The Fork Dorks

Blackbean Pepper Cheese

2011-08-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

My roommate and I call our apartment Cafe Deja Vu. Why? Because we tend to make vast quantities of one dish and then eat it over and over and over again until it is all finished. Not only that, but all of the dishes that we mutually like contain many of the same ingredients, mainly some sort of bean (or three), canned diced tomatoes, a chopped onion, garlic and bell pepper. This recipe is "loosely" based on the Cheese and Pepper enchiladas from the Moosewood collective and also inspired by my unabashed inability to read recipes correctly.

"Blackbean and Cheese Enchiladas" with excerpts from the Moosewood Collective

FILLING
2 small onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
1 Tbsp minced green pepper

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1-2 cups shredded cheddar or jack cheese, plus extra for the top

2 cans black beans
2 tsp cumin

SAUCE
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1 bell pepper, roughly chopped
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
4 Tbsp minced green pepper
1 clove garlic
3 chipotle peppers and adobe sauce

ALSO
About 24 Corn tortillas
Brown Rice

Serves approximately one army

For the sauce
1. Place all ingredients for sauce in blender and puree until smooth.
2. Put puree into sauce pan and simmer for 20 minutes and set aside.

For the filling:
1. In a large pan, heat oil and saute onion and garlic until soft (about 5 minutes). Then add chopped peppers and saute. Cover with lid until peppers are soft. Add beans and saute until warmed through.

2. Add minced green peppers, cumin and cheeses. Stir until incorporated. Set aside.

At this point, you can either lightly fry the tortillas in oil, drain them, and then dip them in the sauce then fill with the filling and place in a greased 9x13 pan...or you can do it how I do it.

Simply layer the enchiladas in a greased 9x13 pan, going tortillas, filling, sauce until you use up all the ingredients....you may need two pans.

Sprinkle with shredded cheese and cover pans tightly with tin foil. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Serve with a side of brown rice.

Store covered in refrigerator for up to a week, if you have 2 busy new SLPs eating them for dinner everyday and some times for lunch too.

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

2010-11-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

1 onion chopped
1 bell pepper choped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno chopped

2 cans black beans
1 can corn
1 cup cooked brown rice

2 quarts vegetable broth
3 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp oregano
1/2 tbsp chili powder

salt to taste
lime juice

crushed tortilla strips and cheddar cheese

Really Awesome Cookies

2010-03-06T19:30:00.001-08:00

2 sticks butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup good cocoa powder
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
~1 cup Reese's Pieces

Bake 350, 8 minutes for Tbsp sized cookies

I Just Need Time

2010-02-08T05:11:00.000-08:00

This is the extent of my culinary adventures these days. Bygone are the days of shoe boxes full of fresh baked cookies, fish shaped bottles of homemade liqueur, platters of cupcakes flavored with hard alcohol and citrus, feasts of vegan proportions and bags of freshly steamed scratch-made buns. All i can hope for is that i have time in the morning to make a sandwich, and hope that the half-frozen peanut butter and jelly I ate for dinner the night before didn't go directly to my thighs.

Banh Mi Spam

2009-11-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

This is the banh mi my mom would make for lunch on Saturday afternoons. It is so simple, yet so fantastically delicious. Just 5 ingredients.

Baguette roll (or a demi-baguette)
Thinly cut Spam (1/8 inch slice) - you need enough to cover the length of your bread, about 3 should do it
Tomato Slices
Cucumber Slices
Black Pepper

1. Slice the baguette as you would to make a sandwich, you know, lengthwise, but not all the way through. Place the baguette into a 350 degree oven or toaster oven to warm through and crisp the crust. Make sure not to over do it.

2. Meanwhile, place the slices of Spam into a cold pan and turn on the heat to medium-high. Brown on both sides. Drain the slices on paper towels if you don't like all the grease.

3. Remove baguette and place Spam slices without overlapping too much (less is more). Stuff with tomato slices and cucumber slices. Make sure to cover the entire length of bread. Sprinkle with Black pepper to taste.

4. And there you have it, Lunch!

Umami Hotdish

2009-11-21T13:10:00.000-08:00

Officially, this is the Minnesota staple of Tater Tot Hotdish (or casserole for people who aren't from the MidWest). While making it, I was adding the mushrooms, soy sauce, milk and Parmesan cheese and figured...no wonder this stuff is so delicious, it's like an umami orgy in your mouth!

