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Another Delicious Pizza!

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Mmm… is there anything better than homemade pizza fresh out of the oven?  Pizza is easy to make, the toppings are fun to experiment with, and the results are tasty and rewarding.  For me, the one problem with pizza is that I only like to use Trader Joe’s fresh pizza dough which means that I can only make pizza once or twice a month after we visit TJ’s.  We used to live within walking distance of a Trader Joe’s but now a 20 minute drive (and bad rush hour traffic!) separates us from my favorite dough.  I have tried the pizza dough from Whole Foods and, although it isn’t bad, it simply can’t compare with the crispy, chewy flavor of the dough from Joe’s.

So, as you might have guessed, we stopped by Trader Joe’s over the weekend and I picked up a bag of dough.  We already had some hot Italian turkey sausage and basil so I decided to make a Sausage Tomato Basil Mozzarella (TBM) pizza for dinner last night.

A note about the cheese… TJ’s was sold out of the marinated mozzarella balls that I typically buy so I tried their Ciliegine mozzarella which is billed as stringier, softer, and more authentic.  More authentic it may be but it also was much more watery and seemed to melt into nothingness on these pizzas.  Next time I’ll hold out for the good mozzarella!

Turkey Sausage T.B.M. Pizza

You will need…
2 Turkey Sausages (we used Shady Brook Farms Hot Italian Turkey Sausage)
1 12 oz. can Diced Tomatoes with Italian Herbs
1 package Trader Joe’s Pizza Dough
Pepper, Parmesan Cheese and Garlic Powder to taste
Approx. 10 Mozzarella Balls (I highly recommend Trader Joe’s Marinated Mozzarella Balls, but for this recipe I used TJ’s Ciliegine Mozzarella Balls)
10-20 Basil Leaves, cut into strips

Directions:
Crumble and brown the turkey sausage in a large frying pan or wok.  When the sausage is nicely browned, remove it from heat and set aside.  Drain the diced tomatoes slightly and then saute over medium heat for 10-15 minutes to reduce.  If you want a smoother tomato base, use a potato masher to slightly crush the tomato chunks.  Meanwhile, stretch out your pizza dough into two rectangular pies on a large cookie sheet (see my Homemade TBM Pizza for instructions on how to do this).

Spoon and spread the reduced diced tomatoes evenly onto the two pizza pies.  Sprinkle the browned sausage over the pizza and top with ground black pepper, Parmesan, and garlic powder.  Next, distribute the mozzarella balls evenly over the pizza.  I like to use a pair of kitchen shears to cut each mozzarella ball into several pieces — this helps to cover the pizza evenly without using an entire container of cheese!  🙂

Bake pizzas in a preheated 350° oven for 12 minutes.  Remove the pizzas from the oven and top with your sliced basil.  Enjoy!

Rainy Day Cupcakes

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It has been raining all day (2.12″ worth of rain so far!) so I haven’t been able to do much in the yard besides watch the grass seed we planted last weekend wash away.  Oh well!  I decided to make the most of being stuck inside by tackling a cupcake recipe.

Baking is not my strong point and we’ve had more than one frosting recipe go awry, so I was delighted when these cupcakes turned out exactly right!  The frosting is light and fluffy and the cakes puffed up nicely in the oven.

As you’ll notice, most of my photos are rather dark.  Believe it or not, I was actually taking the photos by a big window at 4:00 in the afternoon but it’s so dark out that these look like night shots.  I think the dark shadows convey the mood of the day pretty well.  Oh, and I also listened to Johnny Cash the entire time I made these so he added a bit of moodiness as well.  🙂

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting  (from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook)

You will need:
For the cupcakes…
1 1/2 cups Self-Rising Flour
1 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 sticks Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
2 cups Sugar
4 Eggs, at room temperature
1 cup 2% Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

For the frosting…
3 sticks Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons 2% Milk
9 ounces Semisweet Chocolate
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 1/4 cups Confectioners’ Sugar

Directions:
Combine the two flours in a small bowl and combine the milk and vanilla extract in a measuring cup.  Set both mixtures aside.

