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Recently, my husband and I visited a local Asian restaurant one afternoon to enjoy some sushi (though he says my choice of sushi is not real sushi as I will not eat anything that isn't cooked).  As part of the lunch special, we were given a choice of Miso soup or Hot and Sour Soup. I'd never had Hot and Sour Soup so I opted for that and loved it.  Of course, we cannot afford to go out for sushi all the time so for Christmas I bought my husband everything he needed to make sushi at home.  The only problem was, I wanted the Hot and Sour Soup to go along with it.  So began my mission to find a recipe that resembled what our local restaurant served.  After surfing around the web and reading several recipes, I decided to try a recipe by Tyler Florence from Food Network as I have had great success with the recipes of his I have tried. Surprising enough, this is the first Hot and Sour Soup recipe I tried and I think this is very similar to what we had that day.  It's close enough that I'm happy with it.

Here's what you'll need
8 oz Shiitake mushrooms (I used fresh; however, you can find dried and reconstitute them with water)
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 inch piece fresh ginger, grated
1 Tbsp chile paste
1 can bamboo shoots, sliced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
2 quart chicken stock (the recipe called for Chinese chicken stock, but I used a low fat type I had on hand)
1/2 square firm tofu (I used lite firm tofu and couldn't taste a difference)
2 eggs
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water
Fresh cilantro for garnishing

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First begin by preparing the mushrooms, tofu, and ginger.  If you are using dried mushrooms, reconstitute the mushrooms with boiling water per the directions on the package.  Chop the mushrooms and tofu into bite size pieces.  Grate the ginger.

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In a large stock pot, heat oil then add chile paste, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms.  Sautee for 1 minute to infuse everything with flavor. 

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As your vegetables are sautéing, in a small measuring cup combine soy, vinegar, sugar, and white pepper.

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Add soy mixture to vegetable mixture.  Simmer.

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Add chicken stock.  Bring to a boil and simmer for approximately 10 minutes.

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Meanwhile, combine cornstarch with 1/4 cup water.  Mix well until lumps have dissolved.

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Beat egg.

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Stir in tofu and boil 3 minutes.  Add cornstarch and stir until thickened.  After soup has reached desired consistency, begin stirring soup in one direction to create current. Remove your spoon and slowly pour the eggs into the soup in a steady stream.  The egg will cook and feather out into the broth. 

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Top with fresh cilantro and serve immediately.  This one has some kick, so if you don't like things with a lot of "heat" to them, you may opt to reduce the amount of chile past you add.  You'll definitely want a fair amount of beverage for this one.

MISSION: SUCCESSFUL!

 
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Tonight's mission was a super simple dinner with lots of flavor - Grilled Cuban Pork Chops.  Yum!  I found this recipe on my iCookbook (sorry, no link since it is an app I downloaded from the Windows Store).  Don't be fooled by the lack of ingredients because these little pork chops are full of flavor.



Here's what you'll need

4 pork chops, 1/2 in. thick w/bone-in
1 pkg Oretga Fajita seasoning
1/2 cup water
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 can pineapple, sliced

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Begin by preparing your marinade.  Mix together fajita mix and water, stir well to combine.

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In a gallon size zipper bag, place the pork chops and pour marinade over meat.  Seal bag and squish around to make sure the meat is coated.  Place in refrigerator and marinade approximately 15 to 30 minutes prior to grilling.

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My husband manned the grill tonight so I didn't get any photos.  Grill the pork chops and pineapple until cooked through, approximately  15 minutes on each side (total 1/2 hour).

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Serve pork chop and pineapple with rice.  I added a couple of tablespoons of chopped cilantro, some lime juice, and salt to give the rice some flavor.  This dish smelled amazing coming in from the grill and tasted great.  This would make a great New Years dish!

MISSION: SUCCESSFUL!

 
Normally I would take a picture of all the ingredients, but I got ahead of the game and realized I had already started cooking without taking the photo of the ingredients (oops) so I rolled with it.  I was so excited to begin my mission. 

The summer before last, we made a detour through Atlanta, GA on our way to from the beach Gatlinburg, TN.  We were on our way to see friends in TN and I made a slight detour (without informing my husband of my plans LOL) to the American Girl Store.  Had I told him, he would've never agreed so...yea, I didn't tell him.  What?  I wasn't hurting anyone (though my husband and son may not have agreed as they were "tortured" to sit in this over-the-top decorated pink restaurant surrounded by little girls with their adorable dolls) and my daughter was super thrilled to see the American Girl store for the first time.  She was, after all, in little girl heaven. Aside from the slanted-eyed look, I received from the men in the party, we ended up enjoying an excellent meal that night in lovely atmosphere.  My husband and I both ordered the salmon dish that was available at that time.  I'm not a "fish" person - I barely eat the stuff; however, our waitress gushed about how good it was and I was intrigued.  I must admit, this was one of the best meals ever.  I loved it!  When we returned to the American Girl place in Washington, D.C. I was disappointed to see this dish was no longer available.

