Kitchening Around

The best chicken you will ever eat

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Sat, 18 May 2013 19:00:00 +0000

I've eaten chicken for many, many years. I've tried it deep-fried, oven roasted, and marinated in a variety of sauces. I've stuffed it with veggies, put it in tacos, and sandwiches. I've cooked it in dry spices and made it into a curry. But of all these things, for some reason, this particular chicken was simply out.of.this.world. The ingredients are nothing new or special, and I've used them in many concoctions before. However, I think it was a combination of cooking it in my lovely red dutch oven which cooks things oh-so-perfectly, along with the cut and freshness of the chicken (chicken thighs), serendipitous leftover ingredients in my pantry, and jusssst the right amount of each spice. Too bad I can't tell you the exaaact amount of each spice and too too bad that I will probably never be able to re-create this chicken exactly as it turned out this time. This is the price I pay for never accurately measuring my ingredients and tossing things into the pot as I see fit.

Ingredients:
2-3 tbsp canola oil
1 giant yellow onion, sliced
3 green chilis, minced
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp concentrated tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine
1 16oz can crushed tomatoes with basil
6 chicken thighs, skins removed
Salt
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
juice of 1/2 lemon

Prep:
Heat oil in a large dutch oven. Add the onions and green chilis, and cook until the onions are translucent. Next, add the garlic and ginger along with the turmeric, garam masala, coriander powder, cumin powder, red pepper flakes, pepper, cinnamon, and tomato paste. Once the spices are fragrant, add wine to de-glaze the pot. Pour in the canned tomatoes with basil and let it come to a simmer. Place the chicken thighs in the pot and spoon the sauce over each piece so they're all covered. Cook covered on low-medium heat and use tongs to flip the chicken every few minutes. Lastly, once the chicken is cooked, add salt to taste, turn off the heat, and garnish with tons of fresh cilantro. Squeeze some lemon juice on top of the whole thing and serve with rice.

Asian Style Ground Beef and Tofu

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Thu, 02 May 2013 03:00:00 +0000

Wow, turns out I'm not worst in the world at making Asian food after all! I whipped this up while hubbs was out on a 13 mile run. He's training for the San Francisco marathon in June, and I'll bet nothing feels better after a marathon than a piping hot plate of spicy, meaty food.

I bought this ground beef during my grocery run last week, but forgot that we had something scheduled in the evening every night of the week and this past weekend. We had dinner at G's parents' place one night, went to the Bulls vs. Nets game another night, and drove to Coloma, WI to celebrate G's dad's 60th birthday in a beautiful cabin for the weekend. My parents and brother were in town too, and it was great to have everyone under one roof.

Our puppy Mowgli had an absolute blast romping around in the woods, and we discovered that he's more useful than we give him credit for - he actually listened to us when he was off-leash and barked to alert us to other people in the forest. Of course, once he actually spotted the people and barked once or twice, he did nothing but lick them. However, I'd like to think that if we ever need it, his deep, booming bark will scare away intruders before they see his fluffy, baby-like squisho face.

Anyway, this is my food blog and not my Mowgli blog, so I'll get on with the recipe. This is one of the EASIEST things I've ever made, and it takes very little time to prepare. Given my past failures with making Asian food, I was nervous about how this would turn out. I even considered sticking to my tried-and-true beef kheema recipe, but I wanted to make something different. Somehow, against all odds, my Asian style beef and tofu turned out so freakin' delicious that I am still drooling over it as I eat leftovers now. Hubbs said it was the best looking dish I've ever made, and that it was in his "top 5" taste-wise. I'll take it!! :)

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs ground beef (I used the 96% lean 4% fat beef)
1 large yellow onion, sliced
3 green chilis, minced
1 tsp minced ginger
1 giant clove garlic, minced
1 cup diced tofu (I used the firm kind)
1/4 cup soy sauce (eyeball it and adjust to your taste - I did a couple rounds of the pan with the bottle)
3 tbsp Hoisin sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp Sriracha
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
handful of cashews, roughly chopped
cooked white rice (I used Basmati)
Sunny side up egg

Prep:

Heat sesame oil in a pan and cook the ground beef thoroughly. Remove from pan and set aside. Add onions to the same pan with a bit more oil and saute until they soften, about 3 mins. Next, add the green chili, ginger, and garlic and cook until the ginger and garlic become fragrant. Toss in the cubed tofu and let it brown a little. Pour in the soy sauce, Hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, and sriracha. Bring to a light simmer, then add the beef back to the pan and let it absorb all the Asian sauce goodies. Turn off the heat and stir in the cilantro and cashews. Serve hot with white rice, and, perhaps, a sunny side up egg, because everything is better with a sunny side up egg.

Wasabi Mayo and Smoky Bacon Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:00:00 +0000

OOOOO I am so glad I went to that cooking expo last weekend! I know I've been talking about it all week, but I truly picked up some great items from the vendors there. I love it because they're not items I'd pick up at the grocery store (even though some of these vendors have their products at some grocery store, most of them sell them online). They taste quite different than the regular brands I'm used to. They're from small, family owned vendors who seem to genuinely care about their product, and not in the gimmicky advertising sort of way.

