Perfect Chicken Pad Thai

If I could go out and eat Thai food every day I would! The sensations from this food are unmatched.

Maybe this is because I didn't discover how delicious Thai food was until my adult years? Who knows.

Here is my recipe for perfect Chicken Pad Thai at home... It can easily be altered to include any favorites or remove the meat and make an amazing vegetarian dish.

Pad Thai Sauce

2 tbsp Brown Sugar

2 tbsp lime juice

3 tbsp soy sauce

A squirt of Sriracha sauce (or more if you like to live in the edge)

- Mix all ingredients together and set aside.

The good stuff

Oil for the pan

1 cup of egg/ rice noodles cooked to your desired softness (check the packaging)

2 eggs

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 cup of fully cooked chicken breast, cut into strips

1/2 a green pepper, chopped

1 green onion stock, chopped for garnish

Cilantro or peanuts for garnish as well

- In a sauce pan on medium heat, cook garlic and green peppers in the oil for 1-2 minutes, add the egg and stir until fluffy. 

- Add the chicken and noodles.

- Add sauce and mix until evenly covered

- Garnish with your favorite topping and enjoy!

Braided Challah Bread

Attempting a few videos again!
Here is my recipe for braided challah bread

Start by combining 2 tsp of yeast into 1 cup warm water. Sprinkle a bit of sugar in the water to help the yeast ferment.
In a large bowl mix together 4 cups of flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tsp salt, 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, 1/4 cup oil then the water/ yeast mixture.
Mix into a ball and knead for 3-4 minutes.
Let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
Cut into 4 equal pieces and roll to desired length, allowing the pieces to rest a bit between.
Braid into a loaf.
Cover and let sit in a warm place for 10 minutes.
Brush with egg wash
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy!

The 16 Hour Turkey

I decided to take on the challenge of hosting Thanksgiving dinner for my family this year... Apparently I crave kitchen related chaos!

So I slapped on my favorite apron (equipped with it's own pearls) and went to work! I was absolutely obsessed with having the best and moist turkey possible!! So first came scouring the internet to mash up some of the best and brightest ideas from my favorite chefs on the internet. It didn't take long to realize this was going to be a huge project to take on- the bird's gotta sit in a sweet salty brine for a MINIMUM of 8 hours... But hey like I said whats life without whimzy...

The recipe I ended up collaborating together was as followed...

1.5L hot water
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups coarse salt
1.5L cold water
1 container (I think it was like 940ml or somethin...) vegetable broth

Find yourself the biggest container you can find! Some internet peeps were using a giant cooler to be able to soak their turkey properly... Those guys also replaced the 1.5L of cold water with ice to ensure the bird stayed food safe. Mine however was nowhere near that big and I managed to cram it into my fridge for the night

See theeere's the big guy! ... Literally the cheapest turkey money could buy.

So! To make our lovely brine- pour the hot water into your tub and dissolve the sugar and salt into the water. Add cold water (or ice) and chicken broth.
Let the turkey soak for 8-12 hours.

Originally my plan was to wake up at 5am on Thanksgiving to ensure my bird would be ready for oven time at 1pm... But as the day went by that dream slowly became very unattractive and staying up until 1am became muuuuch more realistic. So at 1am with plenty of wine and excitement in my heart I was ready to get 'er done!!
Making the brine takes about 3 minutes... So I started the process at 1am and at 1:05 I proceeded to bed.

~~ The Next Day!~~

Next day is Thanksgiving day! The moment of truth!

At 1pm it was time to make magic happen! First things first- removing the water logged bird from the brine- giving it a really good rinse and patting it nice and dry. Now preheat your oven to 500°F.. 
Yep you heard right! Make sure there's no ickies at the bottom of your oven! Cus' they will burn up!

Prep your turkey pan with a small 1/2" layer of water then place that bird in the pan.
Take some fresh thyme and sage, 1/2 an onion, 2 celery stalks and 2 carrots all roughly chopped and insert it into the turkey (Make sure not to stuff it! Stuffing it will require more cook time for the bird to be done!)

