Foods odds and ends

Friend of mine holding a Beach Staple.. the wonderful Funnel Cake!

It's been eons since I posted anything on here so I figured we can bring it back with the holidays around! Just the other day hubby did a few dishes and arranged it in the plate all cute and asked for the camera.. LOL It's funny HE'S thinking of the blog and he doesn't even write on it! Anyway.. as I was checking the camera.. I noticed a few pics from back in July when we went to Ocean City, New Jersey!

Mmmmm... Pizza from Mack and Mancos

The first one was the beach pic. Outside of pizza from Mack and Mancos.. my favorite is definitely the Funnel cake (there are several locations you can get this). Other beach goodies are salt water taffy (usually everywhere on the boardwalk but we usually go to Fralingers), Johnson's Caramel Popcorn and fudge from The Original Fudge Kitchen.

Seafood Spaghetti

Back at home I do my normal stuff. This sucker I call Seafood Spaghetti though this time it only consists of Shrimp and Sea Scallops (my favorite over Bay though I never turn down those :p ) in a scampi/Japanese sauce + cheese.. yes.. I never said it was healthy.. I usually crave this sucker around 3 am when I'm watching anime :p

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice

Hubby's dishes are next. He made me a sweet and sour chicken. Most of it was from a dry mix we found but he did it all. Was so cute.. he did the whole thing.. arranged it on the plate and yelled for the camera.. LOL!! It was quite yummy though even after making it.. he insisted he can do better with his own recipe and quite frankly.. I agree.. he cooks spectacular.. just need to find a good recipe for it. In the meantime though, dry package was just fine.

Lemon herb marinated/grilled chicken

Hubby again cooking. This time it was chicken breast marinated in a Lemon herb mix I found in Wegman's with Rice and brocoli with cheese. I didn't mind that the chicken was a little overgrilled but it was still moist and yummy :)

Food Diary: D&D Day.. more food :)

Homemade pot stickers :)
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My friend Jen's wonderful cooking again on display :) We finally toned it down for the next D&D adventure :p This time we concentrated on a few things rather than the orgy of food LOL! This time were in Delaware. Lunch was pot stickers (she made herself!)

Food of the gods.. Homemade salsa and homemade chips!

Always onhand are chips and salsa. She makes this fantastic thing that is not at all hot but actually very sweet! It's mostly regular peppers rather that omfg-it's-hot salsa for this totally not-into-hot-foods person :p It's a staple really.. this time she made her own chips (cut up shells and fried and salted).

Small burgers, fries and quesadillas! (renegade pickle since I like mine cold and not INSIDE a sandwich..)

I love smaller burgers.. sometimes I want a burger and a half or something like that and the small ones allow me to eat just the right amount! She again made all of this from scratch.. Except the bread :p LOL but still.. this was about 2 weeks or so ago. Still a nice spread.. just a lot more tame than usual :) I know I'm gaining weight.. but I'm totally blaming it on it being winter :)

Getting rid of leftovers...

I never said I made a healthy dinner ... LOL

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With the holidays over I did notice one thing.. there was a LOT of food in our apartment... people would bring things over.. or we'd order pizza or something. So that big Wegman's trip almost went to waste. Granted some things are freezer friendly (chicken, steak, fish, seafood (what I call it when it's not fish.. so things like scallops and shrimp), frozen veggies.. duh.., shredded cheese, etc.) so.. I figured.. okay.. I don't have anything planned for tonight.. so dangit I'm going to get rid of it all.. So I go in there and start looking.. I must have looked like a mad woman because hubby hit the deck.. (quietly asked if I needed help but just ran to the living room to hide in a game so he wouldn't get yelled at if he got in my way.. I guess I was pretty determined)..

