Wonton Soup adapted from recipezaar.com
Beef and Broccoli adapted from recipezaar.com
Fortune Cookies adapted from marthastewart.com
Happy Chinese New Year!!! 2008 is the year of the rat.... whatever that means. The good news is that if any of you have broken any of your New Year's resolutions, you have another chance.
Since I got a wok for Christmas, and I thought this was a perfect night to try it out. I'm a big fan now. I chose this meal because it's Aubrey's favorite Chinese dish and what he always orders. It tasted very similar to the take-outs, and this won't be the last time I make this meal. Aubrey and I were both cooking tonight, and we had a blast! I actually made the fortune cookies last night, and they taste so good.... much better than the ones you get from your take-out meals. I wrote Bible verses and "Happy Chinese New Year" on my fortunes. You could easily put a small amount of red or blue food coloring in the batter and make "It's a girl" or "It's a boy" fortunes. Be creative!
Wonton Soup
Ingredients2 green onions
1/4 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 TBSP finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp salt
1 dash pepper
12-18 wonton skins
6 cups chicken broth (we used ~8 cups)
1/2 cup spinach or bok choy, leaves halved lengthwise,shredded
1/4 cup shredded carrots
Directions
Reserve one green onion top for garnish; chop remaining green onions. Combine chopped onion, ground beef, celery, parsley, salt and pepper in a small bowl; mix lightly. Place approximately 1 TBSPof ground beef mixture in center of each wonton square
Lightly dampen edges of square with water. Bring together opposite corners to form a triangle; pinch to seal. Then fold over the bottom corners of the triangle. Press with a fork and set aside.
Bring broth to boil in large saucepan; reduce heat to medium. Add the chopped spinach or bok choy and the carrots (we added extra green onions). Then add 1/2 of wontons; simmer 4 minutes (we simmered ~15 min because the meat wasn't cooked with only 4 min). Remove cooked wontons with slotted spoon; keep warm. Repeat with remaining wontons. Place wontons in soup bowls. Top with broth mixture and garnish with green onions.
Lightly dampen edges of square with water. Bring together opposite corners to form a triangle; pinch to seal. Then fold over the bottom corners of the triangle. Press with a fork and set aside.
Bring broth to boil in large saucepan; reduce heat to medium. Add the chopped spinach or bok choy and the carrots (we added extra green onions). Then add 1/2 of wontons; simmer 4 minutes (we simmered ~15 min because the meat wasn't cooked with only 4 min). Remove cooked wontons with slotted spoon; keep warm. Repeat with remaining wontons. Place wontons in soup bowls. Top with broth mixture and garnish with green onions.
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Beef and Broccoli
The ingredients for the sauce below is doubled from the original. Most of the reviews for this dish say that they either doubled the sauce recipe or wish they did. Good choice!
The ingredients for the sauce below is doubled from the original. Most of the reviews for this dish say that they either doubled the sauce recipe or wish they did. Good choice!
Ingredients1 lb flank steaks
4 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP dry sherry (can substitute 2 Tbs. orange or pineapple juice with a dash of vinegar)
1 tsp cornstarch
1 (16 ounce) package fresh broccoli
1 garlic clove, minced
1 slice fresh ginger, finely minced
2 TBSP peanut oil
salt
Directions
Slice the steak against the grain into very thin slices. Combine the soy sauce, sherry, and cornstarch and pour this mixture over the steak. Marinate the meat for 15 minutes. While the meat is marinating, slice the broccoli at a diagonal and mince garlic and ginger. Heat a wok or large frying pan for 30 seconds, add oil, wait about 20 seconds, and add minced garlic and ginger root. Fry over high heat, stirring constantly for about 20 seconds more, then add the beef. Stir-fry, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute. Add broccoli and stir-fry for another 4 to 6 minutes, until the broccoli is cooked but still crisp and still dark green. Serve hot. This is low in carbohydrates.
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Fortune Cookies
Makes ~15
Ingredients
5 TBSP unsalted butter
4 large egg whites
1 cup superfine sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted (you can just run a whisk through it several times in a bowl)
Pinch of salt
3 TBSP heavy cream
1 tsp almond extract
Nonstick cooking spray
Directions
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet liberally with cooking spray. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine egg whites and sugar, and beat on medium speed, about 30 seconds. Add flour and salt, and beat until combined. Add butter, heavy cream, and almond extract, and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.
Pour 1 TBSP of batter onto half of the baking sheet, and spread with the back of a spoon into a thin 5-inch circle; repeat on the other half of the sheet. Bake until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown, about 8 minutes.
Transfer baking sheet to a heat-resistant surface. Working as quickly as possible, slide a spatula under one of the cookies. Lift it up, and place it on a clean kitchen towel. Lay a fortune in the lower middle of the cookie, and gingerly (they will be hot) fold in half to make a semi-circle. Bend the edges up toward each other to make a crescent. Drag the crease across the rim of a small measuring cup, with the ends facing down. Cool in mini muffin tins to hold shape until crisp. Repeat with remaining batter.
To speed up the process, bake four cookies at a time, staggering two cookie sheets by 4 minutes to give you time to shape. To avoid wasting batter, practice folding with a circle of paper first.
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet liberally with cooking spray. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine egg whites and sugar, and beat on medium speed, about 30 seconds. Add flour and salt, and beat until combined. Add butter, heavy cream, and almond extract, and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.
Pour 1 TBSP of batter onto half of the baking sheet, and spread with the back of a spoon into a thin 5-inch circle; repeat on the other half of the sheet. Bake until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown, about 8 minutes.
Transfer baking sheet to a heat-resistant surface. Working as quickly as possible, slide a spatula under one of the cookies. Lift it up, and place it on a clean kitchen towel. Lay a fortune in the lower middle of the cookie, and gingerly (they will be hot) fold in half to make a semi-circle. Bend the edges up toward each other to make a crescent. Drag the crease across the rim of a small measuring cup, with the ends facing down. Cool in mini muffin tins to hold shape until crisp. Repeat with remaining batter.
To speed up the process, bake four cookies at a time, staggering two cookie sheets by 4 minutes to give you time to shape. To avoid wasting batter, practice folding with a circle of paper first.
1 comment:
O.K.,,,,This all sounds great! But, do you cook the ground chuck before you put it in the won ton skins? ....And did you eat with chopsticks? :-) Illu!
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