7 posts tagged “rice”
*Big T (Brother-in-law) has many skillet scramble meals in his cooking repertoire. Maybe he'll make room for another.
We made it home last night, minus one suitcase, from our vacation. (After much lamenting, it did arrive safely late today). We had a great time! There are many stories to tell! It was a relaxing week, but what is it about traveling that makes one so tired? Today, we needed a vacation from our vacation. The unpacking, the laundry, the mail, emails, phone calls, the lawn...it all piled up while we were away.
Lunch time came quickly. Having rid the house of most food items before we left, there wasn't much to work with. That's what's so nice about the internet. Not expecting to find much when I googled "eggs and peas recipe," several websites popped up. I decided on this one. With only a couple of modifications, lunch was on the table. No one was more surprised than me that it actually tasted good too. If not for lunch, this would also make a great side dish for an asian inspired meal.
Curried Eggs and Peas Fried Rice
serves 2
1 T. cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 c. cooked rice
1/2 c. frozen peas
2-3 eggs whisked with 1/2 t. curry powder, scrambled
1 T soy sauce
salt and pepper
Heat oil in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Stir fry garlic 1 minute. Add onion and stir fry for 3 minutes. Add rice, peas, and eggs. Stir fry for 3 more minutes. Add soy sauce and season to taste.
Yesterday. Tuesday. It had so much potential. It was my first real "day off" in two weeks. I planned on an unrushed, unrehearsed day of catch up. You know, run a few errands (we had been using an assortment of hotel soap samples for a few days), clean the bathroom, eat a few bon bons...a perfect day. It turned into quite an emotional roller coaster ride. It all started (insert descending harp glissandos here)...
I woke at 7:15am. I was just in time for my standing yoga appointment with the TV at 7:30am. I've been doing this yoga program for two months now. I'd finally found a exercise regime that I enjoyed and it was free. Yippee! Needless to say, I was quite surprised to find that Channel 23 is no longer Fit TV, but the Science Channel. The Science Channel? With an instant rain cloud hanging over my head, I ate my peanut butter topped english muffin and continued on with my day.
After getting the oil changed in husband's car, I headed to Sephora to buy some make-up. I handed the cashier my beautyinsider card to rack up a few points. Someday it would finally pay off and I'd get a free gift. It was that day! I got to choose a free gift. Instant happiness. I skipped over the lip gloss for the teeth whitening kit. I was so excited, as just last week I told Husband that teeth whitening had moved past ankle liposuction as my number one desired cosmetic procedure. This day was looking up.
After lunch, I stopped off at the tailors to pick up husband's suit. You see, this was the second time I've picked up this same suit because the tailoring wasn't done correctly the first time. Tailor insisted that this was a different suit and charged me again for the tailoring. I didn't have proof with me, so I relunctantly paid getting hotter with every minute. Rain cloud was back. After a stop at the grocery store I went home still angry. I absentmindedly put my shopping bags in the kitchen without putting the refridgerator items away (I realized this two hours later), picked up the tailoring receipts and headed back to confront the tailor. I was not going to be played around with. Armed with receipts and a few fighting words (I was nice, but firm), I got want I wanted after 30 minutes: a refund for the tailoring I already paid for, even though Tailor still insisted that there were two suits and she was being duped. Unfortunately not for both the Tailor and I, but at least for me the sun was out again.
Next stop, hair cut. I was a little fearful, as my last stop had ended positively, and the way things had been going I was afraid that a turn for the worst was ahead...or my head, pun intended. Besides a little preoccupation with her cell phone and her collegue in the chair next to us, Stylist did an ok job with my hair. It just wasn't the pampering I had wanted.
Wait a minute, this a food blog.
I'm getting there.
It was six thirty and I was prepping the ingredients for dinner thinking about my crazy day. It couldn't have been too bad, as I appeared to be smiling about it. I realized as I was chopping that this was the most relaxed and unrushed that I've felt all day long. What comfort food preperation is for me. It is the Child's Pose and Downward Dog that I missed earlier in the day.
Let me tell you about our dinner. I had recently purchased some black rice, also known as emperor's rice or forbidden rice, that I was very excited about. I had never had it or cooked it, so I didn't know what to expect. I loved it's nutty creaminess. This recipe, from epicurious.com was a winner: Black Rice with Scallions and Sweet Potatoes. I followed the recipe, but added mushrooms and snow peas.
Since, I picked the rice recipe first and it had asian inspired ingredients, I was happy to easily find a compliment in Malaysian Glazed Chicken Wings by Zak Pelaccio from Food and Wine's 2007 Cookbook. I did modify that recipe a bit. Here is my adaptation:
Malaysian Glazed Chicken
2 Thai chilies, crushed
1 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. ground fennel
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. gound ginger
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. molasses
2 T. fish sauce
1/2 c. low sodium soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, diced
6-8 pieces, an assortment of chicken drumsticks, wings, and/or thighs
juice of half a lime
Whisk together first 10 ingredients. Pour in a resealable plastic bag and add chicken. Refrigerate and marinate for 1 1/2 hours, turning occasionaly. (Original recipe recommends 4 hours).
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove the wings from marinade and pat dry with paper towels; reserve marinade. Arrange chicken on wire racks set over a foil-covered baking sheet. Roast for 40 minutes, or until well browned and cooked through.
Strain the marinade into a saucepan, add lime juice and bring to a boil., Cook over moderately high heat until thick and sticky, 20 minutes. When chicken is done, brushed marinade over chicken and serve.
Yesterday was Husband's birthday.
