P.F. Chang’s Mongolian Beef

I’ve been really off my game lately when it comes to cooking. But I finally bit the bullet and made a real meal for the first time in forever. It was this P.F. Chang’s Mongolian Beef and it was the best thing I’ve made in a really really long time. I love this dish at P.F. Chang’s and when I found the copycat recipe I figured it would be good but nowhere near what the resturant produces. Well, I was wrong because it really was just as good and so much cheaper to make than the real deal.

It was crispy and tender and the sauce was just perfect. Not only was the flavor spot on but it thickened up nicely to coat the beef just right. Mmm, I’m not usually a leftover kind of girl but as soon as we were done eating this for dinner, I was dreaming about having it for lunch the next day. Now that’s a sign of a good dish!

P.F. Chang’s Mongolian Beef Copycat
recipe from food.com

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
vegetable oil, for frying (about 1 cup)
1 lb flank steak
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 large green onions, sliced on the diagonal into one-inch lengths

1. Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and saute until softened. Add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.

2. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Remove it from the heat.

3. Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4″ thick bite-size slices (Tilt the blade of your knife at about a forty five degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts).

4. Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.

5. As the beef sits, heat one cup of oil in a wok (you may also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil).

6. Heat the oil over medium heat until it’s nice and hot, but not smoking. Add the beef to the oil and sauté for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges. You don’t need a thorough cooking here since the beef is going to go back on the heat later. Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly.

7. After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels.

8. Put the pan with the sauce back on the stove over medium-low heat. Add beef and green onions to the sauce then stir until they are thoroughly coated. Bring to a simmer for about a minute. Serve over steamed white rice.

Salt and Pepper Pork Chops

I know I am always talking about quick and easy weeknight meals and hopefully I’m not boring you with them because I am sharing another one today. Wondering why they have become so prevalent around here? Joel’s new job is downtown. All of the garages downtown are FULL. You know what that means? Well, it means that Noah and I are driving him to work and picking him up every day. I kind of grumbled about it at first but it’s actually been kind of great so far. We are able to sit down and have breakfast together then chat even more during our drive. It gets Noah and me out of the house a bit which is always nice for a stay at home mom, even if it is only a 10 minute drive in our jammies. Let’s hope we never see anyone we know during this process….it would be uncomfortable explaining the polka dot pants.

Anyway, since we are picking him up everyday and don’t usually get home until close to 5:30 I have lost a lot of cooking time. I try my best to plan ahead and get some prep done during nap time if needed but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. And that’s where this meal comes in. I mix up the ridiculously easy marinade in the morning, throw in the chops and put it in the fridge all day. Then before I head out to pick up Joel, I throw some rice into the rice cooker. When we get home, all I have to do is cook these chops real quick (which literally takes about 5 minutes) and steam some broccoli. It’s a real life saver when you have less than 20 minutes to throw something together for a hungry toddler that’s used to eating at 5:30. And they taste amazing and aren’t dry. A miracle for me when it comes to pork chops!

Salt and Pepper Pork Chops
recipe from One Perfect Bite

3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 pounds boneless thin-cut pork loin chops
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1. Combine soy sauce, cornstarch, pepper, sugar and salt in bottom of 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking pan. Stir with a fork until all ingredients are combined and marinade is smooth. Add chops, turning to coat both sides. Cover dish with plastic wrap. Refrigerate, turning occasionally, for 1 to 24 hours.
2. Heat oil in a large frying pan set over medium high heat. Add pork, working in batches if necessary. Cook 1 to 2 minutes per side, until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to serving plate or serve from pan. Yield: 4 servings.

Veggie Stirfry

This is almost always the meal I make when Joel is working late or has something going on that takes him away at dinner time. I wait until Noah goes to bed then whip this up and eat my dinner in peace all by myself! As much as I love those boys of mine, sometimes it’s really nice to just have some time to myself and eat something Joel doesn’t like while enjoying silly, ridiculous shows that he makes fun of me for watching. My life is happy and uncomplicated so I sometimes like to get a little fix of stupid drama, so sue me.

Anyway, this is healthy and simple to throw together using ingredients I almost always have in the kitchen. You can add in anything you like, I just have listed what I had on hand that day. I also really like it with green beans and/or zucchini. I always look forward to whipping it up anytime I have a night to myself.

