Aloo Gobi Burritos:

Indian Grub, food Truck Style

My company recently did an event on Treasure Island in San Francisco. We were a vendor amongst many other vendors out to promote our company and meet potential customers. It makes for a pretty long weekend standing on the asphalt for two days straight in the sun and talking to hundreds of people. That feeling of being "on" for several hours at a time can wear a guy down. But it's business and we do what we gotta do. Besides that, it actually was pretty fun and interesting. We met some really cool people from all over, we learned a lot about the island, and we ate some pretty awesome food.

I'm kind of a down-home, back road, greasy spoon, mom and pop type of dude. So when the food truck craze started a few years back, I took to it like baby duck hitting the pond for the first time. I was ready. I was pre-conditioned. It was pure instinct. Luckily, I have one those stomachs that isn't adverse to a little food borne bacteria. The fact of the matter is that I've eaten some pretty rank shit out of some very questionable food trucks in my day and came out smiling and looking for more. I've paid my dues.  

I come from the era where if you ate a taco off of one of these rolling cesspools, you'd better plan on an afternoon on the porcelain throne doing a lot of paperwork. But there were always the diehards. The dudes that loved those tacos so much that they sacrificed their very own health just for that flavor. An assumed risk, as it were. They pressed on in the face of adversity. There are those that have survived Everest. And there are those who have survived, at the time, largely unregulated food truck cuisine. I was one of those dudes. That's where I developed my roach coach chops. It was like a boot camp for my immune system. It has helped mold me into the man I am today. 

Oh, but times have changed. Now food trucks are a dime a dozen. And because of the fierce competition, their street cred is everything. I'll say it again...everything. Your food better be top notch (especially at $9 a burrito, you treacherous bastards) and you better not have your customers doing too much paperwork. Nobody likes paperwork. Prime example: there was a buzz going around the event to stay away from a particular truck, who shall remain nameless, because the last time, several people got sick and had to go to the hospital. It had even found it's way into the Yelp reviews. Done. Street cred set back to zero.

That being said, the modern day street grub is much safer than it was back when I was eating mystery meat burritos off the plain white truck in the middle of a, shall we say, less than desirable neighborhood.  And on this particular occasion, I had the pleasure of having a aloo gobi burrito. I was instantly aflutter. You might even say giddy. I giggled like a school girl until I realized I was in close proximity to other people at which point I fake coughed and pretended I had something in my throat. I knew I had to do it myself. And so I did. Please enjoy.... 

Tip: Practice "mise en place" with this recipe as the first part goes quickly. Having all your ingredients prepped and ready to go prior to cooking will save you from the possibility of burning you ingredients/spices.  

Tip: This dish isn't traditionally served as a burrito. So don't feel obligated to put it in a tortilla. It's just as good by itself. 

Tip: This one has a little bit of a kick. If you don't like too much heat, cut back on the serranos and cayenne.  

Aloo Gobi Burritos

Ingredients: 

• 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 inch of ginger, finely minced or grated
• 2 Tbsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/3 cup water
• 6 Tbsps peanut oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp hing (Asafoetida)
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 small serrano peppers (chopped)
• 1/2 large or 1 small cauliflower, cut into small florets
• 4 medium potatoes, diced
• 1 Tbsp salt (or to taste)
• 2 tsp mango powder (amchoor)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves (from about 6 sprigs)
• 5 large burrito sized tortillas

Preparation:

1. Combine the garlic, ginger, coriander, turmeric, cayenne pepper and water in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside. 
  

2. Heat the oil in a dutch oven over a medium high heat until the oil is shimmering. Toss a cumin seed in. If is sizzles, it's hot enough. Then add the cumin seeds and hing. Stir for a minute until the seeds begin to slightly darken. 

3. Now add the bay leaves and the peppers. Stir for a minute and then add the spice/water mixture. Continue to stir until the oil and spice begin to separate, about one minute. 

