WbLL- what boredom looks like...

Noodles in Peanut Butter Sauce

0 Comments Published by WBLL on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 9:29 AM.

Maybe a peanut butter and pasta combination isn’t as American as a PB&J, but you will find it just equally as satisfying. Whether for a quick lunch or a side dish for an asian-inspired meal, a bit of ginger, veggies and peanuts can go a long way. Here is the recipe:

1 Package lo mein or wheat noodles

½ cup green onion , chopped

2 cup finely shredded carrot

1 cup mushrooms

2 cup shredded lettuce (Romaine)

3 tablespoons minced fresh garlic

1 tablespoon grated ginger

2 tablespoon honey

¼ cup organic peanut butter

¼ cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

½ tablespoon crushed red pepper

¼ cup water

Oil

Boil the pasta until tender (al dente) and drain. Toss the noodles with a little bit of vegetable oil (two teaspoons) and set aside.

In a sauté pan (or wok), sauté the onions, ginger, garlic carrots and mushrooms in three tablespoons of olive oil (vegetable oil will do). Once the carrots are tender, add water, vinegar, soy sauce, red pepper flakes and honey and allow to cook for one minute. As mixture is simmering add the peanut butter and swirl around the pot until dissolved. Turn off the mixture, before adding the noodles and lettuce. Toss like a salad to incorporate and it is ready to serve. A sprinkling of chives is a nice touch.

Labels: Noodles, Savory

Savory: Spicy Shrimp Tacos (with coleslaw dressing)

0 Comments Published by WBLL on Monday, April 26, 2010 at 4:04 PM.

I was in the mood to make something with whole wheat flour, and decided on tortillas. Then, I had to think of something to fill the tortillas. Since I was investing more time than I wanted to on the tortillas, the filling had to be really simple, hence, I decided to make spicy shrimp tacos. (Please click here for the tortillas recipe)

Ingredients

1 lb large shrimp (shelled and cleaned)

¼ cup olive oil

2 tbsp butter

Rub

1/4 cup paprika

2 tbsp garlic powder

2 tbsp onion powder

2 tsp cayenne powder

2 tbsp salt

2 tbsp black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to broil. In a small bowl combine the rub ingredients, and whisk until well incorporated. In a large bowl add the shrimp, and then pour the rub mix over it, toss until all the shrimp are combined. Then, pour in the olive oil, and toss until there is an even coating on the shrimp, it should look like a dry paste. Remove the shrimp from the mixture and put on a lined or non-stick sheet tray. Arrange so that they are not on top of one another. Dot them with the butter, and put into the oven, on broil. After about two or three minutes, remove and flip them to the other side, and put them back into the oven for another 2 minutes. When you can see the pink flesh through the rub mix, remove and set aside to rest.

Summer Coleslaw

The hardest part of this recipe is the vinaigrette, which isn’t hard at all—and maybe the shredding.

½ Cup shredded carrots

1 cup shredded cabbage

¼ cup thinly cut red onion

Vinaigrette

1 tbsp mayonnaise

½ tbsp Dijon mustard

½ tsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp lemon juice

In a bowl, add the shredded carrots, cabbage and onion. In another small bowl mix the mayonnaise and the mustard, with all the vinaigrette ingredients. Whisk together. Pour the mixture over the shredded vegables and toss until all the vegetables are covered. Cover the bowl, and refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the tacos..

In conclusion: To make the tacos you simply put a couple of spoonfuls of coleslaw on a warm tortilla, and about 2 or 3 shrimp--depending on the size of your shrimps or tortillas--fold it all up and enjoy.

