Hoisin Sauce

Cooking Asian food can be a daunting task. We all know this. Then you find a recipe you think might be good, you start to read it and there are strange ingredients that you don't normally have on hand. No worries! I have a solution for hoisin!  You may have many of the ingredients readily on hand, and if you don't then you need to stock your kitchen.

3/4 kidney beans (color doesn't matter), rinsed

3 cloves minced garlic
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp molasses
2 teaspoons Chinese 5 spice
2 fresh dates (you don't have to add these, but I did for a little extra sweet)

Add everything to a good blender and blend til smooth.

Yup. That's all!

Chinese Chicken and Broccoli ....Again!

Don't you just crave Chinese food sometimes? I do often and while there are numerous buffets to choose from at a cheap price, it is like asking for punishment! I've been following a Diet Free Life on and off for years and when I follow well, I lose lots of weight. One of my favorite things is you can basically eat what you want so here is something that I wanted to eat tonight! I got this recipe from Food Network, but I tweaked it a bit.

I also didn't have hoisin sauce on hand so I made my own. After tasting it, I will never buy hoisin again, it was so good I could drink it.

Lastly, I am not eating fast carbs for meals at the moment, so instead of rice, I used leftover, mashed kidney beans and they were perfect! They soaked up that flavorful sauce.

Chinese Chicken with Broccoli!

2 chicken breasts sliced thin

3 scallions thinly sliced

2 cloves minced garlic

1 inch peeled fresh grated ginger

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons sugar ( I use unprocessed)

1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon arrow root

1 tablespoon wine vinegar

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

 

1/3 cup water

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/4 cup hoisin sauce (see my home made recipe)

5 to 6 cups broccoli or a bag of frozen

 

1. Make the marinade. Mix the garlic, ginger, soy sauce sugar, vinegar, 1 tsp arrow root and sesame oil. Add chicken and marinate at least 15 minutes or more.

 

2. Get a skillet very hot. Add 1 tbsp of the oil. Add the broccoli and cook out any excess moisture. Once the broccoli is cooked and still green remove it from the pan.

 

3. Heat the pan again with the remaining oil. Add the chicken (I had to do this in parts). Let the chicken slightly brown before flipping around. Once fully cooked, add 1 tbsp corn starch 1/3 cup water and the broccoli.

 

4. Pour over the hoisin. Shut the heat and enjoy!

 

Stuffed Grape Leaves - Dolma

Every summer for the past 15 years I've made stuffed grape leaves in abundance, but why summer? Here in Massachusetts and New Hampshire we have the concord grape which grows wild and out of control. Every. Where. So I decided one day that I am tired of paying $5 for brined leaves when I can just pick my own! So I did just that. I always pick them from the same spot at my mother's house in NH. Out back way behind the pool where nothing but wild life roam. I know that my leaves are organic as no one planted the vines and no one touches them. No fertilizer, no pesticides....nothing.

So, I spray my legs with bug spray as there are a lot of ticks and then I find the best and most perfectly shaped leaves I can find. I usually end up with about 100. If having a party and you know everyone loves these, you could easily collect a couple hundred leaves from one spot.

Next, you have to wash them. They are wild. There are birds, insects and other strange things flying around. Wash each leaf in a bucket of water. It's refreshing to do on a hot day. I just dip them in and very lightly scrub, and then add to the pile. To the pile, I add more water, salt and lemon juice to help kill anything else and preserve the leaves. They keep very well in the fridge for a couple of weeks, but they will change color from bright green to dull brownish green. THIS IS OK!

The next part is difficult, trying to find that perfect recipe. Well, here is what I do, and everyone is different. I use beef and ground turkey or chicken, mixed. I use a little bit of rice, fresh lemon juice and a little mint or dill, chopped and of course, salt.

Ingredients:
Grape leaves
1 lb of turkey and beef
1/2 cup rice
juice of one lemon
extra lemons, sliced
1 tbsp chopped dill or mint (or both?!)
Salt
Pepper

Mix everything together except for the lemon slices. Lay out a perfect leaf and be sure to cut off the tough stem and as much of the middle vein as possible. The rolling might seem daunting at first, but it really is quite easy, just a little time consuming so get a prep space in front of the tv ready.

