Artichokes and Pasta

After my class last night, I wanted to cook! We didn't cook anything at school so all the way home I was imagining what to fix myself. Tuna? No. Chicken? Nah. Pasta? Heck yes, but with what? Tomatoes, garlic, and butter. So I went straight to the market to pick up a few ingredients I needed. After picking up some pasta and beautiful roma tomatoes, I wanted to go look at the produce again to see if I wanted to add anything else. Luckily, out of the corner of my eye, I saw these giant, green artichokes! You don't know how I excited I was, I think I might have let out a little hoorah in front of everyone. I have been waiting for months for the market to start selling them, and it was only 2 for $4! Amazing! I got three. I rushed home and put two pots of water on.
Nothing is more comforting than pasta. My mom made it all the time when I lived at home. Now when I have it, I think of the times when pasta sauce stained my lips, and I would slurp it up like in Lady and the Tramp. People think seasoning the water with salt is bad for the pasta, when in Italy they think the water should taste and smell like the ocean. When in Rome. I cooked my artichoke for thirty minutes and cooked my spaghetti to al dente. Al dente comes from Italian and means "to the tooth" or "to the bite", referring to the need to chew the pasta due to its firmness. Basically, it's the best way to enjoy pasta.
I sauteed my largely chopped tomoatoes and garlic in butter and poured it over my spaghetti. I melted some more butter for my artichoke to dip in. The artichoke was already zesty so I didn't add any lemon juice to the butter. Perfectly cooked food and a happy stomach equals total bliss.
I love that simple ingredients can be so incredibly appetizing, if cooked properly. Pasta, garlic, tomatoes, garlic, and artichokes can make you feel like you are eating like a king, or in my case, a queen. Remember, cooking is not complicated. It only will be if you make it out to be. You are in control of your cooking, not your food.
Be creative, have fun, and be merry with food.



"These things are just plain annoying. After all the trouble you go to, you get about as much actual "food" out of eating an artichoke as you would from licking 30 or 40 postage stamps. Have the shrimp cocktail instead."
-Miss Piggy

Ribs

Ribs are everyone's guilty pleasure, whether they are pork, beef, Asian, BBQ, dry, or wet, they always please a crowd. In my last blog, I posted a picture of some awesome Pork ribs I made in my Catering class. The recipe was so easy, but so delicious and the ribs were very moist and tender, just the way I like them. So I decided to finally post my recipe! When I made it, I was just eyeballing everything. So I'm going to try really hard to make sure the amount of ingredients are ok. And remember, you can always add more or less of something if you want to! Remember, a cook is an artist, they have their own palette. Also, I will post the roasted Asian vegetable recipe!

Soy Sauce and Honey Pork Spare Ribs

Ingredients:
-2lb of pork spare ribs

-1 tbsp of cumin
-1 tbsp of onion powder
-2 tsp of chili powder
-1 tbsp of red pepper flakes
-2 tsp of cinnamon
-Pepper for taste, no salt!

-1 cup of soy sauce
-1 cup of honey
-1/4 cup of brown sugar
-1/2 cup of fish sauce
-1/4 cup of rice vinegar
-1 tbsp of red pepper flakes
-If it is still salty, add more honey

Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and a grill to high heat. If you do not have a grill, then a hot pan will do. I use my George Foreman grill at home.
-Mix the first 5 dry ingredients together. Coat the ribs with this dry mix well. Place on grill. This step is just to get a nice brown crust on the outside, not to cook all the way through.
-While the meat is on the grill combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. If you want more of a certain ingredient, add it!
-After the meat has a nice browned crust, place in a casserole dish. Pour your wet mixture over the meat evenly.
-Cover with foil!!!! This is important so that your meat won't dry out in the oven.
-Cook for 25 minutes.
-If it is not done, wait another 5 minutes.
-Serve and pour the extra juice over the meat.
-Enjoy!!!

Roasted Asian Veggies

Ingredients:
-1 onion, medium diced
-1 parsnip, diced
-1 bok choy, diced
-1 fennel bulb, diced
-1 Handful of cilantro, sprigs
-2 cups of teriyaki sauce
-1/4 cup of fish sauce
-1/4 cup of rice vinegar
-1 tbsp of red pepper flakes
-Napa Cabbage, optional, for presentation
-Can always add more of your favorite veggies!

Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
-Combine your cut up vegetables in a casserole dish. Place several cilantro sprigs over.
-In a bowl, combine your wet ingredients and red pepper flakes.
-Pour over your vegetables and stir.
-Cover with foil!!!
-Cook for 30 minutes. If the parsnips are still tough, cook for another 10 minutes.
-Place cabbage leaves along the outside of a platter.
-When vegetables are done, pour in the middle of the platter, over the cabbage leaves.
-Place fennel sprig over for presentation.
-Serve and enjoy!



Let me know if you decide to make it! It is scrumptious! When I made it a second time at home, I made mashed potatoes. I want something that would suck up all those juices! Bon Appétit!

