Where is the Fish? Fishy, fishy, fishy fish?

The concept of the fish taco was always kind of foreign to me.  I'd see the roadside stands talking about getting one for $1 and it just never appealed to me.  However, it's a brave new world and I was in the mood to try something different last night, so I poked around the net looking at some recipes and ended up coming up with a variation on several that was really tasty (even Elise loved it, and talk about picky...)

The best thing was it was reasonably cheap to make and it didn't take a whole lot of work.  I forgot to take a picture of them, but here is what I came up with:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup mayonaise
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 teaspoons hot sauce (Cholula or Chipotle Tobasco)

3 tablespoons lime juice

6 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

salt

2 cups shredded romain lettuce
1/2 cup finely shredded carrots
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 lb cod filets
8 tortillas (I like flour)
Guacamole
Shredded monterey jack cheese

Okay, you ready ski king?  Let's let it happen Cap'n.

Heat up the oven to 350°.  When it's warm separate the tortillas and wrap them in 2 pouches of tin foil, 4 tortillas to a pouch.  Toss them in the oven to warm up while you do everything else.  For a max of about 15 minutes.

Whisk together the mayo, yogurt and hot sauce.  Dip a finger in it and give it a taste, add whatever you want to it or adjust the hot sauce levels.  You don't want it spicy, but sort or tangy and warm.

Now, in another bowl, whisk together the lime juice, 2 tablespoons of the oil and a good smidge, maybe even a dash of salt.  Whisk it all together until it gets a dressing like consistency.  Now, take the lettuce, carrots and onion, put 2 tablespoons of the dressing on it and toss it all together.  Go ahead and taste that, you know you wanna.

Cut up your cod fillets into 1" x 3" strips (you don't need to measure them), pat them dry and sprinkle on some salt.  In a skillet, heat up the remaining oil over medium-high heat until it is shimmering. saute´ the cod in 2 batches, about 4 minutes to a side and drain it on paper towels when it is done.  After the cod is cooked, transfer it to a clean dish and pour on the rest of the lime dressing, coating the fish.

Now, let's build us some tacos...  Grab a tortilla (re-wrap the ones still there, so they don't get crusty), smear some guacamole on it, put on some fish, put on some of the salad mix, add some cheese and then drizzle some of the mayo concoction on it...  Take a bite, you deserve it.

Pretty damn tasty, isn't it?  I hope you like them.  All told, these took about 40 minutes to prep and cook. The best part was that it was a pretty inexpensive meal at about $1.60 per taco (the cod was on sale) and you could drop that by using a different white fish.  If you wanted to use less oil, you could bake the fish too...

When your nostrils need clearing...

I love spicy food.  Not burn a hole in your small intestine spicy, but a good heat that compliments the flavor of what you are eating and brings the dish together.  So, in keeping with my soup kick, I thought to make something along the lines of a Chinese Hot & Sour soup, but with a bit more substance on the protein front.  A meal in and of itself.  Also, I wanted this all to happen in a reasonably short timeframe and with a minimum of fuss...

My friends, I have created such a soup.  I call this soup:

Andrew's 3 Hankie Soup

We are going to make something pretty tasty, reasonably easy and with minimal shopping.  Perfect for a cold night and not too heavy, this soup will quickly warm you up and make you feel full without feeling stuffed.

First, let's take a look at what we'll need to make it...

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1 lb +/- of chicken breast, cut up into bite-sized pieces
• Sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground Turmeric
• 2 - 2 1/2 teaspoons of chopped, fresh ginger root
• 2 Tablespoons of chile paste (look in the asian food section, usually has a rooster on the jar)
• 1 cup, or so, of chopped celery
• 1 medium chopped onion
• 1 qt of chicken broth
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 pkg of ramen noodles
• 1 cup of chopped bok choy (green leaves)
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (pale green part)

Ready kids?  Let's do this thing...

Okay, in a decent sized pot, I like to use my round 2 1/2 quart Le Creuset, heat up a bit of olive oil over medium heat and cook up the chicken breast until it is almost cooked through.  You can sprinkle a little salt and pepper on, if you'd like, but it probably isn't necessary (I do out of habit).  Once that's cooked up, dump the chicken into a bowl and set off to the side.

