Chow Mein

Cantonese Chow Mein

Serves 2 as a main dish or 4 people as a side dish.

Prepare sauce:

• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp XO sauce (optional)
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 cup unsalted chicken broth

Combine corn starch and water to make a slurry then stir in other ingredients and set aside.

Prepare noodles:

• 1/2 lb (250 g) fresh chow mein egg noodles
• 4 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 small onion cut into 1/8 inch slices
• 1/2 cup broccoli florets
• 1/4 cup julienne carrots (carrots cut in matchsticks)
• 1/2 cup snow peas, tips and strings removed
• 4 mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/2 lb (250  grams) chicken thigh meat, cut in 1/2 inch slices
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Blanch fresh noodles in boiling water 1 minute and drain thoroughly.
2. Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large wok or skillet over high heat until very hot.
3. Add noodles, spreading out carefully (hot oil splatters).
4. Fry on one side until noodle tips are crispy and brown, then turn (about 5 minutes per side).
5. Remove to warm serving platter and cover to keep warm.
6. Add 1 Tbsp more oil to pan and when hot, stir in onions (30 seconds) then broccoli and carrots (1 minute) then add snow peas (stir fry another minute). Transfer vegetables to a bowl and set aside.
7. Wipe pan dry and heat another tablespoon of oil over high heat.
8. Add chicken thigh meat and stir fry to cook, toss in mushroom slices to cook slightly. Transfer to bowl of vegetables.
9. Add seasoning sauce to the pan and bring to boil, stirring until it thickens (about 1 minute).
10. Return vegetables and chicken and toss in hot sauce 1-2 minutes until heated through.
11. Add salt and pepper to taste.
12. Pour mixture over noodles on serving platter.
13. Garnish with green onions and serve.

Chow Mein Recipe #2 or Rice Bowl

• 3 Tbsp hoisin sauce
• 3 Tbsp sesame oil
• 6 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 cup broth (chicken or vegetable or mushroom)
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp white granulated sugar
• grated fresh ginger and minced garlic (to taste, optional)

Stir ingredients together in a bowl. Set sauce aside.

Add to stir fry after other ingredients are cooked.

Note: If there is a lot of water/broth in the wok, stir more corn starch into the sauce mixture.

Substitutions: Hoisin sauce: oyster sauce, fish sauce, or soy sauce 

                       Sesame oil: peanut oil or canola oil (add sesame seeds to the stir fry for flavor)

                       Broth: water

                       White sugar: brown sugar, honey, sherry

                       Fresh ginger: ginger powder

                       Fresh garlic: prepared garlic minced in oil, garlic powder

                       Cornstarch: rice flour or potato starch (make from straining raw grated potato)                   

Stir Fry

• 8 oz  pkg chow mein noodles OR egg noodles OR steamed white rice
• 2 cloves minced garlic (if not in sauce)
• stir fry vegetables (1 bag frozen, or fresh vegetables see below)
• 1 lb meat: chicken, pork or beef strips
• green onion for garnish

1. Boil chow mein noodles or egg noodles (if using), drain and set aside. OR steam white rice.
2. Heat a little oil in a wok and stir in minced garlic then chicken, pork or beef strips.
3. Remove cooked meat from wok, set aside.
4. Stir fry vegetables (carrots, onion, chopped cabbage, or beans, bean sprouts and peppers, or broccoli, mushrooms, water chestnuts.) 
5. If using a bag of frozen vegetables you may end up with more liquid in the pan, if so remove vegetables with slotted spoon and boil liquid to reduce before returning vegetables to wok OR increase amount of corn starch in sauce to thicken additional liquid.
6. Return meat to the pan, add cooked noodles (if using) add sauce, toss and heat through.
7. Serve in bowls on rice (if not using noodles) or serve rice as a side dish.
8. Garnish with chopped green onion.

Chow Mein Recipe #3

Boil and drain:

•  6 oz package medium egg noodles.

Cook together in wok:

•  meat strips
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil.

Add and cook 3-4 minutes more:

• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 8 sliced scallions
• 1 each: seeded, chopped red pepper AND green pepper

Stir in and cook 2 minutes more:

• drained egg noodles
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp rice wine OR dry sherry

If noodles stick add some water.

Add:

• 6 oz bean sprouts

Cook 2 minutes more. To serve, sprinkle with:

• sesame seeds

Teriyaki Meatballs with Katsu Dipping Sauce

2 lbs. of lean ground beef will make about 24 one-inch meatballs


Make Teriyaki Sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1-1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp garlic powder
5 Tbsp brown sugar
1-2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Mix soy sauce, 1 cup water, ginger, garlic powder, brown sugar and honey in a saucepan.
Heat.
Mix cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water in a cup till cornstarch is dissolved.
Add cornstarch mixture to heated sauce in pan, stirring in quickly.
Heat till thickened, take off heat and allow to cool.