3. Add in the cauliflower, potatoes, salt and a 1/4 cup of water. Stir to coat the cauliflower and potatoes. 

4. Lower the heat to medium and cover the pot. Let it cook for 15-20 minutes making sure to stir every 3-4 minutes.  If it gets too dry, just add water to prevent burning. Keep in mind this isn't a "saucy" recipe. It's supposed to be moist but not in a sauce.   

4. Finally, add the amchoor powder and the cilantro and stir to combine. Let stand for a few minutes for the amchoor to combine.

5. Heat a tortilla until it's nice and warm and pliable. Fill with 1/4 of the aloo gobi and wrap like a burrito. Repeat to make all 4 burritos.


Serves: 5 

  

Crispy Fried Onions:

Or Whatever They're Called

If you search for fried onions online, a bunch of recipes come up with different names. After sifting through several of them, I came to the realization that they are essentially all the same thing. Fried onions, crispy fried onions, french fried onions, onion strings, deep fried onions......and the list goes on. Call them what you will. I call them delicious.   

The great thing about these little delights is that they can be used for a number of different things. You can use them to top a green bean casserole, on top of a wedge salad, or just to eat all by themselves with some ranch dressing or ketchup. 

My inspiration for wanting to make these came rather recently. Lately, I've been on about this wedge salad I had that I fell in love with. But I've made these to go as a side with a nice fresh veggie sandwich. I love a good cold and crisp veggie sandwich on toasted bread. Think BLT without the B. But instead maybe some avocado and cucumber. Put that on a plate with some of these and you, my friend, are good to go!  

This recipe is basically the same as this one but with some minor changes. It comes The Pioneer Woman. I dig her recipes. 

Crispy Fried Onions


Ingredients: 

• 1 white or yellow onion
• 1-2 cups buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 1 quart peanut oil (or other veggie oil, I just prefer peanut oil)

Preparation: 

1. Peel and slice the onion into 1/4 inch rings. 

2. Place onion rings into a bowl and cover with buttermilk. Let set in the butter milk for 1 hour.

3. In another bowl, add the flour, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Stir with a fork to combine. 

4. In a pot, add the oil and, using a candy thermometer, bring to a temperature of 375°. Be careful not to go much higher than that. You'll burn your oil and burn your onions. 

5. Working in batches, use tongs to pull some of the onion rings (about 1/4 of them) from the buttermilk and shake off the excess buttermilk. Add them to the flour mixture and coat. Shake off the excess flour and drop them into your oil. Use your tongs to move the rings around in the oil to keep them from sticking together. 

6. Once golden brown, remove from the oil and place on a paper towel lined plate to drain excess oil. Continue with your remaining batches. 

Servings: Depends on your use. As a side, serves 2. If topping salads, serves 10.   

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing:

Simple and Delicious

I never was one to dip fries into ranch dressing. After all, I'm a card carrying ketchup fan (although that is slowly dying in me and for that I mourn). But there is a restaurant chain that I frequent that pretty much just brings ranch dressing with your fries and I gotta say, it's grown on me. And it's not like the kind you find in the bottle, which is fine I suppose, but the bottled ranch dressing never really grabbed me either. In fact, there isn't a bottled dressing out there that I truly love. I seem to have better luck making my own. 

With my new found love of fries dipped into ranch, I embarked on a mission to find a good ranch dressing recipe that would rival the ones I find in restaurants. And I did find one a while back that is really good, but in it's own "very tasty but not really authentic" kinda way. I do like it and I've used that recipe for a while now but it's more complicated than I think is necessary and it wasn't what I really wanted.  

Then a few weeks ago, my wife were out for a bit of lunch and the place we were eating at had a wedge salad on the menu. Now I know these things have been around for a while but some reason, I've never had one before. Why? I don't know, I just never did. I'm slow sometimes. Hell, I only realized three years ago that Led Zeppelin was a kickass band . So I ordered one of these things and I was instantly hooked.

I came home and searched online for recipes to make my own. Don't laugh. I get that it's pretty self explanatory by just looking at the thing but I looked anyway. I'm weird that way. But I'm glad I did because it inadvertently lead me to the inspiration for this recipe. 

I'm sure I don't have tell you that sometimes, simple is better, less is more, etc. And that is certainly the case here. This recipe is easy and quick and delicious.

