Berries with Champagne Cream

This week's baking challenge is "elegant". That can be interpreted so many ways. I have many websites that send me daily emails with recipes, and this was one that came in this week. It looked so pretty and "elegant" that I decided to give it a try.

Here is the recipe.The only thing I did different was cut the recipe in half and I added about 1/4 cup of sugar to the whipped cream.

Hubby and I enjoyed this, so I will be making it again at some point.

*Chicken Fried Rice

Week 2 of the challenge is Chinese. I want to do two different dishes this week. This will be my "American" Chinese food, and my next offering will be more of an authentic Chinese dish.

Here is my chicken fried rice...

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
a handful of carrots, diced
1/2 cup scallions, sliced
1 can stir fry corn (baby corn)
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen edamame
4 cloves of garlic, minced
about 1 tbsp of freshly grated ginger
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups cooked brown rice, cook this the day before, or at least about an hour before and stick it in the fridge asap. That's what I did.
sesame oil
soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Prep all the components before you start to cook so that they are all ready and waiting to be used.

Get the wok hot and add about 2 tbsp sesame oil. When the wok is hot, add the chicken. Cook until starting to brown and no longer pink, throughout.

Remove the chicken and set aside.

Add another tbsp sesame oil, then add the onions, garlic and ginger. Cook until onions are translucent.

Add the carrots, peas, edamame, corn and half of the scallions.

Add about 1/3 cup of soy sauce. Cook until the veggies are hot and tender.

Add the chicken back in with the veggies, then add the rice.

Stir the mixture every few minutes as it cooks. When it starts to brown, make a whole in the center of it all and add the eggs.

As the egg starts to set mix it in with the rest of the stuff, and cook until done.

Add the remaining scallions and serve. I also made some fried dumplings (store bought) and pan fried tofu to go with my fried rice.

*This can be done as a vegetarian dish if you just eliminate the chicken. You could also add cubed tofu for extra protein or just add more eggs.

Scotch Eggs

There is a challenge I've decided to take on called "52 Weeks of Cooking". Each week there will be a different theme/ingredient/cooking method. I'd like to try to make something each week that I've never made before and add it to the blog. This week's ingredient is eggs. I've done scrambled, omelets, stratas, but I've never done scotch eggs, so that's what I decided on.

So here goes my version of scotch eggs...

8 eggs, hard boiled and peeled
1/2 cup of flour
2 lbs sausage (I used Jimmy Dean pork sausage with sage)
2 eggs beaten
4 pieces of bread, made into bread crumbs
vegetable oil for frying

I cut each package of sausage into four equal pieces.

I also find that it is easier to prepare anything when you have already prepped all the ingredients.

Either have a small bowl of water handy or just use the sink as I did. Wet the eggs, then rolls them in the flour to get a nice coating.

Next, flatten out 1/4 lb of sausage then wrap the sausage around the egg, making sure there are no open spots.

Now gently roll the egg in the beaten eggs, then roll it in bread crumbs.

Heat the oil until it's hot enough for a quick fry (I heated the oil at about med-high on my stove).  Slowly add the eggs, one at a time and turn as they brown on each side. 

When browned on all over, remove to a plate with a paper towel to drain the excess oil, then place on a pan in the oven on a low setting to keep warm while the rest cook.

I served these with hash browns, fresh fruit and a nice, spicy mustard.