I had some random baby carrots in my freezer that were not in any state to eat... but as a flavor enhancer in my bird they worked perfectly!

Now, take some time to measure how big your turkey's breast are (This was an internet find- not my own doing) You're going to want to have a piece of tinfoil that will fit on top of the breast meat perfectly to ensure it cooks a bit slower then the dark meat. Once you have your piece of tinfoil, set it aside- you're going to need it later. Make sure shiny side is up.

Next up we are going to lather that turkey up in butter! Literally massage it right on there. Make Colonel Saunders proud!
Once the bird is lathered up it's time to start cooking. Cook your turkey uncovered at 500°  for 30 minutes to seal in all that hard work that you just did! Add another 10 minutes if it doesn't look brown enough for you.
Remove the turkey from the oven and reduce the oven's temperature to 350°. Take the piece of foil we measured earlier and grease the bottom with oil/ PAM spray- whatever you have on hand and position over breast meat. This is going to ensure your white meat cooks slower then your dark meat and makes sure it isn't over cooked.
Once the oven is ready- return the bird to the oven and cook for 2-2 1/2 hours. DO NOT open the oven!! The turkey's skin has been prepped to hold in it's moisture so opening the oven to baste will do nothing but let out heat which will increase your cook time.

Your bird is ready when it's internal temperature is 161° - it will continue to cook the remaining 4° after it's been removed from the oven. Cover the turkey with more tinfoil and let it rest for 30 minutes- otherwise the moisture will all flow out and all your efforts will be for nothing.

And there he is! This turkey was an absolute piece of art and tasted absolutely spectacular! It was received by my family very well.

Homemade Chicken Strips

So I have a hate on for frozen products... I have to be pretty burnt out (or lazy) to be seen purchasing something from a box. I dare anyone to come over and take a look in my freezer, you won't find a box anywhere!

Here is my recipe for homemade chicken strips. This allows me to quickly pop something into the oven when I get home without being subdued to the preservative filled alternative. All it takes is a bit of organization and planning and you'll never find yourself tempted at the grocery store ever again! (Well... at least not right away anyway! We all slip every once in awhile! Don't be embarrassed!)

For my homemade chicken strips I cut up 2 fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts into strips.

Placing some olive oil into a shallow plate, I lightly coated each strip in oil. Then coated lightly in bread crumbs mixed with Italian seasoning in a second shallow plate.

 In a preheated 400 degrees oven I baked these bad boys for 20 minutes or until they were no longer pink in the centre.

I also accented some of the pieces with provolone cheese and parsley for a little bit of extra flavor. Now they are ready to be enjoyed with your favorite dips or ready to be cut up for a delicious Chicken Cesar Salad!

Extraordinary Cheese Dip!!!

Sometimes you just don't feel like cooking a real meal... Sometimes sitting down with a hot dip for supper is just what the doctor ordered!!

Epicure's extraordinary cheese dip is definitely the staple in the epicure community. It consists of 3 of their staple dip mixes. Lemon Dilly, Cheese Chive and Bacon, and the 3 Onion Dip Mix.

Anyone who has ever been to an epicure party should have tried this delectable delight and it's one of the big reasons I started selling Epicure! (Second only to the healthy benefits of Epicure itself)

Their latest catalogue can be found Here on Facebook or Here. If there's anything you'd like to order, or if you are in the Halifax area and want to host a party with me, OR want to know more about being a consultant yourself, please don't hesitate to to message me or comment below!

Anyways! Without further ado. Here is the recipe for Epicure's Extraordinary Cheese Dip!!

1 (8oz, 250g) package of Spreadable Cream Cheese
1 cup grated mixed cheese (I like using marble cheese or an old cheddar)
1 cup Light Mayonnaise 
1 tbsp Cheese Chive and Bacon Dip Mix
1 tbsp Lemon Dilly Dip mix
1 tbsp 3 Onion Dip Mix

(You can alter the quantity of spice to cater to your tastes)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. F

Combine all the ingredients until well blended (save a bit of cheese to sprinkle on top). Spoon mixture into Epicure Baker.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

Let stand for 1 minute before serving.. Then enjoy!!

