Cooking makes me feel at home, at ease. Tonight I’m cooking for the first time since moving into my friend’s place three nights ago. It makes me forget that I’m living out of a suitcase even if I am very comfortable here.
Chicken marsala over pasta = happy people.
chicken marsala
Chicken Marsala
Ingredients:
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast
- 1 large head of shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 carton white mushroom, sliced
- 3 1/2 tbsp butter
- 3/4 cup marsala wine
- 1 cup low sodium chicken stock
- 5 slices thinly sliced prosciutto
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt & freshly ground pepper
- 2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Direction:
Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat on high olive oil and 1 1/2 tbs of butter in a large pan. Wait until the bubbles subside, pan fry seasoned chicken breasts in batches until both sides are golden brown, flipping once. Set aside.
With the oil in pan, reduce heat to medium high, put in prosciutto, letting it fry up. Add in mushrooms, shallots and cook until brown and mushrooms start to give off juice, about 7-10 minutes. Salt and pepper mixture. Turn heat back to high, add in marsala wine. After a few seconds of letting the alcohol evaporate, add in chicken broth, letting mixture simmer for 5 minutes. Slide chicken breasts back in to reheat. Using slotted spoon, take out all ingredients onto serving platter, leaving sauce in pan. Let sauce simmer and reduce for another 10 minutes. Add in 2 tbsp butter right before turning heat off. Spoon sauce over chicken and mushrooms. Garnish flat leaf parsley over top. Serve over rice or flat pasta such as fettuccine or pappardelle.
**What I would do next time is to use boneless, skinless chicken thigh instead of breast. I would also thicken the sauce just a little bit with a roux. It’s probably not authentic, but I think I’ll like it better.
Filed under: babble, Cooking/Food | Tags: Best Mac 'n' Cheese recipe, comfort food, mac n cheese, panko
My roommate and I are moving out of our apartment this week. Renae is my third yet longest roommate at this apartment of three years. Even though it isn’t the fanciest place with the best view, it’s comfortable and homey. I will miss it. I will miss the loud, incessant noise from the freeway below, I will miss the tiny kitchen that we often cooked in. I will miss the lights over the bathroom sink that would not turn on right away when the switch is turned. I will my noisy bedroom in which I have to wear earplugs to sleep. It wasn’t the best place, but I have made it my place for the past three years.
Renae and I made our favorite dish for the third time, for the last time for a while–Mac n Cheese. We are possibly the most compatible mac-n-cheese-buddies, if there is such a connection. Our previous makings of the comfort dish included, in various combinations, truffles brought back from Italy, truffle oil bought from the store around the corner, goat cheese, aged cheddar, gruyere, mozzarella, whole milk, half n half, butter, pretend butter. This time, after surveying numerous recipes, we believe we have found the BEST version of the classic comfort food. And the ingredient list once again confirms that less is more.
We sat in the furniture-less living room savoring our best work, reminiscing past mac ‘n’ cheeses, envisioning future ones. Empty apartment makes for a suitable space for the happy food dance (perhaps in another post). Ahh, this last supper together will be one highlighted in my memory book. And the recipe will surely be starred in my recipe book.
Undeniably BEST Mac 'n' Cheese
Adapted (and slightly lightened) from
Emeril’s BEST Mac ‘n’ Cheese Ever Challenge Winner–Laura Macek (Click here for original recipe)
Ingredients:
- 1 head of garlic, roasted
- 1 tbs plus 1 tsp olive oil (see directions)
- 1 pound elbow macaroni pasta
- 5 thinly sliced prosciutto
- 1 ½ cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- 2 ounces each grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and Pecorino Romano
- 6 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup minced shallots
- 8 small caps of white mushroom or cremini, finely chopped
- ½ cup flour
- 1 quart whole milk
- 6 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
- 8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To roast garlic: Slice ½ inch off the top of the entire head of garlic. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap garlic head tightly in a square of heavy foil and roast until tender — about 45 minutes. Remove garlic pulp by squeezing garlic head. Smash cloves with a fork to form a paste.
3. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
4. In a nonstick pan on medium heat, drizzle 1 tsp olive oil and fry prosciutto until brown but not burnt. It will not be crispy until taken out of pan. Drain on paper towels. Reserve oil in pan. Crumble prosciutto when cool.
5. To make topping: Combine panko, crumbled prosciutto, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, Pecorino cheese, and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Set aside.
