But this time, I didn’t have to knit it. I just get to enjoy it! After I made one for my brother for Christmas, I mentioned to Knitting Daughter that I just loved the scarf, but couldn’t even think about knitting another one. (It’s knit as a tube, so it’s row after row after row of going around and around, knitting … knitting … knitting.) She offered to make me one for my birthday and I quickly picked out the colors and wound them up before she could come to her senses and change her mind. 🙂 This one is done in Cascade Eco Alpaca, (in Baby Camel and Natural) like the one I knit for my brother. It is warm as can be and feels absolutely wonderful to knit AND to wear. I just love it. And now Knitting Daughter is going to knit one for herself, using Alpaca With a Twist Baby Twist in a blue and a charcoal.
Have you ever made a recipe that was so much work that you filed it in the “never again” file? (But it was so tasty, that you found yourself getting it back out and making it another time?) That’s what today’s recipe is. A “boy this is a lot of work but it sure tastes great” kind of recipe. I love the Spicy Cashew Chicken at The Cheesecake Factory. Since you can Google and find pretty much any recipe on the planet, that’s what I did, and I made it while we were in Colorado. Next time I might just go eat it at the restaurant ….
Spicy Cashew Chicken (Cheesecake Factory Style)
4 chicken breasts, cut into 1-2″ pieces
1 cup Seasoned Rice Flour (recipe below)
2 cups Rice Flour Batter (recipe below)
1 1/2 cups Spicy Soy-Sherry Sauce (recipe below)
1 cup cashews, roasted and salted
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
2 tsp. white sesame seeds, toasted
2 tsp. fresh parsley, finely chopped
1+ cups peanut oil for frying (as needed)
rice, cooked and ready to serve
Make the Seasoned Rice Flour (1/4 lb Rice Flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/3 tsp. black pepper, 1/4 tsp. Paprika, 1/4 tsp. baking powder. Add together and mix well.)
Make the Rice Flour Batter (2 cups Rice Flour, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, 1 qt. ice cold water.) Combine dry ingredients and then add in ice water and stir until well combined. Store in refrigerator or on ice to keep cold at all times.
Make the Spicy Soy-Sherry Sauce (2 cups Hoisin Sauce, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup Sherry Wine, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1/8 cup Chili Garlic Sauce, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 lb. fresh garlic, minced, 1 tsp. crushed red chili flakes.) Mix everything but the sugar. Add sugar in last, whisking well, until evenly combined.
Heat the peanut oil in a large wok or saute pan.
Put chicken pieces in a large bowl and add the Seasoned Rice Flour. Gently toss so that all of the pieces are coated with the flour mixture.
Dunk each chicken piece into the Rice Flour Batter, coating evenly. Add the chicken pieces to the hot oil, making sure that none of them overlap (single layer). Allow to cook undisturbed for 3-4 minutes per side. Drain pieces on a wire rack, while you’re doing another pan full.
When all of the chicken pieces have been fried, empty any remaining oil from the pan and then use it to heat the Spicy Soy-Sherry Sauce. When hot, add the chicken pieces and cashews to the pan and mix well, heating through.
Serve over rice and enjoy!
Quick question for you – we’re having the blue/gold Team Spirit colorway re-done, and Beth from Lorna’s Laces sent two “gold” samples for us to choose from. I have laid them on top of the current skein of blue/gold (which is not gold, thus the reason for us getting them re-done). Which gold do you like better – the brown-gold mini skein on the left or the yellow-gold mini skein on the right? Help us decide!
Sheri Backtothatrecipe – Itreallywasgood.Itreallywasalotofwork.
Ilike the one on the left…..cheesecake factory has delicious cheesecake & salads..whoohoo
The one on the right. I personally would enjoy the one on the left, but it doesn’t have the team color feel to it.
Brown gold! It’s so rich and beautiful against the blue… pretty pretty!
The yellowgoldon the right. It looks so pretty with the blue.