Put about 2 tablespoons of the sesame oil into the pot over medium-low heat and warm it up.  When you think it's warm enough, toss in the turmeric, ginger, chile paste, onion and celery and cook it up until the veggies start to soften a touch, about 4 minutes.

WARNING:  Do not stick your nose into the pot and take a big sniff, you will regret it.

Okay, lets pour in the broth and the soy sauce as well as add the chicken back in and put in the sugar.  Stir that up, cover and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Once you get it to a boil, lower the heat and toss in the ramen noodles (not the spice packet) and cook for 3 minutes.  Finally, remove from heat, stir in the Bok Choy and let the flavors mingle for a minute or two.

Serve garnished with the green onion floating on the top and enjoy.

All told, this took around 45 minutes with prep and cooking and it made up 4 main course servings or probably about 6 - 7 starter course servings.

Ready, Set... GUMBO!

So, I decided I was in the mood for some gumbo and therefore, I poked around in the fridge and freezer to see what I had on-hand to make some up.  I found some frozen venison, chicken, and a couple links of kielbasa.  This had the makings of some good chow.  I am not going to say that it is the ultimate gumbo, as I am not from Louisiana and saying you are making the ultimate gumbo is a totally bold statement.  However, I will say it is very tasty.

Now, before I get into the recipe, I want to talk to you about something very personal...  Roux.

How you prepare your roux dictates the rest of your gumbo.  Do you use butter or oil as the fat?  What kind of flour?  How dark do you make it?

Today I opted to try something new.  I used a 50/50 mix of olive oil and chipotle infused olive oil as the fat and all-purpose flour.  I opted to cook it for about 30 minutes so it is was a nice, dark brown.  This made for a fantastic base for the rest of the gumbo and gave it a fantastic, smoky chipotle heat.

Andrew's Spur of the Moment Gumbo

Okay people, we're going to rock some gumbo.  Just to let you know, the following are just guidelines, feel free to use different meats, different veggies, whatever.  This isn't "spicy", but it does have that smoky chipotle flavor.  I can't go too spicy in this house due to the girls not liking it too hot.

Let's go shopping or dig around in the freezer and find the following Ingredients:

1/2 cup Chipotle Olive Oil
1/2 cup Olive oil
1 cup all purpose flour
2 Medium Onions, chopped (just over 1 cup)
Several stalks of celery, chopped (just over 1 cup)
1/2 cup Carrots, chopped
2 quarts of chicken and/or vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
3/4 lb chicken breast, cubed
1/2 lb venison, cubed
1 lb kielbasa, beef smoked sausage or andouille sausage, in 1/2 slices
Handful of Basil leaves, torn up (yes, you heard me right)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Worcestershire sauce
White Rice
Gumbo File'

Let's hit it.

Put the olive oil in a heavy pot and heat it up over medium flame.  When it gets hot, whisk in the flour and lower the heat a touch.  Cook that for 15 - 30 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture browns and gets a nutty aroma.  When it gets to the point you like it, dump in the veggies and cook the mixture for around 4 minutes until they start to soften.

Pour in the stock, toss in the bay leaves, and bring the mixture to a simmer.  Cook for about 15 minutes or so until it starts to thicken a bit.

While that is cooking, toss the chicken and venison into a skillet with some olive oil and cook it most of the way through.  You can throw on some salt and pepper as well.  When that is ready to go, throw it into the pot with the sausage and toss in the basil.  Let the flavors settle together for a few minutes and taste the broth.  Add in some Worcestershire and salt/pepper to taste and cook everything for a little bit (15 minutes or so), it should thicken up nicely.

Fish out the bay leaves and serve the gumbo over rice and sprinkle on a bit of the gumbo file'...  Enjoy.

This recipe makes about 6 main-course servings and took just about an hour and a half to cook up...

Andrew Downie's Unnamed Ultimate Soup

I think there are few occasions of true inspiration.  Most leaps forward are made through iterative steps on the same theme and rarely does the proverbial light bulb go off, in reality.

Examples are easy to see, such as the wheel, and accidental inspiration is evident too, such as the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (as you got your chocolate in my peanut butter...), but to not only witness inspiration, but to experience it, is a gift like no other.

