Sweet & Spicy Chicken Stir Fry

Hello, readers! It certainly has been a while. The past 2 months have been absolutely crazy for me, which explains the lack of posts. The holidays always seem to be crazy, huh? The normal craziness of the holiday season was compounded by my 2nd teaching job (you know, grading finals and what not) and me starting my 3rd job (yes, 3rd job) as a contract writer. I swear, I don't know how to not be busy. What the eff is wrong with me?

Anyway, even with all the craziness 2013 came to an end with, I managed to find this AWESOME recipe for Sweet & Spicy Chicken Stir Fry. This recipe has now turned into a weekly staple on my dinner menu. It's pretty simple, has only a few ingredients (assuming you have most of the sauce ingredients on hand), and is sure to please. 

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbs honey
• 4 Tbs Sriracha or other chili sauce
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 6 Tbs soy sauce, divided
• 6 Tbs rice vinegar, divided
• vegetable oil
• 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips or bite size pieces
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 inches freshly chipped ginger
• 6 scallions, chopped
• 2 heads broccoli, cut into florets
• 2 cups cooked rice, optional

How to:

• Whisk together honey, Sriracha, broth, cornstarch, 4 Tbs soy sauce and 4 Tbs rice vinegar. 
• In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining soy sauce and rice vinegar. Add chicken to the bowl and toss to coat.
• In a large skillet, warm vegetable oil over high heat. Stir fry chicken until no longer pink, and then transfer to a clean bowl.
• Reduce heat slightly, and add some more oil to the skillet. Stir fry garlic, ginger, scallions, and broccoli until fragrant (only ~30 seconds or so).
• Return chicken to the skillet with the sauce you've prepared. Cook, stirring until sauce thickens, about 2-3 minutes. 
• Serve over rice.

You can adjust the heat of this recipe by backing off (or adding more!) on the Sriracha. If you're not in the mood for chicken, try adding in tofu or beef strips instead. Let me know how your variation turns out!

This recipe was modified from the one found here.

Enjoy!

Dragon Noodles

Holy mother, it is HOT outside. As in 'too hot to cook' hot. As dinner approached today, I was in search of a quick and delicious meal that would allow me to quickly return to my spot on the couch, where I could eat in the air conditioning and watch bad TV. I found this recipe, and it was exactly the type of dish I was looking for! Although I will warn you - as the name implies, this dish is super spicy. Maybe not the best thing for a hot day like today, but we all know how I feel about spicy food.

This dish is ready in less than 10 minutes. I kid you not. And it's SO delicious. It's also SERIOUSLY spicy. I feel like I should stress that so you don't hate me for not warning you.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. lo mein noodles
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 large egg
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp Sriracha (rooster sauce)
• fresh cilantro
• 1 green onion, sliced

How to:

• Boil water in a medium size sauce pan, and cook noodles according to package.
• While noodles are cooking, prepare the sauce: combine brown sugar, soy sauce, and Sriracha in a small bowl.
• In a large skillet, heat butter over low-medium heat. Add red pepper flakes as butter is melting.
• Whisk the egg in a small bowl, and add to butter in skillet. Stir gently until egg is cooked through. Then, turn off heat.
• When the noodles are tender, drain and add cooked noodles to the skillet. Add sauce and turn noodles until they are evenly coated with the sauce.
• Heat the skillet over low heat to reduce some of the sauce. 
• Sprinkle with cilantro and onion, and serve.

If the spice is too much for you to handle, try adding less crushed red pepper, or omit it altogether. You can also try this dish with any type of noodle - linguine or udon noodles work well too. 

The original recipe can be found here.

Jamaican Jerk Marinade

Countless people told Jake and I that we'd never have another vacation like our honeymoon. Well, after  spending a week at the all-inclusive Wild Orchid Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, I completely agree. We had a fantastic time here. Every day was filled with sunshine, delicious food, and countless adult beverages. Amazing! I honestly don't think Jake and I will ever have a vacation like this again. I mean, I HOPE we have a vacation like this again, but it's going to be tough to top this one. 

Some of the best food on the island!

One of the MANY highlights of our vacation involved sampling some of the authentic eats Jamaica has to offer. Every day, our noses would tell us it was noon - the Jamaican Jerk Chicken cart would park itself just upwind of where we were sunbathing, and we would scurry off the beach to go find it. Sometimes we'd find it twice a day. I legitimately gained 5 pounds on our honeymoon. I'm not even ashamed, it was worth all of that delicious spicy Jerk Chicken (which was always washed down with a high calorie and equally delicious frozen beverage). 

Delicious Jerk Chicken! Accompanied by
delicious alcoholic beverages

Upon arriving back in Maryland, I took it upon myself to duplicate the delicious marinade these Jamaicans have clearly perfected. While my recipe for Jamaican Jerk Marinade is delicious, it's not exactly reminiscent of what Jake and I gorged ourselves on in Jamaica. I anticipate this will be my of my many attempts at perfecting this marinade!

Ingredients:

• 3 scallions, chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4-5 habanero peppers, stemmed and seeded*
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 3 Tbs olive oil
• 1 Tbs kosher salt
• 1 Tbs packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbs fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tsp ground allspice
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 3/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

How to:

• Blend all ingredients together until smooth.
• Marinade pretty much anything - from chicken, to pork, to veggies. We marinated some chicken breasts overnight before grilling them.
• Grill & enjoy!

*Traditionally, Jamaican Jerk seasoning is made with Scotch Bonnet peppers. My local grocery store didn't have any of these, so I used habaneros as a substitute. The first time I made this, I used 4 habaneros and left some seeds in before adding the peppers to the blender. The marinade was ridiculously hot, but ridiculously good. The 2nd time around, I didn't leave any seeds in, and I felt like the marinade could have used a little more heat. I think I'll search for Scotch Bonnets next time I'm in the mood for some Jamaican Jerk!

Jake and I grilled up some chicken that had been marinated overnight. It tasted great! We made some  Jerk Chicken sandwiches and reminisced about our amazing honeymoon. I'd love to hear your take on this marinade!

Enjoy!

The original recipe can be found here.