Tag: ARWB
Katie Clifton: Kenyan Chicken Curry {Foodie Friday}
Four years ago, in July of 2011, my husband and I served in Kenya on a short term mission trip. We had no idea how the Lord would use two weeks in East Africa to change the trajectory of our lives. It was in Kenya, where the Lord first called my husband to ministry. It was in Kenya, where the Lord solidified our call to adoption. It was in Kenya, He started teaching us to prioritize our lives to honor Him. The Lord tied our hearts to this country.
Most recently, I have joined the American staff of African Christian Outreach. I leave September 28 to spend 2 weeks in Kenya working along side our Kenyan staff to vision forecast, plan and pray for the next steps the Lord wants us to take in East Africa and beyond. Kenya is most commonly known for child slavery, orphans, poverty and most recently- terrorism. But Kenya is also a beautiful country, rich in color, love, and flavor.
I am certain your taste buds will love this authentic Kenyan dish as much as I do.
Kenyan Chicken Curry
2015-09-07 07:04:05
Kenyan Chicken Curry
- 3 pounds chicken
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 hot chili pepper, minced (add an extra pepper for more heat)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh garlic
- 2 tablespoons ginger (I prefer fresh ginger)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 1/2 cup cilantro
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, mix together onion, chilies, garlic and ginger. Mix/blend/process until all the lumps are gone and the sauce is smooth.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add processed sauce, cumin and curry powder to the warm olive oil stirring frequently to heat thoroughly and prevent burning.
- Mix in the tomato sauce and allow to simmer over low heat for an additional 5 minutes.
- Finally add in the raw chicken and coconut milk. Keep cooking temperature on low, stir well and cover.
- Cook until chicken is thoroughly done and tender anywhere from 30-60 minutes.
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/
My mouth is literally watering just thinking about all of the flavor in this chicken dish. I love spicy food, my husband not so much. I tell him often that he has a “baby mouth”. If you also have the spice capacity of an infant, then back off on the hot chili peppers. If you like to sweat while you eat, you will want to add all three.
Kenyan Coconut Rice
2015-09-07 07:08:34
Ingredients
- 2 cups long-grain rice
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons coconut milk for extra flavor
Instructions
- Mix together rice, coconut milk, water and sea salt in a large pan.
- Cook rice mixture over medium heat until it is boiling, stirring occasionally.
- Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the rice is done, approximately 20-25 minutes.
- Before serving rice, add in the additional 2 tablespoons of coconut milk and fluff with a fork.
Notes
- Spoon the Coconut Rice onto a plate and top with a heaping spoonful of Kenyan Chicken Curry.
- Serve and eat while warm.
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/
If you are quick in the kitchen, you should have about 15-20 minutes of down time while you wait for each dish to completely cook. This would be the perfect time for you to visit www.acokenya.org. (Yes, I know. Shameless plug.) You can learn more about our ministry in East Africa and learn how you can become a mission partner. If you would like to serve with us next summer, please contact me so that we can turn your hopes into a reality.
Enjoy the aroma and flavor of East African cuisine.
Getting to Know Your ARWB Foodies What food reminds you of childhood?
Growing up I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. They gardened and my grandmother refused to buy anything she could grow herself. When I think of my favorite childhood foods I remember my taste buds falling in love with fried okra, corn bread, turnip greens, squash and eggplant. These aren’t typical foods that kids love but I have fond memories of sitting at the kitchen table with my grandparents and them being so proud of me for trying their vegetables. I have always wanted to cook like my grandmother. I think she is a big reason I enjoy cooking for my family now.
Growing up I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. They gardened and my grandmother refused to buy anything she could grow herself. When I think of my favorite childhood foods I remember my taste buds falling in love with fried okra, corn bread, turnip greens, squash and eggplant. These aren’t typical foods that kids love but I have fond memories of sitting at the kitchen table with my grandparents and them being so proud of me for trying their vegetables. I have always wanted to cook like my grandmother. I think she is a big reason I enjoy cooking for my family now.
What is your favorite international cuisine?
My favorite international cuisine is sushi. Hands down. I love fish and seafood, but when I think of Japenese cuisine I also think of art. It is as satisfying for me to look at, as it is for me to eat.
What is always in your refrigerator at home?
My refrigerator always has eggs, bacon, vegetables and apples. I can pretty much mix together a fast meal with these ingredients. Fast dinner ideas are a staple for our busy family.
What is your most used cookbook?
My most used cookbook is the one my grandmother made for me. It is a purple 3 ring binder a spiral notebook and post it notes used as divider tabs. She added recipes for my most favorite foods and gave me space to add more o my favorite recipes. I cherish my cookbook.
What is your favorite kitchen gadget?
