Garlic kim chee

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds Napa Cabbage, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup rock salt
• 1 quart water

• 2 tsp. minced red chili pepper
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. minced ginger
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tbl. sugar

1.) Dissolve rock salt in water in large container (I only had a pot).

2.) Wash cabbage and roughly chop. Add cabbage to salt water and let soak 3 to 4 hours at room temperature, stirring once every hour. Drain and rinse cabbage a couple of times.


3.) Add all other ingredients and mix well with cabbage. Let stand at room temperature two to three days and chill before serving.
** Don't let the cabbage stand out a day longer because I did and it went BAD!**

Mini-Review
Well, since I left it out too long and the kim chee spoiled I have no review for the end product. Anthony and I did try it on day two or three and it was good then! A little too much garlic but that's what I liked about it. Most kim chee dishes don't have a garlic taste so it was different. Will try it again and make sure to throw it in the refrigerator by day three!

Food porn!

Mini mango pudding with cream cheese frosting.

Vietnamese rice pudding (che dau trang)

Ingredients:
(makes 8 servings)

• 0.5c dried black eyed peas (I used adzuki beans because that's what I had)
• 0.75c short-grain white rice - mochi rice prefered
• 0.5c sugar
• 3c water, divided
• 1 15oz. can coconut milk, divided
• 1 tsp. vanilla

1.)  Sort, rinse and soak beans overnight.  Drain and rinse water.  In a large pot, bring beans to boil in two cups of water, cover, and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.

2.)  Add rice, half the sugar, and about 3/4 of the can of coconut milk.  Simmer for 15 minutes covered, but watching for boil over.  Stir mixture halfway through cooking time.

3.)  Add rest of sugar (more or less to taste) and more water to your preferred consistency.  Continue simmering, stirring every few minutes, with cover ajar until rice is cooked about 15 - 25 minutes.

4.)  When rice is done, turn off heat, add vanilla and allow to site, covered, for 15 minutes.  Serve hot or cold with a tablespoon of remaining coconut milk over rice pudding.

Mini-Review
So YUMMY!  Not the healthiest thing for you but it's one of my guilty indulgences.  I'm working on getting it 'healthified' so when that happens I'll be sure to post about it.

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Nori wrapped port tender loin

Eggplant parmesan

Ingredients:

• two large globe egg plants, cut into 3/4 inch slices
• olive oil spray
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 0.75c whole wheat panko or bread crumbs
• 6 tbs. low-fat Parmesan cheese
• 1.5 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 0.25 tsp. sea salt
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 6oz. no salt added tomato paste
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbs. dried basil
• 1c mozzarella cheese, shredded

(1 serving = 2 2-layered eggplant 'towers')

1.) Preheat oven to 425 degrees and spray two baking sheets with olive oil spray. Pour slightly beatened eggs in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish, combine panko/breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, garlic powder and salt.

2.) Dread each eggplant slice in the egg then in the breadcrumb mixture. Arrange coated slices on the baking sheets (two large globe eggplants should take up two baking sheets). Bake until eggplant is tender, about 25 minutes.

3.) While eggplant is baking, combine diced tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic and basil in a small sauce pan and cook on medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer about 10 more minutes.

4.) When eggplant is done baking, leave oven on but take out baking sheets of eggplant. Spoon a little bit of tomato mixture over each slice and top with mozzarella cheese. Being very careful, place one slice of eggplant on another until you get two-layered egg plants (when I made this, I ended up with 13 slices of eggplant, so a total of 6 two-layered eggplants).

5.) Place back in the over until cheese is melted and golden brown. ENJOY!

Mini-Review
This was good... really good! The only improvements I can think of is to use a more flavorful/pungent cheese instead of mozzarella. That would add a whole 'nother flavor pallet to the dish. Another suggestion is to get some protein in this meal! The original recipe (from Clean Eating magazine) called for bulgar (which I didn't make) but throwing some grilled chicken on the side would have really made it filling.

Food porn!

 

Baked brie with roasted pine nuts and honey

Jalapeno tomato chicken

***Sorry no step-by-step pictures for this one. I had Anthony cook this when I wasn't home and I forgot to have him photo the process for the blog.***

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 3 lg. garlic cloves, minced
• 2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 whole med. sized chicken breasts, skinned and halved
• 1 tbsp. oil
• 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
• 1 14oz. can whole tomatoes
• 1/4 c. minced shallots
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1.) Set pan over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, garlic, cayenne pepper and jalapeno and when pan is hot, add oil.

