Baked Sesame Chicken

This was one of my favorite ways to make chicken back in college. The recipe can be found here. The veggies next to it are simply red and green peppers and carrots stir-fried in garlic with sesame seeds for garnish. And of course, rice. (I did the neat bowl trick, found in the post on fried rice.)

Fried Rice

This is one of the few Asian-inspired dishes that I can make without too many mishaps. It’s also a great way to get rid of leftovers. Everyone has their own way of making it and there tons of variations.* Here are a few general tips that I picked up over the years.

- Use day-old rice. The best is to use leftover Chinese take-out rice if you have it because it tends to get dry the next day. I didn’t today so I just used the leftover rice we had in my house.** It also helps to break up the rice before you add it to the pan.

- Don’t be afraid to use a lot of oil and garlic. Start off by using enough to coat the bottom of the pan. You may need to add more oil as you go along.

- Make sure you get the pan nice and hot – I judge it by how the oil makes wavy lines when you *gently* swish it around the pan. Some people like to flick a drop of oil to the pan, and if it sizzles that means it’s ready. I find that way a little scary.

Ingredients:
Oil
1 garlic clove, smashed with the side of a knife
Leftover ham (I used Canadian bacon here), chicken, pork, beef or whatever you have lying around, chopped into bite size pieces
About 1.5 cups of cooked rice
1 well- beaten egg
Handful of frozen peas
2-3 teaspoons of soy sauce (You may need more depending on how salty you like it)

Method:
1. Heat the pan on medium-high with the garlic until the garlic starts to sizzle. (Be sure to remove the garlic when it starts to get brown or it will get bitter)

2. Add the meat and gently brown it – about 2-3 minutes. Set aside

3. Heat the pan again. Add egg and cook until solid (about a minute or two if the pan is hot enough). Break the egg up into pieces using the spatula as you are cooking. Set aside.

4 . Heat the pan again. Add rice and toss it lightly so that it browns evenly. Add cooked eggs and drizzle the soy sauce. The order here is important because you don’t want to put too much soy sauce on the meat or it will get too salty.

5. Stir in frozen peas and meat and cook until heated through. (About another minute or two).

6. To get the cool bowl shape, pack the mixture into a rice bowl, place a plate over it and flip the bowl over.

* My grandma used to make a version with ketchup. As disgusting as it sounds, it tasted pretty good and came out a cool orange color. I’ve tried to make it myself a few times, but never quite the same as Grandma’s.** I could write a whole other blog about the superiority of rice generally found in Asian households as opposed to Chinese restaurant rice. In fact, maybe one day I will. But I admit that fried rice is one thing that Chinese restaurant rice may have over the rice in my house.

Marinated Portobello Mushroom with Cheesy Orzo and Honey Glazed Carrots

It's snowing during my "spring break." Inclement weather means I have time to cook and blog about it. People have asked me if I have stopped cooking because I haven't blogged in a while. Which isn't really true - I have been cooking, but photographing in my house is a process. First, it means clearing the table. Then taking a dozen or so pictures with my amateur photography skills, while my food gets cold. And lately I've just been too hungry to do all that!

Above is a Rachael Ray inspired menu from this book:


And here is a link to the recipes!

Tortilla Espanola

As my readers (all three of you) may already know, I studied abroad in Spain in college. A typical dish of Spain is the tortilla espanola, which unlike tortilla in Latin America, is more like a potato omelette rather than a crunchy cornmeal chip. This dish is often served in slices as a tapa in restaurants, or in my case, at the dinner table of my host family. When I came back to campus after studying abroad, tortilla espanola became my signature dish to share among friends.

My senora taught me a handy trick, which, if done properly, will produce the perfect tortilla. Unfortunately, as I made it today, I did not do it properly and ended up with a gloopy mess. As you can see, only half the tortilla is pictured here because I had to eat the messy half. But these are sacrifices we food bloggers must make.

Once again, I am writing the method below from memory so everything is approximated. In this recipe, you cannot be afraid to use salt and oil. In Spain, they love their olive oil and it is essential in most of their cooking. And the salt is important here or your tortilla will taste like nothing.