This dish is also marking the official end of my meatphobia. Yes, I gathered my courage and traipsed over to the Butcher counter where I asked for 1 lb of local free range ground turkey. Using the convenient paper packaging, i mangled the lump into my pan and browned it up. It tastes grand, thank you very much. Overcoming your fears has never been so tasty.

I really don't like using canned condensed soup...not even for soup. There is something so disgusting about anything that comes (or rather glops) out of a can and stays in the shape of the can. (I'm looking at you, Cranberry Jelly). Never mind that I have to break it up with a spoon and call it "sauce". Whenever i make a casserole, i always make my own mushroom cream sauce. I swear, it comes together in no time and tastes 100 times better. And let's not forget it's probably that many times better for you. It's basically my mushroom gravy recipe, but with an addition of an extra 1/8 cup of flour. I can't really afford alcohol (probably because i buy so much of it in bars nowadays. Damn metropolitan life!) but if i had it, i'd probably also add a splash of sherry or red wine to round out the sauce and maybe even a dash of Worcestershire sauce too. Note to self: i can probably afford that...pick some up.

A funny tangent. Despite the fact that this mushroom cream sauce is floating atop browned ground turkey...i still made it vegan. Old habits die hard eh? After all these years (year?) of not being vegan anymore, i still can't get myself to cook with real dairy or butter...nor can i get myself to buy anything besides Vegetable stock.

And i think tater tot manufacturers purposely make tater tots the size they are so that they would perfectly fit into an 8x8 casserole dish in neat lines, without nary a gap. God Bless America.

Tater Tot Hotdish

The MEAT part
1 lb ground turkey thigh
1/2 onion chopped
A little olive oil
Salt, Pepper, Paprika

The VEGETABLE part
1 bag frozen green beans, thawed (fresh beans, parblanched prior are preferable)
Any other combination of frozen/canned vegetables that you like. Some people like sweet corn or peas and carrots.

The SAUCE part

1 cup of chopped (brunoised?) crimini mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp rubbed dried sage leaves
1/2 tsp thyme
3/8 cups of flour
1/4 cup of butter
1 can of Vegetable (or Chicken) Stock
1/2 cup of cream (or in my case unsweetened soymilk)
1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
Salt, Pepper, Fresh grated nutmeg

The TOT part
16 oz. of frozen tater tots
1/2 cup of French's French Fried Onions
Grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)
Ground black pepper and Paprika

Oven: middle rack, 350 degrees.

1. Heat some olive oil in a pan over medium high heat and add chopped onions. Saute for 2 minutes and add ground turkey. Break up turkey with wooden spoon as it browns. Cook turkey until it is all the way cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and some paprika. Drain and put into the bottom of a greased 8x8 casserole dish.

2. Pour out the remaining juices from the turkey and return the pan to the heat. Add mushrooms and saute for a few minutes. Add minced garlic and saute until mushrooms get brown and a heavenly smell emanates into all parts of your small studio apartment. Add thyme, sage, salt and pepper.

3. Add butter to mushrooms. When the butter is fully melted, add flour and stir to coat. Cook until flour turns a slight blond color. At this point, add your can of stock and bring to a boil which is the point at which the flour will thicken your sauce. Add your milk or cream and soy sauce, stir to incorporate. My favorite part is swirling these elements into the thickened sauce. Finish with fresh grated nutmeg and more black pepper.

4. Assembly! Put your thawed (or freshly parblanched) vegetables in a layer on top of the meat in the dish. Spoon your sauce over the vegetables. Sprinkle a layer of French's French Fried Onions. Now for the fun part. Arrange frozen tater tots in neat rows on top of onions, making to cover every inch (it's part of the effect).

5. Place in the oven uncovered and bake for 35 minutes (remove after 25 minutes to add grated cheese if using and place back into oven), or until tater tots are nice and browned. You may need to switch your oven to broil for a bit.

6. Remove from oven and allow to sit for about 15 minutes before serving (to let the liquids settle and because it's FREAKING hot!)