I've been trying to create recipes around these products, either using them as the featured item or adding them to reliable, solid recipes in subtle ways. Grilled cheese is a favorite at our place. Gautam and I love it, and I'm sure Mowgli would too if we let him eat it. What surprised me about this sandwich is how well the smoky bacon cheese complimented the wasabi mayo and habanero barbeque sauce. There was no meat in this sandwich otherwise, but the surprisingly complex tasting cheese along with the arugula and sauces was just...perfection. Yup. It was so good.

Ingredients:

Wasabi Mayo

Potato bread

Habanero BBQ sauce

Smoky Bacon cheddar cheese (to make this vegetarian, just swap this with another yummy cheese)

Arugula

Salt

Pepper

Prep:

Preheat the sandwich maker. Spread wasabi mayo on one slice of bread and the habanero bbq sauce on the other. Grill the potato bread sauce side up. Break up the cheese and lay it on top of one slice, along with the arugula. Season with salt and pepper and cover the sandwich. Grill with the sandwich maker covered. Slice in half and serve immediately.

Tandoori-Ginger Sweet Potato Fries

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Fries have 2 main qualities. They're crispy, and they're fried. Maybe they're crispy because they're fried. I wanted fries, but didn't want to deep fry anything. This is because I'm not Paula Deen and don't have an industrial sized deep fryer in my kitchen, plus, as much as I adoooore food, I cannot submerge things in oil and eat them with a clear conscience. Also, bonus third reason, I'm extremely clumsy and cannot be trusted around hot boiling oil.

I bought a Habenero BBQ sauce recently at a food expo and planned to use it as a marinade for chicken or fish. But, I thought it would also work as a dip for something. I've had 3 sweet potatoes sitting in my kitchen for at least 2 weeks. I remembered they were there, but didn't feel like making soup (sick of soup right now) or stuffed sweet potatoes (don't want to do all that chopping). I made these fries so that I would have something to dunk into that spicy, peppery habanero sauce.

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato, thinly sliced into finger shapes (don't slice your finger, slice the potato into finger shapes)

1 tbsp corn starch

Olive oil

2 tsp tandoori masala

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp fresh minced ginger

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Salt

Pepper

Pigchaser brand Habanero BBQ dipping sauce - available here

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

Prep:

Preaheat oven to 400 degrees F. Put potato slices in a bowl and add the corn starch to absorb some of the moisture. This will prevent the potatoes from being soggy when baked. Drizzle olive oil on the potato pieces along with the tandoor masala, ginger powder, fresh ginger, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake for 30-40 minutes and serve with a dipping sauce of your choice. I tried out all 6 samples of BBQ sauce and settled on the habanero one, but the garlic, pineapple-mango, and bacon flavors were delicious too. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

Strawberry-Banana Smoothie

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Seriously, how easy are smoothies to make? Add ingredients to a blender. Blend. Done. The best part is, you can add whatever you want to the mix. Today, I added a couple fruits, leftover whole and soy milk, and yogurt. My wisdom teeth holes were happy to have this.

When something is this easy to make, you want to at least pretend that it took more effort to put together. So, I served it in our lovely wedding champagne glasses, which were gifts from Gp and PR.

Check out hubbs in the background, hard at work under the snuggly blankets.

Ingredients:

2 bananas
2 giant strawberries
2 cups vanilla soy milk
1 cup whole milk
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
8 ice cubes

Prep:

Add everything to a blender and pulse until it's as lumpy or as creamy as you'd prefer.

Cajun Spiced Shrimp and Tofu Tacos

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 21:59:00 +0000

For years, my dad has complained that dentists/orthodontists are the worst. He says that even when you go in for something as simple as a cleaning, they always find something wrong with your mouth.

"Ooooh I found a smaaaall black spot. It could be a food particle, or worse, A CAVITY! I must fill in this cavity RIGHT NOW, or there will be out-of-control pus monsters dancing on your tongue in no time!! Your choice, though...Hey, guess what, I could add this shield paste thingy to your teeth and it'll protect it against cavities! But in a few years you'll have to get it re-coated when it wears off. The reason it will wear off is because you will have eaten part of it. But don't worry, I have a procedure to cure that too!"

Lately, I have come to agree with my dad. I just want tooth doctors to leave my mouth alone.

Sadly, this is easier said than done. A few weeks ago, I went to the dentist to fill 2 cavities, and he said I should get my wisdom teeth out. They were partially out, not bothering me, and I wasn't in any pain. Still, he said I should get them out because if the root of the tooth touches the nerve blah blah then I could be in pain. I got all 4 wisdom teeth taken out over a week ago, and the last 9 days have been miserable. No cooking, no eating real foods, difficulty talking and laughing...all my favorite things, put on hold. What did I do while I was restricted from 98% of foods? I looked at food blogs, updated my "EAT" board on pinterest, and watched the Food Network. Not being able to eat non mushy, non-smoothie, non-soup foods was torture. I'm still not totally back to normal, but I've been sneaking in some solids here and there.