Egg Salad Sandwiches Using a Food Processor

I don't know how I lived before my food processor!! It just makes my life so much easier!

This recipe makes me 3 sandwiches.

4 eggs
1/4 mayonnaise 
1 stock green onion
1 2" slice of green pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of cold water and a little bit of salt with eggs inside to a boil. Immediately move from heat, cover and let stand for 10-12 minutes.

Remove from hot water, cool by immersing eggs in cold water for a minute. Let eggs fully cool.

Peel eggs and put in food chopper along with the green onion and green pepper. Pulse 2-3 times until desired texture is obtained.

Transfer mixture to a new bowl and stir in mayonnaise and salt and pepper.

Spread onto your favorite bread or crackers. Enjoy!

My coworker told me that I would love my food processor! She said I may not use it everyday but when I do I am going to love it! Well... I could easily use this thing everyday! It's just wonderful!

Chicken Rockefeller

So I'm pretty excited! I finally bought a food processor! I can't believe how many recipes I've stumbled onto that needed one, and trust me... You can't use a blender in it's place... It's just a disaster.
I bought a beautiful yellow KitchenAid food chopper/ processor on sale during Bay days at The Bay! $30 off that just makes me happy. Normally KitchenAid products are way out of my price point (and frankly Cuisinart has not made me happy in the past) so I was super excited to get this bad boy on sale!!

So naturally in my excitement and bliss of my new appliance I made another lovely purchase from TheShoppingChannel.com....

 This book has got to be one of the biggest recipe books I own now... It's huuuuuuge. There is everything you could ever imagine in here ! All categorized into different categories depending on what you might be craving that day. I intend to do as many of these recipes as humanly possible! The only thing I don't like about this book is each section's table of contents is just before the section begins, instead of at the front of the book all together so it's a bit of a search to find the section you want at first but when you do find what you're looking for you're set!

Tonight I was craving something with chicken... I decided on the Chicken Rockefeller!

2 Skinless boneless chicken breasts
2 tsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Coat both sides of the chicken breasts with olive oil and coat in bread crumbs. Place in a prepared baking dish and set aside. Discard any excess bread crumbs and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

1 handful of fresh Spinach, trimmed
1/2 an onion, quartered
1 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp anise extract

In your food processor equipped with a metal blade, pulse the spinach and onion until finely chopped (approx. 20 pulses) Transfer to another bowl and add butter and anise extract.

2 slices of provolone cheese
fresh parsley for garnish

The recipe calls to spread 1/4 of this mixture over the chicken and to add the rest after it's baked... I completely forgot to do this and wasted a bit of my mixture :( next time I intend to put all of the mixture on before baking to ensure no waste

Spoon 1/4 of the mixture over each chicken breast. Top with cheese and parsley.

Bake in preheated oven until chicken is fully cooked (about 20 minutes). Transfer chicken onto serving plate and spread the rest of the mixture on top.

Enjoy!

This combination of flavors was something I had never tried before and I must say I really enjoyed this one. Gives me even more excitement to try more things in this book!

Princess Elsa Birthday Cake

So I've been debating for awhile now to get back into the nicer side of the cake business. I crave those custom orders and being able to put the time into them! Today I finally took on a little project to start updating my skills again!

I set up a kijiji ad to try to jump start things, and I ended up talking to a woman about a princess Elsa cake from the popular Disney movie Frozen. Unfortunately I think the price point I gave her was a little too steep and we never made any confirmed plans. However once the thought was in my mind I couldn't stop thinking about it! So for my family's Easter dinner I made her!

Since I was mostly concentrated on the design of the cake, I just used a cake mix to make that part quickly, the cake is way smaller then I would have liked it to be because of this... Oh well she's still pretty cute! If I can get a couple of orders out of this beauty then I will start using my prized cake recipes that I KNOW will make a big full dress for my girls.

The snowflakes were made in advance out of royal icing and left for 2 days to dry.

