Chinese Sweet and Sour Chicken

I have received some Chinese chopsticks about one week ago ( thank you Jana ! ) so I had the urge to cook some Chinese food in the attempt to use the chopsticks. So I was searching for a recipe that contains chicken and easy to find ingredients. I found a very easy recipe so I decided to give it a try. The chicken bites have a crisp exterior and are tender on the interior.

 

Here is what you will need :

The Chicken Bites

v  500 grams boneless, skinless chicken cut into small chunks ( bite size)

v  salt and pepper to taste

v  about 3 spoons of cornstarch

v  1 large egg ( must beat it )

v  oil for frying

The Sweet and Sour Sauce

v  half cup of white sugar

v  half cup of vinegar ( preferable apple cider)

v  quarter cup of tomato paste

v  1 tablespoon of soy sauce

v  half teaspoon of garlic powder ( no worries if you do not have , I also replaced it with fresh garlic as I do not like the garlic powder in my food)

 

For the sauce , whisk the sugar, the vinegar, the tomato paste, the soy sauce and the garlic and set aside.

 

 

 

 

 

 Put your chicken bites in a bowl and season with salt and pepper then add the cornstarch and gently combine it. Beat your egg and soak the chicken bites into the egg mixture.

 

 

 Take each chicken bite coated in egg and fry it until golden brown. Take the chicken bites out on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.

 

Put the chicken bites into a pan , top  with the sauce and place into the oven.

 

 Bake until the sauce becomes thick ( it took for me about 40 minutes on 250 degree ). From time to time turn over the chicken bites to bake evenly and coat in the sauce.

 Serve it hot on a bed of rice ( or noodles in my case ) !

Enjoy !

Koshari - Mancare Specific Egipteana

Koshari  este o mancare cu  specific egiptean, pregatita din orez, macaroane si linte ornate cu sos de rosii , ceapa prajita si optional boabe de naut.  Acest fel de mancare este foarte popular in Egipt si se gaseste peste tot. Exista restaurante care vand doar Koshari , de exemplu lantul de restaurante Tahrir.

Este foarte usor de pregatit iar componentele sunt la indemana. Am atasat poza cu ingredientele asezate unul langa altul pentru o mai buna identificare a acestora.

-macaroane - o punga (250gr)
-orez (roz )- 2 pahare
-linte ( atz ) - 125 gr
-fidea (shaaria )- 3 linguri mari
-cub de supa - 1 buc
-rosii proaspete (tamatem )- 1/2 kg
-usturoi ( tom)- 4 catei
-ceapa (basal )- 3-4 cepe mari
-otet ( hal )- 1/4 pahar
-sare , piper
-ulei

Toate ingredientele se prepara separat, fiecare in vasul lui in acelasi timp.Pastele se pun la fiert iar dupa ce s-au fiert se scurg bine de apa, se adauga 1 lingura de ulei si un praf de sare.

 

Fideaua se prajeste in ulei intr-un vas incapator  pana devine maronie .Cand fideaua este gata se adauga peste ea orezul si se acopera cu apa deasupra orezului cu un deget.Orezul se fierbe pana scade apa de deasupra apoi oala se pune pe o table, se acopera cu capac iar focul se da la minim.Se fierbe asa mocnit pana orezul este fiert si se aude trosnind.

 

Lintea se fierbe in apa iar dupa ce s-a fiert se scurge bine de apa .

 

Sosul de rosii se prepara in felul urmator:usturoiul se prajeste in ulei pana devine foarte putin maroniu apoi se adauga rosiile mixate, se adauga otetul,cubul de supa si un praf de piper negru.Se lasa pina da in clocot apoi se adauga o jumatate de pahar de apa.

 

Ceapa se taie rondele apoi se prajeste in ulei pana devine maro spre negru.

 

Dupa ce toate ingredientele au fost pregatite se pune pe rand un strat de paste , unul de orez cu fidea,se presara deasupra lintea si ceapa prajita apoi se adauga sosul de rosii dupa cit se doreste .

 

Sa aveti pofta !

