ASIAN

ROSE’S ORIENTAL NOODLES AND SMOKED CHICKEN
Rose Shen, my dear friend from Taiwan, taught me how to make this. She didn’t have a recipe, she just showed me and I wrote it down because I wanted to remember and try it myself.

Clean cut chicken pieces (like frying chicken) and cover with salt and any other seasoning that tastes good to you. Steam chicken with a little water until tender.
To smoke the chicken:
Cover the bottom of a big pot with foil and then put brown sugar on top of the foil. Pot chicken on a rack on top of the brown sugar. Melt sugar and as it burns, it will smoke the chicken. Allow chicken to brown, turning as necessary.

To make the noodles:
Boil the asian noodles. Chop your veggies (any fresh ones that you choice) and stir fry in a skillet. Add juice from the steamed chicken and then add the boiled noodles. Continue to stir fry and add any greens last. Season as needed.


ASIAN ALMOND CHICKEN
Serves 2.
1 chicken breast
oyster sauce
garlic, minced
onion
red bell pepper
cooking oil/butter
soy sauce
white wine vinegar
sugar
almonds
Marinate chicken in oyster sauce and minced garlic at least 1 hour. Mix vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, add leftover sauce from marinade. Chop almonds and toast. Cut onion and red pepper into strips (today I added thinly sliced carrots). Cut chicken to bite size or strips. Heat oil and butter in wok to very hot. Stir-fry chicken until golden and seared. Add veggies and stir fry until almost tender. Add sauce and stir fry until well coated. Serve immediately with rice, topping with toasted almonds.
(Updated 1/3/16)


ASIAN-STYLE LETTUCE WRAPS
It ain’t PF Chang’s, but it’s pretty good!

Serves 4.
1 med. onion, finely chopped
1 t. minced garlic
1 pound ground meat (your choice, I like beef, you also mix with 1/2 pound of two different kinds)
1 t. soy sauce
1 T. oyster sauce
1/2 c. finely chopped water chestnuts
8 pieces of crisp lettuce, large leaves.
1 T. sesame seeds, toasted

Spray skillet and heat. Cook onion, garlic, and meat until browned. Add soy and oyster sauces and water chestnuts, stir, reduce heat. Cook, uncovered for 5 min. stirring occasionally. Sprinkle sesames over meat before serving. Let each person roll their own meat into their lettuce as they eat it.
(I usually serve rice with this and sometimes Greg will eat his meat over the rice instead of in the lettuce.)

JAMBALAYA

JAMBALAYA MIX
Dot King gave me this recipe. It is handy to have some of this around already mixed.

1 c. uncooked long-grain rice
1 T. minced dried onion
1 T. green pepper flakes
1 T. dried parsley flakes
1 bay leaf
2 t. beef bouillon granules
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. black pepper
1/4 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. dried crushed red pepper
Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container.

JAMBALAYA
Bring mix, 3 c. water and 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce to boil in a dutch oven. Stir in 2 cups chopped meat of your choice (ham, chicken, sausage, shrimp)(it is tasty to use two different meats in one dish). Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20-25 min. or until rice is tender. Remove bay leaf.

SANDWICHES

MEATBALL SANDWICH
I don’t usually like meatballs, but for some reason, I do like these.
Makes about 46 1 in. meatballs.

2 eggs
1/3 c. milk
2 c. soft bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 t. salt
2 pounds ground beef
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 t. butter
1 c. ketchup
2/3 c. chili sauce
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. prepared mustard
2 t. celery seed
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. hot pepper sauce
8 hoagie buns, split
1 large onion, thinly sliced
Beat eggs and milk. Stir in bread crumbs, chopped onion and salt. Add beef; mix well. Shape into 1 in. balls. Place in a lightly greased baking pan. Bake, uncovered at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until meat is no longer pink. In a saucepan, saute garlic in butter. Add next 8 ingredients and bring to boil. Add meatballs, reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 min or until heated through, stirring occasionally. (You can also freeze some of the meatballs and add to sauce later.) Hollow out buns and lightly toast. Spoon in meatball mixture and top with onions.

Ground Beef

SAVORY SHEPHERD’S PIE
Serves 6
1/3 c. butter
3 T. flour
1 c. milk
1 t. dried herbs of your choice
3 c. cooked meat (beef, lamb, pork)
10 oz. cooked veggies of your choice
1 8 oz. can small whole onions, drained
1/2 c. rose wine or beef broth
1/2 t. pepper
3 c. mashed potatoes
1/2 c. shredded cheese (cheddar is good)

Melt butter, stir in flour. Gradually stir in milk and herbs. Cook and stir over med. heat till sauce thickens and bubbles. Stir in meat, veggies, onion, wine and pepper. Pour into 2 quart casserole dish. Spoon mashed potatoes around the edge.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 min. Sprinkle top with cheese and bake for about 10 min. more or until bubbly and potatoes are brown.
Let stand 10 min. before serving.


HAMBURGER PIE
This is a recipe that Pat, Greg's mom used to make every time we visited. It was always a favorite of Jeff's, Greg's brother.

1c. Bisquick baking mix
1/4 c. cold water
1 pound ground beef
1/2t. salt
1/2t. ground oregano
1/4t. pepper
1/2c. dried bread crumbs
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/3c. chopped onion
1/4c. chopped green pepper
1 egg
1/4c. milk
1/2t. salt
1/2t. dry mustard (I usually increase this or add some regular mustard)
2 c. cheddar cheese (about 8 ounces)
Heat oven to 350. Mix baking mix and water until soft dough forms; beat vigorously 20 strokes. Gently smooth dough into ball on floured surface. Knead 5 min. Roll dough 2 in. larger than inverted pie plate. Ease into plate; flute edges. Cook and stir ground beef until brown; drain. Stir in salt, oregano, pepper, bread crumbs, tomato sauce, onion and green pepper; spread in pie crust. Beat egg and milk and stir in remaining ingredients. Spread over beef mixture. Bake until crust is golden, about 30 min.


STUFFED PEPPERS
This is my mother-in-law’s recipe and one of Greg’s favorites from his childhood.

10-12 peppers
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
garlic powder
onions
salt
pepper
1 1/2 c. minute rice (uncooked)
big can hunt’s tomato sauce
1/4 can water
Brown meat, add garlic powder, onion, salt, pepper while browning. After browned, add sauce, water and rice. Stir together. Half peppers, stuff with meat mixture, replace tops. Cover dish with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Check half-way, and add water to dish if they seems dry. Last 15 minutes, cook without foil.