Copycat California Pizza Kitchen Kung Pao Spaghetti

One of my New Year’s resolutions this year is to do more cooking. I usually do a lot of baking and desserts and not a whole lot of cooking (thank God for fast food and pizza!). Here is my first step towards my resolution!

On our first visit to California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) the first weekend of December, we ordered this delicious pasta dish and I have been meaning to try replicating it ever since. I finally found a copycat recipe on Food.com and it was amazing. Tastes just like the original if not better. It looks like a long ingredient list but it is really easy to make. All you do is throw all the sauce ingredients into a pot and simmer, cook the chicken and pasta then toss it all together. I did omit coating the chicken with the egg white-cornstarch mixture and deep frying it and it tasted great.



CPK’s Kung Pao Spaghetti
Serves 4 | adapted from food.com

Kung Pao Sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup dry sherry
3 tablespoons red chili paste with garlic
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or white vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

Egg White-Cornstarch Mixture (optional)
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pasta
1 lb spaghetti
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
10 -15 whole Chinese dried red chili peppers (optional)
1 cup dry roasted peanuts
1/4 cup minced garlic
3 cups green onions, chopped
1. Kung Pao Sauce: In a medium saucepan, whisk together the chicken stock and cornstarch until the cornstarch is fully dissolved. Stir in all the remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside.

2. Egg White-Cornstarch Mixture: In a mixing bowl, use a whisk to stir together the egg whites, cornstarch, and salt until thoroughly blended; be careful not to beat them into a froth. Set aside.

3. Pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a rapid boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick frying pan over high heat, heat enough olive oil for deep-frying for about 1 minute. Add the chicken pieces to the Egg White-Cornstarch Mixture and toss to coat them. Taking care to avoid splattering, add the coated chicken to the pan and cook like a solid pancake until the egg mixture sets; then, using a large spatula, carefully flip the chicken pieces over together and, with a wooden spoon, gently separate the pieces. [NOTE: I didn’t do this step. I just pan-fried the chicken without the egg white/cornstarch mixture].

5. Gently stir the Chinese peppers and roasted peanuts into the pan. As soon as they darken in color, after no more than 1 minute, stir in the garlic and scallions. Once the garlic begins to brown, after no more than 30 seconds, add the Kung Pao Sauce and toss and stir to coat the ingredients.

6. When the pasta is ready, drain it well and, in a large mixing or serving bowl, toss it thoroughly with the sauce.

Olive Garden's Alfredo Sauce

The focus of my blog is sweets, baking and desserts. I don't often include "real food", but I just had to share this recipe with you. This is a simple recipe with outstanding results. This creamy, rich, flavorful sauce is definitely not diet food, but it's worth the splurge once in a while. I made it a little healthier by adding some fresh steamed broccoli and grilled chicken strips.

I am also including this recipe in my Copycat Club round-up on April 7th. Please check out my link under my banner for Copycat Club info - all blog links welcome!

Olive Garden's Alfredo Sauce
adapted from Food.com

5 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

1. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Add the garlic, cream, white pepper and bring mixture to a simmer. Stir often. Add the Parmesan cheese and simmer sauce for 8-10 minutes or until sauce has thickened and is smooth. When sauce has thickened add the Mozzarella cheese and stirring frequently.

2. Serve over pasta. [I added cooked broccoli florets and grilled chicken].

FFWD: Gratin Dauphinois

These are the best scallopped potatoes I have ever had. I could have eaten the whole thing myself! The dish smelled fantastic in the oven. I used both rosemary and thyme and the smell reminded me of roasting a turkey. I think this will be making an appearance at Christmas Dinner instead of the usual mashed potatoes. They scream "comfort food"! The garlic-cream marries so well with the potatoes for a dish that is as beautiful as it is delicious. The tender potatoes are so smooth and so much easier on the arms than mashing!

All you do is simmer the cream and the garlic, slice your potatoes, arrange in your baking dish, sprinkle with S & P & herbs, pour the garlic cream over the potatoes, cover with shredded cheese and bake to bubbly perfection. I used Mozzarella cheese. The dark-golden-brown topping was crisp and flavorful, providing just the right amount of textural contrast to the white, creamy potato slices.

The best part is that I got a chance to use my "new" Swissmar Borner V-Slicer Mandoline that I got suckered into buying at the PNE (yearly expo in Vancouver) in the summer. It's taken me 3 months to finally use it. I bought it in August but have been a little scared to use it based on horror stories involving sliced fingertips. After making this gratin, I am no longer afraid. Now I want to find every excuse to use this V-Slicer.

