Shanghai Noodles

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

When Matt and I were in college we were lucky enough to live 5 minutes away from a wonderful Chinese restaurant called Sang Kee Asian Bistro. Sang Kee specializes in noodle dishes and it quickly became our favorite restaurant. After college we moved away from Sang Kee but, as luck would have it, a brand new Sang Kee opened up right down the road from our house and we were able to satisfy our need for tasty Chinese noodle dishes once again.

Unfortunately the local Sang Kee didn’t do very well in its new location and it closed about a year ago. We had been going about our lives feeling rather noodle-deprived until last week when we realized that we should just try to make our own version of a Sang Kee dish! (Eureka!) We decided to make one of my favorites, Shanghai Noodles, and, after a quick web search to consult some recipes, came up with the following tasty dish. Enjoy!

Shanghai Noodles (adapted from the recipe on Cooking With Alison)

You will need…
1-2 tablespoons Peanut Oil
2 packed cups of Cabbage, cut into slices (approx. 2” long by 1/4″ thick)
2 Carrots, sliced into long, skinny sticks (approx. 2” long by 1/8” wide)
Splash of Dry Sherry
1 lb. Pork Tenderloin, sliced into thin strips (2-3” long by 1/2” wide by 1/8” thick)
1 bunch Green Onions, cut into 2 inch pieces (plus some thinly sliced as a garnish)
3 tablespoons Dark Soy Sauce
2-3 “pinches” of Ground White Pepper
1 lb. freshly cooked and drained Udon Noodles (these are fat, white noodles, see below*)
1 1/2 teaspoons Sesame Oil

Directions:
Before beginning, make sure that all of your ingredients are prepped as described above. Heat up a wok over medium-high heat and coat with peanut oil. Add the cabbage and carrots and stir fry for 2 minutes, then stir in the sherry and add the sliced pork. Continue to stir constantly for 1-2 minutes until the pork is just cooked through then add the green onions and stir. Add the soy sauce, white pepper and noodles and stir well to combine. Remove from heat and stir in the sesame oil. If desired, garnish the finished dish with thinly sliced green onions.

*A note on Udon Noodles – Dry/uncooked Udons are sold in larger grocery stores, but I’ve found that they are much thinner than the noodles that Sang Kee serves. Therefore, we resorted to buying 4 packages of Japanese-style Udon soups that each included a vacuum-pack of flexible, fat Udon noodles and a dried soup flavoring packet. We discarded the flavoring packets and, after combining the 4 packs of noodles together and boiling them for 2-3 minutes in a pot of water, found them to be a good substitute for the Sang Kee noodles. I’m sure there must be an easier way than this but we haven’t found it yet!

12Mar2013

Inspirations for St. Patrick’s Day Dinner

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

St. Patrick’s Day is just 5 days away! This year the holiday conveniently falls on a Sunday which means that we’ll have all weekend to plan a fun Irish meal. (Hopefully it won’t take all weekend to do that, though!)

Over the past year I have featured two Irish dishes on my blog that would both make delicious St. Patrick’s Day dinners so I thought I would share them! Click on the photos to visit the appropriate recipe/blog entry.

Shepherd’s Pie

This layered dish of vegetables, meat and creamy mashed potatoes is really easy to make. Use ground lamb for a true shepherd’s pie, but also feel free to substitute in ground beef to make the very similar cottage pie variation. View the recipe here.

Bangers and Mash

This dish is one of my all-time favorites. It features sausages (bangers) that have been cooked in a flavorful gravy/onion sauce and smothered with buttery potatoes (mash). The dish is then broiled until the potatoes are golden brown. Yum! This was our St. Patrick’s Day dinner last year and it might be dinner again this year if we don’t find something similarly delicious to make. You can view the recipe here.

7Mar2013

Rotisserie Chicken Burritos

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Pan-fried burritos stuffed with rotisserie chicken, beans, salsa, and cheese… does it get any better that that? Not in my book!

