Older Bolder Life

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Recipe: Proteins

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: OB NOLA BBQ Shrimp

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Strolling by the seafood counter in my favorite grocery last week I spied a beautiful bin of wild caught Gulf brown shrimp on sale; after confirming they were plump and fresh I grabbed a pound and a half to cook through the last trial of this NOLA BBQ shrimp recipe we’ve been adapting (and spicing up) from Emerill’s version.

Barbecue shrimp done “New Orleans” style implies not shrimp done on the barbie, but shrimp pan sautéed, dripping with a garlic and Worcestershire spiked butter sauce, though there are probably literally dozens of variations floating around out there.

There are two things about Emerill’s classic recipe that my family has really enjoyed over the years – one is the deep, rich flavors that build using his technique to craft a shrimp stock using the shells. I’ve found that for the occasion when you buy a load of shrimp that have been shelled, you can sub in a prepared seafood stock for the water with great results too. Simmering the stock with a handful of various spices and lemons, then reducing it down significantly, yields flavors you’d never guess you could craft in your home kitchen.

The second thing we really like about this recipe is the fact that the cream based sauce has a bit more body, especially when mounted at the end with some nifty grass-fed butter.

This looks much more complicated than it is and comes together very quickly for the final cook. Just plan a bit of time to give the sauce simmer and reduction time to yield their magic.

And if you’re incorporating a carb refeed day into your routine, this is an absolute delight over a scoop of rice. Hot damn.

3 lb shell on or 1.5 lb shelled shrimp
1 tbsp creole/cajun seasoning
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
Fresh ground black pepper

2 tbsp avocado oil, divided
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp fresh minced garlic
Reserved shrimp shells if using
3 bay leaves
2 tsp creole/cajun seasoning
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
2 lemons, peeled and sectioned
2 cups water (or seafood stock if not using shrimp shells)
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
Optional: 1/4 dry white wine or sherry
1/4 tsp good salt

2 cups heavy cream
3 tbsp grass fed butter
1 tbsp chives or small green onions, chopped fine

Wash and peel the shrimp if using shelled, reserving shells. Rub with 1 tbsp of your favorite creole seasoning and 1 tsp Old Bay, dust with black pepper, then throw in the fridge.

In a medium saucepan sauté the onion and garlic in 1 tbsp oil until just soft, then add the shrimp shells, bay leaves, creole and Old Bay seasonings, the prepped lemons, Worcestershire sauce, wine or sherry, salt, and 2 cups water (seafood stock if not using shells). Simmer for 30 minutes, cool and rest for 15 minutes or so, then strain into a small saucepan (should have about 1.5 cups).

Now reduce the flavored stock over medium-high heat until roughly 1/3 cup remains, set aside.

Finally, in a medium skillet heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat and sauté the spiced shrimp for 2 minutes or so until just opaque; add the cream and the reduced flavored stock, stirring to mix well.

Simmer for 3-4 minutes, then quickly remove the shrimp to a heated platter. Now whisk in the butter (cut into small pieces) and remove from heat. Spoon the thickened sauce over the shrimp, garnish, and go to it.

Hot damn, and enjoy.

The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Easy Mu Shu Pork Cheat

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This has become one of our favorite family quick stir fries, and it has a bit of history behind it as I shared several years on ChiWulff (a fly fishing blog) –

Our clan fell in love with the classic Chinese dish Mu Shu Pork believe it or not when camping at Gros Ventre campground out of Jackson a few decades back.

It became a must-do ritual to drive up from SLC, set up camp as quickly as possible, and then beat it back to town for dinner at the Lame Duck. The little hole in the wall place was down East Broadway, past the hospital almost to the end of the road where the branch to the Elk Refuge peels off. I don’t know how many times we ate there with the kids as they grew up; we even got to know one of the waitresses pretty well one summer.

The Duck’s long gone now, a victim of Jackson’s (unfortunate in many ways) transformation, though the memory of great dinners past lingers. They had the best sizzling rice soup any of us have ever tasted, and among many other delights – a great Mu Shu Pork.

We’ve tried over the years to recreate the dish; we’ve come close but never hit it on the money and haven’t tried for years now – until this quick (kinda’ve a cheater) version came across our radar a few weeks ago.

