GENERAL TSOS CHICKEN RECIPE

GENERAL TSOS CHICKEN RECIPE 

GENERAL TSOS CHICKEN RECIPE

GENERAL TSOS CHICKEN RECIPE

GENERAL TSOS CHICKEN RECIPE


This is really really really good! (serves about 8)

Ingredients
 --------------------------
    3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
    2 cups green onions, sliced
    8 small dried chilies, seeds removed (bird pepper or thai chilies are good)
  --------------------------
   Cornstarch slurry
    1⁄4 cup soy sauce, low sodium preferred
    1 egg, beaten
    1 cup cornstarch
 --------------------------
   Sauce
    1⁄2 cup cornstarch
    1⁄4 cup water
    1 1⁄2 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced
    3⁄4 cup sugar
    1⁄2 cup soy sauce
    1⁄4 cup white vinegar
    1⁄4 cup sherry wine or 1⁄4 cup white wine
    14 1⁄2 ounces chicken broth (a can)

Directions

    Place sauce ingredients in a quart jar with a lid and shake to mix. If you make this ahead of time just refrigerate until needed, shaking it again when you are ready to use it. This also keeps your dirty dishes down.

    Mix cornstarch slurry in a large bowl- the mixture will be strange but trust me it works. It will be VERY thick almost paste like. Add ALL the chicken pieces and stir to coat. Using a fork remove ONE chicken piece at a time and let the excess mixture drip off. YES even though the mixture has a weird consistency it will not stick like paste and the excess will drip off. Add chicken to the hot (350 degree) oil and fry until crispy. Only cook 7 or 8 chicken pieces at a time. You do not want to lower the temp of the oil by cooking too many at a time. You can use a simple cooking or candy thermometer to judge the temp of the oil.

    Drain on paper towels. Want them extra crispy? Put them on a rack over a sheet pan. Keep warm- I just put them in the oven with the oven off. Repeating until all chicken is fried.
    In a separate wok or large skillet add a small amount of oil and heat to 400 degrees. Again, a candy thermometer works great. (Want less dishes? You can just drain the oil after you fry all the chicken, leave a small amount (about a tsp) in the pan and use the same pan if you like.)
    Add green onions and hot peppers and stir fry about 30 seconds.

    Stir (or shake jar) sauce mixture, and then add to pan with onions and peppers, cook until thick. Some reviews didn't kniw what "thick" meant. Thick like the same sauce you get at a restaurant.you want it to just coat the chicken. If it gets too thick, add a little water or other liquid. The thickness of the sauce should be similar to what you get when ordering this at a restaurant.
    Add chicken to sauce in wok and heat just until the chicken is hot enough for you. It may not even need a minute if you kept the chicken warm. The quicker you serve it the crispier the chicken stays. 

Award Winning Dunkaroo Dip Recipe

Award Winning Dunkaroo Dip Recipe

90 kids, hold on to your dialup internet, frosted tips, and Nickelodeon slime!

Award Winning Dunkaroo Dip Recipe

Ingredients:

You can download this recipe as pdf from here

Dunkaroo Dip Recipe pdf

- 1 box funfetti cake mix (DO NOT add the ingredients that you usually would to actually make the cake - you need just the mix)

- 2 cups plain yogurt

- 1/2 container of cool whip.

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, plain yogurt and Cool Whip until completely combined and you see no more lumps. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to chill for about 4 hours.

Garnish with additional sprinkles if desired and serve with animal crackers or Teddy Grahams.

You can download this recipe as pdf from here

Dunkaroo Dip Recipe pdf

Should we be afraid of fruit?

Should we be afraid of fruit?

With sugar being seen by many as public health enemy number one, you may be wondering if you need to cut down on fruit, too

THE UK’S RELATIONSHIP with sugar is rapidly turning sour. In 2014, anti-sugar academic Dr Aseem Malhorta, from campaign group Action on Sugar, hit the headlines with his claim that sugar is ‘worse’ than tobacco and should be heavily taxed. His words, bolstered by the growing global ‘no sugar’ movement, have already inspired a number of diets designed to help us cut down, or even cut out, the 238tsp sugar each person consumes, on average, every week.