7. Uffda! That's good.

Vegan Char Siu Bao

2009-11-08T08:57:00.000-08:00

Writing this down so i don't forget. Pulled this one out of my rear this morning. (as in improvised with stuff i already had)

1 batch of dough from Cooking of Joy

1 block extra firm tofu (frozen and thawed)
1 packet char siu marinade mix
1 scallion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp minced ginger

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 tsp ground cinnamon (and star anise powder too, or Chinese five spice)
1/2 tsp roasted sesame oil
1 tbsp corn starch

A little cooking oil.

1. Make dough, set aside

Filling:

2. Mix packet of char siu seasoning with 1/2 cup water in container.

3.Thaw the tofu and drain very, very well. Chop into 1/4 inch cubes and throw into marinade. Mix till all tofu turns delightfully red.

4. Mince garlic and garlic fine. Mix in with tofu mixture. Chop Scallion, mix in with tofu.

5. Put cooking oil in a wok and heat up. Meanwhile, mix soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, cinnamon (or star anise or Chinese 5 spice), and corn starch together to make sauce.

6.Drop tofu into wok and stir fry for about minutes. Try to get some caramelization on it.

7. Pour sauce over tofu and cook until mixture looks thickened.

8. Put filling aside to cool.

Asssemblage:

9. Divide dough into small golf ball sized balls

10. Flatten on ball into a disk that is thicker in the center than the sides. Disk should be about 5 inches in diameter.

11. Put a little filling in the center and bring up the sides of the dough around it. Give the sides a little twist on top to ensure a seal and to make it pretty.

12. Place bun on top of square of wax paper. Let proof for another 15 minutes until steaming.

13. Steam buns for 20 minutes.

14. Cool and Eat.

Curry Apple Tuna Salad

2009-10-19T19:18:00.000-07:00

So insanely delicious. I have a new favorite sandwich. So flavorful, crunchy and tuna-y. Don't eat too much lest you risk mercury poisoning, but i'd argue that it's worth the risk.

1 can chunk light tuna packed in water
1/2 tbsp Mayonnaise
1/4 apple diced
1/4 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp chopped scallion
black pepper to taste
salt

1. Dice apple, toss with a little salt in a bowl and put aside
2. Put mayonnaise and curry powder into another bowl and mix to combine
3. Open tuna and drain, fold into mayonnaise.
4. Fold in apples and scallions to tuna mixture.
5. Black pepper to taste
6. Put it in a sammich, on a cracker or on a spoon. Yummmm.

Vegan Mushrooom Gravy

2009-09-28T16:15:00.000-07:00

I put this on everything, Vegan or not. It's fantastic!

1 cup chopped crimini mushrooms
1/4 cup of earth balance (or butter)
3 cloves chopped garlic
quarter onion or 1 shallot, chopped
1/4 cup of flour
1 can of vegetable broth (or 2 cups of your own)
1/4 cup of soy milk (or regular milk, or cream)
1 Tbsp of soysauce
1/4 tsp of dried Thyme/Oregano/Sage (whatever woody herb you like)

1. Melt the butter in a pan and add the mushrooms, garlic and onion/shallot. Saute until nice and browned and onions are translucent. Salt and pepper.

2. Add the flour and stir to coat all the contents of pan. Cook for a few minutes until flour is a nice blondish color.

3. Add broth and allow to come to a simmer and allow the flour to thicken the gravy. If the gravy is too thin, don't add flour directly to gravy. Add it with the next step.

4. Add the soy milk (with extra flour mixed in if you like) and stir into gravy. Add soy sauce to gravy and stir until completely incorporated and gravy turns a richer shade of brown. Add the herbs and stir.

5. Salt and Pepper to taste. I usually go more pepper than salt since soy sauce is already salty.

Pour it over neatloaf, tofu loaf, mashed potatoes, french fries, meatballs or noodles. Whatever you like!

Char Siu Bao - Steamed Pork Buns

2009-09-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

I was really craving the bao that you get at dim sum, the kind that has the bright red bbq pork on the inside. I bought a package of frozen, premade bao at the Asian market in order to quell my craving. At 3 dollars+ for 4 mediocre bao, i got to thinking. Why can't i make these myself? Bits of pork in char siu sauce wrapped in a basic flour dough that is steamed? I'm smart, i'm able, i'm free this weekend...why not?

Here's the recipe which makes about 12-14 bao.

