Chinese... we love Chinese! My only problem is the Mono sodium Glutamate, or MSG, abundant in all Chinese food we can purchase at any take-away.
I wrote about this scary "ingredient" before, here. I have since learned how to make at home two of our favorite sauces, the Lemon Sauce, and the Sweet and Sour sauce. They have entered now our regular menu and my son jumps around and celebrates every time I make it :) He is an easy please child, I admit it!
Now, the Sweet and Sour sauce I've made many times, hence I have found a beautiful balance with the ingredients to make it just as we like it best.
Ingredients:
60 grams of tomato sauce
200 grams of water
120 grams of white vinegar (I've used the Apple vinegar and the Pineapple vinegar I made myself)
90 grams of sugar, possibly brown
1 tablespoon of corn starch, not essential but it will thicken the sauce if you like
1 slice of pineapple if you have, cut in small chunks, it gives it a superb twist
There are no pictures for this because it's so easy to make.
Add all the ingredients to a small pot and bring to the boil. Turn the heat to a minimum and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Ready!
It's been a long time since I've posted a recipe, I've been experimenting a lot lately, not only in the kitchen but also with paper and scissors and my son is turning into a crafty little man with his enthusiasm. He loves now to make things, mostly tridimensional things, with paper and glue and glitter and any object he can find loose around the house.
The main experiment in the kitchen has been in the bread compartment. I have succeeded using a US recipe posted by an Italian friend on facebook... That says it all. The recipe is super easy, especially for me. I cannot knead too much now, being 7 months pregnant and a bit short of breath at the moment. The bread made with this recipe came out very well, and I will definitely be posting it soon, because it is super easy and it worked so well for two times in a row, without any "first time failure".
Today I'll be posting about a special kind of gnocchi, Rice Gnocchi. In Italy, we used to have them often in the CHinese restaurant, however I've never seen them on any menu here in Ireland and I know my husband loves them. He didn't eat them for the past five years, but now I know how to make them myself so he's a very happy bunny :)
Ok, the word gnocchi is not too accurate, they look like slices of rice dough, but in the Italian Chinese restaurant that is what they are called, so we'll stick to that.
Ingredients:
100 grams of rice flour for each person
50 grams of plain flour for each person
100 millilitres of water for each person.
Measure the flours.
And place them in a bowl.
Mix in the water and knead until you get a nice dough ball. If needed, add a bit of water.
Let the ball rest for 30 minutes or more in the fridge, so it firms up a bit. I left it for over an hour and it was a pleasure to work with when I took it out.
Cut a thin slice of the dough and press it down on a wooden board, then cut it in the desired shape. It should look like an ellipse, bit I didn't have any elliptical cookie cutter at hand so I just cut them in stripes.
Place all the stripes obtained on the side, and do not flour them at all, otherwise the gnocchi might be a bit harder than what they are intended.
Prepare your condiment. For us it was chicken breast, slowly cooked with some olive oil and soy sauce, along with mushrooms, peppers and courgettes pieces. It is important that the condiment cooks slowly, so it can release the juices needed for the gnocchi.
Once the condiment is ready, put on some salted water and cook the gnocchi in batches of maximum 10 for two minutes in boiling water.
Remove with a strainer after the 2 minutes and place over the condiment in the pan.
Once all the gnocchi are in the pan, stir fry everything for a few minutes turning and turning the contents so all the gnocchi get the chance to come in contact with the sauce.
Serve warm and enjoy. They are not heavy to digest and needless to say my 5 year old son loved them!
No special ingredients, no fuss whatsoever, virtually fat-free... I just love this lemon chicken recipe. I found it on the internet yesterday and wanted to give it a try. However, it called for chicken broth, which I don't have, and yellow food coloring, which I never used and also to fry the chicken... nah, definitely too much!
So, in my version, there is nothing artificial at all, and all the ingredients are in your pantry already. Instead of a take out, why not give this a try?
Ingredients
1 Breast of Chicken for each person eating
Soy Sauce
For the Lemon Sauce:
1/3 of a cup of Sugar
2 tablespoons of Corn or Potato Starch
1 cup of water
3 tablespoons of Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon of Salt
1/2 teaspoon of Turmeric Powder (it will make it nicely yellow!)
Olive Oil
2 sliced of lemon, peeled
First, turn on the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Then cut the chicken breasts in cubes and put it in a plate with some soy sauce to marinate.
Now start making your Lemon Sauce.
In a small bowl place a cup of water, 1/3 of a cup of Sugar (white or brown, whatever you have at home), two tablespoons of Lemon Juice, one teaspoon of Salt and 1/2 teaspoon of Turmeric Powder. Mix everything well and then dissolve in it the 2 tablespoons of Corn or Potato Starch and add the slices of Lemon.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of Olive Oil in a non stick pan and add the mixture to it, stirring.
Once you have a nice gelatinous consistency, remove from the heat and set aside, possibly covered.
Now that the oven has reached temperature, place the diced chicken in one layer in an oven dish.
Place it in the oven and let it bake nicely. Once ready, place the chicken in a bowl and add the Lemon Sauce to it, tossing well so it coats everything.
And here is what it looks like in the plate with some turmeric rice :)
By the time I took the picture I already ate half of it, my apologies. It was just super yummy ;)
