Spicy Chicken Burger on Whole Wheat Pita

So a few friends came over a couple weeks ago and I didnt feel like having a feast for them lol, so I made spicy chicken burgers with melted mozzarella on homemade whole wheat pita. and made a chipotle mayo to go with it . when making this, you should probably make the pita bread ahead of time.  This recipe is for four servings so u may reduce/increase the amount of ingredients based on how many people you're serving.


CHICKEN BURGER INGREDIENTS
2 lbs ground chicken breast
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp dried basil
2 tbs dried pepper
2 whole Tomatoes
1 Onion
Fresh Mozzarella
Lettuce

SPICY CHIPOTLE MAYO INGREDIENTS
4 tbs light mayo (I use hellman's)
2 tbs canned chipotle in adobo sauce

WHOLE WHEAT PITA INGREDIENTS

• 1 tsp of active dry yeast (or you can buy the individual little pack of active dry yeast)
• 1 tsp molasses
• 11/2 cups warm water
• 1 tsp salt
• 31/2 cups whole wheat flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 tsp olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

FOR SPICY CHICKEN BURGER

Mix the chipotle and mayo (then put it in the fridge)

Sauté some onions with garlic in a pan

Put ground chicken breast in a bowl add, dry pepper, basil, oregano, pepper and sautéed onions. mix it all together and u can add salt to taste. 

Divide the ground chicken into four patties.

In a saucepan, put in a little olive oil (or whatever oil you have at home) and put in the chicken patties. cook until the chicken is well done. 

Put a generous amount of mozzarella cheese on each patty and put in the oven for 2mins at 400 deg.

Cut open your pita and coat with the chipotle mayo , place cheesy chicken patty on the pita and add lettuce and tomato. 

and voila... you're ready to grub 

Enjoy :) 

FOR WHOLE WHEAT PITA

Next time i make it, i'll put up pictures

In a bowl combine the yeast, molasses, and warm water; stir the mixture and then let the yeast stand for about 7-10mins or until foamy. 

Add the salt to the flour and mix.

Stir in the salted flour into the yeast mixture. Add the flour, a little at a time, until all the flour has been added and forms a thick dough and you can roll it into a ball. 

Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead with your knuckles until it's smooth and elastic. 

Transfer the dough to a bowl you have already greased with a bit of oil. roll the dough around the bowl to coat it with the oil and then and cover with a wet towel. Allow to rise until double in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 500 deg F.

remove the towel and divide the dough into 8 pieces, and gather each piece into a ball. Cover them up again for about 10mins.

Then roll out each little dough ball into a circle with a rolling pin. Make sure the circle is completely smooth, with no creases or seams in the dough, which can prevent the pitas from puffing up properly. 

Put the pita dough circle in the over and bake for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the bread puffs up like a balloon and is pale golden. Watch closely coz they bake fast. Remove the bread from the oven and place on a surface to cool for 5 minutes; they will naturally deflate, leaving a pocket in the center. Wrap the pitas in a large kitchen towel to keep them soft.

and voila you're ready to eat them.  It seems tedious, but it's not, it's just a calculated process. 

Whole Wheat Almond Bread Pudding

This is a very tasty yummy dessert, and less than a hundred calories per serving. Made it for a few friends and they loved it. I always have all the ingredients at home.. it's the easiest thing to make

Ingredients:

1 cup Almond Milk

1/2 cup of Light Brown Sugar

1/2 cup almond meal

1/4 tsp of vanilla extract

1/4 tsp nutmeg

8 slices soft wheat bread (I buy the pepperidge farm 45 calorie bread)

2 egss
a handful of almonds 

DIRECTIONS

Preset over to 375 deg

Mix egg, milk, vanilla extract, nutmeg and sugar

in a different bowl cut up the bread into small pieces. U may cut of the crust if you wish, but I like the crust in mine. pour the brown sugar on the bread and mix it together and then pour almond meal on the bread/sugar. and add almonds

put the bread/sugar/almond meal in a baking pan and then our egg/milk mixture over the bread. make sure the bread is drenched in the mixture. 

allow to sit and soak in for about 5-10mins, then put in the oven for about 30mins and voila.. your bread pudding is ready. Sprinkle a little almond meal and brown sugar on it.

Allow to cool, then serve. you may serve it with whipped cream

Enjoy:)  

Chicken Veggie Dish

So I promised someone I was gonna send her this recipe like 4months ago lol. But never got around to writing it because I never measured the ingredients lol . So made it again recently and this time I gauged the ingredients as I was eyeballing lol.

