Slow Cooker Simmering Hot and Sour Soup

     One of my favorite treats at any Chinese restaurant is hot and sour soup. I used to go to a restaurant up north that would give me free quarts of the soup because I raved about it so much. NOTE TO POTENTIAL SPONSORS: I will gladly rave about any product you give me free of charge. I've been trying to replicate hot and sour soup with varying degrees of success. I was a bit leery of using a slow cooker recipe for hot and sour soup from Crock Pot Weeknight Favorites, but I gave it a try. It was not even close. It was, however, a tasty soup worthy of cooking again. I did make a number of changes, especially in the heat department. The soup wasn't anywhere hot enough for my liking. Give it a try and see what you think. As always, any notes and changes are in blue.

Slow Cooker Simmering Hot and Sour Soup
via Crock Pot Weeknight Favorites

Ingredients

• 2 cans (about 14 ounces each) chicken broth (I had actual chicken stock in the freezer, so I just used 28 ounces of that)
• 1 cup chopped cooked chicken or pork (we went with chicken)
• 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms (didn't have any in the house, but for whatever reason, we had a 5 ounce jar of nameko mushrooms in the cabinet. We used those)
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced bamboo shoots (none in the house, omitted)
• 1 can (14-15 ounces) bean sprouts
• 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1-1/2 teaspoon chili paste or 1 teaspoon hot chili oil (we wound up using about 3 tablespoons of sriracha)
• 4 ounces firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (we used full one pound block)
• 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch (we ended up using close to 5 tablespoons of cornstarch and water to get the soup to the desired consistency)
• Chopped fresh cilantro or sliced green onion (no)

Directions

1. Combine broth, chicken, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, vinegar, soy sauce, and chili paste in slow-cooker. Cover; cook on LOW 3 to 4 hours or HIGH 2 to 3 hours or until chicken is heated through.
2. Stir in tofu and sesame oil. In a small bowl, whisk water into cornstarch until mixture is smooth; stir into soup. Cover; cook on HIGH 10 minutes or until thickened. Sprinkle with cilantro or onion. 

Good times!

Kung Pao Pork and Vegetables with Noodles

     Sometimes you have more leftovers than you know what to do with. That happened to me when I made a seven pound pork shoulder. I started running out of things to do with it. I finally wound up digging around for ingredients and cobbled this dinner together. I posted it on Facebook and people responded fairly well. A couple people asked for the recipe. Looking at the picture, it appears that this is a very involved dish. Edamame? That's not something most people have in the house? How did this dish happen?
     I cheated. The veggies are a microwave steamer pack. The sauce is store bought. The noodles are 10 cent Ramen. However, the meal was delicious. Maybe a touch high in sodium, but overall fairly healthy. It doesn't have to be expensive or complicated to be good.

Kung Pao Pork and Noodles

Ingredients

• 1 pack Ramen noodles (do not use seasoning packet)
• 1 10 oz pack Pict Sweet Steamables frozen Broccoli Florets, Celery, Carrots and Edamame
• 2 cups pork (beef, chicken, shrimp or tofu would all work. Hell, throw them all in there if you want!), cut or torn into 1-2" pieces
• 1/4 cup Yings Kitchen Extra Spicy Kung Pao Sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

Directions

1. Heat oil in pan. Cook until browned on all sides.
2. Cook frozen vegetables in microwave according to directions. Use minimum cooking time suggested.
3. Reduce heat on pork, add cooked vegetables from bag.
4. In a saucepan, bring water to boil. Cook noodles until al dente. Drain. Add noodles to pork and vegetables in pan. 
5. Add Kung Pao sauce. Toss so sauce covers everything evenly. 
6. Serve and enjoy!

Good times!

Monday Recipe: Pistachio Crusted Tofu

     Every now and then I decide to go completely off book in the kitchen. This time it was because I sitting on a block of tofu that had been in my fridge a Long Time. It was a use it or lose it kind of thing. Normally I use tofu as a filler in my stir-fry. I didn't have any meat prepped so I decided to give meatless a try. This turned out far better than I could have hoped for. I wound up serving it over a bag of microwave-steamer Chinese-style vegetables.  One of my students tried it when I brought leftovers to school and has been after me to give him the recipe ever since. Here it is. 

Pistachio Crusted Tofu

Ingredients

• 1 block firm tofu (about 14 ounces)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4t 5-spice powder
• 1t Worcestershire sauce
• 1T Sriracha

For crust:

• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 cup chopped pistachios
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Drain tofu and pat dry with paper towels. Slice into 1/2" thick slabs
3. Mix sour cream, 5-spice powder, Worcestershire sauce and Sriracha in a medium bowl
4. In another medium bowl, mix all ingredients for crust
5. Spread a thin layer of the sour cream mix on each slab of tofu. Cover both sides and edges. 
6. Press tofu into crust bowl. Cover slab completely with crust. Place on a greased cookie sheet.
7. Cook for about 30 minutes at 375F or until pistachios/coconut start to brown.

Good times!