6.28.2011

Chicken Chow Mein

For whatever reason, I've had a real taste for Panda Express lately--I know, it's horrible to use cheap, fast food Chinese food as inspiration, but the stomach wants what the stomach wants. I decided to attempt one of my husband's favorites from Panda, the chow mein, and found a recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/chicken-chow-mein-recipe/index.html

Now, I've cooked quite a bit at this point, and let me tell you--this is one I was really proud of! The flavors, in my opinion, BEAT Panda Express by a long shot and tasted more like something you would find at a real Chinese restaurant (minus the grease :D). It takes a bit of prep work due to all the fresh ingredients, but it is SO worth it!

I should note here that I deviated from the recipe as listed above in a few ways. First, I did not include any rice to make the recipe more like the Panda Express one (which is all noodle!). Second, I did not use the Chinese soba noodles because: a) several posters on that site had issues cooking them and b) Ramen noodles cook quickly and are super cheap, so I substituted in four packages of these noodles (no seasoning!) instead. Third, we dislike most of the veggie choices in this recipe, so instead of the mushrooms, water chestnuts, and bean sprouts, we used peas and broccoli, making this more of a cross between chow mein and a stir fry. But still SOOO good! Finally, do NOT add extra salt! Soy sauce is extremely salty already, and salt would just be overkill.

All right, now let's get started! Our ingredients (minus the salt):

  • 4 pkgs. Ramen noodles (flavor doesn't matter, since you aren't using the seasoning)
  • 2 tablespoons peanut oil (for cooking your veggies/chicken)
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned (I made mine from a bouillon cube)
  • 3 tablespoons oyster sauce (smells gross, but so much flavor!)
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce, plus more for the table
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin 2-inch-long strips
  • 1 teaspoon dark Asian sesame oil
  • 1 heaping tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal
  • 1 medium head of broccoli, chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh peas (pea pods would work too)
First, prep your ingredients: chop your broccoli, celery, onion, (peeled) ginger, scallions, and garlic. The ginger and garlic will be sauteed first, so you can set those aside together if you'd like. Scallions will not be cooked at all, but will be used as a garnish, so set this aside too, then place the peas in with the remaining ingredients. With so much green, I divided everything into stages for cooking, but you can always save on the dirty dishes by keeping all your fresh ingredients together.

Next, combine your chicken broth with the oyster sauce, soy sauce, cornstarch, and sugar in a small bowl. It is easiest to do this when the chicken broth is hot, as it will dissolve the sugar and cornstarch quickly.

Finally, slice your chicken breasts on a diagonal into thin strips. When finished, sprinkle pepper and drizzle sesame oil on top of slices, making sure all surfaces of the chicken are coated evenly.

Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large skillet over medium high heat. Saute the ginger and garlic until soft and fragrant (watch closely to make sure it doesn't burn). Add the chicken to the skillet and cook until lightly browned (this should only take 2-3 minutes). Next, add in your vegetables. I placed a lid on top of the dish to steam the broccoli and peas a bit (you don't have to cook them before adding them to the skillet, and in fact, putting them in raw allows the broccoli to retain a bit of crispness!). Finally, pour the chicken broth mixture over the tops of the vegetables, stir, and turn down the heat to low/medium to allow the mixture to simmer and thicken.

Cook your Ramen noodles by boiling them on the stove for approximately three minutes. By the time these are finished and drained, your chicken/veggie mix should be cooked and the sauce thickened. To plate, layer the Ramen noodles, chicken and veggies, and a sprinkling of the scallions. Enjoy!


6.13.2011

Strawberry and Chocolate Ganache Tart

Several months ago, I caught an episode of Martha Stewart's show where Martha and a guest were making tarts. The process appeared to be time-consuming and unnecessarily difficult (i.e. the butter had to stay super cold, the dough could not be over-processed, etc.), but the tart pan looked so cute with its floofy little edges and such that I figured I could weather the challenge and make one. A few weeks after that, a random trip to Marshall's led me to a $10 tart pan (seriously, check them out for affordable kitchen goodies--I always find something amazing for my recipes there!). And finally, last week marked the end of the school year for me, giving me the free time needed to bake. Which brings us to the strawberry and chocolate ganache tart!

