Linguine with Clam Sauce

I steal recipes sometimes.  This recipe wasn't meant for me but when I saw it on my news feed I knew I'd wanna try it.  It comes from my lovely friend Jessica who gave me permission to post it.  I used raw peeled shrimp instead of clams because I'm lazy, but I'm very confident that the clam version is delicious!

Thanks Jess!  Can't wait to see you in August!

Jessica's Linguine with Clam Sauce (in her words)

1 box linguine (I like de cecco or barilla linguine fini)
1/2 cup ev olive oil
...6 or more garlic cloves
...1/2 t red pepper flakes (spicy!)
2 lbs littleneck clams, scrubbed (or be lazy and buy geisha brand canned)
1 cup dry white wine (Pinot grigio)
1 lemon plus additional slices for garnish
3 T butter
flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Parmesan optional.. Some people frown on cheese with seafood... Not me! :)

Boil noodles in salt water (as salty as ocean water) Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a deep saute pan with a lid. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, saute but don't let garlic turn color. Add the clams, wine, parsley and lemon juice. Cover and cook until all the clams are opened. Throw away ones that don't open...
Add hot drained linguine to the pan, finish with butter and salt and pepper to your liking. Toss the pasta with the clams and sprinkle parsley, serve with lemon slices on side and drizzle of olive oil... You can also sprinkle with parm and breadcrumbs next day and put under broiler... Yum! (remove clam meat from shell before broiling) :).

Chinese Beef, Tomato and Egg dish

Back in Boston we had this Beef, Tomato, and Egg dish at Taiwan Cafe in Chinatown that was the ultimate comfort food.  Eggs and tomatoes was entirely new to me even though W had grown up eating it, but adding beef completed it as a meal.  It's perfect for a winter day...or just a day when you have tomatoes that need to be eaten like we had yesterday. 

I've tried to make this dish at least three times and after some research I finally figured out the secret ingredient: ketchup.  It adds the right texture, it's just sweet enough, and it helps contribute to the tomato-ness of it all.  Feel free to add more if you love ketchup.

Here's the recipe that I used as a template (Thanks, ehow!  Who'd have thought?): Beef Tomato Egg

And here's my version- good luck!

Ingredients:
1 lb. beef sirloin, cut into thin pieces
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch
3 tomatoes (I used tomatoes on the vine)
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons ketchup
3 eggs, beaten

1. Combine the sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and cornstarch, then add beef slices.  Allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes.  If you're eating this with rice (highly suggested!) then I'd start making rice now, too.
2. Cut the tomatoes and beat the eggs while you're waiting for the meat to be ready.  Keep them separate.
3. Cook the beef until just about done.  Set aside.
4. Saute the tomatoes in a tbsp of vegetable oil on medium heat.  The tomatoes should start to lose their shape.  Make sure to stir them so they don't burn.
5. Add water and ketchup to the tomatoes.  Let the mixture come to a simmer.  There should be enough liquid to cover the bottom of the pan and maybe get a third of the way up to the height of the tomatoes.
6. Add the beaten eggs and stir gently so the eggs cook with the tomato mixture.  If you like your eggs more firm then I'd leave them alone for a few minutes before stirring.  If you like a soft scramble then you can stir more often.
7. Add the beef back into the tomato and egg mixture.  Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.
8. Scoop over rice and enjoy! 

Asian Pasta Salad

Happy June!  It's not officially summer yet, but it definitely feels like it here in CT.

I'm a huge fan of noodles in any form: stir-fried, in soup, with creamy sauces, with pesto...you name it, I will most likely eat it.  Yesterday we had a potluck at work and I brought this cold noodle salad.  I wasn't sure what my co-workers would think of it since it's not your everyday pasta salad, but they really liked it!

I used linguine instead of bowtie pasta because that's all I had on hand- I just cut the linguine after cooking it.  In retrospect I would have broken the linguine before cooking.  I also included a little bit of minced garlic in the sauce cuz I had some on hand.  I chilled the noodles overnight and tossed in some spinach and field greens right before serving.  Also, I didn't add chicken, green onions or cilantro- as you can tell I was not well prepared for this recipe.  Luckily I had most of the ingredients on hand, but it's so versatile that you could probably make a lot of modifications with good results.

Thanks to Week of Menus!  It almost seems redundant for me to archive her recipes since I'm on her site so much.

Asian Bowtie Pasta
Serves 6-8

1 lb farfalle (bowtie) pasta (I used the mini farfalle)

1/3 cup canola, safflower or other mild tasting oil
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 red, yellow or orange bell peppers, cut julienne
1 cup of scallions, diced
2-3 cups of rotisserie chicken, cut into bite sized pieces (put more chicken if you want it meatier)
3 tablespoons roasted sesame seed
Pepper to taste
3 cups washed baby spinach
1/4 cup cilantro, OPTIONAL
2 tablespoons red pepper flakes, OPTIONAL

Boil and cook pasta according to directions. Make sure to salt the cooking water. Drain pasta and set aside. Return the pasta pot back to the stove. (You don't need to wash it.) Add the canola oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and rice wine vinegar. Heat over low heat until the honey is dissolved. Remove from heat and toss in the pasta. Add the bell peppers, chicken, scallions, pepper, sesame seeds, cilantro (optional) and red pepper flakes (optional). Toss well to coat all the ingredients. Before serving, toss the pasta with the spinach, to keep the vibrant green as much as possible.

