Quickie "Carbonara"

I can't believe I never thought carbonara sounded appetizing enough to try before. What was I thinking!? I love starch and cholesterol combos! Mmm...the ol' American sunny side egg with toast, the Korean egg-rice bibimbap, the Chinese egg-y noodle. And now I've experienced the yolky egg as pasta sauce! Geniuses, those Italians* are.

It took "my laziness" + "Karen Chen" + "a long day of...the beach? Watching Snoopy cartoons? Hmm...what were we doing??" = the need for a tasty dinner that would require minimal effort. As in, I could even make it with my left foot without spraining my toes if I wanted to. She assured me that it was easy, and it really was!**

Spaghetti, prepared al dente according to package for 1
Olive Oil
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1 egg
cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil and over medium low heat, cook the onions until brown and soft. Add the cooked noodles and after heating a few minutes, crack the egg into the pan. Stir quickly to coat the noodles in the egg and allow to cook slightly. Remove from heat and sprinkle cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste. You can also prepare the egg sunny side up and then serve on top of the noodles, breaking up the egg directly on your plate, which would reduce the amount of pan cleanup.

Serves 1

*Disclaimer: this recipe is not authentic Italian by any means.
**Please do not attempt to make with left foot.

Crabby Enoki Mushrooms

You like seafood? You vegan? Wanna try something interesting? When enoki mushrooms are baked in a toaster oven or regular oven for 30 minutes with olive oil drizzled on it in a little aluminum foil "pan" they magically transform into crab/seafood! It's weird. I don't get it. Vicky says that you usually keep the mushrooms in a bunch with the stalks parallel to each other for good looks. I like.

Taro Tapioca Dessert

I remember first having this super chilled, sweet soup when I was a kid at Kirin in Mountain View, CA.; the perfect place for late night dining, turtle soup, and chow fun. You don't always get dessert there, and I could never figure out how the waiters decided to give it to us or not, but whoo! What a pleasant surprise when we did!

There are a two variations of this dessert here that can be served hot or cold:

Condensed Milk Way
1/2 lb of taro, skin removed, cut into 1" cubes
1/4 C dried tapioca
1 can of condensed milk

Fill pot with taro and enough water to cover. Boil until fork tender. Mash up the taro with a fork, or you can use an immersion blender.

Add the tapioca to the same pot, turn down the heat to a simmer. Stir frequently to prevent the starch from sticking to the bottom of the pan. You may want to add water as the tapioca absorbs it. When tapioca is all transparent, add condensed milk to taste. You can also thin out the soup with more water or milk.

8.8.10
Used coconut cream instead of milk because that's all I had in my cupboard, but realized that coconut cream is good for mango sticky rice and not here because it's way too thick. I had to thin it out a lot with the taro water.

Coconut Milk Way
1/2 lb of taro, skin removed cut into 1" cubes
1/4 C dried tapioca
1 can of unsweetened coconut milk
1-2+ large blocks of rock sugar, or about 1/4+ C granulated sugar

Boil taro until tender, do not drain.

Boil tapioca in a different pot according to package directions until translucent and drain.

Bring to a simmer the coconut milk in another pot and dissolve the sugar in it (to taste), finally add taro and tapioca. Once again in this recipe, you may want to add more water (using the taro boiling water), or milk to thin out the soup, but if the tapioca is drained well enough, the starch from it may not thicken the soup.

Serves 8

Quick Mushroom & White Wine Pasta

Quickie meal Vicky and I made using shitake mushrooms (which give it a more Asian twist) we bought from the Milk Pail and ingredients from our pantry.

Olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
5 medium sized mushrooms of your choice
Dry white wine (used a Sauvignon Blanc)
Angel Hair pasta
Salt and pepper to taste

Place a pot on the stove on medium heat and with water according to directions on the package. As it's working its way to boiling, heat about 1 tsp olive oil in a pan and then the garlic. When it softens a bit, add mushrooms. (Is the water boiling yet? Add the pasta and set the timer!)

Cook the mushrooms until softened, then push to the side of the pan. Add about 2 Tbsp of wine. Wait till it's heated then push back the garlic and mushrooms.

When pasta is ready, using a slotted spoon, spoon out the pasta into the pan and toss with more olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 2

Sushi Eggs

Growing up, we used a square pan so you wouldn't get those random round scraps. The technique to making these is a cross between an omelet and a pancake.

