My Culinary Adventures: Seasoned Hashbrowns

I am pretty sure they could have come out better.  Next time I would use a ton less oil, and slice them much much thinner.  If you look at the picture on the recipe link, you'll see that mine turned out completely different. They did taste good though!!

Recipe
Copied from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
2 medium russet potatoes, shredded
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup oil for frying, or as needed
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Rinse shredded potatoes until water is clear, then drain and squeeze dry. 
2. Place shreds in a bowl, and mix in the onion, flour and egg until evenly distributed.
3. Heat about 1/4 inch of oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. 
4. When oil is sizzling hot, place potatoes into the pan in a 1/2 inch thick layer. Cover the whole bottom of the pan, or make separate piles like pancakes. 
5. Cook until nicely browned on the bottom, then flip over and brown on the other side. It should take at least 5 minutes per side. If you are cooking them in one big piece, it can be cut into quarters for easier flipping.
6. Remove from pan, and drain on paper towels. 
7. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

My Culinary Adventures: Egg in Toast

Something quick and easy!

Looks somewhat like a heart, doesn't it?

Recipe
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

Vegetable Oil or Butter to coat pan

1 Slice Whole Wheat Bread

1 Egg

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil or melt butter in pan on medium heat
2. Cut a hole in the center of the bread and place in the pan
3. After toasting one side, flip and crack the egg into the hole
4. Season with salt and pepper if wanted
5. Cook until egg is mostly done
6. Flip again and cook until egg is finished on both sides

My Culinary Adventures: Roasted Garlic-Basil Tomatoes, Brown Rice, and PB Veggies!

I'm always looking for new ways to use up the basil I have growing in my backyard, and I needed to figure out some new way to cook vegetables to accompany the brown rice I have.  Brown rice is pretty expensive compared to white rice here, but I thought I'd buy it to see how much a bag could make and it turns out it can make a fair amount.  I think my taste buds are more accustomed to white rice though, so I may just stick to that since it's also readily available in my town.  The brown rice recipe isn't included since the package will most likely have the preparation method on it.  The vegetables were a spontaneous recipe and turned out great!  I had my site-mate over to eat dinner since I had made a lot, and my camera wasn't working when I wanted to take a picture... but finally as he started eating it worked!  I quickly ran to him and said, "Put your plate down!!" so the picture below is a meal somewhat eaten, hence the fork.  Finally received feedback on my cooking too from him: "It's SO GOOD!!"

Recipe - Roasted Garlic-Basil Tomatoes
Copied from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
4 roma (plum) tomatoes, halved
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Place the tomato halves in a shallow baking dish in which they can all fit in snugly side by side. 
3. Insert the whole cloves of garlic in between the tomatoes. 
4. Brush olive oil over the top and sprinkle with basil. 
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Bake uncovered for 35 to 45 minutes, until tomatoes have softened and are sizzling in the pan with the edges slightly charred. 
7. Serve while hot.

Recipe - Steamed Vegetables in Orange Juice/Peanut Butter Sauce
Original Recipe


Ingredients (Quantities depend on how much you are making.. use your best judgment)
Steamed broccoli and carrots with balsamic vinegar & soy sauce dressing
Onions, diced
Fresh ginger root, minced
Fresh squeezed orange juice
Peanut butter (I used crunchy but I don't think it matters)

1. Steam the broccoli and carrots, and make the balsamic vinegar and soy sauce dressing in a pot as found in this blog, but with the following changes:
• Instead of butter, use olive oil
• In addition to the garlic, fry onions and ginger until onions are translucent
2. Toss the vegetables with the sauce, and add fresh squeezed orange juice and peanut butter and combine well.

My Culinary Adventures: Pineapple Fried Rice (Minus the Shrimp!)

I think I've outdone myself!  After I made this dish I was so giddily happy that it was difficult for me to go to sleep.  The rice tastes amazing (in my opinion) and the ginger and cilantro really give it that oomph.  I can't wait to cook it for other people.

