An everyday taste of Thanksgiving: The Brussel Sprout!

There really isn't much of a story behind this dish other than sometimes I crave brussel sprouts like nobodies business. Kourtney and I have a few different recipes, like crispy roasted sprouts with balsamic vinegar but that is more of a snack food to us. This dish is a delicious veggie side or even just half of a meal by itself. Usually I serve it with fragrant rice or even as a sauce or topper for pasta. The recipe itself is extremely simple and fairly quick to do.

Ingredients:

2 packages of frozen baby brussel sprouts in butter sauce. (honestly it is just so much easier to find than fresh and quicker as well)
1 large onion ( diced into small pieces)
1/2 cup of white wine
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
1/3 veggie stock
1/8 tsp of red pepper flakes
1 tbs of minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Place the butter in a large pan and melt at a medium heat. Toss in the diced onion and let them cook in the butter till they become translucent. Add the frozen sprouts and let them cook with the onions. Add the wine and the garlic and let it reduce. Add the veggie stock and let it reduce a bit again. Once the sauce has thickened a bit add the red pepper. Add salt and pepper if so desired.

Serve with rice or pasta!

sweet fry bread

The story:
This recipe is actually just an adaptation of my basic pizza dough recipe. The original intention was a Naan substitute which turned out pretty well, but this one is a little more versatile. This is very easy to make and extremely tasty, but its best to eat it when its still fresh and hot. Keep in mind that for this recipe I mostly eyeball measurements. You might just want to add things slowly till it reached the consistency of a good bread dough.

Recipe:

2.5-3 cups flour
1 TBS yeast
2-3 TBS olive oil
1 -2 TBS sugar
1/2 TSP salt
1/2 -2/3 cup water
1 stick of butter (you make not need all of it)

Add all the ingredients in a stand mixer, except the butter, and start it on low. Let the machine knead the dough for 2-3 minutes. This will let the dough be properly mixed and well worked. Grab a piece of dough about the size of two golf balls. Roll the dough out as thin as you can. Heat a frying pan to high and add a TBS of butter. When the butter is melted and starting to bubble, add the rolled out dough. Keep a close eye on it, and when it started to bubble and puff up you need to flip it. Just keep repeating this till all your dough is used up.

Thai Sweet Chili Noodles

The story:

Honestly there is not to much of a story behind this recipe. I just got in the mood for Thai and didn't want to go out or pay those prices. The sauce is the main focus for this dish, and that was mostly thrown together but it turned out wonderfully. The tofu in this dish is the similar to previous posts but with a few little tweaks. This recipe is aimed more at using what sitting in your fridge and freezer, rather than seeking out fresh ingredients.
* note: image is a stock photo
The Ingredients

1/2 block of extra firm tofu
1/2 pound of frozen Asian veggies
1/4 cup of frozen spinach
1/4 cup of cabbage
1 pound of fettuccine or pad Thai flat rice noodles
1/2 cup of corn starch
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
3 dashes of ginger powder
3 dashes of dried cilantro
1 dash of lemon pepper
5 -7 cloves of garlic (cloves, not heads)

Sauce ingredients

3 TBS of soy sauce
2 TBS of horseradish sauce
1/4 cup of Thai Sweet Chili sauce
1TBS of lime juice
2 TBS of creamy peanut butter
First step is to get a pot of water boiling if you are using fettuccine. If you're using rice noodles you can wait a bit longer in the process to get the water boiling. Take a Tupperware container and add in the corn starch, cilantro, ginger, and lemon pepper. Cube the tofu up to your desired size. Place the tofu in the container, put on the top, and give it the ol' shake an bake! To make sure that the tofu doesn't stick together you might want to do this in batches. Take a medium to large sized frying pan and add in the oil. Bring up the oil to a high heat. The best way to test this is to place a piece of the coated tofu in the oil and if it bubbles around it, its hot enough. Place the tofu in the pan, making sure you don't crowd the pieces. Keep an eye on them and flip them as they start to get golden brown. You'll be able to feel how crisp they're getting when you turn them in the pan.