Today my friends, I am the recipient of said gift, for I have created the yet to be named ultimate soup that blends aromatics, textures and flavors in a miracle of culinary goodness, which I will now share with you.  This soup is based on the crudely conceived of idea that a soup could not only provide warming, inductive goodness, such as in a fine Chicken, Corn & Cheddar Chowder, but would also be capable of aromatically pleasing the senses and providing a silky flavor, such as in a lobster bisque.

Such a soup, comprised of organic chicken breasts, steamed lobster meat and fresh vegetables is, Andrew Downie's Unnamed Ultimate Soup...

The Unnamed Ultimate Soup has reached a high level of development and is being successfully deployed at family meals and events.  It's recipe is available now, under a limited private use license which stipulates that it shall always be referred to as Andrew Downie's Unnamed Ultimate Soup, until such a time as a name is decided, and no commercial use of this recipe is authorized without the express permission and mutually agreed upon licensing by Andrew Downie.


I have opted to temporarily remove the recipe from this posting in order to decide how I want to proceed with this soup.  As with many things, with great soup, comes great responsibility, so I want to decide how to best protect the recipe...  Sorry, but I think it is necessary.


Andrew

Andrew Downie's Unnamed Ultimate Soup

Okay people, let's do this thing...

First off, check your stock and make sure you have the following stuff.  If I didn't include exact measurements, that's because it is a personal taste thing and you should figure it out on your own, if that scares you, walk away.

--- REDACTED ---

Chicken, Corn & Cheddar Chowder

Chicken, Corn and Cheddar Chowder with Roll

That's right damn it.  A mere chicken & corn chowder isn't good enough for me, I had to take it to the next level and add me some cheddar.  As my good friend Bobcat says, "Everything is better with cheese."

I also decided that I didn't like the concept of using canned creamed corn in this recipe as I wanted to maintain ingredient control (no extra chemicals I could easily avoid), so I added in the creamed corn assembly as well.  Anyway, this is really good soup that is nice and thick and would be great after spending an afternoon out in the cold...

Let's light this candle.

Chicken Corn & Cheddar Chowder

Carry your butt to the store (or pull this stuff out) and get:

Olive Oil
1 package (10 oz or so) corn kernels (thawed if frozen, or go with drained from a can)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 Tablespoon Sugar
Some salt
Some black pepper
5 Tablespoons butter, divided
4 1/2 cups milk, divided
4 Tablespoons flour, divided
Some grated parmesan cheese (small handful)
About 3/4 cup chopped celery
About 3/4 cup chopped red pepper
1 pound chicken breasts (boneless)
4 Tablespoons chopped mild green chilies (One of those tiny cans)
About 1 1/2 cups of those French Fried Onions they put in that green bean casserole every T-Giving
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided.

Okay, we'll start with the chicken.  Chop it up into bite-sized pieces and cook it up, in a large pot, in a little of the olive oil and maybe a little salt and pepper until it is about 80% done.  Pull out the chicken and set it aside.

In a skillet, over medium heat, combine the corn, 1/2 cup of the heavy cream, sugar, about 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, a bit of black pepper and 1 tablespoon of butter.  While that starts to heat up, whisk together 1/2 a cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of flour then stir that into the corn mixture.  Keep cooking and stirring until the mixture thickens up a bit and the corn is cooked through.  Then stir in a handful of parmesan cheese and remove from the heat once it is melted.  Set the skillet aside for a bit (it will thicken up a bit and congeal, not to worry).

Now, I am assuming you already chopped up the red pepper and celery.  If not, do it now slacker.  Once that is done, melt the rest of the butter in the big-ass soup pot and saute' the celery and peppers over medium-high heat until tender, but they still have a crunch.  We're probably talking 3 or 4 minutes.  Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of flour over the veggies and cook for about a minute, stirring constantly and scraping the dried stuff off the bottom of the pot.

