I'm back for the New Year -- the Chinese New Year! :)

It's been months since I've blogged about anything, and I've missed it so much.  It's not that I stopped cooking or baking, but I've been super busy with my kid's schedules, my own things and life in general.  I had originally hoped to get back to blogging at the start of 2012, but of course that didn't happen, but here I am just a month late!  Better late than never!   The good news...I have tons of new recipes to blog about in the coming weeks!   The bad news....my food pictures still suck!  So I apologize!  

Let's Get Cooking!!!!


In honor of Chinese New Year,  tomorrow....my first post will be filled with a lot of PAO (or POW!)

A while back I had made (and blogged about) Kung Pao Chicken, so I decided to try it with shrimp this time!  It didn't disappoint!   I had originally gotten the chicken recipe from Sing For Your Supper, and I know I've mentioned it before but her recipes are great!  It's worth taking a stroll over there and checking out what she has cooking!

So I did exactly the same recipe, just swapped the chicken with approx. 1 pound of large, deveined shrimp.
As usual I served it with fried rice (my fav!) and my husband and I both enjoyed it very much!    The perfect combo of sweet, nutty and spicy.    This recipe is nice because you can adjust how much spice you want in your life and it's still very good!  My little ones aren't huge fans of spicy foods, so I cut back the red pepper flakes on this one, but it was still pretty POWerful!  Ha Ha Ha!

Kung Pao Shrimp
1lb uncooked, deveined, shell removed large shrimp.

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons sesame oil

3 tablespoons of Vidalia onion chopped


3 garlic cloves (minced)

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I used less than she called for b/c 2 of my taste tasters are my kids)

½ teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts

Combine shrimp and cornstarch in a small bowl and toss to coat. Heat sesame oil in wok (or large deep-dish skillet) over medium heat, add shrimp and stir fry approx.  5-7 minutes (or until pink and fully cooked).    Remove shrimp from wok.

Add onions, garlic, red pepper flakes and ginger to the wok and stir fry for 15 seconds.

Combine vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Mix well and add the sauce to the wok.

Return shrimp to the wok and coat with sauce. Stir in roasted peanuts. Heat thoroughly.  Place over white or fried rice.  


ENJOY!!!  Happy Chinese New Year!

~Gianna~

Recipe Swap #3

I am really loving these recipe swaps!  They are so much fun and so far I have gotten some really great recipes!  I am actually anxiously awaiting the next one, but in the meantime I will post about my last one!  I got to "host" this past one.....which basically meant, I got to pick the category and then once the recipes were submitted by others, I mixed them all up and randomly paired each submitter up with a new recipe to try!   So much fun!   

I picked a category that I love to cook (within reason), but don't make enough of.  It's something that the girls and I normally would eat (via takeout), but Joe doesn't...unless it's sushi! 

I picked Asian!!!!   The recipe could be anything from any country in Asia...and it didn't have to be 100% Asian, it could've just had an Asian-flair.   There were so many delicious recipes submitted I want to eventually try them all!  They ranged from homemade Wonton Soup to Thai Food to a Malaysian Pizza!  I submitted a General Tso's Chicken recipe(which I haven't blogged about yet, but plan on doing soon!  So stay tuned!)

As soon as I saw the recipe I was making I was so excited!  I knew it was something Joe would enjoy too.  I wasn't sure about my girls because once I looked over the ingredients there was some "spice"!  The recipe came from Sara at A Taste of Home Cooking and it did not disappoint!  I will be adding this to our rotation.  It was super easy.....and unbelievablly good!  The combo of flavors in this dish were literally mouth watering!  It has just the right amount of spice....and Olivia LOVED it, but Ava did not (hey -- 1 of 2 isn't too bad) and Joe and I both agreed it was something I'd make again...and SOON!

Sara recommended using white rice with it, but I prefer fried (and my waist proves it) with any of my Chinese food that I make or take out!  But I know it would be just as delicious with any kind of rice you choose!  THANK YOU, SARA!!!

