Teriyaki Sauce

I love teriyaki sauce. Use it to bake some chicken wings, or drizzled over the top of food. OMG. Sweet and a little bit spicy, sticky and thick. Yum.

Ingredients
1/2 c soy sauce (My favorite incarnation used 1/4 c soy and 1/4 c Bragg's Liquid Aminos)
1/4 c water
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, grated or chopped very very finely
2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
9 Tbsp brown sugar, packed
1 Tbsp honey
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 c water

Mix all ingredients except 1/2 c water and cornstarch. Begin heating in saucepan over medium heat. Stir to make sure everything is well combined. Mix cornstarch and water in a cup to dissolve. Add to sauce in pan. Heat until sauce thickens to desired thickness. It thickens quick, so if you over thin just add water. Transfer to your bottle of dish of choice. This loses a bit of volume when it cools, because it's so thick the simmering causes air bubbles to get stuck.
You need a good amount of heat for the cornstarch to thicken your sauce, a simmer is usually enough. Just let it go for a bit. I usually stir this so nothing burns, it is sticky.

You can substitute dried garlic and ginger.... but the taste is VERY different. I much prefer the fresh stuff.


The crew.

Ingredients in the pan.

Giiiiinger!!! Use a spoon to scrape off the skin, you waste less than if you tried to peel it with a knife.

See how finely it's chopped? You don't want it bigger than that. Otherwise as you're eating you'll get chunks of ginger. Not good.

Do the same thing for your garlic. It looks better in the bottle if it's all uniformly small.

Simmer.

Prep your vessel.

See how it holds its shape? I just ran my finger down the back of my spoon. That's what you want.

Mmmmm.... fluffy.

All bottled up.

See how much volume we lost? That's normal.

Teriyaki Chicken

Ingredients
Chicken legs, breasts, or thighs
Teriyaki Sauce

In a baking pan add your chicken and teriyaki sauce. Bake at 350 for 40 - 50 minutes for breasts. If you're using legs, go for 375 and about 35 - 40 minutes. Less is usually more with this sauce for roasting. I sometimes do throw quite a bit in a pan with chunks of chicken breast meat and bake that just like I do the breasts. Then it's all saucy and I can just use that sauce on top of my noodles or rice.


Chicken and teriyaki before baking.

Mmmmmm..... see how delicious that looks???

Do you like teriyaki? Have you ever attempted making your own?

Potato Soup

It's faaaaaaall! I can tell because the mountains are orange and yellow. I can also tell because it's starting to get chilly. Today I bring you potato soup. SUPER EASY potato soup. I'll bet you didn't know that I have an affinity for soup... did you? Yeah, I'm sure there is absolutely no way you could tell that. This soup is ultra filling, and very easy to make. The instructions seem very intense, but it's very simple and easy. It stores pretty well in the fridge too. This is one of those things I just eyeball when I make. Sometimes I make a giant batch, sometimes I cut it down and just make enough for two. I'm going to give you the larger version, but go ahead and add or subtract based on your needs.

Ingredients
About two pounds of potatoes... I used 7 sm/med red potatoes
5 to 6 cups milk
Salt and Pepper
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp flour
1 c shredded cheese
1/2 c sour cream or greek yogurt

to garnish
cooked and crumbled bacon or sliced deli ham
chopped green onions
shredded cheese
sour cream


Scrub your potatoes clean then chop into fairly small pieces. The smaller pieces mean they will cook quicker, but also that they will be easier to mash. Boil potatoes until done, a fork will pierce them easily. While your potatoes are boiling, place your onions in a non stick pan. Carmelize the onions on medium/low heat until the are almost done. Just moments before they are finished add your garlic. Continue to cook until the garlic becomes fragrant. Remove from heat and remove the onions from your pan. In the same pan add your oil, butter, and flour. Stir constantly until it develops a light brown color, about five to seven minutes on my stove. This is your thickener, but it will also add a little flavor. Drain potatoes and put back into your pot. To a clean pot add the flour and butter mixture, and your milk. Whisk together well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat until boiling. While waiting for milk to boil mash potatoes with onions and garlic. Boil your milk about 7 minutes until beginning to thicken, stir occasionally. At this point add in your potatoes and let simmer between 5 and 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in your cheese, then sour cream. Serve warm with loads of toppings.


Get your potatoes in the water. Boil well.

Carmelize your onions.

Flour and oil

Stir well. Cook until tan.

Add your mashed potatoes into the milk mixture.

Simmer.

Add your cheese.



Cover with toppings and serve.

What do you think? Do you love soup too? I want to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Another soup for you today! You know how I feel about using what I already have on hand. That's no different with this soup... other than the fact that I usually use one of those pre-made rotisserie chickens. If you want to go to the trouble of cooking up a bunch of chicken then by all means, go for it. But.... this is a lazy meal for me. :)

2 boxes of chicken stock
1 medium to large onion, diced
3 small potatoes, diced
4 medium carrots, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 whole rotisserie chicken, meat pulled off bones in small shreds
1/2 pkg egg noodles
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp dried marjoram
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock pot sautee garlic, onion and spices in olive oil. Leave out the salt for now if you're using a prepared chicken, you don't want to have it be too salty. Add in your carrots, celery, potatoes, and chicken. Add in all your stock, and any water needed to cover your ingredients. Simmer for 30 - 40 minutes until your vegetables are tender. If using noodles add these in and cook according to package directions. You can make this with homemade noodles if you'd like. You can also add in a few tablespoons of cornstarch if you'd like a slightly thicker soup. Enjoy!