Recipe: Veggie & Chicken Stir Fry

This is mostly a dish about the veggies. For a more meat-centric meal, increase the amount of meat (no duh). Why send-out for Chinese when you can make this at home? Well, it’s faster and easier – I’ll give you that!

Oh yeah, it's good!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Boneless Chicken Breast
• 1 Tbs Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbs Dry Sherry
• 2 Carrots, sliced into thin pieces
• 1 Red Bell Pepper, sliced thin
• 2 1/2 Cups Broccoli Florets (from ~2 bunches)
• 3 Ribs Celery, cut lengthwise into thin pieces
• 6 Scallions (white & light green parts), sliced
• 1 Handful Bean Sprouts (~5 oz)
• 1 Can Baby Corn Cobs, drained (15 oz can)
• 1 Can Water Chestnuts (sliced), drained (8 oz can)
• 1 Tbs Ginger, minced
• 1 tsp Garlic, minced
• 3+ Tbs Stir Fry Sauce (from a bottle)
• Canola Oil (or any mild high-heat vegetable oil)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Meat prep: Ideally, the chicken is “mostly” thawed. Slice into 2” by 1/8” pieces. Put chicken in a bowl – add soy sauce and sherry and marinate for ~20 minutes.
2. Veggie prep: There are a lot of veggie to cut, and this is the longest part of the recipe. Carrots: peel, cut-off top and bottom, and cut in half. Then cut in half again – lengthwise. Next, slice into 1/16” pieces. Red Bell Pepper: slice into 2” by 1/8” pieces. Broccoli: cut the florets off the bunch and then again into bit-size pieces. Celery: wash and slice on the bias (diagonally). Scallions: slice the white and light green parts into 1/8” rounds.
3. Cooking: This is all about putting the right things in at the right time and cooking quickly. Start with a large skillet or wok over high heat.
1. Meat: Add ~2 Tbs oil to the pan, drain the meat, and cook. You’ll notice a shit-load of noise – this is good. Cook the meat for ~2 minutes and then remove to a bowl or plate.
2. Veggie 1: Add ~1 Tbs of oil to the pan and heat until shimmering. Add carrots and bell pepper and cook for ~2 minutes, stirring frequently. Move veggies to the outer perimeter of the pan clearing some space in the center.
3. Veggie 2: Add 1-2 tsp of oil and heat until shimmering. Add broccoli and cook for ~1 minute. Add ~1 Tbs of water and cover for ~1 minute. This will steam the broccoli and make it more tender. Clear space in the center of the pan.
4. Veggie 3: Add 1-2 tsp of oil and heat until shimmering. Add celery and cook for 1-2 minutes until softened. Clear space blah blah blah...
5. Veggie 4: Add 1 tsp of oil and heat until shimmering. Add ginger and garlic and cook for ~30 seconds. Then add the sprouts, corn, and water chestnuts and stir the entire thing together.
4. Add the chicken back to the pan, add the stir fry sauce, and cook for 1-2 minutes until all is heated-through.
5. Serve over rice. Mmm, molto bene!

FAQs

• Bottled stir fry sauce? >> Yeah, this is the easiest way to get-through this one. Alternatively, you can make your own stir fry sauce, but you’ll need an entire friggin’ Chinese pantry to make it happen.
• Where do I get baby corn cobs? >> I got them at the supermarket – check the Asian section, loser.

Review: Paring Knives

The other day, I cashed-in a $100 gift card for Williams Sonoma. I want almost everything in that store, and $100 doesn't take you too far. I settled-on a set of paring knives, a set of mixing bowls, a microplane zester, and a new apron.

The paring knives are awesome:

Set of three paring knives. The website says you can "Prevent cross-contamination by using color-coded knives to separately prep meat, poultry and fresh produce." But I say fuck that - that kind of planning ahead is for pussies!

Only $32.95 for the set, and they're sharp as hell. Way sharper than my kick-ass 10" chef's knife, but that's probably because I have a shitty knife sharpener, and haven't been able to really properly maintain my kitchen sword.

10" Chef Knife. The murderer's knife of choice

Anyway, if you're in the market for a new paring knife, you can certainly do a lot worse than that set from Williams Sonoma. $30 for three knives is a pretty good deal.

Oh, and the mixing bowls, zester, and apron are good too!