This is one of my favorite dishes to make actually and it's completely healthy, no oils, no processed carbs.. just chicken and veggies..I added potatoes just to thicken the broth

Ingredients
6 chicken legs/thighs (you can use any other part)
1 Large Red Onion (chopped)
1 Cabbage (cut up)
10 diced carrots
2 large brocolli crowns
4 bell pepper
3 potatoes (chopped)
2 knorr cubes
1tsp salt
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp curry
i cup chopped fresh basil

DIRECTIONS

Wash the chicken and put in a saucepan/pot with 1/2 cup of water . add onions, oregano, knorr and curry.. allow to cook for about 15mins, and add potatoes.

Then add chopped cabbage, diced carrots, bell pepper and fresh basil and stir

allow to simmer for about 10mins, then add brocolli crowns. and stir ..The sauce should be a little thick by now. let it simmer for another 5-7mins. then turn of heat. remove potatoes if you do not want to eat it.

Then Serve alone or with a side dish.

Enjoy :)

Mango Bread

You will probably get to see a lot of mango recipes here because I am obsessed with mangoes. I can survive on mangoes for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy. While I was out in San Francisco, I decided to bake mango bread for my cousins and it came out very very well. one of the most delicious things i've ever made. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter (if you use salted butter, then don't use salt)
• 2 large eggs
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups all purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon salt (not necessary if you use salted butter)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a loaf pan.

mix the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.Make sure the sugar is at room temperature. DO NOT use cold or frozen sugar.. it comes out lumpy. Then Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. i recommend using a whisk. 

Peel the mango and remove flesh from the pit. Then In a small bowl, mash the mango  with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears. The batter should be a little thicker than a cake mixture

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Let it cool for about 10mins and serve. I love mango bread with a little bit of honey drizzle. 

Enjoy :) 

Cornbread Topped Chili Con Carne

Haven't had chili in almost 3yrs, but for some reason, that's all i was craving yesterday, so I decided to make it. I used ground turkey breast instead of ground beef and it came out great!!  You can also use ground chicken, but if you do, use less cumin. 



CHILI Ingredients                     CORNBREAD Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 red onions, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbs dried or crushed chili flakes 
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 tsps dried oregano
• 2 tsps dried basil
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 red bell pepper (diced)
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 can chopped/diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup tomato ketchup
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 tbs of cocoa powder (YES)
• 1 med canned red kidney beans

2 cups yellow cornmeal

1/8 cup whole wheat flour (you can use all-purpose flour)

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/2 tsp nutmeg 

2 tsp oil (any type of oil is fine, i use olive oil)

2 eggs

1 tsp molasses  (you can also use honey)

1 cup of milk (preferably half and half or buttermilk) 

DIRECTIONS

For the Chili 

In a saucepan/pot heat the oil and add garlic and chopped onions. make sure the heat is not on high, because you dont want to caramelize the onions, you just want to soften it. As the onions begin to soften add cumin, oregano, basil, chili flakes and thyme.. stir, and then add the diced red bell pepper. 

let cook for about a minute, and then ass the ground turkey (or what ever meat you decide to use). use a fork or spoon to separate the meat as your putting it in, but make sure you dont mash the meat. mix it with the ingredients aleady in the pot.. and let cook for about 5mins or until the meat browns. 

add ketchup, tomato paster and the canned diced tomato and stir. add the chicken stock and stir.. Then add salt to taste. Let the  mixture cook on low heat for about an hour, then add the cocoa and drained kidney beans, leave the pot cover partially open and let cook on low heat for another 30 mins or so. the key to great chili is letting it all the ingredients simmer for at least an hour and a half. the longer, the better.

For the cornbread: 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Add cornmeal flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and whole wheat flour to a bowl and mix together, then in a separate bowl mix egg, milk, molasses and oil together. Then slowly pour in the mixed dried ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until it's a nice yellow batter. 

If the pot/pan you used is oven-safe then you don't have to pour the chili into a baking pan. if it isn't oven safe, then you should pour the chili into an and oven safe pan or dish. 

Then pour the cornmeal batter evenly over the chili and bake in the oven for about 20mins. 

It should look like this when it it's ready. 

Let it cool down for a few minutes and then serve. 

Enjoy :) 

Aqua's Kitchen Reactivated

Havent blogged in over a year but I figured now would be a good time to start again. I love cooking, but I don't enjoy writing out recipes, because unless I am baking, I don't really measure ingredients, i just eyeball it. So writing out recipes involves me actually trying to guage what I am eyeballing lol. (if that makes sense). So I am gonna make an effort to give accurate ingredients. of course you can always add more or subtract depending on your palate.