Burmese Fried Noodles

Several months ago, I interviewed the owner of a local Burmese restaurant for an article I was writing for Examiner.  She shared with me her recipe for Burmese Fried Noodles and I have been making it ever since.  It's simple to make and so delicious.  My family loves it!  I would classify this recipe as an "Emmi" except that I believe Emily and Michelle would both complain about the amount of chopping involved!

This recipe is very versatile.  You can use any (or no) meat and any combination of vegetables that you have on hand.  (In the photo above, I used snow peas, red peppers, asparagus, bean sprouts and carrots.)  In my opinion, the four ingredients that MUST be used are garlic, oyster sauce, mushroom soy sauce, and Thai basil.  Other than that, mix it up!


Burmese Fried Noodles

Ingredients:

• 1 -2 Tablespoons oil
• 1 small onion, chopped into medium pieces
• 1 Tablespoon finely chopped garlic
• 3 -4 dried red chili peppers (optional)
• 1/2 lb meat (cut into bite-sized pieces) or seafood (left-over or precooked meat can also be used)
• 2 Tablespoons Oyster sauce
• 8 ounces dried Chinese noodles prepared according to package directions and drained
• 4 - 5 cups vegetables - hard vegetables, such as carrots and broccoli should be blanched first to soften
• 3 Tablespoons Mushroom flavored soy sauce (more or less to taste)
• 2 eggs
• 3 scallions, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1/4 cup Thai basil

Method: 

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Toss in the onion, garlic, and chili peppers. Stir and cook until garlic begins to turn brown.

2. Add in meat and Oyster sauce. Sprinkle in sugar. Stir and cook for about one minute or until meat is cooked.

3. Stir in noodles, vegetables and soy sauce. Stir and cook for about two minutes (or longer if vegetables were not previously blanched)

  

4. Push everything to one side and crack both eggs into the empty side of the pan. Break the yolks and let cook until beginning to set. Use tongs to pick up the noodles and place over the eggs. Let them cook this way for a minute or so and then stir everything together.

  

5. Sprinkle scallions and basil over the top and serve.

Chickpeas with fenugreek greens



Methi Chana
(chickpeas with fenugreek leaves)

It's been a while since I've posted a new recipe but I have a good excuse for that;  I've been out of the country and only returned a few days ago.  I made a trip to Haiti to meet with some children I'd been asked to help find adoptive families for.  If you're interested in that project, check out the web site I put together at www.adoptingfromhaiti.weebly.com.

I was only gone for two weeks, but I've got to tell you.....  I couldn't stop dreaming about the things I was going to cook the second I got home!  I was really craving Indian food with all it's variety and spicy deliciousness.  As I wandered through my cookbooks the other night, I kept seeing this ingredient called "methi."  (Methi is the Hindi name for fenugreek leaves.)  I have never tasted it (that I know of) and was curious to give it a try.  So, yesterday I drove out to Taj Mahal Grocery and sure enough, they had fresh methi.  I bought a bunch of fresh and a bag of frozen and scuttled home to start cooking.



Methi (fenugreek) leaves

 I was in the mood for something healthy and tasty with a nice hit of heat to it so I decided to try methi chana, or chickpea gravy with fenugreek greens.  It was just exactly what I was in the mood for!  Turns out, methi has a slightly sour tang to it and the dish was bright, spicy, and delicious.

Ingredients:
1/2 t fenugreek seeds
1 t cumin seeds
2 cloves
1/2 inch cinnamon stick
1 T canola oil
2 bird or Thai chilies, chopped
1 t black mustard seeds
3 or 4 canned tomatoes, chopped
one bunch fresh methi, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 t garam masala
1/4 t asafoetida
1/4 t turmeric
1 t amchur (dry mango powder)
1 T chopped cilantro

Method:

1.  Dry roast the fenugreek seeds, cumin seed, cloves, and cinnamon until fragrant.  Let cool in pan and then grind or pound to a powder.

2.  Heat oil in pan over medium heat.  Add the mustard seeds and green chilies.  Once the mustard seeds have stopped popping (they will turn grey and pop, like popcorn) add in the chopped tomatoes.  Cook until tomatoes break down and soften, no more than a couple of minutes.

3.  Stir in the methi and the powdered spice blend.  Stir in 1/2 cup water and simmer gently until methi is cooked, about two or three minutes.

