vegetable stir fry

light, and not too gloopy!

vegetable stir-fry

1/4 cup chicken broth (or water)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 1/2 tsp Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
1/2 tsp sugar
white pepper, to taste
1 tsp corn starch
2 tsp water
vegetables (i.e. mushrooms, water chestnuts, bok choy, broccoli, etc.)
salt, to taste
1-2 tsp sesame oil
1-1 1/2 tsp sesame seeds

Combine chicken broth, oyster sauce, rice wine, sugar and pepper in a small bowl or jar.

In a separate bowl, stir the cornstarch into the water.

Stir-fry the vegetables. Once they are tender, push the vegetables to the sides of the wok. Give the sauce a quick re-stir and pour into the middle of the pan. Bring to a boil.

Give the cornstarch / water mixture another stir and pour into the sauce, mixing quickly to thicken.

Stir to combine the vegetables with the sauce. Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed.

Remove wok from heat and stir in the sesame oil and sesame seeds.

lu rou fan (taiwanese braised pork)

my mom made this all the time (like many Taiwanese moms). I suddenly smelled this walking by someone's lunch yesterday, and promptly looked up a recipe and made it. every person in our fam liked it, too!

lu rou fan / taiwanese braised pork over rice

serves 4-6

1.5 lbs mix of pork belly with skin on, and pork shoulder (might try and use just ground pork next time)

1/4 cup minced shallots

8 garlic gloves, minced

4 ginger slices

2-3 star anise

1/2 tsp five spice powder

1/4 tsp ground white pepper

1 cup cold water

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp Shaoxing wine

1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar

2 tbsp brown sugar

3-6 hard boiled eggs (optional)

1 green onion, thinly sliced

Brown pork in instant pot (using saute function): Add 1 tbsp peanut oil, make sure whole bottom is coated. Lightly season pork belly's skin with salt. Place skin side down and brown pork for roughly 5 mins per side. Lightly season the other side of pork with salt. Then set aside. 

Add 1.5 tbsp butter to instant pot, making sure the whole bottom is coated. Add 2 tbsp brown sugar, then stir very occasionally until caramelized or sugar has a deep brown color.

Stir in shallots to keep sugar from burning. Then add in ginger and garlic. Saute for 1 more minute. 

Pour 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine and 1 cup cold water into pot. Deglaze by scrubbing all the flavorful brown bits off the bottom of the pot. 

Add in 2-3 star anise, 3 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp Chinese black vinegar, 1/2 tsp five spice powder,  and 1/4 tsp ground white pepper. Give it a quick mix, then turn off the heat. 

Slowly cut the pork into thin strips, and add to Instant pot. Stir. 

Close lid, turn venting knob to sealing position. Pressure cook at High Pressure for 20 minutes + 10 minutes Natural Release.

Vent the Instant pot, carefully releasing the steam. Remove and discard the star anise and ginger chunks. Add in hard boiled eggs, and simmer the pot on Saute function to break down the meat and thicken the sauce. Stir occasionally. 

Taste and add any more salt or sugar to taste. Garnish with sliced green onions and serve over rice. 

light and crispy waffles

we ate these all up! (ok, save for one, but we usually have a bunch that end up going into the freezer)


light and crispy waffles
makes about seven 3 3/4 in square waffles

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk
6 tbsp vegetable  oil
1/4 cup whole milk
1 large egg, separated
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In a glass measuring cup, blend the buttermilk, vegetable oil and milk. Beat in the egg yolk.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg white to soft peaks. Add the sugar and beat until firm and glossy. Beat in the vanilla.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until just blended. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the beaten egg white until just incorporated.

Preheat waffle iron (we have a 8 in circle one) and oil it lightly. Pour about 1 cup of the waffle batter into the preheated waffle iron and cook for 4 mins or until browned and crisp. Transfer the waffles to the oven rack to keep warm and repeat with the remaining batter.

Serve warm.

Moroccan Chicken

made this the other night - everyone liked it except for our 1 very American kid who really is only excited about burgers, grilled cheeses, and basically anything found on a kids' menu

moroccan chicken 
makes 4 servings

1 tsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
1.5 lbs chicken thighs
2 cups chicken broth
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup onions, diced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 can chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup sliced almonds
cilantro, for garnish

In a small bowl, mix paprika, turmeric, cumin, salt and pepper.

Coat chicken with spice rub as evenly as possible on both sides. Set aside on a plate.

Add 2 tbsp oil to the bottom of the Instant Pot pan.

Press SAUTE mode on the Instant Pot.

Add chicken to the pot and cook until slightly brown. Then flip over each chicken and continue cooking until that side is slightly browned. Remove from Instant Pot and set aside on a plate.

Add remaining 1 tbsp oil to the bottom of the pot.

Add garlic, onions and ginger. Saute for 2 mins, stirring slowly.

Add quinoa, raisins, chickpeas, chicken broth and the browned chicken.

Close the Instant Pot lid and make sure the knob is turned to SEAL.

Press MANUAL and set for 16 mins.

When Instant Pot has come to pressure and cooked for 16 mins, wait 10 mins before opening to allow Pot pressure to slowly come back down. Turn the knob to VENT and remove the lid.

Chicken will be done if a thermometer registers it as 165 degrees F.

Serve and garnish with optional cilantro or parsley leaves.

home made gingerbread house

We attempted our own gingerbread house from scratch this year - these were the recipes we used:

gingerbread (for cookies or a house)
makes 36 cookies or 1 house

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp all spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp clove
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

In a medium saucepan, heat sugar, molasses, ginger, allspice, cinnamon and cloves to boiling, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and stir in baking soda (it will foam up).

Stir in butter until melted.

On a floured surface, knead dough until mixed. Divide dough in half, and set aside half.

Roll half the dough with a rolling pin, slightly thinner than 1/4 inch.

Cut dough into desired shapes. (We used this template for our gingerbread house and followed this guide on how to cut out the shapes)

Bake at 325 degrees F on a cookie sheet for 12 mins; then cool on a wire rack.

Then, to assemble the gingerbread house, we used....

Royal Icing for Gingerbread House

2 large egg whites (room temperature)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
3 cups powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, whip egg whites until foamy, then add cream of tartar. Continue to mix for 30 seconds.

Add in powdered sugar a little bit at time, mixing well.

Once the powdered sugar is incorporated, turn mixer to high and continue beating until thick and icing holds its shape (about 3-5 minutes)

Store well, covered.

morning glory muffins

a nice baked good to gift to friends.

morning glory muffins
makes 24 muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar (already reduced from original recipe)

2 tsp baking soda
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup applesauce (can substitute pumpkin puree)
1.2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrots
1 medium tart apple, peeled and grated
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (can substitute pepitas)

In a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients. In another bowl, combine the eggs, applesauce, oil and vanilla. Stir in carrots, apple, pineapple, coconut, raisins and nuts.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-24 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 mins before removing from pans to wire racks.

sugar cookie frosting that hardens

I have searched many years for an easy cookie frosting recipe that hardens (trying to avoid having to make royal icing), and finally found this!

sugar cookie frosting

2/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup milk
2 lbs powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and milk with an electric mixer. Slowly mix in powdered sugar and extracts.

Frost sugar cookies immediately. Let frosting harden. Store cookies in air tight container.