Ha! My favorite kitchen gadget is my coffee pot. There are seasons in life where my coffee pot has by far been used more than anything else: colicky babies, my husband in seminary, a toddler with sleep disorders. A coffee maker is an absolute necessity.
Do you have a favorite food indulgence?
I love having the opportunity to have a date night with my husband and visiting new restaurants. We do not do it often, but we both love visiting restaurants that are making a name for themselves locally by hiring top chefs and creating unique food and flavor combinations.
What is your go-to ingredient that you use time and time again?
Garlic. Fresh or ground garlic is used almost daily in my kitchen.
What is your favorite food meal to cook at home?
I love making large meals for my family. All of my kids are great chicken eaters so I enjoy finding new recipes for chicken, making green beans with bacon, creamed potatoes, and adding fresh fruits. This type of meal gets everyone in my family excited to eat since it consists of their favorites.
What is a cooking tip that you would like to share with beginning cooks?
If you can read you can cook. Do not be afraid to try spices and dishes. Find cookbooks and websites that offer meals you enjoy eating and begin there.
When you’re not cooking, what are your favorite pastimes?
I’m a mom to 4, a business owner and a missions advocate. My husband works full time and is also a bivocational church plant pastor. Our lives feel like a merry-go-round most of the time. So, I think taking time for myself is very important (although rare at times). My favorite hobby is running. It is therapy for me. It relieves stress, helps me feel better and encourages me to fuel my body better as well.
What else would you like us to know about you?
I am thankful for the opportunity to share some of my favorite recipes with you.
Connect with Katie:
ARWB member Katie Clifton is a native Arkansan. She serves as the Missions Advocate for African Christian Outreach and is a church planting pastor’s wife at Renew Church in Benton. Katie advocates for adoption and building bridges for interracial unity within her community. She is a Jesus lover, writer, speaker and lover of all things flea market. You can find Katie’s writing at Mire and Manna.
Contact her at:
And partner with her in ministry at:
Sunday Link-Up {Sept 6, 2015)
Dishin’ it with Chef Matt McClure: Watermelon Gazpacho {Foodie Friday}
At the Hive, I often preach about celebrating the season. Here, we write ingredient-driven menus. This means that what is ripe and coming out of the ground is what we will be working with for tonight’s dinner. During the summer months, this philosophy is easy to manage with a great variety of produce coming in the door from our local farmers. The Arkansas climate gives us a long growing season and produces some of the most delicious fruits and vegetables I have ever tasted. Going to the farmer’s market and seeing these foods inspire me. It’s a great season, with lots of opportunity to play with new ingredients and create fun, new dishes. We are also busy preserving the season by making peach butter, ground cherry jam, blueberry jam, pickled cucumbers, green tomatoes and green beans. I refer to it as building our pantry. Having these house made items on hand to pull from later in the season keeps our menu fresh during the winter months when there is not much growing. This kind of cooking gives us the opportunity to offer our guests a unique Arkansas culinary experience.
I feel that the history of food and cooking in Arkansas is humble and honest. My grandmother had a garden, fruit trees and some livestock in her backyard. She would pick blackberries from wild bushes nearby. Eating local and preserving the harvest weren’t tag lines then. It was just life in rural Arkansas. That sense of time and place has motivated me to cook the way I cook.
In developing the recipe for this Watermelon Gazpacho, we wanted to utilize several ingredients that can be found at the market at the same time. This recipe is completely dependent on the quality and freshness of the produce used. It is fairly easy to prepare, but does require a little planning ahead. Watermelons have a unique flavor– they are sweet with a crunchy texture. We balance this sweetness with a little red wine vinegar. The vegetables are all rough cut in similar sizes and seasoned with a little salt and vinegar. This is allowed to steep overnight to develop all of the flavors and “cook” the vegetables. Gazpacho isn’t supposed to be fancy salsa. Once the vegetables have marinated overnight, the sachet of aromatics is removed and the vegetables are pureed. This is seasoned with salt, olive oil and red wine vinegar. This is a soup that is great for summer’s hot weather. It’s served chilled and is very refreshing.
Watermelon Gazpacho
2015-08-20 07:08:30
Serves 10
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 watermelons, peeled and fleshed
- 2 cucumbers, peeled
- 8-10 tomatillos, paper removed, rinsed and quartered
- 3 Fresno chilies
- 3 pounds red bell peppers
- 1 red onion
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar (adjust to taste)
- 1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil (adjust to taste)
- Kosher salt to taste
Sachet
- 5 sprigs basil
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ Jalapeno, split
Instructions
- Cut and marinate all vegetables in salt and vinegar for at least 1 hour.
- Puree vegetables with stick blender.
- Add sachet and leave in soup for 8-12 hours while in refrigerator.
- After 12 hours, remove sachet and run through a food mill to remove seeds and large chunks.
- Blend in extra-virgin olive oil and adjust seasoning to taste.
