Peach Crepes

I hope you enjoy my enchilada folding skills put to good use.

Every Sunday morning I try to make brunch. Since I gravitate toward carbs (I'm a health nut like that), these meals always tend to be of the french toast or pancake variety. This week I went with crepes to conclude my sister's peach challenge. I'm glad I did because these turned out to be the most delicious crepes I've ever had.

Crepes
Taste of Home Recipe (for both parts)
Servings: 10 crepes
Time: 75 minutes (hour inactive)

1/2 cup soy milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-puprose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Blend the ingredients together well until there are no lumps. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
2. Pour in approximately 3 tbsp of batter in a lightly greased 8" skillet. Lift and tilt the pan to spread out the batter and coat evenly. Cook over medium heat until the edges start to turn brown then flip and cook for another 20-30 seconds.

Peach Filling
Time: 15 minutes

2 peaches, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tbsp cornstarch
3/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp almond extract
whipped cream

1. Cook the peaches in boiling water for 15 seconds. Immediately submerge in cold water to stop the cooking. This will allow the skin to be peeled easily.
2. Gradually stir in water with cornstarch and sugar until smooth.
3. Add butter and sliced peaches. Bring to a simmer over medium heat until it thickens.
4. Lower heat and continue to cook and stir for 2 more minutes.
5. Remove from heat and add in almond extract.
6. Spoon into your crepes and fold. Top with whipped cream.

Super thin and ready to be filled.

I probably would've kept eating these until I went into a sugar coma had I not run out of them. The peach filling is incredible, and the almond extract is the surprising star.  It tastes great warm or cold, so feel free to refrigerate it first. These crepes also go nicely with a strawberry compote. Just add sugar to halved strawberries over medium-low heat until they become tender and the juices start to form a syrup.

Bourbon Peaches Foster

Every now and then my sister likes to present me with a secret ingredient. This week's entry was peaches. For my first foray into Battle: Peaches, I decided to look for inspiration from back home. One of the many culinary delights originating from New Orleans is the rumtastic Bananas Foster.  The same flavors go great with peaches, so it seemed like an easy choice. Since I love bourbon (the liquor and the street) far more than rum I decided to make a switch.

Peaches Foster
Epicurious Recipe
Servings: 2
Time: 10 minutes

1 large peach
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp bourbon
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Ice Cream

1. Place your peach in boiling water for about 15 seconds. Immediately submerge it into ice water until it's cold to stop the cooking. This will allow the skin to slide right off.
2. Peel and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Discard the pit.
3. Melt the butter over medium-low heat in a sauce pan. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until smooth. 
4. Add the peaches and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Be sure to flip the peaches.
5. Serve immediately with a scoop of ice cream.

It smells amazing too.

I actually said "Oh, God" to a couple of confused puppies when I tasted just the peaches. It got even better once I topped it with Ben & Jerry's Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch. The only changes I made to the original recipe were swapping in the bourbon (and increasing its amount) and upping the cinnamon. The cinnamon still seemed a little overpowered, so I'd probably go even crazier with it next time. Now I need to make it back to Brennan's and try the original Bananas Foster.

Kimchi Fried Rice

Back when I started grad school, my classmates and I discovered the most amazing hole in the wall restaurant with the world's greatest kimchi fried rice: Gushi. It's the rare restaurant whose name describes how you feel after eating there. Best of all, it was right across from grad housing, so any big problem set or cume studying bender had to be accompanied by a trip there.  Then I moved and found that there was another Gushi a block away. This Gushi, however, tried to be a fancy sit down restaurant and just never seemed as good. The moral of the story- kimchi fried rice should be quick and dirty. Its flavors do all the work.

Kimchi Fried Rice

Another quality fake meat from Gardein

Servings: 2
Time: 10-15 minutes

1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 cup kimchi, drained
2 tbsp onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
Bacon Salt to taste
1 1/2 cups long grain rice, cooked
Gardein beefless tips, defrosted
2 fried eggs

Heart-shaped pans are preferred.

1. Sauté the kimchi, onion and garlic in 1/2 tbsp of the butter over medium heat until the veggies start to become translucent.
2. Stir in half the soy sauce and another 1/2 tbsp of butter. Continue cooking for another 2 minutes.
3. Add the beefless tips, the rest of the soy sauce and bacon salt and cook until the faux meat is heated through. Most of the best Korean dishes are pork based, so it's nice to impart that flavor without using actual pork.
4. Turn off the heat and add the pre-cooked rice and remaining butter. Stir until the rice is completely coated.
5. Top with a fried egg and serve.

