I LOVE to cook. I guess it started when I was a child. I am the eldest child in a family of six - AND - the only girl. :) I have lived in the city, on a farm, in the suburbs, and overseas. I LOVE to travel almost as much as I love to cook. And I think it is for similar reasons - trying new things / places, meeting new tastes / cultures, etc. Cooking allows you to experiment and, if you are lucky, interact with others. I love cooking with someone - whether it be my kids, friends, or a loved one. It can be fun - it can be intimate - it can be creative. I am NOT a good person to get recipes from though because I cook with my nose and my taste buds... and I get a lot of grief from others because I don't use proper measurements.... but in my way of thinking... cooking is personal. What tastes do YOU love? What herbs do you like? Do you like more spice or more sweet? I am pretty much a pescatarian (meaning I am a vegetarian that eats fish), but since I have a daughter that is a meat and potatoes kinda girl - until I moved south I cooked all types (meat) of foods. So, I am going to share some of my family's favorite dishes - and only give you the base recipe - experiment and have fun.
Both of my daughters were born in Japan, and since we were linguists many of the men we were friends with, married women that spoke their language of choice - Thai, Korean, Vietnamese, Laotian, Japanese, Filipino, etc... Since I loved food - I took this opportunity to learn as much about their food as possible (while tweaking along the way). So many of the recipes you will find below come from that time.
Bulgokee - Korean Barbecued Beef - Sweet / Spicy
2 servings
1lb top loin or sirloin steak - have butcher sliver paper thin
1/2 c soy sauce
4T brn sugar
2T sesame oil
3green onions, chopped
2 cloves or 2 t fresh garlic crushed
1/2 - 2 t cayenne
1/2 - 2t crushed red pepper
lettuce leaves
fresh cilantro, basil, mint (any or all - your choice), chopped
chopped tomatoes
1c jasmine rice, cooked
In wok or large fry pan, mix beef (or chicken), soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, onion, garlic, and peppers. Let marinate 30 minutes. Start rice at this time. Turn on heat to high and stir continuously until a dark thickened sauce remains. If you like the sauce like my family - double the ingredients in the marinade.
Traditionally this dish is made by marinating the meat and then cooking on a hibachi. Once cooked the meat is wrapped in lettuce leaves with fresh herbs and vegetables and eaten like a burrito. My variation provides a very tasty sauce that goes with. You can still wrap as the Koreans do or serve it over your rice and add your vegetables and herbs on top. Enjoy!
Lumpia - Filipino Eggrolls
20 - 30 pieces
1lb lean ground pork - I usually find a nice pork loin and ask the butcher to grind it for me
1/2 - 1 c soy sauce
2 tsp fresh garlic, crushed
1 small white / purple onion, minced finely
1 - 2 tsp pepper
1/4 c finely grated carrot
1/4 c finely chopped water chestnuts
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 pkg lumpia wrappers (asian market)
Peanut oil
Mix all ingredients down to the lumpia wrappers in a medium bowl, cover and let sit in the refrigerator for an hour to marinate. You can stir once or twice during the process to ensure that all of the meat is covered equally.
You can not substitute regular eggroll wrappers for lumpia wrappers - a completely different animal. If you are unable to find lumpia wrappers, let me know and I will attach a recipe to make them yourself - they aren't all that difficult to make but time consuming and they don't come out as uniform as prepackaged wrappers.
To roll. CAREFULLY separate a single wrapper from your stack (novice wrappers may want to cover the remainder of the wrappers to keep moist) and lay in front of you as a diamond. about 1 inch up from the bottom point put one tsp of mixture and draw out in a line about 1 inch from each edge. Fold up the bottom and over each side, and roll to the end. Set aside and move on through the rest of your wrappers.
Heat a skillet with enough peanut oil to be 1/2 to 1" deep over medium heat. If you have a deep fryer - you can use this as well. A drop of water will sizzle when it is the right temperature for cooking. Remember we are cooking pork here - you don't want the oil too hot otherwise the meat will not cook properly. You want your lumpia to be golden brown when they are done.
Remove from the oil and place on paper towels to drain. Using peanut oil, minimizes the amount of oil absorbed into the eggroll and gives a nice crispy texture to the wrapper. All the Filipinas I have met, cut the eggroll in half before serving.