For the dough:
1 cup milk, warmed (I don't keep milk around the apt, so i used soy milk it worked out fine)
1/2 pkt of yeast
1/4 cup of sugar + 2tbsp
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt

For the filling
I bought 1/2 lb of premade char siu from a chinese bbq joint (I hate preparing raw meat) and chopped it into little pieces
1/2 packet of char siu sauce mix reconstituted with 1/4 of water or premade char siu bbq sauce

You will also need wax paper and some sort of steaming device. I used the steam basket that came with my rice cooker.

Start with the dough:

Warm the milk in the microwave pour into the bowl. Add the yeast and 2 tbsp of sugar. Stir to dissolve. Let sit for about 5 minutes, or until it looks frothy. Add oil, salt and one cup of flour. Let stand for 30 minutes to an hour. (I don't actually know what this does, but this is what i did and the result was desirable, i'm sticking to it). After resting the "sponge" (I think that's what its called), add the rest of the flour and start to knead. Knead dough, adding more flour, until dough is no longer sticky and very smooth.

Put dough in oiled bowl and place in a warm place. Allow to rise till double in volume. About 1 hour.

While the dough rises, prepare the filling and cut the wax paper into 4x4 squares.

Chop your char siu (homemade or whatnot) into tiny pieces. Mix pieces with reconstituted char siu marinade or jarred sauce to bind filling together. Set aside in fridge.

When your dough has sufficiently risen. Punch it down and knead it a few times. Pull apart a ball the size of a small golf ball. Flatten the ball and pinch the edges of the circle to get a disk about the size of your palm that is thicker in the middle. Put about 1 tbsp of filling in the middle of the disk. Stretch the sides of the dough over the filling while rotating the bao until the filling is completely enclosed. Place onto a square of wax paper.

Let the bao proof for a bit before placing them into the steamer. Steam for 12-15 minutes. Remove carefully. Serve while warm.

I cooled these and put them in a freezer bag for rainy days. 2 minutes in the microwave is all you need to revive these babies!

Asian Noodle Salad

2009-08-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

I adapted a recipe that I saw on PBS. Remember back when PBS was the only place to watch good cooking shows. Martin Yan, Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, the greats. I remember they all had their own public television cooking show. Nowadays, everyone and their bubbly stay at home mom has a cooking show.

The recipe originally called for soba noodles. Fresh out of those. So I just substituted some whole wheat spaghetti that i usually keep the cupboard stocked with. I may like it better since it has a better texture than soba, which i don't care for too much.

Ingredients

1/2 lb of noodles (Spaghetti, Angel Hair, Ramen, Soba, whatever)
Broccoli, cut into florets (Green beans would also be really good)
Firm tofu, cut into small cubes

2 1/2 Tbsp Soy sauce
Juice of 2 limes
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp Roasted Sesame Oil
2 cloves of garlic chopped
Sesame seeds

1. Drain tofu very well with paper towels. Cut into cubes and place into a bowl lined with paper towels. Set Aside.
2. Boil a quart of water, salt and add broccoli florets, cook until crispy tender. Remove with a strainer, leaving water in pot. Rinse broccoli in cold water and let drain.
3. Add noodles and cook according to directions.
4. Dressing- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, and chopped garlic. Set aside.
5. Remove tofu cubes from paper towel and put into bowl. Spoon half of dressing over tofu. Set Aside.
6. When noodles are done, using pasta fork or strainer, remove noodles while still hot to dressing. The add the broccoli. Toss together until dressing is well distributed.
7. Add flavored tofu cubes on top of noodles and toss gingerly, taking care to not break up the tofu too much.
8. Cover bowl and put into fridge for an hour or so for flavors to meld.
9. Garnish with sesame seeds when ready to serve. mmmmm

Pancakes For One

2009-08-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

According to Of Montreal, "Pancakes for one is always depressing, because having pancakes with you is such fun." When you live alone, i guess its just a reality especially when you love pancakes as much as I do! But only the unleavened, European kinds...none of those American buttermilk belly bombs that we all grew up eating at IHOP.

