Orange Chicken with Walnuts for Secret Recipe Club

This past week we were on Spring Vacation and it was glorious. The weather was a little cool for our taste - in fact, it snowed one night. But it sure seemed like the perfect time to break out the slow cooker for our Secret Recipe Club pick, Orange Chicken with Walnuts by Jamie of Our Eating Habits. 

Secret Recipe Club is a club of food bloggers who make each other's recipes (in secret) and then publish posts about them on the same day, known as Reveal Day (that's today!). When we got Our Eating Habits this month, we were excited because we remember Jamie making our Paprika Chicken and Potatoes back in February and she did such a lovely job.

This chicken recipe has everything you'd want in an "anytime" meal - it's made in a slow cooker so the prep is minimal and there's no standing over the stove, therefore it's super easy, but also it's so very tasty that you'll likely never order Chinese orange chicken for take-out ever again. The walnuts were a great touch, too - adding a nice crunch to the dish. Note: since there's only two of us, we only made four pieces of chicken but kept the remaining ingredients the same so we could have plenty of sauce to drizzle over our rice.

Orange Chicken with Walnuts

recipe from Our Eating Habits

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons corn starch

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup orange marmalade

4 chicken drums and/or thighs

4-6 spring chives, chopped

1/2 cup walnuts
orange segments (optional) 

In a slow cooker, stir together the corn starch, chicken stock, teriyaki sauce, garlic and marmalade. Add the chicken and half of the chives. Cook on high for 4-5 hours. Serve over hot cooked rice and top with the remaining chives, the walnuts, and some orange segments if desired.

Check out other SRC reveal posts below, including this one from Veronica's Cornucopia, who made Amy's mom's flour frosting in some gorgeous spring-y whoopie pies!

An InLinkz Link-up

Flourless Chocolate Walnut Torte with Pinot-Noir-Laced Strawberries

Valentine's Day is synonymous with chocolate. Heart-shaped boxes of it, faux-roses shaped from it, kisses and various red and pink and white candies made from it. Yes, we had to have chocolate in our Valentine's Day dessert. And for good measure, something needed to be red. So when Amy spotted this recipe from Dean and Deluca in an old folder on her computer, she knew it was The One, since it had all the necessary V-Day requirements: chocolate, strawberries and red wine. Perfect.

Amy entered into making this dessert a bit hesitantly, having suffered some baking fails in recent memory. And this one seems, at first glance, to be complicated. However, it's not so much complicated as it has several steps, none of which are very difficult, especially if you've made meringues before. Which we have.

Amy poured the berries out of the container and they formed a heart!

(okay, that didn't really happen...)

Use a nice bottle of pinot. You can drink the rest!

Strawberries, pinot noir and sugar

Start to finish, this recipe took about an hour, then it needed time to cool. We didn't bother with the whipped cream, but sprinkled each slice with a light dusting of confectioner's sugar. The torte was light as air, with lots of crunch from the nuts and hints of chocolate that weren't too overpowering. The pinot-noir-laced berries were divine, with their intense berry-sweetness. We loved it, neighbors B, D and J loved it, and Joanne loved it. This one's a real keeper!

Egg yolks mixed with sugar until pale yellow in color

Egg whites mixed with sugar, until stiff glossy peaks form

Fold ingredients together and pour into prepared springform pan

The finished product

Flourless Chocolate Walnut Torte with Pinot-Laced Strawberries

slightly adapted from this recipe found on epicurean.com

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup Pinot Noir

1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and halves (reserve a couple for a garnish!)

5 eggs, separated

1/2 cup plus 5 tablespoons sugar

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

8 ounces chopped walnuts

confectioners sugar

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and Pinot Noir. Whisk until the sugar is dissolved. Add the strawberries and allow to sit for 2-3 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with a round of parchment paper. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks until pale in color. Gradually beat in the 1/2 cup sugar and continue beating until the mixture is thickened. In another large bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually beat in the 5 tablespoons of sugar into the egg whites, one tablespoon at a time. Continue to beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Alternately fold the chopped chocolate, chopped walnuts and egg white meringue mixture into the yolk mixture by thirds until well blended. Pour into the parchment-lined springform pan and bake about 30 minutes, until the torte is firm to the touch, does not jiggle when shaken, has risen to the top of the pan, and has turned golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool inside the pan on a wire rack. Once cooled, run a knife around the edges of the pan to detach. Invert onto a plate and peel off the parchment paper. Invert again onto a serving plate. Cut the torte into wedges and top with strawberries and a dusting of confectioners sugar.