Stir in the milk and the creamed corn you previously made.  Bring the temperature up to a good simmer and dump in the chicken and the chilies.  Let the pot return to a good simmer or a boil and then add in about 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheddar, a handful at a time, and stir it in until melted.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes or so, until thickened.  Play with the salt and pepper a bit.  I also find that a splash of sherry really can take this soup over the top, but that is a personal preference (also, some low-sodium soy sauce can add some nice layers to the flavor).

Now, toss in about 1 cup of those french fried onions and stir them in.  Serve the soup with some shredded cheddar and some more of the onions sprinkled on top.  I also like it with a splash of Cholula or Frank's hot sauce on top.  We also discovered that the Kings Hawaiian sweet rolls go really well with this soup.

Hope you like it.  If not, well that just means more for me.

All told, this took about an hour to make, including prep.  At the end of it all I had about 6 large servings (the stuff is filling though, so it might be more like 8 or so servings).  Good stuff, enjoy.

Brazilian Black Bean Soup With Sausage

I made a couple soups today, partly to experiment, partly to have some food in the fridge that I could heat up.  This soup is really nice as it has some nice spice, but mellows really well with a dollop of sour cream.  If you want to lose the sausage, you can, but I like the little extra flavor it provides.  You will note this isn't in the "new" recipe format, as I am revisiting that from a variety of data visualization angles...

Anyway, this will warm you up on a cold day.

Brazilian Black Bean Soup with Sausage

First, let's go shopping.  You might have most of this on-hand (at least if you cook a lot), or could substitute if need be.  Regardless, you are going to need the following (amounts estimated, adjust to taste):

About 1 lb of pork sausage (I get the non-cased stuff at my local italian market)
4 cups of chopped red onion (couple good sized onions)
4 cloves of minced garlic (or a couple tablespoons of pre-minced)
3 cups water
2 30 oz cans of black beans, drained
2 14.5 oz cans of chicken broth ( I actually prefer to make my own, tastes better.  Better yet, use pheasant broth... )
4 or so tablespoons Cholula hot sauce (or Franks, but Cholula is better)
4 Tablespoons of chopped cilantro
4 Teaspoons ground cumin
4 Tablespoons rum (I use Captain Morgans)
2 Tablespoons dry Sherry

Okay, in a big pot, I like to use an enameled, cast iron dutch oven, toss in the sausage over medium - high heat and cook it up so we don't get sick.  When it is done, pull it out of the pot and set it aside, but leave the grease in there.

Chop up your onion and toss it in that sausage grease over medium-high heat with the garlic and cook it up until they get tender, 4 or 5 minutes.  You might need to add some olive oil or the like, depending on how much sausage grease was still in there.  It's okay, you can add some fat, I won't tell.  About this time the people in the house will start smelling it and begin peeking into the kitchen, kick them out.

Okay, now it gets complicated...

Dump in all the other ingredients EXCEPT the sausage, rum and sherry.  Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce the heat, partially cover and cook for about 20 minuted, stirring every few minutes.  Don't rush it, let the flavors blend.

Now, ladle about 1/2 the soup into a blender or a food processor and blend it until smooth.  Pour it back into the pot, stir in the sausage, rum and sherry.  Taste it, love it, adjust it as you see fit, make it your own...

I like to serve it with some shredded queso cheese and a spoonful of sour cream on top.  Some folks might like a lime wedge too.  This makes a good sized pot of soup, probably 8 - 10 servings, so feel free to cut the recipe in half.

All told, it should take you about 45 minutes to an hour to make this, with prep and cooking.

Black beans and rice. Nom, nom, nom...

I have been working on being a healthier Andrew again and also have been working on being a more frugal Andrew and spending less on expensive food (so I can afford expensive toys).  To that end, I have been playing around with black beans & rice recipes which allow for a lot of variety and different tastes.  Tonight, I wanted to go spicy with my concoction, and boy, did I get it right...

Ingredients:

3 cups dry long grain white rice
2 cans black beans, drained
2 large, fresh jalapenos (from my garden)
1 red chili pepper (from my garden)
2 cloves garlic
2 medium yellow onions
4 green onions
2 packages sazon
sea salt
olive oil
Tamari to taste
Hot sauce to taste
fresh cilantro

Okay, cook up the white rice in a large saucepan or a rice cooker.  While that gets going, mince the garlic and set aside.  Now, finely chop up the yellow onion and about 1/2 cup of the green onion.  Seed and mince up the jalapenos and the red pepper (be sure to know how spicy the pepper is, I ended up using 1/2 of one).

