MANCHURIAN CHICKEN WITH RADIATORS

Wow ! it’s been some time gone by till posting a recipe, not that I have stopped cooking, just nothing new lately, have to change that and expand my recipe repertoire.

One breast just about 300 grams. Didn’t adjust the marination. 1 cup macaroni. Cut back about 1/2 with the sauce ingredients. Serves 2

Adapted from Sooper Chef YouTube Channel

makes a pleasant dish, by ingredient amounts somewhat spicy, adjust to taste .

Once prepped, it’s a fast cook.

Ingredients for Chicken Marination:
Chicken boneless (cube cut) 500 g
Egg 1
Corn flour 2 tbsp ( cornstarch)
Soy sauce 2 tbsp
Black pepper powder 1/2 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Oil 1 tbsp
Oil (for frying) as required

Ingredients for boiling Macaroni:
Macaroni 2 cups (1 cup)
Oil 1 tbsp
Salt 1 tsp
Water as required

Ingredients for Manchurian Sauce:
Oil 2 tbsp
Garlic (chopped) 1 tbsp (substituted garlic powder)
Ketchup 1 cup
Red chili flakes 2 tbsp (you may want to adjust this less)
Soy sauce 2 tbsp
Worcestershire sauce 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Water 1 cup
Chili sauce 2 tbsp (I used hot sauce, again you may want to adjust this to taste)
White pepper powder 1 tsp
Sugar 1 tbsp
Capsicum (small cubes) 1 cup
Carrot (small cubes) 1 cup
Onion (small cubes) 1 cup

Ingredients for Assembling:
Cooked chicken as required
Boiled macaroni
Manchurian sauce
Green onion (Chopped) as required

Directions for Chicken Marination:
1. In a bowl add chicken, egg, corn flour, black pepper, soy sauce, salt, oil and mix well. Let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
2. In a wok ( or fry pan) heat oil and add marinated chicken, fry it fully cooked and golden brown in color. Set aside.
Directions for Macaroni Boiling:
3. In a pot heat water and bring it to boil, add oil, salt and macaroni. Boil until macaroni is 80% cooked. Strain and set aside.
Directions for Manchurian Sauce Preparation:
4. In a pan heat oil and add garlic, saute for 1 minute. Now add ketchup, red chili flakes, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, white pepper powder, chili sauce, sugar and cook for 2-3 minutes. Now add water ( here you can thin the sauce with the macaroni water ) and cook until sauce thickens.
5. Now add capsicum, carrot, onion and cook for 1-2 minutes.
6. Now add cooked chicken, boiled macaroni and mix well. Cook until chicken is well coated in sauce. Adjust if necessary with the addition of more of the macaroni water.
7. Sprinkle green onion on top and serve.
Preparation time: 10-15 mins
Cooking time: 25-30 mins
Serving: 3-4

Prepared ingredients, I use shredded carrots ( usually shred a pound or 2 of carrots and store them in the fridge so carrot can easily be incorporated into many recipes)

macaroni heat sinks are boiled and ready

Heating up the skillet

Starting the frying process of the chicken, I use quad blend pepper freshly ground.

getting the crisp on !

remove from the pan

boil up the sauce

Add the prepared veggies, mix in and heat, don’t over cook , leave some crunch

Add the chicken and the macaroni to the pan, heat through

mix and heat thoroughly

MMMMMMMM………… plate up and garnish with some chopped green scallions

beef soup with noodle squares

a few pictures

a hearty beefy soup, wit the addition of a thickening agent, a stew

a beef soup/stew for the instant pot

prep the following:

egg noodle semolina recipe, roll out and cut into good size noodle squares, set aside

prep veggies, onion, carrot celery, a pinch of oregano, paprika, parsley and thyme, a bit of tomato paste and a few garlic cloves minced

leaf a few brussell sprouts, slice mushrooms

slice and cube beef season with salt, pepper and marinate if possible

set instant pot to saute, high and let come to temp

with a bit of oil, brown beef, remove from pot

add to pot onion, celery and carrot mixture with your seasonings

cook till wilted and soft

add sprout leaves, mushrooms and tomato paste to pot

mix and cook several minutes

return beef to pot, with broth top to fill line of pot.

cover, reset and set to stew soup setting about 15 minutes low pressure

at end of cycle release pressure , remove cover, reset to saute high, add noddle squares when the pot begins to boil

cook the noodle squares till tender, reset and set to keep warm setting

add more broth if necessary.

serve with crusty bread

 

 

 

 

 

Eggplant something or other (moussaka)

I found I did get the basis of this recipe from a WP blog  Mostly Greek Eggplant Mousskasa , Eggplant Moussaka    after a search for eggplant recipes.