You can also make this dish with steamed tempeh instead of the beefless tips. The tempeh really absorbs the kimchi flavor. Also, the marinated kimchi provides all the spiciness you'll need, but feel free to add some sriracha to take it to another level.

Favorite Dishes: Huevos Benedict

Here's a quick and easy dish that works great for either brunch or brinner (and really who needs an excuse for some quality brinner time). I now present my Mexican play on Eggs Benedict: Huevos Benedict. Thankfully my Spanish wasn't too rusty to come up with that. This is also a great way to experiment with poached eggs, which are by far the most delicious and photogenic way to cook eggs.

Huevos Benedict

Servings: 1

Time: 10 minutes

1 corn tortilla

1 egg

1/2 soyrizo link

tomatillo sauce (recipe follows)

1. Poach your egg. It's pretty simple; just fill a pan with about an inch and a half of water (enough to cover the egg). Bring it to a gentle boil then lower the temperature slightly (looking for 160-180 degrees) and gently lower your egg into the water. Use a spoon to concentrate the egg white over the yolk. Turn OFF the heat and cook covered for 3-5 minutes. I like runny yolks, so I do 3 minutes. Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and make sure it drains well. Voila you have a poached egg.
2. Meanwhile, you should heat up your corn tortilla on a skillet over medium heat. Don't let it get too crispy or it'll be hard to cut.
3. Heat up the soyrizo for about 3-5 minutes on medium heat. There's no need to worry about doing anything else to it because most store brand soyrizos come nicely seasoned already and our tomatillo sauce should add extra spice to it.
4. Assemble as shown and top with your tomatillo sauce.

Tomatilo Sauce

Servings: 10+

Time: 20 minutes

10 tomatillos, husked

2-4 serrano or jalapeno peppers

Vegetable broth

1/4 cup onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1. Put your tomatillos and peppers in boiling water until the tomatillos change color (about 5-10 minutes). Their shade of green will change pretty drastically. 
2. Combine the tomatillos, peppers, onions, and garlic in a blender. Add veggie broth to control desired consistency and blend.
3. Heat over medium heat in a sauce pan.

This is a pretty traditional green salsa used for enchiladas verdes. You can minimize the heat and make a sweeter salsa by using jalapenos instead of serranos. 

I found this to be a very successful dish, but in the future I think I'll try a different salsa like honey chipotle. A flour tortilla might also work better due to its natural fluffiness.

Rosemary, Spinach & Brie Grilled Cheese with Gazpacho

This is one of the easiest yet most delightful dishes I have ever made. Remember, you're never too old for grilled cheese (or PB&J). You just have to make it a little fancier.

Here's my solution to soup and a sandwich for the summertime. The tomato base of the gazpacho goes great with the brie and spinach, and the fact that it's served chilled makes it perfect for summer refreshment.

Gazpacho
Barefoot Contessa Original Recipe
Servings: 6-8
Time: 20 minutes (3+ hours to chill)

1 hothouse cucumber
1 red bell pepper
14 grape tomatoes
1/4-1/2 cup red onion
5 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups tomato juice
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/5 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Finely chopped and ready for liquid

1. Chop each of the veggies and then pulse separately in a food processor until finely chopped but not juicy. 
2. Add all the veggies together in a NON-METAL bowl. Some metals will react with the acidic tomatoes and cause a nasty metallic taste to develop.
3. Add in the remaining ingredients and stir well. 
4. Let it chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours to let the flavors absorb and the gazpacho to reach a good cold temperature.

Cold soup: the wave of the future and of lazy people!

I stick pretty close to Ina Garten's recipe. I just lower the amounts of the bell pepper and onion to let the cucumber shine a little more. Also, I use grape tomatoes instead of plum tomatoes because they add some extra sweetness to the gazpacho.

