Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Stir Fried Cashew Pork

Two weekends ago Jen B. and I went to Sprouts for a grocery trip. It's a natural market that has amazing prices on produce and meats, and they have all sorts of yummy stuff you can't find in normal stores--and a huge bulk food section (where the stuff is in bins). I sooooo wish we had one closer to us. While we were checking out we spotted Cook's Illustrated magazine. Jen and I were both pretty excited. She grabbed one to buy, and I was going to but then I spotted a magazine under it that looked good. It was America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Suppers. So we decided Jen would get Cook's Illustrated and I'd get that one then we'd get to trade and see both of them. There are some tasty looking recipes in the one I got--I can't wait to see Jen's! I may actually get a subscription to Cook's Illustrated because there's a card in mine to get it for $20 a year which is pretty reasonable, and I really like the magazine.

Anyway, I needed something for dinner tonight, so I was flipping through the magazine to see what I could find. There were two recipes that sounded good, and I had all but one ingredient for both. I asked the husband which sounded better, and he chose this one. I think I'll slate the other one for one night next week because it sounds really good, and I'll have everything on hand for it.

Stir Fried Cashew Pork
1/2 cup Hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 pork tenderloin (3/4 to 1 pound), cut into 1/4-inch strips
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbso grated fresh ginger
1 cup roasted unsalted cashews, half coarsely chopped, half left whole
1/4 cup cilantro leaves

Combine hoisin sauce, 1/3 cup water, soy sauce, and pepper flakes in medium bowl. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of pork and cook until no longer pink, about 2 minutes; transfer to plate. Repeat with additional 2 teaspoons oil and remaining pork.

Add remaining oil to empty skillet and heat until shimmering. Cook garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add hoisin mixture, cashews, pork, and any accumulated juices to pan and cook until thickened, about 1 minute. SPrinkle with cilantro. Serve.

*****

I bought cashews (from the bulk section!!) at Sprouts to make Cashew Chicken, but since we had chicken last night I didn't want it two nights in a row. I'll make some brown rice to go with this, and I have a bag of frozen Asian-style veggies in the freezer, as well as some egg rolls. Yum--should be a good dinner!

*****

This was pretty good. I think I like the Cashew Chicken I made better, but this was tasty. I didn't have as much pork as I thought, so I only used two pork chops cut up. I ended up mixing the bag of stir fry vegetables in with the pork and sauce to make it a little more substantial.

I took a picture on my new phone, I just have to figure out how to get it on the computer.

1 comment:

AndreaQ said...

This sounds good and easy (always a plus for a recipe to be both!). And I LOVE Cook's Illustrated-I don't have a subscription either and I've been meaning to get one so thank you for reminding me!