New flavor combo for me: kimchi fried rice

I was hungry. I had some bean sprouts about to go bad. And day old rice. What did I make?
Kimchi fried rice!

I didn't have kimchi. But I had kimchi base.

I cooked up some eggs and onions, always a staple in the fried rice world.

I cooked the rice, bean sprouts and fried tofu balls in the kimchi base. Added some mushrooms and the onions. Voila. One pot dinner is served. Plus it helps clear out the fridge. Double score.

A medley of flavors

Orzo cooked for the first time.
Hurry curry in onion, frozen peas and carrots and tofu.

Italian and Japanese curry all at once?

A week before the move, and mahi mahi tacos

We are moving in exactly one week.
I have at least ten cans in my pantry and a few odd ends in my freezer. What did I rouse up today from my freezer and pantry stock?
Mahi mahi tuna taco!

I had mahi mahi from trader joes sitting in my freezer. $10 worth of fish is too much to just toss out. So today I defrosted it, marinated it in soy sauce, olive oil, lime juice, and some garlic. For some reason ginger root was no where to be found.

While it was marinating, I took out the last bit of the diced frozen mango from my freezer, added a bit of diced red onion and added hot pepper flakes and lime juice for salsa. Man I wish I had cilantro plant. I think I'm going to grow a little pot in the new home, always handy.

I pan fried the mahi mahi. Then I composed some tacos with a bed of mixed greens, the fish, mango salsa and this relish salsa verde p got from a friend.

Voila. Dinner is served.

Mussels in WIne

What can you make with a bag of frozen mussels, a bottle of open rose wine, and half an onion?
Mussels in wine sauce of course!

From the freezer: mussels
From the fridge: butter, bottle of rose already open from yesterday, half an onion (from this morning's omelette)
From the pantry: spaghetti

I made a steaming liquid with wine, some mushroom broth from Friday, and some browned onions
I steamed the mussels in it.

I made a roux with butter and flour.

How to eat everything in your pantry before you move

I had a hankering for Clam chowder, as I sometimes do.
I knew I had potatoes and canned clams in my pantry so I was all set.
Then I came home and saw that the potatoes were actually rotting (gross) and I needed another filler for the soup.
Since I sometimes added corn to my clam chowder for color and sweetness, I thought why not just make the whole soup with it?
So now I have a corn and clam chowder, with some onion and celery for flavor depth and color.
I had to add some roux to thicken because now the soup didn't have potato starch in it.
But it was still yummy and clammy tasting.

Monday night dinner!

 

Chicken and spinach orzo  (leftovers make great lunches!!!) with a caprese salad!

Tamarind Soup

In my quest to use up everything prior to the move, I'm starting to use some more exotic ingredients stashed in my pantry. Today: tamarind!

Tamarind Soup (inspired by a soup I had at vietnamese resto- La Petit Camille)

-tamarind (soaked in water to get pulpy stock, throw out membranes and seeds)
-chicken stock (you can use dashi if you prepare, I'm trying to get rid of heavy canned broth)
-fish sauce (no way I'll use up this bottle before the move, 2 tsp is plenty)
-can of bamboo shoots (normally use bean sprouts, but I had this on hand)
-carrots, sliced
-green bell pepper, sliced
-chile flakes and pods
-ginger (I had the chinese kind, the recipe calls for galang which is the thai kind)
-juice of one lime (I always have citrus on hand, so good for everything!)
-raw shrimp (I used about 1/2 pound of the big 26 ct)

-boil broth with sliced ginger, add in tamarind stock
-add in the other sliced veggies
-lastly add shrimp, cook until all tender and flavors develop

voila, serve this clear hot and sour soup on a warm day!

Shrimp Scampi and Summer Squash Salad!

