Curried Flounder & Rice

I'm not gonna lie, this was just okay. Kind of looks like a bunch of mush. Haven't really had anything good come about lately. Kind of depressing, but I guess I'll get back in the game soon... hopefully.


Ingredients:
Adapted from The Taste of Oregon's blog

1 cup spinach, washed and drained
1 egg
1 15 oz can coconut milk
2 flounder fillets, cut up into 1 inch cubes/slices
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 teaspoon fish sauce
3 dried red chiles
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, and egg. Beat the mixture until the curry paste is dissolved and well incorporated.

Add flounder pieces and let marinate in fridge for about an hour.

In a large skillet, heat up oil under medium to high heat. Add the dried chiles and cook until browned, about 1-2 minutes. Add the bell pepper and saute until soft, about 4-5 minutes.

Add fish/coconut milk mixture to pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes, when fish is white and mixture is heated through. Add in spinach and stir until wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with rice.

I don't really know how to describe this dish. It had flavors of a thai style curry, yes, but it just didn't have enough punch. The original dish was meant to be a custard-type deal steamed in a banana leaf boat, but I didn't feel like buying any banana leaves so I just heated the mixture up. I should have probably removed the egg since I wasn't planning on doing a custard. That was mistake number one. The curry may have been less chunky and more smooth that way. The rice I made was a little mushy too. Kind of made it runny. It was just sort of a plain jane dish and didn't get much depth of flavor. Oh well, try and try again I suppose.

Pumpkin Pasta

I know what you're thinking. Pumpkin Pasta? That's weird! Yes... I agree. Very weird. So weird, I had to give it a go to see what it was like. Result? Eh... so so. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Feeling adventurous? Give it a go and see for yourself!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Dulcis in Furno's Blog

1/2 box of pasta (I used shells)
1 small pumpkin, cubed
1 small onion, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
parmesan cheese

It's a basic recipe for a basic cream sauce. Flavor wise? Turned out, well... basic.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente.

While waiting for the pasta, get a large skillet and heat up the oil under medium heat. Add in onion and cook until translucent and soft, about 3-5 minutes.

Add the cubed pumpkin and cook until softened, about 20 minutes. Periodically, throughout, try pressing down on the pumpkin to sort of mush it down. Season with salt and pepper.

This is as far as the original recipe goes. Me, I wasn't satisfied with that. It just tasted kind of blah. So I had to spruce it up.

To the softened pumpkin and onion, add 1/2 cup cream and about 1/4-1/2 cup parmesan cheese
(depending on how thick or cheesy you want it). Let simmer until slightly thickened, shouldn't be too long, no longer than 5 minutes.

Drain the pasta and stir in with cream sauce. Salt and pepper to taste and serve!

Like I said... this wasn't anything spectacular. It was just weird. I don't know if pumpkin is meant for pasta. Not for me anyway. Enjoy!

Chicken Piccata

I remember watching an episode of Top Chef one time and one of their challenges was to recreate a "classic dish". Chicken Piccata happened to be one of those "classic" dishes. Maybe it's because I grew up in a half-Asian household or maybe I was just sheltered, but I didn't know what the heck Chicken Piccata was. Well... now I do. And it's delicious. And it's classically simple, and worth getting to know.

Ingredients:

Adapted from Playing House's blog

1/2 cup flour

4 chicken breasts, cut in half and flattened

salt and pepper to taste

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 shallot, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup chicken broth

1 lemon, cut in half

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

1/4 cup dry white wine

Preheat your oven to 200 F and place baking sheet on middle rack.

Put flour in shallow bowl. Pat the chicken down with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Coat each piece lightly in the flour and shake off any excess.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Working in batches (I did 2 batches of 4 pieces), add chicken to skillet and brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. They'll cook pretty quick because they're somewhat thin. After each piece is done, place on baking sheet in the oven to keep warm. Repeat until all chicken is complete.

