Long Life Noodles

It's tradition to serve noodles for Media Noche so this year I wanted something different than the usual pancit or spaghetti with meat sauce. Jaden Hair and her site www.steamykitchen.com to the rescue! She's got a special page specifically for Chinese New Year! What a find! She is my food goddess! Of course I didn't have thin spaghetti and I forgot to buy the Chinese rice wine, so, improvise, improvise, improvise!!! My mom loved it to say the least!

Ingredients:
6 oz whole wheat spaghetti noodles (i think pansit canton noodles would work very well with this!)
1/2 lb shrimp, shelled, deveined
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbs cooking oil
1 tsp finely minced garlic
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1/4 cup snow peas (or snap peas, I misread her recipe and got 1 package of snap peas, half of which I was to use for another recipe anyway!), sliced thin on diagonal
1/4 cup matchstick cut carrots
1/4 cup celery, sliced thinly on diagonal
2 tsp soy sauce (NOT Kikkoman ok???)
1 tsp Chinese rice wine (I used dry white wine)
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1 tbs sesame seeds
black pepper

Directions:
1. Cook spaghetti noodles in salted water, al dente, drain, set aside
2. While pasta is cooking, place shrimp in a small bowl and add 1/2 tsp of salt and cornstarch. Mix well and let sit (about 8 min). Rinse the shrimp well, washing off the salt and cornstarch. Pat dry with paper towels.
3. Once pasta is done, heat cooking oil on high in a large wok or skillet until a bead of water sizzles and evaporates upon contact.
4. Add the shrimp and fry until halfway cooked through, 1 min on each side. Take out of the heat and set aside.
5. You should have about 1 tsp of oil left, add a little bit more if you have less.
6. Turn the heat down to medium and add garlic and shallots. Saute until fragrant then add celery. Saute for about 1 min then add the snow peas and carrots. Saute for about 1 min until carrots and snow peas are cooked but still crunchy.
7. Add the soy sauce and wine. Add some black pepper. When it starts to simmer, add the spaghetti noodles and the shrimp. Toss to combine.
8. Let cook for about 2 min or until shrimp is cooked through
9. Toss with sesame oil and sesame seeds.
10. Serve while hot.

Sweet Potato Spoon Bread

I was looking for a good side dish for last Thanksgiving and found this on the November issue of BHG. I wasn't too crazy about adding thyme so I used spices that were more in line with fall and the holiday :)

Ingredients:
4 tbs (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 sweet potatoes (about 1 lb)
2-1/2 cups milk (I used 2% milk!)
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup finely ground white or yellow cornmeal
4 eggs, separated
2 tsp baking powder

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease a 2-quart souffle or casserole dish with about 1 tbs of the butter; set aside
2. Soften the sweet potatoes. I just placed them in a dish and microwaved them for about 10 min or until soft. When cool enough to touch, remove and discard peels. Mash in a large bowl
3. In a large saucepan, bring milk, brown sugar, salt, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, honey, and black pepper to a low boil over medium heat
4. In a slow steady stream, whisk the cornmeal into the milk mixture
5. Whisk constantly for about 4-5 minutes, until mixture is thick and pulls away from the bottom of the pan
6. Remove from heat; cool slightly
7. Add mashed sweet potatoes, egg yolks, remaining 3 tbs butter, and baking powder to cornmeal mixture; stir thoroughly to combine
8. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites with electric mixer until it forms soft peaks. Gently fold/swirl the potato-cornmeal mixture into the egg whites. Do not beat or the egg whites would lose its volume
9. Spoon batter into the prepared greased dish. Bake for 35-40 min, until internal temp reaches 165 deg F. Edges will be firm and center a bit soft
10. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 min. Serve warm

Red Velvet Cake/Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Loved TCF's Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake but it was time consuming to do the cake and the cheesecake then combine! One time, saw a red velvet cupcake at Starbucks but it wasn't that good, according to Bradley and it had butter cream frosting on it. So, found this recipe for red velvet cupcakes and cream cheese frosting... best of both worlds!

Ingredients:
Cake
3/4 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk + 3/4 tsp white vinegar, mix lightly)
3/4 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp dark cocoa powder
3/4 to 1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 to 1-1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup canola oil (or vegetable oil)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vinegar
1-2 tbsp red food color (put in small amounts at a time, until you reach your desired red shade)

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz (1 brick) cream cheese, softened, at room temp
4 tbsp butter, softened
4 tbsp solid shortening
1-1/2 to 2 cups confectioners or powdered sugar (depends if you want it to be really sweet. In future, I'll just use 1-1/2 c because the 2 cups masked the cream cheese flavor)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp milk, if necessary

Directions:
Cake
1. preheat oven to 350 deg F. Spray or butter the pan or line cupcake tins with paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, whisk buttermilk and vanilla, set aside.
3. Blend flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together in another bowl, and set aside.
4. Cream the sugar and oil together on medium-high speed in a large bowl fitted with a whisk attachment.
5. Add one egg at a time and whisk.
6. Add vinegar and food coloring, and beat the batter well.
7. With mixer on low-medium speed, add half of the flour and cocoa mixture to the batter, alternating with the buttermilk mix, ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape the side of the bowl as needed between additions. Mix until batter is nice and smooth with no lumps.
8. Pour the batter into prepared 8x8 inch pan, or divide evenly between the cupcake tins.
9. Bake cake for 30-40 min, or until a toothpick comes out. Bake cupcakes for approx 20-25 min or until tops spring back when lightly touched.
10. Cool square cakes or cupcakes completely on wire racks before frosting or freezing. Cool round cakes 10-15 min before loosening, then remove from pans and cool completely.
11. Double the recipe if you want to make layer cakes, with the frosting in between layers and top of cake.