I don't have a very good track record with making husband's birthday treats. Am I destined to fail on this special occasion or does husband pick desserts beyond my grasp?
Husband's first cake that I made, which actually turned out quite spectacular by the way, took me 4 hours to put together. And I'm not including the inactive time, it was four whole hours of active baking and creating. We weren't married yet...I was still trying to impress, I guess.
Last year's cake turned out so ugly I cried about it.
And now this year's... As you can see from the above photo, Husband requested creme brulee. How hard could it be? No leveling, no frosting, no garnishing... Because of work schedules, we had his big birthday dinner over the past weekend. The creme brulee was a total bust. It didn't set up, and then it curdled. My stuborness wouldn't allow for lack of dessert on a birthday dinner, and there wasn't time to try again, so rice pudding became poor Husband's big birthday treat. (see below) He seemed to enjoy it, but as far as I was concerned we still didn't have dessert that night. Uck!
On his actual birthday, I decided to try again. I used a different recipe this time, and voila, creme brulee. Happy Birthday Husband!
Not only Husband's and Abraham Lincoln's birthday, February 12th is now the birthday of my new nephew. I'm an auntie! Congrats Brother and Sister-in-law!
I don't know that much about Mardi Gras, and honestly, what I do know doesn't sound too appealing. You see, I'm very sensitive to smells (husband takes out the trash), and the celebration seems to have the potential to get quite aromatic...and not in a good way.
So even though I have no desire to go to New Orleans to celebrate or smell it's bouquet, it was Fat Tuesday after all. I wouldn't hurt me to make a classic Louisiana dish. It could be fun.
Bam, I went straight to the New Orleans' man himself, Emeril Lagasse. I found his recipe for Chicken Etouffee on foodnetwork.com. It was super easy and super delish! The only change I made was to use chicken breast tenders instead of the cut up whole chicken. I used less butter too...didn't want to take the Fat in Fat Tuesday too literally.
Husband and I need to eat a little more fish. You've heard the health benefits. Right? I don't know why we don't make a more conscious effort. Sometimes the seafood counter at the store just doesn't smell right. Sometimes I don't feel like spending $12+ a pound on a protein. And sometimes, I'm just a bit intimidated about preparing it. New Year's Resolution? Please, don't hold me to it.
We were at a lovely Christmas party last month, when the host began telling us about his summer fishing trip to Canada. At the end of the night, we came home with four nice sized fillets of salmon. How lucky! This was my first attempt at preparing this salmon. If you are reading this, host and hostess, thanks! Delicious! Please ignore the overcooked broccoli, above. (Husband said it was the worst part of the meal. Duh!).
Here are the recipes used:
Salmon Fillet with Soy Glaze
Ginger Fried Rice With Mushrooms (I used button mushrooms. It was fine).
Dinner tonight received these comments by husband:
"Pretty Good"
"Creative"
"A $9 restaurant appetizer"
I have to admit, it wasn't half bad considering I cleaned out the fridge. I saw Sesame Brown Rice Salad on CookingLight.com. Not having most of the ingredients, it had to serve as inspiration only. I was up for the challenge. That's what I love about cooking, if it doesn't work out, there's always take out. If it turns out better than expected, congratulations!
This turned out better than expected. As you see from the photo, I served the salad on a bed of grilled zucchini. For the salad:
Asian Chicken Salad
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup brown rice (You'll want 2 cups cooked rice for the salad)
1/2 c. chopped red bell pepper
2 green onions, chopped (more for garnish)
1/2 c. cooked edamame (I would have added this if I had them)
Dressing:
1 T lemon juice (I would have use limes if I had them)
1 T soy sauce
1 T teriyaki sauce
3 t. canola oil
1 t. peanut oil
1/4 - 1/2 t. green curry paste (adjust this to your own taste)
1 T sesame seeds, toasted
Whisk the dressing together. Cook the rice according to package instructions. Pour just enough dressing on warm rice to moisten it. Let rice cool.
Toss chicken, pepper and onions with the rice. Dress the salad with the rest of the dressing right before serving. Serve at room temperature.
Serves 2-3.
I'm looking forward to the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Tonight's dinner came straight from the pages of Cuisine at Home magazine, the February 2007 issue to be exact. Red-Cooked Chicken and Sushi-Roll Rice Salad. We enjoyed it! The chicken is braised in soy sauce, which gives it the reddish hue. We're trying "menu planning" this week, and this is one of the menus that husband chose. I'm glad he did. It's not something that would have jumped out at me, so it would have passed me by. It was tasty, but because of the soy sauce (I did use low-sodium) we'll be thirsty tonight. I hope I don't wake up in the middle of the night and need water. I hate that.
The Sushi-Roll Rice Salad was delicious too. If you try this menu, let a little of the chicken sauce ooze into your rice salad...almost like sushi. Yum!
I didn't follow the chicken recipe exactly, so here is my version:
RED CHICKEN (adapted from Cuisine at Home magazine)
1 bottle low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. scallions, chopped
3 T. brown sugar
1 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. red pepper flakes (I meant to, but forgot to put these in)
4 chicken hindquarters, skin removed
Sliced scallions
Bring first 8 ingredients to a boil in a large saute pan over high heat.
Add chicken, cover and reduce heat to medium. Simmer 30 minutes, then turn chicken over; cover and cook an additional 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and tent with foil.
Boil braising liquid, uncovered, until syrupy, 3-5 minutes. Strain sauce through a sieve into a bowl and spoon off any fat that rises. Brush sauce onto chicken to coat.
Garnish with scallions and serve with extra sauce for dipping.