If you’re looking to reduce your sugar intake, limiting the contents of your biscuit tin is a no-brainer. But what should you do when it comes to the fruit bowl? A banana, after all, contains 21g sugar – the equivalent of 5tsp. That’s more white stuff than you get in a standard 37g bag of Maltesers (which, incidentally, contains 19.7g sugar). This begs the question: should we be eating a whole lot less fruit? We asked our panel of experts for their verdict…

A healthy diet can include sugar

Most experts agree that sugar when included as part of a healthy, balanced diet doesn’t pose any danger to our health. ‘The fact is, right now there’s no evidence sugar is related to an increased risk of disease,’ explains HFG expert and nutritionist Amanda Ursell. ‘So there’s no reason to go sugar-free if you’re including it as part of a balanced diet.’ HFG expert Tracy Kelly, clinical nutritionist at Diabetes UK, agrees: ‘While our bodies don’t really need foods that are high in sugar, such as confectionery and sugar-sweetened drinks, eating or drinking them can still form part of a healthy, balanced diet if we don’t have too many.’

Fruit provides a lot of vitamins, minerals and fibre, which can help protect against stroke and heart disease

But it’s the calories that count

That’s not to say you should swap your usual portion of fruit for a couple of Krispy Kreme doughnuts! The key is balance. ‘Sugar that’s added to food and drink, by us or by manufacturers, contributes to our overall calorie intake,’ says Tracy. ‘And consuming too many calories, including those from sugar and fat, can significantly increase our risk of becoming overweight, which in turn increases our risk of developing type 2 diabetes and other health conditions.’

This is where the benefits of fruit shine through. While fruit may contain varying quantities of natural sugar called fructose, most varieties are still reasonably low in calories and come with a whole raft of nutrients that fight disease and keep us feeling and looking good. ‘Fruit provides a lot of vitamins, minerals and fibre, which can help protect against stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure and may lower the risk of certain cancers,’ confirms Tracy.

The trouble with juice

But there is one area where experts say the relationship between sugar and fruit is more complicated – and that’s juice. Fruit juice has come under fire from Dr Susan Jebb, head of the Diet and Obesity Research Group at the Medical Research Council Human Nutrition Research unit in Cambridge, was quoted as saying it should come off the five-a-day list because of the large amounts of sugar it contains. Dr Jebb later clarified her position. ‘You can only count 150ml fruit juice as a portion – anything more than this does not count,’ she confirms. ‘And five-a-day does not include “fruit drinks” with added sugar.’

Clearly, the problem with fruit juice is that it doesn’t contain the healthy fibre you get from eating the whole fruit. Plus, drinking fruit juice doesn’t fill you up in the same way, so it can be an all-too-quick way to take in excess calories.

Don’t ditch a diet ally

Nutritionist Amanda Ursell says the main message is: fruit is fine. And according to statistics from the Health Survey for England, most of us should find reasons to eat more fruit, not less – figures show that only 29% of women, 24% of men and 18% of children are getting their five-a-day.

So don’t get hung up on the sugar in fruit – the fruit bowl is most definitely your health ally. And a far better choice than the biscuit tin when you want to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Break your sugar dependence

Break your sugar dependence

Some people claim to be addicted to sugar. If you find it hard to cut down, try these strategies

SOME PEOPLE – such as Jeff O’Connell, author of Sugar Nation: The Hidden Truth Behind America’s Deadliest Habit – are convinced the chemicals released by sugar travel the same pathways in the brain as drugs. Jeff argues sugar prompts the release of dopamine, a feelgood chemical, so we seek to repeat the experience, gradually needing more and more sugar for the same effect.

Some nutritionists say the rollercoaster effect sugar has on blood glucose levels can mimic addiction, because sugar causes an energy boost that’s followed by an energy slump, which leads to cravings for more sugary or starchy foods. But others argue the body is very good at self-regulating and, for most, physiological symptoms are overplayed – a low mood is more likely to be caused by guilt at overindulging than an actual blood sugar crash.

It’s more likely sugar could encourage psychological dependence. ‘Anything that gives us pleasure or security can be habit-forming,’ says clinical hypnotherapist and overeating expert Georgia Foster. ‘Most of us were brought up associating sweet treats with celebration, reward or comfort, so it’s the experience, rather than the sugar, we crave.’

If you believe you have some type of dependence on sugar, the psychological interventions that work for other addictions – counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy, hypnotherapy and psychotherapy – may help.

What about children’s sweet treats?

You don’t need to ban sugar. But too much sweetness when we’re young may set up a preference for sweet food for the rest of our lives – which may result in consuming excess calories. Try these strategies:

• Get children to eat sweet treats consciously while sitting down, rather than eating them mindlessly while doing other activities.

• Watch out for breakfast cereals with high levels of sugar.

• Try not to use biscuits and sweets as a bribe for good behaviour.

