"Say Chowder!"

I drove out of town this weekend to a fairly new Asian supermarket center.  As I was exploring the store I came across “fresh” clam meat.  I was thrilled!!!  They were packaged like cut meat at your local butcher shop.  I bought a package that weighed 0.85 lbs.  I’ve never made clam chowder before and have been putting it off due to the thought of canned clam meat... :(

I gathered up a few recipes and created this one.

First step is to fry the bacon in a 7qt pot.  I fry my bacon on low for about 20minutes.

Remove the bacon and put on a plate with a paper towel to soak up the excess bacon fat.

Saute the chopped up sweet onions and celery (about a cup each) in the bacon drippings in the pot.  (I also added dashes of granulated garlic powder and cayenne pepper for extra goodness...)

Saute until onions and celery are tender.  Then add 2 cups diced red potatoes and 3 bottles (8oz) clam juice.  Cover for about 15-20 minutes on medium; until potatoes are tender.  Stir once every 5 minutes.

In a small pot, melt 3/4 cup butter on low.

After the butter all melts, whisk in 3/4 cup flour.

Whisk flour and butter until smooth.  Next add in 4 cups of half & half cream.  Stir well.  Added 2 tsp of salt. Stir well until you've reached a thick consistency.  Then add cream mixture to the veggie and clam juice pot that has been boiling.

Add in parsley flakes (preferrably fresh & chopped) and fresh ground pepper.  Simmer on low.

Then I rinsed the clams with cold water and cut them in half.  I love lots of clams in my chowder!!!

Stir them into the pot and cook for 5-7minutes.  The longer you cook them the tougher the clam meat.  Do not let the pot boil.

My bowl of chowder....

Next time I will add 2tsp of red wine vingear at the end.  Also, I will be making rustic bread bowls for this hearty soup!!!  MMMmmm

Thanksgiving Photos

Here are some photos from the Thanksgiving Feast:

Some of the ingredients for my Turkey

 

Homemade Dinner Rolls

 

My hubby helped me cut 4 fresh pineapples!!!

 

The Roux (butter & flour) for my smooth gravy

 

 The night before I spiced up (inside and out) my turkey (13lbs) and placed about a cup of salted butter under the skin.

 

 The morning of Thanksgiving, the turkey is bacon-ed up with a bottle of Guinness Beer (extra stout)!

 

"stuffing" & sweet white & golden corn

Yams and Red Potatoes waiting to be extra delicious!

 

 Holiday Salad (Candied Pecans, baby lettuce mix, spinach, homemade poppy seed dressing, craisins, and mandarin oranges) and Uncle Timmy made our new favorite dish: Bacon & Cabbage

 

14lbs of Prime Rib

 

  Hubby slicing prime rib and getting blood everywhere!

Candied yams and sliced up turkey and bacon.

More photos of Turkey Day to come!

Thanksgiving Feast

Four years ago I cooked my very first Thanksgiving meal for the family.  It was for about 30 people.  My aunt yelled out "I vote for you to cook Thanksgiving for the next 30 years!"  To some people this compliment would scare them away and never to cook again.  To me, it was a huge compliment. It's a lot of work, but #1 not only do I get the dishes I want for Thanksgiving, but #2 I am cooking for the people I love.  I am so Thankful for my family that simply cooking a Thanksgiving meal is the least I can do for everything they do for me throughout the year.

Our typical menu is as follows:

2 Turkeys (one with beer & onions; one Italian style - all covered with bacon!!!)
Gravy
Stuffing
Candied Yams
Mashed Potatoes
Dinner Rolls
Cranberry Sauce
Corn
Desserts Vary each year depending on what my relatives bring

This year I am changing up the menu!  My mom helped with the cost of this one.  I have not revealed to my relatives yet what the new menu will be.  So if they are reading this - SURPRISE!

13lb Turkey (Guinness Beer, Butter, Onions, Garlic, salt & pepper...covered with bacon!)
*** 14lb of Prime Rib ***

Gravy
Stuffing
Candied Yams
Mashed Potatoes
Dinner Rolls
Cranberry Sauce
Corn
Holiday Salad (Spinach, lettuce mix, Toasted almonds, mandarin oranges, craisins, and homemade poppy seed dressing [dressing recipe from Aunt Ruthie!]).
Homemade Caramel Pecan Pie


This year, the Thanksgiving Luncheon will be held at our home.  All the previous years, I would cook the whole meal and transport it to the designated home.  Last year I brought everything to my Grandmother's home.  During her Chemotherapy in late Spring/early summer of 2008, she longed for my Thanksgiving cooking.  I am thankful that she was able to enjoy my cooking last year.  As you can see Thanksgiving is such a special time for me to cook for all the people I love and cherish.