FFWD: Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

This soup reminded me a lot of the "Pho Ga" at the Vietnamese restaurant in our neighborhood. Our family loves Pho. We love it so much that we usually just order the noodles and soup, no meat. In the non-meat version, tthey usually add broccoli florets and carrots to the broth and cook until crisp tender. I'm not sure if that's authentic Vietnamese, but I love how the veggies soak up all the yummy soup flavors and yet retain their crispness and brightness. I meant to add some to this soup but alas, I forgot at the last minute. I did however intentionally leave out the spicy stuff because I'm a wimp. This tasted excellent with a few squirts of Hoisin sauce and some extra soy sauce.

The recipe can be found in Dorie Greenspan's new book: Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. Once you have this book, be sure to join in the cookalong at French Fridays with Dorie.

Also please check out my new group - The Copycat Club - and send me links to your copycat posts for a monthly round-up. The first round-up was on October 7th HERE. We're going to make restaurant faves in our own kitchens and share our adventures and successes. Contact me at starrysugar@hotmail.com or leave me a comment on the Copycat Club page to grab the badge and be added to the blogroll.

FFWD: Gérard's Mustard Tart

This is my first French Fridays (FF) post! We are starting in on Dorie Greenspan's new book - Around My French Table (AMFT).



I'm especially excited because Dorie selected the October 2010 recipes herself! It's so cool to have the author interacting with our blogalong group. To be honest, I would have never bought this book if not for this group.
1) I prefer baking over cooking
2) I'm not a huge fan of French food

But I *AM* a huge fan of Dorie's, so here I am. Challenging myself and widening my palate's horizons. This tart was a nice ease-into the group. It was something I'm used to; Something a lot like a quiche. I used 1/2 the amount of mustard called for in the recipe because I served it to my 3 year old and didn't want to overwhelm his tastebuds. It was fragrant and delicious in its balance of smooth, eggy filling and al dente crunch of the carrots and leeks.

Now that I've got my feet wet I'm looking forward to the other recipes this book has to offer. The beautiful food photos alone are worth the $25 in my opinion.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza

This pizza is one of the best things I've ever eaten and as most pizzas are, it's incredibly simple. Ranch dressing is an amazing accompaniment to the smoky bacon. Just a heads up: this pizza doesn't have any tomato sauce on it, just in case you thought you read the recipe wrong.

While there is no such thing as "bad" pizza in my world, I have yet to jump on the thin-crust bandwagon that seems to be taking over these days. The crust is one of the best parts of the pizza. A nice crust that can stand up to a lot of toppings is my preference. I like the simplicity and ease of the Canadian Living dough recipe from May 2007, but everyone has their go-to dough recipe, so use your favorite.



It is incredibly sinful and over the top, but just before serving, drizzle with Japanese mayo for a delightful tang and creaminess. Try it once and you'll fall in love. Japanese mayonnaise is made with apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar and a small amount of MSG, which gives it a different flavor from American mayonnaise made from distilled vinegar. In Japan many fried dishes are served with mayonnaise for dipping and it's also common to put it on pizza there. By the way, I didn't know that prior to my own experimentation. It just sounded good in my head, lol. Kewpie (Q.P.) is the most popular brand (clear plastic squeeze bottle with red lid, Kewpie doll logo).





Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza
14" Pizza | Dough from Canadian Living, May 2007

Dough for 1 pizza - homemade or storebought

1 cup cooked chicken (chopped) - I used cooked ground chicken this time
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped bacon
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 small onion, thinly sliced (I like red onions)

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Roll pizza dough out to a 12-14" round. Bake crust (no toppings) for 8-10 minutes. Prepare toppings during this time.

2. Combine the chicken, ranch dressing, tomatoes, pepper and bacon in a mixing bowl. Evenly spread mixture over warm pizza crust. Top with mozzarella then scatter onions on top. It will look like a lot of onion but the onions mellow out and turn sweet and fragrant in the oven. Cut back on the onion if you like though.

3. Place topped pizza back into oven for another 12-15 minutes until nicely browned and cheese is melted. Remove pizza and lightly sprinkle with parmesan (and Japanese mayo!)

