Hong Kong Rice Noodles

Sauce:
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp chili paste
1 tsp of meat masala or
1 1/2 tsp tumeric
2-3 tsp hot (Madras) curry
1/4 cup soy sauce or
1/8 cup broth with 1/8 cup soy sauce
1 tsp sesame seed oil


1 lbs thin rice noodles

1 pound baby shrimp, shucked, deveined, rinsed and drained
1 skinless chicken breast, 1/4-inch strips
1/2 tsp ground white pepper

1-2 TB ginger
3 cloves garlic
2 green peppers thinly sliced
1 red pepper thinly sliced
8 dried or fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin
2 carrots, julienned
6-8 scallions, 1 inch batons
 
1/4 cup chicken broth, optional (to keep noodles from drying out)

oil for frying




First assemble sauce, and set aside.
Next, scald noodles in boiling water for about 15 seconds, then spread out over a baking sheet and let dry.  

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a small pan over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper shrimp, then saute shrimp until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Remove from pan.
Sprinkle chicken lightly with white pepper, then cook chicken in remaining oil.
When chicken is nearly cooked through begin to add ginger and garlic. When chicken is no longer pink, add vegetables.

 This is usually a good time to toss your lovely marinade into the rice noodles, or you can throw it right over your veggies and meat.

When vegetables reach desired constancy, add add noodles. Stir gently, but often. Heat thoroughly, and incorporate ingredients well.



(If adding egg, I usually add it last, and never when adding meat or seafood. Make sure you use small amount of sauce, then add egg to fairly dry noodles and quickly scramble.)




Serves 4-6




Note: you can easily substitute common curry powder for the hot. If you want it spicier, just add a little extra curry and some cayenne.
Also, over boiled rice noodles do not hold together as well once you begin frying them, and you will end up with tiny slivers of noodle.

Raspberry Sauce Over Pork Chops, With Garlic Mashers

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried sage, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 (4 ounce) boneless pork loin chops
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
4 sprigs fresh thyme (optional) 




Directions
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C). In a small bowl, combine crushed thyme, sage, salt, and pepper. Rub evenly over pork chops.
2. Melt butter and olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Cook pork chops for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, turning once. Remove from skillet and keep warm in preheated oven.
3. In the skillet, combine raspberry jam, orange juice, and vinegar. Bring to a boil, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until sauce is reduced to desired consistency (sauce will thicken as it cools). Spoon sauce in a pool onto a serving plate, and top with pork chops. Garnish with sprigs of thyme. 


Served with garlic mashed potatoes, and peas.

Tempura Batter

2 egg whites
1 cup cold water
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 baking powder
2 icecubes




 Whip egg whites until they are quite foamy but not yet stiff. Sift flour and salt into egg whites and mix lightly. Add baking powder and then water. Stir very gently, only until just mixed. Batter will be very dry and lumpy. Do not overstir or batter will lose it's crispiness when fried.
Add icecubes and let sit until melted.

After ice is melted stir once more, batter is now ready for vegetables.
Salt after frying or serve with dipping sauce.



Vegetable suggestions: zucchini, onion, green beans, asparagus, sweet potatoes, baby corn, mushrooms, potatoes, green peppers
Protein suggestions: 2 inch pieces of chicken, fish, shelled shrimp, tofu







Note: this video is a very good guide to the proper texture for your tempura batter, also gives an egg-less recipe and the traditional dipping sauce recipe.

Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce

1 x 28-oz can (whole or diced) plum tomatoes, with their juices
5 tablespoons (75 g) unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut in half
salt, to taste


Mush tomatoes with your hand into med saucepan. Do not drain out juices. Add butter, and onion halves in a medium saucepan. Add a pinch or two of sugar. Place over a medium heat and bring to a simmer, mashing up the tomatoes gently with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook, uncovered, at a very slow but steady simmer, adjusting the heat as necessary, for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free from the tomato and the sauce has reduced and thickened. Stir occasionally, continuing to mash any large pieces of tomato with the wooden spoon. Taste and salt as needed. Discard the onion.




From Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan

Polenta

•  7 cups water
•  2 tsp sea salt
• 1 3/4 cups Bob's Red Mill Polenta 
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil 

Bring water and salt to boil. Add polenta and flax slowly. Add oil. Don’t worry when it separates immediately—it will come together once it sets.
Bring back to boiling, then reduce heat to low simmer. Stir constantly; continue cooking over low heat for 30 mins. Polenta will become very bubbly and thick.
Spoon cooked polenta into desired mold. Let set for a minimum of ten mins. Turn mold upside down on flat surface. Slice about 1/2 inch thick.

Fry polenta in med-high heat skillet with small amount of olive oil for approx. 4 mins per side. Top with tomato sauce.

Salmon Patties

1 lb smoked salmon
1 lb mashed potatoes
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons coarse grain mustard
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopeed
1/2 lemon, juice and rind of, grated
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups gluten-free breadcrumbs



Flake salmon with a fork and place in a large bowl with potatoes, butter, and mustard and mix well.
Add dill, parsley, chives, lemon rind and juice, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.
Divide mixture into eight portions and form into balls.
Flatten each ball to about 1 inch thick.
Dip each cake in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs thoroughly coating with each.
Fry fish cakes in oil over medium high heat until golden brown and crispy about 5-8 minutes on each side.
You can serve with a tartar sauce or some other condiment but really they are great just with a squeeze of lemon or a dash of tabasco.

Gluten-free 'Breadcrumbs'

Toast 2-3 gluten-free, plain waffles

Break them apart waffles then process in food processor, pulsing on and off until they resemble classic breadcrumbs (not too fine).
Add dried Italian herb mix, or dried basil, parsley and marjoram, to taste.

To make a classic pan-fried crumb topping, I pour a tablespoon or so of good olive oil in a medium- not too hot- skillet and toss in the processed waffle crumbs. I add dried Italian herbs to taste and stir, shake the pan and brown them for a minute, then add the crumbs to the recipe.

Recipe from Gluten-Free Goddess

Veggie Burger

 

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 1/4 cups chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cups black beans, drained
• 3/4 cups chickpeas, drained
• 1/2 ounces white beans, drained
• 2 1/4 cups cooked quinoa
• 2 tablespoons diced red bell peppers
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground sage
• 2 tablespoons seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 egg

    oil for frying



Directions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook and stir for a few minutes, continue cooking until tender. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Pour in the beans, rice and bread crumbs. Season with salt, paprika, oregano, chili powder, sage and celery salt. Mix thoroughly using your hands. Form into 6 patties. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Heat the remaining oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat (you can use the same one). Fry the patties until golden on each side, about 10 minutes total.

Chewing It Over

Today Lucky's bento was packed with two egg crepes, rice noodles cooked with kombu and a tiny bit of miso
(on the dry side); top tier was grapes, broccoli and the rice pudding.
The whole top layer came back, though the broccoli was gnawed at. His teacher wrote in his notebook about how 'impressed' they were with the variety of foods he eats. It gave me a laugh! I secretly think it's just because it looks different.
I, not so secretly, feel really good when there's not much of his food coming home. I also get really pleased when the bento and snack is all packed. If Lucky enjoys it half as much as I do, then, GREAT! :D


Lucky ate rice and egg for dinner. Ducky and Blue had potato and eggs. Boring. There were no veggies.
I need to go shopping!

Bebes had rice pudding after dinner! I added minced apple and  made blueberry compote. The little ones had about a 1/4 cup vanilla ice cream on top.

I use dairy products a lot more than I really thought. Have been looking into cheese substitutes. Thinking about what I use cheese in and why.
Also been thinking about 'binders' a lot!

I need to make shorter posts! I'll just post recipes for the rest of the week. I need some time to focus all this information into something edible!