Make Meatballs:
2 tbsp minced onion
1-1/4 cup Teriyaki Sauce
2 lbs lean ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs
Toothpicks for serving

Combine onion, 1/4 cup Teriyaki Sauce and raw ground beef in a large bowl.
Mix well.
Shape into small 1" meatballs.
Place on an ungreased nonstick baking seet or shallow baking pan.
Bake in preheated 325 degree F oven for 20 minutes.

Toss with remaining Teriyaki Sauce.
Place a toothpick in each meatball and serve on a platter, with Katsu Dipping Sauce if desired:

Katsu Dipping Sauce

1 cup Heinz ketchup
4 tsp dry mustard powder
1-1/2 tsp garlic powder
1-1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp Frank's hot sauce (or an additional Tbsp Worcesetershire sauce if you don't like it hot) 

Stir all ingredients together in a small bowl.
Cover and refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

Lime Butter

Spread lime butter on corn on the cob or dab on grilled fish.

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1 lime
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro or parsley
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Grate zest from 1/2 of the lime skin. Juice the whole lime.

Add zest, lime juice to softened butter in a small bowl.

Stir in spices.

Roast Pork Shoulder

Roast Pork Shoulder with Leek Sauce

5 lb. pork butt shoulder roast

olive oil

salt and pepper

6 leeks (or bunch green onions)

garlic clove or 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

Rub roast with olive oil, sprinkle on salt and pepper.

Place roast in a pan and cook at 500 degrees F 30 minutes.

Lower temperature to 250 degrees F and cook 8 to 12 hours, covered.

A half-hour before you serve the pork, remove from oven.

Let cool a few minutes. Pull meat apart.

Drizzle leek oil sauce on pork before serving.

Leek or  Green Onion Sauce

Clean leeks or onions.
 Cut off root bottoms.
 Chop very finely, place in small bowl.

Pour in just enough olive oil to cover.
 Add a squeeze of lemon juice and if you are using green onions, a dash of garlic powder or a chopped fresh garlic clove. (Leeks taste a little garlicky themselves)

Let sit for 30 minutes so oil absorbs flavor.

A half-hour before you serve the pork, remove from oven.

Let cool a few minutes. Pull meat apart.

Simple Mushroom Gravy

• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 1 can drained mushrooms
• 1-2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1-2 cups cold beef bouillion, chicken stock, or vegetable stock
• 1-2 tbsp. sour cream or heavy cream

1. Brown diced onions in butter. Add mushrooms.
2. Whisk flour in cold bouillion, then add to onions and butter, stir till thickened.
3. Stir in some sour cream or cream and simmer on low till serving time.

Tomato Sauce

Fresh homegrown tomatoes are one of the joys of life but in winter, I like to make this tomato sauce with canned tomatoes. Diced tomatoes are convenient but canned whole tomatoes have better flavour because it's more likely you won't get any unripe, green tomatoes mixed in. If you use whole tomatoes, mash and chop them up yourself in the pot as they cook, or put them in a bowl and use your hands to crush them before cooking.

You can also use bottled tomato puree and add a little tomato paste for thickening.

Now that two of my children are at college, this recipe makes enough for one meal with left-overs to freeze. Doubled, the recipe makes enough sauce for 4 pasta dinners for 4. Freeze the extra sauce.

Use a soup ladle to transfer cooled sauce from the pot into freezable containers or zip-lock bags (these save space in the freezer.)  One drawback to freezing tomato sauce in reusable plastic containers is that the sauce sometimes stains the plastic a reddish tint that's hard to get out, even after soaking in vinegar and baking soda.

Tomato Sauce

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large or 2 medium onions, chopped fine
• 4 cloves chopped garlic
• Two 28-oz (796 ml) cans diced tomatoes (Italian plum tomatoes or regular, as you like)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil in season, or 2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh oregano in season, or 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp. hot red pepper flakes (omit if you don't like spicy sauce)
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large pot and stir in the onion and garlic till softened.
2. Add the tomatoes, including the liquid from the can, and stir in the herbs.
3. Turn up the heat to bring the mixture to a boil, then lower heat to simmer 10-20 minutes.
4. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

As a change from pasta, try adding the tomato sauce to chicken breasts or pork chops cooked in a pan with sliced onion and peppers (green, orange, yellow, red), mushrooms, slivered carrots, and/or sliced zucchini, serve with cooked rice or barley.

Pizzaiola Sauce

Makes enough tomato sauce for 1 lb. of pasta.

Half of this recipe is enough to make Veal Scallopine (2 lb. of thinly sliced veal fried in 6 Tbsp. olive oil, salted and peppered and topped with this sauce.