Mushroom Chicken
4 Servings
4 chicken breasts
2 large cans mushroom soup
2 - 3 large potatoes / 2 c rice (whichever you prefer)
3 tsp thyme
2 tsp sage
fresh ground pepper
In dutch oven (stew pot) put two chicken breasts and sprinkle with ground pepper. Brown and turn over add more pepper and brown. Remove and repeat with the other two chicken breasts. Once browned, add one can of mushroom soup, the other two chicken breasts and the other can of mushroom soup. Add spices, no need to stir. Reduce temp until it just barely bubbles and cook 30 minutes. If adding potatoes, chop and add. Cook an additional hour, stirring occasionally. If adding rice cook one hour and then start rice so that they are ready about the same time.
Baklava - Greek - Pastry / Dessert
serves a LOT but not for long!
4 c. walnuts, ground FINE
1 c. light brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 lb phyllo (frozen section near pastry shells)
1 c. butter, melted
1-1/2 c honey
Phyllo box should sit out 10 - 15 minutes before you begin preparing. If frozen, put in fridge over night. In large bowl mix nuts, sugar, and spices. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9 x 12 glass baking pan. preheat oven to 425 degrees. Phyllo is a very thin sheet that tears very easily - it also dries out very quickly. Open only one of the packages at a time and keep covered with a moist towel when not in use. If you only have one package in your box - you may need to cut in half to fit in pan. Remove one sheet if phyllo and lay in pan, use a pastry brush and coat lightly with butter, top with another sheet of phyllo. Repeat until you have 5 sheets ending with a coating of butter. Pour 1/4 of your nut mixture in pan and even across the phyllo. Repeat the 5 sheets/ butter and nut process until all the nut mixture has been used. Finish with the 5 sheet phyllo / butter combination.
Bake for 7 minutes and then lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake another 10 minutes. During the second baking session put a small pan on the stove over medium heat and melt your honey. It should not boil.
Remove baklava from oven and cut on a diagonal one inch wide strips and then across this 3 inch lines CAREFULLY. Pour the honey over the hot baklava. Make sure you get all your cracks and crevices. Once it is cool enough to cover, cover and let sit eight hours before serving.
Tropical Fruit Salad
4 servings
1 mango, cubed
1 papaya, cubed
1 c sliced strawberries
1 c sliced grapes
1 c fresh pineapple, cubed
2 kiwi
3T frozen (thawed) limeade concentrate
1T olive oil, virgin
1T honey, warmed
1/8 t poppy seeds
Mix fruit in large bowl. Either shake or whisk the remaining ingredients and pour over fruit.
Quesadillas
3 servings
1 flavored tortilla (cheddar jalapeno, tomato basil)
1/2 c feta cheese
fresh baby spinach leaves
fresh cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, sliced
fresh ground pepper
cayenne
In omelet pan lay tortilla shell, spread entire shell with peppers, cover 1/2 of shell with feta cheese. Cover with cilantro and spinach (as much as you like). Turn on heat to medium. Add avocado. Wait for the tortilla to begin to bubble - this is a sign that it is ready to fold over. Remove from heat and cut into 1/3s.
Enjoy!
Both of my daughters were born in Japan, and since we were linguists many of the men we were friends with, married women that spoke their language of choice - Thai, Korean, Vietnamese, Laotian, Japanese, Filipino, etc... Since I loved food - I took this opportunity to learn as much about their food as possible (while tweaking along the way). So many of the recipes you will find below come from that time.
Bulgokee - Korean Barbecued Beef - Sweet / Spicy
2 servings
1lb top loin or sirloin steak - have butcher sliver paper thin
1/2 c soy sauce
4T brn sugar
2T sesame oil
3green onions, chopped
2 cloves or 2 t fresh garlic crushed
1/2 - 2 t cayenne
1/2 - 2t crushed red pepper
lettuce leaves
fresh cilantro, basil, mint (any or all - your choice), chopped
chopped tomatoes
1c jasmine rice, cooked
In wok or large fry pan, mix beef (or chicken), soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, onion, garlic, and peppers. Let marinate 30 minutes. Start rice at this time. Turn on heat to high and stir continuously until a dark thickened sauce remains. If you like the sauce like my family - double the ingredients in the marinade.
Traditionally this dish is made by marinating the meat and then cooking on a hibachi. Once cooked the meat is wrapped in lettuce leaves with fresh herbs and vegetables and eaten like a burrito. My variation provides a very tasty sauce that goes with. You can still wrap as the Koreans do or serve it over your rice and add your vegetables and herbs on top. Enjoy!
Lumpia - Filipino Eggrolls
20 - 30 pieces
1lb lean ground pork - I usually find a nice pork loin and ask the butcher to grind it for me
1/2 - 1 c soy sauce
2 tsp fresh garlic, crushed
1 small white / purple onion, minced finely
1 - 2 tsp pepper
1/4 c finely grated carrot
1/4 c finely chopped water chestnuts
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 pkg lumpia wrappers (asian market)
Peanut oil
Mix all ingredients down to the lumpia wrappers in a medium bowl, cover and let sit in the refrigerator for an hour to marinate. You can stir once or twice during the process to ensure that all of the meat is covered equally.
