Here I have for you another version of fried rice – chicken fried rice. This is a great way to make use of your leftover white rice. Make sure the rice you are using for this recipe is at least one day old, leftover rice that is even older than that would work even better.  This is much similar to the recipe I posted for Chinese Fried Rice with just a few changes and I’m going to give you a couple additional tips for making fried rice. Once again, ingredients such as soy sauce, garlic and oyster sauce should be added to your taste. In this version I decided to add oyster sauce in the mix and I felt it gave the fried rice great flavor. When adding the rice to the wok with the sauces, make sure the wok is heated enough to sufficiently fry the rice and absorb the flavors of the sauces into the rice. For the pieces of chicken all I did was sauté them in oil and drain on paper towels.

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into cubes)
4 cups white rice (cold and at least 1 day old)
2 large eggs
2 minced garlic cloves (or more add to your taste)
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
1 white onion (diced)
½ cup soy sauce (or to your taste)
2 tablespoons oyster sauce (or to your taste)
Sesame oil (for stir frying)
Vegetable oil

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Fry chicken pieces in oil until fully cooked or golden brown. Drain on paper towels and set aside. Beat eggs and fry in oil or butter and scramble. Remove from pan and set aside.
Step 2: Add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and one teaspoon of vegetable oil to the wok. Stir fry diced onion and garlic for 30 seconds, add peas and carrots mix and stir fry until vegetables are done to desired tenderness.

Step 3: Add a little more oil and then add the rice and stir fry for a couple minutes. Add soy sauce and oyster sauce to the rice while stir frying.
Step 4: Add the scrambled egg and chicken pieces and mix well. Heat thoroughly and serve.
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And the moment you’ve all been waiting for – a recipe for black pepper chicken.  If it’s well seasoned black pepper chicken is probably one of the best things you can find at any Chinese buffet. Normally thigh meat is used for this type of recipe but I decided to go with chicken breasts instead. If you enjoy dark meat chicken be sure to use boneless skinless chicken thighs! The sauce is truly outstanding, both black and white pepper and a little sake give it just the right amount of kick. There are also a few vegetables added to this recipe such as white onions, peas and carrots. Normally on the buffet tables they have white onions and green bell peppers and I have also seen celery in it before so just feel free to add whatever vegetables you like. You might want a little extra sauce to go with your rice, if so make sure to double or even triple the sauce depending on how much you want. Let me know how it turns out.

Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (or thighs)
6 tablespoons cornstarch (for dusting)
1 white onion (diced)
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
oil (for drying)
Sauce-
¼ cup oyster sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon sake or rice wine

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1:  Mix together all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Step 2: Cut chicken into ½“cubes and dust chicken pieces with corn starch until fully coated.
Step 3: Deep fry (or fry in a wok) chicken in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Step 4: Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok and stir fry diced onion for a minute or two. Add peas and carrots and stir fry for another minute. Add sauce mixture to the wok and heat until bubbling. Add chicken stirring to fully coat with the sauce. Serve with white rice.

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There are so many good ways to cook fish, pan fried, baked, deep fried, or grilled. So many ingredients to enhance the flavor, there are even some really good box mixes out there, but this is better. Last night for the first time I tried Parmesan fish and it was great. The fish is first rolled in bread crumb/parmesan cheese mixture and then deep fried but you can easily sauté in the pan if you don’t have a deep fryer. The real highlight of this recipe isn’t in the breading though; it’s in the delicious lemon sauce - A simple yet great tasting sauce consisting of lemon juice, lemon zest, mayo and basil. This recipe will work with many different types of fish including tilapia, cod, cat fish, bluegill, crappie, bass and many more. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
5 medium fish fillets
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup dry bread crumbs
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 eggs (beaten)
½ cup white flour
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
Oil (for frying)
Lemon Sauce-
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon basil

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: For the sauce – In a small bowl combine mayo, lemon juice, lemon zest and basil. Mix well cover and chill.

Step 2: On a pie plate combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and cayenne pepper. Mix well. On a separate plate combine flour, 1 pinch salt and pepper. Mix well. Beat eggs in a shallow dish.
Step 3: 1 at a time coat each fillet by rolling in flour, then dipping in egg mixture and then rolling in the bread crumb mixture. Make sure fillets are fully coated evenly.

Step 4: Deep fry 2 pieces at a time at 350 degrees in a deep fryer. Deep fry for 2-3 minutes or until fillets are golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve with lemon sauce.
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I haven’t baked in awhile and I had the craving for some cookies, butterscotch cookies that is. This is a simple and very easy recipe that uses butterscotch chips, butter and sugar to give the cookies great flavor. They were so good that as I am writing this article there is none left! This recipe uses crispy rice cereal to make the cookies perfectly crispy with a little crunch but yet still slightly chewy making the texture great. Be sure not to over bake them because they will get kind of hard if you do. There are so many great ways to make cookies and if you haven’t tried butterscotch chip yet give this recipe a try! Enjoy.

