Lemon Stir-fry Chicken with Mushrooms and Baby Bok Choi

I've been working on a few more dishes I can eat – and serve up to people I love – which contain low carb content, low sodium, no gluten, and are easy and affordable (currently, although at the rate some prices are climbing, I'm not sure but that price will be the only consideration) for any occasion. So many stir-fry dishes end up getting scratched from my list for violating at least two of those issues, but tonight's dinner suits 'em all. 

I will admit, I did end up having gone out of my way for the baby bok choi (about 150 miles out of my usual shopping route, on a trip for another special occasion) but the adult version is still frequently available at stores around here, so it remains an option.

One advantage to a dish like this is, you spend only about 15 minutes at the stove. Stir-fry is nice like that. The bulk of the time is spent in preparation, i.e. chopping and marinating. 

I've set up this recipe to serve two, so you can easily adapt it upward to suit your needs. 

Here are few things you can do to make the advance preparation even easier: 
Use frozen chicken, allow to partially thaw in the refrigerator, so it remains firm enough to cut into small pieces. If all you have is fresh chicken, pop it into the freezer for about 20 minutes to a half hour, then bring it out to chop it.

When marinating the meat, put the mixture into a plastic zipper bag and push out all the air before completely sealing & refrigerating it.

Fresh mushrooms can be cooked up to a day in advance & refrigerated until just before final cooking time. 

If you really need to cut your carbs, I recommend serving this on riced cauliflower, because it and the bok choi are amazingly compatible. I'm lazy. I buy the shelf-stable, microwaveable pouches of "cauliflower rice" from Aldi, but you can prepare your own, if you're ambitious. Or you can buy the frozen versions. It's all good. 

And now for the actual recipe:

Not exactly a "foodie" shot. Call it a space-filler until I can get a better one.

Lemon Stir-fry Chicken with Mushrooms and Baby Bok Choi

Ingredients:

About 1/3 to 1/2 pound of boneless chicken (your choice. I used a mixture of thighs and breast "tenders")
2  Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger, ground
1/4 teaspoon fresh garlic, crushed
1/4 cup water

1/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced (your choice again. I like cremini)
Great gobbets of butter (start with 2 tablespoons, & add more if you need – or, if you're concerned about cholesterol, substitute 1 1/2 tablespoons of canola oil and 1/2 teaspoon of butter for flavor)

2-3 Tablespoons cooking fat (I use lard, because why not? You can use your favorite oil or butter, though I won't recommend olive oil for this)
1/4 cup sweet onion, diced
1 egg, separated
1 cup bok choi, stem section sliced thinly, green leaves coarsely chopped
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces (about 1/2 inch thick by 1 inch "square". Your choice in the cut of meat will help define actual dimensions).
Mix lemon juice, ginger, garlic, and water in a small bowl or zipper bag. Add chicken. Allow to marinate at least 45 minutes.

In a wok or frying pan at high heat, melt butter and add in mushrooms, stirring more or less constantly, until the pieces begin to brown and crisp around the edges. Remove from heat, set aside in a bowl.

Separate egg, set aside yolk for now.
In small bowl, using a fork or whisk, beat egg white until lightly frothy. Add to chicken and marinade.

In hot wok, add cooking fat and onions, cooking until the onions are just transparent. Stir in the chicken and all the marinade, stirring briskly so that the egg white spreads out well to cover & thicken the mixture. 

When the chicken is completely cooked, reduce heat to low. Mix in mushrooms, return to slow simmer. 

Stir egg yolk, then add into wok, stirring briskly so it doesn't curdle. This will make the "gravy" thicker & silkier without needing to add starch. 

Finally, add in the bok choi, and stir on low heat a minute or two, until the leaves begin to wilt.

Serve on rice (or rice substitute).

I like to serve this with a carrot-and-dried-cherry slaw for a brightly colorful side dish (I may post that recipe later). 

Flourless Whole-Citrus Cake

 I had a few blood oranges and a tangerine or two left over from another project I'd made a not long ago, & couldn't decide what to do with them, until I came across a series of recipes for whole-lemon and whole-orange cakes. Naturally, I had to try this, especially as I'm only 75% of the way through our birthday cake season.

