Cultural Exchange

Thanks to Sara and Ola from Sweden and Nina from Germany

What did you make?

I recently had friends visiting NYC. On their last night they made a few dishes for me. The first is a greek yogurt with garlic. Cucumbers and red onions can be added and we ate this with crackers.

The main course was stir-fried chicken with roasted potatoes and vegetables. We also used the yogurt base for the chicken and vegetables.

How long did it take?

I'm estimating 45 minutes. The potatoes take longer than the other components of the meal.

How did it taste?

This was very tasty and simple. I would give it a 9 because it was also eaten with good company :) Roasted potatoes with some spices are very satisfying and it is hard to go wrong with chicken.

Taboule Salad Part 2 aka Multipurpose Fusion Meals

What did you make?

The taboule salad (refer to post below) was good but the real meal was being created on the fly. I needed a more substantial and colorful dinner and something for lunch too!

For dinner I added some salad and mixed in a few spoonfuls of the taboule salad. I also had made a garlic vegetable stir-fry (mushrooms, frozen spinach, frozen green beans, and frozen mixed vegetables--- also a chicken tender was chopped in there after I microwaved it so that there was some meat) that I added to the taboule and salad mix.

For lunch the ingredients were largely the same but I added a bit of mozzarella cheese, blue cheese, and some chipotle hummus for extra color, texture, and taste.

How long did it take?

Both the lunch and dinner together took around 40 minutes. I kept adjusting the taboule salad so that took some time. Waiting for the stir-fry to finish also took awhile since my vegetables were mainly frozen.

How did it taste?

So far I've only had the dinner salad but it was a 8. I was too lazy to add more balsamic vinegar but it needed just a little more of a kick.

Taboule Salad Part 1

What did you make?

I followed the recipe on the back of Trader Joe's whole wheat couscous box to make a version of Taboule salad. I used 1/2 cup of boiling water, 6 tablespoons of olive oil, and 1/3 cup lemon juice as the liquid base to 1.25 cups of couscous. I was really surprised by the amount of olive oil called for. I also found that the couscous was not really cooking with just one cup of boiling water.
I modified this recipe by putting this on the stove on low heat. I also added some of the juice from the garbanzo beans to add moisture to this mix. I seasoned the dish with just some salt and pepper and dried oregano. I was also considering adding tuna but I decided to leave it vegetarian with just garbanzo beans and chopped tomatoes.

How long did it take?

This took around 40 minutes only because I was multitasking as I made this. (keep an eye out for Taboule Salad Part 2). I think this dish could be made in 20 minutes if you only boiled enough water for the dish instead of a whole tea kettle's worth.

How did it taste?

I would give this a 7.5. I really like the taste of garbanzo beans in this dish and tomatoes were also nice. In the past I added some white vinegar to this dish and I kind of wish I had done that this time because while my taboule tasted good I think it could have used an extra kick.

Wiener Schnitzel

Thanks to Nina from Germany

What did you make?

This was typical weekend-dinner in my family: Wiener Schnitzel, french fries, and for vetables: fried endive with cheese and fennel.


How long did it take?
tba


How did it taste?
Yum!

Couscous Tomato Chicken Soup

What did you make?

I made a soup base from the rotisserie chicken carcass. Then I sauteed garlic, onions, corn, and kidney beans. After letting the chicken simmer, I added the sauteed vegetables along with the canned tomatoes. I also added couscous to thicken the soup. To turn this into a Mexican chicken soup, you can add crushed tortilla chips instead of couscous.

How long did it take?

This takes around 45 minutes because you want to let the soup simmer. The preparation can be simultaneous because the stock can be simmering as the rest of the ingredients are being prepared.

How did it taste?

I would rate this a 7.5. I usually use tortilla chips which help season this soup. This time something was a little off because of the seasoning.

Breakfast for Dinner!

What did you make?

We had a few menu items.

First there was the yogurt apple cake (look to the "Life is Sweet" post for the recipe). I added some lemon juice and lemon pieces on the apples before adding some honey and then the rest of the batter.

I also found an interesting graham cracker recipe aka graham cracker goodness (found it http://www.cookthink.com/) that called for equal parts melted butter and sugar to be put on the cracker. Then chocolate was added and finally it was baked along with the cake until the butter and sugar hardened and chocolate melted.

We also made some crepes. I found the recipe online. I used 2 eggs, 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of flour, and 3 tablespoons of butter.

Multigrain banana chocolate pancakes were also made.

We also had scrambled eggs and salad to balance out all the sugar.

How long did it take?

This took around an hour but it is hard to say since we ate as each dish was made. There was (somewhat) organized chaos in the kitchen.

How did it taste? Would you make it again?

It tasted great! It was truly a team effort to make these dishes. Sometimes it felt more like dessert than breakfast for dinner :) The graham cracker goodness was particularly different and the multigrain pancake mix from Trader Joes was also very delicious.

