Pot Stickers…

A favorite in my family is Pot Stickers. When I was a child, my mother would make huge batches of this Chinese appetizer for dinner. There was five us and it was an all day process, pressing one teaspoon of the meat mixture at a time into the wrapper.

When my husband and I got married, my father-in-law thought he won the lottery, when he found I knew how to make these.  My father-in-law wore contacts and traveled several times a month for work. Air travel dehydrated him to the point his contacts would get uncomfortable to wear. He sound found that if he ate pot stickers, twenty minutes later his eyes would not be so dry.

To be honest, I always thought he was pulling my leg and used it as an excuse to get me to make them for him. It was not until I wore contacts, I was able to test his theory. I was surprised to find that my eyes did not feel as dry after eating them. Strange, I know! I would not recommend though you give up eye drops for pot stickers.

Today I made 100 hundred pot stickers for a friend of my husband. A few weeks back, we had them for dinner and my husband took the leftovers to work. There was more than enough so he shared them with his friends. On Thursday, I got a text from husband asking if I would consider making 100 pot stickers for this person.  At first, I laughed off the request until a response came that it was serious request. So I sat watching the Oakland A’s playing the Chicago Cubs and made pot stickers all afternoon.

Click this link for the recipe!

Salmon Teriyaki...

I took this recipe from my Celebrate Virginia Cookbook.
The Teriyaki sauce is made from scratch instead of opening a jar.
I prefer to use low sodium soy sauce. I think using low sodium the sauce it a bit sweeter, it is personal choice item.
If you are in a time crunch, make the sauce a day ahead of time, and then re-warm it before use.


Ingredients:
1. 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2. 1/4 cup soy sauce
3. 1/4 cup water
4. 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
5. 4 salmon steaks
6. lemon slices

Directions:
In a medium to large skillet (big enough to hold the salmon snugly) mix the first four ingredients together.
Boil mixture, until the sugar is melted, stir occasionally.
Add salmon steaks, cover and reduce heat for 5 to 6 minutes per side
Remove salmon to a platter and keep warm
Boil sauce for about 4 minutes or until sauce has thickended.
Drizzle sauce over the steaks and garnish with the lemon slices

Broccoli Beef Recipe…

I use this recipe when I make broccoli beef at home. I found the recipe sometime ago. It is simple to make even though the directions can be a bit overwhelming. I serve with fried rice, you can use steamed it is more a matter of preference.

The recipe can be found at Simply Recipes

Ingredients

3/4 pound flank or sirloin, sliced thinly across the grain

3/4 pound broccoli florets

2 tablespoons high-heat cooking oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

For the beef marinade

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup chicken broth

Method

1 Marinate the beef: Stir together the beef marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the beef slices and stir until coated. Let stand for 10 minutes

2 Prepare the sauce: Stir together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

3 Blanch the broccoli: Cook the broccoli in a small pot of boiling, salted water until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain thoroughly.

4 Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat until a bead of water sizzles and instantly evaporates upon contact. Add the cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the beef and immediately spread the beef out all over the surface of the wok or pan in a single layer (preferably not touching). Let the beef fry undisturbed for 1 minute. Flip the beef slices over, add the garlic to the pan and fry for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute until no longer pink, Pour in the sauce, add the blanched broccoli and bring to a boil. Pour in the dissolved cornstarch and cook, stirring, until the sauce boils and thickens, 30 seconds.