She Who Must Be Obeyed has been out of town all week on business and I can knock this entire prep out in under 20 minutes now (after a few practice rounds), given how it’s based off using an (at least partially) pre-seasoned commercial sausage you bring to life with some minced ginger and garlic…

With even the most basic of knife skills you can chop your way through this recipe in less than 10 minutes, and then you basically just sauté everything up in a large skillet, preferably a big-assed cast iron one.

As per the images attached, we most often enjoy this one hot right out of the pan, drizzled with sriracha or a paleo version of hoisin sauce. Classically the dish is served with small rice flour “pancakes”, which you can easily sub with any of the low-carb tortillas on the market today.

1 and 1/2 pounds commercial hot Italian sausage (casing removed)
2 inch piece of peeled fresh ginger, minced
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
Avocado oil or EVOO
7-8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, sliced thin
3-4 ounces wood ear mushrooms, sliced thin
8-9 cups Napa cabbage, thinly sliced, divided
1 large bunch green onions, trimmed and sliced into 1-in pieces, reserve 1/3 of total
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp good tamari or coconut aminos
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
Butter or other lettuce leaves

Optional
1 can bamboo shoots, drained and cut into matchsticks
Sriracha, primal/paleo hoisin sauce, low-carb wraps

To get started, mince the fresh ginger and garlic and add to the sausage in a small bowl; work in evenly with your hands.

Heat 2 tablespoons of avocado oil in a large cast iron skillet over med-high heat and brown the sausage mixture well, breaking it up into a small-medium crumble as you go. When it’s done, remove to a clean plate, reserving the drippings in the skillet.

Without reducing the heat, sauté the trimmed mushrooms in the drippings, you want them to release a bit of liquid, then brown and crisp up a bit (4 to 5 minutes should do it).

Now add half the sliced cabbage, the bamboo shoots and 2/3’s of the green onions: keep things moving until the cabbage is wilted. Now add the rice vinegar and soy sauce and simmer quickly until the liquid is for the most part reduced (won’t take but 2 or 3 minutes).

Remove from the heat and add the remaining cabbage and green onions, sprinkle the sesame seeds and oil over and stir it all in.

Serve hot in your lettuce wraps (or the wrap of your choice) slathered with Sriracha or your favorite primal/paleo hoisin.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Hot Damn Tri-Tip Chili

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As much as many of us would prefer it not be so, it’s still winter in much of the country, and still soup, stew, and chili season.

We’ve been big chili fans around our camp for many years, and have a slew of recipes we always reach for. Like most of you, we have recipes using all sorts of different proteins, and a few vegetarian recipes as well, though many of those utilize legumes in higher volumes than we typically consume these days.

And while when I hear the word tri-tip, I most often think of a grilled Santa Maria styled tri-tip, with a crusty spice layer and cooked to a tempting medium-rare finish, and sliced thinly across the grain, tri-tip is a great braiser too.

This Hot Damn Tri-Tip Chili owes it’s chili magic to two key things.

The first is the simple fact almost all of the chili flavor comes from a chile puree you make right in your own kitchen, one that you can in fact customize to suit your own preferences (by varying the chiles) quite simply. Once you get this routine down a whole new world of chile (and chili) goodness will open before you.

The second part of the magic is the wonder that happens to a cut of protein that’s a little on the tougher-chew side but imbued with an amazingly deep, rich flavor when it’s slowly braised in a spicy liquid in low heat over several hours. You can have your Instant Pot – there’s no way it can touch the flavors that low and slow cooking imparts.

Don’t let the length of the ingredient list and instructions fool you, this is a very straightforward recipe and only takes 25-30 minutes of actual hands-on time if you’re handy in the kitchen.

Git ‘er done.

5-8 dried ancho chiles, prepped and cleaned
5-8 dried guajillo chiles, prepped and cleaned
2-4 dried New Mexico chiles, prepped and cleaned
4-5 pounds tri-tip , cut into 1-inch pieces
2-3 tbsp avocado oil (or EVOO)
2 fair-sized poblanos, stemmed, seeded, small dice
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, small dive
1 large onion, medium dice
6 cloves garlic (the big ones), minced
4 (or more) chipotles in adobo, minced
1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes in juice
2 tbsp of your best chili powder (to cover all the chili flavor bases)
1-2 tbsp ground cumin (start with one)
1 tbsp good kosher salt (or more to taste)
2 generous tsp dried Mexican oregano
2-4 cups chicken broth as needed

Optional
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 bottle Mexican beer
More chilis!