Sweet Savory Sour Salad

What did you make?

This is my new favorite salad for when I want a light dinner. I use prepackaged salad mix from Trader Joes (just $1.99 a bag--a very recession friendly price) and I added shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken I bought, grapes, feta cheese, walnuts, and my signature shredded carrots. I use balsamic vinegar for dressing. A tip from the Food Channel: When you add any dressing, pour it on the sides of the bowl so that it gets mixed in more evenly and thoroughly.

How long did it take?

Around 10 minutes. You have to wash the grapes, grate the carrots, shred the chicken, and crumble the feta but it is worth the extra effort.

How did it taste? Would you make it again?

I would give this dish a 9. I would definitely make it again. I love the extra texture of the shredded carrots and the sweetness it adds. I like the combination of sweet, savory, and sour in this salad.

Broccoli and Rice to the Rescue!

What did you make?

This dish uses brocolli, garlic, rice, and yogurt. My roommate had made some rice and orzo using chicken broth and butter and I was too lazy to make anything complicated to eat with this dish. I had no easy-to-cook protein with the brocolli so this is a rather vegetarian dish but there is additional protein from the European style plain yogurt that I added to my rice. The tang of the yogurt offsets the flavored rice nicely.

I usually boil water and drop in the brocolli for a few minutes so that it is mostly cooked before I stir-fry it in oil and garlic.

If you look carefully, there is one stray piece of baby bok choy in the dish because I wanted to taste test it. I bought a lot of fresh produce in Chinatown this morning so I wanted to make sure the pound of bok choy I bought tasted good---luckily, it did!

How long did it take?

The brocolli part of the dish took around 15 minutes. I just had to wait for the brocolli to be mostly cooked in the boiling water.

How did it taste?

It was very tasty. I liked to add extra garlic so that it permeates the brocolli. The only thing is that I miss having maybe chicken with this dish so I rate it a 7.8.

Birthday in Grinnell, Iowa

A new post from Rex in Grinnell, Iowa!

What did you make?
We grilled some Iowa top round sirloin on a coal fire outside in 30 degree weather. Alongside the steaks are bacon-wrapped asparagus and vegetable kebabs (potatoes, eggplant, red and green bell peppers, onions)

How long did it take?
The steaks were pretty large and took a couple of hours to grill (we bought a total of 10). Prep time was roughly half an hour for all of them, brushing them with a rub of worcestershire sauce, pepper, garlic powder, and a bunch of other random spices found in the cabinet. The vegetables took about 15-20 minutes to cook on a dying fire.

How did it taste? Would you make it again?
Tasted pretty good of course, everyone likes grilled meats! Steaks were very tender, but a little tough because of the cut (ribeyes have more fat and might be better for grilling). Vegetables were a little burnt at the edges, but otherwise good. Was a bit of an expensive meal that consumed a lot of time, so it would only be made again for special occasions.

Cooking dinner isn't eggactly a science

What did you make?

I was starving and made myself a speedy dinner using eggs! My friend Erin would be surprised by my scrambled egg on salad combination for brunch but it tastes really good and it is a convenient dinner. I sauteed some spinach and mushrooms before adding eggs , hot sauce, pepper, and some cheese. I used tomato sauce for a bit of dressing on the salad.

How long did it take?

The mushrooms were presliced. The sauce was from a can. The salad was from a bag. The spinach was from a bag. All I had to do was combine, stir fry and put all the ingredients back into the fridge. Probably 15 minutes.

How did it taste? Would you make it again?

It tasted great because I was hungry. I would give it an 8. Simple but very satisfying. I admit it is a bit tricky to eat this without using some napkins :) I have made this again and just skipped the salad by adding more vegetables into the egg scramble.

Not your ordinary spaghetti!

What did you make?

I am a bit low on meat products and low on time so it is tomato sauce from Trader Joes and canned kidney beans, onions, garlic, peas, and corn all sauteed together in butter. Yes, I should have used olive oil but I wanted to try something a bit different. I also added some feta cheese and hot sauce for some creaminess and spiciness. What makes the dish different and I learned this from my Turkish roommate is adding some yogurt to your spaghetti. It is a refreshing tang and then you can even eat the spaghetti cold.

How long did it take?

The pasta is pretty quick to make especially if you use the angel hair pasta. I think it took 10 minutes and then the prep work for chopping the onions and garlic took 5 minutes and sauteeing it all before combining the ingredients took probably another 20 minutes. 30-35 minutes total.

How does it taste? Would you make it again?

I would give this a 7.5. It is satisfying and the kidney beans in particular make this dish more hearty. There is a goop that the kidney beans come in and it is quite thick and tasty and blends in well with the tomato sauce. The one issue I have with this dish is the tomato sauce I used. I dont really love it and I think it is because I'm not used to the basil. It is a bit strong for my taste