Little Bites of My World

Chicken and Pepper Egg Rolls

2012-01-27T18:53:00.003-05:00

I'm doing No Sugar Challenge for the whole month of January, so I regularly search for no sugar added recipes. Then, I found this Chicken and Pepper Egg Rolls recipe on Disney Family website. They are very easy to make and taste pretty good.

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
2 large bell pepper, any color, cut into thin strips
1 medium size onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger
12 egg roll wrappers
oil for frying

Directions:

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons oil. Cook chicken strips until they're no longer pink. Push to one side of the pan.
Add pepper and onion, cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
Add soy sauce, garlic, and ginger, stir well. Cook until most liquid has evaporated.
Remove from heat and cool for 15 minutes. This is important; adding hot ingredients to egg roll wrappers will cause them to break down and leak.
Once cooled, lay several strips of chicken, onion, and pepper in the center of an egg roll wrapper that has been laid on a surface with one point toward you. Fold the right point over and under the filling. Fold the top and bottom points down, and roll from right to left, securing the left point with a touch of water.
Repeat with all wrappers and filling. Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry egg rolls, turning over once during cooking, until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.
NOTE: Alternatively, these can be baked in the oven at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until brown.

The only thing that I did differently was that I roasted the onion & bell pepper first.

SAIGON MARKET

2011-10-17T11:09:00.007-04:00

I live in a small town that has grocery stores, but no Asian store. Although grocery stores carry some Asian food/ingredients, but none is Indonesian. Thank goodness for Saigon Market.

Saigon Market has variety of Asian food/ingredients from Vietnamese, Philippines, Chinese, Indonesian, Indian, and more. They also sell fresh vegetables. I have been one of their loyal customers for almost 10 years. I can get Cap Bamboe instant seasoning, krupuk udang, Indomie & a few other Indonesian items.

This is the latest item that they just added in the store: Chocolate Covered Ants. I'm going to get some next time I go there :o)

Overall Rating: *****

Customer Service: Excellent

Cleanliness: Very good

Variety: Very good

Price: Reasonable

My wish is that someday Saigon Market would open a store in my town ^_^

VOTE for Komodo National Park as One of the Seven Wonders of Nature

2011-10-13T12:16:00.010-04:00

I haven't been to Komodo Island. I was quite close to it, when I was visiting Flores.

Komodo National Park is located in between Sumbawa and Flores islands. It was established in 1980 to conserve the unique Komodo Dragon and its habitat. In 1986, the park was declared World Heritage Site and A Man and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. The park is also known as the best dive site in the world.

The affordable way to go to Komodo island is by flying from Denpasar airport in Bali to Labuan Bajo, a little town in Flores and also the access point to and from the park). It's very easy to arrange the trip from there, even in short notice.

Now, Komodo National Park is one of 28 nominees to be part of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. You can submit your vote on New 7 Wonders of Nature website between now and November 11th, 2011. Your vote for National Komodo Park is highly appreciated.

Images are from Google Image

Mie Ayam Jamur (Asian Style Chicken & Mushroom Noodles)

2011-10-12T16:30:00.007-04:00

This dish is one of my favorites. It's not difficult to make either. I apologize for not giving accurate measure for the recipes. I guess because I'm used to "eye ball" everything. The important thing is that you have to taste it, and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Ingredients:

Egg noodles
Chicken breasts
Shiitake mushrooms
Chicken bouillon
Sweet soy sauce
Fresh garlic or fried garlic
Fresh cracked pepper
Lee Kum Kee oyster flavor sauce
Water
Canola/EVOO
Sesame oil (optional)

Instructions:

Chop 2-3 garlic cloves
Cut-up chicken breasts into small cubes.
Heat the pan/wok (medium heat) that has been sprayed with PAM or put a little cooking oil
Saute garlic, then put in chicken
When the chicken is cooked, put in sliced shiitake mushroom
Put some water, just enough to cover chicken & mushroom
Season with chicken bouillon, cracked pepper, sweet soy sauce
Stir until all ingredients mix well
Simmer until 75% of the liquid is absorbed. Set aside
Boil water and cook noodles according to the package
Put a little canola oil or EVOO (and sesame oil, if you like) on noodles, just enough for them not to stick together
Put some cracked pepper and some Lee Kum Kee Oyster Flavor Sauce
Mix them well
Put some noodles in a bowl, with chicken & mushroom topping
You can garnish with fried shallots, and maybe fried wontons or tempura shrimp on the side
Serve immediately

NOTE: You don't need to follow the recipe religiously. You can tweak and twist it however you want. If you use dry shiitake mushroom, soak them in warm water for a couple of hours or until they're soft. If you use fried garlic, you can put it in after you put the water and seasonings.

