Szechuan Vegetable Stir-Fry

At the forefront of many of my culinary adventures recently, I've been trying to take an interest in recreating cultural food staples.  From Greek to Irish to Chinese, I'm becoming more and more fascinated with different styles of cooking as well as different flavors.  Some things I never thought I would try have now become some of my favorite snacks and meals.

Whenever I cook Chinese food, the first thing I think of is meat.  I'm always trying to recreate some of the typical chicken and beef dishes from the takeout menu,  I've never concerned myself with trying to figure out veggies and side dishes. 
 

So, last night, I did just that.

 

 

I took some vegetables from the fridge and attempted to do my very first stir fry using traditional Szechuan flavors.  These vegetable are a healthy and delicious way to complement any of your favorite Chinese meat dishes.  I served this with some delicious chicken and felt like I had saved $10 and tons of abbreviated chemicals from staying away from a take-out place. 
 

And, it finally gave me an opportunity to eat up some green vegetables since I've been severely overlooking these little gems in my diet. 
 

Deliciously sweet and tangy, with a hint of heat, these vegetable will make even the pickiest eaters chomp down their greens in a heartbeat!

 

 

Szechuan Vegetable Stir-Fry

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 white onion, sliced

1/2 lb.  green beans

1/2 lb. broccoli florets

1/2 lb. whole peas

1 cup Szechuan Sauce

 

 

In a wok or large skillet, saute onions in olive oil until fragrant and translucent over medium heat.  Add broccoli, peas and beans and turn heat down to low.  Continuously stir the vegetable to cook them for 3-5 minutes.
 

Add Szechuan sauce and heat bring to a low simmer, stirring occasionally for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Pastitsio

As a non-Greek human being, I sure feel like my stomach is going Greek.

 

I've been cooking a lot of Greek food lately and experimenting with Greek-style herbs and seasonings to update some other recipes I have.

 

I've seen pastitsio before on various blogs and such, but I never paid much attention to it.  Truthfully, I thought that it was basically just a cool name for baked ziti.  It wasn't until I actually researched it that I found out how wrong I was. 

 

Pastitsio is kind of a cross between baked ziti (so I'm not completely wrong after all), lasagna and moussaka.  There's a bunch of sauce and noodles and ground meat, but it's organized neatly in layers.  Then there's a creamy bechamel sauce poured over the top. 

 

Who knew I'd learn to like bechamel so much?

 

But oh, am I learning.

 

Greek casseroles are quickly climbing on my list of things I NEED to bake.  I'm super glad I started with this rich and savory Pastitsio first.  As equally glad as I am that I made a whole pan of it and I can have leftovers for days.  Moussaka is next on my list of Greek foods to try, but for now, I'm savoring this little slice of heaven.

 

Or, in my case, this big, fat, thick, delicious slice of heaven!

 

 

 

Pastitsio

 

1 lb. penne noodles

1 lb. ground beef

2 tbsp olive oil

4 cups Red Sauce

1/2 white onion, diced

2 tbsp garlic

2 cups mozzarella cheese

2 cups Bechamel Sauce

Salt & Pepper to taste

 

 

 

Preheat oven 350F.

 

Cook and drain penne noodles.

 

In a large skillet, saute onions over medium heat in olive oil until translucent.  Add garlic and cook an additional minute.  Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink.  Drain excess liquid.  Season to taste.  Stir in Red Sauce and remove from heat.

 

In a greased casserole dish, layer 1/3 of the noodles.  Follow with 1/3 of the beef mixture and 1 cup of cheese.  Continue this layering until the third layer of beef is on the top.  Pour the bechamel over the top.

 

Bake for 1 hour.

English Muffin Bread

I don't know what it is, but I have been in a serious bread-baking mood lately. 

 

Whenever I get a chance, which recently has been hardly ever (in case you were keeping track of my sporadic posting), I've been kneading and forgetting perfectly moist and chewy loaves of bread.  Some sweet, some savory, and tons of recipes from all of the world.  One of the biggest reasons for starting this blog was to learn how to cook and learn how the rest of the world cooks as well.  It's been such an eye-opening experience to try different recipes from across the globe. 

