Roasted Garbanzo Beans

I had the munchies the other night and I just remembered reading about a quick snack you can make at home with chickpeas (garbanzo beans).  It's very easy to make and so healthy for you.  It was also very  addictive. All you really need is some seasoning blend of your choice, salt, olive oil, and a can of garbanzo beans.  We seasoned ours with curry powder and garlic salt.

How to roast garbanzo beans:

1.  Drain the can of garbanzo beans and rinse to get rid of the slimy water.
2.  Pat dry the beans with a paper towel.
3.  Lay the beans on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and drizzle a bit of olive oil.  Toss to distribute.
4.  Put in a preheated 350F degree oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and crunchy.
5.  Remove from oven and season with salt and seasonings.

Enjoy!

I'm lovin' it!

Has anyone tried McDonald's new fruit and maple oatmeal?  The menu price is $1.99 but I got it for free.  Gotta love coupons!  I liked McDonald's healthier breakfast option.  The oatmeal is mixed with two different kinds of raisins, dried cranberries, and topped with red and green apples.   You can also order it with or without brown sugar.   I ordered it with brown sugar which I regretted.   The oatmeal would've been better without it since it was already flavored with maple and light cream.  I really enjoyed it but I think I'll try to replicate this at home instead.

Chinese-Style Steamed Fish

My dad picked up a new hobby.  Fishing.  Yes, even in the middle of winter.  The conversation I have with my dad when I go home for dinner these days goes something like this.

Dad:  "Take home some fish."
Me:  "No, thanks."
Dad:  "Why not?"
Me:  "I don't know how to cook fish."
Dad:  "Just pan fry it."
Me: "Nah."
Dad:  "There's a lot of fish in the freezer.  Take some."

My dad does not take no without a fight.  So we keep at it until I give in.  

Me:  "Alright, I'll take one home."

I don't cook a lot of fish.  First of all, seafood is expensive.  Secondly, it's tricky to cook fish without overcooking it.  Third, I don't like to handle fish unless it's already been cleaned, scaled, and gutted.  I finally remembered to cook the fish my dad caught about two weeks ago.  At first, I thought I'd try to make sweet and sour fish but I didn't have all the ingredients and it would be too messy to deep fry a whole fish.  So, I finally decided on making Chinese steamed fish.  You know, the kind you eat at Chinese restaurants with soy sauce, ginger, scallions, and cilantro.

I learned some secret techniques from Steamy Kitchen on how to steam the fish for the best results.  She also has some fish picking strategies if you want to read about it on her blog.  For restaurant style steamed fish, you need to use fresh fish and steam it on medium heat for about 10-12 minutes, and serve it with fresh herbs and clean sauce.  You want to discard the fishy cloudy water after steaming because the juices is very fishy especially if the fish is not cleaned well.

Enjoy this Chinese-Style Steamed Fish recipe from Steamy Kitchen.

Chinese Steamed Fish

Ingredients
1 pound whole fish
4 stalks, scallions – cut into 3″ lengths
3″ piece of ginger – slice into “coins”
small bunch of cilantro
1 1/2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
salt & pepper

Soy Sauce Mixture
2 tablespoons rough chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper
fresh chilli – thinly sliced (optional)

Garnish
2 stalks, scallions – cut into 3″ lengths
2″ piece of ginger – finely julienned
2 tablespoons cooking oil

Directions
1. Clean your fish, pat dry. Season generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Take half of the herb ingredients and stuff inside the fish.

2. Take the other half of the herb ingredients and lay it in a shallow pan. Lay the fish on top of the bed. If fish is too long, cut in half. Pour 1 1/2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine on top of the fish.

3. Add 2″ of water to a large pot or wok, cover and boil. When it is boiling, uncover, and put your fish pan inside, propped up with a steamer insert or small inverted bowl to use as a stand. Steam the fish on medium heat for about 12 minutes (add 2 minutes for every 1/2 lb.)

Tip:  Poke your chopstick at the flesh near the top fin. If flesh flakes easily near the top fin, then its done. If flesh sticks together still, then add 1-2 more minutes to cooking time.  Timing really depends on the thickness of your fish. Also check to make sure you haven’t run out of steaming water.

4. Towards the end of the steaming process, heat up a pan, add the soy sauce mixture and stir well until well combined.  Set aside. When fish is done steaming, transfer the fish out onto a serving platter, discarding all of the cooked cilantro/ginger/scallions and the fish juice in the pan. Pour the hot sauce over the fish.

5.  In a separate pan or wok, heat up cooking oil over high heat, add the ginger and scallions, fry for 10 seconds to “pop” the flavors. Pour the cooking oil and herbs over the fish and serve immediately!

Doenjang Jjigae (Bean Paste Stew)

I've recently been making bean paste stew for dinner because of the cold winter nights.  I never get sick and tired of this comforting Korean dish.   Soondubu jjigae (soft tofu stew) is another one of my favorite but I'll get to that on a separate post.  You can buy doenjang or soy bean paste, which is used as the base, at any Korean markets.

The recipe I used was adapted from several websites.  Sometimes I add dried anchovies but without it is plenty flavorful too.  I cooked the stew in a ceramic pot and served it boiling hot with a bowl of white rice.  Perfect the meal with a variety of side dishes (banchan) to accompany it.

