Baked Zucchini Fries

We had some spaghetti for dinner and I decided to try this recipe as an appetizer.  It is fairly healthy since it is baked and not deep fried.

First preheat oven to 450 degrees. 
Trim the zucchini and cut crosswise in half, then cut each piece into 1/4 inch stick.

Add cheese to coating mix in shaker bag; shake gently to combine.

Whisk 1 egg in a medium bowl.  Add zucchini; toss to coat. 

Use tongs to place 1/4 of the zucchini into shaker bag; Close bag and shake to evenly coat. 

Spread onto baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Repeat with remaining Zucchini.  Bake for 12-13 minutes or until golden brown, turning the baking sheet 180 degrees after 7 minutes to bake evenly.  Meanwhile mix remaining zucchini. 

Remove the baked fries and enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce.

Ingredients:
3 Zucchini (1 pound)
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 packet Shake and Bake Coating Mix
1 small egg



My wife prepped everything and she said it was fairly easy to prepare.  After baking it for the allowed time, the fries seemed a little soft and not crispy.  I'm not sure if it was too long or not long enough but the outside was golden brown.  The shaker mixture was a bit salty and had a slight kick to it.  I was not to happy with this recipe.  I may have to try it another time and do some adjustments. 


Overall I give Baked Zucchini recipe 3 STARS.  If you try this recipe and it comes out ok, please tell me what I did wrong.

Ginger Pepper Steak

I'm still trying out recipes from Pinterest.  This one is Ginger Pepper Steak.  It is easy to prepare and cook.  It sounded good and looked good so I decided to try it.  This was whipped together in less than 30 minutes.  I made this recipe last night for dinner.  Here is the recipe as follows.

Mix together the gravy mix packet, 3/4 cup water, 1 TBSP shoyu, and1/2 tsp ginger in a small bowl until well blended.

Heat 1 TBSP oil in a large skillet on Medium-High heat.  Add steak and cook and stir for 2 minutes or until no longer pink.

Stir in gravy mixture, onion, and bell pepper.

Beef and gravy with bell peppers added.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes or until sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally.

Serve over hot rice.

Ingredients:
1 package McCormick Brown Gravy Mix or 1 package McCormick 30% Less Sodium Brown Gravy mix
3/4 cup cold water
1 Tablespoon Soy sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
1 small onion, cut into thin wedges
1 medium green or red bell pepper (or 1/2 of each), cut into thin strips
Cooked rice




Like I said it is a fairly easy recipe.  A few tips to the recipe.  Instead of using the ground ginger, use 1/4 tsp of ground red pepper.  Also use 1 bag (16 ounces) frozen pepper stir-fry blend in place of the onion and bell pepper.



Overall I was a little disappointed at this recipe.  My wife suggested using fresh ginger or maybe replace the ginger for red pepper.  I will have to try this again and add a little of my own touch.

I will have to give this first try 3 STARS.

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

Hey all.  I'm still here and I'm back to blog about dinner I made tonight.  I've been into the website "Pinterest".  It's a site that people "pin" ideas, recipes, things they are interested in, on the "pinboard".  I really like some of the recipes there and I decided to try one out.  This is a very simple crock pot meal that anyone with a crock pot can make.  This recipe is especially good when its cold and rainy outside.  I hope you enjoy this recipe. 

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumpling

You can add your own touch to this recipe.  I added carrots, potatoes, and onions.  Dice the vegetables into bite sizes.

Place 4-6 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts into crock pot.

Add 2 Tbsp butter.

Add 2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

Add 1 can Chicken Broth

Add onions and any other vegetables

Add 1 Tbsp dried Parsley.  Cook on high for 4-6 hours

After 4-6 hours of cooking time, use a fork and break up chicken into pieces or shred it.  Turn off power.

Take your Pillsbury Grands Flaky refrigerated biscuit can and seperate biscuits.

Cut 4 biscuits into 9 pieces.  