This recipe was inspired by this one here.

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing


Ingredients: 

• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 5 Tbsp sour cream
• 6 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp chives, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• a few dashes of hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: 

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until well combined. 

Makes about 1 1/2 cups  

(Unstuffed) Vegetarian Bread Stuffing:

We're Vegetarians....There's Nothing To Stuff

Thanksgiving is upon us again my friends. It's always been a large part of my life. As much as I love and cherish my time with family this time of year, there is another huge motivator to love on this holiday. Food. Let's face it people. The food is the shining star this time of year. And I say with a devilish smile on face, family is the garnish. The biological side-dish, if you will. I know, I'm gonna catch hell for that one. (insert smiley face here)

Aside from my beloved little blog here, my lovely wife and I own a business that is food based. We cook constantly throughout the week and during the months of November and December, we are at our busiest. Busy like triple-the-business busy. So last year, we decided not to make a Thanksgiving meal for ourselves because we are slammed every day for at least two weeks prior to the holiday. Come the actual holiday, the last we wanted to do was cook. 

So we decided to go to a local casino that has this crazy huge Thanksgiving spread every year. Was I expecting the world? No. I was expecting casino food. But I've been to the buffet before and it wasn't half bad for the price. So we thought, what the hell. It's open, easy, thoughtless and hopefully somewhat decent. We are wrong. 

It was $30 smackers to even walk in the door and that's after an hour wait. The youngest person ahead of us was at least 300 years old. We were drowning amongst a slow motion sea of blue hair. You could literally smell the osteoporosis in the air. I know, I'm gonna catch hell for that one. (insert smiley face here) 

One truly golden moment of the night was, while we were standing in line waiting to get in, we watched this very elderly woman take about 6 pieces of prefab crap cake and, very slowly and very carefully, wrap each piece individually in napkins and place them in her purse. As most of you know, you're not supposed to take food out of an all-you-can-eat buffet. But she was straight-up gangster about it and did it right in front of the employees and managers. They all stopped and looked at her and you could see a few of them start to move toward her to tell her she can't do that but every single one them stopped and just walked away shaking their heads.  

So we finally got to the front of the line, paid our way in, grabbed our plates, and began the initial cruise. If you've ever been to a buffet, it's the preliminary pass you make to survey the food offerings prior to committing to any actual food. Obviously, you have the Thanksgiving fare just because it's that holiday but it's a casino. So that means you also have the Italian section, the Mexican section, and the Asian section. Nothin' like a little refried beans and sushi to go with my cranberry sauce.

Now, I assume that there have been extensive studies regarding the demographics as far as casino Thanksgiving spreads are concerned. Or maybe the dingleberry that planned this menu just didn't care.

I could lay the heartbreak down section by section but it would be pure folly. I'll just say this: After a few passes, it became painfully obvious to me that the only thing on this 150 foot buffet that we could eat was mashed potatoes (without gravy), fruit salad, and prefabricated crap desserts. Let me say it again: $60 dollars (per couple) for mashed potatoes (without gravy), fruit salad, and prefabricated crap desserts. 

Never again. 

This Thanksgiving holiday as well as all future Thanksgivings will be filthy with homemade vegetarian friendly grub. This I say with pure conviction. The first Thanksgiving-centric dish on this blog will be the stuffing. If you were to simply say "Thanksgiving" in my presence, the first thing that comes into my mind is stuffing. It's my favorite of all holiday options. So that's where I'll start....... 

This recipe was adapted from this one.

Tip: The recipe calls for unsalted butter and low sodium broth. If you use the salted kind, you will definitely want to adjust the amount of salt you add at the end. 

Vegetarian Bread Stuffing


Ingredients: 

• 1 pound french bread
• 8 Tbsp butter (preferably unsalted), divided
• 10 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 3 stalks of celery with leaves, halved lengthwise then sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 10 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves stripped from the stems
• 10 leaves of fresh sage, chopped
• 2 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3 Tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped

Preparation: 

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 13x9 baking dish and set aside.

