Fried Rice

A friend of mine asked for my recipe for Fried Rice.  I use regular soy sauce, but feel free to use low sodium if salt is an issue.  I served it with a Korean BBQ flank steak, but you can substitute with any other type of meat.

Ingredients
2 tbs Sesame Oil
2 tbs butter
2 large eggs scrambled
2 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup mixed veggies
4 tbs soy sauce


Heat 1 tbs of sesame oil.  Scramble the eggs and remove from the pan.  Add 2 tbs butter to the hot pan and add the cooked rice.  Stir the rice until it's coated with the melted butter.  Add the mixed veggies and stir.  Add the 4 tbs of soy sauce and the remaining tbs of sesame oil.  Return the eggs back to the pan.   

Alfredo Sauce

I am never buying jarred Alfredo sauce again.    This really took about 10 minutes and covers 1 lb. of pasta.

Ingredients
1 pint heavy cream
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 tbs minced garlic (optional)
1 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese
Course black pepper
Italian Parsley chopped (optional)


In a large saute pan, melt 1 tbs butter and roast the minced garlic.  Slowly add the cream.  Stir in the remaining butter 1 tbs at a time until fully incorporated.  Once incorporated bring to a simmer and incorporate parmesan cheese.

Serve with Fettuccine pasta.

Moist Burgers

I am going to give credit where credit is due...this was Tim's idea.  I was making burger patties the other day and he walked into the kitchen and asked if we could add Panko in the meat.  The idea behind it is, people use bread crumbs and Panko in meatloaf to retain moisture why not in burgers.  These burgers were super moist and delicious.

Ingredients
1.34 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup panko
salt and pepper to taste
Red Chili flakes (optional)


Preheat grill.  Mix all ingredients and make 4 patties.  In the middle of the patty put a dimple and place on grill dimple side up.  Cook for desired doneness.  We do 5 minutes on each side and additional 1 minute with cheese.

Tamarind (imili) chutney

Tamarind(imili) sauce can be found at any Indian restaurant as an accompaniment to Samosas or Pakoras.  Depending on how it is made, it can be sour and thin.  I like my imili to be thick and a little more on the spicy side.  Now this recipe and method would have been easier with a food mill, but I did it all by hand.  I have plans to purchase a food mill within the next year.

Ingredients
17.6 oz Tamarind
4 cups boiling water
1/2 cups + 1 Tbs Sugar
2 tbs red chili pepper

1 tsp salt

2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp toasted cumin powder (Take cumin seeds and toast in a pan and then grind)  

In a large heat-safe bowl place tamarind and cover with boiling water.  Let set 1 hour or until water is cool enough to handle.  By hand, break up the tamarind.  Either by hand or with a food mill, strain the pulp through a mesh strainer.  Continue until all pulp has been strained.  More water can be added to help this process.  

Once the pulp is strained, in a medium sized pot, combine tamarind pulp sugar and the rest of the spices.  Boil until until desired consistency.  Taste for flavor.  If it is too sour add more sugar, a tbs/tsp at a time.     

Chicken Burgers

I was at the grocery store and noticed that they were selling chicken burgers.  We did try them, but I thought that they were thin and did not have a lot of flavor.  This was my attempt.   I did have the butcher grind up 3 breasts for me since they do not sell ground chicken.


Ingredients
3 chicken breasts ground
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp red chili flakes (optional)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

optional toppings
Bacon
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Mayo

Preheat grill or these can be made in a skillet on the stove.
In a large bowl mix all ingredients and form 4 patties. Grill for 7 minutes on each side or until internal temperature is 170 

Cast Iron Pizza

A few months ago we went to a local book store to hang out.  I ran across a Cast Iron Cook book and thumbed through it and thought, "I can do this." Today we tried cast iron skillet pizza.  Normally I make my own pizza dough in the bread maker, but today because I decided a little too late in the evening so we bought some pre-made pizza dough from our Publix Bakery.

