Bok Choy Salad

Bok choy has been popular here since the 80s at the local farmer's markets, perhaps because we have a high population of Hmong (hey, that's who I bought it from!). It is now in most grocery stores. Yummy and crisp. The salad below started appearing in church cookbooks in the mid to late 90s using Romaine, but now feature bok choy. I like both. Yummy, but as I get older, I prefer a lot less sugar.

Bok Choy Salad

2 heads bok choy, stems removed (can substitute Romaine lettuce)
2 (2 oz) packages ramen noodles, crumbled, throw out seasoning packet
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, unsalted (more or less to taste)
1 cup almonds slivered (more or less to taste)
1 1/2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup olive oil

Toast sunflower seeds and almonds in melted margarine in a skillet until light brown. Place on paper towels. Tear bok choy (or lettuce) into bite sized pieces. In a large bowl, combine bok coy, ramen noodles, green onions, sunflower seeds and almonds.

In another bowl, prepare the dressing by mixing soy sauce, white vinegar, sugar and olive oil together with a whisk or blender stick. Pour the dressing into the salad. Toss to blend and serve at once.

Mock Chow Mein

This is one of those mainstay recipes that any kid growing up in the 70s likely had. Every church cookbook that I have come across dated from the mid-60s until mid-80s had this recipe. Easy, inexpensive and yum. This recipe serves 2-3. This is my cut-down version. While I can use a 1 quart casserole for baking this, if you don't have one, feel free to use a 2 quart (cut your baking time or your dish will become too dry). Serve with a salad.

Mock Chow Mein

1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup uncooked rice
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup celery, chopped
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 bag chow mein noodles

Cook ground beef until brown. Add onion and celery, cook until almost tender. Add remaining ingredients except chow mein noodles. Put into one or two quart casserole dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. Uncover and layer with chow mein noodles. Return to oven, uncovered and bake until noodles are brown, about 15 minutes. Serves 2-3.

Chai Tea and I Love My Ipod

Yes, getting a new iPod is important enough to blog about it in both of my blogs! Got my brand new, 16 gig iPod yesterday and it's about 3/4 full now with various podcasts.

Here's my new toy.


While I have a lot of yarn and fabric related podcasts downloaded, I discovered several cooking podcasts as well. Well, actually, iTunes has TONS of cooking shows. However, I suspect the videos are not completely compatible, but I'll give a few a shot. I'm mostly interested in shows that I can listen to as opposed to 'watch'. I have the America's Test Kitchen dvds for that.

Today's recipes are Chai Tea, both a traditional method and an instant mix method. While Chai Tea has always been popular in India, until the recent interest in tea, it was relatively unknown to most Americans. It has become super popular as a result of Tastefully Simple's amazing instant blend. While Tastefully Simple's recipe is superior for a mix, my budget simply can't afford it. I have included the best homemade instant blend I've had so far. Believe it or not, this recipe is the exact same one that has floated around for years (before the Internet) to copy one flavor of International Multifoods' Instant Coffees. All they've done is substitute instant tea for the instant coffee and used some of the new French vanilla flavored instant creamer.

If you have a metallic aftertaste from cooking tea in a metal container, then you need something else to cook in such as a glass or pyrex coffee pot. Easy to find at garage sales. If you can't find one, look on Ebay. Since you are not trying to perk, you do not need a complete one, so if it will save you money, buy one that doesn't have the cover or innards. Be sure you are getting one that actually cooks on top of the stove (very thick glass) and not a Pyrex coffee server.

Masala Chai

1-1/2 cups water
1 inch stick of cinnamon
8 cardamom pods
8 whole cloves
2/3 cup milk
6 tsp. sugar (or to taste)
3 teaspoons any unperfumed loose black tea

Put 1-1/2 cups water in saucepan. Add the cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves and bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the milk and sugar and bring to a simmer again. Throw in the tea leaves, cover, and turn off the heat. After 2 minutes, strain the tea into two cups and serve immediately.

From Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking, Barron's, New York, p. 196 (1983).

Chai Tea Instant Mix

1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cups powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup French vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer
2-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea
2 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground cardamom

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. In a blender or food processor bowl, place 1 cup at a time, and process until mixture is blended and the particles are fine.

To make: Add 2 heaping serving tablespoons Chai tea mixture to a mug of boiling water and stir to mix well.

For stronger flavor add 1/8 tsp. vanilla extract directly to mug and stir.

If you want a mix for anybody, leave out the instant tea. When making up, add 1 tsp. instant tea or Folgers Instant Coffee to the mug. Add the mix and the water.

German Chocolate Cool Bars

I occasionally try recipes featured in ads, because, well, they are often pretty tasty. Thus comes today's recipe: Cool Whip and Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate ad. I made this and even with some substitutions, it was yummy. My substitutions included crushed Oreos instead of wafer crumbs (flavor was fine, but crust was too heavy for this whipped confection) and leftover Halloween Chocolate Kisses instead of the German Sweet chocolate (worked fine). Feel free to use the Cool Whip Light.

For other Cool Whip recipes, take a look at the site.
http://brands.kraftfoods.com/coolwhip

German Chocolate Cool Bars

1 cup chocolate wafer crumbs
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
2 packages (4 oz each) Baker's German Sweet Chocolate
1/3 cup milk
1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 container (12 oz) Cool Whip Non-Dairy or Extra Creamy Whipped Topping, thawed

Combine crumbs and melted butter. Press firmly onto bottom of 9 inch square pan.

Grate of finely chop 1/2 package of the chocolate. Set aside. Heat remaining chocolate and milk in medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until chocolate is melted. With whisk, beat in cream cheese until smooth. Cool 5 minutes. Fold in 3 1/2 cups of the whipped topping and the grated chocolate. Spread mixture over crumbs.

Spread remaining whipped topping over chocolate layer. Freeze until firm, about 2 hours. Garnish as desired. Cut into bars. Makes about 15.