2. Cut the bread in 3/4 inch cubes. Spread them evenly on 2 baking sheet. Toast the bread in the oven until the cubes are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer the toasted cubes to a large mixing bowl. 

3. Wash the mushrooms under cool water then dry them over a clean towel. Then cut them into bite-sized pieces. If they are small, halve them and if they are large, quarter them. 

4. In a large skillet, melt two tablespoons of the butter. Add the mushrooms and saute over a medium high heat for approximately 8 minutes until they are golden brown. 

5. Add the celery, onion, thyme, and two more tablespoons of butter. Stir frequently until the vegetables have softened, approximately 6 minutes.  

6. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter, the sage, and the vegetable broth. Season with the salt and pepper. 

7. Add half the veggie / broth mixture to the bread cubes and gently fold in to evenly distribute the liquid. Then add the remaining veggie / broth mixture and repeat. You want to fold gently so that the cubes don't disintegrate while at the same time making sure the liquid is evenly distributed throughout the bread stuffing.

8. Add the stuffing mixture to your greased baking dish and bake uncovered for about 40 minutes. Once done, allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. 


Makes: 6 to 8 servings

Charred Corn Salad with Basil, Onion, and Peppers:

Bringing My Grill Back

Corn.....What can I say about corn? Not a lot, unfortunately. I was trying to come up with something humorous to write but nothing really stuck out as funny. In fact, all my jokes were a bit too corny.....So I decided to abandon the "funny" angle. And not a moment too soon.

Instead, I decided to write about something that I miss about being a carnivore. Meat? Nope. I'm over it. I'm much happier with my vegetarianism. I relish it, really. That being said, the thing I miss about being a carnivore is the good ol' barbecue. Specifically, the atmosphere. The camaraderie. The dudes standing around the grill, sucking down cold ones, not saying anything particularly deep, burping and watching stuff burn on the grill while the girls sip wine spritzers in the shade and dish about cousin Sarah, the black sheep of the family, who, if you didn't already hear, is addicted to pain pills and bad boys. Ladies..stop that! Sarah may be a bit crazy but she's not an addict. (Disclaimer: All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental)

Not really sure why I have avoided my barbecue this last year and half. I just did. Not that it was difficult, I just didn't really know what to do with it. Which is a bummer because I have this kick-ass professional series gas grill (don't judge) with 5 burners pumping out 60,000 BTU's of heat. She's sat on my back patio in a state of arrested decay. Kind of a limbo for grills. I've even considered letting the ivy overtake her like some sort of leafy coral reef. Reclaimed by Mother Nature. 

However, I recently had some family over for the 4th of July. The ivy was cut away as Mother Nature got to see how defiant her child really was. And the grill was fired up so the family could grill their grillables. In the midst of it all, I stood there and watched my old friend in her new found glory doing what she always did so well. She delighted the family as if she'd never been gone. And to them, she'd hadn't. It was me that she'd become estranged. 

That's when it struck me. This is bullshit! It's time to get back behind the grill. It's time to enjoy that patio time with the outside speakers playing my jams while I grill my own sort of grillables. And when the dudes aren't looking, have me a 32 ounce plastic cup of wine spritzer. Okay, maybe Sarah needs to get off the junk after all. It was all Billy Sr.'s fault anyway. And did you know that Billy Jr. isn't even his?........But I digress. (See disclaimer at the end of paragraph two)

It is with great pleasure (to myself) that I announce my return to the grill has commenced. Coincidentally, I might add, with baby steps. No forethought, it's just the way the proverbial ball has opted to bounce. 

My baby step comes in the form of a side dish. But let me tell you, although this is a side dish, I almost ate the whole thing by myself in one sitting after I made it. There's a small Tupperware container of it left in the fridge but I suspect it'll be gone in about 10 minutes. This recipe is based loosely upon the version found in Bon Appetit. Hope you dig it. 

