Chicken Gravy

Chicken Gravy

Oil from cooked chicken

Flour

Milk

Salt

Chicken bullion

When you are finished frying your chicken do not remove the oil or clean the pan. Instead take 2 table spoons of flour and mix it well with a cup of cold water. Pour this into the pan with the oil. Bring it to a boil. Add as much milk as you need to make the amount of gravy that you want.  Add one teaspoon of chicken bouillon (I use Better Than Bullion from Costco). The gravy should thicken as you stir it. Add salt to taste.  Serve over Crispy Garlic Chicken or Creamy Mashed Potatoes. 

Crispy Garlic Chicken Cutlets

Crispy Garlic Chicken Cutlets

Serves 3 to 4

Look for cutlets that are between 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch thick or make your own by slicing 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in half horizontally.

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 garlic cloves , minced, plus 6 cloves peeled and smashed

6 thin-cut, boneless, skinless chicken cutlets (about 1 1/4 pounds), trimmed

3 slices hearty white sandwich bread , torn into large pieces

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 large egg whites

1 tablespoon garlic powder

4 tablespoons cornstarch

Salt and pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Combine 3 tablespoons oil, minced garlic, and cutlets in a zip-lock bag and

refrigerate while preparing remaining ingredients. Pulse bread in food

processor until coarsely ground. Bake bread crumbs on baking sheet until

dry, about 20 minutes.

2. Spread flour in shallow dish. In another shallow dish, whisk egg whites

until foamy. Combine bread crumbs, garlic powder, and cornstarch in third

shallow dish. Remove cutlets from bag and season with salt and pepper. One at a time, coat cutlets lightly with flour, dip in egg whites, and dredge in crumbs, pressing to adhere. Place cutlets on wire rack set over baking sheet and let dry 5 minutes.

3. Heat 1/2 cup oil and 3 smashed garlic cloves in large nonstick skillet

over medium heat until garlic is lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Discard

garlic and fry 3 cutlets until crisp and deep golden, about 2 minutes per

side. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate and place in warm oven. Discard

oil, wipe out skillet, and repeat with remaining oil, garlic cloves, and

cutlets. Serve.

Save the garlic oil for chicken gravy.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

5 to 7 Potatoes (2 per person)

Butter

Milk

Salt

Decide if you want your potatoes peeled or not. We like ours with the skins on because that is where all the nutrients are. If you are not peeling them scrub them real good. If you do peel them rise them after you have removed the peels.

Cut the potatoes into bite sized diced pieces.  Put them in a large pan. Add enough water to cover them and then turn the burner onto high. Cook the potatoes until you remove one and you can smash them easily with a fork. Or you can taste one and see if you like the texture.

When the potatoes are done to your liking, strain them in a colander removing all of the water. Place the drained potatoes back into the pan and add several pats of butter, at least ¼ a cup.  Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes. When the butter is melted add the milk, at least half a cup. Then add salt. Taste the potatoes and keep adding these three ingredients until you like how they taste. Be careful with the milk because you don’t want them to be too runny. Also don’t add the milk while the potatoes are still steaming or the texture will come out wrong. If you don’t have a potato masher you can mash them with a large spoon or a fork.

Goes great with chicken gravy

If you need to make the potatoes ahead of time you can keep them warm in the crockpot for up to 3 hours on a low setting. Try to stir them every hour. You will have steaming potatoes when it is time to eat. 

Crockpot Coffee Cake

Crockpot Coffee Cake

Batter:

1 ½ cups flour

2 ½ cups baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 egg

¾ cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

½ cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:

½ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup flour

¼ cup butter, softened

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.  Beat eggs until frothy. Beat in the sugar and butter. Beat until well blended. Add the milk and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients slowly; do not over mix or it will be dry. Pour into a well greased crockpot. (I rub butter along the bottom and sides.

Mix together the topping ingredients and pour over the batter, spreading evenly, but do not mix it in with the batter.