Rosemary, Spinach & Brie Grilled Cheese

Halfway there

Servings: 1
Time: 10 miutes

2 slices of bread
Several sprigs of rosemary
1-2 tbsp butter, softened
2 tbsp brie
Baby spinach, uncooked

1. Butter one side of each slice of bread.
2. Sprinkle some rosemary on each buttered side.
3. Put spinach and brie on the unbuttered sides. Remember the spinach will shrink as it starts to cook, so put lots.
4. Combine the pieces and cook each side over medium heat until toasted (about 3 minutes per side). Also, remember that the second side will cook faster since the pan will have warmed up more.

If only it were as large as it looks in the picture.

This buttery, cheesy deliciousness is inspired by the great folks at Studio Cafe Magazzino in Burbank. They actually fill the inside with olive oil too, but I feel like that's a little bit overkill (although quite amazing). The rosemary provides some great fragrance and really gives the sandwich some extra pop. Also, the spinach lets you pretend that you're eating something healthy. It really is the perfect adult grilled cheese sandwich, and it tastes even better dipped in the gazpacho.

Harissa Tempeh with Couscous and Sweet & Sour Okra

Tonight we attempted an intriguing Mediterranean and Middle Eastern fusion odyssey. My sister and I combined culinary forces for an unstoppable kitchen kicking experience. Twice the Kennairs! Twice the mess! It's cooking harissa with my sista!

Harissa

It adds spice to foods and doubles as eye cream! 

This was my introduction to harissa, a tunisian hot chili sauce that my sister loves.  It has a nice, sneaky kick to it.  You can find it as either a paste or as dried packets. All our local Whole Foods had was the packets, so we used a hand blender to combine it with equal parts olive oil and hot water (about 1/4 cup each) and some grape tomatoes for sweetness.

Greek Style Couscous
Servings: 8-10
Time: 15 minutes

5 cups couscous 
1 cucumber, seeded and chopped
15 grape tomatoes, quartered
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1/4 cup red onions
2 tbsp lemon
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Harissa to taste
Salt to taste

1. Prepare couscous according to product instructions.
2. Allow to cool then add in the remaining components.

I hope I didn't lose you after those crazy directions. We wanted a carb to help absorb some of the heat, so we went with a Greek style couscous.

Sweet & Sour Okra
Original Recipe
Servings: 4
Time: 20 minutes

12 oz frozen okra
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
7 tbsp water
3 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp olive oil
salt to taste
1 tsp sugar
4 tsp lemon juice

1. Defrost the okra and drain well. Defrosted okra has a tendency to become slimy. You can fix this with a tiny bit of vinegar
2. Combine 4 tbsp of water, garlic and red pepper. Blend well.
3. Mix in the coriander, turmeric and cumin until it becomes a paste.
4. Heat olive oil over medium heat and add the spice paste. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes
5. Add the okra, sugar, salt, lemon juice and remaining water. 
6. Let the mixture come to a simmer then cook covered on low heat for 10 minutes.

Okra always reminds me of home thanks to my grandmother's amazing okra gumbo that is so spectacular it should be jarred and served as dipping sauce. Again we were trying to incorporate some sweetness to counteract the spice.

Harissa Tempeh
Servings: 5
Time: 75 minutes (inactive for 60)

12 oz tempeh
Olive oil
Lemon Juice
Soy Sauce
Harissa

1. Steam the tempeh for 5 minutes. This opens it up to better absorb marinades and removes some of the its natural bitter taste.
2. Marinade the tempeh in a mixture of the remaining ingredients for about an hour. I recommend a 1:1 mixture of soy sauce and olive oil with lemon juice and harissa to taste (and desired heat level).
3. Cook the tempeh over medium heat until browned (about 3 minutes per side).

Tempeh: soy protein that looks kind of like grainy hot dogs. You can't go wrong.

For our protein, I went with the fermented soy protein tempeh. To keep with our Mediterranean/Middle Eastern theme I decided to modify a marinade that I used before for making Gyros. This actually turned out to be tastier thanks to the harissa.

The meal ended up coming together quite nicely and was best enjoyed by just mixing it all together and pouring on copious amounts of the harissa paste.

It was great cooking with my sister whose style of adding ingredients willy nilly to taste provided a wonderful foil to my more methodical chemist approach. As I continue in this cooking journey and learn more, I hope to adopt that approach. If anything, it'll make writing up the procedures much faster.

