Mini German Pancakes with honey-orange berries

I adore these mini version of German puffed pancake so much every time I see someone pinned it on Pinterest.  They are such cuties!  I thought to myself that I’d make them one day.  This is the day. Wooohooo!   These mini pancakes look very similar to popovers, except that these pancakes use more eggs and less flour than popovers.  However, the results are almost identical.  They are puffed and light and gorgeous and awesome!   I made popovers once and loved it!    Did I mention that they are awesome! 

The most awesome part of making these mini pancake is that they are sooooo quick and easy to make with a few ingredients.  Since they are so light and puffy, it’s so perfect for breakfast with a good cup of coffee or your favorite tea on the weekend morning.   Believe it or not, I had 5 of them and didn’t even want to stop!   I didn’t feel bad at all because I went for a little hike every day!    I will absolutely be making them again soooon.

Berries compote
1/2 cup of each cut strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries

1 tbsp. honey

1/4 cup (half of orange) fresh squeeze orange juice

: toss all the ingredients together and set aside

Pancake batter:  make 12 muffin-size

3 large eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup butter (cold or room temp is fine)

1 tsp. fresh squeeze lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 425’F    

2. Beat all the ingredients in a medium bowl, except the butter

3. Cut and divide the butter evenly into the non-stick muffin pan  

4. Put the muffin pan in the hot oven and watch carefully for the butter.  Once the butter melted, pull out the pan

5. Fill the pancake batter evenly into the muffin pan (about 1/2 way)

6. Bake for 13-15 minutes (mine was exactly 14 minutes) to light golden brown color on the edges and take them out.  The pancakes will puff up high but will flatten out almost immediately when pull out from the oven

7. Serve immediately with berried compote, or jams of your choice (and a cup of coffee or tea!)  *dusted with powdered sugar is optional!

Chicken Paprikash

I had a chance to taste chicken paprikash for the first time in my life when my then future mother-in-law made on her 71^th birthday as everyone in her family requested because she was known to make the best chicken paprikash.   It was 15 years ago!  And if you think she was Hungarian, you are wrong.  She was born and raised in Oklahoma with the Native American blood in her.   But that was not the case.  She married to her husband whose parents immigrated to the US from Hungary early in 1900s.  I think that is the reason why my mother-in-law had become the best cook of chicken paprikash.  She was taught to perfect it by the original and most authentic Hungarian lady first hand -- her mother-in-law, who i'd never had a chance to meet.   Unfortunately, that was the only first and one time I’d ever tasted chicken paprikash from her, and unfortunately,  I’d never had a chance to learn from her.  That’s a shame! 

The hubby has been asking me to make chicken paprika for years, but I’d never have a chance to fulfill his request.   It’s not because I don’t want to, but I was concerned that I would not meet his expectation he used to get from his mother.  Basically, I just can’t withstand the criticism!   It may sound pity but I think you know why, do you?

Today I have the courage to cook this dish with confidence after I’ve learned how easy that is to cook chicken paprikash.   My mother-in-law had been collecting a bunch of cookbooks and hundreds of recipes she cut out from newspapers and magazines, and I’ve found two chicken paprikash recipes from her collections.  I've read and compared them carefully.  Both recipes are almost identical, except one doesn't use tomato sauce and the other doesn't use flour.  And both don’t add baby potatoes, green Anaheim pepper and garlic in their recipes.   

The added ingredients is my version of chicken paprikash that give the dish more interesting texture without interrupting the original intense flavor of the Hungarian paprika.  For the flour I think it can be skipped if you like the sauce to be a little thinner.  But if you want to add the flour for the thicker sauce, you may want to add more liquid of water or chicken broth to the pan to make enough sauce for every serving.    The result was approved by the hubby who missed his mother dearly while eating my Chicken Paprikash.   Let’s cooking, shall we?

  

 What you need:   for 4-5 servings  

 2 1/4 lbs. Chicken drumsticks

1 medium white or yellow onion, sliced (about 2 cups)

2 large green Anaheim pepper or bell pepper, sliced (about 2 cups)

1 tbsp. finely chopped garlic

2 cups baby golden potatoes, washed clean

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

4 tbsp. Hungarian paprika

1/4 cup tomato sauce

Salt and black pepper to taste

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tbsp. all-purpose flour (optional)

2 tbsp. cooking oil or butter

Cooked noodles to serve with (I used Linguine pasta) 

1. wash and pat dry the chicken drumsticks, then seasoning with a pinch of salt and black pepper.

2. set a large frying pan or pot over medium high heat and add cooking oil or butter, add chicken drumsticks  into the pan and brown them on both side – about 5 minutes on each side.

3. after finish browning the chicken, take them out to a bowl and set aside.

4. then add chopped onion, garlic, and pepper into the pan and cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are wilted.

5. add paprika into the pan, stir quickly to combine

6. add tomato sauce and chicken broth and stir in incorporate all of the ingredients.

7. add the chicken back to the pan as well as the baby potatoes

8. reduce the heat to simmer and cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for at least 50 minutes to an hour until the chicken drumsticks are tender fall-off-the-bone

9. serve with cooked noodles of your choice and enjoy!

Sriracha Honey-Orange Chicken

Everyone loves Chinese food!  Who doesn’t!  I think Chinese food is the most popular food in the world.   Noooooo…..I’m not stereotyping, but think about it.   Not only that they are fast and easy to find, they are also delicious and tasty and everyone loves it, especially Orange Chicken.   My version of Orange Chicken today has a hint of sweet from honey and spicy from Sriracha hot sauce.   It is also very easy to prepare and can be finished in little time as long as you have all the ingredients ready to go.  

There are two parts of making this dish – first cook the chicken and  then cook the sauce.  Then let them hangout together in the pan just a bit for that all the flavors would have their chance to mix and mingle.    The finished version of my Sriracha Honey-Orange Chicken is very citrusy tangy and savory with a hint of sweetness from honey and slight warm heat from Sriracha hot sauce, yet, I drizzled more of it on the top for some more heat.  I love hot spicy stuff.  You know?  ^_^

What you need: for 4 servings

1 lb. chicken breasts, boneless skinless cut into small chunks or strips

4 tbsp. all-purpose flour  

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1 cup green bell pepper, chopped

1 cup white onion, chopped

2-3 tbsp. oil, any kind

*Sesame seeds and green onion for garnish

For sauce:

3/4 cup orange juice + zest from 2 small oranges

4 tbsp. soy sauce

4 tbsp. honey

2 tbsp. Sriracha hot sauce

1 tbsp. rice vinegar

1 tbsp. finely minced garlic

1 tbsp. finely minced fresh ginger

1. In a small bowl, whisk together all the sauce ingredients and set aside

2. Seasoning the chicken with salt and pepper and toss in the flour to coat well

3. Add the oil into a pan over medium heat, then add the chicken pieces and fry undisturbed about 1 minute on each side until slightly browned. *chicken breast pieces tend to dry out really fast and if cooking too long the chicken meat will become too dry.

4. After the chicken cooked, remove them and there should be a little oil left in the pan about 1 tablespoon. Leave it.

5. Add the sauce into the pan and let it boil down for a minute or so.  Then add the chopped onion and green bell pepper and cooked chicken into the sauce, toss them together. Let the sauce cook down for another 2-3 minutes or until the sauce become thicker and glossy.

6. Garnish with sesame seeds and chopped green onion.

7. Serve with steamed rice, white or brown as you preferred.   Enjoy!