Whole Wheat Scallion Pancakes

I grew onions in my garden this year.  Well... let me rephrase that.  I tried to grow onions in my garden this year.  They never really "grew".  And then I lost interest, or got busy... or honestly, got fed up with the squirrels terrorizing and feeding off of my garden.  I just don't think I was born with a green thumb whatsoever. 

The only thing I managed to snag from the garden this year, besides an ongoing supply of lettuce, were some early green onions. 

When I buy them from the store, I can never use up the entire bunch.  I'll use a couple for garnish and then forget about the rest of them.  And the same thing was starting to happen with the ones I picked from the garden.  So instead of letting them go to waste, I decided to use a whole bunch in some scallion pancakes.  Something I've always wanted to try to make, but always put on the back burner. 

And I don't know why, because they're so easy and they make a great little snack when paired with a spicy soy sauce!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Kirbie's Craving's Recipe

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups boiling water
olive oil, for brushing
sesame oil, for brushing
salt, to taste
about 8-12 scallions, chopped

In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat and all purpose flour with the boiling water.  Knead until a pliable dough is formed, adding more flour or water if necessary.

Since I used whole wheat flour, I had to knead for a little bit for my dough to become elastic enough to use - maybe 10-15 minutes?  Of course, a mixer with a dough hook would be useful here, but I keep it old school because I don't have one of those fancy schmancy mixers (until Christmas! My mom spilled the beans and said she was getting us/me one!).

Divide the dough into 8 equal sized pieces.  Roll the dough as thin as you can, without it breaking.

Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil on top of each circle, and then drizzle with a very small amount of sesame oil (a little goes a long way!).  Mix oils together and massage into the dough until covered.  Sprinkle with salt and a good amount of the scallions (remember, you have to do this 7 more times, so don't go too crazy with it!).

Roll the dough into a long rope (Kirbie's Cravings does a great photo tutorial on this, so check it out if you have questions) and then coil the rope into a circle.  Flatting with a rolling pin to about 1/4 inch thickness - this ensures that the scallions get evenly distributed throughout the pancake.

Repeat this process with remaining pieces of dough.

Heat a nonstick skillet under medium heat and add one pancake.  Cook until golden brown, about 1 & 1/2 to 2 minutes.  Flip over, and cook an additional minute or so.

Repeat with remaining pancakes.

Cut into triangles and serve with a spicy soy sauce (simple soy sauce with red pepper flakes and some grated ginger).

These make a great snack that feed a decent amount of people!  I've even used them as a wrap for Asian-inspired wraps (Bulgogi wraps?!). 

Have a great Friday guys!  I've got my first Culinary Theory class tonight and the lab tomorrow - I'll have a chef's uniform by tomorrow morning!  So exciting!!

"Asian" Noodle Bowl

Happy Monday guys!  How was everyone's weekend?  Ours wasn't too bad.

With food trucks popping up all over the west and east coast, it's kind of hard not to be aware of them.  But when you live in the Midwest, things are a little bit different.  Louisville is a Commonwealth so it's really hard to change certain regulations - one of them being the allowance of street vendors in most urban areas. 

However, they are actually becoming present here.  One in particular, L'il Cheezers Gourmet Grilled Cheese, has taken Louisville by storm.  We actually got to visit them Saturday night and were very impressed with what we got!  (I'll post pictures tomorrow!) 

But while waiting in line, I, of course, had to take pictures of the truck and such, and ended up including some random guy in one of them.  He came up to us and was like "Hey, sorry for ruining your picture."  And I was like, "no worries, just as long as you're okay with being on my blog".  And so one thing led to another, and as others heard that this girl (me) had a "food blog", I was then passing out my cards left and right.  It was my first experience just letting my blog be known to strangers.  It was exhilarating. 

What am I getting at here?  Well, when I first started my blog, I didn't want to talk about it with anything.  Not that I was "embarrassed" about it, but that it was just my personal outlet, I guess.  Public speaking has never been my forte, and I've been known to get real nervous talking it up in front of a crowd, but this weekend, it was different.  These people showed genuine interest, and hell, if I can get at least one of them to visit or be interested, I'd be happy. 

How about you guys?  Do you openly talk about your blogs?  Did you take a while to be comfortable about it?  Or am I just crazy?

Anyway, I was a little under the weather last week, and wanted something a little different from the normal chicken soup to cure me.  So I gathered what I had laying around and came up with this Asian Noodle Bowl.  It's quite flexibile, and you don't really need to use the ingredients that I've got listed (although it was a great combination!).  Just use what you have on hand and you're bound to discover something wonderful.  And honestly, I think it did help me feel better, too!

Ingredients:
Adapted from The Cilantropist's recipe
Serves 2

2 pork chops
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 oz. Asian egg noodles
1 cup pac choi (same as bok choy)
4 cups chicken stock
1 piece dried Kombu 
Sriracha, (optional)
Red pepper flakes, (optional)
bamboo shoots, drained (optional)

Preheat oven to 300F.

Season chops with salt and pepper.

In a large, oven-proof skillet, heat olive oil under medium high heat.  Brown pork chops on both sides, about 3 minutes per side.

Place skillet in oven and bake chops for about 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through.  Allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

In a large saucepan, bring chicken stock to a boil and add kombu.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.  Add pac choi and blanch for about a minute or two, or until the leaves turn bright green.  Remove pac choi with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate, and set aside. 

Add egg noodles to stock and cook according to package directions until tender.  Mine were "quick" noodles, so it took maybe about 2-3 minutes.  Remove noodles with slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl.

Ladle some stock into a soup bowl and add noodles, pac choi, and bamboo shoots.  Top with sliced pieces of pork chop.  Add red pepper flakes and sriracha, if desired.  Serve while still hot.

This was pretty simple and easy!  And like I said, you could practically use any protein, vegetables, noodle, stock combo you'd like.  This is just what I had on hand and it worked out perfectly!  It was super tasty and definitely helped clear my head of a little bit of illness!

Hope you guys have a great Monday and be back tomorrow!