6. Preheat oven to 375°.
7. Sauté shallots and mushrooms over low heat in reserved prosciutto fat/oil for one minute. Add remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and continue to sauté shallots and mushrooms until brown. Set aside.
8. In a heavy pot, make roux by first melting 2 tbsp butter into 2 tbsp olive oil over medium low heat. Add flour and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes. Increase heat to medium. Stirring constantly with a whisk, add milk and roasted garlic paste.
9. Cook until lumps from roux are dissolved and sauce is thickened (coats the back of a spoon). Remove sauce from heat then add salt, pepper, nutmeg, mushroom mixture, Gruyere and Cheddar cheeses. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if necessary. Keep mixture slightly under salted as topping is salty.
10. Stir in cooked pasta. Pour into baking dish. Sprinkle topping to cover entire top. Cover with foil and bake 15 minutes until sauce is bubbly. Remove foil and broil until topping is browned, watching it carefully. Enjoy!
crispy top, creamy all over
pretty fresh radish
RADISH DIP!
Sounds kind of weird, even gross, doesn’t it? I thought so. But it’s amazingly, refreshingly clean tasting. Spicy, light, flavorful.
I browsed through a few recipes to decide on the other ingredients.
Ingredients:
- 1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese
- 5 medium radish, chopped
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 bunch of fresh dill
- 1 clove garlic
- fresh ground pepper
- pinch of kosher salt
Throw everything into blender and blend until creamy. As for me, I have a handheld immersion blender addiction, remember? So that’s my weapon of choice, of course. Serve chilled with chips, lavosh, bread, or carrot sticks!
Filed under: Cooking/Food | Tags: beets, community supported agriculture, CSA, okinawan sweet potato, roasted root vegetables with rosemary, turnips
If it weren’t for purchasing the box of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) veggies, I would never thought to make some of these vegetables as they are out of my normal cooking repertoire.
Tonight the star dish was roasted root vegetables. And in the supporting role was flounder fillet with lemon and dill. I never knew how easy it was. It was simply chopping up the vegetables, toss it with a marinade of sort, and let the oven do all the work! Can’t be simpler than that.
Roasted Root Vegetables
Ingredients:
- 1 medium size turnip, chopped into chunks
- 3 medium size fresh beets, chopped into chunks
- 2 jumbo carrots, chopped
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1/2 large red onion (or 1 medium), chopped into large wedges
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled but leave whole
- 1 medium okinawan sweet potato (or purple sweet potato), peeled and chopped
- 3 small red potato, scrubbed clean and chopped
- 2 medium sprigs of rosemary, washed and coarsely chopped
After cutting everything, put into a large bowl for mixing with the following:
- 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt (more if needed)
- freshly ground pepper
Coat vegetables with marinade and spoon veggies onto foiled baking pans. Preheat oven to 400ºF, place baking pans into oven for 45 min to 1 hr. Turn vegetables after first 30 minutes. Bake until veggies are brown and caramelized, but not burnt. Transfer to serving dish and ENJOY!
flounder fillet with lemon and dill
The dish was amazingly satisfying. The beets retained its crunchiness, a nice contrast to the softened sweet potato, which is sweet like candy with a starchy texture, which is a nice contrast to the juicy turnips. You get the idea. It’s good and good for you.
Filed under: Cooking/Food | Tags: homemade salad dressing, raw kale salad, salad with nectarine
While I’m still identifying the mystery veggies and searching for recipes, I know my cruciferous greens, and kale is one of my favorites. I’ve only learned to use kale in my recipes in the past few years, but mostly in soups. There’s a notable surge in popularity for these curly heads as they are now ubiquitous at salad bars or healthy markets. You see them raw, you see them cooked. Kale is not a wimpy green; it’s got a crispness when eaten raw, and it doesn’t just wilt into the texture of a wet plastic bag when cooked. And of course, there are all the health benefits of these dark, leafy greens.
I decided to try it raw today and made a nice salad with it. With summer fruits in hand (in fridge, rather), I put sweet nectarines, grape tomatoes, toasted walnuts, and shaved pecorino cheese for some salty balance. I also made my own salad dressing that has a hint of ginger to give me tastebuds some excitement.
Ingredients:
- kale, stemmed, washed, dried, chopped
- 1 ripe nectarine, cored and chopped into bite sizes (green apple or peach would go very well in this too)
- handful of grape tomatoes
- handful of walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped
- pecorino cheese shavings
Throw everything together into a large bowl.