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/
Matthew McClure
The Hive
What food reminds you of childhood?
My grandmother’s scrambled eggs. They had so much flavor and were so creamy. Finally, I learned her secret, which was Philadelphia cream cheese. Delicious!
What is your favorite international cuisine?
Mexican, Indian, Korean…I could never choose which one I like more. They all cook with inexpensive cuts of meat and spice them aggressively with their own cultural blends.
What is always in your refrigerator at home?
I always have some sort of pickled vegetable.
What is your most used cookbook?
The Flavor Bible, by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg. Our menu at The Hive is very ingredient driven. I go to the farmers market, find the foods that I feel look and taste best, and then we change the menu. This book gives great suggestions of different flavors that pair well with each other.
What is your favorite kitchen gadget?
My Pacojet. It makes the smoothest ice creams and sorbets.
Do you have a favorite food indulgence?
Many…fried chicken, an Indian dish called Bhindi Masala, which is an amazing okra dish. Last meal material.
What is your go-to ingredient that you use time and time again?
I love to use a variety of dried chilis. Guajillo, marash and Calabrian my go-tos.
What is your favorite food meal to cook at home?
For comfort food, chicken and rice is a house speciality. I also love making fresh masa tortillas and homemade Mexican food.
What is a cooking tip that you would like to share with beginning cooks?
Always taste your food throughout the cooking process. Also, make sure you have a sharp knife, brand doesn’t matter.
When you’re not cooking, what are your favorite pastimes?
Fishing, canoeing, hiking and cycling. I really enjoy being outside.
What else would you like us to know about you?
I’m on a mission to prove that Arkansas food has a place at the national leConnect with Matt and The Hive:
Twitter: @MatthewrMcClure
@21CBentonville
FB: The Hive
FB: Matt
Instagram: Matt
21C Museum Hotels
Matthew McClure, featured chef at #AWBU #Foodie Friday 14, was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, where hunting, fishing and his grandmother’s cooking ignited his passion for food. After studying at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, he settled in Boston working at a number of restaurants including Troquet, Harvest and No.9 Park under the direction of Barbara Lynch.
After years in Boston, Matt was eager to get back to his home state to reconnect with the ingredients and foodways of his childhood. He returned to Little Rock where he worked under Lee Richardson at Ashley’s at the CapitalHotel, developing strong relationships with local farmers and producers and rediscovering the agricultural resources of his home state.
In 2012, he was selected to open The Hive located at 21c Museum Hotel. His cooking is reflective of both the history and geography of Arkansas as well as new immigrant communities and their influence on the culinary landscape. His longstanding and outspoken commitment to support local farmers and purveyors has cemented his position as a notable champion for Arkansas’s burgeoning culinary renaissance. Matt was a Semifinalist for the 2015 James Beard Foundation Best Chef: South award and named FOOD & WINE The People’s Best New Chef in the Midwest region. He is also an active member of the Southern Foodways Alliance.
About The Hive
The Hive featuresexecutive chef and Arkansasnative Matthew McClure’s take on refined country cooking, and seeks to articulate the unique culinary identity of Arkansas. McClure has developed a program that is true to the High South and showcases the region’s farmers and culinary landscape, highlighting local ingredients such as black walnuts, sweet onions, freshly milled corn meal, hickory smoked hams, peaches and melons. McClure’s menu is a contemporary take on the foods and ways of cooking that are familiar to the region such as pickling and preserving, making jam, and sourcing whole animals whenever possible.
The restaurant is located in the 21c Museum Hotel, at 200 NE A Street in Bentonville, Arkansas. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 479.286.6575.
Laurie Marshall: Yum Salad {Foodie Friday}
I was twelve years old the first time I ever ate a salad. In fact, before that year, I am not sure I really knew what a salad was. My mom was a pretty no-nonsense kind of cook, and we ate a lot of easy meals that mom could make in her sleep. But when I was twelve, she was dating a man who had fancier food tastes than we had typically been able to support on a single-parent budget, and we started eating salad.
Fast-forward a lot of years that I won’t tally up for you, and I am now a fan of salads. Thank goodness for that fancy-food man, who eventually became my step-dad. The biggest turning point came when I discovered that salads can be made with greens other than iceberg lettuce. It was an evolutionary step on my culinary timeline to learn that some lettuce actually has flavor and texture and doesn’t require half a cup of salad dressing to make it palatable.
This recipe for Yum Salad is a variation on a dish I get at my local Thai restaurant. I love the flavor of the dressing – a complex mingling of sweet, savory, tangy and spicy. It is a great base for any protein you want to add, but I chose some boneless pork chops when I made it this week.
