Sesame Chicken

Saw this recipe in the newspaper. It looked delicious and it boasted to be super budget friendly as well! Tried it and glad I did! 

Here's what I did:

Ingredients-

For sauce:

Sriracha or preferred hot sauce - abt 1 tsp(this was my addition so can be skipped)

Soy sauce 2tbsp

Vinegar 1 tbsp (called for rice I had red wine -worked beautifully)

Brown sugar abt 2 tbsp

1/2 tsp sesame oil

Ginger 1 inch (crushed or grated fine)

Garlic 3 cloves (crushed or grated fine - original recipe called for only 1 clove)

Cornstarch 1 tbsp

Water 2 tbsp

For chicken:

Chicken - I used thighs 1 lb packet 

Salt and pepper to taste

1 egg

Cornstarch 1-2 tbsp

Oil for shallow frying abt 2 tbsp

Make the sauce first: 

My Sriracha was all gone and I had some remnants left in the bottle. So I added all the sauce ingredients to that except cornstarch and water and shook the bottle to mix everything. Then made a slurry of cornstarch with water and added to the bottle. This can be made way in advance and even stored in fridge.

Now the fun begins:

 

- Toast the sesame seeds

- While the sesame is toasting, clean and cut the chicken into bite size pieces 

- Take sesame out and add oil in the pan at medium low heat

- Add cornstarch to the chicken and make sure all the pieces are coated. Add salt and pepper to taste

- Beat egg in a bowl, add to chicken and mix to coat all pieces evenly

-Fry in oil and take out on a paper towel lined plate until all pieces are done.  

- Drain excess oil from the pan, add all the chicken back into the pan, add sauce and cook until it thickens. 

- You can add 1 tbsp of water at a time if you want to cook longer. 

- Top with toasted sesame seeds and scallions 

- Serve with white rice

Delicious Cream Sauce -pasta

This is the quickest most delicious pasta sauce that I have come accross. The recipe is something I saw on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives". I just base the measurements roughly coz I didn't measure anything. Here's what you do:

Set water with salt to boil for pasta.

Chop quarter of an onion, 1/2 roasted red pepper.

In a pan with medium-high heat, add oil (abt 1-2tblsp). When the oil is hot, add onion and let it cook without stirring. 

Toss the pan or stir when onions start browning a little bit, add half and half (which is what I had but use cream , milk etc.) (about 3/4 c) and any bottled marinara or Ragu (abt 1/4 to 1/2 cup). Mix well and add the roasted red peppers. 

If you added milk, you can also add some béchamel if you have any to thicken it. Add salt and pepper to taste. The Ragu I added tasted a little sour so I added about 1 tsp of sugar too. Stir well and it should thicken a little bit. 

By this time pasta (I used raviolis) shoul be done. Drain and add to the sauce. Add some parsley on top (can be skipped)

Grate some fresh Parmesan and serve! Yummy!

This is so delicious but at the same time quick! By the time pasta is done, this sauce is done as well!