In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is smooth.  Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg.  Add the flour mixture and the milk mixture in three parts, alternating between flour and milk and beating  between each flour-milk addition.  Do not overbeat.  Use a silicone spatula to scrape the batter off of the sides of the bowl and make sure that all of the ingredients are well mixed.

Spoon the batter into lined muffin tins and fill each cupcake liner approximately 3/4 full.  In my case, this yielded 20 cupcakes.  I only have one muffin pan so I did a batch of 12 first and then a batch of 8.  Place the muffin pan on the center rack of a preheated 350° oven and cook for approximately 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Cool the cupcakes completely before icing.

For the frosting, start by melting the chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water.  When the chocolate is completely melted and smooth, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool to lukewarm before adding it to your frosting mixture.

I finally got to use the double boiler that my brother got me for Christmas!

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy, approximately 3 minutes.  Add the milk and beat until smooth (watch out, it splatters!!).  Add the melted chocolate and beat for approximately 2 minutes.  Add the vanilla and beat for another 3 minutes.  Gradually add the sugar and beat on low speed until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.

My first successful frosting! (There have been many failures before this..!)

To frost my cupcakes, I transferred the frosting into a large resealable gallon bag and snipped about 3/4″ off of one of the corners.  I squeezed the frosting out onto each cupcake and then used a knife to spread the frosting evenly over the cake.

What do you do on a rainy Sunday when you can’t go outside?  Please share!  🙂

Bucatini with Meatballs and Tomato Sauce

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We have been on a quest for the perfect meatball recipe for several months and I think last weekend we finally found it!  Previously we had made gluten-free meatballs, turkey meatballs, and ground beef meatballs based on recipes we found on the internet.  All of these came out fine but were lacking the wow factor (and yes, now I know that there can be a wow factor when it comes to meatballs!).  Ironically, after all of that searching on the world wide web we found the perfect recipe within the pages of our very own Cooks Illustrated The New Best Recipe book.  Page 253, to be exact.

These meatballs were decadent and were so tender that they were almost creamy.  The combination of ground chuck and ground pork was way better than the turkey (duh) and standard ground beef that we tried in previous attempts and the tomato sauce was tasty and thick.

Bucatini with Meatballs and Tomato Sauce

You will need:
For the meatballs…
2 slices White Bread, crust removed and slices torn into small pieces
6 tablespoons Plain Yogurt thinned with 2 tablespoons fat free Half and Half
3/4 pound Ground Chuck
1/4 pound Ground Pork
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese (or Parmesan/Romano Blend)
2 tablespoon minced Parsley Leaves
1 Egg Yolk
1 Garlic Clove, minced
3/4 teaspoon Salt
Pepper, to taste
1 cup Canola Oil, for pan-frying

For the tomato sauce…
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1 28 oz. can Crushed Tomatoes
1 tablespoon minced Basil Leaves
Salt and Pepper

1 pound Bucatini Pasta, cooked according to package instructions

Directions:
Combine the bread and yogurt mixture in a small bowl.  Mash together with a fork and let sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until a paste forms.

Place the next eight ingredients (ground chuck through pepper) in a small bowl and add the bread-yogurt paste.  Mix together very gently (just as was the case with the guacamole-chipotle burgers, the lighter your touch, the more tender your end product will be!) and form the mixture into 1 1/2 inch diameter meatballs.  Press the meatballs together somewhat firmly to make sure they hold togethery during the cooking process. (Some of our very gently-formed meatballs fell apart but they were still delicious!)  You should end up with 10-14 meatballs.

Pan-Frying the Meatballs

Pour the canola oil into a large straight-sided skillet so that it is approximately 1/4″ deep.  Heat the pan over medium-high heat until the edge of a meatball browns if it is inserted into the oil.  Once the oil is hot enough, place the meatballs in the pan in a single layer.  Fry, turning several times, until the meatballs are evenly browned and slightly crispy on all sides (approx. 10 minutes).  Remove the meatballs from the pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels.  Set aside.

Meatballs warming up in the Tomato Sauce

Discard the oil in the skillet but retain any browned bits of meatball.  Add the olive oil and garlic and saute until garlic becomes golden, approx. 30 seconds.  Add the crushed tomatoes, stir, and simmer until sauce thickens, approx. 10 minutes.  Stir in the basil, salt and pepper, then carefully add the meatballs.  Stir gently to coat the meatballs and then allow to simmer for about 5 minutes to reheat meatballs.