/Most restaurants will serve this salad over iceberg lettuce, which immediately starts to get floppy once the dressing is applied. I use fresh spinach and arugula to add body to the greens. The peppery flavor of the arugula also comes through to up the flavor quotient. I add tomatoes to mine, and if you don’t have chiles available, you can substitute a squirt of sriracha.
Yum Salad
2015-08-04 20:51:29
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds boneless pork chops
- ½ Tablespoon vegetable oil
- ¼ cup shallot or sweet onion, sliced thin
- 3 Tablespoon chopped cilantro (leaves and stems)
- 1 medium cucumber, seeded and sliced
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 3-4 cups arugula and spinach greens
- 1 clove garlic, pressed or finely minced
- 2 Thai chiles, minced (or 1 Tablespoon sriracha)
- 2 Tablespoons very thinly sliced lemongrass
- 1.5 teaspoons light brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons fish sauce
- 2.5 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
Instructions
- Start by crushing the garlic (this is why the press is helpful), and smashing it together with the chile peppers on your cutting board. You can use a knife to do this or a small spoon.
- After you slice the lemongrass, bruise it a bit with the dull side of your knife to help draw out the oils that are full of flavor. Put the garlic paste in a small bowl and add lemongrass, fish sauce, lime juice and brown sugar. Whisk together and set aside as you work on the rest of the dish. All those flavors will start to come together and your kitchen will smell amazing.
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan and add protein of your choice – in this case, pork. If you’re using pork or chicken, cook the meat thoroughly on both sides. For beef, it’s okay to leave it a little pink in the middle. Remove from pan and let the meat rest for a few minutes while you spread your greens over your platter.
- Once your meat has rested, slice it into thin strips, place in a large bowl, and add the shallots, cilantro, tomatoes and cucumber. Pour dressing over the meat and veggies and toss until everything is covered.
- Spoon meat and veggie mix over the greens on your platter, pour any dressing in the bowl over the top, and serve alone, or with rice on the side.
Notes
- This dish keeps well in the fridge, and would make a great wrap for lunch the next day!
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/
Getting to Know Your ARWB Foodies
Laurie Marshall
Junque Rethunque
See Laurie Write
What food reminds you of childhood?
Tuna fish patties and Kraft mac and cheese. We were on a budget, and my mother made tuna patties (croquets to the fancy people) often. They had crushed saltines in them and were crispy golden brown on the outside. Mom had certain combinations of foods that were always served together, and Kraft mac and cheese was always a side dish for the tuna patties. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get my family to appreciate the perfection of this dish.
What is your favorite international cuisine?
Indian, Thai and Mexican – I love the meaty-ness of the dishes, contrasted with complex spice and herbs. I could eat these every day for every meal and be perfectly content.
What is always in your refrigerator at home?
Eggs, half-n-half, and 384 jars of pickles and mustards. I’m not sure what’s up with that last one…
What is your most used cookbook?
Epicurious.com, to be honest… although most of my cooking is done by the seat of my pants. I do have a cookbook from the 20s that has my grandmother’s name embossed on it. The name was put on when it was rebound at some point. There are not a ton of recipesin it that I want to try, but I love love love having it. 🙂
What is your favorite kitchen gadget?
Hmmm… I am pretty low-tech, really. I use my vegetable peeler a lot, but my blender and food processor get dusty. If a crock pot is a gadget, that’s probably my favoritebecause of how it saves my butt when I am too busy to spend time preparing a meal.
Do you have a favorite food indulgence?
Locally roasted coffee beans and dark chocolate. My husband has a sweet tooth but doesn’t like dark chocolate, so those two things are about the only things I can keep around that I know he won’t steal.
What is your go-to ingredient that you use time and time again?
I have been putting curry powder in everything lately, and enjoying the sweetness it adds to spicy dishes. But my home-canned tomatoes are always easy to grab as an ingredient for something awesome.
What is your favorite food meal to cook at home?
This changes all the time (remember, I said I fly by the seat of my pants). But a couple of favorites are homemade chicken pot pie and crock pot pork roast with rotel and potatoes.
What is a cooking tip that you would like to share with beginning cooks?
Watch Food Network. Seriously – I have become so much more experimental (successfully, too!) since I have become of fan of shows like Top Chef and Chopped. I discover new ingredients, which I will probably never use, but they talk about combining flavors and ingredients and that has helped me learn what to play with in my own kitchen. Also, the measurements listed in the recipe are important. That’s all I will say about that.
When you’re not cooking, what are your favorite pastimes?
I am a writer and artist, and love to be making and creating something. My family and I enjoy getting out and hiking on local trails, and I am a big movie buff – love to binge watch movies, but I hardly ever have time.
What else would you like us to know about you?