This is what a plantain looks like when it's out of it's husk thingie.. (so the before and after.. )

Anywho.. I noticed a couple things I HAD to make or it would grow sentient and start to crawl out.. okay.. checking.. Broccoli.. Everyone.. please.. if I can have a moment of silence for the broccoli? ............. R.I.P. Broccoli.. that's why it was on sale.. /sigh.. went bad too fast.. I HATE wasting food.. I'm so sorry.. off it goes into the trash.. okay brussels sprouts.. (sorry Chaki...) still hanging in.. resilient mofo's.. okay that's going today.. got my veggie.. Oooooh plantains are maturing quickly.. one is almost turning black.. ooooh that's going to taste good.. better stuffed with something but I have no patience today.. I'm doing tostones dangit.. er.. hmm.. I managed to clear everything else beforehand so it's all like breads and stuff and the lettuce is hanging in just nicely :D Good girl! Go me!

This is what the plantain looks like when you chop off the sides.

I figured I can make chicken.. I have boned chicken and boneless chicken.. both frozen.. oh I'm too lazy.. ooooh I have some panko breadcrumbs. Alright.. fry fest it is.. Anyway.. doing 3 different dishes all with different cooking times is going to be a pain in the arse.. soooo happy hubby is here for backup.. and away from me so I don't burn myself.. .. .. as much... (only 4 burns.. small ones.. from jumping oil... must get better fry shield.. Anyway.. plantains are going to be worst so I'm doing that first while I boil water to boil the solidly frozen 4 pieces of chicken (these are thighs.. so the drum stick and the thigh portion that I separated, bagged in 2 portions and froze when I bought it in the family pack).

Food of the gods I tell you.. Plantains cut in thick pieces to be fried for the first time.

If you notice the color on the outside of the plantain these are maturing so the inside of the plantain is actually much sweeter and softer (not like bananas though.. those are uber sweet and squishy at this stage..).. if they go black they are difficult to fry crispy.. but still uber delicious :) By the time I take them out of the outer husk thing.. not sure what that outside thing is called.. checking. hang on.. they are calling it layers while the inside is the shoot? Bah.. outside hard thing.. soft inside thingie.. that works for me.. anyway.. by the time I took out the outside thing.. I cut it along one side with a butter knife (this should be sharp enough) and split open with your fingers. The more mature they are the harder it is to get them off in one clean shot.. I guess since it's softer it tends to stick more to the inside lining. With unripe plantains I can actually peel it off in one shot like a pro.. today.. I used force.. LOL It broke in a lot of stages and I just had to scrape off what was still hanging on to dear life. And for the love of God don't eat the outside stuff.. that's there to protect the inside.. oy.. I don't even want to think about how bitter it would be to eat it..

Second stage already done - they are drying.. can you tell hubby's been watching a lot of Alton?

I'm not sure if I bored you with the details on how you make these .. you know.. if you want to know I'll tell ya.. I think I already did.. twice fried.. squish between.. yeah something about how I'm writing this is totally giving me deja vu.. Anyway.. at this point I'm already frying BOTH the plantains AND the chicken.. and of course I think I sense disaster.. oh.. I started steaming the brussels sprouts.. That's easy.. turn on steamer.. walk away..

Fried chicken - Panko bread crumbs. A little oiler than usual though..

Again at this point I realize I'm waaaaaaaaay over my head.. I mean I did the Holly and committed to it but I did the mistake of doing too much fried.. I should have gone with instinct and stewed the chicken or something.. the oil temperatures were totally different. Different pans for each.. both on electric stoves.. I HATE ELECTRIC STOVES.. and both going on at different times and had to be babysat.. Hubby came in and helped after a couple expletives in Spanish were strewn about the kitchen (Yes dear.. cursing in Spanish is still cursing.. LOL)..

These came out well except first batch that was a little greasy but overall I enjoyed this.. which is good.. because we have a lot of leftovers LOL

The problem was because I was overwhelmed .. I mean nothing burned.. far from it.. I lowered the temperature which is a Huuuuuuuuuge no no in frying.. that makes the food totally soak up the oil.. The biggest problem was the chicken. Right now as I'm typing this I feel the oil sitting on my stomach.. (sorry.. ). If I kept it at the temperature I would have been fine.. but I panicked and lowered it so I can concentrate on the plantains.. by the time hubby took over the damage was done and it soaked up a lot of oil. Didn't realize it until we ate it all.