The eggplant is my fav meal, and at times better than the chicken or beef or used as a filler with meat.  So here we go.

I used ground pork instead of beef

I stuck with the cinnamon spice for the Greek style taste of the tomato sauce

some canned diced tomato for the suace

a bit of melomel replaces the wine

process the tomato sauce

salt and let sit for while to draw out some water, test fit in the baking dish

brush with olive oil, broil till browned, both sides

make the bechamel sauce

into the baking dish

add the tomato sauce

top with the bechamel and some grated parmensan, bake.

after baking, let cool a bit.

excellent flavor the eggplant, tomato sauce and bechamel compliment each other

not overly watery or runny, just right, perhaps a glass of wine and a chunk of fresh bread.

 

 

 

 

 

3 bean chili with smoked chicken

It started out as a quick search on the Instant Pot app for chili, Have plenty of dried beans in stock, a quick pressure cooker meal means I didn’t have a long soaking and boiling process ahead for a meal within an hour. I found a recipe for a 3 bean chili jar recipe. Remember when the jar recipes were all the rage for gifts ! Still easy to do for your own meal kits.

Pinto, white and black beans, like maybe a 1/4 cup each ,a can of chopped tomatoes, some tomato paste and a bit over leftover condensed tomato soup. The spice list was long, cumin seeds, coriander, dried hot peppers just to name a few. Chopped onions and garlic, celery and carrot to round out the flavor and a toss of frozen corn . Saute as usual add all else. Top off with veggie stock. Seal, set and be back later.

about 50 minutes later

start the plate with a layer of smoked chicken thighs 

add the 3 bean chili…

top with shredded cheese and chips,

a glass of dark home brew, next time a real light or a lime hard seltzer would be better fro contrast, or possibly a fruit shandy . The chili and the smoked chicken was fantastic. 

Bacon and eggs pasta, AKA spaghetti carbonara

A popular dish in many forms and interpretations with different types of pasta. The basic ingredient bacon (or pork belly)  with eggs.  AKA spaghetti carbonara, ETC.

Simple Ingredients let the pictures tell the story…….

 

 

 

TOASTED BREAD, BREADCRUMBS

ADD BEATEN EGG

CHEESE

ADD THE BREADCRUMBS

SIDE OF TOMATO

PARM

SOME DISHES TO DO …. AND STUFF TO PUT AWAY…

 

 

broiled tomato with couscous

Fresh tomatoes from the yard have been a staple here this summer and  fall , I’ll try to preserve some for the winter but will miss them.

Basically short on pictures here but you get the idea, a simple meal in a sense you have pasta and sauce deconstructed . I seasoned towards Italian, oregano, parsley, dried hot pepper flakes and thyme etc. 2 variety of tomatoes. Smashed garlic and sliced onions a bit of salt and pepper blend.

Crank up the broiler, get the cast iron, you’ll want to blacken the tomato mixture with a bit of a char..   toss once or twice….

couscous, easy and fast to cook, plate some up

Some shredded packaged cheese Italian blend, quickly while the plate is still hot.

were done…. Enjoy Octoberfest…….cheers

 

that looks good !

 

lo mein

inspired by you tube, Ready , Jet, Cook, Jet Tila, an adaption of recipe, Food Network

noodle time….semolina… Bob’s Red Mill recipe, fine noodle attachment on the pasta machine.

…….. or use store bough FRESH noodle

prep up ingredients….. from what I have on hand… here I have fresh harvested kale for greens , carrot matchsticks, sliced onions, ginger, garlic, hot pepper, sauce mixture with cornstarch , shrimp paste, boiled noodle

saute the onion…..

add in the carrot………….

cook till carrot tender… add the rest of ingredients…then the sauce, toss…

the sauce will start to thicken, keep tossing….

add the noodle…….

toss to coat and distribute sauce to the noodles

plate up……

add sesame seed (not shown)

 

Smoke roasted tomatoes

Peak harvest of tomatoes now, what to do ?