Then stir into hot chicken, turn crock pot back on high, and continue to cook for 30 minutes.

Finished product

Dinner is Served



The biscuit can comes with more than 4 biscuits so we baked the rest and had some biscuits and jam as a side dish.  This recipe is really easy to make. Crock pot meals are the best because you dont have to fuss with too much while it is cooking.  Try this recipe out and tell me how it is.  See below for recipe.

4-6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

2 Tablespoons butter

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

1 can Chicken Broth

1 onion diced (or any other vegetables you want to add)

1 Tablespoon Dried Parsley

4 Pillsbury Grands Flaky refrigerator biscuits

My wife loved this dish and she says it's a "Winner".  My son loved the baked biscuits.  I must say, this meal was easy and delicious.  I give this Crock Pot Chicken and Dumpling 4 Stars. 





Emeril's Restaurant- Universal City Walk

Here's another dining experience while on my vacation to Florida.  On this night we went to Emeril's Restaurant at the Universal City Walk in Orlando.  Orlando's Universal City Walk is the place to go if you want to eat at all different restaurants and do your shopping at the same time.  Lots of lights and people.  We made reservations for an early dinner.  This restaurant must be very popular because we overheard the hostess say that they are all booked that night until 10pm. and we had reservations for 5pm.  It was a very nice dining experience.  Everyone there were very courteous and willing to get you anything you needed. 

The prices range from Side Dishes @ $6.00 to Main Entrees @ $48.00.  Save up a lot if you want to dine here. 

Kurobuta Porkchops-View 1

I decided to order some pork chops for dinner.  The waiter recommended this because he said it was a cut of pork that was hard to get and it is very tasty.  So I went with his recommendation and when he brought it out, I was SURPRISED to say the least.  I was imagining it to be a cut of pork maybe about an inch thick.  As you can see it was a monster of a pork chop.  I couldn't finish it all, only about half..  It came with Sherry Mashed Potatoes along with a Roasted Pepper Reduction.  I asked to have it done Medium.  It was just bloody enough and was so soft and tender. 

Kurobuta Porkchops-View2

The picture doesn't serve it justice.  It was about almost 3 inches thick and about 5 inches big. 

Gulf Shrimp Pasta

This is what my wife ordered.  She just loves her pasta and shrimp.  It comes with Fresh Fettuccine, Shiitake Mushrooms, Braised Leeks, with a Black Truffle Butter Sauce.  It was so tasty.  The shrimp was not overcooked and the leeks had some crunch to them.  The butter sauce was not too creamy either.  A blend of tastes put together.  Creamy but not too rich. 


Overall for Service and quality of food, I give Emeril's Restaurant 5 stars.

Citricos Restaurant

While on vacation in Disneyworld, we had the luxury of making reservations last night at the Citricos Restaurant located in the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa on the Disney property.  This was a special Chef's Table dinner.  We had our own private room to dine in.  We had our own private chef for the night.  He came in to introduce himself.  It was a very unique experience.  When visiting Disneyworld, I believe you have to experience at least one fancy restaurant experience even though it is expensive, although we paid for a meal plan for our visit here at DisneyWorld so we didn't really pay the prices on the menu. It was worth it.

Menu Cover

Appetizers & Soup and Salad Menu

 We had to choose from either an appetizer or a soup or salad.  It was so hard to choose from.

Main Course Menu

Even choosing the main course had difficult.  They all sounded good.

Chef's Surprise

 This was the chef's surprise.  On the right is a piece of cheese from Switzerland which was very good for Swiss cheese.  in the middle is a chutney of raisins and some kind of other fruit.  On the left is a fruit reduction sauce.  This was a very good tummy tickler.

Blue Crab Pave

This was my appetizer.  The Blue Crab pave.  It is a lump crab, capers, Meyer Lemon, fennel-celery salad with avocado, olives and a Piquillo vinaigrette.  There was lots of chunks of crab.  It was very tasty.  The crab  flavor wasn't strong and overpowering.  I think it was because it had capers to mix with the flavor.  A very good choice for an appetizer.

