Crustacean's Garlic Noodles

So... I'm always keeping an eye out for popular restaurant dishes and when I saw an Instagram pic of these noodles with Roasted Crab I was determined to try them myself.  Crustaceans is a really popular Vietnamese restaurant on the west coast and most of the reviews mention the Garlic Noodles as the best thing on the menu.

Every recipe I found called for MSG in some form, and although I know its not good for me, it makes food taste amazing.  We grew up cooking with it regularly, and eventually stopped for health reasons but I do occasionally indulge, and this dish was a good enough reason.

I didn't follow the recipe to a "T" because I couldn't find Maggi's Seasoning Sauce at the time so I had to improvise, we'll call this the hood version of Crustacean's Garlic Noodles.  This recipe is really about the sauce, which can be made in batches and kept refrigerated for a while.  Maggi's provided the touch of MSG I couldn't find so I created my own version of it by crushing a bouillon cube into soy sauce.  Considering I don't know what Maggis' seasoning sauce tastes like I was just trying to incorporate the bouillon cube so I'd have some MSG flavor mixed in.  

Before you read this recipe, try to remember, you shouldn't eat these noodles too often because of the MSG, plus they're kind of greasy because of all the butter, YUM!!

1 stick unsalted butter (same as 4 oz/110 g/1/2 cup/8 tablespoons)
2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic, or more to taste
1 tablespoon Maggi seasoning sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

I replaced the Maggi's with my soy sauce concoction and it tasted great..

Just in case you couldn't figure it out: you need to boil and drain the pasta LOL

Once the pasta is almost cooked you can start the sauce, it takes very little time unless you're adding meat or seafood, keep that in mind.  Its always better to have the pasta waiting, heat from the sauce will warm it up.

First saute the garlic in the butter being careful not to let the garlic brown, if it does scrap it and start over, burnt garlic is not the desired flavor...

Next add the remaining ingredients and let simmer until all blended, then add any seafood or meat to the pan.

I used shrimp and lobster meat instead of roasting crab, sounded like a little too much work at the time.

Once the seafood was cooked I added the cooked noodles and tossed them in the sauce until coated.

The recipe calls for Parmesan cheese on top, it didn't really enhance the flavor to me, and I don't like cheeses in my Asian food, next time I'll skip it.

I've missed this blog, thanks for reading...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Good Morning and Happy Thanksgiving Readers...

I'm gonna try to make this short and sweet, I know everyone has a ton of cooking to do.  I decided to make today about housework first, then relaxing, but I don't feel cheated on the festivities since my family got together to celebrate over the weekend and we had a ball.

This post is really about a discovery I made last weekend about my food obsession.  My sis and I were the last to arrive and I was afraid there wouldn't be any food left (my major concern) since we were late.  Luckily we caught the tail end of breakfast which was homemade bakes and saltfish, and someone saved a hard boiled egg for me which is all I need to really enjoy my saltfish.  It only took me a few minutes to survey the massive amount of food that was actually available, meaning I only had a few hours to fully appreciate everything in the fridge. If any of you have experienced my family first hand you know that this is no small amount of food I'm talking about.  There were options and large portions galore.

I'll run down the list, and you can tell me if this is normal, considering we had a birthday party for my precious Alexis which consisted of way too much food in itself.

Curry Chicken
Curried Potato and Chickpeas
Dahlpuri & Roti
Hominy Porridge
Oxtail and butter beans
Bakes and Saltfish
Pepper Pot
Ham and Cheese Quiche
Pumpkin soup
Roasted Turkey
Baked Salmon
Spiral Ham
Candied Yams
Macaroni & Cheese
Corn on the cob
Corn Souffle
Green Beans
Stuffing
Pumpkin Pie and
Marscapone Cheesecake (Giada's recipe)

As if we didn't have enough food waiting at home we brought leftovers home from the party, bad idea!

