Stir Fry Marinade

The grocery stores in Hawaii make and serve some pretty great food.  It's a great place to grab some lunch, especially if you like Asian food.  The other day, we picked up some pork hekka from the local store to have for lunch.  

Never heard of pork hekka?  Neither had I.  It was basically a stir fry with rice noodles.  The flavor was amazing though!  I knew what I was eating probably wasn't healthy, but darn it was delicious.  I decided to look up some recipes and try to re-create pork hekka at home.

We tried last night.  What we ended up with was basically nothing like what we had bought, but was probably slightly more healthy.  Essentially we just had stir fry with lots of veggies on rice noodles.  Pssst.  I love rice noodles!

What really stood out from the dish was the marinade for the pork.  I made it early in the day and the pork was sitting in it for hours.  Oh man it was good!  Next time you make stir fry or need a marinade, give this a shot.

1/2 c soy sauce

1/4 c brown sugar (sugar is bad, I know, but it's so good in Asian sauces)

2 T olive oil

1 T grated ginger (use more than 1 T, that's what the recipe calls for, but go nuts)

2 garlic cloves, minced (again, who are we kidding..2?  Amateur hour)

1/2 c red wine

pepper (no salt, the soy sauce takes care of that I believe)

Throw all that together and marinade whatever you want in it.  A yoga mat marinaded in this stuff would probably taste pretty good.

We cooked up the pork and threw in bok choy, celery, carrots, mushrooms, scallions, bean sprouts, a green pepper (random, but we needed to get rid of it)..etc.  It was good stuff.

Molly

Back in action! Turkey burgers and chickpea salad

Hey all!

Well after a hiatus of cooking for one and just not being terribly excited about cooking, I'm back and ready to go!  It seems as though my style of cooking will turn more Asian, simple, and/or summery.  Amazing how your style changes depending on where you live.

Anywho, last night I experimented and made a healthy, summery (unless you live in Hawaii..in which case it's just normal) dinner.  Here's what we had...

Spinach Chevre Turkey Burgers
I don't know what possessed me to make turkey burgers.  I think it's cause I'd never had one and wanted to try it and I imagine it's healthier than beef.  Didn't really follow a recipe, here's what I did.

1. Saute some onions, garlic, and greens.  Ideally I would have used spinach, but we have a huge bag of "power greens" from Costco that we need to use up.  It has spinach, kale, and chard.  You saute anything with garlic and onions and it's good though, so use whatever greens you'd like.
2. In a bowl, throw your ground turkey, greens, an egg, some chevre (could use feta, but again, we have a huge hunk of chevre from Costco), breadcrumbs and whatever seasonings call to you.  I put some lemon juice and sriracha (because we rarely have meals without it) in mine.  Oh, and of course salt and pepper.
3. Put them in the fridge and go for a run.
4. Cook 'em up however you'd like.  We both put extra chevre on our burgers and I had extra greens on mine.  Then of course, extra sriracha.

They were actually quite good.  I mean, I tend to believe that if it's not made of beef, don't call it a burger.  Right?  It's a veggie patty...it's not a burger.  But these turkey burgers...I might allow them to use the term burger.  They were tasty.

Chickpea Corn Salad (?)

So this was another new recipe for me that I didn't really measure for.  Just threw some stuff in a bowl and got lucky.  Here's what you need...

• chickpeas (I used one can for two of us and we have leftovers)
• corn (used one can)
• cucumber (about half of one)
• red onion (some?)
• tomato (the recipe called for cherry tomatoes but I couldn't stomach the price at the store so I just used a regular old tomato)
• green pepper (used about half of one)
• oil
• lime juice
• cilantro
• garlic

Chop the cucumber, tomato, red onion, and green pepper to similiar size pieces.  Throw them in a bowl with the chickpeas and corn.  Mix together your dressing of olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, and garlic.  Throw the dressing on the salad.  Done!  Right before we ate I made the game time decision to chop up some mozzarella and put it in there because...again..we bought some from Costco and so we have a ton to use up.  Plus it was delicious.

Anyway, that's a really simple salad, perfect for a weeknight.  I made everything ahead of time and then we went for a run.  Ahhh, the advantages of not working..

Go forth and cook!

Molly 

Indian cauliflower - aka the best cauliflower ever!

I got some Indian cookbooks last year for my birthday, and, as Aleks said, "This the by far the best recipe to come out of [those] books.  The official name is Gobhi Kari, or, Cauliflower and Scallions with Black Mustard Seeds.  The recipe seems a little complicated, but it's pretty simple in practice.  Definitely more work than just steaming your cauliflower, but the results are WAY better than normal and totally worth the extra effort.

