Asian-All American

A simple, homecooked meal that is literally Asian-All American!















>>> We've got rice...an Asian staple, but done more in the spirit of the grocery store boxed stuff (aka Rice-A-Roni style).
*
>>> We've got chicken...baked and on the bone.
*
>>> We've got a broccoli side...with hits of Asian goodness.
*

The remaining chicken from my $5 purchase...

the second meal I got out of it (Paprika Chicken was the 1st)
*

Marinade is sesame oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, scallions, salt, pepper.

*

Still playing with the brown rice.

Cooked up once again in chicken broth, just before all the liquid was absorbed I added this mix of scallions, carrot and broccoli.
*

At the end I added a touch of sesame oil, salt and pepper.

*

Fresh broccoli, cut up into bite size florets.

*

I love broccoli.

So tasty and so good for you too!
*

Cooked up in some sesame oil and garlic, then finished off with soy sauce and toasted sesame seeds.

*

The baked chicken.

*

My Asian All-American Baked Chicken Dinner!

*

This was VERY GOOD (aka Hubs really enjoyed it)!!

*

In the past if I was going to do this same combo, I would have purchased boxed Asian/Fried Rice, frozen broccoli and a bottle of teriyaki marinade.

*

Since starting this blog, my confidence in the kitchen has skyrocketed.

This was sooo easy, I suspect more healthy...

and no doubt even more delicious by being done from scratch!

Soups On: Part III, A Low-Fat Chowder!?!?

What? How? No way!?!?!?!
*
Yup, that's right a low-fat chowder creation!
*
The newest issue of Food & Wine plasters on the cover 40 Healthy Recipes! As I do with each issue, I flipped through several times before committing to a recipe. What caught my eye this time around was a Shrimp and Smoked Oyster Chowder.
*
Lately I have been craving and consuming at least 1 tin of smoked clams on the weekends. I know many may think this is gross and yes, they are an acquired taste...but give them a try! For me, I like to eat mine straight up on Carr crackers. [This was actually something Hubs introduced me to many moons ago before we were married.] Until recent, it has never occurred to me to actually cook with them though.
*
With that said, my motivations for trying this recipe were:
1) Chowder is a good thing, especially in the winter.
2) It was a low-fat recipe and the tricks they used had me curious.
3) Smoked oysters in soup?!? Now that's worth trying.
4) The picture in F&W made this look so tasty!
*

Clam juice.

I think we've used it a couple times when boiling up some shellfish, but never for anything else.

*

Time to break out the booze!

If you are anything like me, this bottle of Sherry has been used maybe twice and found a place to sit and collect dust, way in the back of our cupboards.

*

The recipe calls for you to make your own shrimp stock.

It uses water, clam juice, sherry, shrimp shells, garlic, crushed red pepper and bay leaves. Of course knowing me, I did up (2x +) the garlic and red pepper amounts...what can I say, I love a good kick from my food!

*

The smoked oysters...not so appetizing by appearance.

I actually thought about tossing the can and replacing with smoked clams, which do not look anything like this.

*

Bowl on the left - chopped smoked oysters.

Bowl on the right - chopped onion, fennel, green pepper, celery and garlic.
*

The oysters again.

At this point I am really fighting the urge to toss them and replace with smoked clams...but do stay the course of the original recipe.
*

1" cubes of cod and quartered shrimp make up the meats.
*

My favorite part...the cook down!
*

Once complete, the broth was added back to the pan along with some diced potatoes and a can of diced tomatoes. As soon as the potatoes became tender, the fish/shrimp were added and cooked until done.
*

Some fresh parsley and bread for my finishing touches.
*

At the end of the cooking process 1 cup of low-fat buttermilk was stirred in.

*

There you have it...a low-fat chowder!
*

This was a wonderful soup and very easy to make.

The cod was just perfect in texture and flavor (the best fish we've had at home yet!).

*

I really loved their tricks for keeping this so tasty.