Charred Corn Salad with Basil, Onions and Peppers


Ingredients: 

• 6 ears of corn, husked
• 5 Tbsp olive olive oil, divided
• 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 medium red or green bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium jalapeno pepper, finely diced 
• 1/2 cup, loosely packed fresh basil leaves, cut chiffonade
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper

Preparation: 

1. Heat your grill to a medium high heat. Rub corn with 2 Tbsp of the olive oil. 

2. Grill corn, turning frequently, until corn is charred and cooked through. 10 to 12 minutes.

3. Remove the corn from the grill and set aside for a half hour to cool completely. 

4. Once the corn has cooled, cut the kernels from the cob into a large bowl. 

5. In a colander, rinse the onion under cold water for about 10 to 20 seconds. This mellows it's effect on the dish. Drain well. 

6. To the bowl of corn, mix in the onion, the remaining 3 Tbsp of oil, bell peppers, jalapeno pepper, basil, lime juice, and thyme. 

7. Finally, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Note:

This dish can be served at room temperature or cold. It's fantastic it either way.  

Chinese Fried Rice:

Meet My New Girlfriend, Her Name Is Maggi

When I eat at a Chinese restaurant, there are certain things that I look for that determine if I will go back. In my experience, the most difficult thing for these establishments to nail has always been fried rice. A lot of the time, the main dishes are pretty good and the chow mein is pretty good. But most of the time the rice is crap. 

From my perspective, fried rice is the most important component of any combo dish found at  a Chinese restaurant. And let me rant briefly in saying that a "combo plate" at ANY Chinese restaurant should consist of rice, chow mein, and a main dish. Not rice OR chow mein. Rice AND chow mein. Yes, I'm talking to you, generic Chinese restaurant owner!!! Both!!! It's like telling me I can either put salt or pepper on my dish but not both. It's doesn't make sense. A proper Chinese combo should have both. 

But who am I? Right? I am at the mercy of the proprietor. And so it shall be.   

I remember when I was in high school, there was Chinese hole in wall type place close by. It was about 4 blocks from my school so it was easy to get to for lunch. There were always lines of people trying to get to this place. Most likely that was partially because I was always in there at lunch time but mostly because the food kicked ass. It was an "open kitchen" style set up where you could see the chefs actually making the food. It wasn't anything intentional or fancy, it was mostly because that's was the way the building was set up structurally. 

I would always order a side of rice for lunch. I loved it with the egg, peas, carrots and scallions. From what I have been able to gather, this is not necessarily "authentic". But it's what you find pretty much across the board in standard American Chinese restaurants. So as far as I'm concerned, we can call it authentic American Chinese. It deserves that respect. 

The fried rice at this place, as with many others (but not the majority), had a distinct flavor profile that I could never quite put my finger on. I really loved it and I've searched the internet for years looking for this flavor. Then, one day, quite recently actually, I came across a dish that called for Maggi seasoning. I've seen this stuff around for years but never really had the occasion to buy it. But this other recipe I found called for it so I figured it was high time I just bought it and saw what the all hype was about. 

This is definitely huge part of that profile I've been looking for. This recipe is simple and it's fantastic. It is a hardcore staple in my (American) Chinese recipe collection and will remain there until I kidnap (temporarily) a Chinese chef and make him (or her) show me how to perfect that damn rice. Until then, this one will not only do, it'll be a hit.

Fried Rice


Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 Tbsp peanut oil, divided
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 Tbsp chili oil
• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
• 2 cups day old rice - refrigerator cold
• 1 Tbsp Maggi Seasoning or to taste 
• 1-2 green onions, sliced on a bias

Preparation: 

1. Heat 1/2 Tbsp of the peanut oil in a wok over a medium-high heat. 

2. While your oil is heating, scramble the eggs in a bowl. 

3. Once the wok is hot, add eggs and fry. Roll eggs around the wok to create a thin omelette.  Once done, remove omelette from wok and set aside. Use your spatula to chop the omelette into 1 inch chunks. 

4. Place remaining peanut oil along with the sesame and chili oils on the wok over a high heat. When oils and wok are hot, add the peas and carrots. Stir fry for about 2 minutes stirring constantly.