 

This bread is a little bit more homey in the sense that I grew up eating English muffins as a child and teenager, especially in the morning before school.  My favorite ways involve peanut butter for breakfast and pizza-style at dinner time.  I mean, how many kids were lucky enough to enjoy English muffin pizzas?  I'm thinking a lot.  And if you're not one of them, you need to make this bread and then slather a slice in sauce and cheese under a broiler. 

 

Amazing.

 

Anyway, this bread is obviously different from the store-bought brand in that it comes in a loaf-shape.  But this is way more economical than paying for those little six-packs when you can have a whole loaf.  And besides that, the unmistakeable pockets within the bread are present just like your favorite store-bought brands, just waiting to be covered in whatever your favorite toppings happen to be!

 

 

English Muffin Bread

 

 

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

1 packet active dry yeast

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

 

 

 

Combine all of the ingredients into a standmixer and mix on medium until combined.  The dough will be tacky.

 

Place in a greased bowl and cover with a slightly damp towel.  Let rise one hour.

 

Punch dough down and place in a greased loaf pan dusted with cornmeal.  You can fill one large loaf pan or two smaller loaf pans.  Let rise an additional hour.

 

Preheat oven 350F.

 

Bake 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and brush with 2 tbsp melted butter.  Return to oven for 10 more minutes

Sweet Tea Marinade

This last weekend, we celebrated Memorial Day weekend.  This, for my non-USA-living friends, is a patriotic holiday in which we remember fallen soldiers who have fought for our freedom while also praising the hard work of veterans and active duty soldiers as well.

Living near a military base, there are many parades around the area where soldiers are present.  It's a very cool experience to be able to witness the different ceremonies that happen on this holiday.

Memorial day is also considered the kick-off to summer.  Even though our forecast has been littered with 40-degree weather and the threat of snow flurries, we are somehow supposed to be officially in shorts and tank tops for the next three months.  Not likely to happen at this rate.

Memorial Day was cold and cloudy, but that really didn't stop us from enjoying the traditions we've grown accustomed to around here.  Parades, ceremonies, sno-cones, beer, chicken BBQs and rummage sales are just a few of the community-wide activities.  But, there's also a number of backyard barbeques to enjoy, too.

Our house was no different.  In fact, if I close my eyes, I can still smell the steak sizzling on the grill covered in this sweet tea marinade I made.  Now, sweet tea is not something that is typically guzzled in the North, but after some research, I decided that making a jug of sweet tea would be amazing with this sweet marinade.

I had been researching marinades and this caught my eye because the tea is said to be an excellent tenderizer.  The sugar is said to caramelize the outside of the meat for a sweetened sear.  These two points were enough to convince me to give it a try.

The flavors are deep and complex with a delicious sweetness.  The liquid smoke offers a little extra complexity.

This marinade-making has sparked my interest in making up more marinades and sauces for meat.

Any ideas for next weekend?




Sweet Tea Marinade

2 lb. chicken or steak

3 cups brewed sweet tea
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 vidalia onion, sliced
1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp Liquid Smoke
Salt & Pepper to taste



Combine all ingredients of the marinade in a large bowl.  Place the chicken or steak in the marinade.

Marinate overnight.

Cook chicken as desired.  I grilled mine on an outdoor grill.

Greek Pizza

Since going to school in Binghamton, New York, I have been fascinated with Greek culture.  A large portion of the Southern Tier is of Greek heritage, and the food down there is very representative of that.  You have seen, by now, my obsession with Spiedies, as made evident by the fact that I've made them in sandwiches and pizza already. 

I'm also a huge fan of typical Greek ingredients, like those found in a Mediterranean dip.  By the way, I've already made one of those for you, too!

This time, I decided that I wanted to take those lovely Mediterranean ingredients and put them on pizza, if only because everything is better with carbohydrates included.  Plus, as delicious as these foods are on a cold plate, they are intensely better when the vegetables are roasted and everything is cooked together in a hot oven.

