The Far Side of Food

Food You've Missed Over the Past Few Months

2011-05-16T13:22:00.006-04:00

I believe Apologies are in order

2011-05-15T20:08:00.002-04:00

Well I haven't posted in almost a year.... so I'm assuming anyone who read this has abandoned this blog but I'm hoping I can start up posting once again now that school is winding down and I will only have work tow worry about.

I hope to have a post up for you guys soon so look out for it!

Once again I apologize but hope to soon make it up to you!

The Slice is indeed Nice

2010-07-02T16:29:00.006-04:00

After class today I took a walk through the area around Providence and found Nice Slice pizza.

And It was Indeed

Before even entering Nice Slice you are greeted by a rather intresting handle and then upon entering you are bombared by colors and pictures and bottles and tons of little nicknack's on all side. It certinly fits the idea of the place though, nothing feels out of place.

Ummm.... Hi there?

Hello once again!

The pizza itself didn't hurt either. I got one slice with bacon, tomatoes, mozzarella, and white sauce, and the second and better slice in my opinion was cranberries, spinach, almonds and feta cheese.

TWO nice Slices

Both pieces had a crispy bottom but still a bit of chew to them, and the crust had a nice flavor on it's on. The flavor was spot on, and for two slices of pizza and a root beer it was only around $8, which isn't half bad. So if you're in Providence go and check them out.

Brown-Town Noming

2010-06-30T16:07:00.003-04:00

By Brown-Town noming I mean finding places to eat in Providence.

So far I've only made it out to town once to really get anything to eat, but it has paid off. I found a sushi restaurant, I really don't know what it's name is.... but I will find out! Partially because they have FROZEN bubble tea. FROZEN. In 90 degree heat that is worth more then almost anything. I'll go back there, and take pictures, right now though I do have one picture of my rather delicious dragon roll.

Dragon goes RAWR

Not the best picture, and it really doesn't do the roll justice but it was delicious, especially the eel, it was kinda crispy, but super tender and sweet. I might go back and just ask them for a bowl of eel and rice... wonder if they'll make it for me.... Hmmmm.....

Brown

2010-06-28T23:37:00.004-04:00

The lack of posting in the next few weeks(minus one possible reallllly late update) is because I am doing a Summer class at Brown University for the next two weeks. While there are some lovely restaurants in the area, I am cheap, and will probably be eating at one of the many dinning halls on campus.

There may be some post of the food on the campus but if you really want to get a feel for how students make their meals better check out Ratty Gourmet. It's not up and running for the summer, but it's still an interesting place to check out.

As to not leave you without pretty pictures, here are some of the bento box I made for my friend on her birthday.

Hot Dog Octopus and Salmon Nigiri

Pickled Radishes/Carrots and Fruit Salad

One Pretty Present

Bryant Park Grill

2010-06-11T19:51:00.008-04:00

Two weekend's ago (Yes I know I'm behind on the blog... I'm working on it) my mom and I took a little trip to NYC to go see a show, but there will be more on that later. First thing's first, food and family. We met my Uncle, Aunt and Baby Cousin at the Bryant Park Grill for some linner if that's what you want to call it.

First off, this place is B.E.A uuutiful.

Go through this door and you shalt be fed

I do it absolutely no justice. Just go look at the website and I'm sure you'll find hundreds of beautiful pictures of the place. What I may be able to do justice for through is the food.

As at any good restaurant we started off with bread and drinks.

Warm Bread

Margarita

It took us about an hour to make it past this course, partially due to the enjoyable conversation and partially because we were simply waiting for the food to show up.

4 Four fish tartar's

Passionate lobster

Firstly was the four fish tartar with crispy lotus root, served with zucchini rounds, spicy ailoi, and some flavored tobiko. This was the best dish we had at the grill, the fish was tender and the flavors were spot on. Despite the very powerful flavors you could still taste the fish and it was amazingly tender.

The lobster salad was good as well, the lobster being cooked to tender, the mango being fresh and light. The passion fruit vinaigrette was lovely as well, but overall it did not stand out in my mind compared to the tartar.

Duo of Duck

Lamb two ways

Seafood Plate

My Aunt ordered the duck breast that came with a crispy confit duck leg as well. From what I tasted it was pretty good, a little undercooked for out taste but overall good.

My Uncle and both ordered the lamb which came with a sliced rack of lamb, boneless braised lamb, mashed potatoes and spinach. The spinach was incredible and the potatoes were quite nice as well. The rack of lamb was also a little undercooked but the braised lamb was quite good and had some very nice flavor accompanying it.

The seafood plate was ordered by my mother and was overall okay. The seafood was cooked well, but it was lacking in flavor. It was rather... plain.

Ring Around the Rosey

Logs and stacks and mounds of shortcake?

The upside down lemon meringue pie I did not have a chance to try but it certainly looked pretty with it's little baked ring.

I did have the deconstructed strawberry shortcake though and it was pretty good. The strawberry sorbet was delicious on it's own, and of course it looked very pretty.

Overall it was a okay restaurant that wasn't quite worth the price, but everything looked pretty... and I guess that counts for something.

Oh by the way that concert I was going to was... GLEE

One Steamer Meal

2010-04-27T17:40:00.010-04:00

I have always been a fan of one or two pot meals as they are called. This may be because I hate to clean up after I cook... but we aren't going to talk about that and are instead going to focus on the awesome flavor that can be gained from cooking things all together.

When people think of one pot meals I feel like they always focus on stew, or soup, which can tend to be pretty heavy and not the best dish when you are heading towards summer, or an obnoxiously warm spring in my case. Since I've never been a big fan of stew If I want to cook something easily and in one or two 'pots' I always think of steaming, and steaming leads me to rice cooker.

Now there is a way to do this dish just in a rice cooker but that should be for one or two people and I made enough for 3 plus two lunches (so about 4 people) and a single rice cooker will not cut it for that much food, but I will post both the directions for 2 servings and 4, just in case.

As any rice cooker dish starts you obviously need rice, and I would recommend getting the sushi rice they sell in most markets, purely because it cooks the best out of all the types when made in a rice cooker. Although it may not say it on the package it is best to rinse your rice a half hour or so before you put it in the rice cooker, (thus giving it time to dry before you cook it). Simply rinse it until the rinsing water runs clear.

Next comes the vegetables

As you can see by the above picture I used Mushrooms(two types that I will show below), carrots, broccoli, scallions and ginger... which can't really be seen but it is there. Pretty much you can use any kind of vegetables you like, although I would be wary of peppers because they so easily leak their color into starches you cook them with and although red rice sounds cool it doesn't exactly suit the dish.

