Best Sweet and Sour Chicken

We’ve been eating a home a lot more lately. Which means, when we’re craving specialty food, we have to make it ourselves, while trying to use up the left overs.We had left over onions and green peppers from grilling and decided to try our hand at sweet and sour chicken adapted from this recipe. It was amazing. Right up there with the Kung Pao. Flavorful and even better easy.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sherry wine
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (you can use fresh too)
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups vegetable oil
1 (15 ounce) can pineapple chunks (we used a bigger can and be sure to save the juice!)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 medium green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, cut into 1-inch pieces

Directions:
Mix together first 6 ingredients. Add chicken; coat well. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Fry chicken until lightly browned (we skipped this since we velveted the chicken).  Removed chicken; drain. Drain pineapple, reserving liquid. Add enough water to juice to make 1 cup (if you used a larger can of pineapple, you should have one cup of juice from the can and won’t need the water). Add the cornstarch, mixing well. Combine pineapple juice mixture and next 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil. Stir green pepper, onion and chicken into sauce; cook until thoroughly heated. Serve over rice.

My opinion:
I know what you’re thinking, will this sauce really taste good? It has ketchup for goodness sake! I promise, you it will not only taste good, but be delicious. I like this dish so much better than the one at our favorite local Chinese place. Especially without the breading. One of the secrets is not to cook the green peppers too long. You want them to still be bright green, not dull green. Next time, we might add a dash or two of chili peppers to make it a bit spicy. Yum!

Culture of Busy

Lately everyone seems to like to complain how busy they are every day. College students, children, adults, everyone echos the same complaints. “I’m so busy!” “I can’t possibly add one more thing!”

This blog post by Scott Berkun clearly points out that this culture of busy is ingrained, “That simply by always seeming to have something to do, we all assume you must be important or successful.”

He continues, “people who are always busy are time poor. They have a time shortage.” If you are always too busy, review your commitments. Is there something you’re doing because you’re supposed to, not because you want to? Are you missing out on happenstance opportunities because you aren’t letting life just happen? Are you busy because you’re uncomfortable with sitting still? How many great opportunities have you missed because you’re just too busy? Do your commitments make you happy?

While you’re pondering those questions, think about what being busy really means. This article from Relevant Magazine takes the cult of busy one step further calling it pride.

“People who have not seen each other in a few days or weeks start to catch up, and the talk quickly turns toward comparing notes on how terribly busy we all are,” the author states.

Free time should not be guilt or angst ridden. Free time should be freeing, relaxing, rejuvenating.

A very smart co-worker of mine suggested saying no to just one thing. Just one. If you need a phrase to help you get started, try, “thank you for thinking of me, but I must decline at this time.” See what happens next. Spend an hour (off the clock of course!) doing nothing. When you get antsy after five minutes, sit through it. When you mind screams you should be doing something, ignore it.

What would you do with an extra hour?

Szechuan Kung Pao Chicken

I love Chinese food. When I was younger and my sister and I got to pick the restaurant for our birthday dinner, I always chose the local Chinese restaurant. As I grew up, I loved trying the flavors of the different provinces, but Szechuan has remained a favorite. J found this recipe from Big Oven (our new favorite go to recipe source). It was divine. I was so disappointed there wasn’t any left overs! The secret is in velveting the chicken. This crucial step is what makes all the difference.

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken thighs (we used two large boneless, skinless, chicken breasts)
10 whole red chili peppers (we left five whole)
1 small red onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic (original recipe calls for crushed, we used minced)
1/2 piece fresh ginger (crushed, we just tossed this in the food processor.)
Handful of roasted peanuts (we used unsalted and about a half cup)
Marinade:
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine or Sherry (we used a dry sherry)
1 Egg white
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
Seasoning:
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine or sherry (again, we used a dry sherry)
1 tablespoon dark vinegar (balsamic will do)
1 tablespoon Dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
1 scallion (we used a “bunch” of scallions from our garden)

Directions:
Dice chicken into half-inch cubes (We originally went a little too big, but you also don’t want to make these as small as they are in traditional Kung Pao dishes served in your local Chinese establishment.) Mix marinade, lightly beating the egg white and pour over the chicken. Leave to stand for no more than 30 minutes. Velvet the chicken with oil or water (again, this is the secret and makes a HUGE difference! We used the water method, but the oil method would work as well):
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Stir the chicken to separate and stir again. Simmer for about 2 minutes until the chicken turns white. Drain the chicken. Tear the chilis into pieces, then soak them in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain. Peel the onion and cut into square 1 1/2 inch pieces. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok until very hot (until it starts to smoke). Add the garlic and ginger to the oil, stir for 15 seconds, then add the chilis and stir for a minute or two. Add the onions and continue to stir and flip for another minute. Add the chicken, scallion, peanuts and cook for another minute. After this, if you notice that it seems a little dry for your taste, feel free to mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with a little bit of water and pour in along with your seasoning. Give it a good quick stir (I mean it, be quick, the sugar will burn.) Serve with rice!

