dan dan noodles with pickled cucumbers - part deux

This is the second time I have tried this recipe (see first time here).  

I again used hothouse cucumbers, but instead of having them julienned, I just sliced them thinly and put them together less than an hour before the meal.  They kept their crunch this time.  I also reduced the red pepper so that they would not be so hot.  Chef D said I am getting closer to what he is looking for in a pickled cucumber.  Practice makes perfect!

I used a chinese-style noodle that we had in the cupboard that just might be called long-life (they were VERY long).  The peanut-flavored sauce with ground turkey chunks worked well again. 

I liked this one and we'll have it again in the future.  Not bad at all for less than 500 calories.

teriyaki chicken thighs with shitake ginger soup and bamboo rice

I really liked this teriyaki chicken tonight -- yummy!  I had all of the ingredients here, since we used many of them during Supper Club Saturday last weekend.  After they were finished on the grill, I put them in a small iron skillet, covered with foil, and placed them in the warming oven while the rice finished.  They were still tender and had a nice, sweet flavor from the marinade.  

This bamboo rice that we found at Fresh Market last week looked yummy and has only 160 calories per cup, so I had to grab a jar to give it a try.  I was a little disappointed.  I did not really know what to expect, but it was pretty flavorless.  The green onions and a little salt and pepper helped somewhat, but I will need to come up with something else to add when I use it again.  Chef D ended up putting his in his soup.

I decided to try to recreate Chef D's soup from last Saturday, minus the noodles, but I did not quite hit the mark.  I will need to add some additional bouillon next the time.  I still liked it, though.

Again, a good meal for under 300 calories this time!

thai chicken skewer wraps with kow pad (fried rice)

This is my final test of a Cuisine at Home recipe.  The thai chicken skewer wraps were the last of the recipes I culled from my 2 year supply of Cuisine at Home magazines.  It seems that most of my choices were asian-inspired recipes and I found that many of them used red pepper flakes that brought way too much heat to the table.  I probably should not have tried to do them all in a two week period, but spread them out amongst less-spicy meals.

The peanut sauce was really good, even though I did make way too much.  I did save the remainder to use on ramen noodles. I did not necessarily follow the kow pad recipe exactly.  It was okay, but nothing special.

If I attempt this recipe again, I will make the following alterations: 

• use iceberg lettuce 
  
• velvet the chicken in small pieces and stir-fry it with some of the peanut sauce (instead of skewering and broiling -- no flavor)
  
• omit the cilantro
  
• make less of the peanut sauce

shrimp wontons with asian soup - repeat

The first time I made this meal, something was just not quite right, so I thought I would give it another try tonight.  Since the wontons were a little lacking in the flavor department last time, I added a bit more seasonings (extra fresh grated ginger and a minced clove of garlic).  These wonton wrappers did not do well in the purse-shape I created last time, so we had little 'envelopes' tonight.  

It still did not work.

Chef D explained to me why it did not work. They need to be fried, not 'boiled'.  All the seasonings get washed out in the water.  So, now I need to decide whether we are going to go for a three-peat in the future.  These are just so cute I really want to make them work!

dan dan noodles with pickled cucumbers

This was yet another recipe from my Cuisine at Home magazines.  I decided to use a hothouse cucumber instead of the usual garden variety before I realized that the recipe called to julienne the cucumber.  I wasn't sure if it would provide enough crunch once I began to cut them up.   I did not have any of the long-life noodles, so I just used thin spaghetti.  

I made the cucumbers earlier in the day and I think I may have put in a few too many of the red pepper flakes.  Fortunately, the noodle dish did not have too much of a kick to it, so the cucumbers worked okay for me.  Chef D, on the other hand, prefers a previous non-julienned pickled cucumber recipe with a little less kick to it .  In the end, I really enjoyed this meal, even with the extra heat in the cukes. The peanut flavor was divine.  Chef D also enjoyed the noodles and said he could eat it again.  This one's a keeper!

yakatori chicken with stir-fried vegetables and jasmine rice

This is a recipe from Guy Fieri's Guy Off the Hook series on Food Network.  It sounded too good to pass up, so tonight we had a little Yakatori Chicken.  Since I had several bell peppers that had been purchased last week for a meal that was never made, I decided to stir-fry them with some onions and mushrooms.  Then, at the last minute, I decided we needed a starch, so I pulled out the basmati rice.  I noticed that it suggested to let the rice soak for 20 minutes prior to cooking to get the full length of the rice, so I decided to go for it.  Wow.  That was some long rice.

