Capntastic wrote:Glass of Water
Requires:
- (1) Glass or cup or other quaffing vessel
- (1) Source of water
Pour water into vessel; drink.
Advanced Tip: Filters can make nasty tap water more palatable.
Also, if you stick your tap water into a source of cold (try your fridge!) for a length of time, it makes it significantly more delicious. I read some mumbo-jumbo on the tubes somewheres about a specific level of cold breaking down the nasty-tasting chemicals or somesuch, but all I know is, I fill my gallon jug with water in the evening, and in the morning I have something tasty.
Anyway, recipes? Stir fry!
STUFFIN'
<ol><li>1 lb meat/tofu (stir-fry quality beef = double plus good, chicken is acceptable, haven't tried tofu or pork yet)</li><li>vegetables of your choice, my personal choices being:<ol><li>one green bell pepper,</li><li>one red bell pepper,</li><li>broccoli</li><li>one or two sticks of celery (when available for purchase in those quantities),</li><li>mushrooms,</li></ol></li><li>minced garlic (or a garlic bulb to mince--I've got a jar of minced garlic since it lasts longer than bulbs and I use it so much--tasty tasty garlic and all)</li><li>stir-fry sauce packet + ingredients the packet calls for to make the sauce (I use Sun-bird, which calls for sugar, water, and soy sauce--I don't like soy sauce, so I replace it with teriyaki sauce like the filthy blasphemer I am)</li><li>liquid cooking oil (Canola here)</li></ol>
You'll need a timer, one deep and wide pot, a slotted spoon, an unslotted spoon, a bowl that will hold all the meat at once, and various utensils for cutting and moving stuffs around while you're cooking.
PREPIN'
Cut up the meat if it isn't packaged cut. (I would cut it about one inch long, half an inch wide, a centimeter tall, in Macon. The meat I buy here locally comes cut in much larger pieces but also cook fine. I imagine the size doesn't matter too much.) Once cut, set the meat into the bowl. You will cook this first so place it nearest the stove.
Cut up the bell peppers next in whatever size you like. Of the vegetables these take the longest to cook so sit them next to the meat. It's best to put them (and all ingerdients) in a container that will easily dump into the pot.
Cut up the broccoli next. I usually cut off and use only the florets, because that's the part I best like. Set them next to the bell peppers.
Cut up the celery and mushrooms next. They cook quickly and will go in together. Set them next to the broccoli.
Open the jar of minced garlic and have a spoon ready to scoop a little bit of it into the pot (or mince up an amount and put it in a container ready to toss in the pot). I usually put in anywhere from 1 to 3 tablespoons. I likes me some garlic.
Make the sauce!
COOKIN'
Put your pot on the stove, pour a quarter to half dollar sized blob of cooking oil, and turn on the heat. If your stove is gas, you'll want it around medium, if it's electric, you'll want it much higher.
Throw in the meat! And stir! Cook for five minutes or until the meat is almost cooked all the way (you see only a little bit of pink left in spots) and then use your slotted spoon to pull the meat out and place it back into the bowl. (If your stove is gas you may want to pull it off the heat while removing the meat, because it will cook the rest of the way while you are removing the first spoonful or two.)
Reset the timer for another five minutes and throw in your bell peppers. Stir and stuff. When the five minutes are up, reset the timer for another five minutes and toss in your broccoli--and you may wish to pour in more cooking oil if the pot is looking a bit dry. The broccoli will sometimes soak up all the juice, especially if you use only florets like I do. Pour in more oil whenever you feel like it's appropriate.
Stir!
When the timer goes off, reset it for another five minutes and toss in your celery and mushrooms. I kinda like my celery and mushrooms to be a bit crunchy, so sometimes I cook them for 3 or 4 minutes. Stir and such. Really, you're pretty much stirring constantly. And frying. Y'know.
When the timer goes off, use the spoon to make a hole in the center of the pot and put your garlic there. (If you're fond of ginger, you would also put ginger in at this point). Enjoy the smell! Oh, and stir. Make a couple sweeping stirs, then add your meat back in. ALMOST DONE!
Turn the heat down. Remember the sauce? Pour it in--give it a stir (haha) beforehand if its ingredients have settled. And, um...stir.
At this point I usually let the stirfry sit on low a very little bit, the sauce tends to soak into the veggies and meat and also thicken up some. My hunger'll get the good of me quickly enough though.
If curious, you use your non-slotted spoon around now so you can actually get at that sauce.
Eat and enjoy!
STICKY RICE:
To have some sticky rice with your stir fry, look for long grain white rice at the grocery--or if you want really good stuff, Jasmine rice. It's a very simple cooking process--it'll be on the bag or box. Ours says one cup of rice for 2 and a half cups of water, put them together in a large pot and bring to boil, then lower heat to simmer, cover with lid, and let simmer for 20 minutes. At the end of that we have a huge amount of rice. ::thumbs up!::