Take Out Fake Out

Who doesn’t love take out?  It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s delicious!  Jeff and I love take out, especially when said take out is Chinese food.  YUM!  Our favorites include General Tao’s chicken and Sweet and Sour chicken.  Healthy…

I love stir fry, but more often than not, when I make my own it’s lacking.  Therefore, when I chose to make Chicken Stir Fry for my meal plan, I opted to seek out a recipe to follow.  In the past, I would head to allrecipes.com first, but now, I hit up Pinterest.  The pin with the most repins was this recipe.

It looked delicious, but I was skeptical because a lot of times the recipes I pin don’t taste as good as they look. That was not the case this time!  It was oh-my-gosh delicious.  You may notice there are some different ingredients in this recipe (like sesame oil and oyster sauce).  Don’t be scared.  If you like Chinese food, chances are you’ve eaten them before.

Take a chance and try this recipe.  You will love it, I promise.  I made it for dinner on Wednesday night and Jeff already asked me to make it again for dinner.  That’s a win in my book!

Chicken Stir Fry
(from blogchef.net)

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into 1” pieces)
¼ cup honey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh ginger (minced)
2 tablespoons fresh garlic (minced)
½ teaspoon sesame oil
1 pinch ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons oyster sauce

Combine chicken, honey, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, and black pepper in a large resealable bag.  Squish chicken around to ensure even coating.  Put in fridge and let marinate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

When you’re ready to cook, heat a wok (or large skillet) to high.  Add the oil and let it heat up.  The original recipe called for the entire bag’s contents to be poured into the wok, but I drained most of the liquid out.  It seemed like a LOT of sauce.  I also used more like 1 TBSP of oil, but that’s up to you.  It worked fine for me.

Stir fry your chicken until your chicken is thoroughly cooked and your sauce has reduced slightly.  It should take about 8 minutes.  After that, turn off the heat and add your oyster sauce.  Stir to coat.

I made a batch of jasmine rice to have with the chicken.  Normally I would add veggies in my stir fry, but in this case, I didn’t.  I will next time and use the excess liquid to cook my veggies in.  I think that would be yummy.  Speaking of liquid, the sauce you make is a little overpowering on it’s own.  I suggest making the rice because it helps balance the flavors and tone the dish down a bit.

I’m trying to resist making this again for dinner tonight.  The fight is not going well…

Glazed Over

I don’t shop at Walmart.  Like…ever.  I grew up in the boonies where we only had a handful of entertainment options:  the movies, football games, driving up and down “the strip”, and  going to Walmart.

“On any given Friday night,
We’d drive a hundred miles,
Between the Sonic and the Grocery Store,
Laughing all the while,”
-Carrie Underwood, I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore

Yep.  It was that kind of town. Because of this fact, I think I have a mental aversion to the store.  I won’t say what kind of people I think shop at Walmart.  (Sorry, Martin folk…)

Well, the other day I found myself at Walmart.  I don’t remember what I was looking for, but I know I needed some stuff for dinner.  Since my Walmart is part grocery store, I wandered over to that side.  I think I was looking for some meat marinade, which is how I ended up in the marinade section.  While browsing for Lawry’s Caribbean Jerk marinade, I spotted one of my favorite southern ladies, Mrs. Paula Deen herself.

Now, I don’t try not to get swayed by the pretty packaging and big Food Network chef names, but this Sweet Bourbon Glaze looked delicious.  I bought it, brought it home, and promptly forgot about it for a few weeks.

The other night, I was trying to figure out what to have for dinner without having to go to the grocery store when I spotted this bottle in my pantry.  I thought back to the various cuts of meat in my freezer and remembered I had some thick cut, bone in pork chops.  Perfect!

I thawed them out and heated up my grill.  After rubbing the grill with a paper towel coated with a little vegetable oil (my new secret for getting the meat not to stick to the grates), I sprinkled the meat with my trusty DLM steak seasoning and plopped it down.  I brushed the meat with the glaze every time I flipped it, cooked it to 155º, and let it sit to redistribute the juices.

I also prepared some asparagus by drizzling it with olive oil and, again, my DLM steak seasoning.  Then I threw the whole pan on the grill to cook.

While cooking, I did something I hardly every do anymore…I had a glass of wine!  I almost never drink wine these days partly because I don’t think of it and partly because I’m looking after a little baby.  I don’t buy whole bottles because I’m afraid they’ll get yucky before I can drink the whole thing.  You don’t often find Riesling in to go bottles (maybe that’s just me), so when I saw these at Kroger the other day, I grabbed a pack!  They’ve been in my fridge for just the right occasion and a perfect 72º night by the grill was the ticket!

The pork was wonderful with just the right balance of heat and sweet.  Jeff said it tasted a lot like he was eating ribs!  I can’t wait to try this glaze on chicken and fish.  The fish might have to wait until Carolyn comes to visit in a few weeks though!

As for the asparagus…I think I’ll stick to the oven for that.  Thank goodness for frozen corn!