What better way to end the weekend than a little cooking session. I made Shrimp Scampi with the following ingredients:
- Shrimp
-olive oil
- garlic
- red chili flakes
- parsley
- chives
-chicken broth

To make the summer squash salad you will need the following items:  zucchini, yellow squash, basil. parsley, garlic, lemon, salt and pepper, olive oil

Tex Mex Veggie Enchilada Bake

Black beans, corn, kale, onions, peppers stir fried with garlic.
Then layered veggies with tomato sauce and tortillas.

Managed to finish cooking it one hour. Success!

Used up:
Cooking oil
Black beans
Tomato sauce
Tortilla pkg

Breakfast of Champions

eggs, home fries and tomato. delish and simple!

Duo of Flavors: Teriyaki Chicken Drumsticks and Chili Fries

We cook when we have time. And it ends up a fusion of flavors.

Teriyaki chicken (borrowed from Steamy Kitchen's recipe)
with mirin, honey, hoisin and pepper flakes for kick

Chili fries using some pantry goodies like hormel's chili, olives, greek yogurt, avocado.

Pantry to the Rescue!

I was invited to a potluck at work and it's tomorrow! I was too tired to go grocery shopping at work, so I relied on mostly pantry items to make what I will bring. I made two items: inarizushi, and pasta salad.

I was worried I didn't have any food to bring in the fridge.
This is mostly true.
The only fridge ingredients used were: cherry tomatoes. maybe some cheese tomorrow if I feel like it.

The quick and easy recipes:

Inarizushi "beggar's pockets"
1 day old rice (perfect to make sushi rice with)
can of inarizushi tofu skins (separate out seasoned sauce in can to flavor rice)
seaweed (I used the snack packs cuz that's what I had, but any will do)
frozen pea/carrot pkg

cook the rice with some oil, mirin seasoning, rice vinegar, and seasoned sauce from can
add in peas/carrots for color and texture
let cool, then stuff tofu skins from can
cap each "beggar's pocket" with a layer of seaweed to neatly wrap up the package
store in fridge
can be eaten warm or cool

Pasta salad
rotini
1 can palm of hearts
1 can sweet peas
1 can diced olive
garlic flavored olive oil
balsamic vinegar
cherry tomatoes

I cooked rotini in well salted water, drain and cool
then sliced palms of heart and cherry tomatoes to mix with pasta
top with combo of garlic flavored oil oil, diced olives, and balsamic vinegar
add in some fresh basil for color
voila!
also can be eaten warm or cooled

Menu Planning and Using Up the Pantry

I am slowly foraging my way through my pantry in the hopes of eating things up before we move (still TBA)

But last few nights of cooking have used up:
-pork chops that were in freezer
-bottle of soy sauce (so still have new bottle, but no more back ups to move later)
-bottle of hoisin sauce (same, no more backups)
-mapa tofu mix

last weekend I used up my tremella fungus, some asian chili/black bean sauce.

This week's menu planning:
Mon-mapa tofu
Tue-pork chops
Wed-burritos
Thr-fried rice
Fri-go out?

Lunch-P packs PBJ sandwiches mostly and various snacks
I bring left overs or salads.

A healthy and happy fourth

What does eating down your pantry mean?

Well in our case it means I used up our bag of potatoes and some frozen corn to make clam chowder for lunch.

Then we made white tilapia, arugula with beet and walnut salad, French fries, and sautéed mushrooms.

The stuff from our pantry or freezer are:
Tilapia
Walnuts
French fries
Ranch dressing
Corn
Potatoes
Canned clams

Look at what it can make!

curry noodle

quick and easy week day stir fry:

chicken tenderized with corn starch
spring onion sliced
green pepper sliced
red onion sliced
bamboo sliced

tossed into pot, then added softened rice vermicelli
add  curry powder, tumeric, cumin, hot pepper.
yummy in a hurry!

Summer heat

OMG! I just realized my last post was in March. I seriously need to do some updating. To be fair Jenny's Kitchen in May wasn't very active.

