Here are some noodles with Asian sauce I made for dinner last week. I didn't have any actual Asian noodles (such as soba noodles, which are whole wheat Japanese noodles. I actually made them one time as a high schooler in Japan, which was awesome). Anyhoo, I didn't have any Asian noodles, so I just used whole wheat spaghetti.
I made a homemade peanut sauce, loosely based on this recipe from Alton Brown. I also sauteed carrots, broccoli, onions, frozen snow peas, tempeh, tomatillos and harissa to add some spice.
I served my Asian noodles alongside some Trader Joe's Coconut Curry Chicken Stix. I mostly cooked them in the microwave, then crisped them up in the skillet. They are great; they taste nothing like coconut--just a sort-of Asian spice with chicken. I served them with, what else?, a Trader Joe's dipping sauce.
These Asian noodle bowls were oishi!
Cookie Monster does not like chopsticks; he's not that great with them. But I have a pair in our silverware drawer that I bought at Uwajimaya specifically for Asian meals. It makes it feel more authentic, even if it's really not.
My parents always used chopsticks (ohashi in Japanese) at home, and I was pretty prolific with them fairly young. My mom actually lived in Japan in the '60s--my grandpa was a civilian in the Navy but knew how to fix airplanes. He was a high-ranking official, which means he and Grandma and my mom got the all-star treatment while they were there. That's about all I know.
When I stayed with a host family in Japan and they gave me a fork, I asked them for some ohashi and impressed the hell out of them when I knew how to use them.
Oy vey, I'm such a Gentile. A shikseh, if you will. (I have read that this term can be derogatory. But I've never heard it used as such. I understand it simply to mean a woman that is not Jewish. Correct me if I'm wrong.) The closest I come to being Jewish is using kosher salt in my kitchen. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy some delicious typically Jewish cuisine.
I had some awesome homemade chicken stock that I decided I wanted to use to make matzo ball soup. I can't remember why; don't ask me these things! I thought on my first venture I'd better play it safe, so I went with a matzo ball soup mix I found at New Seasons. I think maybe next time I might buy some straight-up matzo meal and try to make my own.
It was really easy. I just followed the box's (Streit's brand) directions, combining the mix with 2 eggs and 1/4 cup oil. This is what it looked like after combining:
The box came with a seasoning packet to add to water. I already had flavorful chicken stock, but I didn't have enough to boil the balls in, so I added some water to it. So, I added about half the seasoning packet to the water/stock mixture just so the stock didn't get too diluted.
I formed the matzo balls with my hands. I made a cute little matzo line. They were all ready to jump into the boiling stock on the stove. Aren't they tsatskeh?
So, here they are, cookin' away. These matzo balls were huge! They really plumped up when the cooked in the stock. (Hey, that's part of a commercial tagline! A big prize to the person who can correctly identify it.*) I will definitely make them smaller next time. I pretty much ignored the box's instructions on what size to make them. I'm an idiot.
So, I ended up with giant matzo balls, but oh well. They were really good. The soup was very flavorful but very simple, and the matzo balls were sort of creamy, both in flavor and texture.
This dish will definitely make another appearance in Chez Stadium. L'chaim! Mazel tov! I'm getting verklempt.
*The big prize is: A thumbs-up from Chez VCK! Congratulations!
I live close enough to work that I can come home on my lunch breaks when I have hour-long lunches. Here is something I whipped up for a simple, quick yet utterly scrumptious lunch. I tried to get some protein in since I don't always get enough, and these are the ingredients we had on-hand.
I lightly toasted some artisan bread from Trader Joe's and spread mashed avocado on each side. Then I put a layer of baby spinach leaves over that. Meanwhile, I was sauteeing a few mushrooms in a pan, and then I crisped up a slice of proscuitto. Normally I don't really do the cured meats thing because the texture of the chewy fat grinding against my teeth makes me want to retch. Blech! But when you put the proscuitto in a hot pan for about 2 minutes, it shrivels up (which is really cool to watch! Ok, ok, I know. I am not normal. Oh well) and gets crunchy, thereby removing the nasty-fat-teeth-grinding-retching equation and instead contributing a lovely, crispy light meat flavor to my sandwich. To go on top, I cooked up an egg to over-medium, since I love cutting into the egg and having the yolk run all over everything. I like to sop it up with the bread.
This lunch was awesome!