Meatless Monday: Sweet Potato Risotto with Spicy Maple Glazed Walnuts *Award-Winning*

Amy writes:

There are moments, albeit few and far between, in every home cook's life when she is pretty impressed with herself. I had one such moment tonight with this week's Meatless Monday recipe "Sweet Potato Risotto with Spicy Maple Glazed Walnuts."

Let me give some important background details. To start with, "meatless" has never really been my thing. I love meat. Of all kinds. But I know that a healthy diet must be balanced, and I know I need to try new things, and I know that going meatless once a week isn't going to kill me (quite the opposite, actually, right?).

Then there's risotto. Regardless of the fact that I once took a cooking class in Rome and have always felt that Italian cooking was one of my "things," I had never made a risotto until I met Chris. Chris taught me the art of making risotto. Or maybe he taught me the skill of having the patience to make risotto. Or maybe he just always makes the risotto when we want to have it at home. Or maybe it's a mixture of all three of these. 

Finally, the sweet potato. It's only within the past couple of years that I've become a fan of this interesting tuber that to me seems so unlike its distant relative the "actual" potato. My mom never made it for me when I was a kid, and it became one of those things I was convinced I didn't like because, frankly, I had never really tried it. Chris loves the things, and kept nagging me to try them, and to cook them. Then last year, we made these amazing little Sweet Potato and Pancetta Gratins, and I was pretty much hooked.

Which brings me to the point that I've been thinking about risotto and Meatless Monday and sweet potatoes for about a week, and this recipe is the end result. It was ready to be served about five minutes after Chris walked in the door, home late from work. He took a bite and I waited. Then, the verdict: "This is one of the best risottos I have ever had." He asked what I did and we picked it apart as if we were our own judges on Top Chef. Sweetness? It has it - from roasted sweet potatoes and hints of maple syrup. Spiciness? Also there - a bit of cayenne in the walnuts puts some heat on the tongue that along with the cinnamon gives warmth and depth to the dish. Herbs? Can I ever make anything without them? I thought rosemary would go nicely with the other flavors, and I was right! And what about textures? Indeed - creamy risotto, crunchy walnuts, soft onions. It's one of the best risottos we've ever had.

Tonight, I guess, the student has become the teacher. And I remain pretty impressed with myself.

For the spicy maple glazed walnuts:

Ingredients:

1 cup roughly chopped walnuts

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

4 tablespoons real maple syrup

Place the walnuts in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the salt, cayenne, cinnamon and pepper and cook 1 minute or so until spices become fragrant and nuts begin to toast. Add the maple syrup and swirl the walnuts in the pan until they are well coated with the spices and syrup. Pour onto a cookie sheet and set aside to cool.

Start with chopped walnuts

Add spices

Add maple syrup

For the risotto:

Ingredients:

4 cups (about 2 medium) peeled, diced sweet potatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

6 cups vegetable broth

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup carnaroli rice

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

salt and white pepper to taste

1/4 cup real maple syrup

Heat the oven to 400 degress. Spread the diced sweet potatoes in one layer in a glass baking pan and drizzle with one tablespoon of olive oil. Toss to coat and roast for 1/2 hour. Meanwhile, pour the vegetable broth into a saucepan and place over medium-low heat to become warm. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and a pinch of salt and cook until onions become translucent. Add the rice and continue to cook until rice starts to toast. Add the warm vegetable broth to the rice one ladle at a time, stirring constantly, and waiting until all the broth is absorbed by the rice before adding more. This could take up to one-half hour. When the broth is gone and the rice is done (not too firm, not too mushy), stir in the chopped rosemary and season with salt and white pepper to taste. Fold in the roasted sweet potato pieces and spiced walnuts, then turn off heat. Add the maple syrup, stir so that everything is well combined, serve and enjoy!

The star ingredient

Sweat chopped onions in olive oil and butter

Add the rice and cook to toast

Patiently add broth one ladle at a time until all liquid is absorbed