"I am not a glutton - I am an explorer of food."
-Erma Bombeck

School

Sorry it's been almost a month since my last post! Things have been so busy with school and work I haven't been able to find the strength to sit down to blog. When I'm not busy, I'm either sleeping, with Matthew, or relaxing on the couch. And with everything going on, I'm still trying to find time to cook dinner at home, however I eat so well and so much at school sometimes, I don't cook or go out for several days! Free, delicious food. How much better does it get than that?
So, I love my classes that I am taking. Intro to Baking, Soups, Sauces and Consommes (yes, its all one class!), Intro to Foods, Catering, and Yoga!
In Intro to Foods, it's about learning all aspects of food and a kitchen. Very easy for me, but there is always so much to learn in this field!
In my Soups class, it's interesting and it is very important to know, however it is extremely boring! In the first class we had to make a chicken stock. After we put everything in a pot, we basically watched water boil for two hours. It's getting better though. We started doing sauces and we were able to make steak or chicken to go with our sauce. Finally, cooking!
Catering is by far my favorite class! In it, we are learning how to cook for buffets, family style dinners, plated banquets, and boxed lunches. In each class, my teacher buys a certain protein and vegetables. Each group gets the same thing and assigned different types of catering. I eat the best in that class.
I'm taking yoga for several reason. One, I want to strengthen my core, or really just my whole body. In a kitchen you stand all day and your back starts to compress so I really want to strengthen it as much as I can. Two, if I take it at school, I am more likely to go since it is for a grade and I will suffer the consequences more if I don't go.
Finally, there is Baking. I don't like it. "Hate" is too strong. I am awful at baking. Just last week I made pastry cream, and it didn't thicken right, so into the trash it went. I feel like when I mess up, it is a big deal, especially to my teacher. She never really helps, so it makes me want to give up even more. We made cookies the first week, and I was really good at that! I was amazing at it! I could make cookies with my eyes closed! I was ok when we did tarts, but again, my pastry cream didn't thicken right. I feel like I don't have the patience for this. In cooking I just estimate and add as much or little of something as I want and it is delicious and easy, but in baking, you have to measure every single thing, and sometimes I don't measure. If it looks like a teaspoon of salt, then it is a teaspoon of salt. I really want the Baking/Pastry degree. I think with it, along with the Culinary Arts and Culinary Management degrees, it will better my chances of getting a job. I don't need to know everything, but I will at least have experience of baking. And who knows, maybe it will grow on me. For right now though, it's like pulling teeth, and everyone "hates" having their teeth pulled.
Well, I hope you don't mind drooling. This is what I have made this semester so far.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies & Pumpkin Cookies with Cinnamon Cream

Stewed Chicken with Latin flavors, Sauteed Green Beans, and Roasted Red Potatoes

Orange Peel and Lime Crown Garnish for Hors D'oeuvres Cheese Platter

Soy Sauce/Honey Pork Spare Ribs and Roasted Asian Veggies

Fruit Tart with Homemade Pastry Cream

Hopefully, I will post more pictures soon! Enjoy and leave comments!

"Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie."
-Jim Davis

Siracha vs. Tabasco vs. Tiger Sauce

I love spicy food, however I like being in control of how much spice I get. Thank the food gods that someone invented these three sauces.
There is the Thai sauce, Siracha also known as "rooster sauce". It is great with any Thai food or just Asian food. It's spicy spicy spicy, but delicious, especially in Pho, a Vietnamese soup dish.
Then there is Tabasco sauce. I love Tabasco on eggs, but my favorite "flavor" is smoked Tabasco. It's has a BBQ taste to it. I love using it in my Mexican dishes, especially on my Chipotle burrito. I make spicy-veggie rice (recipe later) with the smoked Tabasco.
Last, but not least, Tiger sauce. I'm sure many of you haven't heard of it, but it is one of the greatest sauces ever. Go to the store, go in the sauce aisle, and it should be by specialty sauces, it has a tiger on it, obviously, buy it buy it. It can go on anything! Steak, fish, potatoes, breakfast, noodles, anything. My family is obsessed with it. It was the first sauce I really like when I was little.
All of these sauces are great go-to sauces from the fridge. Forget A1. Yuck!
Picking a favorite is hard. I like specific sauces on specific dishes. Try each if you haven't, your taste buds will thank you.

Ok this is my special Spicy Veggie Rice! I love having it with baked chicken.

Ingredients:
-3 cups of rice
-4 and a half cups of water
-2 Roma tomatoes, diced
-1 medium onion, diced
-1 red bell pepper, diced
-Smoked Tabasco

Directions:
Add water and rice together in a pot and bring to a boil uncovered. Once it comes to a boil, turn heat to low and cover. Wait 7 minutes and add veggies, don't stir. Cover. Check in 7 more minutes. When water is gone, test rice. If it is still crunchy, add a tablespoon of water and check in 5 minutes. Stir. When water is gone and rice is done, add Smoked Tabasco. Shake it a few times. Stir. No pepper, no salt. If you want it really spicy, go nuts! Serve and enjoy.