Add the shallot and garlic to the skillet and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Thinly slice one half of the lemon and cut into half moons. Add the lemon slices, along with the chicken broth to the pan and scrape up any sucs (brown bits). Simmer this mixture until slightly thickened, about 8 minutes.

Stir in the white wine and squeeze juice from leftover lemon half into the skillet. Turn the heat down to low and stir in butter pats, one at a time. Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with sauce on top of chicken. I also braised some spinach really quick in some chicken stock. Andy kept raving how it went exceptionally well with the chicken piccata itself.

This was a quick meal. This was a delicious meal. I think both of those components qualify it as a winner and a keeper. What "classic" dishes do you keep in your memory banks? What "classic" dishes have you heard of but never tried? Enjoy!

Cornish Hens w/ Plum & Leek Stuffing and Braised Parsnips

This was my first experience cooking with cornish hens. I've definitely pined to work with these babies for quite a while. So when I saw this recipe in Food & Wine's November 2009 issue, I knew I had to go for the gold. And gold is what it turned out to be! This was extremely an amazing experience for my mouth.


Ingredients:
Adapted from Food & Wine's November 2009 issue

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
6 oz. sliced pancetta, finely chopped
1 large leek, chopped (light green and white parts only)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chardonnay or dry white wine
1 15 oz. can of plums, drained, pitted, and chopped
2 cups day-old baguette, diced
1/2 tablespoon thyme, chopped
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
4 cornish hens
6 parsnips, peeled and diced
2 cups chicken stock

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Cook pancetta until crispy, about 6 minutes. Add in leeks and garlic and cook until soft and starting to brown, about 10 minutes.


Add the wine and reduce by about 1/3, about 5 minutes. Add in plums, cover, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Stir it once or twice in between.

Then place mixture in large bowl and let cool to room temperature. Stir in the bread cubes, thyme, and 1/4 cup of parsley. Season with salt and pepper. This will yield way more stuffing than is required for the 4 birds. It was pretty tasty so you could even cook it in a separate pan alongside the birds if you wanted extra stuffing.


Fill the cavities of the hens with the stuffing. Tie the legs together with some kitchen string. Spread the parsnips in an even layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Use the remaining 1/4 cup of oil to coat the parsnips. Season with salt and pepper. Place hens, breast side up, on top of parsnips, drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Then turn hens over, breast side down.

Pour chicken stock into baking sheet. Cover everything with foil and roast in oven for 45 minutes. Be careful, this is kinda heavy, and if you wanted to, you could even split it into 2 baking sheets, but I managed to put all 4 hens and everything in 1.

After the 45 minutes, remove foil, turn over hens (breast side up) and roast for another 30 minutes. The hens will be a nice golden brown to let you know they're done.


Let the hens rest on a work surface for 10 minutes.


Using a slotted spoon, scoop up the parsnips and place them in a platter. Garnish with remaining 1/4 cup of parsley.

Transfer the pan juices from the baking sheet into a small bowl. Skim off any excess fat and season with salt and pepper.

Transfer hens to a plate and serve with parsnips, stuffing, and pan juices. I also made an acorn squash puree that went well with the birds also (roast 2 halves of an acorn squash for 1 hour, scoop out filling, season with parmesan cheese, butter, salt and pepper, and puree with immersion blender, voila... acorn squash puree).

This was an exceptional meal. It was like pre-Thanksgiving. Definitely felt like I had some cooking chops after making this. Enjoy!

Vietnamese Banh Mi Burgers

I love a good burger. Big burgers, small burgers, thin, thick, whatever... as long as it's good, I'm down for it. I like this recipe because it takes a tradition Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich (here's the Wikipedia article here) and converts it into a burger. Definitely makes the house smell pretty awesome too.

Ingredients:
Adapted from Food & Wine Nov 2009 Issue - "Vietnamese-Style Banh Mi Burgers"

2 carrots, shredded
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Frank's Red Hot Sauce
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper
1 & 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 & 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 ciabatta rolls
10 jalapeno slices (more or less depending on your like/hatred of spiciness)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine the carrots, jalapenos, rice vinegar, and sugar. Toss to combine and let sit for about 10 minutes. Drain, then set aside.

