Two easy suppers
Nov. 13th, 2008 08:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nlbarberContinuing my recent culinary postings....
I've made two good suppers recently with pretty low effort. The first was a version of chicken lettuce wraps, a dish I like from restaurants like Mama Fu's (now departed from my area) and Pei Wei (also not in my area). This recipe showed up in the AJC "5:30 Challenge" column, for recipes with no more than 5 ingredients that take 30 minutes or less to prepare. Very good, really. I'll add green onions next time for more color, and I need to think about more efficient ways of producing "chopped" raw chicken than my rather slow manual cutting into matchsticks then shorter pieces. The bottled dressing (which I've been rather skeptical of as it started appearing in Kraft's ads/recipes almost as often as their Italian, surprisingly did produce a tasty sauce all by itself. Could be spiced up if desired (maybe some chili paste with garlic...), but didn't need it.
The second supper was even easier. A bag of Trader Joe's Prig Khing green beans stir-fried with cut up boneless skinless chicken thighs. Nice amount of spice, good flavor, ultra easy.
I've made two good suppers recently with pretty low effort. The first was a version of chicken lettuce wraps, a dish I like from restaurants like Mama Fu's (now departed from my area) and Pei Wei (also not in my area). This recipe showed up in the AJC "5:30 Challenge" column, for recipes with no more than 5 ingredients that take 30 minutes or less to prepare. Very good, really. I'll add green onions next time for more color, and I need to think about more efficient ways of producing "chopped" raw chicken than my rather slow manual cutting into matchsticks then shorter pieces. The bottled dressing (which I've been rather skeptical of as it started appearing in Kraft's ads/recipes almost as often as their Italian, surprisingly did produce a tasty sauce all by itself. Could be spiced up if desired (maybe some chili paste with garlic...), but didn't need it.
The second supper was even easier. A bag of Trader Joe's Prig Khing green beans stir-fried with cut up boneless skinless chicken thighs. Nice amount of spice, good flavor, ultra easy.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-15 11:29 am (UTC)That particular dressing isn't available here so I use the following:
1/4 cup low-salt soy sauce, 2 Tbpsns caster sugar, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup olive oil and a few drops of sesame oil (to taste really). Put all in screw top jar and shake well.
You might find a hand-mincer would do a better job on your raw chicken, although they can be a pain to clean.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-15 03:12 pm (UTC)I had to google for 'hand mincer'--looks like the American English term is grinder. I might experiment with that, though I suspect I don't want this quite that finely chopped. Or I could try the food processor and see if I can get it chopped but not turned into a paste. If I use the grinder attachment for my KitchenAid, or the food processor, most of those pieces go into the dishwasher. This will bear experimenting...
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-16 12:12 am (UTC)Hence "ground beef" - I always wondered about that! Ours has two discs with different sized holes depending on how fine you want your mince. For us a grinder is more like a mill - something that grinds stuff between two hard surfaces e.g. coffee grinder, spice grinder - both of which are sometimes called mills. And I think you're right - the food processor is more likely to get you a paste.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-16 02:15 am (UTC)Yes, our ground beef is produced in what you call a mincer--rotating blade and disc with holes, not the mill with 2 plates sort of device. Ground beef (U.S.) = beef mince (Commonwealth).
Oh, and we use "grinder" for mills, too, as "coffee grinder", interchangeably with "coffee mill". And either of these terms can be used for devices that are real mills or ones that are blade choppers. Clearly these terms are not used with any precision at all over here.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-17 08:09 am (UTC)Hope you have fun with the cabbage. BTW do you get Witlof - also called Belgian Endive - I have some fun recipes for that, both hot and cold.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-18 01:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-18 06:54 am (UTC)http://www.taste.com.au/how+to/articles/722/witlof
That's a good site actually - got some recipes too.
Our Belgian friends used to make two particular dishes that we liked - one was: blanched witlof cut in quarters lengthwise (remove cores while you do this bit) then wrapped in slices of ham and smothered in a rich cheese sauce then baked in the oven until heated right through. Another was slicing the witlof crossways and tossing it with shredded red cabbage (which has been blanched in white vinegar), blanched or steamed green beans, a tin of (drained and rinsed) cannelini beans and a dijon mustard based vinaigrette.