The mushrooms are cut up radishes.
The blocks are omelettes marked with cheese.
The fire-flowers are strawberry slices and cucumber.
Mario is white and mexican rice with cheese and seaweed detailing.
All on a bed of spinach.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Mario Bento
The mushrooms are cut up radishes.
The blocks are omelettes marked with cheese.
The fire-flowers are strawberry slices and cucumber.
Mario is white and mexican rice with cheese and seaweed detailing.
All on a bed of spinach.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Shrimp'n Noodles
So what happens when I'm home at 12 am on a (.....what the heck, I'll still consider it Saturday) Saturday evening? I get a craving for noodles! Then I remember that I'd bought all the ingredients for a shrimp and noodle dish a while back. Digging around, I find most of them had gone bad. However, noodles covered in shrimp sauteed in butter with garlic and onion still sounded good. I made up some fettuccine noodles, cut up the garlic and onion, then went on to detail the shrimp.
Wait.
Why do they still have legs? Should I pull them off? Isn't there a vein to cut out too? Yup, I decided to cook raw shrimp without knowing how....AFTER dirtying up my hands so that I couldn't look it up on the computer. xD
So, pulling off the tail, I realized that the rest of the body was still covered in shell. Peeling that off, I discovered that it took the legs with it! Yay! And under the legs....a poop-vein to deguttify. After a couple of those, I found a shrimp where the back had been cut open, but the vein hadn't been all the way removed. So THAT'S the vein that supposed to be gone; they did that part for me! However, still didn't want to eat the poop-vein. So I shelled and gutted all 1 lb (SO glad I only dumped out half the bag!) of shrimp. Back to the frying pan, I melted butter, started to sautee the onion and garlic, then dumped in way too much shrimp. And they lost all their water. I thought it'd boil off, but the longer they cooked, the more that came out! I didn't want to over cook them, though. So, I figured it would make an ok sauce, added some basil and garlic salt and called it good. Mixed in the noodles to warm them up, and served me some deliciousness.
I was pleasantly surprised at how flavorful the shrimp was! Usually I'm disappointed by it's lack of strength. The noodles were a little bland, but I expected that. I think I'll need to find a way to drain the water or thicken it all into a proper sauce. Prolly making less at a time in a bigger pan would help. :)
Shrimp is high in lean protein (did you know protein helped boost immune function?), phosphorus, copper, and iron. As well as vitamin D (which helps you absorb calcium and regulate calcium and phosphorus in the bloodstream), Vitamin B-12, and other B vitamins (they change your food into energy!).
Wait.
Why do they still have legs? Should I pull them off? Isn't there a vein to cut out too? Yup, I decided to cook raw shrimp without knowing how....AFTER dirtying up my hands so that I couldn't look it up on the computer. xD
So, pulling off the tail, I realized that the rest of the body was still covered in shell. Peeling that off, I discovered that it took the legs with it! Yay! And under the legs....a poop-vein to deguttify. After a couple of those, I found a shrimp where the back had been cut open, but the vein hadn't been all the way removed. So THAT'S the vein that supposed to be gone; they did that part for me! However, still didn't want to eat the poop-vein. So I shelled and gutted all 1 lb (SO glad I only dumped out half the bag!) of shrimp. Back to the frying pan, I melted butter, started to sautee the onion and garlic, then dumped in way too much shrimp. And they lost all their water. I thought it'd boil off, but the longer they cooked, the more that came out! I didn't want to over cook them, though. So, I figured it would make an ok sauce, added some basil and garlic salt and called it good. Mixed in the noodles to warm them up, and served me some deliciousness.
I was pleasantly surprised at how flavorful the shrimp was! Usually I'm disappointed by it's lack of strength. The noodles were a little bland, but I expected that. I think I'll need to find a way to drain the water or thicken it all into a proper sauce. Prolly making less at a time in a bigger pan would help. :)
Shrimp is high in lean protein (did you know protein helped boost immune function?), phosphorus, copper, and iron. As well as vitamin D (which helps you absorb calcium and regulate calcium and phosphorus in the bloodstream), Vitamin B-12, and other B vitamins (they change your food into energy!).
