Chicken with Double Garlic Black Bean Sauce

This is an adaptation of a recipe I got in a Chinese cook book. The ingredients can be found in the oriental section of the grocery store. It serves 3-4. Yum!


1 Tablespoon Aji-Mirin (sweet rice wine)
4 Teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce, divided
5 Teaspoons cornstarch, divided
1 Teaspoon sesame oil
2 large chicken breast halves, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 Tablespoon Garlic Black Bean sauce
1 Teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 Clove minced garlic
½ Cup chicken broth
1 Tablespoon oyster sauce
3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 Pound fresh asparagus spears, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 Stalk celery, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 small onion, diced
3 Tablespoons water (I use water from the pasta)
4 servings (large handful) angel hair pasta

A.) Make a marinade of wine, 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons cornstarch and the sesame oil. Add chicken pieces and toss well to coat. Chill for 30 minutes while preparing the veggies.

B.) Mix together black bean sauce with ginger, minced garlic, broth, 2 teaspoons soy sauce, oyster sauce, and remaining 3 teaspoons cornstarch, set aside.

C.) Prepare pasta in a separate pan, in salted water if desired.

D.) Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add chicken with marinade and stir-fry until the chicken is opaque, about 3 minutes. Remove from pan.

E.) Heat 1 tablespoon oil to wok and stir-fry veggies for about 2 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons water to the pan, cover, and allow the veggies to cook for another minute.

F.) Return chicken to the wok, add sauce mixture, and cook, stirring, until sauce thickens. Serve over the pasta.

Is There a 12-Step Program for This?

Well, the rest of you must be out there having lives, cause no one is talking to me (I predict a very large chocolate hangover looming on the horizon...)

I have been challenged to create enough art to sell and make a name for myself over the summer, but without a kiln at my disposal, I have to find an alternative way to vent my creative urges besides ceramics. GASP! What is a weird, limited talent, somewhat misplaced offshoot of the hippie era to do?! I have a gig lined up to chalk a mural on the sidewalk at the park during the Teddy Bear Picnic for the 4th of July, but that seems like years from now.

I have been suffering from college withdrawals for almost a month, and frankly I am losing what little of my mind there is left. What DO normal people do with their spare time, anyway? I have been shampooing carpets, for God's sake, and doing mountains of laundry. I even swept my porch this morning! Where is the Village Idiot with his witty repartee when you need him?!!!! I miss his blog a lot.

Of course, this is merely the calm before the storm, I fear, since school lets out for my offspring on Thursday. Then all Hades will break loose in my humble domicile. I guess I should finish getting the house in order to commemorate this joyous occasion. Serious doubt pops into my mind that it will be cleaned much once they descend. But my daughter has a job layed out, and I think my son will be attending summer school based on his last report card, so maybe they won't be soooo bored as to demolish the place entirely. (OK, I am the Queen of Denial, so sue me...) It is windy and cold, the sun is only playing at coming out of the clouds today, and it is not the day I want to take a walk in.

You could come and talk to me if you wanted to..... Really! I would love it. I made biscuits from scratch this morning, and I could make tea, too! Bye for now.

My Gallery

Just in case anyone is interested in seeing more of my art work, I have created my gallery at the top of my links. From now on I will put my creations there. So check once in a while and see what new stuff has been added.

Thanks for looking.