Week 1: Kung Po Chicken

It's totally fitting that my first recipe of the year is Chinese food...well AMERICAN Chinese food.  I received this cookbook from one of Adam's coworkers in China:

The ironic thing was I couldn't make these recipes in China because I couldn't find the ingredients.  Chinese food in China is VERY different then the Chinese food we know and love...in fact when we returned to the US one of the first foods we ate was Pei Wei...I am almost embarrassed to say we eat there (well take out) almost every week on our weekly "date night in".  When I call to place the order they ask if we want "the usual" (Changs Spicy Chicken with brown rice - ADAM and Orange Peal Chicken with white rice - ME...with a side order of chili paste and spicy mustard).
Anyway...I was super excited to try my hand in some Chinese cooking after being so anti Chinese food for 18 months.
Kung Po Chicken was a favorite of ours before going to China and there was only one place that offered Kung Po in Huizhou...I knew Adam would be very excited to come home to some homemade Chinese food.

I was worried that I may not find all the ingredients I needed, I mean where do you find Chutney in a grocery store?  Rather than spend time looking for chutney for homemade plum sauce I bought a jar of already made sauce. 

This was a great recipe...I followed it almost exactly, I added more chili oil and extra chicken and garlic and of course I served it over rice.

Good ol' Chinese rice

When I make it again I will add some fresh chili's for more of a kick (it wasn't much of a "kung PO" with this chicken) and some carrots and green beans so it ends up being a full meal.  I would also make extra sauce to pour over the rice.

1/2 graham cracker + 1 cup of juice + a ball in a paper bag = just enough time to do the prep for this meal.

1 week down!