Want to Go to Japan? This May Be Your Chance ...

2011-10-11T14:56:00.004-04:00

This is what I just read on yahoo news a few minutes ago. Because of decreasing tourists since the latest earthquakes and tsunami, Japan Tourism Agency will be giving away 10,000 free round trip tickets to Japan. The applicants must write in details their travel plans in Japan, and what they hope to get out of the trip. They would also be required to write a review of their travel experiences and post it online. Successful applicants have to pay for their own accommodation and meals. If lawmakers approve the funding, visitors could begin signing up as early as next April.

So, what do you think?? Are you going to apply?? I'm seriously considering it ...

Work From Home

2011-10-10T15:26:00.002-04:00

I wanted to work from home after we had our baby. I thought that working from home would make it easier for me, because I could work while taking care of the baby & our home. Since my husband & I never had any experience on working from home, we ended up getting scammed. Thank goodness it wasn't really bad. We got scammed by one of those stuffing envelopes offers. But, I didn't give up. I continued searching on the internet for months. I didn't get any work at home job, but I learned how to spot or recognize which one is a scam and which one is a real thing. One thing to remember is that when they ask you to pay, it's usually a scam.

For a while, I decided to forget about working from home. For about four years, I worked at different places on weekends. It was fine, but we didn't have a chance to spend time together. Because during the week, my husband was tired when he got home from work and on the weekend, I couldn't go anywhere with my family because I had to work.

Then, in the beginning of this year, I searched on the internet again for work at home jobs. I found Homeworkersnet.com. This is a legitimate site and I found my first WAHJ there. There are also other sites, such as Workplacelikehome.com and Wahm.com where you can interact with other people who work from home while looking for WAHJ.

Now, I have 2 work at home jobs, both are part-times. What I like the most is that I manage my own schedule, nobody stands behind me to watch every little thing I do, and I can wear whatever I want ;o)

MYRTLE BEACH, SC

2011-10-09T19:45:00.007-04:00

We haven't had family vacation for a while. After saving up some money, we decided to visit Myrtle Beach, SC. I acted as our family travel agent, which means I was the one who had to find a good and reasonably priced place to stay. My husband wanted an oceanfront room. After searching on the internet for several days, including comparing prices and amenities, we decided to stay at Sea Crest Hotel for a few days.

We had an oceanfront room with King size bed and a murphy bed in the living room. There is a small kitchen with fridge, stove, oven, microwave, etc. Our daughter loved sleeping on the murphy bed with ocean view. The room was clean, housekeeping and front desk staff were nice. We went for a walk after supper at the beach. It was relaxing.

We visited the Ripley's Aquarium, had breakfast at Mammy's Kitchen a couple of times during our stay. Nothing fancy at Mammy's, but the food was very good, especially their scrambled eggs. Price: $7.50 for adults and $ 3.99 for kids 3-9 years old for breakfast buffet.

We will definitely be back to Myrtle Beach !!

We're now saving again, for next year's family vacation. Next year is a little special, because we'll be celebrating our 10th anniversary. I have started browsing and looking for an affordable vacation destination where all of us can enjoy. Wish me luck !!

No Bake Peanut Butter Pie

2011-10-09T16:04:00.004-04:00

My husband sometimes talked about how much he missed his grandma's peanut pie. So, one day, I decided to search for the recipe online and found this no bake peanut butter pie recipe on Allrecipes.com. I thought peanut butter pie and peanut pie were the same thing. WRONG !! Obviously, I'm not from around here hehehee ... But, nevertheless, my husband LOVED this peanut butter pie ^_^

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup milk
1 (16 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed
2 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crusts

Directions

Beat together cream cheese and confectioners' sugar. Mix in peanut butter and milk. Beat until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.
Spoon into two 9 inch graham cracker pie shells; cover, and freeze until firm.