Blueberry Rice Pudding

1 cup cooked jasmine or basmati rice
1 cup cooked Bob's Red Mill Mighty Hearty Cereal
2 1/2 cups (625 ml/213/4 fl oz) low-fat milk
3 tablespoons raw organic honey
2 large ripe banana, small dices
2 eggs
1 vanilla bean (or 2tsp vanilla extract)
1 cup (150 g/5 1/4 oz) blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons almond flakes


Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly spray an ovenproof baking dish with olive oil.
Using a sharp knife slice vanilla bean in half, lengthwise. Scrape out the vanilla seeds with the tip of the knife.
Place eggs, milk, honey and vanilla seeds in a blender and mix until well combined.
Place rice, banana and blueberries in baking dish and cover with milk mixture.
Bake in oven for 15 min. Take out of oven and gently stir until rice and berries are evenly mixed through pudding. Sprinkle with cinnamon and almond flakes and return to oven for 30-35 minutes, until pudding is set. Cover with foil if pudding is becoming too brown.
Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm or cold.
Serves 4-6.

Cheesy Rice Bake

3 cups cooked rice
2 eggs, beaten
3 cups Mozzarella cheese, grated
½ teaspoon oregano
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup onion, minced
¼ teaspoon thyme and/or marjoram
15 ½ ounce can tomato sauce





Directions:
Mix rice, eggs, and 1 cup cheese together. Spread thinly with raised outer edge into greased cast iron skillet. Bake at 450 F 15-20 minutes or until lightly brown.
Simmer tomato sauce and herbs together for 15 minutes (for oregano and thyme/marjoram, I have used 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning instead.). Spread over rice crust. Sprinkle with the rest of cheese and bake at 450 F until cheese is bubbly.
Possible additions before cheese: Ripe olives, green olives, green peppers, onion, pepperoni, precooked drained sausage, ham, Canadian bacon, precooked drained hamburger. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of mozzarella cheese or combine mozzarella cheese with cheddar cheese if you wish.

Simple Fried Rice For One

1 cup cold, cooked rice
1 egg
3 baby carrots, shredded
1/4 inch ginger root, shredded

Heat drop of peanut oil in small frying pan. Lightly saute rice over high heat for 2 mins. Add carrot, sauteing another minute.
Mound rice in center of pan. Make an open hole in middle of rice mound and crack egg into it. Quickly scramble egg into rice. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cook until egg is cooked to desired temp. approx 5 mins.



Chicken, broccoli, peas and other veggies are all quick easy additions if you prefer more ingredients!

Baked Sweet Potato Disks

2-3 large sweet potatoes, peeled, sliced 1/2 thick rounds
cooking spray
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 TB molasses
1/2 tsp five spice powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/8 cayenne
Salt & pepper


Preheat oven to 425°

Place potato rounds in large bowl and coat lightly with oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix seasonings thoroughly, then add syrup and molasses. Marinating them ahead of time is great.
Cover baking sheet with wax paper to prevent sticking. Place rounds on sheet, being careful not to crowd (overcrowding leads to steamed potatoes). It's best to bake similar sized rounds per batch to prevent burning.
Bake 15 mins, then flip and continue baking another 10 mins. Place in broiler for 1-2 mins per side, for crispier fries. Serve hot.






(Sweet potato fries are trickier than you may expect. It's hard to get them crispy without deep-frying them. Also, you can cut them into strips if that's what you prefer, but I've found that it's harder to get them to cook uniformly this way, and much harder to flip. You can also do wedges. Adjust baking times accordingly.
I also recommend playing around with the seasonings until you find one that suits your tastes.)

Finnish Egg Pancakes

3 eggs

2 cups milk
1/4 cup honey (or sugar)
3/4 cup amaranth flour
1/4 tsp salt 

4 Tbs butter

Preheat oven to 425°.

Sift flour. Beat eggs and milk together. Beat in honey or sugar, then add flour and salt. 

Melt butter in a 9" frying pan until it sizzles and immediately pour the batter into the hot pan in a circle around the center so butter will not be pushed to the tops and sides. 
Bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until the pancake is set and puffed and golden brown on top. 

Serve with maple syrup or homemade jam. Serves four. 



(I made these for dinner last night. They were surprisingly good! I burnt the first batch, so be careful! They turn golden very fast! We topped them with apricot jam and ate them with sweet potato fries.)