quick & easy hoisin sauce for stir fry

I had two bags of stir-fry veggies in the fridge and was starving! I decided to make a quick
veggie stir-fry over some rice which later turned to noodles because I thought I was out of rice
but turns out I just didn't look hard enough... anyway I needed some sort of sauce to tie
everything together and remembered I had hoising sauce in the fridge that needed to be used and so
I made a hoisin stir fry sauce to coat my veggies and noodles in. The sauce turned out so amazing!
My sisters tought we were eating take out plus I added the nice touch of eating with chopsticks ;)

This sauce is perfect for any kind of stir-fry you would like to make, veggie, chicken, beef, tofu,
whatever floats your boat. Just;

1.  Cook your sauce according to the instructions below and set aside while you heat up your wok or pan.

2. Cut 1/2 an onion into med. thick slices or a few green onions and sautee in 2 T. sesame oil or
any oil you have on hand (I used a blend of olive and grape and it worked perfect) and 2 T. soy sauce,
sautee for a couple of minutes.

3.  This is when you add the meat or tofu if using, after the meat is nicely browned and cooked add your veggies, sautee for a couple of minutes then add your hoisin sauce to meat and veggies and  combine
well, sautee for 2 more minutes. Veggies should be tender but crisp. Serve with rice or noodles.

Tips for a great stir-fry: 1. Have all your veggies and meat ready, sliced, marinated and what not.
2. Make sure your wok or pan is HOT.



Hoisin Stir Fry Sauce

Ingredients:

- 3 T. hoisin sauce
- 1 T. sesame oil (or other)
- 2 T. soy sauce
- 1 T. rice vinegar
- 2 T. sugar
- 3/4 c. veggie broth
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 T. cornstarch

In small saucepan, whisk all ingredients. Allow to simmer over medium heat
until thick, 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Enjoy <3

How To Make A Pizza:

 

Every month with each Food Network magazine you also receive a little pull-out book with

50 easy recipes on one single food. I don't recall what issue it was but my Food Network 

magazine came with a 50 pizzas little book and they made making pizza seem so simple

that I had to try it, ever since then I haven't stopped making my own pizzas! Not only is it

super simple but it is also delicious, fun and rewarding to see your creation.

I will share with you guys the basic pizza dough recipe + instructions and from there you

can make your pizza dough a blank canvas and cover with whatever combinations you

can dream of! Of course I will also share some of my favorite ;) Hope you enjoy!

First of all, How to make a pizza.

Step 1: Place a pizza stone or an inverted baking sheet (which is what I use)

on the lowest oven rack and preheat to 500 degrees.

Step 2: Stretch 1 pound dough on a floured pizza peel, large wooden cutting

board or parchment paper (which is what I use).

Step 3: Top as desired, then slide the pizza (with the parchment paper, if using)

onto the stone or inverted baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

Simple as 1. 2. 3.

Pizza Dough
recipe from: Food Network Magazine

Ingredients:

- 3 3/4 c. flour
- 1 1/2 t. salt
- 1 1/3 c. warm water
- 1 T. sugar
- 1 packet yeast (or 1 T.)
- 3 T. olive oil + a little extra to brush dough

1. Whisk flour and salt together. Make a well.

 

2. Add warm water, sugar and yeast. whisk a little.

 

when foamy, mix in 3 T. olive oil.

3. Once dough comes together, use your (floured) hands and knead for about 5 minutes,

until dough is smooth. If your dough is too sticky add 1-2 T. of flour but you shouldn't

add more than that, dough should be soft. Brush top with olive oil.

4.  Move dough to a clean bowl brushed with a bit of olive oil and cover,

place in a warm place and let double in size, about 1 1/2-2 hours.

                                      

5. Divide dough into two 1 pound balls. Use 1 pound per pizza.

Tips: Prep all of your pizza ingredients while dough is rising. Or you can also make the dough
ahead of time, wrap each ball individually in plastic wrap, put in a ziploc and freeze. Once you
get the craving for pizza, thaw and follow the rest of the instructions, Dinner in no time!


Now that we got that down... I would like to share some classic and some favorite pizza
combinations with you.

Classic:

New York style: Drizzle dough with olive oil, then top with 1/2 c. tomato sauce and
2 c. shredded  mozzarella. Bake, then garnish with pecorino, dried oregano and olive oil.

Pepperoni-Mushroom: Make New York style pizza; top with sauteed mushrooms and
sliced pepperoni before baking.

Favorites:

 

BBQ Chicken: Top with cooked chicken, 1/4 bbq sauce or more if you'd like,

chopped scallions, pickled jalapenos and 1 c. shredded cheddar. Bake until golden.

