Date I made this recipe – April 26, 2015 – Belated Earth Day
Celebration
Linda's Kitchen –
Simple and Inspiring Recipes for Meatless Meals by Linda McCartney
Published by: Little,
Brown and Company
ISBN: 0-8212-2393-3; © 1995
Purchased at Arc's Value Village
Recipe: Chinese Egg Fried Rice – p. 94
In last week's blog, I told you that the title and cover of
the cookbook – Len Deighton's Action
Cookbook inspired me to use that book.
This week, it was a song that inspired me; luckily, I also had a
"matching" cookbook.
So on or around Earth Day this year, my favorite local radio
station, 89.3 The Current, played Paul McCartney and Wing's song Junior's Farm. Yes, after the Beatles broke up, Sir Paul,
his wife Linda McCartney, and assorted other musicians formed the band, Wings.
So "Junior's Farm" led me to think about Sir Paul
which led me to think of Linda McCartney which led me to think about her great
success as a vegetarian cookbook author (and vegetarian product line creator)
which led me to think about how vegetables are an important part of Earth Day
which led me to think that this would be the perfect cookbook for the day. The end.
Now I could just launch into a discussion about the cookbook
itself but let's talk first about Linda McCartney, nee Linda Eastman. I had always, always heard that she was
related to the Eastman's as in Eastman
Kodak (the photo film manufacturers) but according to Wikipedia, this is not true.
What? Well burst a bubble why
don't you, Wiki? Still, Linda was an
accomplished photographer and published several photos of famous rock and roll
stars, including her husband. In fact,
she met Sir Paul while on a photography assignment in London .
After the Beatles
broke up (some fans never forgave Linda or John Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono for
that debacle), Sir Paul started the band, Wings,
and made Linda part of the group. We
won't go into the controversy (or, as the Brits say
"con-TRO-ver-see") over that move except to summarize: it didn't go over well. Still, Paul McCartney and Wings was
responsible for the following hits: Live and Let Die; My Love; Band On the Run;
Helen Wheels; and, of course, Junior's Farm. So there you go.
According to Wikipedia, Linda became a vegetarian as far
back as 1975 and by 1990, published her first vegetarian cookbook. The book I used, Linda's Kitchen, was published in 1995. That same year, Linda was diagnosed with
breast cancer and passed away in 1998 at age 56.
All of the recipes in this cookbook sounded and looked good
although I drew the line at using "vegetarian mince" (meat
substitute) or meatless sausages recipes.
I suppose I could have just left that item out but it just seemed easier
to find something that was totally meatless.
And because Whole Foods had a special on fresh asparagus, I also added
that to the other vegetables she called for.
I love asparagus.
You should know that Linda calls for margarine as a
substitute for butter in a lot of recipes, especially desserts, and I get why
she would do that, but folks, margarine has been proven to be awful for the body. So if you decide to try out some of the
desserts, see if butter will work just as well—unless, of course, you are truly
vegan in which case, never mind!
As to my Chinese Egg
Fried Rice, the only seasonings Linda uses are paprika (which I found puzzling)
and soy sauce. Although I used soy sauce
sparingly, I did use it as you will need it to add a little punch to the
dish. But talk about feeling healthy! This recipe calls for green onions, yellow
bell pepper, carrots and snow peas and then I added asparagus. I'm sure you can add more vegetables to this
if you choose.
Another tweak I made to the recipe was to use a mixture of
dark sesame oil and vegetable oil to stir fry the vegetables. I love dark sesame oil and I think it
enhanced the vegetables but that is just my opinion. Linda recommends that you can serve this with
her sweet and sour sauce on page 153 but I didn't want to goop up my rice with
that type of sauce so I passed (but have included it just in case you want to
go for broke).
So that's my Earth Day/Paul McCartney/Linda
McCartney/Wings/Junior's Farm story.
Enjoy!
Chinese Egg Fried Rice
– for 6 (with Sweet and Sour Sauce – optional)
Fried rice:
1 tbsp dark sesame oil
2 free-range eggs, beaten
1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 green onions, finely sliced
1yellow bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 medium carrots, cut in fine matchsticks
1 cup sliced canned water chestnuts (Ann's Note: If I made this dish again, I would skip
this. Sure, they add crunch but they
have no flavor. None. Try celery
instead.)
¼ pound snow peas, sliced diagonally
1-inch piece fresh gingerroot, peeled and grated
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 1/3 cups long-grain rice, cooked
Soy sauce
paprika
Sweet and sour sauce (optional and also untried) (makes
1 ¼ cups)
2/3 cup pineapple juice
3 tbsp olive oil
¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce or more to taste
1-inch pieced fresh gingerroot, peeled and finely grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 heaping tbsp cornstarch
Freshly ground black pepper
To make the Chinese Egg Fried Rice, heat the sesame oil in a
skillet and pour in the beaten eggs.
Stir a little until they set like a thin omelette, then flip over to
cook the other side lightly. Turn onto a
wire rack and cool. Cut in thin strips.
Heat the vegetable oil in a wok until very hot. Stir-fry all the vegetables with the ginger
and garlic for 3 minutes, then turn the heat down and cook until they are
tender but still slightly crisp, about 3 minutes longer. Stir in the rice, mixing well, and season to
taste with soy sauce and paprika.
Finally, fold in the egg strips and it is ready to serve. Delicious with the sweet and sour sauce on
page 153.
To make the sweet and sour sauce, combine the pineapple
juice, oil, sugar, soy sauce, gingerroot, garlic, and 2 tbsp of the lemon juice
in a saucepan. Heat until the sugar
dissolves. Mix the cornstarch with the
remaining lemon juice, add to the pan, and stir until the sauce is smooth and
thick. Season with pepper. Simmer very gently about 5 minutes, stirring
occasionally.
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