Ingredients
1-1.5 lb pizza dough
2 tbs olive oil
Pizza sauce 

Optional toppings
Pepperoni
Italian sausage crumbles
Fresh mozzarella
shredded cheese
Baby portobello mushrooms
sliced black olives
diced green bell pepper


Preheat oven to 475
Oil a 14 inch cast iron skillet with 2 tbs olive oil.  Make sure you get the bottom and the sides.  Roll out dough or hand stretch to fit the bottom of the skillet.  Put a layer of shredded cheese.  Spoon some pizza sauce over the mozzarella.  Layer Pepperoni, shredded cheese, Italian sauce crumbles, more sauce, veggies, and finally the fresh mozzarella.

Bake for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown and mozzarella begins to caramelize.

Portobello Mushroom burgers

This recipe is thanks to my sister in law.  She told Tim how to make them and he made them for me when we had just started dating.  These mushrooms are a great alternative to beef burgers.  They have a  very meaty texture that can satisfy.


Ingredients
4 Large portobello mushroom caps
enough Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing to cover mushrooms
4 oz fresh mozzarella divided into equal portions


Take a slightly damp paper towel and dust off the mushroom caps.  Place them in a Ziploc bag and cover with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  Marinate for at least 1 hour.

Grill instructions:
Heat Grill and cook until portobello's begin to soften about 15 minutes on indirect heat (less time with direct heat).  Make sure you turn them after a few minutes.  Before serving place the cheese in the mushroom caps and allow to begin to melt.

Oven instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until softened.  Add Cheese to each and continue baking until melted.









Serve with all your favorite burger toppings.  

Bund Gobi (Spiced Shredded Cabbage)

This is another recipe that my mom used to make.  I like using the fresh cabbage but you can use the pre packaged coleslaw mix.  You can also add green peas to the mix for some additional color and veggie power.

Cabbage lower right corner

Ingredients:
1 small cabbage head (thinly cut) or 1 package coleslaw mix
2 medium tomatoes (chopped) or 6 oz diced canned tomatoes
1 Serrano pepper sliced in half (optional)
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp mustard seed
1/2 tsp hing
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp tumeric powder
1 tsp garam masala

In a large skillet, heat the oil and add the mustard seeds.  When the seeds begin to crackle add the hing.
Now add the cabbage, tomatoes, Serrano pepper, salt, red chili powder, and tumeric.  Cook uncovered on high heat until the water is evaporated.  Add the garam masala, cover and turn off or remove from heat.

Toor Daal-Orange Lentil Soup

My mom and sister make a really good version of this, and this my attempt. Tim (who does not eat a lot of vegetarian food) had two helpings.  Toor Daal can be found at any Indian grocery store, but if you are looking at a non Indian store it is called Split Pigeon Peas.  An additional ingredient you may have to locate in specialty store is Hing(Asafoetida).

Ingredients
1 cup toor daal
4 cups water
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp tumeric powder
1 tbs oil
2 dried chili peppers
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp hing
2-3 medium tomatoes chopped (or 6oz  canned diced tomatoes)
2 tbs lemon juice
pinch of citric acid (be careful to much will make it tart)
4 cubes of sugar (about 1 tsp)
1 tsp garam masala
fresh chopped cilantro (optional)

In a pressure cooker add water, toor daal, cayenne powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and tumeric.  Pressurize the mixture for about 15 minutes.  If you do not have a pressure cooker you can place the same ingredients in a crock pot and cook 6 hours on low.  The lentils should become soft.  With a blender, blend into a smooth soup-like consistency.

In a large saucepan heat the oil and toast the dried chillies.  When the chillies turn black add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and hing.  Let sizzle for a few seconds and add chopped tomatoes and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.  Cook until most of the moisture has evaporated.  Now carefully add the toor daal mixture.  Bring to a boil and lower the heat.  Add the lemon juice, citric acid, and sugar.   Let the mixture simmer until it is a thick creamy texture.  Add garam masala and chopped cilantro.

Serve over rice.