Chinese Spaghetti

Serves 8

Chinese spaghetti is like pizza in the sense that you can add a variety of toppings. But this is much healthier than pizza as it uses seven different types of vegetables. Chinese spaghetti does not have to be a strictly vegetarian dish; you can add fish or chicken or some other lean meat. But even the most loyal of carnivores will not be able to deny the normally meatless sensation that is Chinese spaghetti. This meal only takes about half an hour to make and its cheap ingredients are sure to stretch your dollar.

You will need:

• A salad spinner
• A measuring cup
• A knife
• A slotted spoon
• 2 large pots (about six inches deep, enough to hold a quart of liquid)
• A spaghetti server

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion
• 1 medium to large Chinese eggplant
• 1 head of bok choy (Chinese cabbage)
• 2 medium sized tomatoes, diced
• ½ a head of leeks
• 10 chopped garlic cloves
• ½ cup of olive oil
• 12 oz. of spaghetti
  
• ½ cup of sesame seeds
• 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
• 1 pound of imitation crab meat
• 1 pound of mixed bell peppers (about 6 or 7 peppers)
• Some ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon of salt

Condiments (whichever you prefer)

• Hoisin sauce
• Oyster sauce
• Soy sauce
• Plum Sauce
• Chinese mustard
• Duck sauce
• Red cherry sauce
• Teriyaki sauce
  

Start by prepping your vegetables and boiling water for the spaghetti. Take a large pot and fill it with water and add a tablespoon of salt. Follow the directions on the spaghetti box. While the noodles are boiling, start prepping your vegetables by rinsing them under cold water. Take your leeks and bok choy and break them away from their stems then place the chopped leeks and bok choy in a salad spinner. Use the salad spinner so that the dirt and tiny pebbles in these vegetables can sink to the bottom and won’t appear in the food.

Grab your second pot and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Chop your onions, peppers and garlic into the pot and add the diced tomatoes. When you’re chopping up the vegetables they should be about the size of your thumb. I cut them that way because vegetables tend to shrink as they cook. Sauté the vegetable pieces until they soften and then add a teaspoon of pepper. Add the Chinese eggplant later only after the other ingredients are soft because eggplant cooks much quicker than vegetables do.

Like I said before, you can add any meat you like to Chinese spaghetti, but my personal favorite is imitation crab meat. I always thought imitation crab meat came from imitation crabs, but I recently discovered it was made from the finely pulverized flesh of the Alaska Pollock, a white fish whose flesh is shaped and cured to resemble snow crab legs. By now, the water for the pasta should have boiled and the noodles should be soft enough to eat. As soon as the spaghetti is ready, drain the water out and transfer the cooked noodles to the other pot and stir all the ingredients together as the eggplant cooks. Your Chinese spaghetti should be ready in about 10 minutes. Once everything is ready, sprinkle and stir in your sesame seeds and parmesan to add some crunch and cheesy flavor to your meal.

As for toppings, I like to keep the condiments Chinese or at least Asian to keep with the whole Chinese theme of the dish. Once you serve the food, guests should be free to choose whichever condiment they want to add to their Chinese spaghetti. I really don’t have a favorite, so I alternate between the sauces mentioned above.

Italian String Beans

Serves 6-8

If you're looking for a tasty way to enjoy vegetables, my Italian string beans may be just what you've been looking for. Boiled in olive oil and garnished with garlic, this is a delicious vegetarian/vegan side dish guaranteed to even make meat eaters' mouths water! Italian string beans are very versatile; they can easily be used as a side dish with pasta or rice or by itself as a healthy snack or an hors devour.

You will need:

• a large pot
• a large strainer
• a teaspoon
• a tablespoon
• a large knife
• a measuring cup
• a cutting board

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of water
• 1 lb. of fresh (not canned) green string beans
• 6 sliced garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• 6 tablespoons of olive oil
  

Note: It is important that you use fresh string beans for this recipe and not string beans from a can, as they are too soft and will turn into mush in the boiling water. Also, you should use 1 cup of water for each pound of string beans you plan to use. For example, 8 ounces of string beans would require half a cup of water; two pounds need two cups.

Start prepping the string beans by cutting off their tips, then place the cut string beans into the strainer and rinse under cold water. If you're not sure how much of each end you should cut off, your tipless string beans should look like this.

