Fried Rice à la carte

Menu for 5/18:

• Fried Rice (à la carte)
• Spicy Edamame
• Vegetable Gyoza

Fried Rice:

Rice, egg, soy sauce, green onion, snap peas, shrimp, tuna, scallops, chicken, Canadian bacon.

I apologize for my inability to update on Tuesdays. Tuesday is always a busy day at my office, and by the time I get home I have forgotten to update. Well it's better late than never right? Right?! Hee-hee, of course it is... So fried rice huh? Yup that is what I am making, AND, I am making it from the all important (dare I say pivotal) work "Cookery for 1 or 2". Hands down, the best $1.99 purchase I have ever made. The "à la carte" option is not in the book however, I made it up when I went shopping this week. The book calls for chicken, shrimp, or beef, to be added as the main protein. I decided "feh!" on those options when I was standing at the seafood counter and looking at lovely fresh shrimp and fresh tuna AND fresh scallops. i figure that I will cook them all up and have them on the side. That way the two of us can pick and choose what we want in our nom nom rice.

Spicy Edamame:

Just that, edamame with spice. I am "cheating" on this one, it is a Trader Joe's® thing, you throw it in the microwave and three minutes later you have steaming hot nom.

Vegetable Gyoza:

Same thing as the edamame, except minus the microwave, add the oven and there is more than just three minutes involved.

I am fairly certain that this meal will be delicious, and no, I am not just saying that because half of the meal is coming straight from a bag. Though that may play some type of role in the nom factor. Check back tomorrow for pictures!

34-19

Ingredients

HIIIIIII....

YEAAAA!!!

Repeat karate chop (as above) and this is what you get.

Now oil and season and throw in the oven (only throw if you have good aim, place in oven if your aim is terrible)

Now roast and turn. Nom will ensue shortly.

Albacore steaks.

Seaoned with blackening agent (aka awesome agent and nom agent)

Pan sear.

This smelled as nom as it looks.

His finished plate of yum.

And mine.

Alright, so here it is FINALLY! Blogger is being weird, so I will keep this short. This meal was just something that I thought of because I had all the ingredients already, and I wanted something simple. I got me a ranking of 10 from the boy and I agree with that. It was 117% Nom. Wednesday was a chilly dreary day and this hearty meal was just what it needed for a capper. I was a little worried about him not wanting to eat the brussel sprouts, but he really liked them. Roasting is the way to go for these little cabbages people, do not boil them. Boiling them kills their souls flavor. Everything was fairly simple and the whole prep, cooking, and plating time, was around 30 minutes. The rice was microwaveable, so that cut out a lot of the prep time. Yay microwaveable rice! Just as good in (less than) half the time!

Well next week is the 20th week that I will have done this, so I might go back to the books to find something awesome. You will have to check in next week to find out!

Blackened does not always mean burnt... Just FYI

Menu for 5/11:

• Blackened albacore steaks
• Ginger confetti rice
• Sesame roasted brussel sprouts

Blackened albacore steaks:
Albacore tuna steaks (defrosted), Blackening seasoning.

Yup that is about it. I am planning on taking the steaks and liberally applying seasoning, then I will cook them. I am thinking in the skillet.

Ginger confetti rice:
Okay I am going to cheat on this one, it is just microwavable rice. I may add a bit of butter and salt but that is honestly all I am planning.

Sesame roasted brussel sprouts:
Sesame oil, brussel sprouts, salt, pepper.
I have done this recipe a couple of times now and have received positive reviews nearly every time. I do not boil them at all, I simply slice them in half and douse them in the oil, salt&pepper. I then cook them in the oven for about 15 minutes, uncovered, and voila, delicious veggies. Even those who normally stear clear of this little cabbage tend to enjoy a sprout or two when they are prepared this way.

