Chinese New Year Feast

Don't worry if you missed the first night of Chinese New Year's. (I know it was keeping you up at night.) The wise Chinese, along with other Asians, will continue to celebrate for two glorious weeks. Oh how I love a prolonged party! One little box on a calendar just doesn't suffice. Plus once you make a little Chinese food, you'll want to eat it much more often, like almost every day for two weeks. (But you'll have to take a break for Super Bowl Sunday, since Chinese food and football just sound wrong together.) Our "Year of the Ox" dinner included steamed white rice, stir fried noodles, a sweet and sour sauced orange and sesame chicken, and honey soy broccoli, topped off with brown sugar-almond cookies with tangerines for dessert. I think you're really going to love this menu, but most particularly this chicken. I mean weak-at-the-knees love it. Our dinner guests were smitten, and the usually cryptic Mr. Quiet Man even got a little verbose (for him), and I also found myself scraping the pan for the last of that syrupy- vinegary sauce. Good heavens, I'm always a little ashamed of myself when I scrape the pan. I'll just have to make it again. (And my little boy requested it for dinner again tonight. Yep. I think we must.) We've got almost two more weeks of Chinese good wishes. What a way to start a New Year! Money Saving tips: Sesame Oil is pricey but a little goes a long way. Try using it to drizzle on finished dishes for the most bang for your buck. (Use cheaper oils for the actual cooking.) The orange chicken is based on a knock off recipe from Panda Express (I know, I know, unauthentic), only this one is ten times better and will cost you considerably less, especially if you got your chicken on sale. Plus you can control the amount of oil that goes into this recipe, which normally consists of deep fried batter coated chicken. I've used plain old pasta noodles in my recipe below also, since that's going to be your cheapest option. Check out your produce section and compare prices for the cheapest broccoli: loose or bagged. For the cookies, you can swap out any nut you might have on hand, or leave them out all together and swap in a bit of almond extract.

Orange Sesame Chicken

Estimated Cost: $5.00 for six servings

Notes: The preparation on this one is a bit messy, so try to have everything ready ahead of time. I never do, of course, but then I always make a tremendous mess. Just trying to save my wise readers a little clean up.

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken pieces, cut into 2 inch chunks

1 egg

about 1/4 cup oil (for light frying), plus 1 tablespoon

1/2 cup cornstarch PLUS 2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon minced ginger root

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 dash crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup chopped green onions

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/3 cup orange juice, plus zest of one orange

5 tablespoons sugar

5 tablespoons vinegar (I use rice, white, or even cider)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Directions:
Place chicken pieces in bowl. Stir in egg, and about 3/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper , and mix well. In a separate bowl, stir 1/2 cup cornstarch and flour together. Add chicken pieces, stirring to coat. Heat oil for frying in wok or large skillet. Add chicken pieces, small batch at a time, and fry 3 to 4 minutes or until golden and crisp. (Do not overcook or chicken will be tough.) Remove chicken from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside. Clean wok with paper towel and heat 15 seconds over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Add and stir-fry crushed chilies and green onions. Add soy sauce, orange juice and zest, sugar, and vinegar to the wok; bring to a boil. Add cooked chicken, stirring until well mixed. Stir about 1/4 cup water into remaining 2 tablespoons cornstarch until smooth. Add to chicken and heat until sauce is thickened. Stir in 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Serve at once.

Year-Long Noodles

Traditionally, long life noodles are served at Chinese New Year's Feasts to represent best wishes for a lengthy life. I call mine Year Long noodles, since I can't think that far ahead. I'm just hoping for a good long year.

Estimated Cost: $3.00

1 tablespoon oil

1/2 cup matchstick cut carrots

2 cups shredded green cabbage

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 bunch green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 lb. noodles, cooked according to package directions, and drained well

2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil
Heat oil in large pot over high heat. Add carrots and cook for 2 minutes, until tender crisp. Add cabbage, garlic, and green onions. Cook for 1 minute. Add noodles and stir fry for 3 minutes. Add soy sauce and drizzle with a bit more sesame oil.

Honey and Soy Broccoli and Mushrooms

Notes: I should have made a double batch of these vegetables, since they were the first thing devoured from our feast.

Estimated Cost: $3.00

1 teaspoon oil

4 ounces sliced mushrooms (Use whatever you can get on sale)

2 cups chopped broccoli florettes

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons honey

pinch of red pepper flakes

In a small skillet, heat oil over high heat. Add mushrooms and cook for two minutes. Add broccoli and stir fry for 3 minutes, or until tender crisp. Stir in soy, honey and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute more. (You can thicken this sauce with cornstarch if desired, but I leave it a little bit thin to go over rice.)

Almond Brown Sugar Cookies

Notes: These cookies could be made without nuts, or with any nut at all. I made them with almonds to bring back memories of those giant almond flavored cookies from Chinese restaurants of my youth. Serve them with tangerine or orange wedges and a nice cup of herbal tea.

(Thanks to Amber for catching my temp error. Fixed it-350 is correct!)

Estimated Cost: $3.00

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar, plus more for tops

2 teaspoons vanilla

about 1 and 1/2 cup flour, plus more if needed

about 1 cup chopped sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Stir in flour lightly until dough forms a "play dough" type consistency. It shouldn't be too sticky, but you should be able to form a ball of dough without having it crumble. Stir in almonds. Form dough into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Place about 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Take a drinking glass and wet the bottom. Press the glass into the sugar, then press onto the cookie to flatten out. Repeat process with all cookies. Bake cookies for about 8-10 minutes or until crisp and browned on edges. Makes about 2 dozen.

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