Take It, or Leave It

Last year, a group of friends and I headed to St. Paul, Minnesota to attend Pink's concert in her Truth About Love Tour. This was my second concert with the fabulously fearless performer. I love the power of her voice, the raw emotion of her lyrics, and the energy of her shows. She is an incredible artist, and did not disappoint us with her top notch performance.

After the concert, we spilled out into the streets with thousands of other music lovers, and the masses, naturally, filled the nearby watering holes. To say that the businesses were crowded is an understatement. It was standing room only as we darted from one establishment to the next in search of a table, some nourishment, and refreshment. We visited with a few other friends that had made the trip to the concert and ultimately decided that our best course of action was to get a cab and head back to our hotel. The crowds were brutal, and we were hungry. At the hotel, we could order a pizza and open the bottles of wine each of us had smuggled in our suitcases. Simple plan, right?

It wasn't so simple. It was March and there were bitter cold windchills that night. Of course being the practical women that we are, we were dressed for a pop concert, not the winter weather. First, we all tried standing together and hailing a taxi. A couple cars stopped and rolled down their windows, but when we named our hotel that was only a few blocks away, they drove off. Really. They decided to leave us standing there in the cold. After awhile, we took turns trying to get a cab to bless us with the privilege of being their fare while the rest of the group stood just inside the doors of a bar to keep warm. It wasn't just cold. It was miserable. And, the taxicabs kept, one after another, driving away.

Finally, one friend comes running into the warmth of the bar and grabs us. Another friend has scored a ride for us! Awesome! We can't believe the luck! We all piled into the dark sedan with a slight, young man behind the wheel. Then, I noticed there was no meter. There was no radio to connect this car with a dispatch office. This was not a cab. This. Was. Not. A. Cab. Yikes.

There were four of us and only one of him. A couple of these women worked out regularly and one handled all her farm chores in addition to her full-time job of nursing. Additionally, we all were empowered by the music of Pink. We could handle this. There was nervous laughter about our predicament and jokes about how he had better not be taking us to the country to kill us because we could kick his butt. It was a tense moment as the driver made a u-turn, but it wasn't to kidnap us, it was only so that we could arrive on the right side of a one-way street in front of our hotel. In the end, he dropped us off at our front door, provided some lively chit chat about the concert scene in St. Paul, and almost sheepishly asked for only $20 for the ride. We were safe. We ordered pizza. It was all just a story to tell about our wild night with Pink.

Still, we couldn't believe the number of legitimate taxi drivers that either didn't stop at all or drove away as soon as they learned our destination was not a big fare. I had no idea when presented with take it or leave it, they would leave us there on the curb. I am incredibly thankful for kind, random drivers that venture out to make a buck or two after crowded concerts and save the day. (And incredibly thankful ours wasn't a serial killer.)

Like a St. Paul cab driver, I can take or leave most Chinese food. I find many menu items too sweet, too salty, too...not suiting to my tastes. Given the option to take it or leave it, I leave it. Except for Kung Pao. It is the dark sedan that saves the day for me. The extra heat of the dried peppers really makes the difference for me in these dishes. An area steakhouse is owned by a Vietnamese family, and Kung Pao is included in their menu. You guessed it. I don't leave it. I take it. Almost every time we dine there.

This Kung Pao Chicken isn't quite the same as that famous at The Homesteader, but it is a very good home-cooked version. Dark sesame oil adds a flavor hit to the dish. Instead of the broccoli and red onions that I often see along side the chicken in a Kung Pao dish, this recipe includes crisp snow peas and red peppers. It is colorful, flavorful, and quick for a weeknight meal. Take it, or leave it.

