Mom's Contribution to Recipe Challenge #1

OK. I don't want to be shamed so will add my recipe of the week. Sorry I forgot to take pictures. This week Dad and I invited two groups of students over for a meal. Initially they were suppose to come together but unfortunately that didn't happen so we had two meal on consecutive days. Since the main event was a success the 1st time, I created the same dish on the second night with a few variations due to the fact that we didn't have all the ingredients.

The recipe is called Pork and Broccoli Stir-Fry. On the first night I used Pork Tenderloin which is very easy to optain here and relatively inexpensive since Korean people don't usually use Pork Tenderloin. It doesn't have enough fat on it for their dishes. First I sliced it very thin and marinated it in wine, garlic and ginger all day - prepared it in the morning so that it was ready for using that evening. That evening, I stir-fired the pork and set it aside. Next I seperated 2 bunches of Broccoli into small florettes and cut the stems into slim sticks. I sliced two bell peppers, one red and one yellow and 1 carrot into slim sticks also. Using a small amount of olive oil in the bottom of the deep frying pan, I stir fried the vegies for 5 minutes. To make a sauce, I removed some of the sauce from the meat and added salt, brown sugar, pepper and a couple tablespoons of cornstarch and a couple tablespoons of soya sauce. After mixing this together thoroughly, I added it with the meat to the vegie mixture. You need to turn the heat down and stir in the sauce and pork, stirring it often until the sauce begins to thicken. After some adjustments with salt and sugar, I arrived at what I thought was a tasty combination. That night I served it with rice made with chicken boulion. I served the stir-fry on a platter which we put in the middle of the table so that everyone could easily help themselves. There were very little leftovers that first night so the next day I had to start from scratch again.

On the second night, since we didn't have any more pork tenderloin so I used some thin pork cutlets that had been left in our freezer by the woman who lived in our apartment when Dad and I were in Canada/Europe. She stayed here for a change from her one room place and to take care of our plants. Anyway, she nicely left this package of pork in our freezer which was very much appreciated since it saved me from having to go into town to find more meat. I did the same in that I marinated it first. We thought that the wine made it quite sour the first night so I used apple juice and soya sauce the 2nd night and added onions. Again I marinated it for most of the day and just before they arrived, I stir-fried the vegies and made the sauce. I didn't need to add as much sugar the second time as I had used apple sauce for the marinate. Actually the second time, the dish was tastier than the first. Instead of rice, I prepared potatoes on the second night. Dad helped me to peel 6 potatoes. I cut them into thin wedges and placed them on an thickly oiled cooking sheet. I then sprinkled it generously with the famous Red Pepper Garlic Seasoning. This is Dad's favorite and when I was home I brought back 2 additional bottles. The brand name is Club House and can be purchased at Superstore. Before putting it in the oven, I stirred it, coating the potatoes in the oil and seasoning. I placed it in a hot oven, 250degrees C. It took about 15 minutes to bake the potatoes, but you need to open the oven and stir them around every 5 minutes. When they are tender and slightly bown, they are done.

Both meals were a success and there were very little left-overs at the end of each meal. Mind you our guests were students so they will eat anything and lots of it so that is really no surprise. Also they will eat anything that is homemade, a treat from cafeteria food or trying to cook on their own.

On both evenings, the conversations were good and we had a good time with both groups. The first night was 4 extra people and the second night was just 2 people. Both groups were mixed, men and women so of course, your father had a great time teasing the women and conjoling the men.

So that's it - two meals of Pork and Broccoli Stir-fry made slightly different but with the same result. You can find the original recipe as it should be made on the internet but one has to work with what you have and adapt for the situation.

Mom