Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Beef with Broccoli

This recipe is one from a book my Uncle gave me for a gift over 10 years ago. Chinese Cookery by Rose Cheng & Michelle Morris, ISBN-89586-088-0. I've loved the recipes I've made from it and the techniques it shows.

The recipe says it serves 6. I think that's if it is part of a several-course Chinese meal or people with small appetites. Or a family of 2 adults and 2-3 small children. I have figured this at 4 servings, as part of an entire meal, served with rice.

6 Weight Watchers Points Plus per serving.

Beef with Broccoli

2/3 lb. beef flank steak or other tender beef

Marinade:
1 teaspoon rice wine or dry sherry (I use Mirin)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/2 lb. broccoli tops (I used part of a bag of broccoli tops from Costco)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/3 cup water
7 Tablespoons vegetable oil (I use 2 Tablespoons olive oil)
1 garlic clove crushed
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons chicken broth (today I used vegetable broth, it's what I had in the fridge)
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Slice beef across grain and at an angle into thin strips.

2. Mix marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add beef strips, mix well. Let stand at least 30 minutes.

3. Dissolve cornstarch into water to make a paste, set aside (can add remaining sauce ingredients too, just makes it easier at the end).

4. Heat oil in wok over high heat, 1 minute. Add beef/marinade, stir-fry marinated beef about 2-3 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove beef, draining well over wok; set aside.

5. If necessary add oil to wok. Heat 30 seconds, stir fry garlic 30 seconds. Add broccoli tops. Stir fry 5 minutes. Add cornstarch paste, salt, soy sauce, broth and pepper. Stir fry till sauce thickens slightly. Add cooked beef, mix well. Remove from wok and serve.

We serve this with white rice. Also tonight we had Minh brand egg rolls and sweet & sour sauce.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

The chicken pie recipe I'm actually going to make

Having posted the two recipes I plan to borrow from, here is the recipe I plan on making:

First off: Peas of the frozen, canned or fresh variety are verboten in my house. The only peas we buy are for use as ice packs. I eat peas (rarely) but only started that in my mid to late 40's. Byron does not/will not eat peas of any type in any dish. I really don't have a clue if Anthony or Felicia eat them as I don't believe they have ever been served a pea. If they have, it wasn't at our hose, that's for sure. We live in a pea free zone. So, I subbed fresh, chopped vegetables for the usual "frozen peas and carrots."

For the chicken pie for Byron and I, I will use the vegetables mentioned below (minus zucchini), Byron doesn't eat squash of any type. For the version I'm making for my friends, I'm putting in squash and will leave out peppers as they have non pepper eaters at their house. I'm making two 9x9 pans of chicken pie. One to take to my friends and one to stay here.

One last comment, it should go without saying that I will saute the garlic and onion in the butter at the beginning of the recipe. I will also probably add a bit of cayenne or red pepper flakes or California pepper from Penzeys to the version I'm keeping at home.

Chicken Pie a la Jan
serves 6 (so sayeth the recipes I plundered to come up with this version)

Filling:

1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup Bisquick
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon thyme
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
1 3/4 cup chicken, cooked, and diced or torn
2 cups chopped fresh vegetables (carrots, celery, zucchini, peppers, onion)
1/4 cup frozen vegetables (California blend, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots)
1/3 cup frozen corn

Topping:
1 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 t (or to taste) Italian seasoning
pinch of garlic powder
salt and pepper

In a saucepan, combine butter, Bisquick, onion, pepper and thyme; bring to a boil. Stir in the chicken broth and milk. Bring to a boil again, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Add in the chicken and frozen vegetables. Mix thoroughly and take pan off of the heat.

Pour mixture into a 9-inch square baking dish. Make topping and place over pie. Bake 45 minutes or until crust is a light, golden brown.

I will add notes, and add WW Points Plus later

Chicken Pot Pie Recipe 2

This is the second recipe for Chicken Pot Pie I found. I will be using the topping from the first one (with the herbal additions found in this one) and using this filling as the starting point for the filling I will make. I found this version here: http://www.grouprecipes.com/24518/bisquick-chicken-pot-pie.html


Chicken Pot Pie II with Bisquick topping
Ingredients

1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup Bisquick
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1/2 cub chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
1 3/4 cup chicken, cooked, and diced or torn
10 oz. pkg. frozen peas and carrots

How to make it

In a saucepan, combine butter, Bisquick, onion, pepper and thyme; bring to a boil. Stir in the chicken broth and milk. Bring to a boil again, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Add in the chicken and frozen vegetables. Mix thoroughly and take pan off of the heat.
Pour mixture into a 9-inch square baking dish. Make topping and place over pie. Bake 45 minutes or until crust is a light, golden brown.
Topping
1 1/2 cup Bisquick
3 tablespoons hot water
3 tablespoons butter, softened
Mix together all ingredients and form into a ball. Roll out dough and place over pot pie mixture.


Chicken Pot Pie Recipe 1

One of my good friends (and mother of my son's fiancee) has a son in the hospital right now. I'm cooking a dinner to bring to her family. I'm combining part of two different chicken pot pie recipes with Bisquick toppings. I'm FAR from a regular Bisquick user, but there is a time and a place for everything, including I suppose, Bisquick.

This first recipe uses Cream of Chicken soup (an ingredient I will NOT use, there just isn't a time and a place for cream of ___ soup in my life), but has a pour on topping which was recommended to me.

The second recipe has a filling which I will use as the starting point for my filling. It has a rolled dough recipe. I have a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with my rolling pin, so I will be using the second filling recipe (tweaked of course) and the first recipe's base.

I will post the original recipes in their entirety here on the blog so people can have their choice of recipes to use.

This recipe originally came from a Bisquick box and I got this version from this site: http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-bisquick-chicken-pot-pie-100215

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

1 cup cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
1 2/3 cups frozen vegetables, thawed
1 (10 ounce) can cream of chicken soup (I use low sodium)
1 cup Bisquick reduced-fat baking mix (regular Bisquick will work too)
1/2 cup nonfat milk or 1/2 cup milk
1 egg

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 400°F.
2 Mix chicken, veggies and cream of chicken soup together and spread into bottom of non greased 9-inch round glass pie pan.
3 Mix remaining ingredients (Bisquick, milk and egg) and pour on top of chicken mixture.
4 Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until top turns golden brown.

I'm back!

Ok, after a 1.5 month break, Dining with the Mauzys is back. In my absence I have

1) attended my dad's retirement party in Los Angeles. He retired from 54 year of active ministry as a Lutheran pastor, at the age of 80. A good time was had by all and the following day I celebrated my birthday at Disneyland!

2) next up I attended Pampered Chef National Conference and got a preview of the fantastic new fall products and learned some new tips and recipes (coming to the blog in September)

3) then I went to Seattle and visited with friends and also Felicia, whom I hadn't seen in 3 year and our prior foster DD whom I hadn't seen since she was 6 (she's now nearly 23)

4) I drove Anthony to Indiana for college (a mere 1000 miles each way) and then drove home by myself.

In between these things I unpacked, did laundry, did schoolwork (not enough, but some, my next few weeks will be focused on school, school and more school). However, I didn't do all that much cooking other than for potluck, an Eagle Court of Honor and various unexciting (and very easy) recipes at home.

I now will return to posting what we cook.