I prefer the one on the left but, if you are going for a literal team spirit, the one on the right is a much truer team-gold. Thanks for giving me flashbacks to my elementary school cheerleader uniform. I had lollipop pants in both those colors. Will forward the therapy bill directly to your office! 🙂
Definitely the yellow gold!
If you are looking for a team gold color, the yellow one is it. I like them both, though.
Your Cashew Chicken recipe looks awesome! Thank you! 😉
Another vote for the yellow gold! I looked at the Team Spirit colors this fall and decided not to buy since I wanted more of a true yellow.
I vote for the brown-gold. The yellow makes the combo look like school or team colors and, in my humble opinion, would be considerably less appealing…..however, as I say that, I fear there are far more team spirit types out there than I’m assuming and you’ll probably sell quite a bit if you go with the yellow gold. 🙂
I like the brown -gold the best. More contrast is better for me.
My daughter goes to Wayzata High School in MN and the colors are Blue and Gold. I would definitely choose the yellow gold. It would be perfect!! Thanks for asking.
Yellow gold works for me.
Yellow gold, definitely.
yellow gold
My initial reaction is both! But if only one, the darker appeals to me a tad bit more.
I like the brown gold, but if you are looking to say “team colors of blue and gold” I would definitely have to say the yellow gold says that to me more than the other.
yellow gold! It will be closer to the school colors where I work, and my old high school colors!
I love the yellow-gold and it just happens to be my company’s logo colors!
Brown gold on the left is a true gold color whereas the gold on the right is just plain yellow. If you are going for blue and gold then I would choose the one on the left.
I personally love blue and yellow together and think that combination is lovely but it’s definitely not blue and gold.
Ditto what Connie said.
The lighter yellow gold makes the blue pop a little more. The darker one makes the blue a little more moody and dark. So since I like my knitting light and fun I like the lighter yellow better.
Yellow gold. For sure. Go Michigan! 🙂
The one to the left has too much brown in it and looks like a dirty penny. If you are going to go that brownish route, you might as well stick with what you had already.
The yellow gold…it’s closest to what most teams use as blue and gold, like my high school did.
defintitely yellow gold!
Yellow gold! Please! And maybe with a darker blue. Like Navy. Please?
The yellow gold because then it will be right for Cal Berkeley and I can knit hubby some more socks. While I’m being all picky at you can we get it in sport weight? Cause size 11.5 mens socks go faster in sport weight.
The yellow-gold, for sure.
Definitely the yellow gold. And thanks for the Cashew Chicken recipe. This is one of my favorite Chinese foods. I just wish it was on the quick and easy menu.
Is it too late to chime in? I love the deeper gold alone, but the lighter gold combined with blue.
brown gold. very rich. non-flashy. of course…..she’s a genius with color so….
brown gold!! 🙂
As an alumna of the University of California (Davis), whose colors are blue and gold, I would have to go with the yellow gold. Don’t let anyone from any Cal campus tell you their colors are blue and brown…they’re NOT! Definitely blue and gold!
Oh yeah…Go Aggies!
I prefer the lighter yellow… the darker looks less golden than the shade you already have.
Brown gold looks more like gold.
I’m thinking specificially of my team (Notre Dame) here but the Brown Gold more closely resembles a true gold that is found in many Blue/Gold team colour uniforms. A team that wears blue and yellow (like Michigan) I think would do better with the lighter yellow gold colour.
That’s just my two cents! Maybe do 2 versions. One with the lighter blue (seen in the photo) and the yellow gold for the teams that are more blue/yellow and one with a darker blue (navy?) and the brown gold for teams that are more blue/gold?
Thanks!
Oh, and if you ddn’t get it from my last post my preference is for brown gold!
I think in the line of team spirit, most teams like to use bright colours with good contrast, but that is not what their heads tell them — it’s cool! I like the yellow-gold colour on the right.
I think I am in the minority, but I like the brown gold. It just looks richer.
Yellow-gold, without a doubt.
Yellow gold on the right. The other is too brown. Our high school colors are blue & gold and gold is gold not brown. I’ll buy it if it’s the right gold. I’m looking for yarn like that to make something for my granddaughter who is a cheerleader.