In another small bowl, mix the mayonnaise, tomato paste, hot sauce, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Patty up the beef into 4 large burgers. You could go as thick or thin as you want, but I just quartered my ground beef and made a patty out of each one. It made for a decent size patty. Season each patty with curry powder, salt, and pepper. It's pretty simple seasoning here, but I think the curry powder really adds a depth of flavor.


In a large skillet, heat the oil under medium-high heat. Add the patties and cook until nicely browned on each side. Flip only once, took about 15 minutes or so, depending on how thick your patties are.

While the patties are cooking, you can start crisping up your ciabatta rolls. Cut each roll in half and spread butter on cut sides of bread. Set bread, cut side up, and bake for about 5 minutes so get a nice lightly toasted roll.


Spread spicy mayo on on side of roll, then place patty on roll, and top with pickled carrots and jalapenos.

These were definitely different, but still had a good flavor for a burger. The bread was crunchy. The burger was juicy. The toppings and condiments worked well with everything. Definitely a must try burger. Enjoy!

Bowties w/ Ham & Peas

This was an extremely easy recipe. I'm not usually a big ham person, but Andy is, so sometimes I have to be unselfish and please him. I know, I'm a saint. But it actually turned out quite scrumptious and we both cleaned our plates in a matter of minutes, Andy of course, going to seconds. If you're looking for something quick and tasty... search no more.

Ingredients:
adapted from Time in the Kitchen's blog

1 box bowtie pasta
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 lemon, juiced
1 package pre-diced ham
1 package frozen peas
salt and pepper to taste

Set a pot of water to boil. Drop in pasta and cook until al dente, about 8-10 minutes.

While you're waiting for the water and pasta, heat a large saute pan and melt butter. Add flour and stir until beginning to slightly brown. You want to cook out the "flour-y" taste and get it somewhat nutty.

Add cream and stir until starting to boil and slightly thicken.

Turn the heat down just a tad, and add in lemon juice and parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a microwave safe bowl, cook the peas for about 1-2 minutes. Just to warm them through. Then add to pan with sauce, along with ham.

Drain the pasta and add to cream sauce. Mix until everything is well-combined and serve hot! Top with fresh parmesan cheese, if desired!


This was great because it's such a simple, comforting meal. The cream sauce was light and the peas and ham compliment eachother so well. I like this also because it's very versatile. You could definitely switch up the vegetables and protein, as well as just having the pasta and cream sauce by itself. Enjoy!

Links 11-20-09

I'm gonna make the links short and sweet. Today is Andy's birthday and we're going to Lilly's Bistro. I'm pretty excited. I've always wanted to check it out and I've only been there for dessert, but it was phenomenal. So here's to hoping Andy has a great birthday dinner!

On to the links...

Ultimate Thai Resource - I love Thai food. Wanna know how to make anything Thai? This is the website for you.

Sluggish Economy, Good Eats - Sometime we have to pinch those pennies. This is the resource that shows you how, and still lets you eat pretty decent.

Chocolate Goo - Eat it by the spoonfuls. Ball it up, pop it in. Who cares what you do with it, it's chocolate-y, and goo-ey, so eat it!

Restaurant Coupons - I don't eat at many chain restaurants, but if I did, I'd use these coupons. Then the meals would actually be worth what I'm getting. (can you tell I'm cynical about these kind of places?)

20 Healthy Food For Under $1 - Can you tell there's kind of a theme with this week's links? While the things on this list aren't necessarily under $1, cost per serving when used is under $1. Kind of misleading, but at the same time, it's a good list of stuff!

I guess I kind of had to make up for spending a whole bunch of money tonight on dinner with links that would remind me how to be frugal in the next week or so! =) Enjoy!