Cover the crock pot for two hours turning it on low. Check after 1 ½ hours.  It is done with the sides are crisp and it is not longer gooey in the middle. Try not to lift the lid too often or it will not cook evenly. 

Chocolate Covered Bananas

I was bugging Chris one night  to find us a snack. I usually have only one rule when it comes to snacks: it must always involve chocolate. One night we were almost completely out of chocolate (yes, my world was coming to an end) and Chris came up with this quick and simple snack.

1 banana
2 tablespoons of Nestquick chocolate milk powder

1. Split the banana in half long ways and place it on a plate
2. Sprinkle the banana with the chocolate powder
3. Place the banana in the freezer for 15 minutes until chilled. 

The first time we made this we froze the banana competly and it was to hard to bite into. We have also tried it without putting it in the freezer and came to the conclution that 15 minutes is just enough to chill it.

Enjoy. This is a quick, simple and not too unhealthy snack.

Skillet Spaghetti

Spaghetti is one of the easier items to make while you are in Korea. I found all of the ingredients at Lotte Mart. Here are some tips to save money. First decided which sauce you want to use. I didn't care for the flavor of the Korean spaghetti sauce so I bought the American one. The difference is about 3,000 won. So try the Korean sauce and see if you like it. I also tried Hines Original Spaghetti sauce in a packet and it was very plain. I tried it because it was only 1,000 won. I like the Rinaldi Sauce the best. I find it ironic that it is what I use in Korea, because I used to buy it in America and it was the cheapest jar. Now it is the most expensive. Another way so save money on sauce is to buy the Costco giant-sized plastic container of Prego Sauce. It is large enough for about three meals. This works if you have the freezer space for the left overs.

You can make your spaghetti right from the jar. Sometimes I use the jar and add some of my own seasonings like oregano and fennel. You can also make your own spaghetti sauce in the Crock pot. I will post a link when I decide to make that version of it. I only recently found canned tomatoes. They don't have them at Lotte Mart but I found them at Home Plus. I will have to check out the prices and see if it is worth making your own.

For the meat you can buy the hamburger at LotteMart or you can get it at Costco. It is cheaper to buy it at Costco. We buy a large pack sperate it into 1/2 lb servings, place them in individul zip lock bags, put all the smaller bags in a larger freezer zip lock and place them in the freezer.



1 jar of Spaghetti Sauce
1 package of spaghetti noodles
1/2 lb of hamburger
1 tbs oregano (optional)
1 tbs fennel (optional)
1 onion diced (optional)
1 tbs garlic minced (optional)
1/2 tbs salt (optional)
1 tbs olive oil (optional)

1.  Brown the hamburger until it is no longer pink
2. Add the onion and cook until soft
3. Add the jar of spaghetti sauce and the remaining ingredients. 
4. You can serve it right away over noodles or let it simmer for a whole day. The longer you let it simmer the better it will taste. If you don't add your own seasonings don't worry about simmering it.
5. To cook the pasta bring a large pot of water to a boil. 
6. Add the desired amount of noodles. You can break them in half to help them fit in your pan.
7. Cook until desired doneness. About 10 minutes.
8. You can add olive oil to the pot to keep the noodles from sticking. 
9. When the noodles are done serve them with the spaghetti sauce over it. 

Skillet Fried Rice

I love fried rice. This is one of those dishes where you open up your refrigerator and pantry and see what you can throw into the pan. It is great if you have left over white rice.

2 cups of cooked white rice

2 Tbs of butter

2 eggs

The following items are optional:

1 can of corn

1 can of spam, ham, cubed chicken or bacon

Mushrooms of your choice

1/4 cup of white or green onions

Any left over vegatables you might have

Sea salt or salt

1. Heat the butter in a large skillet on medium heat
2. Add the rice and fry
3. Add all other ingreadents except the egg and cook until soft
4. Beat the eggs in a bowl
5. When all other items are cooked create a well in the middle of your skilllet and scramble the eggs.
6. When the eggs are cooked mix them with the rest of the mixture. 
7. For flavoring you can add a little soy sauce or season salt. 