Doenjang Jjigae

2 T soy bean paste (doenjang)
sesame oil

5 cloves of garlic, minced

7-8 pieces of dried anchovies (optional)

1 chili pepper, chopped

1/2 onion, roughly sliced
1 medium potato, peeled and cut into cubes
1/2 zucchini,  cut into chunks
mushrooms, halved
1/2 block tofu (firm or soft), cut into cubes
1 green onion, chopped
gochugaru (optional)

1.  Prepare the vegetables and tofu.  If using anchovies, remove heads and intestines, then chop them up.
2.  Heat up sesame oil in ceramic pot and add garlic and soy bean paste to toast slightly about 30 seconds.
4.  Add water to fill pot almost halfway, then add anchovies, chili, onions and potatoes.  Let cook for a few minutes.
5.  Add zucchini and mushrooms and let it cook until the potato is almost tender. Stir occasionally.
6.  When the stew is boiling and all the ingredients are about cooked, mix in the tofu and top with chopped green onions.
7.  Sprinkle some gochugaru (red pepper flakes) over the stew and serve hot with a bowl of rice.  Enjoy!

Serves 3-4.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

I had a lemon that's been sitting in my fridge for a long time.  I finally decided to make lemon poppy seed muffins with it this past weekend.  Blogger, Elise, from Simply Recipes based her recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  The muffins turned out very light and fluffy.  I followed the recipe to the T except I was a little short on yogurt and I added a teaspoon of almond extract.  I love the smell of almond flavor.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder (no more than 6 months old)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 T poppy seeds
10 T unsalted butter (1 1/4 stick), softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 T lemon zest

Glaze
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 cup confectioner's sugar

Directions:
1.  Adjust oven rack to the middle of the oven.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2.  Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, poppy seeds, and salt and set aside.
3.  In a large mixing bowl, cream softened butter and sugar together, beating until fluffy (about 2 minutes with an electric mixer).  Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one.  Beat in lemon zest.
4.  Beat in one third of the dry ingredients until just incorporated.  Beat in one third of the yogurt.  Keep beating in the remaining dry ingredients and yogurt, alternating between each until just incorporated.  Do not over beat.
5.  Use a standard 12 muffin pan.  Coat each muffin cup with oil or butter with a pastry brush or line the cups with muffin cups like I did.  Distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups.  Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.  Test with a toothpick to make sure they center of the muffins are done.  Set muffin pan on wire rack to cool.  After 5 minutes, remove muffins from pan.
6.  While the muffins are cooling, in a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice for the glaze.  Add more lemon juice if necessary.  While the muffins are still a bit warm, use a pasty brush to brush the glaze over each muffin.  I just drizzled the glaze over the muffins with a spoon.  


Makes 12 muffins.  Best eaten fresh and warm!

Kintaro Ramen

I just went back to Samurai Noodle again for lunch.  This time I didn't order extra noodles and I walked out feeling a little bit unsatisfied.  I thought about the last time I had a really good bowl of ramen and it was back in July of 2010 in Vancouver, B.C.  We discovered Kintaro Ramen by accident from a friend who was visiting from Hawaii.  She and her husband was staying in downtown Vancouver and saw a long line at the restaurant near their hotel.  When we drove up to spend the day with them, they suggested we go there for lunch.

We went to Stanley Park and the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge in the morning and headed over to Kintaro for a quick bite. We thought we would be the first few people to get a table since we got there right when they opened.  Apparently, other people were thinking the same thing but were one step ahead of us.  Ramen fans were already lined up outside before the restaurant opened so we had to wait for about half an hour.  The restaurant was very small just like a typical ramen-ya.

It was a joy to watch the broth and noodles come together as the two guys behind the bar work as fast as they could to serve everyone that one thing they came for.  The waitress took our orders while we waited in line.  To order here, you select the type of ramen you like, decide on how rich you want your broth, and you have your choice of lean or fat pork.

I ordered the miso ramen with medium broth and lean pork.  It was simply delicious and the best I've had since my last slurp at Taishoken before they closed down.  I'm still heartbroken.

Look at all those noodles!  Good portion size too.  I can't wait to go back!  

Helser's on Alberta

Happy New Year!  2011 is upon us.  Hope this year will be a great year filled with joy and laughter.   Oh, and more blogging.

What a lazy Sunday morning.  As I sit here in bed, all I can think of is.....breakfast food!  It's so versatile.  You can eat it morning, day, or night.  PDX have a lot of good options for breakfast.  Last year, my brother-in-law and his fiance visited Seattle in November and we took them down to Portland to watch the Blazers vs. Jazz.  We stayed overnight and went to eat at Helser's for brunch the following morning.

Of course, there was a waiting list when we arrived.  Total wait time was about 20 minutes which wasn't too bad.  They had free self serve coffee while we waited so no complaints there.

Since we pretty much studied the menu while waiting, we knew what we wanted to order as soon as we were seated.  I ordered the mushroom hash - crimini mushrooms, scallions, roasted garlic, onions and Yukon gold potato hash tossed with melted havarti cheese.   This could easily feed two!

My brother-in-law ordered the egg benedict with ham served with fresh fruits and yukon gold potatoes.

Both my BIL's fiance and my husband ordered the Scotch egg and potato pancakes.   Interestingly, Scotch egg is a hard boiled egg wrapped in bratwurst, lightly breaded, and fried.  The Scotch egg was our favorite.  The potato pancake, on the other hand, was not a big hit.

I would definitely go back to Helser's for some mushroom hash and Scotch eggs on the side to share next time.  Hubs said he'll attempt to make spicy Scotch eggs with chorizo at home.  I'm holding his word to that.