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I've given up fast food for the new year, so I need to know how to make Panda Express' Orange Chicken and Beijing Beef- stat! I'm already craving it! Got any recipe hacks, or even better versions?

Planning to make the winter squash and couscous salad from your site: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/vegetarian/recipe-cous-cous-salad-with-winter-squash-and-cranberries-043717

A healthy dinner to balance all the baking I'm planning this week--got the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook for xmas! Tried her double-chocolate brownie cookies already--fudgy deliciousness!

Hello The Kitchn Staff, happy new year first of all. When I melt sugar to make caramel sauce, how much acid (by using lemon juice or cream of tartar) should I add into the mixture in order to keep the simple syrup from crystallizing? Alton Brown suggests using corn syrup, but I'd like to skip corn syrup and use acid instead. Would you please help me keep my sugar syrupy? Thanks!

reggiesoang - Hi! My two cents on this: I don't usually add anything at all when I melt sugar; I haven't ever had it crystallize on me. But I think a tiny pinch of cream of tartar would be enough, if you want to be careful.

Others might have other opinions, though...

reggiesoang - i'm with faith, i never add acid - or corn syrup - to sugar when making caramel. and have never had it crystallize.

i prefer the wet method (takes a bit longer, but is more forgiving). at the beginning, i use a wet pastry brush to brush down any sugar from the sides of the pan. and i just swirl the caramel, never stir. (i stir when i add cream, etc, to the caramel to make the sauce).

Whew! Finally through all the year-end round-ups!

I'm looking forward to exciting new year full of culinary adventure.

The end of the year culminated in a gustatory revelation for me when I tasted my wife, Chelsea's, steamed English pudding

http://www.flickr.com/photos/art_chel/3139701093/in/set-72157611647605409/

Chock full of dried fruits and soaked with good cognac this was very luxurious and can't wait to make another one.

My year also started with a sunny reflection of my foraging adventures in the form of an HD podcast.

http://www.vimeo.com/2666963

@CorporateMonkey:

Besides the Trader Joe's orange chicken standby, if you were going to make your own version, I would suggest this approach:

Chicken:
Remove the skin and bone from chicken thighs and dice the meat. Marinate the chicken with a little vegetable oil, a few drops of sesame oil, some soy sauce, black pepper and fine grated orange zest in a ziploc bag for a few hours or overnight.

Sauce:
Add some frozen orange juice concentrate to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add some honey, rice wine vinegar and soy sauce and simmer. Taste the sauce for balance--it should be sweet, tart and sour--adjust it to your liking. Finally, mix a little cornstarch and water, add to the sauce bring to a boil and check the sauce for thickness--it should just coat the back of a spoon.

To Finish:

In a wok or high sided saute pan, heat enough vegetable oil to be able to shallow fry the amount of chicken you have. The oil should be hot enough to sizzle a piece of chicken when you drop it in.

Open your bag of chicken and sprinkle in enough corn starch to coat all of your chicken. Fry your chicken pieces in the oil until they are cooked through and take them out to drain on paper towels.

Remove the oil from the pan, return the chicken to the pan and toss with the orange sauce.

Serve with white rice and top with scallions--voila!

one more note on the orange chicken:

since you are using oj concentrate, you may have to add a little water to the sauce as it's cooking to get the right balance.

I wasn't in the mood to make dinner tonight, so I made a cheese plate and threw together this Pear Shallot Jam ( http://blog.nermo.com/?p=1028 ) to go with it. Any thoughts on what I might to do differently? I just made it up as I went, but it came out pretty well.

I've got the base for vegetable beef soup in the slow cooker. When I was fixing dinner last night, I cut up the vegetables to throw in when I get home.

The makings for whole wheat bread are in the breadmaker and the timer set so that it will be finished half an hour before the soup will be done.

Perfect winter dinner.

And the house will smell wonderful.

Happy New Year, Kitchn! I'm desperately looking for a few great, easy, fast lunch recipes. Light would also be a plus! My husband and I both come home for lunch, but end up eating Trader Joe's soup (which is great!, but we need a break) and sandwiches. Help?

I've re-dedicated myself to taking my lunch to work this year, too. The grain salad suggestions a few week back sounded great. I'll be making them soon. I'm still in "clear out the pantry" mode for now.

I'm just sitting down to a bowl of creamy squash and winter root veg soup with some cheesy croutons. Cooking from the hip using some cooked squash leftover from our CSA share that I had stashed in the freezer, plus a couple of turnips and parsnips that were still in my produce drawer from Thanskgiving. I must say it's absolutely delicious, and the cheesy crouton toasts are the perfect flavor and texture compliment.

What's the best way to wash fruits like apples and pears to minimize the risk of catching something nasty?

Aldyth, Cooks Illustrated had an article about this a while ago. Their results showed that spraying fruits and vegetables with white vinegar and then washing them with hot water was as effective in removing bacteria as the commercial veggie wash sprays. Cheaper, too.

Making one of my favorite and most healthy meals this weekend. It's a holdover from when I lived in England and was especially poor.

Soak black beans overnight. Or any dried beans.
Cook with or without some diced onion, red pepper flakes, and a bay leaf. Salt is a must.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until beans are soft. I have no hard and fast method for cooking beans. Any suggestions?

Serve over steamed white or brown rice, topped with chopped cilantro, a healthy dollop of sambal oelek, and some "pickled" cabbage. Pickled cabbage is some red cabbage, sliced and left to sit in a mixture of mostly red wine vinegar, salt, sugar, and hot water. Let it sit overnight.
Lots of different influences. Just incorporating everything I find particularly delicious.