What's for Dinner, Sat., Sept. 19, 2015

[Aerows]

I've been craving Chinese food, so I'm going to cop out and do take out.

I've been looking for a recipe that is the deep fried boneless chicken with the brown sauce and the vegetables, but I have been unsuccessful. For now, I'll have to cheat, but if anyone has a recipe for me to use in the future, it would be much appreciated

[NJCher]

1. third time's the charm

Hi, Aerows,

Here's a recipe for brown sauce, and I think you can make up the rest with your own knowledge. BTW, the recipe sounds great. I'm tempted to make chicken and vegetables, too.

I looked through my extensive cookbook collection, and found this on the third try:



Basic Brown Sauce

½ cup beef broth
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
4 teaspoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil, optional
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Either store-bought beef broth or beef bouillon cubes dissolved in boiling water can be used in this recipe.

Combine the beef broth, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice wine or dry sherry, sugar, and sesame oil (if using) in a bowl. Whisk in the cornstarch. Either use the sauce immediately or store in a sealed container in the refrigerator until ready to use. (Use the sauce within 3 to 4 days.) Stir the sauce before adding it to the stir-fry to bring up any cornstarch that has settled on the bottom.



Cher

[Aerows]

2. It sounds great, but I have a dumb question.

What is the difference between light soy sauce and dark soy sauce? Maybe that is where I have run into trouble with my own attempts at it.

[NJCher]

4. don't know

but I wouldn't let that stop me from making it. I would just use whatever I had on hand.

When I talk to the RG next, I will ask him.

Meanwhile, I am having fun making more of what I made earlier in the week--spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and now I'm making more of the TJ lemon zest-ricotta tortellini. The RG helped me with the recipe today and I think it's going to be pretty fabulous. I've blanched diced zucchini, red pepper, and green beans. I have pesto to put in. I seared about 15-20 large shrimp to add, and I made vinaigrette with oregano and fresh basil.

My friend who has the decor shop and who runs a staging business is coming over in a while. I told her I didn't want her getting Burger King food anymore and that I would fix her some healthy meals until she gets her refrigerator fixed. I've fixed numerous meals and the fun part is we often dine together. She is definitely burning the candle at both ends, and she needs good nutrition.

I also bought a couple pounds of Brussels sprouts, so I am cutting the stems off them and getting them ready to cook, too.



Cher

[Aerows]

5. I LOVE Brussels sprouts

They are severely underrated, and have a phenomenal nutrition profile.

[Lunabell]

3. Rib eyes

Salad and rosemary roasted potatoes.

[locks]

6. Individual fresh Colorado peach and blueberry

pies in ramekins topped with ice cream.

[icymist]

7. Homemade Borscht with lamb in the slow cooker with fresh bread.

I haven't made this in years as I just found the recipe packed away in an old book a couple of months ago! This is a great meal for Fall and Winter!

1) Make stock – 1 to 2 med. Onions
2 to 4 cloves of garlic
2 to 3 carrots / cut
Celery / cut
Fresh parsley / cut
Cubes of vegi bullion or Brags (or both)
Water

Cook it up real nice and slowly for several hours. Strain it out and then throw out the vegetables as they have ‘given up the ghost’. There should be one half pot of stock left.

Also, if you want some meat in this, then cook it until tender. Run it under cold water to peel the meat off of the bones. Set aside. Add the meat chunks towards the end of the cooking dish.

2) Add to the stock – one med. Onion / chopped
A couple of carrots
1 to 2 branches of beets (according to size) peel the beets / fry the greens
separately with olive oil and lemon juice.
- Grate the carrots and beets into the stock
- 2 or 3 cloves of garlic / pressed or finely chopped
- 5 to 7 capfuls of lemon juice
Cook about an hour on low or medium heat. Then add about one half head of cabbage (cut up
And throw it in there) Cook until the cabbage is soft. Add a 16 oz can of crushed tomatoes, a bit of fresh parsley, a few pinches of salt (to taste), and the meat.
Serve with sour cream or yogurt.

[dem in texas]

8. Special Dinner for Daughter

I made her favorite dish, beef rouladen. Served with mashed potatoes, fresh green beans and ripe sliced tomatoes. Also made some Parker House rolls and a lemon ice box pie.

I learned to make rouladen when I lived in Germany many years ago. My German neighbor showed me how to make it the traditional German way. but over the years my recipe has evolved to something different and I think more flavorful. I make smaller meat rolls, about 2 by 4 inches not like the larger ones in the traditional German recipe and I put the bacon in the outside, not on the inside like the German recipe calls for. I use thin cut round steak cut into the small pieces, spread with yellow salad mustard, sprinkled with pepper and paprika, then spread with some finely chopped onion and dill pickle on top. Then press the mixture into the meat and roll up the meat. Wrap 1/3 to 1/2 piece of bacon around the steak roll and secure with tooth pick. Make enough for each person to have at least 4 rolls.

Brown the meat rolls in a little oil in a heavy skillet. When brown, add water to almost cover and bring to boil, put lid on skillet and lower heat and simmer about 30-40 minutes, adding more water as needed. Then remove lid and turn up heat to medium and let the liquid cook away, there will be good stuff in the skillet. Watch carefully to prevent burning and turn the meat rolls and brown them again. Add more water and simmer about 20-30 minutes longer. You will have a beautiful brown liquid in the skillet and it will smell so good. At this point, I usually add a little of the vinegar juice from the dill pickle jar.

Once the meat is tender, remove to serving platter. Thicken the liquid in the skillet with flour and water mixed until smooth. Season the gravy with salt and pepper as needed and a shake or two of Worcestershire sauce. When the gravy is thick, pour over meat rolls. You can remove the toothpicks when you take the rolls from the skillet, but everyone in our family knows to look out for toothpicks and remove them.

This dish is the all time favorite of my kids and grandkids and I always get requests for it when we have a family dinner. It is now easy to get the thin cut round steak, it is sold at all the Hispanic Markets. I used to have to ask the butcher to cut it for me.

Its a lot trouble to make, lots of chopping and messy when rolling the meat, but a surefire crowd pleaser.

[NJCher]

9. ratz

I just passed on a good special at the supermarket where I could have made this. Instead, I didn't get it. (Kicking self.)

Must have been a great experience to have lived in Germany.




Cher

[locks]

10. Thanks

Sounds delicious!