This is possibly the worse picture I've ever taken, but I was way too busy trying to eat the cheesecake to get a good shot.  This was what Ebonee and I thought we left in the kitchen, only to find two tiny pieces shoved in a Tupperware after our Spades tournament. #disappointment

If you're not Guyanese, not sure you'll know or appreciate this picture, this was the most appetizing shot I could get of Gramps' plate, Pepperpot is pretty traditional, breakfast food served with bread, present at all holidays and special occasions   I'll try to describe, but I haven't touched the stuff in almost 20 years so... Its a meat stew, beef, pigtail, whatever you prefer, it has a sweet savory flavor of cassareep (black syrup from cassava root), cloves, cinnamon, very hard to describe, but if your feeling adventurous it won't disappoint. 

These are Auntie Girlie's famous quiche, one ham and cheese, one just cheese, for the non-pepperpot attendees, she always makes sure we have options lol.

This was the very well dressed dinner table for our early Thanksgiving, I wouldn't mind mimicking this next year, a lot less pressure on the actual holiday and all the stores were open for last minute ingredients.

To explain, I'm not complaining, I love my family, and love the stocked fridge, everything was great, and the leftovers were flowing, my kinda holiday.  I think it's pretty clear that my questionable devotion to food is and always has been totally out of my control, I never stood a chance of having an "I eat for sustenance" approach to food, I love it all, always have, always will...

Enjoy your turkey day folks, I'm taking the Italian route... smooches : )

Sautéed Citrus Crab Legs

Happy Thursday Folks,

I've only ever steamed crab legs, so I was intrigued by the saute idea.  Definitely less work and much more flavor.  I hardly eat crab legs because they're so messy, but I had a craving, as usual, and couldn't get rid of it.  I especially don't eat crab legs out in public, so these are good for sitting at home, lounging, where you can be gross and really enjoy them, with a glass of wine... HA!!

I got the idea for this recipe from Emeril's recipe on foodtv.com, but I wasn't feeling some of the ingredients so I improvised.

I started with clean crab legs in a medium-heated saute pan, let them sit for 2 minutes...

Then I added scallions, garlic, parsley, crushed red pepper to the pan and let simmer for another 2 minutes.  Seafood doesn't really require a long time to cook thoroughly, so you have to increase the flavor to get the best outcome.  I also didn't measure anything so just eye ball it based on how much sauce you want for dipping.

To evenly distribute heat and seasoning flip the legs over for another two minutes, then add lemon, lime and orange juice, not too much, just enough to get the citrus flavor, then add a couple tablespoons of butter, turn off heat, but leave pan on the burner and cover until ready to eat.  

Once the crab legs are out of the pan use a spoon to stir and taste the sauce and make any adjustments you like, I really didn't need any salt or pepper, the scallion, garlic and wine were savory enough for me.

I intended on eating these all in one sitting, but about halfway through I became disgusted with myself and decided to make two meals out of it. The flavor on these crab legs was so good I almost sucked the skin off my fingers PAUSE... and the second time I ate them I accidentally squirted the citrus sauce into my eye... #greedygirlproblems

Thanks for reading!

Leftovers

What up Readers, definitely though I posted this a week ago, but oops...

This is just a follow up to last week's chicken tender post.  I didn't think I made that many chicken tenders but I must have because I ate them for two more days (not complaining).

The first day I decided to make barbecue chicken sliders.  I bought these really soft and slightly sweet dinner rolls from Publix (kind of like a Hawaiian roll) to make sandwiches with Jerk Turkey, but I ran out of turkey so...

I started with leftover cabbage that I made into a ghetto coleslaw, which is cool because I don't like real coleslaw.  This was just a little olive oil mayo and red wine vinegar, quick and easy, and not mushy.

Then I added leftover chicken from the chicken tenders I made, but I also do this with any leftover chicken.

Lastly I topped it with some barbecue and hot sauce YUM!!


And no I didn't eat two sliders (eye roll)... I ate three, but the third one couldn't fit on this tiny plate... had to eat it out of  my hands, lol, WHAT?!?!?


The second day I was feeling kinda guilty about eating breaded and fried chicken three days in a row so I made a makeshift salad.  I say makeshift because I had nothing but lettuce to put on it, I didn't even have any onions to slice for it so it was pretty plain.  Luckily I had some blue cheese vinaigrette that made it Yummy!!...

Mastro's Warm Butter Cake

Wassup, Wassup, Wassup...

