Gingery Chicken and Bok Choy with Spicy Edamame Salad

I have so many good things to say about my trip to Baltimore this past week, but I am still frantically trying to get caught up at work from being out of the office for three whole days and yet MEF is pissin' and moanin' that I haven't updated my blog yet. So, I am going to start with food!

I promised my sister that I would cook for her while I was out there, and while I intended to cook much more than I did, this meal was definitely a keeper. The chicken recipe came from Rachel Ray’s website, and the Edamame Salad recipe I found on Tastespotting (but the link to it isn't working anymore).
I have been aching to try these recipes since I came across them, but I really wanted to use the baby bok choy and it isn’t really something that I can get locally, so I saved it for the trip when I knew I could get to a nice Asian market. This recipe turned out SO tasty, and even as leftovers, we inhaled the couscous and edamame all mixed together. I hope you enjoy it!

One-Pot Ginger Chicken, Bok Choy and Couscous 1/2 cup soy sauce
6 tablespoons brown sugar1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
One 1 1/2-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, trimmed and halved
Salt
One 10-ounce box plain couscous

1 1/4 pounds baby bok choy, halved lengthwise and rinsed

1. In a shallow baking dish, whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and ginger; stir in half the scallion pieces. Add the chicken to the marinade, turning to coat. Let marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. Line a footed metal colander with 2 layers of damp cheesecloth, allowing 2 inches of overhang. Place in a pot and add enough water to just reach the colander bottom. Bring to a simmer; have a small pot of boiling water on the side.

3. Pour the couscous into the colander. Place the chicken thighs on top in a single layer, pressing up the sides of the colander, if necessary; reserve the marinade. Cover and steam, adding more hot water as needed, until the chicken is cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, simmer the reserved marinade until thickened, about 4 minutes; strain.

5. When the chicken is almost done, scatter the bok choy on top and steam for 3 minutes. Transfer the bok choy and chicken to a platter, drizzle with the marinade and top with the other half of the sliced scallions. Stir any remaining scallions into the couscous and serve with the chicken.
Sweet & Spicy Edamame Salad

1 cup fresh/frozen shelled edamame (soy beans)

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1-2 tsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1-2 tsp toasted sesame seeds (we didn’t have any, so we left them out)

1/4 cup flaked almonds (we only had whole almonds, so we chopped and toasted them)

1-2 spring onions, thinly sliced on a bias

1 tsp chili flake (this is the red flaked chili you get in Asian markets, NOT chili powder)

1. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and season with a generous pinch of salt, then add the edamame and boil for 3-5 minutes, or till tender. Rinse in cold water, then drain well.

**we had the shelled, pre-cooked edamame and they worked just fine. We just warmed them up in the microwave instead of boiling them before adding the sauce.

2. Put the warm beans in a small bowl, then add the salt, sugar, sesame seeds and vinegar and toss to combine. Give this a stir, then taste. Add the chili flakes and half the sesame oil, toss and taste again, and if it’s OK now, add in the spring onion and flaked almonds and toss once more to combine before serving.

3. Serve immediately, but it can also be stored in the fridge for up to a week - though the almonds can get a little soft in the moisture.

Gettin' Crabby at the USS Constellation

I'm Leavin'....on a jet plane!

But I DO know when I'll be back again! That'll be Wednesday afternoon. I'm off first thing tomorrow to see my sister out east, so I'll be absent for several days. Don't go running away on me - I promise I'll be back and I'll have lots to blog about! I have a bunch of fun food I'm planning to make for her while I'm visiting.
Oh, and you just might get an occasional mobile post from me while Little Man and I are travelling. He's flown before, but was too young to remember, so this should be fun for him.

See you next week!

