Knives

So many times have I been at a friend's house and decided to whip something up and BAM there I am faced with a dull knife, with no way to sharpen it. This is huge hazard in the kitchen. With a dull knife you have a better chance of cutting yourself then a with a sharp knife. I like to keep a ceramic knife sharpener in my house, its easy to use and sharpens my knives well. If you don't feel comfortable sharpening your own knives, most butchers will sharpen them for you. All you have to do is wrap them up in a towel and drop them off at the butcher as you do your grocery shopping.

Not only does a dull knife hinder a job in the kitchen, but so does having the wrong knife for the job. For example if I need to peel a apple I need a paring not a huge chef knife. If I want to chop veggies I don't need a paring knife I need a chef or santoku knife. I personally have several knives that I keep in my kitchen, a large chef knife, santoku, cleaver and paring knife.

Now that we've covered knives, we need to work on knife skills. Cutting yourself sucks, trust me I've gotten myself good before. One needs to have decent knife skills and can't be intimidated by holding a knife. Here is tutorial that can help you with basic knife skills if needed Basic Knife Skills Video

Hope this helps! Thanks for reading.

Best Damn Breakfast Sammie (that I've made in a long time)

This sammie was so darn good, once again simple food made me do the happy dance around my kitchen, I have yet to come up with a name for it but I think I just may have to make it for my husband on valentines day just to show him through a breakfast sammie how much I adore him... That kinda' reminds me of the scene from Lady and the Tramp with the whole meatball thing. Anyway, you have to try this. If you don't then you just plain ol' hate Amuuurica!

Ingredients:

• 2 English muffins or you can check out these nifty sandwich thins I love 
• 2 eggs 
• 1/2 cup of sweet yellow onion sliced thin
• 2 slices of good ham 
• 2 tsp of the glorious roasted garlic aioli
• 1 tsp olive oil
• pinch of good salt
• pepper to taste

 

In a med low heat with a tsp of olive oil add onion, salt and pepper.

Lower heat and cook onions until caramelized, be careful not to burn these babies or they'll just taste bitter

When the onions are done move them to the side of the pan to keep warm and place ham in the pan to brown.

When ham is browned on both sides, top them with the caramelized onions. If I could have cheese I would melt a slice of really good gouda on here, better yet good goat cheese...

In a egg pan cook eggs anyway you please, we happen to like ours sunny side up or over easy. Meanwhile toast your muffins (lol I know what I just said)

When the bread is toasted spread the garlic aioli on both sides.

 

Place the ham topped with onion on top, then the egg. There you have it folks.

Provecho!

Roasted Garlic Aioli

This mayonnaise aioli is a fabulous addition to sammies, I mean come on it has ROASTED GARLIC! Its so simple to make and you can use it on a plethora of things. For example I have a breakfast sammie I will post that I use it on and it makes me want to do the happy dance every time I have one of those puppies. It can be used as a dipping sauce for fries. You can top fish with it... Are you getting my point? I think you are. Just make it and make a simple turkey sammie with it and I promise you, that you will do a happy dance too.

Ingredients:

• 1 head of roasted garlic
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tsp of lemon or lime juice
• couple dashes of hot sauce
• pinch of salt

1. Add all ingredients in a mini food processor or you can mash the garlic very well with a fork then add the rest of the ingredients and blend well.

This stuff is so good it will make you want to smack yo' mama.

Enjoy y'all!

Fish Tacos

There are so many varieties of fish tacos. I've had them fried, grilled, and pan fried. Served with a creamy dressing, or vinegar dressing. Dressed with cabbage or simply pico de gallo. I personally like them seared on the stove and finished in the oven. Reason being is that I prefer my tacos to be non greasy, I also like them with pineapple salsa and diced avocado. The sky's the limit here.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of a mild white fish such as cod, tilapia, mahi mahi or flounder
• package of fresh corn tortillas (usually there is 12 in a pack)
• 1/2 tsp of cumin
• 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp of chili powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2-3 cloves of garlic minced
• pepper to taste
• pinch of kosher salt
• zest of one lime 
• juice of half a lime
• 1 tbs. of olive oil

1. preheat the oven to 375

1. mix all ingredients except for the fish and tortillas in a bowl and make a loose paste

1. spread the mixture over the fish and allow to marinate for at least 30 mins

1. heat a pan to med. add a tsp of olive oil and add the fillets.
2. once you are able to lift the fish without it sticking to the pan, flip and transfer to the oven and cook until done 7-10 mins
3. as fish is finishing in the oven warm tortillas in a dry pan over med heat and place in a towel to keep warm.
4. when fish is finished flake into large chunks and serve with your favorite additions.