Hmm, I use that adjective a lot. Perhaps I should branch out. Here are some options: magical, stupendous, marvelous, incomprehensible, inconceivable, incredible, unbelievable, unimaginable, unthinkable; extraordinary, phenomenal, rare, sensational, spectacular; singular, uncommon, unique, unusual, unwonted; conspicuous, notable, noticeable, outstanding, remarkable; impressive, striking; animating, energizing, enlightening, enlivening, exciting, galvanizing, invigorating, stimulating; alluring, attracting, attractive, beguiling, bewitching, captivating, charming, enchanting, entertaining, enthralling, fascinating, interesting
I think I'm set for a while.
I had been thinking about doing this for quite a while, and finally got around last week. Instead of buying high-fructose corn syrup-laden sauce from the store (ok, so you can check the label and find some without it, too), I decided to make my own. I stole Pioneer Woman's idea of arranging all the ingredients on the counter so I remember everything I put in. Except then I put in some more stuff after I took this picture, thereby pretty much defeating the whole purpose. Sigh.
Oh, well. Here's most of the stuff I put in my bbq sauce. I first started by sauteeing some finely chopped onion in some EVOO. Then I added all this stuff:
Then I basically just cooked the crap out of it. Ok, not really. I let it cook on very low heat for a long time--about an hour. Once it had reduced, I tasted it and discovered it needed more stuff. I put in a lot more molasses since I got a little enthusiastic about the vinegar and put too much in initially. I also added some chili powder and a bit of cayenne. And salt.
I kept tasting and adding 'til it tasted right. And voila! Homemade bbq sauce! Using some of my leftover chicken from the freezer, I made a killer bbq chicken pizza, which I will share with you in my next post. I know you can't wait.
Until then, I'll leave you with a joke:
What did one earthquake say to the other earthquake?
"It's not my fault!"
This was a very typical VCK meal. It was a "I don't really know what I want so let's throw some stuff with pasta and use up some stuff in the fridge while we're at it" meal. Say that 10 times fast! It was a IDRKWIWSLTSSWPAUUSSITFWWAI! Hmm, somehow I don't think it's the next "EVOO."
Anyhoo, I threw some whole wheat spaghetti in a pot and cooked to al dente. While it was cooking, I sauteed some vegetables--some fresh, some frozen--with garlic and olive oil. Hmm, looks like this day we only had fresh carrots. I used snow peas and regular peas from the freezer*. I also had some homemade tomato sauce in the fridge and wanted to use a little of that.
To accompany the pasta, I made some fake bruschetta, mostly because we had some killer bleu cheese and some tomatoes that needed to be eaten. Ok, people. It's time for a little Italian lesson. The word is BROO-SKET-TA. It's an Italian word and should be pronounced that way. I mean, you wouldn't say KAY-SA-DIL-LA, would you? You don't have to be an asshat and over-emphasize the Italian-ness of the word like Giada DiLaurentiis does, but say it right, people.
Here is the toast in the toaster oven. The glare is from my totally awesome, totally professional mad photography skillz. And it's cloudy because the toaster oven door is really dirty. I should really clean that off.
Here's a slightly less glar-ey shot. Damn, the door wasn't magically cleaned off between shots? The cheese has just started to melt. Melty cheese is one of the best substances in the free world. I think cheese should be used as currency. Well, maybe that's not such a good idea. I'd be broke and fat.
Here's the bruschetta after is came out (Remember, it's BROO-SKET-TA). See how lovely the melty, sharp cheese is, and the tomatoes are all soft and sweet? Aaaagggghhhh.
Here's the whole dinner after it came together. I grated a small amount of parmesan cheese on top of each plate for serving. You eat with your eyes first.
And voila! A quick and easy VCK dinner.
*A tip about frozen peas. Mushy peas are gross. They taste like sweat socks and feel like baby food in your mouth. To avoid this nastiness, only put the peas in at the very last minute of cooking. All they need to do is defrost, which takes approximately 27.6 seconds. Really. I timed it. ;) Really, throw them in the pot after you've turned it off and are ready to serve.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we don't see a lot of sun between the months of October and April. Now, usually this doesn't really bother me. I'm a true Oregonian--I like the rain. But lemme tell ya, when it's the middle of March and it's fucking SNOWING, it doesn't make me happy. In March I'm ready for chirping birds, flowers in my yard, warmer air and a visit now and then from that magic, bright orange thing in the sky. I think people in other parts of the world call it sun.
About two weeks ago, we got a huge tease from summer. It was nearly 80 degrees. The sun was out, birds were chirping, there were flowers in my yard and it was warm. Hot, even, since if you can't remember what warm air feels like, anything over 60 feels like a heat wave. Now, of course, it's back to rainy with highs of 60, if we're lucky. Summer descended upon us, teased us, then vanished. That fucker.