Frosting
1. Using a stand mixer, and fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a medium to large bowl and a hand mixer, beat softened cream cheese, butter, and shortening together on medium speed until creamy.
2. Add confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a tim and beat after each addition, scraping the sides of the bowl when necessary. Beat until smooth and fluffy.
3. Turn mixer to low, add vanilla and beat again, adding milk only if needed for proper spreading or piping consistency. Cover bowl with damp towel until ready to use.

Square cake: frost all sides or pipe rosettes on top
round cakes: if layered, smear a good size dab of the frosting on a plate. Place the 1st layer of cake. Spread a thick coat of frosting over this layer and place the second layer on top, pressing down lightly to seal. Frost the sides and top of cake using an off-set spatula, making sure to seal all edges evenly. Using a pastry bag, you may put in rosettes on top of the cake.

cupcakes: spread the frosting over the tops of the cakes. leave as is or add sprinkles, colored sugar or finely crumbled red velvet cake crumbs.

Tilapia Croquettes with Red Bell Pepper Gravy

Salamat Rachael Ray but i put my own spin on this! I was thinking of ways to cook Tilapia besides frying it or baking it in foil packets and Rachael came to the rescue! She used cod though I think!

Ingredients:
Tilapia croquettes
1 lb tilapia (about 3-4 pieces)
1 lemon
salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
salt
pepper
1 tsp old bay seasoning
3 tbs finely chopped flat leaf parsley
3 tbs finely chopped fresh thyme
1 egg
2 cups breadcrumbs (italian or plain)
1/4 cup oil

Red bell pepper gravy
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 tbs butter
2 tbs flour
2 cups chicken stock

Directions:
Croquettes
1. to a large skillet, put about 1/2 inch of water and simmer.
2. wash the tilapia fillets and pat dry. season with salt and pepper.
3. zest the lemon and reserve.
4. season the fish with the lemon juice.
5. once the water is simmering in the skillet, cook the fish in it for about 8 minutes.
6. meanwhile in a bowl, combine the reserved lemon zest, garlic, onion, celery, parsley, and thyme.
7. once the fish is cooked, flake and add to the bowl.
8. discard the liquid and place the skillet back on the stove. heat about 1/4 cup of oil on medium.
9. to the bowl, add some salt and pepper and bay seasoning. mix just to combine.
10. add the egg and the breadcrumbs and mix.don't worry if the mix doesn't seem to be okay to make patties. once you scoop up some and form a patty, it'll will come together.
11. form into patties.
12. get some more breadcrumbs and carefully dredge the patties in the breadcrumbs. be careful. maybe instead of dredging, just sprinkle breadcrumbs on the patty.
13. cook the patties in the oil about 5 minutes each side. watch out that it doesn't burn.

For the gravy:
1. discard the leftover oil from the skillet where you cooked the patties.
2. melt 2 tbs of butter (low heat so it wont burn)
3. saute the garlic, shallot and red bell pepper, about 3-4 minutes
4. add the flour, mix, make sure it doesn't clump up. cook about 1 or 2 minutes.
5. add the chicken stock and cook until it thickens
6. season with salt and pepper to taste

Steamy Kitchen Recipes and Food Blog

http://www.steamykitchen.com
My lifesaver last New Year's feast!

A Family Tradition

Another Christmas has come and gone and one thing that was very evident during that time was my family's love for food and cooking. Across the globe, family members planned, prepped, cooked, ate, photographed, and blogged/Facebook'd/tweeted/Instagram'd about all the good stuff each prepared for our respective Christmas and New Year's feasts.

For me, it started with watching my dad prepare our Noche Buena feast of chicken stuffing, corn soup, and the infamous ham sauce. In my house, my dad was the primary cook during special occasions :) I can still remember being tasked to prep the ingredients and how he would ask me to repeat the process if I didn't cut something to the correct size. I eventually graduated to helping in sauteing and stirring, under his guidance, of course! I don't remember exactly when I was finally "allowed" to cook a dish on my own but I can still remember the feeling when I finished cooking the corn soup!

The one thing that my dad didn't do much but I seem to have gotten a knack for is baking. One day I found this Betty Crocker cook book passed on to him by my Lola Mama. I started looking through it and asked if I could try making one. He told me the easiest to make would be the Pineapple Upside Down Cake. So Pineapple Upside Down Cake it is! It turned out really good and soon I was trying out the other recipes in the book. To this day, it remains my "bible" for baking. My now "famous" Banana Cake is from this book -- with some modifications, of course!

My mom was with me during the holidays and after seeing all the posts from the family about cooking and food, she made a comment on how I inherited my love for it from my dad, who got it from my grandmother, and it looks like some of my cousins got theirs from a parent from my dad's side of the family as well. This made me realize cooking is one my ways to honor my dad. Come to think of it, of all the modifications I've done to recipes I've tried, I have never deviated from my dad's recipes for corn soup and stuffing.

Oh, about that ham sauce... I never did get the recipe for that... my brother has it and has continued the tradition of making it!