Coupon Ministry

2011-05-26T10:04:00.005-04:00

I fell in love with couponing a few years ago. It makes me feel so good when I know that I save money. And NO ... I'm NOT like those on tv. I only buy what we eat or use, no hoarding.

Recently, I found Coups for Troops. They send expired coupons to military families overseas. They also take unexpired coupons for military families in Hawaii and Alaska. I call this "Coupon Ministry" :o)

So, those of you who love to clip coupons like me, don't throw away the ones that you know you won't use or the expired ones. Please mail them to Coups for Troops. And it would be helpful too, if you can separate non food coupons and food coupons first.

Your help is highly appreciated !!

Semi Homemade Elvis Cupcakes

2011-05-21T13:26:00.007-04:00

Today is my daughter's birthday and I promised to make her Elvis cupcakes. I use Soffela Banana Bread Mix that I bought at World Market for the cupcakes. I tried it before, in my opinion, it tastes very close to banana bread made from scratch.

For peanut butter cream, I used Ina Garten's recipe (Barefoot Contessa on Food Network). It's sooooooooo good and creamy. Really sinful !!

Peanut Butter Cream

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

5 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Put sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in mixer. Mix on medium low until creamy, scraping with spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high until the mixture is light and smooth.

I put some chocolate chips for decoration. I think Elvis would approve these cupcakes ^_^

Tempura Fish with Sweet & Sour Sauce

2011-05-21T11:47:00.007-04:00

We have a bag of fillet whiting that we got from Angel Food Ministries April Bountiful box. I thought "I miss Ang sio hie bien (Tempura Fish with Sweet & Sour Sauce) that I used to get in Surabaya, I guess I can use some of them to make this dish ..."

First, I cut up the fish fillet, and then dip them into tempura batter. Fry them in hot oil until they're golden brown.

Tempura Batter

1 egg

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 tbsp of cornstarch

1 tsp of baking powder

very cold soda water (or very cold water)

some salt & pepper

Mix all the above ingredients, until it reaches the right consistency

For sweet & sour sauce:

Mix a cup of water, white vinegar, rice vinegar, tomato paste, sugar, Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil and thicken it with cornstarch + water mix.

Serve warm over steam jasmine rice. Yuummm ...

Semi Homemade Tahu Isi

2011-05-20T21:31:00.004-04:00

I live in a small town in the south. We have some chinese and other asian restaurants, but no Indonesian restaurant. So, when I miss Indonesian food, I have no choice but to make them myself. Sometimes, I can make them "semi-homemade" hehee ...

Tahu isi is snack that we can get from street vendors. Sometimes it has veggies filling (carrot matchsticks, bean sprouts, cabbage), but I like the one with rice noodles filling. So, what I usually do is buy frozen fried tofu in asian store and vegetable chow mei fun at take-out chinese restaurant. I take out the inside of tofu (don't forget to thaw them first ;p), make them hollow, then stuff each one with vegetable chow mei fun. When they're ready, dip them in flour batter (mix of all purpose flour, rice flour, garlic powder, a little salt and water until the consistency is a bit thinner than pancake batter). Fry them one by one until they're golden brown. Hhmmmm ... soooooo good ;p

Curried Shrimp and Corn Chowder (Southern Living)

2011-05-20T20:51:00.003-04:00

Makes 8 servings

Hands on time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour and 25 min.

Ingredients:

1 medium size sweet onion, diced
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 large Yukon gold potatoes (14 oz.), peeled and diced
1 large sweet potato (1 lb.), peeled and diced
2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 5 ears)
1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth
1 (13.5 oz) can unsweetened lite coconut milk
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 lb. peeled, large raw shrimp (26/30 ct.)

Toppings: toasted coconut, thinly sliced green onions, coarsely chopped roasted peanuts

Instructions:

Saute onion in hot oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat 5 minutes or until tender; add garlic, and saute 1 minute. Add Yukon gold potatoes and next 7 ingredients; bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir in shrimp; cook 4 to 5 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with desired toppings.

NOTE: If you make it ahead of time, like a day before, the curry will taste better and richer. I also add fresh basil, that enhances the flavor of curry.