The low-fat substitutions really worked!

The soup called for smoked oysters to replace the use of bacon, and buttermilk for the cream.

*

We did have enough leftover to enjoy the next day. I always get a little nervous about eating fish the day after and was afraid this soup would wind up tasting fishy....but nope, it was delicious and perhaps even a bit better than our first taste the night before.

Mexican-American

Mexican flavors...or rather my American spin on them are household favorites here.

*

All beginning about 4 years ago when I played with a homemade chimichanga recipe, we've let go of buying pre-made taco (or other seasoning packets) and do it up ourselves. That reminds me...while not an experiment or anything new, I do have to share with you all our homemade chimi's...a Hubs favorite!!

*

So I decided to try yet again...try what?!?!

Fish.

*

This was my marinade.

Lime juice, olive oil, tequila, fresh jalapeno, garlic and cilantro.
*

This was my version of a mexican ranch dressing.

Just some Hidden Valley dressed up with sour cream, chipotle powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic powder and ground coriander.

*

I decided to do a spin on tacos for our salad and used everything we'd put in one, minus the shell/tortilla and meat.
Contains iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, pickled jalapeno, and cilantro. I also added an avocado at the last minute just before dressing.
*
Perfect!
*
My brown rice creations continue with brown rice cooked in chicken broth. Once nearly all the broth is absorbed I added a can of corn/pepper mix, fresh tomato, cilantro, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
*
[ I actually never used this corn/pepper mix before...it just happened to catch my eye that night. You can find it in the store alongside all the other canned vegetables.]
*
The marinated tilapia gets grilled indoors this time. My hope was this would be gentle enough so that my fish wouldn't disintegrate during the cooking process.
*
Mixed feelings, but better!
*

The fully dressed salad.

*

Absolutely fantastic, especially if you find a ripe avocado (it just melts into the dressing)!!
*

The final fish product. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.
*

Oh and that rice...DELICIOUS!!
*

Very happy with this Mexican-American inspired creation.

I feel as though I am getting closer and closer to conquering fish too :O)

The Number 9...Pizza Style

D'Angelo's, oh how I miss thee...
*
Well it's true, from time to time I do! If your from New England, then you know just what I'm talking about. A bona fide 100% sub sandwich mecca, these guys know how to do things right.
*
Never being outside of the Philly airport, I can't say what I think of the Philly Cheese Steak. I do suspect it is something that I would love, but until I'm faced with the difficult choice of Pat's or Geno's (or perhaps I'll have both!), I keep lusting after D'Angelo.
*
A franchise business, these sub shops pop up just about everywhere throughout New England. Well everywhere except in my town!
*
My husband and I just LOVE the Number 9. Best on the white grinder/sub roll, with mayo - it consists of finely shaved beef, sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms and of course cheese. They melt the american cheese on the beef and veg mix just before it is swooped up and stuffed in the mayo lathered white roll. AWESOME. That is all there is to say, it - is - AWESOME!
*
From time to time I do recreate this dish at home. Always close, but never the same. One evening I decided we needed to change up our pizza routine, so I created this Number 9...Pizza Style.
*

The happy beginnings...lean steak, onions, peppers, mushrooms and garlic.

*

The steak should be thinly sliced and usually I'll freeze the beef just long enough to make it firm and take the time to cut to the point of almost being shaved. By now you must all know by now that Pizza Night is very close to an after thought in our home, so I instead did my best considering the nature of the evening.
*

The veggies are all sauteed in olive oil and garlic, then seasoned with salt/pepper.

*

Once softened, they are placed to the side.
*

In that same pan where the tasty mix of veg were cooked, goes the steak.

*

Seasoned with salt and pepper, this is the juicy finished product.
*

The pizza dough has rested, our toppings complete and now the assembly begins!

