Quick Weekday Stir Fry

My kids are big fans of stir fry, and we make one almost every week.  The ingredients are healthy and inexpensive.

Here's the basics:

1) Quickly fry chunks of chicken breast in peanut oil until about 2/3 of the way cooked.  Remove and set aside.

2) Boil water for noodles or rice--I prefer capellini or vermicelli, but also use ride noodles or sticky rice.  Use what is preferred and easiest.  Don't discount instant rice either! This isn't Saturday night.

2) Add more oil then stir fry sliced onion, pepper, bok choy, or any vegetable you want to add.  When the fresh veggies are somewhat caramelized and still with a bit of crunch, I add any canned veggies. We like whole water chesnuts for more crunch.

3) Add sauce ingredients and then add chicken back to finish.  Serve over noodles or rice, or to blend flavors, we like to add the noodles into the stir fry pan to coat thoroughly.

For sauce from scratch, I might use chicken broth, soy sauce, Chinese five-spice, garlic, etc.  For more of a teriyaki flavor, use some honey, ginger, garlic, soy, and broth.

Don't be ashamed of using bottled sauce, but if you do try Soy Vay Island Teriyaki.  It is packed with ginger and garlic flavors and is the best kind I have found.

Enjoy any weeknight!

Tips for Home Cooks Part 2--Better fried chicken, use of vinegar, home made mac n' cheese, pizza dough at home, leftover mashed potatoes, etc.

This is my second installment in a short list of tips for home cooks who want to put in a little extra effort and learn some quick little items to enhance their technique if you haven't already figured some of this out.  I read a lot of cookbooks and food magazines but I am constantly humbled by what I don't know.

I hope this is helpful for a few of you out there!

*Better fried chicken--I have always struggled with making great fried chicken at home, but today I tested out a technique I saw on some food show that really helps.  I don't have a deep fryer, but this worked fine in a pan with a half inch of canola oil.  My kids were starving, so I didn't even use my usual bone-in chicken; we sliced up the dreaded boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead!  (I just prefer bone-in almost all the time).

The key was to soak the cutlets in milk, dip in a flour mix ("Frying Magic" brand works fine if you don't want to mix your own), and then DIP A SECOND TIME IN MILK, then sprinkle on my flour mix.  Simple adjustment but the results were so much better.

*Vinegar--this is a tiny thing I read from one of Michael Ruhlman's incredible books; you can see his site by clicking here.  He's a great teacher.  The idea is to simply splash a tiny amount of vinegar into a soup to brighten up all the flavors.  Trust me, it works.  A teaspoon is often sufficient for a home cook's pot.  Chili recipes often use vinegar, so why not soups?  I like apple cider vinegar for many uses, and rice wine vinegar is an obvious component for Asian dishes.

*Home made mac n' cheese--I still enjoy the boxed stuff once in a long while, but making home made mac n' cheese is awesome and my kids love it.  You can search for recipes, but my basic plan includes a roux (butter & flour), then becomes a Bechamel when cream or milk is whisked in, then a rich cheese sauce when you fold in great shredded cheddar, gruyere, or whatever you prefer.  Then, fold in al dente elbow macaroni with a bit of salt and the secret ingredient--ground dry mustard.  Just a bit.  Then bake it with good breadcrumbs on top.  If you don't have time, skip the baking and it will still be superior to the blue box stuff. Optional ingredients include bits of cooked bacon or onion.

*See my recent pizza dough post on this!  Very worth the time and mess.

*Leftover mashed potatoes--again, see my new post on this.

*Squeeze lemon juice (from actual lemons) on veggies, grilled meat, etc.  Squeeze lime juice on your tacos and use real corn tortillas (fry them quickly on each side for maximum flavor).

Have fun and go the extra step to enjoy great food at home!

Great Meatloaf Recipe

Despite all my cooking experiments, I don't recall ever making meatloaf, but wanted to introduce my kids to this all-American comfort food!  I just didn't want to use my mom's or grandma's dried out versions (my mom is unlikely to Google this post and my grandma is long gone, RIP!). 

I adapted a recipe from one of my favorite Food Network authorities, Alton Brown, and did the following:

 

Here I mixed up a couple of pounds of a meat blend from Casey's Foods in Naperville, IL, (http://caseysfoods.com/), which is 1/3 ground chuck, 1/3 veal, and 1/3 pork.  I added two eggs, a bit of salt, and about a TBSP of chopped cayenne pepper that I grew on my patio.  A cool tip from the original recipe is to use a half cup of ground BBQ potato chips chopped in a food processor instead of the usual bread crumbs to add flavor and texture.  I went the extra mile by mixing in a 1/4 cup of mirepoix (look it up) of finely chopped and sauteed onion, carrot, and garlic, but you can probably skip this by dashing in a bit of garlic salt instead. 

I formed the meat into two "logs" to fix my pan and lit the charcoal grill; see the photo to see how I grilled it indirectly, though I cooked it right over the coals for the first 20 minutes or so in the pan.  I also added some sliced jalapenos so my son and I could get some heat (my daughter won't go there!).  You'll need to use your own judgement about cooking on a grill or in an oven.  Overall it cooked about 20 minutes directly over the coals while in the pan, then another 15-20 indirectly away from the coals.  Flip it once.  Only once if possible.  Don't overwork your meat :)  Just throw it all in the oven for 40-50 minutes on maybe 350 if you don't want to bother with the grill. 

