Where in the Kitchen is Irene Duong Pants-Lover?

Gah! School is seriously eating my soul! I haven't been updating very much here and i apologize. Do not interpret my silence as a dry spell in the kitchen. When i am stressed i cook a LOT. When i get some free time (read: when i am bored during xmas break) i will post some recipes that i have devised and tried this semester. Among the ones to look forward to:

Perfect Pie Crust and Best Apple Pie ever!
Indian Breads - Parathas (plain, potato and spinach) and Naan
Best Chocolate Cookies in the World!
Indian style Curries
Cale and Quinoa
Vegetarian Shepherd's pie

Oh man and a whole lot more that i can't think of right now. I leave you with a picture of the top of my christmas tree! Happy impending holidays everyone!

Good morning, starshine! (er... pasta)

Oh, pasta. OH, pasta. Long-standing lover and comforter of souls. I can't get enough of it.

Although, sometimes, occasionally, once in awhile, nearly never.... one does tire of the usual skillet of jarred spaghetti sauce with sliced Adell's sausage thrown in for good measure. I know, I know. It seemed impossible, but believe it. Take a moment for yourself, have a cleansing cry, but it is time, my friends, to move forward! Onward, compadres! Into the brave new world of pasta delights.

On that note, let's unveil a nice little treat I like to call "breakfast pasta." The inspiration: halfway into slicing the sausage, I decided to get fancy and dice it into tiny crosswise pieces rather than the usual round slices (cut on the BIAS!, for those so inclined to inquire about such information) before browning it in the skillet. This reminded me of breakfast sausage patties, the flat crispy kind relegated to the plates of those diners with the orange booth seats and waitresses named "Flo."

Being a lover not only of pasta but also of breakfast foods in all their many incarnations, I quickly adapted/improvised a carbonara sauce - eggs, parmesan cheese, and ground pepper scrambled together with a little milk, then tossed in with the hot pasta and sausage pieces while still hot. The result, dear friends, is a rich, creamy sauce that fills in all the holes. It heals what ails 'ya, is what I'm saying. A picture? Why of course.

I added a couple of torn basil leaves, fresh from my herb garden (a phrase which brings me unbelieveable amounts of joy) but that's really up to you, as well as the extra parmesan grated on top. You are free to ignore the to-do list from ages ago that the bowl is sitting on top of (lord knows I do!) and as a special favor, I ask...nay, implore you to ignore the Vanessa Carlton CD sitting there in the corner.

On second thought, I will NOT apologize for my guilty pleasure!

(On third thought... how did that get there, anyways?)

Anyways, a recipe.

Breakfast pasta, for one

hot pasta - start this first, and when you're done with everything else it should be ready and drained and still hot

1 sausage, chopped first into slices, then into crosswise, smaller-than-bite-size pieces. Brown em' until nice and crispy

In a separate bowl, beat 1 egg, 1 tbsp milk, and maybe 2 or 3 tbsp of fresh grated parmesan cheese. Throw some ground pepper in there if it pleases you.

When the moment is right - pasta is still hot, sausage is crispy - toss everything together, stirring vigorously (there's a fun phrase!). The residual heat will be enough to cook the scrambled egg sauce without turning it into, well, scrambled eggs and pasta and sausage. (Which can, incidentally, be quite tasty when it's 9:45 and you've just spent the last 3 hours explaining the difference between "it's" and "its" and the intricacies of MLA format.)

Garnish as you like - more cheese? Basil? Sure! - and serve. As they say in Singing in the Rain, Good mornin'....good MORnin'!

Peanut Sauce Noodles!

Peanut Sauce and Noodles is a delicious standby. It is easy, I usually have all of the ingredients lying around in one form or the other. The idea came from something they USED to serve at the dining establishments right here at my University, but no longer since the dining services has recently established a new system of dining...to my dismay. They used to serve these made to order asian noodle and rice stir fries. (Lovingly referred to as "bowls" by students) They were vegan, readily available and soooo delicious. They were simply noodles or rice (jasmine or brown) served with a stir fry of your choice of vegetables and your choice of sauce. The sauces were all pretty good, I was quite found of the spicy teriyaki, but the peanut sauce was pretty good too! Well, the days of hoppin' it to the Summit to get a bowl are long bygone and have since been replaced with stirrin' one up at Irene's house. And my rendition of the bowl is damn tasty.

