Stir Fry

I'm sure everyone here knows how to do stir fry. It really is just about the simplest thing you can cook. The key is cutting everything to uniform, small size so that it cooks quickly. You're cooking on high heat for a very short amount of time, so you want everything sufficiently cooked through, without the outside being overcooked.
The second thing to remember is to add ingredients into your wok/pot in order of what will take the longest to cook first. Once again, this is so everything cooks uniformly.
When making stir fry, the prep should take you more time than the actual cooking. It might take a little time to chop everything up, but once it is all ready, meal time is in minutes.
You can marinate your meat ahead of time to help impart flavor. Everything else is then cooked and you can add a sauce or seasonings towards the end for flavor. It's very simple, quick, and healthy. Me likey.
Today I did a simple chicken and veggie stir fry and I used some pre-made (yes, I bought it at a store) Hoisin sauce for the flavor. It's a really good, mildly spicy and kind of thick plum sauce.

I used:
Chicken
carrots
broccoli
green onions

Cut up the chicken and marinate in rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and a little fish sauce. Let it marinate while you prepare everything else. Twenty minutes is good. An hour is plenty of time.
Get your wok/pot hot on at least med-high heat. Toss in that chicken and cook for few minutes til just done.
Transfer to another dish with juices and keep warm. Wipe the wok clean, add sesame oil, get it hot, and throw in your veggies.
Once they're pretty close to done, add the chicken, with juices, back in and toss around to mix. Add a few healthy globs of Hoisin sauce and toss til everything is coated. Add your green onions towards the end. You can add some toasted sesame seeds, too, if'n you want.
Maybe not the most exciting post, but this blog isn't titled exciting adventures in food. It's called what we made to eat and this is what we made to eat.

Psari Plaki (or awesome baked fish recipe with veggies if you don't speak greek) and Spinach Rice

So it hasn't quite been a month since my last post. I'll try and make up for it with a quick barrage. Hopefully it will be entertaining for anyone still reading.
So, I've got a really good fish recipe. It's really easy and you can do it in about 40 minutes. Sound good? Good. Here goes.
You need:
White fish. I use tilapia cause it's cheap and available. Snapper, cod, or some other flaky white fish will work just as well.
Cup or two of breadcrumbs
1 medium onion, diced
1-2 carrots, diced
1-2 sticks of celery, diced
1 can of diced tomatoes or some fresh tomatoes, diced
juice of 2 lemons
a little sugar
parsley, chopped
garlic, oil, s/p

Fry the onions in oil til translucent. Add the carrots and celery and cook til softened, bout 8-10 min. Add the garlic and let cook for 2 min then add the tomatoes and sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Let it cook down til it reduces some. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F and lay the fish in a baking dish. Add the lemon juice and parsley to the sauce and season to taste.
Layer the sauce over fish. Cover with breadcrumbs and drizzle with oil.
Bake the fish til done, about 15-20 minutes.

This dish is light, healthy, and surprisingly good. It also reheats very well. Typically, I don't really like reheated fish, but this works very well. I like it with the following rice dish...

Spinach Rice

This is a good rice dish that complements the flavor of the fish well.
You need:
rice
spinach (I use fresh, I guess you could use frozen)
1 large onion, chopped
garlic
juice of 1-2 lemons
fresh dill, chopped
fresh parsley, chopped
vegetable stock (or chicken or water)

Fry the onion and garlic in oil for a few minutes til soft. Add the rice, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes.
Add the spinach, ~tbsp of lemon juice, and the herbs. Season well with s/p, add the stock and bring to a boil.
Cover and reduce heat to low until rice is cooked.
Remove from heat, add remaining lemon juice and season to taste.

Have I really never posted my Chili recipe?

Jake did a venison chili recipe earlier. I didn't read it but I haven't posted anything in forever so I hope my chili recipe is different enough to make this worth it. I typically do a beef chili but I substituted chicken this time per Anita's request.

What goes in it? Really anything you want to put in it. And I make a lot. It tends to go fast. Here we go.
couple pounds of meat (beef, chicken, venison...whatever)
1 large or 2 medium onions
1 green and red pepper and maybe a yellow one too if you're feeling it
other options: jalapeno/habanero, poblano, cubanelle, or banana pepper. Really just any peppers. I'm limited by how spicy I can get depending on who I'm feeding.
a couple of tomatoes (I always put fresh tomatoes in anything I put canned tomatoes in)
a lot of garlic
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
I like 3 cans of beans. You can sub red beans or pinto beans for one.
1 can of corn
And now the spice:
at least a tablespoon of chili powder
equal amount of ground cumin
2 tsp white pepper
2 tsp ground coriander
some granulated garlic if you think you didn't put enough garlic in
some onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
salt

Dice up chicken or shred your ground beef. Season with salt, pepper, and a little chili powder and cumin. Brown the meat.
Dice up all the veggies. Fry the onions in olive oil til softened. Add the bell peppers and cook til soft. Add the fresh tomatoes, meat, and any other hot peppers. Cook til heated and then add all the spices. Cook for about 1 minute.
Add the canned tomatoes and corn with juices. Go ahead and turn up the heat. Add the beans. Add your liquid. About 3 cups should do it. You can use water. I like beer. Darker, hoppy beers work well, but not anything as dark as a stout. That would be too bitter. Bass works well. I don't really like the hoppy beers, but wheat beers do tend to do well in a chili or stew. Whatever your choice, add the liquid and get that heat up. You can also add some hot sauce at this point.
Once it starts to boil turn it down and let it cook for a while on a low heat. Check the seasoning. Enjoy.
I said enjoy.
Do it.