Shimeji and Maitake Mushrooms

I got these at the Japanese Supermarket in my area but you can usually find them at health food stores as well. Any kind of mushrooms work though, these just happen to be two of my favorite kinds.

Once you have all your vegetables cut you should add the rice, all the cooked vegetables and the liquids to the rice cooker, turn it on, and let it do its thing.

About to do its thing.

While the rice is going you can work on the salmon, which has been marinating in whatever marinade you like, then you throw it in your steamer and just let it go. The time varies on the weight but I heard about a minute per ounce.

So good it could be eaten like this.

Try and time them so they finish at the same time, the salmon will be done as is, but the rice needs a quick toss and then it is all done. It can all be done in the rice cooker but you need to add the salmon halfway through the cooking process then remove it before mixing the rice, steaming in a steamer is just a bit more specific when it comes to doneness.

Juicy and Flavorful without the help of oil.

Some scallions and your done.

Steamed Vegetables and Rice with Sweet Soy Salmon

(This is for four people, divide everything for two)

For Salmon Marinade

1lb of salmon Fillet

1/4 cup of Soy sauce

3 tablespoons of Tamari Sauce

1 Tablespoon of Mirin

1 Sliced Scallion

1 tablespoon of crushed ginger

Mix everything together in a bowl and pour over the salmon, marinade for up to 3 hours, no more or the flavor of the salmon will be lost. Set aside.

For Vegetables and Rice

2 inches of fresh ginger root sliced into thin strips, or diced finely

3 Scallions Julienned

1 Head of Broccoli

2 cups of Mushrooms, bite sized.

2 carrots, sliced into rounds.

2 1/2 cups of rice(Rinsed and Given time to dry)

3 1/2 cups of water

1/2 cup of soy sauce

2 Tablespoons of Mirin

2 Tablespoons of Rice Wine Vinegar

Extra Scallions and Sesame seeds for garnish

Once you have sliced all the vegetables set aside. Pour the rice into the rice into the rice cooker and add the vegtables in this order, ginger, scallions, carrots, broccoli, Mushrooms then add in all of the liquids over it, close the lid and set to cook.

If using a second steamer for the salmon

While the rice is cooking set up your steamer so that it is resting above or in 1-2 inches of water, remove the salmon from the marinade and place in the steamer. Cover and turn the heat onto medium and let steam for 15 minutes, more or less depending on how done you want it.

Once the rice is done mix it gently and garnish with scallions and sesame seeds serve with the Salmon directly from the Steamer for a nice presentation.

If steaming the Salmon in the rice cooker

About 10 minutes after you have set the ricer cooker to steam open it, place the salmon on top of the vegetables and close the lid again, letting it cook undisturbed for the rest of the time. Once done, remove the salmon, mix the rice and serve.

Bangkok Joe's

2010-04-22T18:57:00.012-04:00

A few weekends ago, I went down to Washington DC to look at colleges. While colleges are intresting and all, food tastes far better, so we made sure to go to a few interesting places while we were there. One of which was Bangkok Joes', part dumpling bar, part noodle bar. There is really no perfect way to describe this place, but it almost speaks for itself when you first walk in.

We got there at at 7, and it was already packed. Since we were determined to eat there though we took a seat at the bar for a few minutes, which wasn't a bad idea for we had a great view of the dumpling making/steaming area.

Dumplings made at the speed of light.

Bamboo Steamer(s)

We didn't order any food at the bar, but we definitely agreed to order some dumplings when we got seated, and we did indeed do just that.

Peking Duck Spring Roll

Shrimp n' Crap Gyoza (Didn't get a good shot of the whole plate ><)

We ordered two appetizers, the Shrimp n' Crab Gyoza and the Peking Duck Spring rolls, both of which were quite good. We all preferred the Peking Duck Spring Roll, but the Gyoza were good, the skin being tender and the filling moist. I think we all were just missing a little bit of the seafood taste, it was there, but not as strongly as you would suspect from something with shrimp and crab. I don't think we are allowed to really complain when they were all gone in a matter of minutes.

The appetizers were soon forgotten as the Main courses showed up.

Peanut Curry of my Dreams

Tender Siamese Pork
Seared Tuna with Soba Noodles

Each main dish was incredibly good. My Peanut curry was tremendous, I will never be able to eat another bowl of curry without thinking about this curry. The shrimp were tender, the spinach was fresh and the curry itself was so good I could have eaten it with a spoon, but there were noodles available. They took precedence over my spoon for the time being.

The Siamese pork was super tender and the ginger-sesame sauce it had been cooked in did not overpower the actual taste of the pork. Therefore allowing the eater (I.E my mother) to enjoy all the flavors without being blasted out by ginger, which can happen so often with the little root.

The seared tuna was pretty standard for seared tuna. The flavor being good and the tuna itself remaining tender, but the real star of that dish was the soba noodles which had been tossed in some kind of delicious sauce (descriptive I know). I honestly couldn't tell what was in it besides maybe some ginger and lime, but I could be totally wrong. Go try it and let me know what you think, cause it was awesome.

We usually don't order deserts when we go out, but we figured we should this once, especially since it was doubtful we would be back here anytime soon.

Thai Banana Flambé

Crispy Chocolate Carmel Wonton
Chocolate Bread Pudding

The desserts as a whole were pretty average, if a little over the top (Wonton Desert). They were definitely better then your average non-dessert restaurant though. The Chocolate pudding was a special dessert in honor of the Sakura Blossom Festival that was occurring at the time and it was... interesting. It was good, but It wasn't quite the bread pudding we were used to.

Overall it was quite a good meal, and really inexpensive as well. For all the above items and three glasses of wine I believe the total was under $150. If you happen to be in Washington DC go give it a try and tell me what you think.

Burger... From a Rib place?

2010-04-17T10:53:00.006-04:00

My town is known for two restaurants, especially by the college crowd. Haven and Georges, both of which I love, but only visit if I've exercised religiously for the past week. I'll have a post on Haven soon I'm sure but today we are talking about Georges, but not for their ribs or roasted chickens, as delicious as they are, but their burgers.

I personally believe they have some of the best burgers in town, especially since I'm sure you could get just about anything on them. Mine is traditional though, bacon cheese burger with saltpepperketchup mayo and oregano(which is key) and some fries, although their onion rings are terrific, today I didn't feel like using the wii fit for an extra hour so I went with fries.

Perfect Meal

Oh so tasty and oh so juicy. Each bite has bacon, cheese and all of the toppings you could ask for, they certainly don't skimp, and the fries, although definitely frozen are delicious. The taste is good and they are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, as all fries should be. Only one problem though...

