Beyond-Ramen

Zucchini Pancakes

2011-12-06T22:56:00.000-05:00

Daily dose of vegetables? Check! Absolutely delicious? Check!

Ingredients:

1. 2 medium or large zucchini

2. 2 eggs, beaten

3. 1 cup all-purpose flour

4. Water, by tablespoons

5. 1/2 - 1 cup of your favorite cheese

6. Green onion, chopped (if desired)

7. Sausage, sliced (if desired)

8. 2 tbs. ranch dressing

9. Salt, pepper to taste

10. 1-2 tbs. butter

Directions:

1. Shred zucchini, or chop into small bits.

2. Mix zucchini, egg, cheese, green onion, sausage, ranch dressing, salt, and pepper. Add flour depending on how many pancakes you wish to make.

3. Add water to reach desired consistency. It should not be sticky enough so that it won't fall apart, but it likely won't look like actual pancake batter, which is often liquidy and can be "spooned" out. This batter will need some patting flat in the pan.

4. Fry pancakes on both sides until browned and crispy using a skillet, 1/4 tbs. of butter. About 3-5 minutes on each side.

Enjoy!

Ellie

Eggplant Parmesan

2011-11-30T13:40:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the late post! Hope Thanksgiving was wonderful. Here is the promised eggplant recipe!

Ingredients:

1. 1 American eggplant

2. Cheese, shredded or cut slices, of your choice

3. Bread crumbs, seasoned

4. 2 eggs, whisked

5. Pasta / tomato sauce

6. Minced garlic, pepper, salt as desired

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare 1-2 baking trays by layering with tin foil, if desired.

2. Cut eggplant into 1/2-inch thick slices. Make sure there is an even number of slices.

2. Coat each slice in egg, then in bread crumbs.

3. Put 1 coated eggplant slice on baking tray. Top with some cheese. Top cheese with minced garlic, salt, and other desired seasonings.

4. Spread some pasta sauce over first eggplant slice. Top with 2nd coated eggplant slice. Top with cheese and more pasta sauce.

5. Make another 2-layered eggplant "tower." Repeat for all slices.

6. Bake for ~30 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and eggplant is at desired softness (test with fork).

Enjoy!

Ellie

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T13:52:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

My roommates and I ordered Thai food the other night and so I'm still working on those leftovers along with the lasagna I made last time. :P Sorry! But don't worry, I'll be back in a few days with a new dish -- probably Eggplant Parmesan.

Here's a cute eggplant for you guys to look at in the meantime... :) My friend found it at a local farmer's market and doesn't have the heart to eat it.

Penguin Eggplant!

Enjoy break!

Ellie

Lasagna

2011-11-13T15:49:00.004-05:00

It has been a while since I've posted; a bunch of things at school have suddenly come up, in addition to my roommate's birthday! Hopefully this lasagna recipe will make up for my missing posts :)

Ingredients:

1. 1 box lasagna noodles

2. ~1 lb. ground pork, turkey, beef, or chicken

3. 2-4 cups variety of cheeses (shredded, cut into slices, or crumbled)

4. 3-4 cups spaghetti sauce (I like tomato + roasted garlic)

5. 1 or 2 zucchini (or other left-over vegetables), sliced thinly

6. Minced garlic, as desired

7. Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F

2. Heat garlic and vegetable/cooking oil in skilled on medium to med-high heat for 1 min. Add and cook meat until no longer pink. Add spaghetti sauce and lower heat. Simmer while mixing. Add salt to taste.

3. Short-cut noodle preparation: Cover bottom of a 8x8 pan (or larger, if you want to make a bigger lasagna) with 1 layer of uncooked noodles, slightly overlapping. *The sauces and heat from oven will help cook the noodles, though the final product may be slightly tougher than the long version: boil and drain noodles before using.