Salad dressing Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic minced
- minced ginger (amount determined by your liking)
- 1 small shallot minced
- salt & pepper to taste
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Mix everything together, let it sit for at least 10 minutes to let the flavors meld together. Drizzle and toss salad with it.
Filed under: Cooking/Food, Cool Stuff | Tags: farmers market, Otsuji Farm, veggie tales
Sometimes I evaluate my diet and realize I’m almost a vegetarian. And I feel guilty. You see, I take pride in being a meat eater. My grandma made me nothing but a big plate of tasty meat with a bowl of rice for lunch everyday when I was in elementary school. (Uh, yes, I was chubbidy fat kid, but very cute, must I add...) One of my favorite t shirts now from threadless.com reads “Vegetarians are eating the rainforest.” But because I’m too lazy to cook raw meat, I rarely buy it. Unsure of how prepared meats at the supermarket are prepared, I never buy those either, so I unless I eat out, no yummy meat goes into my tummy.
As a result (of my laziness), I have learned to love veggies. I like it so much that I don’t use dressing in my salads because it masks the sweetness of the lettuce and other vegetables. And as a result of this love for veggies, I am constantly seeking out places to buy fresh vegetables, which turns out to be local farmers markets. I have, then, indirectly learned to understand eating local, reducing carbon footprint, and community supported agriculture to be not just trendy-sounding buzz words but my responsibility to my community. Even though it’s more of an investment, the produce is much fresher compared to the airflown ones in regular supermarkets.
So this week, when people at my school co-ordered fresh picked vegetables from Otsuji Farm, a local farm in Hawaii Kai, and although it is not organic, I was excited to try out a case for $15. We were told that the variety of veggies in the case will depend on what’s ready for picking that day. The element of surprise makes the whole experience even more fun. The possibilities!
Today the first thing on my to-do list was to pick up veggies. Once in my hands, I opened the box like it was Christmas morning. The sight of the vegetables made me realize I’m not such a veggie expert after all as I had the slightest idea of what some of them are, let alone how to tastefully eat them. How many can you identify??
I feverishly looked up recipes for each of the vegetables, and I’m excited to try out everything. Stay tune to see what I end up putting on the table in the next couple of days!
Filed under: Cooking/Food, Life | Tags: Austin, baja shrimp taco, best queso in the world, dirty sanchez, sno beach shaved ice, Sushi A Go Go, tacos, Torchy's, trailer food
WELL, I fell into a food coma after just re-viewing those photos in that last post. And I surmise that it’ll happen again after this one because the food pic continues.
Let’s see, where did I leave off? oh yes, after a perky cup of organic, locally roasted coffee at Flipnotics (their website is so quintessential Austin, it makes me smile) and FlipHappy (I just noticed the theme there), we were just in time for Sushi-A-Go-Go. Yes, raw fish from a trailer.
Coming from Hawaii where grade A sushi is bountiful, I did not have high expectations. Whenever Austinites, or Texans for that matter, say that their sushi is ‘good,’ I smile the same smile as when someone in Hawaii say we have ‘good’ Mexican food. Although the man sitting inside the trailer does familiarly Japanese, I was still skeptical, especially on this 95+ degree day…
We ordered the spooky roll (spicy tuna, avocado, salmon over the rice), the summertime roll (shrimp tempura, spicy tuna mix, avocado, spicy go-go sauce& tempura crunchy on the top), and a special–one with ika (squid), ume (dried pickled plum) and shiso leaf (perilla; annual herb in the mint family)–my favorite combination of flavors. First bite into the spooky roll, my eyes got big, my instinctive reaction to taste buds happiness. The rice was fresh, the fish was fresh with firm texture, the taste was clean. Had we put the rolls on a fancy plate, you’d believe it came from a very decent sushi-ya. The only imperfection is the ubiquitous mayo concoction over the rolls. I’m a sushi purist, the simpler the flavors the better. But I still deem it another trailer success!
The next wheel over from Sushi-A-Go-Go was Sno Beach Hawaiian Shaved Ice. Cyn had wanted it since the night before but I was not ready. First of all, if you’re going to call it Hawaiian, you’d have to do it right and drop the grammar. There’s no ‘d’ in shave ice; it’s not a past action, its Hawaiian time (and grammar). And as a loyal Waiola customer, all other shave ice is second tier. But since Cyn, who has also had the real deal assured me that Sno Beach has Waiola-grade ice, I agreed to give it a try.
