A Successful Stir-Fry

Well, it's been nearly a year since I last posted, and a lot has happened. I got a full-time job, moved to a new state, and finished my first semester as a professional librarian. I also turned 40 and went to Hawaii. It's been a busy year.

Just because I haven't posted doesn't mean I haven't been cooking during the year. I still have the information about the trifle I made from the Madeira cake (the one that turned out not so great). The trifle was much better than the cake. I also made some granita from orange, peach, mango juice and gin. Pretty tasty.

Tonight I made a very successful stir fry from a recipe from Williams-Sonoma. The recipe is called Stir-Fried Pork and Sugar Snaps with Soba Noodles.

The recipe sounded easy with ingredients available at the local grocery store. I was really surprised to see no garlic in the list of ingredients though. The main flavors come from soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil, and red pepper as well as a generous amount of green onions. There was a lot of oil in the recipe between the sesame oil and the oil for cooking the pork. I think it could be reduced, at least the amount needed to sautée the pork could be. A tablespoon was way more than needed. The flavor turned out well. I might try it with some garlic next time though to see how that changes it.

picture from Williams-Sonoma.com

Last Week's Recap

Chicken, Granola, Fish, and Dried Fruit

Last week (March 6-12) wasn't a super-exciting week food-wise. There were a couple of days my mom didn't feel too well, and then it was my turn to feel not-so-great. So, there's not a lot to report, and I'm putting it all in one post.

Fried Chicken
Early in the week I made pan-fried chicken with oven-baked sweet potato fries. I'd never made fried chicken before, but with advice from my mom and after reading several recipes, I felt up to the challenge. I put a mixture of flour, salt, pepper, and paprika in a paper bag and then dropped the chicken pieces in one at a time, coating them well. I heated about 3/4 inch of oil on high heat in a flat-bottomed frying pan and then placed the chicken pieces in and cooked them, turning once, until both sides were nicely browned. Then I turned the heat down and covered the pan letting the chicken cook for about 25 minutes. After that I checked for done-ness and lifted the chicken out onto paper towels to drain.

I peeled and cut a large sweet potato into french fry sized sticks, tossed them in a little olive out and spread them out in one layer, trying not to overlap, on a 2 baking sheets. I cooked them at 400 degrees turning them as they browned. I can't really say how long they cooked, but I can tell you that one pan cooked too long and half the fries burned. We ate the non-burned ones and threw the rest away and finished cooking the others, which came out tasting good, but not really crispy except on the edges.

The chicken was tender and juicy and very flavorful though I think I missed a couple spots on the edges when flouring them. One piece had a couple of tough spots around the edges where the meat was frying without the benefit of a little flour to buffer it. Still, all-in-all, it tasted good.

Red Snapper with Baby Bok Choy & Crispy Ginger

Later in the week I made Snapper with baby bok choy and crispy ginger again. It turned out really delicious, even better than last time. I added both chopped garlic and a little chopped ginger to the olive oil before adding the fish. This gave the fish added flavor.

The bok choy is pretty tender because it's young, but the white parts of the ends can be a little tough, so after separating and washing the leaves, I cut the ends into thin strips, but I just split the green leafy parts lengthwise.

Granola
On Saturday I made granola (see the photo at the top of the post). I wrote about making granola on facebook a while ago, but I thought I'd write about it here as it's been a while, and I think I've perfected my recipe--to my taste at least. Again, it's still based partly on Alton Brown's granola recipe available on the Food Network Website.

Alex's Version of Alton Brown's Granola
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
6 Tbsp brown sugar (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp)
6 Tbsp maple syrup (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp water
1/4 tsp salt
a couple of dashes of cinnamon

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl or measuring cup, I stir together 6 Tbsp maple syrup, 2 Tbsp canola oil, and 2 Tbsp water. I pour the mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well--using your hands really helps to get the liquid ingredients well-distributed throughout the dry ingredients.

Coat 2 baking sheets with a little cooking spray and spread the granola mixture onto the two trays. Bake these in a 250 oven for 1 hour 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. When it's done, remove the trays from the oven and let the granola cool completely before putting it in a plastic or glass container with a tight-fitting lid.