Bring 2 cups of water to boil in a small saucepan, add the dried and prepped chiles, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 30 minutes. When softened, puree chiles until smooth with a bit of the soaking liquid or chicken stock.

While the chiles are soaking, heat the oil over medium-high heat in your trusty Dutch oven; brown the tri-tip in batches, remove to a platter.

Fire the oven to 325.

Now sauté the onion and poblanos until soft, then add the garlic and chipotles and stir for a minute or so. Now stir in the chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, salt, and oregano; stir for another minute or so until well mixed.

Now add the beer if using, crushed tomatoes with juice, the chili puree, and the tri-tip back to the pot, mixing well, and topping off with stock if needed to cover the meat. Cover, and throw in the oven for at least three hours, stirring every hour and adding chicken stock as needed. It’s ready when the tri-tip loosens up and begins to fall apart.

When it’s done, pull from the oven, let rest for 20-30 minutes, skim the fat, and then go to it.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Salt Roasted Spicy Shrimp

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Back a few years ago my lovely wife and I spent an interesting year and a half in Alabama (it’s a long story, for another time). We love much of the culture and food of the Deep South, though for reasons that aren’t really important here we weren’t necessarily in love with our city of residence at the time.

One of the saving graces of our time there, at least from the perspective now several years past, was our proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and it’s bounty of fresh seafood. We eventually found a little market in our community that drove fresh seafood up every night to sell the next morning, and we became regulars, elbowing through the crowds to get the best Royal Red shrimp before they quickly sold out.

While we love shrimp grilled over a wood fire, and boiled shrimp Gulf Coast style, we also grew to savor this Salt Roasted Spicy Shrimp recipe that I tweaked from one posted in Garden and Gun back in late 2014 or early 2015.

The shell-on shrimp (the recipe calls for head-on as well – your and my grandmothers were right in saying cooking the whole shrimp does add flavor) don’t get too salty despite being cooked in a bed of blisteringly hot, and well seasoned, rock salt. (Please note – we have seen a failure when a relative tried to cook shrimp using this recipe in kosher salt – this only works with genuine rock salt.) Can’t find head-on, shell-on shrimp in your market? No problem, I couldn’t when preparing this batch imaged here – they’ll still taste great.

The somewhat unusual array of spices spices add a wonderful yet subtle melody of flavors and the shrimp come out plump, firm, surprisingly moist, and peel easily.

2 pounds 20-25 head-on shrimp (in the shell)

3 pounds Rock salt
3 tbsp black peppercorns
2 tbsp whole coriander
5 bay leaves (make sure they’re fresh)
4-5 star anise
12-14 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 jalapeno peppers, stemmed and sliced
1 head garlic, smashed, loose skin removed
2 lemons, quartered, divided

Preheat your trusty oven to 475.

Build your seasoned salt by combing the rock salt, coriander, peppercorns, bay leaves, star anise, thyme, garlic, the sliced jalapeños, and four lemon quarters in a large bowl; mix well.

Pour or spoon roughly half the salt mixture into a large oven-safe dish; slide into the oven for 15 minutes to get good and hot.

Pull the hot dish (carefully!), add the shrimp evenly dispersed in a single layer and cover evenly with the remaining salt.

Now back into the oven for 8-10 minutes; pull it when they’re just cooked through (sometimes as early as 7 minutes if the shrimp are on the small side).

Carefully remove the shrimp from the salt (tongs in my kitchen) and serve immediately with the remaining lemon quarters and perhaps a cocktail sauce built upon a primal/paleo ketchup. Hot damn.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Greek Marinated Grilled Flank Steak

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As I shared on Monday when chatting about our favorite tzatziki recipe here, my lovely wife and I came a bit late to enjoy Greek cuisine as much as we do today.