The problem with pancakes is that one batch is usually enough to feed 4 people or 2 people per half batch and by feed i mean stuff them to a comatose state. Well, I think i found a good recipe that is easy to measure, makes 4 thin 8-inch crepe-like pancakes here we go:

PANCAKES FOR ONE

1/2 cup AP flour
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt

Fixin's
I like Lemon Juice and sugar

1. Melt the butter in a mixing bowl (in the microwave, not the stove)
2. Add half of the flour, sugar, milk, salt and 1 egg and whisk together until relatively lump-less
3. Add rest of flour and whisk together. Batter will be thin.
4. Heat skillet on Medium heat with some non stick spray or a bit of butter to prevent sticking
5. Pour batter in, spread around. When edges look done and middle looks dry, flip once.
6. Flip onto a plate. Repeat steps 5-6 until you have about 4 pancakes.
7. Fill with fixin's and enjoy!

Roasted Salsa

2009-06-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

I just made a Salsa. It is so delicious, I could cry. It's going to be so yummy over the Tacos Al Pastor that I am making tomorrow for dinner. Can you tell that I'm in a Mexican food kick? I think its probably because there is no decent Mexican food to be had in Chino "Cultural Abyss" Hills.

I adapted from this recipe from food gawker.

This made about 48 oz. of salsa. If I were to judge its spiciness on a Likert scale of 5, I'd give it a 3.

5 large tomatoes, quartered
1 onion, quartered
3 Jalapeno peppers, seeded

Put these things on a baking sheet and roast @ 375 degrees for about half an hour until the tomatoes are soft and the other things get kind of a nice char to them.

Take all the roasted ingredients out of the oven and let them cool.

After they are cooled, you put them into a food processor. Along with:

5 cloves of fresh garlic
3-5 chipotle chiles from the can + some of the adobo sauce they come packed in (adjust to your taste)
a handful of fresh cilantro
1 sprig of scallion, roughly chopped
1 1/2 tsp Salt, (adjusted to your own taste, of course)
Juice of 2 limes

Pulse the food processor until smooth but still chunky. Chill in the fridge and then eat on something, anything.

Quick 'n' Tasty Shredded Chicken Tacos

2009-06-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I am the meatless one. What the hell am I doing making chicken tacos? Well, I have a sin to confess. While I am living at home, I tend to let my vegetarianism fall to the wayside and eat whatever my mom makes for me. She works very hard and I think I am just being a dutiful daughter by doing this. The other day, my mom brought home a rotisserie chicken from the market. My family is what you would call a dark meat family. We love dark meat chicken. My dad is a wing man, I like the thighs and my mom likes drumsticks. Unfortunately for poor chickens that means that after we are done, they are nothing more than breasts stuck on the bones. We don’t like chicken breasts. My father is convinced that they should charge you less than the other pieces at fast food restaurants for the breasts. Usually, my mom will cut up the breast pieces and pack them for lunch or shred them up to make ga chay, which is eaten over rice. I am not a fan of ga chay. So when I found the Tupperware in the refrigerator of shredded skinned roasted chicken breasts, my mind went looking for alternatives. The first thing that came into mind was my favorite Mexican food of all time…. TACOS! Not the disgusting cheese and lettuce dressed messes you get at “Mexican” fast food places, but the simple and pure taqueria style tacos that fed me for the last 3 weeks of my undergraduate education.

To me a taco is all about simplicity. Soft shells, not hard. Corn tortillas not flour. A generous heap of finely seasoned meat nice and charred, some simple pico de gallo or other salsa, maybe some cabbage that’s it. No sour cream, no lettuce, no melted cheese, no volcano chipotle zesty nacho cheese sauce, no tapatio (unless you really want it).

Presentation is simple; place a warmed tortilla on a plate. Top it with cabbage, then meat, then salsa. Voila, you have the most perfect and delightful food ever conceived. Fresh but hearty, spicy but cool, a paradox of flavor. Yum!

And yes, I like shredded cabbage on my tacos. Not lettuce, cabbage. This is a remnant of my times spent in Latin America. Lettuce in hot weather turned into a bitter wilted mess, where as cabbage maintained its crispness and added that fresh contrast I need in a taco. I make a sort of simple slaw to go on mis tacos.

Here is my very simple recipe for very simple tacos.

Here’s the rundown:

This will make like 10 tacos or so, you decide.