Yesterday, we went to a cooking expo in the suburbs and I picked up a few things, including the cajun spice rub featured in this recipe. It's a flavorful blend of onion and garlic powders, salt, sugar, nutmeg, paprika, turmeric, and some other spices. You could probably make a similar mix yourself, but I happened to try some delicious shrimp and chicken marinated in this pre-made stuff, so I bought it. The recipe here is one of the simplest I've made and took sooo little time start to finish. There's almost no chopping involved, and the shrimp absorbs the spices and cooks quickly. You can also use this rub on fish, chicken, steak, or pork. It has an intense flavor, so a little marination is all it takes for big flavor.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp Cajun seasoning mix (I used the Mangia brand, available here)
2 tbsp olive oil
12-15 jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed
1 cup firm tofu, cut into small cubes
Salt
Flour tortillas
Fire roasted tomato salsa (or any other salsa you have on hand)
Fat-free sour cream
Arugula
Fresh lemon juice

Prep:

Combine the seasoning with 1 tbsp olive oil, toss in the shrimp and tofu, and marinate for 15 minutes. Heat remaining oil in a skillet and cook shrimp/tofu mix until shrimp are no longer pink and tofu is lightly seared. Check the seasoning and add more salt if needed. Roughly chop the shrimp/tofu and place on a flour tortilla. Spoon a little salsa and sour cream on the filling, then top with arugula and finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Garlic naan pizza with ground beef and mushrooms

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 18:07:00 +0000

You know what's really fun to do?

Baking your own bread (yeah, right) and making your own sauces.

You know what else is really fun AND makes your life easier? Pre-made garlic naan and the 'Masala Simmer Sauce' from Trader Joe's.

This pizza is going to be one of our staples, since it's so easy to make and, most important, unbelievably, mouthwateringly good. It's also extremely modest, did I mention that?

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 8oz package button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp dried basil
Red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper
1/4 lb ground beef
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
6 pieces Trader Joe's garlic naan
1/4 cup Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce
Gorgonzola cheese
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Prep:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Heat oil in a skillet and cook the sliced mushrooms. Season with turmeric, garam masala, dried basil, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Add the ground beef and cook all the way through. Turn off the heat and stir in the shopped cilantro. Brush each naan with a little olive oil and 2 tsp of the Masala Simmer Sauce. Top with the cooked mushroom/beef mixture and crumble a few bits of gorgonzola cheese onto the naan. Place in the oven just until the naan is warmed up and the gorgonzola melts. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Slice into manageable-sized pieces and serve immediately.

To make this vegetarian, replace the ground beef with eggplant, tofu, or that fake meat stuff.

Spiced Scrambled Eggs

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 23:57:00 +0000

Although hubbs can eat cereal any time of the day, I prefer a little variety in my meals. Eggs are an easy go-to for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I can only make eggs reliably well in one way: sunny side up. Crack open the egg, season it, and you're finished. My omelettes (really? this is how 'omlets' is spelled?) are moderately edible, but not consistently yummy. I learned how to make poached eggs, but they're too much work so I gave up on that. I know how to make boiled eggs, but they smell like fart.

Now scrambled eggs...I've tried many times, but always ended up with a dry, poorly seasoned, smelly, yellow mess in the pan. Not anymore! I finally learned that you have to turn off the stove just as the eggs start to look creamy. Then, they continue to cook as you put the finishing touches on them and transfer them to a plate. Here is a Pinterest-inspired scrambled egg dish with spices - click here for the original recipe. I modified it by reducing amount of turmeric to 1/2 tsp, adding coriander and cumin powders, and using ground instead of fresh ginger. We've eaten this by itself, but if you want to make a full meal out of it, spread it between toasted slices of potato bread or warmed tortillas.

Stuffed shells with Sweet Potato, Spinach, and Gorgonzola

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 20:00:00 +0000

How am I supposed to pass on making this pasta? It has several of my top ingredients, it's so easy to make, and it involves stuffing things into pasta. I could eat some variation of this several times a week. As always, the best dishes come about when I think I have nothing to cook, and when I start making dinner after assuming we'll just get take-out.

Ingredients:

1/2 large sweet potato, cut once lengthwise
Olive oil
Pepper
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1 jalapeno, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups frozen spinach
1.5 cups tomato-basil marinara
Red pepper flakes
Gorgonzola cheese
Salt
1 box jumbo pasta shells

Prep:

Pre-heat your toaster oven (I am so glad I got this...as with everything, my mom was right when she said it would come in handy) to 400 degrees F. You could do this in a standard oven, but what's the point of heating up a giant oven when all you want to do is bake a measly half sweet potato?? There's no point. Just use a toaster oven. Anyway, season the sweet potato with freshly ground black pepper and olive oil and bake for 25 minutes. While this is baking, get the rest of your stuffing ready.