Veggie Stirfry

6 oz. whole grain egg noodles
1-2 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 tsp. grated ginger (use microplane)
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. Sriracha
1/2 tsp. sugar
Sesame seeds
Additional add ins: green beans, zucchini, onion, carrots, mushrooms, peppers

1. Bring water to a boil then cook noodles according to package directions and add broccoli at the last 2 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, combine soy sauce, sesame oil, Sriracha and sugar in a small bowl. Heat a wok over medium high heat. Spray with non-stick spray and crack egg into it. Scramble it quickly then let it cook until set. Flip and cook until no longer runny. Remove from pan and chop into tiny pieces.

3. Pour vegetable oil into wok then saute ginger, garlic and cabbage for about 5 minutes or until translucent. Add in pasta, broccoli and sauce mixture and saute for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Enjoy!

Quick Grilled Hunan Chicken

As I’m sure you already know, I am a big fan of Asian food. I made the menu for the next few weeks and about half of it ended up being Asian dishes…oops. But there is so much variety that it never seems like we are eating the same thing which is why I love it so much! So needless to say, there is going to be a lot of Asian food up in here for awhile. Yep, I just said that.

I am not a fan of hoisin sauce so I wasn’t sure how this chicken would go over but I was pleasantly surprised. The peanut butter, soy sauce and oils combined with the hoisin so that it wasn’t overwhelming but complimented it instead. It was a really great, quick weeknight meal. And it was even warm enough to grill it outside. Take that Minnesota!

Quick Grilled Hunan Chicken
recipe from food.com

4 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
4 teaspoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoon hot pepper oil
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast

1. Pound chicken breasts to 1/2″ thickness.
2. Mix together hoisin sauce, peanut butter, garlic, and oil; spread over both sides of chicken.

3. Grill or broil chicken 4-5 inches from heat source until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.

4. Slice chicken diagonally across the breast and serve on a piece of iceberg lettuce.

5. If you desire, serve with ramen noodles and steamed snow peas, as fast and easy side dishes.

3 Cup Chicken

Asian food is one of my favorite types of food to cook and eat. Although Asian recipes often call for a lot of ingredients, once you have them stocked in your pantry/fridge, the possiblities are pretty much endless in what you can whip up. I have a whole section of my refrigerator door dedicated to Asian ingredients, yum!

This 3 Cup Chicken is one of my new favorite Asian dishes. Not only is it delicious but it’s easy to prepare and you can make it from start to finish in about 30 minutes. You all know those are big, important factors in my weeknight meals.

3 Cup Chicken
recipe from Simply Vicky

1/3 cup sesame oil

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup rice wine

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

20 cloves garlic

10 ginger slices

1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces

2 large handfuls of fresh basil, loosely chopped

3 green onion stalks, cut into 2-inch pieces 2 cups rice, cooked

1. Marinate chicken thighs with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon sesame oil (to tenderize the meat). Set aside for 5-10 minutes.

2. Heat large wok or dutch oven to high heat and add 3 tablespoons sesame oil. Once hot, add in garlic and ginger and stir fry until fragrant, about 1 minute.

3. Add in chicken thighs and brown well, about 4 minutes.

4. Stir in soy sauce, rice wine, and sugar to cover chicken.

5. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to medium low. Let simmer, uncovered, until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, cook rice according to package instructions (I use a rice cooker, but stovetop works too).

7. After the sauce has thickened in consistency, turn heat up to medium heat and add in basil and scallions. Cook until basil and scallions wilt, about 2 minutes.

8. Serve over white rice and enjoy!

Crispy Baked Asian Wings

When I served these for dinner recently, Joel asked me if I fried them….that’s how crispy they are after being baked in the oven! The recipe for these wings is from Alton Brown’s show Good Eats. I am not really into science so I don’t watch it too often but I happened to catch the episode where he made these wings and I knew I had to try them.

The trick is steaming them first, thoroughly drying them and then baking them at a high temperature. They turned out unbelievably crispy so I will be cooking wings this way always.

I usually go for traditional buffalo sauce  but Joel isn’t a big fan of spicy foods so I try to change it up occasionally so I don’t have to hear his whining. We both like Asian inspired sauces so I searched for a copycat of the Asian Zing sauce from Buffalo Wild Wings and it was pretty good. The sauce is not as spicy so that’s something to consider if you like things hot. If I were making these just for me, I would add in a good amount of red pepper flakes to bump up the spice factor.