1 tsp Mirin (if there's none around, you can also use a little rice vinegar and sugar)
3 eggs
1-2 tsp Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp Sesame Seed oil
1 tsp water

Lightly oil a non stick pan and heat on medium heat. When warmed, add enough egg to cover the pan, plus maybe 0.5 cm thick. Let it cook until the tops of the egg layer is almost cooked, then carefully flip with a spatula.

The eggs should be solidly done. Be careful because while hot, it'll break easily. Transfer to a cutting board and allow to cool. Then, gently roll from one edge. Cut.

Rice Cake Curry Soup

A quickie home cooked idea. Everything depends on you. How many rice cake thingies do you want to eat? How salty do you want it? Saltier? Add more curry.

A handful of Rice Cakes (see below)
1 can of chicken broth
Japanese Golden Curry (less than a block)
Green leafy veggies (like bok choy or spinach)

Boil the chicken broth in a pot, when boiling, add the rice cakes. Meanwhile, soften half a block of the curry with 1/2 tsp of water and form into a paste. Right before it hits boiling, (make sure the rice cakes start floating and taste test to see if they're almost done) throw in the veggies and cook for 1 minute for the bok choy, a couple seconds for spinach and then pour in your curry paste.

Don't stir too much...for some reason, it tastes better when it's floating around in only a part of the broth. By the way, if you don't want to use these rice cakes, you can also use udon noodles or any noodles. Just boil them separately till al dente and add them in after the veggies.

Of course, you can always add more to this soup like green onions and cilantro to garnish or some kind of meat, but this one's meant to be super quick and easy.

Filipino Garlic Rice

Mmm!!! Great with those little Filipino sausages. First tasted this at Lumpia Palace (a.k.a. Gemmae Bake Shop). Sooooo flavorful and garlicky! Haleen showed Anna this summer, and Anna showed me. What a treat! I can't believe it's so simple. I can't believe I don't eat garlic rice at every meal. Or even instead of a meal! Thanks, Haleen.

If using regular Asian rice, you can cook it straight out of the rice cooker. If using jasmine or basmati, it's better if you allow it to get cold or if you use it a day old. Maybe it's because they're thinner grains and pan frying would overcook them?

Oil
One whole head of garlic, or 3/4 of it, minced (the more, the better I say)
Cooked rice
Salt to taste
1 Tbsp fish sauce (I haven't tried this but I read it in another recipe)

You basically heat up the oil (a couple of tablespoons at first) and cook the garlic until softened and a little golden. Season with a little salt and fish sauce. Then add the rice. Heat up until the garlic is golden, but not dark brown otherwise you've burned it. But that's ok, it's still good. A little bitter and a little carcinogenic, but still good.

That's right, girl. More garlic.

Grandma's Dill

This is a great recipe for those times when I only need 1 T of dill for a sauce or garnish and am left with a whole bunch of it. Who would have thought dill could be so tasty on its own?? Ah, Grandma...

"Inside is more fresh."

From Vicky's Facebook:

Dill promotes good digestion and sleep. It is also prescribed for reducing flatulence and in cases of nausea. A tea made of the dill infusion can benefit little babies for lessening gases and improving digestion. Some people believe that the smell of dill will cure hiccups.

Due to several unique qualities of the dill, it is very beneficial to our health. The benefits of dill are the flavonoids, which includes vicenin and kaempferol; and the monoterpenes, which includes anethofuran, limonene and carvone.

The oils found in the dill plant have a beneficial quality that is described as a "chemoprotective" herb. This quality can benefit most cigarette smokers. It is a proven fact that it can neutralize certain parts of not only cigarette smoke, but also charcoal smoke, and the smoke produced by burning trash which are harmful to our health.

In conclusion, she says, "Well, it's just tasty. Enjoy dill today =)". Ok, Dr. Chang!

1 T Black Sesame oil
1/2" ginger, sliced or julienned
1 bunch of dill
1 T rice wine
1 T soy sauce

After washing the dill, cut into 2" segments down through the whole stem of the bunch. Heat a pan with the oil until hot then add the ginger. After 1-2 minutes, add the dill and cook until tender. Near the end, make a well in the pan and pour in the wine, cook a little longer and then add the soy sauce.