1 1/4 pounds cauliflower, cut into small (1/2 - 3/4")
2 bunches of scallions, including green part, cut into 1/4" pieces
4 T light veggie oil, divided
1/2 - 1 t. black mustard seeds
1 - 2 t. urad dal (white split gram beans), optional (but I think they add a nice flavor and texture)
1/2 t. tumeric
1 -2 green chilies, chopped, or 1/2 t. red pepper, optional
1 - 1 1/2 t. Kosher salt
6-8 fresh or dried kari leaves, slightly crushed, optional
(I use the larger amount of mustard seed and urad dal, see no need for the hot pepper, especially since I'm feeding kids, and have never had the kari leaves to use).

Measure out the mustard seeds and urad dal.  Put tumeri.c, salt, and scallions, and chilis (if using) in a bowl. Measure out 1/3 cup of hot water and keep that, spices, and cauliflower next to stove.

Heat 3 T of oil, then add mustard seeds.  When seeds are spluttering, add urad dal.  When the dal turns light brown and the mustard seeds are gray, add the scallion and spice mix.  Saute briefly (15 s), then add cauliflower.  Stir to distribute the spices, then add water.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, until cauliflower is cooked to crisp tenderness.  Uncover, and increase heat to evaporate any remaining moisture in the pan and to lightly brown the cauliflower (~5-10 min).  Stir in remaining tablespoon of oil during the browning.  Add kari leaves, if using them, and serve immediately.

We had this tonight with rava dosas with potato chickpea masala. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rava-Dosas-with-Potato-Chickpea-Masala-356035

The potato chickpea masala takes a bit of time, but is delicious.  The dosas, which as far as I can tell are basically Indian crepes, but made without eggs, are wonderful, and worth making for other fillings as well.  We found that a combination of the potato filling and the cauliflower inside a dosa was phenomenal.
-Maggie

Veggie-Enhanced Popovers

Ok, so I'm probably the least interested in food of any of the frequent readers and contributors here.  My criteria, which work pretty well for me, are that a meal has to contain at least one vegetable, have almost no sugar, and be edible to a four year old.  Also it has to be quick and easy enough to conceive, execute, consume, and clean up from in one hour max while also hanging out said four year old. Lately I've been capitalizing on the popularity of both muffins and Yorkshire pudding to bang out some veggie popovers that meet all these criteria and then some.  Here's how: Take half a large yellow onion (one small also OK), two large carrots, and a quarter of a 6 inch cabbage.  Chop in the food processor until evenly small.  Mushrooms are also good here.  I'd also do Kale but haven't tried that yet, would not do spinach because it's too wet.  Take three sausages, we usually have either mild Italian or brats, either is fine.   Slice the sausage into rounds and sautee until  thoroughly cooked.  Toss in veggies and sautee to doneness.  You herbs-and-spices folks can probably come up with something clever here; I usually just end up shaking on a little salt to make sure the veggies cook.  While veggies are in the pan, mix a standard Yorkshire pudding recipe (6 eggs, beaten, then add 2 C flour, 2T salt, 2C milk and beat until bubbly.  Seriously, it's that easy).  I actually thought it might be interesting to try this with self-rising flour the other day, but chickened out at the last minute.  But I digress.  Back to the recipe.  Mix the veggies and sausage into the batter.  Watch out for temp, you don't want to hit eggs with a quick shock of hot oil.  I usually find that by the time I have the batter together the veggies have cooled enough.  Spray two muffin tins with cooking spray, then nearly fill with the batter.  Pop in 400F oven, monitor for doneness, plan for 15-20 min cooking time.  When they come out the are kind of like mini toad-in-the-hole, but with LOTS of nearly hidden and non-extractable veggies (fellow parents will understand the importance of non-extractability !).  We often eat these as a meal unto themselves, but they would of course present better with a salad on the plate.  Samara and Pat love them, and we usually have them left over for a little while.  It's great to have a bunch in the fridge for a quick snack.  Samara found out that they're also pretty good with a little butter when hot, but hey, let's face it, what isn't?  Cheers, and enjoy!

Frittata

What, no post on Frittatas yet?  I'm amazed.  Jo turned us on to this dish by taking us out for brunch at Morning Glory in south Philly and I have been working on making them at home.  The recipe is simple and variable:  saute up whatever veggie goodness suites you, add scrambled eggs and cheese, and cook, browning the top under the broiler at the end.  Kind of like a quiche with no crust.  Except, not so many onions.  And cooked (see further, below) on the stove top.