My mantra, which may be a good reminder to others – “It’s never to late to be what you might have been.” It’s a quote by the writer George Elliot, and it rings true with me every single day. There are things we put off as moms and we need to remember that no matter what you are focused on today – kids, family, work, parents who need you… you can continue to make tiny steps forward and one day those steps will add up and you will be on top of a hill you thought you would never be able to climb. Keep moving. 🙂
Connect with Laurie:
Twitter JunqueRethunque
Twitter LaurieMMarshall
Instagram JunqueRethunque
Instagram See Laurie Write
Pinterest JunqueRethunque
Pinterest Laurie Marshall
In addition to her love for a perfectly turned phrase, Laurie Marshall has a passion for reusing and repurposing, and may get a little too excited about power tools and the wall of paint chips at her local h
Laurie lives in Northwest Arkansas where her mother was a majorette in the high school band and her grandmother inspired her love for homemade and handmade. She is spoiled by the availability of locally-grown foods in her community. Being the decision-maker for dinner every night wears her out, but, thanks to Food Network, she still enjoys experimenting with new flavors and concoctions. She prides herself on the fact that no one has gotten ill after eating her food.ome improvement store. She graduated from the BA program in Creative Writing at the University of Arkansas in 2007 at the ripe old age of 39, and after spending six years working at a desk job (that she loved!), she took the leap and began her freelancing career. Her work has been published on VisitRogersArkansas.com, Ta
Sunday Link-Up {August 2, 2015}
Lyndi Fultz: A Perfect Picnic {Foodie Friday}
What makes a perfect picnic? And who says it has to be perfect?
Instead of starting with the quest for perfection, let us chat for a minute about the topic of picnics. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when I mention this phrase?
“Let’s go on a picnic!”
Was it a positive thought?
One filled with adventure?
Is it something that you picture your kid asking you with great excitement?
Does it sound like work?
Is it saved only for special occasions, like Mother’s Day or birthdays?
Do certain kinds of picnicking food immediately come to mind?
When was the last time you went on a picnic?
When I was a kid, growing up in the Piedmont of North Carolina, money was tight and meals were anything but frivolous. Get-togethers were often planned but more than often they just happened, simply for the joy of getting together and visiting.
There was a tucked-away park in town that wasn’t really a park. It was more of a wooded low spot with a few picnic tables across the street from a wooded neighborhood. The more I think about it, it probably was a park. The fancy parks with carousels were saved for school field trips but this park felt like it belonged to mom and me. As the youngest I was often the only sibling tag-along with mom and her grocery shopping trips and library visits. Fast foods were not an option for us so mom always had an igloo filled with essentials. For us, essentials meant a thermos of milk, peanuts with raisins, and cheese slices. If it were a particularly busy day we would eat our igloo meal in some random parking lot with the windows rolled down in our station wagon. Some days were special. Extra special. Mom would take our wagon down the road and turn on to the street that entered that wooded neighborhood and I knew immediately it was picnic day.
Same igloo. Same old milk jug, same old jar of peanuts and raisins, and chunk of cheese. Only this day was different.
This day was picnic day.
What makes a perfect picnic?
Having one.
I just realized that I don’t picnic anymore. I have grown up and moved away from the igloo. So what happened? Did I get caught up in the fast paced life of adulthood? Moved on to thinking events have to be too planned and too perfect?
I asked my kindergarten niece Jocelyn the other day about picnics. I wondered if she had ever been on one. She had, at grandma’s house. I asked her where she thought a perfect picnic would be and what food did she think was the perfect picnic food.
For the record, it is in the woods and it is cake.
Get out there and start playing. If you see me, come saddle up next to me on the picnic table and I will pour you some milk.
With cake.
Happy picnicking.
Lyndi
Getting to Know Your ARWB Foodies
Lyndi Fultz
nwafoodie.com
What food reminds you of childhood?
cheese omelets
When I was a kid, my mom made runny, undercooked, boring scrambled eggs. I decided to take matters in my own hands and learned how to 1) make dry scrambled eggs and 2) kicked it up a notch and learned how to make cheese omelets. Never again did I have runny, undercooked, boring scrambled eggs. Thanks Mom!
What is your favorite international cuisine?
slow food from France and Italy
I like the country rustic fare from just about anywhere: fresh fish plucked from the sea, lightly but perfectly seasoned, wine with brie and fruit and long conversations, and whole chicken simmered in broth with garlic. I can appreciate fancy food yet I fall in love with simplicity that is delicious.
What is always in your refrigerator at home?
good, grass-fed butter
whole whipping cream
Parmesan cheese
farm eggs
large curd cottage cheese
whole milk plain yogurt
brussel sprouts
thyme
minced garlic in a jar (what, you didn’t think I always mince my own garlic, did you?)
What is your most used cookbook?
