Polynesian Teriyaki Steak

 Coral Isle Cafe - Polynesian Village Resort


Yum. Yum yum yum. If only my teeth were more content with steak. I have 3 crowns that complain everytime I chew something that isn't pudding consistency. Their worst nemasis is steak. I like steak. My subsitute teeth do not. I cut it into teeny tiny pieces and chew cautiously, finally getting it down. Oh, you want to know about the steak not my teeth? Ok.

So the steak is really good. So incredibly easy too. One word of advice...READ AHEAD! You have to cook the sauce, cool it, then marinate the steaks in it for 24 hours or more. I made it all up the night before I was going to serve it. Once that part is done, all you have to do is throw it in the broiler and TA DA! One of the fastest Mickey meals ever.  Word for the wise, if you smoke alarm is going off it probably knows something you don't. Don't tell it that it's stupid. It will tell you I told you so. While my steaks were a bit....blackened...they still tasted good!  4 mickeys!

Strawberry Shortcake

 Pioneer Hall - Fort Wilderness Campground Resort

Village Restaurant - Walt Disney World Shopping Village

I love strawberry shortcake. I always have. Those little pound cake cups are awesome. This recipe called for pound cake and wither whipped topping or heavy cream to whip up. I cheated, headed to Giant Eagle, and bought both. Aside from making the strawberry sauce it wasn't anything more than slicing up berries, putting them on the cake and adding some fluff. The sauce was ok. It called for frozen strawberries. You add the sauce from the berries into the pan to cook it...my only problem? My strawberries didn't juice. I defrosted them and wound up squeezing them to get any sort of juice. The sauce wasn't great, but not bad. For the mediocre sauce and lack of anything other than store bought goods, I give this 3 mickeys.  It was by no means bad, it fact it was good, but I have done that on my own many times without a recipe.

Polynesian Tuna Fish Salad

 Papeete Bay Verandah - Polynesian Village Resort

As I began to make this salad I have to admit that my stomach began to churn. I couldn't comprehend that the ingredients would work together. It also looks like a heap of garbage in my opinion. Basically it's garlic, onion, green pepper, baby corn, canned green beans, carrots, mushrooms, chopped sweet gherkins, black olives, catchup, chili sauce, and tuna. You have to admit that it sounds horrendous. I had a hard time getting past the ingredients, and then the appearance. My husband liked it. I thought it was eatable, but again, I have this thing about texture and appearance. I also am not big on seafood. So, from his perspective it deserves 3 mickeys. My advice? Have someone else make it for you and eat it blind folded.

Polynesian Revue Vegetables

 Polynesian Revue - Polynesian Village Resort

Such an odd sounding recipe, yet suprisingly good. The veggies are onion, bamboo shoots, celery, carrots, pea pods, and iceberg lettuce. It is basically cooked up and you add the vegetable sauce on top. One note if you decide to make this. In the recipe book it says to make the sauce first, then set it aside and keep warm while you make the rest. It doesn't work. My sauce turned into jello. Since you let the veggies steam for 5-10 minutes, I would advise you to make the sauce then instead of ahead of time.
4 mickeys!

Duchess Potatoes

 Empress Lilly - Walt Disney World Shopping Village

I have to say, I was excited about this recipe....until I ate it. What a royal name don't you think? Duchess potatoes. It sounds like they should just melt in your mouth....yeah no. 


The basic make-up? Potatoes, chives, egg yolks, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. It tasted like a cooked lump of mash potatoes on a plate. Future note, if you add butter, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and bacon bits it tastes great...but so does any baked potato with those additions. Sorry royal spuds, you only get 2 mickeys.

Almond Coconut Roll

 Papeete Bay Verandah - Polynesian village Resort

Ok, this was awesome. When I first started making it I was nervous that it wouldn't be good. First off, I burnt the toasted coconut....side note, it burns fast. Keep an eye on it. If the almond paste doesn't seem to mix right, don't worry about it. I thought mine would be chunky but it turned out well. Very good, 5 mickeys! That means a recipe is coming your way!

2 pkg active dry yeast
1 C milk, heated to 120 F
1 t salt
1 t sugar
1 large egg
2 T veggie oil
4 1/2 C bread flour
2/3 C almond paste
1 t almond extract
2/3 C toasted coconut (hint: measure first, toast, then add)
Softened butter

Combine yeast and heated milk in mixer bowl and let stand 5 min. Add remaining ingredients, mixing with bread hook during addition. Continue to mix until well blended. Turn out on a lightly floured surface, cover with a cloth and let rest 30 min. in a warm place. At the end of 30 min. cut dough into 16 equal pieces. Kneading lightly, shape each into about 2-inch round loaves. Place on a large baking sheet, cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk. With a sharp knife, cut a cross in top of each loaf. Bake at 400 F for about 15 min. or until golden brown. Brush top with softened butter. Best served hot.

Shogun Dinner

 Mitsukoshi Restaurant - Japan Showcase, EPCOT

History: Now renamed Teppan Edo, this cook in-front-of-you restaurant is yummy. It's very similar to Ichiban or Saga. 


