I LOVE Gloria Pitzer. (AKA the Make-alike Thread)

[lashbear]

Just in case you need to leave the country... ya know.

Kraft Deluxe Original Macaroni And Cheese Dinner

8 cups Water
2 cups Uncooked elbow macaroni
1/3 cup Shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Cheez Whiz (I have a recipe on how to make this too, if ya like...)
2 tablespoons Whole milk
1/4 teaspoon Salt

1. Bring 8 cups (2 quarts) of water to a boil over high heat in a large saucepan. Add elbow macaroni to water and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally

2. As macaroni boils, prepare sauce by combining cheddar cheese, Cheez Whiz, and milk in a small saucepan over medium/low heat. Stir cheese mixture often as it heats, so that it does not burn. Add salt. When all of the cheddar cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth, cover pan and set aside until macaroni is ready.

3. When macaroni is ready, strain water, but do not rinse the macaroni.

4. Using the same pan you prepared the macaroni in, combine the macaroni with the cheese sauce, and mix well. Makes about 4 cups.

Recipe by Todd Wilbur

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by lashbear

1/2 cup Cheez Whiz

Ah, so THAT'S the secret ingredient! I've never actually had Cheez Whiz.

[3894]

My all-time favorite copycat recipe is for the Rainforest Café chicken salad's dressing. It's here. It means nothing that my search also brought up hits for an adhesive wound dressing from China.

Originally Posted by CP

Seems you read my mind. I was just googling Pop Tarts (looking for a factory) and found a blog where someone had figured out her own recipe for them, with the caption "Homemade Pop Tarts - Yes, Really!".

Years ago, the fabulous Jane and Michael Stern reverse engineered Twinkies. I didn't have any luck googling that but did find their famous Undescended Twinkies.

[Snowflake]

Anyone got the chicken lettuce wraps recipe from PF Changs? An otherwise bad excuse for Chinoise Cuisine, but the Mongolian Beef there was always good.

[lashbear]

PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps Make-alike

Wraps:
8 dried Shiitake mushrooms
2 teaspoons cooking sherry
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite size pieces
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
2 cloves minced garlic
2 chopped green onions
8 oz can bamboo shoots, chopped up
8 oz can water chestnuts, chopped
2 small dried chilies (optional)
1 package of Chinese cellophane rice noodles, cooked according to instructions on the package
Iceberg lettuce leaves

Sauce:
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cooking sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Method:
Pour enough boiling water over dried mushrooms to cover. Let soak for 30 minutes, then drain. After the mushrooms have soaked, remove any woody stems and chop up the mushrooms.

While waitng for the mushrooms to finish soaking, combine all of the ingredients for the sauce.

In a separate bowl, mix together the sherry, water, soy sauce, cornstarch, salt, pepper, and chicken. Stir together until chicken is well coated.

Heat large skillet over medium high heat. Add 3 tablespoons of oil. After the oil gets hots, add the chicken mixture. Fry quickly for about 3 minutes, or til chicken is no longer pink. Stir constantly to prevent burning. Remove chicken.

To the same skillet, add 2 more tablespoons of oil. Add the fresh ginger, garlic, green onions, and optional chilies, if desired. Fry quickly for 45-60 seconds, or till garlic is a golden color. Do not overcook garlic, or it will taste bitter. Add the dried mushrooms, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. Fry quickly for about 2 minutes.

Return chicken to the skillet. Add the sauce ingredients to the same skillet. Cook until the sauce thickens.

Break the cooked cellophane noodles into small pieces. Spread the noodles onto the bottom of a platter. Pour the chicken mixture on top of the noodles. Spoon into lettuce leafs. Roll up chicken lettuce wraps and secure with toothpicks.

Copycat recipe by Angela Harris http://hubpages.com/hub/Just-Like-PF-Chang-Recipes

[lashbear]

Also, presenting.... *Drum-roll*

PF Chang's Mongolian Beef Make-alike

Sauce:
2 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup dark brown sugar

Also needed:
1 cup vegetable oil
1 lb flank steak
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 large green onions

Method:
Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp of oil in medium saucepan over med/low heat.

Don't get the oil too hot or you'll get spatter when adding the other liquids.

Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.

Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
Remove it from heat.

Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4 inch thick bite-size slices.
Tilt the blade of your knife at about a 45 degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts.

Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch and apply a thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef.

Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.
As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (or skillet).

Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking.
Add the beef to the oil and saute for 2 minutes or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges.

You don't need a thorough cooking here since the beef will go back on the heat later.

Stir the meat around a little so it cooks evenly.

After a couple of minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and place it on paper towels.

Then pour the oil out of the wok.

Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute.

Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green onions. cook for one more minute, then remove the beef and onions with tongs or a slotted spoon to a serving plate.

Leave the excess sauce behind in the pan.

Recipe from Symphonygirl's Mother-In-Law via BakeSpace.com

[3894]

Thank you, my angel! I live in a decent Chinese food-free zone. I'm making the lettuce wraps tonight.
Mwah!