Ingredients:
½ cup butter (softened)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 cups crisp rice cereal
1 cup butterscotch chips 

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Add in vanilla and egg and mix well. Add salt, flour, and baking soda. Mix well. Stir in the crisp rice cereal and butterscotch chips. Step 2: Drop dough by the rounded teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet.
Step 3: Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

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Tonight I decided to go back to my grilling ways with BBQ Chicken Pizza. I have seen this type of pizza at a few places and it seems to be pretty popular. After all, chicken, barbecue sauce, cheese and red onions are a great combination! You can basically make a pizza out of almost any dish and I’m always on the look out for creative ideas. Unfortunately somehow I accidentally deleted about ¾ of the pictures I took off of my camera so there are no step-by-step photos. You can either use a store bought crust and maybe tweak it to your tastes or make your own all together. This is very easy to make and absolutely delicious. Try and get some good BBQ sauce because it makes a big difference in flavor. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 store bought or homemade pizza crust
Sauce-
½ cup barbeque sauce
¾ teaspoon honey
Toppings-
1 boneless skinless chicken breast (grilled)
1 small red onion (sliced)
½ cup grated gouda cheese
½ cup grated mozzarella cheese

Cooking Instructions:
Step 1: Grill Chicken breasts  until fully cooked and cut into small strips. Set aside. In a bowl mix together honey and barbeque sauce. Set aside.
Step 2: Prepare pizza crust and press down and shape onto a pizza pan. Top dough with barbecue sauce and spread evenly over the crust. Top the sauce with a layer of Gouda and mozzarella cheeses. Then add sliced chicken and red onions on top of the cheeses.
Step 3: Bake in the oven at 485 for about 10 minutes or until crust in browned.
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Chinese broccoli beef (or broccoli and beef) is a stir fry dish consisting of fresh broccoli, slices of steak in a delicious sauce. It can be found at many take-out places and at many buffets in the United States, and now you can make it at home as well! The steak is first cut into pieces and then marinated in a soy sauce and sherry combination. After marinating for a few minutes the steak mixture is then fried in the pan with a little garlic and ginger. Now just a few minutes to stir fry the broccoli and you’re done! It’s really that easy. Some people like to add other ingredients such as oyster sauce or chicken broth but I don’t think that’s necessary because this simple sauce mixture tastes great. If you want to take on a more authentic approach try and find some Chinese broccoli to use in this recipe. Serve with white rice or even Chinese Fried Rice. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1lb flank steak
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 bunch fresh broccoli (sliced into florets)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
2 slices fresh ginger (finely minced)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Slice steak against the grain thinly into strips. Place steak in a bowl or sealable bag.
Step 2: Combine soy sauce, dry sherry and cornstarch. Mix well, and pour mixture over steak strips. Marinate for 15 minutes to a half hour.

Step 3: Heat the wok and add oil. Add minced garlic and ginger root and stir fry over medium-high heat for about 20 seconds. Add beef and stir fry stirring constantly for a couple minutes.
Step 4: Add broccoli and stir fry for 5 minutes or until broccoli is cooked but still crispy and dark green.
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If you like steak, peppers and onions you will love steak tacos. I have wanted to make steak tacos for along time and tonight I finally went through with it. I got this recipe from Cooking Light and once I saw the ingredients I had a feeling it was going to be good. I was surprised at how little time I actually took to make them. Just a little time for prep work, a little sautéing and they are on table. The vegetables are first stir fried, then the steak is sautéed for a few minutes and then tossed with a few amazing ingredients. The major flavor enhancers in this recipe are the lime juice and fresh garlic. If you don’t like steak feel free to try this recipe with shrimp instead. I serve these tacos with a side dish of flavored rice.

Ingredients:
1lb flank steak (thinly sliced)
vegetable oil (for frying)
1 large red bell pepper (sliced)
1 large onion (sliced)
1 tablespoon Chili powder
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 ½ teaspoons olive oil
¾ teaspoon salt
8 garlic cloves (minced)
8 (6 inch) corn tortillas
3 tablespoon fresh cilantro (chopped)
sour cream

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Add vegetable oil to a skillet and turn to medium-high. Add peppers and stir fry for about 4 minutes. Add onions and cook until vegetables are cooked as desired. Remove pepper mixture from pan, place in a large bowl and cover to keep warm.
Step 2: Add steak to pan and cook for about 7 minutes or until cooked as you like.

