Enough things have gone awry this week that I was beginning to think the problem was me. Suspicion confirmed tonight when I made my own stir fry and realized something was wrong with the recipe (too much vinegar). Darn it all.
My sincere apologies to anyone that ended up with puckery stir fry. Those of you who have been here a while know that I had been having technical problems with my recipe application. So this past weekend I rejiggered the whole recipe system to work around it. I may have made an error in transferring the recipe. But I may have had errors all along. I also noticed today that my recipe had cornstarch in the directions but not in the ingredient list. I’m a stickler for detail, so this is the kind of thing that keeps me up at night. Even a typo drives me batty.
Anyway, I check and re-check everything here, but I also frequently wonder why I came to the pantry, and I had a three year stretch during which I forgot to bring child #3 in for an annual check-up at the doctor. So please give me a shout out and let me know when something doesn’t seem right.
For the amusement of any beginner cooks out there, here’s some comfort that even someone who’s been cooking for 30 years still makes dumb mistakes. I thought I’d be smart tonight and cook early since I had to drive kids around to activities until late. This is what my stir fry looked like right before I tasted it and realized I’d messed up.
Then I turned off the stove, covered up the skillet and left, stewing over the excess vinegar. The zucchini did the same. When I came back it looked like this.
The steam overcooked the zucchini. As an experienced cook, I should have known to saute the zucchini, then the chicken and wait until just before eating to combine them. At least the vinegar issue was easily remedied with a bit more soy sauce to balance the tart. And though the zucchini wasn’t pretty, it still made for a satisfying meal. When I’m a real chinese grandma with dentures, I’ll like it just like this…even though it does kind of look like I’m actually eating my own dog food (it’s a software expression, people!).
By the way, the recipe is fixed. It should also print better now. My now-discarded recipe widget only printed in teeny tiny font.
Chicken and green bean stir fry
At least I don’t usually make the same mistake twice. I’m taking child #4 in for her annual checkup tomorrow. =)
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