Restaurant Replicas

PF Chang’s Spicy Chicken

September 2, 2011 – 9:26 am

I LOVE PF Chang’s! My three favorite things to order are their lettuce wraps, crispy green beans and spicy chicken. As I’ve mentioned before, with our family size and the ages of our young kiddos, eating out has become impractical. So I’m trying to recreate our restaurant favorites right at home. This one was spot on! I did have to laugh at myself as my husband and I were sweating a bit while enjoying dinner last night. You see, I read the recipe wrong and when it said 2 teaspoons of Srirachi hot chili sauce, I thought it said 2 tablespoons. I like things on the spicy side so I did two heaping Tablespoons. Oooppps! It was still amazing but definitely not for the faint of heart

If you’re a fan of PF Chang’s Spicy Chicken you are going to LOVE this!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds Chicken Breast
2 cups Vegetable Oil, for frying
1 cup Flour
½ teaspoons Salt
¾ teaspoons Baking Soda
1 whole Egg
½ cups Milk
½ cups Water

Spicy Sauce:

2 teaspoons Vegetable Oil
2 Tablespoons Garlic, Chopped Finely
3 Tablespoons Green Onion (chopped)
1 cup Pineapple Juice
2 teaspoons (or more) Hot Chili Sauce (Sriracha – found with the Asian foods in the supermarket)
2 Tablespoons White Vinegar
4 teaspoons Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon Soy Sauce
¾ teaspoons Salt
2 Tablespoons Water
3 teaspoons Cornstarch

Directions:

Prepare the spicy sauce: heat oil, garlic and green onions over medium heat until soft. Add pineapple juice, chili sauce, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and salt. Combine the water and cornstarch in a separate container. Mix the cornstarch/water mixture into the sauce and stir over medium-low heat until thickened. You can add more chili sauce if you want spicier spicy chicken sauce. Be sure to taste it as you go so you don’t overdo it. Reduce heat to low.

Prepare the chicken: cut the chicken breast into 1-inch cubes and season with salt. Begin heating the 2 cups vegetable oil over medium-high heat.

Prepare the batter: combine remaining ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk together. Batter should be fairly thin. Place chicken cubes in the batter to coat. Batter should be very thin on the chicken.

Once the oil is heated, reduce heat to medium and add chicken cubes a few at a time, letting the batter drip off before placing in the oil. Let them cook for 3-4 minutes and turn halfway through cooking. Cook until golden brown. Remove and drain on a paper-towel-covered plate. Repeat until all chicken is cooked.

Serve chicken over white or brown rice and cover with plenty of spicy sauce. Garnish with additional chopped green onions in desired.

Serves: 4

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Sweet and Sour Chicken

August 23, 2011 – 8:34 pm

We love Chinese food around here! For some reason it’s one of the cuisines I’ve ventured into the least in my cooking. When the mood strikes we just order take out from our favorite local Chinese restaurant. One of our standard orders is sweet and sour chicken. We love the crispy chicken and tangy sauce. It’s a unanimous favorite at our house. As our family has grown to 6 eating out has become both inconvenient and really spendy. So there are certain things we love to order when we eat out that I’m attempting to replicate at home. This Chinese restaurant favorite was a HUGE hit with our whole family. The chicken was perfectly crispy and the sauce was spot on. My husband and I both agreed that it was better than any we’ve had. I just love when I find that I can often make our restaurant favorites even better right from home! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 large can pineapple chunks, drained (juice reserved)
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 3/4 cups water, divided
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
2 drops orange food coloring
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into 1 inch cubes
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 egg
1 1/2 cups water
1 quart vegetable oil for frying
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 small onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
Hot Cooked Rice

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups water, sugar, vinegar, reserved pineapple juice, and orange food coloring. Heat to boiling. Turn off heat. Combine 1/4 cup cornstarch and 1/4 cup water; slowly stir into saucepan. Continue stirring until mixture thickens.
Combine flour, baking soda, 2 tablespoons oil, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, salt, white pepper, and egg. Add 1 1/2 cups water gradually to make a thick batter. Stir to blend thoroughly. Add chicken pieces, and stir until chicken is well coated.
Heat oil in skillet or wok to 360 degrees F (180 degrees C). Fry chicken pieces in hot oil 10 minutes, or until golden. Remove chicken, and drain on paper towels.
When ready to serve layer bell peppers, onion, pineapple chunks, and cooked chicken pieces on a platter. Pour hot sweet and sour sauce over top and serve over rice.

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Pumpkin Spice Scones

June 23, 2010 – 2:05 pm

These scones are the perfect fall treat. Yet it’s June 23rd and I thought they’d make the perfect addition to tea I served to a lovely friend this morning. They are a copycat of the pumpkin scones they serve at Starbucks. The are moist and flavorful and I especially love the spiced glaze on top.

Scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons half-and-half
1 large egg

Powdered Sugar Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk

Spiced Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pinch ginger
1 pinch ground cloves

To make the scones:.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Using a pastry knife, fork, or food processor, cut butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half, and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form the dough into a ball.
Roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick circle. Use a large biscuit cutter to cut out 9-12 scones depending on the size of cutter. Place on prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 14–16 minutes. Scones should begin to turn light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.

To make glazes:
Mix the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp milk together until smooth.
When scones are cool, use a brush to paint plain glaze over the top of each scone.
As the white glaze firms up, make the spiced glaze.
Combine the ingredients for the spiced icing together. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). I put the glaze in a sandwich bag, snip the corner with scissors and use that to drizzle the glaze over the scones.

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California Pizza Kitchen Chopped Salad

May 5, 2010 – 1:45 pm

Every time I go to CPK I order this salad. It is SO, SO good! The tangy dressing, crisp lettuce, sweet basil…. drool. This recipe is a copy cat I found and it is really close.

Ingredients:

Dressing:

1 teaspoon garlic, minced
2 teaspoons shallots, minced
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/3 cups olive oil, mild flavored
3 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated

Salad:

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, chopped into 1/8 inch wide strips
1/2 head romaine lettuce, chopped into 1/8 inch wide strips
12 leaves basil, chopped into fine strips
3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup garbanzo beans ( I leave them out usually)
4 cups tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 cups turkey breast, diced
1/2 cup salami, cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons scallions, chopped

Directions:

For salad, toss together the ingredients in a large bowl and chill in your refrigerator.
For dressing, whisk together ingredients in a small bowl and chill for an hour.
Just before serving, toss dressing with salad and serve on small individual plates.
Serves 4 for a main dish or 8 for small side salads.

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