Heat up some olive oil in a large skillet or a wok over medium-high heat.  When shimmering, toss in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds or so.  Now, add in all the onions and peppers and saute until soft, about 10 minutes or so.  Throw in a couple dashes of sea salt and the sazon and mix it all up, adding some water if necessary to juice it up a bit.  Cook that for about 3 - 5 minutes then throw in the black beans and cook until heated through.

About now, the rice should be done, throw that in and stir everything up.

Taste it, you know you want to...

If it is a little bland on the back of the tongue, throw in some tamari and stir it up for a re-taste.  Don't put in too much at once, but keep adding small amounts until you get it where you want it.  I found mine to be spicy, but still needing something, so I added a few dashes of jalapeno-based hot sauce to brighten it up a bit.  When you get it right, chop up about a cup of cilantro and mix it in...

Dang it's good.

This recipe makes about 8 servings.  I like to have some right away and then have leftovers the next couple of days as the flavors get really nicely complex after sitting for awhile in the fridge.  The recipe also comes in at around 300 calories per serving.  Which is pretty good considering how filling it is.  If you want to get crazy with it, you can cut up some sausage (like a nice chicken sausage) and add it in as well....

Enjoy.

Simple Stir Fry

I had a hankerin' for something a little sweet and a little spicy for lunch today, so I decided to look around my kitchen to see what I had.  At the end of the day, I came up with this very tasty stir fry...

If you have to do some shopping, you will want to pick up a package of firm tofu (or extra firm), some bean sprouts, a medium onion, some snap peas, garlic, fresh ginger and a couple chili peppers, which are selected based on taste/heat desires.  For this stir fry, I like to use a hotter pepper such as a thai green chilies or some Serrano peppers.  If you don't have it on hand, you'll also want some dry sherry, soy sauce, red wine vinegar, tobasco, brown sugar and some of your preferred stock (beef, chicken or vegetable).

So, drain and dry that tofu, cube it up and put it into a wok in some sesame and/or olive oil to fry it up a bit.  While that is going, mince up a few cloves of garlic and some of that ginger and put it into a little pile off to the side.  Now, chop up the peppers (remove seeds to reduce heat) and then coarsely chop the onion up.

Once the tofu starts to brown a bit, or when you lose your patience, throw in that garlic and ginger and stir everything up until it is fragrant, usually 30 seconds or so.  Toss in the onions and the chilies and cook that shit up until the onions are tender.

Now, lets sauce this baby up.  splash in some of that sherry and soy sauce, plus a healthy pinch of the brown sugar, a couple shakes of tobasco and a couple good sprinkles of the vinegar.  Then throw in about 1/4 cup of your stock and stir everything up really good.  Give it a taste, adjust sauce ingredients as required.  Throw in the snap peas and sprouts, heat everything up until hot.

So, now you have this awesome stir fry.  Serve it up over some rice or noodles (try it with soba noodles, it's good).  Enjoy.

Burn in Hell Mall Pretzel Pusher!

My six year old daughter is having a friend spend the night tonight, so I thought it would be nice to make them a fresh treat to snack on.  For some odd reason, I decided on soft pretzels.  I think my desire to make them stemmed from reading the ingredients on a package of higher-end hard pretzel snacks and realizing that I could probably make them pretty easily, and with fewer chemicals.

So, my search began for a recipe.  I looked in the usual places, but finally settled on the one from Food Network's Alton Brown, from the show, "Good Eats".  Say what you want about him, but the dude knows his food and how to cook it.  In fact, he is the one that taught me the optimal way to make over-easy eggs.

Anyway, I digress.  I used a whole grain, unbleached flour, instead of all-purpose flour, in these.  They were rediculously easy to make and they are quite tasty.  So, if you have a hankering for a big, tasty soft pretzel that will totally blow away anything you can get at a mall or in your grocer's freezer, give these a try...

Alton Browns Soft Pretzels

I will, more than likely, put this in the new recipe format and post an update.  If you are curious, the picture on the left is of my final results.

