Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

History:
My cousin sent this recipe with Christmas. I have used it twice now... LOVE IT. Easy, fun, quick, and good for class. I still think fresh olives go well with it.

What you need:

1.5 cups quinoa
1.5 cups black beans (rinse if canned)
1.5 cups corn
1.5 tablespoons (22.5 mL) red-wine vinegar
1 chopped green pepper
2 minced jalapenos
Coriander

Dressing:
5 tablespoons lime juice
1 t salt
1.25 t cumin or to taste
1/3 cup olive oil

Mix the top. Whisk the dressing together and toss. Chill and enjoy.

Chocolate Ice Cream (JG)

Yup. We have not done this in a long time. Rotation became very busy. And then Clark and I quit the kitchen. I'm trying to get back. New knife. New recipes. All that good stuff. So I don't think I'm going to post every recipe, but then again we have been reusing some of the old ones. Hence less posting.

History:
Ice cream is fun. Ice cream is good. I have never made it. I've wanted to make it for some time... again with the lack of cooking. I thought home made ice cream would be good for starting back to school. A nice way to relax.

What you need:
11 egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
226 grams of sugar
pinch of salt
180sh grams of 60% dark chocolate
Strainer
Ice bath
Ice cream maker

Heat half the sugar, milk, cream, and salt on the stove until maybe a slight simmer, but steam is rising. Cover and sit for about 5 minutes. Beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until pale yellowish. Temper the warm milk solution into the eggs. Continue to mix the milk into the eggs until about 1/3 of the liquid is in the egg mixture. Combine everything and heat on low-medium.... mixing continuously. Melt the chocolate on a double boil. Heat the solution slowly until when you can coat the back of a wooden spoon and run a finger through it is stays. Bad description? Sorry. Take off the heat, mix in the chocolate, and then strain into a bowl in the water bath to start to chill. Chill in the water bath for about 1 hour, then put it in the refrigerator for about 12 hours. Use the ice cream maker and then freeze.

Enjoy.

Pre ice cream maker



In ice cream maker



Notice the awesome color change!

Stir Fry

I'm sure everyone here knows how to do stir fry. It really is just about the simplest thing you can cook. The key is cutting everything to uniform, small size so that it cooks quickly. You're cooking on high heat for a very short amount of time, so you want everything sufficiently cooked through, without the outside being overcooked.
The second thing to remember is to add ingredients into your wok/pot in order of what will take the longest to cook first. Once again, this is so everything cooks uniformly.
When making stir fry, the prep should take you more time than the actual cooking. It might take a little time to chop everything up, but once it is all ready, meal time is in minutes.
You can marinate your meat ahead of time to help impart flavor. Everything else is then cooked and you can add a sauce or seasonings towards the end for flavor. It's very simple, quick, and healthy. Me likey.
Today I did a simple chicken and veggie stir fry and I used some pre-made (yes, I bought it at a store) Hoisin sauce for the flavor. It's a really good, mildly spicy and kind of thick plum sauce.

I used:
Chicken
carrots
broccoli
green onions

Cut up the chicken and marinate in rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and a little fish sauce. Let it marinate while you prepare everything else. Twenty minutes is good. An hour is plenty of time.
Get your wok/pot hot on at least med-high heat. Toss in that chicken and cook for few minutes til just done.
Transfer to another dish with juices and keep warm. Wipe the wok clean, add sesame oil, get it hot, and throw in your veggies.
Once they're pretty close to done, add the chicken, with juices, back in and toss around to mix. Add a few healthy globs of Hoisin sauce and toss til everything is coated. Add your green onions towards the end. You can add some toasted sesame seeds, too, if'n you want.
Maybe not the most exciting post, but this blog isn't titled exciting adventures in food. It's called what we made to eat and this is what we made to eat.

Psari Plaki (or awesome baked fish recipe with veggies if you don't speak greek) and Spinach Rice

So it hasn't quite been a month since my last post. I'll try and make up for it with a quick barrage. Hopefully it will be entertaining for anyone still reading.
So, I've got a really good fish recipe. It's really easy and you can do it in about 40 minutes. Sound good? Good. Here goes.
You need:
White fish. I use tilapia cause it's cheap and available. Snapper, cod, or some other flaky white fish will work just as well.
Cup or two of breadcrumbs
1 medium onion, diced
1-2 carrots, diced
1-2 sticks of celery, diced
1 can of diced tomatoes or some fresh tomatoes, diced
juice of 2 lemons
a little sugar
parsley, chopped
garlic, oil, s/p

Fry the onions in oil til translucent. Add the carrots and celery and cook til softened, bout 8-10 min. Add the garlic and let cook for 2 min then add the tomatoes and sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Let it cook down til it reduces some. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F and lay the fish in a baking dish. Add the lemon juice and parsley to the sauce and season to taste.
Layer the sauce over fish. Cover with breadcrumbs and drizzle with oil.
Bake the fish til done, about 15-20 minutes.