So there you have it. That is what is brewing in my brain at this point in time. I know that it seems like it will be a bit of work, but I think that the most time consuming thing will be to cut the sprouts. I also think that this hearty dinner will be just the thing after the weather we have been having over the last few days. It has been overcast, rainy, and in the mid 50's for the last three days. It is May for crying out loud! Where are the lovely spring days that make you want to sing like Maria Von Trapp?!?!?! Not here in good old MA, that's for sure. Alas, the scorching heat of summer will be here soon and I should at least enjoy not freezing to death. *sigh* Well on that up beat note, stay tuned tomorrow for pictures!

35-18

The ingredients.



Tots, pre cooking.



Water soaked corn.

Tin-foiled!

Mmm, watermelon...

Can you spot the hidden me in this picture?

Nom, nom.

Americana.

Bubbles!!!

His.

Hers.

All right, so here is the All-American, ballpark, cookout meal. We both thought that it was fitting that I made this on a day that the Sox had a two hour rain delay. Can't really elaborate why, it is just how we felt. It was rainy and cold and this meal hit the spot.

This meal was just what you think it is. Delicious. I ended up chopping up some fresh yellow onion to put on the dogs. Also, I pulled out the whole grain Dijon and the ketchup. The boy mainly used all of that though. I had cheese. Nom nom, life giving cheese, on my veggie dogs (vogs?). I also had ketchup and so did the boy, who informed me that having ketchup on a hot dog makes said hot dogs not classic any more. I did not know that. I thought that a classic dog was in a toasted bun (hee hee), with ketchup, yellow mustard, and relish. Shows you what I know. Anyway, mine had cheese, wonderful, cheese, in two forms: pub cheese and shredded. Now, I know what your thinking; what the heck is pub cheese?! Well it is this delightfully yummy cheese like spread, that if allowed, I would most likely put on anything and everything. It is basically a spreadable sharp cheddar cheese. Nom.

I was granted a 9 for this meal. It would have been a 10 but the corn totally dropped the ball in the category of being delicious. Speaking of the corn, some of you might be confused by the treatment that it received. Since, as I mentioned in my Tuesday Wednesday post, I do not at this moment in time own a grill AND my landlord is obsessed with his lawn, I therefore had to cook everything in a non-grill way. My way of cooking corn on the cob is normally to soak it in water, wrap it in tin foil and throw it on the grill for 20 minutes. This accomplishes many things at once: 1) you do not have to immediately shuck the corn, 2) cooking it in its self provided wrapper (i.e. the leaves) keeps in the nom-ness of the corn, 3) you do not have to deal with a giant pot of boiling water when you are ready to eat it, just let it cool and peel it open. So I did that, but instead of 'on the grill' it was more of 'in the oven'. It didn't help it any though, it is just too early to have good corn. This stuff was starchy and kind of bland. Both of which are not a product of my cooking ability, so the docking of the 1 point could be classified as unfair. The boy countered by saying that it, the bland, starchy corn, took away from the rest of the meal, and I hate to say that I agree but, I do. Other than the non team player, the meal was delicious and we were both so stuffed afterwards that we couldn't have ice cream that was mentioned. Luckily it is still in the freezer for another day. Yay!

I have an idea for next week that I haven't bounced off the boy yet; I am fairly certain that he will say yes to it though. Four words: Tuna steaks, blackening seasoning. Stick around folks, this is just getting started!

The All-American!

Menu for 5/4:

• Hot Dogs with butter toasted buns
• Tater Tots
• Corn on the cob
• Watermelon
• Ice Cream

First off, I apologize that I didn't make my usual Tuesday post, the day just got away from me. Secondly I am not going to list an ingredient list; this is mostly because I don't want to list what exactly is in hot dogs, but also the menu speaks for itself. He will be having the 97% lean and kosher Hebrew National® hot dogs, so really the inside meat shouldn't be that bad. I will be having the Lean Life® vegan dogs, I can tell that they are nothing like the "real thing" but I still like them. In all honesty, I don't really remember what "real" hot dogs taste like anymore, it has been that long. So the vegan dogs will do, and really, how much more American than fake soy product can you get? Speaking of American, I would like to say that the boy and I decided on this menu on Saturday, so any ironic or not so ironic leanings it may have toward certain currant events is 100% coincidence. Now that I am thinking about it though, it is rather amusing that we picked an All-American meal this week. Anyway, since I do not own a grill and my landlord loves his yard as if it were another child, I will be cooking these dogs in some other fashion. As of this second I don't know how. I might boil them, or perhaps sear them in a pan, or something else that I have not thought of yet. It will definitely be a nom worthy meal though, that's for sure.