Therefore, today is Flourless Whole-Blood-Orange (-and-Maybe-a-Tangerine-Because-Why-Not?) Cake week. 

It begins with a few thoroughly washed citrus fruits, a saucepan, and some water. 

It ends with dessert.

 

Flourless Whole-Citrus Cake

Ingredients:

Cake:
3 large lemons or medium oranges (or, as I did here, go for 3 small blood oranges and 1 small "Cutie" tangerine), divided (for optional icing)

3 Tablespoons Cointreau or other good orange liqueur 

6 large eggs, room temperature, separated

250 grams (approx. 1 1/4 cups) sugar

300 grams almond flour (finely-ground almond meal) 

2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions:

Thoroughly wash your citrus fruit, place in saucepan, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, drain, rinse, and cover again with cold water. Bring to boil again, then allow to continue boiling for 60 minutes. Drain, and allow to cool completely.

Cut fruit into quarters, remove seeds, place seedless fruit parts – peels and all – into food processor, and blend until smooth. Add Cointreau, mix in completely.  Reserve about 2 tablespoons for icing, if desired.

Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with baking parchment paper (I usually give the parchment a quick spritz of water on each side so it's flexible and sets in place easily).

Preheat oven to 350º F. 

In medium mixer bowl, combine egg yolks and sugar, beating on medium until light and fluffy.  

In separate mixing bowl, whisk together almond flour and baking powder. Stir into egg yolk/sugar mixture along with 1 cup of fruit pulp. Set aside. 

Clean stand mixer's whisk attachment and bowl thoroughly to be sure they are oil-free (I recommend wiping down with vinegar-soaked paper towel) before placing egg whites in the bowl. Beat egg whites on medium until soft peaks form. Gently fold into the flour/pulp/sugar mixture.

Pour into prepared springform pan, smooth top, place on middle rack of oven, and bake at 350º F for 60 minutes* or until toothpick inserted in center comes out sticky but without crumbs.

Allow to cool completely, on cooling rack, before removing from springform pan. Top with icing (recipe below) or sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

 

 Icing (optional):

Ingredients: 

approximately 2 tablespoons citrus pulp (from above) plus 1 teaspoon Cointreau

juice of one small orange or two small tangerines, when combined with pulp, equalling 1/3 cup 

250 grams (about 2 cups) confectioners' – powdered – sugar † 

1 teaspoon butter, melted

Directions:

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine juice, pulp, and powdered sugar, whisking until smooth. 

Add in melted butter, whisk again until smooth and fluid (you can nuke it all for up to 30 seconds, if needed, but if you do, you'll need to allow it to cool a bit before the next step). 

Pour over top of cake. 

Serve or freeze within 2 days.

*If it looks as though the cake is getting too brown too soon, gently cover with foil for the last 5–10 minutes of baking.

†If you prefer a thinner or thicker icing, you can adjust the amount of sugar/liquid to your personal liking.

Further thoughts:
Having tasted the blood orange pulp

3 Blood oranges & 1 "Cutie" after boiling
& being run through the food processor,
with 3 TBS Cointreau yet to be added
(made about 1.2 cups total)

before I put it into the batter, I decided to give it a little extra subtlety by also using a portion of lemon sugar I'd had on hand since Christmas. It didn't change the weight, but if I'd been going for volume, the lemon sugar ended up taking up about 25-30% more room in a measuring cup, ounce for ounce – well, gram for gram, actually – than plain or ultrafine (caster) sugar. (I went with 200 grams sugar, 55 grams lemon sugar, just because.)

I'll have to try this with plain ol' lemons, sometime, or even Meyer lemons or straight-up tangeroonies, next time we get a big box of Cuties. Currently, all my fresh lemons are tied up in the making of a lemon meringue pie, though, so… blood oranges and tangeroonies it is. No complaints, though. Not. One.

Well, maybe one. 

Somebody doesn't like citrus