Kung Pao Chicken

voloshyna — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 17:34:40 +0000

This may be a bit strange, but I was inspired to cook this dish by one of the nastiest restaurant experiences of my life. My friend and I had recently decided to go for lunch to one of the oldest (about 25 years) Chinese restaurants in our city. I had heard many nice reviews about this place from my close friends, so I definitely didn’t expect any unpleasant surprises. Oh, I was so wrong! The food was incredibly awful; we were disappointed with every dish we ordered. The Teriyaki Beef was more like a cheap beef jerky, and the Mandarin Beef tasted like a deep fried wood. But the food was not the worst part. When we made an attempt to send the food back to the kitchen, the manager told us that they would not accept it. She was pretty rude and told us that even if we were in McDonald’s we could not have returned our cheeseburger or fries back to the kitchen. Except in McDonald’s I would pay $2 for the meal, not $20!! They gave us 10% or 20% discount for Teriyaki beef, and that’s it! I will never ever return to this restaurant, even if they pay me to do so.

Long story short, that day I decided that I can cook any Chinese dish better than at that restaurant. I came home, and I wrote a letter to Santa Clause (aka my husband Sasha), and asked him to bring me a huge wok for Christmas and he did! So that’s how my new culinary journey began! I’m in love with Asian cuisine and ready to experiment with it!

Kung Pao Chicken it’s the first dish I’ve cooked in my brand new wok, and it’s really delicious, so now you can expect more Asian recipes from me.

I would be happy to hear which Asian dishes are your favorite! By the way, here is a great food blog, for those like me, who is new to Asian cuisine.

The post Kung Pao Chicken appeared first on DivineCuisine Recipes.

Breaded Zucchini with Basil Mayonnaise

voloshyna — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:15:09 +0000

Great vegetarian appetizer, good for a summer party with your friends! This is also my first step by step recipe.

Cut zucchinis into 1/2-inch rounds. In a small bowl mix flour, Parmesan, bread crumbs, chili powder and pinch of salt. In another bowl, lightly beat eggs with 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Dip zucchinis in the flour mixture, followed by the egg, do the same manipulations one more time.

In a big skillet preheat the oil. Place zucchini slices in the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Transfer them to a paper towel to drain.

Chop the basil leaves and garlic. Cut tomatoes into thin slices.

Combine together mayonnaise, garlic and finely chopped basil, season with a black pepper.

Top each zucchini slice with a teaspoon of basil mayo, tomato slice, shaved Parmesan and small basil leaf.

The post Breaded Zucchini with Basil Mayonnaise appeared first on DivineCuisine Recipes.

DivineCuisine Recipes » For the sauce:

Kung Pao Chicken

Breaded Zucchini with Basil Mayonnaise