36-17 (but mostly Easter goodies)

Homemade awesomeness

Even the gumdrop rosettes.

Lemon cake!

With candied lemons!

So. Much. Nom.

Cheese, meet cheese.

The Gouda... it is so lonely.

But look! It has a friend!

Now even more friends!

All the cheese, now time for the other nomness.

EPIC CHEESE PLATTER!

Peas

Like Skittles®, but healthy. Taste the rainbow, yo.

It just looks so colorful!

Working real hard on this recipe.

You know you heard that noise in your head 'Thusmackud'

Must resist eating raw dough...

That's right, bunny and tulip shaped rolls! It makes them taste better. For real.

The aftermath

Mom's Easter basket.

Always fresh, just like me.



Finished meal :)



As you can tell, not all of this is from last night. Since this past weekend was Easter, and I made a ton of things for the holiday, most of this is from then. My darling gave me a pass for this week. I took pictures of all that I made for Easter and instead of making him dinner, I bought it for him from Subway. I feel Subway is a less of most evils when it comes to fast food. We also walked to it as apposed to taking the car, so that is a little healthier too. All right, so, all the Easter stuff... I know what you are thinking, "Easter? But the first picture is of a birthday cake?!". This is because my mom's birthday was the Monday after Easter Sunday, and she needed a dedicated birthday cake, just like everyone needs a dedicated birthday cake when it is their birthday. I am also ridiculously proud of that cake because it is 100%* homemade, frosting and all, (*The only things I didn't make by hand on that cake are the pearls that spell 'happy birthday', and the blackberry jam that is in the inside) which is why it is first in the pictures. It took me a while to make too, but I did it and it was delicious! I also made the lemon cake from the recipe of my darling boy's grandmother. I made the candied lemons that are on top of that cake too. The point is I made a lot: the cheese platter, the peas, the peppers & onions, the Easter basket for my mom, the rolls, both the cakes, and the mess of dishes that followed. The boy told me that I should state that I also made the Subway building, hired the crew, bought all the ingredients, got all the proper permits, trained the crew, then I had them make his sandwich. This, of course, is a bit of a stretch, but I will take credit for it if he insists. Well, there you have it. Week 17 is now toast! Onward and upward!

37-16

Ingredients

Naked swordfish

Slathered in Nom Sauce

Sizzling

Potatoes

How to microwave broccoli in a microwave safe bag: Step one, put bag in microwave.



Step Two: microwave for three and a half minutes



Step Three: Do not get burned by the steamy steam.

Stirring potatoes

Flipping and sizzling



Final stirring of the potatoes.



Finished meals.

Alright, so here is my 'fly by the seat of my pants' meal. It garnered an 8 from the boy, who was shocked that it took me about 15-20 minutes to make. In all honesty it was kind of a cheat meal. Swordfish does not take that long to cook, the potatoes were from a bag and just needed to be heated in a skillet for about 7 minutes with the occasional stir, and the broccoli was the type that you microwave in the bag. If you would like instructions about the broccoli, I have included them in the above pictures.  I really do not have that much to say about this week's meal. It was good and hearty; plenty of green from the broccoli and the potatoes were delicious, I will most likely be buying them again. I did, slightly, under cook the fish, another 90 seconds and it would have been perfect. Over all though, it was quite good. Nothing to flashy or eye catching, just good and hot. The fish stood up to the Tabasco® sauce that I slathered on it, quite well. It could have actually used a little more in mine and his opinion, but if you are the type that doesn't like the spicy, then this would have served you very well.

I have been busy trying to structure all the things that I am doing for Easter, so I have put absolutely no thought into what I am going to do for next week. Check in next Tuesday to see if I get it together enough to make a meal! :) Till then I hope you all have a lovely holiday.