T.G.I.F. What's for Dinner, 2/3??

[cjs]

What's on th menu for today??

I'm making an old Cooking Light dish - Pork and Fennel Ragu.

[labradors]

Man, I wish fresh fennel were available here. I wonder if the seeds sold in the spice jars will germinate.

[Mare749]

If nothing else, you might get fennel sprouts? I don't actually know this, but I get in a sprouting mood this time of the year for some reason. Jean recommended radish sprouts so did those last year. They were great!

Dinner tonight will be Sweet and Sour Fish and Sichuan String Beans from my new favorite cookbook, "Easy Chinese Recipes--Family Favorites from Dim Sum to Kung Pao" by Bee Yinn Low. Great book!

[labradors]

Hmmm... May have to try it just to see if the sprouts work out.

What do you do for those string beans? I can get the Chinese long beans here, and they're actually a little cheaper than regular string beans. Plus, anything Sichuan/Szechuan sounds good to me!

[Mare749]

I'll type it up and post it shortly.

Here you go. My husband loves this dish, but I won't be able to use 6 chilies in it! I'll start with 1 or 2....


Sichuan String Beans

8 oz string beans/French beans
oil, for deep frying
pinch of salt
1 T. oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2" piece fresh ginger, peel and minced
2 oz ground pork
1 heaping T. dried shrimp, rinsed and coarsely chopped
6 dried finger-length chilies, deseeded and cut into halves
Seasonings
1/4 tsp. chicken bouillon powder
1 tsp. Chjnese Rice wine or sherry
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar

1. Clean the string beans thoroughly with cold water and trim the tips. Pat dry with paper towels and set aside.

2. Heat 2 to 3 inches of the oil in a wok or stockpot to 350F for deep-frying. Gently drop the string beans into the oil. As soon as the skin of the string beans becomes wrinkly, remove them with a strainer or slotted spoon, draining the excess oil by laying the string beans on a dish lined with paper towels. Season with a pinch of salt.

3. Heat 1 T. of the oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add the garlic and ginger, and stir-fry to a light brown before adding the ground pork, dried shrimp and dried red chilies. Stir the ingredients a few times until aromatic, then follow with the string beans.

4. Add all the ingredients in the Seasonings and stir continuously until all the ingredients are well-combined. Dish out and serve immediately with steamed rice.

Servings: 2

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/2 of a recipe (1.4 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients. 9 of the recipe's ingredients were not linked. These ingredients are not included in the recipe nutrition data.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 140.73
Calories From Fat (81%) 113.94
% Daily Value
Total Fat 12.77g 20%
Saturated Fat 3.17g 16%
Cholesterol 20.41mg 7%
Sodium 307.21mg 13%
Potassium 93.53mg 3%
Total Carbohydrates 1.52g <1%
Fiber 0.06g <1%
Sugar 0.55g
Protein 4.98g 10%

Source
Author: Gan Pien Si Ji Dou
Source: Easy Chinese Recipes by Bee Yinn Low

Author Notes
I absolutely love the texture of these deep-fried string beans, my must-order vegetable dish when I dine out at Chinese restaurants. The wrinkly string bean is the result of deep-frying the beans in hot oil, and then stir-frying with dried red chilies, dried shrimp, and ground pork. The taste structure is complex-aromatic, savory, with a tint of spiciness from the dried red chilies. This dish compliments other meat and seafood dishes served at a traditional multicourse Chinese meal.

[cjs]

I'll have to check my library and see if they have that book, Maryann. What a great way to get some of the recipes from a book without buying it.

why haven't I done that sooner - so many books I've bought over the years I've only used 4 ot 5 recipes out of them, so why buy???

P.S. And, by the way our library is carrying my book now! I don't think I mentioned one of the boxes of my last book was damaged enroute and was almost destroyed by UPS when they 'threw' the books in another carton and sent it on its way. When this is all settled, I'm thinking I'll check into giving those books (just a little wrinkled) to different libraries around the country.

Sorry, completely off track - now back to dinner ideas.

[Trixxee]

A new Chipotle opened up around the corner and yesterday I got a buy one, get one free coupon in the mail so we might as well use it. Instead of my usual chicken burrito I think I'm going to get a salad topped with all kinds of stuff. I should probably skip the giant tortilla. I won't skip their guacamole though - so good.

[losblanos1]

Another new favorite tonight- Grilled T-bone steak with Tomato gastrique. Pommes frites & asparagus as sides.

[cjs]

Looks good, Blane.

I must say we really enjoyed our dinner today also - from Cooking Light. I was going to post a link, but C.L. doesn't show the recipe anymore but it was all over google, so guess I'll just post the whole thing. It is so good. But, it is a little spicy, so you might want to adjust.




* Exported from MasterCook *

Pork and Fennel Ragu - Cooking light

Cooking spray
1 cup onion -- finely chopped
1 cup fennel bulb -- finely chopped
2 garlic cloves -- minced
1 Tb fennel seeds
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (1/4 tsp next time)
1/4 tsp ground red pepper (maybe omit)
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
8 oz lean ground pork (also didn't have, but finely chopped up a couple slices from a Costco Pork Sirloin roast)
2 cups tomato -- chopped (didn't have fresh so used 1 can diced tomatoes drained)
1/2 cup chicken broth
8 oz rigatoni (4 cups cooked)

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over med-high heat. Add onion, fennel, and garlic; saute 5 min. Add fennel seeds and next 7 ingredients (fennel seeds through pork), stirring to combine; saute 3 min.

Add tomato and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 min, stirring occasionally. Serve over pasta. Garnish with fennel fronds, if desired.


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[Gourmet_Mom]

Dinners look and sound great. Steak night here! Finally Friday!