Recipe: Other than the 2 hours of cooking, this recipe is worth making. Made 5 sections, it takes a bit of planning to get it all ready and staying warm at the same time. Though I was tempted to toss an egg around and make a onion/oil volcano, I controlled myself and stuck to the recipe.  The Ginger sauce and Mustard Sauce are amazing. If I were you I would make fried rice with it. I made regular white rice even though the recipe didn't call for it. It was so good I give it 5 mickeys. Bear with me, here is the recipe.

4 servings
Make the sauces first. Shel and clean te shrimp, cut the steak and chicken in serving size pieces and arrange on a plate ready to cooks. Have the veggies cleaned and ready to cook also.

Ginger Sauce

1 1/2 T coarsely cut ginger (I used ground ginger and it was fine)
2 T coarsely cut onion
5 T water
1/4-inch lemon slice (Again, I substituted lemon juice)
1 C soy sauce
1/2 C rice wine vinegar
1/4 C veg. oil
4 sprigs parsley (I used dry parsley...it was fine)
    Soak fresh giner root in water for a few minutes to easily remove the skin. Put all ingredients in blender or food processeor with steel blade and blend utill smooth. Store in fridge.

Mustanrd Sauce
2 1/2 T sesame seeds
1 T coarsely cut onion
1/2 C soy sauce
1 T dry mustard
1 oz vegetable oil
2/3 C water
    Spread sesame seeds on a flat baking dish and bake at 400 F until lightly toasted, about 10 min. Combine with remaining ingredients in blender and blend until well mixed.

Shogun dinner
8 medium raw shrimp in the shell (Ok, so I cheated. I used pre-shelled, frozen, pre-cooked shrimp)
Butter
Salt and pepper
Soy sauce
Lemon juice
Ginger Sauce
1 C sliced onions
1 C sliced zucchini
1C button mushrooms (I sliced up bigger mushrooms)
Roasted sesame seeds
14 oz boneless chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
mustard Sauce
14 oz strip loin steak
2 cups bean sprouts

Shell, devein and wash shrimp. Dry. Heat butter in skillet and saute shrimp for 3-4 min. until pink. Season with salt, peper, soy sauce and lemon juice. Serve with ginger sauce as an appetizer.
In another larger skillet or wok, saute veggies quickly, in butter, stirring. Season to taste with salt, pepper, soy sauce and sesame seeds. Put to side of wok and keep hot.
Stir-fry chicken in butter beside veggies and seaosn with salt, peper, soy sauce and sesame seeds. Put in serving dishes and keep hot.
Cook steak over high heat, searing both sides. Cut into bit-sized cubes and continue cooking until steak is done to taste. Season to taste with salt, pepper soy sauce and sesame seeds. Serve with mustard sauce.
In steak skillet, cook and stir bean sprouts in juices left from cooking steak. Cook until heated through. Season to taste with salt, pepper and soy sauce.

Coral Isle Scramble

 Coral Isle Cafe - Disney's Polynesian Resort

Such a simple scramble, but still yummy. It's basic...throw eggs, bacon, and cheese over a biscuit. Still a fun way to eat an average breakfast. 3 mickeys. 

Boston Brown Bread

 Yacht Club Gallery - Disney's Yacht Club Resort

So much fun to make! You get to bake it by pouring it in canning jars and placing them in boiling water...no oven needed! It was good. It's a thick bread, but made a nice hearty breakfast. I found out the hard way that it only tastes good for a day or two after it's made. After that point it's kind of gross.
 4 mickeys!

Zucchini Squash

 Terrace Cafe - Contemporary Resort

This is a pretty easy recipe, but nothing really exciting. It's not bad, not amazing. I don't really have much more to say about it...sorry!

Update #2!

Alright everyone. For a few months I didn't get to many recipes accomplished. I blame it on work, child, and life. Needless to say, I'm back on the wagon (or pan if you wish) and trying to whip out some major recipeness this fall. I started this endevor 6 months ago, so how far have I made it? Here's the progress on Cooking with Mickey, Vol. 1:

Completed Recipe Percentage by Category: 
6% Dressings
7% Drinks
9% Seafood
33% Appetizers
33% Soups
37% Meats
43% Desserts
45% Veggetables
46% Poultry
52% Bread
67% Eggs & Cheese

In total, I am 32% through the book...I better get crackin'...literally! :-)

I have 4 more recipes that I'm planing to make this week. Along with these recipes, I have made around 7 recipes this year from the other Disney books, so the percentages are not all accurate. I hope you get a chance to make my 5 Mickey rated recipes!

Stewed/scalloped Tomatoes

 Contemporary Resort Banquets - Contemporary Resort

Yet again, a pleasant surpise! I didn't know what this would turn out like. It calls for either canned tomatoes or fresh ones. I used fresh ones. It asked for 6 tomatoes but by the time I cut up 3 I knew 6 would be WAY to many...maybe 6 would be ok if they were small. My tomatoes were not juicy, and the recipe called for the juice too, so I added about 3/4 cup of water to get it all soggier. It worked. The bread was so easy to toast...I used normal sandwich wheat bread. This recipe would be amazing on a cold, winter day. Since it's a 5 mickey recipe, here's how to make it!