Cook’s Illustrated
What is your favorite kitchen gadget?
santoku knife
Do you have a favorite food indulgence?
fried chicken, yes please
What is your go-to ingredient that you use time and time again?
fresh thyme
What is your favorite food meal to cook at home?
pan slow-cooked paillard chicken in broth with balsamic and dijon
What is a cooking tip that you would like to share with beginning cooks?
Sign up for Cook’s Illustratedbecause they will absolutely teach you how to cook
When you’re not cooking, what are your favorite pastimes?
kayaking, fishing or just hanging out in the lake, remodeling, landscaping, going for drives with my husband and hanging out with family.
What else would you like us to know about you?
I need a clutter-free zone to function properly.
Connect with Lyndi:
Twitter: @nwafoodie
FB: nwafoodie
Instagram: nwafoodie
Pinterest: Lyndi (nwafoodie)
Amanda Fiveash: Ham Stuffed Chicken Breasts {Foodie Friday}
During the month of April, ARWB is highlighting one of our long-term supporters, Petit Jean Meats. Thanks PJM for all you do for us. Follow them on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.
Growing up in Arkansas, we were always excited when we knew Petit Jean meats were being served. Petit Jean really is synonymous with Arkansas, my memories are almost as thick as shelling purple hull peas with my family on our front porch. Whenever my mom would bake a Petit Jean ham, we would be so excited to eat on it for days. Mother would serve some leftover for sandwiches, but most of the leftovers were used to serve up some of our favorite meals.
I have followed in her footsteps in as many ways as possible and today, make many of those same meals. One of my family’s favorites is when I use leftover ham slices to stuff chicken breasts, you can even add some cheese to make it is somewhat like a chicken cordon bleu. It is really simple and even more so as I have found my family prefers it without breading.
You really only need a few simple ingredients to make a delicious main course your family will be asking for again and again.
Ham Stuffed Chicken Breasts
2015-04-22 06:02:33
Ingredients
- 4-5 chicken breasts or cutlets
- 4-5 Petit Jean ham slices
- 4-5 cheese slices (Swiss or another sharp cheese)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon and pepper
- 1-2 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
- If you are using full chicken breasts, cut the thickest part of the chicken breast in half. If it is still over an inch thick, sandwich it between two pieces of parchment paper and use a meat tenderizer to help flatten it a bit.
- Next layer a piece of ham followed by a slice of cheese.
- Starting at one end, begin to tightly roll the chicken in. Once you have rolled it, you can secure it with baking twine or toothpicks.
- Place into a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and then desired spices.
- Depending on the thickness of your chicken breast, bake 35-40 minutes or until 160 degrees internally. The cheese should be melted and dripping.
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/
It really is such a simple dish to prepare and yet the taste is amazing! My family loves it to be served with homemade macaroni and cheese, baked beans and vegetable sticks. The hardest part might indeed be deciding what to serve alongside these delicious stuffed chicken breasts!
You can also make more than what you need and freeze them for later. In this case I would suggest not using toothpicks or removing them once you flash freeze the chicken breasts. To freeze, after you have added your spices, place in a single layer on a flat sheet into the freezer. After 30-45 minutes, remove from the freezer and gently place in a freezer bag. This should allow you to remove just the amount you wish to prepare next time. If frozen, bake an additional 15-20 minutes.
Getting to Know Your ARWB Foodies
Amanda Fiveash
Our Homemade Life
What food reminds you of childhood?
There are oh, so many!
Cheese dip-my Mother’s favorite!
Strawberries-we use to pick them and eat more than made it into our baskets.
Purple hull peas-takes me back to sitting on the front porch and shelling them until my fingers were purple. Good times, great food and cherished memories are brought back when I smell them cooking.
What is your favorite international cuisine?
Mexican food has always been one of my favorite types of cuisine. It is amazing to me that they can use such simple ingredients (beans and rice) in so many dishes to make them delicious and flavorful.
What is always in your refrigerator at home?
Almond milk, goat cheese, carrots and celery
What is your most used cookbook?
It is one my mother gave me when I got married; it has a few of her notes added in the pages.
What is your favorite kitchen gadget?
Hard one…there are so many but I have to say I have a deep love for my slow cooker. It saves me on so many days!
Do you have a favorite food indulgence?
Chocolate! Anything with chocolate in it 🙂
What is your go-to ingredient that you use time and time again?
Coconut oil, it is amazing!
What is your favorite food meal to cook at home?
Pasta. My kids are always asking for spaghetti and meatballs.
What is a cooking tip that you would like to share with beginning cooks?
.Don’t be afraid to try. You will never know if it will be something amazing if you don’t attempt it. And it doesn’t always look pretty, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t absolutely delicious!
When you’re not cooking, what are your favorite pastimes?
I love to craft. My children and I are excellent creative mess makers.
What else would you like us to know about you?