Juicy and oozy

They don't last long, and neither did that burger. So if you're in Princeton, check them out.

Power Outage Pie

2010-04-16T16:51:00.003-04:00

PIE TIME

I'm sure someone out there has seen Waitress and if not, you should all go and see it so that you can salivate over the beautiful pies she makes. Then you can try and make them, which I have thought about doing, but have never gotten around to. Sadly I still haven't gotten around to it, I've just borrowed their idea and named this pie after what was on my mind while making it. Power Outages. 5 day long power outages.

Luckily I managed to get the crust in the oven before the power went out, and the rest of this pie needs no baking, only cooling, and thankfully our fridge was still more then cold enough to set the pie.

Forgive the photo... it was taken in the dark... -_-'

French Silk Pie. It may be one of my new favorite pies, of which there are many. Although I wasn't entirely happy with the final product it did taste amazing. The sugar didn't dissolve all the way, but I'm not sure how to change that... so if anyone knows, please post a comment and I'll give it a shot.

French Silk Pie

2 Sticks of Butter (Melted)

1 Cup of Sugar

3oz of melted chocolate

4 Eggs

1 1/2 tsp of Vanilla Extract

2 tsp of Orange Extract(Optional... but not if you want an awesome Pie)

Pie Crust(Your own recipe or a pre-made one. Up to you)

Bake Pie shell for 15 minutes at 450 F(either poke holes or weight it down with dried beans to prevent it from puffing up) or until golden brown. Set aside and let cool.

Beat sugar and melted butter together until it is no longer grainy, then add in the chocolate, vanilla extract and orange extract. Once throughly mixed add in one egg at a time, beating for two minutes after each addition. After four eggs it should be a mousse like texture and consistency(I.E. A little looser then whipped cream). Pour the filling into the pie crust and let cool for at least four hours. Top with whipped cream and serve.

Long Time no Post

2010-04-15T21:24:00.004-04:00

Well, it has been quite a while since I have posted anything, and I really have no excuse. Let's just go with... my bad... but I can fix this!

So, I shall start off with bread.

I have never consciously made a loaf of bread before, and certainly not Italian bread, but during some of those snow days a few months ago I got up the nerve to try making a loaf, actually a few loaves, but I only took a picture of one.

Yum? Yes I think so.

So I went with one of those no knead recipes, which seemed to have worked out fine. I baked one loaf plain and then one with cheese, both of which turned out really well. Nice and crusty on the outside while remaining soft inside. The perfect piece of bread in my opinion.

Now this does not make up for months of nothing, but I will hopefully be posting more soon. Maybe not recipes but pictures of food are just as good right?

No Knead Bread

Adapted from Cheese Bread and Serene Journey

3 Cups of Flour

1 Teaspoon of Yeast

1 Teaspoon of Salt

1 1/2 Cups of Water

(If adding cheese use about six ounces of a semi-hard cheese. Your choice, i went with pecorino romano, cut into small cubes. No bigger then say... 1/2 and inch. Ish? Kinda?)

Mix all the ingredients together except the water, and once thoroughly mixed add in the water, mixing until you have a very sticky dough, which is just perfect. Mound into a semi-ball and cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 24 hours. More or less will not hurt too much, but at least 12 hours.

Once it has rested uncover it and make sure the top is slightly dotted with bubbles and is still moist (do not let it dry out). Place your dough on a floured surface and mold the dough into a ball, creating a seam on either the top or bottom side, which you should then place seam side down on a towel and let it rest for two hours.

While it is resting, heat your oven to 450-475, depending on how hot it runs, and place your dutch oven(without the top) inside to heat. Once the bread and the pot have had their time to rise and heat respectively, pull out the dutch oven and flip the bread dough into the pot, seam side up. Cover the pot and put it back in the oven to cook for 30-40 minutes or until the top is crunchy looking (you know what I mean.) then remove the lid and let it cook for another 15-20 minutes until it is golden brown.

Let it cool, then slice and serve.

It's yummy. I promise.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2010-01-29T21:26:00.003-05:00

Yes.

Cupcakes.

All that Is Cute in the Baking World.

Sugar Rush

I love cupcakes but I've never made them from scratch, or if I have I don't remember, and certainly not on my own. Tonight though I was home by myself and decided to bake some cupcakes (Yeah, that's how I spend my Friday nights. Jealous?).

I spent a little while looking for recipes and eventually found a good red velvet recipe, as well as an awesome Icing recipe. I didn't use a cream cheese frosting because I'm not a fan of it, but they still taste great with vanilla frosting.

My only advice would be to bake the cupcakes maybe a minute or two under 18 minutes like the recipe says, but that could be my oven, so make the call for yourself.

The frosting is great though! Do exactly what they say. I command it.

Midterm Coffee

2010-01-26T19:36:00.010-05:00

Today was my last day of midterms, and since I didn't have a morning exam mum and I went to the local coffee shop.

The place of the caffeine addicted

Small World Coffee is well known in the Princeton area for brewing extremely strong and delicious coffee. I'm not big on coffee myself for it makes me rather jittery and maybe a touch crazy but we don't need to talk about that.

They serve everything here from coffee to hot chocolate and cider and small sandwiches as well as a whole assortment of baked goods. They used to have an area that served hot foods but it seems to be closed on the weekdays, but since we were only there for coffee that wasn't a big problem.

First stop, drinks.

Cafe Au Lait for Mum

Mocha for Me

The Mocha was delicious, chocolaty and rich, so much so that I couldn't even finish it, yet still ended up having a caffeine rush. The cafe au lait was as always, great, especially since they supply you with the perfectly steamed milk and brewed coffee and you get to mix it anyway you want.

Pastries come next.

Lemon Scone

This was a lemon and blueberry scone, I only had a small piece but it tasted really good and if it had been warmed up it would have been awesome.

Blueberry Heaven

Halfway through the sea of Blueberries

Their blueberry muffin is the best thing on their menu in my opinion. The top is sugary and crunchy and the bottom is super moist, not to mention filled with blueberries. Its like a... 3:1 ratio of blueberries to batter. It is truly a blueberry muffin, and its so big it is indeed enough to share with a friend.... or two...

Lastly, Joe To Go.

Grabbed a Latte for a friend on the way out, and I swear I didn't steal any before it got to her.

Till Next time.

Momofuku Take-Out

2010-01-24T13:02:00.016-05:00

Upon finally reaching my uncles apartment we were prepared to feast upon roasted pork butt. Sadly things had to be heated up for a little while, but we were okay with waiting especially with some of the items that took less time to reheat already waiting.

These look familiar...