Papa John's Chicken Club Pizza and Pizza Crescents

My 3 year old started preschool last week, right after his third birthday. I've now got to pack him lunch (aww!!!) This might sound odd, but paking lunch makes me feel like a 'real' mom. I love waking up early to put an ice pack and juice box into his insulated lunchbag along with a little treat - fruit snacks or mini brownies or a smartie cookie. I'm sure the novelty of packing lunch will wear off eventually but for now I'm loving it. It makes grocery shopping even more fun looking at things he might like to eat and all the little "snack packs" of his favorite foods.

I had a little ball of extra pizza dough which I made into mini pizza crescents for Zach's lunch. He loved them! And so did I. Just roll out the dough thinly into a circle, spread lightly with pizza sauce, sprinkle with cheese, cut into wedges, roll up and bake.



In my opinion, the sauce can make or break the pizza. It's so easy to go wrong with sauce as I know personally. Too sweet, too sour, too tangy, too thick, too thin, too bland, too salty. However, I am happy to announce that as of today, my search is over! I have tried so many different recipes out there from America's Test Kitchen to Wolfgang to Cooking Light. They all were missing something and I had to keep looking. This recipe is perfect in taste and consistency. I double the batch and freeze it or use as dip for breadsticks.



Papa John's Pizza Sauce
1 cup

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can tomato paste or puree
1/4 cup water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp basil
1/8 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Freezes well.

Papa John's Chicken Club Pizza
Toppings for 1 - 14" pizza



1/3 - 1/2 cup Papa John's Pizza Sauce
1 cup Grilled Chicken Breast, chopped (or rotisserie chicken breast)
1/2 cup Crumbled Bacon
1/2 cup Ham, chopped
1/2 cup Diced Tomatoes
2 mushrooms, sliced
2 cups Mozzarella Cheese

Spread sauce on semi-baked pizza dough. In a bowl toss all topping ingredients together and sprinkle evenly on top of pizza crust. Bake on a pizza stone (if you have one) at 450 degrees F until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown, 8-10 minutes, maybe more.

Creamy Chicken Ranch Pizza Bites

Today the 2010 Winter Olympic torch is coming through our city - Coquitlam!!! This calls for a celebration! How about some pizza bites?

I love these golf-ball-sized mounds of melted cheese enveloped in a golden layer of pizza crust. They are the perfect size for munching on and are simply fantabulous even without any dip. You can use whatever fillings you like or whatever you've got in your fridge. Mayo and cream cheese are favorites of mine because they make the bites so moist and rich, but feel free to use just mozzarella.

A half batch of the pizza dough (enough for one pizza) is just the right amount for one pan of these bites (about 24 pieces). I use the other half of the dough for pizza pretzels or you could make up an extra tray and freeze it until you want to bake them at a later date. I have been meaning to make them since I saw them on Pillsbury's website. I stole the idea but adapted it quite heabily by making my own dough instead of using the canned stuff and switching the fillings. They look time consuming but don't take much longer to assemble than a regular pizza. Besides, they're so darn cute it's worth your while.



Creamy Chicken Ranch Pizza Bites
Makes 24 bites

1/2 batch pizza dough (enough for 1 pizza)

4 oz. mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken breast
1 pkg powdered ranch mix or onion soup mix
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup milk

Olive oil, for brushing
Italian seasoning
Grated Parmesan

Cream together cream cheese and ranch/onion mix. Add mayo and milk to form a smooth thick sauce. Stir in mozzarella and chicken. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a 9" pie plate or cake pan (I used a spring form). Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces. Take one of the dough pieces, flatten it and top it with a heaping teaspoon of filling. Pull the edges of the dough around the filling and pinch closed. Place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining dough pieces.

Lightly brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and grated Parmesan cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Serve warm with pizza sauce for dipping.

Panda Express Orange Chicken

This was an amazing Panda Express copycat recipe that I adapted from Recipezaar. Crispy chicken with a sweet-spicy orange sauce. Served with a side of stir-fried veggies and fragant rice, it was way better than any take-out I've had. The ingredient list looks kinda long but it cooks up really quickly. The most time consuming part of the recipe is measuring out the ingredients.

For a healthier version or if you don't want to deep fry, you could stir-fry the chicken to cook it through (without the batter) then make the orange sauce and proceed as directed in the recipe.

