sweet and sour sauce

i use this frequently for a quick stir-fry with my favorite stir-fry veggies and either chicken, shrimp or pork.

ingredients and directions

throw it all together and whisk well:

2T cornstarch
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C vinegar
1/4 C pineapple juice
2 t soy sauce
1/4 C water

indonesian chicken

i made this years ago and forgot all about it until a while ago when i saw some mangoes in the store and thought, "hey, i ought to make that again."  i'm glad i did.  i served it over jasmine rice that i steamed in coconut milk and lime juice.  i found it at cooks.com.

ingredients

1 1/2 c. onion, chopped
3 c. garlic
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. curry
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 - 2 ripe mangos
3 tbsp. horseradish
1 tbsp. hot taco sauce
1 - 2 tbsp. honey
1/4 - 1/2 c. chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
6 chicken thighs (i used breasts)

saute onion in oil with garlic until very soft. add mustard, curry, ginger and continue to saute to develop flavors. mash mango and add remaining ingredients. simmer with onion and garlic 15 minutes to blend flavors. Sauce should be thick like waffle batter.  put chicken in shallow baking dish. pour sauce over chicken and marinate in refrigerator 1 to 2 hours or overnight. bake at 350 degrees until chicken is done, 1 hour.

chicken chow mein

i happened to see fresh soba at costco and had to try it....and i have to say this recipe nails it. just like the real thing. even better than the real thing? the recipe comes from the food network.

i adjusted accordingly with the following:
i had fresh noodles so i obviously skipped the cooking the noodles part
i had canned shittake so i skipped all that prep
i don't like water chestnuts so i used canned bamboo shoots instead
i didn't have mung bean sprouts on hand so i left them out

p.s. the recipe says to fry the noodles for 8 minutes, turning once. in my pan i cut the time in half and some were nearly burned. in short-watch them closely!

Ingredients

• 3 ounces dried chuka soba noodles, or other Chinese egg noodles
• 1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
• 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce, plus more for the table
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 6 ounces), cut into thin 2-inch-long strips
• 1 teaspoon dark Asian sesame oil
• 1 heaping tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 scallion, white and green minced
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 10 dried shittake mushrooms, rehydrated, drained, and thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced canned water chestnuts
• 6 ounces fresh mung bean sprouts
• 3 cups cooked white rice, hot

Directions

Boil the noodles according to package instructions. Drain in a colander in the sink and rinse under cold running water. Shake the colander to drain off excess water and pat the noodles dry with a towel.

Heat 1/4 cup of the peanut oil in a large seasoned or non-stick skillet over high heat. Add the noodles, spreading them out to evenly cover the skillet, and fry, turning once, until golden brown and crispy, about 8 minutes. (Break the noodles up, by stirring, near the end of the cooking). Transfer noodles to a paper towel-lined plate and season with salt to taste. Set aside. Discard any excess oil and wipe out the pan.

Whisk together the chicken broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce, cornstarch, and sugar in a small bowl, and set aside. Season the chicken with the dark sesame oil, salt, and pepper, and set aside.

Heat the skillet over high heat. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons peanut oil until very hot. Add the ginger, garlic, and scallion and stir-fry, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken and stir-fry, until lightly browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the onion, celery, and mushrooms and stir-fry, until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Add the water chestnuts and spread the ingredients to the outside of the pan to form a well in the center. Pour the chicken broth mixture into the well, bring to a boil, and stir to coat the chow mein mixture. Stir in the bean sprouts and remove from the heat. Season generously to taste with pepper.

Transfer chicken chow mein to a warm platter and top with the fried noodles. Serve immediately with rice. Pass more soy sauce at the table.

asian salad dressing

i wanted to throw an asian salad together today and really liked the dressing i found on allrecipes.com. i mixed it with about a half a head of green cabbage, a fourth a head of red cabbage, a tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds and a couple handfuls of ginger-spiced wonton strips.

i didn't have any almonds, but i would have added toasted almonds if i had them. i guess you could add chicken and even mandrain oranges if you wanted.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil (optional)--i don't think it's optional, actually
  
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar

veggie experiment: days 24 and 25

PAD THAI (fiasco) and CURRY VEGGIE STIR-FRY

no vegetarian experiment would be complete without giving tofu a whirl. i recently had pad thai at a restaurant and the tofu was better than i've ever tasted. i thought it would be great to learn to fix it like that. well, last night was NOT the night for that.

i used alton brown's recipe from the food network. i might have accidentally poured a little bit too much fish sauce in. that little bit made a huge difference and it was completely inedible. bummer! but the recipe called for marinating the tofu and i didn't like that at all. so at least i learned that much. it was fun to experiment, especially considering my special trip to the vietamese market which was an experience in itself.

in an effort to redeem myself, i made some curry tofu veggie stir-fry. i made some adjustments based on what i had lying around. this was tasty, but since i unknowingly got the wrong (mild) curry powder, it only got one thumb up from the husband. i liked it since i don't like hot. and i learned my lesson with the tofu and it tasted much better.

veggie experiment: day 17

STIR-FRY WITH THAI PEANUT SAUCE
long ago, after a failed attempt at making peanut sauce from scratch, i bought a bottle of peanut sauce from trader joe's and then forgot about it. when we moved into this house, i found it again, but then put it in the back of the pantry and there it stayed until a couple of days ago when i was organizing the pantry and found it once more. i finally decided to use it...

and i thought the inside of my mouth was going to disintegrate--it was SO hot!!! (i'm a wimp when it comes to spicy.) but i toughed it out and made my husband proud.


ingredients

bunch o' veggies. i used carrots, celery, asparagus, zucchini and mushrooms.
peanut sauce.
rice. i did half brown/half white rice since i discovered my basmati rice had gone bad.

directions

heat some olive oil and throw in some garlic and saute until it browns. then add veggies and stir-fry/steam until to desired doneness. pour in the peanut sauce and stir in til warm. serve over rice and put dry-roasted peanuts, cilantro and lime juice on top.