This can be chilled or served warm at room temperature.

Leek Risotto

Leeks look like scallions (green onions) but a LOT bigger.  Don't use the dark part- it's too tough to eat.  Cut that off and use the rest.  I usually cut them, separate the parts, and soak them in a bowl of water to get all the dirt out.

Risotto is awesome because it seems really complicated but it's not- it just takes some time.  I cheated and used medium-grain white rice because I didn't have arborio, and I don't think anyone could tell the difference.

I've made this as is and I've also added roasted chicken and asparagus for a more complete meal.  Thanks to the Gourmet Traveller for a simple yet elegant recipe!

Simple Leek Risottoeek Risotto
serves 2

2 leeks, trimmed and sliced
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
a sprig of thyme, leaves only
a generous knob of butter (about 20g)
150g arborio rice
150ml dry white wine
750ml vegetable (or chicken) stock
a large handful of freshly grated parmesan
freshly ground black pepper
salt

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the leeks, red onions and thyme, and cook on a medium heat until soft and golden, about 10 minutes. While they are cooking heat stock in a separate pan and leave on a low simmer.

Once the leeks are tender, add the rice and stir to coat in the leek butter mixture. Pour in the wine and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the stock a ladle at a time, stirring constantly. Make sure the rice has absorbed most of the stock before adding the next ladleful.

After about 15-20 minutes of cooking the rice grains will have puffed up, but still have a bite to them. Remove the risotto from the heat (the rice should still be quite wet at this point), stir in the grated parmesan and season to taste.

Serve with a grating of parmesan on top and eat immediately!

Apple muffins

One of W's favorite desserts is apple cake, and these muffins actually taste like miniature versions of his beloved cake.  The outside of the muffin gets crunchy somehow, and it's a nice contrast to the warm, soft apple inside.


Side story:  I had class or something so I wasn't able to make it to a church event.  W had a piece of the famed apple cake and liked it so much that he brought back a piece for me just so I could try it.  I like it when we share food!


Thanks to The Girl Who Ate Everything!


Apple Muffins

Source: Marissa Pinon
Cream together:
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla

Sift: (She didn't sift and either did I and they turned out great )
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 cups peeled, cored, diced apples (around 3 apples)
Brown sugar for topping (around 1/2 cup)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. The batter will be very thick. Add the diced apples.

Butter & flour muffin tins or use paper liners. Fill muffin tins almost to the top about 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Makes 18-24 muffins.

Zuppa Toscana

Everyone has at least one guilty-pleasure chain restaurant, and mine is Olive Garden.  Our whole family would sometimes go for Ohana (our sanctioned immediate-family-only time whenever we're all in town), and as much as we liked the food we LOVED the soup, salad, and breadsticks that come before the meal.  So bourgeois, I know, but we didn't care.  I'm surprised we ordered entrees.

I realized that it wasn't hard to make our favorite soup, so for a family gathering I tried out this recipe for Zuppa Toscana.  I substituted kale for spinach (just like OG) and didn't use a full cup of cream.  I just started pouring and mixing and stopped when it looked about right. 

Word of warning: don't skimp on the ingredients.  I made it without bacon once and totally regretted it. I've yet to find a good breadstick recipe that can be consumed with the soup, so if I ever find one I'll post it.

Thanks to souporsweets for posting this on Allrecipes!  My extended family thanks you, too. 

Zuppa Toscana

Ingredients

• 1 pound bulk mild Italian sausage
• 1 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 5 (13.75 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 6 potato, thinly sliced
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 bunch fresh spinach, tough stems removed

Directions

1. Cook the Italian sausage and red pepper flakes in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crumbly, browned, and no longer pink, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Cook the bacon in the same Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain, leaving a few tablespoons of drippings with the bacon in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Stir in the onions and garlic; cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Pour the chicken broth into the Dutch oven with the bacon and onion mixture; bring to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes, and boil until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the heavy cream and the cooked sausage; heat through. Mix the spinach into the soup just before serving.

Katsu

If I had my own iron chefs I would definitely designate my Hawaiian friend K as Iron Chef Japanese.  He would love to cook for us and with us in college, and one of my favorite meals with him was Chicken Katsu.  I asked him for the recipe and he graciously shared it with me. 

W and I love curry katsu (chicken or pork katsu with rice and Japanese curry) but katsu is good on its own.  Thanks, K!

Chicken Katsu
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/2 c flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 package panko Japanese bread crumbs
4c frying oil (vegetable, canola, peanut, whatever you normally use)
garlic salt & pepper

Heat your oil to 350 degrees or until a piece of panko sizzles vigorously when dropped in.

Sprinkle garlic salt and pepper over the chicken thighs.  Dredge them in flour, then egg, then panko.  Make sure to press the panko into the chicken as much as possible.

Drop the prepared chicken into the oil and fry for 3-4 mins per side until golden brown.  Don't add more than 2-3 pieces into the oil at once or the temperature will drop too rapidly and it won't be crispy.

Drain the finished katsu on a wire rack or paper towel and serve while hot.

Enjoy!