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Cutlets
Doesn't that title sound fancy? We made some gourmet stuff toNIGHT!
The premise? Oce is in town! And I needed to bribe him with food. And he didn't want pizza or hamburgers. Chinese was out, as was Thai. So, he settled on Italian. We went to this delicious-looking website, Italian Food Forever (get why we clicked on the link?) and saw this delicious treasure!
Ingredients:
Chicken Cutlets
1 1/2 Cups Sautéed Spinach
8 Tablespoons Grated Cheese
8 Slices Very Thin Sliced Bacon
Salt & Pepper
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Clove Garlic, Peeled & Minced
3/4 Cup Chicken Broth
3/4 Cup White Wine
3 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Fresh Sage
To Thicken:
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 1/2 Teaspoons Flour
Making the dish:
First, I had to saute the spinach, cause all that I had was fresh. Then we took chicken breasts and turned them into cutlets--make them thin by cutting in half horizontally (We just pounded on them).
We made four; We figured that two each was plenty. Cover them in the spinach and then sprinkle it with cheese. Roll it up, then wrap bacon around it and secure with a toothpick. I didn't like their cheese choice, so we used mozzarella Plus, I have a ton of it. We also decided that our rolls were more secure with two pinned rolls of bacon around them. In a large skillet, add oil (or in our case, bacon grease) and brown the rolls on all sides.
This took around 10 minutes, Then add in minced garlic. Saute the garlic for a tic, and then add the broth and wine (we used a pinot grigio). It is supposed to come to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, partially cover and let alone for 15 minutes. We then took out the rolls, heated the wine mixture up to a boil, added the sage, brought it back down in temperature, created a roux and added it to the wine to thicken. When it was deemed think enough, we rolled the rolls in it, put them on plates and covered in more sauce.
How it turned out:
Delicious! I was worried about the chicken cooking, but that worked out just fine. :) It was easier to do with two people working to get it all done. Even the roomie who's not into meat cooked in delicious grease liked the bite she tried!
The premise? Oce is in town! And I needed to bribe him with food. And he didn't want pizza or hamburgers. Chinese was out, as was Thai. So, he settled on Italian. We went to this delicious-looking website, Italian Food Forever (get why we clicked on the link?) and saw this delicious treasure!
Ingredients:
Chicken Cutlets
1 1/2 Cups Sautéed Spinach
8 Tablespoons Grated Cheese
8 Slices Very Thin Sliced Bacon
Salt & Pepper
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Clove Garlic, Peeled & Minced
3/4 Cup Chicken Broth
3/4 Cup White Wine
3 Tablespoons Finely Chopped Fresh Sage
To Thicken:
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 1/2 Teaspoons Flour
Making the dish:
First, I had to saute the spinach, cause all that I had was fresh. Then we took chicken breasts and turned them into cutlets--make them thin by cutting in half horizontally (We just pounded on them).
We made four; We figured that two each was plenty. Cover them in the spinach and then sprinkle it with cheese. Roll it up, then wrap bacon around it and secure with a toothpick. I didn't like their cheese choice, so we used mozzarella Plus, I have a ton of it. We also decided that our rolls were more secure with two pinned rolls of bacon around them. In a large skillet, add oil (or in our case, bacon grease) and brown the rolls on all sides.
This took around 10 minutes, Then add in minced garlic. Saute the garlic for a tic, and then add the broth and wine (we used a pinot grigio). It is supposed to come to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, partially cover and let alone for 15 minutes. We then took out the rolls, heated the wine mixture up to a boil, added the sage, brought it back down in temperature, created a roux and added it to the wine to thicken. When it was deemed think enough, we rolled the rolls in it, put them on plates and covered in more sauce.