Also the other white accents were made from royal icing but they were done on the spot.

I'm not a huge fan of fondant but I felt like just icing this cake wouldn't do it justice! So I sucked it up and found 2 different shades of blue and made them adorably Frozen like!

Hopefully this will jump start a little bit more cake business and I can showcase even more projects in the future!! To see my older work check out my facebook page! facebook.com/CaeksByNicole

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

So I generally don't do experimental recipes for other people but man I was so busy this week and this recipe looked so amazing, I just had to try! I had grabbed some mini chocolate chips on clearance so I was dying to make something chocolatey! I stumbled upon this gen of a recipe and let me tell you it was a complete hit! My boss ate half the ball himself!

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

1 450g package of cream cheese
1/2 butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped

Beat the cream cheese and butter together.
Add the sugars and vanilla extract.
Add chocolate chips.

Let the mixture sit in the freezer for 1 hour, then form into a ball and roll in the chopped pecans.

It goes great with graham crackers or chocolate wafers! Look out! It's going to be a hit!

BBQ Chicken and Bacon Pizza

So in the midst of a snow storm we dug every possible edible thing out of the fridge and created a delicious BBQ Chicken Pizza! I made my homemade garlic pizza dough.


(2 Pizzas)

2 tbsp Active Dry Yeast
2 cups Warm Water
1 tsp Sugar
4 cups All-purpose Flour (plus extra for kneading)
4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp epicure herb & garlic dip mix

Dissolve yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let sit until fermented.
Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and add the water/ yeast mixture
Knead the dough in a bit more flour then cover and let rise for 30 minutes in a warm place.
Divide in half and press into greased pizza pans.

I combined some BBQ sauce and marinade to make the sauce (amazing!!)
Fried up some bacon and crumbled on top
Cut up a plate full of pre cooked chicken breast
2 cups cheddar cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese

We popped the crust in the oven for 10 minutes at 375 degrees before adding the goodness. Then baked the pizza for 10 minutes until everything was bubbly and awesome!

Corn Chip Meatballs

So normally my favorite recipe for meatballs takes a 1/4 cup bread crumbs but alas I was completely out :( Didn't even have bread to make my own crumbs!! (Day before grocery shopping) So I improvised and crushed up a handful of corn chips in replacement! It was a delightful experiment.

1 Large Egg
2 tbsp Cold Water
2 tbsp Epicure Cheese Chipolte and Bacon Dip Mix
1 tbsp Epicure 3 Onion Dip Mix
1 lb Lean Ground Beef
A handful of crushed corn chips

The aroma from these cooking was wonderful! My friend thought I was crazy to cook chips into the meat- he just kept envisioning a shard of chip stabbing him!! Haha but it was perfection! I will definitely be making this a normal event.

Cinnamon Apple Sauce

I needed to get the obvious cat smell out of my house! So in my apple sauce this week I added the intoxicating aroma of cinnamon!!

Sweetened Apple Sauce

6 apples, peeled and sliced (I used epicure's ceramic slicer- this is by far my favourite epicure product) It can be ordered Here
3 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar

Combine all ingredients into a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil apples until nice and tender and saucy!

Chocolate Chip Stuffed Muffins

I have been CRAVING chocolate chips lately!! ... Couldn't decide how I wanted to use them however.. For weeks now I've been sitting on a pack of chocolate chips just stumped at what to use them for. Well today we made muffins. Chocolate Chip Stuffed Muffins!!

For 12 regular sized muffins preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with 12 muffin liners.

2 cups of flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder (I use epicure's baking powder- it has no aluminum in it!!)
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips

Coarse Sugar for topping

Mix all the dry ingredients into a bowl and create a well in the centre for the wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into the well and whisk all together. Gently fold in the chocolate chips last.

Pour batter into the prepared muffin tin (I use an ice cream scoop to pour batter this thin) and bake for 20 minutes.

Spicy Slow Cooker Chicken!

Time to spice up your meals with this simple slow cooker recipe!