These Brussels sprouts (didn't know brussels in this word had a s in it.. stupid wiki.. now I have to type it correctly..) came out perfect :D

Meanwhile the only semi nutritious thing was the sprouts.. and even then I slathered it in butter and mozzarella cheese :) mwahahhahahahahha .. ehem.. that was awesome! Oh! Forgot to add that the tostones I cook always has a dipping sauce (wait for it I can almost hear Holly heaving.. wait.. and Tricia too..) I make a dip that's made with mayonnaise (I only use Miracle whip.. sorry Tricia..) and ketchup with a clove or 2 of garlic. Even people squeamish about it taste it together and wonder wtf.. I can eat it with or without but hubby really likes it too (and he's not a mayo person) so I make it all the time. It's friggin' easy too.

Scallops and Shrimp sorta scampi over Linguini

I cook the scallops (this time I used bay scallops) and shrimp (I cut them in half) at the very last second since it cooks soooooooo fast..

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I've done a variation of this dish .. I lost track how many ways.. this time I totally cheated and used a premade scampi sauce that was actually pretty good. It had a different balance to what I'm used to and so the only thing I added was fresh garlic and onions.

Boling Linguini over the demonic pot that wanted to take me out.. I can see how it's bent on the left side.. stupid thing bonked my head.. I can't use the same lid on it anymore LOL

Sometimes I make everything from scratch (the sauce not the shrimp.. or scallops.. I actually prefer sea scallops..) and add sour cream and mozzerella cheese.. but hubby likes it plainer and just puts parmesan cheese.. I of course can't stand parmesan.. for me it's friggin' kryptonite...

Aww I thought I got the Christmas Tree in there.. oh well you got the reflection.. Yes.. we do have a dining room table.. but we eat here 99% of the time.. it's in front of the TV dangit!

I normally do garlic bread with this as well because garlic bread is food of the gods.. but still.. I digress. Drinks were Ginger Ale with a piece of lime.. mmmm...

Mine on left and his on right.. though his didn't have the parmesan on it yet.. quite frankly he desecrates it but I digress.. I can hear Holly screaming going PARMESAN ROCKS!

This last shot was for Chaki who likes my fancy sheet new plates :D

Uber snacks for gaming...

Mmmmmmmmm.. snacks..

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K sorry this is late LOL.. This is a blog that is crossreferenced here. What did we have? Oh good Lord.. what didn't we? Okay lemme back up.. the day before I get a call from my friend from Delaware and she is asking me if I like certain things.. As ya'll already know how dang picky I am.. she was going "well will you eat this?".. "hmm.. how about that if I take out this?".. "if I make it milder.." but I swear.. I seriously heard the music from those old Walt Disney documentaries about the World of Tommorrow or was it a cartoon.. oh nvm I digress.. either way I hear that in my head now!

Snacks got.. er.. bigger LOL

She was shopping while talking to me (as I heard that jingle sound in my head..) and little did I know that ALL of which she was talking about bringing .. she brought.. and I mean all of it.. 7 layer dip, veggies with dip, mango salsa, chex mix, chips and her famous friggin' awesome sweet salsa, guacamole, 2 different types of tacos (pulled pork and a beef one with a totally different sauce and both hard and soft tacos), homemade fried wonton with ducksauce, potatochips and dip, chips and queso...

I had a religious moment.. sorry.. I LOVE Pecan Pie.. even if it did give me a migraine! LOL

.. and the coup de grace.. PECAN PIE!!!!!!!!!!!! Omg.. it was sooooo good.. I didn't have ice cream.. well I did but I was too full.. but omg it was so good! She made that from scratch as well. It was either this or Key Lime pie.. I don't like that pie.. or any other pie actually.. but Pecan pie was to die for..

