chicken and basil stir-fry

on saturday i cooked a fabulous recipe off marthastewart.com: chicken basil stir-fry

it was exceptionally delicious.. if you like asian food i would highly recommend you give it a try.

here's how to make it.

first get your ingredients together and (if you're of age) pour yourself a glass of wine. enjoying a little wine while you cook makes cooking so much more fun.

you will need:

1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (longer pieces cut crosswise in half again)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

coarse salt and ground pepper

6 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 small onion, halved and cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges

2 bell peppers (red, green, or a mix, ribs and seeds removed), cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1-1/2 cups fresh basil, larger leaves torn in half

cooked white rice, for serving (optional)


prep work:

cut up the chicken, onion and peppers. go ahead and mince the garlic if you are using fresh (i used pre-minced from a jar). tear up the basil into medium size pieces.

put the chicken pieces in a bowl and add the cornstarch. season with coarse salt and pepper generously... you're adding flavor to the meat.. make sure you add enough.. in this case i think more is better. mix ingredients together until chicken pieces are completely coated.

next, pull out a large non-stick skillet (or wok) and add 2 teaspoons vegetable oil. wait until the oil is hot and then add half the chicken letting it cook on each side for a minute or so, 2 to 3 minutes total... chicken might not be completely cooked but thats okay - its gonna cook more later on. transfer chicken to a plate. add another 2 teaspoons oil and repeat process with the other half of chicken. transfer chicken to plate and set aside. wipe out the skillet with a paper towel.

now, add the last 2 teaspoons of oil to the pan. heat and add the sliced onion and bell peppers. cook over med-hi heat, stirring/tossing often, until it begins to brown (about 3 minutes). add the garlic (6 fresh cloves or 12 teaspoons from a jar), cooking until fragrant (about 1 minute). now that seems like a lot of garlic.. but it makes the dish.. don't scrimp on the garlic.

now if you are using a wok you'll have enough room, but i found that there wasn't enough room in my skillet for all the ingredients to combine, so i switched everything to a big pot. to the vegetables add 1/4 cup water, the vinegar, soy sauce, and the chicken. cook, stirring/tossing until chicken is cooked through, about 1 minute. (just fyi - thats steam not smoke coming from the pot in the picture below. you definitely shouldn't have a smoking pot.)

mix in basil leaves and stir for 30 seconds to a minute. remove from heat and serve.

voila! your delicious dinner is ready! serve it with rice and a nice red wine and enjoy!

note: now if you want to serve it with rice (which i recommend) you'll need to start your rice right before you start cooking the chicken... i wasn't sure how long the recipe would take so i waited half-way through the process to start the rice, but that cut it close to overcooking the chicken and veggies. so start your rice at the beginning.