Labels: Savory, Shrimp

Savory: Whole Wheat Tortillas

0 Comments Published by WBLL on at 3:54 PM.

I searched the internet looking for Whole wheat tortillas, partly because they were overpriced at my local grocer, and partly because it looked like something that should have been easy to make. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com, and I liked the turn out. I made mine a bit on the thick side because I was going to use them for tacos.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup shortening

1 teaspoons salt

3/4 cups boiling water

Extra flour for rolling

In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup all-purpose flour, the whole wheat flour, and salt. Rub in the shortening by hand until the mixture is the texture of oatmeal. Make a well in the center, and pour in the boiling water. Mix with a fork until all of the water is evenly incorporated. Sprinkle with a bit of additional flour, and knead until the dough does not stick to your fingers. The dough should be smooth. Make balls the size of golf balls, about 2 ounces each. Place them on a tray, and cover with a cloth. Let stand for at least 1 hour, or up to 8 hours. Heat a griddle or large frying pan over high heat. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a tortilla to your preferred thinness. Fry one at a time. Place on the griddle for 10 seconds, as soon as you see a bubble on the top, flip the tortilla over. Let it cook for about 30 seconds, then flip and cook the other side for another 30 seconds. Roll out the next tortilla while you wait for that one to cook. Repeat until all of the balls have been cooked. Tortillas can be refrigerated or frozen.

Recipe from here…

Labels: Bread, Savory

Savory: Egg Drop Soup to feel better

0 Comments Published by WBLL on Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 7:04 PM.

I am under the weather (don’t know why we have that saying), and I wanted to make soup. Too lazy to make a dramatic soup, but still with the wish to be cheered up, I made a quick standby, egg drop. And just because I am me, I added veggies to it--a meal is not a meal without veggies. The outcome: a very light and tasty, vegetarian soup (no, not vegan, ahem, egg is in the title).

Ingredients:

5 cups Vegetable stock

½ tsp grated ginger

1tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp cornstarch

2 eggs (beaten)

1 green onion (chopped)

2 cloves of garlic (minced)

1 tbsp butter

3 tbsp olive oil (or any oil)

1 ½ cups of petit pois , or green peas (frozen, if not fresh, but definitely not canned)

Salt and pepper to taste

Bring the vegetable stock, ginger and soy sauce to a boil in a medium sauce pan. At the same time, in a small sauté pan, add the butter and the oil. Then, add the garlic and the petit pois, and sauté for a couple of minutes or until they are tender, then set aside.

Once the stock is boiling, make slurry by putting about 2 tbsps of the boiling stock in a separate cup with the cornstarch and vigorously stir until pasty. Once the cornstarch is dissolved pour the mixture back into the pot of stock, whisking it in so that it dissolves quickly. Turn the flame down to a simmer, and then add your beaten eggs in slowly. They should feather out instantly. Then add your chopped green onions, and your sautéed peas. Let cook for about one minute and then it is ready to serve.

Labels: Savory

Savory: Solomon Gundy and Johnny Cakes

1 Comments Published by WBLL on Sunday, April 4, 2010 at 5:25 PM.

I love the taste of pickled fish--as does half the world, I suspect--and even more if it is worked into a spread. My sister always buys Solomon Gundy, but I know it is not always available overseas so I decided to try to make it. After scouring the internet trying to find a good recipe, I found one on www.jamaicanrecipes.com , but wasn’t quite the herring spread I was used to. So, I tweaked the recipe, and voila, I got the stuff I was used to buying, minus all the preservatives.

Ingredients:

1 lb. Smoked Herring

½ doz. Allspice balls (pimentos)

½ cup Red Wine Vinegar

1 Large Onion (chopped)

1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper or Habernero Pepper

1 Stalk Scallion

½ tsp. Thyme

4 tbsp. Olive Oil

1 tbsp vegetable oil for frying.

1 tsp. Sugar

In a sauce pan, bring some water to a boil BEFORE adding the smoked herring. Like salted cod, this is to remove the majority of the salt from the fish. After about 10-15 minutes drain the fish and taste it. If it is too salty, you might have to redo this process. Once drained, try to take as many of the bones out of the fish, even as many of the smaller bones, as possible.

In another small sauce pan add the red wine vinegar, the sugar and the pimento balls. Warm the liquid until the sugar is dissolved, but do not boil—this should take only a couple of minutes. In the meantime add the onions, thyme, scallion, and oil into the blender and puree until white and pasty. Then, add the deboned fish and the vinegar MINUS the pimento balls—trust me you are done with the balls for this portion of the recipe. Blend until the fish is broken apart and well mixed with the onions.