5. Add the rice and stir fry over the high heat, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. 

6. Add the Maggi Seasoning and continue to stir fry for another 2-3 minutes, again stirring constantly.

7. Add the eggs and green onions. Stir to combine and remove from heat. 

Serves: 4

Chinese Chow Mein: Mongolian BBQ Style

Chinese Chow Mein:

Mongolian BBQ Style

Back in my high school years, there was a Mongolian BBQ place smack dab in the middle of my old stomping grounds. It was place me and my buddies would go to frequently. It was a little hole in the wall a few blocks away from the shopping mall. If you didn't know it was there, you'd never know it was there. And the food was amazing. 

If you've never been to one of these places, let me paint you a picture. You go in and get a bowl. There is "buffet" of thinly sliced and frozen raw meats such as chicken, beef and lamb (I wasn't a vegetarian back then). Next to that, there's a choice a few kinds of chow mein noodles. Usually one thick noodle, think udon, and one thinner, think spaghetti. After that is an array of fresh veggies and sauces that you can choose from. You place what you  like from the buffet in your bowl and top it with a sauce or a combination of different sauces. Finally, you take your bowl of goodness to the grill cook. The cook dumps the bowl onto a large round grill and stir fries your concoction into sheer bliss.   

Some of these place are "all you can eat". Some, you only get one pass at the buffet. The place we went to was a "one pass" place. Now this is where it gets interesting. Our goal was always to get the biggest bang for our buck. The fact is, you can loosely pack some veggies and noodles in your bowl but the problem with that is by the time the guy grills the contents of your bowl, the veggies have reduced by half in size and what you thought your had in your bowl was nothing more than "amuse bouche". 

So here are me and my buddies in line at the buffet and after each addition to our bowls, we would put the bowl on the counter and get on top of it with our full body weight in order to pack it down as much as possible. By the time we got to the end of the line, there'd be a solid four pounds of everything in the bowl. And I mean solid. It was like a circular brick. All for $6 bucks? Sold!

Soon thereafter, school had let out for good, that little joint closed and life went on. I still see those little Mongolian places around town but somewhere, over the years, there was a disconnect. I don't know what it was but I haven't been in one of those places in 20+ years. Why? I can't figure it out. I loved that little place from back in the day. 

Fast forward to a month ago. I was going out to lunch with a friend and he suggested a Mongolian BBQ nearby. I thought why the heck not? I haven't had that kinda grub in ages. So we walk in the place. And, as I've just said, it's been a long time so I'm not sure if the Mongolian BBQ etiquette has changed over the last 20 years. Maybe it's acceptable for an 18 year old to do this sort of "packing of the bowl" (that's not a metaphor). But is it acceptable for a man in his 40's to do this sort of thing? Well, let me tell you friends and neighbors, that uncertainty was quickly squashed when I looked back at my buddy. His bowl was on the counter and he was actually giggling as he laid his full body weight on top of it, packing it down into the form of a circular brick..............It's such a relief to know some things never change. 

An hour later, I was there an a near catatonic state, belly over packed, wondering what the hell happened to last 20 years of my life. Where did I go wrong? What bad choices did I make that led to this Mongolian absence in my life? I may never know but it matters not. It's time to move forward in a world where I can jam my bowl and giggle all the while in the knowledge that it doesn't matter how old or how young you are, it's okay to employ your full body weight when creating your Mongolian masterpiece. Etiquette by damned!!

This recipe is adapted from a recipe I found on Rasa Malaysia. It's for a Mongolian beef recipe so it's actually quite different than what I have here. Basically, I took the "sauce" portion of the recipe and applied it to this dish. 

Keep in mind that this is a stir fry. You can add pretty much any veggie you like to your dish. The veggies I have listed below under "The Rest" are based on my personal preference. If you want to omit something and add something else, go for it. And do yourself a favor, go to a Mongolian BBQ place, giggle, pack a bowl, and be happy. 