• 1-1.2 lbs plum tomatoes, peeled and diced OR 3 cups canned Italian peeled tomatoes, diced
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large clove garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp parsley

1. Saute garlic in oil until golden, do not let brown. Remove garlic from the pan.
2. Add tomatoes and seasonings to the oil and cook uncovered over medium flame about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Marinara Sauce

• olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper
• dry red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp oregano
• chopped parsley
• 1-2 oz white wine
• 28 oz. can whole tomatoes
• pinch sugar
• 1 Tbsp chopped basil

1. Cover bottom of pan with oil.
2. Cook garlic with bay leaf, parsley, white wine 2-3 minutes.
3. Crush the tomatoes.
4. Add tomatoes with juices, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, sugar, oregano, basil.
5. Cover pot and bring to boil.
6. Turn down to simmer 1/2 hour. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Burgers, Meatballs, Tomato Meat Sauce for Pasta or Lasagna

In a last-minute rush on Christmas Eve, I called from the grocery store parking lot and asked Norm what he wanted me to pick up for dinner. He said, "mix up some of your hamburgers and I'm going to BBQ." I wasn't going to argue--this would be easy! Much easier than my family's traditional Christmas Eve fish-and-a-dish-for-each-of-the-twelve-apostles-dinner. There would be no left-overs to refrigerate (a necessity with a big turkey thawing in the fridge.)

If you don't mind cooking outside during the winter wearing your parka and ski gloves, here's my BBQ burger recipe...and adaptations for meatballs and tomato meat sauce.

For tomato meat sauce, use lean ground meat and don't add the crackers or bread. You can add the carrots or zucchini. Use "medium" or "regular" ground beef for BBQ burgers. Lean meat sticks to the grill unless you use a lot of cooking spray, and it also tends to crumble. Medium ground meat will keep its shape better and a little fat in the meat will add moistness and flavor.

Use a non-stick pan when you fry the burgers or heat a little oil in a cast iron fry pan before you add the meat.

Family-sized "club" packs of fresh ground beef or pork save you some money, so buy the club pack and make two batches, then freeze half for another even easier dinner.

To freeze, place formed patties between layers of wax paper, seal in a plastic bag or plastic wrap, and freeze for up to 3 months. Place meatballs, separated on a parchment paper lined tray or baking sheet, in the freezer to freeze individually. When frozen, put them in a freezer bag to store in your freezer. You can freeze them uncooked or cooked but don't freeze meat that has been previously frozen.

Remember to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water before and after handling raw meat. Wear disposable food prep gloves if you dislike working with raw ground meat.

• 1 lb medium ground beef
• 1 lb lean ground pork OR 1/2 lb. ground veal and 1/2 lb. ground pork
• 1 large beaten egg (omit if you are making tomato meat sauce)
• 20 unsalted soda crackers OR a slice of bread dipped in milk or water and crumbled into the meat mixture. (Omit the crackers or bread if you are making sauce.)
• 2 heaping tsp. onion salt 
• 1 tsp granulated garlic or 1 clove finely chopped garlic 
• 1/2 cup grated raw carrot or zucchini (if making meatballs)
• 1 small or medium chopped onion 
• 1 jar/tin spaghetti sauce (if making meatballs or meat sauce.)

1. Heat up the BBQ if you're cooking burgers outside.
2. Place the crackers between two sheets of wax paper or in a clean plastic bag. Roll with a rolling pin until thoroughly crushed. My grandmother used crushed crackers, my great-grandmother used a slice of bread moistened in milk and torn into small pieces.
3. In a large bowl, mix the ground meat and beaten egg, with your clean hands.
4. Add the crushed soda crackers or crumbled bread, onion salt, garlic and onion.
5. If you are making meatballs or meat sauce, add grated carrot and/or zucchini. Norm's mom made the best, biggest meatballs and always added grated carrot, as he tells me every time I make spaghetti and meatballs and don't bother with the carrot.
6. Shape into round patties about the size of your palm if you are making hamburgers. BBQ or fry until no longer pink in the center.
7. To make regular meatballs, shape into balls, about 1" in diameter. This is the best size for freezing.
8. If you're making meatballs for Norm, shape meatballs that are about 2" in diameter and don't forget the carrot or he'll tell you all about how his mother used to make them. And then see the last paragraph below.
9. Depending on the size of your palms and thickness of the meat and the extras you add, one batch will make 7-10 hamburger patties, 20 small meatballs, or 10 big ones.
10. If you do not have time to form the meat mixture into patties, put a little olive oil in the bottom of a pan, brown the meat, crumbling the mixture with a fork as you stir, until the meat is all cooked through. Drain, then return to the pan and add a jar or tin of your favorite spaghetti sauce and you have a very filling, hefty meat sauce to top pasta or to use in lasagna.
11. If you are making meatballs, put about a Tbsp. of olive oil in a pan, and brown the meatballs. If you have made small meatballs, you can cook them through, just this way. Add to heated spaghetti sauce, serve with toothpicks as an hors d'oeuvres, or  serve as a meatball-and-boiled-potato dinner.
12. If you are making Norm's favorite big meatballs with grated carrot, simmer them to cook through after browning. Drain off excess fat (leaving a bit in the bottom of the pan so the meatballs don't stick) then add a jar of spaghetti sauce. Norm would prefer you to simmer homemade tomato sauce all afternoon long, like he says his mom did, but since you haven't done this, use a jar of good tomato sauce. Let the meatballs and sauce bubble together on the stove then turn down to simmer and cover, leaving the pan lid slightly open, to avoid splatters.