The Smoothie

Making smoothies was always kind of a pain in the ass, I thought.  Having the fresh fruit on-hand, putting it all together, blending, etc.  Granted, I was probably making it more of a production than I needed to, but still.

Then, last night, I had a hankering for a milkshake.  Not a smoothie, but an evil Culver's concrete mixer with Heath Bar (tm) mixed in.  To quell this craving, I decided to build a smoothie with some of the yogurt I had in the fridge and fruit we had...  Problem, we didn't have smoothie-appropriate fruit.

Then I remembered I had purchased some freeze-dried cans of fruit to try out from Honeyville Grain.  So, I  put some freeze-dried strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and pineapple with a bit of water, a single-serve container of organic yogurt (low fat), a few ounces of OJ and a handful of ice in the hand blender cup...  then blend.

To use modern terminology...  OMG!

So, I added up the calories and it was in the neighborhood of 350 for around 16 oz of smoothie.   Quite a few less than the milkshake (which comes in at over 1,100 calories in the same volume).  Plus the use of the freeze-dried fruit totally took the pain in the ass factor out of it.

On a side note, the freeze-dried fruit is pretty nice as a snack...

To Build a Better Burger.

Through the ages, there has been much debate as to the makeup of the "ultimate burger".  To be honest, I thought I had stumbled upon the secret, which I was convinced was the "Ultimate Burger" (we shall hereafter simply call it UB), in fact I had made what I thought to be the UB last night for the family after a long day of yard work.

The burger formerly known as UB was quite simple.  You mix equal parts high-quality 85/15 ground beef (grass-fed if you can get it) and ground buffalo (again, go high-quality here).  You mince 2 cloves of garlic, add a good pinch of sea salt and a few turns of the pepper mill and mix it all up.  Make up some 1/2 pound patties and toss them on a 400° grill  over high flame and put a few dashes of worcestershire sauce on each burger.  Cook for 4 minutes on the first side, flip, put on more worcestershire and cook for 3 minutes on the second side.  Move the burger off the direct heat, toss on some cheese and leave the lid closed for about a minute, until the cheese is melted.  Don't you dare serve this on a wonder bread hamburger bun.  Get a high quality onion roll or something.  Have some class.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

It is good, real good.  However, I have discovered something better...

Okay, now when I tell you this, if you aren't alone in the room, do not indicate that you have been made privy to this secret.  What?  What do you mean how do you not make them privy?  I don't know...  Read casually.

Okay, here it is...

You ready?

Using the directions for the burger formerly known as UB, do everything the same EXCEPT, replace the buffalo with ground venison at a ratio of 2 parts beef to 1 part venison.

Yes, venison.  Deer.  Bambi.  That is of what I speak.

This will make you the ultimate burger.  I shit you not.  Now, if you can't get any venison (I happen to hunt, so I have a bunch in the freezer), the burger formerly known as UB is still damn tasty.  Most folks will be very impressed with that burger and you can even claim it is the UB.  However, you will know, in that dark place in your mind that you don't let out at parties, you will know that it isn't the UB.  Trust me, look for venison and try it, you won't be sorry...

Vegetarian Shawarma (a.k.a. - The Curse of the Mujahideen)

Back in the day, when I was deployed in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, we would get these fantastic creations form street vendors, which were called Shawarma.  Let me tell you, after eating MREs for several weeks straight, you would eat almost anything that didn't come out of a brown plastic envelope.

Anyway, we called these things "Haji-Dogs" (yeah, I know, not very PC), since they were sold out of carts like hot dog vendors here use, and we loved them.

Fast forward to today.  I have done something which many would consider diabolical, or perhaps sacrilegious...  Nay, they might actually call it evil and declare a jihad on me for even having the thought of...  A vegetarian Shawarma.

That's right, you heard me right.  What's even worse?  It tastes really good.  Although, I will recommend that you don't go for the day after leftovers, as the tofu's texture gets a bit mushy.  Other than that, these are really good.

In the recipe below, I have reduced the amount of Tahini used to 1/2 a cup, as I found the original sauce to be too...  Tahini-y.  If you want more and amp it back up to a full cup, you will be adding 95 calories per serving (if you do less than the full cup, well, do the math).