I hope to take photos of all the dishes this week and post them.

Hubby's Bday Request

Today's my husband's bday!  We celebrated his birthday with his friends on Saturday and with his parents yesterday.  For Saturday he requested my Chicken Gyros.  Cafe Mix in Mesa, Arizona inspired me to create this Chicken.  I also learned how to make my own pitas, but for the purpose of this party and my hectic schedule, I wasn't going to make 30 pitas by hand.  Luckily, the owner of Cafe Mix graciously sold me his pitas!!!  Before I went to buy the pitas on Saturday morning, I prepped and marinated the chicken thighs in Ziploc bags. Below is a photo of my homemade marinade.

The party started at 5pm and I promised food by 6pm.  The chicken was in the oven roasting by 2pm and I took it out at 3:30pm and let it sit for 30 mins so that it would retain it's juices.

I then sliced up the chicken thighs and added it to the pan with all the juices!  I cooked the meat in a huge pan until the juices reduced to almost nothing.

Finished product....served with pickles, tomatoes, and my own greek sauce.

Tis the season for new beginnings and memories...

It's that time of year again where we fill our homes with scents of fresh baked goodies!  Every year I always plan my holiday parties to be better than the previous.  One important thing I must remember is to not let stress get the best of me during the plannings.  It's the time of  year for new beginnings and sweet memories to be made!

Don't forget to stock up on flour, butter, sugar, and any other baking ingredients now while they are on sale!  Last year, I bought 10 bags of sugar when they went on sale for $1.88 a bag! (I am down to 1 now!!!) When Christmas comes around, the prices for sugar goes back up to $3.89 a bag!  (So if you know of any good deals, please let me know!!!)

To start off the season, I decided to bake Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.  These were my grandmother's favorite kind!  This was the last cookie recipe I made for her before she passed away.  Even though she could barely eat, she tried my cookie... I could remember sitting there watching her eat it and nod her head indicating that they were good.  Needless to say, I will always make this recipe in remembrance of her.  (Even if there are better recipes out there...)

Below is a picture of her and I last Christmas.  I am so grateful & fortunate that she allowed my uncle to take this picture; since she was diagnosed with lung cancer, she never let anyone take a picture of her.  This is a photo that I will cherish forever...

This is not your typical Oatmeal Raisin Cookie with cinnamon and lots of oatmeal... I call this the "2-2-2 Oatmeal Raisin Cookie"! 2 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, 2 cups oats!  Lots of 1s and 2s in this recipe!

---------------------------------------------

Ingredients

    * 2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
    * 1 teaspoon baking soda
    * 1 teaspoon baking powder
    * 1 teaspoon salt
    * 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
    * 1 cup white granulated sugar
    * 1 cup brown sugar
    * 2 eggs
    * 2 teaspoons vanilla
    * 2 cups old fashion oats
    * 1 cup golden raisins

    * 1 cup regular raisins

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) (Dry mixture) In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3) (Wet Mixture) In a different bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
4) Whisk the eggs well into the wet mixture. 
5) Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir well until no flour is visible.
6) Stir in the oats and raisins.
7) Spoon cookie dough onto cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until golden.
8) Remove from oven and allow cookies to rest on the tray for a couple of minutes.
9) Transfer to cookie wire rack for cooling.

My uncle Johnny ending up trying these cookies and was shocked at how delicious they were!  He claims that they taste just like the fresh bakeries!

Last year I started a new family tradition.  Since I am the oldest grandchild and my husband & I bought a home, I decided that we should hold a baking day with my little cousins each year before Christmas.  Not only does this give my aunts and uncles time to go shopping, but it helps create memories and a bond between all of the grandkids.  Along with our sugar cookies, homemade frosting, and chocolate chip cookies, I will be sure to teach them this year how to make these Oatmeal Cookies.  (My sister is awesome at baking sugar cookies, so the credit goes to her as well!)

I hope you guys do get a chance to try the recipe out!  Or even share your Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe!

Cheers!

Property under construction

Our home this week has been filled with contractors.  We are having 24" travertine installed and the builder has been coming in for the 1 year fixes.

My kitchen will not be usable for another week!!!  My computer has also been covered up in plastic so I won't be posting for a while as well.  The only reason why I can post this is because I am finishing up a Marketing presentation for my class.  It's due tomorrow, but I want to finish it up today, so I can cover the machine back up before we have the builder come tomorrow and fix our sloping floor upstairs!!! eeek!
 