Spoon several spoonfuls of the sauce over your cooked Bucatini and stir well to coat the pasta.  Serve the pasta and top with meatballs and sauce.  Enjoy!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Corn and Black Bean Salad

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This healthy, colorful salad is easy to make and the combination of rice vinegar, lime juice and cilantro give it a great, fresh flavor.  Because you can make it several hours ahead of time, this has been a go-to side dish for us when we’re having people over for dinner.  The leftovers (if there are any!) keep well and are delicious either alone or as a chunky salsa/dip with tortilla chips.  We found the original recipe on Whole Food’s blog.

Corn and Black Bean Salad

You will need…
2 – 15 oz. cans of Black Beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz. frozen Corn, rinsed (if using canned corn boil it for 1 minute and then drain)
1 small Red Onion, chopped and rinsed
1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons Rice Vinegar
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Lime Juice
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1/3 cup Cilantro, chopped

Directions:
Rinse the beans, corn and red onion in a large colander.  Allow to drain thoroughly, then add the red bell pepper.

Meanwhile, combine the rice vinegar, olive oil, lime juice, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.  Mix well, then add the bean, corn, onion, and pepper mixture from the colander.  Add the chopped cilantro.  Mix the entire salad well and then cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to chill.  Stir again before serving.

Sausage-Corn Scramble with Home Fries

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This past weekend we had some of the best April weather I can remember.  Matt and I took advantage of the sunny, 70 degree temperatures by spending what seemed like the entire weekend outside.  We reseeded our lawn (Bailey’s sliding tennis ball grabs and tight turns take their toll on the grass!) and I planted moonflowers, morning glory, mint, marjoram, chives, marigolds, zinnias and dahlias.  We also enjoyed a 4 ½ mile hike in the Woodlawn Trustees Wildlife Refuge in Northern Delaware (I’ll post more about that later) and still managed to find some time to sit back and enjoy the wonderful fragrance of our blooming viburnum bushes, crab apple trees, and cherry trees.

Of course all of that outside time made us hungry so we also spent a good portion of the weekend cooking delicious meals.  Saturday night we made decadent Bucatini with Homemade Meatballs and Tomato Sauce, Sunday morning we feasted on a Sausage-Corn Scramble and crispy, browned Home Fries, and Sunday evening we had Matt’s parents and his brother over to share our Adobo-Lime Chicken with Corn and Black Bean Salad and Spanish Rice.  Yum!  Throughout the week I will post recipes for all of these meals but for now I’ll start with our Sunday morning scramble with home fries.

For the scramble, we chose to go with a Mexican flavor since we had some leftover “corn con salsa” (sautéed corn with some black bean salsa and cilantro) that we wanted to use up.  We just had normal pork sausage, but this recipe would be GREAT with chorizo instead.  (Maybe next Sunday!)  I also threw in some baby spinach from my garden since my spinach plants are just getting to the point where they need to be thinned.  These spinach shoots gave the scramble a nice bit of color and flavor.

Baby Spinach, freshly thinned from our garden

For our home fries we followed the recipe from our Cook’s Illustrated The New Best Recipe book.  The potatoes were buttery, crisp, and salty… the perfect combination!

Sausage-Corn Scramble with Home Fries

Ingredients:

For the Home Fries
2 Russet Potatoes, cut into ½” cubes
2 ½ tablespoons Peanut Oil
1 Medium Red Onion, chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Paprika
2 tablespoons butter

For the Scramble
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 large Shallot, thinly sliced
¼ pound Ground Pork Sausage (or Chorizo)
¾ cup Leftover Corn Con Salsa (sautéed corn with salsa and cilantro); or any similar type of black bean or corn salad or salsa that you enjoy)
½ cup Baby Spinach (I used “infant” spinach shoots freshly thinned from the garden)
5 Eggs, whisked together in a large bowl
1/3 cup Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
Salt & Pepper to taste
Garnish of Salsa and Cilantro

Directions:

Place the cubed potatoes in a small pot, cover with ½” of water and add 1 teaspoon salt.  Heat the pot on the stove over high heat just until the water starts to boil, then remove from heat and drain the potatoes in a colander.

