The other day, I had a great recipe idea that was distinctly not Chilean but had to be made. It turned out fab, and I knew I had to share it!

This is an easy, tasty, and budget-friendly dish that will please adults and kids alike.

Grace’s Rockin’ Aloha Fried Rice

4 cups white rice, cooked

3 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup tamari soy sauce

1 tablespoon of sugar

3 tablespoons of butter

1/4 cup frozen corn

1/4 diced ham or spam if you roll that way (I just used deli meat ham and sliced it thinly)

1/2 cup of diced, canned pineapple chunks

2 eggs, beaten

salt for taste

DIRECTIONS:

Sautee the ham in butter on high heat in a wok (or large skillet) until it starts to brown on the edges. Next add the green onion and corn, and stir for a minute. Next add the scrambled egg and pineapple and stir until the egg starts to cook. Finally, add the rice, soy sauce, a little pineapple juice, and sugar and mix well. Once the rice is nice and evenly coated with color, and has started to crisp a little, add the cilantro, stir, and serve hot!

Also, what is up with me and sausage? (Pun not intended) Soo much sausage recently (Again…I know). I think it’s cause it’s one of the most affordable and flavorful meat products you can buy and easy to cook. Dunno.

Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo with Okra

1/2 cup sunflower oil

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

1 medium onions, coarsely chopped

2 green bell peppers, chopped

3 bay leaves

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons dried oregano, crumble

ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 8-ounce bottle of clam juice

1 28-ounce can fire roasted, diced tomatoes

3 large andouille or kielbasa sausages, diced

1 8oz can of sliced okra

3/4 pound of partially cooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined

Freshly cooked long-grain rice

2 tomatoes, seeded, diced

Directions:

Heat oil heavy large Dutch oven over high heat until almost smoking. Add flour and stir until dark red-brown to make the rue (about 4-6 minutes). Immediately add celery, onions and bell peppers. Cook 5 minutes, stirring and scraping bottom of pan often. Mix in bay leaves, salt, oregano, ground pepper, and cayenne. Add clam juice, canned tomatoes and chopped sausage. Boil 15 minutes. Add okra, reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes. Add shrimp and chopped tomatoes to gumbo and simmer until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Ladle over freshly cooked rice. A squeeze of lemon is optional.

Ingredients all ready to go. Okra and clam juice were new purchases for me.

Rue mixed with veggies. Making rue was also a new experience for me. Turned out good!

Nom nom gumbo.

Imma tellin’ you. Make this. While listening to some jazz. So hip.

Happy Humpday!

Also, I have to give a shout out to my friend Cecily who also makes a killer gumbo and who first introduced me to okra. Mad props.

And here is a link to a Foodista recipe for gumbo, where I also write for their blog which you should check out RIGHT NOW.

Sausage Gumbo

This soup is easy, fast, and a perfect last soup for the end of February as we looks towards March for some springy inspiration.

Cabbage and Sausage Soup

1/2 savor cabbage, quartered, then sliced in hearty chunks

olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 1/2 cup white wine

4 mild Italian pork sausages

1 15 oz can of white cannellini beans

1 quart chicken stock

1 lemon, squeezed for juice

salt

handful of sage

black pepper

Directions:

Heat the olive oil on medium-high heat in a large (8-quart), thick-bottomed pot. Add the sausage, breaking it up into pieces as you put it into the pot in a single layer. When the sausage has nicely browned, remove it with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the minced onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Once the onions give up some of their water, use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the minced garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Add the white wine and the beans and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce to a simmer and then cover and cook for 10 minutes. For a thicker base, use an immersion blender to blend some (or all) of the beans and onions.

Add the water, stock, salt, cabbage, chopped sage and browned sausage. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, then uncover and continue cooking until the cabbage is tender, about another 10-20 minutes. Add lemon juice, more salt if needed, and black pepper

To garnish, sprinkle with parmesan if you have it.