We both come from families who, from a home cooking and menu perspective, ate fairly routine American fare during our years at home decades ago; we both grew up in Texas so adventurous dining back in the day was typically either barbecue or Tex-Mex. Heck, I’m not even sure there was a Greek diner or restaurant in my panhandle home growing up…

Later my wife and I lived in Salt Lake City for years, which happens to host a surprisingly robust Greek community, and one of my former business partners and mentors introduced us to the wonders of cooking (reasonably) authentic Greek cuisine at home – and this wonderful Greek salad we’ve served for years (including again this past week!).

A couple of weeks ago we had occasion to eat at one of our favorite Greek eateries here in the DFW metro to celebrate a small but meaningful life victory, we enjoyed a dish we’d not savored in a while – a simple but incredibly delicious marinated and grilled flank steak.

I of course pestered the restaurant team for their recipe, and while they didn’t provide all the details, it was enough to guide my research, which included time on the phone with friend and Chef Libby in Austin.

After a bit of experimenting and tweaking, this is the recipe we’ve dialed in for this Greek Marinated Grilled Flank Steak.

Living in Texas as we do, I often reach for skirt or hanger steaks when preparing fajitas (which granted we enjoy often); it’s been a pleasure to cook with flank again as well – flank shares the same deep, beefy flavor as skirt (and hangers), the same robust tooth when cooked just so, and yet is delightfully tender when thinly sliced across the grain. And compared to some of the other cuts we’ve posted recipes for over the years, grass-fed flank can feel like a true bargain too.

Plan ahead for this one as you’ll really want to let the flank marinate for 24-hours, though 8 works in a pinch. And you can argue if you must, but this one begs to cooked to just medium, rested for 8 to 10 minutes, and thinly sliced across the grain.

2 to 3 lb flank steak
1 cup EVOO or avocado oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup coconut aminos or tamari
2 tbsp fresh chopped mint
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dill weed (dried)
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt

This one couldn’t be easier.

Whisk the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl, pour over the flank (I prefer to cut our flank into 3 to 4-inch wide pieces prior or marinating) and place in a resealable bag or your favorite non-plastic marinating container.

Marinate for preferably 24 hours, but at least 8, turning the flank occasionally to make sure all sides are well coated and exposed to the marinade.

Fire the grill, drain the flank while the grill is preheating, then grill to your desired finish – though flank begs to be cooked just medium rare, rested for 10 minutes, and then sliced thinly across the grain.

Great hot or cold, make sure you have tzatziki on hand for your Greek feast.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Texas Coast Boiled Shrimp

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My parents both grew up along the Gulf Coast of Texas, in or near a little community by the name of Bay City. My maternal grandfather had a beach house very close to the mouth of the Colorado River where it empties into the Gulf, a rustic wood-framed cabin on the tiny spit of land there between East and West Matagorda Bays.

The Camp as it was called by everyone in the family save for my grandfather, who had christened it the Mason Rouge (it was painted a nifty barn red), was a key focal point for summers of my youth as we travelled down to fish, crab, laze in the blistering coastal Texas summer heat, comb the beaches, and just generally live the life of a miniature pirate back in the 60s.

The Camp was wiped out time and time again by a number of hurricanes, most notably by Carla, and each time Pa-Pa (paw paw) would rebuild it a little bit bigger.

Fresh seafood was the order of the day; we pulled crabs from the crab trap every few days, caught fish morning, afternoon, and night, and bought “table” shrimp from the little bay shrimper (his boat was Little Bob) whose ramshackle operation sprawled on the riverbank about half a city block away. We probably had to drive the furthest – about 10 minutes – to pick up a bushel of oysters dredged that morning when the oyster mood struck.

Some of my earliest memories of wanting to learn about the art and mystery of cooking came from standing at my grandmother Ma-Ma’s (maw maw) elbow as she created another masterpiece on the ancient (and dammit, I mean ancient) gas stove in the corner of the first floor “kitchen” at the Camp.

She was a masterful Southern cook, using something akin to alchemy to transform uber-fresh, simple ingredients into some of the best food I’ve ever tasted. Of course, those memories are buffered by time and the myopic, simplistic perspective of youth, but damn, her fish cakes, gumbo, fish, and shrimp were stunningly good.