If you remember when I went to Ippudo I had something very similar to these, except at Ippudo there was far more sauce and bun then there was to meat. I actually liked the ones at a Ippudo a bit better, but it could have been because they were fresher. These still had great flavor though and the cucumber added a bit of a crunch that the ones at Ippudo lacked and the pork belly was super tender, then again, its pork belly, when is it not. I will have to remember to try these again.

Brussels Sports... Delicious?!

I don't like brussels sprouts, never have, and sadly probably will eventually, but up to this point I have not found a brussels sprout I was willing to eat regularly. These would have changed that fact if they had not been smothered in oil and probably some kind of pork fat knowing how delicious they were. They were still amazingly good, and worth eating a cup or so full, not worth stuffing yourself and not eating the soon to be appearing pork butt.

Toppings and holder

There were five toppings, scallions and oil, spicy scallions and oil, kimchi, pureed kimchi, and a spicy sauce of an unknown ingredient. I will attempt to discover it and report back another time. Then there was the butter lettuce into which you put your rice, pork butt meat and sauce. The rice, which I don't have a picture of, was just your regular old rice. You didn't need to put it in, but most of us did I think.

Tender and Juicy, and yes I am talking about a pigs butt

Feast your eyes upon what I actually got to feast upon. HA. Alright now that I'm done rubbing your face in it, it was amazing, and incredibly tender and juicy. It fell right off the bone and it was melt in your mouth delicious.

The final Product before consumption

There it is ladies and gentleman, butter lettuce, rice, pork butt, scallions and, although you can't see it because its underneath the rice, spicy sauce. It was delicious and I ate at least eight wraps worth and could have eaten more if I wasn't thinking of how much time I would be spending on the Wii Fit the next day.

So if your in New York stop off at one of the momofuku locations.

Let me know how it is.

MoMa Cafe

2010-01-23T22:14:00.007-05:00

My birthday's coming up soon, but due to its connection to superbowl weekend we decided this was a better weekend to get the family together to celebrate. My cousin came up with the brilliant idea of doing take-out from Momofuku. That post will be coming up soon, but first to write about the cafe at the MoMa where we went for lunch after checking out the Tim Burton exhibit (which is exquisite by the way, You should all go an see it).

When we got hungry we just wanted to find a place to sit and eat, but instead of ending up in the cafeteria area we ended up in the cafe on the 5th floor. It took a few minutes to get a seat but we ended up with one right next to the window with a great view of the street and the courtyard of the MoMa.

We were expecting sandwiches and maybe a soup or salad but we were pleasently surprised when we looked at the menu. Not surprisingly everything was served cold because they don't want to use an open flame near the art but with a menu like that you wouldn't have heard one person complaining.

Starting with a Traditional Coke... although of the diet variety

We ordered deviled eggs and some Thai flavored vermicelli noodles with chicken. They showed up together and off course chilled.

Spicy and Sweet

Caviar? Oh I feel special.

The noodles were delicious and even though they were cold they were not unpleasantly so. The chicken was a bit dry but there was enough sauce that it compensated for it well. The noodles were also mixed with some crushed peanuts, avocado, orange and grapefruit sections. To sum it up I could have eaten about 3 more bowls and not gotten sick of it.

The eggs which I only had a bit of, were quite good as well. They tasted very strongly of mustard but if you ate them with a small bit of caviar and the sauce underneath that was compensated. Although there were only three halves for quite a price, but what do you expect you're eating at a museum in New York.

Liquid Dark Chocolate

Carmel Chocolate Heaven

Desert was even better. The hot chocolate was far to rich for me, and I couldn't have had the entire cup, but luckily for me it wasn't what I ordered, although I did have a sip and nearly went into a chocolate coma. The tart was incredible on the other hand. It seemed to be a chocolate graham cracker crust with a thin layer of chocolate ganache on top and filled with caramel in the center. A bit of sea salt sprinkled on top and vanilla ice cream on the side and it all just worked perfectly together.

This wasn't even the main meal of the day and it was delicious, I'll post something up tomorrow about the Momofuku take out meal but for now I'm going to go back to studying for Midterms. Good luck to all those in the same predicament.

Spiced Nuts

2010-01-05T21:25:00.011-05:00

Alright, one last post about snack foods and then I promise I'll get to things more substantial. This last one though is something that you can make and then just save and keep around the house for weeks to come, spiced nuts. I had never even contemplated making spiced nuts until I found myself watching Five Ingredient Fix on the Food Network. If you ever put me in front of the food network I will find something I want to try, even if it is Iron Chef America (Apparently that's how I act in the Kitchen too... ). This recipe is rather simple though and contains GASP only five ingredients, although being me five ingredients went out the window.

Spiced nuts are really simple, the only hard part is the last few minutes where you really need to pay attention or else everything can burn and get hard or gooey and generally just unpleasant. Just be careful, That's all I'm gonna say.

My favorite

Delicious none the Less

You're going to want to start with about two cups of nuts, unsalted and raw, that way you won't end up with overly salty nuts or overcooked and hard nuts. Eh, either way don't do it. Then water, sugar and salt join the mix. Now... boil! Or simmer.... yeah simmer, its safer. Now depending on how hard it simmers the time it takes for most of the water to dissolve could be anywhere between 10-15 minutes and during this time don't touch it! It will only take longer.

Boiling down that water

Once it has reached this state sprinkle in the cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and nutmeg and stir it into the nuts and stir continuously until the sugar starts to crystallize and all the nuts are coated. Quickly transfer them to a parchment lined baking sheet and spread it out into an even layer and then cool. After an hour or two retrieve them from your cooling space of choice and eat in large copious quantities or pack them away and hope you manage to save some for their intended purpose.

Almonds are Prettier

Spiced Nuts

Ingredients

2 Cups of Raw unsalted nuts

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Cup of Water

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon

1 teaspoon of Cardamom

1 Teaspoon of Ginger

1/2 teaspoon of Nutmeg

Place the nuts, sugar, water and salt in a large sauce pan and heat on medium high heat for ten minutes or until the liquid becomes extremely syrupy. At this time sprinkle in the Cinnamon, Cardamom, Ginger and Nutmeg be aware of clumps though. Stir in the spices and stir continuously for about 5 minutes or until the sugar begins to crystallize and all of the nuts are coated. Pour nuts onto a parchment lined baking sheet, spread into an even layer, and let cool for about two hours.

Adapted from Spiced Candied Cashews by Clare Robinson

Smoked Salmon Pinwheels

2010-01-04T19:45:00.010-05:00

Salmon Pinwheels are one of those things that I feel people used to make in the 50's when hosting dinner parties was all the rage and being the 'hostess with the mostest' was a good thing. At the same time though, I don't really care for these things are rather tasty.