While I am not a chef by any means, I love to take simple natural ingredients to feed my family wholesome meals. As a homeschooling family, we spend a lot of time in the kitchen and love to bake even more than we love to cook. My door is always open, but you are likely to find a pile of dishes in the sink. I firmly live by, “Please excuse my messes, we are busy making memories.”
Amanda was born in Arkansas and although lived in several other states, returned home to put down roots before starting her own family in Northern Arkansas. Her blog, Our Homemade Life is a creative outlet to share her adventures in motherhood from making messes with crafts and in the kitchen to homeschooling and their love of family travel
Connect with Amanda:
Twitter: @ourhomemadelife
FB: Our Homemade Life
Instagram: @ourhomemadelife
Keisha Pittman: Glorified Petit Jean Meats Ham Sandwiches {Foodie Friday}
During the month of April, ARWB is highlighting one of our long-term supporters, Petit Jean Meats. Thanks PJM for all you do for us. Follow them on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.
This weekend, many of us will gather with family and friends. There will be new Sunday dresses, Easter egg hunts and HAM!
If your family is like mine, there will be a big buffet with lots of white things, a few green things and a gigantic HAM that you haven’t seen the likes of, well since Christmas.
My mom makes sure we don’t waste anything after a big family day and that means interesting combinations of mac ‘n cheese, green beans and HAM. Seriously, she loves leftover night. Sometimes everything went on the kitchen counter with a pile of 4 plates and you just went through and picked out what you want (can you tell it was not my favorite dinner night….)
But, not this year…Glorified HAM Ssandwiches to the rescue. I had this recipe the first time when I lived in Arkadelphia. It was the best thing to feed hungry collegekids. It’s always good, always a luxurious flavor and never (ever) disappoints. I mean; how can you go wrong with Hawaiian Sweet rolls covered with butter and brown sugar!
This weekend it’s the perfect way to take care of that leftover Ham. Or, the perfect way to use Petit Jean Ham (in any form)…any day of the week. What I love most about this recipe are all the variations. I mean; it’s almost a competition with Sonic for the number of combinations!
Insights on variations:
Bread – can be leftover dinner rolls, hot dog buns, Hawaiian Sweet rolls or bread from a local bakery
Ham – sliced, thinly sliced lunch meat, chunky random pieces left off the bone
Cheese – Swiss is the original, provolone works as well and Pepper Jack kicks things up
Mustard – the original recipe calls for Dijon mustard; I prefer yellow. I’ve had a dark brown variation, but that cranberry mustard after Thanksgiving could be delightful
Whatever you do…make 2 pans…you are going to want to eat for 2 on this one!
Glorified Ham Sandwiches
2015-03-19 16:38:22
Ingredients
- 12 count large King’s Hawaiian Dinner Rolls
- 1 pound sliced ham
- 12 pieces sliced Swiss cheese
- ½ cup butter (1 stick)
- 2 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Cut rolls in half. (If they are connected, slice through the middle with one cut simultaneously to have one bottom and one top. You will cut them apart individually later)
- Place 6 slices of cheese on top of bottom of rolls.
- Cover with HAM, layering evenly.
- Place 6 more slices of cheese on top if ham. Cover with tops of rolls.
- In a medium sauce pan, combine butter, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and mustard.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat.
- Add poppy seeds and pour over rolls making sure to cover tops of rolls as it spreads to bottom of pan.
- Bake at 350 for 15 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.
- If you are cooking multiple pans, cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake 5 more minutes.
- Cut rolls apart and serve hot. Enjoy the ooey, gooey yumminess.
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/
Getting to Know our ARWB Foodies
Keisha Pittman
BigPittStop
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instagram – @bigpittstop
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What food reminds you of childhood?
Anything baked. My mom is a baker and she learned it all from her mom. The way they both expressed love was with yummy baked goodies. cookies, pies, cakes. It didn’t matter.
Also, Salisbury steak has to sneak in there. It was my favorite meal at daycare. Anytime my mom, sister and I are together this conversation comes up. And, yes we are talking about the “soy” patties covered with cafeteria brown gravy.
What is your favorite international cuisine?
Mexican is my first response, but since I’m really thinking Tex Mex I’m not sure it fits! I’m learning to love Thai food, something I didn’t even know existed until I moved to Northwest Arkansas. And, a new friend has introduced me to Bul-gogi, a Korean BBQ dish.
But, when I think about “International” food experiences, I’m taken back to my trip to Italy with my sister. We were determined to find the best Carbonara in the country, or a tleast that Venice, Florence and Rome had to offer. One of us ordered the dish at every sit down restaurant we attend (mostly because we knew what I was). I still dream about the meal at the blue awning restaurant next to St. Mark’s Cathedral. It was muy delicioso!
What is always in your refrigerator at home?
salsa, flavored creamer, balsamic vinaigrette and a block of cream cheese.