Cook pasta according to package instructions. Heat olive oil in a skillet and saute the onion and jalapenos. Next, add the garlic and stir until it becomes fragrant. Add the spinach and wait until it wilts. Pour in the pre-made tomato-basil marinara, add the red pepper flakes, and stir until everything comes to a simmer. Turn off the heat and add the gorgonzola cheese. Gorgonzola has a pretty strong flavor, so you don't need too much cheese to give the stuffing a robust taste. Sample it as you go and adjust the amount of cheese accordingly. Remove the sweet potato form the oven and scoop out the flesh. Stir this into the veggie/cheese mixture. Lastly, add salt. I usually add salt earlier in the process, but gorgonzola is salty already and you don't want to ruin the dish with giant amounts of NaCl.

Spoon the stuffing into the cooked jumbo shells and top with a little extra warmed marinara sauce.

Corn and Carrot soup with Italian Seasoning

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:37:00 +0000

We had a huge and sudden snowstorm this week. By sudden, I mean that at 12:02 pm it was clear and cool, and by 12:06 pm I couldn't see anything looking from our window. It snowed and snowed all day, my hands were getting icy even though the heater was on, and I was left craving a bowl of soup to warm them back up. While potato, black bean, shrimp, and butternut squash soups have been good to me in the past, I wanted to try and replicate a creamy sweet corn soup from one of our favorite places, J.K. Kabab on Devon St. Of course, I have zero discipline when it comes to using exact ingredients in precise amounts, so I went ahead and added carrots, ginger, and Italian seasoning to the soup. It tasted nothing like the one at J.K. Kabab, but it was yummy nonetheless.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1 jalapeno, minced
1/2 large carrot, thinly sliced
few dashes ground ginger
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 cup white wine
1 14.5 oz can cream of corn
3 cups vegetable (or chicken) stock
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp chopped cilantro

Prep:
Heat oil in a dutch oven and sautee the onion until it's translucent. Next, add the jalapeno and carrot and season with the ground ginger and Italian seasoning. Deglaze the pot with white wine and wait until it reduces a bit. Pour in the cream of corn along with the vegetable stock. Season with salt and pepper and let simmer until the carrots are fully cooked through - this should happen pretty quickly if they are thinly sliced. Turn off the heat and garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve warm.

Coconut Curry Shrimp

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Usually, I'm a failure at Asian food. I substitute ingredients, don't follow instructions, and don't measure things out. Today, while watching the Bulls get their butts handed to them by the Miami Heat, I made this coconut curry shrimp with some essential ingredients plus universal-ish veggies that go with almost anything. The result was a hearty, soupy, savory dish which kinda sorta eased the pain of realizing that the Bulls are 7.5 games behind the Heat in the NBA Eastern Conference. I have plenty of leftovers for a couple lunches, and I have a feeling this soup/rice curry will only get better as it sits in the fridge.

Ingredients:

2 cups rice - I used Arborio rice, which is usually used for risotto. This rice is shorter and fatter than Basmati rice and absorbs the broth from the coconut curry nicely
3 tbsp canola oil
2 medium yellow onions, sliced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 inch stub of fresh ginger, minced
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 bell pepper, diced
3 carrot, slivered
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup coconut milk (a lot of recipes for coconut curry tell you to add 1-2 cups, but this is way too rich and coconutty for me)
couple dashes fish sauce
2 tbsp red curry paste
1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro, plus more for garnishing
Milk (optional)

Prep:

Cook rice according to package instructions. Heat oil in a dutch oven and add the onions. When they soften, add the garlic, ginger, coriander powder, and turmeric. Toss in the bell pepper and carrots and stir for a couple minutes, and then add the chicken broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, and red curry paste. When the broth is nice and flavorful, turn off the heat and add the shrimp. The shrimp will cook in a minute or so, and to avoid overcooking the shrimp you want to have the heat off when you add them to the boiling broth. Stir in the cilantro and check the seasoning. If it's slightly salty like mine was, add a little milk. Lastly, add the cooked rice to the broth and serve hot, garnished with additional cilantro.

Asian style Pork Tenderloin

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 00:14:00 +0000

I like to pride myself as a knower of words. That's right, knower, as in one who knows. Given this pride, I never once thought to ask myself, "What is a tenderloin"? To me, it was pretty simple. A tenderloin is a tender loin. I never even said those words out loud because I knew what loins were, I assumed "tender" was just the adjective, and I have no reason or opportunity in my everyday life to just throw those sort of phrases around.

Yesterday, when I stopped by Mariano's for my bi-weekly grocery run (yeah...wifelife to the max), I spotted a woman buying pork tenderloin and commenting on how good of a deal it was while the man behind the meat counter remarked how fresh and good-quality it was. I walked by a few times trying to ignore them, but at the same time wondered, "Why would anyone want to eat THAT part of a pig? why?". Finally, I looked at the shape of it and decided that it couldn't possibly be THAT part, and decided to, for the first time, purchase pork and prepare it!!! And man am I glad I did.

