I'm Hungry, are you?

It's been several weeks since Ken and I dropped the recipe swap idea. Ken's busy working on his masterpiece and looking for the perfect job. But I got to thinking this weekend that perhaps there are others of you out there who are missing the recipes too. If you're not too bad...if you are...feast on this.

This weekend I made two new recipes. One I won't bother to post because it took too long and wasn't very good. It was just average. Nothing I'd make again, and so therefore won't pass on to you all.

I decided several months ago that I was going to put together a cookbook of family and friends favorite recipes, as well as all the recipes I've made this year alone. I figure I average 5 a month - give or take - that's - um...er...(hold please...getting the calculator...) by the end of the year it should be about 60 new recipes. Whoa!

The real question is how many of those recipes did I actually "follow" the recipe and not add my two cents...probably two.

Here's tonight's recipe.

Chicken Fried Rice - Servings: 4 - 6
3/4 C Chicken (I used a lb of thinly sliced chicken breasts)

1/2 tsp Cornstarch

1/4 tsp Salt

1 T Vegetable oil

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 T Vegetable oil (yes its listed twice)

1 C Sliced Water Chestnuts, drained

1 C Sliced mushrooms

1/2 Tsp Salt

2 T Vegetable Oil (yes...its listed three times - trust me)

3 cups Cooked Rice (DO NOT use short grain rice for this. I did and it turned out kinda sticky)

1 T Soy Sauce (I used about 2 T, but I like Soy Sauce...and I used Low Sodium)

1 T chopped Green onions

Dash of Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix chicken, cornstarch and salt in a dish. Cornstarch should coat the chicken. Let sit for 5 minutes. Heat wok or skillet. Add 1 T oil, add eggs; cook and stir until eggs are thickened throughout but still moist. Remove from wok and set aside.

Heat wok until very hot. Add 1 T vegetable oil. Add chicken; saute until brown. Add water chestnuts, mushrooms, 1/2 tsp salt; stir fry for 1 minute more. Remove from wok.

Add 2 T oil; add rice and stir fry for 1 minute. Stir in soy sauce. Add chicken mixture; eggs and green onions; stir fry for 30 seconds.

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Now, can you guess the one thing this recipe is missing? GARLIC. So I added three medium size cloves garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Don't ask. I like the combination of those two flavors...and I think it made it better.

If you have any recipes you want me to add to my First Annual Cookbook, send them to me. AND if you want a copy of the cookbook (expected to be out in January) send me a note.