Deep Fried Yam Fritters - Asian Style!

On Saturday, my family and I tried to replicate the deep fried yams fritters that we get with our banh cuon cha (Vietnamese Rice Flour Rolls – typically stuffed with pork, but we used chicken and served with sliced pork meatloaf) from a restaurant in Little Saigon California.  The batter for the yams was made from tempura batter, beer, turmeric, salt and water.  It was also my first time making banh cuon.  The banh cuon is made of rice flour, mixed with water and oil.

Garnish with herbs and sprouts, served with homemade nuoc mam (Vietnamese Dipping sauce made of fish sauce).  Yummy!

Oven-Roasted Chicken

I used to buy roasted chicken at Costco or Sam’s Club and sometimes even at the local grocery stores.  One day I stopped by the Whole Foods Store that opened nearby to check out the organic/healthy foods that they have to offer.  I couldn’t resist the smell of the roasted chicken – Rosemary & Garlic.  I bought the tiny bird (half the size of the Costco’s!) for dinner.  I couldn’t believe how flavorful it was!  Unfortunately it was $10 for that little bird.  So I decided to make my own oven-roasted chicken with the Le Creuset dutch oven!  Typically I would rub salt, pepper, minced garlic and rosemary with some canola oil (or olive oil) all over the bird and bake.  I ran out of real garlic this time and had to substitute it with garlic power.  I also sprinkled cayenne peppers over the chicken.  Covered it up and placed it in the oven at 375 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

We made chicken sandwiches with this and topped it off with fresh guacamole, served with chips & salsa.  This was Friday's "random" dinner.

Avocados

Did you know that avocados have monounsaturated fat, which supposedly helps lower your cholesterol levels?!

In Vietnam, people would eat mashed up avocados, with sweet condensed milk and shaved ice!  After coming here to the United States, my family would blend vanilla ice cream, sweet condensed milk, and avocados!  It’s a tasty treat!

So I just bought 8 avocados from my local supermarket and I am very disappointed. None of them can compare to what Gerardo got from Puerto Rico. 

Here is a photo of the size of the United States Avocados (well, at least what the groceries are selling).

Look at the size of the avocado from Puerto Rico!!!

Click here for Nutritional Information About Avocados.

The "Le Creuset" pot....

So for my housewarming gift, Gerardo gave me a 7 ¼ Dutch Oven in Cherry Red.  My very first Le Cresuet item!  I am so pleased with the evenness of the cooking.  I’ve made red curry, roasted chicken, and baked sourdough bread in it!!! 

So I am building my collection of Le Creuset cookware because once you cook in one of these, you just can’t go back!  These are pricey, but the results are amazing.  It will be a while before I build up a good set.   Luckily I had a coupon for 30% off + free shipping, so a few weeks ago I bought the Precision Pour Saucepan 2¾ qt!  Also, in Cherry Red.   I was told they were going to discontinue this color line so I couldn’t resist getting another one in the same color.  Red is so invigorating!  Supposedly it psychologically stirs up hunger.  I want to make sure my guests eat up!  I love making Alfredo Sauce.  So what better way than to break into the pot with my favorite sauce!

Here is my sinfully delicious Alfredo Sauce*:

1 cup salted butter (2 sticks)
12 ounces of heavy cream
½ teaspoon of garlic salt
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup grated Romano cheese
Fresh grated pepper
Optional: 15 – 20 medium raw shrimps, peeled and deveined

        1)    Optional: Cut each shrimp into 3-4 pieces. Set aside.
        2)    Melt butter in medium sauce pan with heavy cream (Do not melt butter by itself)
        3)    Add garlic salt and pepper
        4)    Stir in Parmesan and Romano cheese over medium until melted
        5)    Add raw shrimp and cook until shrimp is pink and opaque.
        6)    Serve immediately over angel hair pasta (aka capellini)!

*Note: I use this sauce for my Spinach Portobello Raviolis (without the shrimp).

The shrimp gives the sauce a bit of a sweet flavor!  I almost always use angel hair pasta!  It makes this sauce taste even better.  If you must have thicker pasta, use linguine!  I do not recommend using Fettuccine unless you are making it fresh from scratch!

Overall, I thought the saucepan did a fine job melting the butter and cheese.  :)

Prickly Pear Jelly?

 Photo taken from Gerardo’s Front yard

Have you ever eaten Prickly Pear Jelly?  I could remember the first time I ate it.  It was about twenty years ago in Kindergarten.  (Wow – that sentence made me feel old.)  My friend’s mom made it from scratch and we ate it on Keebler’s Club crackers.  Try this over chicken, lamb, or even ham! 

