lo mein

inspired by you tube, Ready , Jet, Cook, Jet Tila, an adaption of recipe, Food Network

noodle time….semolina… Bob’s Red Mill recipe, fine noodle attachment on the pasta machine.

…….. or use store bough FRESH noodle

prep up ingredients….. from what I have on hand… here I have fresh harvested kale for greens , carrot matchsticks, sliced onions, ginger, garlic, hot pepper, sauce mixture with cornstarch , shrimp paste, boiled noodle

saute the onion…..

add in the carrot………….

cook till carrot tender… add the rest of ingredients…then the sauce, toss…

the sauce will start to thicken, keep tossing….

add the noodle…….

toss to coat and distribute sauce to the noodles

plate up……

add sesame seed (not shown)

 

pasta and tomato with a few others

Back to the garden, this year the tomatoes were soil based rather than the hydroponic which the tomatoes don’t seem to tolerate the high temps of the summer. Still some greens were still used in the hydroponics, some tat-soi and kale mostly.

The tomatoes flourished as removing the suckers resulted in  new heights for the plants and excellent fruit production for both the Roni and Sakura variety.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After numerous salads and the like, I made a pasta dish, simple, quick as one does not want to be over the stove in hot weather, and tasty. Rather bore you with a recipe or technics, let the pictures do the storytelling.

 

 

 

 

Thai spice paste

• 1/2 Teaspoon cumin (ground/seed)
• 1 Teaspoon salt
• 2 Teaspoon pepper (triple blend black,white,  Szechuan)
• 2 Teaspoon red pepper (dried hot red pepper)
• 1 Teaspoon lemongrass (diced)
• 2 Tablespoon garlic (minced/granulated)
• 2 Tablespoon ginger (minced/ dried)
• 2 Tablespoon coconut
• 1 Tablespoon sugar (palm or unprocessed)

the above is the basic ingredients , some were (substituted) and the measured amounts can vary.

Basically all ingredients minced by the food processor into a paste.

Stored in a mason jar for use, marinade and seasonings.

pasta with spicy tomato sauce (all’arrabiata)

Pasta and sauce, there are countless recipes, yep just boil up some pasta and throw in a can or bottle of sauce your done !

OR…. Start some sauce early in the morning and tend the pot all day !

Strike a balance with this recipe , quick and easy, some prep involved but the time is worth the effort in the finish. No meat is involved so it could be served as a side dish as well.

Recipe and technic is from Nick Stellino

Pasta with spicy tomato sauce

 

• 1 lb pasta, penne
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper flakes
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
• 1 and 1/2 cups tomato sauce
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 4 tablespoons romano or parmesan cheese

In a pot of water under cook the pasta by 2 minutes

In a large pan (big enough to hold both the pasta and sauce) heat the oil and add the red pepper flakes 

 

 

 

 

…..add the garlic cook a minute or two  Add 2 tablespoons of the parsley to the pan, stir well.

 

 

 

 

Now add the tomato sauce and stock, bring to a boil and stir for 5 minutes.

 

drain and add the pasta

……and continue to cook till almost all the sauce is absorbed by the pasta.

Off heat add the grated cheese and stir to incorporate.

Plate and garnish with parsley and grated cheese.

Red pepper heat is as much as you add to the recipe. Reminds me of a traditional american chop suey recipe as the pasta is cooked in the sauce. As a personal note this is to me actually better served cold, once refrigerated, eaten from a tupperware type container later in the evening. 🙂

 

Egg and sausage

A food processor makes a quick task of making sausage meat, a bit of pork diced to facilitate chopping then add spices of what you like. I added some bacon for the fat content and other  spices and herbs. Stored in a plastic bag refrigerated at least overnight gives me fresh sausage meat to use in recipes or alone as a patty.

broiled sausage pattie,served on a large peice of toast with some green lettuce,egg and a cup of Mexican (origin) coffee.

BBQ chicken

Technically the first charcoal grille of the season a smoked BBQ chicken. The plan is to smoke a chicken beer can style vertically.

The bird was also going to be brined. After searching for a couple of recipes for brining I did the following.

Bag yourself a bird

Gathered ingredients for the brine:

salt

sugar, white

olive oil

lemon peels

orange peels

garlic

bay leafs

onion, white

black peppercorns

red pepper flakes

Brine Ingredients

Roughly cut the onion, fruit peels and garlic. The fruit skin sections were from frozen saved sections in lieu of lemon juice.

The salt amount will be the most  required (about a half a cup) to brine, all other ingredients are for flavor and since the bird is going to be rubbed and smoked the flavorings and herbs are kept at a minimum.

Place the ingredients in a saucepan with about 1/2 the amount of water you need to soak the chicken.

Bring the mixture to a boil and remove from heat and let steep essentially making a tea for the bird.

Chicken Brine

Add cold water to bring the amount necessary to submerge the bird.

I am using a 1 gallon  plastic bag in this case, better than a rigid container as it uses less water and allow the bird to be completed surrounded by the brine.

(The 1 gallon bag leaked so I had to double bag it with a burrito bag)

Prepare the whole chicken:

This is like giving the chicken a spa treatment, unwrap and wash and rinse the bird, place in a plastic Ziploc bag and pour in the cool brine solution. Let the chicken sit in the fridge 2 to 3 hours at best , more than this I’m told will make the bird too salty.

When the brine is completed, remove from the solution rinse the bird and pat dry.

All brined and ready for a Rub

Massage the chicken thoroughly with a seasoned rub to your preference, usually I make my own rub but I have many varieties that were gifted to me over the years.

Place the chicken in another clean plastic bag and you can add more rub at this point and massage it in the bag.