I've mentioned before that Pinterest is your BFF anytime you want to do something. Anything. Interested in sewing? Oh here are 16,000 options for cute things to make your baby niece. Love decorating? Check out 30 quick ways to transform your favorite t-shirt into a cushion cover. Food fanatic? Here, learn how to braise, roast, pickle, and steam everything under the sun.

I used Pinterest yesterday, first of all, to learn what a tenderloin was. I found a picture of the different pork cuts, and was relieved to find that the tenderloin is the top part of the back, and not actual loins. phew. Since this was my first time ever cooking pork, I didn't want to take any chances by throwing random ingredients together and hoping that it was edible in the end. So, I browsed pork tenderloin recipes and found this one. Anything Asian-inspired is a win in my book. I re-created this dish with hot mango chutney instead of the apricot preserves, and added orange juice to the marinade. Why didn't I ever think of marinating with OJ before?? Such a great idea. The resulting pork was saucy, tender, and perfect in tacos. Who knows how I'll eat the leftovers??

I was worried the pork would taste too porky, but it was sooo good. Special thanks to friends JM and BW for inspiring me to cook pork. They invited us over for dinner a few months ago and asked us, in advance, if there was anything we don't eat. We said no. Turned out, almost every course had one ingredient that I "didn't like" or "never ate". Grapefruit and fennel in the salad, pork tenderloin for the entree, and blue cheese in the dessert. I'm really glad I didn't leave these ingredients out when they asked us, because every dish was scrumptious and I would've seriously missed out if I told them not to include them. Never say never, indeed.

Quesadillas with Tomato, Jalapeno, and Arugula

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 17:30:00 +0000

If you want to start cooking but are too scared to try, Mexican food is a good place to start. Why? Well with Mexican food, you can:

1) pick any combination of cheese, veggies, meats, and sauces

2) toss them together

3) stuff said veggies and cheeses into corn or flour tortillas for quesadillas and tacos,

4) or, serve over rice with a side of black or pinto beans

Sure, there are certain spices that give you more of that Mexican flavor, but really, you can't go wrong. Get creative and try to make something using the items in your pantry instead of making a grocery run just for one meal.

Ingredients:

Flour tortillas

Mexican cheese, shredded

2 jalapenos, diced

1 large tomato, diced

2 cups fresh arugula

Freshly ground black pepper

Sriracha sauce

Prep:

Preheat your quesadilla maker/grill (I got my quesadilla maker at Macy's for, inexplicably, $7. That's SEVEN). Place one flour tortilla on the grill and top with the cheese, jalapenos, and tomatoes. Place a few arugula leaves on top, sprinkle a little more cheese, and season with black pepper. Close the quesadilla maker for 1-2 minutes until the cheese melts. Cut the quesadillas and serve with a side of Sriracha sauce.

Chicken Sandwiches with Wasabi Mayo

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 01:40:00 +0000

I'm the kind of person that loves to cook and eat at home. I'm also the kind of person who loves eating what other people have made, whether it's at delicious restaurants, potlucks, or free food samples at Costco and Trader Joe's on Sundays. During one such "free sample" day, I ate a simple but flavorful bite of chicken + wasabi mayo at Trader Joe's. I decided to recreate this at home today, and it took a total of 4 ingredients.

Ingredients:

Any kind of bread (I used whole wheat bagel buns)
1 small can cooked chicken, finely chopped
2 tbsp wasabi mayonnaise
Handful of arugula

Prep:

Preheat the panini maker and lightly grill the bread. Mix the chicken with the wasabi mayonnaise and spread this on the bread. Remove from the grill and top with fresh arugula. THAT'S IT. You don't need additional heat, salt, pepper, tomatoes, onions, NOTHING!

Black bean and Sweet Potato Quinoa

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:30:00 +0000

I'm still getting used to quinoa. I'm well aware of how much healthier it is than white rice, but i love white rice the most. Basmati rice, to be exact. I don't like brown rice, and quinoa is kinda ok but still not my top choice. But, last week, 40lb sack of basmati rice, which I'm sure I've had for 5 years, was finally empty. I think my parents bought it when I first started grad school, and since I barely cooked until mid 2011, the rice just sat and sat and sat unless my parents were in town and cooked with it. The reason I'm telling you all this is because I haven't had the time to head up to Devon and buy another 40lb bag of Basmati, so I've been making different types of quinoa dishes all week. It can be boring to always have quinoa with chicken or fish, so I was looking for a savory, vegetarian way to prepare quinoa. Enter Pinterest. I found this recipe and followed it somewhat closely, except I used Italian seasoning instead of straight oregano, skipped the avocado, added cilantro, and used twice as much quinoa as suggested. In the end, I thought the quinoa was yummy, and hubbs thought it pretty good too. When I make this again, I'll play around with the seasonings some more and cut down on the amount of quinoa so that the dish is a little saucier.

