Tastes like pizza!

Lots of flavor from just 4 ingredients. Spicy Italian sausage stir fried with onions, garlic, and chicken. Season with salt and pepper, top with Parmesan cheese.

Tofu Teriyaki Noodles

So easy to make.

Prepare teriyaki sauce: equal parts tamari and mirin, some brown sugar, and a dash of sesame oil. Marinate tofu for about an hour. Broil for 10-15 minutes.

Cook baby bok choy with sliced onions and ginger. Add cooked buckwheat noodles, teriyaki sauce, carrots, and red cabbage. Cook for a few minutes, season with salt, and serve with tofu.

BBQ

Had some BBQ with out-of-towners. I thought a sandwich would be lighter than a meat plate. I was wrong, but it was delicious!

Chopped pork sandwich from Salt Lick.

I finished it in 3 separate sittings.

Mi Goi and GOP

I love instant noodles. In my opinion, you can never go wrong with some ramen. I added egg for protein and celery for texture. Accommodated by pre-prepared green onion pancake, with a dipping sauce made of tamari, siracha, and sesame oil.

Fettuccine with Tuna Puttensca

The capers and olives bring out great flavors in this dish. Modified recipe from the Food Network. I used less pasta but did not modify the sauce measurements. I also did not season with salt as often as the original recipe did. The juices from the capers and olives added enough flavor.


Salt
12 (6) ounces linguine (fettuccine)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 (6) cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon (1 tablespoon) red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons capers, drained (with juice)
1/2 cup roughly chopped kalamata olives ( + a few teaspoons of juice)
(6 mushrooms)
(1/2 can white beans)
1 28-ounce can San Marzano plum tomatoes (14.5 oz diced tomatoes)
4 basil leaves, torn, plus more for garnish
1 5-ounce can albacore tuna, packed in olive oil
Pepper



Cook pasta, reserving 1/4 water. Over medium heat, cook garlic and red pepper flakes until fragrant. Add capers with juice, olives, beans and mushrooms (until mushrooms have softened). Add diced tomatoes, reserving juice. Cook for 5 minutes. Add sauce and basil until sauce thickens, and then add the tuna. Add water, and toss pasta. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy.

Waffles!

Chris and I took a spontaneous drive to San Antonio today. Guenter's waffles were on the agenda. The restaurant is located right next to the family mill, so everything is literally made in the backyard. When the waffle arrives to the table, it still retains the heat from the griddle. First bite is light as air, with the perfect amount of crispiness. Tastes like funnel cake.

No joking around.

Com chien

Fried rice with meatless pork, peas, corn, beansprouts, and carrots. Sauce: hoisen, tamari, sesame oil. Seasoned with salt and pepper, topped with scallions and cilantro.

Veggie Pho

Modified recipe from New Vegetarian, a gift from Loan.

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 (3) inches sliced ginger
(3 inches sliced galangal)
1 large sliced onion
1 large chopped carrot
2 stalks chopped celery
2 ounces dried mushrooms (shitake)
1 (2) cinnamon sticks
6 (8) star anise pods
(1 teaspoon cloves)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons tamari
1 tablespoon brown sugar


Cook the ginger, galangal, onion, carrot and celery until golden. Add 12 cups of cold water and bring to a simmer. Add the dry ingredients and tamari. Simmer for 3 hours. Remove mushrooms, onions, carrots, and celery. (I kept the ginger, galangal, cinnamon, anise, and cloves in the broth to retain the flavor).


Serve with rice noodles, cilantro, thinly sliced onions, scallions, lime, basil, bean sprouts, and meatless meatballs (which were not so great, unfortunately).

Caramel popcorn

Inspired by a post by Smitten Kitchen.

Grease a mixing bowl, a baking sheet, and 2 spatulas. Heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil with 1/2 cup kernels on medium high. Cook for 5 minutes, until all of the corn has been popped.

Heat 3 tablespoons butter, 3 cups of sugar, and 1/2 cup water on high for 10 minutes. Pour the caramel mixture over the popcorn and cool to room temperature.

Goodbye 2009!

Started my day off with a brisk walk to Torchy's Tacos. Had a migas taco with chorizo and picked up the baja shrimp and fried avocado for Chris.



I am in the search for a great tasting cinnamon roll. I wasn't too impressed with the one I got from Moonlight Bakery. Icing was ok, dough was ok, amount of cinnamon ok. In short, very average.

Let's aim for more postings in 2010!