Karen Loves Food

One of my favorite dishes growing up was my grandma’s special ”zha jiang mien,” aka “Chinese spaghetti.”  Zha jian mien is a Chinese noodle dish consisting of noodles topped with a mixture of ground pork sauce.  Unfortunately, my grandma passed away many years ago — I miss my grandma dearly and I also miss her special zha jian mien.  Since she passed away long before I began cooking, I don’t have the recipe for her special “spaghetti sauce.”   Below is a recipe I put together using various recipes I found online.  The sauce turned out tasty but not as “saucey” as my grandma’s.  Next time I’ll add hoisin sauce to make the mixture creamier. 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp. minced garlic
• 2 tbsp. minced ginger
• 3 tbsp. minced green onion
• 1/2 lb. gound pork
• 1 tbsp. Shaohsing wine (cooking shery)
• 2 tbsp. garlic chili sauce
• 2 tbsp. black bean garlic sauce
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 1/2 cup diced baked tofu
• 1/2 cup diced preserved green mustard
• Chinese noodles
• 1 carrot, julienned (optional)
• 1/2 cucumber, julienned (optional)
• 1 cup bean sprouts (optional)

METHOD

1.  Mix cooking sherry, black bean sauce, soy sauce together in a bowl and set aside.

2.  Heat the vegetable oil in a large wok.  Add the garlic, ginger and green onion to the wok; cook until fagrant (about 15 seconds).  Add the ground pork, stir constantly to break apart.  Cook until the meat is about halfway cooked (still a little pink and beginning to brown) – should take about 5 minutes. 

3.  Pour in the  previously prepared sherry, bean sauce, and soy sauce mixture.  Thoroughly stir until the pork is cooked.  Add the mustard greens, baked bean curd, and water.  Stir and let simmer for a few minutes. 

4.  Serve pork sauce over cooked noodles and garnish with cucumber, carrots and bean sprouts if desired.

Voila!  A hearty Chinese favorite!

Welcome!  For my first post ever, I’m featuring a yummy pot roast recipe.  Pot roast makes for a great dinner and is easy and quick to prepare.  Pot roast is usually made using a boneless chuck roast, which makes this dish quite flavorful.   The slow cooking of the roast brings out the flavor of the meat and makes the meat extremely tender.  While some people cook pot roast using a slow cooker or on a stove on low heat, I prefer cooking my pot roast in the oven.  I was excited that I was finally able to use the much-coveted Le Creuset dutch oven that I got for Christmas!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lb. boneless chuck roast
• 2 lb. bag russet potatoes, peeled and cut into halves
• 1 bag baby carrots
• 3 boiling onions (whole)
• 4 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 pkg. Lawry’s Au Jus gravy mix
• Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
• 2 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp. hot sauce (I like Frank’s hot sauce)
• 2 tbsp. minced onion
• 1 tbsp. olive oil or cooking oil

DIRECTIONS

1.  In a small saucepan, add au jus mix to water (follow instructions on the back of package).

2.  Season chuck roast with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Heat 1 tbsp. of oil in an oven-proof pot with cover (a dutch oven works great) on high heat.  Sear chuck roast in pot until brown, a few minutes on each side.  Then, add the au jus, minced onion, worcestershire sauce and hot sauce.  Cover pot and put into 325F oven for 2  1/2 hours, or until meat is tender. 

3.  About one hour before meat is ready, take the pot out of oven and add the carrots and celery.  Return to oven.  About 1/2 hour before the meat is ready, add the potatoes and boiling onions and then return to oven.  Cook until tender.  Always cook covered.

4.  After removing pot from oven, separate the cooked potatoes, carrots and celery.  The roast should be so tender, that it pulls apart easily using a fork or steak knife.  Voila!  Sauce generously and serve with pasta and a nice glass of red wine if desired. Enjoy!