lemon chicken

i have a recipe for katie couric's lemon chicken cut out of an old issue of good housekeeping.
on it's own, it's an okay recipe but i find it a bit bland. i use it as a base, but change the recipe a lot. i forgot too that it calls for wayyyyy too much liquid so less is more - or do like i did and wait for it to reduce.
the results are good though

the recipe as i alter it...
2lbs of chicken breast cut into strips about 1 inch thick
3tbsp butter and about the same of olive oil
1/4c potato starch (or other heavier gluten free flour
3c chicken broth (should cut this down in half next time
1/2c lemon juice
4tbsp corn starch
3tbsp turbinado (sugar)
1tbsp garlic powder
sriracha sauce to taste

dredge chicken in flour and in wok with the butter and olive oil until cooked (i do it in two batches)
remove chicken
add all the other ingredients in wok, including leftover flour from dredging and whisk that and the cornstarch
put chicken back in with all of the liquid and simmer on low until sauce reduces and thickens

serve over rice.

this is pretty good and a bit more of an asian twist. it's not sugary sweet like takeout, more mellow, but in the past i have made it more takeout-ish by jacking up the sugar, more cornstarch and adding soy sauce and a bit of rice vinegar. decent. not stellar but good, especially over a fragrant rice like jasmine.

chinese take-out night made at home

i thought this would be fun
so i used several re-usable aluminum containers (the kind that comes with the lids that are cardboard like on one side and aluminum on the other)

so
the menu for chinese take out night

cashew chicken
lemon chicken
squid and baby bok choy in black bean sauce
lo mein noodles in soy sauce
rice noodles (thai twist)

the first two were inspired by other recipes
the others are mine

cashew chicken
here is the recipe
i did this recipe almost to the letter except that i did a whole bunch of chicken breast in the slow cooker in chicken broth (so that the leftovers could be used in other recipes) and pulled loosely.
everything else was done in the wok and i added the chicken in a few minutes at the end.

this was DELICIOUS - yum yum yum am making this again.

lemon chicken
here is the recipe
this is a recipe i have made several times before so i had pre-cut some chicken breast into big chunks.
i modify this recipe to be more asian - i add about 2 tbsps of garlic/chili sauce and a tbsp of red chili paste.

squid and baby bok choy in black bean sauce
this is simple
1/4c water
black bean sauce
squeeze of hoisin sauce
tbsp rice vinegar
1/2lb squid
3c baby bok choy
quickly whip up in the wok or a pan

quick, easy and tasty - reheats pretty well for squid

lo mein noodles in soy sauce
another simple but tasty dish
pack of lo mein noodles (soak in hot water til al dente
3-4tbsp soy sauce
1 finely chopped spring onion
1 tsp minced garlic
a little bit of water to quickly fry all the ingredients in

easy, simple and doesn't overwhelm the other dishes for the night.

rice noodles (thai twist)
soak 1/2 pack of flat rice noodles (whatever width you prefer) til al dente
in a warm wok
3tbsp soy sauce
1/4c water
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp minced garlic
1 chopped spring onion
1/4c chopped cilantro
- the last two ingredients go in last, everything else including noodles get tossed until the noodles are coated in sauce - then add the last two ingredients

this is a staple in our home...i vary it up a little but it's my simple, thai-inspired noodle that reminds me of noodle stands in thailand - sans the grease


...this was a feast with LOTS of leftovers - the boys enjoyed the noodles and the cashew chicken.