Cooking: Spaghetti Squash

Well, with all this eating and over-indulging that I've been doing, I've had to consider some new alternatives to eating pasta when at home.  A coworker suggested that I give spagetti squash a try and so I thought, why not?

Although its more widely available during the Fall, you can usually find spaghetti squash all year round.  I went to Whole Foods and picked a nice bright yellow one out for my dinner.

Spaghetti Squash!

The three most popular ways to cook spaghetti squash are to (1) bake it in the oven (2) boil it (3) microwave it.  In the interest of time (oven takes 60+ minutes and boiling takes about 30-40 minutes), I decided to microwave it. 

Many people say to split the squash in half lengthwise to cut the cooking time, but I could barely get my knife through the squash.  So I'll just skip that step and take the extra cook time lol.

Microwaving Spaghetti Squash:
Step 1: Take a fork and poked holes all over the squash (otherwise you will have exploded squash all over your microwave from the pressure).

Poke holes all over the squash

Mozzarella Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

Looking for a light hors d'oeuvres recipe that will also impress with presentation?  I made these adorable Mozzarella Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes while having friends over for pre-dinner drinks recently and they were delicious!

There are some nice recipes online for this, but I didn't really follow any of them.  I kind of made it up along the way, here is my take on it:

Pre-dinner Cocktails and snacks: Mozzarella Stuffed Cherry Tomatos and Roasted Chickpeas

The Meatball Shop's Spicy Pork Meatballs

A few months back I visited The Meatball Shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and stopped in for a "quick snack".  Famous last words... of course the meatballs disappeared from my plate before I got a photo for you guys.  I need to stop doing that!  

One order of meatballs comes with 4, and you pick the sauce you want on top.  They also have sliders, heroes, and meatball sandwiches on their menu.  I just wound up getting meatballs that day, and my favorite was the spicy pork meatballs topped with classic tomato sauce.

When we got the bill, they also gave us a little recipe card as a souvenir - and luckily it was for their spicy pork meatballs! Yay!!

I wound up trying out the recipe for a special occasion dinner at home.  I followed the recipe exactly and used good quality ingredients which really made a big difference!  Try and make the extra effort to get good quality ground pork.  Comparing the two instances I made the meatballs: the freshly ground pork I got from the butcher at Eataly resulted in meatballs SOO much better than when I used regular ground pork from my local supermarket chain.  The meat from Eataly resulted in juicier and lighter meatballs, so worth it!  

For the sauce, I made tomato sauce from scratch using a recipe from Scarpetta, Scott Conant's famous Italian restaurant. I LOVE the freshness of homemade sauce, but you can definitely just go with canned tomato sauce to save time.  I'll save Scarpetta's recipe for another post :)

Spicy Pork Meatballs [recipe from The Meatball Shop]

Check out the delicious recipe below courtesy of The Meatball Shop.  It has a hint of heat from the hot cherry peppers, and the fresh white bread (as opposed to breadcrumbs) helps make the meatballs less dense. Great recipe!

Spicy Pork Meatballs Recipe from The Meatball Shop

Pearl Meatballs

I've stumbled upon a show on the Cooking Channel called 'Easy Chinese' featuring Ching-He Huang and now I'm a fan!  Ching is Taiwanese but has an adorable British accent from her upbringing.  She travels throughout the US exploring Chinese eats and also cooks up food with local ingredients.  For those unfamiliar with Chinese cooking, she definitely makes it look easy and approachable.  Try and catch 'Easy Chinese' on the Cooking Channel! But if you can't, check out her recipes online.

On one episode she cooked up 'Pearl Balls' which are essentially steamed pork meatballs rolled in sticky rice.  Sounds delicious!  I don't often cook Chinese food using a recipe (afterall, Dad always taught me how to cook with "a little of this" and "just enough of that" and his recipes are killer!), but I was really eager to test out Ching's version.  