In a large frying pan, heat up the vegetable oil. Add the blended mixture and cook until the bits of onions are translucent, and the mixture looks dry, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and refrigerate until cool, then it is ready to serve.

Johnny Cakes

When in doubt, I always make fried dumplings called Johnny cakes--not to be confused with the Jamaican fried dumplings, which are spherical balls. Yes, Johnny cakes have gotten me out of many a afternoon snack, Sunday brunch, dinner-time-and-where-are-the-rolls, fixes. So here is the quick recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup plain white flour

3 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

3 tbsp butter

1 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying

In a bowl mix together the whole wheat and white fours with the baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix until well blended. Then knife in the butter, chopping it in until the mixture is little balls the size of peas. Then, add your water and kneed it, forming a large dough ball. The mixture, once well combined, should not stick to your floured fingers, if it does, then add a little more whole wheat flour. Form little balls about 2 inches in diameter, and then press them flat starting from the middle of the ball leaving the edges thicker. Prick with a fork in the middle, this will help them cook.

On a medium flame, heat up the vegetable oil in a frying pan, the oil should come up about 1/8” in the pot. Once you get the rippled effect on the bottom of the pan, add the pieces of dough. Fry until golden brown around the edges, and then flip to fry the other side. Should take about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove from the oil when golden brown, and rest aside on a paper toweled plate. Should make about 12 Johnny cakes.

Labels: fish, Savory

Savory: Dry fried shrimp and peanut sauce

1 Comments Published by WBLL on Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 6:17 AM.

I like dry fried shrimp because I am lazy, and do not always feel like cleaning up an egg mixture. So normally what I do is I rinse the shrimp, let them hang out in a colander for a second—just to get excess water off them, not to completely air dry them, and then I dump them in the dry ingredients. There are many other batters involving beers, seltzer water, milk, etc.—but I prefer to keep it simple, most of the time.

Ingredients:

1 lb of large prawns

(should give you about 15-20 shrimp, if you want more, might I suggest you get 2 lbs.)

¼ cup whole wheat flour (a hearty flour is preferred)

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp salt

½ cup vegetable oil

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl, and toss the damp shrimp into the mixture. Press the flour onto the flesh of the shrimp to ensure an even coating. In a medium frying pan, on a medium to high flame, heat the oil until hot. Add the shrimp to the oil, frying them about 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Your shrimp should be curl like a ‘e’, if they curl like an tight spiral, they are over cooked. Remove the cooked shrimp, placing them in a bowl with a paper towel, to absorb the excess oil.

Peanut butter sauce:

Ingredients

¼ cup smooth peanut butter (natural peanut butter is best)
¼ cup soy sauce

2 tbsp of vegetable oil
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ cup water
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Combine all of the ingredients into a 1 quart saucepan, and on a low flame whisk until the peanut butter is completely dissolved. You can also throw it all into a microwaveable container, cook for about 1 minute, and then whisk vigorously until smooth.

Labels: Savory

Savory: The not so easy, yet easy vegan pumpkin soup

0 Comments Published by WBLL on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 12:30 PM.

I've made this soup so many times in the past that I normally do not think when I make it. But this last time, when made it with the intent on posting the recipe to this blog, I had an unfortunate mishap (could have been a sign). When on last stage of the recipe, where you throw the hot soup into the blender to make it creamy and smooth, the lid wasn’t on tight enough and I had boiling hot soup splash on my face, and even worst, in my hair. So my precaution is this: use and immersion blender. If you are going to use a standard blender, either a) make sure that you only fill the blender 2/3 of the way, or b) make sure you have a (REALLY) tight lid. With that said, happy soup making!