Crispy Baked Wings in Asian Sauce
recipe from Alton Brown

24 whole chicken wings
1 sauce recipe, follows

1. Place a 6-quart saucepan with a steamer basket and 1-inch of water in the bottom, over high heat, cover and bring to a boil.

2. Remove the tips of the wings and discard or save for making stock. Using kitchen shears, or a knife, separate the wings at the joint. Place the wings into the steamer basket, cover, reduce the heat to medium and steam for 10 minutes. Remove the wings from the basket and carefully pat dry. Lay the wings out on a cooling rack set in a half sheet pan lined with paper towels and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

4. Replace the paper towels with parchment paper or liberally spray the baking sheet with non-stick spray. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the wings over and cook another 20 minutes or until meat is cooked through and the skin is golden brown.

5. While wings are roasting, make sauce recipe below.

Asian Sauce 
recipe from Food.com

2 teaspoons cornstarch
4 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup chili-garlic sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced

1. Dissolve corn starch in rice wine vinegar in a small bowl and set aside.

2. In a small sauce pan combine remaining ingredients.

3. Add corn starch and rice wine vinegar mixture and stir well.

4. Heat mixture on low/medium heat, stirring often until sauce reaches a boil and thickens.

Sesame Beef Lettuce Wraps

As evidenced in my previous post, I have a new obsession with lettuce wraps and this one definitely tops my list. Why is that? Because it combines another one of my obsessions, Asian food. I love to eat and make Asian food so we usually have some sort of Asian dish at least once a week. Because of this, I am always on the lookout for new and unique meals to add to the rotation. I am so glad I found this one. The sesame marinade for the beef was incredible to say the least. I seriously will soak anything in it…pork, chicken, fish, veggies. It is so good! I decided to marinade some chicken along with the chicken for the wraps and the combination of the two in the wraps was really yummy. This is a great, healthy, simple and quick (minus the marinade time) meal to whip up for your family.

Sesame Beef Lettuce Wraps
recipe from For the Love of Cooking

Marinade:

2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Freshly cracked pepper, to taste
1 lb flank steak

Korean Barbecue Dipping Sauce:

2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp sugar
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp sriracha chile sauce (more if you want it spicy)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp green onion
1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp water

Other ingredients:

Butter lettuce leaves
Shredded carrot
Green onion, chopped
Brown rice, cooked per instructions

1. Combine all of the marinade ingredients together in a ziplock bag then mix well. Place the steak into the marinade and mix until the meat is evenly coated. Place in the refrigerator for 1-3 hours.

2. Combine all the sauce ingredients together and mix well. Set aside to let the flavors mingle.

3.Cook the rice per instructions. Once the rice is cooked it’s time to cook the beef.

4. Heat 1/2 tbsp of canola oil in a large skillet  or your outdoor grill over high heat. Once the pan/grill is hot add the beef and cook for about 1-2 minutes or until lightly browned (if cooking in a pan). Remove from heat and put onto a cutting board. Let rest for about 5 minutes then slice thinly against the grain.

5. For serving, place a bit of rice in a lettuce leaf followed by beef, carrots, and green onions. Drizzle a bit of the dipping sauce on top then fold and eat. Make sure you have plenty of napkins on hand because these are messy. Enjoy.

Sesame Shrimp Stir Fry

It seems like I am always on the hunt for quick, easy and healthy weeknight meals and I definitely found all those things in this dish. It literally only takes 20 minutes because while the rice cooks, you can prep and cook the stir fry. Can’t get much better than that!

We love a really saucy stir fry so when I saw the list of ingredients I knew it would be a hit for our family. The chicken broth and cornstarch slurry along with the teriyaki creates a rich, creamy sauce that is abundant and soaks into the bed of rice.

This recipe is easily adaptable to suit your family’s taste. I decided to add broccoli because I personally don’t think a stir fry should ever be without it. I also tossed in some sliced mushrooms for our fungus loving little man. Add your favorites or just toss in whatever you having in your produce drawer.

Sesame Shrimp Stir Fry
recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

2 cups water
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
3 green onions, sliced
3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1/2 pound sugar snap peas
1 cup fresh broccoli florets
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/8 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a medium saucepan, bring salted water to a boil. Add rice, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

2. While rice is simmering, combine shrimp, ginger, cayenne pepper, garlic, sesame seeds and black pepper in a large plastic food storage bag. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator.