Honestly, I’m not sure when my opinion changed, but I do know that it probably had something to do with me discovering golden beets. I love them. The flavor is less intense and the color is simply marvelous. Not to say red beets aren’t beautiful as well. So, if you want the best of both worlds, do both colors! It makes for an amazing color palate on your plate. Also, I think how you slice beets makes all the difference. I, for one, think thin sliced really is the best and even changes the flavor to some degree.

Below is the recipe for a simple, and delicious salad that is perfect for the colder months when fruit is out of season.

Red and Gold Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

Handful of washed arugula

Handful of mixed greens

Goat cheese (Chevre with herbs is nice)

2 gold beets

2 red beets

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

honey

Directions

First, you need to cook the beets. I would recommend pressure cooking them. Fill the pot up to about half way  up to the mid line of the beets, and then pressure cook for around 20 minutes. Once they are cooked, rinse and let cool.

Next, wash the greens and then dry them using a salad strainer. Wet greens make for an icky salad. Then, take the goat cheese and add it to the greens in little globs and mix it with the greens like so:

Now the beet slicing. I happen to have purchased a mandolin for my mom for Christmas. For those who don’t know, a mandolin is an awesome slicing tool that can slice super thin and also julienne your veggies. To check one out, click here. I cheated and used this tool to slice my beets.

Once your beets are sliced and greens tossed, make your dressing. Simply do two parts olive oil, one part balsamic, with a hefty tablespoon of honey, and ta-dah! It would’ve been nice to add some honey glazed walnuts to the salad, but unfortunately I had none.

Pretty huh?

You know who else is pretty?

My boxer, Olive:

Happy almost Friday!

Speaking of yummy beets, this looks good too:
Roasted Golden Beet Salad

For now, I’ll just try a few of his recipes.

I have been really sick of chicken and beef lately so when I saw a Fish Curry recipe, I knew what must be done.  (Click here to go to site)

Keralan Fish Curry

Groundnut oil

• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 20 curry leaves
• 6 shallots, finely sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 1 x 2.5cm piece of ginger, finely sliced
• 1 green chilli, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 750g firm white fish cut into chunks
• 1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
• 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• Chopped coriander, basmati rice and naan bread, to serve

Directions:

1, Heat a lug of groundnut oil in a large pan and fry the mustard seeds with the curry leaves till the seeds start to pop. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli, and cook on a medium heat for 5 mins, till softened. Mix together the chilli powder and turmeric with a splash of water, and then stir into the pan. Fry for a minute, then add the fish, coconut milk and tomatoes. Season.
2, Bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 mins, or until fish is cooked and sauce reduced. Serve sprinkled with chopped coriander, with basmati rice and warm naan bread.

GRACE EDITS:

First, I made a half recipe. Meh, I think next time I’d do a full recipe because it wasn’t much food. The challenge here is doing the conversions, but then you’re golden. I thought the recipe was quite nice. I added a bit of salt, some awesome curry powder, a tad of half and half, pepper, and at the end, a large squeeze of lemon. ALSO coriander in British speak is CILANTRO. AND, my fish kinda fell apart….what gives? Too much stirring? Who knows…

Fish!

Shallots, green chili, ginger, garlic, mustard seed…

Anyone else gotta a stellar curry recipe? Curries are one of those things that are really fun to play around with til you get it just right.

Grace Geiger

I was sooooo excited to make this recipe. Palak paneer is one of my favorite dishes of all time. I found a recipe demo on this video I found that seemed pretty legit. Yet, when i made it, I was not happy with the result.

See recipe here.

I  prepped the ingredients…

tomatoes and onions simmering..

Frying up the paneer (the best part)

I really don’t know what went wrong here….too much onion? Not enough pureeing? I dunno, but it tasted like choppy spinach with no flavor.

I would love an awesome palak paneer recipe….what’s the secret?

How about that mini blizzard yesterday eh? It was really pretty at first then turned to a slushy mess. Probably for the better so that we can all drive to work.

Here in rainy, cold, Seattle everybody’s looking for some home cooked, comfort foods to fight the gloom and I found just the thing.