4.  Add in the chickpeas, amchur, turmeric, asafoetida, and garam masala.  Mix well and stir in 1 1/2 cups water.  Simmer until gravy comes together, about 5 minutes.

5.  Crush some of the chickpeas with a potato masher to thicken the sauce.  Add salt to taste and simmer about 5 more minutes.

6.  Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

I know most of my readers won't try this because the ingredient list seems daunting and unfamiliar.  But if you live in Fort Wayne, a trip to Taj Mahal Grocery will get you everything you need.  If you don't live in Fort Wayne, perhaps your town has its own Indian grocery store?  Check it out because this is a simple, healthy, delicious, and inexpensive dish to make!

fenugreek seeds

stirring the methi into the pan

crushing the chickpeas

Chicken Marsala



Chicken Marsala with prosciutto and mushrooms


Years and years ago, Eddy and I had a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant in town and I ordered turkey Marsala.  It was the first time I'd tasted this dish and it was delicious!  I was so smitten with it, I went to the library and searched for a recipe (this was pre-internet!)  I have been making it ever since, but usually with chicken, since turkey cutlets are not always available.

Chicken Marsala is one of the easiest dishes to make and it always turns out "company worthy."  If you are a novice in the kitchen and want to make something to really impress your guests, try this recipe.  Recipes for Chicken Marsala are pretty standard.  If you google it, you'll get a slew of hits with very subtle variations.  Here is the way I make it:  (recipe after photos)

chicken breasts, cut in half and pounded

 

browning chicken breasts in olive oil



saute prosciutto until brown and crispy

saute mushrooms until most liquid has been released and evaporated

 
Ingredients:

2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or turkey cutlets)
flour (about 1/2 cup)
4 T olive oil or butter or a combination of both
4 oz. paper-thin slices prosciutto cut into strips
1 t fresh thyme leaves
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
3/4 c Marsala
1 c chicken broth
4 T unsalted butter
3 T Italian parsley chopped

(Note: Marsala is a sweet Italian wine.  You can usually find a smallish bottle of it in most grocery stores down the aisle that has vinegar.  It should be right next to the cooking Sherry.)

Method:
1.  Lay the chicken breast on a cutting board and place your hand, palm flat, on top of it.  Use a very sharp knife (a fillet knife if you have one) to cut the breast in half, making each cutlet about 1/4 inch thick.  Do this with all the chicken breasts (turkey cutlets are good to go just the way they are.)  Next, place the cutlet between two pieces of wax paper or in a freezer bag and pound to thin a bit more.

2.  sprinkle the cutlets with salt and pepper.  Heat the oil or butter in a large, flat pan over medium-high heat.  Dredge each cutlet in flour and brown in pan on both sides.  You will probably have to do this in batches.  Set chicken aside.

3.  Dump prosciutto into the pan a stir and cook until beginning to brown and crisp.  Add thyme and mushrooms.  Cook until mushrooms have released their juice and liquid is almost gone. 

4.  Reduce heat to medium.  Pour in the Marsala and continue cooking at a simmer allowing alcohol to burn off, about two minutes or so.  Add in the chicken broth and let simmer another minute or so to reduce the sauce.  Swirl in the butter, stirring to incorporate.

5.  At this point, you can either return the chicken to the pan to rewarm, or place chicken in a serving dish, pour sauce over and rewarm in a low oven.  Just before serving, sprinkle parsley over top.

Chicken Marsala with spaghetti and green beans

Introducing the Emmi

Asian beef and noodles


My daughter has a couple of friends who I recently invited over for an international potluck.  They confessed to me that they had gone to my web site to find a recipe to cook and bring to the gathering, but that all my recipes looked too complicated.  I was stunned!!  I will admit that there are several rather involved recipes on my site, but I also have many, many simple and easy to prepare recipes.  Don't I??

I guess it's possible that because I so love to cook and have been doing it for years, what seems simple to me might be a bit involved for the occasional cook.  So, I am going to make an effort to regularly post recipes that any inexperienced cook can make (as long as they have a taste for adventure) with just a smidgen of effort.  I'm going to call these recipes Emmi Recipes (and they will be tagged as such) in honor of Emily and Michelle, my daughter's culinarily-challenged friends.