Ingredients:
The Shredded Chicken:
The breasts from a rotisserie chicken, skin removed, shredded
Half an Onion, chopped
1 Bell Pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 Jalapeno pepper(s) seeded (unless you really like spicy things) and chopped (Use the 2 peppers if you like really spicy stuff.)
2 Tbsp Ground Cumin
Juice of a Lime
Oil for Sautéing
Corn Tortillas

The Slaw:
Half head of Cabbage, shredded fine (you know, like coleslaw)
Juice of 1 Lime
Salt and Pepper

Optional (but strongly suggested): Salsa of your choice (I just used a prepared Pico de Gallo we had laying around)

1. Assemble the slaw, toss the shredded cabbage with lime juice, salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
2. Put oil in a pan (I used a wok) and sauté onions, bell pepper, and jalapenos until soft. Then add garlic and sauté together until everything is cooked through.
3. Add shredded chicken and ground cumin. Sauté together just to warm chicken through, not too long though since that chicken is already dead AND cooked once.
4. Finish with fresh lime juice.
5. This is typically where you will taste it. I didn’t season with any salt or pepper because I find rotisserie chicken already really salty, but that’s just me.
6. I warmed my tortillas in the microwave right before serving, but you can wrap them in foil and put them into the oven, warm them on the stove, whatever.
7. Assemble: I like slaw -> Chicken -> 2 tsp of pico de gallo, but whatever you want is fine.

Gin and Tonic Cupcakes

2009-04-26T01:24:00.000-07:00

Gin and Tonics are my favorite drink. To me, they are the perfect balance of flavors (which is hard to come by in the world of well drinks). They get me happy drunk (as opposed to embarrassing drunk) and are so light and refreshing. I was so excited when I came across this recipe for Gin and Tonic Cupcakes. At first it seemed like kind of a weird idea. Gin and Tonic...in a cake? Hmm...something about juniper berry, quinine and lime does not really scream "dessert" to me. But hey, I wouldn't be a pragmatist if I didn't try!

The recipe consists of two parts: the cake and the frosting (duh). The cake is an angel food cake flavored with tonic water. I have nothing against Angel food cake except that I don't have an electric mixer and I must admit that I suck at whipping stuff up by hand and suck even harder at making cake from scratch. The frosting is a mixture of powdered sugar, mascarpone cheese, corn syrup and gin, also requiring an electric mixer. I had to put my innovative cheap college student mind to this. My roommate usually keeps our cupboards stocked with at least 6 boxes of cake mix and cans of frosting. Whenever there is a sale...ho boy, watch out!

So instead of fretting over getting things right from scratch, I took the cake doctor approach. I used a box of white cake mix and a can of cream cheese frosting, doctored them up and came up with a very good approximation to the recipe.

The original recipe did not call for very much lime flavoring to be incorporated into the cakes themselves besides the garnish. To me, the quintessential part of a gin and tonic is the lime. It makes the caustic combination of gin and tonic into a refreshing beverage. Plus, I am always a proponent of citrus fruit in baked goods. Here is my process:

FROSTING

Fresh out of mascarpone so had to doctor up a can of cream cheese frosting I had laying around the apartment. I added 2 tbsp of gin and about 1/3 of the zest I got from a lime. The lime adds a very nice touch since it goes really well with gin. I figured that some people really like to eat the frosting first or a bit of it alone before biting into the cake and the flavor of gin would be a bit overwhelming. The gin loosened up the frosting quite a bit so I added about 3 tbsp of confectioner's sugar to tighten it back to the right consistency. Per the original recipe, I dyed the frosting a pale green with two drops of food coloring. It looks very pleasant, wouldn't you say?

CAKE

Mmm...white cake mix, my dear friend. I followed the normal directions on the back of the box except I replaced the some of the water for 3 tbsp of Tonic water and the juice of one lime, subtracting that amount (about 4 tbsp) from the 1 1/3 cups of water called for. I also added the remaining zest from the lime I had zested for the frosting. I used the remnants of a bottle of tonic that had gone flat in the fridge since I only wanted the tonic flavor. I baked the cake according to the directions on the box and let them cool completely before frosting.