17 Bizarre and Wacky Kitchen Gadgets To Spice Up Your Kitchen

2009-07-24T13:31:00.003-04:00

My husband shared this GadgetHer site with me. It has cool & wacky kitchen gadgets, such as gross egg separator (shown on the picture). They're definitely unique and entertaining hehee ...

MIE GORENG JAWA (JAVANESE FRIED NOODLES)

2009-07-13T20:30:00.003-04:00

After searching for the recipe for a few years, I finally found it. YAY !! Thanks to Resep Campur blog, who's kind enough to share her recipe with everybody else. I didn't exactly follow her recipe though, because I wanted it to be as close as possible to Javanese fried noodles that I used to eat when I was in Surabaya.

Here is my version of JAVANESE FRIED NOODLES:

Ingredients:

1lb lo mein noodles (available at asian store)
6 oven roasted candlenuts
3 cloves of garlic
1 square of Knorr chicken bouillon
shredded cooked chicken
shredded cabbage
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
3 tbsp fried shallots (available at asian store)
a dash of black pepper, salt, and sweet soy sauce

Instructions:

Make a paste of roasted candlenuts & garlic, and sautee. Mix in fried shallots, stir until fragrant.
Mix in shredded cabbage & chicken, stir. Then, cooked lo mein noodles join the crew, and put in chicken bouillon and the rest of seasonings. Stir again. Taste.
Serve warm with sliced hard boiled eggs.

Update: I finally enclosed a picture of Javanese Fried Noodles that I made for supper tonight (01/27/2012)

MUST VISIT WEBSITES FOR YOUR NEXT TRIP

2009-07-09T15:49:00.002-04:00

I haven't written anything on my blog for months !! So, it's nice to be back :o)

I found this article on Traveler magazine. Here's a list of must-visit websites that could help make your next trip a little easier.

Find out where the locals eat. In Europe, the answer is in this series of blogs, Spotted by locals. Find the best food and entertainment from Amsterdam to Zagreb. For a stateside perspective, try Chowhound which covers a dozen regions from Florida to the Pacific Northwest. For homey local comfort food along the highways and byways, log onto Roadfood.

Build a better itinerary. Save all your travel reservations in one place with Tripit. Forward your itinerary to an e-mail address, and it builds your schedule and adds useful information like weather. Your Tripit schedule can be accessed from anywhere.

Seek alternative lodging. Your next hotel may be a home. If you need extra space and plan on staying a while, it probably should be. Find a quality house, condo, or cabin at HomeAway, with its more than 118,000 properties in more than 100 countries.

View every available flight. ITA Software powers many of the major booking sites, but its undistilled version is available to you here. Note: You can't actually book a ticker from the site. But you can see your options.

Avoid speed traps. Want to know where the speed traps are for your next road trips? Not that you have a lead foot, but it's nice to know. SpeedTrap is a great resource, showing maps of your route along with likely "gotcha" spots.

Track flight arrival time. FlightStats lets you find out the on-time rating of flights and tracks your plane in real time. There's also information on airport delays and tips for getting to your flight on time.

Score a fare refund. Yapta lets you track fares and book ticket when prices are at their lowest. The site claims to have saved users over $100 million since it launched in mid-2007. And if fares drop further, Yapta can also help you get a credit.

Get directions. The easy-to-use Google Maps lets you find driving, walking, or mass transit directions and view the results as either a road map, satellite view, or a hybrid of the two. Also works with your mobile phone.

Plan a road trip. Roadescapes helps you plan your road trip, from directions to hotels. Just add your start and end points, and the site does the rest, surfacing attractions, recommending stopovers, and allowing you to book lodging.

Locate cheap gas. Gas Buddy relies on a network of nearly 200 gas price information sites. Check out the free companion "Cheap Gas" iPhone application, which lets you find in-expensive fuel based on your GPS location.

Research airfares. Airlines have sophisticated systems that help them set ticket rices according to demand. FareCast levels the playing field passengers by predicting if your fare will rise or fall.

WHITE CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE

2009-03-24T15:36:00.002-04:00

It's from Southern Living Comfort Food. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks really good ;p. The picture that I posted is from Kraft Australia.