Our Ingredients for the Day

We are going to start with flour tortillas, lox, cream cheese, horseradish and fresh dill. First off you are going to mix the horseradish and the cream cheese together until it is smooth and then smear a thin layer of it over one of the tortillas. Then add a thin layer of plain horseradish and place the lox in a thin layer over that. The salmon doesn't have to cover it completely for it is going to be wrapped up, so don't over stuff it. Then take the dill (washed and maybe lightly chopped) and sprinkle a tablespoon or so over the tortilla.

Smoky Salmon

Now take the tortilla and tightly wrap it, being careful not to push any of the salmon out or get the cream cheese everywhere. When you have completed this successfully, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it cool in the fridge for an hour, repeat until you have used up all of the tortillas. Once they have cooled sufficiently pull them out and slice them into 1/4-1/2 inch slices and serve chilled. Wonderful appetizers, or just something to snack on, you could eat as just a roll to come to think of it.

50's snack? Maybe?

Smoked Salmon Pinwheels

Ingredients

1 8oz package of Lox's

6oz of Cream Cheese

Horseradish

4-6 Flour Tortillas

Fresh Dill

Mix the 8oz of cream cheese with 4 tablespoons of horseradish, mix until smooth. Spread a thin layer of the mix over the flour tortilla followed by a thin layer of horseradish for more bite. Place lox's on top of mixture, being careful not to crowd the lox or else the tortilla won't roll. Sprinkle a tablespoon of chopped dill over the lox and roll until the tortilla is sealed. Wrap in plastic wrap and store for an hour in the fridge. Remove from fridge and slice into 1/4-1/2 inch slices.

Asian Meatballs

2010-01-03T14:32:00.010-05:00

Happy New Year! After catching up on everything else I didn't post before the new year I can finally post some of the things I made for our first New Years Party. We had a few of our friends and neighbors over to watch the ball drop and we figured we might as well feed them at the same time.

So in looking through our recipe box I came across a photocopied recipe from a cooking camp I took about five summers ago. If I could remember where it came from I would give them credit but I don't have a clue and the photocopy is no help as to the origin so I have no trouble sharing it with you.

It's pretty healthy as well if you are watching your weight after the holidays or have made some new years resolutions, because you start with turkey, or at least we did. You could use any kind of meat you want, but the turkey stays just as moist and tastes quite good. It starts with mixing together water chestnuts, gingeroot, green onions, the ground turkey, white bread, soy sauce and a garlic clove.

Stir it all together.

Then mix everything together until it is well blended then shape it into meatballs that are on the smaller side, ours were about a tablespoon or so, maybe a bit more. You could make them big though, you would just need to cook them a bit longer.

When you can see the green onion you know its going to be good.

Now you want to bake these for about 15 minute and then pull them out and pour a mixture of plum sauce and siracha sauce over them before sticking them back in for 15 more minutes. I pulled them off the sheet and tossed them in it, for it lends to a more even coating method.

Sweet and A bit Spicy

Once they are done let them cool for a few minutes before serving them either with noodles or rice, or as hors d'oeuvres, either way they are nice and tender and full of flavor, you can't go wrong with these.

I have an odd love of green onions....

Asian Sweet and Spicy Meatballs

Ingredients

1/2 cup finely chopped water chestnuts

1 teaspoon of peeled and finely chopped ginger root

1/3 cup finely slice green onion

1 clove of garlic chopped finely

1 1/4 pounds of lean ground turkey meat

3 Slices of white bread

3 Tablespoons of soy sauce

3/4 cup of plum sauce or plum preserves

2 tablespoons of Siracha sauce (more of less depending on taste)

Preheat the oven to 400°. Mix together the water chestnuts, gingeroot, garlic, green onion, turkey, bread (slightly moistened with water) and the soy sauce. Make sure that all of the ingredients are mixed together well before shaping the mixture into small balls and placing them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place them in the oven and bake for fifteen minutes. While they are baking mix together the plum sauce and the siracha sauce in a medium sized bowl. Pull the meatball out of the oven and place them in the bowl containing your plum sauce mixture. Toss until they are evenly coated and then place them back on the baking sheet and bake for 15 more minutes. Let them cool for about five minutes before serving.

Makes 40 meatballs.

Serving size 4 meatballs.

Fontina Basil Dip

2009-12-30T00:43:00.004-05:00

I've never once made a dip before, not even the pour-the-lipton-soup-mix-into-the sour-cream-and-stir dip. I've seen people make dips, I've had homemade dips but I have never tried to make my own dip. Thanks to my cousin leaving a container of Crème fraiche at my house though after the holidays I have indeed made a dip. Now this dip was pretty good if I do say so myself, but really nothing special.

I was surprised this morning to discover that we had family friends coming over and that we needed snacks before hand. Looking through our fridge though I discovered a container of Crème fraiche and figured that something could be done with it.

Scoops are a wonderful Invention

Fontina Basil Dip

Ingredients

8oz of Crème fraiche

3oz of grated Fontina Cheese

1 Clove of Garlic

2 Tbs of Basil

Salt

2 tsp of Lemon Juice

Mix together the Crème fraiche and the grated Fontina Cheese. Take the clove of garlic and mince finely, sprinkle a small pinch of salt over the minced garlic and run it over with your knife a few more times until it has formed almost a paste. Add the garlic to the Crème fraiche mixture. Rinse the basil leaves and mince them as well before adding them to the mixture as well. The salt and the lemon juice are more up to your taste. I would suggest adding a teaspoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice and then mixing it together and serve it cold with crusty bread.

London Broil

2009-12-27T15:08:00.011-05:00

Beef is not a commonly cooked ingredient around here. Mom's big on chicken, which after a while my dad and I have had quite enough of, I'm sure she has as well. When this occurs we end up eating beef for three or four nights, mostly just because once we cook some we have leftovers for ages.

We aren't that big on individual steaks or burgers so we end up getting a nice piece of London Broil and letting it marinade for a day or so before broiling it. This marinade veered more towards the Asian side of things with some soy sauce, soba sauce and other things like that, the exact amounts will be down at the bottom.

Half the condiments in our fridge...

Once that's all put together just throw the marinade and the steak into a large plastic bag, press as much of the air out as you can then seal the bag and throw it in the fridge over night.

I don't know how your family does it.

The next day you will want to pull it out of the bag leaving behind the orange and garlic chunks and place it on a broiling pan. Cook on high broil for about five to seven minutes on each side then let it rest for about ten.