Though I didn’t appreciate it as I should back then, it was she who taught me to relish the tasty simplicity of a perfectly boiled shrimp, most often back in the day pulled from the pot, iced down to cool quickly, and eaten in a simple shrimp salad or dipped into just-crafted cocktail sauce bursting with nasal-clearing horseradish and savory Worcestershire (the Cajun influence in that part of coastal Texas was welcome!).

Wild shrimp are one of nature’s most perfect nuggets of high-quality protein, essentially free of encumbering carbohydrates, and with very little fat baggage as well. Fresh shrimp might not readily accessible year-round for many of us, but high-quality frozen shrimp are (if you’ll do a bit of digging). (And while not the focus of this post today, here’s a few quick thoughts on sourcing quality seafood.)

As many of you have, we’ve played with various approaches to attaining the best home-boiled shrimp we can over the years.

Our routine these days is simple and easy to reproduce tie and time again for consistent and tasty results. Note that we lean to the Texas Coast style for our shrimp boil – which means the inclusion of some form of Cajun spice into the pot. And next time you’re planning a shrimp meal, consider boiling up 2 or 3 pounds at a time – shrimp hold well for several days in the fridge, and make a great second meal a day or two down the road, a wonderful lunch, or tasty shrimp salad too.

Here’s how we get a shrimp boil done at home, as noted typically 2-3 pounds at a time for my wife and I. Ma-Ma would heartily approve by the way.

Into your shrimp pot goes water to cover the shrimp by at least 3 inches, along with half a (scrubbed) lemon and either a packet of Zatarains’s Shrimp and Crab boil or several teaspoons of their liquid boil mix, though the bagged spices produce a better result with a deeper, more interesting flavor.

Bring the water to a rolling boil, add the shrimp, and maintain high heat until the pot just beings to boil again. Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep for at least 5 minutes.

There’s a school of thought that argues you should let boiled shrimp steep for as long as 20-30 minutes, though my most talented shrimp mentor argues that you should add some ice to the pot if you’re steeping more than 5 minutes to cool the water so as not to overcook the shrimp.

I typically don’t steep for more than 6 or 7 minutes, then drain the shrimp, ice them down for at least several minutes, and either serve warm right then, or chill them down for several hours in the fridge. We like to peel them right at service (read as we eat them).

This routine is really child’s play in the kitchen, simple enough that anyone can do it with ease, and yielding perfect results every time.

See you at the shrimp counter this weekend.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Reverse Seared Cowboy Ribeye Steak

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Most of us who enjoy a nice steak now and again have looked at that thick-cut, pristine ribeye sitting in all its glory on the counter and debated what cooking method might yield the very best tasting outcome on that given day.

Should I fire the grill (two zones of course), break out the sous vide circulator and cast iron, or sear it on the stove top?

Thin-cut steaks, and for my purposes today I’m talking about anything cut an inch or less thick, are a pretty easy cook (relatively speaking); they cook fairly quickly regardless of method and in fact pan-sear quite easily.

The thicker-cut steak(s) pose an interesting challenge for the carnivore; sometimes you nail it, but just as often your masterpiece is too rare or even worse, overdone, dry, and chewy.

We’ve shared before that we’re fans of sous vide to cook thick-cut proteins, using BPA-free plastic immersion bags of course, followed by a quick sear in cast-iron over high heat. We’ve been using that technique routinely now for a couple of years, though my son Jake in Montana recently challenged me to re-visit an old technique – the reverse sear.

We’ve used the reverse sear method to cook bone-in rib roasts for years now (what a great holiday treat), and have been cooking thick-cut, bone-in ribeyes this way for a few months (my favorite local market calls this particular cut pictured a cowboy ribeye – the rib bone is left in but it’s not as long as the over-marketed tomahawk steak). I have to admit, the results are amazing, and consistently produce the best steak the home cook can easily prepare at home.

The most critical caveat is that this method works best for thicker cuts, at least 1 and 1/2 inches and even better at 2 inches (or more).

There are several advantages to using the reverse sear method. Low and slow heat prevents overcooking and offers more control, and the warm oven dries the surface of your steak allowing for a better and more effective sear at the end. The reverse sear method is perfect for dialing in a medium-rare or medium steak, preserving more tender pink meat with smaller gray cooked (or overcooked) edges that any other technique.