Pearl Meatballs, using Ching-He Huang's recipe on Cooking Channel TV

I followed her recipe almost exactly and I was so pleased with how it came out!  I made a few very minor substitutions which I've noted below.  Check out Ching's recipe, reposted below courtesy of Cooking Channel TV, and follow along with my pictures.  This one's a keeper, and it's pretty easy!  

Pearl Meatballs

[reposted from Ching-He Huang's recipe on Cooking Channel TV]

Ingredients:

12 oz. Ground Pork (or a boneless, skinless piece of pork belly)

2" piece of fresh Ginger, peeled

1 Shallot

1/2 cube vegetable bouillon (I substituted with chicken bouillon as I had it on hand)

1 tsp Cornstarch, plus more for rolling

1 tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder

1 tsp Shaoshing rice wine

Sea salt

Freshly ground white pepper

1 large egg yolk, beaten

1 scallion, chopped fine (my addition, not in Ching's recipe)

1/2 cup glutinous white rice (sticky rice!), soaked overnight in cold water and drained

Optional dipping sauce: Black rice vinegar, chili oil, or soy sauce

La Cuisine Paris (Cooking School)

You know what they say - when in Rome.... except in this case, when in PARIS, do as the Parisians do. 

One of my must-do's when I was Paris was to take a cooking class.  There are lots of options to choose from.  A search on the internet will pull up lots of classes run out of people's local apartments, and the Ritz is also well-known for their classes.  Trufflepig help set us up with a great option, La Cuisine Paris, an English-speaking cooking school located minutes away from Notre Dame.  

They offer a variety of classes, from cooking to pastries, but we opted for a French classic (and one I've always been intimidated to attempt at home!) - Soufflés!  We learned how to make both a sweet (chocolate) and savory (cheese) kind which I'm itching to try again now that I'm back home.  They both came out delicious.  

Cheese soufflé and vinaigrette salad

There were about 10 students in my class and I was very glad to hear that the instructor was a real honest to goodness American!  Woohoo, no need for that French-to-English iPhone app.  But not to worry, we weren't taking lessons from a newly transplanted American.  No, that wouldn't do.  Chef Randall moved to France over 20 years ago and has been cooking his way through the country since.  We were in good hands.  

Cooking: Quick and Easy "Sushi" Tuna Rolls

I like the think of my mom as the Asian Sandra Lee.  My mother isn't much of a "cooking from scratch" woman, but she's great at finding the quick and easy.

This recipe for "Sushi" Tuna Rolls that I'll be sharing is one my mom saw as part of a demo at her local Korean supermarket. I guess you can't really call this cooking as there is no cooking involved, but its super easy and super tasty.

I made it one day for lunch at work and my coworkers were all intrigued.  And now I can't wait to share with you all!

"Sushi" Tuna Rolls
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: --

Ramp Toast (by ABC Kitchen)

A few weekends ago I was brunching at ABC Kitchen and had some fabulous toast, and it was green!  We weren't even exactly sure what was on it, or what was green, but it was memorable and intriguing.  My dining friend looked it up and uncovered that the green spread on top was actually Ramp butter.  I didn't even know that existed, nor have I cooked with the green veggie before. 

Walking through the Union Square Greenmarket this week, I stumbled upon a vendor selling bunches of ramps.  Perfect! It was a sign to finally try it.

Ramps! (all nice and clean, after 45 minutes of washing...)

I searched the internet for recipes on how to make the Ramp toast from ABC Kitchen (which Piggy KK wrote a great review for) and found a short how-to video from the restaurant's chef, Dan Kluger.  It was helpful in uncovering the ingredients - ramp butter, pickled ramp bottoms, goat cheese, and sourdough bread.  But unfortunately it didn't really give any details on how to actually make the butter or pickled ramps.  A few rounds of trial and error, and I finally wound up with a somewhat passable replication of it!

My attempt at Toast with Ramp Butter, Goat Cheese & Pickled Ramps

Birthday Steak and Creamed Spinach!

