Stir Fried Chicken with Mushroom and Soybean Stick

Another quick stir fry for a lazy night....

Did a quick check in the kitchen to see what I had handy.

Opened the fridge: cooked chicken breast in the pantry: dried shiitake mushroom and soybean sticks

hmmm......got it!

Decided to do a stir fry with famous-never fail oyster sauce and tons of garlic.

We were also fighting a cold so I made sure the garlic was not cooked all the way ( natural antibiotic)

The semi cooked garlic along with the oyster sauce gave the mushrooms a slightly buttery chewy texture which I like. The result was perfect, a savory side dish good with salad, rice or congee.

Ingredients:

• chicken - cooked + shredded
• dried shiitake mushroom - soak in warm water until soft- thinly sliced
• dried bean curd stick- soak in warm water until soft - cut into half inch size
• oil
• oyster sauce
• head of garlic - minced
• white pepper
• cilantro

Heat pan with oil, add half of the minced garlic, mushroom, cook for a minute then

add bean curd sticks and chicken, give it quick stir and toss

add the rest of the garlic and oyster sauce, give it quick stir and toss again make sure it all mixed well.

Done!

Great with fresh cilantro!

Top Chef All Star thoughts

Wow, brother Dale truly showed his prowess not only in the kitchen but also in his wargame strategies! I mean picking Marcel to be the opposing captain is probably the Top Chef all time best strategic move...ever...period. He knew no one would cooperate with him. The other team was doomed no matter who was on his team. It is sad that the only thing I remember about Dale from his original season is his temper. It is obvious that he did a lot of soul searching after seeing himself act like a douche on national TV. These days, his cooking is impressive and his temperament in control and confident. Well done Dale! Even though he wasn't the winner, he stood out most for me. Blais is such a whiny crybaby that it is hard to take him seriously. Also, I'm personally not drawn to his cooking style. Although his bromance with Fabio is very funny. Too bad it is Blais since we all know he will never measure up to Stefan. Nevertheless it is still very funny. I started following Fabio on twitter and he is just as funny. He plugs his ebook a little too much but its still very adorable because its Fabio. Also, his show recaps has me in stitches!

Well, you all know I am delighted and dancing about Marcel's elimination. All the other chef's have been so professional with their criticism, boiling it down to poor people skills. For me, it seems a spanking and a time out is in order!

thoughts:

Really Angelo, stop making crudo. Snore....

Did anyone see Tre? Was he even on the show? What happened to the "force in the kitchen"?

Did Marcel dye his hair? Why does it look so different?

Top Chef All Stars thoughts

Ok now. You just can't mess with Chinese people and their dim sum! Getting really bad dim sum while starving from waiting forever was NOT a good situation. I was surprised there wasn't a mutiny. The diners must have been invited and comped is all I can guess. It was a disaster of epic proportions and the judge's blogs say the show didn't look as bad as it really was. All I can say is if the cookNgs were there, we would have been in that kitchen way before Tom decided to go check. You know, get things in order! There would have at least been some decent fung jow from Casey's stash! I was sad to see Casey go because she actually could cook and had a decent personality. Boy did that Jaime dodge another bullet. Bye bye next week? We can only hope since this is Top Chef, not Top Scallop.

thoughts:

Was Angelo always that tall? Angelo, really, don't make a raw dish.

The quicker quickfire was lame. Tom gets to decide which dishes measured up to his own?

How arbitrary is that?

The anger management is wearing off. Dale is definitely starting to simmer. I'm getting a little nervous.

Top Chef All Stars thoughts

Was Jaime always this lame? I remember her being pretty tough and cooking pretty good food? How can this be the same wallflower that is on this all star season? Is she just wilting under the pressures of failing twice? I gave her the benefit of the doubt when she cut her finger and left to go get stitches. But now this? Hiding? I totally regret stating that she is one of my favorites. Now on the other hand, last night I remembered what was so awesome about Carla. She just totally came out, did her style food, against the disapproval of her teammates and WON! I must say that judges table is so nerve racking now that some of the weak links are gone. It really was crazy to see Spike go last night! Was his dish really worse than the others??

thoughts:

Are they really going there with Angelo again? I mean they went as far as Gail coming out and asking if they felt he was sabotaging?? REALLY? Lame drama

That being said, I wouldn't let anyone cook my salmon! What a dumb ass!

Most overused ingredient - yuzu

Taylor Dent? He had the personality of a head of lettuce, iceberg.

Top Chef All Stars thoughts

Now that was an episode! It was truly an All-Stars week with amazing food, interesting elimination challenge and power house guests. The level of food was what I would expect from chefs of this calibre that have the experience of competitive cooking. So much better than the first two episodes! The judging was fair and I was happy to see Dale win. His dish looked so delicious! All I can remember of Dale from his previous season are his temper tantrums. I like this kinder gentler Dale. Maybe he went to anger management or discovered kava root. Maybe there just hasn't been anything that pissed him off enough yet....

Farewell Stephen and the other Dale. Oh well, have to find someone new to pick on now that Stephen is gone.

thoughts:

I felt embarrassed for Tom when he made the Led Zeppelin analogy.

Where does Stephen buy his clothes? Really! I want to know!

Someone tell Angelo that he is not Asian. I understand embracing a culture but come on! Now maybe if he grows his hair long and wears it in a braid...