Spicy Chicken with Peppers & Basil

Happy May!  Can you believe we're already to the half-way point of May?!  Before you know it, it'll be 4th of July.  Where does the time go?!

Back in February, I made a recipe that called for fresh basil.  And, of course, all I could find was a gigantor package of fresh basil at the store, so the hunt for recipes that included basil was on!  I told the hubs it was his responsibility to find a recipe and low and behold, we actually came up with the same one (but don't tell him I looked for a recipe, too, because he'll say I didn't have faith in him).  Thanks to Food Network, I get to share this great recipe with all of you!

Spicy Chicken with Peppers and Basil
2 cups Jasmine rice, prepared to directions on the package
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 Tbsp wok or light colored oil
1 Tbsp hot chile oil
1/2 to 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 small to medium onion, thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp fish sauce
20 leaves fresh sweet basil, torn

Place rice on the stove top to cook.

Cut chicken on an angle across the breast into thin strips.  Cut strips across into bite size pieces.  Set chicken aside.  Wash hands and cutting board.

When the rice is 6 or 7 minutes away from being done, begin your stir fry.

Heat a wok, wok-shaped skillet, or large nonstick skillet over high heat.  When the pan smokes, add wok or light cooking oil, and hot chile oil.  Sprinkle in crushed red pepper flakes.  Add chicken and stir fry 2 minutes.  Add onions, red bell peppers, and garlic and stir fry for 1 or 2 more minutes.  Add fish sauce.  Remove the pan from heat and add basil.  Toss chicken dish until basil wilts.

Serve chicken and peppers with prepared rice.

Very colorful and easy to make!  I can guarantee that it was easy to make because as a rule, the hubs does not make things that require a recipe.  And I don't remember actually making this, so it's a good chance he made it.  It was not too spicy, but my kids probably would've thought it was too spicy for them.  The nice thing about this recipe is that you can make it as spicy or as bland as you want.

Happy eating!

Perfect Pulled Pork & Scalloped Potatoes

Hi, everybody! My name is Megan, and I'm owner/writer of Kitschy Suburbia, a blog about family, food and nail polish. Weird combo, I know, but it works! I found The Bad Girl's Kitchen while searching for a new recipe to try. Not only did I find some great recipes, I found a community of great cooks that I wanted to be a part of.

I "found" this recipe when a fellow blogger gave me the head's up. It's from Kevin & Amanda - they have a *bunch* of great recipes. This is the first I've tried and I promise I'll be trying more (and sharing them with you, of course). Don't be intimidated by the amount of ingredients or the number of steps - they are ALL worth it.

Perfect Pulled Pork

1 whole bone-in Boston butt

Dry Rub
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp ground pepper
1 Tbsp paprika
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix well and store in an air-tight container.

Brine Solution
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 quarts cold water
2 bay leaves
3 Tbsp dry rub mix


Add salt to cold water and stir until all the salt is completely dissolved. Then add the brown sugar, dry rub and bay leaves. Stir well to combine.

Pork shoulder prep:
Rinse the pork shoulder and place in a large container. Pour in the brine solution until the shoulder is completely covered. Cover the container and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. Remove pork shoulder from brine solution; pat dry with paper towels. Place pork shoulder in baking pan that is bigger than the shoulder by at least an inch in length and width and at least 3-inches deep. Sprinkle dry rub on to the surface of the shoulder and massage in so that it adheres to the surface. Coat all sides and be sure to get in to all the nooks and crannies. Make sure the fat layer on the hsoulder is facing up before cooking! Place baking pan, uncovered, in a 225* oven on the middle rack. Insert a probe thermometer into the center or the thickest part of the shoulder, but not touching the bone. Monitor the temperature throughout cooking (a digital thermometer with an alarm function is the easiest way to do this). Do not remove from the oven until the center of the shoulder reaches 200*; shut off the oven and let the roast cool for a couple of hours before removing from the oven. If the bottom of the pan is dry (or crusted with dried spices), cover the pan with foil to retain internal moisture of the meat during the cooling period. When the temperature drops to 170*, remove from the oven. Place on a large clean work surface, such as a cutting board, and remove the large sheet of crusted fat off the top. Pull apart with two forks; it will pull apart very easily.

NOTES: This is a VERY looooong process. I cheated and didn't let the pork get all the way up to 200 and then cool back down because we ended up being short on time. I put the pork in the oven at 11 and it wasn't finished even at 7. I had no idea it would take THAT long! It didn't shred quite as easily than if we had waited the entire time, but it was still delish!

BONUS RECIPE!

I got this wonderful recipe from my bestie. She's my partner in crime - whether as a fellow mom, a kitchen goddess, or beauty queen, this lady is always there for me!

Scalloped Potatoes
6-8 large baking potatoes
shredded Cheddar cheese - 1 small bag
Heavy Cream- 1 1/2 to 2 cups
Seasoned salt - as desired
Salt- as desired
Dried thyme- as desired

Preheat oven to 400*
Use 9x10 baking dish - grease lightly

Slice all potatoes thinly, add a layer in baking pan
Add a layer of cheese and spices
2 layers of Potatoes
Layer of cheese and spiced
Do this until all the cheese and potatoes have been used. Make sure you have enough cheese for the top of the potatoes.
Once you have layers complete, pour heavy cream over entire thing and sprinkle left over cheese on the top.

Bake for 60 minutes.

NOTES: This is my bestie's recipe and it's from memory, so it's not the most precise, but you get the picture.

Be sure to have some disposable gloves for this one - it gets messy!

The hardest part of making this recipe was smelling the pork in the oven ALL day. It smelled soooo good - it was very hard to wait.

The end result. We served the pork with fresh deli rolls and a couple BBQ sauces. The pork was not dry by any means, we just had some really good sauces to share that we picked up from the Fiery Foods Show back in March.

So...it was nice to meet you! Here's to many new bloggy buddies and many great new recipes to be had.