Ok, so I'm starting this post while the product is still in the oven which is unusual for me, but I already have so much to say and you'll see why.  So any readers who know me personally know I'm a huge fan of Wendy Williams and her show, don't judge me lol.  A few Monday's ago Wendy was raving about a dessert she had while in LA the previous weekend, the Warm Butter Cake was from Mastro's Restaurant in Beverly Hills I believe and I was immediately intrigued.

Wendy is such a lover of food that anything she describes will make your mouth water, but this description was on another level.  Within the week I was ordering the necessary pans on amazon.com and had tracked down a recipe to point me in the right direction.  Wendy described the cake as a small warm flaky cake that had a gooey, cheesy, buttery layer in the center.  Everything about this cake made me excited, especially the pictures and reviews I found of it online.

Luckily, I enjoy a good laugh even if its at myself, so I am going to include the pictures of this nightmare, as well as the picture attached to the recipe so you can see how far left I was lol.  We'll just call this attempt #1, it may be a while before I'm willing to try again, but I will, probably when I have company, I won't inhale cake batter in front of anyone, HA!! yeah right.

My problem with recipes and pictures is that they put a somewhat unrealistic expectation of the end result, which can be discouraging in the event of imperfection.  I say all that to allude to my reason for beginning this post before the timer even goes off on the oven.  I did a number of things wrong, first off, I started to make this cake when I was hungry, knowing that it takes 60 to 75 minutes to bake, and it didn't get into the oven until almost 9:30 p.m.  I completely bypassed dinner with super high expectations of this cake, and its Tuesday so my hope was to eat it while watching Sons of Anarchy, high pressure, Epic Fail!!

This picture accompanied the recipe, somehow I mentally blocked what the end result should be, ooops!

I ran to Publix for the three items I was missing, butter, cream cheese, and sea salt, then began to throw it all today, carefully following the rules.  The trouble really began when I finished mixing the basic batter for the cake and tasted it, I'm no good once my appetite is spoiled.  Cake batter is so yummy who could concentrate after tasting it, everything after that was a big sugar-induced blur (I regret to type).  I maintained a level head up until it was time to fill the pans.  In my defense I've never used these pans, but with that said, I really do know better.

This was the cake batter, still needed room for the top layer LOL, hungry brain!

I have enough baking knowledge to know that cake pans shouldn't be filled, the cake needs room to grow.  As you can see clearly in the pictures, my common sense departed my cake-batter filled brain at this point and I proceeded to cram as much batter and cream cheese filling into these poor unsuspecting pans.

Sidebar: I just took the cakes out of the oven and I've peeled some of the mess I made off the side of the pans and its pretty damn yummy.  A little on the crispy and dark-skinned side, but I likes my hard skin lol.

Back to the story, my realization that I had made a mistake came too late, when the batter started spilling out over the side of the pans : ( (wamp wamp) lol.  At this point there isn't much I can do to undo the mess, so, I decide there's no turning back, the mess is made.  Another thing is that while mixing the batter I wondered why such a large amount of batter was necessary for four small pans and what I would do with the remaining batter.  BTW, this is not a healthy dessert by any means, very rich and indulgent, one stick of butter per mini cake which serves two.

Ok, its the next morning, and I'm retracting my statement last night about this being attempt #1.  I just tasted the cooled final product and its AMAZING!!  Aside from the crusty dark edges I had to flick off this turned out great.  After work I'm going to get some vanilla ice cream to try it a la mode the way they serve it at Mastro's.

Each of these four cakes has its own life story:

#1 I picked at throughout the day, then went to sleep and left it sitting in the microwave, not taking a chance eating it the next day.

#2 I took the second cake out of the fridge to get it to room temperature and left it on the counter, while working in the front room I started hearing this loud noise, by the time I could get off the phone and make it to the kitchen Sophie aka demon dog had successfully pulled it to the floor and made her way through the ziploc bag, garbage!

She looks sweet, but don't be fooled...

#3 I was careful to keep somewhere visible and out of Sophie's reach, I topped it with Vanilla Bean Haagen Dazs ice cream and then realized that I didn't have the Raspberry Syrup I intended to use, ate it without it.

I forgot to mention that the cake needs to be microwaved for about 1 minute, depending on the size before serving. & NO, even my greedy @$$ couldn't eat the whole thing : (

I don't know if you can tell with the melting ice cream, but the center is just as buttery and gooey as Wendy described (mouth watering).  And if you were considering substituting the sea salt for regular salt, DON'T  the sea salt is EVERYTHING!! Salty Sweet Goodness!!