I recently discovered this recipe for a swiss and gruyere panade on The Wednesday Chef’s awesome blog. (click here) I believe she got the recipe off of Orangette’s blog, another favorite of mine (click here to see full recipe). Recipes truly are marvelous in the way they can connect us to other people, don’t you think?

See full recipe below that I stole:

Swiss Chard and Gruyere Panade

1 ½ lbs yellow onions, preferably a sweet variety, thinly sliced
About ½ cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, slivered
Salt
1 lb red Swiss chard, thick ribs removed, cut into 1-inch-wide ribbons
Water
10 ounces day-old chewy artisan bread, cut into rough 1-inch cubes
2 cups good-quality chicken broth
About 2 loosely packed cups good-quality Swiss gruyère

To prepare the onions:
Place the onions in a large, deep saucepan or Dutch oven, and drizzle and toss with about ¼ cup olive oil. Set over medium-high heat, and shaking the pan occasionally, cook until the bottom layer of onions is golden on the edges, about 3 minutes. Stir, and repeat. Once the second layer of onions has colored, reduce the heat to low, and stir in the garlic and a few pinches of salt. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are pale amber and tender but not mushy, another 20 minutes or so. If at any point the onions look as though they’re drying out, cover the pan to trap in moisture.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

To prepare the chard:
Place handfuls of chard in a large sauté pan or skillet, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with water and a few pinches of salt. Set the pan over medium heat until the bottom layer of leaves begins to cook; then reduce the heat and stir and fold the leaves until they are just wilted, 2-4 minutes. The leaves should be bright green and their white veins quite pliable. Set aside.

To prepare the bread:
Using your hands, toss and massage the cubed bread with 2 or 3 Tbs olive oil, ¼ cup of the broth, and a few pinches of salt.

To build the panade:
Using a flameproof 2-quart soufflé dish or deep, enameled cast-iron pan, assemble the panade in layers. Start with a good smear of onions, followed by a loose scattering of bread cubes, a thin layer of onions, a blanked of chard, and a handful of cheese. Repeat, continuing until all ingredients are incorporated and the dish is full. Aim for 2 to 3 layers of each component, but make sure that the top is a mosaic of all the ingredients. Don’t worry if the layers are a bit uneven, or if you have to pack them down a bit—this is meant to be rustic.

Bring the remaining 1 ¾ cups broth and 2 cups water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Pour the warm liquid slowly, in doses, over the assembled panade, drizzling it down the sides of the dish. The liquid should come up nearly to the top of the layered ingredients.

Set the dish over low heat on the stovetop, and bring its liquid to a simmer, looking for bubbles around the edges. Cover the top of the dish with parchment paper, then very loosely cover the top again with aluminum foil. Place the panade on a baking sheet to catch drips, slide it into the oven, and bake it until hot and bubbly, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. The top should be pale golden and a bit darker on the edges.

Uncover the panade, raise the oven temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and leave until for another 10-20 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Remove it from the oven, allow it to settle for a minute or two, and then serve.

Yield: About 5 main-dish servings, or 6-8 side-dish servings

Layered panade..

Finished project. Again, if it was baked longer, with more cheese, this would’ve been not just a good, but a great dish. But, we can’t all be perfect. Sometimes reading directions carefully is a good idea

This dish turned out beautifully. I was very glad I got different colored carrots because it made the dish so colorful and vibrant. I found adding a little extra vinegar was quite tasty. The only problem was I didn’t realize that both these dishes had so much ONION. I felt like the two dishes together were onion overload. Maybe don’t serve them together like I did.

I’ve been laspe in my duties which I blame on illness (stomach flu) and the holidays. Instead of cooking, I’ve been letting mom do the work and I’ve taken a back seat. Plus, cold weather does not seem to inspire a lot of colorful, bright, fresh food. There isn’t much that is in-season. I love homemade foods like soups, stews,  and casseroles, but my motivation to cook seems to dwindle in the colder months. That’s probably because my favorite foods to cook are light, summery dishes like tacos, salads, citrus flavors and meat right off the grill. Still, it’s hard to beat a flavorful, homemade soup when the weather is lousy (cold Seattle rain is a bummer at best). The recipe below I adapted from a recipe I found for Spicy Sausage and Lentil soup on Epicurious. Click here for the original recipe. Below is how I adapted it to my whims and desires. I thought the result was excellent. I made a half recipe which was plenty and provided leftovers for a few days.