Soup and ‘Shrooms

Big doin’s in my kitchen last night!
I was asked by Marcus’ wife to make her some diabetic beef vegetable soup, which I am more than grateful to be able to do, so I had that as #1 on my agenda last night.
I also know that she loves my Artichoke Pesto, so I whipped up a batch of that.
At the same time, I still had to make supper for the hubs, so I threw together a Stromboli.
AND, yesterday the neighbor guy dropped by the house (weird, since we don’t speak to him since he robbed our house several years ago….) and offered Matt an unspoken olive branch…..in the form of a gallon Ziploc bag nearly full of morels.
SO, I slipped into my kitchen gloves (food allergies are greeeaaaatttt....) and split those bad boys up and ran them through some egg wash and cracker crumbs and got them into the fryer while they were still good enough to eat. (for the hubs, not for me. Ew.) The hubs was in hog heaven.
Diabetic Beef and Vegetable Soup
1 pound extra lean stew meat
1 TB olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups fat free beef broth or stock
1 cup dry red wine
½ bag frozen mixed veggies
10-12 fingerling Yukon gold potatoes, sliced in ¼” coins
Fresh parsley, chopped

In a dutch oven or stock pot (love my Wolfgang Puck enamel coated cast iron dutch oven….browns meat some wonderfully), brown the meat in oil until just browned.
Add in the onion and cook another minute or two until the onion begins to soften, then add in the garlic until it just begins to get fragrant. Deglaze the pan with the wine, then add the stock.
Once the stock comes to a simmer, add the veggies. Let them cook for a few minutes, then add in the potatoes.
Cook until just barely fork tender (they will continue to cook until the soup cools down), then toss in the fresh parsley right at the end.
This soup was nice and flavorful, and there was no need to add other seasonings or salt, it was just nice and comforting.

My 200th post - in Memory of a Friend

Can you believe it? I shot right by post #100 without even noticing, but for a few weeks now, I’ve known the 200th was coming up. I thought and thought about what to post about. I wanted it to be something really special. Since I am leaving for a visit to see my sister this weekend, I thought I would wait until I got back and make the post about her and my unborn niece.
Funny how life has a way of changing your plans. Somehow I think my sister will understand, but this post isn’t going to be about her after all.

Last night I lost a friend. He was way too young to die. Marcus’ death resulted from a tragically senseless accident at his home, when he took a nasty fall down a flight of stairs, thus sustaining a head injury. We knew yesterday that the outlook was grim, but thought we had a little more time. Instead, he left us last night around 8:30pm, leaving behind his parents, his sister and her children, his wife, and a host of people who knew and worked with him who will feel the loss of him in their own lives.

Marcus and I had worked together off and on for more than eight years. I first got to know him on a work trip to Mexico. Over the next few years, we spent a lot of time working with our Spanish speaking customers, me translating the calls between them. When I moved to the Internal Training group, I worked closely with him on many occasions, helping him prepare for classes that he taught. We were never close outside of work, but he was a good man.

One day, a woman came into his life. And into ours as well. I was so excited that he had found someone to make him happy, and I immediately wanted to be her friend, too. Since she was new to the area, I offered to throw her a bachelorette party. I remember this very clearly. When his wife-to-be told him about it, he seemed confused. “Oh no, I don’t think you’ll like her”, he’d said. “She’s a basketmaker” he had told her. I still remember when she told me about it. He only knew me as being the girl who makes quilts and does crafty things, and was probably quite dull outside of work. Well, suffice it to say he found out how wrong he was when I poured his fiancée into her mother-in-law’s house that night after getting her royally drunk and celebrating her upcoming nuptials with a blast of a sendoff. After that, we had a different understanding of each other, as I too, saw him in a new light. His wife showed me that he had a side to him that I never knew existed. He had a heart of gold. He adored his wife. He was soulful.
That is how I will always remember him.
May the Lord bless you and keep you, Marcus, until we meet again.

Marcus

To realize

The value of a sister

Ask someone

Who doesn't have one.

To realize

The value of ten years:

Ask a newly

Divorced couple.

To realize

The value of four years:

Ask a graduate.

To realize

The value of one year:

Ask a student who

Has failed a final exam.

To realize

The value of nine months:

Ask a mother

who gave birth to a stillborn.

To realize

The value of one month:

Ask a motherwho has given birth to

A premature baby.

To realize

The value of one week:

Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize

The value of one minute:

Ask a person

Who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize

The value of one-second:

Ask a person

Who has survived an accident.

Time waits for no one.

Treasure every moment you have.

You will treasure it even more when

you can share it with someone special.

To realize the value of a friend or family member:

LOSE ONE.

Peace to our friend

All our prayers and tears go out tonight to two friends, one who was taken from us too soon, and the one who was left behind to mourn him.

We will all feel your loss, each in our own way.

You will be missed, Marcus.