Recipe:

1 box of penne pasta (you can use any pasta)

1 lb of chicken breasts/tenders/skinless boneless thighs

5 cloves of garlic

1/2 an onion sliced or chopped

2 cups of sliced mushrooms (fresh or canned)

2 Tbs of olive oil

2 Tbs of butter

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of black pepper

1 tsp of crushed red peppers (can adjust to taste)

2 Tbs of soy sauce

1/2 cup of light cream

a splash of a good white wine (optional)

Directions:

1.  Before you start prepping the chicken.  Start to boil water for your pasta!

2.  Slice chicken into small slices  (1/2 inch x 1 inch) place in bowl

3.  Slice or chop half an onion

4.  Mince garlic cloves

5.  Add garlic, soy sauce, salt, pepper, crushed red peppers to chicken

6.  Put oil in a big pan, medium to high heat

7.  Sautee Onions until the onions are soft, then  add mushrooms, if you’re using fresh toss them until slightly soft then add your optional splash of wine; canned mushrooms are already soft so there’s no need to wait

8.  Add chicken and cook thoroughly then add cream

9.  Add cooked pasta into pan and toss until pasta is covered in sauce

10.  Garnish with slice scallions and chopped cilantro (optional)

Serves 6 to 8

I want to point out that it’s always a good idea to try your dish before you serve it and that it suits your taste buds.  Although I follow recipes, I don’t follow them to a tee.  Everyone’s palette is different.  The first time I made this dish, I didn’t add the mushrooms, wine, and cream.  Boy it sure made a difference, and the cream didn’t make it too heavy.  You can omit these ingredients and the dish would still turn out great.

I own a ton of cookbooks, but usually cook from memory or create new dishes on the fly.  I had to really pay attention to take a stab at putting this recipe together.  Please feel free to test it and give me feedback.

Planning my Christmas dinner menu has been harder than I anticipated. Now I’m down to planning just the big Christmas Eve dinner. My family, being of Asian decent and having lived in Europe, we make a bigger deal about Christmas Eve than Christmas morning. We would eat and go to midnight mass and then come home and open presents. Luckily, my husband’s family and he follow the Christmas Day tradition. So it’ll work out just wonderfully! We’ll spend Christmas Eve at our house, have my parents and siblings come over. We’ll head out to midnight mass and then come home and open presents. Christmas Day we’ll head up to the mountains to spend time with his family. Sounds pretty simple, but it isn’t. Some of you probably can relate to how I feel. Unless we have access to and can afford a personal shopper, a maid, a chauffeur, and a chef, things just get away from us. My ambitions of throwing a get-together for our friends and then Christmas Eve dinner for my family was great, but now looking at our work schedule and some of the things we have to do (not food related at all), it just doesn’t seem realistic anymore.

If I find time to have a small gathering with friends, I’ll go with hors d’oeuvres only and drinks. I have a few drink recipes up my sleeve as well. I can always whip up a pretty mean Long Island Iced Tea that’s really yummy and of course my wide array of martinis. (I learned these from my days of working my part-time job at Tabouleh Mediterranean Restaurant in Gaithersburg, MD) I think that would be fun!

I am planning on something really scrumptious for a main course for my Christmas Eve dinner. I’m going to prepare a Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding. Here’s a recipe:

Roast Beef
Serves 8

1 Prime Rib of Beef Joint (6 lbs / 2.7 k)

2 Tsp Dry English Mustard

3 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour

1 1/4 Cups Red Wine

1 1/4 Cups Beef Stock

2 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce (Optional)

Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F / 230 degrees C.
2. Season the meat to taste with salt and pepper. Rub in the mustard and 1 tablespoon of the flour.
3. Place te meat in a roasting pan large enough to hold it comfortably and roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F / 190 degrees C and cook for 15 minutes per 1 lb / 450 g, plus 15 minutes (1 3/4 hours for this joint) for rare beef or 20 minutes per 1 lb / 450 g, plus 20 minutes (2 hours 20 minutes) for medium beef. Baste the meat from time to time to keep it moist, and if the pan becomes too dry, add a little stock or red wine.
4. Remove the meat from the oven and place on a warmed serving plate, cover with foil, and let stand in a warm for 10-15 minutes.
5. To make the gravy, pour off most of the fat from the pan (reserve it for cooking the Yorkshire pudding), leaving behind the meat juices and the sediment. Place the pan on the stove over medium heat and scrape all the sediment from the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle in the remaining flour and quickly mix it into the juices with a small whisk. When you have a smooth paste, gradually add the wine and most of the stock, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil, then reduce to heat a gentle simmer and cook for 2 – 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the remaining stock, if needed, and a little Worcestershire sauce, if you like.
6. When ready to serve, carve the meat into slices and serve on warmed plates. Pour the gravy into a warmed pitcher and take direct to the table. Serve wit Yorkshire pudding.

Yorkshire Pudding
Serves 4

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F / 220 degrees C.
2. Make a batter with 3 1/2 oz / 100 g plain flour, a pinch of salt, 1 beaten egg and 10 fl / 300 ml milk and water mixed. Allow to stand for half an hour.
3. Heat 2 Tbsp roast beef dripping or olive oil in an 8-inch square roasting tin in the top of the oven.
4. Remove the tin from the oven, pour in the batter and bake for 25-30 minutes until it is puffed up and golden brown.

***Recipe taken from ‘Steaks, Chops, Roasts, & Ribs’ by Parragon Publishing

]]> http://www.asamatteroffood.com/2007/12/planning-your-menu-christmas-2007-part-ii/feed/ 0 http://www.asamatteroffood.com/2007/12/comfort-food-open-faced-turkey-sandwich-with-mashed-potatoes-stuffing-and-gravy/ http://www.asamatteroffood.com/2007/12/comfort-food-open-faced-turkey-sandwich-with-mashed-potatoes-stuffing-and-gravy/#comments Mon, 03 Dec 2007 02:03:35 +0000 jpham http://asamatteroffood.wordpress.com/2007/12/02/comfort-food-open-faced-turkey-sandwich-with-mashed-potatoes-stuffing-and-gravy/ As the days grow shorter and it gets darker sooner, with the cold moving in, I crave for food that warms and comforts me. On a weekday though, I’m not so motivated to slave over a hot stove to put together a meal which takes a lot of time. I discovered this dish through my husband who ordered this, at a little quaint restaurant on the side of the road, some years back. We were on our way up to the mountains. I never had an Open Faced Turkey Sandwich before. It hit the spot! Later on, when we were trying to decide what to have for dinner and it was cold outside, once again, he’d say “Damn, it’d be nice to have an Open-Face Turkey Sandwich. Oh and some mashed potatoes with some gravy and stuffing!” Of course I had never made it before, but I figured how hard could it be? You know what? It wasn’t!

Here’s a really quick and short way to do it!

1 lb of turkey chops / boneless turkey breasts / turkey loin (turkey slices should be about 1/2 inch thick)

A pinch of salt to taste

A pinch of black pepper to taste

2 jars of fat free turkey gravy

Cooking spray

1. Spray skillet with cooking spray and heat on high.
2. Brown turkey on both sides.
3. Lower heat and add gravy.
4. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until turkey is cooked.

Serve with mashed potatoes and stuffing of your choice.

I use boxed mashed potatoes and stuffing. Follow the instructions on the box!

Enjoy!

Are you planning a holiday get-together this Christmas? Maybe two or three? One for your family and then two or more to get all your friends together. I plan to have one to get my family together. Then I have to pick a date for my friends. So here are already 2 opportunities for me to create some great meals to please the crowd.