The other day I was craving fried rice, and I had bought snow peas from the grocery store the other week and needed to use them up!  Some were already going bad.  I wanted to try a new recipe because I knew how to make basic fried rice with Chinese sausage, and I liked to eat that with the Sriracha hot sauce.  Seeing as how I don't have either of those with me here (I'm hoping my family will send me the Sriracha in a package!), I wanted something different that I could do with what I could get here.  I was also reading the other day about 100 ways to cook an egg (thank you Gestre) and one style caught my eye, so I decided to incorporate that into the fried rice recipe.

Egg, semi-tamagoyaki style

Recipe
Adapted from caper berry

Ingredients
Depends on the amount of fried rice
2 eggs
1/2 tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
Oil for the pan

1. Beat all ingredients together but not too foamy.
2. Heat a small non-stick pan over low heat.
3. Dab paper towel into oil and wipe the bottom of the pan.
4. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of egg mixture into the pan and spread it around in a circle.
5. Cook until the bottom of the egg is dry and the top is still somewhat runny.
6. Lift and roll the egg with fork or chopsticks to one side of the pan.
7. Wipe the pan again with the oily paper towel.
8. Pour the same amount of egg mixture into the pan and spread around, lifting the rolled egg to make sure the new egg mix gets under.
9. Cook until it's ready to roll, and roll it to the other side of the pan.
10. Repeat until mixture is finished.
11. You may increase the heat when completed to slightly brown the egg on its sides.
12. Let cool, then slice.

Majority of the ingredients set out

Recipe
I don't have exact amounts for you because I really just used my best judgment and winged it.  Sorry!

Ingredients
Broccoli, broken into florets and stem pieces
Carrots, chopped
Snow peas, can break them into half or thirds depending on the length, making sure to snap the ends off and discard them too

Vegetable oil

Garlic, minced

Onions, diced

2 cups day-old rice (or 2 or 3 days old)

Less-sodium soy sauce

Sugar

Salt

Butter (optional - to give it that restaurant-style look and taste)
Pineapple chunks
Ginger root, minced
Egg, tamagoyaki style
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)

1. Boil 1-inch of water in a pot, then add the broccoli, carrots, and snow peas and cover pot with lid.  Lower heat to medium and steam vegetables only for a couple minutes.  You don't want them too tender because they will cook more with the rice.
2. In a big skillet or wok, heat 2 tbs oil on medium-high heat. 
3. Add the garlic and onions and continuously stir until onions are translucent. 
4. Mix in the broccoli, carrots and snow peas.
5. Stir in the rice until it is warmed up. 
6. Pour in the soy sauce, sugar, and salt and continuously stir the entire time so that nothing burns.
7. Toss with butter if it looks too dry. 
8. Add pineapple, ginger, egg and cilantro and stir until finished and everything is warm. 
9. Garnish with cilantro! 
10. (The burnt rice off the pan is good too ^_^)

Things I may do different next time:  Add some teriyaki sauce to see how that affects the flavor, and also use fresh pineapple instead of the frozen chunks I had from one I cut up a while ago..

My Culinary Adventures: Vegan Banana Cookies ♥

During one of my Spanish classes while still in training, the other class was making these cookies in the kitchen of the family's house we were using.  As soon as they were made, they were eaten up like crazy!  I am pretty sure the recipe is Caitlin's but I'm not sure if she has a blog to link you guys to =/.  I've made these probably 3 times already, for each of my host families.

Recipe - Yields about 22 Cookies


Ingredients
Dry Mix:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Cinnamon to taste

Wet Mix:
2 mashed bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. In one mixing bowl, combine all dry mix ingredients together.
3. In another bowl, mix sugar and bananas together until gooey.
4. Add the vanilla and oil to the wet mix and combine again.
5. Make a well in the center of the dry mix and slowly add the wet mix to it, stirring to get all the dry mix covered.
6. Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet and pop into the oven.  Keep an eye on the cookies while they're baking because the time varies for some reason.  It may be because I'm working with a toaster oven in degrees Celsius.  It usually takes about 15-20 minutes for me.