1. With the dark side down, add about a spoonful of mixture at the bottom where you cut.
2. Roll the part closest to you over the mixture.
3. Fold inthe sides and quickly roll so they stay tight.
4. Keep rolling and folding the sides in until you have a tightly rolled grape leaf.

All American Baked Beans

Nothing screams summer (or English breakfast) like a crock full of baked beans. I grew up on these beans, waiting for every summer BBQ because I knew my mom was going to make them. While she made hers with navy beans and salt pork, I used red kidney beans and no meat due to having some vegetarians in the family.  You can really use any bean you like as long as it holds up during the grueling cooking time these babies require.

First off, I usually do about 1-1.5 cups of beans for a fairly large crowd. It may not look like a lot, but they grow during cooking. A very important thing about many varieties of dried beans, SOAK THEM, at least overnight (8 hours). What this does are two things; re-hydrate and reduce cooking time (thus preserving the nutrients) them and removes some of the oligosaccharides from the bean. If you don't remove the oligosaccharides you are in for a musical day the next morning. It removes the sugar that causes us to ....well...toot.

I change the water every few hours, maybe you don't have to, but I do. I don't know why. Anyway....After soaking, add them to your crock pot and cover with water, just maybe half an inch above the top of the beans. Next, add your ingredients all at once and stir. It's not going to look pretty, but just you wait.

 The ingredients are simple:
1.Ketchup or a small can of tomato paste
2. Yellow mustard
3. Molasses
4. Onion
5. Brown sugar or Coconut sugar

Chop the onion into large pieces. It will break down during cooking. Add a generous squirt of mustard, maybe a table spoon. Next, add the can of tomato paste, about 1/3 cup of molasses and brown sugar. You might want to add some onion powder too. Any additions is totally up to you. In the picture below, I added cocoa powder to see how deep I could get the flavors, forgetting that there is a lot of sugar in the beans.

Stir and set the crock to cook on low for the next 12 hours or so. You can stir every now and then. The sauce will become dark, thick and rich.

Vietnamese Chicken with Garlic, Lime and Pepper

Again, another post!  This one surprised me a lot. The flavors were so yummy and made the house smell amazing. I need to stop showing you how easy these are, or else we might make our local restaurantes go out of business! (never!)

So, I was in search of something easy, with chicken and peanuts. I found a recipe that uses beef, but I am not the biggest fan of beef so I made this my own and added chopped Chinese long beans.

1 1/2 lb thinly sliced chicken
1 medium onion, chopped into quarters
3 tbsp toasted chopped peanuts

2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar (I used turbinado)
1 tbsp fish sauce

5 cloves minced garlic
3 tbsp oil (I mixed coconut and peanut)

1. In a small bowl, combine the garlic with half the oil and a tsp of black pepper. Set aside
2. In another small bowl combine the soy sauce, lime juice, sugar and fish sauce. Make sure the sugar is dissolved.
3. The other half of the oil should be mixed with another tsp black pepper.

You now have 3 small bowls.

In a large skillet, heat half of the leftover oil
over medium high. Place half the chicken in the pan and brown. Turn over and brown the other side. Once cooked, remove to a plate and set aside. Do the same with the other half of the chicken.

Next, if you are using a vegetable, add it now and saute for a couple minutes. You might need to add a little water to help steam cook. Next, add the chicken and the garlic and oil and saute for a couple of minutes, just until the garlic is slightly cooked.

Pour the mixed sauces and sugar over the chicken and vegetables until thickened. Once thickened and cooked, add the peanuts and serve.

Easy!

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

I told you I've been on a Vietnamese kick this summer! It's the fresh taste that Vietnamese brings to us by using herbs like mint and cilantro. Here is a super easy salad to make which most restaurants sell for about $8-10. There is no need to spend that much on one portion and you will see why!