My head is buzzing with ideas. There are the Christmas decorations, lights, and the tree. Then the biggest buzz is the one that involves planning my menu(s). I served up an incredible meal for Thanksgiving. It took a lot of prep time and my back is still aching until this day. Hehehhe… BUT if there’s anything I’d like to always outdo myself in it is cooking and creating pastries.

Here are some ideas for a main course I’ve thought of:

• Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding served with Pan Gravy
• Roast Lamb
• A Rack of Lamb
• A Turducken
• A Chicken Dish

As you can see, I’m still in the early stages of planning, but there’s much to do so I’ll have to narrow it down and decide. Not only do I have to pick the main course, but also the sides which will have to complement the main course and each other. Then there is dessert! I will take the most time selecting the dessert(s) I’ll be making this year. I am absolutely thrilled and plan to make it the least stressful for myself and the most enjoyable for myself and all my guests.

Last, I suggest you decide on how many people you will entertain and feed. Whether you want a sit-down dinner or go buffet-style, make sure you plan well ahead. This time of year is stressful enough, don’t make it so you will end up ripping out your hair as I have in the past.

I have to say I enjoy a good hearty bowl of chili with a nice kick once in a while. One of my favorites is the Texas Chili from Hard Times Cafe. Boy is it scrumptious! Now, I don’t think it’s particularly good for one’s waistline of cardiac health, but still, once in a blue moon I’d roll into a Hard Times Cafe and order either the Texas Chili Frito Pie or the Texas Chili Mac. One year I got so obsessed with that particular Texas Chili I became determined to make it at home. Luckily when I spoke to my waitress who served us on one of those visits, she told me that they packaged the spice mix and sold it! I felt as if I hit the jackpot that day.

So ever since then I’ve gone out to buy the package and gone home and made it. In order to cut down on our fat intake, I use ground venison instead of ground beef. You can also try it with ground turkey, it’s still delicious. The spices you can get either at Hard Times Cafe or I’ve found it at my local Shoppers Food Warehouse.

Venison Texas Chili Mac

2 lbs ground venison (beef or turkey)

One 2-ounce bag of spice mix

One can beef broth or beer

One can of beans (optional)

1. Cook meat in skillet until tender.
2. Add 1/4 cup spice mix as meat is cooking. Stir well.
3. Transfer to chili pot and add beef broth or beer.
4. Mix in remaining spice mix according to taste and simmer covered for at least 30 minutes.
5. As liquid evaporates add water as needed to completely cover meat.
6. Drain each serving with slotted ladle or spoon.
7. For enhanced flavor, refrigerate over night and reheat in double boiler before serving.

Chili Mac:

In a bowl or on an oval platter layer spaghetti, chili, grated cheese, chopped onions, chopped chives, bacon bits, or whatever it is you want to dress it with. Sprinkle with white vinegar (optional). For extra heat mix chopped raw jalapeño peppers with the onions.

***I got this recipe off of the Hard Times Chili Texas Spice Mix box. I modified it a bit with how I dress the chili before I eat it.

Frito Pie:

In a bowl or on an oval platter follow the instructions for the Chili Mac above but use Fritos (original flavor) instead. This will yield a tasty favorite for game day or any other day, with a nice crunch!

I find this to be the quickest and gratifying chili. I have made different chili over the years from scratch. But when I don’t have the time, this is a precise and yummy way to satisfy my craving for a delicious chili, with a kick.

]]> http://www.asamatteroffood.com/2007/11/recipe-texas-venison-chili-mac/feed/ 0 http://www.asamatteroffood.com/2007/11/thanksgiving-day-2007/ http://www.asamatteroffood.com/2007/11/thanksgiving-day-2007/#comments Fri, 23 Nov 2007 04:22:26 +0000 jpham http://asamatteroffood.wordpress.com/2007/11/22/thanksgiving-day-2007/ I set the alarm for 9AM this morning.   I tried to get as close to 8 hours of sleep as possible.  My arms are sore from carrying around all the grocery bags yesterday.  My back is definitely not feeling the rainbow because I lifted that bucket with the turkey and brine in it.  It’s all good though, because the day had started and I was ready to go.