I love trying new variations on pizza and trying different foods in pizza-form.  I definitely count this as one of my new favorite pizzas.  It's right up there with my other Greek-inspired pie with chicken and spiedie sauce!

The combination of feta and mozzarella gives this a homey cheesy feeling while the onslaught of different vegetables are both visually and tastily pleasing.  I'm not sure if that's proper grammar, but I know my eyeballs loved it as much as my tastebuds.

It's a bit more work to perfect this pizza than others because of the roasted veggies, but it's totally worth it.  If anybody in your family has a soft spot for Greek cuisine, this pizza is going to be a definite winner in your house!




Greek Pizza

1 batch of Pizza Dough1/2 cup of Speidie Sauce
1 lb. chicken breast
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup diced artichoke hearts
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, diced
1/2 cup diced Kalamata olives
1/2 cup diced roasted tomatoes
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 cup Mozzarella cheese
1 cup crumbled Feta cheese





Preheat oven 375F.

Saute onions  over medium heat in olive oil.  Add chicken and cook thoroughly.

Roll out pizza dough and spread on 1/2 of the Spiedie sauce.  Cover with mozzarella cheese.  Add the chicken and drizzle the rest of the Spiedie sauce over the top.  Top with all of the vegetables and Feta.

Cook for 20-25 minutes.

Almond Joy Macaroons

I'm back.

And I'm back with coconut.

Don't ask me why.  I can't explain my obsession.

Everybody has their vices.  Everybody has that one food that they can't live without.  It doesn't even have to be food.  It could be some activity or television show or cell phone app.  I don't judge what you do.  Don't judge my coconut love.

Last Christmas, I made coconut macaroons.  To say that I ate a lot of them at once... well, that's an understatement.  It would also be putting it mildly if I said that there was a slight hiccup when it came to plating the macaroons for others to eat.

They didn't make it.

I didn't have the heart to tell you at the time.

I was a little embarrassed.

And, my mouth was full.

But I'm telling you now that this variation is absolutely to die for.  Maybe not to literally die for, but close.  I'd risk it, if that was the case.

These taste just like the candy bars, and I'm sure that if you dunked the whole macaroon in the ganache, it would be just like making your own homemade bars.  But I like the dollop of ganache on top.  It makes it a lot easier to hold between my fingers while I chow down.

You can do it however you like as long as you go and do it now!




Almond Joy Macaroons

1 batch Coconut Macaroons
1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup chopped almonds



Prepare macaroons as directed.

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler.  Add heavy cream and sugar.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly to thicken.

Spoon chocolate ganache over the macaroons.  

Top with chopped almonds.

Almond Joy Pie

Have I told you how much I love coconut.

Of all of my food obsessions, this one is a top necessity in my life.  Especially when it's accompanied by chocolate.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise (since I've probably mentioned it on here a number of times) that my favorite candy bar is the Almond Joy.  Milk chocolate, flaky coconut and almonds is the ideal dessert.  Anything that tastes like Almond Joys is an immediate hit.

Last summer, I made a cheesecake that featured this irresistible trifecta and the results were sensational.  I could barely keep it on the plate and everybody who took a slice loved it.  There were no negative comments and no unhappy faces to be seen.

This time, I've found a simpler version that requires a lot less work without sacrificing the delicious coconut flavor.

The hardest part is waiting for the pie to cook and cool before biting into it!

Almond Joy Pie

1 cup milk

1 egg

1 1/2 cups flaked coconut

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Crust:

1 package chocolate snack cookies, crushed (I used Oreos)

1/2 stick butter, melted

Ganache:

1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven 350F.

Combine oreos and butter.  Press the mixture into the bottom of a greased 9" pie pan, coating up the sides.

Bake pie crust empty for 10 minutes to set.  Let cool.

In a large bowl, mix all of the filling ingredients until well-combined.  Pour mixture into cookie crust.

Bake for 40 minutes.  Let cool completely.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler.  Add milk and sugar. Let cool slightly to thicken.  Spread over the top of the cooled coconut pie.