Pork or Chicken in Peanut Sauce

I'm not going to lie. This is one of my all time favorite freezer meals. It's freezer Friday and I have been holding out on you. It's one I share with a lot of friends and family members when they have need of meals, because it is essentially so simple to make, and full of ingredients that I don't have to find at special Gourmet shops. In fact, the vegetables I chose are totally domestic easy to find vegetables that I am usually chopping for other freezer meals anyway, so it also fits easily into a cooking session when I am making several freezer meals at once. It takes a very short time to make as a regular meal...and also doubles as a freezer meal. I often make a meal for dinner that will double as a freezer meal. It's a great way to build up your arsenal by simply cooking dinner and setting aside half to go in the freezer for a meal later. This meal is called a "topper". My husband Ace used to call people "toppers". You know who they are. A topper is someone you tell a story to, and they "top" you by telling you a bigger grander story that they have done. Ace could almost always be a topper when it comes to car stories...and very often when people are telling him about some feat they've done in cars, he will listen and ask them questions about their car...and they have no idea who he is or what he's done with cars. It makes me happy that he just builds people up. It's rare in a person. It's rare in a dinner. But that's exactly what these "topper" dinners do...they make your rice or pasta better, without boasting of themselves. They won't need to boast, you can tell by how they taste. Refreshing isn't it? The only preparation on this meal that takes a little time, is the chopping...but my kids love to chop and so it turns into a family project.


Tess' Pork or Chicken in Peanut Sauce
(yield 12 3/4 cup servings rice topper)

5 lb boneless skinless pork loin, cut into cubes (chicken boneless skinless thigh meat works)
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sliced garlic
1/2 cup peanut butter
1T sesame oil
1T chile paste or hot sauce
3 large onions, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped

Directions: Get all your stuff together. Yes, I know it's technical, but if you don't you will inevitably be out of vinegar...or peanut butter.

In a large 12 inch skillet, on high heat, add the sesame oil to the pan. Add the pork and cook stirring frequently 5-7 minutes until browned nicely.

Add the bulky veggies. My onion was a little young when I took it from the garden...but it worked fine to use the bottom ends. You can also use green onions, if you use the light ends.

Cook the vegetables with the pork, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic. Yes, it sounds like a lot of garlic, but if I eat that much garlic then the Cullen's won't come to dinner...and you Twilight people will finally get some alone time with Edward. I know how important that is. Again...dude, he's a fictional character and he will never love you. I'm just saying. Eat garlic. Move on.

Oh...and when the garlic is nice and tender, add the peanut butter and remaining ingredients to the pan. Random...my 87 year old FIL, Mr. Putt Putt, likes to keep peanut butter in his bedroom next to his easy chair. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. Yes, he putts around with spoons like this upcoming picture. Another random fact...did you know that mice like peanut butter?
Ask me how I figured that out. No...it wasn't when I was making this dinner. Jerry the mouse did not run across the kitchen floor, peanut butter spoon in hand, and in a almost frenzied speed of escape knock himself cold while watching me chase him with a broom. That didn't happen...but it would make a good cartoon.

Once the sauce has simmered with the meat and vegetables about 2 minutes, add the chopped cilantro.

Divide into 3 dinners for a family of 4, or two for a family of 6. Or 6 meals for a family of 2 with very small children. You can serve one for dinner over rice, or just put them all in the freezer. We usually serve one of the dinners that night. It's also very good over rice noodles.

To freeze: Place meat mixture in Three One quart freezer bags when it has cooled enough to scoop without melting bags. Seal bags very well. You might want to double the bags if you are worried about spilling. Bags need to be labeled before adding the mixture, or it will be hard to write on them, and also easy to puncture with writing utensils.
Lay bags in the fridge out flat to cool. Never cool at room temperature and then transfer to the freezer, you risk food born illness. When cool transfer to the freezer. Keep the freezer cold. Check the meals after two hours to be sure they are freezing. Never stack warm meals on top of each other. Only stack once frozen.