I’m very happy and thankful for everything turning out so well.  Hmmm… except for one of the hors d’oeuvres.  The mini venison burgers.  I used pie crust as the burger buns and wanted the top bun to have a little color.  So in the last few minutes I turned the oven to broil and intended to only do it for 1 minute.  Did I get some color!  Of course I got busy with doing other things and burnt them.  I was very upset, but got over it. People just took of the top and ate the burger and the bottom bun.

Here are some pictures of the preparations and roasting of the turkey.

Some more pictures of me making the Maple-Glazed Yams with Pecan Topping.  Boy, they were a hit! Not too sweet but just right with a bit of a crunch.  Definitely going to make it again.  I’m going to give you the recipe in a later blog post along with all the others.

Finally, here are pictures of all of the dishes I prepared that day.  Check out the center piece!  I even made that myself.    I went with stuffing out of a box and it turned out perfect.  I kept things simple, adding nothing fancy to the stuffing.  I used canned green beans for my green bean casserole.  The hummus spread I used on the cucumber stacks were also store bought.    I decided that for the simpler dishes I used canned, prepackaged, and boxed ingredients.  Over the years I’ve learned to showcase my cooking skills in preparing dishes one cannot easily buy at the store and have it taste or look as exceptional as when it is homemade.  As for the rest, I’m not ashamed to take a short cut here or there.  Let’s be real! And yes, seldom do I burn food, but it happens.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! If you would like to share any of your stories please feel free to email them to me @ asamatteroffood@gmail.com.

Here’s our conversation:

On 11/19/07, Lily of the Valley <xxxxxxx@gmail.com > wrote:

Dear Recipe Guru, 

I don’t have much time tonight, but I am defrosting some chicken breasts. I want to make a chicken alfredo, but have the chicken turn out a little more “tasty” and either marinated or friend to put on top of alfredo sauce and linguine. Any advice?  Lily of the Valley 

Instant Messenger Chat:  

me:  when do you need it ?  tonight?

LOTV: yes

me: for tonight?  okay let me see what I can do. you want a quick version or a detailed version i can do it a bunch of ways

LOTV: quick!  I’m a mom.  quick quick quick

me: okay so you don’t mind canned stuff right?

LOTV: no

me: you just want the chicken more tasty

LOTV: we have canned alfredo

me: gotcha=]

LOTV: i dont have time tonight to make it fresh and im tired

LOTV: it’s easy then

me:  I’ll get you something in a bit

LOTV:  k thanks

On 11/19/07, GotFood13 <GotFood13@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Lily of the Valley, 

From our brief conversation I was able to gather that you’re not interested in a very involved recipe tonight.  So instead of giving you a recipe, I’m going to help you with kicking the taste of your chicken up a notch.   

Basically boil your pasta as you would usually.  You indicated that you were going to use canned alfredo sauce.  So I’d leave that up to you as far as which brand you like and which you’re going to use.  Start simmering the alfredo sauce in a sauce pan while you work on the chicken.

 The chicken: 

1. Cut your 1/2 lb of chicken breast in to bite size pieces.  (I’ll leave this up to your preferences)

2. Put cut chicken pieces in a mixing bowl.

3. Sprinkle some salt & pepper (2 – 3 small pinches of salt and 2 shakes of pepper)

4. If you have garlic powder sprinkle some on.

5. If you have Italian seasoning, add a dash.

6. Mix the chicken and ingredients.

7. Let sit for about 10 minutes.

8. Heat up a skillet on high heat and add a little bit of oil.

9. Once oil is hot put chicken in and spread out the pieces evenly.

10. Let chicken pieces sit for about a minute before turning.  This is for color and to sear the chicken.

11. Turn the chicken a few times.  Once all the chicken pieces have turned white from cooking, lower heat down to medium and cook for about 8 – 10 minutes or until chicken pieces are cooked.