P.S. I forgot to add.. this food was in addition to hubby's pizza LOL

FOOD DIARY - Chicken Teriyaki Rolls

Hubby made me Chicken Teriyaki Rolls on Friday after Thanksgiving :)

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This was our second attempt. Came out a little better (the rice) but we are still missing "something".. no wonder traditional Japanese sushi apprentices take 5 years just doing rice before they are allowed to make anything else..

Hubby mixing in the vinegar into the rice.. we got a bowl for this.. last time it was a clump disaster.. this time did a bit better.. still not right though but just like last time.. a yummy experiment!

Because I much prefer the rice outside he obliged and did it for me :)

We used a Teriyaki mix instead of doing that from scratch. Still it came out really good! I even ate the extra chicken that we didn't shove in the rolls! At the end we had more rice than one roll but not enough for two so hubby made one big one with the nori on the OUTSIDE... he was getting tired. Awwww

This is what it looked like doing the last of the rolls. One giant roll :)

He hates cutting the sushi though.. doesn't slide well.. he thinks he didn't use enough water on the knife.. since these knives are ridiculously sharp.. I don't use those..

My plate on the left and his on the right. This is our uber coffee table in the living room and our brand spaking new plates :D Note something I didn't notice until much later.. check out the reflection at the top of the glass table.. Go Ninja Warrior LOL

FOOD DIARY - Japanese & Pizza nights

Hubby's homemade pizza

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Remember that I'm totally not the baker in my family.. so hubby totally does this for me all the time :) We've tried a BUNCH of recipes for the crust. Quite frankly if the crust sucks.. I won't like it.. so imagine trying pizza over and over trying to get it right. Too much sauce, not enough sauce, there's no such thing as too much cheese.. LOL nvm.. Either way he finally settled on a recipe we got from a Jewish Baking book. Lemme run over to the Library to see which one. Okay it's called "Secrets of a Jewish Baker". Hands down it has the best pizza dough I've ever tasted out of a home recipe using a real oven. My favorite still is "mafia style" pizza but I don't have a brick oven that goes to 700-900°F.. Ever since hubby got that new stand mixer he's been very happy to bake again since everyone knows how tiring making your own dough can be over an extended period of time. The bigger the batch as well the more it takes from you. This recipe does 3 pizzas.

Leftovers from Tokyo Mandarin - Seafood Yaki Udon

Over the weekend we went with friends to eat at our favorite Japanese Food restaurant - Tokyo Mandarin (Chinese/Japanese food heaven). I wanted to try out something different this time but still have a slice of what I like normally.. I mean.. I was sooooooooo created for the Buffet it's not even funny.. Hubby laughs at how much I like "a taste" of something and I take a bite from his plate... of course proceeds to laugh at me as I go to a buffet and eat 1 thing off each container so I can try it all.. At least I don't get sick like he does so there! P.S. his sesame beef was fantabuloso...

Leftovers from Tokyo Mandarin - Chicken Tempura Rolls

As you can see from the menu - I tried something new and something old :) New was the Seafood Yaki Udon (and to think THIS was my leftovers.. the plate was HUGE!!).. It also came with my favorite salad (Tokyo salad which is tossed lettuce with carrots, cucumber and tomato (I take out the tomato) in a light orange ginger dressing that's actually pretty sweet and not hot at all! Other restaurants versions are much more "ginger".. (to quote Andrea's brother John.. "In an F' you Italy kind of way".. ). I ate my gyoza as well.. sorry... I had to.. and even ordered my favorite Chicken Tempura Rolls (believe it or not out of all the restaurants they have associated with this franchise.. the one I go to is the ONLY restaurant to offer this and also has the largest menu to pick from). I knew I was doggie bagging most of this so I just ordered it all.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - Growing up Rican