It did live up to Waiola’s level of silky smooth ice. My usual flavor combo at Waiola is green tea and milk, here I had a sweeter combo per Cyn’s recommendation of almond and wedding cake with creme added on top. I still don’t know what wedding cake flavor is, but it tasted good. And at $2.50, it’s the perfect palate cleanser.
By then the blazing Texas sun was directly overhead, perfect time to go back into the cool water. We paddled for nearly two hours working up another appetite for more. There were so many people also paddling, kayaking, canoeing, tubing. Leisure does it.
We returned to Torchy’s once again because of the alleged best queso in the world. It’s quite a claim so we have to see for ourselves.
It’s their green chili queso topped with guacamole, queso fresco, cilantro and diablo sauce. I don’t know if it’s the best queso in the world, but it is surely the best queso I’ve had. And you didn’t think we stopped there, did ya?
From top to bottom:
Dirty Sanchez–Scrambled eggs with guacamole, fried poblano chili, escabeche carrots, and shredded cheese served on a flour tortilla with our poblano ranch sauce.
Brushfire–Jamaican jerk chicken, grilled jalapenos, mango, Sour cream, and cilantro served on a flour tortilla with our Diablo sauce.
Don’t remember what the third is.
Baja Shrimp–Hand battered shrimp fried with cooked cabbage slaw, topped with pickled onions & jalapenos, queso fresco, cilantro and a lime wedge. Served on tortilla of choice and our creamy chipotle sauce.
Two words: DAMN GOOD.
Trailer food is great. And Austin is great largely because of it. There are many other trailers still waiting to be sampled: hot dogs, pizzas, burgers, cupcakes, bbq, you name it.
………….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Filed under: Cooking/Food | Tags: Austin Texas, best taco, Fliphappy Crepes, South Trailer Park & Eatery, SUP, SUP ATX, taco, TaKorea, Torchy's
Some times what you didn’t even know you’re looking for is just right around the corner.
Since I am in the market for a new city, I have a list of ‘must haves’ that I am assessing each place with. A thriving classical music scene, close to New York City, job opportunities, walking city, public transportation, runner and bicyclist friendly, active lifestyle (mountains and bodies of water nearby), earth-friendly, farmers markets, fantastic food scene, eclectic cultures–not too much to ask for in one place, right?
A few cities encompass parts of my wish list, Philly being one of them. This weekend, I had a chance to hop over to Austin from Houston. I thought it was just a chance to stand up paddle (SUP) while away from Hawaii, but little did I know that I was about to leave Texas and find much of what I want.
After a nearly three hour drive and a speeding ticket, Cyn and I arrived in Austin at about 8pm. Sky still lit, we went looking for food (of course). We decided that the flourishing trailer food scene in Austin would be this trip’s theme. So first up, South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery.
We got tacos from Torchy’s Damn Good Tacos and a frozen hot chocolate from The Holy Cacao. The tacos were truly damn good. I got the green chile pork, and Cyn got the seared ahi. Tasty.
Our love for progressive eating prompted us to move on to the next set of trailers. After circling downtown Austin, where a few other well-known trailers are supposed to be, we twittered, googled, and called to find what is to be the reigning BEST taco I have tasted.
TaKorea‘s (smart name) pork katsu taco with curried vinaigrette and kimchee puree. This unassuming looking taco is by far the tastiest little bite I have ever chomped into. The breading is crunchy yet there’s plenty of tasty meat underneath. The sweetness of the meat perfectly balances the tang from the vinaigrette highlighted by the slight heat from the very mild kim chee puree. I was speechless until I heard myself ordering another one. My thumb was up the entire time I was trying to tell the guy that he’s got that taco down. I went to sleep smiling that night.
DAY 2
The purpose of the trip was to SUP. I admit that I lost focus for a bit there in the midst of taco fever. Waking up early the next morning, we made it to paddling on the hot Texas day at Town Lake. Austin has an entirely different energy from any other Texas city I have been to. My sans coffee body was invigorated merely by the sight of the dozens of runners, bicyclists, kayakers, canoers along and in the lake. Just 165 miles away from the once fattest city in America, Austin is FIT, and there is the smell of sweat and health in the air!
SUP-ing in a lake is not as fun as in the ocean, but there’s certainly a placid serenity to the waveless water. After trying out the free demo given by SUP ATX in the morning, we planned out our day to eat, SUP for another two hours, eat some more. Nearby and still relatively slow, we got in line for some famous pancakes.