We used to make these delicious burritos before TheLittleGSP.com existed (in fact, recipes like this inspired me to create a blog so I’d have a place to share them!), but after starting the blog we found ourselves constantly looking for new and exciting recipes to try and we somehow left this one behind. Well, we’ve corrected that now. We made these burritos two nights ago for dinner and gobbled up the leftovers today for lunch and I can now confidently say that this recipe is as tasty and satisfying as any of the recipes you’ll find in this blog. It’s also incredibly easy and uses readily available ingredients… perfect!

Rotisserie Chicken Burritos (from MyRecipes.com)

You will need…
1/4 cup Water
2 tablespoons Lime Juice
1/4 teaspoon Cumin
1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Chile Powder
1/8 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
2 Split Rotisserie Chicken Breasts, meat pulled from the bone and shredded
1/4 cup Green Onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup Salsa
1-15oz can Black Beans, drained
1/4 cup chopped Cilantro
1-2 tablespoons Olive Oil
4 “Burrito-sized” Flour Tortillas
1/2 cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (or Mexican Blend)

Directions:
In a small sauce pan, combine the first 6 ingredients (water thru red pepper flakes) and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, then add in the chicken and green onions and stir well to coat. Set aside. Meanwhile, stir together the salsa, beans, and cilantro in a microwaveable bowl and heat on high in a microwave for 1-2 minutes (just to warm it up slightly, especially if the salsa has been in the fridge).

Pour about 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a skillet and allow it to heat up over medium heat. Assemble your burritos two at a time by layering the bean/salsa mixture, chicken, and cheese in a narrow strip along the center of the tortillas. Fold the edges of each tortilla in towards the center and place them side by side in the skillet, seam side “up.” Use a small pot lid to press down slightly on the tortillas while you pan-fry them for approximately three minutes, then carefully flip them over and, using the lid once again, continue to cook the burritos for another 3 minutes or until the tortillas are golden brown and the cheese is thoroughly melted. Enjoy with salsa, sour cream and guacamole!

5Mar2013

Oven-Roasted BBQ Spare Ribs

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Matt and I are eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring. Until then, we’re attempting to brighten the last few days of winter with summery meals like tacos with lime-jalapeño slaw and pasta tossed with garlic and fresh veggies. Last weekend’s summer-inspired food was a new one for us: oven-roasted pork spare ribs with homemade barbecue sauce!

Spare ribs are a thicker, meatier (and, in my opinion, more cartilage-filled) cut than the ‘baby back ribs’ that you’re likely to see in restaurants. Spare ribs are an inexpensive cut (just $2.99/lb at Acme), so they were a good starting point for our first rib-roasting experience. Nevertheless we agreed that next time we make ribs we’ll opt for the pricier and more tender baby backs.

From start to finish this recipe took about 6 hours but most of that time was hands-off oven-roasting. The most time consuming part was making the barbecue sauce but if you don’t have time to do that you could easily use bottled sauce instead. When you serve the ribs, make sure to have plenty of napkins on hand… these are juicy, saucy, and delicious!

Oven-Roasted Pork Spare Ribs (from The New Best Recipe)

Ingredients for the Dry Rub:
1/8 cup Paprika
1 tablespoon Chile Powder
1 tablespoon Cumin
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 tablespoon Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Dried Oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons Ground White Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Ingredients for the Ribs:
1 rack Pork Spare Ribs (approx. 3-4 lbs.)
Dry Rub (above)
1 1/2 cups Barbecue Sauce (homemade or bottled)

Directions:
Mix the dry rub ingredients together in a bowl. Place the rack of ribs on a large rimmed baking sheet and, using your hands, spread the dry rub over the entire surface of the ribs (top and bottom). We found the rub to be a little overwhelming so next time we make this I’ll probably only use about 3/4 of the rub. Position the rubbed ribs meaty side up and allow to sit at room temperature for 1.5 hours. (If desired, you could also cover and refrigerate the rack for up to 24 hours which will produce a very strong rub flavor.)