How it turned out:
Delicious! I was worried about the chicken cooking, but that worked out just fine. :) It was easier to do with two people working to get it all done. Even the roomie who's not into meat cooked in delicious grease liked the bite she tried!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Smothies?
Smoothies! This is something new I decided to try. So, I went to the store and bought random fruits and greek yogurt and randomness.
The first smoothie I made included white grapes, pears, apple juice, and spinach. It actually wasn't too bad for a random concoction. I then ended up pureeing a bunch of avocado. After scraping most of it out, I dumped the first concoction and ran it again to help clean the avocado out of the blender without wasting it. And made a fantastic discovery! Before, I noticed that the pulp and juice in my smoothie would separate. But after the avocado was added, it all stayed mixed up! I wonder if it had something to do with the fat of the avocado? I don't know, but that was kinda cool. And I enjoyed the slight taste it added. :)
The second smoothie I made.....hasn't grown on me yet. I included blueberries, cran-grape juice, two white grapefruits, and two spoonfuls of greek yogurt. I don't know what I was thinking. Grapefruits are SOUR. I added a bunch of sugar, but it's still making my stomach ache a tad. I think I need to get better at thinking about taste, not just what fruits I have a lot of. XD Oh wells, slowly learning.
The first smoothie I made included white grapes, pears, apple juice, and spinach. It actually wasn't too bad for a random concoction. I then ended up pureeing a bunch of avocado. After scraping most of it out, I dumped the first concoction and ran it again to help clean the avocado out of the blender without wasting it. And made a fantastic discovery! Before, I noticed that the pulp and juice in my smoothie would separate. But after the avocado was added, it all stayed mixed up! I wonder if it had something to do with the fat of the avocado? I don't know, but that was kinda cool. And I enjoyed the slight taste it added. :)
The second smoothie I made.....hasn't grown on me yet. I included blueberries, cran-grape juice, two white grapefruits, and two spoonfuls of greek yogurt. I don't know what I was thinking. Grapefruits are SOUR. I added a bunch of sugar, but it's still making my stomach ache a tad. I think I need to get better at thinking about taste, not just what fruits I have a lot of. XD Oh wells, slowly learning.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Zucchini and Rosemary Fritatta
So what I should have known going into this: frittatas are more like open-faced omelettes. The difference? In a frittata, the extra ingredients are mixed with the egg while the eggs are still raw, it is typically partially baked or flipped, it is cooked over very low heat, and it is served in slices, not whole. Voila!
According to what I just learned, I shouldn't have used such high temperatures when cooking this on the stove. o.O That may have solved the transfer problem.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups zucchini
4 eggs
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/4 cup mozzarella
Making the dish:
Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Make sure the oil isn't to hot! I put in the garlic and it immediately burnt! >.<; Cook the garlic for about a minute and then add the zucchini. Stirring constantly, cook for 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper. Whisk eggs, whites, rosemary, salt, and pepper together. Pour this over the zucchini and "cook for 3 minutes". After this, you are supposed to sprinkle cheese on the top and then broil for 3 minutes. However, I'm uncertain when you switch from the skillet to a dish you can bake in. I tried to cook for three minutes in the skillet, stirring so that it would fit to the shape of the dish. But then I realized that I was just making scrambled eggs, so I poured it all into a square glass dish. I set that on the burner for a minute, then gave up and put the cheese on and put it in the oven.
How did it turn out?
Well, it tasted good. I might add a little spinach next time. The recipe called for fresh rosemary, which I didn't have so I used dry stuff. Using fresh may change the outcome. Also, the cheese called for was "Parmigiano Reggiano," which is supposed to mean parmesan. I don't like that as much though, and I think the mozzarella worked just fine. :)
Zucchini is rich in potassium, manganese, and vitamin c. It also has a decent amount of vitamin k, vitamin b-6, riboflavin (which is vitamin b-2), and folate.
Eggs are rich in vitamins b-2 and b-12, phosphorous, protein, and selenium.