Arancini

This was my wife's appetizer.  It is a crispy risotto with Crimini mushrooms, Asiago cheese, and Charred Tomato Coulis.  The waiter called this dish crispy rice balls.  This was actually pretty good.  It was interesting that the risotto was crispy and not soft. I thought it would not be so good but I was wrong.  It had lots of flavor, just like eating regular risotto.

Kid's Cheese and Crackers

This was my son's appetizer.  He actually loved it, especially the gold fish crackers.  along with his appetizer he must have had about 4 pieces of the bread you see on the left.  He just loves his bread.

Braised Veal Shank

This was my main course.  The waiter says this is one of their specialties.  The veal just fell off the bone as i tried to cut it.  I didn't even need a knife to cut it.  Under the veal shank is carrot-potato mash along with roasted vegetables around it.  The mash was very good. a little sweet from the carrots and so smooth and creamy.  The vegetables were cooked just perfect, not too hard and not too soft.  It was a pretty big piece of veal and I was surprised I ate the whole thing.  I guess it was THAT good.

Oak-Grilled Filet of Beef

This was my wife's main course.  Her filet was at least 2 inches thick and about 3-4 inches wide cooked medium.  It came with Spanish onions, Peppadew and Banana Peppers.  Under the filet you have Quattro Formgagi Potato Puree with Glaze de Viande.  It was very tasty and soft even though it was cooked medium.    she must have liked it because she ate the whole thing.  WOW.

Birthday Granny Dessert (view 1)

We celebrated three birthday's at dinner.  My mom's birthday was earlier this month.  They made a special dessert for her.  On the left is a glass slipper made of white chocolate with creme and raspberries.  Below is a raspberry sauce.  Next to the glass slipper is chocolate mousse with pieces of white chocolate.  Next to the chocolate mousse is the Disney castle created entirely with chocolate.  We all thought it was a design on the plate but it was actually chocolate.  We were all is AWE that they could do that.

Birthday Granny Dessert (view 2)

 Another view of the Glass Slipper Dessert.

Birthday Michael Dessert

My nephew's birthday was the same day as my mom's birthday.  This Mickey Mouse was created entirely of White Chocolate.  He was so surprised that it was made of chocolate.  He thought it was just a statue and not actually edible.  I thought it was hollow inside but it is actually a solid piece of chocolate.  He wanted to take it home and not eat it.  He tried to bring it home in one piece but unfortunately the waiter said they had to glue it to the plate to make it stand on the plate.  They tried to box it but it broke into pieces.  He was so disappointed and sad.

Birthday Princess Dessert

My grand niece had her birthday the night we left.  She just loves the Disney Princesses.  This was an actual size cake that they made for her.  we all had a piece of it.  it was a white cake which was very moist.  and in between the layers on cake was a creme layer.  A little sweet but VERY GOOD.

Kid's Make Your Own Sundae

Last but not least was my son's dessert.  He just loves his ice cream sundae.  He was happy that he could make his own.  There were no toppings left in the bowls.  He was very satisfied.




Citricos Restaurant in the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa is a place to go for fine dining.  Our experience of dining at the chef's table was very pleasant and worth it. Check out their website.  disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/citricos

Overall- I rate Citricos Restaurant 5 Stars. 

Jinroku Restaurant

Hi everyone.  I know it's been a while since my last blog.  We haven't been to any new places lately, just our usual eateries.  Well last night we went to this very good Japanese tepanyaki restaurant.  We've been here twice before and really enjoyed it here so we thought we'd try it again.  Jinroku Restaurant is located in the Pacific Monarch Hotel which is located on the Diamond Head side of Waikiki on Kuhio Avenue.  With all the traffic and road closures going on in Waikiki, this was a perfect place to go to eat in Waikiki.  Jinroku has valet parking or you can find parking on the street.  They are open for lunch Mon.-Sun. 11:30am-2pm and dinner Mon.- Sun.5:30pm-10:30pm.  They take reservations and have a full bar.  The service is excellent and the atmosphere is nice and relaxing.  It is fun to eat at the Tepanyaki counter.  You can watch them cook your food and if you have questions, they are more than happy to answer them for you. 