After the ribs have rested, cover the baking sheet tightly with foil and place in a preheated 300°F oven on the middle rack. Allow to roast for 1 hour, then remove the foil and continue roasting for another hour. Remove the ribs from the oven and liberally apply about half of the barbecue sauce over the top (meaty side) of the ribs with a brush. Return the ribs to the oven for another 1 1/2 hours.

When the ribs are done roasting, remove them from the oven and wrap the ribs (without the pan) completely in foil. Place the foil-wrapped ribs in a paper bag and fold/crimp the top of the bag shut. Allow the ribs to rest at room temperature in the bag for 1 hour.

After resting, unwrap the ribs and cut them between the bones with a sharp knife. Serve with the remaining barbecue sauce and enjoy!

5Mar2013

Quick and Easy Barbecue Sauce

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Last weekend I made oven-roasted pork spareribs and, since I time to kill during the 4 1/2 hours that the ribs were cooking, I also made a batch of homemade barbecue sauce. This sauce is “quick and easy” because it uses ketchup as the tomato base rather than whole canned tomatoes which would take hours to break down into sauce.

Quick and Easy Barbecue Sauce (from The New Best Recipe)
Makes about 2 cups of delicious, tangy sauce!

You will need…
1 Yellow Onion, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup Water
1 cup Ketchup
2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
5 tablespoons Molasses
1 teaspoon Hot Pepper Sauce (I used Cholula)
1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons Liquid Smoke
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1-2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Directions:
Place the onion and water in a food processor and blend for about 30 seconds until the mixture looks like a slushy. Use a mesh strainer to strain the mixture into a bowl or measuring cup until you have 1/2 cup of onion juice. Discard the solids.

Mix the onion juice and the next 8 ingredients (vinegar thru liquid smoke) together in a bowl. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat until it is shimmering, then add in the garlic, chili powder and cayenne pepper. Allow to cook for 30 seconds, then stir in the ketchup mixture. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer the sauce for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature before using.

1Mar2013

Streaking, Day 100!

Posted in Challenges, Hikes by Annie T

This morning I completed day 100 of my mile-a-day “streaking” challenge, woohoo! The challenge started out back on Thanksgiving Day as part of the Runners World Holiday Running Streak (#RWRunStreak) from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, but when 2013 rolled around I just kept on going!

On a typical weekday I wake up at 5:15 and elliptical my mile while watching the morning news. The downside of this is that the news is pretty boring (how many traffic reports can one person watch??) and yes, it’s early, but after I’m done I feel great all day knowing that I’ve finished my mile. I also like having a routine, even if it means that I now have to pack my running clothes on vacations or business trips.

Here are a few of my more memorable miles over the past 100 days:

Day 13 (12/4/12)
I ‘ellipticalled’ a mile in the morning and then we went on a 5 mile hike in Ridley Creek State Park the afternoon! That was a big day for exercise.

Day 41 (01/01/13)
Matt, Bailey and I ran the first 2.4 miles of the multi-purpose loop at Ridley Creek State Park. Not bad for New Year’s Day!

Day 52 (01/12/13)
We ran a mile on a chilly morning in Thornbury Township Park. For some reason this felt much harder than the 2.4 miles on 1/1. (The Thornbury Park Photo is actually from September. I wish it had been that beautiful there in January!)

Days 54-59 (01/14-19/13)
Completed a week of miles on a treadmill in the Palazzo gym in Las Vegas. I was nervous at first because I usually elliptical in the privacy of my own home but I felt a huge sense of accomplishment afterwards! (And I think I managed to look tough and strong while running which is really half the battle, right?) 🙂

Days 94-95 (02/23-24/13)
Ran around Cape Charles on the eastern shore of Virginia while we were in town with friends for the Barrier Island Center Oyster Roast. On day 94 my iPhone app got confused and said that I ran 1.7 miles in 13 minutes (which is impossible) but I let myself believe that was true when I enjoyed all-you-can-eat oysters, clams, BBQ pulled pork and wine later in the day.

I look forward to keeping my streak going until Matt and I get married on June 8th. Wish me luck!