Chicken Stir-Fry with Ramps and Asparagus

Hi, all!  I know, I haven’t been around for a little while.  I’m sorry!  No excuses, I think I was just being a bit lazy.   I have been cooking, I promise!  I just haven’t been so great about taking pictures and actually writing down what I’m doing when I cook.

Truthfully, sometimes it’s a struggle for me to write a “recipe” for what I cook.  If I’m not baking, I typically don’t use measuring spoons or measuring cups. so I’m not always sure how much of something I’ve added.  Heck, sometimes I can’t remember what ingredients I added!

The bonus to having to pay attention to ingredients and amounts is that I can recreate those recipes that worked really well.  Before I started blogging, there were times when I would create a dish, or I would make a change to an existing recipe that was fantastic! But when I tried to make it again, I could not remember what I did.  Anybody else have this problem?

For dinner tonight, I looked at maybe a dozen recipes for stir-fry sauces – and used none of them.  I wanted to use the chicken and veggies from Saturday’s farmer’s market, and I really didn’t want to make a grocery store stop.  I was sure that I had enough options at home to throw something together.

When I tasted the finished dish, I was really glad that I took the time to write everything down!  I’ll definitely be making this again.  It was filling but not heavy, and it had a good amount of heat, which I enjoy.  Plus, a stir-fry works with almost any veggies, which will definitely come in handy when my CSA starts back up!

I used a lot of the same spices that I first tried in my Hangover Soup, but the rice vinegar and the red pepper flakes gave it a nice bright finish and some extra spice.  The buckwheat honey that I used in the marinade is one of my new favorites – it’s like a deep, dark cross between honey and molasses, with a slight grassy undertone.  Sounds weird, but it’s so good!  I’m trying to figure out how to use it in everything.  (I’m not kidding.)

Buckwheat honey is awesome. This is from Kline Honey Bee Farm in Edinburg. Oh yeah, there’s fish sauce, red pepper and vinegar as well.

Chicken Stir-Fry with Ramps and Asparagus (serves 2)

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced
• about 12 stalks of asparagus, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
• 5-6 ramps, bottoms trimmed, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Buckwheat Honey (you could sub regular honey or molasses)
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon Red Curry Paste
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• Rice noodles (or leftover rice)
• Vegetable or canola oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Pepper the chicken.  (I didn’t salt it because fish sauce is usually salty enough.)  Marinate the sliced chicken in the vinegar, fish sauce, honey and red pepper flakes.  I threw the marinade together as soon as I got home from work, so by the time I was ready to cook dinner, the chicken had been in the marinade for about an hour.

Marinade!

Before you start cooking the chicken, soak the rice noodles in a bowl of hot water.  They need to soak for about 8-10 minutes, so by the time the stir-fry is done, they’ll be ready.  If you’re using leftover rice, don’t soak it in water.  Nobody wants soggy rice in their stir-fry.

Rice noodles are awesome. There’s no need to boil a huge pot of water…and they’re tasty!

Heat a small amount of oil in a wok (or large skillet – I don’t use my wok very often, so I enjoyed busting it out).  When the oil is hot, add the chicken in a single layer.  Let the pieces brown on one side, then toss in the garlic, asparagus and the bottom, onion-like part of the ramps and stir.  (I added the ramp leaves at the end.)  Keep the chicken and veggies moving around the wok – you don’t want them to burn.

You can see the flame under the wok. Good stuff.

After the chicken and veggies have cooked for a couple of minutes, add the red curry paste and chicken broth.  Stir everything around to make sure the curry paste is dissolved into the chicken broth and continue to cook for a minute or two.  I added a pinch of salt and some additional red pepper flakes here (because I like it hot!), but taste a piece of chicken or asparagus and do what you need to do.

When the chicken is done and the veggies are cooked but still crisp, add the ramp leaves and rice noodles (or rice).  Stir everything together, turn off the heat to the work and serve!

My big orange cat was unimpressed by the stir-fry, but I enjoyed it!

Jake was hanging out on the cat tree next to my desk while I typed this. I’m sure he’s wondering why his dinner isn’t on the blog. Fancy Feast, anyone?

This post is linked to What’s in the Box?  at In Her Chucks.

California Chicken Pizza

Since my first pizza attempt turned out so well, I’ve gone a bit pizza crazy.  To be fair, the pizza dough recipe I used did make enough dough for at least four 12-inch pizzas.  And I have to use it, right?  Right.

Here are the toppings I put together for my California Chicken Pizza: garlic scape pesto I made this spring and froze, a tomato, mozzerella cheese, some thinly sliced red onion and some leftover chicken.  Plus, I sliced up an avacado and squeezed some fresh lime over the slices.

The chicken/avacado/red onion combo always makes me think of California (hence the name), and I wanted something bright and summery tasting to offset the cold Ohio winter.

Before I shaped the dough, I sliced the tomato really thin and salted the slices.  I let them sit for a few minutes to draw out the moisture and patted them off with a paper towel.  Nobody likes a soggy pizza!

I started topping the pizza with the garlic scape pesto – so good!  Then the tomatoes, followed by cheese, chicken and onion. (No avacados yet – those are for later.)

I would be more specific if I could, but I really don’t measure anything when I’m putting it on a pizza.  I just pile it on until it looks right – pizza decorating is more of an art than a science., I guess.  🙂  I also thought I had taken a picture of the pizza before it went in the oven, but apparently not!  Next time.

It was a little easier to get the pizza from the pizza peel to the preheated pizza stone this time (but I still used a spatula for some help).  I love that the bottom crust of the pizza immediately starts to crisp up when it hits the pizza stone.

I sliced it up and topped the slices with the fresh avacado with just a hint of lime – it was delicious!  It was light and summery and well… it just made me happy.  You can’t ask for anything more than that!

Tuscan Glazed Chicken

I love farmer’s markets, and now that my CSA is over for the season, I’m even more grateful that I have a farmer’s market nearby all winter long.  One of the little gems I picked up on my first trip the farmer’s market at Old Trail School was this beauty:

There was a booth selling all kinds of homemade jams and jellies, but after tasting this one, I had to get it.  Straight out of the jar it tasted wonderful.  Turns out, cooking makes it even better!  Tonight I sauteed a couple boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a skillet and after I had seared both sides, I added a generous dollop of this good stuff on each peice.  It cooked down to a beautiful, caramelly glaze with a deep, rich, flavor- just a little bit of sweetness, but tempered with the rosemary and garlic.  Fantastic!

I served the chicken with a baked sweet potato and asparagus simply roasted in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Oh and I finished it off with a pint glass of Belgian ale from JAFB Brewery!  Always get a growler to go 🙂

Sometimes a simple meal is the best.  This was very much a basic “meat and potatoes” meal, but the Tuscan glaze elevated it to something better.

Have you ever found an awesome homemade food item at a farmer’s market or festival?  If so, tell me about it!

Yum!