Recipes by their Ingredients

corn starch

  • Chicken Pot Pie

    Chicken Pot Pie
    Chicken Pot Pie
    (Serves )


    The Pastry
    10 cups all purpose flour
    2½ tsp salt
    10 tblsp Italian Parsley, optional
    5 tsp chopped fresh herbs, a mix of thyme, savory and basil, optional
    2½ cups unsalted butter, chilled, in small cubes
    18-20 tblsp ice water


    The Filling
    3 cups cooked chicken (1 lb), cubed
    3 cups carrots, cubed, par cooked
    3 cups peas
    3 cups potatoes, cubed, par cooked


    The Stock
    11 cups chicken stock, or 11 cups water and 3 tblsp Better Than Bouillon Chicken Bouillon
    1 tsp fine ground black pepper
    1 tsp salt
    ¾ cup corn starch slurry


    NOTES:I like to separate the pot pie process into three stages: The pastry, filling and stock. Each stage can be completed separately, which lets you concentrate on making it as tasty as it can be for your tastes! Do not use bouillon cubes, especially Knorr!
    Take a look at the ingredient list between Knorr and Better Than Bouillon brands, notice where the chicken flavor comes from and how far back in the ingredients list!:


    Knorr Chicken Bouillon cubes:SALT, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, PALM OIL, CORN STARCH, HYDROGENATED PALM OIL, SUGAR, XANTHAN GUM, CHICKEN FAT, NATURAL FLAVOR, WATER, TURMERIC (FOR COLOR), DISODIUM INOSINATE, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, MALTODEXTRIN, DEHYDRATED PARSLEY, SPICES, CARAMEL COLOR, TBHQ.

    Better Than Bouillon Chicken Bouillon : ROASTED CHICKEN, SALT, SUGAR, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, HYDROLYZED SOY PROTEIN, DRIED WHEY (MILK), FLAVORING, FOOD STARCH, DISODIUM INOSINATE AND DISODIUM GUANYLATE, TURMERIC.
     

    The Pastry: Mise en place (is a French culinary phrase which means "putting in place" or "gather". It refers to the setup required before cooking): Make sure your butter is all cubed up and it's sitting in the fridge, herbs are already chopped, if you're using them and you have a cup or bowl of ice water on hand. In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt and herbs together with a whisk, if you are using the herbs.
    Add the butter cubes to the mixture and mix quickly with your fingers, remember the heat of your fingers and hand will warm the butter up very fast, which is why you want to mix quickly until the mixture resembles sand and small pebbles, only tiny beads should remain.
    Add the ice water, up to 14 tblsp at first then add, one at a time a tblsp of the ice water until the dough holds together when you squeeze by your hand. You may not need all the ice water.
    Create a rounded oval shape which is not too thick, cover in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until needed. I don't like making the dough a ball as when it comes straight out of the fridge will take longer to get it flat with a rolling pin. You want the dough to be very cold when rolling but it will also crack on the edges more so when cold which is why I recommend a much flatter pile of dough. Your finished product should be that you can see small tiny patches of butter interwoven in your pie dough top and bottom.

    The Filling: Using either boneless skinless thighs or chicken breasts, sprinkle salt, pepper and granulated garlic on both sides and grill (ideally) or use a heavy bottoms pan and heat up some vegetable oil and pan fry each side until done, really thick breasts can be butterflied open for more even and quicker cooking. Cube up the chicken and set aside. Keep the cubes the same size as the vegetable cubes.
    Cut the carrots into cubed pieces and boil in water for 2-3 minutes, until the are cooked through but not too soft, set aside.
    Blanch the peas in hot water just until any frozenness disappear, drain and set aside.
    You can skin the potatoes or don't for a more rustic look. Cube up the potatoes and cook in boiling water until cooked 3/4 of the way, about 4 minutes depending on how large you made the cubes, drain and set aside.