Place the rinsed string beans and sliced garlic into a large pot. Add one teaspoon each of salt and pepper along with 6 tablespoons of olive oil. Then let the ingredients boil for about 90 minutes, until the string beans are nice and chewy.

nce the water begins to boil, you will notice that the garlic turns to mush and fuses itself with the string beans and both flavors fuse with the water. You can use this leftover juice as a garlic marinade for another dish; it tastes great poured over a light, lean meat like chicken or fish. You will want to make this dish in a large quantity because it goes very quickly.

Garlic: Bad For Your Breath, Great For Your Palate

When some people hear the word garlic they automatically think of bad breath. But garlic has been known for thousands of years as both medicine and food. But this is a cooking blog, not a medical blog, so I'm going to discuss the culinary aspects of garlic, some of which you may be unfamiliar with.

I like to use garlic in every dish I prepare. Garlic can be crushed, minced, grated, or roasted. When I make a whole chicken I clean out the inside and rub it with a little salt then I take one small onion, a lemon, an orange and about half of a garlic head which equals about 8 cloves and I stuff it in the cavity. When the chicken is done roasting I discard the remaining.

Although people usually associate garlic with Italian cuisine, I was surprised to find out from the U.N. that the four largest producers of garlic in the world are China, India, South Korea and the United States, respectively. Italy isn't even in the top 20! Garlic is also a main ingredient in Latin American food. I thumb my nose at the bottled Puerto Rican sofrito and make my own!

And what Italian meal is complete without garlic bread? I use parsley in my garlic bread because it tends to weaken the strong scent and taste of the garlic.

Garlic bread recipe:

• one baking pan or cookie sheet
• a tablespoon
• one loaf of Italian bread
  
• 8 cloves of garlic, finely grated
  
• 2 tablespoons of parsley
• 2 table spoons of butter
• 2 handfuls of grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper
  

Cut the Italian bread length wide and smear the butter all over it. Add the grated garlic, parsley, parmesan cheese to the butter and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until golden brown. And if you're nervous about your breath smelling bad from eating garlic bread, just make sure everyone at the table has some so no one will make fun of your garlic breath. Also, if you're worried about getting the garlic smell on your hands, just dip your hands underwater or under a running faucet and rub your palms and fingers against a stainless steel utensil like a fork or spoon. That should get most of the smell out from your hands.

I leave you with my top ten ways to enjoy garlic.

1. Garlic bread
2. Garlic butter (tastes great on corn on the cob and baked potatoes!)
   
3. Spicy shrimp with garlic and white rice
4. Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
5. Garlic fries
6. Sofrito
7. Whole chicken
   
8. Pork shoulder
9. Garlic dip with vegetables of corn chips
10. Cream of garlic soup

How do you like your garlic? Let me know in the comment area of this post and I'll try and come up with a recipe for it, or a twist on that recipe, if you already have it.

Spring Rolls

Makes 20-25 rolls

Spring rolls are a great hors devour that will satisfy nearly every pallet. While many Americans may have eaten spring rolls in Chinese restaurants, these fried treats are popular in many other Asian countries including Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. I like to dip my spring rolls in duck sauce, but I know people who dip theirs in everything from ketchup to soy sauce to mustard to wasabi. This recipe does call for some rather exotic ingredients such as hoisin sauce and oyster sauce. If you don't live near an Asian neighborhood like I do, you might be able to find these items in the ethnic foods section of your supermarket or order it online.

You will need:

• a tablespoon
• a skillet or wok
  
• a deep fryer or pot large enough for deep frying
• a knife
• a wooden spoon
  
• a chopping board or plate
• a box grater or peeler
• a measuring cup
• a small bowl half filled with water
• a small pastry brush
  

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 cup chopped cabbage
• 1 medium-sized carrot, grated
• 1/4 cup bean sprouts
• 1/2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon chopped coriander
• 1 package of 20-30 square wonton or egg roll wrappers
• vegetable oil, for frying
• salt and pepper
  
• 4 ounces ground meat (optional)

Part 1: Making the filling

Heat two tablespoons of oil in a skillet or wok over high heat. Add the garlic, coriander, cabbage, carrot, and bean sprouts. Cook for 2 minutes or until the cabbage is limp. Add the ground meat (optional) and continue to cook until heated through. Stir in the hoisin and oyster sauces. The filling should be moist but not wet. Remove skillet from heat and allow to cool. Toss in a little salt and pepper to taste.

