Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Sauceless Pizza

After and extremely trying day at work, my biggest questions is : What am I gonna make for dinner and what goes good with a glass of white wine?

Basically, my day sucked yesterday and well, family issues definitely didn't help make it any better. All I could really think about towards 4pm is what am I gonna have for dinner and what kind of white wine I should get. I was browsing online for recipes of comfort food. Let me tell you, comfort food ain't so comforting for the person making it~! Comfort food takes A LOT of time and tons of ingredients that are not readily available in my kitchen nor at most chain grocery stores.

Once again, my old friend Fresh & Easy came through for me. They usually have a pretty good selection of wine so I went there in search of a good bottle of white and hoping that wandering down the isles would give me some inspiration.

When I think of white wine I always always think of cheese. Might be the whole white thing. I think of cheese, green grapes and some sarong wearing, wash board abs pool boy fanning me with a giant banana leaf and feeding me grapes. I kid I kid. I only think of cheese and green grapes. So, what better way to eat cheese than having it warm and melty on pizzas? Ready made fresh pizza dough is awesome~! I remember a Food Network show I saw awhile back that had something called a sauceless pizza. I was intrigued by the idea. I mean, how do you have a pizza without sauces? The best part of the pizza is the sauce~!

Anyway, I digress. Sauceless pizza pretty much means what it is, sauceless. The way I see it, sauceless is just another excuse for me to load up on cheese...mmmmm....cheese.

So this is what I put on my sauceless pizza. Ricotta and mozzerella cheese; fresh grape tomatoes, sliced; a handful of torn arugula leaves; sprinkling of garlic infused olive oil and then a generous amount of fresh cracked black pepper and some salt. Bake in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.

And.........

It. Was. Awesome. And paired with a glass or two.....or three....of Chardonnay....yummmmm. *sigh* <----content sigh *grin*

Monday, September 20, 2010

Chicken Adobo

It's been awhile since I've had time to cook. It has been a busy month. Weddings, birthdays, MBA school info sessions....man I'm tired. So what events did I miss blogging? Did I mention I got a puppy? She takes up most of my free time, especially during the weekdays. I'm thinking that sometime in the near futre, I'll give some doggie treat recipes a try. Also, me and the bf celebrated our one year anniversary. Can't believe it's only been a year. The way we argue, you'd think that we've been together for a looooong time. =P

So, the bf went on a motorcycle ride with his buddies this past Sunday and was gone for the better part of the day. With roughly 6 hours of free time, what did I do? I decided to cook of course~!

I drove myself to a nearby 99 Ranch (it's an asian supermarket for those of you who don't life in the San Gabriel Valley area or don't have any asian friends) without much of an idea as to what I was going to make. I only knew that I'd wanted to get some green grapes for the bf cuz he's had this thing for crunchy green grapes for awhile and well, green grapes at stores like Ralphs and Fresh & Easy just aren't as crunchy. When it comes to fruits, hands down, asian supermarkets' got it right.

As I was wandering down the overly crowded aisles at 99 Ranch, I remembered that I had some recipes on my phone. Chicken Adobo was the first recipe I came across so there you have it. It's fate~!

Well not really, it's mostly cuz chicken adobo's easy to make and require less ingredients.

The recipe calls for a 3 lbs whole chicken quartered, 1 cup of soy sauce, 1 1/4 cup white vinegar, 2 bay leaves, black peppercorn, 1 glove of garlic and a few slices of ginger. Instead of getting a whole chicken, I opted for some drummettes and wings instead. Not a fan of having to dissect a raw chicken. And instead of white vinegar, I used cidar vinegar because that's what I had on hand and figured that added bit of sweetness might be a nice touch. It'll make the sourness less harsh. So I pretty much just put all the ingredients in a pot and brought it to a boil. I let it boil for about 10 minutes, all the while stirring and basting the chicken to make sure they get a nice brown tint to it from the soy sauce. After about 10 min of boiling, I turned the heat down to a simmer and just let it sit there for a good 30 minutes to an hour, occasionally stirring so nothing sticks.

It might not seem like there would be much liquid to properly cook the chicken, but the chicken itself has a lot of moisture so there wasn't any problem there. I have this thing with adding onions to a lot of my dishes. I have no idea why except I like that added veggies that goes into a meat dish. Makes me feel a little less guilty about consuming all that meatage. =P So I sliced up a medium onion and tossed it into the pot to cook along with the chicken. If you're a purest when it comes to cooking, nix the onion part cuz I don't think that's very filipino.

Not quite sure if the bf liked the dish or not since he didn't eat much of it but I certainly liked it. I'm a fan of anything sour. I'm thinking next up, a jicama recipe. I found some at the 99 Ranch market and totally brought back memories of my childhood in Thailand. Suggestions anyone?

Monday, June 14, 2010

Date Night Dinner

So the boyfriend has this thing with food with fruits in it. In my opinion, what's better with fruits than pork? I've had quite a few bad experiences with pork chops so I decided that as much as pork chops and applesauce might be the thing that the boyfriend would be like most, I went with a nice pork loin.

