Cashew Chicken

Let's make stir-fry.

It's quick, easy, and the taste is comparable to any take out dish!  Better even!!

Stir frying is rapidly frying small pieces of food in oil over high heat.  This is done usually in a wok but a deep cast-iron fry pan or heavy saute pan is a good substitute.  Almost any vegetable or meat can be stir fried as long as it is cut into small pieces.


The key is cooking over high heat, and cooking quickly.  So it's essential that you have everything prepared ahead of the cooking time so that you accomplish the dish with ease.  Stopping to put together the stir fry sauce at the end could lead to over cooked dishes.


Today's recipe is a simple but flavorful dish I make quite often.  Cashew Chicken has been a favorite of mine since I first started eating Chinese food.  I love the flavor the cashews lend.  The chicken is cooked and then with the addition of cashews and possibly water chestnuts, coated in a tasty brown sauce.  Served sizzling over a bed of brown rice...this is heaven to me!


Some step by step pics for your reference:

 

Here's the finished dish...quite delicious!

Here are some other stir-frys that you might enjoy.  They are also a great reference for creating stir fry variations and tips for wok cooking.


Sweet and Sour Chicken
Beef and Vegetable Stir Fry in a Szechwan Sauce




Cashew Chicken


1/2 c stir fry sauce
1/4 c szechwan sauce
1 clove garlic, minced

½ 1b boneless skinless chicken breasts

¼ c. cornstarch

2 T. canola oil
1/3 c roasted, unsalted cashews
brown rice, cooked


Combine stir fry sauce, szechwan sauce, and garlic in a small bowl.  Set aside.


Cut chicken in to bite sized pieces.  Place cornstarch on a plate and roll chicken, covering all sides.  


Heat oil in a wok or skillet.  Add chicken and stir fry over medium high heat about 5-7 minutes until chicken is cooked through.  Add cashews and stir until they are toasted.  Add stir fry sauce and toss until ingredients are covered.


Serve over hot cooked brown rice.




Linked to:  Foodie Friday

Basic Pizza Sauce

I just brought you a No Rise Pizza Dough.  I hope you try it and tell me what you think of it. 

But what is pizza without a great sauce?  

So today's post is all about the sauce.   This is a short post, but well worth it, as this is a killer sauce!   This recipe is for a basic tomato pizza sauce.  I've been using this sauce for many many years.  It's my go-to sauce.  It's easy to make and has a good flavor base.  Feel free to add different herbs and spices to it, making numerous variations.  We like to add garlic and red pepper flakes to zip it up a little on occasion.  


Oh and did I mention, it freezes so well!


Hope you enjoy this sauce.






Basic Pizza Sauce


2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and quartered
1 c tomato sauce
1/4 c tomato paste
3/4 t oregano
3/4 t basil
1 t sugar


Place all ingredients in a food processor or a blender and mix until desired consistency is reached.  


Makes 2 cups

No Rise Pizza Dough

I'm back...It's spring...and look what I got!

I love spring flowers!!!

Don't you?

So bright and sunny looking.

They brighten my day!

Well I had the daddy of all computer router problems this week.  My power went out during our rain storm last Sunday and my surge protector didn't protect!  So I had no access all week.  Wow! It's amazing how life depends on being able to being on-line.  I was truely lost without it.  Even my smartphone just didn't cut it...it's not the same and not as user friendly as being on the old laptop!  All is well now...thank you!

I've been experimenting with different types of pizza dough lately.  I've even taken a class on how to make homemade pizza dough which made the best that I've had so far!  But that is not what we will be exploring today.  Today's recipe is for a pizza dough that is an everyday dough.  It's quick and doesn't need to rise.  Sounds strange huh?  That's what drew me to it as well!  Can you imagine coming home from work and making fresh pizza dough in a matter of minutes on a weeknight?  That's just what I did, and it worked!

I got this recipe from my sister's food processor reference guide.  So the dough is actually made in the food processor.  You could do this by hand as well, but it's much easier and quicker in a food processor.

 

This makes a really soft dough which is easy to roll out without much pull back.  Don't you hate it when you are rolling out dough and it keeps shrinking back!!  It's all in the formula, (flour type) which helps to make a pliable dough for rolling.

So you just mix it up, roll it out.  Let it rest a few minutes, then dress it up with your favorite toppings.  Simple as that!  I rolled mine thin cause I like it best that way.

Bake away and you have fresh homemade pizza on a weeknight!  The result?

It was good.  Not the best I've had, but not the worst either.  I would say this is a good basic recipe that will suffice in a pinch when you are in a hurry and don't have the time for allowing the dough to rise.  As I like my crust thin, I rolled this thin.  It still rose a little during the baking however, this a more dense crust.  Not crispy and airy like stone fired pizza crusts.  

Here's a better view of the crust...

I would make this again if I'm in a rush.  But if you have time maike the dough the regular way.  I've got my favorite pizza dough recipe coming up soon!

Oh, and as for the sauce...I have a killer recipe for pizza sauce that I'll share with you next!

Try this dough out for yourself and let me know what you opinion is.

No Rise Pizza Dough

Makes 1 pizza crust

1 pkg instant yeast

1 t sugar

2/3 c warm water

1 2/3 c flour

¾ t salt

2 t canola oil

1 ½ T cornmeal

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix yeast, sugar, and water in a small bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. 

Pour flour and salt in processor.  Turn on.  Pour yeast mixture through the feed tube.  Mix for 45 seconds until dough pulls away from the sides.  Add oil through the tube and mix another 60 seconds.  Dough should pull away from the side of bowl.  If it doesn’t pull away add another tablespoon of flour. 

Roll out dough to desired shape and thickness.  Sprinkle cornmeal on one side of the dough evenly and pat down so that it sticks to the dough.  This will be the bottom of your pizza.  Flip the dough over and place in pizza pan.  Top pizza with sauce and desired toppings.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.