Favorite Dishes: Jambalaya Risotto

Typically, my posts will be about what I cooked that day, but every now and then I'll highlight one of my favorite recipes.  These posts will usually be shorter and feature fewer pictures since I didn't have my handy camera back when I cooked these dishes.

A lot of traditional Cajun meals like gumbo and jambalaya are based off the idea of turning your week's leftovers into something new. As a result, they typically consist of throwing together a bunch of random meat and veggies with spices and rice, so this can be a pretty inexpensive meal to make at the end of the week. Why be wasteful when you can eat things?

Ask anyone back home and they'll probably say their mom makes the best jambalaya. Just so you know, that's a flat out lie because my mom makes the best jambalaya (FACT).

I decided I wanted to make a creamier version of jambalaya, so I chose risotto rice for its natural (and non-fatty) creaming abilities. Here's my original recipe.

Jambalaya Risotto
Servings: 2-3
Time: 45 minutes

3-4 cups veggie broth
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp oil
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup scallions, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 link veggie sausage (kielbasa)
1 Gardein chick'n scallopini patty
10 oz canned diced tomatoes (juices included)
1/2 cup white wine
1 bay leaf
1 cup arborio rice
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
Tabasco Sauce to taste

1. Bring the veggie broth to a simmer in a sauce pan. Once at a simmer, lower the temperature and keep it hot.
2. Cook the "sausage" and "chicken" in the oil until browned and set aside (about 5 minutes).
3. Sauté the bell pepper, onions, scallions and garlic in the butter for about 3 minutes or until soft and aromatic.
4. Add the diced tomatoes, wine and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Let the level reduce by about half.
5. Reduce heat to medium and add the rice and half a cup of the broth. STIR CONSTANTLY until the rice absorbs all the liquid.
6. Repeat in 1/2 cup increments until the rice becomes creamy (usually about 3 1/2 cups in).
7. Add the "chicken", "sausage" and seasoning and let cook for about 3 minutes or until the fake meat is heated through.
8. Remove the bay leaf (trust me, this is important) and eat. Add tabasco as needed.

The jambalaya risotto is a lot like an étouffée minus the heavy cream, which is a good thing.  It also makes great leftovers because the spices have extra time to absorb and the risotto rice keeps it creamy instead of drying up like normal rice. Just be careful when adding your spices. One downfall of cajun cooking is when all you taste is pepper. The pepper should be there to give it kick but not take over the dish.

Gardein Picatta and Kale with Currants and Pine Nuts

Sometimes you need a meal that makes you feel healthy and revived. This was that kind of night. Thanks to buying too much kale yesterday, we had some leftover for one of my favorite sides: kale with currants and pine nuts. This pairs well with lemony flavors so I made a nice, creamy picatta and finished it off with a baked sweet potato.

Creamy sauces are quite tasty and add to almost any meal. Unfortunately creamy sauces look kind of disgusting and gloppy in photos, but thankfully we don't have to eat the pictures.

Our yummy salad substitute is modified from our go-to veggie book, Clean Food by Terry Walters.

Kale with Currants and Pine Nuts

Servings: 6

Time: 20 minutes

1/2 cup currants

1/4 cup red onion, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 bunch of kale, chopped

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

5 dashes of ume plum vinegar

Plump, Plump, Plump it up.

1. Plump the currants in about 1/4 inch of boiling water for 3 minutes. This will make them a lot softer and juicier which will complement the firmer kale. Drain well and set aside.
2. Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until soft and fragrant.
3. Stir in the kale and cook for 5 more minutes until it becomes more tender and a darker color. Add more olive oil if necessary.
4. Remove from heat and add in the currants.
5. Sprinkle with the vinegar and toss.
6. Top with pine nuts.

This is a great and quick side dish. If you're in a pinch, you can substitute raisins (preferably golden raisins) for the currants.

You know it'll be fun because it's spelled funky and was on TV!

Vegetarian cooking has been made a lot easier and tastier by the substitute meats from Gardein. No longer are you forced to eat sponge-like blobs of tofu over and over again. They make a great variety of fake chicken and beef products that can be found in your freezer section. This recipe is revised from the Gardein website (http://www.gardein.com/recipe_detail.php?r=2)

Gardein Picatta
Servings: 4
Time: 20 minutes

1 package chick'n scallopini (4 pieces)
Flour, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper for dredging
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp oil
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup capers
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup onion, chopped
4 artichoke hearts

Soon you will be pan-fried and delectable.

