The "I Didn't Quite Follow the Recipe" Recipe

It's ironic that when preparing a recipe from The Perfect Recipe, that I didn't follow the recipe to the letter. You'd think that I'd be especially careful - particularly since this is the perfect recipe.

Apparently, the perfect first step to preparing a recipe is to make sure you have all of the ingredients on hand. I learned that in 4-H, but have never bothered to actually implement that policy in my kitchen.

So here I was, at 6:45, trying to quickly prepare dinner and cross another cookbook off of my 101 List. That is not the time to realize that you have:

• Shelled peas, instead of snow peas
• Cooking white wine, instead of dry sherry
• Canned mushrooms, instead of fresh mushrooms
• Rice noodles, instead of basmati rice, and
• Orange zest, instead of lemon zest.

Oh well. Improvisation is my life. Plus stir-fry recipes are notoriously flexible (and forgiving). Here's what the recipe was supposed to be:

Stir-Fried Lemon Chicken with Snow Peas and Mushrooms

• 3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut crosswise into ¼ inch strips
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1 T dry sherry
• Salt
• 1/2 lb snow peas, stems removed
• 3 T peanut or vegetable oil
• 1 T minced garlic
• 2 t minced ginger
• 1 medium-large onion, halved from root to stem end, each half quartered
• 1 pkg (8 oz) sliced white mushrooms
• 1 T cornstarch, mixed with 2 T water or chicken broth

Lemon Sauce

• 1/4 c lemon juice
• 3 T sugar
• 2 T chicken broth
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 t lemon zest

Toss chicken with soy sauce and sherry in a small bowl; set aside. Meanwhile, bring 1 quart water to a boil over high heat in a wok. When the water comes to a boil, add 3/4 t salt and snow peas, return to a boil and simmer until bright green but crunchy, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water to stop the cooking process; set aside.

Prepare Lemon Sauce.

Heat wok over high heat until it just starts to smoke. Add 1 T oil, then half of chicken; stir-fry until seared and just cooked through. Spoon cooked chicken into a service dish, add 1 T oil to wok and repeat with remaining chicken, transferring second batch to serving dish.

Add remaining 1 T oil, garlic, ginger and onion and stir fry until crisp, but starting to soften, about 30 seconds. Add mushrooms and stir-fry until they lose their raw color, about 30 seconds more. Add snow peas and stir-fry until all vegetables are tender-crisp and hot, about 1 minute.

Return chicken to wok, then add Lemon Sauce and stir-fry to coat. Add cornstarch mixture and stir-fry until juices are saucy and glossy. If too thick, stir in 1 T water or broth. Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Despite my (massive) recipe deviations, this was still a great dish. I think everyone should have a Pam Anderson cookbook (or two or three) in the kitchen.