Fried Calamari

Calamari or squid is a famous Italian seafood dish, and it is served as an appetizer in most Italian restaurants. The Italian cuisine is loved worldwide when it comes with wine and seafood. With utmost admiration, I like to watch Italian chefs prepare their dishes with talent and love. Fried calamari is one of my favorites, and finally I will share its recipe in my blog with the easiest method, but still with tasty results. Because I am not a professional cook, I like to choose easy methods to prepare even famous recipes from any cuisine. I believe a simplified recipe will encourage more young cooks and especially college students to learn how to make their own meals. As a result, I have developed many recipes after studying many cooking blogs or with professional cooks over the years to get the recipes that are less complicated and take a minimum of time spent in the kitchen. Today, this recipe is one of them.

Ingredients:

16 oz. squid rings (sold in most Asian markets)

½ cup of all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 tsp total of dried parsley and oregano

1/2 tsp salt, black pepper

1 cup oil

Marinara sauce ingredients:

14.5 oz. tomato stew

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 dried chilies. chopped

1/4 cup chopped white onions

2 tbsp olive oil

A lot of basil

Directions:

Combine and mix well the flour with dried parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl.

Place squid rings in a Ziploc bag with the flour mixture and shake well.

Heat oil in a pan or Fry Daddy. Add squid a few at a time (but don’t overcrowd). Fry squid until golden brown. Serve with marinara sauce (see directions below*) or simply place 

lemon slices on the side with mayonnaise sauce.

*Marinara sauce directions:

In a saucepan with a lid, heat oil and sauté the garlic, chilies, and onions until fragrant.

 Add tomato stew into halfway covered pan and bring to boil and then simmer.

 Season with salt and some sugar to your liking (stirring occasionally). Add fresh basil when done; sauce preparation takes about 40 to 50 minutes.

Vietnamese Skewered,Grilled Chicken

Chicken skewers are popular as a snack food selling on the streets in Vietnam. If people travel to other countries like Thailand, Singapore, or Indian, this dish is most popular to them, as well. There are many recipes to create this dish. Pork or beef are good substitutes for chicken.  However, I eat a healthy diet so chicken is my choice and the marinade that I share here is easy to prepare and is to die for. Even though there is a long list of the ingredients, most of the spices are easy to find. This dish also can be baked in the oven or grilled over a stovetop without using the skewers.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

Marinade ingredients:

1 tbs chopped lemongrass

1 garlic clove, minced

1 shallot, minced

1 tsp galangal powder*

1/2 tsp coriander powder*

1/4 tsp clove powder*

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tbs honey

1 tbs soy sauce

1/8 tsp chili flakes

1 tsp sugar

2 tbs olive oil

Other items:

10 skewers soaked in water for a few hours

Directions:

Wash chicken breasts and slice into strips (see photo below).

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl and add the sliced chicken breasts to the sauce. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for few hours or overnight.

Insert skewers through the chicken slices and grill until the chicken slices are tender; turn chicken slices during grilling (about 3 minutes on each side).

Serve with Vietnamese sweet dipping sauce on the side with carrot-daikon pickles.

*Note – you can purchase galangal powder, coriander powder, and clove powder, but if you buy  coriander seeds, and clove seeds and powder them yourself to save money.

Easy Green Curry Dish with Chicken and Eggplant

Curry is one of my favorites. The green curry paste selling in supermarkets will make this dish much easier to prepare. In just a few steps, dinner is served.

Ingredients:

1 large chicken breast, sliced

2 cups eggplant

1 can coconut milk (13.5oz)

Spice ingredients:

1 tbs green curry paste

1/4 cup coconut milk from the can of coconut milk above

1/2 cup white onion, chopped

1 tbs coconut oil

Seasoning ingredients:

1 tbs fish sauce

1 tbs honey

1 tsp salt

Others:

Basil, chopped cilantro, and green onions

Carrot, sliced (optional)

Directions:

Heat oil in a medium sauté pan. Cook all the spice ingredients until fragrant (about 2 minutes).

 Add chicken and coconut milk. Bring to boil. Season with fish sauce, salt, and honey or sugar.

 Cook for 10 minutes, then add eggplant.

 Cook for another 5 minutes. Sprinkle with basil, cilantro, and green onions. Serve with rice or bread.

Easy Shrimp Fried Rice

In the South-East Asian cuisine. the delicious, complementary and easy to implement dish is fried rice, especially with shrimp. I always make this dish when there is some day-old rice left in the refrigerator and using some eggs and shrimp, which makes it a great choice for a weekend quick meal. In this recipe, I will add lemongrass, because lemongrass will enhance the flavor of this fried rice and contribute to our health because recent studies show that lemongrass is a great choice to fight cancer. Eating healthy daily contributes to the immune system.