The first recipe in this collection is Asian beef and noodles.  You have to be willing to purchase a few ingredients that you probably don't normally keep in your kitchen.  If you are willing to do this one small thing, then this recipe will go together quickly and easily and the pay-off is delicious!

One of the unusual ingredients is Udon noodles.  Many grocery stores carry these now in their Asian section.  These small, individual serving packets of fresh noodles come with a seasoning packet for making soup.  They look like this:

Another unusual ingredient is Asian chili paste.  This stuff is really good and lasts forever in the refrigerator so you should keep some around anyway.  This can also be purchased in the Asian aisle of most supermarkets.  It looks like this:

The last unusual ingredient is bok choy.  Buy baby bok choy, if you can find it.  Many supermarkets, such as Meijer's, carry this.  But if you live in a city that has an Asian grocery store (and Emily and Michelle do!) you should go there.  It's going to be fresher since they have a much quicker rate of turn-over and the price is considerably cheaper! 

bag of baby bok choy from Saigon

With one quick trip to the Asian market, you can buy all the things you need for this recipe except the meat.

So then.... here is the recipe.

Ingredients:
2 T oil (such as canola or peanut)
2 lb chuck or English roast, cut into small chunks (1 1/2 inch pieces)
4 green onions, sliced
8 cloves garlic, mashed
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1/4 c plus 2 T soy sauce
2 t ginger powder
1 T Asian chili paste
2 packages Udon noodles
4 cups bok choy, sliced (if using large bok choy, cut into 1 inch pieces)
1/2 cup minced cilantro (or more, to taste)

Method:
1.  Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Sear the meat with the onions and garlic. You may need to do this in batches if your pan isn't large enough.  In this case, add the onions and garlic with the final batch.  To sear properly, the meat should not be crowded in the pan.

2.  Transfer the meat, onions, and garlic to a crockpot and add the broth, water, soy sauce, ginger, and chili paste.  Stir well to combine.  Cover and cook on LOW for 7 hours or on HIGH for 3 hours.  (you can also do this on the stove top by combining everything in a soup pot, bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer.  Let simmer, covered, until the meat is tender.  Maybe about 1 1/2 hours)

3.  Add the noodles (noodles only, throw the flavoring packets away) and stir to combine.  Then add the bok choy, stir, and continue cooking for about 15 minutes or until tender.

4.  Before serving, stir in cilantro.

(Note:  feel free to add a third package of noodles if you like less broth and more noodles!)

If you try this recipe, please leave a comment.  I would like to know if it turns out as easy and delicious for others as it does for me!

Easy and Delicious!!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I love the adventure of trying out a new recipe; but sometimes, I just don't have the drive nor the time to take a chance on something I may not like.  I have a collection of family-tested, quick to fix recipes that I fall back on time and again.  This chicken tortilla soup is one of them.  It goes together quickly and everyone loves it.  Plus, it's hardy enough that I don't really need to make anything else to go with it!

This recipe is adapted from one found in The Whole Foods Market Cookbook.  Don't be put off by the seemingly long list of ingredients.  The recipe is really simple!

Ingredients:

2 T. canola oil

1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 t dried oregano

1 1/2 t cumin

1 t chili powder (such as cayenne)

1 jalapeno, chopped (I leave the seeds because I like the heat, but you can remove them)

1 14.5 oz can whole tomatoes, cut up with juice

4 cups chicken broth

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or breasts, if you prefer)

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained

2 cups frozen corn

1/2 cup minced cilantro

salt to taste

For Serving:

blue tortilla chips

Monterey Jack cheese

diced avocado

Method:

1.  Heat oil in large pot and saute peppers, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, and chili powder until onion is translucent.

2.  Add jalapeno and cut up tomatoes.  Stir and cook briefly.

3.  Add chicken broth and chicken pieces.  Bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until chicken is done.  Remove chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces.

4.  Return chicken to pot along with black beans and corn.  Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 10 minutes to blend flavors.  Add salt and cilantro.

To Serve:
Crumble some tortilla chips into a bowl and top with a sprinkling of cheese.  Ladle hot soup over chips and garnish with avocado.

Fish Tea

Does that title sound disgusting to you?  It sounded very unappetizing to me when I first saw it on a menu in Jamaica last year.  But our Jamaican companion insisted it was delicious, so Eddy and I gave it a try.  All I can say is, YUMMY!