It's hubby JL's birthday today! Happy happy Birthday :)

Hubby JL is pretty easy to please - good food, good wine, good bourbon, and he's a happy man.  We have 10 bottles of really really nice red wine that we collected along our trip to Napa Valley last year.  They have stayed safely nestled in our wine fridge, waiting for special occasions to break them open for.  Well, unfortunately there weren't many blockbuster events this year to commemorate, so there they have stayed. 

Hubby's home-cooked birthday meal

I definitely wanted to open a bottle for hubby JL's birthday, and figured a nice, juicy, rib eye steak would make a perfect pairing for the Frank Family Vineyards 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Frank Family Vineyards 2008 Cabernet Saugignon

Orzo Salad with Avocado and Feta

We are totally soaking up the sun and loving this warm spring weather here in New York! Anyone else also craving ice cream, Italian ices, and summery salads?  Earlier this week, I made Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi over Orzo pasta which was fabulous! But I had a 1/2 lb of Orzo left that I wanted to use up.  I started looking up recipes for light, summery Orzo salads and stumbled upon one with some of my favorite salad ingredients - feta and avocado, yum!!

I was very happy with how it came out.  The feta, avocado, jalapeno, tomatoes and orange juice provides a very fresh yet flavorful combination. 

Orzo Salad with Avocado and Feta

However, I must share one important life lesson I learned while making this:  Wear gloves when working with jalapeno chiles!!
Sidetracked and in a rush, I seeded and minced the jalapeno bare-handed.  Ugh, worst idea ever! Two hours later, I finally put two and two together and realized why my fingers were burning.  (Yes, two hours.  I swear I'm not usually THAT slow!). Washing my hands repeatedly in hot water was another dumb idea - perfect way to open up the pores for that hot chile oil to seep in even deeper.  Thanks to Google, we finally found out milk is the remedy for jalapeno burns.  Hubby JL made a late night milk run to the grocery store to save the day, relief finally!!

Luxurious milk soak to ease the burn.  Instant relief!

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi

One of the things I look forward to everyday is an email from MyRecipes.com.  As I'm scrolling through and deleting the 80+ shopping emails, I stop and read which recipe MyRecipes.com has picked out for my 'Dinner Tonight'.  It's my daily treat, and sure takes the guess work out of looking for new recipes.  If you haven't already, make sure you sign up for their daily 'Dinner Tonight' newsletter!

That's how I came across this recipe for Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi.  The great 5-star reviews it got sealed the deal, I definitely wanted to try this!

When I think of shrimp scampi, I automatically think of butter, loads of it! Which doesn't fit well into my attempt to eat healthier these days.  However this recipe doesn't call for much butter; all in all, I think I used 2 1/2 TB for 4 servings. 

This recipe also differs from the usual ones as it calls for Orzo instead of long pastas.  It had fantastic flavor and is a healthier take on many of the shrimp scampi's out there.  Easy and quick too, check out how mine came out!

For the Love of Grandma's Dumplings

Hi Piggy friends, have you missed me? I know I’ve missed you. I’ve been off the radar lately and took a hiatus from my Piggy duties to focus on my #1… my Family.

It’s been a roller coaster month of loss and heartache, but also of love and fond trips down memory lane. You see, I come from a long line of piggys whose favorite pastime is busily whipping things up in the kitchen, and it all comes out of love. I dare say that the food we create may be the thing that some of us (especially my Grandma) are most fondly known for.

I’m so fortunate to have learned how to cook with my family throughout my life, even when I wasn’t tall enough to reach the kitchen counter. As a child, I remember my dear Grandma would take over the kitchen and make big batches of wontons or dumplings at a time. I have memories of Grandma teaching me how to make these lovely specialties. Our hands would be dusted with flour, egg wash and meat filling. I was always amazed at how quickly and effortlessly Grandma’s fingers moved, folding and pinching the dumplings and wontons closed in such a beautiful way. I was never able to recreate her perfect pleating, but her face always lit up in approval anyway and she would hand me another dumpling to work on. Slowly but surely, we would fill up tray after tray of dumplings. As they steamed, the kitchen would brim with a savory smell that left you hanging on each minute until they were done.

