Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Guilty pleasures

Yeah, I got 'em...as embarrassing to me as they are.

Butter-soaked movie popcorn, spoonfuls of Nutella from the jar, the chewy ends of a good rye bread (actually the heel from any good bread...so much so that my Guys think French bread comes from the market with chunks missing), Wild Cookies for breakfast....

But not all my guilty pleasures are food-related...there are others.

Listening to The Monkees, watching Real Genius for the umpteenth time, hearing that the NJ Devils have lost (sorry gang, but I bleed NY Rangers' blue) and checking my weekly horoscope.

I'm sure I missed a few, but it's the last one that's of interest today.

Now, I've heard that a person can open ANY book, point to a sentence and find some sort of relative meaning. Each week, I crack open that website and KNOW the Leo entry was written just for Me! It's creepy...but like a train wreck, I hafta look.

So today, feeling not-so-thrilled to be ungainfully employed, I searched out my dirty-little-secret of a site and - wouldja believe? - that horoscope lady nailed it.

She knew I'm riding a bumpy road to my goal this week. And, she said, a certain planet is providing the courage and strength I need to resolve this "rocky reality." Does this mean I'll be gainfully employed by next Wednesday's premonition? Doubtful. But it does mean she's sufficiently suckered me in and I've lost the sad-sack feeling.

Yay Me! We'll celebrate with stir-fried chicken and eggplant.

Details?
Here goes:

(Oh, you may have to tweek the seasonings a bit...I'm afraid something might've gone into the wok but not my notes, such as they are.)

-Start by marinating 3 large chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips, in a half t sesame oil, 1 T rice vinegar, a quarter c soy sauce, 1 heaping t hoisin sauce and a pinch of white pepper before prepping the rest of the ingredients.
-Cube half an eggplant - 3 c maybe - toss in colander and sprinkle liberally with salt...it helps leach out any bitterness...and let sit in the sink for at least 10 mins. Rinse thoroughly before cooking.
-In a small bowl, combine 1 T soy sauce, 1 heaping t ground bean paste, 1 t chili-garlic sauce and a half t honey. This sauce will coat the veg as they cook.
-Heat a wok - or large saute pan - to smoking, add 2 T canola (or veg oil), then quickly saute the chicken - with the marinade - until it's opaque. Remove chicken to a clean bowl and set aside.
-To the remaining juices, add 1 thinly sliced red onion and 3 small sliced garlic cloves and cook until translucent.
-Add the rinsed eggplant and saute for 4 mins (crusty is good here), then add the veg sauce and 1 5-oz (drained) tin sliced water chestnuts and 1 15-oz (drained) tin straw mushrooms.
-Stir to combine and when the veg are warmed through, return the chicken to the wok - you may need a splash of chicken stock for more sauce - and toss all to combine.

I served this with fried wide noodles, just like the kind that come with soup at the Chinese restaurant, because my defrosted eggroll wrappers (remember that post?) couldn't go back into the freezer. Easy peasy...cut 'em in strips and pop 'em into hot fat for a split second. The color'll tell you when they're done.

Whoops! I forgot to mention my favorite guilty pleasure food: Cotton Candy. Mmmm.....
What's yours?

3 comments:

  1. I like this site, even though I am mostly a vegetarian. I must say that the chicken and eggplant recipe sounds most mah-velous! Might try it myself one of these days ...

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  2. Hooray! I hafta say, most main dishes are meat or fowl, but the sides often work as mains too. (Especially the fried artichokes!!!) But, so far, none have been foul!

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