To celebrate the loveliness that was this day, Cookie Monster and I loaded up a truckful of dirt (for our garden) and did some manual labor around the yard. For post-yardwork refreshment, I decided to make some sun tea.
I put a family-sized tea bag into a pitcher, along with a regular-sized raspberry tea bag. See? See the reflections and the color? That's from sun!
Then I just filled up the pitcher with water and left it in the sun for about two hours. Here's how it turned out. Pretty! And delicious.
The magic ingredient was sunshine.
This is based on a recipe I got from Rachael Ray. Yes, Rachael Ray. There is a lot of stuff out there about her-- a lot of people hate her. I used to be a huge fan; now, I do think she's worn out her welcome. She's over-saturated herself and people are sick of her. But I really like what she's done for the food world. She's an advocate for quick, simple food prepared in your own kitchen, as opposed to some greasy drive-thru fast food crapfest. She is by no means gourmet; she's not even a chef. But the reason she became so popular is because her recipes are easy, fast and approachable. Anyone who advocates using ingredients that don't come out of a cardboard box is ok in my book.
So, anyway, I got this recipe idea from her. In typical VCK fashion, I used it as a template.
I started off by charring the poblano pepper (not a spicy pepper at all. Maybe just a little kick--a bit spicier than a bell pepper) in the toaster oven. I put it on broil and turned the pepper when it became blackened. It took about 10 minutes on the first side; a bit shorter on the subsequent turns.
Meanwhile, I made the filling. I sauteed onions, green peppers, black beans, tomatoes and frozen corn together, throwing in some spices like cumin, Muzzy's Magic seasoning, chile powder and paprika. Once the pepper was charred, I cut down one side (make sure you don't cut all the way through. You just want a slit in one side.) and put in the corn mixture. Then I grated some cheese over the top and popped it back under the broiler 'til the cheese melted and it looked like this:
I also made some tomatillo salsa to alongside it. It was basically tomatillos cooked in a pan with the same spices 'til they got soft. There was some extra filling, so I put it in some corn tortillas. Garnished with guacamole and sour cream, this dinner was Yum-O! (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)
This one was solely for Cookie Monster. I had some whole wheat English muffins in the fridge and wanted to use them up, so I came up with this idea. It was just crab from a can (from Trader Joe's. I love that store. I can spend hours there, just perusing the aisles and looking at all the interesting ingredients. I can also spend a lot of money there, so I usually go with list in-hand. And then I usually deviate from the list by at least a few items. If the product they are sampling that day is not of the meat variety, it will usually end up in my cart. Those marketing people are genius.).
But I digress.
First I toasted the English muffin just a bit in our toaster oven (no need to turn on the big oven just for this) so it wouldn't get soggy. After all, there's nothing worse than a soggy English muffin. Actually, yes there is. There are a lot of things worse than a soggy English muffin. Things like, oh, I don't know... AIDS, human trafficking, genocide. You get the idea. So, really, if your English muffin gets soggy, it'll still be ok.
But I digress. Are you detecting a theme here at Chez VCK?
Feeling decadent, I want edto make a cheese sauce to go on top. After all, it is a crab melt. (Ok, so I don't actually know what goes on a crab melt. I have never eaten one. If I was with someone who ordered one at a restaurant I would be really curious to find out what's actually in a crab melt. But this is my imagination, my house and my blog, so this is what my crab melt is. So there!).
I combined butter (real butter this time!) and flour in a pot to make a roux. Since we had some half n' half leftover from making ganache (made to go on top of a homemade cheesecake. Sadly, I do not have any pictures of this glorious event, which I am very upset about. It was divine), and I didn't have any regular milk (always non-fat at Chez VCK, unless it's soy milk), I decided to be really naughty and use that in the cheese sauce. I dumped a few healthy glugs into the roux and stirred 'til combined, then added 2-3 good handfuls of white cheddar cheese. Whoo-boy! Calories be damned! I'm makin' cheese sauce! I added a small grate of nutmeg, then just let the cheese melt and the sauce thicken.
Once the sauce came together, I put the crab meat on the (not soggy! Hooray!) English muffin, the covered liberally with sinfully delicious cheese sauce. Then I popped it under the broiler again for just a minute or two, until it looked like this:
See how bubbly and goldenly delicious it looks? I served it alongside Trader Joe's frozen hericort verts mix, which is one of my favorite frozen vegetables. I usually saute some onions and garlic in EVOO before adding the frozen vegetables, just to make it more interesting. And since Cookie Monster is a freak and doesn't like a lot of cooked vegetables, I always end up with a pile of only sauteed onions and carrots--oh, well. More vegetables for me!