The preparation was a bit labor intensive, taking more time than I usually do to prepare dinner.  In the end, it wasn't bad, and even had a decent flavor. But as Chef D put it, "ooo, chicken mcnuggets!".  Yes, he was being a bit sarcastic, but in a funny way.  If it had been a quick and easy to fix course, I may have considered it again in the future.  But, this was way too much work for a meal that did not bring fireworks to the palate.

asian beef lettuce wraps with curried basmati rice

This recipe was pretty easy since it was one that used leftovers for both parts. The beef for the wraps was leftover from slow-cooker roast beef night and the rice was leftover from pan-seared salmon with coconut rice night. I could not find bibb lettuce anywhere, so I picked out the most pliable lettuce I could find locally, which ended up being regular green leaf lettuce. The original recipe called for a curried couscous, but since Chef D is not a big couscous fan, we decided to use up the leftover coconut rice. Of course, I forgot to add the leftover coconut milk that I saved for just this meal. But, the rice turned out tasty anyway.

Chef D ate his portions of the meal, and was the first to remember the missing coconut milk. The ribs of the lettuce were distracting for him and, although the flavors of the beef were acceptable, they just were not special to him.

I really like the idea of lettuce wraps and will continue to search for a different recipe to try. But, I doubt I will use this one again.

Also, tonight is the inauguration night for our new dish we picked up at World Market last night. I thought it went nicely with our asian-inspired meal.

shrimp wontons with dipping sauce

This was a first for me, as I have never before made wontons, or asian dumplings, or dim sum (or whatever other name you want to call them). Before I began this blog, and my adventure in meal planning and cooking new types of food, I would have never attempted to do this without Chef D's assistance. I was excited to find that I was able to do it all by myself. So, if I can do it all by myself, you can, too! Late in the day, I realized that the course was a bit minimalistic and needed something other than just wontons, so I added a light broth to go with them.

Flavor:
Chef D thought the dumplings were bland alone, but were tasty with the accompanying ginger vinegar dipping sauce (I did not make the garlic chili sauce).
I agreed with Chef D on the flavor. I must add that in the middle of preparations, I realized that the coriander/cilantro that I had was actually parsley. I am curious as to how that affected the overall flavor.

Texture:
Chef D had no comments regarding texture.
My only comment would be that the top part of the dumpling, where it is all connected like the top of a drawstring purse, was much tougher that the rest.

Ease of Preparation:
Making the dumplings did take a little more time than I thought (about 30 minutes), but they were actually much easier to build than I had anticipated. The recipe was right on target with it only taking 2-3 minutes to cook them.

Recommendations for future use:
Try it with the coriander/cilantro next time. Research additional seasonings to use with the bland shrimp main ingredient.

Rating: 3.5 stars

oriental chicken wraps

Due to the fact that Chef D strongly dislikes chow mein noodles and prefers not to include mandarin oranges in a wrap, I made a few alterations to the recipe. Instead of chow mein noodles, I fried up a few wonton wrapper strips and julienned a carrot to include in the wrap. On the side, there was fresh honeydew melon balls, strawberries and green grapes (mostly on 'my' side, as Chef D passed on the fruit).

REVIEW:
Goal: Prepare a meal instead of dining out

Flavor:
Chef D had issues with the mixed cultures being represented (using the hispanic culture's flour tortillas with chinese-flavored filling elements). This was especially noticeable with this recipe since it brought to mind (or palate) one of his favorites, Oriental Chicken Salad, but was higher in carbs due to the tortillas. The fried wonton wrapper strips definitely helped add to the flavor in the place of the chow mein noodles.
I enjoyed the wrap, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had followed Chef D's lead and use the Chinese Chicken Salad Dressing we had in the fridge instead of the recipe's dressing. My favorite part was how the flavors were reminiscent of the Oriental Chicken Salad that Chef D made for me first during the beginning of our courtship.
Texture:
Chef D appreciated the crunch provided by the fried wonton wrapper strips, which he thought was necessary to pull off acheiving the specific flavor combination similar to his Oriental Chicken Salad.
Texture isn't really a think I think about, unless is is total mush or slimy. Therefore, the texture for this was just fine for me.
Ease of Preparation: The marinade was so easy and only had 4 ingredients. It also helped using a ziploc bag. Prep time was minimal.
Goal Success: 5 stars since we ate it and did not dine out.

Recommendations for future use: Chef D suggested preparing only 1 chicken breast in the future (instead of the 3 that were prepared tonight) unless I was planning to use leftover chicken as part of other meals during the week. He also suggested using a sesame chinese chicken salad dressing instead of the mayonnaise dressing provided in the recipe as well as tossing the green onions (their flavor was hidden with everything else in the filling). I think I should fix the Oriental Chicken Salad soon so I can share the recipe here.