Ingredients:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup butter melted
5 (8 ounces) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
12 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 cup raspberry preserves
Garnish: fresh raspberries

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first 3 ingredients; press crumb mixture into bottom of a slightly greased 9" springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes; cool slightly.
Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add 1 cup sugar, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Add melted white chocolate, beating well.
Microwave raspberry preserves in a small microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 30 seconds to 1 minute or until melted; stir well.
Spoon half of cream cheese batter into prepared crust; spread a little more than half of melted preserves over batter, leaving a 3/4 inch border. Spoon remaining cream cheese batter around edges of pan, spreading toward the center. Cover remaining raspberry preserves, and chill.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until cheesecake is just set and slightly browned. Remove from oven; cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and chill at least 8 hours.
Run a knife around edge of pan, and release sides. Reheat remaining preserves briefly in microwave to melt. Pour preserves over top of cheesecake, leaving a 1" border. Remove sides of pan. Garnish each serving, if desired. Store in refrigerator.

SPRING DEALS FOR EUROPE TRAVEL

2009-03-17T20:30:00.002-04:00

If you've been wanting to go to Europe, now is the time. You can go to many destinations in a very low price. For example, $480 from Washington, D.C. to Rome, round-trip ticket incl. taxes, by Iberian Airlines. You can check-out more deals on Travelzoo.

HOMEMADE BATH BOMBS

2009-01-28T16:13:00.005-05:00

I know it has nothing to do with eat and travel, but I want to "brag" about it ;p After I've become a State Approved Home Baker, I decided to learn how to make soaps. I posted the pictures on local online forum. One of my friends on the forum asked me if I could make bath bombs. I thought "What is bath bomb ?" I started to look around on the net and found some websites that provided instructions on how to make bath bombs. It's not difficult at all. So, I gave it a try and now ....... I'm selling them :D

Here are pictures of my Valentine bath bombs:

If one day you'd like to learn how to make them, here is one cool website that you may want to check out: Teach Soap

POPCORN CHICKEN WITH MANGO SAUCE

2009-01-12T19:43:00.003-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009 !! I haven't written anything on my blog for a loooooooooooong time. So, I'm sorry if I didn't reply your comment soon. A lot of things have happened and I've been quite busy. I have learned how to make bath bombs and started selling them. Valentine's Day is coming soon, so I'd be making heart shape bath bombs for sale.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago my dearest husband bought some mango pulp. So, I decided to use some of it to make mango sauce. We had popcorn chicken that we got from Angel Food Ministries, they tasted really good. To make mango sauce is very easy:

About 1 - 1 1/2 cups of mango pulp, put in sauce pan on medium heat
3-5 tbsp of heavy/whipping cream
3-4 tbsp of oyster flavored sauce (I used Lee Kum Kee)
sugar
Stir often until it has nice consistency
Mix popcorn chicken in, serve immediately with rice or noodles

Very yummy ...

SHRIMP SHUMAI WITH SHRIMP MOUSSE FILLING

2008-11-19T19:01:00.007-05:00

This recipe is inspired by Chef Ming Tsai's shrimp mousse recipe, and I made it my own, and yes, it's delicious. I apologize if I don't give the exact measurement, because I just "eye ball" it.

Ingredients:

250gr. raw shrimp, peeled
1/4 cup of butter, cut it up
1 large egg
salted soy sauce
black pepper
a dash of sea salt, ginger oil, garlic oil
wonton wrappers

Instructions:

Put shrimp & egg in food processor
After they're mixed, put the rest of ingredients, use the pulse button until all ingredients are incorporated, but the butter still visible in small pieces
Put 1/2 tsp of shrimp mousse in wonton wrapper, shape it like shumai. Continue until all done.
Steam or fry them

BEST PLACES TO TRAVEL

2008-10-16T21:15:00.002-04:00

This was on Today Show this morning. It may help you decide which place(s) you'd like to visit for your next vacation.

Here are a few highlights from the awards, which are now in their 21^st year:

Charleston, S.C., beat New York City out of the number 2 spot for best U.S. city to visit. San Francisco remained number 1 and New York City fell to number 3.
San Francisco won the top U.S. city designation for the 16^th consecutive year.
Virgin America, a new airline that launched in August 2007, was named the best U.S. domestic airline. JetBlue Airways grabbed the number 2 spot.
For the 19^th time, Singapore Airlines was named the number 1 international route airline.
In the ranking of the best European cities, Florence took the top spot for the fifth year in a row, Rome ranked second and Salzburg and Venice tied for third place. The Austrian birthplace of Mozart scored well for its ambiance and cultural sites and landed its highest ranking ever this year.
Prague reappeared on this year’s list of top 10 European cities after a four-year absence.
Damascus, Syria stayed near the top of the list of best cities in the Africa/Middle East category after climbing up the list last year.