Serves 1-2

Childhood Chinese Pork Meatball Soup

When we were little, our dad used to make soup with these meatballs and stab chopsticks into them. My sisters and I would run around with meat on sticks, munching as we played. Not much has changed since then, except for maybe the running part.

There were a few years when I went to college that I didn't know which meatball my dad used. I went through packages and packages...was it fish? (I wanted that white color.) Pork? (I wanted that flavor.) One day, eureka! To me, this brand with the disturbingly happy pink pig is the best--great bite, no weird muscles or tendon interfering with the texture, just smooth, pure pork. Boil the celery until just heated, but not cooked--it should still be crunchy. Then add the meatballs. Garnish with cilantro and green onions and serve hot.

Cilantro, less than a handful
Chicken broth, the whole can is okay.
2-3 stalks of celery, chopped
Green onions 1-2 stalks, sliced
Flamingo Brand Meat Balls:

Oh yes, my darling pink piggy...you are the one.

Moran Peanut Butter Candy

First made their appearance in care packages for our team..not a frozen treat, but does taste best straight out of the freezer. Melts in your mouth, creamy, sweet, peanut buttery goodness. A Moran family tradition! Thank you, Grandma Moran and Tracey!

1 can evaporated milk
powdered sugar
peanut butter (unsweetened, natural gets runny)

No measurements; it's an add as you go and look at it sort of recipe. You want to add just enough evaporated milk to the powdered sugar so that after it is kneaded together, it produces a soft, sticky, shiny ball. Not crumbly, nor dry...like this:

You want to roll it out on wax paper until maybe 1/8" thick? Maybe a little thicker. Then spread the peanut butter on top. Then you gotta roll it up:

Press down as you roll to get rid of gaps.

After rolled, freeze for maybe 15 minutes until hard enough so that it won't fall apart, but not so soft that it squishes. Cut little pinwheels, lay out and freeze until completely set. Keep cold, preferably frozen until serving.

Tortilla Pizza

Sun Dried Tomato and Habanero tortillas by TJ
4 Cheese Mix- Parmesan, Asiago, Mozarella, Provolone
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Chopped Tomatoes or sun dried tomatoes jarred in oil
fresh arugula
Fresh Basil, thinly sliced

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add the red onion and cook until softened then add the garlic. Heat the tortillas on both sides in a dry pan. When you flip the tortilla for the first time, sprinkle some cheese, then some garlic/onion mixture and heat till the cheese is melted. Then top with tomatoes and basil.

Tender Flank Steak with Green Onions & Mushrooms

Soak 3-4 black mushrooms in water for 10 minutes. Slice thin. With flank steak, slice and rub with a little bit, maybe 1/2 tsp of corn starch and let it sit. Then heat the oil, add the mushrooms, soy sauce, corn syrup/sugar, black beans then the meat. Near the end, add the green onions and season with salt. If you want an extra kick of flavor, you can add a little bit of rice vinegar too.

Bell Pepper Steak with Black Beans

It's funny, my dad doesn't cut his bell peppers, he tears them with his hands. And he uses the inner ribbing of it, which turns out to be tender and delicious. You basically heat the pan with oil, cook the garlic with the sliced flank steak until almost done, then remove from the heat onto a separate plate. Cook the bell pepper until tender and add the black beans (which, according to Chinese medicine is good for your emotional welfare. "Add more! More!") Add the beef and season with soy sauce.

Simple White Fish

I don't remember the type of fish, but I've seen my dad cook in this style for salmon and all sorts of other types. Basically, you heat the pan with oil until almost smoking, then you throw in your fish, cover and cook for a couple minutes. Uncover, and flip, then cover. When the fish meat flakes, then it's done. Drizzle with a little soy sauce.

My Favorite Veggies as a Kid

I forget the name of this vegetable, but it's not bitter, the stalks are little thin straws and the top is dark and leafy...Whatever it is, you can buy it in a bunch in all the asian supermarkets. My dad and I washed the whole thing, cut it up in 2" segments. Heat a large pot with a little oil, add the smashed garlic (used 3-4 cloves) and heated until fragrant. Add the stems of the vegetable first to soften until bright green and almost ready to eat (i.e. soft yet with some crunch) and then added the rest of the vegetable. Add a little bit of water (my dad adds a lot to make a soup/sauce). Cover and allow to steam down. Season with salt.

