Bear calzones!

Calzone fillings:  grilled eggplant and green squash, onions, feta, tomato sauce, lots of black pepper.

2 dinners, 1 night.

Both dinners, all homemade.  

I think I'm very indecisive sometimes, and very gluttonous always.  Or vice versa...?  Hehehe

So, the first dinner that night was a baigan bharta, which is one of my favorite indian dishes.  It is comprised of roasted eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, and lots of spices.   This was a lot of fun to make, but took a bit of a long time.  

The second dinner that we also made simultaneously was... pizza!  Having indian eggplant with a side of fragrant saffron rice and cheesey roasted tomato pizza.  It was delicious! ^-^  There was a lot of leftovers from both dinners  for the next day.

Grilled vegetables... It looks like a flower, doesn't it? (Pic Above)

I was the grill master- keeping an eye on my veggies!  I don't know why I did the criss-cross grilled marks, when the veggies will all be blended up anyway!  But it looked cool!  

It was strange, because a few nights later, we unconsciously made italian food with a side of indian, drinking chai... and eating with chopsticks.

I've been very undecided lately...

Chickpea and Black Beans Wrap

 Homemade chickpea patties, black beans, rice, and hummus wrap.  This was suprisingly very good, especially with a bit of hot sauce and pickled jalapenos.

Pan-fried chickpeaa patties, with garam masala, garlic, onions, cumin, and lots of parsley!

Pongal with Spicy Cashews

Pongal- saffron, cracked pepper, peppercorns, moong dal (mung beans), and basmati rice cooked together in lots of water (like congee).

Toppings:  Spicy cashews and fried shallots.  

Congee and pot sticker dumplings

Warm congee on a chilly day.  Here, this congee is accompanied with homemade veggie pot stickers and sauteed cabbage and carrots.  I actually enjoyed making pot stickers, and it might be something that I'll play around with on a rainy day.

So some additional add-ins that I used and you may also like in your congee too: sesame oil, scallions, fried tofu puffs, hot sauce, parsley, thousand year old eggs, quail eggs, chicken eggs (yolk only), etc.

I used the Shanghai Style dumpling wrapper, because it's the right thickness and the right texture too.  They're crispy and chewy at the same time.

Spicy Scallion Corn Waffles!

These corn waffles are definitely my favorite so far from all the waffles that I've made.  They actually got more crispy as they cooled down from the heat.  I was going to add some mexican cheese to the batter too, but I didn't have any and was too lazy to run to the store.  Ahh, well.  They still taste very good!  The scallions work well with the cornmeal batter and bits of jalapeno and sambal oelek sauce.  

The batter I used was a mix-n-match of things I have on hand.  Only one jalapeno!  So I used some sambal for more heat.

Spicy Stir-Fried Pork Blood with Chives

Stir-fried blood pudding with chives, bean sprouts, lots of garlic, ginger, and chilies. I didn't eat it, but I think it was good! :D

My mind thinks the blood pieces taste better if it's a little crispy on the outside when stir-fried with garlic first, which was what I did.

Aloo Tikki Burger!

Aloo tikki burger with lots of Indian spices and encrusted with poppy seeds before cooking.

In the picture, I topped it with tomato and black bean salsa, but I had another tikki burger the next day, and I topped that with horseradish hummus, a fried egg, and a drizzle of sesame oil. Both versions were good.

What I liked about this burger are the spices. It is one of those food that gets better with time, because the burger I had the next day was so awesomely spicy. To make it, I think you should mix the aloo with spices the night before, or at least a few hours ahead. That would give time for the spices do its thing- the garam masala to release its flavor, the chilies to mingle with the cumin and potatoes, etc.

Sunday Crepes

It's been over a year since I last made crepes, I think. I made these again a few weeks ago, and they were very good with chili sauce and herbs. The cucumbers were there to cool me down, in case I couldn't handle the spice. :D

NO, no! Actually, you eat crepes with cucumbers, mustard greens, and herbs. I love having them with mustard greens, because you get the different kinds of spice in just one bite. Hot and sour from the Sriracha-garlic-lime sauce and a peppery wasabi taste from the mustard greens.