4. Put 1/2 of meat sauce over noodles and cover with 1/3 of cheese and neatly-spread zucchini slices

5. Repeat noodle, meat, cheese, and zucchini layers

6. Last (top - 3rd or 4th) layer should be noodle. Cover with cheese.

7. Cover top with foil, bake for 30-40 min. Remove foil and bake another 10 min. or until noodles are fork-tender.

8. Set aside 10 min. before cutting and serving.

Enjoy!

Ellie

Kimbap!

2011-10-30T23:59:00.001-04:00

I love eating sushi and kimbap, even when it's 30F outside and snow is lining the sidewalks! Not only is kimbap simple to make, but it's good for lunches and a lot can be made at once. Delicious!

Anyway, just some background: kimbap (or gimbap) is a Korean dish of steamed white rice, usually seasoned with sesame oil, rolled with other ingredients in a layer of dried seaweed. It is very similar to some types of Japanese sushi, except Japanese sushi rice is typically seasoned with vinegar. Sushi also features raw seafood, while kimbap is typically made with cooked ingredients.

Ingredients:

1. Dried seaweed (1 package)

2. Filling (egg, cucumber, Spam, kimchi, imitation crab meat, danmuji - yellow, pickled radish), sliced

3. Seasoning (soy sauce, kimchi, Sriracha sauce)

4. 2-3 cups, or however much you want, sticky rice (or combined with brown rice)

5. 1/4 tbs. sesame oil

6. 1/2 - 1 tsp. salt

7. 1/2 - 1 tsp sugar

5. Bamboo rolling mat (optional)

Directions:

1.Cook rice in either a rice cooker,or in a pot on the stove

*If cooking rice on stove: wash rice, add # cups of rice + 1.5 cups water to a pot, bring to a boil without lid and without stirring. When dimples appear on top of the rice, tightly put lid on pot. Turn heat down to low and let cook for ~20 min. No peeking! Remove from heat and let sit for ~5 min.

2. Fluff rice and lay out on a large plate, cutting board, or large flat container

3. Add sesame oil, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Mix. Pour over rice and gently mix into rice while fanning rice. Try not to break the rice grains while mixing! Fanning is easier if you have someone helping you.

4. Lay 1 sheet of seaweed over rolling mat. Spread rice (thin layer) on 3/4 of the sheet. Dab a few specks of rice on the edge of the empty 1/4 side.

5. Put fillings on the edge of the 3/4 rice square, farthest from the empty 1/4 side.

6. Roll (tightly!)

7. Cut into pieces using a sharp, cold, slightly wet knife.

8. Season and enjoy!

Bon appetit,

Ellie

Breakfast and Dinner

2011-10-23T22:09:00.002-04:00

Met the guys of The Jubilee Project (!!!!) on Friday; they were just as amazing in real-life as in their videos. I'm definitely a "Jubileever" now! :D

They've definitely renewed the hope I have in a school club I'm in -- we're a branch of an international non-profit organization that does public health and medical volunteer work abroad. It's been so difficult making some members who are going on our trips passionate and enthusiastic about volunteering; everyone's been so caught up with either the "traveling" and "vacation" aspect of the volunteer trip, or in school work that even fundraising for part of their trip (so they don't have to pay all of it out of pocket) has been hard!

Anyway, after an eventful night, I woke up on Saturday and decided to make a very simple breakfast. Then, tonight I followed that with a super simple Pear and Zucchini Medley as a side-dish for dinner. See below!

Breakfast

Ingredients:
1. As many slices of bread you want (thick slices; french bread; artisan bread, etc. -- not sure if pre-sliced white bread would work as well)
2. Butter, softened
3. Breakfast sausage
4. Toppings (ie. garlic powder, cheddar/swiss cheese, powdered sugar)

Directions:
1. Turn oven to 350F
2. Lightly butter one, or both sides of bread on baking tray
3. Sprinkle with toppings of your choice
4. Place breakfast sausage on baking tray next to bread
5. Bake for about 15 minutes, turning sausages at the 8 or 10 minute mark (or until sausages are done!)