This dish is light, healthy, and surprisingly good. It also reheats very well. Typically, I don't really like reheated fish, but this works very well. I like it with the following rice dish...

Spinach Rice

This is a good rice dish that complements the flavor of the fish well.
You need:
rice
spinach (I use fresh, I guess you could use frozen)
1 large onion, chopped
garlic
juice of 1-2 lemons
fresh dill, chopped
fresh parsley, chopped
vegetable stock (or chicken or water)

Fry the onion and garlic in oil for a few minutes til soft. Add the rice, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes.
Add the spinach, ~tbsp of lemon juice, and the herbs. Season well with s/p, add the stock and bring to a boil.
Cover and reduce heat to low until rice is cooked.
Remove from heat, add remaining lemon juice and season to taste.

Have I really never posted my Chili recipe?

Jake did a venison chili recipe earlier. I didn't read it but I haven't posted anything in forever so I hope my chili recipe is different enough to make this worth it. I typically do a beef chili but I substituted chicken this time per Anita's request.

What goes in it? Really anything you want to put in it. And I make a lot. It tends to go fast. Here we go.
couple pounds of meat (beef, chicken, venison...whatever)
1 large or 2 medium onions
1 green and red pepper and maybe a yellow one too if you're feeling it
other options: jalapeno/habanero, poblano, cubanelle, or banana pepper. Really just any peppers. I'm limited by how spicy I can get depending on who I'm feeding.
a couple of tomatoes (I always put fresh tomatoes in anything I put canned tomatoes in)
a lot of garlic
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
I like 3 cans of beans. You can sub red beans or pinto beans for one.
1 can of corn
And now the spice:
at least a tablespoon of chili powder
equal amount of ground cumin
2 tsp white pepper
2 tsp ground coriander
some granulated garlic if you think you didn't put enough garlic in
some onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
salt

Dice up chicken or shred your ground beef. Season with salt, pepper, and a little chili powder and cumin. Brown the meat.
Dice up all the veggies. Fry the onions in olive oil til softened. Add the bell peppers and cook til soft. Add the fresh tomatoes, meat, and any other hot peppers. Cook til heated and then add all the spices. Cook for about 1 minute.
Add the canned tomatoes and corn with juices. Go ahead and turn up the heat. Add the beans. Add your liquid. About 3 cups should do it. You can use water. I like beer. Darker, hoppy beers work well, but not anything as dark as a stout. That would be too bitter. Bass works well. I don't really like the hoppy beers, but wheat beers do tend to do well in a chili or stew. Whatever your choice, add the liquid and get that heat up. You can also add some hot sauce at this point.
Once it starts to boil turn it down and let it cook for a while on a low heat. Check the seasoning. Enjoy.
I said enjoy.
Do it.

Lacquer-Roasted Pork Ribs

Here's one from the Professional Chef.
You need:
Rack of ribs
tbsp dark soy sauce
tbsp sherry

for the marinade:
60 mL Hoisin sauce
45 ml black bean sauce
90 ml ketchup
minced garlic
minced ginger
a little white pepper
green onions, sliced
15 ml rice vinegar
10 ml sesame oil
salt
sugar

Lacquer Coating:
30 ml honey
tsp sesame oil

Combine the soy sauce and sherry and brush over the ribs.
Combine marinade ingredients and pour over the ribs. Massage the marinade into the meat, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Turn occasionally.


Take the ribs out of the fridge at least an hour before ready to cook them to allow them to come up to room temp. Remove the ribs from the marinade and wipe off excess. Place on a wire rack in a roasting pan.
Fill another pan with water and place it in the oven on 325 degF.
Roast the ribs for ~ 1.5 hours.
Combine the honey and sesame oil for the coating. During the last 20 minuts of roasting, brush the ribs with the mixture. At this point you can crank the oven up to broil for a couple minutes to give a nice, crisp outer skin. Remove the ribs and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.
This recipe doesn't call for a sauce, but you may want to reduce the drippings in the roasting pan to make one.

Ratatouille Pasta

History:
Continuing with the pasta kick. Later with be spaghetti and meatballs. This is a great summer dish, and may be the one Clark is talking about. I was surprised how much I liked this.

What you need:
2 pounds zuchinni
2 pounds squash
1 onion, diced small
1-2 pints of cherry tomatoes
6 oz of arugula
Oregano
salt/pepper
olive oil
Parmeseano cheese

Dice a la ratatouille style the zuchinni and squash. Toss in oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss in the onion and tomatoes as well. Set the oven to 400, spread about 1/4 of the arugula on a cookie sheet and cover with the other vegetables. Bake until caramelized. I ended up putting it on broil for a bit as well. Toss in with the pasta and fresh cheese on top.

Enjoy.