Anyway, comments appreciated, enjoy the food, don't get involved in a land war in Asia...

Make Your Own Pita Bread

Have you ever read the ingredients on the packages of mass-produced baked goods?  It's like you are reading the contents of the "L'il Mad Scientist" chemistry sets of our youth, totally creeps me out.  So, I decided to learn to bake my own bread.  It is really amazing how easy baking bread is, and how little it costs (time aside, but that isn't a lot either).

So, I needed some pitas for a diabolical recipe I created (to be posted later) and I had two choices, go buy some chemical-laden ones at the grocery store that are all rubbery and bland, or learn to make them on my own.  I opted for the latter.

These are plain pitas, you could dress them up by adding minced onion or garlic, or by adding in some herbs.  All would make for some tasty pita.

Pitas are, traditionally, made in brick ovens at very high heat.  Since we don't have brick ovens (I assume) we can come close with our regular oven at high heat, close to the flame source...  Enjoy.

Green Tofu Curry Recipe

This is a recipe I made the other night and I have been enjoying with cilantro rice for lunch the last couple of days.  I used store bought curry paste in this one, but I think I will make up my own curry paste the next time around.  I want to experiment with a couple variations on the pastes though.

All-in-all, this is a tasty meal.  Not too spicy, the tofu holds a good texture and, if you would like, you could throw in some other kinds of veggies too.  As always, comments and variations welcome.

Quinoa with Black Beans and Fake Meat

This recipe is something I created last night with some stuff I had on hand and it turned out to be really tasty and it is completely vegetarian. The fake meat is "beef flavored" Textured Vegetable Protein or "TVP", which I like to call "Soylent Green". I get mine from Honeyville Foods, who can be found HERE. We also like to get freeze dried fruits and such there.

Serves: 2 - 3
Time Required: 25 minutes
Total Calories: 1317

Ingredients:

1 Cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 Cups vegetable stock (you can use any stock)
3/4 Cup flavored freeze-dried TVP meat substitute (I used beef flavor)
3/4 Cup hot or boiling water
2 Cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 Thai green chilis, finely chopped
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp Tamari soy sauce
1 Tbsp chili paste (Sriracha)
Sea salt to taste
Cajun seasoning to taste
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional)

1) In a medium saucepan, bring the quinoa and stock to a boil, stirring occasionally. once boiling, reduce to simmer, add garlic and chilis and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until quinoa is done, usually around 15 minutes.
2) While the quinoa is cooking, place the meat substitute in a bowl with the hot water and reconstitute per directions. Optionally, you can use real meat or another type of meat substitute, you just want to end up with about 1 1/2 cups.
3) When quinoa is done, add beans, meat substitute, Tamari and chili paste to the pot. Cook on medium heat until heated through, about 4 or 5 minutes. If too dry, add some water.
4) Season to taste with sea salt and cajun seasoning.
5) Serve immediately with chopped cilantro sprinkled on top.

Kra Prow Taohu (Thai marinated tofu with chiles and basil)

I made this dish up tonight based on a Kra Prow Gai (chicken with chilis and basil) recipe I had made before.  It is very tasty and the entire dish comes in at around 840 calories and will do two larger portions or three light portions easily.

Serves:   2 - 3
Total Time:  40 minutes

Ingredients:

Marinade - 
    1/2 cup Fish Sauce
    1/2 cup rice wine or dry sherry
    1/4 cup brown sugar
    Splash of rice vinegar
    Juice of 1/2 lime
    1 Tbsp chili paste (I use Sriracha)
    1 Tbsp finely minced lemon grass

Main Dish -
    1 14 - 16 oz package of extra firm tofu
    1 1/2 cups dry jasmine rice
    3 tablespoons oil (peanut oil if you have it)
    6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
    1 medium onion, quartered and cut into 1/4" slices
    1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
    8 fresh thai chilis (please wear rubber gloves when preparing), stems removed, chopped and
       pounded into a paste
    2 tsp Tamari soy sauce
    a good pile of fresh thai basil (or any fresh basil), I usually have about 30 leaves
    dash of fish sauce (to taste)
    dash of freshly ground black or white pepper

NOTE:  If using a rice cooker, begin cooking the rice between steps 4 and 5.  If cooking traditionally, start boiling your water before prepping the tofu and add the rice between steps 4 and 5.

