Saturday, June 19, 2010

Create your own Stirfry!!! -Multiple Sauce Recipes

Create-your-own Stir-fry (serves 4)
 1 pound protein
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 recipe stir-fry sauce
1 and 1/2 pounds prepared vegetables, cut into small pieces and divided into batches based on cooking times
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

  1. Stir-fry the protein and prepare sauce.  Toss protein with soy sauce.  Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking.  Add protein and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up clumps, until lightly browned, 1 1/2 to 5 minutes.  (While protein cooks, prepare sauce recipe.)  Transfer protein to a clean bowl.
  2. Add 1 more tablespoon of oil to pan and return to high heat until shimmering.  If using very tough vegetables, add to skillet with 1/2 cup water, cover, and steam over high heat for about 2 minutes; uncover.  Add longer-cooking vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally until crisp-tender, 1 to 5 minutes.  Add faster-cooking vegetables and cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, 30 to 60 seconds.
  3. Clear center of the pan and add remaining 1 teaspoons oil, garlic, and ginger.  Cook, mashing garlic mixture into pan with back of spatula, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in cooked protein.  Whisk sauce to recombine, add to pan, and bring to simmer.  Cook sauce until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes.  Serve immediately.


Orange-Sesame Sauce

1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Combine ingredients in medium bowl and use as directed in stir-fry recipes.

Spicy Orange Sauce

1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoons red pepper flakes
Combine ingredients in medium bowl and use as directed in stir-fry recipes.

Coconut-Curry Sauce

1 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1-2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Combine ingredients in medium bowl and use as directed in stir-fry recipes.


Sweet and Sour Sauce

6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons orange juice
6 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
Combine ingredients in medium bowl and use as directed in stir-fry recipes.

Spicy Thai Basil Sauce

1 cup basil leaves, chopped coarse
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon Asian chili sauce (sriracha, sambal oelek, or chili garlic sauce)
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Combine ingredients in medium bowl and use as directed in stir-fry recipes.

Submitted By Jenny Shirts

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Cabbage-chicken Stir fry


Chicken cut up into bite sized pieces
Shredded green cabbage
green onions
Shallots (very small, redskinned onions. Fragrant and sweet- usu. around $1/lb. only need a few)
vegetable oil
very finely chopped lemon grass (1.49 for a frozen bag of finely chopped lemon grass @ Lion Supermarket. Can refreeze. You only need about 1 spoonful max if you want a stronger lemon grass flavor)
garlic powder
Oyster Sauce (Lee Kum Kee Panda brand is a popular one, on sale it is 1.69 a bottle. Any other brand is fine. Under 1.69, you are doing good! You only need a couple table spoons max, for flavor, aroma, and color.)
Fish sauce (optional)
 
Heat up your oil on med-hi. Flavor your oil by adding shallots and a bit of garlic powder. Once shallots start sizzling, add chicken and lemon grass to flavor your meat. When chicken is semi-done, add oyster sauce (and fish sauce, if you like--only a little bit like 1/4-1/2 tbsp. max) and quickly stir until meat is barely done. Add cabbage and stir fry until semi-soft, semi-crunchy. When you are ready to serve, turn off heat and add in chopped green onions and quickly stir in to not overcook them. 
 
 
Submitted by Andrea Audoung
 

Chili-Bambooand Chicken Stirfry

Basically, you adjust the amounts according to how much you want and what your palate prefers, ie. salty, less salty, etc...
 
Chili-Bamboo and Chicken Stirfry:
 
-Chicken cut up into bite sized pieces
-Jar of Chili oil and Bamboo Shoots (They come in a clear jar with an orange or yellow lid. Main ingredients are Chili-oil and bamboo shoots. I've tried several brands, but they all taste the same to me. If you get a 12-14 oz jar for under 1.60, you are doing pretty good. Usually on sale at Ranch 99 or Lion Supermarket.)
-Fish sauce (optional and only a few squirts)
 
I stir fry my chicken WITHOUT adding oil on med-hi heat. When it's semi-done, then I add a few spoonfuls of the chili-bamboo, depending on if I want a lot of bamboo and spice or not.
 
Submitted by Andrea Audoung
 

Monday, June 14, 2010

Strawberry Cream Dessert

*photo from Taste of Home

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 36 squares)
6 Tablespoons sugar
10 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 cartons (one 16 oz, one 8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
1 pkg. (3 oz) strawberry gelatin
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup (8 oz) strawberry yogurt

Topping:
2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons butter, melted


DIRECTIONS:
In a bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Press into an ungreased 13 x 9 x 2 inch dish. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioner's sugar until smooth. Whisk in 1 cup whipped topping. Spread over the prepared crust.

In a large bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Whisk in yogurt and 6 cups of whipped topping until blended. Pour over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Spread remaining whipped topping over strawberry layer. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Just before serving, combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over the whipped topping. Yield: 12-15 servings.
**submitted by Nancy Jackson. It was served at our Visiting Teaching Conference.