Heat the peanut oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the red onion and sauté until browned.  Remove the onion from the pan and place in a small bowl with the salt, pepper, and paprika.

Add the butter to the heavy-bottomed pan that you sautéed the onion in and allow it to melt.  Add the potatoes and shake the pan so that the potatoes lay evenly on the bottom of the pan in one layer.  Allow the potatoes to cook for 4 to 5 minutes without stirring; this will ensure that they get nice and crispy on that side.  After 4 to 5 minutes, stir the potatoes to flip them over and allow them to cook for another 4 to 5 minutes.  Repeat this process a few times until the potatoes are evenly browned on all sides.

Add the onion mixture to your potatoes and mix thoroughly.  Taste a potato (yum!) and add extra salt and pepper if needed.  Leave the potatoes in the pan to keep them nice and hot until you are ready to serve them.

For the scramble, heat up the olive oil in a large frying pan and add the shallots.  Saute the shallots for a few minutes, then add the sausage.  Use a spatula to flatten the sausage in one layer across the bottom of the pan and allow it to cook for 2-3 minutes without stirring.  (As was the case with the potatoes, this will allow the sausage to brown and get a little crispy.)  Flip the sausage over and allow the other side to brown as well.

After sausage is evenly browned and slightly crispy, break up the sausage with your spatula.  Mix in the corn mixture and baby spinach and cook for another 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Corn 'con salsa' and baby spinach for the scramble

Stir the Monterey Jack cheese, salt and pepper into the egg bowl and then add to your sausage mixture in the frying pan.  Stir and flip the mixture regularly for 4-5 minutes until eggs reach your desired level of doneness.

Garnish the scramble with a dollop of salsa and a sprig of cilantro and serve with your crispy home fries and a cup of coffee.

Baked Tortellini with Peas and Ham in Cream Sauce

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Happy Easter!  We spent our holiday weekend eating delicious, rich meals including my mom’s asparagus strata, Matt’s sister’s homemade strawberry shortcakes, and our very own scalloped potatoes with artichoke hearts and fontina cheese.  We decided to keep the heavy food trend going today by using some leftover ham to make baked tortellini with peas and ham in a cream sauce.  I used this recipe from the Food Network as a guide but made some of my own changes such as lightening the sauce a bit with fat-free half and half, subbing in the Easter ham for prosciutto, and broiling the individual-sized entrees in the oven just before serving.

Baked Tortellini with Peas and Ham in Cream Sauce

You will need…
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of leftover ham (or you can use prosciutto), thinly sliced in 1″ strips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup fat-free half and half
Approx. 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Approx. 1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup peas
1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese (or Parmesan/Romano blend)
12 oz. Tortellini, cooked according to package instructions
1/4 cup reserved pasta liquid

Directions:
Melt the butter in a dutch oven.  When butter is melted, add the garlic and saute for 1 minute.  Add the ham and saute for an additional 4 minutes or until the ham starts to brown slightly.  Add the heavy cream, half and half, salt and pepper and stir.  Simmer for 8-10 minutes or until cream mixture is reduced by half.

After mixture is reduced, mix in the peas and cheese, then add the tortellini and reserved liquid.  Stir well to combine, then transfer tortellini into two small baking dishes.  Broil for 4-5 minutes until top begins to brown, then remove from oven and enjoy!

Southwestern Turkey Burgers

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After making our delicious Guacamole-Chipotle Burgers on Wednesday, we had a few leftovers, namely chipotle mayonnaise, guacamole, poblano pepper, cheese, and buns (everything but the burger!).  We decided to put our toppings to good use and try out the Guacamole-Chipotle Burger recipe using ground turkey instead.

We followed the same basic recipe as the beef burgers with a few exceptions.  We were worried that the lower fat content of the turkey would produce dense, dry burgers so we chopped up the pepper jack cheese and mixed it plus a little shredded Monterey Jack directly into the turkey mixture.  We also added slightly less pepper (just under 1/2 teaspoon per pound of meat) and Matt grilled the burgers longer — approximately 5 minutes per side over direct high heat — to make sure they were cooked through.

