EASY RECIPE

How about making your own General Tsaos Chicken

(Hamptons) How about making your own General Tsao’s Chicken …I thought I would share this recipe with all of you because it is so delicious. Perfect with any type of Rice, you really will never want to order General Tsao’s chicken from a Chinese Restaurant again. I do not use peanut oil in my recipe or red chillies, I substitute the Jalapeño peppers instead, they are not as hot as the red chili peppers.

General Tsao’s Chicken II

Recipe Type: Entree

Cuisine: Asian

Author: chefdaddy

Prep time: 25 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Serves: 6

A genuinely mouthwatering dish with an Asian kick that will knock your chopsticks off! Don’t be fooled by other General Tsao impostors: this is simply the best Chinese chicken you will ever have. With a flair of peanut oil, a streak of sesame, a dash of orange, and a sweet spot for hot, this is sure to be a favorite. Just don’t forget to deep-fry twice! Serve with steamed broccoli and white rice.

Ingredients

4 cups vegetable oil for frying
1 egg
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 pinch white pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons chopped green onion
1 clove garlic, minced
6 dried whole red chilies
1 strip orange zest
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons chicken broth
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Instructions

Directions
Heat 4 cups vegetable oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Beat the egg in a mixing bowl. Add the chicken cubes; sprinkle with salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and white pepper; mix well. Mix in 1 cup of cornstarch a little bit at a time until the chicken cubes are well coated.
In batches, carefully drop the chicken cubes into the hot oil one by one, cooking until they turns golden brown and begin to float, about 3 minutes. Remove the chicken and allow to cool as you fry the next batch. Once all of the chicken has been fried, refry the chicken, starting with the batch that was cooked first. Cook until the chicken turns deep golden brown, about 2 minutes more. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Stir in the green onion, garlic, whole chiles, and orange zest. Cook and stir a minute or two until the garlic has turned golden and the chiles brighten. Add 1/2 cup sugar, the ginger, chicken broth, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and peanut oil; bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes.
Dissolve 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into the water, and stir into the boiling sauce. Return to a boil and cook until the sauce thickens and is no longer cloudy from the cornstarch, about 1 minute. Stir the chicken into the boiling sauce. Reduce heat to low and cook for a few minutes until the chicken absorbs some of the sauce.

Calories: 633

The Ultimate 4th of July celebration..Not your traditional menu

The ultimate 4th of July celebration that is sure to go out with a bang….Hamptons Entertaining: Creating Occasions to Remember

150 million hot dogs, 122 million hamburgers and over six million dollars spent in fireworks make up the Fourth of July across the country each year. Independence Day is America’s greatest and proudest holiday. It is the unofficial start of summer where backyard barbeques, great food, great drinks create the backdrop of amazing memories spent with friends and friends. In Annie Falk’s second entertaining and cookbook, Hamptons Entertaining: Creating Occasions to Remember, she celebrates Independence Day at the Sebonack Golf Club with the club’s founder Michael Passcuci and his family, enjoying his Italian take on an All-American holiday.

The Pascucci’s chose to be a little unconventional by stepping into the canvas-like setting of one of America’s favorite pastimes. While keeping the traditional red, white, and blue theme, the Italian family makes sure to fill the table with all of their favorites. From the most luxurious wine placed in rustic wine caddies, to their favorite centerpiece-the bread. The table has the perfect all-American setting for the delectable menu about to be served.

Instead of hot dogs and hamburgers, the menu features items like Jo Pascucci’s Gemelli a La Creole and refreshing Watermelon Gazpacho, finished off with the family-favorite homemade cheesecake. This five-course meal is not your typical Fourth of July menu, but the simplicity of the dishes allows family time to be the main course.

Annie Falk shares her Watermelon Gazpacho\ recipe with Hamptons Mouthpiece readers…

1 seedless watermelon (3 1/2 pounds)
4 English (seedless) cucumbers, peeled and roughly chopped (about 8 cups)
1/2 bunch cilantro
2 teaspoons Tobasco sauce
2 red bell peppers, diced
3 cups roughly chopped tomatoes
2 Tablespoons raspberry vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Combine the watermelon, cucumbers, cilantro, Tobasco, bell peppers, tomatoes, vinegar, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Working n batches, puree three-quarters of the mixture in a blender and pulse the the remaining one-quarter until well combined, but slightly chunky.

Transfer the gazpacho to a large bowl and cover. Refrigerate until is is cold, at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours..
Ladle into bowls when ready to serve. Garnish with chopped herbs.

Check out Annie Falk’s new book Hamptons Entertaining: Creating Occasions to Remember One lucky Hamptons Moutpiece follower will win a copy of this book. Follow me on Instagram @hamptonsmpiece to see how you can win this book. #hamptonsguru

Photo Credit: Jerry Rabinowitz

HM Eats: Perfect Guacamole

HM Eats: Perfect Guacamole….Hey there friends…One day I walked into a store to buy Guacamole and it was so expensive, so I decided I would make my own…How hard could it be, turns out it’s not hard at all, but it is time consuming. Thought I would share my recipe with you, so when I come to your house and you serve me guacamole I know I am going to like it because its my recipe. LOL, Yes it’s all about me…I admit it!!!

Perfect Guacamole

Recipe Type: Appetizer/Snack

Cuisine: Mexican

Author: Vanessa Leggard

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 4-6 people

Perfect Guacamole….All fresh ingredients…serve with any Mexican meal or as a dip with some chips.

