Homemade Italian Bread with Italian Bread Dipping Oil

You know when you go to an Italian restaurant and they bring out fresh bread with an oil dipping sauce? Yeah? Well, I attempted and succeeded in doing that here at home. I have been good at making yeast breads for quite awhile now, having perfected my own pizza dough recipe. So this bread wasn't difficult for me. I know some people anguish over making homemade bread but it really is getting used to the feel and texture of the dough... and letting it sit and rise. I'm sure there is some impatience to this process for some but if you baby it and leave it alone - the result is well worth it.

I used this Homemade Italian Bread recipe and I thank MysteryGirl over at the GeniusKitchen site for submitting it.

Here are my tasty-looking results!

In addition to the bread, I made this Italian Bread Dipping Oil that I found on the Albertsons website. I have no clue who the contributor of the recipe was. I believe this is some sort of store but this oil dip for the bread was as delicious as the bread was. Hands down one to make again!!

I hope someone else attempts to make these and lets me know what they think. 

Gold Star on both from me!! 

Mochiko Chicken Wings with Orzo & Potato Parmesan

I was intrigued when I first saw this recipe for Mochiko Chicken Wings. The submitter of the recipe says it is common in Hawaii. Having never been there, I can't verify this but perhaps someone else out there in cyberland can? For me, the idea of soaking raw chicken in a thick batter overnight was a tad disturbing but I am here to say... it was worth the wait and the extra effort.

I also want to mention that I am NOT a big fan of breaded or battered and then deep-fried chicken but as I said, this recipe caught my eye and I had to try it. I want to give a HUGE thanks to IrLyndaSmith for submitting it to Allrecipes.

After frying for about fifteen minutes, the crust was nice and crisp - and I do mean it CRUNCHED when I bit into it, so that was really nice. The meat was very juicy and cooked to perfection. It wasn't greasy at all. 

The flavor? I could taste the seasonings and a hint of the soy sauce, which is a flavor I absolutely love. All in all - this chicken was a HUGE hit! I must add that I used chicken thighs instead of wings as that's all I have here. 

Here is the result of the chicken:

Mochiko Chicken

To go with the chicken, I chose this Orzo and Potato Parmesan recipe. This is the first time I ever cooked with orzo and it turned out beautifully. It was smooth, tender and it was surprisingly rich to the taste. Instead of water, I used chicken stock to bump up the flavor. I also used canned carrots out of necessity but other than that, the recipe was made exactly as stated. Here as well as in the chicken, I could taste all the ingredients and will definitely add this to my recipe stockpile. A HUGE thanks to FlemishMinx for submitting this one to GeniusKitchen.

Here is what that turned out like:

Orzo & Potato Parmesan