Once you've let it rest, you should slice it as thin as you can for this cut isn't know for being tender.

Pretty in Pink

This can be served with rice or potatoes or on a salad, pretty much any way you want. We voted to turn ours into sandwiches with some caramelized onions, rehydrated sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil and feta cheese. You'd think the flavors would clash but its not bad the Asian flavoring gives just enough salt and richness to the meat that it works well with the cheese and onions. Serve as you wish but don't over cook it, or it will be chewy and not worth the time it takes to chew.

Lunch for Dinner

Orange and Soy Marinaded London Broil

Ingredients

1/4 cup of soy Sauce

2 tablespoons of Rice Vinegar

2 tablespoons of Soba Broth

2 Teaspoons of Sesame seed oil

A Squirt of Siracha sauce (Depends on how spicy you like it)

1 Tablespoon of Sugar

2 Cloves of garlic slightly crushed

1/2 of an orange in sections

London Broil

Combine all ingredients except the London Broil in a plastic bag and make sure they are well combined before adding in the London Broil. Marinade over night in the fridge. Remove the steak from the marinade and broil on high for five minutes. Turn over and broil for another five on the other side. Let rest for ten minutes and then slice.

Serves: Way too many

EDIT

New Years Post's will be coming out in a few posts, I've got a few posts stored up so expect new years updates in a few days.....

P.S. Happy New Years!!!

Blue Cheese and Gruyère

2009-12-27T13:21:00.013-05:00

The day before Christmas no one in my house really feels like cooking very much, purely because we know that within the next few days we will be spending over 10 hours trapped in a rather hallway like kitchen. This doesn't mean we order out though, oh no, all it means is we need to find something that can be put together quickly or can sit for a while.

Salad and Quiche it is.

I've never made a quiche before, so I was forced to look around for a quiche recipe which I found yet again at Use Real Butter. Which might I add turned out great. I followed the recipe to a tee but I found that for the crust I needed about 1-2 tablespoons more of water. It turned out great and it was even better the next day, especially with some more grated Gruyère right over the top. I've officially become a quiche fan. (Plus it needs to sit after it comes

out which works great when you're in the middle of cleaning.

Bacon Solves everything

Since a the quiche had more calories then we want to talk about(especially with bacon thrown into the mix) we had to pair it with something a little bit lighter like a nice salad. Now, I don't really like Rachel Ray, but this salad is quite good. It's baby spinach, toasted walnuts, blue cheese and a maple vinaigrette, and all your doing is tossing it together and serving it.

Tossed Together

Enjoy.

Blue Cheese and Toasted Walnut Salad with Maple Vinaigrette

Ingredients

1 Bag of Fresh Spinach

1 1/2 cups of Walnut halves

6oz of Blue Cheese

1/4 cup of Maple syrup

1 1/2 Rice Vinegar

1/4 cup of Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Clean and rinse the spinach and dry it off either in a colander or with some paper towels. Place it on a dish and set it aside. Toast the walnut halves by placing them in a pan on medium high heat and moving them until they release their oils and are warm throughout. Set aside and allow to cool. Crumble to blue cheese and top the spinach with both the blue cheese and the toasted walnuts. Warm the maple syrup in a small sauce pan. While heating wish the vinegar and the oil together in a small bowl by slowly drizzling the oil into the vinegar while whisking. Whisk in maple syrup and then pour over salad.

Serves 4

Chocolates

2009-12-27T01:09:00.008-05:00

The holidays have come and are about to be gone but about a week ago I went on a chocolate making spree. This chocolate was used as gifts and entertaining and... fattening people... like me... but! I felt like I should share the results of my exploits.

None of these recipes are mine and I shall give credit where credit is due, plus, these are awesome blogs and I do believe all of you should check them out.

First came the Mocha Truffles that I got from Use Real Butter. While she coated them in coco powder I ended up just drizzling some white chocolate over the top which I liked a bit better personally.

CAFFEINE RUSH

Next comes Burnt Carmel Sea Salt coins which were created by FoodWishes. These are trully tremendous, the surprise of the salt with the rich flavors of the chocolate and the caramel taste incredible, although he coats them in coco powder something which I don't exactly agree with. I did with mine but I feel as if they looked better before I did so, but its up to you. Maybe mix it up a bit? Do some one way some another? Either way the taste is superb.

If only they could be spent

Lastly came the chocolate pretzels which were the simplest of all. I simply melted down chocoalte and dipped them right in. After shaking them off I let them cool and then drizzled either white or milk chocolate over them. Simple. Tasty.

Easy as that

So get out there! Make some chocolate!

A lovely gift

Chirstmas Eve Squid

2009-12-27T00:44:00.009-05:00

In my family, Christmas Eve means squid sauce. For those of you that are Italian out there you know of the traditional 7 course seafood meal on Christmas eve. No one really knows where it comes from but in certain areas of Italy your pretty darn close to the sea, and fish was pretty plentiful... maybe they just took advantage of it? Ehhh, I don't really know, but I can't debate if it gives me an excuse to eat sushi on Christmas (we're a weird bunch...)

Squid sauce starts out like most other tomato sauces, oil, garlic and some Italian seasoning in the bottom of a large sauce pot. Once the garlic has browned a bit, thrown in 2-4 can's of tomato sauce. I'm not that picky with my tomatoes but my mother and my Great-Aunt are big on Hunt's tomato sauce, but you can use what you like as long as you have enough sauce for the people you are serving. Let this cook for about an hour.

You type Tomato I type... oh wait...

While its cooking, clean your squid. Squid can vary, it can be cleaned or not. If not then you've got a lot of work to do, starting with the ink which can get everywhere if you let it. Personally, I'm going to recommend cleaned squid which is a lot simpler. Simply pull apart the body and the tentacles of the squid and keep them separate to make the next step a bit easier.

Clean that squid!

Next, take the body of the squid and snip it into half inch pieces so that you get little rings, (Five golden rings! Or white... pale... rings... yeah...).

Snip Snip

Once all the squid is cut and the sauce has cooked just toss the cleaned, washed, and cut squid into the pot and stir. Let this cook for about eight hours or until the squid is no longer chewy.

Squidly!

Squid Sauce

Ingredients

2 Garlic Cloves

Italian Seasoning

Olive Oil

2 Can's of tomato sauce.

1 1/2 pounds of cleaned Squid

Peel and mince the garlic cloves. Heat a large sauce pot with 1-2 tablespoons of oil over medium high heat. Once the oil is heated toss in the garlic and sauté until brown and tender. Sprinkle in about a tablespoon of Italian seasoning. Empty the two can's of tomato sauce into the pot and cook for an hour. While the sauce is cooking, separate the head from the tentacles of the cleaned squid. Slice the top( or head) of the squid into half inch pieces either using kitchen shears of a knife. Rinse the cut pieces and once the sauce has cooked for an hour add the squid to the sauce and cook for 8 hours.