3. Heat sesame oil in a large wok or skillet. Add red bell pepper, green onions and broccoli; sauté 3 to 4 minutes to soften slightly. Add teriyaki sauce. Add peas, mushrooms and shrimp with seasoning; sauté 4 minutes or until shrimp are opaque.

4. Stir cornstarch into chicken broth and add to wok; cook, stirring until mixture boils. Sprinkle with salt. Spoon shrimp and veggie mixture over rice.

 

Pork and Ginger Potstickers with Honey Soy Dipping Sauce

I adore potstickers and have to order them whenever I see them on a menu. So when I was creating my Top 100, I knew they had to be on the list since they are one of my favorite appetizers and I had never made them before. I browsed around the internet for the perfect recipe and I’m pretty sure I found it. I was feeling a bit lazy after a crazy, busy day and decided to use wonton wrappers instead of making the homemade dough indicated in the recipe. If you are feeling ambitious, the link below provides the dough recipe.

These were deliciously crispy on one side and steamed to perfection on the other! The pork was moist and tender while the cabbage kept a bit of its crunch. Rather than dipping them in regular ‘ole soy sauce, I mixed up the Honey Soy Dipping Sauce below and am glad I did! I find soy sauce salty and just too much on its own so the honey really helped mellow it out and the red pepper flakes added a nice zing.

They were surprisingly easy to throw together and with Joel’s help only took about 5 minutes to fill and seal. I made a double batch and froze half for another time. I’m assuming (and hoping) I can cook them in the same manner from the freezer. I will update you once I find out!

Pork and Ginger Potstickers
recipe adapted from Food Network

1 cups chopped Napa cabbage
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons thin soy sauce
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1 egg
1 to 2 cups chicken stock or water
Wonton wrappers

1. Sprinkle cabbage with the 1/2 tablespoon of salt and let stand for 30 minutes. Place the cabbage on a clean dishtowel or cheesecloth and squeeze out any water. The dryer the cabbage the better. In a large bowl thoroughly mix the cabbage with all of the other ingredients, except the chicken stock.

2. Place a small mound of filling in the middle of the wrapper. (Be very careful not to touch the edges with the filling as this will impede proper sealing of the dumplings. Nothing is worse than dumplings breaking during cooking.) Fold the wrapper in half to form a triangle shape. Wet inside edges with water then press closed tightly. Rest the dumplings with the folded edges straight up.

3. In a hot saute pan coated well with oil, place pot stickers flat side down and cook until the bottom is browned. Have pan cover ready and add 1 cup of chicken stock, cover immediately. Be careful, the liquid will splatter! The stock will steam the potstickers. Check them in 5 minutes as more stock may be needed. The trick here is that once the dumplings are firm and fully cooked the stock will evaporate and the bottoms will crisp-up again.

Honey Soy Dipping Sauce
recipe from Food Network

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons orange blossom honey
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Whisk together soy sauce, honey, ginger, sesame oil and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Just before serving stir in sesame seeds.

Ramen Cabbage Salad

For Memorial Day this year, we decided to travel to Kansas City to visit Joel’s family. It’s so hard these days to travel 9 hours in the car so we really cherish the times that we are able to get back. We have a lot of fun and exciting things planned for the weekend including an awesome BBQ with lots of family.

This Ramen Cabbage Salad is always a huge hit with my family and I’m sure would be with just about anybody. We make it for almost every spring and summer gathering because its unique and not the typical side dish. It’s pretty simple to throw together but doesn’t keep well so make sure to mix it up right before serving. You most likely won’t have to worry about leftovers.

Ramen Cabbage Salad

6 green onions, whites only
1 medium cabbage, thinly shredded or a bag of pre-shredded cabbage
2 packages Oriental Ramen, crunched
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Dressing:
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup sugar

1. Thoroughly combine all dressing ingredients and refrigerate.

2. Toast sunflower seeds and almonds in a dry pan until you can smell them. Set aside then toast the crunched ramen (without the packets) in the same pan. Combine the nuts, ramen and the ramen packets.

3. Just before serving, combine the cabbage and onions with the dressing. Then mix in the toasted ingredients and enjoy.

Recipe linked to Totally Tasty Tuesday, Cast Party Wednesday and Full Plate Thursday.