2 tbs. peanut oil
About 1 lb. (likely a bit more) or beef fajita meat, sliced into thin strips
4-5 cloves of garlic, finely minced
4-5 whole star anise (had pcs. which were very hard to fish out afterwards)
2 inches of ginger root, peeled and sliced thinly
1/2-2/3 c. dried mushrooms
2 1/2 c. water
1 tbs. arrowroot powder

Bring water to a boil. Add mushrooms and allow to steep until fully hydrated. Do not discard the water.

Heat peanut oil in the pan. When it’s smoking, saute half the meat until browned then set aside and brown the other half.

Saute the ginger, anise and garlic for a few seconds then add put the meat back into the pot. Add in 2 1/4 c. of water reserved from the mushrooms and rehydrated mushrooms then bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes or until the meat is tender.

Mix arrowroot powder and about 1/4 c. of the reserved liquid until fully desolved then add to simmering pan. Cook until the sauce is clear and thickened. I don’t know if you’re supposed to mix the powder in water, but that’s what cornstarch calls for so I did.

In the recipe I’d come across (and lost) there was beef broth and sherry. I have no beef broth which is why I used the water from the mushrooms to replace both. Also, there was a mention of sesame oil but I have no idea where that gets used. It is something that can be added in small amounts when you’re serving the meal, though.

Serve with rice.

You need a pork tenderloin, 2 lbs. or so.
Salt & pepper
2 tbs. stone ground mustard
2 tbs. cider vinegar

Tie up the loin and then brown it on all sides.
Mix the vinegar and mustard.
Season loin, brush on mustagar (or should that be vinegard?).

Temp in the oven should be 375. If you used a cast iron pan, keep the loin there and bake it for 45 minutes (I think) but check for proper internal temp of 145F. Since my meat thermometer fatally succumbed to an untimely death, I had to guesstimate. Fortunately, it was fine when I did take it out.

After you remove it from the oven, let it sit, covered with foil, for at least 10 minutes. Slice and serve.

This is meant to be served with vegetable cobbler but last night we had it with applesauce and some orzo tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper and parmesan. I was worried it would be tough, but it was really tender! I enjoyed it and NM asked for seconds.

More notes: I actually doubled the amounts above. One of them went to a friend so I’m happy I tested it last night and it turned out ok. Also, kitchen twine would be good to have. I used sewing thread…um…that was hard. I don’t recommend it.

Let the rolls rise for 4-5 hours or until doubled in size following package directions (heh…I didn’t and forgot to cover the rolls).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Flatten the rolls out until they’re about 5″-6″ across. You can just pinch them from the middle and then keep pinching outward evenly so it stays round. Years of Playdoh experience is very helpful, as is a willing 5 year old helper though neither is required.

On four of your dough disks, place a mound of meaty sauce and top with cheese. Amount is up to you, but you do want it to fit relatively well. Not everyone is a fan of burnt cheese like I am. Take another disk and place it above the other and pinch the sides together well. Water may help with this, but we just pinched them very, very tightly together and we only had one open during baking (and that ended up looking like a cyclops sticking his tongue out at us…pity the camera is on its way to London!). Place them on a lightly oiled or parchment-covered cookie sheet.

Bake, per package directions, for 15-20 minutes. Let cool for at least 5 minutes. Cut them in half to speed the cooling process even further.

Enjoy! J is really, really not a fan of my dinners but he ate the entire pocket pizza that I gave him this evening. Yay!

Brown the chicken thighs in oil.
In the crockpot, layer the chips, chicken, beans (I didn’t drain them), broth, herbs and green chilis. Cook for 8-10 hours on low.
One hour before serving, add the shredded cheese. Remove the chicken bones and shred the chicken.

NOTE: This tasted a little salty to me. I’m sure in my throw-whatever-in-the-pot method, I put in around 2 tsp. of salt. The chips I used are salty anyway which I forgot, so I dropped the amount I listed to 1 tsp. This recipe is a guesstimate of one I found in a magazine in the dentist’s office. I tried to take a photo but it came out so blurry! Anyway, it was very good so I have to write it down so we can have it again.

Next time, I will double it. We need more leftovers!