Kung Pao Chicken

(adapted from Cooking Light)

2 tablespoons dark sesame oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound boneless-skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces

3/4 cup water

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons corn starch

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

1 large red pepper, cut into strips

1 cup snow peas, trimmed

2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts (cashews are good, too)

Heat sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Add onion; saute until softened. 
Add garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
Add chicken; saute until chicken begins to brown.
Combine water, soy sauce, corn starch, brown sugar, fresh ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
Add mixture to pan, bring to a boil.
Add bell pepper and snow peas to pan; cook until crisp-tender and sauce thickens.
Sprinkle with nuts and serve with rice.  (Yield: 4 servings)

Pretty Peas

Warm spring weather has me thinking about gardening. I always plant the same things: tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, acorn and/or butternut squash, cucumbers, radishes, some lettuce and spinach, and my herbs. Last year, I added strawberries to my garden, and I am in love with the asparagus patch. I have tried my hand at Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower, but am not fond of the never ending battle to keep the little green worms at bay.

Basically, I am a lazy gardener. I think that is why I haven't planted green beans. I have memories of what seemed like hours and hours spent picking green beans from my mother's garden as a child. (Followed by hours and hours of sweating in a hot kitchen over a pressure cooker to can said green beans in mason jars as a store for winter.) I love green beans, but those hours and hours are lost forever...not that I probably had anything better to do.

This spring, this lazy gardener has a desire for green beans and peas. I am not sure that my small garden space can handle enough rows to be worthwhile (while still limited to few enough rows to hold my interest without seeming taxing). Pretty peas of fresh sweetness. Crisp, but tender green beans. I am thinking about it. We will see what I plant...

Chicken Cutlets with Creamy Mushrooms and Snow Peas

(adapted from Food Network Magazine)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

flour, for dredging

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 small yellow onion, chopped 

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

1 1/4 cups chicken broth

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 cups snow peas, stemmed and sliced

Preheat oven to 200F.
Butterfly the chicken breast.
Place chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet until uniform thickness.
Cut each chicken breast into 2 pieces (making 4 portions).
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
Dredge the cutlets in flour, shaking off any excess.
Cook until golden, about 2 minutes per side.
Transfer to a baking dish; cover loosely with foil; keep warm in the oven.
Add the butter to the hot skillet.
Add the onions and saute until tender.
Add the mushrooms and brown.
Pour in the broth and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Cook until the liquid is reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
Add the cream and boil until sauce thickens slightly, about 3 additional minutes.
Stir in the snow peas and heat through.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve the chicken topped with the creamy vegetables. (Garlic mashed potatoes are a great comfort on the side.) (Serves 4)

Happy New Year!

Hubs had seriously set his hopes on Kung Pao for New Year's Eve. I had suggested keeping it low-key and inviting a few friends over to play board games (and sip a few cocktails) and to keep it super easy by picking up take-out. That was the plan, but someone...Mother Nature? Old Man Winter? the meteorologist at the local television station?...had other plans. Snow blew and temperatures dropped. The wind was icy with chills well below zero. As I repeatedly shoveled the ever drifting snow on the patio so the pups could find their way outside, I knew that all plans for the evening were off.

At that point, I should have defrosted some shrimp and made Kung Pao Shrimp for our quiet night at home alone, but I didn't. I had been clearing FoodNetwork programming off of my DVR and had just seen Anne Burrell make a lamb stew. That was seriously tempting me, and a blizzardy, cold day seemed perfect for it.

I browned the cubes of lamb and sauteed the onion, celery, carrots, and turnips. Added a mixture of stout and broth to the pot and simmered it all slowly with some tomato paste and herbs. The house felt warm, and comfy, and safe, as the aromas wafted from the kitchen and the snow drifted outside. But, ladling the stew over plates of egg noodles and dipping crusty bread into the sauce wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped. Hubs' craving for Chinese food had left us unsettled and even the Pear and Pecan Tart that I served drizzled with caramel sauce and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream didn't really please us...although it is very good and I wish that someone would take the leftovers away. NOW. Please. Thank you.