Sweet Macaroni and Cheese with Molasses Topping

Sweet macaroni and cheese with molasses topping is a quick dish consisting of cooked macaroni pasta and cheese. Here are the ingredients that you need to cook this delicious food:

v  1 Package of macaroni ( about 500 grams)

v  3 eggs

v  Cheese ( about 300 grams )- you can use any white cheese that you like

v  Sour cream ( about 1 glass )

v  Sugar and vanilla sugar

v  Salt ( a pinch for boiling the macaroni )

v  Molasses ( sugar cane honey ) - for topping

Boil the macaroni in boiling salted water as directed on the package.
Pre-heat the oven !

Meanwhile, prepare a mixture of eggs, cheese ( I like to use salty cheese ),sour cream, sugar ( as per your taste ) and vanilla sugar. Drain the macaroni, place in pan , pour the eggs and cheese mix then bake in the oven until the surface is slightly brown.

Serve it hot and add a spoon of molasses on top. If you don't have molasses ( or you don't like it ) you can add a spoon of sugar. Also you can eat it cold. It can be served for dinner or breakfast. Serves 3-4 persons!

Enjoy !

Vanilla Ice Cream with Walnuts and Dried Plums

Who doesn't love ice-cream ? If it would be up to me I would eat it for breakfast , lunch and dinner. It happens many times to just crave for some ice-cream but there isn't available around. Is easy to make it and is much more delicious than the one you may buy from the shops, besides you can personalize it as you desire.

 

 

This vanilla ice-cream recipe can be also used as a base for any other ice-cream adding  your favorite ingredients and flavors. It is a very creamy rich ice-cream and here is what you will need:

 

§  3 eggs

§  300 ml whipped cream

§  about 6 spoons of sugar

§  a pinch of salt

§  vanilla essence  ( 1 spoon full or on your taste )

§  walnuts ( as much as you like )

§  dried plums ( as much as you like )

 Cut the walnuts into small pieces , remove the kernel from the plums and cut them into small pieces too. The eggs, separate the whites from the yolks. Mix the yolks with about 3 spoons of sugar. Mix the egg whites with the remaining sugar and a pinch of salt until obtaining a very thick foam. Mix together the whipped cream , the yolks and egg whites foam and the vanilla essence.

 

Gently mix all the components with the walnuts and dried plums and pour the ice-cream in a bowl then put it in the freezer. To avoid the ice formations , the ice-cream must be mixed occasionally at an interval of 1 hour until hardens. From this quantity serves 3-4 persons a nice rich big cup each !

Enjoy !

Marinated Feta Cheese

This one is for the feta cheese lovers.  Feta is a Greek soft white brine cheese with a tangy and salty flavor with small holes or no holes at all. For today I am thinking  "homemade marinated feta cheese".  

You will need :

• Feta cheese – about 400 gr
• Garlic- about 5 cloves
• Red hot chili pepper – 2 pieces
• Black pepper not grounded – 1 spoon
• Laurel leafs– 1 piece for each jar
• Fresh thyme- few leafs
• Olive oil
• In addition to the fresh herbs you can use any aroma that you like or fitting with cheese, like rosemary for example or some people like fresh mint. It’ s up to you to choose any flavor on your own taste.
• Jars – those are ingredients for 2 jars

You cut the garlic cloves in round pieces. Remove the seeds inside  the red hot chili pepper and cut it pieces as you wish. I also added some green pepper and I didn’t have fresh thyme so I added dry grounded thyme. The cheese cut it cubes as big as you want taking in consideration the opening of your jar. On the bottom of the jar put some of the ingredients. Add the cheese and between it part of your ingredients too. Fill the jar with olive oil. Your cheese with the ingredients must be well cover with the oil when you cover the jar. Keep the jar out in dry place for at least 3 days. After that you can store it in the fridge between 3 to 4 weeks.

The olive oil will solidify in the fridge. Leave the jar at room temperature for at least 1 hour before serving. Use the cheese as well the oil to create delicious vegetable salads !
 

I wish you bon appétit !