Since we've been here twice before, we decided to try new and different dishes.  And we weren't disappointed at all.

Sauteed Calamari

This was the first time we've tried this dish.  The calamari was so tender and cooked perfectly.  It was not chewy at all.  The mayonnaise dipping sauce adds a light and tangy flavor to the dish. 

Takoyaki

Takoyaki is a popular dish in Japan.  Jinroku Takoyaki is so flavorful that they only serve it with tonkatsu sauce and mayonnaise.  They add big chunks of tako and carrots and other ingredients that I didn't recognize but it was oh so good.  The outside is a little crispy and soft and the inside is filled with ingredients that you will definitely enjoy.  They gave us a dish of bonito shavings and aomori powder to top the takoyaki off but we didn't use it all because it was perfect without it.

Pizza Tama Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese pancake.  This one is their pizza tama.  Their ingredients include big chunks of tako, cabbage, cheese and tonkatsu sauce.  They cook it on the tepanyaki grill like a layered pancake.  it takes about 15 minutes to cook so order it first.  There are so many different textures in this one dish.  It was excellent. 

Kim Chee Fried Rice

This was a very good rice dish.  They cook the tako separate from the rice, kimchee, and egg, then combine in the end.  It may look spicy but it wasn't at all.  It was just the right amount of spicyness in the dish.  So much flavor in such a simple dish. 


Kuromitsu Special

This is one of their specialties.  This shave ice dessert was very different from your normal shave ice.  First thing different was that the syrup was made with black sugar (kuromitsu) hence the name of the dessert.  Secondly they add kinako powder on top.  I've only had kinako on mochi so this was different.  It was a very interesting flavor but yet it was VERY good.  It was a pretty big dessert but it was so good that we finished it all. 



Jinroku Restaurant prides themselves on service and excellent food and they do not dissapoint.  This was the third time eating here and everytime we come it just gets better.  The service, food, and atmosphere is the best.  If you ever want to experience great service and food, look no futher then Jinroku Restaurant in Waikiki. 


Overall, I give Jinroku Restaurant 5 stars.

Beef Broccoli and Cake Noodles

Thursday was eat at home night.  I decided to make some beef broccoli with cake noodles.  It was the first time making it.  Nothing like a home cooked meal. 

Marinate Beef

Marinate the beef with 2 TBSP shoyu and 1 tsp grated ginger.  Marinate it for 30 minutes.

Saute Broccoli

Saute broccoli in some vegetable oil only for about 1 minute.  Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Brown Beef and onions

Saute the beef and onions in some oil until browned.

Add gravy mixture, Broccoli, and green onions

Add gravy mixture, broccoli, and green onions.  Cook until sauce thickens.  You might have to turn fire down to low for sauce to thicken.

Boil Noodles

Boil noodles according to package.

Pan Fry Noodles

Pan fry in oil.  Do not mix or stir.  Let noodles cook until crispy, then turn over to cook other side.

Beef Broccoli and Cake Noodles

Once noodles are done serve beef broccoli over hot noodles and ENJOY.



INGREDIENTS:
3/4lb beef sliced thin
1 tsp finely grated ginger
2 TBSP shoyu
2 TBSP vegetable oil
2 cups sliced broccoli
1 medium onion sliced
4 stalks green onion

GRAVY MIXTURE:
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1 TBSP cornstarch
2 cups chicken broth
Crispy or soft-fried noodles




Beef broccoli and cake noodles is a popular chinese dish. For the first time it took making this dish, it was fairly simple and fast.  It was also pretty good that there was hardly any left overs. Try it out and let me know how it is.

Overall- the ease of making the dish and taste, this beef broccoli and cake noodle dish  is worth 3 1/2 stars.