This post is dedicated to my Grandma. She dedicated her life to family and making the most extraordinary buns and dumplings. I’m so grateful she gave me this gift that I’ll never forget. Here is my recent attempt at carrying on her legacy…

Cooking: Mussels, Clams, and Shrimp in Spicy Broth

My new thing seems to be making Sunday dinner at home.  Is this a sign that I've been watching too much Jersey Shore? 

Either way, I've come to enjoy scouring recipes during the week and planning my menu for Sunday dinner.  Most recently, I stumbled upon an excellent seafood recipe on Food Network courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis.

Mussels, Clams, and Shrimp in Spicy Broth

Super easy and super impressive, I'm pretty sure this dish is going to become a new Sunday dinner staple in my kitchen.  I hope you will enjoy it too!

Mussels, Clams, and Shrimp in Spicy Broth
Recipe from Giada de Laurentiis at Food Network

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 cup dry white wine
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
24 small Littleneck clams (about 2 1/2 pounds total), scrubbed
24 mussels (about 1 1/2 pounds total), debearded
20 large shrimp (about 1 pound), peeled, deveined, butterflied
1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves
Warm crusty bread

Cooking: Eggs in Hell

On one of my staycation days last year, I caught an episode of The Chew (a cooking and food related talk show on ABC) where Mario Batali was making Eggs in Hell: eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce.  

Not only did this recipe look simple enough for me to tackle, but it was pretty much an easy version of the delicious Shakshuka Moroccan Breakfast that I had at Virage!  If you are looking for a simple brunch dish that tastes delicious and looks impressive, this is definitely for you!

Eggs in Hell

Recipe from Mario Batali on The Chew

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 30 min

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I remember the first time I ate brussels sprouts.  It was roasted with bacon pieces and all that glistening bacon fat along with it.  It's too bad the bacon negated any of the nutritional value in the brussels sprouts, because it tasted oh so good! That spawned my curiosity in that nubby green vegetable.  I started looking up recipes so I could make them at home and was surprised to find out how easy it is! My favorite way to eat them is simply roasted with olive oil and minimal seasonings.  That way you really taste the brussels sprouts, which if perfectly cooked will be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Yum!

Whole Foods has a very basic recipe for brussels sprouts and it is one of my go-to weeknight recipes.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound Brussels sprouts
3 TB Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 TB grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Oven Roasted Salmon with Panko Crust

Looking for a quick and easy recipe for salmon? Here it is! This recipe only requires 4 ingredients and is a quick option if you're pressed for time on a weeknight.  It's also on the healthier side, so is perfect for those days when you're looking to eat light.  I seasoned the salmon with Cajun seasoning, but you can easily substitute this with some salt, pepper and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper.  It gives the fish a nice hint of heat.

Serve it with some rice and sauteed spinach with garlic for a complete dinner. And voila, you're done!  Check it out...

Oven Roasted Salmon with Panko Crust

Prep time: 5 minutes
Baking time: 15 to 18 minutes

3 to 4 6 oz. Salmon filets
Cajun seasoning
1 cup Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
Pam Cooking Spray

Roasted Duck Congee (Chinese Rice Porridge)

My little adventure to make Roasted Duck Congee actually started 2 days ago, when I had a craving for Peking Duck. 

Peking Duck House, as their name suggests, serves very good Peking Duck in Manhattan.  They have a location in Chinatown, which is almost always packed as it's popular among locals and tourists, and they also have another location in Midtown East.   A few nights ago, I caved into my craving for Peking Duck and ordered one for take out from their Midtown location.  My duck was packaged well and came with their house-made pancakes, scallions, cucumbers and house peking duck sauce, and also a pint of white rice.  Wow, so much food!

We also ordered the House Made Noodles with Beef, not realizing the enormous amount of duck we were actually getting.  It was yummy, and complemented the duck well!