Map of Puerto Rico - all following ©unknown.. I got them from Google.com

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I'm first generation "American". I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My parents from Puerto Rico (Mom from the Mayagüez area (West of the Island) and Dad from Juncos (East side of the Island (just east of Caguas on the map). I went to school in Caguas (11th grade) during my parents divorce back in the late 1980's. Although I grew up here.. I was still firmly entrenched in the Puerto Rican culture. For all intents and purposes I thought I grew up "normal American". It's only after years of comparison with other people who grew up in this country did I realize how different I grew up. Everything from what I listened to in music, to ate every day for food. Even our living arrangements were strange. I've moved 22 times in my life.. not too far but still moved a lot. During those times it was with 3 generations living at home. My Mom's Mom (whom we always call Mamá - maternal grandmothers are giving that name while paternal grandmother's are given "Abuela" - which literally means "grandmother") lived with us during the late spring - early Fall every year. It was during the colder months where she'd run back to my other Aunt's house in Puerto Rico since she just could not tolerate the winter months anymore. During those times she lived with us she shaped a lot of what I know today as my "style" of cooking.

A painting on the side of a building "HERE we sell PORK 100% from the "country" or to say homegrown or even "island bred". And yes they mean the WHOLE pork on a spit..

My Grandmom raised my sisters and I VERY different from my Mom. Without going into extreme detail she changed how she viewed children in the kitchen. In Puerto Rico you have only one person in the kitchen (unless it's a large holiday gathering and you need the manpower to create so many meals).. Unless you wanted to get hacked by a machete.. you did not go into the woman's realm... Unfortunately, Mom didn't get the benefit of learning from her Mom how to cook and since she was on her own very early in her life she had to learn almost painfully. If ya know me by now.. I'm inquisitive.. well I was just like that as a kid. Half the time I swear Mamá was just keeping me in the kitchen just so I won't get in trouble outside beating up kids.. From there I learned a lot about Puerto Rican Cuisine and Spanish Cuisine (Mamá is Spaniard). She was the mother of all inventions. We grew up dirt poor and had to improvise a LOT to get food on the table. I learned how to improvise with 3 things in the pantry LOL. As any good Puerto Rican family though.. we always had rice. And.. even though we lived in the inner city.. we always had some sort of garden. Lord help us if we couldn't get sofrito done.. the world would end..

Long live mangoes.. food of the Gods I swear... Fruit is a huge part of our diet

My oldest sister also had a very large role in my life when it came to not only cooking but even upbringing. Mom always came home late so it was my sisters who raised me during the months Mamá was on the Island. Dad was the disciplinarian.. we didn't exactly get along all that hot. He did however make sure we knew how to cook. You would know a man's wrath if the man doesn't have his rice and beans.. Being by far the youngest (I'm 7 years younger than my oldest sis and 3 1/2 years younger than my middle sis) I benefited not only education wise (my sisters taught me everything they learned in school so I could read and write (in 2 languages) by the age of 3) and taught me how to cook (by the age of 4 on my own). Going back and forth from the US to Puerto Rico (we visited a LOT.. it's sorta a Rican tradition.. even if we didn't have the money... we HAD to go back to the Island.. almost like getting air to breathe long enough to go back to the US and hold our breath).

Pasteles (recipe here).. pain in the nards to make.. usually people do this as a massive Christmas-time project.. imagine 40 people (including kids) making several hundred of these.. mmmmmmm I love them.

Food in Puerto Rico is a form of social networking. People practically judge how good of a host you are by the amount of food you serve... and trust me we are not talking about chips and salsa and a glass of water.. we are talking about full course meals. Not hungry? THEY DON'T CARE! Anyway.. food holidays.. nothing and I mean absolutely nothing beats the Christmas Holidays. We don't even celebrate Thanksgiving.. that's a speed bump to Christmas. The first time I ate a "Thanksgiving turkey" was over a "white person's house" when I was a teenager. I didn't even know what Roasted turkey tasted like until I had that meal (and I thought I died and went to heaven.. though I admit.. I hate cranberry sauce..). What is common in Puerto Rico from about Thanksgiving all the way to Three Kings Day is something called Parrandas. Unlike what the wiki says.. it's an all out excuse for partying in the wee hours of the morning with neighbors. How it works is that a group of people carrying musical instruments go to a house (not designated.. they decide that night) and camp out in front of that house singing songs that kinda go "WAKE UP AND MAKE ME FOOD" and in return they will serenade you. If you did this in the USA.. you'd be promptly shot and the Police called for disruption of the peace.. most of this stuff starts around 10PM and can go on to 4-5 AM (depending on how many people fell asleep from the liquor and over eating)...