The crepes were awesome, but I made too much... Took 3 days for 2 people to finish them. I think I'm all creped out 'til next year. Too bad I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the meat crepes my sister also made side-by-side on the stove next to me. Those meat crepes had minced pork, shrimps, bean sprouts, and mung beans in them. She, too, was sick of crepes, still having to finish them 5 days later. Next time, we'll scale back the portions. :)

Eggplant noodles!

Spicy Indo-Chinese noodles with marsala spiced eggplant!

What's in the noodle itself: onions, scrambled tofu, lotsa garlic, turmeric, hot spices, carrots and noodles.
Eggplant: Mix of different indian spices encrusted on the eggplant, and then pan-fried.

Masala Chickpea Burger

What should I cook? What should I cook?? I want to make chana masala, but I'm also in the mood for a veggie burger too!

Let's combine the two together, and make a very spicy masala chickpea burger! I used all the spices that'd go into a chana masala- coriander, ginger, turmeric, chillies, chili flakes, garam masala, cumin, garlic, paprika, and amchoor powder! Wow! That is a lot of spice. You can make this if you have the spices available already in your/your friend's cabinet. ^-^

Spicy Chickpeas Masala Burger

1 (15 oz) can of chickpeas (TJ's brand or any kind)
1/2 cup of chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup small diced celery
1 egg
1/2 red onion, diced
1 inch of ginger- minced/small diced
1 or 2 toasted bread slices (whole wheat) OR 3/4 cup toasted bread crumbs

Spices: salt, pepper, chili flakes chopped green chilies a splash of olive oil 2 tsp garlic powder a little coriander, 2-3 tsp of cumin 1 tsp turmeric 1 1/2 amchoor powder 2 tsp paprika garam masala- to taste- i put a lot, and didn't measure.

poppy seeds
buns/bread slices

Topping ideas: Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced onions, Sriracha, hummus

1. Put the following in a blender/food processor: chickpeas, bread crumbs, egg, splash of olive oil and all the spices. Blend together until it is a chunky hummus. (Be careful not to over blend, like I did.)*

2. Scoop out chickpea mixture into a big bowl and stir in chopped parsley, celery, ginger, and onion.

3. Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat and also put some poppy seeds out on a large plate. Then divide the chickpea mixture into burger-size portions and form into patties. Put the patties on the poppy seeds and encrust both sides with the seeds before frying in a pan.

4. Cook for about 6-8 minutes on each side, until the chickpea burgers brown. Check occasionally. Slide out on a plate. Toast up buns and spread them with a tangy hummus. Add the chickpea burger and top each with sliced onions and tomatoes, or anything you like.

5. Enjoy immediately :D

Too Cheesy??

The Spicy 'Chi Heart Pizza- Kimchi Pizza!

Heart shaped is kinda cheesy, but I liked it! I've read a lot on the internet, and apparently, a great combination is pepperoni and kimchi on pizza. Pork goes with everything! :-(

Instead of kimchi alone, I put some crispy veggie ham and sauteed onions to give the pizza more flavor. The sauce is mixture of several different HOT hot sauces and some tomato sauce. However, thinking it over the next day, I thought it might be good to have some pickles on it. Weird, but it needs a sour or salty taste to go along with the spiciness. And some more herbs too. A kimchi pizza do over is in order, I guess!

Breakfast Egg Pizza

Second pizza that night- runny eggs, red bell peppers, chile flakes, corn, cheese, and green onions.

This is my favorite out of the two! Maybe it could use some more eggs. Maybe the kimchi pizza could have used an egg or two, too.^o^

Spicy Tomato Chicken Stew

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 stalk celery, cut into small pieces
• 1 carrot, peeled, cut into small pieces
• 1 small onion, medium diced
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (14 oz) can low-salt chicken broth
• 1 (14.5 oz) can chopped tomatoes
• 3 boned chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
• 1 package (8 oz.) thawed frozen artichoke hearts, quartered if large**
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces**
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• Red chile flakes, to taste
• Crusty bread

Preparations:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add chicken in a single layer and cook, turning once, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a plate.