3 slices bread
4 T margarine
1 small onion, finely diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced
2 T flour
1 can (16 or 17 oz) tomatoes, chopped, or 6 fresh tomatoes, diced
1 t sugar
1/8 t salt
1/8 t dried sweet basil
1/8 t dried thyme
White pepper to taste

Cut bread into cubes and toast in oven at 375 F for 5 min. Heat margarine in a saucepan and saute onion and celery until tender. Add flour and cook 3 min. Add tomatoes, including juice, and seasonings. Bring to a boil an simmer, covered, 5 min. Spoon tomatoes into a buttered 3-cup casserole. Sprinkle toasted bread on top. Bake at 325 F for 10 min. 

Chicken Divan

 King Stefan's Banquet Hall - Magic Kingdom

Yum! Another great surprise! This was again really easy to make. Brown the chicken, cook the broccoli, make the sauce, and stick it all in a casserole dish and bake it. I love the simplicity of it, yet it had great flavor. 4 mickeys!

Chocolate Mousse

 Boulangerie Patisserie - France Showcase, EPCOT

Awesome, awesome surprise! It takes a bit of work but is well worth the effort. In reality, it didn't take very long. The longest part was melting the chocolate. In all, you just have to have a bit of patience with this recipe...wait for it to melt right, and wait for the mousse to peak right, then gently fold the two together. So so good. I used semi-sweet bakers chocolate instead of semi-sweet morsels and it worked out very well. This is a must make, so I included the recipe. 5 giant mickeys!

5 oz semi-sweet chocolate, melted
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1/4 cup cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar

Melt chocolate over hot water (I have a melt setting on my stove top so I used that instead). Remove. Combine egg yolks and cream (Note: Do this while melting). Gradually add to chocolate, stirring rapidly. Add vanilla. Beat egg whites with sugar until stiff peaks form (Note: also do this while melting chocolate. If you let the choc. sit to do these things it will stiffen and bad things will come of it :-) ). Gently fold into chocolate mixture. Chill until firm.

Polynesian Cauliflower Salad

 Papeete Bay Verandah - Polynesian Village Resort

Once again, a disappointing salad. Mix cauliflower, canned mushrooms, and vinaigrette dressing and there you have it. Nothing excited. If you want to try it I suggest you half the recipe...or quarter it. I made the whole thing and we have a ton of left over salad that neither of us has any desire to eat. 

Zucchini Salad

 Polynesian Buffet - Polynesian Village Resort

I love Zucchini, but this salad let me down. I like my zucchini warm and cooked...this is cold and raw. A basic sliced zucchini in vinaigrette dressing. Nothing exciting. We struggle to make ourselves finish the leftovers. Sorry zucchini salad...2 mickeys. 

Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie

 Narcoossee's - Disney's Grand Floridian Beach Resort

 Quite a bit of time has passed since Cooking with Mickey Volume 1... 14 years to be exact. In this book a ton of new recipes from resorts and new restaurants within the parks pop up. This dessert is from Narcoosee's, a restaurant over the Seven Seas lagoon where you can observe the fireworks during dinner.  The resort opened in 1988 and has since seen some renovations and changed it's name to Disney's Grand Floridian Beach Resort and Spa.

Back to the food. If you haven't guessed already, I have a soft spot for sweets, baked goods especially. This recipe is no different. What are two of my favorite things? Chocolate and pecan pie. This combines both. Think warm melted chocolate through a sweet, sticky pecan pie. Amazing. The recipe says to serve it at room temperature, but I prefer ed to warm mine up just a tad to get the chocolate melty again. :-)  4 mickeys.

Beef Fillet with Fresh Ground Pepper

 Chefs de France - France Showcase, EPCOT

This is great! A few side tips...don't use round steak to be cheap like I did, it will be much better with actual fillets. That being said, the flavor is still awesome. You even get a chance to flambe, or set your stove on fire, which ever you do best. The sauce for the top is great too. If you changed the base from beef stock to pork stock you could put this on pork chops and it would also be amazing. The great thing? It only took a few minutes and very little prep! That's the kind of recipe I like! 4 mickeys!

Broccoli and vegetable Salad with Curry Sauce

 Top of the World - Contemporary Resort

Yum! At first it sounds gross...curry, mayonnaise, veggies? But it's really good. I have to admit, I put it up to my mouth and sniffed it first. But if you try it, you will like it! Now, that being said, you need to like curry. It doesn't have a strong curry flavor but it is noticeable.  I thought this was a great twist on a normal veggie salad. Once again, it's another way to use up some of that Disney Vinaigrette dressing that TONS of the salad recipes call for. My advice? Make up a big batch of it and then take a week to just keep making salads. It's a bit annoying to keep making it over and over again. This is the second time I've made the dressing and I'm pretty sure I will be making it one more time before this book is over. 3 mickeys!