Savory Lentil Soup with Turkey Sausage

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 package of mild (spicy would be good too) italian turkey sausage (I bought a pack of three large sausages at Whole Foods which was more than enough)
• 1/2 large onion, chopped (about 3 cups)
• 1 large carrots, peeled, chopped
• 1  large celery stalk, chopped
• 1-2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning (I used some herbes de provence my mom had lying around…the sage added great flavor)
• 2 cups brown lentils
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 8oz can of diced tomatoes (optional)
• 1 5-ounce package baby spinach leaves

Directions:

Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook until browned, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to bowl. Add onion, carrots, pcelery, and Italian seasoning blend to drippings in pot; cook until onion is translucent and vegetables begin to soften, stirring often, 7 to 8 minutes. Add lentils; stir to coat. Add broth and diced tomatoes. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally and adding more broth by 1/4 cupfuls if soup is too thick, 20 minutes.

Chop sausage into bite size pieces and add sausage to soup. Simmer until vegetables are tender and flavors blend, 10 to 12 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in spinach. Cook until spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes.

Serve with a nice, fluffy sourdough for dipping if desired.

Hope everyone has a happy new year!

It seems all I do is steal recipes from Hungry Cravings now-a-days. Readers, I apologize, you might as well just be reading Lucy’s blog. But, for me, it’s a way to develop my cooking repertoire, so that I can then create my own!

For Thanksgiving, I was put on mashed potato and dessert duty. For dessert, I decided to try Lucy’s Chocolate Pear Tart

I made my own crust using a recipe I found on Epicurious…

Easy Tart Crust

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3 tablespoons (or more) ice water
• 2 tablespoons chilled whipping cream

Blend flour and salt in processor. Add butter; using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 3 tablespoons ice water and cream. Process just until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill 1 hour. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. Soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

When I made the crust my thought was that it would be easier than Lucy’s, but I think it was a bit bland. Also, I DEFINITELY should have made a thinner crust.

Chocolate Pear Tart

3 ounces heavy cream

3 ounces milk

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped or scant 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 ounce egg

3 Pears Poached in Port, at room temperature

1 partially baked 9-inch Pâte Sucrée Tart Crust

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Combine the cream and milk in a small, heavy saucepan and bring to a bare simmer. Place the chocolate into a medium bowl, add the hot cream mixture, and whisk until smooth. Let cool slightly. Gradually whisk the chocolate mixture into the egg.

Pat the pears dry with paper towels. Halve and core the pears and slice them thinly, keeping the slices together so each pear half stays intact. Using a spatula, transfer the sliced pear halves to the tart crust, arranging them in a radial pattern with their stem ends at the center of the crust. Press down gently on each pear half to fan out the slices slightly. Using a pitcher or batter bowl with a spout, slowly pour in the chocolate mixture, being careful not to pour it directly over the pears. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until just set. Let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours, or until firm. Cut the tart into portions and serve immediately.

Makes 1 9-inch tart, serving 8. This tart is perfect in the fall, when Bosc pears are in season. The pears may be poached up to a day in advance and stored submerged in their cooled unreduced poaching liquid. To measure 1 ounce of egg, crack 1 egg into a bowl, lightly beat it with a fork, and weigh it out using a scale. You can tell that the tart is done when the chocolate filling jiggles like gelatin. Serve with the reduced poaching liquid sauce from the Pears Poached in Port and lightly sweetened whipped cream, if desired.

It truly was delicious, especially with some homemade whipped cream.

Things I would do different next time:

1) Thinner crust, maybe no pie like border either

2) Serve it at room temperature, not right out of fridge

3) Poach pears in more port so they get boozier and purple

Other than that, totally a winning dessert.