According to what I just learned, I shouldn't have used such high temperatures when cooking this on the stove. o.O That may have solved the transfer problem.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups zucchini
4 eggs
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/4 cup mozzarella
Making the dish:
Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Make sure the oil isn't to hot! I put in the garlic and it immediately burnt! >.<; Cook the garlic for about a minute and then add the zucchini. Stirring constantly, cook for 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper. Whisk eggs, whites, rosemary, salt, and pepper together. Pour this over the zucchini and "cook for 3 minutes". After this, you are supposed to sprinkle cheese on the top and then broil for 3 minutes. However, I'm uncertain when you switch from the skillet to a dish you can bake in. I tried to cook for three minutes in the skillet, stirring so that it would fit to the shape of the dish. But then I realized that I was just making scrambled eggs, so I poured it all into a square glass dish. I set that on the burner for a minute, then gave up and put the cheese on and put it in the oven.
How did it turn out?
Well, it tasted good. I might add a little spinach next time. The recipe called for fresh rosemary, which I didn't have so I used dry stuff. Using fresh may change the outcome. Also, the cheese called for was "Parmigiano Reggiano," which is supposed to mean parmesan. I don't like that as much though, and I think the mozzarella worked just fine. :)
Zucchini is rich in potassium, manganese, and vitamin c. It also has a decent amount of vitamin k, vitamin b-6, riboflavin (which is vitamin b-2), and folate.
Eggs are rich in vitamins b-2 and b-12, phosphorous, protein, and selenium.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Baked Catfish
I've discovered a trend. If I'm upset or stressed out, I either eat horribly, grabbing whatever's fastest and perhaps even skipping meals, or I go over board and make mealtimes much more complicated. Guess which avenue causes me to create things that I can post on here....
So today's question: How do you cook catfish? Secondary question: Can I cook decent catfish without going to the store again for ingredients?
Discovery: I like catfish! It's kind of sweet.
So, I decided to go for the baked Catfish recipe since it seemed easiest out of the options I found. I also had all the ingredients on hand! Well, kind of. There was an altering of spices.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
Catfish fillet
Making the dish:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Since I didn't have one, I used a 9x13 pan. Though I still lined and greased it. Stir together the cornmeal with the spices and the milk with the egg. I cut my fillet into 4ths. Dip the catfish in the milk/egg mixture and then coat liberally with the cornmeal mixture. Place them onto the sheet and make sure to spray the top with Pam or somesuch. Apparently that helps with the crispiness. Then put it all in the oven for 15 minutes about. Make sure towards the end of the time to put your oven on broil or flip over the fillets so both sides get a chance to crispify. I forgot, so i flipped them over and added 4 minutes to the time.
How did it turn out?
I would definitely make it again. Like I said before, it was an almost sweet taste. I ate it plain, and I can see how adding some sort of sauce over rice would be really good. I also put the cold leftovers in a spinach salad. That was really good except for the breading all ended up soggy at the bottom. I passed over a recipe for a chowder, and now that I can imagine the taste of catfish, I'm looking forward to trying it sometime.
Catfish is a very good source of Niacin, Vitamin B-12, and Protein.
So today's question: How do you cook catfish? Secondary question: Can I cook decent catfish without going to the store again for ingredients?
Discovery: I like catfish! It's kind of sweet.
So, I decided to go for the baked Catfish recipe since it seemed easiest out of the options I found. I also had all the ingredients on hand! Well, kind of. There was an altering of spices.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
Catfish fillet
Making the dish:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Since I didn't have one, I used a 9x13 pan. Though I still lined and greased it. Stir together the cornmeal with the spices and the milk with the egg. I cut my fillet into 4ths. Dip the catfish in the milk/egg mixture and then coat liberally with the cornmeal mixture. Place them onto the sheet and make sure to spray the top with Pam or somesuch. Apparently that helps with the crispiness. Then put it all in the oven for 15 minutes about. Make sure towards the end of the time to put your oven on broil or flip over the fillets so both sides get a chance to crispify. I forgot, so i flipped them over and added 4 minutes to the time.
