Swai and Chips

Swai and Chips

Swai, catfish from Vietnam, cheap and healthier than improperly prepared Puffer fish. I have to pick up some whenever it is fresh and it season. I thought it was funny that Swai is $4/lb frozen and $3.69/lb fresh. So there may be more Swai dishes coming. This one served with 'chips' and homemade cole slaw.

Ingredients
-Swai
-Potato
-Rosemary
-Garlic
-Homemade Cole Slaw

Creation
Homemade Cole Slaw? Yep. Very simple. Cabbage sliced and mixed with mayo, apple cider vinegar and sugar.

Potatoes are also thinly sliced and done on the stove top with rosemary and garlic. Not too much salt cause the Swai will have more.

Fun with plating.. before I wanted Cole Slaw

My usual way of preparing fish. Salt, pepper and hot oil. I like to keep things simple no? Especially when I'm making...

Orange Ginger Chicken

Orange Ginger Chicken over Rice

A light and bright dish. Definitely won't use a non-stick pan for it next time though. Had a bunch of chicken and knew I wanted to do something orange and light. This is what my kitchen brought forth. 

Ingredients

-Chicken Breast Tenderloin
-Orange Juice
-Ginger
-Onion
-Jalapeno

Creation

This is my first dish that really uses delicate flavors instead of going bold. Which was done by not reducing the orange ginger sauce so much. Not searing chicken. Yes that was done on purpose.

Essentially this was a orange juice poached chicken, but a little more involved.

Served over seasoned rice balances everything in...

P.S. - Upon typing this short post I became hungry for another serving.

Pork Sausage Tomato Sauce

Pork Sauce Tomato Sauce over Angel hair

I never was good at plating spaghetti and sauce, however this is mostly about the sauce anyways. This is pretty much my go-to meat-tomato sauce as long as there is about 2hrs of preparation time. Yes this take that long. Gotta break down the tomatoes and make sure the flavors meld. 

Ingredients

-Pork Sausage
-Tomatoes
-Wine
-Balsamic Vinegar
-Garlic
-Onion
-Peppers

Creation

I say tomatoes because it can be tailored. This particular batch was made with petite diced and sauce. I usually use crushed.

And peppers. This one used bell peppers, but I like poblano and jalopeno.

While this sauce is simmering forever the oil must be siphoned or spooned off because the pork will continue to render its fat and that will make the sauce greasy. It won't stick to pasta and that won't make it...

Braised Beef

Braised Beef in Black Sauce

Beef.... uhhh. Guess I need more of these dishes. So I turned Black sauce into a braising liquid which was then added back to finish the dish. Possibly the most tender beef I have made so far. Then the sweet Black sauce.. oh yeah baby.

Ingredients

-Beef Steak
-Celery
-Onion
-Garlic
-Ginger
-Vinegar
-Black Sauce

Creation

Should know by know Black sauce is a balsamic reduction with stuffs. Everything else is a marinade. Don't marinade for too long cause the acid can turn meat mushy.

To turn Black Sauce into a braising liquid essentially add water and vegetables. The water will boil away after simmering for over an hr and what you are left with is a sweet thick sauce.

And don't forget braising is two cooking methods so first sear the beef. Gotta love that sear. If only it wasn't so messy to make...

Rice Pudding

Creamy Rice Pudding

I have always wanted to make rice pudding.. along with risotto, but that is done already. I've always heard the texture is weird, but its rice.. not something terrible like coconut. That's right I said it. There will not (should not) be a coconut dish here. Blah. Anyways, back to the pudding.

Ingredients

-Rice
-Milk
-Sugar
-Eggs

Creation

Its actually much easier to make than I originally thought. Just a little time consuming. Next it will be made with medium or short grain rice. Its pretty much take cooked rice and add milk. Continue to cook so the starches from the rice come out and thicken it.

Then add the egg and more milk and do it again. Done. Well, done after it is finished with vanilla and butter to make this...

Shrimp Fettuccine

Shrimp Fettuccine with a Tomato Cream Sauce

I seem to be making a lot of seafood... probably because I love seafood... go figure. However, there hasn't been a lot of seafood and pasta. So here we go, back to one of my favorite sauces... the tomato cream sauce.

Ingredients

-Shrimp
-Fettuccine
-Tomato
-Heavy Cream
-Onions
-Celery
-Garlic

Creation

To get the fullest flavor out if this sauce.. at least more robust flavor.. the sauce in completely homemade and instead of removing the skin the whole thing is blended. Then thrown in with the onions and stuff cooking.

As you can see by the color there wasn't a ton of tomatoes involved. Everything else is pretty straight-forward. However, more awesomeness comes from the shrimp. They weren't cooked in any special way, but the shells help make a great shrimp stock that will be used for later. Si. I am very resourceful when making...

Celery Leaf Cream Soup

Celery Leaf Cream Soup

What? Celery leaf? Yes those leaves from celery you never use. I do, all the time actually, as celery is always in the fridge. Taste pretty much like celery... shocker! But without the texture of... well celery. But no, this doesn't taste just like a puree of celery. Its just a hint to add a little complexity.

Ingredients

-Celery Leaves
-Pasta
-Garlic
-Onions
-Milk

Creation

Looking at those ingredients it seems it should be really simple... and it is. Everything is minced.. besides the milk and pasta. Don't even think about it.

Pasta is pre-boiled a bit, don't wanna cook it all in a white sauce. Which is made with the minced stuff. Nothing special here.

Finished with a bit of the minced celery and then garnished with it. Now I don't usually use garnishes, but this one is edible and allows you to know what the flavor is of...