ended i was not a big fan. The peppers were just too thick. Bitting into it was like biting into a green pepper, but hotter!

Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1 tablespoon bacon bits
  • jalapeno peppers, top cut off, seeded
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup dry bread crumbs
  • 2 quarts oil for frying

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a medium bowl, mix Cheddar cheese and bacon bits. Spoon this mixture into the jalapeno peppers.
  2. Put the milk and flour into two separate small bowls. Dip the stuffed jalapenos first into the milk then into the flour, making sure they are well coated with each. Allow the coated jalapenos to dry for about 10 minutes.
  3. Dip the jalapenos in milk again and roll them through the breadcrumbs. Allow them to dry, then repeat to ensure the entire surface of the jalapeno is coated.
  4. In a medium skillet, heat the oil to 365 degrees F ( 180 degrees C). Deep fry the coated jalapenos 2 to 3 minutes each, until golden brown. Remove and let drain on a paper towel.

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Dill Dip

Jun 14

Posted by nwilker in Recipes | No Comments

Who knew it was this easy!  Recently i bought a packet of dill dip mix. For a $1.

I didn’t think much of it…  After i made it and loved it i thought…  you know, i bet i could make this…

So i did a quick search, found some recipes and ended up with this one (i of course modified!)

Dill Dip

1 cup sour cream
1 tbsp. dill weed
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1 tsp. seasoned salt – i think 1/2 tsp is better!
1 tsp. onion powder
dash garlic powder

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Ready to eat immediately, but tastes best after setting about an hour to let spices mingle.

I amaze myself sometimes as what i will pay for when i have all the ingredients in my cabinet!

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