No Takeout or Delivery

 

Everyone loves Chinese food but we don't always have or want to spend the money for takeout. So here's a couple of recipes to have on hand to satisfy your craving: a crispy, savory sweet chicken and a fried rice with green and yellow squash instead of peas and carrots. **The chicken prep is a little labor intensive but so worth the delicious outcome.

Sweet and Sour Sesame Chicken

Ingredients

The chicken coating:

3-4 boneless skinless chicken thighs

salt + pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup oil

The sauce:

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

4 tbsp ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar (you may need more)

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp teriyaki sauce

2 tsp honey

1 tsp of minced garlic

Sprinkle of sesame seeds

Prep

1. Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. 

2. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. 

3. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

4. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.  

5. Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. 

6. Place the chicken in a 9 x 13 greased baking dish. 

7. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken.

8. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.  

Adapted from Life as a Lofthouse

Fried Rice

Ingredients

1 cup of cooked jasmine rice

2 eggs

1/2 a yellow squash (chopped)

1/2 a zucchini (chopped)

1 small onion (chopped)

2 tbsp minced garlic

3 tbsp sesame oil

Soy sauce to taste

Green onion for garnish

Prep

1. On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok.  

2. Add the squash, onion and garlic. Stir fry until tender. 

3. Push the mixture off to one side, then pour your eggs on the other side of skillet and stir fry until scrambled.

4. Add the rice and soy sauce and blend all together well. Stir fry until thoroughly heated.

Vegetable Stuffing

Sorry if you came across this post looking for a tasty holiday treat. Honestly, I don't like stuffing at all, I just liked the play on words. Anyway, as you are aware I am not from the "old country", but I love comfort food as much as the next girl. Every country, region, city, town, village, family has their own comfort foods. I bought a huge head of cabbage from HMart the other week and I wanted a different way to prepare it other than the usual steaming. So I decided on stuffed cabbage. Its a eastern European favorite that is made differently in different regions. You can stuffed it with lamb, beef, or pork and bake it in broth or a tomato sauce. Here's a recipe for the Polish version:

 Polish Stuffed Cabbage

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 whole head cabbage, about 4 pounds
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup beef stock
Sour cream for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove core from cabbage. Place whole head in a large pot filled with boiling, salted water. Cover and cook 3 minutes, or until softened enough to pull off individual leaves. You will need about 18 leaves.

When leaves are cool enough to handle, use a paring knife to cut away the thick center stem from each leaf, without cutting all the way through.

Chop the remaining cabbage and place it in the bottom of a casserole dish or Dutch oven.

Saute the chopped onion in butter in a large frying pan until tender, and let it cool.

Mix cooled onions with beef, pork, rice, garlic, salt and black pepper until well combined. Don't overmix or the meat will become tough.

Place about 1/2 cup of meat on each cabbage leaf. Roll away from you to encase the meat. Flip the right side of the leaf to the middle, then flip the left side. You will have something that looks like an envelope. Once again, roll away from you to create a neat little roll.

Place the cabbage rolls on top of the chopped cabbage in the casserole dish or Dutch oven, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Pour beef stock over rolls, cover and place in oven. Bake for 1 hour or until cabbage is tender and meat is cooked.

Serve with pan juices and a drizzle of sour cream, or mix the pan juices with sour cream and ladle it over the cabbage rolls.

Cabbage rolls freeze well before or after cooking, and can be made in a slow cooker (see your manufacturer's instructions).

Snacking

Another Chili

I know what you're thinking, "Another chili?" But its so easy and so hearty; its effortless cooking at its best. Just chop everything and throw it in a pot for an hour. I may need to do one of those 7-, 10-, or 30- days of chili posts; something to think about because I've got a million of them. Anyhow  I don't really have a name for this chili, but it is a white chili and it has southwestern flavors, so I guess I'll go with that for now.

Southwest White Chili

Ingredients

2 cans of cannelli beans
3 cans of great northern beans
2 cans of white beans
2 lbs of ground turkey
1 large can of petite diced tomatoes (drained)
1 box (32 oz) of chicken stock
6-8 tomatillos (diced)
3 small poblanos (diced)
1 medium onion (diced)
2 tbsp of chili powder
2 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of cayenne pepper
2 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of Adobo
1 tsp of paprika (for turkey)
Seasoning salt (for turkey)
Garlic powder (for turkey)
Onion powder (for turkey)

Directions

1. Dice all the veggies before starting to cook
2. Season (to taste) and brown the ground turkey
3. Add in the onions and cook until translucent
4. Pour in the chicken stock and add tomatillos and poblanos
5. Cook for 15-20 minutes
6. Add beans, tomatoes, and remaining seasoning
7. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally
8. Simmer as long as you like, but at least 30 minutes