Once the tofu is done take it out of the pan and place in a bowl to the side. Next you add the veggies, cabbage, and the garlic to the hot oil, stirring them often to let the oil coat the vegetables. The left over corn starch from the tofu in the pan helps thicken the oil and coat the vegetables. Once the veggies are done add the sauces and lime juice, stir, and let it simmer. After 3-5 minutes the sauce will be done. At this point you add the pasta directly to the sauce, in the frying pan. It's important to add the pasta before the tofu otherwise the tofu won't stay crispy as long. Adding some chopped peanuts is also a good way to go! Toss it all together and you're all set!

Eat and Enjoy!

The Cohen Bahn Mi

The story:

The story behind this dish is somewhat complicated. It didn't occur to me that I could combine two of my other dishes in this manner, but not knowing what you want for lunch and being hungry is a great motivator for innovation. The Thai cucumber salad is a somewhat recent addition to my culinary repertoire, but it has become quite the favorite. I have also worked on getting my fried tofu for a while too, and have only recently gotten the texture just right recently. Personally I feel that the salad is great fresh but its even better after having pickled for a week or so.

The recipe:
First element: Fried tofu
1/2 - 1 block of extra firm tofu
1/2 cup of bread crumbs (panko are best)
1/4 cup of vegetable oil

Drain the water in the tofu pack only about half way. You want to make sure that the tofu is moist when you bread it. Slice the block of tofu into 4-8 pieces. (think the shape and size of a Wendy's burger, square and 1/4 in. thick) Place the bread crumbs in a shallow bowl. Place the tofu slices into the bread crumbs one at a time and shake it about to completely coat the tofu. Don't put them all in at once or the bread crumbs will get clumpy. Heat the veggie oil to a medium heat in a shallow frying pan. Once the oil has reached to proper temperature gently place the tofu in the pan. Make sure not to crowd them, as it will lower the temperature and make the end product very greasy. Once the bottom is golden brown, flip the tofu. You might have to flip them a couple of times to get them to the dark golden brown that indicated the proper texture.

Second element- Thai cucumber salad
see previous posts for recipe
note: red bell pepper can be added in addition to jalapeno or in substitution for those who don't like the heat.

Third element - bread and sauce
a baguette of french bread or even hamburger rolls in a pinch
1-2 tbs of sweet baby rays BBQ sauce

Only instructions for this part is don't toast the bread. The soft chewy texture of the bread is the intended counterpoint to the crunchiness of the tofu and the cool moisture salad. Just spread the sauce on the bread, place the tofu on top of it, and then add a generous helping of the salad on top.

eat and enjoy!

super simple banana nut bread

This one is a Sandra Lee-esque kind of recipe. This one was basically created out of necessitaty, that being we had a lot of bananas and they were going bad. There are tons of recipes for banana bread out there, so if you want to use one of those for a base go for it, but this is the quick and easy route for it. Also a little side note, this recipe is great for adapting into banana bread pudding with the leftovers.

Ingredients:
Bread:
1 package of betty crocker banana nut bread mix
1/2 cup of water
Topping:
5-6 bananas
3 TBS of butter
1/2 TSP of vanilla
1/4 cup of brown sugar
3 dashes of cinnamon

Instructions:
I'm not gonna bother with the bread part of this recipe, just follow the instructions on the back. For the topping, heat a pan to medieum heat. Place the butter in the pan, letting it brown up. Slice the bananas into small chunks and toss them in the butter. Simply add the rest of the ingredients and stir gently for 2 minutes. Lower the heat to a simmer and let it sit for 5 minutes. It should thicken up fairly quickly. When baking the bread, take it out when its 3/4th done and scoop all of the topping onto it. Let it then finish altogether in the oven. To turn the leftovers into bread pudding, simply add milk or cream to it, and then bake it at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

enjoy!

a classic! french onion soup!

The story:

Ok, I guess now that I am back on the recipe horse I'm on something of a binge but here goes. French onion soup, who doesn't like it? It' s rich, oniony, and oh so cheesey! Who can say to no to such a dish? Especially when its got the croutons in the there...right so now I might be drooling a little but it's totally worth it. French onion soup doesn't have to be terribly complicated to make and even a simple one is gonna be so much better than one of those intolerable powder mixes or canned soup versions. Here's a tweaked version that I created when I was craving the soup but had some extra items in the fridge that needed to be used up.