Fish tea is a traditional Jamaican dish.  It's not really a tea, but rather an aromatic, deliciously spicy soup.  We enjoyed it so much, that the next day we went back to the very same place and ordered the very same thing! 

Last week, Eddy came up to me and announced, "I'm in the mood for fish tea."  Well, it was 10:00 at night and there wasn't much I could do about it then, but the next day I searched online for a recipe.  Most of the recipes I could find online were for a clear broth with fish.  What we had enjoyed in Jamaica was a hearty soup filled with root vegetables, called ground provisions in Jamaica. 

I decided to improvise a recipe of my own and it turned out great.  I bought most of the ingredients at Saigon grocery store on Calhoun St. where they sell whole red snapper (frozen and cleaned) at a very good price.  I spent $33 but ended up with a big pot of soup that fed us for several days.




Here's how I made my Jamaican Fish Tea.....

Ingredients:

4 lbs whole red snapper, cleaned (you can use any other fish you'd like)

10 whole black peppercorns

3 bay leaves

handful of fresh thyme sprigs
2 bottles of clam juice

6 cups root vegetables peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes (I used sweet potatoes, malanga, and yuca)

2 chayote squash, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes

12 scallions, chopped

2 medium onions, diced
3 large cloves garlic, crushed

1 habanero pepper (more or less to taste)
juice of 1 large, juicy lime
salt to taste

Method:

1.  Make sure fish is free of scales.  Cut in half and place in large soup kettle.  Dump in the clam juice and then cover the rest of the way with water.  Add the bay leaves, peppercorns and the thyme.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce to a simmer, cover pot and simmer gently for about 30 minutes.

2.  Strain the broth and return to the kettle.

3.  Add the yuca, malanga, sweet potatoes (Caribbean sweet potatoes have white flesh), chayote, scallions, onions, garlic, and habanero and bring back to a boil.  Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

4.  While the soup is simmering and once the fish has cooled enough to handle, use your fingers to remove it from the bones.  Add the fish to the pot as soon as you are done picking it from the bones and allow it to continue cooking with the vegetables.

4.  When the vegetables are tender, add the lime juice and salt to taste.

*Note: traditional Jamaican fish tea has plantains in it.  As I don't like them, I left them out.  If you like them, add them, but reduce the root vegetables appropriately. *

Suon Nuong (Vietnamese BBQ'd pork chops)

Those of us who live in Fort Wayne are lucky to have Saigon Restaurant where they serve up delicious tasting, authentic Vietnamese food at a very reasonable price.  After eating the BBQ pork rib they served me a few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to try making this dish at home.

I recently became the happy owner of an awesome cookbook called Secrets of the Red Lantern. 

This is more than just a cookbook; this is a family's story.  The author, Pauline Nguyen, is the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants to Australia.  Her parents ran a Vietnamese restaurant there and her book is filled with stories from her family's history, including photos from long ago and documents and letters, such as photocopies of their visa applications.  She also shares wonderful recipes from her family's kitchen and I found a recipe that seemed quite similar to the dish I had at Saigon.

This recipe is very easy and delicious!  I'm sure your family would be impressed with the results.  However, if you hate to cook and live in the Fort Wayne area.....  you can enjoy the same results by heading downtown for a meal at Saigon!

Ingredients:

3 lbs thin pork loin chops
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 T honey
1 T sugar
1 stalk lemon grass, chopped (white part only)
1 bunch scallions, crushed (white part only)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup canola oil

Method:

1.  Mix all ingredients, except for pork chops, in a bowl.

2.  Lightly pound or flatten pork chops.

3.  Place pork chops in a glass dish or one gallon size plastic bag and cover with marinade.  Marinate overnight.

4.  Remove pork chops and grill or broil until done.

How easy was that??!!!  These pork chops are traditionally served with Vietnamese dipping sauce and garnished with thinly sliced bird chilies and cilantro.  I served mine with rice, grated carrot, and thinly sliced cucumbers. 

If you'd like to make the dipping sauce, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 T fish sauce
3 T rice vinegar
2 T sugar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bird's-eye chilies, sliced
2 T freshly squeezed lime juice

Mix all ingredients well, until sugar dissolves.