Cashew Chicken (Shrimp or Vegetable) Stir Fry

• 2  boneless skinless chicken breasts (uncooked and cubed)**
• 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
• Mixture of fresh stir fry vegetables washed and cut accordingly or use a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables
• 1 ½ to 2 cups cashews or almonds (toasted *)
• 1 cup vegetable stock (chicken stock works too)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• ½ teaspoon sugar

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper before cutting into bite sized cubes. If you’re using fresh stir fry vegetables, wash and prepare accordingly. In wok set to high (or fry pan if need be) pour in 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil. When oil is hot drop in chicken pieces. Cook until opaque. Add vegetables. Reduce heat to Medium. Stir fry until hot but still crispy tender. Add vegetable or chicken stock. Cover and simmer about 2 minutes. In a small bowl whisk together soy sauce, corn starch and sugar. Add sauce to stir fry mixing constantly until thick. Top with toasted cashews before serving. Serve over a bed of cooked rice.

 *Toast cashews or Almonds by heating the oven to 350° F. Spread cashews or almonds in a single layer on cookie sheet. Bake for 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

** You can replace the chicken with shrimp or skip it all together!

The Inn at Irish Hollow Steel-Cut Oatmeal with Bananas Foster

• 1 1/2 Cups Water 
• Dash Sea Salt
• 3/4 Cup Oatmeal
• 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

Boil water and salt in pot on stove. When water is boiling, add steel-cut oats. Cover pot and reduce heat to a simmer. Let simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, stir occasionally. When the oats are drying out from the water, add 1/2 cup Heavy Cream. Remove from stove and is ready to serve.

Bananas Foster

• 1/2 Stick Butter
• 1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 1/8 Cup Irish Whiskey (we use Jameson)
• 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1 Bananas, sliced horizontal, then vertically

Melt butter in a sauté pan on the stove at med heat. When butter is hot and melted, add brown sugar. When mixed and bubbling, pour whiskey in and light a match carefully, putting it to the sauce, lighting the alcohol on fire (be very careful with this if you've never done it). When it burns off, add 1/4 cup Heavy Cream. Once all mixed well, add sliced bananas and heat in the foster sauce for about a minute.

Pour sauce (with bananas) over oatmeal in serving bowls and garnish with fresh berries and mint. I used about 2 Tablespoons sauce per bowl. My husband likes much more than that.


**The original recipe comes from here (The Inn at Irish Hollow) a wonderful B&B we stayed at for the weekend this February. I've altered it only by cutting the foster sauce in half. The first time I made this we had a lot of sauce left over in spite of my husband using quite a lot. It was okay though, a little zap in the microwave to reheat and he used it to top his ice cream the following day. If you want leftovers or prefer to really pour it on your oatmeal go back to the original recipe. Happy eating!