• Encourage them to drink water or milk rather than always offering juice or squash.

Easy ways to cut down

• Get baking – if you like the occasional cake or biscuit, make your own so you can control the ingredients (you can normally halve the sugar content without affecting the quality). You’ll find plenty of healthier sweet recipes in our recipes section and in the pages of Healthy Food Guide magazine every month.

• Try sugar substitutes – natural products like stevia are sweeter than sugar, with fewer calories.

• Use spices for flavour without sugar – try cinnamon, mixed spice and ginger in stewed fruits, porridge and puddings.

• Watch drinks – alcohol, fizzy drinks and juices are an easy way to overload on sugar without noticing. Try sparkling water with lemon slices and fresh mint sprigs, chilled herbal teas or diluted juice.

• Keep an eye out for hidden sugar in unlikely foods – look for ingredients ending in ‘ose’ on the ingredients label and check out the value for sugars: less than 5g per 100g is considered low in sugar while more than 15g per 100g is considered high (although this value refers to all sugars, not just added ones).

• Choose lower-sugar versions of cereals, baked beans, soups, canned tomatoes and ketchup.

• Eat fewer processed carbohydrates such as white bread, croissants, muffins, biscuits, cakes, 

chocolate and sweets. Switch to wholegrains instead.

Hidden sugar

Check out some of the more unlikely products you’ll find sugar in:
30g cornflakes = ½tsp
1tbsp salad cream = ½tsp
1tbsp balsamic vinegar = ½tsp
1 slice bread = ½tsp
1tbsp tomato ketchup = 1tsp
¹/₃ large tin mushroom soup = 1tsp
2tbsp coleslaw = 1tsp
¹/₃  jar of salsa = 1tsp
30g branflakes = 1½tsp
125g ready made bolognese sauce = 2tsp
400g lasagne ready meal = 3tsp
400g chicken tikka masala ready meal = 3½tsp

Ham Fried Rice

Ham Fried Rice

Ham Fried Rice

Last Fall when John and I were on our road trip up the Pacific Coast Highway, we had Chinese takeout for dinner one night. We actually found a restaurant that was willing to deliver to the motel. Score! My expectations for a quality meal were quite low, but beggars can’t be choosers.
I have a personal taste preference barometer that I use to measure the quality of a Mexican or Chinese restaurant. I call it my rice barometer. If the rice at a given restaurant tastes good, then chances are high that the rest of the food will taste good also. It works for me every time.

When the Chinese food arrived at our motel room, I went after the fried rice first and did a double take as the flavors hit my tongue. I literally stared at the rice in the takeout carton as if someone was playing a trick on me.

Never, ever, has Chinese fried rice tasted as good as the rice I was eating at that moment. The flavor was deep and rich and completely undefinable. There was a hint of something that reminded me of sitting around a campfire at night in a quiet forest. It was so delicious!
My rice barometer held true for the rest of the meal, too. Everything I ate was the best of any Chinese food that I had ever eaten. The only sad things about eating that meal were realizing that 1) We would be leaving the next morning and I would never be able to order from the restaurant again, and 2) The probability of me ever being able to reproduce that meal at home was pretty darn low.I’ve been in deep, ham fried rice mourning since October. It’s ridiculous. It’s just rice, for heaven’s sake! I’ve been making fried rice since…well…let’s see…since I found a recipe 30 years ago on the back of a package of rice. Oh, but that recipe is no longer in service. It’s kingdom has been overthrown because I’m wearing my big girl panties now. I have learned that there’s more to Chinese flavors than soy sauce.
In this rice I replace traditional soy sauce with hoisin, sesame seed oil and oyster sauce. Joo gonna love it, baby!
Ham Fried Rice
Prep Time: 15 minutesCook Time: 10 minutesTotal Time: 25 minutesYield: 4-6 servingsThis delicious ham fried rice is flavored with oyster sauce, sesame seed oil and hoisin sauce. This is a great way to use up leftover rice.
Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons oyster sauce

• 1 tablespoon sesame seed oil

• 2 teaspoons hoisin sauce

• 2 tablespoons peanut oil

• 1 cup yellow onion, small dice

• 2 medium carrots, diced

• 3/4 cup diced ham (I used a small portion of a ham steak)

• 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

• 1/2 cup frozen green peas

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 4 cups cold, cooked brown jasmine rice (white rice is also fine)Please see "Notes" below.

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, mix together the oyster sauce, sesame seed oil, and hoisin sauce. Set aside.

