Pork Lo Mein

14 ounces cooked spaghetti

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

12 ounces pork loin, cut into thin strips and marinated with your favorite Teriyaki recipe *my personal recipe is below and can be used on chicken, beef, pork!!

1/4 large Spanish onion, chopped

8 ounces fresh sliced mushrooms

4 ounces shredded carrots

8 ounces fresh bean sprouts

1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely grated

1/2 - 1 clove fresh garlic, finely grated

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix spaghetti with the soy sauce, brown sugar, vegetable oil and oyster sauce making sure to mix it well.

3. Spray a large cookie sheet with Pam spray and cover the pan with a layer of the spaghetti and bake for 30 minutes turning the spaghetti every 10 minutes until it "dries out," you will see the difference. Continue until all the pasta has been dried out.

4. Stir-fry the pork loin in vegetable oil. Remove and set aside.

5. Stir-fry the onion and mushrooms in vegetable oil until soft.

6. Add the rest of the vegetables and cook for about 2 minutes, mixing frequently.

7. Once the vegetables have cooked, grate fresh garlic and ginger over vegetables and mix together for about 30 seconds making sure not to burn the garlic and ginger.

8. Combine vegetables, pork and spaghetti together and mix well making sure everything is evenly distributed.

9. Enjoy!

To Freeze: Place in freezer bag, cool completely and freeze.

When ready to eat: Thaw completely, place in microwave safe bowl, cover with paper towel and heat!

*Teriyaki Recipe

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup Teriyaki sauce

6-8 ounces pineapple juice

3-5 cloves fresh garlic, chopped

Shrimp Scampi

2 lbs frozen large shrimp, peeled & deveined, thawed

4 tbls butter

1 cup chopped red bell pepper (if desired)

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp paprika

 

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat, saute red bell pepper (if using) and garlic until sizzles (about 4 minutes).  Add white wine, parsley, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and paprika;  bring to a simmer.  Add shrimp and cook approx 5 minutes or until shrimp are pink.  Serve with crusty bread, if desired.

To freeze:  Soften butter.  Combine butter, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, and paprika in small bowl.  Scoop into quart size baggie.  Remove all air and seal.  In another quart size baggie combine white wine and lemon juice; remove all air and seal.  Place both baggies in large gallon bag.  Have frozen shrimp on hand for serving day.  

To serve:  Thaw shrimp.  Rinse, peel & devein if needed. Thaw butter and wine mixture.Proceed with above directions.

Vegetable Beef Soup

2 pounds lean stew beef

2 cans (14 oz. each) beef broth

1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

32 oz. frozen vegetables for soup

tabasco sauce, to taste

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

a little less than 1/8 teaspoon curry powder (or more, to your taste)

1/4 cup red wine

Dry beef cubes and sear in a hot dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once the beef is done, add broth, tomatoes, bay leaf, chili powder, and garlic salt. Stir and cook over medium heat for approximately 5 minutes or until the spices are incorporated. Add vegetables, tabasco sauce, black pepper and curry powder. Stir well and cook over medium heat until soup comes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the beef is tender (depending upon how tender you like your beef, this could be anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours). During the last 15 minutes of cooking, add the red wine. Stir well. 

Pork Dumplings

Ingredients:

For dough:

(makes approximately 40 dumplings)

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup boiling water
• pinch of salt

For pork filling:

• 1 pound ground pork
• 2 green onions, washed and finely sliced
• 2 tbsp. sesame oil (I used pure sesame seed oil)
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 3 tbsp. water
• 1-1 1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, finely grated
• salt (optional)
• cornstarch (optional)

For dipping sauce:

• 2 cups black vinegar
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• chili garlic sauce (This is the heat! Use as little or as much as desired. I suggest using Huy Fong Foods Inc. brand w/the rooster on the jar.)
• sweet chili sauce (Again, use as little or as much as desired.)

Preparation:

Start dipping sauce

In saucepan, bring black vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and sesame oil up to a slow boil/simmer, whisking frequently. (Be careful not to let sugar settle to bottom of pan and burn). Cook until mixture has reduced to desired thickness, approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour. (Mixture will thicken as it cools). Remove from heat and whisk in the chili garlic sauce and sweet chili sauce. Serve.

Make dough

Place flour into large mixing bowl and pour hot water over flour. With a metal spoon, cut through mixture with the edge of the spoon forming a rough breadcrumb-like texture. Drizzle in enough cold water to form a firm dough. Mix with the spoon until the water has been absorbed. Sprinkle some flour onto a clean work surface and turn out the dough. Knead for 4-6 minutes until dough is smooth. Wrap the dough in a piece of plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 15-20 minutes.

While dough rests, make filling

In large bowl, combine all ingredients throughly. Chill until needed. *If you prefer a less juicy filling, add approximately 1/4 tsp. of cornstarch to the mixture. I did not add the cornstarch to my mixture.

Roll out wrappers

Line large baking sheet with wax or parchment paper and dust lightly with flour. Divide dough into 4 even pieces. On lightly floured surface, using palms of hands, roll each piece into 3/4-inch-diameter log. Using sharp, floured knife, cut each log into ten equal size pieces.

Flatten by pinching each piece of dough out into a circle, then roll dough out on a floured surface using a floured rolling pin, making a 2 1/2 - 3-inch-diameter circle. Transfer dumpling wrapper to baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough pieces, stacking rounds in layers on floured wax paper, floured parchment paper or floured paper towels.

Fill dumplings

Line second large baking sheet with wax or parchment paper and dust lightly with flour. Hold 1 wrapper in hand and place 1 heaping teaspoon of pork filling just off center of wrapper. Dip fingertip in water and gently dampen edge of wrapper. Fold wrapper in half so the edges meet and press around the edge gently with your fingertips to seal. Place the finished dumpling on the lined and floured baking sheet and repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. Freeze or cook.

To pan-fry dumplings

Place large skillet with tight fitting lid over moderately high heat. Heat approximately 2 tablespoons vegetable oil until hot but not smoking. Add dumplings so they are not touching and immediately pour in enough water to come one-third to halfway up sides of dumplings (use care; oil may splatter). Cover and cook until liquid evaporates and bottoms of dumplings are crisp and golden, approximately 10 minutes. (Don't lift lid until water has evaporated then use spatula to loosen and lift edges to check bottoms; replace lid and continue cooking if necessary, checking after 1 to 2 minutes.) At this point, you can transfer dumplings, crisp sides up, to a platter and keep warm until all dumplings are finished, or you can turn dumplings over and let them get crisp and brown on both sides, then serve.

To freeze

Place baking sheet filled with dumplings into freezer until completely frozen. Transfer frozen dumplings into a freezer bag and freeze. When ready to use, cook frozen dumplings using above method, adding a few extra minutes to cooking time.