You can use any vegetable you have laying around for this dish...as with so much of the other dishes i make. For the version above a I used a convenient frozen Asian vegetable stir fry medley I bought from Trader Joe's. It's not the best, but it is really convenient. The vegetables i would suggest are snow peas, broccoli, bell pepper, mushrooms and onions. Here is the recipe:

Peanut Sauce Noodle Stirfry (Enough for One w/ leftovers =D)

For the sauce

1/8 cup peanut butter and equal or less amount of water (to thin it out)
1 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
2 tsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
1 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil
Hot Pepper Flakes

For the Rest

Vegetable oil for stir frying
Vegetables that you like (my suggestions are above)
Tofu, drained and pressed, cut into bite sized slices
1 clove garlic minced
2 tsp garlic, grated
1 serving of noodle of your choice (I use whole wheat spaghetti)
Fresh lime

1. Boil a pot of water and start boiling your pasta. If you're using a quicker cooking noodle, do this later.

2. Mix all your ingredients for the peanut sauce. Mix it really well. It's going to look really unappetizing in the beginning but will form a homogenous mixture. Gauge the consistency and flavor to your liking.

3. Put enough vegetable oil into a sautee pan to more or less coat the bottom and turn on to medium high heat. When the oil is hot, put in your slices of tofu. Brown the tofu on both sides.

4. When tofu is browned add aromatics (garlic, ginger, and onion if you're using it). Saute for maybe a minute then add the rest of your vegetables and stir fry until cooked. If you're using fresh broccoli, I suggest putting it in before anything else (besides the tofu) with a little bit of water for a quick "wok steam" make sure to put the lid on the pan if you do that.

5. Drain your pasta/noodles and put into saute pan. Stir fry for about a minute.

6. Pour peanut sauce over everything and stir to combine making sure that everything is coated in peanutty goodness.

7. I garnish with some flax seeds (or sesame seeds but i don't normally have sesame seeds) and squirting fresh lime all over the noodles at the very end gives it that WOW factor.

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I have read a similar recipe on one of the most gorgeous vegan foodblogs i've ever seen VeganYumYum. In her version, she makes a soy-mirin sauce and flavors the tofu with it before anything else goes into the pan. I think i will try that next time because the tofu could use a little more flavor than the peanut sauce offers.

Chicken Pot Pie of GLORY

Hello friends!

This is Meghan here, Fork Dork number two and Irene's platonic life partner. After seeing so many of Irene's delicious posts - and having finally started getting back into the swing of apartment life, the general insanity of senior year of college, but most importantly COOKING - I feel that it is time to add my $0.02.

I have my screensaver set to display the pictures I have uploaded onto my computer. This combined with my compulsion of taking pictures of food that I deem particularly good-looking (not at all hard-and-fast criteria... I have been known to eat things that look less than appetizing simply because I made it, damn it, and that is all there is to it...) means that quite often I am taunted with visual memories of food adventures past. Por ejemplo...















Oh sweet baby Jesus, tell me that that doesn't make your heart smile and your innards dance at least a little bit!

Now this seems as good an opportunity as any to say a little something else about yours truly, FD #2, in relation to her Fork Dork counterpart. Irene follows a mostly vegan diet and lifestyle, and I admire her for that (not only do I admire it... I also gladly partake of it when visiting her kitchen of non-meatly delights!)

I, however, have an inexplicable love of two things: a) comfort foods from cultures not necessarily my own, and b) Italian food. This tends to mean meat... not a lot, but not always a little. Chicken, fish, and turkey mostly for me - the occasional pork, but not usually steak, for reasons we won't delve into just now. But hey, as I see it, we are equal opportunity foodies, Irene and I. Different sides of the same delicious coin. Keep on keepin' on my meatless amiga!

That said... it's time for some pahhhhhh! (Say it loud, say it proud.)

This was a thrown-together concoction with not a whole lot of extensive planning - a day or two beforehand, maybe, as well as a general desire for things of a pastry-crust nature. Full disclosure: I cheated on the pastry crust and actually used the refrigerated roll-out-and-cut-to-proper-size variety! Oh noez! Forgive me pie gods for I have sinned. Later I will attempt to do you justice - I did pull off a pretty sweet tarte tatin once, by your grace - but this is neither here nor there. For now...

Chicken Pot Pie, the easy way (sorry for the lack of measurements... going off recipe... it's the way of the future... ?? I figure you can adjust to your pie pan size this way...)

1-2 chicken breast halves
Some frozen and/or fresh veggies (frozen work best in the baking process to me - they don't get as mushy!): includes carrots, peas, green beans
a few good mushrooms
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 box pie crust rounds, unbaked of course (there should be 2 of the lil' suckers in there)
The herbs that bring your heart joy - in my case, fresh rosemary and fresh sage

Soooo...!

The chicken: cut into bite-size chunks, and saute gently in olive oil with some chopped garlic (what's that? I didn't include that in the ingredient list? oh ho ho my friend, that is because in my house, garlic is one of those "given" ingredients that you do not even need to think about. Do not question. Just do.) and rosemary. Cook until just barely not pink in the middle anymore - the baking will do the rest.