If you are interested in cooking Asian food there a few ingredients that you will have to spring for, and by spring I mean pay $3 or less. Here they are: Fish Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Low Sodium Soy Sauce, Chili Garlic Paste and just a small jar of minced garlic and one jar of ginger. All of these last forever in the fridge so even if you don't use them often that is ok.

Off to the Asian market and here is what I picked up for the salad.

1 Head Napa Cabbage, shredded
Bean Sprouts
Shredded Carrots (2-3)
One Red Bell Pepper, sliced
Chicken breast

Handful of mint and cilantro, chopped

Dressing:
2 tsp chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp peanut oil
1/2 medium onion, sliced thin

Mix all of the dressing ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Make sure the sugar is dissolved. Yes, the onion is included!

In a larger bowl, mix the salad ingredients. You can really put what you like in here, but I like this mix, although, in my pic I forgot the red bell pepper. Mix all of the ingredients including most of the mint and cilantro. Dress the salad by pouring the dressing over, including the onions. Top of the salad with the rest of the mint and cilantro and voila!

Super easy Vietnamese Salad!

Vietnamese Made Easy - Summer Roll!

We all love summer rolls, even if we don't love Vietnamese food. But, what isn't there to love about it? A few months ago I tried Vietnamese with a neighbor for the first time. I became addicted. I just had a summer roll and a banh mi sandwich, both were amazing. The flavors of Vietnamese are quite different than other Asian cuisines. I noticed how fresh and cooling the food was. The use of fresh mint surprised me, but in a good way. You know how we call pork "the other white meat?" Well I'd like to call Vietnamese food "the lighter and fresher other Asian cuisine." 

So, after I tried and became addicted to the banh mi, I went back and tried a noodle dish which consisted of vermicelli noodles, grilled chicken, a small egg roll, and a bean sprout and carrot "salad" oh and a light orange toned sauce which is quite delicious. For $8 you can't beat it, plus you know what you are eating is healthier than American-Chinese food.

This past weekend I decided to do it! I was at my local Asian market and picked up the summer roll wrappers. There were so many sizes and a couple of brands to choose from. I picked a size that I thought would work well. 

First step: Arrange your area with the ingredients for your summer rolls. This will make rolling them speedy and  easy. Place a wet paper towel near to the wrappers and water.

Step 2: Have a small skillet of water on low, lightly simmer, but not boil. Try to have your filling station as close to the water as possible. You'll need to transfer your rice paper to a wet paper towel in seconds.

 

Step 3: Begin!  Dip a rice paper into the water, swish around with your fingers, maybe about 20 seconds. You will start to see it change consistency quickly. Take it out before it is too soft or jello-y. If you leave it in too long, it will rip easily. These are delicate, but not too difficult to handle. If you leave them in the water for just the right amount of time, its almost as if they are slightly al dente, then move them to the wet paper towel so they don't stick or dry out.

Step 4: Move fairly quickly, the rice paper is still absorbing water at this point, so throw in your beautiful ingredients. For your first couple, don't worry about the way it looks just yet. Try to get the feel for this. I usually place the fillings closer to my body, then fold them over, tuck under tightly and fold in the sides as you would with an egg roll. The hardest part will be trying to find where to separate the wrapper from the paper towel, but with practice, its easy!

Filling the wrappers

 Rolling the rolls

 And here are the final products! Since you will be making more than one, and when you see how addictive easy it is, you will want to make many for leftovers. But, its not easy to keep them as they stick to almost everything. If making these for a party, you might want to have a damp paper towel at the base of your serving dish, and then use romaine leaves to secure each roll. Using the leaf like this will be sure to protect it from touching the others and creates an edible vessel to serve with!

Of course you will need to make plenty of Vietnamese Peanut Dipping Sauce to go with these!

Summer Rolls Ingrediets:

Rice paper 

hot water

shrimp or boiled chicken

fresh basil leaves

fresh mint leaves

rice or tofu noodles

Shredded carrot

thinly sliced cucumber

Shredded lettuce

thinly sliced green onion