Part 2: Creating the spring rolls

Ideally, the size for a spring roll should be rectangular and about an inch or so in width (the length doesn't really matter as long as the wrapper is long enough to wrap around the spring roll at least twice) so if the wrappers you find are too wide, just cut them in half. Note: It is highly recommended that you watch my spring roll video to learn how to wrap a spring roll. Lay a wonton (or egg roll) wrapper on a flat surface and place 2 teaspoons of the filling near one corner of the wrapper. Dipping your pastry brush (you can use your finger if you don't have a brush) into the water, lightly moisten the long sides of the wrapper before folding them inward. The water will help the wrapper stick together. Take the wrap and using your thumbs to push the wrap forward and your index and middle fingers to tuck the filling inside, roll the whole thing up as you would a loose cigarette. Paint the top seam of the wrapper with water to seal it. Pour about 1-inch of oil in a skillet and fry the spring rolls for 2 minutes, turning them over to make sure all sides are cooked. Drain your golden brown rolls on paper towels before serving.

P.S.: My spring rolls were a hit at Arlene's Grocery last Sunday, where they held their first ever Gong Show. For those unfamiliar with the original Gong Show, it was a televised talent show that ran in the 1970s and 80s with the main attraction being the giant gong that was hit to let crappy performers know it was time to get off stage. My talent was obviously the cooking and although I didn't win the grand prize, the judges didn't bang the gong, either!

ItaliaRican at Disco Crisco Twister!

In an effort to drum up publicity for this blog as well as my culinary career, I handed out free samples of my spinach pete last Sunday at Arlene’s Grocery the hottest bar in the Lower East Side. The place was packed with people flooding through the doors for Disco Crisco Twister, a monthly event at Arlene’s where adults can act like kids and play various games like musical chairs (with a live band), sing that tune (with a DJ), pop culture trivia and Disco Crisco Twister, a more slippery version of the classic game. Disco Crisco Twister even has its own theme song which was performed by Kindergarten, one of the two live bands who usually play for the event. The co-host Steph pulled me up on stage and we sang the theme song together!

This month’s theme for Disco Crisco was 2001: A Space Odyssey, which explains why my pete was awkwardly labeled “space cakes”, a confusing choice for a nickname considering that space cakes are the code name for marijuana-laced brownies. Thanks to the name a few idiots got the idea that the spinach in my pete was another (illegal) green plant, but I quickly corrected them. The bands played songs in between games, and everyone from the band to the bartenders loved the pete! I served the original three cheese pete (four if you count the grated parmesan sprinkled on top) as well as tofu version, both of which were eagerly gobbled up!

Much thanks to Dana Sterling, the founder of Disco Crisco Twister for letting me serve my food and participate in all the fun and games too. Arlene’s grocery is located at 95 Station Street (between Ludlow & Allen), in the Lower East Side at the 2nd Avenue station on the F line. The next Disco Crisco Twister will be held at Arlene’s Grocery on February 17 at 7 pm and the theme will be Valentine’s Day, so I will be handing out my famous besos, romantically-shaped chocolate chip cookies with naked Hershey’s kisses planted on top. Admission is $10, so come on down and meet me personally and better yet, sample my delicious besos. The cookies I mean!

Cauliflower Patties

Serves 8-10 (Three patties per person)

Cauliflower patties are small, round and contain garlic, parmesan cheese and seasoned bread crumbs. They can be eaten as a side dish, as an hors devour, or even a snack. Because they are healthy and cooked in vegetable oil, I’ve found cauliflower patties to be an effective and creative way to get kids to eat their vegetables. I’ve also observed that some small children do not like to eat white-colored foods like milk, cauliflowers, provolone, white rice, mayonnaise, mashed potatoes, etc., so these golden brown patties should fool them into eating right.

Because of the recipe’s diverse ingredients, I can’t imagine a dish that wouldn’t go well with the patties. For someone who is losing weight, diabetic or just want to eat healthier, cauliflower patties are great substitutes for chips, sandwiches or any other snack food one may eat while watching TV. This recipe only takes 20 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to serve.

