Farmer's Market #2

Last Monday I posted a recipe from my first batch of Farmer's Market goods. My husband and daughter have been going every weekend and picking up secret ingredients and let me work my magic in the kitchen using the fruits and vegetables they buy.

On their 2nd trip to the market, they bought me zucchini squash, pattypan squash, neon eggplant, garlic, pears, and celery. What on earth? I had some really thick pork chops in the fridge marinating in an asian marinade so I had to think of how I could use those ingredients with those chops.

A-ha! Inspiration struck and I came up with my plan of action. I decided to make a slaw using the celery and pears, and using the squashes and eggplant to make hot and sour veggies underneath.

Pear Slaw

2 celery ribs - removed of strings and thinly sliced

1/2 lime, squeezed

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp gingerroot, grated

2 pears, cut into 1/4" matchsticks

2 green onion, thinly sliced on the angle

cilantro

a dash of crushed red pepper

Mix all these ingredients together in a bowl and let the flavors marry.

Grill your chops on a BBQ grill. I let my husband grill these babies up and they were absolute perfection. Remember you don't have to overcook these. Overcooked pork chops = dry dry dry.

For the hot and sour vegetables.

Peel and dice the eggplant and put in a strainer with salt. The salt will pull out the moisture in the eggplant. Leave it with the salt for 30 minutes. At that time, rinse well, and put on paper towels and wring dry.

Dice 1 zucchini

Cut up the pattypan squash into wedges

Quarter an onion and slice

mince 1 clove garlic

1 green chile, chopped (I used jalapeno)

In a bowl, mix together:

3 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp chili oil (I didn't use nearly this much because I have kids)

1 tsp salt

Put 2 Tbsp oil in a stir fry pan and heat over medium high heat. Saute the garlic and onion for 30 seconds, then add the remaining ingredients. Saute until the veggies are fork tender. When they're tender, add the bowl of liquid and stir. This will start thickening quickly. Coat all the veggies well with the sauce.

To plate, put a spoonful of veggies on your plate, top with your beautifully grilled pork chop and then using a slotted spoon, put a spoon of slaw on top.

You will find the acidic, bright flavor of the slaw a wonderful companion to the pork and the sweetness and slight spiciness of the veggies underneath is just perfect.

So the next time you're at the farmer's market, think about the vegetables you might necessarily know how to use. In my case, it was the pattypans and eggplant and I was able to find the perfect dish. I hope you enjoy this recipe!

.lettuce wraps.

I know my friend, Heidi, won't like this recipe because she got sick on lettuce wraps at P.F. Changs way back when. Me on the other hand.. LOVE THEM!


I was at Chili's last week having lunch with my girlfriends and I had some lettuce wraps. I thought it might be fun to find a recipe and make them for my family.


This is kind of a mock up of the Chili's recipe. I added and changed a few things and I must say the results were awesome. This is a spicy dish. If you can't tolerate spice, omit the chili oil and red pepper flakes. I didn't think it would be as hot as it was, but after taking a few bites, I took the plate away from my daughter and let her have chicken nuggets.


This dish might seem time consuming. The sauces can be made the day before and then heated up prior to serving. It took me about an hour and half from start to finish.
Let's start with our sauces.



Make them all at the same time. Put three saucepans in front of you. In the first one, we're going to make the Stir Fry Sauce.



In a small bowl, put 1/4 cup cold water and 1 tsp cornstarch. Mix well with a fork.

In the saucepan put:
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. rice wine vinegar
1/3 c. soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp chili oil
1/2 tsp grated ginger

For the ginger, prep a bunch of it so you don't have to keep grating it.
Just peel some fresh gingerroot and use the fine grate. I love fresh ginger. The flavor is out of this world!
Put the saucepan on the stove and heat over medium. Bring to a boil and add the water/cornstarch. Let reduce down until a little thick. Turn off the heat and set aside.



Chop a little parsley. Put in saucepan #2.
We're going to make the Sesame Ginger Dipping Sauce now.
Using the same bowl you made the water/cornstarch. Do it again. Put 1/4 c. water and 1 tsp cornstarch in the bowl. Mix well using a fork.

In the saucepan you put the parsley, add:
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. rice wine vinegar
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp sesame seeds
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1 dash red pepper flakes



Put this pan on the stove and heat over medium heat. Bring to a boil and add the water/cornstarch. Mix while it boils and it will thicken. Remove from heat. Set aside.


Now for the final sauce. Peanut Dipping Sauce.



In saucepan #3, put:
1/2 c. peanut butter (creamy)
1/3 c. water
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp chili oil
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp brown sugar


Put on the stove over medium heat. Let it cook for a few minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.



These are water chestnuts. They are yummy and crunchy. They'll add a nice contrast in texture.
Drain the water from the can. We need 1/4 cup chopped up. Put in a small bowl or on a plate. We'll need them when it comes time to fry.

Cutting on a diagonal, cut 6 green onion. The asian countries sure like their veggies pretty in their food. You could cut these straight, but why? Might as well have some fun with it! :D

See what I mean? They look so pretty even sitting in a bowl!
Put these in a bowl or on the same plate as the water chestnuts.



I forgot to take a picture of this step, but chop up some cilantro. (about 1/4 cup)
Put that on the plate or in its own bowl.



Cut up three boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You don't want the pieces too big otherwise they'll be too big for the lettuce leaves.
















Grate 2 carrots. If you want, buy the pre-shredded carrots at the store. It'll save you a few minutes from peeling and grating by hand.

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a wok or skillet over medium high heat.

Add the chicken and stir to cook all the sides.

When all the sides are just barely white, add half of the stir fry sauce. Stir to coat the chicken.

Add the water chestnuts. Cook with the chicken for 5 minutes. At this time, add the rest of the stir fry sauce.

Add the green onion. Mix in and cook for 3 minutes.

Add the cilantro.

Now add 1/4 c. peanuts. Toss everything together.

Keep cooking this for another couple minutes until the liquid has become slightly thickened. Remove from the heat.
















If you made your sauces the day before, pull them out of the fridge and heat in the microwave for a minute. Put them in serving bowls.









On your plates, put Bibb lettuce leaves in a fan-like fashion to one side. It's all about drama folks. Let's make our food pretty!
















Put a handful of carrots on the plate and spread out on the other side. Spoon some of the chicken on top of the carrots. Serve immediately!

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_58mc3tr2ds