    The Stock: Using home made stock is best (See my Chicken Stock recipe). Next best thing is making your stock with Better Than Bouillon Chicken Bouillon or the Roasted Chicken Bouillon (I think they also make a low sodium chicken bouillon). If your using the Bouillon method, it's easiest to mix all three tblsp with as little warm or hot water as you can and once you integrate the Bouillon making sure it's dissolved, add more water until you get to 11 cups. Once you have the mixture, chicken stock, you can add a tsp of salt and 1 tsp of fine ground black pepper. If your not using the herbs in the dough, you should add a tsp thyme to the stock now. Bring to a simmer over medium/low heat, stir, once hot taste for slat and pepper content and adjust accordingly. Get your corn starch slurry together by measuring our ¾ cup of corn starch and adding just enough cold water until it can be stirred, mix well, once the stock is simmering and your happy that it tastes chickeny and is seasoned well, add some hot stock into your "slurry" until you can pour easily pour the mixed slurry back into the stock, but first turn down the heat to stop the simmering and stirring simultaneously as the stock meets with the slurry and will react by thickening your chicken stock, once you've added three quarters of your slurry, turn the heat back to a simmer, this is when the magic happens, stir the chicken stock it should be getting thicker, now adjust the stock with more slurry until you have a very thick base for your chicken pot pie.
    Stir in all the vegetables and the chicken, taste! Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Let cool, as it cools it will thicken even more. You can stop at this point and make the pot pies the next day if you wish.

    Putting it all together: Pre-heat the oven to 400° F. Take the dough from the refrigerator and using a rolling pin roll out the dough between ⅛ to ¼
    If you like a bottom crust: form a sheet onto a pie plate or baking dish pushing the sheet to conform to the inner curves of the pie plate or baking dish and trim off the excess dough that overhangs the edges using a butter knife. Add the pot pie filling into the pastry lined baking apparatus very close to the top leaving a ¼ of space. Add a top pastry sheet over your fillings and using a knife slice an X into the center of the pie to allow steam to escape. If your making a huge 13x8 baking dish you can cut three X's into the top to help the steam escape. Line a baking sheet with foil and place the pie on it, place in the center of the oven for 20-30 minutes or until the insides are bubbling hot and the crust id golden. You may need to check at 15 minutes to make sure the edges are not browning too much, if they are take a couple of strips of foil and wrap around the crusts edges.
    If you like a only a top crust: fill the baking dish with pot pie filling and leave a ¼ inch gap to the top. Add a sheet of pastry dough over the top and using a butter knife trim the edges off, place on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 30-30 minutes. Be aware that the edges can burn, check at 15 minutes and use some foil strips to cover the edges if it happens.

    You can also par bake a top crust by measuring how large the top needs to be to fit on your baking pan, bowl or whatever you are using. Cut it to size and place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees until tan in color, not golden. Then use these pre cooked tops to put over your bowl of hot pot pie filling you heated on the stove top and then only bake for 5 minutes until the pie top heats up and gets a more golden color, 10 minutes tops. Remember if you forget to cut an X into the pre-baked tops, if the filling bubbles over it will all be over the sides of the crust!

  • Kung Pau Shrimp

    King Pau
    Kung Pao
    (Serves 4)


    Protein
    1 lb your choice: shrimp, beef, pork, chicken or firm tofu, cut into equal 1 inch pieces (keep shrimp whole if using, but de-shell and de-vein)
    3-4 tblsp peanut oil, for shallow frying your protein OR 2 cups vegetable oil for deep frying your protein

    Protein Marinade
    1 tblsp mirin (rice wine)
    1 tsp salt
    1 tsp onion powder, optional

    Protein Slurry
    1 lg egg white
    2 tblsp corn starch

    Kung Pao Sauce
    1 tblsp Dou Ban Jiang (Broad Bean Paste)
    1 tbsp of light soy sauce
    1 tsp of dark soy sauce
    1.5 tbsp of black vinegar
    a handful of red dried chilies
    1 tsp of Sichuan (Szechuan) peppercorns, ground
    1 tbsp of garlic
    1 tsp of ginger
    2 tbsp of brown sugar
    1/2 cup of water
    2 tsp of cornstarch

    Vegetables
    4 or 5 green onions, sliced
    1/2 onion, sliced in half then thin
    1/2 green bell pepper, sliced thin
    1/2 Serrano chili, optional
    Optional, Another half cup of vegetables, your choice, like green beans, carrots, etc, sliced thin

    At the end extras
    1/4 cup shelled peanuts, toasted
    5-10 dried chilis, toasted
    1 cup Jasmin rice, cooked