You can not substitute regular eggroll wrappers for lumpia wrappers - a completely different animal. If you are unable to find lumpia wrappers, let me know and I will attach a recipe to make them yourself - they aren't all that difficult to make but time consuming and they don't come out as uniform as prepackaged wrappers.
To roll. CAREFULLY separate a single wrapper from your stack (novice wrappers may want to cover the remainder of the wrappers to keep moist) and lay in front of you as a diamond. about 1 inch up from the bottom point put one tsp of mixture and draw out in a line about 1 inch from each edge. Fold up the bottom and over each side, and roll to the end. Set aside and move on through the rest of your wrappers.
Heat a skillet with enough peanut oil to be 1/2 to 1" deep over medium heat. If you have a deep fryer - you can use this as well. A drop of water will sizzle when it is the right temperature for cooking. Remember we are cooking pork here - you don't want the oil too hot otherwise the meat will not cook properly. You want your lumpia to be golden brown when they are done.
Remove from the oil and place on paper towels to drain. Using peanut oil, minimizes the amount of oil absorbed into the eggroll and gives a nice crispy texture to the wrapper. All the Filipinas I have met, cut the eggroll in half before serving.
Mushroom Chicken
4 Servings
4 chicken breasts
2 large cans mushroom soup
2 - 3 large potatoes / 2 c rice (whichever you prefer)
3 tsp thyme
2 tsp sage
fresh ground pepper
In dutch oven (stew pot) put two chicken breasts and sprinkle with ground pepper. Brown and turn over add more pepper and brown. Remove and repeat with the other two chicken breasts. Once browned, add one can of mushroom soup, the other two chicken breasts and the other can of mushroom soup. Add spices, no need to stir. Reduce temp until it just barely bubbles and cook 30 minutes. If adding potatoes, chop and add. Cook an additional hour, stirring occasionally. If adding rice cook one hour and then start rice so that they are ready about the same time.
Baklava - Greek - Pastry / Dessert
serves a LOT but not for long!
4 c. walnuts, ground FINE
1 c. light brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 lb phyllo (frozen section near pastry shells)
1 c. butter, melted
1-1/2 c honey
Phyllo box should sit out 10 - 15 minutes before you begin preparing. If frozen, put in fridge over night. In large bowl mix nuts, sugar, and spices. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9 x 12 glass baking pan. preheat oven to 425 degrees. Phyllo is a very thin sheet that tears very easily - it also dries out very quickly. Open only one of the packages at a time and keep covered with a moist towel when not in use. If you only have one package in your box - you may need to cut in half to fit in pan. Remove one sheet if phyllo and lay in pan, use a pastry brush and coat lightly with butter, top with another sheet of phyllo. Repeat until you have 5 sheets ending with a coating of butter. Pour 1/4 of your nut mixture in pan and even across the phyllo. Repeat the 5 sheets/ butter and nut process until all the nut mixture has been used. Finish with the 5 sheet phyllo / butter combination.
Bake for 7 minutes and then lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake another 10 minutes. During the second baking session put a small pan on the stove over medium heat and melt your honey. It should not boil.
Remove baklava from oven and cut on a diagonal one inch wide strips and then across this 3 inch lines CAREFULLY. Pour the honey over the hot baklava. Make sure you get all your cracks and crevices. Once it is cool enough to cover, cover and let sit eight hours before serving.
Tropical Fruit Salad
4 servings
1 mango, cubed
1 papaya, cubed
1 c sliced strawberries
1 c sliced grapes
1 c fresh pineapple, cubed
2 kiwi
3T frozen (thawed) limeade concentrate
1T olive oil, virgin
1T honey, warmed
1/8 t poppy seeds
Mix fruit in large bowl. Either shake or whisk the remaining ingredients and pour over fruit.
Quesadillas
3 servings
1 flavored tortilla (cheddar jalapeno, tomato basil)
1/2 c feta cheese
fresh baby spinach leaves
fresh cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, sliced
fresh ground pepper
cayenne
In omelet pan lay tortilla shell, spread entire shell with peppers, cover 1/2 of shell with feta cheese. Cover with cilantro and spinach (as much as you like). Turn on heat to medium. Add avocado. Wait for the tortilla to begin to bubble - this is a sign that it is ready to fold over. Remove from heat and cut into 1/3s.
Enjoy!
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