Date Night--Tuesday. February 17. 2015

I know. It's a Tuesday.  But I got my hair cut today, so I'm super cute!  Not just regular cute, SUPER CUTE!

So what is dinner tonight?

This meal started to be planned on Saturday afternoon.  See I came home from the market that day with a bag of oranges.

Why?  I have to go back to Friday for that.  Our dear friends had us over for cocktails.  One of them, (the cocktail, not the friend) called The Communist featured fresh orange juice.  So I came home with a bag of oranges wanting the cocktail again.  (I also brought home a bottle of this markets excellent fresh squeezed oj which kinda made the fresh oranges redundant.)

So, getting back to Saturday, I'm driving home wondering what I will do with this bag of oranges. (I know that eat them is the easy and obvious answer, but really, does that sound like me?)

BOOM!   The answer hit me like a ton of, well a ton of oranges.

I'll make Orange Chicken for Date Night!!!  Josh thought I was brilliant.

A whole meal was beginning to take shape.  You see. I have this recipe for cream cheese baked won tons that I've been wanting to make.  (Think crab rangoon but without the crab.  Honestly, the last time I ordered crab rangoon, I was hard pressed to find any crab, anyway.

I will now lay out the evening for you from beginning (cocktails/appetizers) to end.

Cocktail/Appetizer

Bronx Cocktail.  When I asked Josh what he thought he wanted, his response was, "Something Gin-y."  The recipe goes like this

2 oz gin
1/4 oz each sweet and dry vermouths
1 oz fresh orange juice
orange bitters to taste
garnish with an orange twist

Appetizer will be the aforementioned cream cheese won tons.

Ingredients

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
2 green onions, chopped top to bottom
16 wonton wrappers
Pam cooking spray

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Mix together cream cheese, garlic salt, and green onions. Place about 1/2 tsp. cream cheese mixture in the center of a wonton wrapper. Wet your finger with water and moisten the edges of the wrapper. Fold wonton in half to make a triangle, sealing the cream in the wonton well. Moisten one corner of the wonton with more water. Bring the bottom edges of the wonton together, overlapping slightly. Repeat for the rest of the wontons. Place wontons on a nonstick cookie sheet sprayed with Pam. Spray wontons with a bit of Pam to help them brown. Bake for 7-12 minutes or until brown and crispy.

I will be halving this recipe and adding a little heat.  Red pepper flakes?  Siracha? Tobasco? I haven't decided.

Dinner

Orange chicken.  More specifically Chinese Orange Chicken.  I am actually blending two different recipes for dinner tonight.  As I mentioned earlier, I don't always take the easiest route.




Obviously, not mine but the picture from this website: 
http://kirbiecravings.com/2014/07/baked-orange-chicken.html

This is where the chicken portion comes from.  Here is the recipe:

1/2 lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 extra large egg, whisked

Preheat oven to 400F. Dip chicken pieces in egg and then roll in bread crumbs until fully coated and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat until all chicken is coated. Bake for 15-20 minutes until chicken coating is a light brown and is crunchy.

Now  for the sauce:

• ½ cup orange juice (1-2 large oranges)
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (may sub white vinegar)
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon water + 1 tablespoon corn starch, whisked until dissolved

This is the website for the sauce portion of dinner:  http://lecremedelacrumb.com/2014/05/lighter-20-minute-orange-chicken.html

I should be noted that I am using chicken breasts not thighs.  Not because I don't like thighs, but because I didn't realize it called for thighs until I copied the recipe for you.  I will also be doubling the sauce recipe.

I will be serving this with steamed broccoli and fried rice (for Josh).  The fried rice recipe is on the back of the seasoning packet I bought.

Dessert

Easy Peasy.  I got Josh some chocolate gelato.  Me?  I haven't decided yet.  I have a WW fudge bar or apple sauce or a sugar free pudding with mini chocolate chips.

So that's what's cooking in my kitchen tonight.  How about you?

happy cooking