Step 3: Add cooked steak to pepper mixture. Add in chili powder, salt, lime juice, olive oil, and fresh garlic. Toss well to coat.
Step 4: Heat tortillas according to package directions. Spoon steak/vegetable mixture evenly over tortillas and top with chopped cilantro and sour cream.   
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I had a few requests for the mushroom chicken from the Chinese buffet. Unfortunately they don’t have mushroom chicken at any of the buffets where I live so I hope this is similar to what you’re looking for. I thought this recipe turned out great. I mean with mushrooms, zucchini and chicken - you can’t go wrong! This recipe takes a little time to prepare but in the end it’s well worth it. The sauce is really easy to make and is basically a combination of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and balsamic vinegar. There was just enough sauce to cover the chicken, zucchini and mushrooms. So if you are serving with noodles or rice I would recommend doubling the sauce. As far as the chicken goes you can either use boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs, whichever you prefer. I feel frying the chicken in a mixture of vegetable and sesame oil gives it great flavor. I have many more great recipes from the buffet to come in the near future. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
cornstarch  (for dusting)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 package fresh button mushrooms
4 small zucchini

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Cut chicken and zucchini into 1” chunks. Lightly dust chicken with a little bit of corn starch until lightly coated.
Step 2: Add vegetable and sesame oil to the wok and fry chicken pieces until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Step 3: Add zucchini and mushrooms to the wok and stir fry for a few minutes. Add soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, minced fresh garlic, and ground ginger to the wok stirring to coat and stir fry until mushrooms and zucchini are fully cooked.
Step 4: Return chicken pieces to the wok and coat with sauce, heat thoroughly and serve.  
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One of the easiest things to make with chicken is possibly crispy chicken strips. This recipe is great if you are looking for a quick meal. Just marinate overnight, a few minutes to coat, throw them in the deep fryer and you’re done! The marinade for the strips not only enhances the overall flavor but also leaves them super juicy coming out of the deep fryer. The coating tastes amazing and they are double dipped leaving them extra crispy. If you like to add a little heat to your strips not a problem, just throw a little cayenne pepper into the seasoning mixture and your set.  You can either use whole chicken breasts and cut them into strips or just buy chicken tenders from the store. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
6 chicken breasts (or store bought chicken tenders)
Marinade -
½ tablespoon potassium chloride
½ tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon accent salt
1/8 tablespoon garlic powder
¼ cup bottle chicken base
1 ¾ cups water
Coating-
2 cups all purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoon pepper
¾ teaspoon accent salt
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg (beaten)
1 cup milk
oil (for deep frying)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: If using chicken breasts, cut chicken breasts into strips. Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl or sealable bag and marinade chicken strips over night in the refrigerator.
Step 2: In a shallow bowl beat together 1 egg and 1 cup of milk. Combine all of the coating ingredients in another shallow bowl, pie plate, or shaker bag and mix well.
Step 3: Dip the chicken strips into the egg mixture, then into the coating and double dip.

Step 4: Fry in the deeper fryer at 375 degrees until golden brown or until they float. Drain on paper towels.
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I eat Crab Rangoons nearly every time I go to the buffet – they are definitely one of my favorite things to eat there. One problem I have is the crab Rangoons at some buffets don’t even have crab in them, just cream cheese. In my honest opinion they still taste good with just cream cheese and green onions though but the buffets shouldn’t have them labeled as “Crab Rangoon” if there is no crab in them. So if you don’t eat seafood or you don’t like crab meat then just leave it out. Crab Rangoons are fairly easy to make, if you’re making a large batch taking time to stuff and fold them all might take awhile.  These are typically cooked in a deep fryer but if you don’t have one apparently you can bake these as well although I have never tried it. Most crab rangoons are just cream cheese, crab, and green onions. I add a little soy sauce and garlic powder for more flavor. Serving with Sweet and Sour Sauce for dipping is a must. If you need a great recipe for sweet and sour sauce it can be found within my sweet and sour chicken article or you can buy a jar of it from the store. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
12 ounces of cream cheese (at room temperature)
50 wan ton wrappers
1 cup imitation crab meat (or canned)
2 green onions (minced)
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon soy sauce
1 egg (beaten)
oil (for frying)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a bowl cream the cream cheese, soy sauce, green onions and garlic powder. Stir in the crab meat (if using imitation crab it should be chopped into pieces).
Step 2: In a separate bowl beat 1 egg. Lay out a wanton wrapper so it forms a diamond shape and place 1 teaspoon of filling just below the center of each wrapper.
Step 3: Brush the opposite corners of the wanton wrapper with the egg mixture. Fold over the edges of the wrapper to form a triangle and seal tightly.

Step 4: Deep fry in batches at 375 degrees for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.

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