brine (for chicken) January 31, 2008
Posted by hapafood in brine, chicken.9 comments
i’m not a fan of white meat (chicken) because it usually comes out very dry. jenny and charlie roasted a chicken for me once, and the breast was so succulent and juicy, i couldn’t believe it. i asked for the recipe, and they said they had brined the chicken. i searched the web, and i found this brine recipe. when i used this recipe to roast a chicken, it came out so delicious. because of this recipe, i actually will roast split chicken breasts by themselves! 
recipe is for 1 whole chicken. quarter the recipe for 2 split chicken breasts.
1 1/4 gallons cold water (20 cups)
3/4 – 1 cups kosher salt, use 1 cup if you like a saltier chicken
1/2 cup sugar
2 bay leaves
1/2 bunch fresh thyme, or 2 tbsp dried
1/2 head of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 tbsp cracked black pepper
- combine all the ingredients into a large pot.
- add one whole chicken. refrigerate for at least 12 hours. i usually brine it for 24 hours.
- remove the chicken and pat dry. drizzle the skin with a little olive oil.
- roast chicken until done. i usually roast it at 375 for 1.5 – 2 hours, depending on the size of the chicken.
granola January 28, 2008
Posted by hapafood in granola.add a comment
when i was visiting my dear friends leota and darrell, leota made me this fabulous granola–it was the first time i had homemade granola. i love to eat the granola plain, with milk, or with yogurt!
3 C uncooked oats (quick)
1/2 C coconut
1/2 C sliced almonds
1/4 C wheat germ
1/4 C sunflower seeds
1 C cashews
1/4 C plus 2 tbsp honey
1/4 C oil
2 1/2 tbsp water
2-1/2 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C raisins (optional)
- preheat oven to 350.
- combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well and set aside.
- combine honey, oil, water, brown sugar, vanilla and salt. pour over oat mixture evenly and stir well.
- spread mixture on a lightly greased (i use pam) pan with sides.
- bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown, stirring every 5 minutes. cool – stir in raisins.
- store mixture in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. keeps a long time.
chocolate chip scones January 28, 2008
Posted by hapafood in chocolate, scone.add a comment
my dear friend cindy made these scones the first time i went to visit her. they are quite a special treat! the dough freezes up very nicely.
makes 1-2 dozen, depending on size of scoop
3 cups of flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2 sticks butter, softened
1/3 C sugar
3 large eggs
1/3 C buttermilk
1/2 C semi-sweet chips
- mix flour & baking powder in separate bowl, put aside.
- cream butter. add sugar and beat 3 to 5 minutes.
- add eggs, one at a time and turn mixer to low.
- add flour mixture until just combined. add buttermilk until just combined. add chocolate chips.
- refrigerate dough for 45 minutes.
- preheat oven to 350.
- use ice-cream scooper to make balls of scone. put scones onto an ungreassed cookie sheet.
- bake for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown.
andes mint cookies January 28, 2008
Posted by hapafood in chocolate, cookie, dessert.add a comment
this recipe was given to me by my dear friend diana. again, i usually don’t like cookies, but this one is nice, dense, chewy, and minty.
makes approximately 3-4 dozen
1 1/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C brown sugar or white sugar
1 C unsalted butter
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup of cocoa or 4-8 oz of melted chocolate
1 box Andes mints, each mint broken in half
rolled oats
- preheat the oven to 375.
- combine flour, baking soda, and salt. mix thoroughly.
- cream butter and sugar. add eggs, milk, vanilla, cocoa (or melted chocolate).
- gradually add in the dry ingredients.
- add mints.
- add enough oatmeal until the dough is stiff, but not so much that the oats are no longer getting dough on them.
- refrigerate the dough until it stiffens up.
- form dough into golf-ball size and place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart. bake for 8-10 minutes.