Ingredients:

4 cups day-old cooked rice

3 eggs beaten

1/2 lb. shrimp, shelled

1 cup total – mixed peas, corn, and carrots (the carrots diced)

1 cup bean sprouts

3 green onions (scallions), separate the white and the green, chopped

¼ cup white onion, chopped

2 tbs peanut oil

Spices:

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tbs finely chopped lemongrass

1 shallot, minced

Seasonings:

Salt and sugar, ½ tsp each

1/4 tsp black pepper, and chili flakes

1 tbs soy sauce

Directions
Bring a pot of water to boil. Add pea, corn and carrots. Blanch them for one minute and drain

Heat oil in a wok add chopped green onions (the white part), lemongrass, garlic and shallot. Stir and cook until fragrant.

 Add eggs and stir  until just set.

 Add shrimp and cook until just turn pink. 

Add rice. Blanch quickly the peas, corn and diced carrots in boiling water and drain the peas, corn, and diced carrots mixture. Season the rice at this time; Add bean sprouts and chopped green onions at the last minute, if using, and make a quick stir to combine. 

Serve with some chopped cilantro on top.

Tofu Stew with Root Vegetables

Many Vietnamese people will already know this dish if they are the Buddhists. This dish is regularly on the tables of Buddhist Temples every full moon celebration. For healthy living lifestyles, this dish must be in each family meal. All the root vegetables, such as daikon, carrot, kohlrabi, and bamboo shoots. because they add so many vitamins that are needed for the body to function well. I like to add the eggplant to this recipe to join in with this group of vegetables. The very light sauce cooked with coconut water will result in a sweeter taste for this recipe. I hope this recipe will make all the vegetarians happy and healthy.

Ingredients:

Root vegetables:*

Daikon, carrot, kohlrabi, and squash.

Other ingredients:

Fried tofu 12 oz.

Eggplant**

Long beans***

Cabbage***

Garlic-ginger paste

Chili flakes

Oil for stir-frying

Stew sauce ingredients:

12 oz. coconut water

1 tsp miso paste

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp salt

1 tsp mushroom seasoning

1 tbs honey

1 tsp blackstrap molasses

Directions:

Combine the stew sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Peel and cut the root vegetables into bite-size pieces (about 1 ½ inch cubes or your choice).

You can buy ready-fried tofu at an Asian supermarket; if not available, just use some oil and cut the tofu into cubes and deep-fry them until golden brown.

Cut eggplant into bite size pieces.

Cut cabbage into bite size pieces.

Cut long beans (about 2 inch lengths).

In a large pot, heat 1/4 cup oil. Stir in garlic-ginger paste and chili flakes (stir for 30 seconds or until fragrant). 

Stir in all the root vegetables. Cook vegetables for 3 minutes and add the stew sauce.

Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until all the root vegetables are halfway cooked; then add tofu, eggplant, and long beans. Adjust the seasoning at this point with salt.

 Add cabbage a few minutes before cooking is completed. The final result for this dish is that all the vegetables are cooked and tender, not mushy.

*All the root vegetables combined should be about 4 cups total.

**Use half of the eggplant.

***1 cup cabbage, and 1/2 cup long beans. Throw in a few mushrooms if you like. This is a free style recipe. Choose whatever vegetable and how many vegetables you desire into this dish.

Gluten-Free Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chips Cookies

One night, I watched a YouTube clip from the Irish chef, Bolder Baker. She introduced her 3 ingredients cookies.  I like this recipe because it is easy and healthy. It also gave me an idea to come up with my own recipe to share with all my blog followers. This recipe is another way to use all the ripened bananas and to combine with other healthy ingredients, such as coconut oil, sesame seeds, and eggs. This is to me a healthy breakfast to replace a boring oatmeal congee. The chocolate chips can be melted and drizzled over the cookies when they are done or mixed together with the batter. Here it is.

Ingredients:
2 cups oatmeal
2 bananas, mashed
1 egg
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs sesame seeds (optional)
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbs coconut oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Grease the baking sheet with coconut oil.
Combine all ingredients well.
Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, place each scoop or spoon full of batter about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

A Cup And Coffee

A group of highly established alumni got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation among them soon turned into complaints about their stressful work and life. The professor went to his kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups, including porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive and some exquisite. The professor told them to help themselves to the coffee. After all the students had a cup of coffee in their hands, the professor said: “ Did you notice all the nice looking cups are taken and only the plain inexpensive ones are left behind. While it is normal for everyone to want the best for themselves, but that is the source of problems and stress in your life. “ “ The cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most of the cases, it’s just more expensive and hides what we drink.”, the professor continued. “What  all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but all of you consciously went for good looking expensive cups and then began eyeing on each other’ s cups.” “Let’s consider that life is the coffee and the jobs, houses, cars, things, money and position are the cups.  The type of cup we have, does not define or change the quality of our lives.” MORAL:  Sometimes we fail to enjoy the coffee by concentrating only on the cup we have. Being happy doesn’t mean everything’s around you is perfect. It means you’ve decided to see beyond the imperfections and find peace. And the peace lies within you, not in your career, jobs, or the houses you have. Source: Spiritual Short Stories