Serve over pasta.

Serves 8.

Eggplant Parmesan

2009-12-06T22:17:00.017-05:00

Eggplant parmesan in my mind, is a mass of deep fried and breaded slices of eggplant that are then smothered in sauce and cheese and baked within an inch of its life. Or at least that's what I used to think it was. Thankfully my mind has been changed by a few good restaurants that took a chance and made it better. Now when I think of eggplant parmesan I think of a light, flavorful and filling dish that tastes mostly of eggplant and not of oil.

Since I've recently taken such a liking to this traditional Italian dish and have gotten a little sick of the all the Japanese food I've been making recently, I thought that this would be a nice change of pace.

Yum, Eggplant

Start off by taking your eggplants and cutting them in quarter inch slices. I cut the eggplant width wise, but you can try cutting it length wise, I'm sure it will work just as well. Once your eggplant is cut you will want to salt it heavily, enough to make sure each piece has gotten its fair share of salt and then place something heavy over it, either a clean pot or pan, or maybe some bricks on a towel if you happen to have those lying around... not sure why you would but hey, who am I to judge.

Ready to be cooked

Once your eggplant has sat for an hour or so, you'll want to uncover it and rinse it thoroughly to wash all the salt off, if your liquid is brown, not to worry, this is normal. After they are rinsed, dry them off and set them aside while you prepare the breading and the egg mixture.

Eggy Coating

Crunchy.... flaky bread?

The egg mixture comes first, I used a mix of egg and milk, the exact amounts will be below so not to worry, and the same goes for the breading mixture. The breadcrumbs were a mix of panko, fresh basil and oregano, Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, paremesan cheese, salt and pepper. The method of coating the eggplant is completely up to you, you can either do it slice by slice, dipping it in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs and then placing it onto the oiled baking sheets, or you can do what I did, which I think is just a little bit easier. I took the eggplant and added it directly to the beaten mixture of milk and egg and simply flipped, tossed and stirred the eggplant slices gently until they were all thoroughly coated in the mixture. Then I coated them individually in the breadcrumbs and placed them on the baking sheet.

Pre-baking Eggplant

Baked Eggplant

The baking was done in the broiler set on high with the door open for about four or five minutes on each side. I suggest drizzling some oil over the top before hand to prevent it from burning and to add some flavor but its up to you, just cook them until they are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside when you poke them with a fork. Once they are done, set them aside and grate any cheese that needs to be grated and prepare the tomato sauce if this isn't already done.

You all know what comes next. Layer one, tomato sauce, thin enough that you can see the bottom of the dish but enough that you aren't being stingy (I know who you are stingy sauce people... ) then a layer of eggplant. Continue in this fashion until all the eggplant is gone, then put some sauce on top of the whole thing and cover with your mozzarella cheese.

Cheesy Deliciousness
Then take the whole thing, and throw it into a 350° oven for about 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and a bit brown. If you're lazy though you can just toss the whole thing under the broiler for a few minutes, but the flavor will be better if you let it bake.

Yummy!

Once its done baking, let it sit for a few minutes then cut yourself out a nice piece, serve it with some salad and you've got a tasty meal ahead of you.
Enjoy!

Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
2 Eggplants
Salt
2 Eggs
2 Tablespoons of Milk
1 1/2 cups of Panko Breadcrumbs
1/2 cup of Italian Breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh Basil
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh Oregano
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
Olive Oil
3-4 Cups of Tomato Sauce (preferably marinara)
9oz of Mozzarella cheese (grated or sliced)

Slice eggplant into quarter inch slices and coat in salt, place under a towel with a heavy weight on top and let sit for an hour. Set broiler on high. Remove weight from the eggplant, rinse and dry before setting aside. Beat together one whole egg, one egg white and milk and set aside. Combine panko breadcrumbs, Italian breadcrumbs, basil, oregano and parmesan cheese and mix well before setting aside. Coat baking sheet(s) in aluminum foil and olive oil. Coat each eggplant slice in the egg and milk mixture before coating them in the breadcrumbs and placing them on the oiled baking sheets. Place in the broiler and let sit for 4-5 minutes or until brown, then flip and let cook for 4-5 minutes on the other side. Remove from oven and set aside. Set oven to 350°. Coat bottom of your baking dish in sauce then place eggplant tightly on top and repeat until you have no more eggplant. Cover top in about half a cup of sauce and the mozzarella cheese and place in the oven for 10 minutes or until brown. Serve warm.

Ippudo

2009-12-05T12:15:00.016-05:00

This Friday I had the pleasure of being able to go to New York City for the evening to do some shopping and some eating. New York is known for its diversity of places to eat, especially in the East Villages where chain restaurants are rarely seen. A blessing of sorts in my eyes, especially when chains are replaced by places like Ippudo.

Menu!

Ippudo is a medium sized restaurant in the east village, which specializes in Japanese dishes of all kinds, but their main focus is ramen. Ramen though is not all they serve, and most of their appetizers were quite good as well.

The first appetizer we got was asparagus that had been coated in puffed rice, chopped peanuts and from the look and taste of it a light tempura batter. The sauce was a mix of soy sauce, butter and a chili powder of some kind, or so it seemed from the flavor. Odd combination, and a little too salty for my taste... especially paired with the fried asparagus but it was good none the less, the asparagus was tender and it wasn't overly fried.

Deep Fried Asparagus.

The next dish that showed up was the dish that my Uncle and his Girlfriend swore by. Curse my terrible memory but I do not know what they are called. The dough had a similar texture to that of Bao, and are light, fluffy and a little sweet. Each little sandwich was served with a piece of pork that was cooked in a light Japanese barbecue sauce and a piece of crunchy lettuce. I do give my uncle and his girlfriend credit- their taste was dead on, these was delicious and I could have eaten a hundred of them if I wasn't thinking about the other courses that were about to show up.

Pork... Sandwich?

The tuna that showed up next didn't live up to the pork sandwich. It was a very lean piece of tuna that had been cooked to be a Katsu, which is basically coated in panko and then quickly fried. It came along with a piece of zucchini cooked the same way and was served with grated daikon, a ponzu sauce, wasbi and some green tea powder. It was nice, but nothing special.