The saucy-filling bits: Throw down the contents of that soup can into a small saucepan, add maybe half a can of water - not too much, you want it still the consistency of a realll thick soup rather than something broth-y. If you like, throw your veggies in here and heat just so you take the frost off 'em but everything should still be pretty cool. Keep it cool, my friends.

The crust: Lightly oil your pie tin or pan or whatever it is you bake your pie in. Put one of the crusts in, laying the edges lightly over the pan and trimming them so they just barely reach over the top. Pour everything else in - chicken and filling - and throw crust number two on top. Crimp the edges with your fingers, making sure all is well sealed. Brush with some melted butter or egg white. And then - THEN! - make a couple small incisions on the top of the crust so that steam can escape safely and not cause pie explosions, which are generally unattractive to other pies. Don't be the cause of embarrassment for your pie!! So sad.

Anywho, bake for a good 35 or 40 minutes or until the crust is properly golden. Take out, let cool, stand back, and wait... just wait. Soon you will be everyone's best friend. Hooray!!! I made this like 6 months ago and can STILL taste it. Mmm-hmm!

With love,
Miss Meg

Anything Milk can do...SOY CAN DO BETTER!

I have been meaning to try this for a long time....mushroom soy cream sauce! I figured that since i substitute soy milk for milk anyway, that perhaps it would taste good in a cream sauce as well. I looked to the internet to find clues as to how to achieve my creamy salvation. Some versions called for silken tofu blended and mixed with pasta (too complicated and too...blender-y) and others called for flour as a thickening agent (don't have that). So i decided that instead of milk or cream, i will just use soy milk. And what do ya know...it worked like a dream.

First i sauteed sliced crimini mushrooms in butter (Earth Balance Margarine of course), olive oil, and garlic. Then I added about a teaspoon of dried thyme leaves (because thyme goes GREAT with mushrooms). I added maybe a cup and a half of my unsweetened soy milk and reduced it until it coated the back of my spoon. Salt and Pepper and poured over my whole wheat fettucine and it was a WINNER. Preliminary testing indicates a GO.

Now that i am freshly back from the store, i will try to make it again with a more diverse pool of ingredients. I didn't really have much on hand at the time, but from what i can tell, it is pretty damn tasty.

I <3 Chard

I am a big fan of dark bitter greens. While I was living in Guatemala, my host mom would make Acelga (Spanish for Chard) twice a day pretty much every day. And I was still sad when I took my last bite the night before I left. This was quite strange since I normally didn't like my dark greens. My mom (of the biological variety) would make Vietnamese canh (soup) with dark greens and I detested the stuff. Well, admittedly, my mother isn't a very good cook, but still.

And have now been converted to a dark green JUNKIE. This could very well be the healthiest kind of addiction there is. Dark greens are chock full of vitamins and calcium (which I can always use more of).

I had a very long day today. It involved 4 hours of work, class, and then a quest to find someone who could give my new key for my apartment (long story). I finally plopped down on my couch at 5:30pm. All I had eaten that day was some leftover Punjab Spinach and Potatoes. I devised this one pot Pasta sautee...thingy. (I make A LOT of those).

Pasta with Lemon and Chard
Serves 1

1 serving of Pasta (I usually make a handful and a half)

2 generous handfuls of Chard, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup water (or broth if you got it)

1 Lemon
Handful of Walnuts
Salt
Pepper
Chili Flakes

1. Boil water in a pot. When it boils, generously salt the water and add the pasta. Cook pasta according to directions. Drain.

2. Put Olive oil and chopped garlic into a pan. Sautee until garlic is soft. Add Chard and sautee altogether until wilted-looking. Once wilted greens are achieved, add water and cover for 3 minutes.

3. While waiting for chard, quickly toast some walnuts. (Toaster Ovens are so useful for this) They are easily burned so keep your eye out! When they are nice and toasty, chop them and set aside.

4. Remove cover from chard and continue sauteeing Chard until water evaporates. Test a leaf, if it's still tough add more water and cook longer.

5. When Chard is nice, dry and done. Add salt and stir. Add pasta. Toss pasta with Chard until nice and incorporated. Turn off heat.

6. Add juice of 1 lemon, a few dashes of chili flakes, and pepper. Stir to incorporate. Top off with chopped walnuts.

7. iBuen Provecho!

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Man, this stuff was so good. The lemon just brightens up the flavor of the greens and the nutty pasta. The chili flake adds a bit of bite to the entire dish and the walnuts are so toasty and sweet against everything else. The walnuts were so incredibly delicious! They were sort of a last minute addition. I had bought a bag of locally grown Walnuts at the farmer's market and they are so good. I just had to use them! I'm gonna get a grater so that i can add the zest of the lemon as well. I can't get enough lemon!