"In the orchestra of a great kitchen, the sauce chef is the soloist."
-Fernand Point

Chicken-Broccoli-Rice Casserole

This past weekend, I made my mom's chicken-broccoli-rice casserole, and it was to die for! Afterward, I made brownies from a box with Matthew! It was a wonderful dinner! This recipe is so good, I have to share it with everyone! I hope you don't mind, Mom.

Ingredients:
-2 to 3 Chicken Breasts, cubed
-4 tablespoons of butter
-1 whole small onion, or half a medium onion, diced
-1 cup or 4 stalks of celery, medium diced
-2 cans of cream of chicken soup
-2 cups of chicken broth
-2 cups of cheese, preferably cheddar
-3 cups of cooked rice
-Frozen bag of broccoli
-4 slices of bread, preferably whole wheat, cut into cubes (croutons)
-Pepper, no salt!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add cubed chicken. In a large pot or deep skillet melt about 2 tablespoons of butter and add onions and celery. After both veggies have been sauteed, add in cream of chicken and only a cup of chicken broth to start out with. Add all the cheese, and cooked rice. To have less pots to clean, I just buy three packs of Uncle Ben's microwavable rice. When chicken is done cooking in boiled water add to mixture. Microwave broccoli for about a minute, just to thaw it out a little, then add to mixture. Add pepper for taste. If mixture is too thick, add more chicken broth. You want it thick and not soupy. Remember, it's a casserole, not soup. Transfer mixture to a 9x13 casserole dish. Melt remaining butter in a skillet and add bread cubes. Once those are lightly toasted, place on top of the casserole. They will toast more in the oven and give a great crunchy texture to this meal. Don't mix! Place the casserole in the oven for 30 minutes. That should be plenty of time for all of the flavors to ooze together. Serve in a bowl, and to add a kick, it is great with Tiger sauce, located in sauce/dressing aisle. Bon Appétit!

"Food is not about impressing people. It's about making them feel comfortable."
-Ina Garten

Foodie

Last night, I had the hardest time falling asleep. I wasn't stressed or worried about anything. My mind kept thinking about food. Eating it, writing about it, cooking it, shopping for it, playing with it, being creative with it, on and on and on. I think now I am an official "Foodie". When the thought of food comes into my mind, which is almost every second, I obsess over it. So now since I am obsessing over it, I think I can now say I am an official "Foodie". Just in case you aren't sure what a "Foodie" is, let me explain. The dictionary say that a "Foodie" is "someone who has an ardent or refined interest in food". They can't just like food. They have to be interested in learning about it and knowing many aspects of it, such as the history, production, seasonal, science, how to prepare, varieties, and so on. I am interested in everything there is to know about food to kitchen appliances. There is so much to know. The world of food has endless knowledge. I am going to school for culinary arts and I've worked in some restaurants and I don't know everything, and I know one day that I won't know everything about it, but I am looking forward to learning about food as much as I possibly can. I love making people happy and smile. Cooking for someone is a way for me to express myself to whoever it may be. I love spending money on food, not in the sense of dining out, but in a market, like Sunflower Market across the street from me. The produce from there is incredible! I wish the truck would come stop by my little apartment and give me big giant heirloom tomatoes and basil and some California artichokes! Sigh, if only.
Being a "Foodie", you also write about food. So in this blog, I am TRYING to write about all these experiences I have. I feel like I am writing it more for me than anything because in ten years I want to look back and see what impact food had on me. However, is anyone out there reading this? Maybe?

"Food is our common ground, a universal experience."
-James Beard

Eggs

I love eggs! Scrambled or over easy is the best. However, my favorite way to enjoy eggs is a country scramble. Never heard of it? Get ready to taste something exhilarating, egg style.
First, butter. Butter is your friend and is they to help with your eggs. Do about a tablespoon of butter in a skillet and coat the pan. Add whatever you want to it! Onions, tomatoes, peppers, ham, bacon, jalapenos, sausage, whatever you have on hand. I like just veggies in it. So saute your ingredients until they are just about done. Crack two eggs into a bowl. I learned that if you crack an egg on a flat surface it will crack easier and won't get egg shell into the bowl. Do not whisk your eggs! I repeat, do not whisk your eggs! Otherwise, it will not be a country scramble. Add the two eggs to the pan. Let the egg whites cook. When they are halfway cooked add whatever cheese you want, pepper jack and cheddar are usually best. Then poke, with your spatula, the eggs yolks, and scramble the eggs. Cook it til how runny or overdone you like your eggs. On top you can put avocados. The best way to enjoy this is to put smoked Tabasco on top. Serve and enjoy! It's simply delicious!
Last night, I went to my friend, Mackenzie's, house. We were watching Julie and Julia, and got a huge craving for eggs after the scene when she cooks eggs. So we paused the movie, and I made us this delicious country scramble. We didn't have much in it, but it was perfect. We added onions, pepper jack cheese, avocado on top, and smoked Tabasco. It was bliss! All this blogging about it is making me hungry.

"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like eggs-and-ham breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."
-Author Unknown