The baste is simply 3/4 cup ketchup and a bit of worcestershire sauce mixed in. It all went over really well, especially when with a little extra sauce around for topping the sandwiches we ended up making out of the meatloaf!  Definitely awesome on the grill! 

Easy Weekday Tacos

      I am Mike's daughter, and I love to create unique recipes and dishes including bizarre ingredients and flavors. One night, my dad announced it taco night, and I was all over it.
      My ingredients consisted of one chopped nectarine, a chopped red pepper,  skirt steak, chihuahua cheese, lettuce, and taco sauce. I placed the steak and cheese on the flour tortilla and heated it up in a microwave. Next I placed the lettuce, chopped pepper and nectarine on it, and topped it all off with a splash of taco sauce.
      The flavor was amazing, and the crunchiness was delicious. This recipe will be sure to delight you and your family!

Egg Rolls at Home

While looking for something new to try, I came across the section of a local grocery that has Asian vegetables; it also is where I would buy the little wraps I have used to make either gyoza (potstickers) as well as ravioli.  This time I spotted larger wraps used to make egg rolls.

What I did was chop up onion, shredded carrot, cabbage, and garlic, and saute it for a few minutes.  Then I added ground pork and some sesame oil and soy sauce and cooked it all through.  I seasoned it further with soy until it had good flavor but without too much saltiness.  Since this was for my kids, I didn't add more than a touch of cayenne for a kick (one kid loves spice, the other doesn't, but I do add a little bit to condition her to enjoy at least a little!).

Once the filling was cooled off, I added it to each wrap and sealed the edges with water and rolled them up like little burritos.  I then wiped out the pan, heated up peanut oil, and fried them gently all around.  Then it was "pick your own sauce" time, and in the picture you can see I had soy, peanut sauce, and mustard.  I would have preferred either Dijon or hot Chinese mustard, but all I had last night was the yellow kind.  My kids preferred the soy, but I found the spicy peanut sauce to work really well.  Next time I'll make this even better with scallions instead of yellow onion and perhaps some baby shrimp in the filling!

Pork Tenderloin on the Grill

Last night I managed to pull off some pretty solid late fall grilling for my kids; I grilled this pork tenderloin and roasted some potatoes.  My kids wanted some grilled apple slices as well, which are shown here in the picture alongside my sweet 10" (26cm) Wusthof chef's knife, would could almost double as a sword:

The sauce is my simple honey mustard, but I improved it with a kick of soy sauce this time around.

Very satisfying!

Noodles with Thai Peanut Sauce, Chicken, and Carrot--Easy Kid Fuel

Many weekends when my kids have soccer games or tournaments, they get sick of concession stand hot dogs and hamburgers.  As a healthy and tasty alternative, I often whip up a pile of noodles the night before and stir in either a quick Alfredo sauce or use jarred Thai peanut sauce.

In this version, I used partially whole grain spaghetti, a decent jarred Thai peanut sauce ("Bankok Padang"), shredded carrots, and leftover braised chicken.  Sometimes I'll toss chopped green onion and peanuts for even more flavor.

My son loves spicy food but you can easily use less of the sauce, or buy a milder version.  When I make something like this for myself, I will squeeze lime juice on top and use julienned red pepper instead of carrot.

Soft Chicken Tacos--Easy Weekday Meal

This is an excellent way to make fairly authentic Southwestern-style braised chicken for use in tacos or enchiladas.   This version came from "The Food of Santa Fe: Authentic Recipes from the American Southwest" by Dave Dewitt and Nancy Gerlach, a book of very simple but useful recipes with great pictures.  Years ago this book helped inspire me towards learning more complex dishes.

Simmer 2 bone-in chicken breasts (4 total pieces) for 30 minutes in roughly 1 quart of water with 1 chicken bouillon cube, 1/2 TBSP ground cumin, 1/2 TBSP oregano, and 1 TBSP onion flakes.

Pluck chicken out of the pot, let cool on a plate, then hand-pull and add back to pot and let soak for 5-10 minutes longer prior to using for taco filling.

Warm flour tortillas and prepare sides of shredded cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, etc. If you want to have a more Mexican-style flavor, use cilantro, chopped white onion, and use green salsa (and skip the lettuce and tomato).  If you serve with a wedge of lime and squeeze on plenty of juice, it adds a ton of flavor.  Serve shredded chicken with tortillas and sides and enjoy!

Buen Provecho!

Quick Weekday Bolegnese Pasta Sauce

It's easy to whip up a quick version of the classic Italian meat sauce (Bolegnese) when your kids are starving and need a good combination of protein and carbs.

For this version in the photo, I simply sauteed chopped yellow onion in olive oil, stirred in quality ground chuck, added some sea salt, and a bit of crushed garlic.

Use tomato sauce out of the can to add liquid and season it with sugar.

It's much more satisfying than jarred pasta sauce and only takes 45 minutes of simmering to blend.

In this case I cooked plain spaghetti and tossed in the pot before serving it with a store-bought Italian cheese blend on top.  I toasted some Italian bread, buttered it, and sprinkled on a bit of garlic salt on the side.  Kids will love it and it's far better than your typical Ragu + pasta.  If you have time, grating a brick of Parmesan or Parmesan-Reggiano is a bonus!