Tips:
1. If you're hoping to save $$, buy bread from the on-sale "expires today!" section. I also have a friend who lives near a bakery and she goes "bread dumpster diving" after hours (unfortunately, I don't live near a bakery)!
2. Slice and freeze bread if it's about to go bad or become stale to retain whatever moisture there is left.

Pear and Zucchini Medley

Ingredients:
1. 1-2 zucchini, depending on size and how much you want to make, in slices
2. 1 pear (don't remember what it was called! but it was green and pretty hard)

3. Seasoning
4. 1/3 tbs. vegetable / cooking oil

Directions:
1. On a medium-sized pan/skillet over medium heat, stir-fry pears and zucchini slices. Season as desired.

Enjoy!

Ellie

Thai-style Curry

2011-10-16T19:16:00.004-04:00

Like curry? Like spicy food? If you answered in any positive way, then this version of Thai-style Green Curry is just for you! On the spiciness-scale (with 1 being the least spicy and 10 being the most spicy), I would rank Maesri - Thai Masaman Red Curry around a 3 or a 4, while the Green Curry falls at around an 6 or 7. It looks mild, but is pretty hot (especially if you use more than one tablespoon's worth)! Have any of you tried Yellow Curry or Panang Curry? I'm interested in how those taste!

Green Curry

Red Curry

Ingredients:

1. As much green onion as you want

2. 1 package (4 pieces) of chicken thighs (I prefer bone-in, with skin)

3. 1 potato, diced into cubes (size up to you; I like 1-inch cubes)

4. 1-2 tbs. sugar (add according to your taste preference)

5. 1/2 tbs. white vinegar or lemon juice

6. 1.5 tbs. vegetable/cooking oil

7. 1 tbs. curry paste (this time I used Green, but this brand has many others!)

8. 1 can (13.5 fl oz., or 400mL) coconut milk (I like to use Chaudoc Coconut Milk)

9. Salt, pepper as desired

10. [Optional] Add carrots, cabbage, peppers, tomato, onion, etc. if you'd like

Directions:

1. Slice green onions, set aside.

2. Boil potato cubes on medium-high heat while trimming chicken thighs of excess fat. Cut chicken into cubes or chunks, if desired. A sharp knife helps!

3. Drain potatoes, but keep in same pot. Potatoes may still be hard.

4. Add vegetable oil, green onion, and chicken cubes to potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add optional ingredients. "Stir fry" on medium-high heat until chicken is barely pink. Potatoes should be much softer, even mushy, now.

5. Turn heat to medium. Add curry paste, coconut milk, vinegar, sugar, more salt and pepper if desired. Mix.

6. Let boil for ~20-30min. with stirring, or until desired consistency reached.

Spoon the curry over rice, and enjoy!

Ellie

*Note: Potato helps to thicken the curry, otherwise curry is more soup-like. Flour, cornstarch, or another substitute could possibly work as well. If the curry is too spicy, adding more coconut milk or water can help dilute it.

Potato, Sausage, and Cheese Bread

2011-10-09T20:47:00.003-04:00

Here's post number two! I had some ingredients (namely the cheese) that I wanted to use up, and thought that this wonderful bread recipe I found at Sweet Road (!!!) would be perfect. And it was! Although I changed the filling and some of the measurements, the bread turned out oh-so-soft on the inside and had just the right amount of crunch to the crust.

Ingredients:

1. 1 1/2 cups warm water (should not feel cold or warm to touch -- basically it is "body temperature")

2. 1 1/2 tbs. dry yeast

3. 2 tbs. sugar (or honey)

4. 4 cups all-purpose flour (divided into 2 portions)

5. 1.5 tsp salt

6. 2 1/2 tbs. butter, softened

7. Filling: Cheese, 4 bulbs of green onion, sausage, pepper and salt (I used lemon-pepper seasoning), 1 potato cut into half-inch cubes.

8. 1 egg yolk

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water (stir to get rid of clumps, if any) until foamy or murky.