Label clearly: "defrost in the fridge 24 hours or out of bag, in the microwave 3-5 minutes on 50% power. To serve, heat 3-5 minutes on high in the microwave or 5-7 minutes on the stove in a skillet. I usually cook the rice while I heat the topper. It's very quick.

There you go.

Freezer Meal Friday Hawaiian Hay Stacks

I have a lot of Polynesian friends. This is not one of their recipes. Not even close. Now I preface this post on that note because many of you have probably seen the segment from Fox 10 Arizona morning with me and Sione Fa from The Biggest Loser making freezer meals. To call this freezer meal today a "Hawaiian" haystack, is like well...American Sweet and Sour Chicken... "Chinese" food...both are very far from the real cuisine of the land. However, slang that it is, it is a well loved dish around my home. One that makes a great freezer meal because I can make the homemade chicken sauce in advance and freeze it in a quart size freezer bag. On the day of the dinner I just have to heat the sauce and make the rice. Usually my biggest challenge with this freezer meal, is keeping these dang fried chow mien noodles around my house! My kids love them! Love!

My solution has been hiding the canister behind the cans of black eyed peas. It works like a charm.

True confessions: I don't like cream of chicken soup from a can. I don't. I've never made a sauce for Hawaiian hay stacks using a can of cream of bla-bla-bla. In a pinch I've used my condensed soup mix which is very cheap to make. However for this one today I like a nice homemade sauce. It's quick and a lot less expensive than several cans of soup needed to feed a growing family. I like the flavor better. If I want more seasonings...I add them. I know exactly what is in this stuff. No MSG or preservatives either. Nice isn't it? This one is what I call, "middle of the road" meaning it appeals to a lot of different people. It's home style. I'm home style most of the time. I can do gourmet if I have to. I can. Today however, it doesn't hurt to learn a new basic skill right?

Hawaiian Haystack Sauce:

4 cups low fat milk (or soy milk-unflavored)

2 cups light coconut milk ( or just 1 15 oz can)

1/2 cup flour

2 tsp granulated onion

1 tsp granulated garlic

2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast

Directions:

In a soup bowl, combine the flour and 1 cup milk with a whisk. In a one gallon heavy bottom pot, combine the remaining 3 cups milk, coconut milk seasoning and chicken. Bring to a boil. With a whisk, slowly stir in the milk/flour combination and stir until well incorporated. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to your liking. Some like more...some like less.
This will make about 8 cups of sauce. Allow sauce to cool 10 minutes. I divide it between 2 quart size freezer bags, labeled "Hawaiian Haystack sauce". Lay flat in the fridge to chill quickly. When cool, transfer to the freezer. Do not stack warm gravy on top of each other. We want it to cool and freeze quickly to avoid food born illness.

I put the frozen bag of sauce in a larger gallon size bag along with several sandwich size freezer bags full of toppings for the hay stacks that we like. It just makes it easier on the night of the dinner to have everything together. Topping ideas: pineapple, corn, shredded cheese, shredded coconut, slivered almonds, hot peanuts, Mandarin oranges, peas. We also have fresh topping that my kids chop on the day of the dinner: we include chopped celery, green onions, and bell peppers depending on what we have in the fridge. Isn't that nice?

To serve: Defrost sauce 24 hours in fridge, or in microwave safe 2 quart bowl (out of the bag) on defrost setting 5-7 minutes. Sauce will appear curdled. Don't be alarmed. It will return to it's nice smooth consistency when heated on the stove in a pan for 5-7 minutes, stirring every few minutes.

Cook 2 cups of rice. This is enough for my family of six for haystacks. Mind you, my boys are not yet teenagers.

I did a tutorial on How to cook rice on the stove 101 . I know there are more than a few who have never cooked rice without a rice cooker or instant rice. It's a good skill to have. For brown rice, allow that it will take 45 minutes to cook and more water, as opposed to white rice which is right around 20 minutes.

To serve: Put 3/4 cup rice on a plate and top with a scoop of chicken sauce.

Put toppings in bowls and allow family to pick whatever they want most on their own haystacks.
This also works really well for larger family gatherings.

To each his own.

There you go.