The turkey burgers turned out nice and juicy thanks to all of the cheese and the overall combination of turkey, chipotle mayo, poblano, cilantro, and guacamole was delicious!  Next time we make fancy beef burgers we’ll definitely plan to make the healthier turkey equivalent with the leftovers.  🙂

Homemade Guacamole-Chipotle Burgers

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Every January we go to Las Vegas for a week to exhibit at a big trade show.  Although this sounds like a great opportunity to let loose and go wild in Vegas, the reality is that after 9 1/2 hours of standing in a booth on a concrete floor (and with another 9 1/2 hours ahead of us the next day…) we typically find ourselves just looking for a solid meal that doesn’t involve walking through too many casinos.  After checking out many of the restaurants in our immediate area, we decided that our favorite place to eat was the Grand Luxe Cafe, conveniently situated right at the bottom of our hotel elevator at the Palazzo.

 The Grand Luxe Cafe’s menu is practically a small novel, boasting page after page of offerings from Italian, Asian, Mexican, and American cuisine.  Matt’s go-to dinner was the Avocado-Chipotle Burger which, according to the menu, is a “chop house burger topped with fresh avocado, fire-roasted poblano peppers, melted cheese, chipotle mayonnaise and cilantro.”  Yum!

With this description in mind, we set out to make our own version of this delicious dinner.  Judging by the look on Matt’s face as he bit into his burger tonight, I think we succeeded!

Burgers with Pepper Jack, Chipotle Mayo, Roasted Poblanos, Guacamole and Cilantro

Chipotle Mayo, Cilantro & Guacamole

You will need…
1 Poblano Chile Pepper
1/4 Cup Cilantro Leaves
1/4 Cup Guacamole
4 Slices Pepper Jack Cheese
2 Hamburger Buns, cut in half lengthwise and lightly toasted

For the Chipotle Mayonnaise…
1/3 Cup Mayonnaise
Juice from 1/2 Lime
1 Chipotle Pepper plus 1 Teaspoon Adobo Sauce (from a small can of Chipotles en Adobo)
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Poblano Peppers

For the burger patties…
3/4 – 1 pound Ground Chuck
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
Olive Oil Spray for the Grill

Directions:

Heat your grill to medium-high heat.  Once hot, place the whole poblano pepper on the grill grates and allow it to roast for approximately 12 minutes, turning occasionally.  When the poblano skin is charred and starting to peel remove it from heat, place it in a glass bowl, and cover with a kitchen towel.  Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes.  (This will loosen up the poblano skin and allow it to cool enough so that you can handle it.)

Transfer the poblano to a cutting board and peel off the outer skin with your fingers.  Cut the stem off and squeeze the seeds out.  Slice the pepper into 1/2″ squares and set aside.

Combine the chipotle mayonnaise ingredients in a small food processor and blend until the pepper is broken down into small pieces.  Transfer the chipotle mayonnaise into a bowl and set aside.

To make your burger patties, place the ground chuck in a shallow bowl and spread out slightly.  Add the salt and pepper evenly over the surface of the meat, then carefully mix the meat with your hands.  The key to a good burger is not to over-mix or over-compress the ground beef so mix gently!  🙂  Split the meat mixture in half and form each section into a very loose ball by transferring the meat back and forth between your hands.

Place both burger “balls” on a plate and press down gently to flatten them ever so slightly… your finished patty should be about 3/4″ thick and 4-5 inches in diameter.  Form a small indent (about 1/4″ deep) in the center of each patty.

Place the burgers, indent side up, on a preheated, oiled grill over direct high heat.  Close the lid and allow to cook for 2 1/2 minutes, then flip the burgers and allow to cook for 2 minutes.  Add the slices of pepper jack cheese to each burger and allow to cook (lid closed) for another minute.

While the burgers are grilling, spread some of the chipotle mayonnaise on the bottom of your hamburger bun and spread some guacamole on the top of the bun.  Place the cooked burgers onto the bun and top with roasted poblano peppers and cilantro.