Made Duck Porridge in April. I think I used the Duck that I got from my Trip home on 4/20 to make it.

Super easy, threw all the ingredients (rice, duck, scallions) into a crock pot set it on low for 4 hours and viola! 

 Went to the farmers Market one day and came back with this amazing salsa! So this is my attempt to utilize the salsa for something other than chips
- Broccoli (steamed)
-Green Peppers (grilled)
-Chicken (grilled)
And top it off with some extra spicy salsa for a light and healthy meal!

Took a trip to H-mart in early May and came back with a few goodies!

- Broccoli (steamed)

-Bulgogi (pre marinated, just stir fried) 

- Mapo Tofu (used pre-packaged sauce, but added in my own peas and carrots)b

 A taste of home! I was really craving this soup that Mom and Dad always makes so i attempted it myself!
- Chicken broth
- Soy puffs
- Tomato
- Vermicelli
- Mushrooms (optional, I just really like mushrooms!)

Finally, with summer practically here on the east coast, I was inspired by summer BBQ food by making this lightened up version of Mac n Cheese

- Whole Grain Elbow Macaroni

-1/2 pint Skim Milk

- Gouda

- 1 cup Reduced fat Sharp Cheddar (half of the bag)

- White meat chicken

-Turkey Bacon

-BBQ sauce

- 2 TB Flour

- 1hour of time (yeah this take a bit of work)

This makes a rather large serving, so I plan to freeze the rest to eat at a later date!  

Weekend Stir Frying

P is studying at the coffee shop (to stay awake)
I find myself with some defrosted chicken breast, and some 1-2 week old green peppers.
What can I make with this?
Answer:
chicken with green pepper and crimini mushrooms in a garlic black bean sauce.

Tremella (or how white fungus got a fancy name)

People are so smart. Asian people eat weird things like fungus. White people don't like words like "fungus." So a genius in marketing decided to change the label to "tremella" and lo and behold, a new fad in dining started!

I made uh hem...tremella today (shh! don't tell anyone it's actually white fungus) with some dried dates, medlar, and bosc pear (what I had in the fridge)...


Two hours later (and a cracked pot later) I got some steaming fungus soup and some deliciously skin healing and soothing properties.

I ate it warm, but this soup is also delightful when served cold.

After A Long Week...A Crack[ed] Pot!

I use the slow cooker only about once a month or less.
I wash the insert in the dish washer sometimes, hand wash other times.
Today I took it out to cook (white fungus soup, you will see later) and it was cracked (granted, I was trying to use it on the stove top-so having read up on it afterwards, I guess that's a no-no)

Anyways, I think this slow cooker is residua from our lives in LA, so I  think it's met it's slow demise.
Time to replace the liner ($18) or buy a new one ($20-30?)
I haven't decided for sure, but am leaning towards discarding and replacing anew only after we move.

Breakfast for Dinner [in bed]

I didn't cook this. I was so tired. b made it for me. love b.

A Weekend Run to Lucky's and Marinade Recipe

I'm working this weekend, but it's also P's birthday! What to do? Grill tonight and lunch out tomorrow!

Lucky's Groceries $145.43
meat stock up (yes, I tend to only buy meat infrequently, but large amounts at a time) $50
3 pkg of chicken breast
2 pkg ground turkey
2 pkg ground pork
2 pkg of beef sirloin for stirfry/kabob
1 pkg tri tip steak
1 pkg pork chop

tofu x3
salad fixin' for dinner
cucumber, tomato, butter lettuce (p's favorite)
brocoli
mushrooms, pineapple for grilling
strawberries for snacking
pomegranate juice
OJ
soy milk x2
greek yogurt x2
hummus x2
pasta x4 (on sale, cheaper than Smart and Final prices!)
ranch dip mix
cream cheese x3
french fries

This is enough for:
mapa tofu x3
chili
grilled steak and kabob
pork chops

So definitely enough food for another 2 weeks, with maybe a veggie stock up in between.