DO YOU REALLY WANT TO DRIVE ??

2008-10-08T20:03:00.002-04:00

There are some people who really want to "enhance" their traveling experience in foreign country by driving while staying at their travel destination. Well ... I guess if they're accustomed to driving in that country & have proper paperwork, it would be fine. But those who don't speak the language & unaccustomed to driving in foreign country, that's not a good idea.

Road travel is particularly dangerous in developing countries. I can testify to that. I'm from Indonesia, and traffic is chaotic. When my husband came to meet my family, he closed his eyes most of the time while we were on the road, because he was afraid of looking at the traffic. He said that he would never want to drive in Surabaya. Me, I still drive a car or ride a scooter when I am visiting my family in Surabaya, because I accustom to the rules of the road.

Here are some Rules of the Road:

Avoid driving in places where you don't speak the language or can't understand the alphabet. You may just hire a car with a driver.
Drive during the day if possible, because at night it can be difficult to see hazards and road signs.
Ask for a car with GPS navigation.
Don't be an easy target. Ask your rental company for a vehicle without any stickers or other indications that it's a rental. Keep the doors locked and don't leave valuables visible.
Bring car seats for your children. Car seat legislation is uneven in most countries. Even if you rent from a well-known company, don't assume it will have a booster seat appropriate for your child's age & weight.
If you're driving your own car south of the border, purchase Mexican insurance. Almost every major U.S. insurance policy specifically excludes coverage in Mexico. Buy a short-term policy on the Internet or at the border that will cover you against liability and theft for about $10 to $15 a day, depending on the value of your car.

Source: Traveler (National Geographic) Magazine

DARK CHOCOLATE SAUCE

2008-10-04T21:37:00.004-04:00

Just saw it on shine.yahoo.com. I haven't tried it yet, but it sure does look good :o)

Dark Chocolate Sauce

2 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces

6 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup granulated sugar (use 1-2 tablespoons more for a less-bittersweet sauce)

1/4 teaspoon instant coffee granules

1 cup hot water

1/3 cup dark corn syrup

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine chocolate, cocoa, sugar and coffee granules in a food processor. Process until finely ground, about 1 minute. Stir together water and corn syrup in a small saucepan; bring just to a boil over medium-high heat. With the food processor running, add the syrup mixture, then vanilla. Continue processing until the sauce is smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. (The sauce will seem thin, but will thicken during cooling.) Transfer to a container and refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours. Stir well before serving; if the sauce seems too thick, stir in a little water.

Makes 1 3/4 cups

Per 2-tablespoon serving: 71 calories; 2 g fat (1 g sat, 0 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 15 g carbohydrate; 1 g protein; 1 g fiber; 13 mg sodium.

SWEET & SOUR CHICKEN ALA ME

2008-10-01T19:52:00.007-04:00

We just got Angel Food Ministries package for this month. One of the food items that we received is popcorn chicken. So, I used some to make sweet & sour chicken. I deep fried some popcorn chicken. For the sauce, I adapted from "sweet & sour chicken" recipe from chinesefooddiy.com.

Sweet & sour sauce: 3/4 cup of water; 4 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar; 1 1/2 tbsp white vinegar; 3 tbsp tomato paste; sugar, adjusted to taste; cornstarch mixed with water. In a small saucepan, mix the ingredients for the sweet and sour sauce and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and keep warm.

We also received a bag of stir-fry veggies which is bite size broccoli. What I did was put some garlic & ginger oil in the pan, heat it up. Then put in the broccoli, mix well. Put some black pepper & Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce, mix well. Cover for a few minutes. Then, mix in sweet & sour sauce, stir, and add fried popcorn chicken. It was sooooooooo good !! Believe me ! I guess the mixture of sweet & sour sauce and seasoning for veggies creates a tasty sauce.

I've tried different sweet & sour chicken recipes, but never satisfied with the taste. This is the best one, and I'm sure I'll make it again in the near future.