Om Nom Nom

The penguin council met this week in Rochester. There were many important discussions regarding an edible replacement for icebergs. Vanilla ice cream, snow cones, and whipped cream were all proposed as desirable alternatives.

Carrots were determined to be the optimal feet and beak, and olives continue to reign as perfect bodies. However, much debate took place on the front of filling. Though this species reigns as exclusively mozzarella, internet sources suggested delicious alternatives such as cream cheese or veggie cream cheese. Cheddar and “tub cheese” were also considered.

Sir Quacks A Lot felt that this was a very productive meeting and is looking forward to being eaten.

Stir fry is yummy! Stir fry is easy! Stir fry is fun! And when you make homemade Chinese food you don’t leave the table wondering what your stomach will do next. Sure it’s a little tough to get those odd shaped pieces of deep fried “chicken” smothered in delicious, sweet sauce that tastes nothing of sesame and doesn’t have a sesame seed in sight. However, your food will be just as yummy, I promise. Plus it gives you the perfect excuse to buy a wok and use it. And then all of your friends will be impressed because you own a wok…you must really know how to cook if you own a wok. I do not own a wok because I am already tight on storage space and I have plenty of perfectly good frying pans. If I did own a wok, I would be really excited and make stir fry all the time because as I said before, stir fry is yummy, easy, and fun.

Notice: This recipe is a guideline. Put whatever you want in stir fry. Put whatever is in your fridge. Use whatever sauce you want. Add meat. Add all kinds of meat. Add shrimp. Cook your veggies to a pulp if that makes you happy (just don’t tell me about that part because it would make me very unhappy.)

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 1/2 Cup Teriyaki Sauce
• 1 Clove Grated Garlic (on the small side of the grater)
• 1 Tsp Grated Ginger
• 1 Tbl Brown Sugar
• 1 Tsp Red Pepper flakes
• 1/4 Cup Water (or chicken, vegetable, beef stock)

Stir Fry:

• Udon Noodles
• 1/3 Bell Pepper, Cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 1/4 Cup Diced Onion
• Baby Corn, Halved or in Thirds
• Handful of Sugar Snap Peas
• Bean Sprouts, Fresh if Possible
• Carrot, Julienne cut
• 1/2 of a Block of Super Firm Tofu, Cut into 1/2 inch cube

Method:

• Mix together sauce ingredients. Mix 1/4 cup in a bowl with the Tofu to marinate. Add more if you like.
• Put water on to boil for Noodles. Meanwhile cut the vegetables and heat up your stir fry pan.
• When the water is boiling, you can blanch the snap peas (about 1.5 minutes), and remove them before cooking the noodles.
  I used fresh baby corn, which I also blanched for 5 minutes at this step. However, fresh baby corn wasn’t really and improvement over canned since it wasn’t really that fresh and I would not recommend bothering with it and just buy canned.
• Put on the noodles and begin to stir fry the veggies in vegetable oil, starting with the carrot, onion, and peppers.
• When the noodles are done (mine took 7 minutes) drain them. Keep them on the side of chewy since they will continue to cook in the sauce.
• Add Tofu to the stir fry. When it seems warmed through add the noodles, baby corn, snap peas, bean sprouts and sauce.
  I like fresh bean sprouts a lot better than canned. They add a nice crunch and taste a lot better.
• Once everything is warmed through and is covered in sauce (about 3 minutes) you are ready to serve. Find some chop sticks and enjoy.

Mmmm…Tofu. 

My favorite Teriyaki sauce and Noodles:

I like Soy Vay because I can pronounce all the ingredients on it. Plus it contains sesame seeds, unlike Chinese takout Sesame Chicken. Oh and it is Kosher…so you can give it to all of your Jewish friends!

Also, I know I know…Udon noodles are JAPANESE and I just made a Chinese stir fry. But I like them. They are thick and easy to pick up with chopsticks.

Now I am going to take this moment to post some pictures from a previous cooking experiment. About a month ago, Nate, Evelyn, and I made some sushi. It was yummy…aside from the fact that we put a little too much wasabi inside.

SUSHI! Our sushi featured carrot, cucumber, and avocado. With pickled ginger on the side. When making sushi I learned:
1. Vinegared  rice is very yummy.
2. Never ever ever put the Wasabi inside your sushi. Always leave it on the side. 

Make sushi! Make stir fry! Eat with chop sticks! It is fun!

I find baking bread to be very relaxing. It’s not as hard as people think, and is quite delicious. Here are a few of the yeast bread adventures I have had over the last few weeks.

PRETZELS!

Pretzels were a very exciting adventure. I believe I used this recipe from Alton Brown. I would declare them better than Auntie Anne’s!

