The Food I Make

The Food I Make (round2)

These are some different styled spring rolls that I wanted to try out. Instead of the usual julienned style inserts, I left most of the ingredients whole (cucumber, avocado, imitation crab) The carrot and noodle were the only exception here. They were good but I would make them the other way and slice my ingredients like I usually do. I used hoisin for a dipping sauce...trial and error right?

This was my great attempt at a healthier option spaghetti dinner. I chose to go with spaghetti squash from the local grocer, then I baked it for an hour at 350d. After that the squash loosens up and can be forked out after cooling. When it gets removed, the squash actually comes out in shreds which resembles noodles, but of course are not. I chose to make my sauce from scratch which takes many items (mainly tomatoes and seasonings and a lot of simmering), but would have more a less been the same with the jar stuff. I decided to also cook up some ground lean chicken that I seasoned with fresh basil and rosemary while cooking. I also wanted to try some Gorgonzola cheese to top it with and this turned out awesome! The garnish is fresh basil and some toasted seeds from the squash:) 

 One of the things I like to make when I have about 3-4 hours is sushi. This particular roll we will call the catfish roll, mostly because it has panko breaded catfish. When cooked, the fish itself lacked flavor, so I decided to hit it with some mirin- a Japanese style cooking wine, which gave it depth. I wont go into too much detail here, but I did not use sushi style rice, but I did flavor jasmine rice with sushi style vinegar. The inside of the role has strawberry, microgreens, yellow squash, and catfish. Garnished with a Unagi sauce (eel).

 One of the best soups Ive made. Its a Japanese chicken stock soup with distinct ginger, sesame, mushroom, cream and asparagus tastes. I make my own stocks at home when I buy chicken especially, because I like to buy whole chickens to fabricate and use the bones and extra fat for the stock. The stock has to simmer and be skimmed of oil and residue but its worth it to me. I also added some chicken that marinated in the original stock, but was then Sauteed in soy and mirin. Delicious.

 Kanji soup. Basically rice, water and salt. I spiced it up a bit with some leftover spanish rice to sub-in for normal rice. I also added chicken stock ( because I have so much) and garnished with sliced tofu, chives and green onion.

 Korean style pork ribs. Marinated the meat and bones in a Korean rub that is used for bulgogi and many other traditional dishes. Its soy, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, sesame seeds, and sesame oil. I topped it off with chives and let it sit for 2 hours in the fridge. I then wrapped the same pan in Reynolds wrap and preheated the oven to 225d so it would cook slower and therefor be more tender. I could have also smoked these with a cherry wood but didn't have any on hand(next time). The process took 10 hours of cooking, so I made sure to prepare these babies right before I went to bed. I like a little heat so I sliced a serano pepper and also added gogchujang, which is a hot pepper paste used in Korean dishes.

 A kosher chicken leg from Trader Joe's that I confit'd in the oven for 60 min. Then I seared the skin for another 6 min on the stovetop. I ladled a cilantro relish made from vinegar, cilantro, tomatillos, parmesan, and a dash of kosher salt to keep with the theme. The red hued mash that you see is made from baked eggplant, beets, and garlic. I roasted them from 30 min to soften and blended them down to a puree mixture. I let it simmer for another 30 minutes with sour cream and basil to finish. The bok choy is just steamed. Crispy eggplant shaving garnish. 

 Oisobagi Kim chee, or cucumber Kim chee. A less fermented version that is also slightly sweeter.

 Korean dessert pancake filled with brown sugar and toasted pistachio. I used a typical dough mixture with more sugar and egg added to the mix, but no measured amounts:) I usually don't measure anything actually...

 I like to drink sometimes too! This particular cocktail involves Absolut Vodka. I have a juicer which I used to get passionfruit, orange, and mango puree from. I also boiled down some sugar to form a simple syrup, and cracked an egg for the {white} part. I shook these ingredients over ice and garnished with bitters and rosemary. I would cook the sugar with a sprig of rosemary while the syrup is forming next time, and maybe go easy on the vodka....oooor probably not.

 Chicken pot stickers made from the lady. Ahh her first cooked meal. I think I may be rubbing off on her...The soy contains sugar, garlic, scallions and ginger.

 Spicy spinach ravioli. These were made from the same pot sticker wraps that we purchased above. I cut out the circle shape using a glass cup top to press down and cut. Then filled the shell with parsmesan, ricotta, garlic and spinach. I took another shell to adhesify to the other with an egg wash. On top is a half Brusselsprout that I sauteed with a balsamic reduction with sherry wine. I garnished with shaved horseradish, balsamic reduction, and sriracha!

This is a gyro meets Japan if there were such a thing, and there is now. Sliced medium cooked tenderloin, ricotta cheese, mirin cooked oyster mushroom, romain lettuce, cucumber somewhere in there, and dashed with Unagi sauce. Mushroom accented and garnished with capers. Quite good.

 Since I worked for a mexican restaurant, We had the idea to do chimichangas or otherwise known as deep fried burrito. The fillings can be whatever and thats what we did. The basic meat, rice, veggie combo. I made a pork Chili Verde which spruced this baby up a bit. Its roasted and charred- onion, garlic, tomatillo and serrano pepper- simmered for 2 hours in a pot with fatty pork and a cinnamon stick. I cant guarantee authenticity but flavorful it was. Melted american, and cheddar cheese, and avocado also involved.

 Happy Easter from a sugar cookie!