Mongolian Beef

Sorry for my lack of action in the past few weeks. Been super duper busy with work and study and haven't had time to do anything. I leave home in the morning and only come home to sleep and do the same cycle the next day. do forgive me. The story behind this was that I was craving some Asian food and didn't have enough money to go get take out so I decided to make some at home with ingredients I had lying around. Anyway, this recipe is a mix between a Mongolian beef and a beef in oyster sauce, because I'm an oyster sauce addict and thought it would taste better with some oyster goodness. Either way, it's yummy.

Your challenge: Mongolian beef to go head over heals.

Ready --- Steady --- Cook!

Mongolian Beef

(Serves 4) 

Ingredients

300g Beef tenderloin, thinly sliced against the grain

1 Red bell pepper, sliced 

2 Green onion, sliced 

2 Bunches of Bok Choy, cut

50g Cornflour

2 Cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp ginger, grated
1 Teaspoon chilli flakes
1 Tablespoon Corriander, chopped 

4 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 Tablespoons oyster sauce

3 Tablespoons agave nectar (or sugar)

3 Tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry or any red wine

3 Tablespoons water

1-2 Tablespoons oil for the pan

Method:  

1. Stir together soy sauce, agave nectar/sugar, water, and Chinese rice wine/dry sherry. Set aside. 

2. coat the beef in cornflour

3. Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Make sure the oil completely coats the bottom of the pan. Add the beef and quickly sauté until lightly browned.

 

4. Add garlic and ginger. Sauté for a few seconds. 

5. Add onions, bell peppers, bok choy and cook.

6. Add the sauce from step 1. The sauce should quickly come to a boil. Lower the heat a bit and allow it to bubble. Keep stirring. Reduce until it becomes thicker and glazes the beef. It should happen very quickly, within minutes. 

serve with steamed rice

Note: The corn starch helps to brown the beef and thicken the sauce once the sauce is added to the pan. 


Challenge Accepted ??? 

Enjoy!

Tosakanth 

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I realised I hadn't eaten a proper meal in a few days, the last time I ate a full meal was Monday dinner and today is Friday. Whoopsy daisies. Just been lazying around at home doing useless stuff online. Thus I decided to switched on my housewife mode today and started cooking and cleaning. lucky for you I documented what I cooked. Anyway, arranged the cupboards because it looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off in there. Also arranged the counter-top and got rid of the 5 different types of black tea and put it all in one compact variety box. Finished off/threw out all the tiny bits and pieces that were leftovers just lying around in massive boxes and cleaned out my baking cupboard and arranged them in a methodical order. I may be a bit OCD. I'm an utter mess when I'm just chillin', but when I start cleaning I clean till everything is neat, tidy, orderly and shiny. In that way I'm a meticulous perfectionist, but most of the time I'm just lazy. 

Back to the food. I was going to make Tomato and Basil soup, but realised we didn't have any basil left. So made a fusion french onion tomato coriander soup thingy. Then I remembered that I came across this Sweet and Sour chicken recipe online. I love sweet and sour. I think it's a Lankan thing, because if we go to any Chinese restaurant you have to order Sweet and Sour Prawns and you can never get the same flavour/taste anywhere else in the world. So I gave it a shot because I've always wanted to make it. The sauce was really good, not exactly like the Lankan version but I guess if you add some carrots and pineapples and a lot of artificial colours you could perfect it. 

Your Challenge: make some Sweet and Sour to make you miss mother Lanka.

 

Ready --- Steady --- Cook!

Sweet and  Sour Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken Breading:
3-5 chicken breast
salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup canola oil

Sauce:
3/4 cups sugar

6 Tablespoons ketchup

1/2 cup white distilled vinegar

3 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

METHOD:

1. Rinse chicken, trim off fat or extras and then cut into 1 inch cubes.

2. Season with salt and pepper. 

3. Dip chicken into cornstarch and coat all the way and then into eggs.

4. Heat oil in large skillet. Cook chicken until browned. 

5. Place in baking dish. 3 chicken breasts can be in a 9x9 but 5 chicken breasts fits better in a 9x13.

The Sauce:

1. Whisk all ingredients until smooth. 

2. Then pour evenly over chicken. 

3. Turn chicken so the sauce gets on both sides and then put in the oven at 160C for 15 minutes. turn chicken and then cook for 15 more minutes.

Challenge Accepted???

Enjoy!

Tosakanth

Chicken with Balsamic Cream Sauce

Pretty simple stuff really. Saw the recipe on this blog that did healthy recipes with low carbs. Since I was going through my balsamic vinegar phase and my diet week, thought I'd give it a go because I was super hungry and didn't have anything at home to eat. As usual I added my own twist to it. Didn't have heavy cream so used milk instead and added corn flour to make it thick. It was super. It didn't have a very strong balsamic flavour but it had a yummy gravy-like flavour. Therefore I think this would be a really good alternative for gravy during Christmas. Just a thought. Up to you.

Your Challenge: get on this awesomic balsamic trick!

 

Ready---Steady---Cook!

Chicken with Balsamic Cream Sauce
(Serves 2)

INGREDIENTS:

2 pieces Chicken Breasts

1/2 Onion, thinly sliced

4 Mushrooms, sliced
1/4 Red Bell Pepper sliced

1/2 Cup of Chicken Broth

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream or milk

5 tablespoons Butter

6 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
2 teaspoons Corn Flour  (if using milk instead of cream)
1 bunch coriander, chopped
1/2 Cup of Parmesan Cheese (optional) 

Salt and Pepper
  

METHOD:

1. Saute onions over medium heat in 2 tablespoons of butter until they are nice and caramelized - About 15 Minutes. Add the mushrooms and bell peppers and cook. When the onions are a nice golden brown and mushrooms and bell peppers have cooked, remove from the heat and set aside

2. In a separate pan, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat.  Place the chicken breasts in the pan.  Brown on both sides, remove from the pan and set aside (Note - they will not be all the way cooked at this stage)

3. De-glaze the pan with the chicken stock.  Use a rubber spatula to make sure you get all the chicken bits and butter off the pan. This helps to flavor your sauce

4. Add the heavy cream/milk, balsamic vinegar and corn flour and stir immediately. (so the corn flour mixes well)

5. Add mushrooms, onions and bell peppers and a little S&P, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes

6. Add the chicken back to the pan, turn heat back up to medium and saute until the chicken is cooked all the way through.  About 10-15 minutes.

7. Remove chicken breasts from the pan and plate. Add the Parmesan and coriander to the sauce and keep stirring until the cheese is completely melted in.

Note: Only add corn flour if you are using milk instead of heavy cream to make the sauce thick. If you are using cream you do not need to use corn flour as your thickening agent.

Challenge Accepted???

Enjoy!

Tosakanth