1)  Drain the tofu and slice into 1/2" slices.  Place the slices between paper towels or kitchen towels (not terrycloth) and gently press the water out of the slices without smashing them.
2)  Using a non-stick skillet, or a well seasoned cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, dry fry the tofu until browned on both sides, being sure to press more of the water out of the tofu with a spatula.
3)  Remove the tofu form the pan and place on a cutting board.
4)  Mix all of the ingredients of the marinade in a medium bowl and whisk together until well mixed.
5)  Cut the tofu into 1/2" cubes and place in the marinade stirring to coat and stirring every few minutes while remaining ingredients are prepped.
6)  While tofu is marinating (15 minutes or so), prepare the garlic, onion, red pepper, chilis and remove the stems from the basil.  Keep all items separate, but easily accessible.
7)  Using a slotted spoon, remove the tofu from the marinade and place in a bowl, reserve the marinade.
8)  In a wok, or a large skillet over medium heat, heat up the oil.
9)  When oil is hot, stir fry the garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
10)  Toss in the onions and flip constantly until they are starting to soften, about 4 minutes or so.
11)  Throw in the red pepper and stir fry for 2 - 3 minutes
12)  Add the Tofu and stir fry for approximately 3 - 4 additional minutes.
13)  If the dish is too dry, pour in some of the reserved marinade.
14)  Add the chilis and the Tamari, stir fry for approximately 30 seconds, mixing well
15)  Add the Basil leaves and add fish sauce to taste, stir fry until basil is wilted and all ingredients are heated through.
16)  Add fresh ground black or white pepper to taste and serve over jasmine rice.

Damn good pasta

So, I was watching Anthony Bourdain's show the other night and he had a series of guest chefs show the proper way to make some common foods. One of them was a proper red sauce for pasta. Working what I saw on the show, I made it last night and it was absolutely fantastic. I thought I would share it:

Makes ~4 servings

2 1/2 lbs tomatoes

1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil, divided

Sea Salt

10 cloves garlic, peeled

Crushed red pepper

Fresh Basil

1 lb fresh pasta

1 tbl salted butter

- Blanche tomatoes and remove skin

- Squeeze out seeds and juice into a bowl and reserve (in case the sauce is dry)

- In a stockt pot, heat up about 1/2 a cup of olive oil and put in the tomatoes and a healthy dash of sea salt

- Break up the tomatoes with a potato masher and mix with the oil

- Simmer for ~40 minutes

- When there is ~15 minutes left on the tomatoes, mix a cup of olive oil with 10 cloves garlic, a dash of crushed red pepper and a few basil leaves in a small saucepan and infuse over low heat.

- While oil is infusing, bring water to boil for pasta (if using dry pasta, you will want it al-dente for a later step, so adjust timing)

- Strain infused oil into tomatoes and mix well over med-low heat for ~5 minutes

- Remove tomatoes from heat

- Chop up enough fresh basil for about 1 cup, or to taste

- In a large skillet put about 10 or 12 oz of the sauce mixture over med-high heat to reduce

- Put half the fresh pasta into the boiling water for about 3 minutes

- Transfer the pasta to the skillet with the sauce, add around 1/2 a tablespoon of butter, some fresh chopped basil and a pinch of crushed red pepper

- aerate the pasta and sauce (flip it in the pan) to complete the pasta cooking and to work in the flavors of the basil, pepper and butter.

- repeat the process for the other half of the pasta

- serve immediately

All told, this took about an hour with prep and cooking. You could do the sauce components earlier or the night before, then just warm it up prior to the skillet/pasta steps. That would make this a good weeknight meal.

As for the fresh pasta, I used the stuff you can get in the cooler at the grocery store. I want to make my own pasta, but I am not there yet. Even with the pseudo-fresh stuff, this was an incredibly light and flavorful meal which blew away any pasta sauce I have gotten in a jar. The basil and garlic totally complemented each other and brightened it up. This one gets two forks up.