Chicken Stir-Fry

I've been trying to read up on food photography tips, especially ones geared toward point and shoot cameras like ones at Kitchen Wench. I finally know how to adjust the white balance and what the ISO and EV are. Now I can use the camera that Dan bought me to its full potential =].

We had a bell pepper and weren't sure what to do with it, so I suggested a stir fry. Before, I had thought a stir fry was just chopped vegetables and meat thrown together with maybe some soy sauce cooked in there. Easy peasy. Right before I started cooking I ended up getting a little nervous and decided to look up a legitimate recipe. Little did I know, there's an actual sauce involved. And lucky for us, it's simple to make and we had all the ingredients.

This is an incredibly versatile dish, as I'd imagine you could add or substitute any kind of vegetable you wanted to. Just have to make sure to step the vegetables according to their cooking time. Also, I think it's necessary to include at least one crunchy vegetable. I demand the crunchy!

Chicken Stir-Fry (adapted from allrecipes)

15 min prep, 20 min cook. 10$, 4 servings.

Ingredients

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces

2 cups snow peas

2 cups mushrooms, thinly sliced

4 bunches green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 large ripe but firm avocados - peeled, pitted, and cut into large chunks

Directions

1. In a bowl, stir together the chicken broth, soy sauce, cornstarch, and garlic until the cornstarch is smooth, and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering, and cook and stir the chicken until cooked through and no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes. Remove from the wok and set aside.

3. Place the snow peas into the hot wok, and cook and stir until bright green and still crisp, about 3 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and green onions, and toss with the snow peas in the hot oil until the mushrooms are tender and have given up their juice, about 5 minutes. Pour off excess juices, if any.

4. Return the chicken to the wok, and stir briefly over medium heat to combine with the cooked vegetables. Stir the reserved sauce ingredients to recombine, if needed, and add to the wok.

5. Gently stir in the avocado, and let the mixture bubble until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes. Stir gently to coat everything in sauce, and serve.

- Since, we went shopping before looking up the recipe, we didn't have all of the ingredients. Instead of the snow peas and avocados we used onion and bell pepper, but I definitely want to try out the original recipe. Mmmm avocados =]. We also might try adding ginger. Unless otherwise noted, we always use the crushed garlic that comes in the jar and the dried mushrooms from Costco.

Korean BBQ Burgers

Korean BBQ Burger (adapted from use real butter)

15 min prep, 10-20 min cooking time, depending on method. 8$, Makes 4-6 patties.

Ingredients

1.5 lbs ground beef
3 tbsps garlic, finely minced
3 tbsps ginger, freshly grated
2.5 tbsps soy sauce
2.5 tbsps brown sugar
3 tbsps green onion, finely minced
2 tsps sesame seeds
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tsps high-heat cooking oil (if grilling on stovetop)
burger buns

banchan burger bar
tomato slices
lettuce leaves
quick cucumber carrot pickle
kimchi
ketchup
Sriracha chili sauce
hot mustard

quick cucumber carrot pickle
1 cup carrots, sliced into thin matchsticks
1 cup cucumber, sliced into thin matchsticks
1/2 tsp sesame seeds
4 tsps rice vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar

Mix together.

Make the burgers: Mix the ground beef, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, green onion, sesame seeds, and black pepper together in a bowl. Let rest for 15 minutes at room temperature. In the meantime, prepare the quick cucumber carrot pickle. Assemble the condiments and garnishes of your choice for the banchan burger bar. Grill or fry your hamburgers to desired doneness.

On a stove: Set a large grill pan or frying pan over high heat. When a bead of water sizzles upon contact and evaporates, add the cooking oil. Place the patties on the hot grill or frying pan, not touching each other. Cook the patties 5-7 minutes on each side for medium (internal temperature of 150°F/65°C). Serve with burger toppings. Makes 4-6 burgers depending on your preferences.

-It's easier to pack and ball the patties before you flatten them so they're not misshapen. Also, we did make them pretty wide, but were surprised that they still ended up being a lot smaller in diameter than the bun. I'll try and measure out how much exactly next time we make them.

These are soooo good! I had never thought to mix ingredients into the actual patty. It makes me cringe that we used to spend 10$ on one burger. I used to crave The Counter (a make your own burger restaurant), but now I'm excited to experiment and make my own. Next time we'll try it with ground turkey instead.

Cheesy Potato Soup and Turkey Meatloaf

This blog is going to document the trial and errors of my journey through cooking. With the help of Cooking Nub #2 =]. I'm looking for cheap and easy meals to make, while still retaining the yumminess. The twice failed miso cod dish may have set us back a bit, but recent attempts at these other recipes turned out delicious. Hopefully I'll end up taking decent pictures and will post them here.

Cheesy Potato Soup (adapted from Craving Chronicles)

10 min prep, 30 min cook. 10$, but makes tons of leftovers. Around 6-8 bowls total.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1lb. (approximately) potatoes (10-12 small or 4-6 large), cubed
1 quart of chicken stock or broth
3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of flour
2 cups of milk
2 cups of grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

2-3 carrots (optional)

green onion or chives (optional)

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot and saute onions and carrots until they start to soften, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and enough chicken stock to cover everything. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Once melted, add 3 tablespoons of flour to form a roux, whisking to combine. Allow to cook for 1 minute. Add the milk slowly, whisking constantly to smooth out any lumps. Continue to heat while whisking until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Once it reaches the desired thickness, remove from heat and stir in grated cheddar cheese.

Once potatoes are tender, pour the cheese mixture into the potato mixture, stirring to combine. Heat to a simmer and cook until thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped green onions or chives if desired.

-We took out the prosciutto. Carrots are optional, but they do add a bit of sweetness to the soup. Also, we didn't peel the potatoes because we don't own a peeler, and I felt bad for making Dan try and use a dull butcher's knife instead. It adds more texture =]. The original recipe is in the link.

Turkey Meatloaf (My mom's recipe)

5 min prep, 55 min cook. 7$, makes around 4 servings. (We use the leftovers for turkey meatloaf sandwiches. Yummy!)

Ingredients

For meatloaf:

1 package (around 1.25 lbs) of lean (not extra lean) ground turkey

1 egg

1/4 C nonfat milk

1/3 C Italian bread crumbs (if I don’t have Italian bread crumbs I add herbs: thyme, basil, parsley, etc.)

1/2 medium onion chopped fine

2 cloves garlic smashed

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

For sauce:

½ C ketchup

dash Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon dry mustard

2 T brown sugar

Directions

Mix well, pack into loaf pan and put in 350 degree oven for 50 – 55 minutes. I use the glass pan so I can tell whether or not it has finished cooking. I cook it longer if the package has more meat. Spread the sauce on the top the last 10 mins of cooking.

- The recipe that turned Dan into a meatloaf convert! The nonfat milk makes a huge difference. If you use whole milk, the meatloaf will take on the qualities of a brick.

I'll add more of the successful ones later. I'm going to try and cook at least one new recipe each weekend when i go to Dan's place. This weekend I'm planning on making agedashi tofu or stuffed mushrooms.