Obviously this recipe is open to creativity.  My favorite so far is broccoli and mushroom with feta cheese.  Includes chopped onion and some garlic, of course.  I like to add a small glug of milk to the scrambled egg to help it fluff up (not as much as for a quiche).

The trick is in getting it to cook properly.  The egg fluffs up and if you get the egg to pan diameter wrong, gets too deep to cook through before the bottom burns (bummer).  I found an 8 inch cast iron skillet is right for a 2 egg frittata, which is about the right size for the two of us (but may be the right size for one active younger person).  I start by sauteing the onion and garlic in a little butter but add some water before things dry out and basically steam the vegetables.  Once they are cooked, I add the scrambled eggs (with a glug of milk and a dash of Worcestershire sauce) and scramble the veggies into the egg, then add the cheese on top (press it into the egg) and let it be.  Once it has started to cook on the stove top, I transfer it to the oven for more even heat.  When the egg is nearly all cooked I put it under the broiler to brown slightly.   Because we have a gas oven, I just turn on the broiler, which heats the oven above it to whatever temp you get when the broiler is running.

It may take a little practice to get this right, but it's worth it!

Homemade nut butters

As most of you know, I started making nut butters a couple months ago.  We were eating a TON of peanut butter, but then I read a book about nutrition that touched on the different beneficial fatty acids that are found in different kinds of nuts.  I decided I wanted to diversify our nut consumption, but found that alternatives to peanut butter are either hard to find or very expensive.  So, I decided to try to make my own.  Turns out it's really simple, can give great results, and can be cheaper than buying nut butters. Notice the "can"s in the previous sentence.  I've been getting pecans, almonds, and cashews at CostCo for a pretty decent price, so it ends up being cheaper than buying nut butters.  It's pretty obvious, though, that most of the cost of nut butters is the nuts, and the nut butter makers buy them in bulk.  I still think it's worth it, though, because you can make butters that you can't easily buy and you can make them the way you like.  I've learned that I like more of a roasted flavor and more salt than is present in most nut butters.  It's been fun to play around, and I've only ruined a few pounds of nuts by over roasting them.

The entire process is ridiculously simple.  Spread a pound or two of nuts in a single-ish layer in a roasting pan.  Roast between 375-400 degrees until desired level of brown, turning occasionally.  I check and turn pecans after 5 minutes initially, and then every 2-3 min.  Almonds I check and turn after 7 min, then at 3-5 min intervals.  Then, just throw the nuts in a food processor and process.  Initially, you'll make nut flour.  Keep processing, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.  This is the only part that can be annoying, especially with the almonds.  Eventually the nuts will release their oils and your flour will turn into butter.  The longer you process, the more liquidy it becomes.  Pecans go pretty quickly, almonds take longer.  You can add salt or other additives towards the end.  Some recommendations from on-line include cinnamon, vanilla, coconut, and ground hot pepper.

I store our butters at room temp, but I've read that if you add things besides nuts and salt, you should store them in the fridge.  I prefer to add those things to individual servings.

We eat almond butter on apples and bananas, pecan butter on apples and crackers, and pecan butter with smoked gouda is amazing.  I also like to mix different butters together to put on french toast, especially with some mix berries on top.  Cashew butter is the richest, and pairs amazingly with dark chocolate, especially as a topping on ice cream.  I haven't made my own peanut butter, yet.  It's so cheap to buy, I'm not sure it will be worth it.

-Maggie

Tower of Power - revisted

I finally made Andy's Power of Tower breakfast!  I don't know why it took me this long, but it won't be that long before I make it again.  It's great!  We made a few modifications based on personal preferences and what we had around.  First, we didn't have any cherry tomatoes, so we left those out.  I will definitely try to have them on hand next time.  I think they would add a lot to this dish.  I would probably sprinkle some balsamic vinegar over the tomatoes at the end of their cooking, and maybe leave the vinegar off the spinach.  I think the vinegar flavor is good, but it didn't come through as much as I would have liked on the spinach.  Second, we went with the "if the knife touches onions, it may as well touch garlic" theory.  To do this, we put some butter and minced garlic in a dish, then microwaved them until the butter was melted.  When the sweet potatoes were done, we brushed the garlic and butter over them and put them back in the oven briefly.  Finally, I sprinkled some grated swiss cheese over the whole thing at the end.  I liked this (I mean, it's cheese, so....), but it didn't add a ton.  Maybe if I had higher quality cheese this would have added more.  In the end, I feel full and satisfied in that "we had a good special breakfast" way, but not gross or bloated, and ready to get moving.

Thanks for the great idea, Andy!

-Maggie