Two months in...

And a whole lot has changed. I'm constantly learning and growing and re-assuring myself that I'm doing what I want to do in my life and making the necessary steps and choices to get there. I really want to say thank you for all the support that you all have shown me, and the people who want to see me succeed. I can't thank you enough. I hope that everyone is enjoying this blog as much as I like posting on it. There are big plans for this guy in 2011, so keep posted because I have some surprises ill be working on.....


Till the next recipe,
Adam

Super Stuffed Quiche...

Super simple, super tasty, and super stuffed! These quiches are big, bad, and full of flavors that come together like Voltron. This recipe is made for two, 9 inch pie crusts that you can make yourself, or just purchase from the store. You can change this recipe up as well, by substituting your own ingredients. Hope you are hungry!

Quiche:

      - 9 eggs

      - 3/4 cup of Half and Half

      - 1 cup asiago cheese

      - 3 cups spinach
      - 1/2 pound cooked black forest ham, sliced and cut into small squares

      - 1 small onion, fine diced

      - 3 cloves garlic, minced

      - 4 oz white mushrooms, sliced

      - 12 sundried tomatoes

      - salt and pepper to taste.

      - 1/4 cup butter.

      - 2, 9 inch Pie Crusts.

      - Pre heat oven to 375 degrees

First, layer your sun-dried tomatoes on the bottom of the pie crust and save the oil for sauteeing. Set aside. Mix your eggs, half and half, and asiago cheese together and set aside. Once you have your onions and garlic chopped, sautee with the butter until they are translucent, season with a little bit of pepper and add the spinach. Sautee the spinach until wilted,  just about halfway cooked. Take your spinach and onion mixture and set aside. Add some of the sun-dried tomato oil to the pan until hot and add your mushrooms. They will suck up most of the oil, and remember that it spits it right out. So it takes about 6-8 minutes to cook all the way through. They love flavor! Once cooked, take your mushrooms and layer over the sundried tomatoes. 

Now add your spinach mixture to your egg mixture,then add the sliced ham and make sure its covered well. Now slowly pour the mixture over the pies, and it should almost reach the top. 

Once the oven is ready, put them on a baking sheet and for about one hour let them cook! Check on them every so often and turn. Once they are set up and ready to go, pull them out of the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy this treat, I sure did!

Quick, tasty and fun to make....Walnut Butter Cookies!

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know its not the usual savory dishes I put up on here, but its the holiday season and these little cookies definitely satisfy ones sweet tooth! Walnuts have more of a buttery flavor, and with some Lingonberry  preserves on top...it makes these cookies jump!


Cookies:


3/4 cups of granulated sugar
3/4 cups of brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 of a vanilla bean
1 cup walnut butter, softened but not melted
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Lingonberry Jam or any berry preserves


Mix together the sugars, egg, and walnut butter till smooth. Cut the vanilla bean in half, and scrape 1/2 of the beans out and into your sugar mixture. Mix well. Sift together your flour, salt, and baking soda and slowly add it into your sugar mixture. Mix together it is at a doughy consistency. Use a non stick baking sheet or butter up the bottom of your baking sheet and start to form little balls with the dough about 1 inch around. Place them on your baking sheet at no more than a 4x4, or they will mush together. Bake at 375 degrees between 10-12 minutes, they will be a little soft. Once removed from the oven, take a spoon and flatten the tops to make a little spoon shape. Once cool, remove the cookies from the baking sheet and add your preserves on top. Walk to refrigerator, grab milk and enjoy.

***UPDATE*** These cookies did not last 3 Hours. They were eaten by hungry housemates. Mission accomplished.

California Fish Tacos? I think so.

It was my roommate Maya's birthday on Tues and she asked me to cook. What else could be better than some tasty tacos? Here is my take on the "Baja" Fish Taco. They will go quick!

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Serves 4 (2 Tacos Each)

-1 1/2 pounds of fresh Tilapia

-2 tbsp oil

-1 package of corn tortillas

-1/2 head of red cabbage

-2 avocados

-1 onion

-1/2 bunch cilantro

-1 lime

-2 tbsp sour cream

-1 tbsp vinegar

-1 tbsp paprika

-2 tbsp cumin

-1/2 tbsp garlic powder

-1 tbsp red pepper flakes

-1 tbsp onion powder

-1 tbsp dried oregano

-1/2 tbsp salt

-1 tbsp pepper

Make sure you have your oven pre-heated to 350, because the fish is going to go in there!