Ginger, Scallion and Garlic Shrimp
Ingredients:


1 large egg white

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1-1/2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1-1/2 pounds large (26 to 30 count) shrimp, shelled and deveined

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped (about 3 tablespoons)

One 1-1/2-inch piece of ginger, scraped and finely chopped (about 1 tablespoon)

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

¼ cup canola or vegetable oil

3 scallions, halved lengthwise, cut into 1-inch-pieces, dark green parts set aside

Steamed rice, fried rice or soba noodles

Directions:

1.In a medium bowl, whisk the egg white with the cornstarch, sugar, salt and pepper until a paste forms. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Set the shrimp aside to marinate for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes; set aside.

2.Heat a large, heavy skillet over high heat for 3 minutes. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add the shrimp and the white and light green scallion pieces and stir to coat with the oil. Cook, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet, until the shrimp are almost cooked through, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic mixture and the dark green scallion pieces and cook, stirring, until the shrimp are cooked through, about 1 minute more. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer the shrimp to a large platter and serve with rice.




~Gianna~

Kung Pao Chicken

I've been on an Asian kick lately......Joe isn't always open to trying new things and Chinese food is one thing he really doesn't like or eat.  But I find more and more if I cook it.....he will at least try it, and normally he likes it!  I have made a few recipes in the past that were Asian or Asian inspired and this was a new one we tried tonight!  It DID NOT disappoint!  In fact the whole meal was 2 large pans filled with food and both were totally empty when everyone was done!  Sooooo delish even my girls ate it!  So this one will be added to my rotation. 
I got the recipe from Amy at Sing for Your Supper and she always has winning recipes for me and my family!    I tweaked it a little bit because I didn't have all of the ingredients, and like I said it was delicious.....so the tweaking worked this time!!!

Kung Pao Chicken


1lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” pieces)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons sesame oil

3 tablespoons of Vidalia onion chopped (I didn't have green onions)
3 garlic cloves (minced)

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I used less than she called for b/c 2 of my taste tasters are my kids)

½ teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts

Combine chicken and cornstarch in a small bowl and toss to coat. Heat sesame oil in wok (or large deep-dish skillet) over medium heat, add chicken and stir fry approx 7-10 minutes or until no longer pink inside.  (Amy calls for a 5-7 minute cooking time, but took a little closer to 10 minutes)  Remove chicken from wok.

Add onions, garlic, red pepper flakes and ginger to the wok and stir fry for 15 seconds.

Combine vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Mix well and add the sauce to the wok.

Return chicken to the wok and coat with sauce. Stir in roasted peanuts. Heat thoroughly.  Place over white or fried rice. 

I served ours with fried rice....I make my fried rice 2 ways....the "cheating way" which I think so much better or the regular way..which is still just as good and easy, but in my opinion not nearly as flavorful!   And it's the same as with the seasoning packet I use, but without the seasoning packet!  :)







Vegetable Fried Rice -- 1 packet of Sun-Bird Fried Rice Seasoning Mix  (and follow the directions OR do what I do)......

Ingredients


1 package (3/4 ounce) Sun-Bird® Fried Rice Seasoning Mix

2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

3 cups cooked white rice (COLD.....the colder it is the better it fries)

1/2 Vidalia onion chopped (or 3 green onions)

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 eggs, beaten

Approx 10 baby carrots steamed

Approx 1/2 cup peas thawed or steamed


Preparation

In a pot of water boil carrots for approx 5 minutes.  Drain and chop.  Cook peas also.

In a large skillet, heat oil. Stir-fry rice and onions until heated through.

Add seasoning packet and soy sauce.  Continue to stir fry for one minute.

Push rice mixture to the sides of the skillet leaving an empty well in the center. Add eggs and scramble. Combine into rice when cooked.

Stir in peas and carrots  Cook for approx 2-3 minutes.  Serve

So SIMPLE...and So delicious!  you won't regret it!

******IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE PACKET.....FOLLOW THE EXACT SAME DIRECTIONS EXCEPT.....drizzle with a little sesame oil when you add in soy sauce....just to give it a little more flavor.

Feel free to add cooked chicken, pork or shrimp to this recipe also!


~Gianna~