*

I've said this before and I'll say it again - the key to Pizza Stone creations...corn meal! It really does help with the transfer from peel to oven and back out again. Not to mention it does wonderful things to the bottom of the crust for flavor.

*

Now that's a pizza!

*

Piled HIGH with Number 9 goodness :O)

*

Fresh outta the oven.

*

Our Number 9...Pizza Style!

*

A delicious creation.

However the same still holds true always close, but never the same.

*

I was tempted to try something crazy like incorporate mayo into this pizza somehow...but did wuss out.

How would I do this? Hmm, not sure ideas?!?!

There is always next time!

Asian Hot Wings

Recipe from our Super Bowl 2010 Menu (Super Bowl Sunday 2010).

The following quantities will work for anywhere from 5-10 lbs of chicken wings. Anymore than that and you'll have to up the amount.

Chicken Wings, split if you'd like
1/4 cup ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbls salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup Sriracha Chile Sauce (use less if you'd like to lower the heat on these)
1-1.5 sticks melted unsalted butter (preference again, if your conscience says less better, then go for it!)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
3 limes, finely grated zest and juice

Begin by coating wings with coriander, cumin, cinnamon, salt and olive oil. Cover and allow to marinate in refrigerator for at least 4 hours to overnight.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place seasoned wings on wire rack over a baking sheet and put into oven. Allow wings to bake for 45+ minutes, or until skin is crisp. You can rotate/flip wings halfway through cooking to ensure both sides get crispy, but it is not absolutely necessary. Since on the rack, they will crisp on the underside, but end up a bit crispier if you do flip since the fat is dripping off them down into your baking sheet. [Also note, this cooking method will produce a lot of smoke, so turn on your kitchen fan or crack a window as needed.]

Add sriracha, melted butter, cilantro, lime zest and lime juice to a bowl large enough for tossing the cooked wings. May also be done in batches. [Note, if your sriracha is stored in the fridge, you will need to use caution when adding the melted butter...otherwise it'll end up solidifying.]

Toss wings in prepared sauce, plate and serve immediately.

Make for good leftovers, but the wings will loose their crispiness.

Enjoy!

Paprika Chicken

How many ways can you bake chicken?

*

I love bone-in chicken and I really love the dark meat pieces such as the thigh and drumstick! My luck this week is that these were the pieces on sale. I picked up enough to get two meals out of the $5 purhcase.

*

These cuts have much more flavor than a boneless breast. However, if the breasts are more your thing, I do suspect this seasoning mix will work great on any cut or even a whole chicken!

*

This version of baked chicken is one I've done a couple times now and is a great hit with Hubs. It's so easy that it's PERFECT for a weeknight meal.

*

Inspired by something I saw in my Martha Stewart cookbook, I made up some crispy goat cheese disks for our salad.

*

We still have a couple logs of honey goat cheese that I picked during the post holiday cheese sale, so I used some of that. Begin by molding some of the cheese into a patty, dip in a salt/pepper seasoned egg wash and coat in panko bread crumbs. Brush with a bit of olive oil and broil until browned.
*

A quick, simple and delicious way to change up your salad routine!

*

After my success with homemade salad dressing on V-Day, I decided to go for it again! This one consisted of olive oil, rice vinegar, coarse grain mustard, salt and pepper.

*

Just before serving dress the salad and place disk on top.

*

This Paprika Chicken is super simple - On both sides of the chicken pieces sprinkle a combination of salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne and garlic powder. Bake skin side up.
*

Our sides were brown rice and spinach.

*

This was actually my first time using brown rice, so I kept it simple with a 50/50 of chicken broth to water mix. Once nearly all of the liquid was I absorbed I seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and dried parsley flakes...better (and healthier) than boxed!

*

We also had one of my favorite no fuss sides, which is fresh spinach sauteed in olive oil and garlic.

*

A quick and easy no fuss meal!
*

The highlights for this meal are new crispy goat cheese disks and brown rice side.

We'll be having both again, that is for sure!