So Many Jobs, So Little Blogging

Hi all,

It seems that uncutting my competition has paid off. I've had a few new clients since August which has kept me busy. Unforutnately, between school and work, I haven't had too much time to blog.

I promise I will post a new recipe soon.

Missy

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.

Homemade Doughnuts

Serves 5

Tired of eating stale doughnuts (is it doughnut or donut?) from a local coffee shop or bakery? Well I’ve got a quick way to whip up a batch of fresh delicious doughnuts as a treat for your co-workers or just to enjoy at home. If you’re diabetic or just looking to cut down on your sugar intake, toppings can just as easily be made with Splenda or any other sugar substitute. After trying this easy recipe, you may never buy another donut again! Believe me when I tell you that they will taste just like any other donut you’d find elsewhere.

You will need:

• 1 4-inch quart pot
• 1 measuring spoon or biscuit cutter
• 1 pair of tongs
• 1 plate or cookie sheet
• a few sheets of paper towels

Ingredients:

• 1 can of buttermilk or home-style biscuits
• 2 cups of canola oil

To make rings and pop-ems:

Start by pouring your canola oil into the pot and preheating it. I use canola oil because it has zero trans-fat and I think it tastes better when I fry certain foods in it. Carefully separate the discs of raw biscuit dough from each other, then scoop out the center of the biscuit with your spoon and place the little ball of dough aside, leaving a ring (check my new instructional video for details). The little balls will be made into pop-ems, or munchkins or holes or whatever you call them. They go by many names.

You will know that the oil is hot enough to fry the dough when you will see smoke coming from it. You can also take the end of a wooden spoon and place it in the oil then if you see the bubbles around the handle then the oil is ready. Make sure you cook them on each side until they are golden brown. After they’re done, place the donuts on a cookie sheet with paper towels to drain all of the excess oil off. These plain donuts are ready to eat once they are dry.

Toppings

Here’s where you can get really creative as well as give those plain donuts a taste you and your guests will never forget!

Powdered

You will need:

• A small resealable food storage bag (at least big enough to hold a few donuts)
• A cooling rack

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of confectionary sugar (or Splenda)
  
• 1/2 cup of ground cinnamon.

Pour the sugar and ground cinnamon together into your food storage bag. Confectionary sugar is very sweet, so the cinnamon balances out the sweet taste. Unfortunately, Splenda does not make their product in powdered form (I checked their website). If you want powdered Splenda you can put it into a hand held coffee grinder or a food processor to grind it into a fine powder.

While your donuts are still warm, drop them into the food storage bag and shake the bag up and down so the donuts can be covered as evenly as possible (check out my new instructional video for more details). Carefully remove the doughnuts from the bag and place them on a cooling rack to dry and allow the topping to stick.

Chocolate glazed

You will need:

• A bowl
• A cooling rack

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips

Pour your chocolate chips into a bowl and place it in the microwave for about 2 minutes. You will know when it’s done once they are completely melted. While the chocolate is still hot, place one side of your donuts (or flip them over and cover both sides) into the melted chocolate.

Sugar glazed

You will need:

• A teaspoon
• A bowl

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
• 3 teaspoons of water

Pour your sugar into a small bowl and add water. Stir with the spoon until the contents mix completely and resembles a smooth sticky glob. Place one side of your donuts (or flip them over and cover both sides) into the glaze and let dry. This method works best when your donuts are still warm.

The sticky glaze will make it easier to decorate a donut with sprinkles. Rainbow sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles, or even the sprinkles I used in my besos. The only limits are your imagination.

Chickens In A Blanket

Serves 5

I use this appetizer for all my parties and for snacking. If you’re looking for a recipe that is inexpensive as well as easy to make, look no further. Most people know this recipe as pigs in a blanket, but I use chicken franks which are healthier than pork or pork sausage, so it’s a bit different than pigs in a blanket, which is also wrapped in fried bacon. You can also use turkey, since they are also members of the poultry family and therefore chickens by association.

Chickens in a blanket are also different because they include cheese. Because this recipe involves hot dogs, an American favorite, and the original recipe is a classic at American parties, I find it fitting to use yellow American cheese. But you can use any hard cheese from mozzarella to Monterey jack to swiss to feta. You can also use flaky biscuits or home-style biscuits for this recipe.

You will need:

• 1 lightly greased baking sheet
• 1 knife
• 1 bowl
• 1 spatula

Ingredients:

• 7 oz. of canned butter milk biscuits (it should yield about 10 biscuits.)
• 2 chicken franks
• Quarter of pound of thinly sliced American cheese

The first thing that you will need to do is defrost the chicken franks. You cannot place a frozen hot dog in the center of the biscuit because it will not be cooked properly. So what I like to do is place the franks in a bowl full of hot water (from the tap, not boiling hot water) and let them thaw out. While you’re waiting for the franks to thaw put, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

After the chicken franks have defrosted place them on a paper towel and pat them dry.

Then slice each frank into five chunks. Open the biscuit can and lay the biscuits on the baking sheet before placing a strip of cheese on top (in the center) of the biscuit and your hot dog chunk on top of that. Using your fingers, wrap each biscuit around the cheese and frank until they are completely swaddled by the dough with both ends of the dough touching each other. As you place the wrapped “blankets” back on the sheet, be sure they are at least a half inch apart from each other as the dough will rise and expand.

Leave the chickens in a blanket in the oven for about 8-10 minutes and remove them with a spatula. You may find that the cheese in some of the biscuits have oozed out and become burnt on the baking sheet. Feel free to physically remove the burnt cheese with you fingers, but personally, I think the burnt cheese tastes great, so eat some burnt cheese before deciding to remove it from the biscuits and throw it away.

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.

ItaliaRican in the News

I almost forgot to mention that last month's appearance at the Gong Show at Arlene's Grocery actually got some attention from the New York Press, a weekly alternative newspaper.

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. I was allowed to enter myself as a contestant, with my talent obviously being cooking and although I didn't win the grand prize, the judges didn't bang the gong, either!

I am mentioned briefly in the last paragraph.

There were also spring rolls going around the room made by Missy from the "italiaricankitchen." The whole experience was pleasantly bizarre.

It's only a blurb, but not a bad start.

ItaliaRican at Disco Crisco Twister!

I was at Disco Crisco Twister again last Sunday at Arlene’s Grocery handing out free samples of my kottonmouth kookies and pineapple inside-out spot cupcakes. The place was packed with people flooding through the doors for Disco Crisco Twister, a monthly event at Arlene’s where adults can unwind and play 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 PuppetBox. No , I didn't get to sing the theme song on stage, but I still had a great time.

I chose the pineapple inside-out spot cupcake because this month's Disco Crisco Twister had a Hawaiian theme because they were holding a raffle with the prize being roundtrip airfare for two to Hawaii with seven nights hotel accommodation. Everyone was wearing plastic lays and enjoying the sweet pineapple taste and coconut shavings of my cupcakes. I had also planned to bake the kottonmouth kookies in honor of 4-20 before I knew about the Hawaii trip, so I decided to serve those too.

I've been coming to Disco Crisco Twister for about four months now, serving edible freebies to promote my catering services and blog, and am now officially "the resident Disco Crisco Twister chef". Everyone asked me what was in my kottonmouth kookies. "It's not what you think!" I replied. So many people asked me privately if there were any "special herbs" in the cookies. Give me a break, folks! If there were, I certainly wouldn't be giving them away!

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. Below are some pics from last Sunday's event, as well as a pic of myself and this month's co-host, Rich.