P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef

So the other night we were craving chinese food from our absolute favorite restaurant Fong's. It's a little chinese place down the street from our house and they know us well...a little too well seeing as we have been eating there so much the past month or so. Anyway, so we were really wanting to go but also really needing to not spend money so I decided to look up a recipe for a chinese dish and make it at home. Well Mr. Chang's recipe sure did hit the spot! We made it two nights in a row. Once for ourselves then made it for Sunday dinner at my parents. It. Was. A. Hit. Sooooo...without further adieu (don't worry, I had to look up the spelling after typing and retyping it because it didn't look right...I had it right the first time) the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
vegetable oil, for frying (about 1 cup)
1 lb flank steak (we used pork the first night and it was delicious as well!)
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 large green onions

Directions:

Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

1 Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over med/low heat.
2 Don't get the oil too hot.
3 Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.
4 Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
5 Remove it from the heat.
6 Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4" thick bite-size slices.
7 Tilt the blade of your knife at about a forty five degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts.
8 Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef.
9 Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.
10 As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (you may also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil).
11 Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking.
12 Add the beef to the oil and sauté for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges. 13 You don't need a thorough cooking here since the beef is going to go back on the heat later.
14 Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly.
15 After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour the oil out of the wok or skillet.
16 Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute.
17 Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green onions.
18 Cook for one more minute, then remove the beef and onions with tongs or a slotted spoon to a serving plate.
19 Leave the excess sauce behind in the pan.
 
ENJOY!

Cheese Fondue

3 TBS butter
3 TBS flour
1/8 tsp garlic powder
2/3 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup chicken broth, more to thin sauce if needed
1 1/4 cups shredded monterey jack
3 TBS salsa

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and garlic powder until blended. Then whisk in the half-and-half and chicken broth. Continue to heat the mixture until it thickens and starts to bubble, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Gradually add the cheese, stirring until melted. Stir in salsa. Transfer sauce to warm fondue pot. Add chicken broth to desired consistency. Serves 4 to 6.

What's for dinner?

I've tried planning out meals, flying by the seat of my pants, and everything inbetween when it comes to dinner time in my home. But when there are only two people to cook for, a feat in and of itself, there tends to be a lot of "How about we grab a pizza?" or "Let's have something with rice and beans!" (I hate beans! And rice is ok, but I prefer pasta so we end up making two separate meals...) or there are wasted leftovers because I apparently only know how to cook for a small army. So I have decided that I am going share my experiences and see if I can't learn from past mistakes.

Tasty Royal Icing

Ingredients

• 
  
  1 cup confectioners` sugar
• 1 egg white
• 3 - 4 drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Food coloring

Directions

Mix the sugar, egg white and lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth and creamy.

It should have the consistency of heavy cream (you may need to add a bit more sugar).
Add desired food coloring.

Mushroom Meatloaf

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
2 packets onion soup mix
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms or 1 (8 ounce) can mushrooms-drained
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup beef broth

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.
Combine beef, 1 packet soup mix, 1/2 of the mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce, egg, bread crumbs, and pepper with hands and shape mixture into a loaf.
Lay loaf in a 2" deep oblong baking dish.
Combine remaining ingredients and pour over meat loaf.
Bake in 375 oven for 1 hour or until cooked through.

Baked Mozzarella Sticks

Ingredients

1 pkg. mozzarella cheese strings (8 sticks)
2 tbsp flour
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 cup dry bread crumbs, cracker crumbs, cornflake crumbs, or Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
salt and pepper to taste
marinara sauce for dipping

Directions

Place the cheese strings in the freezer at least 1 hour before you plan to make these. These will lessen the oozing of the cheese. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Place the flour, egg whites and crumbs in 3 separate dishes. Season the flour with salt and pepper. Cut the cheese strings in 1/2 widthwise. Dip one cheese stick at a time into the flour to coat, then into the egg whites and then the crumbs. Dip it into the egg again and then the crumbs again, squeezing to help them adhere. It'll be messy, but try to cover the cheese completely. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or sprayed with cooking spray. Repeat with all of the cheese.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Serve immediately with warmed marinara sauce.

Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
  
• 1 tsp. baking soda
  
• 1/2 tsp. salt
  
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
  
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  
• 2 c. granulated sugar
  
• 1 c. Libby's solid pack pumpkin
  
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
  
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  

Directions:

In large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and coriander; set aside. In small bowl, combine eggs, sugar, pumpkin, oil, and vanilla; mix well. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients; stir just until moistened.

FILLING
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 tbsp. granulated sugar

In small bowl, combine cream cheese, egg and sugar; mix well.

TOPPING
3/4 c. flaked coconut
1/2 c. pecans, chopped
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

In small bowl, combine coconut, pecans, sugar, and cinnamon.

To assemble: Spoon 1/2 of batter into 24 greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling 1/2 full. Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly over partially filled muffin cups. Spoon remaining batter over cream cheese, carefully spreading to edges. Sprinkle pecan topping over muffins. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from pan; cool on wire rack.