Time to marinade and grill (clockwise from left: sangria, butter lettuce salad, grilled steak, french fries, grilled mushrooms and pineapple)

I made a steak marinade today for the tri tip:
-orange juice (tenderizes)
-sesame oil (small bit adds loads of flavor)
-soy sauce
-lime juice
-canola oil
soak the steak in for 6 hours!

Chicken in Tamarind Sauce

I tried a new ingredient today. I like tamarind soup in SE Asian restaurants, so I opted to buy some and try it!
Today I made a simple stir fry with tamarind, garlic, ginger, fish sauce all in one.

I used chicken with corn starch to soften, and some veggies like carrots, celery, basil, onion, straw mushrooms.

Monday Blues

A busy day, a speeding ticket, and PMS all hit at once. This calls for ultimate comfort food!

A quick and easy mac and cheese with some cheese to spare:

macaroni with salt and pepper
add grated cheddar, machego, parmesean (all at hand)

toss in some fresh basil leaves for a green kick.

serve with a glass of red wine for the ultimate Monday night feast!

Friday Fast and Furious Stir Fries

Rice Cakes (shanghainese style)

-soak defrosted rice cake for 30 minutes in cold water
-soak dried shitake mushrooms in warm water (not in glass bowl people!)
-slice napa cabbage

1. put in mushroom water into wok, boil down to concentrate umami flavors
2. put in rice cake, sliced mushrooms, napa
3. season to liking with oyster sauce, pepper, salt, sugar
4. use some corn starch to thicken
5. serve!

Stir Fried Shrimp
-defrost shrimp under running water
-slice ginger, green onion, garlic

1. heat oil in wok, toss in aromatics
2. stir in shrimp
3. top with oyster sauce, sugar, cooking rice wine
4. cook quickly until sauce evenly coats shrimp and shrimp all pink
5. serve!

Look at how easy it was (all done in less than 30minutes, and so good all eaten in less than 30 minutes!)

Another weekday craving satisfied: clam chowder

I didn't get home until 7pm. I had to stop by and get half and half, and of course that meant I ended up getting some extra ingredients for more cooking.

Here's what I got ($48) at Lucky's
4 cans of green chiles (for chili)
2 cans of black beans
4 bags of cookies (milano, brussels)
teeny pint of ice cream
loaf of bread
celery
napa cabbage
half and half
strawberries
rotiserrie chicken
eggs

This should fetch me at least 3-4 meals.
Meal plan:
rotisserie chicken shredded into enchilada (what I ate for dinner)
clam chowder (used potatoes, onions from home, celery ribs for stock, canned clams from home)
pair with bread
stir fry rice cake -asian style with napa and mushrooms (still at home)

So tomorrow for lunch, I get to bring:

BBQ, Asian Style

All right, what would a Sunday be without lots of cooking?

We made: pork ribs, flank steak, french fries.
Then I made: leeks with beef, and yu-chai.
This should be enough food for the next few days (lunches and dinners)
We will use the leftover flank steak for quesadillas and burritos.
I cooked brown rice to eat with the stir fry for lunch. yummy!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

In celebration of the weather and 5th of May, we've got a little Latin theme going on.

Sangria (fresh strawberries, frozen mango, fresh orange) some bottled dry red table wine (no need for pricey stuff here) and grape juice (we had white grape, but traditionally it's made with red grape juice-use whatever you have!) Let it meld into the fruit a bit (fridge for 1-2 hours at least) then serve!

Quesadillas (I used wheat tortillas from TJ's, you can use whatever you prefer-white flour, corn, etc) and I also had sharp cheddar (other cheeses work too) I tossed in some avocado and used greek yogurt as substitute for sour cream. the boy added some hot sauce. simple and fast lunch!

Tonight we're barbequeing!

Oh how long it's been, my long lost friend: Trader Joe's

I haven't had time to grocery shop in a very long time. Whenever I send the boy, he returns with very little to show for it.
Here's what I got today.

