Stir-Fry for the Man

Extended Shelf Life for: Mushrooms, Lime, Onion, Bok Choy

Sometimes, I go out to dinner with friends but still manage to throw something together for my man.

Unfortunately, I don't know how delicious this dish was or wasn't, but I can give you a quick run down in case you're in need of some stir-fry action.

This particular stir-fry began with sauteed onions, followed by mushrooms (add a touch of butter at this point because mushrooms are always better with butter), garlic and finally bok choy. We had some sweet and spicy Thai sauce leftover in the refrigerator which I used to add some kick and flavor, serve over rice and cross-your-fingers that it will be enjoyed while you head out to enjoy dinner with friends!

Juicer Favorites/Experiments gone Well

Extended Shelf Life: Apples, Grapes, Bok Choy, Carrots, Pomegranate

Since returning to Laramie, we opted to make a fairly grand purchase of an Omega J8500 Juicer and it has been revolutionary!

I'm confident you'll be seeing a lot of juicer related recipes popping up as we're discovering all kinds of uses for the appliance (if you're feeling a bit impatient and want to learn more now, check out this page about my experience with the Juicer).

For now, know that a combination of Apples, Grapes and Bok Choy is quite amazing!

Equally amazing is a combination of Apples, Carrots and Pomegranate.

Pork Fried Rice

Spring must be around the corner since I'm a bit anxious lately to 'clean things out' - I've really been taking to my freezer since I have all those pre-made frozen dishes that were intended to get me through the end of my MAED course, which they did.  But so did cheap Korean food.  So, there's still a lot of frozen dishes which have proven a blessing, but also a challenge, I like cooking completely fresh, I'm not a busy mom, so once-a-month-cooking isn't a must...not to mention, cooking is a sort of outlet for me. If I don't cook/bake regularly things get rough, or as rough as they ever do for me and the mild-mannered man.

Anyway, I used up a good bit of frozen pieces in this fried rice, so it was a quick dish to make, which is always nice.

Ingredients/Directions:

Prior to making the rice, prepare some vegetables in this fashion, I did bok choy once again.

Also consider roasting some tofu as suggested and directed here.

In a large skillet, wok or whatever you can fit all required ingredients into, heat some olive oil. Meanwhile, whisk 2-3 eggs with a splash of soy sauce and some minced garlic. Scramble egg and remove from the pot. Next add a touch of oil if needed and throw in 2 cups of shredded pork and three cups of day old or frozen rice and soy sauce to taste, mix and heat thoroughly. Add prepared vegetables and egg, mix and season to taste with soy sauce, serve alongside roasted tofu and enjoy!

Taiwanese Three Cups Chicken

Perhaps it is in anticipation of soon setting down in Taiwan for a weeks worth of exploration that I suddenly craved a dish once prepared for us by an English expat of Taiwan who visited us via CouchSurfing.  Either way, the dish proved to be exactly what I was wanting for the evening meal and come together quicker than anticipated (minus the brown rice which is incredibly worth it, but incredibly slow in the rice cooker...and probably on the stovetop as well).

Ingredients/Directions:

Original Recipe and Inspiration come from this 'Not Eating Out in New York' post

In a wok/large skillet/whatever you have heat to boiling 1/3 cup Sesame Oil with 10-15 smashed Garlic cloves and 2 Tbsp minced Ginger. Add 2 chopped Chicken Breasts (more authentic recipes call for thighs and dark meat which would result in a more tender dish, my market only had breasts) and stir until all pieces are browned/seared.  Add 1/3 cup Soju (or any other kind of Rice Wine), 1/3 cup Soy Sauce and 3 Tbsp. Sugar, bring to a boil then cover.  Reduce to simmer until chicken is cooked through (roughly 5-10 minutes).  Stir in 1-2 chopped scallions and a handful of peanuts (personal choice, also highly recommended is Thai basil however I did not have that on hand...) and serve with your choice of rice.

Ginger Pork Noodle Bowls

Once again, thanks to a plethora of frozen foods, the Man and I plus our friend Aaron had a decent meal regardless of the hours I had spent and still needed to spend sitting at a computer busting out MAED papers and such.

So, with a bag of thawed pork and a few fresh ingredients including: ginger, bok choy, bean sprouts and green onions, I set to work on these Ginger Pork Noodle Bowls

Ingredients/Directions:

(from Everyday with Rachel Ray - September 2011)

Soak rice noodles in warm water.  In a large pot bring 1qt. of beef or pork broth, 4 cups water and a 1 inch sliced piece of ginger to a boil.  Divide 1 cup (or two if you want more meat) pork, 6 baby bok choy, 1 1/2 cups bean sprouts, and 1/4 cup sliced green onions among 4 large soup bowls. Divide soaked noodles into four equal portions.  Using a mesh strainer lower one portion of noodles at a time into the boiling broth for 1-2 minutes. Transfer noodles to soup bowls, continue until all noodles are cooked.  Ladle hot broth into bowls serve with fresh cilantro, lime and hot chili oil.

Bok Choy Stir-Fried Rice

This my friends, was so easy, so delicious and for my taste-buds, so, sooo exceptional and delicious (Mike however, is not so convinced that Bok Choy is fab). Regardless, I think it is, I am the cook and you should try it out for yourself.

The manner of preparing the Bok Choy is simple and brilliant in and of itself and should supposedly work with other veg. (Discovered on, you guessed it, Pinterest! Original recipe posted here at Stone Soup) Simply heat a fry pan until smoking, toss in a tablespoon or so of olive oil followed a washed and chop veg, cover with a lid and let steam/scorch for 2-3 minutes (or longer depending on the veg, ultimately long or short enough that you enjoy the texture) Now when I say scorch, you may be freaked out, however, here's the deal a few bits of crispy bok choy mixed in with the more or less steamed version offers such great contrasts and flavorful joy that scorching is a beautiful thing. It's recommended to salt and flavor it as desired for whatever dish you may be making, think along the lines of: lemon juice, vinegar (of any variety depending on the meal), soy sauce, etc.

I used a bit of soy with mine, scrambled up a garlic, soy-saucy egg in a fry pan, threw in a bit of rice and semi-fried the rice (fried rice is best with day-old rice, mine however was fresh which made it semi-fried and mostly just wet). Serve with green onions, additional soy, sesame seeds or as is and you taste-buds will be whooping and hollering (unless of course your buds are more in-tune with Mike's buds, then they may not be so thrilled).