Ingredients:
2 medium potatoes, or one large potato
3 large eggs (I used 2 whole eggs and the white of one egg)
Lots of oil, enough to cover the pan, and preferably olive oil because it is the signature oil of Spain.
Several pinches of salt

Method:
1. Peel and slice the potatoes into very thin slices, between an 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. I quarter the potatoes lengthwise to get nice bite pieces.
2. Fry the potatoes in a large pan with a very generous coat of oil (several tablespoons). You need a lot of oil or it will stick and burn. Season with a pinch of salt. Cook until potatoes are soft and slightly browned. They will look like slightly undercooked home fries.
3. Drain the potatoes on paper towels. Scramble the eggs with another pinch of salt.
4. Heat oil (yes, more oil - or you can use the leftever oil from cooking the potatoes) in an 8-inch pan. Transfer the potatoes to the pan. Pour egg mixture evenly over the potatoes. Allow it to cook until the bottom is golden brown.
5. The Trick: To flip over the tortilla, place a large plate (one that is bigger than the pan) over the pan and flip the pan with the plate VERY QUICKLY. If you do not do it quickly enough or use a big enough plate, you will end up with a gloopy mess on your stove like I did.
6. Allow to cook for a few more minutes until the other side is golden brown.
7. Serve and enjoy!
8. If you did not do the trick right, clean your stove.

Brownies

Oops, I meant to post this during finals, but instead I'm doing it now.

Okay, so I cheated on this one and used brownie mix and added semi-sweet chocolate chips. But hey, it's finals, after all...

Still looks good, though doesn't? Go Pillsbury!

Eggplant Parmesan

It’s finals time and I am carb-loading so I’ll have energy for tomorrow! Although it turns out that eggplant* is fairly low-carb, I was mostly eating the pasta that goes with it for the carbs. This was also my first hand at writing down a recipe completely from memory rather than copying from one. So the measurements and times are approximates. I also used cooking spray rather than the traditional deep-frying method - this not only saves time, but it makes the recipe a bit lighter.

And since I know most of my readership is fellow students who are procrastinating – good luck with finals!

* Did you know that the average eggplant contains as much nicotine as a cigarette?

Eggplant Parmesan

1 Eggplant – sliced into rounds about ¼ to ½ inch thick
1 well-beaten egg with a splash of milk
A couple of handfuls of bread crumbs
A handful of grated parmesan cheese
½ tsp of dried basil
½ tsp of dried oregano
A dash of red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
Shredded mozzarella cheese

Tomato-Basil Sauce (inspired by Rachael Ray)
1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 clove of garlic, minced
15-20 fresh basil leaves, torn
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 lb of pasta – I used spaghetti, but you can use whatever long stringy type pasta you like (angel hair, fettuccini etc.)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Prepare pan that is well-greased with cooking spray
3. To make the breading, combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and spices in a shallow plate. You can add more as you go along if it is not enough.
4. Dip the eggplant slices in the egg wash, and then dredge in the bread crumb mixture and place into the pan in a single layer. Spray the top of the eggplant slices with more cooking spray. Place in the oven for about a total of 20-25 minutes. After ten minutes, flip over the eggplant slices and spray more cooking spray. In the last five minutes, add a layer of tomato sauce (method below) and mozzarella cheese on top.
5. While you are waiting for the eggplant to bake, start boiling the water for pasta and prepare the sauce
6. To prepare the sauce, heat the oil in a saucepan with the minced garlic. Once the garlic starts to sizzle (or as Rachael calls it, “speak”), add crushed tomatoes. Be sure to keep the heat on low and cover it because tomato sauce will spatter! At about the same time you add the cheese to the eggplant, add the basil leaves to the sauce. Let simmer until everything else is done cooking.
7. Serve with pasta and enjoy. I am not really sure how many normal people it serves because I already ate half of it by myself. My guess is 4-6.

Bake Sale Preview

So this is a shameless plug here, but it's my blog, so I can advertise what ever I want! Tomorrow is the APALSA bake sale, so to entice potentially hungry law students I have posted pics of my contribution - rainbow cupcakes and blueberry muffins!

Now doesn't this look tasty? There's only one way to sink your teeth into these cupcakes - come to the bake sale tomorrow!

I have to admit, it takes a lot of willpower not to eat any of these before tomorrow!