Experimenting with Quinoa

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is reputed as the Incan superfood. I've been interested in it because

a) it is quick cooking --There have been many a night of a starving me vegging on popcorn while waiting for a pot of brown rice to cook. It take FOREVER.
b) is a perfect protein--as a broke college student with a fear of raw meat and rotten eggs, I lead a relatively vegan lifestyle. Protein is of course very important and quinoa provides all the essential amino acids!
c) tastes freakin' amazing! -- I would liken it to a creamier couscous. And it is also a whole grain which has its own benefits.

I bought a box of Trader Joe's organic Quinoa a while ago and have been meaning to experiment with it. I also should add that Quinoa is cheap! For 2 dollars a box, it would make a great alternative to rice or pasta. My favorite application from past experience has been in a tabouleh-like salad. The creamy and nutty quinoa go nicely against the cool crunchy vegetables and tangy dressing.

After consulting a plethora of recipes via the interweb and an inventory of my currently very dismal pantry. I devised something to the likes of a recipe.

This recipe would probably serve for maybe 2 light lunches or more if eaten as a side dish.

Totally Improvised 10pm Curry Ginger Lime Quinoa salad

1 cup quinoa, uncooked
2 cups water (or vegetable broth, if you have it. I personally did not...unfortunately)
1 tsp Curry Powder (this is approximate, I just added "enough")
1 clove garlic, chopped
1.5 tsp ginger, chopped fine
Pinch of salt

Diced cucumber
Diced Bell Pepper (I used maybe 1/4 of a large one. Red ones make it look pretty)
Drizzle of Olive Oil (maybe 2 tbsp or so)
Juice of 1 lime
Salt
Pepper

1. Quickly rinse the Quinoa. A mesh strainer would be helpful here since the grains are very small and will fall through a traditional collander. Rinsing as you would rice would also be difficult, as I found out, since quinoa grains also tend to float making straining out the water a wasteful endeavor.

2. Cook the Quinoa. I used my rice cooker and treated it as I would rice. The ratio is 2x liquid than amount of Quinoa. In this case, 2 cups. I simply used the premeasured lines on the side of my rice cooker and it turned out fine. I added a pinch of salt, the curry powder, ginger and garlic to the water and set it to "cook."

3. After the quinoa is cooked, I took the pot out of the rice cooker and set it aside to cool. In the meanwhile, I chopped up the veggies. I only had cucumbers and bell pepper (and the bell pepper was on loan from my lovely roommate), but there are so many more veggies that you can use! I personally would have liked celery, onion, broccoli, and corn. I also debated adding some spinach leaves near the end of cooking to wilt it a little. Added nutrition and flavor. Unfortunately, my quinoa was already nearly cooled when I figured this out. And don't limit yourself with veggies. I think some chopped nuts or dried fruit would go great and provide good contrast. I just didn't have any of this stuff on hand.

4. Add the veggies and mix. Next dress the salad with a drizzle of olive oil, juice of one lime, salt and pepper (to taste of course) and mix once more. Let it cool a little longer and it is ready!

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If it isn't obvious by now, I definitely improvise when I cook. Heck, I rarely if ever use a recipe except when it comes to baking. And that's the beauty of cooking I believe. Sometimes, it turns out great and better than you'd ever hope for...other times it is a hot mess. I just use my intuition and past experience. Also, it allows for me to keep my pantry stocked with basically whatever I want. I like ingredients that are versatile and can be added to just about anything...and store for a while. I rarely buy anything that I would only put into just one dish that i make sometimes.

A quinoa salad is pretty basic and definitely quick. My first expedition into quinoa was a tasty success, though i have yet to actually eat any of it. Tomorrow lunch time will be the moment of truth and I seriously can't wait.

Anyway, that is all i have to say for tonight. Wow, my first recipe! Hope you enjoy!

Inaugural Post!

I was getting tired of seeing a blank blog. I figured I should pop the cherry and so here we go. I am always really excited upon creating a new blog. Atop this green background, lies the potential of grand musings and what I hope to be some awesome recipes.

Irene and Meg love to cook. Food is our passion, despite being mostly poor all the time and in college. To me, cooking is cathartic and an escape from reality. We are apart from each other most of the year. This blog will function mostly as a forum in which Irene and Meg will acknowledge each other of all the crazy antics the other has concocted in her respective kitchen on her respective side of Bakersfield. Isn't that fun?

We made some really kick ass things this weekend, and I will write about those when I'm less tired.