So...tonight I made Steamed Dumplings...and Egg Rolls...and Crab Rangoon. I hadn't intended to make the egg rolls and crab rangoon, but was trying to ease Hubs' sad, puppy dog face because he still wasn't getting Kung Pao. (We will have to go out for that soon...probably the first night that he doesn't have a meeting which requires him to rush home from the farm with just enough time to shower, gobble dinner in one gulp, and leave again....maybe Wednesday?) Of course, we both love.love.love egg rolls and the sweetness of cream cheese and crab fried inside crisp wontons. Tonight's dinner additions were not a chore.

And, it won't be a chore tomorrow when I drop a few of the extra dumplings into steaming broth with some fresh, green veggies and make a dumpling soup to savor for lunch. I am hoping that it will be as good as the Samurai Soup that I made last winter. That recipe was from Rachael Ray and was so super easy that it couldn't be considered a chore, either. The hardest part for me was forming the wonton wrappers around the meatballs. Mine weren't the half-moons that the recipe suggested, but were instead little bundles. Aesthetics aside, the soup was delicious. I may not have Kung Pao On My Plate, but I would love some Samurai Soup in my bowl.

Samurai Soup

(adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray)

1/2 pound baby bok choy

1/2 pound ground pork (I used a pork sausage blend because that is what I had on hand.)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (BEST TIP EVER: Keep your ginger root in the freezer; pull out & grate with microplane as you need it; no need to peel and it keeps almost forever.)

2 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon sesame oil

40 wonton wrappers

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup water

1/4 pound snow peas, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Halve the bok choy lengthwise and then again crosswise. Separate the white and green portions.
In a saucepan of boiling water, cook the white bok choy portions for 1 minute; add the green portions and cook until wilted.
Drain; rinse with cold water; squeeze dry with some (sturdy) paper toweling or a clean dish towel.
Finely chop the bok choy and place in a mixing bowl.
Stir in the pork, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, oyster sauce, ginger, honey, and sesame oil.
Mix well to combine.
Arrange 10 wonton wrappers on a work surface and top each with a teaspoon of the pork mixture.
Moisten the edges and pull the wrappers up over the pork mixture.
Make half-moon, if you can; otherwise, just pull the wrappers into a bundle and press to seal the edges.
Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.
In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth, water, and remaining soy sauce to a boil.
Cover and lower heat to keep warm.
In a large pot of boiling water, cook the dumplings, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes.
Transfer to bowls.
Add the snow peas to the hot broth; cook for 1 minute.
Ladle over the dumplings.
Drizzle with a few drops of sesame oil or add garlic chili paste, if desired. (Serves 8)

A Little Bird Told Me

I am fast becoming a devoted fan of Twitter. Several times a day, I use 140 characters (or less) to share what is on my mind. Millions of others do the same, and the real-time, interactive access to opinions, ideas, information, and just idle chit-chat is addictive.

As my number of daily tweets grows, it is no surprise that I would turn to this social media network when searching for a recipe. Sure, I surfed through my bookmarked recipe sites and mentioned my dilemma to some close friends, but it was a Twitter tweet that ultimately brought me to the salad that I prepared to share with friends over their home-cooked prime rib dinner on Valentine's evening.

My request for "Simple, light, WW friendly salad idea to be served with a Prime Rib dinner tonight?" was met with a reply from someone that shares my interest in food, vintage pottery, older homes, and American Idol. People with like interests do commune together, and Twitter exemplifies that. The suggestion of a Cooking Light recipe for Field Greens with Warm Soy Dressing easily modified to suit the ingredients I had on hand, and really was a perfect pairing with our meal. I am so glad to have a little bird helping me put good food On My Plate.

Field Greens with Warm Soy Dressing

2 (5-ounce) bags mixed salad greens (about 16 cups)
1 cup red bell pepper strips
1 cup diagonally sliced snow peas
1/3 cup diagonally sliced green onions
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
4 tablespoons apple juice
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced

Combine first 5 ingredients in a salad bowl.
Combine soy sauce and remaining ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl.
Microwave at HIGH 30-90 seconds (depending on microwave), and stir well. (Dressing should be warm, but not boiling.)
Pour dressing over salad, tossing gently to coat. (Serves 8)