You can make this for any meal or use it as a side dish

Skillet Salmon (Quick)

When I first started making salmon I tried all kind of recipes from different cook books. I added different spices and tried it BBQed and even in foil packets. Finally not long after we were married Chris admitted that he just preferred his salmon cooked plain. So here is the world's simplest salmon recipe.

We try to eat salmon once a week. When we were in America we bought indually frozen packets of Atlantic salmon from Costco. Unforutally due to import taxes the price is doubled at the Costco in Korea and we could no longer justify purchasing it. Not long after this disappointment I found the seafood section at Lottemart. They have fresh salmon steaks for reasonable prices.

2 large fresh salmon steaks
Season salt

1. Sprinkle an unheated skillet with season salt
2. Place salmon steaks on top of the season salt
3. Turn the burner on medium
4. Sprinkle season salt on the top side of the steaks
5. Cook for 5 to 7 minites until the salmon is cooked 3/4 of the way on the edge then turn it
6. Cook on second side for about 4 to 6 minutes
7. Serve with rice. We sometimes sprinkle the leftover salmon juice on white rice. 

This is great served with Green Beans and Mushrooms click here for the recipe.

Skillet Ramen Noodles with Steak

Growing up I often enjoyed packages of ramen noodles for lunch. When I went away to college I started to learn all kinds of variations and ways to fancy up this bacholor meal. Ramen noodles are very popular in Korea. I am amazed at the large selection of different types of ramen packages that you can find in Korea. My husband created the following recipe. Why? Well if any recipe does not have meat in it Chris finds a way to add it.

2 packages of instant Ramen noodles of your choose
2 slices of steak or cut up beef in cubes
Salt or season salt
2 Tbs of butter

1. Open the ramen package and set aside the season and dried vegetable packets.
2. Cook the noodles for about 7 minutes or until the desired doneness. Do not overcook them or they will be soggy.
3. While the noodles are cooking heat a large skillet.
4. Add the cubed beef to the skillet and sprinkle with season salt or regular salt
5. Cook stiring constantly until the meat is brown and no longer pink inside. 
6. When the noodles are done drain the water from them. 
7. Toss the noodles with butter and the seasoning packet in a bowl. 
8. Add the meat to the noodle mixture and enjoy. 

We have made this recipe with several variations. Sometimes we do not buy cubed steak. Instead we buy regular steaks cook them and eat the noodles with butter as a side dish. When we were in America we made a similar dish and also added frozen vegetables.

We do not use the extra dried vegetables packages that come with Korean ramen. Since we drain the water they do not get soft enough. I save them to put in soups later.

Chris likes the spicy noodles and I like the mild ones. To solve this problem we boil the two packs of noodles together and them mix them with the spice packets separately.

Skillet Brownies

We were given several boxes of brownie mix in one of our first care packages from America. We struggled with how we could cook them since we don't have an oven. At first we tried using our toaster oven. All I can say is that it was a disaster. So Chris came up with the idea of cooking the brownies in a skillet. Yes, at this point we were desperate to eat brownies.

1 box of brownie mix
Eggs (amount the box calls for)
Oil (Also the amount called for on the box)

1. Mix all of the ingredients as listed on the back of the brownie box, except omit the water. 
2. Heat a large skillet on low heat
3. Place spoon fulls of brownie mix in the pan in the shape of cookie.
4. Treat them like pancakes. Cook them for a long time on low heat on the first side. Then when they look done flip them over and cook them for only a few minutes on the other side. 

If you are not able to get brownie mixes from the states don't buy them in Korea. They are about 9,000 won which is equivilant to 8 or 9 American dollars. On the same isle as the brownie mixes you can find almost all the ingredients that you need to make your own mix.

For a gluten-free brownie recipe try Gluten-Free Almond Flour Brownies