Now, most tarts are fruit-based, but I was not about to sacrifice my chocolate addiction in the interests of recipe purity (or, you know, health), so I found a gorgeous recipe for a chocolate cherry tart here: http://hotpolkadot.com/2011/06/09/thick-as-thieves/. I had to modify the recipe slightly because 1) I could not find hazelnuts in my grocery store and 2) my husband hates cherries. So, I substituted almonds (for consistency) with a spoonful of Nutella (for flavor) to replace the hazelnuts and strawberries for the cherries. Here were my ingredients:

First, you make the tart shell. The shell is the annoying (and time-consuming) part of this recipe, but I promise it will be worth it!

Shell--Phase One (because tart-making is not a one-phase affair!):
-Cut 1 stick (or 1/2 cup) and 1 tbs of butter into pieces and place in freezer
-Grind 1/4 cup almonds with 1/2 cup powdered sugar in a food processor 
-Add 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, and 1/4 tsp salt and pulse together until mixed
-Add in frozen butter pieces and pulse until the mixture resembles course crumbs
-Add in a tbs of Nutella and one egg and pulse until the mixture begins to come together
-Remove from food processor, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least two hours

Shell--Phase Two:
-Remove tart dough from refrigerator and let it sit out for 10-15 minutes. You want it cold, but working with the dough immediately is like trying to flatten a rock. 
-While waiting, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, cut two sheets of wax paper, and get out your tart pan and rolling pin. Butter your tart pan or spray it with a non-stick spray to prevent sticking.
-Once the waiting period is up, unwrap your dough and place it between the two pieces of wax paper. You want to roll the dough out so that it is about 15" in diameter, and keeping it in between the pieces of wax paper will keep it from sticking!
-When finished, remove the top sheet of wax paper, and do your best to center the tart dough above the tart pan. Place the dough inside the tart pan, pushing the dough into the corners and CAREFULLY removing the remaining piece of wax paper. The dough will have warmed up a bit here, and I know I caught myself swearing at it at least twice while attempting to keep the dough in one piece, but if you are patient, you will have a lovely soon-to-be shell when finished!
-Fold excess dough back along the edge of the tart pan to form a double crust, PIERCE THE DOUGH with a fork in several places to keep it from rising, then place in the freezer for 30 minutes. When done, it should look something like this:

Shell--Phase Three (the easiest one!):
-Butter or spray a sheet of aluminum foil and fit it snugly inside of the tart pan, making sure to cover the entire shell.
-Bake in the 375 degree oven for 20 minutes with the foil on
-Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes
-When finished, remove the pan from the oven and set it on a cooling rack (I also put my cooling rack with the tart pan into the refrigerator, since I wanted it to cool a bit faster)

And finally, the filling--the easiest and best part of the whole recipe. You can do a lot of the prep work for this while your tart is cooking/cooling:
-Chop up 8 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate (Ghiradelli is amazing, but Baker's is more affordable and still tasty). Pour into a heat-proof bowl and let it sit.
-Mix 3/4 cup of heavy cream and 2 tbs of butter in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
-Remove the cream and butter from the heat and pour over the chopped chocolate. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.
-Whisk the chocolate into the warm cream after the 5 minutes are up. Congrats! You have made your ganache, which should resemble an especially shiny chocolate pudding. Wasn't that insanely easy after all that shell nonsense?
-Pour the ganache into the COOLED chocolate tart shell and decorate with fruit of your choosing (you can also dust with powdered sugar or cocoa powder).





To conclude: is the shell a royal pain in the rear end? Absolutely. But is it worth the first bite of chocolate decadence and fresh summer berries? Absolutely. Enjoy!