Tandoori Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 19:30:00 +0000

How come I, as an Indian and a lover of chicken, have never posted about tandoori chicken on this blog? Oh oh that's because I've only eaten tandoori chicken at restaurants (especially our favorite chicken place, JK kabab), and I've never cooked it myself. Aisha aunty gave me a jar of tandoori masala powder, and just like that, the lunch menu changed from teriyaki chicken to tandoori chicken.

I try to use fresh ingredients whenever possible, and ideally I'd be a spice whiz who could whip up specialized spices on a whim. However, when someone perfects a tandoori masala (in this case. the "Rajah" brand tandoori masala makers) and puts it in a jar, I see no reason not to use this ready-made ingredient to shorten and simplify my cooking time. Make this. You won't regret it.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups low-fat plain yogurt
2 tbsp tandoori masala
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt
Pepper
6 pieces chicken thighs, skin removed and excess fat trimmed (my first time cooking chicken thighs - fattier than chicken breasts, juicier, and more flavorful)
2 tbsp chopped cilantro

Prep:
Mix together all ingredients except the chicken in a non-reactive bowl. Check the seasoning, then add the chicken thighs to the bowl. Marinate for 2 hours (more is fine, too). Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place chicken on a foil-lined baking tray and cook for 30-40 minutes until the chicken is no longer pink. Garnish with cilantro and serve over hot basmati rice or quinoa.

Baba Ghanoush (eggplant dip)

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:30:00 +0000

oushoushsoujoush how cool does that sound?

Remember how after I made the Eggplant Pizza, I said I had half an eggplant left and I might make the pizza again? I didn't. Instead, I made this baba ghanoush. The beautiful thing about making this (or anything else, really) at home instead of ordering it at a restaurant is that you can cater it specifically to your tastes. Love garlic? Throw 3 giant cloves in there. Not a fan of tahini? Use half as much. Love spice (and a little color contrast for the photos)? Sprinkle red pepper flakes on top of the finished dip. I don't have a single bad thing to say about this baba ghanoush. In fact, it puts even the various hummuses (hummusi? humussee?) from Trader Joe's to total shame.

Ingredients:

1/2 large eggplant, cubed
3 whole cloves garlic
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil (to toss eggplant and garlic)
5-6 tbsp tahini
1 small red onion, diced
2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tbsp lemon juice
Extra virgin olive oil (use a good tasting, salad dressing quality, fruity one)
Red pepper flakes

Prep:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. I used my conveniently sized toaster oven, so it didn't take as long to heat up. Place cut eggplant pieces and garlic on a foil-lined baking tray and toss with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Roast for 20-30 minutes. Add cooked eggplant and garlic to a food processor and add tahini, onion, cilantro, lemon juice, and extra virgin olive oil. Pulse together until a nice paste forms. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with red pepper flakes.

Serve with pita or a crusty bread.

Eggplant Pizza, Indian style

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:30:00 +0000

Once you become decent at using a certain ingredient in a particular way, it's easy to get into the rut of making it the same boring way all the time. This has happened to me with eggplant. I either make eggplant parmesan or stuffed eggplant. But what if I'm not in the mood for one of these dishes? In that case, the eggplant just waits in the refrigerator until it strikes me, one day, that all I have to do is type in "Eggplant" into Pinterest for hundreds of cool eggplant recipes. Given my dislike for flour, measuring, and making dough, you'd think I'd constantly be thinking of pizza-crust substitutes. Why didn't I ever think of using eggplant as a pizza base? DUH. Also, the Indian curry sauce is a nice change from the traditional tomato-basil sauce and goes really well with the cheeses and cilantro.

I cannot stress how easy, healthy, and delicious this is. I'm definitely making this as an appetizer for a future dinner party (and also maybe in a couple days, because I still have 1/2 an eggplant left).

Ingredients:

Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1/2 large eggplant, cut into 6 1/2 inch slices
6 tsp Trader Joe's Curry Simmer Sauce
Goat cheese
Gouda cheese
3 tsp cilantro

Prep:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Add oil, salt, and pepper to a small bowl and brush this mixture onto both sides of the eggplant slices. Line a baking tray with foil and arrange eggplant slices on the tray. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until eggplant slices are cooked all the way through. Remove eggplant from the oven and turn off the heat. Spread a little curry simmer sauce on one side of the eggplant and top with goat and gouda cheese. Return to the oven for 2 minutes until the cheese melts. Finally, add the cilantro and serve immediately.

Grilled cheese sandwich on Pretzel bread with Wasabi Mayo

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 23:21:00 +0000

You know those days when you make a detailed list of things to buy at the grocery store, then that list becomes meaningless as soon as you enter Trader Joe's? Yup that exact thing happened to me today. I had a clear plan: buy snacks and canned foods at Trader Joe's, then head to Mariano's for all the produce. Nope. I basically walked into TJ's, headed straight to the sample counter, and instantly picked up the wasabi mayonnaise after trying a pretzel bread+chicken+wasabi mayo sample. Wasabi can be overpowering, but somehow this mayo had just the right proportion of wasabi to mayo.