If you like to make your own jelly, here is a simple recipe:

Cactus Prickly Pear Jelly
Source: www.cooks.com

1)    Pick prickly pears and remove the spines
2)    Rinse the fruit and place in kettle, adding enough water to cover
3)    Boil until quite tender, squeeze through jelly bag or jelly press
4)    To every 2 1/2 cups of juice add 1 (1 3/4 oz.) package powdered pectin and boil for a couple minutes
5)    Add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
6)    Add 3 1/2 cups sugar
7)    Stir often and boil hard for 5 minutes. Pour in jelly glass and seal with paraffin.


Or for those of you who do not live in the desert or just want to try it, you can just purchase these from Cheri’s Desert Harvest.


If you live in Arizona or are ever in town, try out Flancers’ “The Prickly Pear Sandwich”. 

They also make their own bread!!!  Mmmm!

“Extremely Slow Cooking Movement”

Jonathan and I went on a Caribbean cruise for our Honeymoon back in July of 2007.  Our cruise disembarked from Puerto Rico.  Upon going there, Gerardo printed us a map and numbered all the places in San Juan that we had to visit and eat at!  He recommended that we eat at La Bombonera.  I remember ordering a Pina Colada and Arroz Con Pollo.  Jonathan ordered a steak omelet.  The chicken and rice was delicious and I have been craving it for the past year!   The restaurant made the chicken and rice dish with little chicken wings.   They served the dish with all the chicken hidden under the rice.  I just remembered how delicious it was and how little chicken there was.  I kept digging into the rice trying to find more chicken.

Gerardo finished remodeling his gourmet kitchen so he was able to hold his first cooking class (many more to come I hope!).  This cooking class is dedicated to his mother who lives in Puerto Rico - doña Carmen, a lifetime member of the traditionist, extremely slow cooking movement.

His friend sent him some avocados a few weeks ago from her garden in Puerto Rico.  Gerardo made sure that this one ripens just in time for our cooking session.  The avocados are huge!  The best I’ve ever eaten too!
 

 

 

This cooking class was about 4 hours long.  (This does not include the hours Gerardo spent pre-boiling the beans, ham hock, and salt.) The results were definitely worth the time!

 

The class started out with a lesson on “Sofrito”, basic Puerto Rican base for stews.   The sofrito was the base for the Habichuelas Coloradas Guisadas.  Carmen made this for Gerardo back in December of 2002.  It consists of mainly pumpkin, smoked ham hock, beans, onions, green bell peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic.

  

We then moved on to the chicken rice dish.  I couldn’t believe all the ingredients that went into it.  Olives, oregano, cumin, paprika, apple cider vinegar, pimientos, onions, green bell peppers…(the list goes on).  The flavors were sautéed wonderfully together.

 

 

 Here is the final product:

Arroz Con Pollo y Habichuelas Coloradas Guisadas

 

Close-up of the rice…

 

Pegao – The crispy rice at the bottom of the pan.  Supposedly people fight over this part.

 

 

Muy delicioso! 

Vietnamese Feast

I am on a quest to learn as many Vietnamese dishes that I can.  It is embarrassing when people ask me if I can cook any Vietnamese food.  My husband would usually interrupt and say “She makes good Italian food”.  I don’t know that many and none of the family recipes are written down.  So it is my mission to learn as many as I can and document them so that I can put together a family cookbook.  That way my half-Asian kids and their kids will have these recipes!  So I started off this weekend making banh xeo (“Vietnamese Crepes”), nem nuong cuon (BBQ Pork Spring Rolls), nuoc mam (Vietnamese Dipping Sauce made with Fish sauce), and peanut sauce.  Traditionally the crepes are made with pork and shrimp.  However, I make it with chicken.

Below is one of many Vietnamese Crepes eaten this weekend with nuoc mam.  This is a time consuming dish but well worth it!  Thankfully my mom was able to show me some techniques this weekend.

So this is a new recipe for my family.  My family usually “integrates” pre-mix nem nuong with additional real pork.  My sister Christine and I’s mission on Saturday was to completely make it from scratch.  This was tasty!!!  It needed less sugar for our taste.  We made some diced green onion garnish.

 

The nem nuong was wrapped in rice paper, cucumbers, lettuce, cilantro, vermicelli noodles, and deep fried spring roll wraps to give it a crunch!  Dip it in the peanut sauce and your taste buds will go crazy!

I will need to post photos of the sauces!  I’ve been making these two for a while from memory, so I was glad to teach my sister it!