Moo Goo Gai Pan with Corn

One of the best things about required new meal cooking is the gaining of new meals. Experimenting with meals loved from a restaurant but too lazy to cook at home. Especially the Asian meals. The newest test, Moo Goo Gai Pan, was one of my most favorite dishes at the local corner Chinese restaurant we ate at weekly. One my other favorite dishes from them was their cheese enchiladas. But that is a topic for a whole other day on a different type of blog.

Modifications Made:
Snap peas instead of snow peas. Omitted bamboo shoots as the grocer was out and replaced with baby corns. One teaspoon of Sriracha was added to the sauce for some heat and to offset the sugar.

Scaled for Likability: Great
When reading the recipe, one can get overwhelmed by the sheer number of ingredients. I know I did. But after having now made several new Asian meals, I have come to understand the number of spices and ingredients does not make the dish complicated. In fact, most of the ingredients are store bought, pre-made spices and pre-sliced ingredients. The only prep work for this meal was the chicken, ginger, and carrots. Carrots even come pre-sliced at the store but I prefer long thin slices over thick wide sliced found at the grocer.

This meal was really easy. In the time it took for the white to cook, the ingredients were prep and the meal was almost done itself. The sauce which was always my favorite part was perfect and plenty. So much it even fully covered the white rice. Perfect!

My only complaint was there was just enough for three people. Not a real complaint at all.

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add po...

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almos...

Cold Corn Bean Salsa

Nothing says junk food like chips and salsa, chips and cheese dip, chips and guacamole. Over the years I have perfected my salsa. It's good on tacos, on nachos, on enchiladas, and of course on chips. Just because I have the best salsa doesn't mean I don't like to try new salsa's like this Best Black Bean and Corn Salsa. Modifications Made: Shoepeg corn was replaced with one can of standard yellow corn with no salt added. Petite diced tomatoes were reduced by half. Italian dressing was swapped for half teaspoon comino, half teaspoon of chili powder, and two tablespoon of fresh lime juice. Salsa was made and let rest for two hours before eating. Scaled for Likability: Good Salsa this was not. Good it was however. It was too much for chips by themselves but was great served over a soft beef taco.

Eating Waffles

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