Nice weather so instead of using the oven indoors, fire up the smoker to roast tomatoes.

Prep the grille, a charcoal starter with fresh hardwood and a mix of leftovers from the last fire.

Mesquite pellets, a cup or two , fill the cup with water, the pellets will swell absorbing the water for maximum smoke output.

Not more than a few days from harvest, some within hours. I’ll reserve the cherry tomatoes for another use. Quartered the larger tomatoes.

Adding some garlic to the mix

Salt, fresh ground pepper blend and a few red pepper flakes.

Toss with a bit of olive oil.

Prep the perferated pan with oil to prevent sticking.

When the hardwood is ready, pour out to the charcoal pan, here at the lowest level. Add the soaked pellets, cover and let it come up to temperature. Sit the perferated pan atop and cover.

Smoking up, the hose is used to soak the ground below the grille. Avoiding flare-ups from unwanted embers from igniting anything. The bottom of the charcoal pan is screened for maximum air flow. A metal pan pan at ground level holds a small amount of water, a repurposed base from a water heater.

Oh ! I happen to have some dough around. Ready the flat bread ! A plastic mat with semolina give the dough ball bearing moveability with out sticking , like a pizza peel.

Tomatoes are done in about an half hour. The handle on the pan folds so it can fit in the grille when covered.

I did turn the tomatoes gently about 15 minutes to expose more of them to the smoke. Some took on a nice char. Set the tomatoes over a pan or plate after grilling to let the juices drain. I hand peeled the skins, just pull them off, if you like. Combine peeled tomatoes with juices. (After you sip a sample).

Added a few pieces of hardwood. Slap on the dough.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I’m going to pulse up the tomatoes, I did eat several pieces before processing ! Looking good ! Added a pinch or two of sugar to balance , that’s all folks!

Pulsed up on the chunky side.

Since I have the grille up to temp a final addition of hardwood, might as well use it to bake a loaf of bread from the batch of dough.

Whattah think next ? ……..

……….. Of course !

The flat bread, smeared with the smokeyness of the tomato, fresh picked Russian red kale

Microplane some parm, a decorative side of sweet cherry tomatoes and kale leaf. Olive oil drizzle of course !

Crispy flat bread uuuummmm!

About 25 minutes later……..

Done! One container of tomato sauce in the freezer, the other in the fridge. Tomatoes plants still flowering.

pasta and tomato with a few others

Back to the garden, this year the tomatoes were soil based rather than the hydroponic which the tomatoes don’t seem to tolerate the high temps of the summer. Still some greens were still used in the hydroponics, some tat-soi and kale mostly.

The tomatoes flourished as removing the suckers resulted in  new heights for the plants and excellent fruit production for both the Roni and Sakura variety.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After numerous salads and the like, I made a pasta dish, simple, quick as one does not want to be over the stove in hot weather, and tasty. Rather bore you with a recipe or technics, let the pictures do the storytelling.

 

 

 

 

Sausage and broccoli with pasta

WOW ! I haven’t had pasta, dried, that is in so long.

I’ve made the recipe before but this time less the sweet red pepper and a few substitutions so it’s a repeat of a former posting.

Mis en place early in the day, the salsicciotti was ready in the fridge, just a slight twist to make them smaller than the full size.

Here the recipe with a thanks to Nick Stellino I couldn’t find this recipe online recently. The one I have was printed out.

3 tbl extra virgin olive oil

1 and 1/2 lbs of sweet or spicy sausage

4 garlic cloves, course cut

1 red onion , medium dice

2 red peppers diced

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cup white wine

3/4 lb of broccoli florets, cut to 1 inch pieces

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

3 tbl softened butter

3 tbl pecorino or romano cheese.

As you can see I didn’t cut them apart so they sprung back to full size for some.

Add the garlic, some family members may be opening the windows and activating the whole house fan to exhaust to the wonderful aroma!

Course white onions added

Nicely browned with the dried red pepper flakes

Looks like a lot of broccoli but it will cook down.

After the 30 minute simmer ,add the butter and cheese.

Plated, real good !