I love this granola. A little bit of it sprinkled over bran flakes or wheat square (some cereal high in fiber but not necessarily big on taste) really perks up the cereal.

Risotto and Fish (again, not together)

Here's the dinner report for the last few days. I cooked Friday and tonight, and we had take-out pizza Saturday.

Friday, 1/21/11
Risotto with vegetables and smoked Gruyere

1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped finely
1 small to medium leek, split length-wise and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 large carrot, chopped finely
a bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme
3.5 ounces smoked Gruyere
1 cup arborio rice
.5 cup white wine
3.5 cups chicken broth

I made this like a basic risotto; I sauteed the vegetables, added the rice and herbs and then started stirring in the wine and chicken broth about 3/4 cup at a time allowing the broth to be fully absorbed before adding more. Once the rice is cooked, I added the Gruyere and some black pepper.

I think this risotto needed something to offset the smokiness of the Gruyere. It was creamy and rich with a distinct, but not overwhelming, smokiness; it's really good to add some along with the cheddar to the sauce when making macaroni & cheese. It might have been good to add a little Parmesan, which has a sharpness to it or even a little lemon juice or chopped fresh parsley. Perhaps a gremolata would have been good--a little lemon zest, minced fresh garlic, and chopped fresh parsley tossed together--sprinkled over the bowls of risotto right before serving. I definitely should have added some garlic, maybe just one clove, while sauteing the vegetables.


Sunday, 1/23/11
Red Snapper with Crispy Ginger and Baby Bok Choy

Snapper fillets pan-fried in oil and minced garlic, ginger matchsticks frizzled in oil then coated in low-sodium soy. Finally minced ginger, garlic, cabbage, and baby bok choy stir-fried in a non-stick pan tossed with a little soy. Served with brown rice.

This was very good, but the next time I make it, I think I'll reduce the temperature of the stove when cooking the fish and the ginger matchsticks. The fish was slightly dry, and the ginger matchsticks were on the verge of being burned (I managed to rescue them) with the stove on medium-high heat.

Tomorrow night will be leftovers, so I have the time to plan the rest of the meals for the week. I'm thinking chili at least one day. I'm thinking of making my chili with ground turkey instead of ground beef and seeing how it tastes. I'm also thinking of doing some baking this week. I want to try making scones again. I want to try making some with some lemon zest and currants. Either that, or I want to try to make some orange-cranberry scones. I love the ones at Starbucks, but I'd like to try making them myself; that way I know exactly what's going into them and they'll cost me much less.

Summer's Last Hurrah

I spent the last week out at the coast near Bodega Bay with my family. We stayed in a house right on the coast overlooking the beach. The whole back wall of the house was windows; the view couldn't be beat. We spent time at the beach, played games, read, did puzzles, and just had a good time. The weather was great; warm but not hot. It was like a tiny bit of summer leftover into fall. I made this salad one day for lunch.

Asian-Inspired Chicken Salad

Salad:
1/2 head of cabbage
1 large carrot
1 small can water chestnuts
1 bunch scallions/green onions or 1/2 cup very thinly sliced mild onion
1 cup chopped, cooked chicken

Dressing:
1/3 cup vegetable oil (if using olive oil, use light not extra virgin)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
Flavor packet from 1 package of Maruchan or Top Ramen any flavor
1/4 tsp. black pepper
3 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce (optional-I liked the stronger flavor it gave to the dressing)

Toppings: (or crunchies, as my sister calls them)
Toasted slivered almonds
Toasted sesame seeds
Ramen noodles (uncooked) crushed and toasted on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven. Stir every few minutes until lightly browned. Remove and cool.

Make dressing:
Place all ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well. Set aside.

Make salad:
Shred cabbage into longish thin strips; make sure you remove and discard the core. Peel carrot and grate it or use the peeler to make long thin curls of carrot. Open and drain can of water chestnuts. In a large bowl, toss cabbage, carrots, water chestnuts, onion, and chicken. Pour in about 1/2 to 2/3 of the dressing (just enough to coat everything) and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Serve salad and have each person top with crunchies and additional dressing as they like.

Serves 2-4