Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

We have been eating alot of stir fry lately and this peanut sauce tastes very similar to one we had at a local Thai restaurant. This recipe is from the cookbook Not Just Beans by Tawra Kellam. I use whatever veggies I have on hand for stir fry(the more colorful the better!), but I will share the recipe exactly as it is printed, then you can adjust it however you like.

Stir Fry
Sauce Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
3 Tablespoons peanut butter
1 Tablespoon cornstarch or 2 Tablespoons flour
1 cup water

Stir Fry Ingredients:
3-4 slices ginger root, peeled and minced
2 cloves garlic, mashed or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon oil
2 Tablespoons water
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 onions,sliced
2 green peppers, sliced
2 cups cabbage,shredded
1/2-1 cup leftover cooked beef, turkey or chicken

In a bowl, mix peanut butter, soy sauce, and hot sauce. Stir cornstarch in 1 cup water. Add to bowl. In a deep skillet, simmer the oil with ginger and garlic over medium heat. Add vegetables, starting with the firmest as you dice the others. Stir after each addition and sprinkle on water as needed. Make sure you do not overcook the vegetables. Add cooked meat last. Push vegetables to the side and add sauce to the pot while stirring. Add additional water if needed. As the sauce clears, mix in vegetables. Serve over rice. Serves 4.

*I liked cooking the sauce separately in a small sauce pan and then mixing it with veggies right before eating. We think this would be a great sauce for dipping chunks of chicken in. I like to make sure it has a good kick to it to offset the strong peanut flavor.

* A stir fry tip I read a long time ago from the book The 15 Minute Meal Planner/ A Realistic Approach to a Healthy Lifestyle by Emilie Barnes and Sue Gregg : When cutting up veggies for stir fry, layer veggies on a plate or in a shallow dish according to cooking time required. Start with veggies that cook only a short time such as onions at the bottom of the plate. Next, add those that are semi-firm such as squash, green peppers, etc and end with very firm veggies on top such as carrots that take longer to cook. When it is time to cook, start by putting the top veggies inthe skillet first and work your way to the bottom of the plate. This helps to prevent some mushy veggies and others hardly cooked!I have found that this is also an easy way to chop everything up ahead of time and keep in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook.

2 comments:

Mary Ann said...

Debbie, I use some hot sauce that my father-in-law brought back from a mission trip in Mexico last winter. It is really hot so I only use a drop. I haven't ever bought it, but I know you can get it in regular grocery stores. It is probably located in the sauce/condiments/salad dressing aisle or else with the Mexican/Ethnic foods.(It would be very similar to the little packets of sauce you get at Taco Bell and comes in bottles at the store.) I'm not sure if Tabasco sauce would do the trick or not. Since it only calls for a little bit, I think you could also substitute cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes to add that kick. Hope this helps.:-)
Glad you like the banana bars, lmt. It has become a favorite among my church family, too. I served it as a simple dessert one Sunday when I had some friends over and now that is all they want me to make when we have church picnics and such!:-)

Anonymous said...

Hi.
Where have you found that big wooden fork and spoon? i haven't run across it yet. I want to buy it for my mother in law for mother's day.
The one they showed in the episode "Everybody Loves Raymond".