Combine all your dry ingredients to make a nice rub. Make sure to spread evenly over the tilapia, and hold. Slice your avocado into nice slices and set aside. Slice your onion into strips and sautee till caramelized, and set aside. Cut your cabbage into strips and add the vinegar, lime juice and and sour cream. Salt and pepper to your taste on that, set aside. Heat up a large skillet with the oil till hot, and sear your fish on one side till golden brown. Flip your fish and put into the oven for 3-4 minutes until the fish is cooked through. Remove the fish from the oven and it should easily fall apart. Warm up some of those tortillas, and combine the rest of the ingredients. Build these delicious treats however you want! Disfrutar de!

Russet Potato Latkes!!

It's Hanukkah, and what better way to celebrate to treat yourself to these quick and easy treats. My friend Ali came up last night to watch the Menorah get lit in Union Square and we decided to make Latkes for dinner. Hope you enjoy!


Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 5-10 mins


Latkes: 
            -Big Bowl full of cold water.
            -2 Lbs Russet potatoes, peeled and grated. 
              (Put in cold water so it doesn't oxidize.)
            - 1 White Onion diced.
            - 1/4 tbs Butter.
            - 2 Large Eggs.
            - 1/4 tsp Baking Powder.
            - 1/4 cup flour.
            - 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper(use more if you want).
            - Oil as needed.

Combine Flour, eggs, baking powder, salt and pepper in a bowl, set aside. Take your onions and sautee them with the butter until almost caramelized. Add the potatoes and the onions to the bowl and mix together by hand until all incorporated. Once that is done, add oil to your sautee pan to make sure the bottom is covered in oil. Once it is hot enough, drop nice size handfulls of your latke batter and watch them fry! Keep an eye on them so they become golden brown and crunchy. Strain onto a plate with paper towels to absorb the grease.  Serve with Applesauce, or Sour Cream. 


Enjoy!

Wow!

Life has been amazing and crazy right now! Learning so much so quick, and becoming part of the culinary world. Everything I went through and worked for this year have all happened. I'm constantly learning every day and adjusting to life here in San Francisco. I hope you all enjoy my blog and help spread the word. I may slack on updates, but think of it as time well spent practicing all the delicious treats that you can make at home.

Thank you all!

-Adam

Matzo Ball Soup, the Jewish penicillin!

Its been getting pretty chilly here in San Francisco, so I decided to make matzo ball soup from scratch. I'm giving you the basic recipe, because if I gave you my personal recipe, Im sure my Grandmother would slap me in the back of the head. Here ya go!

Soup:

-2 1/2 quarts water

-1 Full Chicken( Make sure its broken down and save the carcass!)

-4 Carrots, sliced.

-1 1/2 Teaspoons of chopped fresh flat leaf parsley.

-Salt and Pepper to your tasting. 

Salt and pepper the chicken wings, legs, thighs, carcass, carrots and parsley and put them into a pot with water. Let it get to a boil, then simmer for at least 20 hours. That is NOT a typo! Its a long process to get that flavor! Once the chicken meat falls off the bones, remove from heat and remove all bones and skin. Salt and pepper to taste.

Matzo balls:

-2 eggs, lightly beaten

-2 tablespoons melted butter

-1/2 cup matzo meal.

-1/2 t salt and pepper

In a bowl, mix all ingredients together until it forms a soft dough consistency. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Bring the soup back to a boil when the dough is ready and form the matzo balls into small 1 inch balls to drop into the soup. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.

This recipe makes 12 matzo balls, so be hungry! 

Tonight, Lasagna!

Tonight, the roommates and I will be making a big home cooked meal! Vegetarian Lasagna is my dish to make! So I'm gonna roll on the fly with some Eggplant, mushrooms, onions and carrots, with my blend of spices. 

Thanks to everyone who is helping push my blog, all you gotta do is post my link on your FB and help spread the word!! 

I staged at Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina last night, was an experience beyond belief. It felt like going from Little League Baseball into the Majors...But I kicked ass and hopefully earned my place there.