2.) Salt and pepper the chicken. Add lemon mixture to pan and immediately place chicken breast in pan as well. Cook until each side is brown, about 4 minutes each side.

3.) Remove undercooked chicken from pan and set aside. Pour red wine vinegar into pan and loosen drippings. Add tomatoes and tomato paste and stir.

4.) Bring to a boil and add chicken back to pan. Turn hit down to a simmer, cover pan, and let the chicken cook until well done, about 15 - 20 minutes. ENJOY!

Mini-Review
Ahh... this was so-so. I got this recipe from some site on-line (can't remember... I just googled 'jalapeno and chicken' and this is what came up). Anyway it would have been better with more veggies - think mushrooms and onions - and taco seasoning! I liked the kick of spiciness the jalapeno and cayenne added but it could have been better with a little bit more. Anthony wants to try it again this weekend so hopefully we will.

Avocado ice cream

(NOTE: I used an ice cream maker to make this recipe, however you don't need one. I will include both ice cream maker procedures as well as non-ice cream maker procedures. If using an ice cream maker, be sure to chill the cooler for at least a day before making this recipe.)

So why avocado? Well besides being a great source of healthy fats, there are so many studies out there that prove the health benefits of including avocado in your diet. You can read about avocado and it's health benefits here, here, and here.

Ingredients:
Makes about 10, half cup servings. Nutrition facts (at the end) are for a half-cup serving.

• 4 ripe avocados
• 1c Greek yogurt
• 0.5c skim milk/soy milk
• 0.5c agave nectar
• 0.5c lime juice
• pinch of sea salt

According to Wikipedia, a study was conducted on the effects of avocado on cholesterol. Specifically, after a seven day diet rich in avocados, "the subjects showed a 22% decrease in both LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglyceride levels and 11% increase in HDL (good cholesterol) levels." SEVEN DAYS!

1.) If using fresh limes for juice, squeeze limes until you get half of cup of juice. It took 4 limes for me to get half a cup. Set aside.

2.) Cut avocados in half, remove pits, and scoop flesh out of skin. Cut into 1" cubes.
3.) Combine all ingredients into food processor or blender and blend till smooth.

4.) Pour mixture into a well chilled ice cream maker machine and follow your ice cream machine's directions from this point on. ENJOY!
If you're not using an ice cream machine, follow the next set of instructions (sorry no pictures for these procedures).

5.) After blending all ingredients well, poor mixture into a freezer-safe container and freeze for about 30 minutes or until mixture starts to freeze around the edges.

6.) Scrape down edges and mix avocado mixture well until all ice crystals are well combined. About 2 - 3 minutes. Place back in the freezer for another 30 minutes and repeat procedure two or three more times, until avocado mixture becomes hard to mix.

7.) At this point, leave mixture in the freezer for a couple of hours to really set and turn into ice cream. ENJOY!

Food porn!

Fillet Mignon with petite carrots and beans

Homemade 'stuffed' miso soup

Please be warned that ingredients for my miso soup is eye-balled so nothing is really measured. I'll try to be as accurate as possible.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• half a head of Chinese cabbage, roughly chopped
• one bunch mustard cabbage, roughly chopped
• one bunch bok choy, roughly chopped
• one block firm tofu, cubed
• 16 oz block of kamaboko (fish cake)
• one package hon-dashi soup stock
• 0.25 cup miso paste or to taste

1.) Dilute miso paste in warm water and pour into a large pot of boiling water (about 6 cups water). Add hon-dashi and stir until dissolved.

2.) Roughly chop all leafy veggies and add to pot.


3.) Add cubed tofu to pot and bring soup back to a boil.

4.) Once soup is boiling, lower heat and slowly pour in whisked eggs while stirring the pot. This creates strands of cooked egg (think egg drop soup style).
5.) Enjoy with some rice at the bottom of the bowl.

Mini-Review
I have grown up eating miso soup so I LOVE it! You can substitute almost any veggie that you want in this recipe, but the ones I used are 'traditional' in my family. I usually use fresh cubed daikon also but forgot about it when I was making it this time!