Daring Cooks: Moo Shu

Blog-checking lines: The October Daring Cooks' Challenge was hosted by Shelley of C Mom Cook and her sister Ruth of The Crafts of Mommyhood. They challenged us to bring a taste of the East into our home kitchens by making our own Moo Shu, including thin pancakes, stir fry and sauce.

This, I think was my favorite Daring Cooks challenge so far. It was absolutely delicious! Not all of the ingredients made it into my Moo Shu, because I got a little frazzled, but it was so good that next time I make it (and trust me, there will be a next time) I won't even bother to add them. The hoisin sauce was AMAZING, easy to make, and made from pantry staples plus it provided plenty of leftovers that were consumed throughout the week. The Moo Shu sent me on a cabbage eating binge like you would not believe. Making the pancakes was a lot of work, and they didn't really taste like anything, they were a good conduit for the meat and sauce, but next time I would happily eat this plain, over rice, or on a store bought tortilla, which would also make this more of an everyday meal (less work). Can you guess when I actually made this, I have been sitting on this post, dying to share it for a bit of time. (Hint: look for lots of cabbage and something else with hoisin sauce). Anyway, enjoy the deliciousness!

Moo Shu Pork:
1 pork loin, about 3/4 lb
1/2 head of green cabbage
1 bunch of scallions
1 package of gourmet mushrooms
1 tbsp of rice vinegar
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of canola oil
salt, pepper, chili powder

Heat the oil in a large wok or skillet over high heat. Finely chop the pork and add to the oil, cook until browned slightly, about 1 minute. Chop the cabbage, scallions and mushrooms and add to the pan. Add the vinegar and soy sauce and cook until cabbage softens, about 5-7 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and chili powder to taste.

Hoisin Sauce:
1/4 cup of low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp (or more) of Sriracha
1 1/2 tbsp of molasses
2 tbsp of almond butter
2 tsp of white vinegar
2 tsp of sesame oil
1/4 tsp of pepper
1/4 tsp of garlic powder

Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until smooth and combined.

Pancakes:
1 cup of all purpose flour
1 cup of wheat flour
1/2 tsp of canola oil
3/4 cup of boiling water

Put the flour in a food processor with the dough blade and pulse a few times. While the machine is running pour in water and oil. Remove the dough from the processor, roll into a ball and cover with a damp towel, let stand 30 minutes. Return to the food processor and run until the dough is smooth, about 2 minutes. Dive in half and roll into a long log, cut each log into 7 pieces, keep dough covered when you aren't using it. Roll each piece into a ball, and then flatten into a disk. Roll the disks out into a 6-8 inch circle. Heat a pan on high heat, then put on medium-low, cook pancakes until light brown spots appear, do not flip. Cover with a damp cloth until ready to serve.

Happy Eating.

Sesame Chicken

One of my least favorite things about moving is having to figure out new take out places. You have your go to pizza place, and your never fail Chinese after trying every single place in a 5 mile radius, and then all of the sudden you move and you have to start over. We moved in May, and while we have the pizza situation under control, we are still working out the Chinese. So after a handful of disappointments, I decided to take matters into my own hands. This was delicious! Better than any of the take out places we've tried. I'm sure we will continuing questing for that perfect Chinese takeout (I haven't mastered lo mein yet), but in the meantime this is a pretty delicious (and much lighter) substitution.

PS: Don't forget to enter for a chance to win a 32 oz jar of Virgin Coconut Oil.

Sesame Chicken:
1 lb of boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 egg whites
1/4 cup of corn starch
3 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp of honey
1 tbsp of rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp of sesame seeds
salt, pepper
Canola oil
Heat a large skillet over high heat, and lightly coat the bottom with canola oil. Cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces and season with salt and pepper. Whisk together the eggs and corn starch in a medium bowl. When smooth, add chicken in and stir to coat. Pan fry chicken, in a few batches being careful not to over crowd the pan. Flip chicken occasionally, until golden all around and opaque throughout, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate and cook remaining chicken. Meanwhile, make the sauce by stirring together the soy sauce, honey, and vinegar. When all the chicken is cooked return it to the pan and stir in the sauce. Cook until the chicken has rewarmed and sauce is distributed, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with rice or veggies (or both). (adapted from Martha)

Happy Eating.

Chinese Beef Buns

I LOVE Chinese food. And not just your typical dumplings and lo mein. I love to try new things and try and find rarer and more authentic dishes. One of my favorites is dim sum, it speaks to my love of all things tapas, and you get to try so many different things. Not living in a city, there are not a lot of places to find these exciting and delicious dishes. So when I was there Beef Buns over at Anncoo Journal, I knew I had to try and make them. I am so glad I did, the pleating is a little difficult, and this is definitely more time consuming than whipping up a stir fry or fried rice, but they are so delicious and immpressive it is totally worth it. The dough is so versatile too, I can't wait to come up with new filling ideas and try it again. The recipe makes 16 buns, I made half and froze the other half (before cooking), that way I can just thaw them and have them again, maybe I will steam the next batch. They look like little presents when you serve them, and the outside is like a tender roll, hiding a delicious meatly punch on the inside! So whip up a batch, and try something new, it's easier than it seems!

Dough:
2/3 cup water, 110-120 degrees
1 /4 tsp dry active yeast
1 cup Bread flour
1 cup All purpose flour
1 tsp Icing sugar
1 tsp Salt
Canola oil for frying

Filling:
2 chard leaves and stems
1 handful of cilantro
1 small onion
1 garlic clove
6 oz Ground beef
1 tbsp Corn meal
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1 tbps of soy sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper

Mix the yeast and the water until yeast is dissolved, and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Sift both flours, the sugar, and the salt into a large bowl. Add the yeast-water mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until a sticky dough forms. Form the dough into a ball and knead, adding in more water or flour as necessary to form a smooth but tacky dough (I needed 2 extra tablespoons of water). Knead for about 5 minutes until smooth. Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. To test the dough for readiness, poke it with your finger, if the dent remains and does not spring back, the dough is ready.

While the dough is rising, make the filling. In a food processor, chop onion, garlic, chard and cilantro until minced finely. In a medium bowl stir together beef, chard mixture, egg, corn meal, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar. Cover and refridgerate until ready to use.

Cut the dough into 16 pieces. Roll each piece into a circle and place a spoonful of filling in the center of each pancake. Place a filled circle in your non-dominent hand and use your other hand to fold pleats in the dough to seal the buns, see this video for further instructions and a handy demonstration. I found that I got better with each bun. The hardest part is keeping the filling from touching the edges of the dough, if it does the dough does not stick as well and they are harder to seal. To cook the sealed buns coat the bottom of a pan with a thin layer of canola (or similar) oil and turn heat to medium. When the oil is hot and the buns, seam side down and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side. (adapted from Anncoo Journal)

Happy Eating.