Reverse sear shines with thicker cuts, allows for creation of a prize-winning crust when you do sear – use preheated cast iron and be creative with your fat (try ghee or bacon drippings!). And the fond and drippings in the pan can be used to whip up a tasty pan-sauce as well. And by the way, while not every one happens to have a sous vide circulator on the shelf, most of us have an oven handy.

The process really couldn’t be easier. Preheat the oven to 275 F and line a baking sheet with foil, then place a wire rack over the foil (allows hot air to circulate all around the steak).

Pat the surface of the steak(s) dry and liberally coat with salt and pepper, then place on the wire rack and slide into the oven.

Advice from steak experts varies as to when you need to start checking the internal temperature of the steak; for the steaks I’m routinely sourcing for our kitchen, I typically give them 20 minutes in the oven at 275F before starting to check internal temperatures with an accurate meat thermometer.

While it may sound like heresy, for the oven part of this process, you’re looking for temps of 90-95F for medium-rare and 100-105F for medium. Think about it, you’re not cooking the steak completely in the oven, and it’ll finish cooking during the sear to follow.

Over high heat on the stove top, and using a high smoke point oil (avocado oil, ghee, etc), sear the steaks for 2-3 minutes per side until the desired internal temp is reached: 120-122F for medium-rare and 126-128F for medium. We like to quickly sear the edges as well.

It’s vital that you rest the steak(s) for 10 minutes or so after searing to allow carryover cooking to finish these proteins perfectly (internal temps will rise another 5-10 degrees).

If you’ve not reverse seared steaks yet, give this method a spin – you’ll come back to it time and time again.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Miso Curry Chicken and Snap Pea Stir Fry

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Even though the interval between the feast of Thanksgiving and the revelry of the Christmas and New Years week is shorter this year, that’s no reason to not keep slinging some varied and interesting dishes out of your kitchen the next few weeks.

One of my fly fishing buddies sent in a version of this Miso Curry Chicken and Snap Pea Stir Fry a few weeks ago, the week before Thanksgiving in fact, and we’ve just gotten around to fiddling with the recipe this past week here in our own kitchen.

While I’m a big curry fan, my wife typically isn’t, objecting to some curry dishes’ overpowering curry-ness (to the point sometimes of being bitter). The addition of a bit of miso and fresh ginger here seems to soften the curry a bit, and makes for a very interesting, almost subtle, and damned tasty variation that we’d never enjoyed at home before.

Fresh sugar snap peas happened to be piled high in the bin as I shopped a few days back, though this dish plays very well with snow peas or haricots verts (the thin French-style green beans) too.

Don’t skimp on the garlic or ginger, and I think this one’s better with a little more heat as well…

3 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
2 and 1/2 tbsp tamari
2 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp good fresh curry powder
2-3 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
1-2 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
4 tbsp avocado oil, divided
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or mixed with thighs) in 1/2-inch slices
Kosher salt, see notes
3/4 pound prepped and trimmed sugar snap peas, snow peas, or green beans
1/2 cup frozen or fresh (not canned) baby peas
3 green onions, thinly sliced

Combine together the garlic, tamari, miso, curry powder, ginger, red pepper flakes if using, and 2 tbsp oil in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat a tbsp or so oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and then sauté the chicken in a single layer until browned, turn and cook for another minute. You just want the second side of the chicken to become opaque; it won’t be cooked all the way through but remove to a plate anyway-there’s more cooking to come.

Now add the final tbsp of oil to the pan and cook the prepped beans (still on medium-high heat) until they brighten in color and begin to char in spots, 2-3 minutes. Remove to the plate with the chicken.

Reduce the heat to medium, and pour the curry-miso mixture into the same pan, and cook for another couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Look for the garlic to soften a bit and the curry to darken in color. Now add the peas and 1/2 cup of water, then return the chicken and beans to the skillet and toss to coat.

Cook another 3-4 minutes until the sauce has reduced by about half and thickens, tossing occasionally to coat the chicken and beans. Serve hot sprinkled with the chopped green onions/scallions.

Enjoy.