Tuesday's Dinner being Shared on Thursday

Happy Thursday everyone.  We have had quite the week here on the Farm.  Monday was quiet and I got out of  the house for a little bit to do some grocery shopping.  Tuesday our friend, Linda Benda, and her daughter Nataly joined us for dinner.  Last night we had one of Amy's childhood friends, Lucy and her Mom for dinner.  We were joined by Amy, Doug, Tingting and Little Miss Melody who had spent the day with us while her mom worked.  Tonight is choir practice and tomorrow night we are having Kim, Kurt, John, Kirsten, and our TC family over for dinner.  Saturday we will be having Amy, Doug and Tingting back over so they can spend time with Randy, Jen, Lili and Spence.  Crazy schedule but I absolutely love it!!!  Spending time with family and friends makes my heart sing!

For Meatless Monday we had creamed Spinach and Mushroom Crepes that I shared with you on Tuesday.  So I am going to share our dinner on Tuesday with you today.  We started with Shrimp and Veggie Egg Rolls, followed by Cashew Chicken and Napoleans for dessert.

The Cashew Chicken was adapted from Cuisine at Home.  I like serving stir fries when having company because they only take a moment to cook as long as you have everything out, prepped and ready to go.

Then when the time comes to serve dinner, you simply toss in your veggies and cashews for a couple of minutes, tossing frequently so your cashews don't get over toasted.  The original recipe called for only green onions and cashews.  I didn't have any so I used a sweet onion and some celery for color.

The chicken was parboiled so when you add them along with the seasonings it only takes moments to heat through and you are ready to serve.  The recipe called for ginger and chili garlic sauce.  I just added some Thai seasoning paste from Gourmet Garden and it was perfectly seasoned.

Put it into a large serving bowl.

Surround it with some steamed rice.  I love my rice cooker.  I can just put my rice in, set the timer and forget it.  When dinner is ready so is the rice with no fuss or bother.  I wish I would have had some scallions or parsley to sprinkle over the dish for some color but such is life.

Dessert were these easy peasy Napoleans using frozen Pepperidge Farm puffed pastry.  There was a recipe for mini Napoleans on the box and I simply adapted it to make 6 large servings.  These were made ahead of time and refrigerated so I only needed to do a quick melt of some chocolate (I used a Divine bar that I had gotten as a sponsor gift a while back) and drizzle it over before serving.

Cashew Chicken

adapted from Cuisine at Home, Issue #97

2 large chicken breasts, poached in salt water and cut into bite size pieces

1 T. sesame oil

3/4 c. roasted cashews

1 T. Thai Seasoning Paste (I used Gourmet Garden)

1/3 c. soy sauce

1/2 of a large sweet onion, sliced 

2 stalks celery, stripped and sliced

2 c. rice, cooked

Heat oil in large wok or skillet over med high heat.  Add the onions, celery and cashews.  Cook and stir until veggies start to soften a bit, 1 or 2 minutes.  Add the Thai seasonings, soy sauce and chicken.  Cook and stir until heated through, about 2 minutes more.  Serve with Steamed Rice.  Print Recipe

Strawberry Napoleans

adapted from Pepperidge Farms

1/2 package of frozen puff pastry 

1 (5 oz pkg) Instant Vanilla Pudding

1 1/2 c. milk

1 c. heavy cream

1 T. powdered sugar

1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced

Thaw one of the two sheets of puffed pastry, reserving the second sheet in the freezer for another purpose.  Open thawed pastry and cut at the fold marks, giving you 3 equal pieces.  Cut each piece in half, giving you six rectangles.  Place rectangles on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake in a preheated 400* oven for 15-20 minutes.  Until puffed and golden brown.  Remove from oven to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.  Once cooled separate each piece into three layers.  Set aside.

Whisk pudding with the milk for 2 minutes until it starts to thicken.  Place the heavy cream and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Beat at low speed until it starts to thicken and then beat at high speed until light and fluffy.  Fold the Whipped Cream into the pudding.

Place one layer of a rectangle onto a serving plate, top with some of the pudding mixture. Add some sliced strawberries and top with a second layer of the puffed pastry.  Repeat the layering of pudding and strawberries and top with the top and third layer of the puffed pastry.  Repeat with all six puff pastry rectangles.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Drizzle with melted chocolate before serving if desired.  Print Recipe

Linking up with Tasty Tuesdays