12. Once chicken has been cooked remove from pan straining the oil.

13. Put chicken pieces into sauce pan with the alfredo sauce simmering and cook for another 10 minutes on low – medium heat.

14. Then serve over your pasta of choice.

I hope these quick tips helped!  Let me know when you leave a comment! GotFood13

On 11/19/07, Lily of the Valley <xxxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks Got Food! 

I’ll try it tonight! 

LOTV

As soon as we walked through the doors we were taken back by the decor.  The walls were a dark rich, either cherry or mahogany, wood.  The lights were dimmed so it gave the dining room an even darker appearance.  I like dimmed lights but honestly cannot say that it gave me a cozy or inviting feeling.  I know my opinion can be considered biased because of the feeling I expect to experience given a certain atmosphere.  I noticed the patrons were very well suited up.  We had never been to Shula’s so we didn’t know what to expect. 

We were seated in a nice booth.  Immediately, my husband and I started to joke about how stuffy it felt.  It was too rigid, in my opinion.  A waitress came and placed a football on a tee, right on my plate, I found it odd but a little intriguing.  It took a good 10 minutes before someone came to get our drink orders, and still no menus.  We ordered a beer and a martini.  I don’t remember which martini it was but remember that it was recommended by our waitress as being her favorite.   I also remember that it wasn’t as great as she thought it’d be and that I could have made a better one.  We waited another 10 minutes until our drinks came back and we ordered appetizers which we were able to find on the drink menu.  Fancy, but we discovered the football which was placed on my plate served as a menu.  I think the football menu is a neat idea which plays part in showcasing Don Shula’s history as a football coach.  I also came to find out that the restaurant is themed after the 1972 Miami Dolphin’s “Perfect Season”.  So it all tied in together well. 

At this point we were starving!  We ordered the beef tips and a salad.  It took 20 minutes for our appetizers to come.  In the mean time we had finished our drinks and a cart of meat with all the different cuts was wheeled to our table.  There were the filet mignon, the N.Y. strip steak, the porterhouse, prime rib, and the Kansas City Strip, and the Cowboy steak to choose from.  I ordered the prime rib and my husband the N.Y. strip steak.  We also put in another order for drinks.  It took, what felt like another eternity for our drinks to come, and then yet another for the entrees.

Overall, the steaks were good.  I didn’t find my meal exceptional.  The prime rib which I was served, had a bit too much fat on it and I had to spend a lot of time trimming the fat off.  I ordered medium rare and got a piece that was more medium.  The N.Y. strip was ordered to be a medium well but was served more well.  The bread was excellent, I must add.  I can’t say that it was a horrible experience.  It wasn’t.  The meal was still good.  However, the wait staff was slow.  We had 3 different waitresses, so if we needed anything we didn’t know who to make eye contact with and get their attention.  It took a little over 2 hours to have our entire meal.  A good thing we didn’t have other plans!  For a $190 bill with gratuities pre-included, and an award-winning restaurant, I expected to have had a much better dining experience to write about.  For less than half of what we paid at Shula’s we could have gone to our usual spot, Outback Steakhouse.  We could have had steaks just as good but cooked according to our specifications.

For those who want to try the restaurant or get more information, please visit www.donshula.com.  Perhaps you’ll have a different experience.  One has to keep in mind certain demographics, individual taste, and the atmosphere one seeks.  Like they say “Different folks, different strokes!”. 

As for me, I will chalk this one up as a one-time visit.

