Monthly Archive for June, 2008

Argggggghhhhh! No Battery! No Que Bueno!

So it seems i’ve run out of batteries on my camera and i can’t find my spare battery or my charger.  Sucks because i have been cooking some random stuff.

I have to say that i’ve been watching two awesome shows that have pretty good recipes and ideas.

First i’ve been watching the TLC show “Take Home Chef“.  Every so often it’s on and some dude basically finds people in the grocery store and cooks for them.  They have pretty simple dishes but they look great.

I’ve tried the Pan-fried Escalope of Pork Wrapped in Prosciutto with Sage and Capers which turned out pretty tasty.  Though i have to remember to add less lemon.  First time i made it, i think i put too much lemon but other than that it was really good.  But i’ve been surfing around and have found some other pretty good recipes that i’ll hopefully put up.

The other show i’ve been watching is “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” on FoodTV.  Though i don’t really like Bobby Flay i have to say this show is pretty good and makes me like him more i guess.  It’s pretty cool how he tries to make a better version of the other dudes signature dish.  I was watching the Arroz con Pollo episode and i really wanted to make the Arroz con Pollo he made on the show.  The other show i recently saw was the Sticky Cinnamon Buns.  It looked awesome and looks incredibly tasty.

Well when i find a way to charge my camera batteries i’ll take pictures of what i’ve been cooking recently.  I’ve been doing regularly this simple Shrimp Green Curry with Bamboo and also Mussels in Saffron White Wine.  I bought a bunch of Mussels from Costco for like 1.99 a Pound and wanted to make different Mussel dishes.

A Request for Beef Noodle Soup!

My brother asked me one day if i would make beef noodle soup.  He said he wanted to learn how to make the best beef noodle soup in the world.  I don’t know if i can deliver that but i hope i can.  When we were small my dad used to always take us to eat this one restaurant called Chung King.  We only ate lunch there but that’s what he ate for lunch probably everyday at work.  Anyways the only thing we ordered was their 红烧牛肉面 (Spicy Beef Noodle Soup) and their 榨菜肉丝面 (Pickled Mustard with Pork Noodles).  So my brother wants me to figure out an awesome Beef Noodle Soup recipe.  I think i’ll go looking for the best of both noodle soups.  I may take a while but i’ll do it for my brother!

So far i’ve found a couple good links as a starting point

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5462

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/TAIWANESE-BEEF-NOODLE-SOUP-231502

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2005/10/niu_rou_mein.html

http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/2005/10/notorious-nrm.html

and finally

http://www.tbnf.com.tw/m_diy.htm

all those links have really good starting points and recipes.  I’m still reading them and seeing what i should do.

Cinco De Mayo! Time for some Chicken Chorizo!! (A Little Late)

So yea! This was another one of my back dated cooking adventures. Cinco De Mayo passed and i was like DAMN i feel like something spicy with a Mexican flavor. I looked around for what i would like and I saw this article on Brown Rice in May’s Saveur. There was this recipe called Chicken and Brown Rice with Chorizo. It looekd so good on the page that i wanted to cook it. The ingredients were simple and they sounded good! It’s kind of like Arroz Con Pollo but not. Though i might just make Arroz Con Pollo next time! I love Saffron! Anyways back to the food.

Here are the pictures of my little adventure

The Ingredients are

  • 4 Chicken Thighs with Skin and Bone
  • 1/2 Link of Chorizo (I think it was about 3/4ft Long) Sliced into nice 1″ diagonal slices
  • 2 tbsp of Oregano
  • 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
  • 4 Cloves of Garlic
  • 1 Large Yellow Onion, Thinly Sliced
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 1 Cup of Long Grain Brown Rice
  • 1/2 Cup of White Wine
  • 2 Roma Tomatoes, Sliced into quarters
  • 3 Cups of Chicken Broth
  • 1 Cup of Frozen Peas

So basically start off by preheating the oven to 400F.  You need to then find a dutch oven or iron pot which is oven safe.  You first season the Chicken Thighs with Salt and Pepper.  Heat up the pot on medium-highish heat add some olive oil and sautee the chicken skin down till the skin is a nice brown color about 8 minutes or so.  Take the Thighs out and put it aside.  Dump out the oil inside the pan.  Then sautee the chorizo in the pan.  Cook it till it’s lightly brown on both sides, about 5 minutes.  Then take out the chorizo onto a plate but leave the chorizo oil and juices in there.  Throw in the Oregano, Red Pepper Flakes, Garlic, Onion and Bay Leaf and let it cook for a while until the onion is soft and brownish, about 8 minutes.  Then add the rice and stir it around coating rice with the oils inside the pan and all around, about 2 minutes.  Add the white wine and bring it to a boil to cook off most of the alcohol.  That should be around a minute or so.  Then throw in the Chicken Thighs, Tomatoes, and Chorizo and pour the chicken broth in along with some salt and pepper for seasoning.  Cover the pan and bring it to a boil.  After it starts to boil transfer the pot to the oven and let it bake for about 1hr-1hr 10min.  By this time everything should be cooked nicely.  Be careful about the pan!! I burned myself many times touching the pan because i forgot it was in the oven!  Then uncover the pot and throw in the peas.  You want to mix them in gently so you don’t shred up all the chicken.  The heat of the food will cook the peas.  Recover the pot and let it rest for 10 minutes.  Everything should be ready to serve!  Bon App!!