1. Coat your frozen gardein pieces in the flour mixture.
2. Cook in a mixture of the oil and half the butter until browned (about 3-4 minutes) then flip and repeat for the other side.
3. Set the gardein on a plate coated with paper towels to drain excess oil.
4. Add the remaining ingredients  and bring to a simmer.
5. Return the gardein patties and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low heat.
6. Remove the patties again and add the remaining butter. Mix together well and let it thicken.
7. Return and coat the patties in the sauce.

While creamy and delicious, the picatta came out a little too bitter for my taste. Typically this is made with shallots instead of artichoke (about 6, quartered), so that was likely the culprit. This can also be combatted by adding a pinch of sugar to the sauce.  All-in-all it was a delightful little meal that's fairly easy and quick to prepare.

Tofu Kale Lasagna

Lasagna is the kind of dish that almost always disappoints me. Perhaps, as my brother-in-law suggested, it's from the horrible variations of it we were subjected to throughout grade school. This dish turned out to be a pleasant surprise.  To combat the feeling that lasagna is boring, I recommend calling it "Italian Enchiladas".

Servings: 8-10
Time: 70 minutes

The Sauce:

2 tbsp butter
1/2 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup of vodka 
2 cans of crushed tomatoes
1-2 tsp dried basil
1-2 tsp dried oregano
Salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste
Pinch of brown sugar



This is my variation of a vodka sauce minus the heavy cream (and delightful pink color). I find that the cream kills a lot of the flavor and adds a bunch of unnecessary fat.

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in butter until they become soft and translucent.
2. Add the vodka and reduce by about half.
3. Mix in the crushed tomato and spices and cook for at least half an hour to let the flavors absorb.

The rest of the recipe is adapted from Clean Food by Terry Walters. This is my go to book for vegetarian dishes. It's actually vegan, so I just substitute in actual milk and cheese.

With a name like that, you just know she's brilliant and can be trusted.

7 sun-dried tomatoes

12 lasagna noodles

6 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 onion, chopped

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

8 oz baby bella mushrooms

1 1/2 packages of firm tofu, drained

2 tbsp dry basil

Salt, pepper, oregano, and crushed red pepper to taste

1 bunch kale, chopped

1 package  (1 1/2 cups) shredded mozzarella 

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. While preparing your sauce, get the noodles ready by cooking in boiling water until soft.
3. Sauté the garlic and onions in your olive oil until soft.
4. Add in the mushrooms and cook for another 3 minutes.
5. Crumble in the tofu (be sure to press it tightly to remove excess water first) and spices and stir for 5 more minutes.
6. Fold in kale and cook covered for 3 minutes. The kale should now be a darker green and softer.
7. Now it's time to assemble the lasagna. Cover the bottom of a lasagna pan (approximately 9"x12") with sauce.
8. Make a layer of noodles and top with half of the filling. Cover this in sauce and mozzarella.
9. Repeat for the second layer then make one final layer of noodles covered in the remaining sauce and cheese.
10. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes making sure to turn halfway through.
11. Remove the foil and cook uncovered for 10 minutes.

Mmm cheese.

As is always the case, food covered in melted cheese is delicious. The kale ends up working better than the traditional spinach because it's firmer, so it doesn't degrade into a soggy mess upon cooking. Add some crushed red pepper on top to give it a nice kick and enjoy.

What to do in between episodes of "The Price is Right"

Originally, I wanted to call this blog The Cooking Chemist, but thanks to Breaking Bad that would probably just invoke thoughts of meth labs.  My mom always told me "If you can do chemistry, you can cook." Somehow this never really made sense to me until recently.  I mean no matter how awesome the things I mixed together in lab looked or smelled, eating it was seriously frowned upon.

About five months ago I embarked on a journey to become the world's greatest unpaid private chef. I started cooking almost everyday for my sister and brother-in-law. This presented an interesting challenge because they're vegetarian, and I'm from New Orleans where such things are outlawed by Napoleonic Code. So I grabbed their nifty wedding cooking gifts and set about learning how to make things that are edible.

After a few weeks I realized that my favorite part of the day was when I challenged myself to make a new dish, and I couldn't stop trying new things. These are the chronicles of how I take over other people's kitchens as I learn to cook.