You will need:

• 1 large skillet
• 1 spatula
• 1 cereal bowl
• 1 medium-sized or large pot
• 1 spoon (optional)
• 1 ice cream scooper (optional)
• 1 bowl of any size (optional)

Ingredients:

• 2 large heads of fresh cauliflower
• 2 bulbs of finely chopped garlic
• 1 cup of grated parmesan
• 4 cups of seasoned bread crumbs
• 2 large eggs
• 1-2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
• Some apple sauce or ketchup (optional)
• Salt and pepper (optional)

Preparation:

Boil the 2 heads of cauliflower in the pot until it is tender, then place the cauliflower, still in the pot, under cold tap water until it is cool enough for you to safely touch. Drain the water from the pot and break up (not mash) the cauliflower into small chunks. I like to use my hands to break up the cauliflower but you can also use a spoon if you’d like. Beat the two eggs in a small bowl.

With the cauliflower still in the pot add the chopped garlic, the parmesan, 3 cups of seasoned bread crumbs and the eggs. Pour the remaining cup of bread crumbs into a bowl. If you’re itching to get your hands dirty, you can scoop out small clumps of the mixture with your fingers and roll them between the palms of your hands until they take on a patty shape. But if you do this, be sure to wet your hands with cold water and have a bowl of cold tap water handy. If your hands dry up and the patties begin sticking to your hands, simply rinse your hands in the bowl until completely wet and continue. On the other hand, if you do not wish to get your hands dirty, you can always use an ice cream scooper to scoop out the patty mixture and give it its shape. Place the patties into the bowl and roll them around until the patties are completely covered with bread crumbs. This will help the mixture stick together as it is cooking. By now your uncooked patties should look like this.

In order for them to cook properly, the patties should be about the size of an ice cream scooper and definitely not the size of a hamburger patty. Remember that these are often served as snack food or a side dish. Take your large skillet and add vegetable oil, just enough oil to cover the bottom of the skillet. Don’t use too much oil or you will drown the patties and they will not stick to themselves. Remember that the oil must already be hot by the time you place the patties onto the skillet. Cook both sides of the patties until they are golden brown and look like this.

With the spatula, place the cooked patties onto a plate covered with a paper towel to soak up any excess oil and allow 5-10 minutes for them to cool down to an edible temperature. The best part about the patties is that they are delicious at any temperature, so don’t worry about them getting cold. Because the patties are firm, they can be eaten with your hands (making them so snackworthy!) as well as with a fork or spoon. If you prefer, add some apple sauce or ketchup on the side in which to dip the patties as well as salt and/or pepper.

The Power of Lemons

Most people only think of lemons as something to add to their drinks. But lemons can also be used in cooking such meats as fish, shrimp, turkey and chicken and even with fruits.

Lemon juice can neutralize the fish’s natural smell and taste. I find it best to let fish marinate in lemon juice for no more than 10-15 minutes before throwing it on the skillet. You shouldn’t worry about the strong taste and scent of the lemon juice overpowering the flavor of the cooked meat. As the meat cooks, the juices seep inside and leave a faint aroma and flavor that can actually improve a fish meal. Shrimp can also be marinated in lemon juice for about 5-10 minutes before cooking it.

Lemons can serve as a tasty meat tenderizer when cooking turkey or chicken, and they are especially effective at tenderizing thighs and breasts. Cut a lemon in half and squeeze it over your meat in a separate bowl before cooking it. Tenderizing loosens the muscles in the meat and allows it to cook faster and makes it easier to cut and chew.

I don’t like using that super-salty powdered meat tenderizer (most of these are like 75 to 90 percent sodium!) that people shake on their steaks, and I’m a bit too lazy to pummel my beef with that little spiky iron mallet. I find lemons to be a much tastier, healthier and easier alternative to others methods of tenderizing meat.

Everyone knows that fruit oxidizes, or turns brown, immediately after you slice it open. But a little dash of freshly squeezed lemon juice on fruit will help slow down that process. This is especially helpful when the fruit being sliced or exposed to the air is for a recipe (like a fruit salad or sangria, which I call “fruit salad for alcoholics”) and not going to be eaten right away. A squeezed lemon will produce more juice if you microwave it for about a minute.

Ironically, my earliest memories of lemons actually have nothing to do with cooking. As a little girl, my family would go to my uncle’s home for dinner every Sunday and I would smell a wonderful aroma throughout the living room during the winter. The aroma was actually lemon and orange peels that he had placed on his radiator with some water in an empty coffee can. The heat piping out of the radiator not only amplified the aroma from the peels but the air pushing out of the radiator spread the wonderful scent around the apartment.