6.07.2011

Goat Cheese Salad (for when a large chunk of cheese ball just isn't enough)

For dinner tonight, I made a fried goat cheese salad. Now, let me begin by saying that "goat cheese" sounds insanely disgusting. I personally used to picture something congealed and bleating, created only because somewhere, some truly unfortunate soul ran out of cows but REALLY wanted some cheese to put on her nachos. And then, because the universe hates it when people miss out on really awesome cheese, I tasted the most incredible pulled pork and goat cheese nachos in Hawaii and have been in love ever since. Look at how tasty these guys were-even now, I'm drooling:


Yum. Anyway, as soon as my husband and I returned home, I was determined to find additional ways of eating this marvelous cheese (which, as it turns out, can be purchased in the form of a simple log--some even come flavored with herbs for you--and is neither curdle-y nor bleating). And then I saw an episode of 5 Ingredient Fix with a goat cheese salad: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/crispy-goat-cheese-salad-recipe/index.html. Many thanks to Claire Robinson and her awesome timing!

Now, when I made this the first time (yes, this is my second attempt at this recipe), I followed the recipe exactly, and everything was very tasty--but the cheese did not hold its shape well. So this time around, I did the following:
1) Bought a log of goat cheese with herbs already in it (so I did not need to buy a flavored olive oil as the original recipe called for).
2) Cut it into circles (I used a 6 oz. log and cut it into 6 circles, 3 each for my husband and me).
3) Decided that I should continue to avoid the scale for the next couple of days and moved on to step 4.
4) Coated the cheese circles with flour, dipped them in egg, and then covered them in breadcrumbs.
5) Fried them in a half inch of olive oil for a couple minutes on each side (just be sure to watch them, as they brown quickly).
6) And finally, plated them on a bed of lettuce with our dressing of choice (we like ranch, but you can always do a vinaigrette dressing or none at all since goat cheese has a creamier texture).



This time, the circles held their shape marvelously! (Of course, because I am indecisive, I immediately decided I that I preferred the gooey, oh so much healthier baked version that I made the first time. But, these would make for a sophisticated version of the mozzarella stick, I think, and plan to save this preparation method for the future for that purpose.) Enjoy!

6.06.2011

Fun with cheese balls!

Since I was asked to bring a snack for an office retirement party tomorrow, I thought I would start the blog recipes here, with an appetizer that is becoming something of a signature for me: the chipped beef cheese ball. I first found this recipe here: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,161,149177-225197,00.html when I was looking to make some appetizers for a surprise "Congrats on your new law job!" party for my husband (sadly this cheese ball, which I created in the shape of a gavel, was not photographed, or I would share that too!).



To make, mix the following: two 8 oz. containers of creamed cheese (softened--just leave out while chopping the other ingredients to bring to room temperature), three packages of Buddig corned beef lunchmeat (chopped), one bunch of green onions (chopped), 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, and 1 teaspoon of Lawry's seasoning salt. Don't bother with a spoon here--it's easiest to integrate the seasonings if you mix by hand! When all the ingredients are well-mixed, shape the creamy mass into a ball, refrigerate to set, then serve with crackers and enjoy! Below is a picture of your standard cheese ball:


But, since I love a good theme, I usually alter my cheese balls to fit the party. First is a Death Star cheese ball, complete with X-wing fighters for a Star Wars themed birthday party (possibly mine...ahem).


Halloween cheese ball:


Thanksgiving cheese ball:


Christmas cheese ball:


New Year's Eve cheese ball:


ENJOY!!

6.05.2011

Introducing...May the Fork Be with You (and Kate)!

Hello, and welcome to my cooking blog! My name is Kate, and since I don’t want to bore you with a ton of information about me, I will simply say that I am a newlywed wife, an English teacher, a huge Star Wars nerd (in case the title did not give that away), and—of course—a lover of food. I find it relaxing to make, enjoyable to eat, and above all, heartwarming when I get to share it with those I love.

Lately, I’ve become something of a food exhibitionist, taking up my friends’ facebook feeds with pictures of my newest culinary creations. As a result, I finally decided to dedicate a separate space to the inner workings of my kitchen and created this blog.

Please note that I am not focusing on any one type of food, and most of the recipes are not original to me (and I will, as a good English teacher, cite my sources where I am able). However, I hope that you will enjoy reading about my culinary adventures just as much as I enjoy writing about them. Thanks for reading, and may the fork be with you!