Panda Express Orange Chicken
Serves 4

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, bite sized pieces
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
oil (for frying)

1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed hot red chili pepper
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 tbsp corn starch
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Orange Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons orange juice
8 tablespoons sugar
10 tablespoons white vinegar
1 orange, zest of

1. Heat 2-3 inches of oil for deep-frying to 375 degrees F. Place chicken pieces in large bowl. Stir in egg, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon oil and mix well. Toss in cornstarch and flour mixture to coat.
2. Add chicken, small batches at a time, and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden crisp. Do not overcook. Remove from oil with slotted spoon and set aside.
3. In a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon corn starch with 1/4 cup water and sesame oil. In a separate bowl combine all orange sauce ingredients. Set aside.
4. Heat 1 tbsp oil over high heat. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, 10 seconds. Add crushed chiles, rice wine and green onions. Add orange sauce and bring to a boil then add cornstarch mixture and simmer until thickened. Add cooked chicken, stirring to coat.

Technicolor Chicken Stir Fry

I am not a cook. I prefer baking. Whenever I DO cook, it is usually something that can be thrown in the oven. That is why I am so proud of my chicken-veggie stir fry! The recipe comes from this great book called 300 Best Stir-Fry Recipes and so far every recipe I have tried has been a hit. The Moo Goo Gai Pan was incredibly authentic too. As most recipe collections published by Robert Rose, ingredient lists and prep time required are short and sweet.

As a bonus, I got to use my adorable new pink knife to chop up all the veggies!



These were totally an impulse buy. I bought my dad some Wusthof (sp?) knives for Christmas and this bright, happy set of Komachi 2 knives caught my eye. The quality seems to be pretty good as they are made by Shun. They are high carbon stainless steel, non-stick and color coded, like green for paring, red for tomato/cheese, etc. to help prevent cross-contamination.

Technicolor Chicken Stir Fry
4 servings

Marinade:
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp water
2 tsp rice wine
1 tsp salt
12 oz. chicken breast, 1” chunks

Sauce:
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp garlic
2 tsp ginger
1/2 cup carrots, sliced
1/2 cup celery, thickly sliced
1 cup broccoli florets

1. Combine all marinade ingredients and pour over chicken to marinade. Combine sauce ingredients and set aside. Steam carrots, celery and broccoli to just under desired doneness.
2. Over high heat, fry garlic and ginger in the oil for about 15 seconds. Add chicken and cook until almost fully cooked. Add steamed vegetables and stir in sauce. Toss well and cook until chicken is done and sauce is thickened.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Newest purchase: a pizza stone and pizza peel

I was itching to try it out so I decided to do an adaptation of Emeril Lagasse's Roasted Garlic White Pizza. I had heard before that pizza stones really make a difference but didn't think it would be such a huge one. The crust was amazingly crisp and didn't flop over or sag one bit when you picked up a slice. Even the day after when it was reheated it maintained its airy and crisp texture. I'm impressed. Especially since I was cheap and bought a $10 stone.

I leave my pizza stone in the oven when baking cookies and cakes too (unless I need the extra space on the oven rack) because it helps stabilize the oven's temperature and guard against fluctuations.

My only problem is getting the pizza from the peel onto the stone. I had horrible troubles with it sticking (that's why it's so mis-shapen!). I put 2 tbsp of cornmeal on the peel and flourered it plenty but it still stuck. I came pretty close to all the toppings sliding off into the oven but somehow managed to wiggle the whole pizza safely onto the stone. Any tips for me? Maybe I just need practice?



Chicken Alfredo Pizza
adapted from Emeril Lagasse

1 cup whole milk
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2-3 heads roasted garlic

2-3 tbsp cornmeal, for sprinkling
1 large unbaked pizza crust
8 oz. mozzarella, grated
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 chicken breast, grilled
5 Sliced mushrooms, sautéed

1. Warm milk to room temperature. In a separate saucepan, melt butter. When foam subsides, add flour and stir until smooth. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring. Do not allow flour to color. Gradually add the warm milk, whisking to combine. Add the salt and cayenne and increase the heat to medium. Cook whisking continuously, until the sauce comes to a boil and is thickened. Remove from heat and add half of the roasted garlic cloves. Pour into a blender, cover tightly, and process until smooth. Set aside to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Sprinkle cornmeal on a baker's peel. Place the rolled out pizza dough on the peel.
3. Spread the cooled sauce over pizza dough, leaving a border. Place half the mozzarella on top of the sauce. Sprinkle the chicken, mushrooms and remaining roasted garlic cloves (whole) over the cheese and top with the rest of the mozzarella. Slide onto pizza stone and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden and cheese is melted and bubbly and golden brown in spots. Remove from the oven and sprinkle chopped herbs over the top.