Bundaberg Chicken

My oldest loves root beer and ginger beer (non-alcoholic version) and one of his favorite breweries for them (yes, they are called breweries) is the Australian company Bundaberg. He was looking at their website one day and came across this recipe for pulled chicken sandwiches so we gave it a shot and it has become a favorite of his and mine! If you use a rotisserie chicken it is even faster and easier.

The Ingredients:
2 cups Bundaberg Ginger Beer (slightly more than one bottle)
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp 5-spice powder**
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 roast chicken, skin removed and meat shredded

This is pretty easy to put together! You add everything except for the chicken to a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Stir often and reduce to a simmer until thickened.

When the sauce reaches the thickness you desire, add in the chicken to warm through.

Serve warm on buns. We dove in so fast that I did not get a picture of my sandwich this time. I will next time for sure.

**The 5-spice was a little hard to find but I finally located it at Sprouts in the loose spices aisle. I was able to buy just a small amount. A store with a nice Asian food department would have it I am sure.

French Dip Sliders

Well! It has been a little while since I have blogged anything, hasn't it? I am attempting to dust the cobwebs off this blog by starting to add some of the delicious things we have been eating here in Chaosville so here is the first one! As with many of the new recipes I have tied lately it started as a post on Facebook. This particular recipe was posted on Chelsea's Messy Apron

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 package (12) Hawaiian sweet rolls
1 pound deli roast beef
10-12 slices provolone cheese
1 1/2 cups French fried onions
Seasoning mix:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 packet AuJus seasoning mix, separated
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon dried minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Using the softened butter, butter the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Split the package of Hawaiian rolls in half but do not separate the rolls individually.

2. Place the bottom half of the rolls in the buttered casserole pan. Top with a layer of provolone.

3. Add the roast beef in a layer on top of the cheese.

4. Spread the fried onions on top as evenly as you can. Add another layer of cheese on top of the onions.

5. For the seasoning sauce, melt the butter in a small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the AuJus mix and the remaining ingredients.

6. Put the top layer of rolls on and coat with the sauce. You probably won't need all the sauce, just enough to cover the tops of all the rolls well.

7. Bake, uncovered for 15-20 minutes. Just long enough to make the cheese melty and the tops of the rolls toasted. Slice with a large knife to separate all the rolls from each other.

8. We ate ours with some pasta salad and loved every bite!

Special thanks to my lovely assistant, Pattie Lynn!!

Baked Mini-Burgers

I saw this post on Facebook (I think it was on Tip Hero) and tried it last night. I loved it!! Everyone else said they were okay but I LOVED them! Did I mention I loved them? Moving on...

THE INGREDIENTS:

1 package Hawaiian rolls
1 pound ground hamburger meat
1 diced onion
sliced cheese of your choosing

The pictures kind of say it all, but the steps are simple enough...Brown the hamburger and saute the onions.

Cut the rolls in half and lay the bottoms in a 9x9-ish baking dish. Evenly crumble the hamburger on top of the buns.

Evenly distribute the cooked onions on top of the meat. Two of my clonies do not like onion so I made half and half.

Throw some cheese slices on top!

Crown them with the bun tops.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Mine got just a touch overdone. Not burnt or crisp but darker than I would have liked. Next time I will check on them at 20 minutes!

SO, SO GOOD!

Lynda's Chicken Salad

My mother-in-law is a wonderful cook. She has one of those great binders filled with recipes that are stained and tattered. I keep thinking I'll sneak it out one day and make a copy of the whole thing. I wouldn't have to sneak though, she isn't selfish with her gift. We used to have a big party every 4th of July and she would make the most delicious chicken salad for lunches. I did get that recipe from her and lately I have been craving it pretty badly. Yesterday I picked up the ingredients I didn't have on hand and made some for dinner. There's some good news/bad news though: I'm the only one who likes it in my family. Good news for me is I don't have to share! Bad news for me is it doesn't last forever.
The Ingredients:

1 cooked chicken (I buy a rotisserie chicken in the deli but you could use canned)
6 boiled eggs
1/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup relish
1/4 cup diced celery
1.4 cup chopped pecans
mayo or Miracle Whip to taste (I prefer Miracle Whip but I have also used the olive oil mayo for this and it was wonderful)

The other day on This Week For Dinner, Jane posted a tip she had seen about shredding chicken for recipes. Use you stand mixer. If you say so, Jane!! I tried it out. First, I took all the meat off my rotisserie chicken and put it in the bowl of my mixer

Then turn the mixer on about medium

It took about 8.3097 seconds!

After chopping up the boiled eggs, you just combine all the ingredients and mix to your preferred consistency. I like it not too wet but not too dry. I bought some pitas to eat with this but you could use bread or tortillas or lettuce cups or crackers or just a fork!

So good! I love the crunch of the onion and celery and the texture of the pecans is wonderful. You could probably use walnuts instead of pecans but I prefer the pecan, since I am a Texan. It's our state tree you know ;)

Ground Meat Gyros

As I flipped through my Taste of Home Most Requested Recipes book looking for something new to try, I was drawn to a recipe called "Ground Beef Gyros". I had to alter some things from the original recipe but these turned out really well. The kids ate them up and I will admit to a second helping myself.
The Ingredients:

For the sauce:
1 carton (8 oz) plain yogurt
1/3 cup chopped seeded cucumber
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp sugar
Filling:
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt, optional
3/4 tsp pepper
1 pound ground beef
pita bread

As you can see in my ingredients picture, I used ground turkey and in place of all the spices, I used Cavender's Greek Seasoning since it has all of those things in it.
First, mix up the sauce. Dump the yogurt into a small bowl and add the cucumber. (I used a seedless cucumber and my cheese grater to shred it up).

Mix in the garlic, onion and sugar. Stir well and place in fridge to chill.

In a larger bowl, add your seasonings to the meat. I generously sprinkled the top of the meat and then sprinkled more in after mixing.

Use the mixers you were born with; they really are the best tools sometimes!

Make patties out of the mixture and cook them either in a skillet or on the grill.

When the meat is cooked, cut each patty into strips and fill your pita bread with meat, cucumber sauce and fresh spinach (or lettuce if you don't like spinach).

Very easy, very quick, very tasty, and most importantly, Chaosville approved!