Pad See Ew

I've always liked this dish at Thai restaurants so when I saw a recipe I really wanted to make it. I thought this would be simple to make in Blake's wok but it ended up being messy and difficult. The tofu was sticking to the wok so even after I added a ton of peanut oil I still decided to remove it and cook it in a nonstick pan so it would get crispy on the outside. In the end I was disappointed because I thought it was not as flavorful as it should have been. The first night we ate it with some sriracha and some lime juice and it was better, but I had to add more sauce to the large amount we had leftover.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon regular soy sauce
1/2 cup homemade mushroom soy sauce (soak dried shitakes in soy sauce for about a half hour)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Splash(s) of peanut or vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 block tofu, cubed
1 egg
2 broccoli crowns cut into florets
8 ounces dry flat rice noodles
Lime wedges, for garnish

Directions:
Cook the broccoli in the wok in a small amount of oil over medium heat until softened but still crisp. Add some water into the wok so it partially steams. Set broccoli aside. Cook tofu in a nonstick pan in a small amount of oil until browned on all sides. Meanwhile soak the noodles in warm water for until softened. Mix tofu and broccoli together and add in garlic. Stir and make a well in the center. Crack in the egg and scramble into the vegetables. Drain noodles well and add into the wok. Pour in the soy sauce and stir fry until dark brown. Serve garnished with lime and sriracha.

Vegetarian Dinner

Dru came over to Blake's house the other night so we made him a vegetarian dinner. I decided to make a tart after looking at some of the vegetable dishes on the closet cooking blog. I decided to make a pasta I'd seen on foodgawker. It was good but Blake would prefer pastas with sauce in the future. The mushroom tart was good, but the dough was a little raw in the middle. Next time I will cover it after the pastry is browned so that it can stay in the oven cooking a little longer.

Rigatoni Pepperonata

Ingredients:
1 box of rigatoni
3 peppers, red, yellow, and orange
2 tbsp chopped capers
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
basil
parsley
pine nuts, toasted
olive oil
crushed red pepper, salt, black pepper
pecorino romano or parmesan

Directions:
Heat oven to 400. Spread the pine nuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast, tossing occasionally, until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the bell peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the capers, vinegar, crushed red pepper, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until heated though, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the pasta and pine nuts to the skillet and cook, tossing, for 1 minute. Add parsley, basil and Parmesan cheese.

Mushroom Tart

Ingredients:
1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted
1 bag baby portobellos, sliced
1 onion, halved and sliced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp thyme
1/4 cup white wine
handful parsley
1/2 cup grated gruyere

Directions:
Heat oil in a pan over medium low heat. Sautee onions until soft and carmelized, about 20 minutes. Add butter and let it melt. Then sautee mushrooms and cook down about another 15 minutes. Add in thyme and garlic. Stir in and season with salt and pepper. Deglaze pan with wine. Heat oven to 400. Meanwhile, roll out puff pastry dough and score a border about an inch from the edge all the way around. Spread mushroom and onion mix into the center rectangle. Top with grated gruyere. Brush the outside dough crust with oil and bake about 15-25 minutes. When crust gets browned, cover the tart with foil and continue baking. Remove from oven and garnish with parsley. Cut into squares and serve.

Hasselback potatoes

I saw this in the Ad Hoc at home cookbook I looked through at a Williams Sonoma recently and thought it looked so cool. I found a recipe on foodgawker and made it a few weeks ago. Blake grilled steaks and sauteed some asparagus in olive oil with garlic.

Ingredients:
russet potatoes
2 cloves of garlic
salt, pepper, olive oil, thyme

Directions:
Heat oven to 400. Scrub potatoes clean and lay on their flattest side. Slice the potatoes thinly but only about 2/3 of the way down. Slice garlic thinly and shove pieces in between some of the potato slices. Stuff in some thyme and salt and pepper as well. Massage in the oil. Bake for about 1 hour.

Tofu Noodle Stir Fry

I made this a couple weeks ago for dinner. I liked it pretty well for not being a big fan of tofu. I didn't post right away and now I can't find the recipe I used so I am just trying to remember.

Ingredients
1 package extra firm tofu
1 bag snow peas
1 chunk of ginger, grated
3 cloves garlic
soy sauce
1 package ramen egg noodles
scallions

Directions
Cut tofu into cubes. Marinate in soy sauce, garlic and ginger. Reserve sauce to use after. Then cook in a small amount of peanut oil in a nonstick pan over medium high heat until browned on all sides. Meanwhile boil water and cook noodles. Drain and rinse in cold water. Add snow peas to tofu, then noodles, and reserved sauce. Stir fry until heated through. Top with scallions.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

I made this for dinner on Tuesday. I looked at recipes online, but ended up just kind of winging it in the kitchen. I served it with a simple green salad with balsamic dressing and frozen garlic breadsticks. Blake liked it and was happy to have a good all beef meatball.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, chopped
about 1/2 cup bread crumbs
about 1/2 cup shredded parmesan
splash of milk
salt and pepper
1 box Pomi marinara
fresh basil
half box thick bucatini pasta
olive oil

Directions:
Mix ground beef, egg, garlic, bread crumbs, parmesan, milk, and salt and pepper. Shape into balls and place on parchment paper. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick over medium high heat. Brown meatballs on all sides. Meanwhile, boil water for pasta and cook according to package instructions until al dente. Remove browned meatballs from pan and drain on paper towels. Wipe out pan and add marinara sauce. Season to taste. When pasta is ready, drain and place in serving bowls. Put meatballs into marinara sauce and toss. Top pasta with meatballs and sauce and sprinkle with more parmesan cheese and fresh chopped basil.

Baked Chicken Tender Dinner

I made this meal for dinner this past Monday. It came out well, especially the sweet potatoes, which Blake said were restaurant worthy. He also liked the broccoli salad which was unusual because he said he usually doesn't like raw broccoli. The sweet potato recipe came from Sweet Pea's Kitchen and I followed the recipe exactly. Then for the chicken, I basically used a recipe from dlyn, but I changed it according to what we already had in Blake's kitchen. I didn't measure for this one. I looked at some recipes for broccoli salad, but ended up just making it myself. I probably didn't need to buy 3 broccoli crowns, because we had plenty left over.

Chicken Ingredients:
1 package organic chicken tenders
about 1 cup of milk
about 1/2 tsp of salt. pepper, garlic powder, paprika
about 1 cup bread crumbs
about 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme, garlic powder, italian seasoning, cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper
a pinch of fresh thyme
olive oil

Directions:
Marinate the chicken tenders in the milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika for up to 24 hours. When ready to prepare, preheat oven to 400. Mix bread crumbs and seasonings on a plate. Shake off chicken so it is not dripping, and press into breadcrumbs until evenly coated. Set on a rack over parchment paper for about half an hour so breading sets. Drizzle with olive oil and place oiled side down on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Drizzle the other side with olive oil and bake for about 12 minutes. Then flip over and bake another 9 minutes. Serve immediately.

Sweet Potato Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes
2.5 tbsp olive oil
2.5 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
honey

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 1 inch chunks. Place in bag and add olive oil, sugar, chili powder, salt and pepper. Mix and let sit for about 15-30 minutes. Grease a pyrex and dump in potatoes. Drizzle with honey. Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring about every 10 minutes.

Broccoli Ingredients:
3 broccoli crowns
about 1/4 red onion
1/2 cup dried cherries and golden raisins
1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
Brianna's poppyseed dressing

Directions:
Cut broccoli crowns into small pieces. Dice onion small. Mix all ingredients together and dress. Chill and serve.