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!

"The Pioneer Woman" - My Onion Adventure

To be honest, my husband and I are not fans of onions unless it is an onion blossom or onion rings (O-RINGS! YUMMY!).  But I do use a lot of onion powder in my cooking.  I somehow came across The Pioneer Woman main page the other day and a recipe caught my eye.  "Grilled Ribeye Steak with Onion-Blue Cheese Sauce" As you know last Saturday we roasted a cow and ever since I've been thinking about the tasty slice that I had and how it could be better!  Ree (The Pioneer Woman) claims "They'll love you till the end of time."  I have yet to make her exact recipe... Tonight she inspired me to create my own version of her dish with Filet Mignon.


I caramelized the onions in butter...

Then added some cream...

 

Simmered...and added crumbled Gorgonzola cheese... 

I was going to stop right there with the cheese, salt & pepper... after it simmered a bit, I tasted it...  It just didn't taste right...something was missing.  It needed a bit more flavor and texture.  I ended up adding some diced portobello mushrooms.  (I diced 2 large caps the night before so that I could make some more spinach portobello ravioli.)

The finished product.......fresh mashed potatoes (sour cream, butter, garlic, salt & pepper), Filet Mignon, and topped it with my "onion adventure".

Surprisingly my husband ate all of it...the onions, the gorgonzola cheese... the flavors all blended really nicely.  I loved the addition of the mushrooms!

Random

I call this blog “Random”.  I’ve been so busy with school and work along with parties that I have not been able to post anything here that is decent! So sorry, but I hope you enjoy the photos of what has been going on.
 


Here are a couple more photos of the Spicy Green Chile burritos with fresh pan fried tortillas. Garnished with sour cream and fresh cilantro…just the way I like them!







A gift from Italy… I still need to make this and incorporate Mario’s instructions.



Need to grow these “special” bay leaves! 



 


In the mean time, I’ve cut sweet potatoes in half and started to grow them.  My grandmother used to grow these in her backyard and would harvest the leaves to eat.  She would sauté the leaves and eats them with rice.  I am growing these in memory of her.





Some photos from Italian feast 





 




Homemade Italian meatballs and sauce! Mmmm… This photo was taken after I fried the meatballs and threw them in the pot.  I ended up simmering the meatballs for hours afterward.  Looks so "rustic"!





So this filling for ravioli is sooo simple.  I just took spinach, Portobello mushrooms (sliced/diced) and sauteed with lots of fresh minced garlic in canola oil with salt & pepper (I ran out of olive oil)…remove from heat and mix in shredded Parmesan cheese.  Let the filling cool and stuff your raviolis!  I boiled these raviolis and mixed in my homemade Alfredo sauce!  I’ve made this twice and so far I’ve received raved reviews!  I plan on making a bunch and freezing them!  





Sichuan Chicken! Soo spicy!  I made this earlier last week for my uncles.  Original recipe is made with shrimp - one of my favorite dishes as a kid.  I first fell in love with this spicy shrimp dish at one of the restaurants my dad worked at.  He cooked the dish and brought it out for us to eat.  The sauce is soo good with white rice. I learned how to cook this by watching him make it at home. 




My first attempt at making caramel from sweet condensed milk! OMG sooo good! If I can only have one thing to eat forever and ever – I pick sweet condensed milk! LOL Here is a photo of the caramel popcorn I made Friday night.  I am working on my caramel popcorn skills for Fall Festivities!





Now don’t be jealous…. On Saturday we made 14 lbs of Prime Rib for the family along with garlic mashed potatoes (red potatoes, sour cream, butter, garlic, salt/pepper), shrimp scampi, Portobello baked, Caesar salad, corn, and dinner rolls! Below is the cow we roasted!





For every 5 lbs Standing Prime Rib Roast, mix the seasoning below and rub all over meat:

10 cloves minced garlic or 5 teaspoons of pre-minced garlic

2 tbs olive oil

2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp dried thyme

Optional…1 tsp onion powder



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

BTW - This Sunday I am taking a Puerto Rican cooking class!  So stay tuned for photos!

Spicy Green Chile Burritos

A few years ago my mom created this Spicy Green Chile Burrito Recipe after she had something similar at a company pot-luck.  Everyone raves about this and always ask for the recipe!  This is a must try!  You can use leftovers in quesadillas!  It is made from pounds of fresh tomatillos and jalapeños.



In the crock pot

5lb of Boneless Chuck Roast Beef (or “tamale” beef)

1 can of beef broth or just water

2 tablespoon of granulated garlic

1 tablespoon of pepper

1 teaspoon of onion powder


Sauce

2 pounds of tomatillos

up to 1 pound of jalapeños (depending on how spicy you want it)  Mild/Medium would be about 3-4 jalapenos. (tip: boil extras and add in more as needed)

1 tsp Salt

½ tsp onion powder

¼ tsp sugar (optional or dash of msg..original recipe)


1) Place the beef in the crock pot.  Pour can of beef broth over the meat.  Season the beef with garlic, pepper, and onion powder.  Cook for at least 3 hours on high and then leave on warm for a few more hours. (usually I leave it overnight  so the meat becomes more tender and can easily be shredded with a fork)

2) Once the meat is done, remove from crock pot to cool.  Reserve the broth. I recommend placing it in a 9x13 aluminum tin pan.  (I usually shred the meat immediately because I think it is easier)

3) Now remove the husks from the tomatillos and take the stem portion off (be careful not to break the skin or else the flesh would all come out during boiling).  Remove the stems from the jalapenos as well.  Rinse them off to remove any dirt.  Place them in a pot and fill with water till it barely covers the tomatillos and jalapenos.  Boil for 15 minutes or until the tomatillos turn a dull shade of green.  Most would say “army” green.

4) Drain the tomatillos and jalapenos and place in blender with 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of onion powder.  I also add 1/4 tsp of sugar because the original recipe from my mother calls for MSG.  Jonathan also likes the sauce a little sweeter.

5) Put 2 tablespoon of canola oil in a pan on med-high.  (The pan needs to be large enough to hold the sauce as well.)   Add 1 tsp of minced garlic to the hot oil.  Add the shredded meat in the pan and “Stir-fry” it for about 5 minutes.  I usually stir until I see some of the meat getting a little crispy.

6) Then pour the sauce from the blender in.  Add 1 cup of reserved broth.  Simmer for about 20 minutes on med-low.  (Also, perform taste test…I usually end up adding up to another tsp of salt)

7) Serve with tortillas and garnish with sour cream and cilantro.



*Note – the sauce becomes very sour if you make the it a day ahead.  So I recommend making the sauce when you are ready to add to the meat.


Enjoy!  Let me know if you try this out and what you think of it!