Monday's Menu

Today's recipe is a lot of fun. Particularly if you are impaired like I am when it comes to making Asian food. Because this stuff looked and tasted great. In fact, I even took a picture of it for you. But then I forgot to download it before Hubby carried off the camera to Scout camp yesterday morning. So you'll have to use your imagination.

Hubby actually is a cashew fan (hmm, I'd always thought until recently that pecans were his favorite) and therefore really enjoys cashew chicken when we hit the hole-in-the-wall Chinese place around the corner or a local buffet. So I looked up a recipe for just that.

It was yummy. We stuffed ourselves and still had 2 servings left. Those were gone for lunch the next day. The original recipe can be found here and mine, with its one substitution and one addition is below. You know I can't do anything without messing with it.

The substitution, though, is actually the result of the reviewers on that site. It calls for hot sauce in the original version. Now, Hubby thinks hotter is better -- like he wants his nose to run and stuff when he eats it -- but me, not so much. The only possible exception is Roast Sticky Chicken. My friend Alexis is from desert area and she says that to get the flavor, they endure the hot. Well, I get that with Roast Sticky Chicken (but even then I tone it down such that Hubby would question my sanity in suggesting that its hot at all). However, nothing else do I give that much leeway. And Cashew Chicken is no exception.

So imagine my pleasure when I saw that Moi-sin sauce was suggested as a better flavor addition in place of the hot sauce. They said it gave it a much better taste. And, honestly, I think it did taste more like the restaurant's. But if you prefer a spicier version, have at it with the hot sauce. Just don't invite me to dinner.

That night.

Any other would be great.

Tomorrow maybe?


Cashew Chicken with Water Chestnuts

2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2/3 cup chicken broth
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon moi-sin sauce
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast meat - cut into strips
1 small onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 8-ounce can SLICED water chestnuts, drained
2/3 cup cashews

Dissolve the cornstarch in the chicken broth (I used a small whisk throughout with this sauce to keep it from clumping as cornstarch can do) and stir in soy sauce, ginger and moi-sin sauce. Set aside. Heat half of the oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Stir in the chicken and cook, stirring, until no longer pick and done through. Remove chicken and set aside.

Pour remaining oil into wok/skillet and stir in onion, green pepper, water chestnuts, and garlic. Cook, stirring briskly, until chestnuts are hot and onion has softened. Stir up the sauce to redistribute corn starch, then pour into the wok/skillet and bring to a boil. Sauce will thicken quickly. Stir in chicken pieces. Keep stirring until sauce has thickened and all is heated through. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cashews.

Serve over rice for best results.