Minus the beans I'd totally go for this.. (L-R), Pastelillos (IMO doughier than an empanada), Rice and Beans (red kidney beans), tossed salad and .. I think that's stuffed peppers of some kind. Definitely a meat mixture on something..

Cooking during the holidays was a lot of work. Between all the unexpected guests (the idea of R.S.V.P. is so foreign to them.. knocking on your door is R.S.V.P. to them.. seriously..) and the expected parranda drop in .. many people on the Island did most of their cooking in advance. Doing Pasteles was a big chore so when people came over the head women in the household would take advantage and put EVERYONE to work. Make the men go out and climb trees to get the banana leaves and have the kids grind the plantains for the base of the patty. Everyone else was dicing ingredients or cooking the mixture or finding someplace to assemble the whole friggin' thing.

Couldn't find a wiki thing for this.. but it's meat stuffed ripened plaintains (platanos madúros).. mmmm...

Baking was always left to the professionals. I don't ever remember anyone outright using an oven for cooking (usually it was storage for all the pots you couldn't find a spot for earlier..).. There were the panaderías (bread bakeries) and the pastelerías (pastry bakeries). Each had their own clientele but man EVERYONE used a panadería. Funny story.. whenever anyone who now lives in the USA goes "home" we all go from the airport to some bakery.. for bread.. a whole friggin' loaf of bread. It reminds us of French Bread but a whoooooooooole lot better. My Aunt (Dad's sister - the one I lived with) finally had enough of the mystery and in exasperation asked "wtf is up with the bread you friggin' Yankees.. you don't HAVE bread in your country???".. (obviously paraphrased :p ) and we'd all go "nope not like this".. we finally figured out. it's a different yeast.. the outside is this really thin crunchy coat and the inside is so soft it melts in your mouth.. Dad would just haul out and get a loaf for him and me with just a little bit if melted butter in it. We'd eat it in the car from the airport :) My uncle always got a loaf of bread daily from the bakery.. when I lived there.. they had to get 2 loaves.. I was quite the hog.. what did I use it for? SANGUICHES....

THIS is a sanguich.. a wha??? Sandwich.. yep.. Friggin' ricans have to americanize words.. this I think is a simple ham and cheese sanguich (check out the bread.. THAT is the loaf I'm talking about..) I made sandwiches of everything if I could.. still do..

Religion also has a funny way of getting into food :p I grew up evangelical Christian but when I lived with my Aunt she was Roman Catholic. They had fundraisers for everything and I swear everything was always a food sale. No one did bake sales.. they did food. One of the things they sold were Pastelillos.. I've mentioned them before.. but they are to die for.. Empanadas are altogether different.. the picture below is an actual Pastelillo..

I haven't had a REAL pastelillo of these in about.. hmm.. 15 years? Oh I miss these so...

When I did fundraising events in this country I'd laugh because I'd inevitably run into another Rican and we'd smile.. both going "we'd make a killing if we can make this into a bacalaito (fritters made with codfish pieces) sale" LMAO THAT was a typical cheap dish to make and sell for fundraisers on the island. Fish in general is big in Puerto Rico.. after all it's an island only 100 miles by 30 miles.. that's a lot of coastline..

Parting dish.. I .. love. Tostones......

All in all despite my unhappy childhood I do cherish a LOT of wonderful memories when it comes to food. Food done right or with a group of family members all chatting is like comfort to me. These days living alone while hubby works I think of what I can do to relive those moments. Even here some of my happy moments are cooking with hubby. He's a fantastic cook and I learn a lot from him. Lately I've been finding more and more recipes that remind me of my upbringing. Being a good husband he eats everything :) I like that.