How did it turn out?
I would definitely make it again. Like I said before, it was an almost sweet taste. I ate it plain, and I can see how adding some sort of sauce over rice would be really good. I also put the cold leftovers in a spinach salad. That was really good except for the breading all ended up soggy at the bottom. I passed over a recipe for a chowder, and now that I can imagine the taste of catfish, I'm looking forward to trying it sometime.
Catfish is a very good source of Niacin, Vitamin B-12, and Protein.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Pork Spare Ribs
So I've been on and off craving ribs. And, after a hard day's work raking ALL the leaves off the museum lawn, I decided that ribs were going to happen. I found a recipe and then went off to buy ribs and the other ingredients.
Harder said then done. After a could phone calls to my mother (and translated through my brother because she was driving) I ended up with some pork spare ribs and a bag of red potatoes......
The first direction was to preheat to 300 degrees. Good, got that done. The second was "peel off tough membrane on bony side of ribs". Excuse me? I tried this SO MANY ways before remembering that my mom's ribs always still have it on. Friggin membrane raw meat time killer. :P And all the reviews were like "oh do it this way! It's SO easy" Bullshit! Thing is a BEAST.
Anyways.
Cooking.
After skipping that non-crucial step, I mixed together the rub (3/4 cup light brown sugar, 1 tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt). And it you splash out of the bowl because you mixed too enthusiastically, I don't suggest eating the escapees. It's....odd. Spread rub all over ribs. Both sides.
Then I made a little packet out of foil (using it all up! oops!) around the ribs and stuck 'em in the oven for 2 hours.
When I took it out to apply the BBQ sauce, I learned something. The rest of my house uses the same BBQ sauce and there was very little left! So, we had to run to the store. After acquiring such a crucial ingredient, I bumped the temp up to 350, opened up the packet, dumped out the liquid, slathered it in sauce, and then stuck it back in for 30 mins.
Now, apparently you can grill the sauce on in 1-2 minutes, or broil it on a broiling pan, but this seemed to work well. Unlike with those, I'm unsure whether you BBQ both sides and cook it on, but I did not. And it tasted delicious. And was very tender and eatable. We even sat at the table to do so! The potatoes were boiled and buttered as a delicious side. :)
Harder said then done. After a could phone calls to my mother (and translated through my brother because she was driving) I ended up with some pork spare ribs and a bag of red potatoes......
The first direction was to preheat to 300 degrees. Good, got that done. The second was "peel off tough membrane on bony side of ribs". Excuse me? I tried this SO MANY ways before remembering that my mom's ribs always still have it on. Friggin membrane raw meat time killer. :P And all the reviews were like "oh do it this way! It's SO easy" Bullshit! Thing is a BEAST.
Anyways.
Cooking.
After skipping that non-crucial step, I mixed together the rub (3/4 cup light brown sugar, 1 tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt). And it you splash out of the bowl because you mixed too enthusiastically, I don't suggest eating the escapees. It's....odd. Spread rub all over ribs. Both sides.
Then I made a little packet out of foil (using it all up! oops!) around the ribs and stuck 'em in the oven for 2 hours.
When I took it out to apply the BBQ sauce, I learned something. The rest of my house uses the same BBQ sauce and there was very little left! So, we had to run to the store. After acquiring such a crucial ingredient, I bumped the temp up to 350, opened up the packet, dumped out the liquid, slathered it in sauce, and then stuck it back in for 30 mins.
Now, apparently you can grill the sauce on in 1-2 minutes, or broil it on a broiling pan, but this seemed to work well. Unlike with those, I'm unsure whether you BBQ both sides and cook it on, but I did not. And it tasted delicious. And was very tender and eatable. We even sat at the table to do so! The potatoes were boiled and buttered as a delicious side. :)
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