After picking through all the duck, we were left with lots of bones.  Thinking back to the mornings after Thanksgiving and Christmas, I recalled that my Dad would take the leftover bones from our Turkeys (carcass works best if you have it!) and make Congee from it.  The flavors from the bones would carry through into the porridge and would make it soo delicious and unique!  I figured leftover Peking Duck bones would do the trick too, hoping the roasted flavor would give a great taste. Afterall, their preparation of the Peking Duck sounds amazing (according to their website):

"...air is first pumped into the duck to stretch and loosen the skin, and then boiled water is repeatedly spread over the bird, which is then carefully dried. The dried skin is rubbed all over with maltose and the duck is then roasted in a hot oven for a period of time until the meat is tender and the skin crispy."


Cool right?? Turns out it does make make fabulous congee! Read on to see how I made it.

Cooking: Gai Lan with Garlic Sauce

Next to being a super duper carb-monster, I'm a pretty fabulous veggie-inhaler as well.  My parents never had to tell me to eat my greens twice.  No problem!  These days, I tend to position myself closest to them at the dinner table.  If you ever wind up eating with me, consider yourself warned! I may or may not be the reason why the veggies are disappearing :)

One of the vegetables I grew up eating are Gai Lan (Chinese broccoli).  It's green and leafy and good for you too.  My Dad still makes this pretty often and I've finally learned how he makes it taste SO darn good!  He serves Gai Lan with his wonderfully fragrant Garlic sauce, which is quick and easy to make, and very versatile.  It can be mixed with almost any vegetables (think bok choy, string beans, or a mix of zucchini/mushrooms/baby corn, etc).  I love Garlic and am pretty generous with it when cooking, so don't be afraid to throw in a few extra cloves like I do!

Here's a quick, easy and pretty healthy recipe (courtesy of my Dad aka my greatest cooking teacher!).

Cooking: Roasted Chestnuts

Bring on the holiday tunes and all the glitter and ribbons!  Roasting chestnuts is just one of the things I look forward to during this season.  What's great is they're super easy to make and affordable too. You can pop these quickly in the oven, but I just use my toaster oven and that works great too!

Roasted Chestnuts

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 20 mins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Rinse and thoroughly dry your chestnuts.

Mark an 'X' on the flat side of your chestnuts with a knife.  This is essential, because it allows the steam to escape while the chestnuts are cooking.  Otherwise they may explode in your oven!

Cooking: Honey Glazed Ham

Can you believe that it's already the Wednesday before Thanksgiving?  For those of you still working on your menus for tomorrow, I have a great recipe for you!

My Honey Glazed Ham!!!  Made by myself!

 It's a Honey Glazed Ham.  And it was SUPER easy to make!!  Ok, I'm not a big pork eater but something about this recipe (I do love honey...) was calling for me to make it!  Apparantly, Honey Glazed Hams are popular and commonly ordered for the holidays (my ignorance on meat products is appalling I know...forgive me).  I decided to take the challenge and make my own Honey Glazed Ham for under $20.  Similar to the Cheddar Bay Biscuits I recently made, I picked a recipe from allrecipes.com and incorporated some minor adjustments from other reviewers.  Take a look at how simple it is:

Honey Glazed Ham
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 ready-to-eat ham*
1/4 cup whole cloves
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup honey
1/3 cup butter

*I picked a 6 pound pre-cooked/smoked ham.  A cheap supermarket ham works great with this recipe! 

Cooking: Vegetable Soup

The countdown is on for my favorite holiday - Thanksgiving! You know what that means - coming up is an exorbitant day of gluttony.  YAY! To prepare myself for this feast, I'll try to eat a bit healthier in the days before (hey, I can pretend it'll help right??).  This Veggie Soup is packed full of fresh veggies and is light, yet hearty and healthy.

Ingredients
32 oz. Chicken Stock (can substitute with Vegetable stock)
1 large Tomato, diced
1 package of Extra Firm Tofu, cubed
1 small bunch of Napa Cabbage, chopped roughly
2-3 ears of Corn, shucked
1/2 small Onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of Garlic, minced
1 TB Vegetable Oil
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Pepper
Soy sauce, to taste (approximately 1 TB)
Cornstarch (optional) 

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4-5