What is your most used cookbook?
“Mama Made it and So Do I” – a collection of my mother’s recipes! When I was first out of college, I was broke but thoughtful. It took me a couple years, but I typed up all my mother’s recipes and put them in a bound book. I was smart enough to make us all a copy and a few extras that we have to access now that we have dripped brownie batter and spaghetti sauce on the pages of the original copy!
And, I’d be remise not to include allrecipes.com – my digital cookbook when I get to the store and realize I have forgotten to add the ingredients of what I’m cooking to my shopping list!
What is your favorite kitchen gadget?
Kitchen Aid Mixer – most used
Garlic Press – most fascinating
Do you have a favorite food indulgence?
Brownies, chips and salsa, homemade frittatas and caprese salad, anything buffalo chicken, or covered with butter! So, maybe….
What is your go-to ingredient that you use time and time again?
Cream cheese, Tony Chachere’s and those herb pastes in a tube (Cilantro and Basil)
What is your favorite food meal to cook at home
Spaghetti with mini penne – must be homemade meat sauce and wheat pasta. Served with mixed power greens, balsamic dressing and garlic toast – the cheap kind covered with cheese!
What is a cooking tip that you would like to share with beginning cooks?
Read a recipe – taste it – make it your own
Your grandmother’s recipes are the best ones you will ever have
Make a mess – the food will taste better
When you’re not cooking, what are your favorite pastimes?
Writing, offering my opinion, mentoring, sewing, drinking too much coffee and taking pictures of “things”
What else would you like us to know about you?
I’m an open book. I can talk to a brick wall. I’m a 7-year cancer survivor. I don’t like snow days. I know that life is not about me; it’s about the journey God has me on for His glory. I’m most grateful for community and the gift of friendship. I like to sprinkle sunshine dust!
Laurie Marshall: Lentil Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Parsnips
My sister has a husband who is willing to try almost any kind of food – lucky her! Or, maybe it’s lucky him, since she is one of the best cooks I know. She is not afraid to experiment, loves to create her own recipes, and she makes bread from scratch too. I’m a little jealous of her kitchen skillz. Or, more accurately, the time and inclination she has to spend in the kitchen. Feel free to join me in directing some long-distance envious thoughts to the Pacific Northwest…
When she does make amazing food, she usually sends me a text with a picture of said food, and I always vow to pull out a notebook and start creating meal plans and utilizing the dozen or so cookbooks collecting dust in my kitchen. And I do that once, maybe twice, before falling back into the same old rut.
But once in a while I throw some things together in a crock pot that are deserving of accolades and the recording of the process and ingredients. This recipe is a result of one of those times. Don’t let the color throw you off, this concoction is savory and delicious and freezes brilliantly, making it a great make-ahead option.
On top of this soup being delicious, it is super simple and inexpensive to make. So, let’s get to the serious business. And feel free to share photos on social media when you make it yourself – you deserve to be on the receiving end of envious thoughts just as much as my sister.
Creamy Lentil Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Parsnips
2015-01-20 14:23:37
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups yellow lentils
- 2 cups diced sweet potato
- ½ cup diced parsnips
- 1 clove garlic, riced or smashed and finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- 2 cups vegetable broth (chicken broth can be substituted, if desired)
Instructions
- Soak the lentils as directed on the package, preparing for cooking. (I used yellow lentils, but any color is fine.)
- Drain the lentils and put them into a slow cooker with all of the remaining ingredients.
- Cook on your slow cooker’s low setting for six to eight hours, until lentils and other veggies are soft and mashable.
- Ladle soup into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth – it should only take a few seconds. Be sure to put the lid on the blender, even if it’s making a weird noise. Trust me on this. Depending on the size of your blender, you might have to do this step in a couple of batches.
- Serve your soup in a lovely handmade or vintage bowl, sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese, and enjoy it with some crusty bread.
- If you prefer your vegetables with a little more protein, add some sausage to the mix, but it is thick and savory enough to satisfy most folks without.
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/
Enjoy!
In addition to her love for a perfectly turned phrase, Laurie Marshall has a passion for reusing and repurposing, and may get a little too excited about power tools and the wall of paint chips at her local home improvement store. She graduated from the BA program in Creative Writing at the University of Arkansas in 2007 at the ripe old age of 39, and after spending six years working at a desk job (that she loved!), she took the leap and began her freelancing career. Her work has been published on VisitRogersArkansas.com, Ta
Laurie lives in Northwest Arkansas where her mother was a majorette in the high school band and her grandmother inspired her love for homemade and handmade. She is spoiled by the availability of locally-grown foods in her community. Being the decision-maker for dinner every night wears her out, but, thanks to Food Network, she still enjoys experimenting with new flavors and concoctions. She prides herself on the fact that no one has gotten ill after eating her food.