My Opinion:
Leaving the chilis in whole meant this dish was spicy. We liked it so much we actually added the left over rice to the wok in order to sop up all of the left over sauce. The chicken was tender, juicy and just amazing. Next time, we’ll add a bit more onion, ginger and garlic. Plus a green pepper for some added vegetables. This dish was so good I could eat it every single day for a long time and never grow bored.

p.s. If anyone one knows where to find Shaoxing wine in Columbia, let me know! I’m sure it would just add a bit more depth to the dish!

Please Disregard

It seems everyone’s email are getting hacked lately. In addition to the first obvious spam message, I’ve received several please disregard follow-up messages. Most of which are some version of this:

“Please disregard any messages you’ve received from me in the last 24 hours. It appears my account was hacked and I have worked to resolve the issue.
I apologize for any inconvenience or confusion these messages may have caused.
Thanks!
Name”

While you should first change your password, should the second step really be sending another message to your friends, family and clients stating, “opps! I hope you haven’t clicked on my last message!”? It depends on what kind of spam you sent.

If the spammer asked for money or indicated you or a loved one is in trouble or might be harmed, obviously contact your friends and family via phone, text or an alternative route. However, if the spam is just run of the mill online pharmacy, then sending a mass email can wait.

In that case, the second step, according to this Reuters article should be to contact your financial adviser, check your bank and take care of other financial concerns. “…while you’re alerting your friends, the hacker might be emailing your brokers in your name and imploring them to wire your assets to a bank account in Malaysia,” the article states. “And if they do, no government or securities industry agency is obligated to reimburse your losses.”

After that, you might want to be reminded that there are good people in the world. At this point, step three is a good time to thank your friends who alerted you to the problem. A simple, thank you email should suffice. Just don’t send a mass email with everyone in the to line. If you must send a mass email, at least use bcc!

Fourth, if you have the option to check your recent log in list, do so. While you’re at it, check your signature line and your Away messages. Change your security questions. Double check and make sure your account isn’t being forwarded somewhere else.

Once you’ve done steps one through four, then it’s time to send a message to your entire address book. You might even use this as a time to say hello to old friends. At least then you’ll know who’s really reading your email!

Do you find the please disregard messages over the top?

J’s Smoked Pork

In addition to the smoked turkey recipe, J has perfected his smoked pork butt for delicious BBQ sandwiches. It’s worth the extra time it takes to smoke this dish.

Ingredients:
Pork Butt
Salt Lick Dry Rub (again, you can use your favorite dry seasoning rub)
mesquite wood

Directions:
Liberally pat the pork with Salt Lick dry seasoning rub, cover and refrigerate overnight. Start grill, let coals get good and gray, until grill temperature reaches  about 250 degrees. Add mesquite wood to top of coals. Place pork on grill for about 12 (yes, really 12) hours or until the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees. Check the coals every 30-40 minutes, adding a handful of coals and a chunk of mesquite each time to keep the grill temp around the 250 mark. Note, the pork will seem to sit at about 175 degrees for a LONG time. This is expected and is when the fat cap (the whole reason you chose this cut over say a pork loin!) breaks down and the collagen in the meat breaks down. It’s important to let this process just happen, so fight the urge to turn up the heat to accelerate the process (it will dry it out). Just go grab a beer, or turn on a sporting event or the xBox and kill more time. Check the coals every 30-40 minutes, adding a handful of coals and a chunk of mesquite each time. Every other time, I recommend basting the butt with a mop sauce. J just used the Eastern Carolina-style sauce he made that day (recipe to come!). After it’s done cooking, let cool for about 30 minutes.

The bone should come out easily and the meat should easily shred with regular forks.
My Opinion:
This is worth the 12 hour wait. By the time you’ve smelled this cooking all day, you’ll be dying to eat it. Enjoy!