#4 Realized that the cake is so rich I really only need a few bites at a time, so I cut it into four pieces to enjoy in moderation.

This Recipe makes 4 mini cakes, allegedly...

Cake Batter
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Layer

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 egg, room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325.

Spray 4 mini springform pans with baking spray.

Prepare the cake batter

In a stand mixer cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar for 1-2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat on low for 20 seconds after each addition. Whisk flour and salt, then add to creamed mixture. Beat on low until just incorporated, making sure not to over beat.

Prepare the cream cheese layer

In a small bowl whip together cream cheese and granulated sugar until creamed, add egg and vanilla extract.

Pour cake batter into prepared springform pans then top with a layer of the cream cheese mixture. Bake for 60 – 75 minutes, or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cakes.

Thanks for reading this super long post ; )

Turkey Taco Time!!!

Goodnight Readers,

I have to type this quickly because its 9:54 p.m. and Nashville is about to come on.  I was speaking to the best/only self-proclaimed little brother I have Robert while wandering aimlessly around Publix trying to decide what to eat for dinner when he suggested Tacos.  

I bought all the key ingredients then decided to look up some variations to make it a little different.  I eventually combined two of the ideas I found and then ate way too many Tacos.  I won't insult your intelligence and type out the directions for making tacos, as they can be found on any taco seasoning packet, but I will tell you how I made these my own.

First I added sliced onions and jalapenos (next time I'm using pickled Jalapenos, they're spicier) to the turkey meat with the seasoning for extra crunch and flavor.  Once the simmering was was over I put about 1 tablespoon of hot sauce and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon into the meat mixture.  

I know what you're thinking, but I was pleasantly surprised.  As you can see I put my turkey on top instead of on the bottom, that's just how I prefer them, it helps the cheese melt a bit.

Okay, gotta go, show's starting...

TTYS

Sesame Noodles

Happy Tuesday Readers,

I decided to post this recipe because its so simple and delicious, its a good weekday dish, you can even add protein and its still a one pot meal.  I first made these noodles for a dinner party about a year ago and they were a hit.  I made them with shrimp as a sort of shrimp lo mein and everyone loved it.  

You'll Need:

1 (16 ounce) package linguine

6 cloves garlic, minced

6 Tablespoons sugar

6 Tablespoons rice vinegar

6 Tablespoons safflower oil

6 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons sesame oil

2 teaspoons chili Sauce

6 scallions, slices

1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted

I usually use regular linguine, but I had this poor tri-colored veggie flavored pasta punishing in my pantry and was tired of looking at it.  I don't recommend this pasta for a dish like this because its meant to have strong sesame and soy flavors, but this pasta actually tastes really sweet and changes the whole dynamic.  

You can use the same pot to boil the pasta, make the sauce, and even cook chicken or shrimp if you want to add that as well, and it goes pretty quickly.

While the pasta is draining simply mix the other ingredients together in the sauce pan and let simmer.  If you are adding protein you can brown it off before adding the sauce ingredients as the sauce really requires no actual cooking, also adding broccoli, carrots, or snow peas is also really yummy.

Once the sauce ingredients are all blended just add your pasta, and scallions and toasted sesame seeds if you'd like and enjoy.

You can't really tell with this pasta but the noodles should be dark in color once coated in the sauce, and that's not crushed pepper, its the pepper from the chili sauce.

Almost lunch time, gotta go, TTYS

Crispy Chicken Tenders

I hope this post finds everyone doing well in light of recent events.  Hurricane Sandy is doing my hometown dirty right now, not a great feeling.

On a lighter note, I've been wanting to make Chicken and Waffles for a while now but haven't had the time or motivation.  I decided to try out a new chicken finger recipe tonight, if it turns out well I have chicken for my Chicken and Waffles.  I picked elements out of a couple different recipes and came up with one that may be my new favorite method for frying chicken all together.

The steps are pretty simple, I'll explain my substitutions"

1. Season chicken tenders or slices of chicken breast with Adobo, onion powder, paprika and black pepper, I didn't but I should have also added salt here, I ended up sprinkling some on when the chicken was fresh out of the oil.

