On Father’s Day my husband does not:
1) grill
2) want hot dogs or hamburgers
3) play golf (baseball, soccer, etc.)
He wants:
1) me to cook
2) Chinese food
3) to relax, sit outside, and spend a good deal of time googling all sorts of stuff on his iphone and then regale us with the miraculous things he has learned.
I haven’t figured out the menu but maybe it will be Chicken with Hoisin Sauce and Cashew Nuts or Chicken with Peanuts (his favorite). Or maybe Grilled Chicken/Ginger kebabs. He’d absolutely LOVE some Pearly Meatballs.
Fried Rice is a definite. Any kind, even if it is “Chinese style” and not authentically Chinese like this recipe, which is more or less what I sometimes cook when I have just a little bit of meat leftover. Ed will always welcome this dish or any variation. He always mixes in a little bit of sesame seed oil. I don’t.
This recipe will serve 4-6 as a combo dish to be eaten with other food. When it’s just the two of us for dinner, we eat it all.
One cup if raw rice cooked with 1-3/4 cups water will yield 3 cups cooked rice.
Fried Rice with Turkey and Mushrooms
3 dried shiitake mushrooms
2 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 scallions, chopped
1 cup diced leftover turkey
1/2 cup thawed frozen peas
6-8 water chestnuts, diced (or 1/2 cup diced bamboo shoots)
3 cups cooked cold rice
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
sesame seed oil, optional, to taste
Soak the mushrooms in hot water for about 30 minutes or until they are softened. Rinse them, discard the inedible stem, if any, and cut the caps into small pieces. Set the mushrooms aside. Beat the eggs in a bowl and set aside. Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a wok or stirfry pan over medium-high heat. Add the eggs and cook, stirring once or twice until they are set on the bottom. Turn the eggs over and cook briefly until firm. Dish out the eggs onto a chopping board, chop them and set them aside. Heat the remaining vegetable oil in the pan. Add the scallions, turkey and mushrooms and stirfry for about 2 minutes. Add the peas and water chestnuts and cook for another minute, stirring frequently. Add the rice, eggs and salt and stirfry for 1-2 minutes to distribute ingredients and heat the rice. Sprinkle with sesame seed oil if desired.
Makes 2-6 servings, depending on whether this is a one-dish meal or part of a meal