As seen on Food Network’s Throwdown, the ladies at FlipHappy Crêpes easily beat out Bobby Flay with their crunchy on the outside, soft but not mushy on the inside crêpes generously filled with savory or sweet ingredients. I had the tarragon mushrooms crêpe with goat cheese, spinach, caramelized onions, and tomatoes. The 15 minutes wait was worth every bite.
Filed under: Cooking/Food | Tags: appetizer, cheap eats, mushroom, Vegetarian
I am on a roll with playing with recipes and actually having success with their turnouts (at least I think so).
My weekly routine of surfing my favorite food blogs (see links on left side of screen) always gives me dinner ideas. This week, I came across a simple, not to mention economical (two days after sending in a hefty sum to my impoverished government, this is another winner of cheap eats), recipe of marinated mushrooms at the wonderfully delicious running with tweezers. It looked perfect for my busy week. Looking closer at the recipe, her version was inspired by Tyler Florence’s recipe, also one of my favored chefs.
Running with tweezers‘ version added red wine vinegar. I added a few more ingredients to the original recipe to get a deeper flavor.
Note: I don’t measure anything, so my portions are guesstimates.
Marinated Mushrooms
1 basket white mushrooms,quartered 1/4 of a large onion,chopped 3 swirls of olive oil around the pan (I actually used Bitton brand Rosemary, Vanilla & Thyme Oil) 1 tsp butter 1 large clove garlic,minced 5 mini sweet peppers (red & yellow), chopped 3 sprigs of fresh thyme zest of 1 lemon 2 swirls of balsamic vinegar 1 swirl of Worcestershire sauce 1 swirl of marsala cooking wine pinch of sugar pinch of salt freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil for dressing Add olive oil (mine was the flavored oil) and butter to a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sweet peppers and cook them for about 5 minutes, or until brown and tender. Add garlic and mushrooms and cook for another 3 minutes. Stir in balsamic vinegar, worcestershire sauce, marsala wine, thyme, and sugar until mixture cooks down and the alcohol evaporates.Remove mixture from heat. Zest lemon over mixture and pour over the remaining olive oil. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool. Serve at room temperature.
I followed her suggestion to serve it over a good slice of toasted bread and smeared goat cheese over it. But instead of goat cheese, I have a fantastic mild flavored sheep’s milk cheese I bought at Costco. It added a lot of sweetness and creaminess to the mushrooms. And I bet this dish would be great over couscous as well. Try it!
Filed under: Cooking/Food | Tags: cacio e pepe, cheap eats, pasta, pecorino romano, pepper, prosciutto cotto
My single most favorite spice is black pepper, specifically tellicherry peppercorn (with cumin closely at second). So when I saw the recipe for the classic Roman cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper) pasta, I knew it would be a winner in my (recipe) book. I mainly cook for myself, or a few non-cooking friends who almost consider me a real cook (that’s why I cook for them), so I like to toy with recipes by first following it strictly, and then attempting it again adding or replacing ingredients. I have to admit that, most of the time, the existing recipes are better than my tweaked ones. There are, however, anomalies to that scenario–my modified cacio e pepe pasta being one of them.
This picture doesn’t do the dish justice since I was so eager to taste it that I snapped the photo with no intentions.
I took a classic cacio e pepe recipe and found that I already had all the ingredients readily at hand. Here are a few things I modified to see if it could add more flavor.
First, I toasted the crushed peppercorns for a minute, then added olive oil and butter and cooked it for another couple of minutes. Then the whole pepper/oil/butter mixture is poured over the cooked pasta. Secondly, I substituted linguine for spaghetti, or in Mario’s case, bavette. Wanting a little meat, I added prosciutto cotto slices and pan fried until brown and caramelized. Then I added some frozen peas for some sweetness to balance the saltiness from the pecorino romano and prosciutto cotto. Topped with a little fresh basil and flat leaf parsley, the result was beyond my expectation.
Since making my modified version, I have looked up other cacio e pepe recipes, and found that many others do the infusing of olive oil with the pepper first instead of just grinding the pepper over the pasta. This one I found posted a version that is much creamier than mine. Her picture of the dish definitely looks much more enticing than mine.
Nonetheless, this is a must try recipe whether you like it authentic or modified. It’s spicy, salty, flavorful, not to mention easy and economical (even cheaper if you skip the prosciutto). Your taste buds, and/or friends, will thank you, just like mine did.
