Read Anne Braly’s blog about adding basil to burgers.
Several weeks ago, I wrote a column asking for suggestions for your favorite restaurant sandwiches, following a list sent to me by McCallie teacher Bob Bires. I’ve received a few but would love to know more. Let me know your favorite by e-mailing abraly@timesfreepress.com.
NEW ON THE MARKET … You can bring a taste of P.F. Chang’s home with the restaurant’s new Home Menu frozen dinners. I recently sampled General Chang’s Chicken, one of my favorite entrees when I visit the restaurant at Hamilton Place.
I was amazed at how quickly I got this dinner onto the table. It was just a matter of opening the bag – everything from the chicken to the broccoli, peppers and sauce are in there, putting it in a skillet to cook from about 10 minutes, then spooning it onto the plates. It’s that simple.
The flavor wasn’t quite as good as the restaurant dish, but for frozen and quick-to-make, it couldn’t get much better. I wish the batter on the chicken had been a little crispier, but that could have been my doing. Maybe I didn’t leave it in the skillet quite long enough. All in all, this will be a meal I’ll buy again.
What I really wish is that we could get a Pei Wei in Hixson for those of us who live north of the river. Pei Wei is a little P.F. Chang’s with some of the same things on the menu. There are Pei Weis in Murfreesboro, Brentwood and Knoxville. Why not Hixson?
Until then, you might try this knockoff recipe for the restaurant’s lettuce wraps from recipezarr.com.
P.F. Chang’s Lettuce Wraps
Special sauce:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon hot mustard
2 teaspoons water
1-2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste
Stir-fry sauce:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
Chicken:
3 tablespoons oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup water chestnuts
2/3 cup mushrooms
3 tablespoons chopped onions
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4-5 leaves iceberg lettuce
Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil. Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you’re ready to serve. Combine the water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well. Eventually add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps.
Combine stir-fry sauce ingredients and set aside.
Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan. Sauté chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or done. Remove chicken from the pan and cool. Keep oil hot in the pan. As chicken cools, mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas. Prepare the stir-fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar and rice vinegar together in a small bowl. When chicken is cool, mince it as the mushrooms and water chestnuts are. With the pan still on high heat, add another tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan. Add the stir-fry sauce to the pan and sauté the mixture for a couple minutes, then serve it in the lettuce cups and top with special sauce.