Kung Pao Chicken

I was looking at a Chinese menu and suddenly had a hankering for Kung Pao Chicken. I looked around to see if Mark Bittman had a recipe and ta-da he did. I like to look for his stuff first because he's big on making things simple.












Kung Pao Chicken (China)
Mark Bittman

Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar or other dry sherry substitute
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1-1/2 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 6 tablespoons corn, grapeseed, or other neutral oil
• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, cored, and cut into squares
• 1 green bell pepper, stemmed, cored, and cut into squares
• 5 dried chili peppers
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 scallion, trimmed and chopped

DIRECTIONS
1. Whisk the cornstarch into the vinegar until it dissolves, then coat the chicken pieces with the mixture. Marinate while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

2. Heat half the oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bell peppers and cook, stirring only occasionally, until wilted and browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove to a bowl. Add the remaining oil and the chili peppers; cook until they're slightly blackened. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 10 seconds, then stir in the chicken. Cook the chicken, stirring constantly, until it loses its pinkness, about 5 minutes.

3. Turn the heat to low, then sprinkle the sugar over the chicken; stir in the soy sauce and the bell peppers and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Remove from the heat, then stir in the sesame oil and scallions. Garnish with peanuts and serve over white rice.

Italian Ciambotta (Vegetable Stew)

More vegetarian fun! My fridge is bursting with veggies and I was desperate for a way to use them up. I really love vegetables but I'm always at a loss for what to do with them. Enter Ciambotta, my rescue dish. This is apparantly a traditional Southern Italian dish, and has many variations (as do all traditional dishes) depending on who's cooking. I got the original recipe from Epicurious, and switched out for things I had in the fridge and pantry. I added chickpeas to give it some protein and it makes a really lovely main dish. You'd be amazed at how much flavor there is with just simple salt and pepper seasoning.

Italian Vegetable Stew (Ciambotta)
Adapted from recipe in Gourmet Magazine
yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings
active time: 45 min
total time: 45 min

Ingredients

1/3 cup olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 leek, hard green removed and remainder cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
3 carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup water
1 3/4 pounds fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 red bell peppers, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
3/4 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 1/4 pounds zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
3/4 pound boiling potatoes (about 4 small), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 14 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Directions

1. Heat oil in a 7-to 8-quart heavy pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add onions, leek, carrots, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until pale golden, about 10 minutes.
2. Stir in water, tomatoes with juice, and bell peppers, then reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook green beans in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan of well-salted boiling water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Add zucchini to boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer with slotted spoon to bowl with green beans. Add potatoes to boiling water and cook until just tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and add to beans and zucchini.
4. Add boiled vegetables to stew and simmer, stirring, until all vegetables are very soft, about 10 minutes. Add chickpeas and continue stirring about 5 more minutes. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Note: Stew can be made up to 1 week ahead and chilled (covered once cool).

Salsa Verde

I've been getting veggies from a weekly farm share (via my friend Mona who is sweet enough to pick them up for me) and trying to find new recipes that involve these veggies, some of which I've never seen before and obviously don't recognize. I did recognize tomatillos in this last batch, but I still had no idea what to do with them. So I looked online and found a recipe for Salsa Verde, which apparantly is traditionally made with tomatillos! Score, because I love salsa verde! Simply Recipes is a great cooking blog and she had a recipe that I tried with my batch of tomatillos. Turned out great, had a very fresh and light taste. And you can make it spicier if you leave the ribs and seeds of the serrano chile in (that's for next time ;)). There are two options for prepping the tomatillos; I boiled. Very easy recipe and worth the minimal work!

Tomatillo Salsa Verde Recipe from Simply Recipes

To cook the tomatillos, you can either roast them in the oven, or boil them. Roasting will deliver more flavor; boiling may be faster and use less energy. Either way works, though boiling is a more common way to cook the tomatillos.

Ingredients
1 1/2 lb tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 Jalapeño peppers OR 2 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
Salt to taste

Method
1. Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well.
2a. Roasting method Cut in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin.
2b. Boiling method Place tomatillos in a saucepan, cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove tomatillos with a slotted spoon.
2. Place tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, chili peppers, sugar in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator.
Serve with chips or as a salsa accompaniment to Mexican dishes.
Makes 3 cups.