Creamy Crab and and Goat Cheese Pasta

 

I don’t really like pasta (I can practically hear an audible gasp here), but for whatever reason I really was craving it last week. I have a habit of buying bottles and other sundry food items and taking my sweet time to use them up, so lately I’ve really been making and effort to use up more items; this pasta is a result of me trying to cook out of my pantry.

Red pepper.

Green onions, salt and pepper.

Minced chillies.

A can of crab meat. I envy people who can get fresh crab meat in bulk. That mean pretty much everyone south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Cooked through with tomato sauce added.

Delicious goat cheese.

Melted through.

With cooked spaghetti and fresh parsley added in at the last moment.

Creamy and delicious. Bliss my friends.

del.icio.us Tags: Pasta,Crab,Seafood

Chewy Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think all foodies must have an elusive holy grail of recipes that they are constantly searching for. Mine is the oh so humble but very delicious, chewy chocolate chip cookie.

I have tried many recipes but still haven’t found one that I love.

I love cookies that are big and thick yet chewy but not too sweet. Is that too much to ask? I’ve gone through every recipe on Martha Stewart’s website and for these cookies I tried the ones on the back of the milk chocolate chip bag http://www.hersheycanada.com/en/recipes/recipes/detail.asp?id=6624&page=6&per=25 but I found them too sweet. I eat things that would probably put a diabetic person in a coma so that’s saying something. Or maybe it was the fact that I very generously eyeballed the chocolate chip amount? Nah…. Anyways, dear readers, I have a request:

Can anyone steer me in the direction of a really great thick and chewy chocolate chip recipe? I and my stomach would be forever grateful.

Japanese Curry

Curry is one of those foods that is very popular outside Japan but virtually unknown outside the country. Recently, I was in a Korean supermarket and they had a small Japanese food section in which they sold Japanese curry mix. I practically did a happy dance in the aisle and then ran home to make this recipe. Japanese curry tastes quite different from Indian curries, it is a lot milder and slightly sweet, but quite delicious.

To start off with you brown onions and carrots in a pot.

Followed by mushrooms.

And potatoes and garlic at the last moment.

 

Most curries I have had are made with pork, but honestly, since I don’t really like meat I ended up using chicken.

At this point you add in your curry mix. It might say hot on the package but it is incredibly mild. I would have to spike it liberally with chillies to come anywhere near hot.

The curry basically looks like a gigantic chocolate bar and has the consistency of a boullion cube.

Now you add water to your veggie and meat mixture, and the curry. It will sort of melt into the water and form a stew.

At this point in time it will be very soupy but if you let it cook for a while it will thicken up.

Like this.

Usually curry is eaten with pickled vegetables and rice. I love pickled lotus roots but all they had at the store was pickled radish. They look a bit like lemon candies when sliced up, no? I wasn’t a big fan as they were too sweet for my tastes.

I also made some quick pickled green onions on the side.

I hadn’t eaten this in years so I was really happy to finally have found the mix to make it. I usually don’t cook from pre-made mixes but I wasn’t able to find a Japanese curry recipe and since everyone in Japan uses the mix, that’s good enough for me. It’s not the most photogenic picture but it sure is tasty.

Black Currant Pound Cake

Whenever I see a fruit or vegetable that I don’t recognize in the grocery store I have a compulsion to buy some and then I’m not quite sure what to do with them. Usually if it’s a veggie I roast them, and if it’s a fruit I chuck them into a pound cake.

Seriously, you cannot go wrong with pound cake. When I saw these black currants I immediately wanted to try them.

But when I tasted one they were unpalatably sour. Since I adore cranberry pound cake, I decided to give the black currants the same treatment.

I always use Martha Stewart’s recipe. It is delicious, but you must absolutely use butter, no margarine. Maybe in some other recipes you can get away with margarine but in this recipe it is crucial.

 

Golden and delicious, the tart taste of the currants made an excellent contrast to the sweetness of the bread. Next time I see black currants in the grocery store, I must buy some and try this out again.

 

del.icio.us Tags: Pound Cake,Black Currants

Japanese Chili Pork Ramen

You’ll rarely see me post pasta recipes because honestly, it’s just not my thing. I do however, have a thing for ramen noodles, even though it has been years since I have had some. Traditional Japanese ramen is a huge bowl of broth, ramen noodles, and different vegetables and meats depending on the recipe; each region in Japan has their version. You’ll notice there is no broth in my version. This is just personal preference as I have never particularly cared for the broth and have always felt that it just made it messier to eat.

For this recipe you will need:

Ramen noodles	Minced pork
Sambal Oelek or another chili sauce	Green onions
Fresh cilantro	Minced garlic
Roasted sesame seeds	Salt and pepper
Baby spinach

 

First of all you cook your pork until nearly browned.

Then add minced garlic.

Roasted sesame seeds and salt and pepper.

Once the meet is cooked thoroughly you put in a few tablespoons of Sambal Oelek. If you don’t have any feel free to use another type of chili sauce or you could even puree red chillies and use that instead.

 

Next, green onions and spinach go into the pan.

I usually use frozen baby spinach, since I can never finish the fresh kind before it goes bad.

And also some fresh cilantro, right at the end.

Give it a good stir and you’re ready to serve it. If you like your green onions very well cooked leave it on the heat a while longer, personally I like when they still have a bite to them as it makes for a good textural contrast with the meat and noodles.

While all of that is going on you can start your noodles. Try to get actual Japanese ramen noodles and not just the no name stuff in the styrofoam containers.

Since I don’t care for the broth I used just enough water to cook the noodles and two of the flavour packets that came with them. If you like the broth, use more water and all the flavour packets.

To serve just take some noodles and broth, if you’re using it, put them in a large bowl and add a generous amount of the pork mixture on top.

I really enjoyed this. It had been so long since I had eaten ramen so it really hit the spot. And I finally bought a pair of chopsticks to eat it properly. The Husband can’t eat with them so he thinks I have some kind of amazing talent to be able to do it. Poor boy, so gastronomically sheltered. I’ve tried to expand his horizons, but alas, no dice. This made lots of leftovers and overall it is a really cheap meal that can easily be stretched out. The biggest expense is the ground pork but the noodles are a buck or two per package and you could add more noodles and keep the same amount of meat. This meal is both tasty and budget friendly.

del.icio.us Tags: Japanse food,Ramen