This sandwich is in my top 3 of all sandwiches I've made, ever. The pretzel bread has a warm, beautiful, welcoming aroma which pairs well with the spicy, pungent wasabi mayo. Now that I've effectively described the smell of the bread using adjectives usually reserved for temperature, sight, and general "feelings", I'll continue on with the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 mini loafs pretzel bread
2 tsp wasabi mayonnaise
4 slices gouda cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
few thin slivers of red onion
Salt
Pepper
Red pepper flakes
small handful of arugula

Prep:

Pre-heat sandwich maker. Slice pretzel bread lengthwise and grill until the bread warms through. Spread the wasabi mayo on one side of the bread, then add gouda and mozzarella cheeses. Place a few slivers of red onion on the bread and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Top with arugula, place the other slice of bread on top, and close the sandwich maker to melt the cheeses. Serve warm.

Chicken sausage and Ricotta Manicotti

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 04:29:00 +0000

There's something about stuffed pasta that's extremely appealing to me. Ravioli. Tortellini. Stuffed shells. Manicotti. Yes, please. I last made manicotti a long time ago. Since I haven't been to the grocery store in quite some time, I'm in one of those situations now when the odd-ball ingredients in my refrigerator and pantry dictate what's for dinner. I literally had 1 box of manicotti, 1 jalapeno, 1 onion, 1 can of crushed tomatoes, 1 package of pre-cooked and seasoned chicken sausage, 1 small tub of low-fat ricotta cheese, and juuust enough cilantro left over. That, combined with my laziness in driving 2 minutes to the store, is what gave birth to this pasta. It usually works out that these types of creations end up being my favorite - and this chicken and ricotta manicotti is no different.

Ingredients:

Olive oil
1 tbsp pesto
1 medium red onion, sliced
1 jalapeno, diced
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 large can crushed tomatoes with basil
2 tsp crushed red peppers
Salt
4 links cooked, seasoned chicken sausage (mine was a monterey cheese + mexican spice blend)
2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro
1/4 cup low-fat ricotta

Prep:
Heat the olive oil and pesto in a large pan. Add the red onion and jalapeno and cook until the onions soften, then add the Italian seasoning. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, season with salt, and add the red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer. The chicken sausage slices go in next, since they're already cooked and you just want to warm them up. Turn off the heat and stir in the cilantro and ricotta cheese. Cook the manicotti according to package instructions. Fill the manicotti with the chicken-ricotta mixture and spoon some of the mixture on top of the manicotti to keep it moist. Lastly, sprinkle a little dried parsley on top of the manicotti and serve warm.

As much as I love almost any kind of cheese. I liked the fact that this manicotti was not cheese heavy. I used the ricotta cheese (which I don't even consider a cheese, really) mainly to thicken up the mixture so it wasn't dribbling out of the manicotti in a gross fashion. The pesto, onions, jalapenos, and the chicken gave the sauce enough flavor that I didn't miss real cheese so much. Actually, when I tasted everything minus the ricotta and cilantro, it tasted soooo dumb. It was flat, boring, and ordinary. So, I resorted to one of my favorite cooking tricks: when something tastes ok but not great, chop up a medium-high amount of cilantro and stir it in. Never fails!

Now, I'm truly out of ingredients to cook with and must absolutely plan out our meals for the next week (sort of) and get to the store.

Portabella Mushroom Pasta

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 03:38:00 +0000

Oh hi we're back from SE Asia and India! It was a fantastic trip with lots of amazing food and fun times with family. We're happy to be back home, though - i was getting a little homesick towards the end of the trip.

Now that we're back, I'm slowly getting back into the groove of one of my favorite past-times, eating (yes I know I was doing this the whole trip). Also, cooking!

I came up with the recipe for this pasta in the usual way - I started by chopping some onions and then decided what I was making as the onions softened in the butter. The result was one of our favorite pastas ever. Definite keeper!

Ingredients:
1 tsp butter
1 sort of large onion, sliced
1 jalapeno, minced
2 large garlic cloves, sliced
5 medium portobella mushroom caps, sliced
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups low-sodium chicken (or vegetable) stock
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
3 tbsp mascarpone cheese (it's nice and creamy and doesn't look or taste like cheese...just adds a richness)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp Italian seasoning
Salt
Pepper
1 green onion, diced
Any kind of pasta
Drizzle of Sriracha sauce

Prep:
Heat butter (yes, butter! I almost never use it but I wanted to make a non-red sauce for the pasta and thought the butter would lend some flavor...it did) in a skillet over low heat. Add the onions and sautee until they soften, then add the garlic. When the garlic is fragrant, increase the heat and add the portabella mushrooms. Let this cook for 3-4 minutes until some of the water from the mushrooms is released. Then, add the wine and cook until it's absorbed/evaporated. The wine really adds a depth of flavor to the dish, even though you can't explicitly taste the wine. Next, pour in the chicken/vegetable stock and the cilantro, mascarpone, nutmeg, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Let this simmer for 5-10 minutes and adjust the seasoning. Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain, and add to the sauce. Serve hot and garnish with green onions. If the sauce is not spicy enough for you, add a little Sriracha to the pasta right before eating it.