 

Mongolian BBQ Style Chow Mein

Ingredients:

Stir Fry Sauce:

• 2 teaspoons vegetarian oyster sauce (find it at an Asian grocery store)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce (don't skip this)
• 3 dashes of white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Maggi seasoning
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic 

The Rest: 

• 3 ounces of dried chow mein noodles
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/2 tablespoon chili oil
• 2 cups cabbage, julienned
• 1 cup of broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup onion, julienned
• 1/2 cup carrot, small julienne (think matchstick) 
• 2 cups spinach, stemmed
• 3/4 cup bean spouts
• 1/2 cup cilantro, stemmed and chopped 
• 1 serrano pepper, thinly sliced into rings 
• 1/2 cup green onions, sliced on a bias

Preparation: 

To make the sauce:

1. Combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl. Mix until sugar is dissolved. I usually make this the night before and just let it sit in the fridge although this isn't required. I just find that sugar is usually completely dissolved when I do this.   

For the rest:

1. Cook you noodles per the package directions. Once done, drain and rinse under cold water. Set aside.

2. Add the peanut, sesame and chili oils to a wok and heat on high. When the oil has almost begun to smoke, add the cabbage, broccoli, and onion. Fry, stirring constantly for about a minute. 

3. Add the spinach, bean sprouts, cilantro, and serrano pepper. Continue to stir fry for about 30 seconds.

4. Add the sauce to the wok and stir fry for an additional 30 seconds. 

5. Add the noodles and toss. Continue to stir fry for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly . 

6. Remove chow mein from heat and toss with the green onions. Place in a serving bowl and serve immediately.    

Serves 2: if served as a main course

Serves 4: if served as a side

Mexican Rice:

A.K.A. Arroz Mexicano

Many people refer to this dish as Spanish rice however it's actually not made in Spain. Go to Spain and ask for it. They will look at you all cock-eyed. Looks like this one is a Mexican dish through and through. And quite a tasty one at that.

I've been eating Mexican rice all my life. Growing up in a (mostly) Mexican family, it was something my grandma always had on hand. That and her refried beans. Those are very good memories, let me tell you. However, these days, I gotta abstain from such delights because she cooks the rice with chicken stock  and the beans are made with bacon fat. But, as the old saying goes, "necessity is the mother of invention". Which goes hand in hand with the saying "where there's a will, there's a way". That being said, I have embarked on this little mission of mine to make food taste just as good as, if not better than, the original meat-centric dishes. And think of all the little creatures still wandering this good Earth that will thank you for their lives.

I love cruisin' past farms and seeing those cows out there. I yell at them, "I don't eat you!!". They look at me like I'm crazy. One day, I'm gonna have a farm where I can save these poor bastards. I'm gonna have an old folks home for cows, goats, dogs, cats, and whoever wants to come and chill at the crib. 

As I build my Mexican recipe collection, this was obviously one the first recipes I had to get right. I tried several different recipes and combos thereof before I came across this one. I happen to love this recipe. It's lighter in color than some of the recipes I've run across that, to me, call for way too much tomato. I like to keep it simple. I don't want chunks of tomato, peas, corn or anything like that in my rice. Yes, you read it right...peas and corn. What? Oh no he di'int put peas in his rice! Just give me a milder tomato flavor infused with straight rice. Save the peas for your fried rice, people. Or better yet, put them in a pot pie (coming soon to blog near you).   

This is a side dish. That much is definitely true. But it's also a great one to roll up in a tortilla with some beans, diced onion, cilantro, a splash of lime juice and something spicy. Knock 'em back with a cold brewski and it doesn't get much better than that.........Crap, now I'm hungry. 

Arroz Mexicano

Ingredients: 

• 4 Tbsp vegetable oil (I like to use peanut oil)
• 2 cups long grain white rice
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 4 cups vegetable stock

Preparation:

1. Rinse the rice in a strainer under cold water until the water runs clear, about a minute to a minute and a half. Then let it drain very well. This is going to help stop the rice from being sticky and should help it to fluff up nice. 

2. Heat the oil in a pot over a medium high heat. Add the rice and fry until the rice begin the brown just a little.  Add the cumin, salt and onions and continue to fry for another minute or so. 

3. Add Add the tomato sauce and vegetable stock to pot and bring to a boil. 

4. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover the pot and let simmer until all the water is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes.