Mongolian Beef (adapted from P.F. Chang's)

Mongolian Beef

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon ginger, minced

1 tablespoon garlic, choped

1/2 cup Gluten Free soy sauce

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

vegetable oil, for frying (about 1 cup...I used less with my non stick pans)

1lb flank steak

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 large green onions, sliced

~For the sauce: heat 2 tsp of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat (don't get oil too hot)

~Add ginger and garlic to the oil and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic and ginger start to brown.

~Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to medium and boil for 2-3 minutes or until sauce thickens.  Remove from heat.

~Slice the steak against the grain into 1/4" thick bite-size slices

~Dip the beef pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of the steak pieces.

~Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the corn starch sticks.

~As the beef sits, heat up the one cup (or less) of oil in a skillet.  Heat over medium heat until its nice and hot but not smoking.

~Add the beef to the pan and sauté for for two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges. You don't need to cook the beef completely, because it will finish cooking when added to the sauce.

~After the beef is finished cooking use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and rest on paper towels, then pour the oil out of the skillet.

~Put the pan back over the heat, add the beef back into the pan and simmer for one minute

~Add the sauce and cook for another minute while stirring then add the green onions.  Cook for another minute then remove the beef and onions to a serving platter.  Leave excess sauce behind.

~Serve over white or brown rice.

Gramma Lu's Chicken

My grandmother is a great cook. We all have grown up loving and craving her cooking (especially her meatballs and sauce). All of her recipes are stored in a brown folder that has been coveted by every female in my family!! Knowing that there would come a time that we would all want these recipes from her but only one person would end up with the folder, my Aunt Sue, my sister and I decided to put all her recipes in a "cook book" and give it to our family as Christmas presents one year.

I have to give her credit for my love of cooking. I remember being very young and her pulling up a chair for me to stand on next to her while she taught me how to make chicken soup from scratch.

Gramma Lu makes the best chicken wings (to me anyway). Ever since I was little I looked forward to these chicken wings of hers.

I didn't have chicken wings or pineapple juice so I adapted the original recipe. I substituted the wings for drumsticks and omitted the pineapple juice and added a teaspoon of ginger. (The original recipe is below along with the ginger)

Gramma Lu's Chicken Wings

1/2 cup orange juice

1 cup gluten free* soy sauce

1/4 cup pineapple juice

3 cloves of garlic minced

1 teaspoon of minced ginger*

1-2 lbs of chicken wings (or drumsticks)

~Combine first four five ingredients and mix well. Add chicken and marinate overnight. Place chicken in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees, turn once half way threw. Serve Hot.

(for drumsticks cook at 375 degrees for fifty minutes turning once. Turn oven to Broil and broil for five minutes or until skin is crispy).

General Tso's Chicken (A bit lighter)

General Tso's Chicken

(adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine issue pg, page 34)

1/4 cup corn starch

1 pound snow peas, trimmed and halved crosswise

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 teaspoons ginger (freshly grated or jarred)

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons gluten free soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

2 large egg whites

salt and pepper

1 pound chicken breast cut into 1-inch pieces

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Brown Rice

~Cook rice according to package or rice cooker.

~In a large bowl, stir together 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1/2 cup cold water until smooth. Add snow peas, garlic, ginger, sugar, soy sauce and red pepper flakes; toss to combine and set aside.

~In another bowl, whisk together egg whites, remaining 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken and toss to coat.

~In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Lift half the chicken from the egg-white mixture (shaking off excess) and add to skillet. Cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a plate; repeat with remaining oil and chicken, set aside (reserve skillet)

~Add snow pea mixture to the skillet. Cook until snow peas are tender and sauce has thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Return chicken to skillet (with any juices); toss to coat. Serve with brown rice.

Sesame Orange Shrimp

Sesame Orange Shrimp

(Adapted from Martha Stewart's Every Day Food, #13 page 76)

2 large egg whites

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup sesame seeds

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more if needed

1 cup fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons soy sauce (gluten free)

1 tablespoon sugar

4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

Steamed white rice

~In a large blow, whisk together egg whites, cornstarch, sesame seeds, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper until frothy. Add shrimp and toss to coat.

~Heath 1/4 cup oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Working in two or three batches, cook shrimp until golden and crisp, 2-3 minutes per side; transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Add more oil to skillet if necessary for remaining batches.

~Wipe skillet with a paper towel. Add orange juice, soy sauce and sugar; boil over high heat until syrupy and reduced to about 1/3 cup, 4-5 minutes. Return shrimp to skillet; add scallions and cook until heated through and coated with sauce, about 1 minute.

~Serve over steamed white rice.