Farmer's Market $10
yu-chai (chinese veggie)
leeks
green leaf lettuce
strawberries!

Trader Joes $115
steak tips (for stir fry)
deli meat (pastrami, turkey)
ground turkey (for stuffed peppers, maybe some quesadillas too)
tortillas (see above)
cheddar cheese
cream cheese x2
manchego cheese for snacking
eggs
soy milk x2
orange juice
lemonade
pomegranate limeade (it's pool and sangria time people!)
baguette
basil plant
4 cans of stone clams (for clam chowder all the time)
crimini mushrooms
cereal x2
frozen burrito x3 pkg
bananas (with above strawberries-delish smoothie!)
almonds for snacking
2 bags tortilla (medley of flavors here)
frozen mahi mahi (for grilling or baking)

Today's lunch:
leftover brown rice, canned tuna, avocado, tossed with lemon juice, garlic infused olive oil, pepper, a little mayo, over bed of green leaf lettuce for lunch. delish!

A Little of This, A Little of That

Mapa Tofu to the Rescue!
We ran out of white rice so we cooked brown rice for a nice change of pace.
Then we steamed some brussel sprouts with a balsamic vinegar, olive oil and sea salt. delish!

Next up on my menu for the week: stuffed bell peppers (to use the bounty of veggies the boy's mom brought over last week)

More Money, More Curry!

Can you tell I love curry? It's such a great way to use up produce, pantry stock and have a filling healthy meal!

This time it's got:
2 medium onions
4-5 potatoes
1/2 bag of carrots
1 box of white mushrooms
1 box of firm tofu
1 green pepper

mixed with curry paste, coconut cream, a bit more paprika and tumeric to taste.

Top over rice.

Karen is Back! (Sorta...)

After a month long traveling to Asia (HK and China for work) then New Zealand for vacation, I have been extremely behind on my goal of cooking at home and saving money on food!  That being said, I plan to stay put in NYC for the next 3 months and try to cook more and save more money!  The new zealand trip was not cheap - but it was well worth it! Who wouldn't want to eat buff oysters everyday, for breakfast or for late night snack? (see below for a fun photo of us eating bluff oysters on a 9am ferry)

 Trader Joe's frozen Clams (with butter sauce)

 Love beets and avocado in my salad!

Trying to use up leftovers in my frig

Green Thai Curry

A run to the asian grocery store last Sunday resulted in some yummy new food to try.

I used
1 can straw mushrooms (the little baby ones)
1 can bamboo shoots (sliced)
3 green peppers sliced
1 medium onion sliced
some asparagus, sliced
1 can green thai curry paste
1 can coconut milk
some fried tofu cubes (meant for some bok choy, then my franken-finger accident happened and the bokchoy with tofu dish got aborted)

I heated some garlic in some canola oil
tossed all the veggies into the pot with the thai curry paste and milk
add the tofu in last
cook for 20 min total
top over white rice.
yummy in a hurry!

A Weekday Shrimp Pasta

Easy peasy shrimp pasta!

1 box penne
1/2 bag of uncooked shrimp
1/2 lb asparagus
some garlic, olive oil
cornstarch
seasoning (salt, pepper, pepper flakes)

1. boil water and put penne in it
2. defrost frozen shrimp
3. cut up asparagus into slivers to cook
4. crush garlic to cook into the cooking oil
5. start cooking asparagus in the garlic infused olive oil, then add shrimp
6. cook shrimp and veggie until done (by now the penne should be done as well)
7. dump out pasta to drain
8. add half and half to the shrimp for cream sauce
9. put 1 tsp cornstarch into a little bit hot water and use to thicken sauce
10. serve with some shredded parmesan!

More Using Up of Fridge Remnants

I tend to buy too much stuff (curse of the asian woman, per P)

What do you do with one overly ripe banana, a handful of past it's prime strawberries?
Make a smoothie!