1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. water
2 tbs. soy sauce
2 tbs. (or more!) brown sugar
2 tbs. oil
7 cloves of garlic
1/3 well-packed cup each of: basil, cilantro, mint
1 lb. chicken tenders or strips of lean chicken
1/2 c. seasoned rice vinegar
1 bell pepper, cut into strips
1 small head of broccoli, cut into florets
2 tsp. dark sesame oil
salt to taste
3/4 package of spaghetti
Honey roasted peanuts

Start the water for your pasta.

Mix the first five ingredients in a bowl as best as you can. Warm in the microwave for 30 seconds on high to help blend. Keep heating in 30 second increments as needed. Set aside.

Start cooking the pasta. Drain when done.

In a food processor, pulse garlic, basil, cilantro and mint until very, very fine mince.

In an oiled broiler-safe pan, toss chicken, garlic and herbs mixture, and vinegar. Broil about five inches from the flame, three minutes on each side. Check for doneness by cutting one of the largest pieces and making sure the juices run clear.

In a large pot—I used the one I cooked the noodles in—toss broccoli and red pepper. Add chicken and all pan drippings as well as the peanut sauce. Toss everything together. Add cooked spaghetti and toss very well to ensure everything is completely coated. Cover pan and let sit over very, very low heat for a couple of minutes just to help warm and very slightly cook the veggies.

Serve topped with honey roasted peanuts.

NOTES:
This recipe was a mash-up of a few I had come across. It came out very well this evening, but I didn’t use any crushed red pepper which most of the other recipes I read included. Also, the garlic was very “raw” tasting in this and I’m not a fan of uncooked garlic or onions. It tasted good, but it did have that bite to it so next time I’ll probably saute the garlic first and just toss it with the chicken instead of pulsing it with the herbs. Also, I would chop up the peanuts instead of serve them whole. They’re hard to eat with a fork!

I honestly don’t know if I should qualify “meatballs” since this isn’t your usual “Swedish” meatball. The ground meat mixture was intended to become burgers but when my hubby saw it, he said “Ugh…I’m kinda tired of red meat.” He then suggested we turn them into meatballs. Since they did come out pretty tasty, I’m going to try to write it down in case we want to revisit this. Probably not soon: we have enough leftovers for at least two meals if not more.

Meatballs:

1 1/2 to 2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 c. feta cheese
1 (8 oz.) package of mushrooms
1/2 c. frozen spinach
1 egg
1/2 c. garlic pita chip crumbs
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried minced garlic
salt and pepper
1 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. sugar (dunno why…hubby said to do it)

All above are *approximate* amounts!

Wash the mushrooms. Put the mushrooms through the food processor and mince finely but don’t turn them into a paste. Do the same for the frozen spinach; keeping it frozen kinda helps when you’re pulsing. Yes, my kids saw this happen and they still ate the food. I love them.

Put the finely minced veggies and the rest of the goods in a bowl then mix gently with your hands. Make sure it’s well-incorporated. Shape into balls about 1″ in size. I don’t know if this is necessary, but I put them in the fridge for at least 6 hours before I cooked them. This picture will give you an idea of the distribution of the feta and the spinach so you can maybe tell how much to put in.

They were fried. I didn’t add any fat at all; trust me, with this meat there was no need at all. I fried in batches, allowing the bottoms to brown before turning them. It took about 5 minutes or so on each side, maybe less on the second side. I just used tongs to get them out and put them in a warm (200F) oven to wait while the other batches were going.

Afterwards, I used the rendered fat and bits in the pan to make a gravy with flour, chicken stock (It was all I had) some milk and salt and pepper. While it did taste good, my tummy is not happy at having to digest the fat the stove and pan worked so hard to get out. I recommend working with broth and getting the fat outta there.

Serve over noodles, preferrably egg noodles but we didn’t have any.

If you think meatballs are a pain to make (I won’t be making them any time soon, I think), you can use the above to make burgers instead. We did save some of the meat mixture and do just that. NM wholeheartedly approved and ate all of his.

oil for sautee
1/2 head of cabbage, sliced
1 large or two medium carrots, sliced thinly
1 onion, sliced (I didn’t have one…sad!)
1/2 tsp. tumeric
1/2 tsp. cumin (powdered)
salt & pepper
sprinkling of sesame seeds

Heat up about 1 tbs. cooking oil over medium high heat. What I had done is previously saute sliced beef sausage and used the fat that rendered from it along with some olive oil. Saute the onions until just before they’re transparent. Add the cabbage and carrots, saute for a minute. Add seasonings then saute until crisp-tender. Sprinkle on some sesame seeds.