We enjoyed our burgers with a side of Alexia Sweet Potato Chipotle Fries and a Dill-Cucumber Salad.  This was a pretty spicy meal so the cucumber had a very nice cooling effect.

Ready to eat!

Simple Grilled Zucchini

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We’ve had a busy week!  It was Matt’s birthday yesterday so we’ve been going out to dinner a lot and haven’t cooked anything elaborate lately.  Despite our lack of exciting culinary exploits, I still wanted to share a recipe so here’s a very simple one for tonight: Grilled Zucchini.

Simple Grilled Zucchini

You will need…
2 small Zucchinis (or 1 large one)
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Garlic Powder and/or Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute (optional)

Directions:
Slice the zucchinis in half lengthwise.  Pour a small amount of olive oil onto the cut side of the zucchini and season with salt and pepper.  You can add extra seasonings like garlic powder or Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute at this point as well.

Place the zucchini halves skin-side down over direct medium-high heat on a preheated grill.  Grill for approximately 5 minutes and then flip the zucchinis over so that they are face-down on the grill.  Grill for another 5-7 minutes (longer for a thicker zucchini) or until they are tender.  Remove from the grill and enjoy!

Kung Pao Chicken

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Last Fall Matt and I decided that we wanted to learn how to stir fry. We got a great cook book, a brand new 14 inch carbon steel wok, and what seemed like dozens of various sauces, oils and seasonings. Since then we’ve made several recipes and all of them have had a much fresher and more authentic taste than any jarred stir-fry sauce that we had tasted in the past. Our favorite stir fry so far has been the Kung Pao Chicken. It may look like there are a lot of ingredients (because, well, there are!) but it is definitely worth it!

This posting is not really a recipe because I’m not actually listing the exact quantities of each ingredient. If you are interested in making this stir fry I recommend that you purchase the cook book that we use – “Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge” by Grace Young. This book is great because it not only has delicious recipes like Mongolian Lamb, Hoisin Pork, Hot Pepper Beef, and Kung Pao Chicken, it also has detailed information about stir fry food prep and techniques (seasoning a wok, mincing garlic, shredding scallions… all of those skills you never knew you needed until you tried to make a “real” stir fry!). The book is well-written and the recipes are delicious and I highly recommend it.

Kung Pao Chicken

Here are the many, many ingredients that you will need: (I’m not listing quantities here – you should check out the cook book to find them!)
Chicken Breast, cut into cubes
Minced Ginger
Minced Garlic
Cornstarch
Soy Sauce (use wheat-free soy sauce for a g-free recipe)
Dry Sherry (or Shao Hsing Rice Wine)
Sugar
Salt
Chicken Broth
Balsamic Vinegar (or Chinkiang Vinegar)
Dark Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
Peanut Oil
Red Chili Peppers OR Chili-Garlic Sauce (that’s our one addition to this recipe… it tastes good though!)
Sichuan Peppercorns (Update: we mail-ordered these from Spices, Inc. with great results)
Red Bell Pepper, cut into 1 inch squares
Unsalted Roasted Peanuts
Minced Scallions
Cooked White Rice

Just a few of the many ingredients you will need!

Directions:
Combine the chicken, ginger, garlic, cornstarch, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, salt and cold water. In another smaller bowl or measuring cup combine the chicken broth, balsamic vinegar, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and the rest of the rice wine. In yet another small bowl, combine the remaining sugar and salt and add the scallions and peanuts. Now you are ready to start stir frying!

Now you’re ready to start stir frying!

Heat your wok on high heat and swirl in half of the peanut oil. Add the chilis (or chili garlic sauce, in our case) and Sichuan peppercorns and stir fry for approximately 1 minute until chilis begin to smoke. Push the chili mixture aside and add the chicken. Spread the chicken in one layer on the bottom of the wok and cook for 1 minute undisturbed, then stir-fry for an additional minute.

Kung Pao Chicken

Swirl the remaining peanut oil into the wok and add the red bell peppers. Stir fry for 1 minute, then swirl the broth mixture into the wok and stir fry for another minute. Add the peanut-scallion mixture and stir fry for a final 30 seconds. Remove from heat and serve over white rice.