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by Lisa Carlson
Index of Recipes

Welcome to the Cook's Corner.

In response to a request and suggestion from a friend I am including some recipes for Chinese food. As specially requested I am including a recipe for homemade fortune cookies. So one of these evenings during the cold weather pull out your griddle and put on your thinking caps (to come up with those witty fortunes) and whip up a batch of fortune cookies.

Next week is more low fat and warming recipes since mother nature and the ground hog seem to have gotten together and decided that we have 6 more weeks of cold weather. Look forward to some more soups and casseroles next week.

Cook's Corner can also be accessed through the columns section of the Herndon/Reston web.

Please continue sending me your comments, inquiries and suggestions.

On to the recipes:

Index of Recipes

Sour and Hot Soup

Saute the pork until it is cooked through. Add the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and chicken broth to the saucepan. Simmer for 3 minutes. Add some slices of bean curd if desired and the vinegar. Bring to a boil and add the mixture of 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch and 3 Tablespoons of water which have been mixed to a paste. Cook and stir until the soup thickens. Beat the egg in a cup. Add the egg by drizzling it slowly into the simmering soup. Add the sesame oil and mix. Garnish with scallion if desired.

Index of Recipes

Egg Rolls

Cook the meat with the brown sugar, ginger, onion and soy sauce. Take it out of the wok and set it aside to cool.

Cook the cabbage in one tablespoon of oil. Stir fry it with the lid off for one to two minutes. Then put the lid on and let it steam for three to five minutes until it has become limp. Push the cabbage to one side of the wok and add a little more oil and the sesame oil. Add the mushrooms and grated carrots to the cabbage and stir fry them for one minute or until they are slightly tender. Remove the cabbage mixture from the wok and set it aside to cool. When the meat and cabbage mixtures are cooled mix them together and add the cup of bean sprouts. Put two heaping tablespoons of the meat, vegetable and bean sprout mixture on an egg roll wrapper and roll it up.

Fry the egg rolls in oil until they are golden.

Index of Recipes

Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce

Mix together all of the ingredients. A fork works well to whisk this sauce together. This sauce can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. This is a thin sauce. Index of Recipes

Mustard Sauce

Index of Recipes

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Stir fry the carrot and green pepper for 1 minute in a little oil. Remove them from the wok.

Add the chicken and stir fry it for two to four minutes until it is cooked through. Remove the chicken and set it aside.

Add the sweet and sour sauce and cook it gently until it just begins to thicken. Add the pineapple, chicken and vegetables and cook for a minute or two more to heat them thoroughly. Serve with rice.

Index of Recipes

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Mix the cornstarch with the water. Add the cornstarch mixture to the rest of ingredients. Whisk together all the ingredients thoroughly and set aside.

Index of Recipes

Cashew Chicken

Mix the cornstarch with one tablespoon of water. Make a marinade with the worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, mushroom soy sauce, cornstarch and water mixture, sugar, garlic powder and sesame oil. Allow the chicken to marinade for at least five to ten minutes. You can let it marinate overnight.

Drain the chicken reserving the marinade. The marinade will become the sauce for this dish. Stir fry the chicken with the ginger root and scallion until the chicken is cooked through. This will take approximately two to four minutes depending upon the size of your chicken cubes. Add the marinade and cook it for one to two minutes until it is just beginning to thicken. Add the water chestnuts and cashews and cook until they are heated through. Serve with rice. You can garnish this with mandarin orange slices.

Index of Recipes

Pork Lo Mein

Stir fry the pork until cooked through. Add the snow peas, scallion and broth and bring to a simmer. Add the soy sauce, garlic powder and a mixture made of 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 1 Tablespoon of water. Bring to a simmer. Add the egg noodles, which have already been cooked. Continue to cook until the sauce thickens.

Index of Recipes

Almond Cookies

Mix shortening and egg until creamy. Add the water and almond extract and mix well. Whisk together the dry ingredients and add to the egg mixture. Blend with hands. Chill for 1 hour in refrigerator or if you are in a hurry for 15-20 minutes in the freezer. Take walnut size balls and place them on a cookie sheet. Flatten to a 1/4 inch thickness. Press an almond slice or a couple almond slices to create a flower shape into the cookie. Bake in a 350 oven for 25 minutes or until golden.

Thank you for stopping by the Cook's Corner. There will be new recipes and suggestions next week. Please send your favorite recipes, suggestions, comments and questions to cookscorner@townweb.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Lisa Carlson has been a cooking instructor for over three years with the Fairfax County Adult Education program. She also teaches cooking and art classes for children and adults at the Herndon Community Center. She studied cooking during her junior year of college in Scotland, while she traveled throughout Europe, and during her year long tenure in Japan. She has appeared in 9 television programs on cooking, puppetry, and gift basket design on the Fairfax County public access channel.



Index of Recipes
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