2. Let the chicken sit in enough milk to cover.  Most recipes suggested buttermilk, but I hate buying buttermilk unless I can use it up.  Its expensive and I always end up throwing it out because it expires before I can use it up.

3. Next, get a bowl big enough to coat the chicken in, fill it half way with flour and a few drops of the same milk you use on the chicken.  With a fork fluff the flour until the milk forms little crumbles in the bowl.

4.  Once the chicken has been in the milk for about 10-15 minutes remove from the milk and begin to coat with flour mixture.  You'll notice that the crumbles will stick to the chicken which will help make a thick crispy outside for your chicken fingers.

You can kinda see in this picture that the little crumbs you make with the milk stick to the outside of the chicken and help give the crunchy outside of the chicken finger.  Also you'll want to season the flour and the chicken heavily, you lose a lot of flavoring in the process.  One thing that helps is to marinate the chicken in seasoning for as long as you can before adding the milk.

5.  Once you're ready to start frying be sure the oil is hot by testing with a little of the flour mixture, if it starts browning you oil is ready.  I'm sure vegetable, canola, or peanut oil are all great options, I mixed safflower and canola and it worked great.

6.  I fried each tender for about three minutes on each side, just be sure the oil isn't too hot or the chicken will get too dark too quickly.  Drain oil on a paper towel or paper bag, whichever you prefer.

I was pretty happy with this recipe, next time I'm going to try panko breadcrumbs, I think they hold better flavor than flour which tends to require salt after it comes out of the oil.  Even when you season the flour I think a lot of the seasoning ends up in the oil not on the chicken.

I had a little barbecue and hot sauce mixed on the left, and some sweet chili sauce on the right, 

aahhh perfection!

Almond Puff

Hi Readers,

Let me preface this post by saying, I love almond flavored anything, but some desserts from foreign really don't have enough sugar to be called a dessert.  This dessert seems like it has potential, but I'm not sure if I care to try this again, it tasted very egg-y, and not very sweet and almond-y.  The reviews were mixed, some said it tasted like traditional Swedish Kringler a Danish type dessert, and some said it was horrible and bland, I decided to be optimistic, however I know Danishes and this recipe did NOT a Danish make.

I was on the fence about posting the recipe and pictures, but I'm open to any advice or input anyone can offer on how to make this recipe better, or more like something I'd actually want to eat LOL.

I got the recipe from allrecipes.com and the picture looked really appetizing so I was excited, but as the process went on I grew more leery   I cut the recipe in half, so instead of two puffs I only made one, thank God, only one to throw out : (

1. In a medium bowl, cut the 1/2 cup of margarine into the 1 cup of flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the cold water one tablespoon at a time. Using your hands or a fork, stir until the dough can form a ball. Divide dough in half. Roll or press each half into a 12x3 inch rectangle. Place them 3 inches apart onto an unprepared cookie sheet.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. In a saucepan, bring the 1/2 cup of margarine, and 1 cup of water to a rolling boil. Lower heat and stir in the flour immediately with a wooden spoon. Continue to stir vigorously until the dough forms a tight ball. Remove from heat. Stir in eggs one at a time, then stir in the almond extract. Spread equally onto both rectangles. Bake for 10 minutes before lowering the oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Continue to cook for 15 to 20 more minutes. The top should be crispy and brown.            
4. To make the glaze, beat the confectioners' sugar together with the melted butter and vanilla until smooth. Spread over the almond puff when cool, and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Cut into strips and serve.     

After baking I was still hopeful, but the crust and the glaze on top would prove to be the best parts.

Definitely looked good, but that top layer was a mess.  Eggs and flour, no flavoring at all.  I'm still convinced I missed a step, just not sure where. I could only stand a few bites, it really was disappointing.

When all was said and done I still didn't have anything sweet to eat, so I decided to go buy something, I ended up with a Napoleon from Publix. 

Now that I'm writing this I realize that this was a Halloween Napoleon, meaning its a day old, why did I just pay full price for this? I should have gotten an Entenmann's Danish and called it a day.  Oh well, you live and you learn.

I'm off to inhale my sweets.  Thanks for reading!