Pretzels are cooked by boiling briefly in a solution of baking soda and water, then baking on a cookie sheet. This process is a lot easier with two people. We used a chunky sea salt for the pretzel salt, which is added after boiling and before baking. When they were done, we brushed them with butter and enjoyed.

Cheese Bread

Following a recipe from the classic cookbook The Joy of Cooking, a very delicious cheese bread was created. The dough contained both milk and egg, and had cheddar cheese baked into it. This created a soft, cake-like texture on the inside that was yellow in color. Prior to baking, the tops of the bread were brushed with a blend of garlic, butter, rosemary and olive oil. Then a mixture of Asiago and Pecorino Romano cheeses were sprinkled on top. The flavor and texture of this bread was amazing.

Greek “City” Bread

I found this recipe in The Olive and the Caper, a Greek cookbook. I made it once before and I recall the bread rising higher and tasting a lot better. This bread fell when I attempted to transfer it to a baking stone, so I clearly did something wrong. Nevertheless, it still was tasty, and had a nice crunchy crust.

I came home from work today and Nate had made pizza dough. But rather than our classic pizza (thin crust, pesto, mozzarella, feta, olives) he intended it for a Deep Dish Creation. So after a quick run to Wegmans to get olives and more cheese (during which I managed to get $60 in groceries and forgot the olives…so I had to do a U-turn back to the store).

We followed this recipe for the crust, with the exception of Semolina Flour which was replaced with normal flour:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/chicago-style-deep-dish-pizzas-recipe/index.html

I highly recommend it the crust was light, fluffy, and delicious. For toppings we divided the following over two deep dishes:

• 1.5 packages of Mozzarella Cheese, grated
•  1 cup grated Asiago Cheese (or Parmesan)
• 1/2 cup of pesto
• 1 cup chopped olives (mixture of Black and Katamala)

My pizza also featured:

• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup diced fresh tomato, without seeds and the moisture squeezed out
• Pepperoni 

I had read previously that cast iron is an excellent vessel for the creation of deep dish pizza, and I would agree with this statement. I layered cheese, pesto, peppers, cheese, olives, pepperoni, cheese, tomatoes, Asiago. 

We took an interesting method for making Nate’s pizza, since I only have one caste iron pan. We prepared it on parchment paper and slid it onto a pizza stone, with the side of a spring form pan shaping the pizza.

This method worked quite well and had amazing results.

That is not to say that my pizza did not turn out perfect in the cast iron.

Nate declared this to be the best pizza he has ever eaten. I would not argue with that statement.

Today I made a nice healthy Quiche. I swear. Completely fat free.

Well…that might be stretching it. But if you put vegetables in something it is healthy right?

Inspired by:
http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/brie-and-bacon-quiche/ and http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Arugula-and-Bacon-Quiche-102151

Brie, Swiss, Broccoli, and Arugala Quiche
Servings: 6ish 
Preparation: 1 Hour, Baking: 45 minutes
Skill Level: Medium
Ingredients:
I didn’t exactly measure this one so bear (growl) with me. 

• Pie Crust (I used a standard butter crust)
• 5 Strips Bacon
•  Veggies - I probably had 2-3 cups uncooked broccoli and bell peppers
• Arugula - I had a small bunch - about two cups. It wilts down a lot.
  
• 4 ounces Brie
• 4 ounces Swiss
• Couple slices of Cheddar for good measure
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 c Sour Cream
• 1/2 c Heavy Cream
• Salt, Pepper and Nutmeg to taste

Method:

1. Prepare pie crust and bake until it starts to get brown. While dough is chilling and baking, perform other steps to prepare the filling.
    
2. Cook bacon until crispy and crumble.
3. Chop veggies relatively small and cook in bacon pan. Add Arugula the last couple minutes to wilt. Do not overcook since everything gets baked.
4. Crumble cheeses.
    
   
   Layer the cheese with veggies inside of cooked crust. Add crumbled bacon on top.
   
    
5. Prepare egg mixture. Whisk together eggs, heavy cream, sour cream and spices. Pour on top of vegetable/cheese/bacon mixture.
    
   
    
6. Bake at 375 for 35 to 45 minutes. Until golden on top and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Enjoy slightly cooled!
    
   
    
   
   I think I need some more friends to help me eat this… 

Last weekend, a friend introduced me to Brussels sprouts. Brussels sprouts are a member of the cabbage family, and I’m not sure why they get such a bad reputation. They are delicious…like little mini cabbages.

Originally, my friend made a delicious dish where he roasted them in the oven with herbs and bacon. However, I decided to incorporate the unused sprouts into a pasta dish. Since summer is the season of lemonade, and I just so happened to have a lemon in my fridge I ended up with a lemony pasta.

Servings: 3 Medium Servings, 2 Hungry Servings
Preparation: 30 Minutes
Skill Level: Easy

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