Wok it Out!

So I've talked the talk, now can I wok the wok?

Moving on...

I received a nice Williams Sonoma wok for Valentine's Day!  My parents bought me "The Breath of a Wok" by Grace Young and Alan Richardson for Christmas so now I can start using the recipes properly.  The book is stunning, the pictures are amazing, and some of the stories are very interesting.  It's half book and half recipes.  It gives tips on types of woks, what the wok means to the Chinese culture, how to season your wok and stories about the author's trip to China.  The book talks a lot about "wok breath" so my mission for this recipe is to get my wok to breathe all over my food.

First, to get the proper non-metallic breath from my wok, I had to season it.  The book has all different kinds of seasoning recipes.  I just used the regular veggie oil recipe that I did for my cast iron dutch oven because finding Chinese chives is difficult.  It's just a combination of heat and oil.  Heat it until it starts smoking, put some oil in it, heat some more, rub off the dirt and oil... and so on until the metallic residue has disappeared.  Sounds sexy, right?


So Shiny!!

Next, I get to start stir-frying!  I did the meat dish first. (Recipes at the bottom this time since they're kind of long.) I think I've only ever stir-fried once before.  Woks are easy to use.  There's a lot of engery involved - not really physically but the constant movement and how great it smelled really made me feel like a young Chinese immigrant on the streets of Chinatown!  Not really but it was a lot of fun and I felt like a chef.  And, if you look at the pictures you can clearly see the manifestation of wok breath.

That's not a finger smudge on my camera lens... that's the real deal, people! WOK BREATH!

By the time I started the veggies I had run out of clean measuring spoons.  I once read in Rachel Ray's cookbook about how to guess-timate amounts because cooking is all about being free and OCD like mine has no place in the kitchen (unless you're baking).  So I went Rachel Ray on these veggies which resulted in the water chestnuts absorbing entirely too much dry sherry.  So much in fact - that when I taste-tested them I had to spit it out in fear of vomitting in my new wok.  That's not the type of breath I want my wok to breathe on my food.  The snap peas turned out just fine so I just avoided the water chestnuts, which is a shame because those are my favorite.

In the end, it was incredibly tasty (besides the water chestnuts). I can't wait to try more recipes from this book.  I think beef and broccoli is next...

Stir-Fried Chicken and Shallots
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken thigh, cut into 1 in cubes
2 1/2 tsps soy sauce
1 tsp Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp fermented black beans, rinsed
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tbsp veggie oil
4 small whole shallots peeled (about 1/2 c)
1/3 cup "homemade" chicken broth (yeah... right....)
1 scallion, chopped

1. In a medium bowl combine the chicken,  1 1/2 tsp of soy sauce, rice wine, 1/4 tsp sugar, salt, pepper.  Sprinkle the cornstarch over the chicken mixture and toss well to combine.  The chicken will be a little dry and sticky to the touch.  In a small bowl, using a fork, mash the black beans, garlic, ginger, and the remaining 1 tsp soy sauce and 1/4 tsp sugar.

2. Heat a 14-in flat-bottomed wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within  1-2 seconds of contact.  Swirl in the oil and carefully add the chicken, spreading it evenly in the wok.  Cook undisturbed 1 minute, letting the chicken begin to brown.  Then, using a metal spatula, stir-fry 1-2 minutes or until chicken is browned on all sides but not cooked through.  Add the black bean mixture, shallots, and broth and stir-fry 1-2 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is just thickened.  Stir in scallion.  Serves four as part of a multicourse meal.

Stir-Fried Sugar Snap Peas with Water Chestnuts
4 fresh water chestnuts
1 tbsp Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1 tbsp veggie oil
3 slices of ginger
3 cups sugar snap peas, strings removed (about 8 oz)
1 tsp sesame oil

1. Peel the water chestnuts with a paring knife and then thinly slice to make about 1/2 cup.  In a small bowl combine the rice wine, salt, sugar, and pepper with 1 tbsp cold water. 

2.  Heat a 14-in flat-bottomed wok over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1-2 seconds of contact.  Swirl in the veggie oild, add the ginger, and stir-fry 5 seconds or until fragrant.  Add the sugar snaps and water chestnuts and stir-fry 1 minute.  Stir the rice wine mixture, swirl it into the wok, and stir-fry 30 seconds to 1 minute or until the veggies are just tender.  Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil.  Serves 4 as part of a multicourse meal.

Mini Meatballs

Hello Blog World!  I apologize for the cyber space silence this past week.  I hope you all had an excellent Valentine's Day!  What did you all end up doing??

I had a very small get-together at my apartment on Saturday night where we all made or bought finger food or hors d'oeuvres so people could see my new place, play fun games, and catch up!  There were some... logistics issues.  As a first time host I did not want to step into my "bossy pants" and straight-up tell people what to bring.  This resulted in a menu of miniature meatballs, cocktail weenies, bruschetta, fruit and veggies topped off with individual chocolate cakes and yogurt covered pretzels.  Oh yeah, and lots of wine.  Let's just say I was up at 4 AM, 6 AM and approximately 8 AM.  Lesson Learned. 

