Chow Mein - Oh, winter time is a glorious time. Clementines are in season, and for the first time all year, I feel like I'm getting enough Iron, or whatever you get from citrus fruits. Seedless, easy to peel. Who needs candy? President Bush, if you're listening, pay your cronies to get these to be around for more than a half hour a year. I still won't vote for you, but maybe you'll cure the obesity problem.

But, I admit that all of this snow in the northeast has me feeling a little homesick. It sounds strange, I know, but it's true. So, I get homesick. I look for comfort food. I look for won ton soup and chicken chow mein. Sure, it's not authentic, but who cares? It's authentic chow mein. The trouble is, this city doesn't doesn't know how to make chicken chow mein. They know how to mislabel chicken lo mein, but that's not good enough. Let me help:

New York-style Chicken Chow Mein (serves 4ish, and cooks in about 15 minutes, plus time to make rice and prep time depending your knife weilding skillz).

• 1/4 cup, plus 2 Tbs vegetable or canola oil.
• 1 boneless chicken breast cut into thin strips
• 1 garlic clove, minced.
• 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced.
• 1 large white onion, sliced and halved or quartered.
• 1 celery stalk, trimmed, and sliced on a bias (abourt 1/2 cup).
• 1 cup bok choy, trimmed, rinsed, and chopped. (see note below ingredients)
• 2 scallions, trimed rinced, chopped.
• 1/4 cup bamboo shoots.
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock, broth, or juice.
• 1/4 cup sherry. NOT COOKING SHERRY! THROW THAT SHIT OUT!
• 1 tsp salt.
• 1/2 tsp sugar.
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper.
• 2 Tbs cornstarch, dissolved in 2 Tbs cold water.
• Thin sliced won ton or egg roll wrappers, deep fried, for garnish (optional).

NOTE: If you can't find bok choy, or baby bok choy, I suppose you can use a little extra onion and celery, and then some spinach to make up the leafy part. Also, feel free to add some baby corns or mess with the amounts of the ingredients a little bit. This recipe is pretty flexible, but leave the liquids alone.

1. Heat a wok over high heat until smoking. Stand back, add 2 Tbs of vegetable oil, then stir fry chicken until just barely cooked. 5 - 7 minutes. Remove to a plate
2. Add the rest of the vegetable oil, the garlic and the ginger to the wok, cook for a few seconds.
3. Add the sherry and chicken broth, stir and cook for about 90 seconds. Long enough to get the whole thing hot and well mixed, but not necessairly boiling.
4. Add onions, celery, bok choy, sprouts, scallions, and bamboo shoots. Stir well, bring to a boil, and cook for about three minutes.
5. Return chicken to wok, stir in well, bring the whole thing back to a boil, and cook another three minutes or so.
6. Add sugar, salt, pepper, and sesame oil. Stir well, and get the boil back. It might not ever go away.
7. While the wok is boiling, make sure the cornstarch and water are dissolved, then add it in. Stir until the sauce is thickened.
8. Garnish with fried won ton wrappers, and serve over rice or some kind of noodle.