I used everything we got a week ago that was past it's prime or still partially used in the fridge"
1 banana
6 strawberries
splash of OJ
a few dollops of greek yogurt

blend until smooth. It's way cheaper than jamba juice, and your fridge is cleaner because of it!

Curry in a Hurry

This uses up all the leftovers in the fridge and then some!
prep 10 min
cook 40 min

-2 green bell peppers cubed
-half bag of baby carrots
-a few garlic cloves minced
-2 medium onions, cubed
-4-5 medium potatoes cubed
-3 chicken breasts, cubed and browned
-1 can curry paste (massala? brand)
-1 can coconut cream (or milk, I had cream in the house)
-some spring onion sprigs to top off

1. toss onions and garlic in some oil to brown, then add other veggies, layer can of curry and coconut cream to cook in
2. brown the chicken in a pan, then add to the curry mixture
3. top with a bit of paprika, more cumin and tumeric for added flavor
4. simmer for 30 minutes
5. top with some spring onion
6. layer on top of white rice to serve!

Good pantry items: potatoes, onions.
Good fridge items: carrots, peppers (they both tend to last a long time.

I made this without any new stocked ingredients (same as the previous tofu soup) but it's cuz I have a well stocked pantry!

Korean Soondubu Kravings

I have been craving korean tofu soup. I think it's good for my flu like symptoms. We were going to go out tonight for some, but then I started thinking that I may just have everything to make it at home!

I adapted this recipe and made it in my Le Crueset enameled iron pot because I don't have a dedicated clay pot for cooking this.

I used
fish sauce
dried kelp/seaweed
diced brown mushrooms (they're huge, not sure what kind they are, but when cooked they bring out lots of umami, yum!)
2 cans of chicken stock
2 boxes silken tofu (I buy the kind that can keep in the pantry- so they can last a long time!)
a few cloves of garlic
raw shrimp (and clams if you have it)
egg

I browned my diced mushrooms in some canola oil in the pot, and stirred in some crushed garlic (love my garlic crusher when needing a lot of garlic!)
I opted to skip the onion that the recipe recommended to make a lighter soup

I poured 2 cans chicken broth into the pot, dumped some kelp, 2 tsp fish sauce, lots of chili flakes, some whole dried chiles to taste. I cooked all this for about 30 min on simmer to allow the flavors to meld.

I then tossed in my silken tofu, and a few defrosted raw shrimp (they cook so fast!)

Lastly, after scooping into a bowl to serve, I put a raw egg on it just like in the korean restaurants!
Delish! Just what my tummy needed after feeling so sick these last few days!

Weekday Chinese Soup Adventures

Last weekend I stopped by an asian grocery store and explored their dried food aisle. I don't usually   spend much time there because I don't know what the ingredients are. I'm trying to duplicate the Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot, so I just grabbed the stuff I recognized.
red dried fruit (dates apparently)
little white seeds (lotus seed apparently)
little red dried things (wolfberry or medlar apparently)
dried shitake mushroom (I knew what this was-they look like mushrooms)

Anyways, so today was my first adventure into cooking asian soup (the real kind)

I tossed some of the above ingredients into a pot with water (some need presoaking, I used this as a guide) then added some chicken bouillon.
I also put some rice noodles and fish balls along with my root veggies (carrots, daikon)

Onward asian soup!

Weekday Muses

Photo Dump of all my weeknight dishes from March:

 Pictured above: Beef Stroganoff with Grilled Zucchini (my new fav veg!)

 Spinach, grilled chicken and fresh mozz sanwich with pita bread (all left overs)

Spicy Chicken with black beans

 Rice with parsley, Roasted Cauliflower, Pan seared Steak with cliantro dressing

Home made Apple Pie for Pi Day

Pan seared Chicken with mushrooms and green onions......

......served with mashed cauliflower!!