2. Stir in sugar.

3. Stir in 2 cups of flour and let sit for 45 minutes.

4. Fold in salt, butter, and the other 2 cups of flour.

*My dough was still pretty sticky and un-kneadable at this point. Add tablespoons of flour as necessary. However, even when I was done adding flour, the dough was not perfectly smooth and not-sticky. As a test to see if you're done, if you have dough stuck on your hands, the dough should form little balls and fall off of your hands when you rub them together.

5. Knead dough for 8-10 minutes on a lightly floured surface.

6. Put dough into mixing bowl or container and cover with a paper towel. Let rise for at least 1 hour.

*If your room/house is chilly, turning on the oven and leaving the door open with the bowl nearby can help the dough rise. Or, letting the dough rise for a longer time might help.

7. Punch down risen dough and roll out into a rectangular shape. The thickness, width, and length will determine what your bread will look like and how large it will be.

8. Preheat oven to 400F.

9. Let rectangle sit for 20 minutes while you cut your sausage, cheese (I used extra sharp cheddar), green onion, and boil your potatoes (I like my potatoes on the soft side so I boiled them for a bit longer).

10. Sprinkle filling down the center of the rectangle.

11. Cut strips in the dough surround the filling. Season with pepper, salt, minced garlic, etc. as desired.

12. Overlap the strips, tucking the ends under each other.

13. Brush top of bread with egg yolk and sprinkle with pepper (I used lemon-pepper seasoning).

14. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool for at least 10-15 minutes on baking tray after removing from oven, before transferring to plate, cooling rack, or cutting + serving.

Enjoy!

Ellie

Panda Cookies

2011-10-08T17:45:00.004-04:00

To make up for last week's missing post, I've decided to make two this weekend! These panda cookies follow a basic, vanilla refrigerator cookie recipe which can be modified to make different shapes / flavors (such as Pinwheels). Experiment as you please! :)

Vanilla Refrigerator Cookies

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups flour

2. 3/4 cups (1.5 sticks) butter, softened at room temperature

3. 1 cup sugar

4. 2.5 tsp. vanilla

5. 1 egg

6. 1 tsp. baking powder

7. 1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.

2. Add egg and vanilla, beat into wet mixture.

3. In a separate bowl, sift flour, salt, baking powder.

4. Mix dry mixture into wet mixture in two portions.

5. Split dough in half. Roll each half into a rectangle (how thick your rectangle is depends on how long you want your log to be) on plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Wrap dough-log with the plastic wrap / aluminum foil.

6. Chill logs in refrigerator for at least 15-30 minutes (or until dough is firm).

7. Preheat oven to 375F.

8. Take out logs from refrigerator. Using a sharp knife, cut logs into 1/4" thick slices.

8. Place cookies on un-greased baking sheets (you can line the sheets with parchment paper if you wish).

9. Bake for ~8 minutes. Let cookies cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Panda Cookies

Ingredients:

1. Same as for Vanilla Refrigerator Cookie

2. 1/2 oz. (1/2 square) semisweet chocolate
3. Black sesame seeds
4. 1 tbs. confectioner's sugar

5. 1/4 tsp. milk

Directions for Panda Cookies:

1. Steps 1-4 same as for Vanilla Refrigerator Cookie.

2. Split dough into 5/6 and 1/6 portions. Set the 5/6 portion aside.

3. Melt 1/2 oz. (1/2 square) of semisweet chocolate in microwave (about 20 seconds) and pour over 1/6 portion of dough. Incorporate chocolate into dough through mixing or rolling with hands.

4. Separate the 1/6 chocolate dough into 4 piles and roll into thin logs (for ears, eyes).

5. Roll the 5/6 portion into a log.
6. Cut two slits lengthwise along the top of the 5/6 portion log where you want eyes to be located. Optional: cut a slit down the center on the bottom of the log to give form to the panda's face.