Application of the Rub

Let sit again for about and hour or two, prep the grille at this point and or find something else to do.

Originally I use a vertical roaster for chickens but wanted to try the beer can method, not having a beer can I immediately jumped in my car and went out to buy some beer…. NO WAY.  Instead, I used a 14 ounce tomato can jammed into the chicken.

Now this will have to be referred to as tomato can chicken! Allow the chicken to stand up on a tin foil pie pan and then fill the can with white wine. (The wine was what I had in the fridge you can use beer or whatever.)

After starting a batch of charcoal , yes, this can be considered an all day affair making  this bird,  the charcoal pan was lowered into the Charbroil smoker and filled with the prepared embers.  Above that a grille grate with the chicken standing in the pie pan. The usual method I use to BBQ smoke is to add pellets, in this case a mix of oak and hickory, to the charcoal, cover and let it smoke away. Ahh what a aroma !!!Never seem to get enough pictures outside of the grille setup.

The temp was in the low end for BBQ, so I roughly figured about 1 and 1/2 hours.

At 2 hours the temp of the bird was almost up to par.

That turned out to be more like 3 hours, adding more pellets along the way the temp stayed steady for those 3 hours.

Well now being at the late hour I didn’t  get to taste the juiciness of the bird, as I decided to refrigerate it for the next day.

Now even cold it’s a tasty treat, smoke of course is the dominate flavor and the skin is like a smoked sausage skin, snappy.

The carved pieces were  wrapped in romaine lettuce leaves and eaten to enjoy the smoky flavor.

I guess lemonade would be good to quench the smoky  flavor.

Roasted Tomato and red pepper lasagna

Not to be redundant, but here is another what have you recipe for lasagne with on hand ingredients.
The leek and potato soup was used as a cream sauce for the layering. See:/potato and leek soup
Layers were composed of roasted red peppers and tomato with garlic, cooked ground beef, american cheese.

Roast veggies in a covered container and strain. This was for a small amount. A small oven proof dish for two servings sufficed. />
note : also use your favorite herbs

The leek and potato soup made this a tasty lasagna filling.

Eggplant, red pepper and mushroom pizza

A few ingredients for a spectacular pizza.
Slice up the eggplant, salt and sandwich between paper bags to draw out excess moisture.

Julienne cut red pepper and garlic to taste.

Prepare the dough as per your favorite recipe, ah, ah, ah no store bought dough !

Dice up the roasted eggplant, that’s after its rinsed and placed on a sheet pan and roasted in the oven.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the dough. a slight sprinkle of grated cheese.

Bake and serve.

For this crust, I placed some seeds in the pan, a cast iron skillet, under the dough when pressing it in the pan. A flavorful addition.

Tomato Vegetable soup/sauce base

Similar to Tomato Sauce with Pasta and Veggies

Checking the contents of the fridge, and since I haven’t made a soup type meal in a while, It would be a good idea to start with a vegetable based soup/sauce to use during the week. So I started dicing to a small, about 1/4 inch dice….. 

 

green bell  pepper, celery, onions, red bell pepper, mushroom, under the knife, (I peel the onion after slicing). You can geek it up and arrange the diced veggies on a plate like a pie graph. (Learning to use the camera on a mini tripod and setting the timer to take the picture.)

Close up view, isn’t digital photography wonderful ! Theirs no lack of film ! Instant gratification!

  

I chose the stainless steel fry pan with about 2 tablespoons butter. The pan is hot but once the veggies are going turn down to a simmer just to soften as they will later cook  in the sauce.

 

Started the base with frozen stock and there was about 1/2 can of tomatoes in the fridge, added, and set to a simmer.

While everything’s percolating along, empty the dishwasher, gotta get my exercise!

Added the sautéed veggies to the pot, I shaved about 1/2 of a frozen hot Italian sausage and diced for a bit of flavor. I don’t want to add any other meat to keep this sauce as flexible as possible for future use, lets say with chicken, sausage, beans or compliment with pasta or on a pizza shell . Hmmm over morning eggs would be great too. Just some crusty bread would be good right about now.

 

 Are you ready for this ! How could I forget garlic!

The final product, like they say you should be here to smell this.

I sweetened it with some simple syrup, then salt and pepper, a bit of herbs and a pinch of spices, just a dash of a dry rub.

It’s somewhat on the thin side but could be simmered down depending on it’s use. Would make a hearty stew don’tcha think?

tomato, beef and red peppers, over noodles

Instead of stir fry, this meal cooks easy under a broiler

you could substitute rice or rice noodles.

preheat broiler

• lay strips of marinated beef strips on a small broiler pan lined with aluminum foil.
• Top with with fresh sliced tomatoes wedges, diced or sliced red bell pepper and mushrooms.
• Place under broiler close to the heat as possible.
• Roll out previously mixed refrigerated noodle dough, through a pasta machine, then the noodle attachment  and boil noodles while beef cooks
• Rotate broiler pan as necessary.
• Plate up the noodles, top with a few herbs, parsley, etc and top with the cooked beef mixture, of course with any juices. The marinade and herbs accounts for the seasonings, omit any salt and pepper.
• Let the plate set a few minutes to blend the flavors while you do a small clean up.

The marinade I used was a bottled preparation from Trader Joes. I had tasted this before, checked the ingredients and found out it closely resembles a fresh oriental marinade that I usually make from scratch.

If you don’t mind making pasta dough and having the beef prepared and marinated beforehand, this meal is relatively fast to make.

marinade:

Soyaki

Soy Sauce,sugar,crushed garlic,sesame seeds,soybean oil,ginger puree,white vinegar,soy powder,sesame oil,garlic granules,minced onion,onion powder,ginger powder.