RESULTS

These cupcakes are as light as refreshing as the drink! The slight hint of tonic and lime in the cake goes so well with the hint of herbal-ly gin and lime in the frosting. What seemed like a pretty disgusting idea turned out to be quite delicious! I made these for my roommate's birthday. And once she and her friends return from Six Flags this evening, I bet they will be pleasantly surprised by these scrumptious little delights!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-03-24T18:22:00.000-07:00

I had some friends visit me recently and i decided that i wanted to make them dinner and dessert. My friends are vegans. Though i am no longer a vegan, i still have a couple of vegan friendly dishes in my recipe file. The menu consisted of Moosewood Collective's Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie and Chocolate chip cookies. I have to admit, i make the BEST chocolate chip cookies, unfortunately they are not vegan. My past adventures in vegan baking have consistently ended up with tears and disappointment so i was hesitant. My friend suggested that i just substitute the egg in the recipe with half a banana and vegan margarine for the butter and ta-da! Veganized!

The recipe is adapted from Fanny Farmer's recipe for chocolate chip cookies which i got from my friend Caroline. It contains what i call the golden ratio of cookies. 1 stick butter to 1+ cup flour to 1 cup sugar to 1 egg (about). The finished product is just the right amount of gooey, crispy and chewy. To substitute the egg, I think it is best to use a mashed really ripe banana. If your banana is still a little green at the edges, mash in some vegetable oil with the banana. The margarine i used was Earth Balance which is a really high quality vegan margarine. It's kind of expensive. Many of the cheap margarines usually contain some sort of milk product in order to provide creaminess. I'm sure there is some sort of cheap run of the mill margarine that is vegan, i haven't really checked the labels. Though, the Earth Balance resulted in a very delicious tasting cookie Here is the recipe:

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 banana, mashed (with a touch of oil if your banana isn't really ripe)
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (i always put a little more)
1 1/8 cup flour (that 1/8 cup is INTEGRAL to the texture)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
(optional: 1 cup chopped nuts)

Oven: Preheated to 375 degrees F

1. Melt the margarine in the microwave and add the sugars and mashed banana. Mix well
2. Add the vanilla, baking soda and salt and stir until incorporated into the margarine, sugar, banana mixture
3. Add all the flour and fold in until incorporated.
4. Lastly, add the chips and whatever else you want. Fold until uniform.
5. I like my cookies to spread and become crispy and chewy so i really like using a warm dough. If you like doughier, cakier cookies refridgerate the dough for 30 minutes or so.
6. Using a 1/2 tbsp measuring spoon, spoon balls of dough onto an ungreased baking sheet.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes until cookies are golden brown and set.
8. Eat your heart out!

Crazy Easy Pie

2009-01-19T17:03:00.001-08:00

Sometimes, you just want pie. You don't want to make a short crust. You don't want to peel fruit. You don't even want to preheat the oven. All you want is that gooey sweet contrast to some delicious flaky crust. Well, last night was one of those nights. Those nights of pie lust nuanced with sloth. My friend Anne and I had been wanting to make on of our pudding pies which are oh so delicious. After our very delicious dinner of Samosas and Bell pepper wedges, i found an old oreo pie crust that we had been saving since last semester. I asked Anne if she had any chocolate puding mix. She indeed did. We were planning on Dirt Pies with crumbled Oreos and gummy worms. We made a trek to the student marketplace and found that they did not have any sort of gummy candy...nor oreos for that matter! Instead we bought 2 boxes of Junior Mints and resorted to making a chocolate mint type thing.

What we ended up with is sort of a delicious Girl Scout Thin Mint tasting pie. It is really easy and really really really delicious. I ate 1/4 of that pie last night and it was delicious.

Thin Mint Pie

1 Oreo Pie Crust (available at most supermarkets)
1 Package of Instant Chocolate Pudding (4 servings)
1 3/4 cup of milk
A few handfuls of Junior Mints
2 tsp. Peppermint Schnapps

1. Whisk milk and pudding mix together until all lumps are gone (It will be liquidy)
2. Add 2 tsp. of Schnapps into pudding and whisk until incorporated
3. Pour spiked pudding into pie crust
4. Put pie into the fridge for about half an hour for pudding to set
5. Decorate with Junior mints
6. Eat like a greedy little pig, or share with friends.

Where in the Kitchen is Irene Duong Pants-Lover?

2008-12-07T15:25:00.000-08:00

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)

2008-11-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-10-18T20:42:00.000-07:00

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.

- - - - - - - -

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

2008-09-29T23:11:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-29T22:28:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-12T20:29:00.001-07:00

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!

- - - - - - - - - - -

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

2008-09-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

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!

- - - - - - - -

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!

2008-09-09T00:07:00.000-07:00

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.