Earlier today I asked on Facebook if you like seeing chatty-type posts where I talk about what I’m cooking, show you peeks at my home, or share about a crazy shopping trip are interesting to you, and since there weren’t too many naysayers, I’m going to try to start a “Daily Chatter” post in the late afternoon or evenings. I’d love to have you join in the comments and chat about your day, too!
Over the weekend, Jeremy and I had a spur-of-the-moment chance to go out without the kids so we drove around and looked at houses for awhile (yes, even though my husband is a realtor and does that all day long, he’s willing to take me to do it!) and then went to Pei Wei to use our buy one, get one free coupon. I have to confess that I love Pei Wei, and I really love the way their meat is a little bit crispy on the outside. I’ve wanted to replicate that forever!
Well, I looked around for a recipe for Kung Pao Chicken and found this one. I thought the meat looked a lot like Pei Wei’s meat so I tried it last night.
If you look at the picture closely, you can probably tell that I didn’t follow it exactly since the recipe doesn’t call for carrots or broccoli. However, I did try to follow the actual meat part of the recipe, and while it was fine, it didn’t have that crispy coating that I’d hoped for. :( Back to the drawing board…
Oh, and in case you are wondering, my kids hated it. They are super finicky about Asian food, but I’ve learned that usually if I feed them something enough times, they learn to love it. (Case in point: they used to despise Sichuan Green Beans but I kept making them because Jeremy and I love it, and now it’s one of my kids’ favorite meals. Same with gumbo.)
I also made up a big batch of the make-ahead twice-baked potatoes with caramelized onions that I mentioned yesterday in my freezer cooking post. Of course, I didn’t really follow that recipe exactly either (*blush*) but I think they are going to be fantastic anyway.
We ate supper just before 6 PM and I had the potatoes finished and the kitchen cleaned up just after 7 PM! There should be presidential debates every night to motivate me to get stuff done so early. ;) (Wait – that’s not normal to plan your day around watching a political debate, is it?)
Jeremy and I had ice cream for dessert – actually, I had sherbet and he had “frozen dairy dessert”. I bought some of Breyer’s Black Raspberry Chocolate recently, knowing it was no longer ice cream but thinking we’d had it before and it was at least better than Dreyer’s “frozen dairy dessert”. Well, even long-suffering ice cream lover Jeremy noticed the difference in texture so I won’t be buying it again. I think Breyer’s Triple Chocolate is one of the few varieties they have left that’s still “ice cream”. :(
What’s happening at your house today? Or maybe I should just ask what you’ve been eating since that’s all this post has talked about!
$1.99 for Pantry Essentials (gallon) at Safeway
Not sure the exact texture you are going for, but here are some tips I’ve heard about stir frying in case you don’t already know: Use a skillet, not a Wok…more surface area in contact with the heat, etc. HIGH heat…obviously not high enough to start the oil on fire, though (I’ve done that before! forgot and left the pan heating up too long…Oops!) Also, don’t stir the food right right away after adding it to the pan. Give it a chance to brown a bit first before you start the “stir frying” part.
Yep – I even made sure to fry the chicken in batches so I didn’t crowd the pan. :/ There’s just something missing – it’s like there’s a crispy fried texture on the outside, but I’m almost positive they don’t fry it first. Gotta keep trying.
Thanks for the tips!
I have also seen a recipe that uses 1 egg, 1/2 c. cornstarch, 1/2 c. water and 1 tsp. sesame oil for the “batter” instead of just plain cornstarch. I have not tried it, though.
If you want crisp, really crisp, you gotta deep fry. I didn’t learn deep frying at home, so I don’t do it in my tiny kitchen. We save those foods for extra special meals away from home. It saves the mess and probably some calories since we don’t do that too often.
The recipe looks pretty tasty, crispy or no crispy!
Love the idea of a daily chatter. :)
Any time I can get to Springs (live in Pueblo) I 99.9% of the time go to Pei Wei. I just LOVE it! I can’t get enough of their tofu, it’s just sooo tasty. I’ve searched and searched for a way to replicate it, but haven’t had luck yet. Mmmm, and their orange green tea is the best.
I’m with you and your husband on the “frozen dairy dessert”. I’ve just stopped buying it. Albertsons has had decent sales every once in a while on Blue Bell, so I’ll grab a few tubs of those on occassion.
I know. The types of ice cream I buy now are Blue Bell, Blue Bunny, and sometimes Private Selection. Not that it’s a BAD thing to have a more limited selection of ice cream. :P
I still looooooove Blue Bunny’s Bordeaux Cherry Chocolate Frozen Yogurt, but haven’t had it in awhile. It’s been months since I’ve been into Albertsons and they seem to be the ones that have it on sale most often. (And I WON’T pay $6.99 for a carton!)
I love the idea of the Daily Chatter! I find those are the posts I read the most, the sneak peaks into your house! I’m always asking myself “how does she do it all? and do it so well?” It may be easy for you to forget just how many people you impact in a positive and encouraging way through your blog. So here is a little encouragement sister, all of your efforts, time and energy are blessing so many people, several of whom don’t ever write in or leave comments. You set an excellent example of genuine, honest living that is so motivating to your readers! I personally have benefited not only from the “savings” portion of your blog, but I’m also encouraged to be a better mom, wife and friend. Thanks Carrie!
You are sweet. Thank you for your encouragement – I really appreciate it! (And frankly ,I was just thinking about my ladies’ Bible study that I have tonight and was going to ask for prayer to not get discouraged. God answered that one through you before I even had a chance to ask Him! :)
I’m a little late to the party, but I wanted to say I’m loving your daily chatter posts!
About the kung pao chicken…looking at the recipe you linked to, I don’t see how they made their chicken look like that with just 2 teaspoons of oil and no batter! In my (limited) experience with Asian cooking, you need high heat, a substantial amount of oil, and some sort of batter to create that crispiness. I’ve never tried to make kung pao chicken, though, so there might be something I’m missing.
I’ve been trying to work on my Asian cooking lately. I figured since I’m going to be spending the rest of my life with a Chinese man, it’s about time I figure out how to cook his favorite foods! :) I made Mongolian Beef for the first time last week and it was fantastic! I need to post that recipe sometime.
See, OK – I’m glad you said something because as I was cooking the recipe, it just wasn’t making sense in my head how it was going to have the coating as pictured. But I thought maybe there was some secret I was missing so I just followed the recipe. (Maybe they just grabbed a stock photo to use for the recipe – HA!)
I would love to see your recipe for Mongolian Beef!