Easy Pumpkin Soup

2lbs pumpkin

1 large russet potato (or two small red potatoes works well too)

¾ cup diced onions

3 cloves of crushed garlic

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp of olive oil

2 tsp of Goya adobo

2 cups vegetable stock

3 tbsp coarse salt

Table salt and pepper to taste

Bring salted water (use the coarse salt) to a boil in a 5 ½ quart pot. Cut pumpkin into large chunks and the potato into half , leaving the skin on (unless you feel like peeling). Place the chunks of pumpkin and potato into boiling water. When the pumpkin’s flesh begins to look transparent and the potato is separating from the skin slightly, remove from the heat, and dump into a colander. Rinse the pumpkin and potato with cold water until it is cool enough to handle. Scoop out the flesh, setting it aside in a bowl, and discarding the skins. In the same pot (unless you have another 5 ½ quart pot lying around), melt the butter and olive oil on a medium heat. Add the diced onions and crushed garlic and sweat until transparent. Add the salt and adobo to the sautéing onions, and then add the pumpkin and potato. Stir with a wooden spoon, just until the pumpkin and onion are thoroughly mixed and then add your vegetable stock. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once the soup has boiled, take off the heat. Now it is ready to be blended. (This is the point where the immersion blender is the best, because there is less risk of splatter). Blend the mixture until smooth, the potato is going to act like an emulsifier, so you don’t need to add cream. Once it is smooth it is ready to serve. Makes 4 appetizer sized soup portions or 2 extremely large bowls of comfort soup.

Labels: Savory

Savory: A little something extra

0 Comments Published by WBLL on Tuesday, December 23, 2008 at 11:51 AM.

The perfect accompaniment to any meal is bread, and this recipe for fresh whole wheat clover leaf rolls is one of my favorites:

yeast mixture

½ cup lukewarm water

1 ½ packets yeast

1/3 cup of sugar

* mix and let stand for 5 minutes

the rest

½ cup warm milk

2 eggs beaten

2/3 stick melted butter

pinch of salt

3 cups of whole wheat flour

3 cups of white flour

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and prepare a 12 cup muffin tin, by coating its insides with a small amount vegetable oil.

In a small sauce pan melt butter, and add milk heat until warm (NOT HOT). Add eggs and salt, stir well before adding yeast mixture. In a separate bowl, combine the white and whole wheat flour. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients 1/3 of the mixture at a time – beating or whisking until smooth. Once the last third is blended smooth, put a towel over the bowl and place it in a warm spot to rise (20 minutes depending on the spot). Flour a surface big enough to work with the dough. Once the dough has risen punch it down and break of a fist sized ball (around a cup sized portion). Roll in between your hands until it forms a long tube about 2 inches thick. Cut the tubular dough widthwise into even pieces (2inch cubes). Put three pieces into each greased muffin tin cup. Cover the muffin tin with a cloth and place in a warm place to let rise (about 15 minutes). Once the rolls have risen for the second time (puffing out of the cups), bake for about 5 – 6 minutes at 425 degrees F.

Labels: Savory

Savory: eggs benedict

0 Comments Published by WBLL on Monday, December 24, 2007 at 1:09 PM.

This morning I decided to perfect my favorite brunch item in the whole world-- eggs benedict. In the past, every time I attempted this dish, the whites would separate in the water leaving me with an inedible mess that should have turned me off eggs benedict for life. After massacring three eggs, I discovered that the secret was to crack the egg into a cup before pouring it into the boiling water. It is especially important to get the cup as close to the water as possible -- that way the whites do venture to far away from the yoke.

Most recipes would give you the impression that all you need to do is add vinegar, bring the sauce pan to a slow boil and the rest is left to the grace of the culinary gods. But I think they leave important details out to keep your dish from looking like the masterpiece in their picture. I substituted the ham for smoke salmon-- because I don’t eat pork-- and added dill to compliment it.

Here is a good recipe to follow if trying this dish and home. But if you are like most, and can’t manage much more than coffee in the morning, here are some restaurants that make a pretty damn good egg.

*useful info: Food Network: Recipe for classic eggs benedict

Café Ronda 249 Columbus Avenue New York City 212-579-9929

Arte Cafe 106 west 73rd St. New York City 212.501.7014

Cafeteria 119 7th Ave New York City (212) 414-1717

Labels: Eating Out, New York, Savory