Hawaiian: Top with 1/2 c. each tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella and diced pineapple,

2 oz. sliced ham and red pepper flakes; bake until golden.

Hope everyone enjoy this pizza post and gets encouraged to make your own pizzas.

xoxo Lidia

Sriracha Chilaquiles

or Sriraquiles? ... Anywho, does this picture look like it was taken with an Ipod?
I hope not... I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture of the final dish.

I've been obsessing over chilaquiles lately, I want to have them like every morning >.<
I got a little creative and added sriracha... for a change.
This is one of the best breakfast you'll have, with a fried egg on top,
I highly recommend!

Sriracha Chilaquiles
inspired by: The Sriracha Cookbook
- feeds 4


What you will need:

- Corn tortillas, about 12
- Oil, for frying
- 2 small cans of tomato sauce
- 1/3-1/2 c. sriracha  sauce (depending on how spicy you want them)
- 1/2 of a small onion, any kind will do
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 T. chicken bouillon

Top them with any or all of these ingredients:

- Chopped cilantro
- Sour cream
- Fried Egg
- Queso fresco
- Avocado

1. First you're going to cut all your tortillas into medium bite size squares or triangles.
Meanwhile you do that you should heat up your oil in a large frying pan.

2. Fry your tortillas in about 3 batches, to get them nice and crispy!
Lightly salt them.
I like to drain them in napkins so my breakfast feels a little more light ;)

 

3. Meanwhile the tortilla chips are frying put the tomato sauce, sriracha sauce,

chicken bouillon, onion ( i like to use a lot) and garlic cloves in the blender.

Blend into a smooth puree.

4. Pour the smooth yummy sauce that you just made into the same hot pan
you used for the tortilla chips, heat over low-med heat until nice and hot.
Add your tortilla chips, let them absorb the delicious sauce and ofcourse
heat up and become nice and soft, about 4 minutes on low heat.

5. Serve, top with the listed topping ingredients and Enjoy <3

 

Oh, just pondering about my new year resolutions.

Which I still haven't sat and written down...

hello 2012! reason why I've been absent & whole wheat shortbread cookie recipe

Hi, those of you who check out my blog and have actually noticed that I have been not posting for some time!
I hope all of you enjoyed your holidays with the people you love, best wishes for this new year!

Now, the reason why I've been gone for some time is...

 

I'm pregnant! I will be 16 weeks tomorrow and I couldn't be happier!

The first 13 weeks I was feeling really sick. Nausea, fatigue, headaches and so on.

I was so sad that I couldn't enjoy my pregnancy like I wanted to, I could

hardly get out of bed and every food or smell made me sick to my stomach but

I am so excited that I am feeling waaaay better, now I can get back to baking

and blogging and well doing the things that I enjoy. Also one of my new year goals

is to dedicate myself a bit more to my blog and make it a little more personal by

sharing pictures, thoughts and highlights of my days. I'm happy to be back.

This is just a simple recipe that I love and I wanted to share with you. These cookies are super fast

to make, all you have to do is whisk 5 ingredients together and you're pretty much done!

It's a somewhat healthier version of your regular shortbread cookie but just as delicious,

perfect for all those new year resolutions ;).

I used strawberry and kiwi preserves and they turned out great, they were gone in hours!

Hope you guys give this recipe a try and if you do feel free to tell me what you think.

Whole Wheat Shortbread Cookies

recipe from: Bon Appetit, September 2011

- 2 c. whole wheat flour
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1 1/2 t. baking powder
- 10 1/2 T. salted butter, room temp.
- 1 large egg, room temp.
- 1 large egg yolk, room temp.
- 3 T. (about) raspberry jam

* you can substitute the jam with any kind you'd like,
  preserves work great as well!

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Whisk flour, sugar & baking powder in a large bowl.
Add butter using your fingertips, rub in butter until coarse meal forms.

3. Whisk egg and yolk in a bowl; add to flour mixture and stir just to blend!

4. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Now... the recipe says
to measure 2 T. of dough but I think my cookies came out way to big so
I would highly suggest that you only use 1 T. of dough and roll into balls.

5. Place on prepared sheets, spacing 2" apart. Make an indentation in
center of each ball; fill each with 1/2 t. jam or preserves if you are using 2 T.
of dough but if you only used 1 T. of dough then only use 1/4 t. jam.
(I know 1/4 t. sounds like a little but if you use more the jam will spill.)
Bake cookies 12-16 minutes, or until cookies are nice and golden.
Let cookies cool and enjoy!