Dad's Pickles

When learning how to cook with family, there always lacks measurements. Everything is to color, to taste, to smell. I will come back to this one day and actually measure out the ingredients for the recipe.

1 cucumber, peeled and halved then sliced
salt
sugar
soy sauce
rice vinegar (optional)

With the cucumbers in a bowl, generously sprinkle salt all over and toss. After allowing it to sit for at least 10 minutes, rinse one cucumber to try. Does it give a little resistance when you bite only to release with a dense crunch? Then it's ready! Rinse the rest and add the other ingredients to taste. My dad likes it slightly sweet with very little saltiness from the soy and just a little acidity. If it's still soft like a raw cucumber, sprinkle more salt and let it set an additional 5-10 minutes.

Easy Roasted Garlic

Honestly, the easiest way to make roasted garlic, yet takes a lot of time. You take the whole head of garlic and place it in a small cake pan. I roasted almost 5 heads a time so if you do just one, you may not have to bake it as long. I then let it sit in a 325 degree oven for almost 2 hours, checking on it to make sure it didn't burn or get too dry. When you have an oven mitt on and squeeze it, it should give and be soft, maybe even a few cloves will fall apart a little. After you let it cool, you can peel each clove and use it in any potato dish, sandwich, salad or spread on toasted bread like above with olive oil drizzled on top. SO GOOD.

Pineapple Fried Rice

Quick fried rice using training cashews and sandwich meat with my own personal old, cold rice.

¼ C roasted, salted cashews
2 cloves of garlic, minced
soy sauce
dash of sesame oil

1 egg, whisked in a bowl
2 C prepared rice (I used leftover basmati), refrigerated
¼ C canned, cut pineapple
2 slices TC lunch turkey ham, diced/cut into squares
salt
cayenne pepper

Heat pan and ¼ tsp oil in a pan. When hot, add cashews and cook until lightly toasted. Set aside in a separate plate.

Add a little oil, when heated, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Then add a little (about 1/8 tsp) of sesame oil, 1-2 tsp of soy sauce. Add the rice and pineapple and ham. Stir and heat until thoroughly heated. Add the nuts. Push all to a side of the pan and add a little oil to fry up the egg in that little circle of pan exposed, scrambled egg style. Stir all together and season with cayenne and salt to taste.

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels with Cinnamon

One of the roommates mentioned this treat (was it Phoebe or Carolyn? Who knows? We always talk about food) and I thought…I like chocolate covered pretzels…and I like peanut butter filled pretzels…and I like chocolate and peanut butter… *rubs chin in deep consideration* And yes, Eureka! It is a wonderful combination!

As I was precariously dipping the pretzels in a coffee mug filled of chocolate in a pot of boiling water, Tiffany Wang watched from our kitchen table on the verge of shock that I would actually waste my time on this but I laughed on the inside, "oh my dear sister would flip if she knew how much time I really "wasted" eating, cooking and thinking about food." Harharhar!

Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels (without salt from TJ’s, but also F&E carries a good one, the inside is a little sweeter in the F&E version)
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Ground cinnamon (optional)

Prepare a sheet of wax paper on a jellyroll pan.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. I used a small mug inside a little saucepan of boiling water. About ½ cup of chocolate chips will make about a 1/4 to 1/3 of the bag of pretzels…enough for maybe 1-3 people to snack on depending on how much chocolate you want on it—I like mine with a thin layer of chocolate.

When chocolate is melted, dip half of the pretzel (or using a dipping tool and submerge the whole thing). If it's too thick or when you pull out there is a chocolate tail, scrape the base with a butter knife. Lay on top of the sheet to cool. Sprinkle cinnamon on the chocolate part and stick in the fridge to cool all the way.

"Top Secret" Egg Salad

One of my mom's creations! Named in this manner because when we asked her what the name of the recipe was she said, "top secret!" Eat with crackers or in a sandwich. Adjust how much onions and garlic you want, to taste. I'd eat a whole onion raw if it didn't give me a horrible horrible stomach ache.

2 boiled eggs
1 T minced red onion
1 stalk of green onions
1 clove of minced garlic
1/4 C of raisins, soaked in 1 T apple cider vinegar in a jar for 24 hours or until plump and then drained
2 T mayo
black sesame
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the eggs into chunks and combine with everything! Top with as much black sesame as you want, maybe 1 T.

Makes 2 sandwiches