Sweet Potato Waffles with Orange Butter

One of my favorite Breakfast dishes now! I made these in Culinary School and all the Chefs and classmates loved it! So, now its available to you! Hope you all enjoy this flavorful waffle as much as I do!

Prep time: 20 mins


Cook time: 5 mins

Waffles:

-2 cups peeled and cubed sweet potatoes 

-1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 

-1 tablespoon baking powder 

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1 teaspoon cinnamon

-6 egg whites, at room temperature 

-1 cup milk 

-1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

-1 Orange, zested. (save zest and orange for butter)

Boil your sweet potatoes till cooked and ready to mash, remove skin. Sift your flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.  In a different bowl combine the sweet potatoes, milk, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and some of the orange rind. Stir the sweet potato mixture into your dry ingriedients and make sure everything is mixed in well. Beat the egg whites in a seperate bowl until stiff peaks form. (Stiff peaks mean beat the egg whites till its foamy and makes little "peaks" on your mixer). Fold in the egg whites into batter 1/3 at a time. Do not rush this, as you want your waffles to have that fluff.  The batter will be thick! So depending on what size waffle maker you have, your serving size should be between 4-6 Waffles.

Orange Butter:

-Leftover Orange, zest

-4oz Butter

Melt the butter in a small pot with zest, and squeeze the orange juice into the pot. Stir until the butter has melted and pour into a small bowl and freeze. (I like it this way because there is more flavor. If you want to whip your butter, with the oranges go for it!)

Pulled Pork...

I was watching a show, maybe Diners Drive-Ins and Dives one night and they featured a restaurant that had these pretty bad ass pulled pork sandwiches. I decided to go to the Carneceria, Dos Cuates and pick up a Pork Shoulder.  Here is my recipe for pulled pork!! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 1.5-2hrs per lb. 

Dry Rub:

1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix well and rub well into the pork, don't slack on it! Some people use brine's for their pork, but I didn't use any on this one. (ill put another recipe up with the brine)

Rinse the pork shoulder and place in a baking pan. Rub the ingredients onto the surface of the shoulder and massage till fully covered and coated. Make sure the fat layer on the shoulder is facing up before cooking! Place baking pan uncovered in a 225 degree oven on the middle rack. Insert a thermometer into the center or thickest part of the shoulder and Monitor the temperature throughout cooking(if you have a digital thermometer use it). Do not remove from the oven until the center of the pork reaches 200 degrees. When the pork has reached 200 degrees, shut off the oven and let the roast cool for a couple of hours before removing from the oven. This 8 pounder took about 8 hours. Serve with its natural juices or your favorite BBQ sauce(Mine happens to be Sweet Baby Rays) and sides. We decided to do Beans and Mac Salad. Enjoy!

Talk about some country cookin!

.

Honey Walnut Prawns.

This is one of my favorite things to eat at a restaurant in San Jose called Taiwan. They are known for this dish, so I thought I would take it up a notch and do something different. Recipe follows below. 

Prep Time: 15 mins 

Cook Time: 7 mins

4 servings

Ingredients for Sauce and Prawns

• 6 tablespoons Mayonnaise
• 4 teaspoons Honey
• 4 teaspoons Sweetened condensed milk
• 2 teaspoon Lemon Juice
• 1 pound Jumbo Shrimp
• 1/2 cup panko
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 eggs(beaten)
• 16 pieces Candied walnuts
• 2 cups Oil For frying, add oil as needed.
• 1 tablespoon Green onion sliced thinly For garnish

Put the mayonnaise, honey, sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice in a bowl and mix well.  Put sauce aside for later use.  Peel and devein the shrimp then place in a  bowl to hold.  Set up standard breading procedure with flour, egg and panko. Dredge them in that order, and make sure the prawns are covered!  Deep fry at 350 degrees until golden brown.   Remove the shrimp from the fryer and drain on paper towels  Toss the shrimp into the sauce with the candied walnuts, garnish with green onions. Serve and enjoy!

The first of many...

Hi everyone! This blog will be place for you to see the culinary creations that I make, along with recipies, favorite resturants and reviews. I hope you bookmark my page and keep an eye on it, because there will be constant updates! Thanks for coming to my world, it tastes delicious!