7. Widen the eye-slits and place the chocolate logs into them, then close and seal with vanilla dough.

8. Add ears using other two chocolate logs.

9. Bake cookies at 375F for approximately 8 minutes.

10. When cooled, mix confectioner's sugar with milk to make glaze. Using a chopstick, dab a bit of glaze into the center of the chocolate eye, then add a sesame seed on top of the glaze. Using some glaze, secure a sesame seed for the nose.

Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!

Ellie

Egg Sandwich

2011-09-26T01:39:00.010-04:00

So, this week was pretty tough. A mountain of assignments and projects apparently made their way onto my desk overnight and deemed it an extremely comfortable place to reside. I'm taking a break right now from dealing with the last of them. And what better way to use this study break than to post about delicious, mouth-watering food? Just because life is hectic and there is no longer any time to shower, does not mean you have to eat poorly! Take this delicious Egg Sandwich, for example.

Ingredients:

1. 2 slices of sandwich bread, any kind

2. 2-3 eggs

3. 2 bulbs of green onion, chopped

4. Butter (preferably at room temperature)

5. Chinese "cooked dried pork" or "cooked dried fish"

Directions:

1. In a bowl, crack eggs and add chopped green onion. Beat eggs + onion mixture until frothy.

2. Heat small skillet on medium-low. Add 1/3 tbs. vegetable oil, or use spray-on cooking oil.

3. Pour egg mixture into pan. Let cook until golden brown on side touching the pan (after the egg has formed a "pancake" type shape, move egg "pancake" around to prevent sticking and to check underside). Flip egg and brown other side.

4. When done, set egg aside.

5. Butter slices of bread, on both sides or just one side of each slice.

6. Place slice(s) of bread into pan, butter-side down. Let toast for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown; flip slice(s) of bread and repeat on other side.

7. Assemble sandwich. Add Chinese "cooked dried pork" or other condiments as desired!

I have to say, the golden, crispy, buttery bread definitely seals the deal on this recipe. Feel free to make the egg any way you want!

Bon Appétit!
Ellie

Beyond Ramen

2011-09-18T12:02:00.004-04:00

Today is a joyous day! Not only is this my first blog post, but I also recently replaced my camera after it broke three or four months ago. Now I'll be able to take + upload photos of my food for you guys!

To celebrate, let's start with the forever delicious and time-saving dish, instant ramen noodles! But, as the title of this blog suggests, even if you're in a rush to get food on the table or just want a quick snack, there's no reason why you have to eat plain old instant ramen. Here is how:

Ingredients:

1. ~3 cups water

2. 2 green onion (chopped)

3. 1 egg

4. 1 bulb baby bok choy (leaves separated and washed)

5. 1 tsp. sesame oil

Directions:

1. Boil water on high heat (chop and wash vegetables while waiting!) in small pot

2. Add ramen noodles. Turn heat to medium or medium-high

3. Once noodles soften a bit, crack egg into empty space in pot, next to noodles

Tip: If you're prone to getting egg shell into your cracked eggs, crack the egg in a separate bowl before adding it to the ramen. If you get egg shell into the bowl, dab your finger in water and then attempt to remove the shell. You'll easily "catch" it!

4. Use a fork or spoon to gently fold egg whites around and over the yolk. Slide fork or spoon gently under egg to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot

5. Add washed bok choy and chopped green onion

6. Add ramen seasoning packet (half, or all of it) and "oil" packet (half)

7. When egg is done to your liking (maybe 8-10 minutes), remove pot from heat, add sesame oil, and transfer to your favorite bowl for eating!

Variations:

Dry Ramen: Follow steps 1-5 above. When done, remove from heat, drain, and set aside. Then, using 1 tbp. vegetable oil, saute diced yellow onion (however much you want) in a pan with sliced/cubed meat (of your choice) on medium-high heat. When meat is done, add noodles (leave egg to the side). Add ramen seasoning packets and stir on medium-heat for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate/bowl and add egg. *Add Sriracha Sauce or Sacha Sauce if desired. *Or try adding lemongrass while boiling noodles, and a squeeze of lemon when done. 1 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp. minced garlic with that combination could be good as well.

Happy experimenting!

Ellie