* * * Trivia Time * * *

Most experts agree that the lemon originated in India and was introduced to southern Italy around 200 A.D. It was a very popular crop in the Arab world and the Mediterranean. In fact, the word lemon is derived from the Arabic limun and the Old Italian limone. The Egyptians were the first ones to make lemonade, although I’m not sure who was the first to make it pink. Small pox and gunpowder weren’t the only things Europeans brought to the New World, as Columbus’ ships were full of lemons to feed the sailors.

Lemons are a great source of Vitamin C and have been found to have antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. Smokers should take note that lemons can also wipe away some of the carcinogens created by cigarettes. Just like fish, lemon juice is added to many household cleaners to neutralize the pungent odor most of these chemicals emit. The citric acid in lemon juice actually makes lemons useful as tiny batteries. You remember all those elementary and junior high school science fairs? There was always that one kid who hooked up electrodes and a tiny light bulb to a lemon. The Japanese even discovered that the scent of lemons reduce stress in mice, which may explain all those peaceful, happy dinners at my uncle’s.

So next time you’re walking by a fruit stand or by the produce section in your supermarket, don’t just pass by the lemons. Pick up a few and brighten the rest of your day. They’re cheap, they’re useful, they smell great and they’ve been enjoyed for thousands of years.

Spinach Pete (pronounced “pee-tay”)

Serves 6 to 8

Brighten up your holiday spirit with a yummy little snack for you and your family. This recipe is great to sneak in some iron and vitamins for kids. Sometimes children turn down vegetables. Pete is a name I came up with for this dish. I grew up in Morris Park, a neighborhood in the Bronx with a large Albanian community and in Albanian pete means “spun dough”. This recipe will keep your kids asking for more just in the matter of time. The cheese can also be substituted with tofu for vegans or those who are lactose intolerant. Sliced pete makes for a great hors devour guaranteed to be the hit of any party.

You will need:

• 1 large mixing bowl

• 1 hand or kitchen towel

• 1 pizza pan or cookie sheet

• 1 plastic container (large enough to hold 1 lb. of pizza dough)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. of frozen or refrigerated pizza dough

• 5-8 oz. of frozen or canned spinach

• 4 oz. of crumbled feta cheese

• 8 oz. of cream cheese

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 10 oz. of shredded mozzarella whole or skin milk

• 1 medium-sized onion

• 3 tablespoons of any oil (olive, corn, canola, vegetable, peanut, etc.)

• 22 oz. of tofu (if you are substituting cheese)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Start by defrosting the spinach and if necessary, the pizza dough. Once defrosted, place the pizza dough in a plastic container with the olive oil poured inside the container. Let the dough sit in the oil for about a half hour flipping it over to make sure both sides are coated with the oil. Take the spinach and wrap it in a kitchen or hand towel and squeeze all of the water out of the spinach. This technique works well because the towel gets almost all of the moisture out and soaks it up so you don’t get spinach water on your hands or clothes.

In a large mixing bowl combine the feta, mozzarella, and cream cheese. Reserve about 3 oz. of mozzarella cheese on the side for the top of your pete. Chop the onion and garlic finely and place it into the bowl. Add the drained spinach into the bowl and cover the bowl with clear wrap and leave it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or until chilled. By now your spinach/cheese compound should look like this.

Remove the now oil-soaked dough from the container and smooth it out over the cookie sheet, spreading it out into a flat circle as if you were making a pizza. It doesn't have to be a perfect circle, so don't go nuts trying to get it right. Scoop out the cheese/spinach mixture from the bowl and place it in the center of the dough. Spread the mixture out so that it covers all of the dough except for the edges of the circle. Then roll the dough up as if you were rolling up a jelly roll or a burrito. It should look like this.

After rolling the pete up into a very long tube shape, tuck the ends together to make the pete form into a ring. It should look like a big doughnut or a bunt cake. Make sure the height is even all around to prevent one side of the pete from cooking faster than the other. Again, we're not aiming for complete perfection, so it just needs to be even enough. Glaze the top of the pete with oil and lightly sprinkle 1/4 cup of mozzarella on top of the pete as a garnish. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Pete is best served when warm and can be sliced up like a cake.

Serving suggestions: Don't let that hole in the middle of the pete go to waste! You can fill that empty space with baby tomatoes, like I did in the picture. Another cool idea could be placing some parsley for presentation, a small bowl of ranch dressing with a teaspoon to scoop it up and pour over individual pete pieces.

If you try this recipe, drop me a comment a let me know how it worked for you. Also, let me know how you served the pete. The limit is literally bound by your own imagination.