I didn't partake in the crab, but I crisped up some extra-firm tofu and poured some of the cheese sauce over that. It rocked.
So Cookie Monster and I wanted to have a barbeque. We inherited a free grill from a neighbor and wanted to break it in. So I got some beef and trimmings at Trader Joe's (one of the best stores in the history of the world) for him and our guests, and I had some veggie burgers in the freezer for me. I also made some potato salad, going off a recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.
When we fired up the grill it was cloudy but pleasant outside--about 55 degrees or so.
As you can see from this photo, it did not stay that way! All those little white specks you see around the steaming grill? Yeah, those are hail stones.
Ah, what a lovely afternoon in the Pacific Northwest.
But don't worry. The burgers were great!
Here's the recipe for the potato salad. It's one of the few times you'll see a recipe here at Chez VCK with actual measurements used. So really relish this rare moment.
Classic Potato Salad
from Better Homes and Gardens 75th Anniversary Edition
6 medium potatoes (I didn't use this many--I used about 3-4)
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise (I don't know how much mayo I used. Probably not this much)
1 tablespoon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup sliced celery (2 stalks)
1/3 cup chopped onion (I didn't use this much onion--probably only a good handful or so. I know, really accurate)
1/2 cup chopped dill pickles or relish
6 hard-boiled eggs (I used 3)
In medium saucepan place potatoes and small amount of water to cover. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 20-25 minutes or until just tender. Drain well; cool slightly. Peel and cube potatoes. (This is a really roundabout way. I didn't go through all these steps. I cute up the potatoes into bite-sized chunks, then boiled. This saves a lot of time. Also, I didn't peel them. Potato peel is perfectly edible and it adds fiber. So I never peel.)
Meanwhile, for dressing, combine mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper in large bowl. Stir in celery, onion and pickles. Add potatoes and eggs and stir to coat. Cover and chill for 6-24 hours (I wanted to serve it right away, so I put it in the freezer for about half an hour. It worked fine).
Ta da! Potato salad!
So here we have a VCK version of a McMuffin--a VcMuffin, if you will. And you should. Because McDonald's is evil. Really, I haven't eaten there in a very, very long time. Like, years. Since I don't eat meat, none of the burgers appeal to me. I didn't even really like the French fries, since I worked at Dairy Queen for two years, and DQ's fries were far superior. Plus, oftentimes they were free. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating for one fast food joint over another.* It's just that I was in the kitchen at the DQ and knew, at least, where my frozen French fries had been before I ate them.
I'm not a proponent of any fast food. I think it's a once-in-a-while indulgence (I mean, I get a mean Taco Bell craving when I'm...how shall we say?...inebriated). But I think a lot of Americans look to fast food as a quick-fix to the "I'm hungry" scenario and never really think about what's going into their bodies. There's really nothing wrong with a beef hamburger with a nice, thick slice of (real) cheese on top on a whole wheat bun every once in a while. But when there's a day's worth of sodium, cholesterol, trans fat, sugar (really? In a burger?) and other countless bad things in a single item of food, well, I don't care who you are, you know it's bad for you.
That's why I try to make homemade meals for me and Cookie Monster every day. I think the body is so important and so many people take it for granted. Am I perfect? God no! Do I try to give my body the things it needs to thrive for years and years to come? Yes.
So anyway, this long and drawn-out tirade is simply a way to introduce the breakfast sandwich I made for Cookie Monster a few days ago. I used a sort of Egg in the Hole recipe, which basically entails cutting a hole in a piece of bread, toasting it in a pan, and then cooking an egg in the hole while the other side toasts. Simple.
I used a mini whole wheat bagel as my bread vessel (which, conveniently already has a hole in the middle! Thank you, inventor of bagels, you lovely, wonderful Polish Jews!). I toasted one side of the bagel in a skillet with a little Earth Balance. Then I cracked the egg and put it in the middle of the other side of the bagel. I melted some white cheddar cheese on top of the cooking egg, and then got really excited when I remembered we had some proscuitto in the fridge. Yes, I am amused and titillated by small things. So sue me.
Now, since I'm a half-assed vegetarian, proscuitto oftentimes turns me off. The fat develops a chewiness that I absolutely loathe about meat. But, when you put proscuitto in a hot pan for about 10 seconds, it makes a great sizzling noise, shrinks down to half its size and, best of all, gets crunchy, like bacon, thereby taking the yucky fatty chewiness out of the equation. So, that's what I did. Nevermind that I was making this VcMuffin for Cookie Monster, not me. Oh well. Sometimes I project my food weirdness onto him. He didn't mind. He got a warm breakfast.