Lacquer-Roasted Pork Ribs

Here's one from the Professional Chef.
You need:
Rack of ribs
tbsp dark soy sauce
tbsp sherry

for the marinade:
60 mL Hoisin sauce
45 ml black bean sauce
90 ml ketchup
minced garlic
minced ginger
a little white pepper
green onions, sliced
15 ml rice vinegar
10 ml sesame oil
salt
sugar

Lacquer Coating:
30 ml honey
tsp sesame oil

Combine the soy sauce and sherry and brush over the ribs.
Combine marinade ingredients and pour over the ribs. Massage the marinade into the meat, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Turn occasionally.


Take the ribs out of the fridge at least an hour before ready to cook them to allow them to come up to room temp. Remove the ribs from the marinade and wipe off excess. Place on a wire rack in a roasting pan.
Fill another pan with water and place it in the oven on 325 degF.
Roast the ribs for ~ 1.5 hours.
Combine the honey and sesame oil for the coating. During the last 20 minuts of roasting, brush the ribs with the mixture. At this point you can crank the oven up to broil for a couple minutes to give a nice, crisp outer skin. Remove the ribs and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.
This recipe doesn't call for a sauce, but you may want to reduce the drippings in the roasting pan to make one.

Ratatouille Pasta

History:
Continuing with the pasta kick. Later with be spaghetti and meatballs. This is a great summer dish, and may be the one Clark is talking about. I was surprised how much I liked this.

What you need:
2 pounds zuchinni
2 pounds squash
1 onion, diced small
1-2 pints of cherry tomatoes
6 oz of arugula
Oregano
salt/pepper
olive oil
Parmeseano cheese

Dice a la ratatouille style the zuchinni and squash. Toss in oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss in the onion and tomatoes as well. Set the oven to 400, spread about 1/4 of the arugula on a cookie sheet and cover with the other vegetables. Bake until caramelized. I ended up putting it on broil for a bit as well. Toss in with the pasta and fresh cheese on top.

Enjoy.

Braised Cabbage with Fennel and Anita's Cream Corn

So we made some more barbeque. Anita and I took a week-long trip to Asheville, NC to visit some family and we developed a bbq addiction. I've posted previous bbq recipes so I'll just put the sides on this one.

Braised Cabbage with Fennel [CL]
This is a really simple recipe that I made up. Chop up cabbage and a fennel bulb or two. Get some garlic frying in oil or butter. Add the fennel and cook til it softens. Then add the cabbage and do the same. Add about 3 cups chicken stock, salt and pepper. I also poured in the drippings from the pork butt. Bring to a boil and then cut the heat down to a simmer, cover and stir occasionally. Let it cook til done. I think I let it go for about 30-40 minutes.

Cream Corn per Anita
You need:
a few ears of corn
heavy cream
honey or butter (optional)
This is also very simple and delicious.
cut the kernels off the cob and throw in a pot with the cream. Bring to a boil and then cut the heat and let simmer. The longer it goes the better. If you need to make it quick then adding the butter or a little honey helps, but it is pretty good with just the corn and the cream. Make sure and stir occasionally to keep the cream from scorching.

Pesto Noodles with Chicken

(Clark note: This stuff is really good)
History:
I'm in a pasta kick. Something I can make a bunch of that will last for lunches at work/school. I was at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens on Thursday and they had a recipe for Arugula pesto.... So I wanted to make pesto, but went with that I have on hand.

Pesto Notes:
A pesto really is a sauce you make from grinder your ingredients in a mortar and pestle. Yes, we have a few. No, I did not use.... I was a bit lazy...

Recipe:
4-5 cloves of garlic
Fresh [but I used dried] basil... I tend to also use oregano
Lemon juice
olive oil
olives [yes I added olives. I like them, and wanted their saltiness]
Diced chicken
Noodles
Parmasiano Cheese
Fresh tomatoes
Sun-dried tomatoes


Blend the garlic, herbs, and olives. Add in the lemon juice, and slowly add the olive oil until you create a paste. Take 1/5 of the sauce and cover the chicken and then cook on the stove giving a nice golden color. Cook the noodles. Once the noodles are done toss the on the stove with the rest of the sauce. Add both tomatoes. Toss in the chicken. Cheese.

Enjoy.