Mom also made her signature stuffing (Click here for Cookus recipe)

SO GOOD

It was great to spent time with friends and family..

In hard economic times, we become so much more aware of the things we are thankful for. I am so grateful to have such amazing people in my life, and to be blessed with the many opportunities I’ve been given. Being thankful is such an essential part of living a happy life. The more you begin to appreciate the good things in life, the happier you are with what you’ve got. Happy Thanksgiving!

Stay tuned for more recipes coming soon!

I’m excited to watch another episode of The Walking Dead.

Zombies seem to be quite the rage recently in the movie world, but this show on AMC is really fun. It’s really gross, but lots of fun.

Speaking of The Walking Dead, that’s been me all weekend. I’ve been really sick since Thursday and just slept all weekend to get ready for a busy week. To help speed up the recovery process I decided to make this soup I found, once again, on Hungry Cravings. I’ve never made wontons and was feeling better this afternoon, so I decided I was up for the challenge.

Check out Lucy’s yummy recipe below.

4 quarts chicken broth

2 cloves garlic, crushed plus 2 cloves, minced

3 ¼-inch slices ginger plus ½ teaspoon grated

3 tablespoons soy sauce

½ pound ground pork

¼ pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, and minced

3 tablespoons sliced green onions

1 tablespoon cornstarch

½ teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon dark sesame oil

Freshly ground white pepper

About 45 wonton wrappers

1 large head napa cabbage (about 1 ½ pounds), cut into 1-inch strips

Kosher salt

Combine the broth, crushed garlic, sliced ginger, and 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce in a large, heavy pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until fragrant.

Meanwhile, mix together the ground pork, shrimp, minced garlic, grated ginger, green onions, 2 teaspoons of the cornstarch, sugar, sesame oil, a generous pinch of white pepper, and remaining 1 tablespoon of soy sauce in a large bowl.

Whisk together the remaining 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Place 1 teaspoon of the pork mixture in the center of a wonton wrapper. Using a fingertip, lightly moisten the edges of the wrapper with the cornstarch mixture. Fold the wrapper in half over the filling, forming a triangle, and eliminating any air pockets, firmly pinch the edges together to seal. Lightly moisten the corners of the wrapper along the long side of the triangle with the cornstarch mixture. Fold the two corners together. And firmly pinch to seal. Make more wontons with the remaining wrappers and filling in the same manner. As you work, arrange the wontons in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking tray.

Discard the garlic and ginger from the broth. Add the cabbage, bring to a boil, and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, or until tender. Add the wontons and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for another 3 to 4 minutes, or until just cooked through. Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Ladle into individual bowls and serve immediately.

Serves 6 as a main course. Keep the wrappers and wontons covered with plastic wrap as you work so that they don’t dry out. Avoid getting any filling on the edges of the wonton wrappers, or they won’t seal. Uncooked wontons may be frozen in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking tray and transferred to a zip-top bag when frozen solid. Wontons keep for several weeks frozen. Add them to simmering broth while still frozen—there’s no need to thaw them, just increase their cooking time by a couple of minutes.

I’m not gonna lie and say this was an easy recipe. Wontons are a little bit of work, more suitable for you and a helpful friend. It also required a few extra ingredients (minced shrimp, black sesame oil, cornstarch, wonton wrappers),  but most of it was easy to get and very inexpensive.

First, I made the broth.

Next, I put together the wonton filling…

I was nervous to make the wontons. They weren’t perfect, but pretty good for a first timer!

Step One..

Step Two..

Tadah!

Pretty napa cabbage!

And the finished product after adding the wontons..

Perfect sick food.

A few recipe notes:

First, I only made a half recipe, which was plenty.

Second, I thought the broth needed a little more umpf, so I added more soy sauce. I think it could use a little more ginger too.

Another big shout out to Hungry Cravings!

Always good stuff.

Stay tuned for Thanksgiving foods. What is everybody making?