Take In Night

Sex and the City meets Take out meets Amy and Ashley's Place!
Girls night in with General Tso's Chicken, Pad Thai, Veggie Egg Rolls, Mexican Corn Salad, Pesto Pizzas, and Chocolate Yogurt Minis, and a lot of wine! Oh, and the aprons on the beautiful models are made by Ashley!!!
I'll just post those pictures so you can see!!



Here are the Recipes!

Shrimp Pad Thai --
1/2 lime
1 egg
4 tsp fish sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground dried chili pepper
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 shallot, minced
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp tamarind
1/2 pkg thai rice noodles
2 tbsp veggie oil
1/2 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1 c chives
1 1/3 c bean sprouts
Directions:
Soak the dry noodles in lukewarm water while preparing the other ingredients, for 5-10 minutes.
Cut up the chives into 1 inch long pieces. Set aside a few chives for garnish.
Rinse the bean sprouts, and save half for serving fresh.
Mince shallot and garlic together.
Use a wok. If you don't have a wok, go to IKEA and get one, they are amazing. If you dont have time to go to IKEA, any big pot will do. Heat it up to a high heat and pour oil into it. Fry the peanuts until toasted, and remove them from the wok. Add shallot, garlic, and shrimp and stir until they start to cook all the way through.
The noodles should be flexible at this point, but not expanded. Drain the noodles, and add to the wok. Stir quickly to keep things from sticking.
Add tamarind, sugar, fish sauce, and chili pepper. Stir. The heat should remain high. If your wok is not hot enough, you will see a lot of juice in the wok. Turn up the heat if this is the case.
Make room for the egg by pushing all noodles to the side of the wok. Crack the egg onto the wok and scramble it until it is almost cooked. Fold the egg into the noodles. Add bean sprouts and chives. Stir a few more times. The noodles should be very soft and tangled.
Pour into a serving plate and spinkle with peanuts.

General Tso's Chicken- This was amazing!! Better than the real thing!
3 lbs boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cut into chunks
2 c green onion, sliced
8 small dried chilis, seeds removed
CORNSTARCH SLURRY
1/4 c soy sauce, low sodium
1 egg, beaten
1 c cornstarch
SAUCE
1/2 c cornstarch
1/4 c water
1 1/2 tsp garlic, minced
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c soy sauce, low sodium
1/4 c white vinegar
1/4 c sherry or white wine
14 1/2 ounces chicken broth
Directions:
Place sauce ingredients in a quart jar with a lid and shake to mix. If you make this ahead of time refrigerate until needed, shaking again when ready to use.
Mix cornstarch slurry in a large bowl--this is the wierdest mixture i have ever seen...hard glue that turns into gooey liquid, but it works wonders! The directions said to add chicken pieces to the slurry, but we found it easier to put all the chicken in a large bowl, dump the slurry on top, and mix together. Either way is fine.
Add the chicken to hot (350 degree) oil, and fry until crispy. Drain on paper towels.
In a separate wok or large skillet, add a small amount of oil and heat to 400 degrees (if you want you can fry all the chicken, drain some of the oil and use the same pan). Add green onions and hot peppers to the hot oil. Stir fry for about 30 seconds. Stir sauce mix, and then add to pan with peppers and onions. Cook until thick. Add chicken and cook until bubbly. Serve over rice.

Vegetable Egg Roll
1 c carrots, unpeeled and shredded
1 c cabbage, shredded
1 c pea pods, cut diagonally in thin strips
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, finely diced
8 green onions, sliced thin
1/2 c diced mushroom
1/2 c water chesnuts, diced
1/2 c broccoli and cauliflower florets, julianned
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce/fish sauce
1/2 c white wine
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp cornstarch
25-30 egg roll wrappers
Directions:
Heat a wok, and drizzle oil down the sides. Brown the garlic. Add the onion, and saute until transparent. Add the worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, mixing well. Add the white wine, and bring to a simmer. Add the remaining vegetables. Stir constantly until the vegetables are tender. Mix teh cornstarch with two tbsp water and stir into the mixture. Stir until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat and let cool!!
Fill the egg roll wrappers (2-3 tbsp of mix) and roll. Fry in 400 degree deep fryer until brown.

Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes (thanks to Smitten Kitchen and Jessica!)
7 oz bittersweet/semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 c veggie oil
1/2 c plain, whole milk yogurt
1 c sugar
3 large eggs, at room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp coarse salt
Directions:
Preaheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper cupcake liners or lightly butter the pan.
In a heatproof bowl, set over simmering water, melt the chocolate with the 1/4 c oil. Once smooth, remove from heat.
In another bowl, mix the remaining 1/4 c oil, yogurt, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center of hte flour mixture and pour the yogurt ingredients. Stir lightly a couple of times, then add the melted chocolate and stir until just smooth.
Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Banana Bread
3 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 c sugar
1 c veggie oil
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
4 bananas, smashed
Directions:
The easiest instructions ever. Mix all ingredients, pour into bread pan or muffin cups, cook at 325 for 30-40 minutes (depending on the pan), until toothpick comes out clean. So delicious!