I love that this sauce wasn't the traditional red tomato sauce. In fact, there are no tomatoes anywhere in this dish, and all the flavor is from the chicken stock, little bit of butter, the seasonings, and the natural flavor of the delicious portabella mushrooms. We just had leftovers and it was EVEN BETTER because all the ingredients had time to incorporate. Sooo yum!

We're traveling to South East Asia and India!

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 01:26:00 +0000

You can check out my culinary adventures and more at http://triptale.blogspot.com

More recipes to come in the new year - happy holidays!

Anniversary Sushi!

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 19:08:00 +0000

This thanksgiving marked 8 years together with hubbs. Instead of going out to dinner or doing something fancy, we stayed in and made our own sushi. Well, hubbs made it and I took pictures of it. We found all the ingredients and supplies pretty easily, and got our sushi grade fish and other seafood at Whole Foods. I didn't realize making your own sushi was this easy. Thanks G for the delicious lunch! Here are some pictures from that afternoon.

Fish tacos with pan-seared Swai

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 20:02:00 +0000

I'm back! Thesis is done! Defense is done! PhD! Graduation is coming up in 2 weeks! I've been working on my resume, linked-in profile, all things job related. Regardless, I still have to eat. Which means I should start cooking again. Which means I should put pictures of what I made on this blog. Ergo, here's the pan seared fish.

Every other time I've made Swai, I've made it wrapped in parchment paper, as seen here, here, and here. At Whole foods a few weeks ago, I tried a swordfish sample which was seasoned just with this Pike Place fish seasoning. I couldn't believe how that one seasoning had SO much flavor, and had to try it at home.

Ingredients:

4 Swai fillets (frozen is fine)
Pike Place fish seasoning (I got mine from Whole foods)
Olive oil
2 medium onions, sliced
1 8oz pkg button mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup 2% milk
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp Sriracha sauce
Flour tortillas
2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro
Sour cream
juice of 1/2 lemon

Prep:

Thaw frozen Swai fillets. Pat down with a paper towel to remove excess liquid and rub the fish seasoning on both sides. Heat olive oil in a skillet and place the whole fillets down. Let the fish sear on each side for 3-4 minutes. To allow a nice crust to form on the outside, don't move the fish around while it's searing. Place the fillets on a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep it warm. In the same skillet, add a little more oil and cook the onions for 2-3 minutes, then add the mushrooms. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, garlic, and sriracha sauce. Add this mixture to the pan and cook until most of the liquid evaporates and you're left with a thick veggie sauce type thing. Turn off the heat and begin assembling the tacos. Slice the fish into bite sized flakes/pieces and put them on the flour tortilla. Next, add the cooked veggies and top with cilantro. Place a dollop or two of sour cream on the veggies and drizzle a little lemon juice on top.

Parchment paper fish: mushroom edition

noreply@blogger.com (Smoothieshake) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 23:53:00 +0000

I just got back from the annual nerdalert ...erm..I mean...Society for Neuroscience conference in New Orleans. It was fun, but tiring...and I don't know the last time I ate so much greasy, yet delicious food. When I came back, I was craving something home-cooked and healthy. I've written many times about how I love fish fillets cooked in parchment paper (or aluminum foil). They're like yummy little fish presents which are easy to make and difficult to overcook, since they steam nicely in their own flavors. I've prepared these Swai fillets 1) with potatoes, bell pepper, and spices and 2) with a bunch of green veggies. I was intrigued by this salmon recipe, but of course I didn't have salmon, miso paste, mirin, or Asian mushrooms. Typical. However, I did have some sort of fish and mushrooms, so I made this instead.

Ingredients:
4 Swai fillets, fresh or frozen
Salt
pepper
1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
Sesame oil
Rice
2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Prep:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Unwrap the frozen (or fresh if you have it) fish fillets and place them on a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil. Season the fillets well with salt and pepper. Surround the fish with the sliced mushrooms, onions, and jalapenos. Drizzle a little sesame oil on top of the fish and veggies and wrap them up so that the package is completely sealed. Place in the oven for 25 minutes. While the fish cooks, make the rice. I cooked mine in a microwave rice cooker with water (chicken/vegetable broth works too). Assemble the plates. Place some rice on a plate and top with the fish and veggies. Garnish with cilantro and squeeze some lemon juice on top of the fish.

I definitely want to try this with different kinds of mushrooms, and it's looking like mirin should really be a part of my pantry staples. I've never tried it but it looks like it forms a nice glaze on things and gives them a sweet + acidic flavor.