So, the moral of the story is, after one of my longest posts to date about a freakin' breakfast sandwich: Well, I'm not quite sure. I guess it's: Don't eat fast food. It's really, really bad for you. And have breakfast. It doesn't have to be anything fancy (but it can't be a Krispy Kreme either). And read ChezVCK regularly.
*Ok, so the one fast food restaurant I will defend is the best fast food chain in the world: In 'N Out Burger. I will defend them for this reason: there is nothing that comes out of the freezer in this restaurant. Everything is fresh and made on the premises. You don't see any Sysco trucks delivering anything at this place. I mean, you can watch the employees stick a whole potato into a device, and then, magically, you have the makings for French fries! I defy any McDonald's, Burger King, Jack in the Crack or any such ilk to do the same! And I'm advocating for a fast food joint, and I don't even eat their meat! I eat their grilled cheese, which is the burger with everything except the burger! Yes, I'm aware that I'm strange. Let's move on. Sadly, I do not live anywhere near an In 'N Out, so I have to drool at their website occasionally. There's no shame in having pity on me. I'll let you.
So here we have my favorite beer to date: It's Rogue Chocolate Stout. Normally I'm a lighter beer kinda gal, like a Hefeweizen or something in that realm. I really don't dig IPAs--the hops are too intense a flavor and after 2-3 sips, all you can taste is HOPS. And I like other flavors in my beer.
Rogue Chocolate Stout is really dark and yet I still like it. It's very rich and it's very chocolately. Cookie Monster dislikes it, actually, because it has too much chocolate flavor. But what's not to like? It's chocolate. And beer. Together. A match made in Heaven!
Of course, my Rogue Chocolate Stout is no Bulmer's, but then I live absolutely nowhere near Ireland or the UK, so I'm SOL on that.
I love beer. Beer-y beer beer.
... A funny little video that I found highly amusing. Maybe you will too. Or maybe you won't. It's pretty silly. But hey, sometimes life is a little silly. If you can't laugh at the little stuff, how can you laugh when things get really intense?
You'll want to turn your sound on to fully enjoy this video.
And so, without further adieu, I present to you...
A video of a cooking sausage.
You're welcome.
This was a typical VCK "we have stuff in the fridge that needs to be used up so what can I make?" meal. I had five extra whole wheat lasagna noodles leftover from the last time I made lasagna. And really, you can't make a whole lasagna with five noodles. I also had some ricotta cheese and some tomato sauce, apparently. So, I concocted a new specialty: lasagna rolls! Served with a salad, it was a well-balanced, tasty meal that used up a lot of stuff in the fridge.
I started off by boiling the lasagna noodles 'til al dente, about 10 minutes or so. Then I spread each noodle with ricotta cheese and a layer of pesto.*
Some of my favorite things all together: pesto, cheese, pasta, Cookie Monster.
After the noodles were filled, I rolled them up and placed them seam-side down into a little individual baking dish.
Then I must've dumped some tomato sauce over the top and grated on some parmesan cheese. I don't remember doing this, but it was a few weeks ago. Plus, it sounds like something I would do. The sauce had probably been sitting in the fridge for a while and screamed, "Use me! I taste delicious! I will go with your pasta dish quite well!" when I opened the fridge door. And really, how can you refuse a desperate cry like that? So I used the tomato sauce.
I then baked them at a moderate temp--probably 350 or so, 'til they warmed through and the cheese melted.
Here is the salad I served alongside the pasta. I can't remember what I put in it. But let's look at this photo and play a fun game called "Guess What's in this Salad." It'll be fun, I promise.
Ok, it looks like we have the following in this VCK salad: spinach, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, carrots, avocado and pepperoncini. Hey, that sounds pretty good! I also made a very typical VCK vinaigrette. This is my stand-by dressing. It's a balsamic vinaigrette with mustard. Very simple and it goes with just about anything.
See? Wasn't that game fun?
And this is how the lasagna rolls turned out. Yumilicious, right? Well, you can't tell how they tasted from this picture. But they were good. Trust me.
*So I have a confession to make. Forgive me, cooking gods, for I have sinned. It has been a zillion days since my last confession. For this dish, I used... Well, it's difficult to talk about. I used... a powdered pesto mix. I know this is in bad culinary form, but hey, it's winter, and there's nary a fresh basil leaf to be found. So I bought this mix and added olive oil to it. In a pinch, you gotta do what you gotta do. The dish was delicious, powdered mix or not.
Please don't tell. It'll be our little secret. ;)
These Asian noodle bowls were oishi!