I googled some recipes for marinating the pork loin but ultimately settled for a variation of a few dry rubs that I found. I used a dry rub consisting of garlic powder, chilli powder, sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, and brown sugar. It gave the pork loin a nice spicy kick and the brown sugar made a nice crispy coating. Oh but I didn't stop at the dry rub. I also made fruity glaze to go on top of the pork loin which doubles as a glaze and dipping sauce. I reduced some concentrated raspberry juice, added in some apricot jam, some garlic powder to make it a savory glaze and a slight touch of honey to mellow out the tartness of the raspberry juice. And then of course, I must have applesauce. Made some homemade applesauce which the bf thought was store bought. Guess I did my job there.

Now the question came down to, what about the side dish? I left that up to my trusty Fresh & Easy stor3. Found myself some arborio rice. Why of course~! Risotto~!

I've never attempted risotto before. It always seems to me that it's something that's slaved over and has to be done just right, preferrably in a full stocked kitchen at a five star restaurant prepared by a chef that studied under some french chef in Paris for 10 years or something. Well, I've definitely never studied under any french chef in Paris nor do I have a full stocked kitchen (I live at home and shares the kitchen with a 2 yr old niece that likes to play tea with the pot and pans). But there were definitely some slaving away in front of the stove. Apparently you can't take your eyes off the risotto or it burns. And the constant stirring. Seriously, I couldn't even tear myself away for long enough to give my bf the proper greeting when he showed up =P.

Thankfully the risotto didn't burn, the pork loin came out perfectly cooked and the bf now thinks I'm an awesome cook (ok, I lied about the awesome part but at least he thinks i'm a decent cook). Can't wait to finally have my own kitchen where my electric mixer attachments won't mysteriously end up in my niece's playhouse.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Whore's Spagehtti

Yes, I said whore. I made Pasta Puttenesca for my mom today for mother's day. It turned out great. It's a great salty dish consistign of anchovies, olives, garlic, tomatoes and sun dried tomatoes. Of course, I didn't exactly do my homework until afterwards. I wikipediaed pasta puttanesca and realized that it's commonly known as whore's pasta. Oi. Well, I guess no one has to know about that lil part. Anyway, happy mother's day to all the mothers out there~!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Carb-o-rific Weekend

Oh the carb overload this weekend~! I wonder how many bike rides or skipped lunches it takes to make up for my carbfest this weekend.

Let's start with how I came about the guilty pleasure that is baked brie. A few weeks back, me and Kathy went to a hole in the wall wine bar for some girl time. We had heard that they served one mean baked brie in bread bowl. We heard right. So about 10 minutes before leaving work on Friday, I'd decided that I'm going to recreate that baked brie. Did I ever mention that I love Fresh & Easy? Since I don't exactly live near a farmers market nor am I snotty enough for places like Gelsons, Fresh & Easy has been my go to store for all spur of the moment food obsessions. And it does help that there's one right around the corner from my house.

So, I found some brie, sourdough bread bowl and some Granny Smith green apples. And this is where the excess indulgence begins. I cut off the top of the bread bowl and hollowed out the inside. I cut up the brie into half inch cubes to allow for faster melting and placed them in the bread bowl. I actually stuck the bread bowl into the microwave for about a minute to help the melting along. Set the oven at 400° F and then popped it in for about 15-20 minutes.

All I can say is MmmmMmmMmmmmMmMmmmm. The bread came out nice and crunchy on the outside but warm and chewy on the inside. The cheese was all gooey and melty and made a perfect dip for the sliced green apples. The saltiness of the brie works great with the tangy sweetness of the apples. And of course, I devoured the apple slices with the brie like I
had the body of Heidi Klum. Oh but it didn't stop there. The best part was the actual bread bowl. The oil from the melted cheese had seeped into the bread bowl and a layer of the brie had adhered itself to the bread as if to say "eat me". Who am I to say no to that? Yup, I ate the whole bread bowl.

What I've learned this weekend - yeasty, chewy, crunchy bread makes me happy. =D And the guilt that comes with scarfing down a giant wedge of brie and a whole sourdough bread bowl? Considering how I made another baked brie in sourdough bread bowl (3 more to be exact) for a lunch party my brother threw at the house - I think it's safe to say that the yummy goodness of the baked brie totally eclipse the number of hours of biking that I'll have to do to get rid of all those calories. =P

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Comfort Food

What do I want after a long day at work surrounded by people who irritates me simply by existing? Oh the answer is clear. Good old fashion, make you smile and give a sigh of contentment, grits. I'm sure it's not everyday you find a lil asian girl eating grits let alone making grits and calling it comfort food. Oh but it is so comforting. Today I made grits with sharp cheddar cheese, black forrest ham and corn. I have to admit that it's nothing fancy and bacon would've made this dish even yummier. But alas, this lil asian girl was not blessed with the genes where she can eat anything and not have it all go to her butt and thighs.

Oh yes, back to the grits. I used 2% milk instead of water to make it even creamier. Brought it to a boil and added in some ham for flavor. Feel free to substitute the ham with bacon. Added the grits as the bag instructed. Once it's all nice and cooked, I added in a tab of butter because I just couldn't help myself. Some cheddar cheese, canned corn and a dash of sea salt and yayyyy, I've got me some cheesy, creamy, comforting grits. Now all I really need is a nice cold beer and for all the annoying stupid people to disappear from the face of the earth. *Sigh* if only.