    NOTES: I add the Serrano chili for extra heat, you do not have to. You can make this with cut up chicken breast and have kung pao chicken. The Szechuan Peppercorns give a numbing floral quality which is key to the Sichuan province in China where the dish comes from. At the 3:46 second mark of this video will show you the "velveting" technique. Technically you would finish the "velveting" process by dunking the protein briefly in hot oil or water, which we are not doing here. To cook the rice, rinse the rice in a bowl of water, drain and repeat 3 times (or until the water runs clear). Add rice to sauce pan, add water 1/3 inch over the top of the rice. Add a pinch of salt. Bring the rice to a boil and reduce the heat immediately to simmer and cover the pot and set your timer for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes, unless there's excess water, turn off the heat, using a fork fluff the rice and then keep covered for an additional few minutes. If there's additional water after 8 minutes you can turn up the heat briefly until the water evaporates.
     

    Mix the shrimp, salt, onion powder and mirin. Add the cornstarch and the egg white in the side of the bowl with the shrimp and mix the white and starch together so there are no lumps, then using the velveting technique, hand mix the shrimp until the egg whites and starch have evenly coated the shrimp and seem to take on a smoother "velvety" texture, let the shrimp rest for 30 minutes before frying.

    Make your sauce by mixing all of the sauce ingredients together. Set Aside, in the fridge if your letting your protein sit for over an hour.

    Shallow or deep fry your protein, a handful at a time, do not crowd the pan. Once you are finished with all of your protein.

    Add the shrimp (or whatever protein you are using) back to your shallow fry pan, if you deep fried, using a new pan, heat it up and add your fried protein, mix in any vegetables you like, mix in the peanuts and chilis, toss until all incorporated. toss for a few minutes to warm it all through, then add your sauce, 1/2 at a time until you are happy with the taste. Serve over Jasmin rice and sprinkle with remaining green onions.
  • Salt and Pepper Pork Chops

    Salt and Pepper Pork
    Salt and Pepper Pork
    (Serves 2-4)


    Main Ingredients
    1 lb thin sliced pork loin or pork chops
    ¼ red bell pepper, chopped
    ¼ onion, chopped
    ¼ green bell pepper, chopped
    1 stalk green onion, thin slices
    ½ red chili pepper, thin slices
    2 cloves garlic, minced

    Marinade
    2 tblsp corn starch
    ½ tsp baking soda
    1 tblsp cooking wine
    1 tblsp oyster sauce
    1 tblsp light soy sauce
    1 tblsp water
    1 tsp sugar
    ½ tsp salt

    Other Ingredients
    2 cups vegetable oil
    ½ egg
    6 tbsp corn starch

    Seasoning 1 tsp garlic salt
    ¼ tsp salt
    ¼ tsp white pepper



    NOTES: If your using pork tenderloin, I don't think you need to tenderize the pork slices. At the end when adding the garlic powder, salt whit pepper mix, I do it per pork slice and don't use what is left over, if any.
     

    You can use other cuts of pork and depending on your cut of pork, you can tenderize the pork by using either a meat tenderizing mallet, or the back of your chef knife on both sides.

    Mix the marinade ingredients together in a medium bowl and add the pork. Let marinate for 30-60 minutes.

    Chop all your main ingredient vegetables and set aside.

    After the pork has had time to marinate, heat the oil up in a sauce pan to 380°F. Meanwhile beat the ½ egg in a small bowl and pour the egg into the marinated pork and mix well.

    Add the cornstarch, 6 tbsp, onto a large plate. When the oil is at temperature, coat the pork chops or slices in the cornstarch and fry, one or two at a time until they are all fried a light golden brown. Now turn the oil up to 450°F. and fry the pork a second time for about 30 seconds and set aside.

    Now heat a wok or large frying pan on high heat, add 1 tsp oil, now add in the garlic, red chili pepper, and fry until it starts to be aromatic. Add the onion, bell peppers and fry for another 30 seconds.
    Add the scallions followed by all of the pork for about 30 seconds. Now gradually add in the seasoning to evenly coat all the pork chop pieces/slices.
    Cook for a further 20 seconds before turning off the heat.
    Continue mixing for 30 more seconds until the pork is evenly coated in the seasoning.

    Serve with a side of rice.