4 Chicken Breasts, bone in

1/2 jar of salsa (with your spice of choice)
1/2 an onion , chopped
1 tsp epicure's minced garlic
1/4 tsp chili powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients into your slow cooker and cook on Low for 4-5 hours.

Enjoy!

Teriyaki Chicken

Attempting to really spice up my chicken recipes! This was my attempt of Teriyaki Chicken!

1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cornstarch

Combine cornstarch and water together to create a slurry

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 tsp epicures minced garlic
1/4 tsp ground pepper

Combine all ingredients and slurry into a pot and bring to a boil. Pour mixture onto  2 chicken breasts ( I sort of made a little foil bowl on the pan to avoid a big mess on the pan)

Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. Flip chicken and cook for another 15 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.

Enjoy!

Onion Sheppards Pie

So No Frills had a 5lb bag of potatoes on sale for $0.88... So get ready for some potato based recipes of awesomeness!!

Here's a recipe for a Sheppard's pie laced with multiple types of onions ( don't be kissing anyone after you eat this!!)

1lb Lean Ground Beef
1/2 Onion, chopped

In a large skillet, cook ground beef until browned and sauté onions. Once beef is cooked place into a 9x9" pan.

2 cups mixed vegetables

Cook vegetables to desired softness (I use the epicure rectangular steamer for my vegetables)

Layer the vegetables on top of the beef in the pan.

Mmmm... veggies

6 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into smaller pieces for easy boiling

1 tbsp light sour cream

1/2 a bunch of green onions, chopped

1 tsp margarine

Boil potatoes until soft, add the margarine, green onion and sour cream and mash potatoes until fluffy.

Layer the potatoes to the pan and sprinkle with 1/4 shredded cheddar cheese

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and enjoy!

Garlic Pizza Crust

Getting back on the eating right band wagon!

Here's a little flavour kick to an easy pizza dough recipe!

(2 Pizzas)

2 tbsp Active Dry Yeast
2 cups Warm Water
1 tsp Sugar
4 cups All-purpose Flour (plus extra for kneading)
4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp epicure herb & garlic dip mix

Dissolve yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let sit until fermented.
Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and add the water/ yeast mixture
Knead the dough in a bit more flour then cover and let rise for 30 minutes in a warm place.
Divide in half and press into greased pizza pans.

The smell that came off this dough while i was kneading it was intoxicating!

I am such a pizza snob, there is nothing better in my life then a homemade pizza!!

Broiled Salmon

I am not a big fan of salmon but I was determined to enjoy this one!! So I found a recipe on AllRecipes.com

1/3 cup sodium reduced soy sauce
1/4 cup oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
Epicure 4 pepper blend to taste
1 tsp epicure minced garlic

1 Salmon fillet, skin on.

Whisk everything together in a large shallow bowl.
Lay the the salmon, skin up in the mixture and marinade for 4-8 hours

Set oven to broil, put the salmon on a cookie sheet and cook for 7-10 minutes and let it rest for 5 minutes before enjoying!

Meatless Monday- Pesto Lasagna

Time for some Pesto Lasagna!

This recipe makes 4 Servings and I used a 9x9" pan.

8 lasagna noodles, cooked

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 bell pepper

Combine the oil and veggies into a pan and cooked until tender.

190ml basil pesto (I used PC brand pesto... YUM!)

1/2 a bottle of pasta sauce
4 cups cheddar cheese, grated

First layer: Spread a thin layer of pasta sauce on the bottom of the pan
Second layer: Lasagna noodles
Third layer: Pesto, vegetables and cheese
Fourth layer: Pasta sauce and cheese
Repeat! Until complete!

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Chicken

As part of getting back on track for the new year I popped a whole chicken in the slow cooker to start off the week on a good note!

It almost didn't fit in my teenie tiny slow cooker but I made it work!

1 Whole Fresh Chicken
1/2 an Onion, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste (I used Epicure Maple Bacon Sea Salt and Epicure 4 Pepper Blend)

Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker and set on High for 6 hours or Low for 8 hours.

Enjoy the long benefits and countless recipes you can make with this simple chicken!