Spicy Orange Stir Fry

A friend of mine recently traveled to Thailand and was particularly surprised by the condiment selection on every table: sugar, ground chili powder, chilies in vinegar (prik dong), chilies in soy sauce (prik si-iew want), and chilies in fish sauce (nam pal prik).  The purpose of these varied Thai condiments is to create a fully-balanced dish, combining all flavors distinguished by the mouth: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, savory, and spicy.  And that is precisely what I enjoy most about this dish, the flavor balance of salt (soy sauce), sweet & sour (orange), bitter (orange peel), and spicy (peppers).  This is a very simple vegetarian stir fry, but the flavor profiles also work well with beef, if you are so inclined.  Here I use Rooster Spur Peppers from my garden but Serrano peppers would be a great substitute.

Spicy Orange Stir Fry


1/3 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons soy sauce
zest of one orange
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 carrots peeled and cut on the 
   bias into ½ wide strips
½ lb sugar snap peas sliced in 
   half
½ lb button mushrooms sliced
1 red bell pepper seeded and 
   sliced into ½ inch strips
1 tablespoon diced hot peppers 
   (more or less to taste)
1 orange peeled, with all the 
   white pith removed, then 
   divided into segments, with each segment cut in half (see Techniques)

In a medium sized bowl combine the chicken stock, soy sauce, orange zest, and corn starch.  Whisk until the cornstarch is fully dissolved, and set aside.

In a heavy bottomed pan warm the oil over medium-high heat.  Once the oil is hot, but not quite smoking, add the vegetables, stirring every 10-15 seconds, until the vegetables begin to soften, about two minutes.  Stir in the sauce and toss until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes.  Stir in the orange segments and serve over rice.

Drunken Cranberry Relish

It seems cranberry recipes are popping up all over food blogs these days.  There is a Apple Cranberry Chutney on Simply Recipes, Cranberry Turtle bars at Closet Gourmet, Cranberry Orange Cinnamon Rolls on Two Peas and Their Pod, and finally Joy the Baker promises a week of cranberry recipes.

This recipe would be a perfect addition to any Thanksgiving meal; it also goes great with pork roast.  I like it on top of plain yogurt at breakfast.

The secret ingredient is whiskey.  It gives the relish just a touch of heat and a little smoky flavor.

Drunken Cranberry Relish

1 standard bag of cranberries

½ a naval orange

2/3 cup sugar

¼ cup whiskey

Rinse the cranberries, tossing any overly soft cranberries.  Cut the orange into eights and add the cranberries and orange to a food processor.  Processes the orange and cranberries for about 5 minutes.  Be careful not to over process the mixture (we are making a relish and not a sauce).

Transfer the relish to a bowl and stir in the sugar and whiskey.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the sugar to dissolve.

Stir once more before serving.