1. Break up cold rice with a spoon, spatula, or your clean hands. Set rice aside.

1. Heat a wok pan to hot over high heat. Carefully add the peanut oil and tilt wok so that the oil covers the interior sides and bottom of the wok.

1. Add the onions, carrots and ham. Quickly stir fry for 2 minutes.Lower heat a little if necessary. Add the garlic and continue to stir fry for an additional minute. Add the frozen peas and stir to distribute evenly.

1. Pour the beaten eggs over the vegetable and ham mixture. Stir fry ingredients just until eggs are set. Add the rice and continue to stir fry until rice is heated through.

1. Pour the sauce mixture over the rice mixture. Stir fry until the sauce mixture is evenly distributed and rice is hot.

1. Serve immediately. Some guests may want to add additional sauces or oils. Suggested: soy sauce, oyster sauce, or sesame seed oil. Additional hoisin sauce may not work well because it is sweet.

Notes
Freshly cooked rice does not hold up well when using for fried rice. For the best outcome, the rice should be prepared a day in advance and refrigerated. Just prior to using for fried rice, remove from refrigerator and break up rice clumps with a spoon, spatula, or your clean hands.
Substitutions. The ham can be replaced with chicken or shrimp.
Recipe by Terri @ that's some good cookin'Well, this looks just like a Caribbean cruise! I love the color of this cutting board. Look how it makes those orange carrots pop! The ham looks a little questionable, but the carrots–WOW!This is brown Jasmine rice. Jasmine is a wonderful aromatic rice and works so well with Asian cuisine. Whatever kind of rice you use, be sure that it has spent some time chilling in the refrigerator before you use it to make fried rice. Freshly made rice will turn mushy when used in making fried rice. Don’t let mush happen to you; use day old, cold rice! Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Break up the rice after it comes out of the fridge. Use a spoon, spatula, or even your clean hands. Note: Hands work really well.Turn a burner up to high and heat up a wok or wok pan until it is quite hot (not smoking hot…smoking hot scares me because of the fire hazard). Add the oil to the wok and swirl the wok so that the oil coats the inside. There is not a picture of me swirling the oil around the wok because there is no way I was going to swirl hot oil in a hot wok and try to take a picture of that process at the same time. Add the onions, carrots and ham to the wok and stir fry for a minute or two; then add the garlic and stir fry for another minute.Add the peas. Frozen is fine. They defrost and cook to the perfect stage of perfectness in a wink.Pour the beaten eggs over the vegetables and ham.Stir things around a lot.Keep stirring. The egg is cooking, so don’t stop stirring.Okay, stop. The egg should still look moist. Don’t cook it until it looks like the Mojave. It you do overcook it, nothing bad will happen, probably.Now it is time for the rice. Dump it in the wok on top of all of the other good stuff. Look how that rice is just falling out of the bowl. It reminds me of kids jumping on the bed or dog piling while I’m sitting on the bed trying to type something on the computer. Yeah. I don’t want to ever have to take one of those Rorschach tests. “Terri? What does this picture remind you of?” “Umm…that one looks like an 18 month old smashing eggs on the kitchen floor one by one.” “And this one?” 

“Wellll…that one looks like a 4 year old filling up the exhaust pipe to the furnace with mud.” “I see. How about this one?” “Oh. Well. That one looks like new bedroom carpet painted with Desitin.” “Very interesting answers, Terri. Let’s try one more. Tell me about this picture.” “Ha! That’s easy. That one looks like some old lady getting conned by a kid with big brown, puppy-dog eyes into making 192 cookies to fill up a ‘rwilly big box’.”When you’re done with your Rorschach test, quickly stir everything together.This is the best part. Add the mixture of oyster sauce, hoisin and sesame seed oil. So exciting.Stir well, but not too vigorously, to evenly distribute the sauce. Continue stirring until the rice is hot. Serve immediately. Or right away. Or while it is still warm. Or sometime within two hours of cooking. Food safety rules apply. 

Award Winning Chinese Food (With Recipes)

Award Winning Chinese Food 

(With Recipes)

Just click on any food image to get the recipe

Ham Fried Rice

Ham Fried Rice

Orange Beef

Orange Beef

Honey Sriracha Chicken

Honey Sriracha Chicken

Chinese Spare Ribs

Chinese Spare Ribs

Shrimp Chow Mein

Shrimp Chow Mein

Beijing Beef

Beijing Beef

Beef Broccoli

Beef Broccoli

Orange Teriyaki Chicken

Orange Teriyaki Chicken