Home and Bored

I am stuck at home today on a work day. I felt so bad this morning I called for a substitute. As soon as the opening was taken by someone, I went back to bed and slept four hours. Now I am awake and do not know what to do with myself. All the things I normally do involve school or fishing or shopping for interesting food. Not today.

I will share what I fixed last night to pass the time.

Stir Fried Chicken and Mushrooms with Pea Tendrils and Sesame Noodles

Simple Sesame Noodles

Whisk together 1 Tablespoon of fish sauce, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1/4 cup of sesame oil, and 1 rounded Tablespoon of smooth peanut butter. Drain cooked noodles and work the sauce into the noodles.

Pea Tendrils

Add two Tablespoons oil to a hot skillet and immediately add two minced large cloves of garlic and a solid pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. As soon as the additions are fragrant, add a large double handful of rinsed pea tendrils that still have some water clinging to them. Use tongs to turn the tendrils as they wilt. Serve as soon as fully wilted.

Chicken and Mushroom Stir Fry

Remove the tendons from four large chicken tenders by pinning the end of the tendon to the cutting board with a kitchen towel and scraping the meat from the tendon. Cut the tenders in chunks the size of a quarter.

Quarter five or six Baby portabella mushroom caps so that you have almost as many pieces of mushroom as you have pieces of chicken.

Marinate the chicken for 30 minutes in a sauce:

1 rounded Tablespoon of corn starch
2 Tablespoons yuzu or lime juice
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 Tablespoons mirrin
1/4 cup soy sauce
a hefty splash of fish sauce

Heat 2 Tablespoons of oil in a hot, non-stick skillet and add the mushrooms. When they begin to brown, add the drained chicken chunks (save the marinade!). Fry the chicken and mushrooms while stirring until the chicken has browned on all sides. Add the marinade and continue to cook until the marinade has thickened and the chicken is done.

If anyone asks you if the dishes are authentic, tell them yes. These are authentic good foods from the Ozarks.