~♥ in love cookie ♥~ 

)=Broken-hearted cookie =(

I gifted the cookies to my landlady and her family, my host family, and my friend and his wife

My Culinary Adventures: Poached Egg with Tomato and Fresh Basil on Toast

The other day I was looking at cooking websites to learn the basics, and "poaching" as a subject came up.  That's when I realized I don't think I have ever poached an egg.  Eggs are plentiful around here since there are always chickens and hens running around laying eggs, and well, the stores sell them too of course :)  I thought about maybe having a hen of my own but I think she would be bored and I'd need a rooster so she could have babies but that would mean enduring the crowing of all hours of the day and night and I really, really love my sleep.  Anyway, I also wanted to make use of the basil I have growing in my solar, or backyard area so I decided to try something fun for lunch.  Only thing missing is the mozzarella, but I could have gone out and bought some quesillo, which the cheese here which most closely relates to mozzarella.

Recipe


Ingredients
1 Egg
1 Slice whole wheat bread

1 Tomato, sliced
Few fresh leaves of basil

1. In a small pot, heat about 3 inches of water and some vinegar (vinegar helps the outer layer of the egg congeal faster) to the point where you can see bubbles on the bottom of the pot, but they are not rising to the top and breaking.
2. Crack the egg into a small cup.
3. Lower the cup into the water in the pot and tip it to very gently let the egg slide out.
4. Push the strands of egg that float away back towards the egg.
5. Poach egg for about 4-5 minutes depending on your preference for doneness (is that a word?).
6. The white part should be firm.  Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and let it drain on paper towels
7. Toast the bread.
8. Layer the egg first on the toast, then a slice of tomato, then the leaves of basil and add whatever else you'd like to it, salt and pepper, hot sauce, whatever :).  Alone is kind of bland.

Side note - the article I read about poaching eggs has a picture at the top of poached chicken and it reminded me with a nostalgic pang of Hainan Chicken, which I would love to attempt here but I don't think I have the means to.  We'll see!

My Culinary Adventures: Great Way to Wake Up!

I am a HUGE cereal person.  In the states I would mix my cereals together, toss on some flax seeds (which I just learned last week you are supposed to grind for them to have any real nutritional value -_________-), and add some sliced strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and/or banana.  It was quite the production.  I'd even eat yogurt with cereal mixed in.  Unfortunately for me, the only cereal that they sell here in my site is Corn Flakes, or some sugary cereals, but most commonly throughout Honduras is Corn Flakes.  I am very close to being sick of it, so I took advantage of that huge grocery store and bought some things that would help liven up my morning bowl of sunshine.

Additions: Just enough Honey Bunches of Oats to blend with the flavor of the Corn Flakes, fiber, banana, and raisins!  Mmm Mmm Mmm good!

My Culinary Adventures: Banana Pancakes à la Jack Johnson

I first tried making banana pancakes using the pancake recipe from my second host mom and those didn't turn out too great.  The flavor was off somehow.  So I went to my trusted favorite recipe website, Allrecipes.com and searched there.  Lo and behold, I found a great recipe!  Although, I had to double the dry ingredients to make the pancakes thicker.  I really don't know what is going on with my dishes.  They still weren't fluffy but one of my neighbors is a big fan of the pancakes and I thought they tasted good, so they work for me!  I added vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves to the mix too, and sifted the dry ingredients as well.

Recipe
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cinnamon, ground cloves, and nutmeg to taste

1. Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil and bananas.
2. Sift flour mixture into banana mixture; batter will be slightly lumpy.
3. Heat a non-stick griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides; serve hot. 

I like to eat them with either honey and peanut butter, or maple syrup and peanut butter >_<

My Culinary Adventures: Ants on a... Boat?

I am 5 years old <(^_^)>  I stole the granny smith apple from where we had our meeting.  They had a lot of really yummy snacks there, including red, yellow and green apples, bananas, Oreos, healthy wheat and whole grain bread, peanut butter, jam... mmmmmmmmm <3 And of course we put the peanut butter on everything, true American style ;).

Recipe
Self-explanatory methinks? =]

My Culinary Adventures: Curried Cumin Potatoes

Recipe:
Adapted from Allrecipes.com (I pretty much copied the Directions)

Ingredients:
1 lb potatoes, cut into 1/4 inch thick pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1. Place whole potatoes into a saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until just tender. Drain, and cut potatoes into quarters. Set aside to keep warm.
2. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Sauté the cumin, turmeric, and curry powder for 1 minute. Add potatoes, and sauté until toasted. Toss potatoes with sea salt, pepper and fresh cilantro, and serve hot.