The very first turkey we had was a 25 lbs. turkey given to us by this nice lady, Mrs. Lomax, I believe. This was back in 1991.  I didn’t have a cookbook or the Internet to show me how to cook this big bird. So I thought to myself “Just stick it in the oven for say…. 1 1/2 hours and we’ll have dinner!” Yeah right. Of course at 15 and not having the right resources or not knowing any better, I had no clue about the “cook for so much time if your bird weighs this much”. So after 1 1/2 hours I took the bird out, the color was nice. Plated it and served it with stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and dinner rolls. Ahhh cutting into the bird presented our family with a huge surprise. It was still raw and some parts still frozen! Boy, what a disaster that was. I stuck the bird back into the oven for another hour at 450 degrees. After an hour I took it back out and checked it. Still raw, at least now the frozen parts were thawed out. I was disgusted with it all, to say the least. By now it was almost 7pm. So to make a long story short, by the time we were able to eat the turkey it was close to 7 hours from the initial start time and the bird was totally cut up into smaller pieces. We finally ate it but it wasn’t great. Seriously, nothing to write home about. It was dry and bland. Yuck.

Perhaps this is what set my parents’ expectations of future turkeys. LOL Although the turkeys have become much better over the years, the memory of the first turkey has stuck with my entire family.

I’ve got more Thanksgiving stories, some ‘horror’ stories to add to the mix, but for now I’d like to hear yours.

Email me your Thanksgiving stories, whether good or bad, to asamatteroffood@gmail.com or gotfood13@gmail.com and get a chance to have your story told on my blog!

What I liked about the Supper Clubs idea:

• Meeting new people and socialization
• Something for you and your friends to do to get together
• A variety of menu ideas
• Don’t have to put together an entire meal by yourself
• Cost effective

What I didn’t like about the Supper Clubs idea (which ultimately made me lose interest) was my fear of dependency and the fear of the mundane.  Let me explain.  Perhaps this is just me.  I was afraid of meeting strangers, even if they had the same interests, and not hitting it off with them.  Now I would have committed to this club and I didn’t want to start something I couldn’t follow through on.  So I shied away from the idea.  Now my close friends, at the time and at the age I was at, none of the friends who lived close enough to entertain this idea were really into cooking.  The ones that would be into cooking and trying this idea out, lived too far to do this even on a weekly basis.  So for this to work out and be somewhat convenient for all parties involved, I’d say that you couldn’t live outside a 5 mile radius from one another.  This all becoming too much of a chore, was the last thought which held me back at the time.

From what I read on www.cookinglight.com this concept has been a hit since its inception in 1999.  Supper Clubs have really taken off all over the world.  It is like that with anything, it takes a certain person.  Everything is sparked by an interest.  :-)  I would definitely be interested in starting a supper club with my friends if we all lived within a 10 to 15 mintue drive from one another.  The most I’d probably do is 20 minutes.  Still that still doesn’t take care of my fear of it becoming a chore.

My personal experience:

I once did what I called a “Lunch Pool” with a former co-worker.  She and I would take turns cooking and bringing lunch.  We started with taking weekly turns.  At first it was great, I thought.  She cooked a different ethnic cuisine and so did I.  So the “new” and the “different” definitely impressed me.  Then I realized that while I was making my exotic and healthful meals, she was cooking a lot of one dish meals which used a lot of starchy vegetables and a very cheap cut of meat.  I was very disappointed and felt that it wasn’t fair.  Without jumping the gun and getting too upset, I asked her where she shopped.  What the indgredients were, and what kind of cut it was if it were beef.  So when I confirmed my suspicions I had to start making excuses as to why I couldn’t continue anymore.  Yes, yes it was very cowardly of me!  How do you confront someone and tell them “I’m not cooking anymore because I’m spending money on really fresh and healthy ingredients.  You’re being a cheapskate and you’re going to turn us both fat and give us a heart attack.”  I felt horrible for even thinking that, but that was how I felt and it was the truth.  I’m not a splurger by any means.  I’m very frugal.  Frugal still doesn’t mean you have to eat in an unhealthy way. 

Stay tuned and I’ll show you how to make food stretch in my future posts!  Plus we’re gonna keep it as healthy as we can.