Deep Fried Tuna Deliciousness

The dish that came next though was my favorite dish of the entire evening. It was three pieces of braised pork belly and was served with a egg that was lightly cooked in a ramekin in a water bath most likely, a bit of green onions and some freshly pureed wasbi, now I could be wrong about that, but that was rather similar to what it tasted like. It was amazingly cooked though, the pork melted in my mouth and the puree and egg only made it all the better. I would have eaten only this the entire evening and been happy but I had more to try and I wasn't going to turn down the chance to try more amazing food.

Braised Pork of Heaven

The last appetizer was a joke, there is no other way to put it, it was terrible. The only redeeming quality was that we ordered it, knowing it was more than likely going to be atrocious. Philly cheesesteak spring roll. Thinly sliced beef, onions and cheddar cheese fried in spring roll form. If you go, don't order it, it's not worth the joke, it was terrible.

Philadelphians would be ashamed

I've never been a big fan of ramen, I've always been an Udon girl, but this ramen was incredible. I'm not sure exactly what was in the broth but I believe it was soy based. It had a great spice to it from the Sriracha sauce and the green onions added a bite to it that cut nicely through the rich broth that was only made richer by the egg added to it. The best part of the soup though, is under heavy debate. The noodles were perfectly cooked and were tender, obviously not being overcooked at all, but the pork belly was divine. We had a few other courses throughout the dinner that contained pork belly and some were better than the meat in my ramen but it was still delicious. The meat was tender with a slight crust and none of the pieces were more fat than meat which is hard to find sometimes when you order something with pork belly. Overall the ramen was incredible and I am hoping to get a chance to go back there, maybe try some other kinds of ramen... or just more of that braised pork... hmmm

Braised Pork Ramen

Ippudo sadly did not specialize in desserts so we decided to take a detour and head up town a bit to 11th st and 1st avenue to look for some dessert. We headed into an old pastry shop called Veniero's. The front was a bakery where they sold everything from traditional Italian cookies to fruit tarts and cakes, and the back was a restaurant where they served all of their deserts, gelato and coffee.

Everything looked pretty good on the menu, although all of the icing seemed to be of the Bavarian variety... which I had never tried before and was a little wary to try.... but ended up trying anyways. I was slightly disappointed in the desserts for all the hype and the presumed deliciousness promised from the line that formed as we left. To start off, they didn't have the first three deserts one of us tried to order, but we ended up with a red velvet cake and molten lava cake, and a less then spectacular hot chocolate ( was clearly made with chocolate sauce... nothing against chocolate sauce, but not worth 2.50).

Molten Chocolate Cake

Red Velvet Cake

The cakes were pretty good, better then one might make at home, but nothing to write home about, (good enough to write a blog about though.)

Overall... go to Ippudo and order everything, except maybe the philly spring roll... and at Veniros... Eh, order what appeals to you, you won't be disappointed, but you won't be amazed either.

Thanksgiving Bento

2009-12-02T21:12:00.009-05:00

Seems that last time I didn't explain what a Bento Box was, despite that I make my lunch in one daily. A Bento Box is a traditional Japanese lunch container that can vary in shape and size and can be filled with pretty much anything, from rice to pasta to leftovers. Mine has a tendency to be filled with leftovers mainly because I don't have the time or the supplies to fill it with anything else.

Since Thanksgiving just ended some of the leftovers we have around are well... you guessed it, Thanksgiving leftovers. (Thank god we are out of turkey though... It's great for a day.... four days, not so much). The only one though that caught my interest was the squash made by my aunt. It's not too sweet and the squash is perfectly balanced with some fresh apples she mixed into right before serving it. The apples have lost a little bit of their tang because they sat so long, but it's still got that fresh and hearty taste that I liked, so in it goes into its own little section of the Bento.

My protein was some chicken we had for dinner, it was marinaded in Korean stir-fry sauce (find it at your local supermarket... I'm secretly advertising... shhhh) and soba broth. We roasted them in the oven at 350 and after eating a few for dinner the leftovers turn into lunches. A quick shred creates my protien and accomping it with some grapes creates a good mix of flavors, textures, nutrients and colors.

And of course we can't forget the rice with some of my all time favorite topping. Furikake.

There are all kind of flavors, but my favorite is definitly the Katsuo Fumi Furikake which is a mix of Shaved bonito, sesame seed, sugar, salt, soy sauce, seaweed and adds a nice bit of flavor and salt to plain rice.

Put it all together and you've got yourself a cute and filling Bento.

Bento Lunch

2009-11-29T19:23:00.007-05:00

Truthfully I’m not big on fried rice, I’d rather just have a nice bowl of rice with some stir-fry right on top, but fried rice will have to do. Fried rice can be made from almost anything. You just need the basics, rice, vegetables, soy sauce, and some source of protein.

Bento Fried Rice
Sesame seed oil
1 head of Baby Bok Choy
1/2 Cup of Celery thinly sliced
2-3 Leaves of Cabbage
1/2 of a Yellow Onion
1-Cup of Precooked Chicken
2-cups of Cooked Rice
Soy Sauce to Taste (1-2 tablespoons)
Make sure you have a pan large enough for all the ingredients before you add anything to the pan. Add in about a tablespoon of sesame seed oil and heat it until it easily moves around the pan, once it has reached this point add in all the vegetables and saute until the vegetables are slightly softened but still have some crunch to them. At this point add in the chicken and saute until it’s warmed through.
If the rice is warm then just add it and the soy sauce into the pan, if It’s cold, add in some water as well, just to make sure the rice stays moist.
Let all of this cook for a few more minutes before pulling it off the heat and let it rest.

Now this is perfectly good on it’s own, but if you really want to spice it up then make a small omelet, about the size of whatever container you are going to put your rice in. Put the rice in the container and then place the omelet over it, tucking in the sides to cover the rice. Feel free to put anything from Ketchup to your own sauce on top.

Some fruit salad on the side and I've got delicious and filling lunch.

Welcome

2009-11-29T16:32:00.005-05:00

Welcome to the Far Side of Food where my goal is to not only share with you the eccentrics of cooking in my closet sized kitchen but in the world of food as well.

Now I've never had a blog with more then one post on it before so bear with me, but I will try to keep up with this one, updating when I can within my obnoxiously busy schedule.

Since I feel like the first post on a food blog should at least have a picture of some kind of food I'll throw this out for you to ponder....

Yes, That is a strawberry on a ritz cracker... on a stick.

Thank Japan for that creation, although I will throw out there that it was sinfully delicious.

(Any thoughts of replication at home?)

Well hopefully I'll throw an actually recipe up here.

Till then... Sayonara.

(P.S.
Yay for getting a photo up on Serious Eats!
http://photograzing.seriouseats.com/2009/12/sugar-strawberry.html
Yay for shameless self promotion!)