I made meatballs and the individual chocolate cakes for dessert.  I got the recipe from my Mom.  It is simple, dee-lish, and you can make it all ahead of time!  For the few ingredients it takes - it packs a lot of flavor.  I made the meatballs small on Saturday night so you could pick them up with toothpicks, but for this demonstration I made them bigger since they were my dinner. 

The Sauce:

1 jar of chili sauce

1 jar of grape jelly

What is chili sauce, you ask?  See the picture! It took two trips to the grocery store to figure that one out. It's in the ketchup aisle. Put both in a sauce pan and heat until bubbles.  Then, top on meatballs.

Meatballs:

1 lb of ground sirloin (I used lean this time around but Saturday used Sirloin)

1/2 sleeve of regular ol' crakers smushed (smooshed??) up

1/3 cup of ketchup

1 egg

salt/pepper

Mix ingredients in a bowl.  I didn't have a masher so I used my hands and it got a little messy.  I don't know the technical term for a masher.  Is that correct?? That seems to properly describe what its use is so I am going to go with it. 

Next, you roll them into balls (duh).  Like I said, I made mine a bit bigger this time around since this was my main dish, but I believe these are best served small.  They are easier to cook that way and you get more sauce on each one. 



Imma meatballa!

Oil up a pan, heat it up, and toss 'em in!  

I went heavy on the oil I think so they're a bit fried...

Once they were done - I just poured on the sauce and served them up! 

The way you can make these ahead of time is to keep it all in a crock pot on "warm", which is what I did.  Or you can get one of those fancy-shmancy serving dishes.  Heater and all.  But, that's only if you're one of those people that go all-out. 

Either way, these are great so I have to shout-out to my Mom... THANKS MOM!  Great recipe!  Everyone should try it but maybe not with cocktail weenies and chocolate cake in the same sitting. 

P.S.  Expect some pretty kick-butt Asian cuisine, soon!  Just got a wok from my parents for Valentine's Day. I'm thinking these kitchen gifts are hints that they'd like to be invited to my next taste-testing party??

My Adventures in Making Pasta

I just moved into my own apartment and started a new job.  I'm 23 years old and I live paycheck to paycheck (but who isn't!?).  I had under $100 in my checking account yesterday and I decided to spend $14 on three bottles of wine at Trader Joe's because I obviously have my priorities in line.  The cheapest thing at the grocery store you can buy is pasta and at my Publix it is 77 cents a box.  In order to afford my cheap TJ's wine I have to cut back somewhere else and this week it's pasta.  Yes, I made my own pasta.

It started with the book "Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking" written by Michael Ruhlman.  I'm going to go on a bit of a rant about this book.  I'm a little bit of a nerd and love knowing the science and numbers behind things.  This book breaks down every basic kitchen staple (and even more complicated things like pate a croux) into ratios.  Basic pasta dough?  3 parts flour : 2 parts egg.  BOOM.  DONE. 

First of all check out my cool new gadget.  Most ratios are broken down by WEIGHT and not VOLUME so this purchase was necessary although he does break it down by approximate volume in the recipes, as well.

Ok sooo... I already gave you the recipe.  3 parts flour : 2 parts egg.  For two large portions I used 9 ounces of flour and 6 ounces of egg (3 large eggs).  Part of the reason I wanted to try this particular recipe so badly is because they say its fun.  You literally put your flour in a mound (mine in a bowl because of counter space) and put the eggs in the middle and stir around with your fingers!

After you mix it well you knead it for 5 to 10 minutes until smooth.  Fold over and push down with the heel of your hand.  The dough then needs to rest wrapped in plastic wrap for 10 minutes.  Once it is done "resting" you cut into four equal pieces and " roll them to desired thinness and cut".  Alright.  This is where I got lost. 

First of all, oops, I don't have a rolling pin.  I got a bit creative and used a double-shot glass...  classy, yes, but I'm not giving up now! 

Second, I figured I didn't need a fancy cutting machine for my pasta.  I'll just cut it with my knife.  Ok, it'll be a little thick but maybe it will taste like fettuccine?

Third, THAT'S WHERE IT ENDS.  Now what?!  Do I let it dry?  The book stops talking about anything else relative to COOKING the pasta. Anytime I go to Italian restaurants they have dried pasta sitting in jars.  The pasta I buy for 77 cents is dried.  Am I allowed to just cook it right now or do I have to wait weeks to use these giant flaps of pasta?

Well, I put my big-girl decision-making panties on and I popped those suckers into the boiling water.

... and it expanded.  Brains for dinner anyone??

OK so it doesn't look that appetizing.  In the end it kind of tasted like gnocci but I blame that on how thick it was and not the ratio/recipe.  I ended up covering it with a sauce I made several weeks ago and froze (Giada DeLaurentiis) and some fresh ground beef.  Maybe I'll try this again when I have the tools for it.  Until then, I'll stick to 77 cent boxes of pasta. I hope you all try this and let me know how it goes!