Thursday, March 21, 2013

Honey + Beer Sauce, two ways

Usually we cook veggie at home, but every now and then, H finds a delicious sounding meaty recipe that must be made. Rather than make two separate dinners, I usually try and figure out how to make his newly found recipe veggie friendly.

So, sometimes we end up with two versions of the same dinner, one for and made by the carnivore (him) and one for and made by the herbivore (me).

We took a divide and conquer approach to this dinner.

This was tasty and that something-different we yearn to incorporate into our weekly dinner routine. I decided to make it a little extra gluttonous and serve it with mashed potatoes. Because, really, what doesn't taste better with mashed potatoes?




Honey-Beer Sauce, two ways: with Tofu & with Chicken
recipe adapted from So, How's It Taste?
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Yield:
4 servings

Ingredients:
(note: we divided the amounts below in half, and cooked each half in a separate pan, to better and easier incorporate the chicken in one and tofu in the other. If you're going to make only chicken or only tofu double the amount of chosen protein listed below)

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup beer (we used Newcastle, but any beer you fancy will taste great)
2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp honey
parsley, for garnish (optional)
6 oz extra-firm tofu, if using
2 6oz. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, if using

Method:
First, prepare your protein. If using tofu, remove as much moisture from tofu, and cut into cubes. Salt and pepper your cubes. If using chicken, salt and pepper your chicken breasts, coating both sides evenly.

Heat oil in pan(s). We worked side by side, one pan for tofu, one pan for chicken. Add your protein to the pan and cook until done. For the tofu, you'll need to turn the tofu occassionally to brown all sides evenly. For the chicken, you'll cook each side about 6 minutes, or until it's done. Remove proteins from pan once done. To keep our proteins warm, we put them in an oven-safe bowl and placed them in the oven at the lowest temperature the oven can be.

Return the now empty pan to heat, and add the onions. Cook until translucent. In a bowl, or small measuring cup, whisk together beer, soy sauce, mustard, and honey until combined. Add the mixture to the pan, bring to a boil and use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape the edges and bottom of the pan to loosen any stuck bits. Cook until the mixture has reduced to about half of what it was originally. Return your chosen protein to the pan, and keep turning until it's well coated with sauce.

Serve with mashed potatoes (the gluttonous side), or a salad (the healthier side)
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