I have thought about this dish many times over the last year and tonight I decided to try my hand to recreate something similar to what we had during our visit to the American Girl Bistro in Atlanta, GA.

Here's what you'll need

Pan-Seared Teriyaki Salmon w/rice and fresh fruit salsa

1 1/2 lbs fresh salmon fillets, bones and skin removed
1 bottle your favorite teriyaki marinade/glaze (I used the Meijer store brand - it is thick like bbq sauce)
1 cup fresh pineapple, finely chopped
1/4 cup red pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup Nappa cabbage, shredded
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2/3 cup water
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups white rice
3 scallions, sliced

In a medium-size sauce pan, add 4 cups of water, 1 tsp sale, and 2 cups of white rice (not the quick cook type). Reference manufacturers recommended cooking time.  While rice is cooking, slice scallions.  After rice is cooked, place rice in a medium bowl and scallions.  Stir to combine.
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This recipe requires marinading the salmon for at least 4 hours.  I actually began this process the day before and decided to marinade it overnight for a more vivid flavor.

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To make the salsa, you can do this the day before also or you can prepare it that morning.  Begin by prepping your fruit and vegetables.

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After you have chopped and shredded your fruit and vegetables, combine in a medium size bowl with rice wine vinegar, water, sugar, and crushed red pepper flakes.

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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Heat a cast-iron skillet and add olive oil to the pan to ensure the salmon does not stick.  When the pan is sizzling hot, add the salmon.

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Cook about 3 to 4 minutes. When salmon is seared, using a spatula turn each fillet.  Sear the second size.  Place cast-iron skillet in preheated oven and continue to cook 10 to 15 minutes.

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***Please Note***Drain liquid from fruit salsa before serving.

Serve rice topped with salmon and fresh fruit salsa.

Again, this dish was daring on my part.  My daughter typically refuses to eat salmon.  She says it's "yucky".  Tonight I decided to serve dinner and not really tell her what she was eating.  She asked what it was and I just responded with a "do you like it?"  She confessed to did like it and we left it at that.  She ended up eating all of the salmon and most of the fruit salsa.  She was pretty full and left some rice behind, but I would consider this one a keeper.  While I cannot say for sure that it truly tasted like the dish at the American Girl Bistro, I must say this salmon turned out excellent and I will definitely make it again.

MISSION: SUCCESSFUL!

 
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It seems that these days, I'm in the mood to try something new all the time.  I guess I'm just bored with food. It seems I can almost always eat Asian-inspired dishes and tonight was one of those nights.  I decided tonight's mission was to try my hand at making Asian chicken lettuce wraps; however, I wasn't sure how well this would be received by my picky little 7 year old.  She seems to like a lot of Asian dishes we have had at various restaurants, so all hope wasn't lost. 


Here's what you'll need

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps w/Brown Rice

1lb ground chicken
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup hoison sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp Rice vinegar
2 cloves garlice, minced
1 medium carrot, grated
3 green onion, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 head lettuce (iceberg, butter, or bibb)
2 cups brown rice
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp black pepper

Begin by preparing brown rice according to package instructioins.


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In a 10 inch skillet, add olive oil and heat.  Add chicken and brown.

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While chicken is cooking, prepare vegetables.

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Add onions, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and hoison sauce to chicken.  Stir to combine.  Cook until onions begin to soften, about 4 minutes.

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Add scallions, water chestnuts, and carrots to mixture.

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Sprinkle with ginger and black pepper.  Stir to combine and cook and additional 2 to 3 minutes.

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Stir on lettuce leaves.  Can accompany with brown rice.

My daughter loved this meal!  She ate everything which rarely happens so it must have been good.  If you like your chicken to be a little more spicy, you can add 1 tsp Chinese Hot mustard or more to taste.  I left this out because my daughter does not eat things that are spicy; however, this didn't really impact the taste of the dish as everyone in my family really enjoyed it!

MISSION: SUCCESSFUL!

    Author

    Hi, I'm Cindy and I'm on a mission.  As a mother of two in a less than thriving economy, I'm on a mission to get organized to make my life a little easier while also saving money. Join me on my journey to having an organized life.

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