2. Reduce heat to medium and add in about 2 tsp more of olive oil. Add garlic first, then onion, celery and carrot and stir just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme and simmer, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot, about 3 minutes. Add broth and chicken and return to a simmer. Lower heat slightly to maintain simmer, cover, and cook 25 minutes. Turn the chicken over half way and stir the mixture occasionally.

3. Take the chicken out after 25 minutes and let cool a bit. Discard bay leaf. Add in artichokes. Shred or cut the chicken into bite- size pieces. Return the chicken meat to the stew and stir in basil. Bring the stew to a simmer. Season with salt, pepper and chili flakes, to taste.

Serve with some crusty hearty bread.

** Optional:
If you don't like artichokes, you can use 1 (15oz) can of organic kidney beans instead. If you don't have basil, substitute with 1/2 a cup of flat-leaf parsley chopped.

Lunch: Peanut Buttered Tofu and Long beans

Spicy sauteed long beans with carrots and peppers.

I like cooking them with lots of chilies and garlic, and another version with shrimp paste. They're crisp and tender when eaten young, which is what you should be looking for when shopping for them. The Chinese long bean, also known as the yardlong bean, is actually only about half a yard long.


Heheh.. Such a messy bowl. This is fried tofu in peanut butter sauce (nothing special). Hey, I kind like it... Eat with some noodles or rice.

Homemade Kimchi

Even my 3-yr old niece knows what this is.

Today, when I asked her, "Liz, what is this? You know?"

In a squeaky voice, she said: "KiM-CHEEEEE!!!"

Auntie: "Can you eat kimchi?"

Liz: "No! Hot! Too hot!!" ^-^

..........................

You can buy kimchi in Korean stores, but it's so easy and cheap to make.
And as spicy as you want it!

So you know what's gonna come out of this?

Hmm... Kimchi pizza, anyone? ^_^

My love for flat noodles

Boo! I tried to make a carrot "flower" with 5 petals, but somehow only ended up with 4 petals!

This stir fry was good, but I'd prefer veggie ingredients in it. Too bad, it was the end of the weekend and my fridge was empty.

Oh I love flat noodles. So satisfying to eat with its chewy-soft texture. I'm craving drunken noodle (same flat noodle) as I am writing this up!

Spicy Scrambled Eggs w/ Roti

Recently, I came across a blog that mentioned a recipe by Nigella Lawson. It was a recipe about spicy scrambled eggs with fried corn tortilla strips.

I thought that is a great idea to get some textural contrast and bring something new to scrambled eggs or an omelette. You can make it more of a meal with some beans or something too. Well, I like the idea, but would never have tortillas on hand around the house.

What I do happened to have, is some homemade spicy spinach roti. Rotis... tortillas... they're kind of similar. After frying up some strips of roti (until they're crunchy), simply add them into some eggs, onions, and chilies.

And these are some good eggs! I had them with whole wheat sourdough toasts, but you can make a sandwich of any kind. Maybe wrap them up in some roti- and have a fried roti in eggs, in a roti wrap? Mmm hehe ^-^

Green Mango and Chili Salt

One of my favorite snacks- eating crunchy mango with a chili salt mixture. It is sour-sweet-salty-crunchy- and spicy!

Although a better dipping sauce would be to dip Thai green mangoes in a thick sweet fish sauce. Simply add granulated sugar to fish sauce until the consistency is thick. Add some chilies if you like!

The green mango-salty sweet fish sauce snack combo is popular in Southeast Asian countries (Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines.) I'm not making this up! Look here!

Spicy Basmati Fried Rice

Basmati rice is specially supplied by Chi's Rice& Spice Co. (^_~)

Yummy spicy fried rice!