Ingredients:

2 cans of veggie stock (the missus insists on beef but thats a no no to me)

2-3 large yellow or white onions ( vidalia works but it changes the sweetness of the dish)

4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme (a must have for the dish)

1/2 cup of water to thin it out

1/4 of dry sherry cooking wine ( I like mine to have that extra oomph)

1/4 cup of unsalted butter

2 tbs of flour

1 cup of croutons (can be bagged salad croutons if fresh bread ones arn't available)

1/2 cup gruyere cheese

1/4 cup swiss cheese

Optional ingredients:

1/4 cup of roasted sweet corn (canned works too, but bbq or oven roasted adds a smokeness)

1 Jalepeno

Start by dicing the onions finely. Take a med. sized pot, one large enough to hold all the ingredients when cooked, and bring up to med. high heat. Put the butter in the pot and let it melt until it starts to brown. Then add the thyme, ripping off the leaves into the pot and throwing away the stems. Allow that to sit for 30-40 seconds and then add all of the onions. Mix the onions well, so that they are all coated in the browned butter. Let them reduce and carmelize for 4-5 minutes, stirring often. Now its time to add the corn and the pepper if you're choosing to include them. Mash the corn just a little, so that when it cooks in the broth the starch helps thicken it a bit. Once the onions become translucent, its time to add the sherry. Add the wine, stirring well. After about a minute add the broth, and alot it to come to a slow boil. Now its mostly a waiting game. I tend to like to let it sit, on a med. low heat, so that the flavors come together. After 15 or so minutes, its should be about time for the rue. Take the flour and the water and mix thouroughly in a seperate bowl. Once its fully blended add to the soup on the stove. Bring the soup back up to a low boil, letting the mixutre thicken the soup. It should reach the proper consistancy in about 4-5 minutes. Now comes the best part the bread and cheese!! Fill a bowl roughly 2/3 full with soup, adding the croutons on top. Once those have settled in, add the cheese to it in a roughly 2:1 ratio of gruyere to swiss. There are now two way to go with it. If your bowl is heavy duty or a nice ramikin you can place it in the oven under the broiler to do the cheese up right, or if not, you can simply mix the cheese into the soup and eat it as is!

eat and enjoy!

THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN: THE RETURNENING thai cucumber salad

The story:



Well as I was looking at some photos on my computer I realized that at one time I had a food blog. I took a look online and what do you know it was still there! Well I figured that I might as well update the site as as you might imagine I have come up with a few new recipes in the last year or so. This dish, Thai cucumber salad, is something that I've had in restaurants several times and always loved it. It finally came to me some weeks ago, that you know what, I could easily make that at home. It really is easy to make, and its dangerously addictive. I keep making it as a side for dinner but it always turns into a pre-dinner snack.



The ingredients:



1 large cucumber

1 red jalapeno

3 tbs of fresh chopped cilantro

1/4 cup of fine white vinegar

3 tbs of sugar

3 dashes of ponzu sauce

1 carrot sliced very thin

1 tbs of sweet chili spring roll sauce



The directions for cooking are fairly simple, though a bit trickier if you don't have a multi-use mandolin. Wash the cucumber thoroughly, and slice very thinly on the mandolin. I like to use a shredder attachment, which creates strands that are about the length and thickness of thin spaghetti. Place all of the cucumber in a large bowl to the side. Using the mandolin, slice the carrot to the same thickness and place in the same bowl as the cucumbers. Slice the jalapeno into circles and place in the bowl. (remove the membranes and seeds if you can't take the heat) Rough chop the cilantro and place in the bowl. Now for the wet ingredients, as well as the sugar. Sprinkle the sugar over the veggies, and then gently mix it. Next comes the vinegar and the ponzu. Again, gently mix everything, until all the veggies are coated. Finally add the chili sauce, and mix one last time. Its best if you let this sit for a few hours before you serve it, and to me its best chilled.