Ingredients

3 Ripe Avocados
1/4 cup of Cilantro
2 tablespoons of Lime juice
1/4 cup of diced red onion
2 plum tomatoes (seeded)
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 small Jalapeño pepper
black pepper for taste…

Instructions

Cut the avocados in 1/2, remove the pits, and scoop the flesh out of their shells into a large bowl, smash until the avocado is smooth and not lumpy. Add the Lime juice, cilantro, Jalapeño pepper, red onion, tomatoes, salt, and pepper and toss well.

Yum Yum…Everything taste better with Bacon

Yum Yum…Everything taste better with Bacon…I love bacon, I love the smell of it and how it taste. This is really a must try recipe if you like pork tenderloin. Try pairing this meal with a nice Riesling, Pinot Grigio, or Pinot Noir.

Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Recipe Type: Meat

Cuisine: http://www.howtoinstructions.us

Author: Vanessa Leggard

everything taste better with bacon.

Ingredients

3 pounds Pork Tenderloin (1 Pkg. Of 2 Tenderloins), Cut Into 4 Pieces Total
1 pound Bacon
¾ cups Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Minced Onions
½ teaspoons Garlic Salt
1 Tablespoon Wine Vinegar Or White Vinegar
¼ teaspoons Salt
1 dash Pepper
¾ cups Brown Sugar

Instructions

Wrap the tenderloin pieces in bacon. Place in an 8 1/2″ x 11″ pan. Poke holes in meat with a fork.
Combine rest of ingredients in a small bowl; stir well. Pour marinade over meat. Refrigerate, uncovered, 2 to 3 hours or overnight.
Bake in a 300 degree oven for two to three hours. If the bacon burns, place foil over the top after approximately 1 1/2 hours of baking. Remove from oven, cut meat into small pieces and allow the meat to soak up the excess juices in the pan.

Blueberry Glazed Cheesecake Pie that will make you melt….

Hamptons Eats…Blueberry Glazed Cheesecake Pie that will make you melt……..Greetings Hamptons Mouthpiece Readers, it is Holiday time and that means it is Cheesecake time. I am a huge cheesecake fan, it is my favorite dessert, so of course I was going to try to make my own. I loved Juniors Cheesecake because they do not add sour cream to their ingredients and as much as I love sour cream, combined with the cream cheese gives it an after taste in your mouth and that I do not like. I decided to search the internet for a cheesecake recipe and thought just maybe Juniors would share theirs, to my surprise they did. What you see listed below is Juniors Cheesecake recipe with some alterations. I do not particularly like the sponge cake with the cheesecake filling so instead of using the sponge cake I substituted with a pie crust. Choosing a pie crust is your personal preference but I can tell you , if you follow my instructions below you will not be disappointed. I only make this dessert once-to-twice a year, it is very rich and has every ingredient that I try to avoid in one dish, but SO WHAT, it’s the holiday. This pie is so delicious it will make you cry because it is light, smooth and literally melts in your mouth. This recipe makes 2 pies, instead of glazing my pie I choose to make the blueberries into a topping, but if you want you can make a glaze. The Glaze recipe came from Allrecipes.com however I altered the recipe to suit my taste buds and to change it from raspberries to blueberries.. (see recipe below)

I make small changes to my recipe each year and this year BOURBON was my secret ingredient, it was added to the pie filling and to the Blueberry sauce, this is completely optional but I found that it gave my pie that “je ne sais quoi” that I was searching for….The pie by itself with no topping is delicious, so I usually only add topping to one pie, You can also substitute blueberries for another fruit of your choice.

BON APPETIT!

Blueberry Glazed Cheesecake

Recipe Type: Dessert

Author: Vanessa Leggard

Prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 2 hours

Serves: 10

This cheesecake pie is so delicious it literally will make you cry because it just melts in your mouth.

Ingredients

Cheesecake Filling
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 2/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 Bourbon (optional)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Honey Graham Pie Crust
Topping or Glaze
frozen or fresh blueberries (1 cup)
fresh orange juice (2 tablespoons) I use an orange instead of orange juice, and I squeezed in a 1/4 of the orange in the sauce
bourbon 1/4 cup (optional)
1/3 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of corn starch

Instructions

Pie Crust
Honey Graham pie crust…is my suggestion…to make the pie crust crispy (whip an egg white until it is frothy, then spread on the pie crust and bake for 3-5 min.
Cream Cheese Filling—————.
• Place one 8-ounce package of the cream cheese, 1/3 cup of the sugar, and the cornstarch in a large bowl.
• Beat with an electric mixer on low until creamy, about 3 minutes, then beat in the remaining 3 packages of the cream cheese.
• Increase the mixer speed to high and beat in the remaining 1 1/3 cups of the sugar, then beat in the vanilla.
• Blend in the eggs, one at a time, beating the batter well after each one.
• Blend in heavy cream.
• At this point mix the filling only until completely. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
• Gently spoon the cheese filling on top of the pie crust.
• Bake the cheesecake until the center barely jiggles when you shake the pan, about 1 hour.
• Cool the cake on a wire rack for 1 hour.
• Then cover the pie and refrigerate until it’s completely cold, at least 4 hours or overnight.
TOPPING or GLAZE:
Combine blueberries, sugar, and orange juice in a saucepan. Whisk the cornstarch into the cold water until smooth. Add the mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil.
Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the desired consistency is reached. The sauce will thicken further as it cools.
note* you can puree the sauce or you can keep the blueberries whole…your choice
You can add the room temperature blueberry sauce to the top of the pie and chill for 1 hour or you can just chill the sauce and add to the cheesecake on the side.
To make a glaze: Puree the sauce, blend with a handheld immersion blender and strain it through a fine sieve. Serve warm or cold. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

ok time for another piece….I will start that much needed diet tomorrow….