 

Here I have served with pineapple salsa, avocado and lime juice. 

Provecho!

Roasted Garlic

Roasted garlic is simply the food of the Gods. Maybe its my Korean heritage that makes me love it so much. Now a days you can find garlic in so many different forms. I personally like to buy fresh already peeled cloves. I use so much garlic in everyday cooking it just makes my life that much easier. I don't like the pre-chopped garlic because its jarred with preservatives

I love roasting garlic because of its versatility. Once garlic is roasted its very easily spreadable, you can spread it across toast or crackers, mix with goat cheese or top any other cheese you like. Mix it into spreads and sauces. How about this one, you can cook a filet to about rare, then top with roasted garlic and place the filet under a broiler to finish. As you can see the possibilities are endless.

Ingredients:

• Handful of pre-peeled garlic cloves
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• Good pinch of good salt
• Pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1. In a small baking dish lined with aluminum foil add garlic

1. Add oil, salt and pepper 

 

1. This is important, close the foil into a little pouch like this, make sure its a little vented so the steam can evaporate out. Roast for 45mins to 1 hour.

Roasted garlic can last a week if placed in a airtight container in the fridge. Try it in the Roasted Garlic Aioli recipe that I have posted on my blog under the "Sauces and Salsas" category.

Pineapple Salsa

I've had many variants of this salsa. But the best pineapple salsa I ever had was in Mexico made by Guillermo, the best friend to a photographer I know. Guillermo told me he learned how to make this sweet, tangy and spicy salsa while in the Yucatan. God bless you Guillermo for teaching me how to make this. His version is a bit different than mine, he added the juice of several limes. I thought hey that's a lot of acid, and decided to add the zest to get the flavor of the lime and make the salsa less acidic.

I love to make this salsa to go with carnitas or pork tacos. Most of all I love it with fish or shrimp tacos. Its even tasty with just plain tortilla chips and give guacamole a zing when you mix this in with the avocado instead of Pico de Gallo which I'll show how to make in the near future.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a fresh pineapple chopped into bite sized pieces with juice.
• 1/2 cup of cilantro chopped or more depending on your tastes.
• Juice of one lime.
• Zest if one lime.
• Small red onion diced.
• 1/2 to 1 whole jalapeno or 1-2 serrano peppers depending on the desired heat.
• A good pinch of Kosher salt

Now all you have to do is mix all of this into a bowl and  set aside in the refrigerator.  There you have it. Simple and delish!

 

Pineapple, cilantro, red onion, jalapeno in a bowl

 

I zest my citrus fruit on a micro plain, once you zest the fruit, juice it and add salt to taste.

 
 

Salsa de pina! Provecho!

Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

I guess my husband knows me as the queen of lettuce wraps. I make so many different kinds. Hopefully I'll show you the many possibilities of this simple yet so freakin' delicious treat. Shrimp was on sale this week, so I picked up a bag of raw 50 counts. Today I decided what the hell, we love these suckers, lets have them.

Ingredients:

• 25 med raw shrimp peeled, deveined, and chopped.
• 1 head of Boston Bib or Butter lettuce
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 tbs of ginger minced
• 1/2 cup of Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce divided into half
• 1 tbs of Saracha (rooster sauce) 
• 1/4 cup of red onion sliced thin
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup of rice vinegar 
• 1/2 cup cilantro roughly chopped

1. Combine rice vinegar, salt, sugar and onion in a small bowl and set aside
2. Wash and drain lettuce leaves whole

1. in a pan on med heat add a tsp of olive oil and add garlic and ginger until fragrant. 

 

1. Add 1/4 cup of the Mae Ploy and reduce.

 

1. Next add the shrimp and the rest of the chili sauce and the saracha. Cook until the shrimp begin to turn pink. This should take 5-7 mins. be careful not to overcook them or they will turn out rubbery. 

 

1. Assemble the wraps and enjoy. I place all the item in bowls in the middle of the table and allow folks to add what they want and don't want into their wrap. Hope you enjoy it!