January 23, 2013

Shrimp Linguine




Shrimp linguine!! This is the food I cooked for blog today.  I like simplicity of this food, no more over powering with heavy tomato sauce. The whole dish is extremely refreshing with the taste of fresh lemon zest and its juice.  It is very easy and quick to prepare. My son doesn’t even like shrimp, but today he seemed to like it and ate it all. This was surprising for me.I hope you guys will enjoy the dish!
Yield: 4
Time :25 minutes
 Ingrdients:
 pound pasta
1 pound shrimp
3 tablespoon of olive oil
3 big garlic cloves crushed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 lemon zest
1 lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of black pepper
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dry chives ( I would recommend fresh)
Directions:
1. Bring the large pot full of water to boil.  Boil pasta according the direction in the package.Drain the pasta and save 1/2 cup of the drained water.
2. Heat the olive oil in heavy skillet pan over medium heat.  Cook the crushed garlic for 1 minute, add shrimp to it. Cook the shrimp for 5 minutes. Do not overcook the shrimp otherwise it becomes rubbery. Add the linguine, salt, pepper, lemon jest, lemon juice, fresh thyme, salt, and pepper to it. Toss to combine and turn off the heat. Add red pepper flakes, dry chives and  the drained water to it. Serve it immediately.

January 19, 2013

Simple oven roasted duck





Something unusual I have cooked today for blog.  I have always seen chef cooking duck in Food network but personally have never tried it before. Heard about it enough being greasy so I was always reluctant. For some reason this Christmas I really wanted to cook duck something different than ham but the one we looked in the store was too big and expensive for two of us.  This week we went to farmers market and found a perfect size for a small meal.  I guess I am just tired right now after a long night work and cooking.  I was too tired to research more about duck recipe, with simple way of cooking, in short my verdict after eating, it was real good I thought its better than a fried chicken.  It was too moist, not gamey and literally melted in the mouth. Even my friend thought its better than Turkey and my son did gobbled it up. I hope you guy enjoy this simple recipe too.

Yield: 4
Time: 2 and half hours

Ingredients:

5 pounds duck
1 orange

1 onion bulb

1 tea spoon salt
1 teas poon black pepper

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven for 375 degree

2.  Clean duck thoroughly inside and outside. Cut 1 orange and 1 onion bulb in half piece. Stuff it inside the duck. Sprinkle the duck with salt and pepper. Put the duck with breast facing on the  bottom of the baking pan. This avoids drying the duck breast. Cook it in 375 for 1 hour 45 minutes. Set aside for 15 minutes, and serve in with your favorite food.

January 16, 2013

Vietnamese Pho





Rainy day like this reminds me driving up to Buford highway with friends just to eat Pho.  It’s the Vietnamese signature dish made up of clear broth simmered for many hours. I was first introduced by my Vietnamese neighbors, since then have been trying cooking varieties of Pho recipes. Looking for some authentic ones, I guess I finally mastered J even though I am not Vietnamese.  The broth can be prepared any time before you eat as it is time consuming and rest of the ingredients can be put just before we eat. So I started cooking in the morning. The appealing part of the dish is veggies and noodles won’t go soggy nor is the meat stiff and overcooked.  For those who don’t eat beef, it can be substituted with chicken but the chicken must be cooked properly unlike beef. The dish is so good, comfy and warm. Yes I am eating as of writing now; I am going to pack later for work.

Time: 3 hours and 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings


Ingredients:
Pho noodles (14ounces)

Pho broth
4 pounds beef bottom roast thinly sliced

Garnishments

Pho broth
6 quarts of water

3 pounds pork neck bone with meat

2 onions cut and peeled in half
5 slices of fresh ginger

1 ½ tablespoon salt
4 cardamoms

1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
1 teaspoon of cloves

1 teaspoon of cumin
½ cup of fish sauce


Garnishment
Bean sprouts

Lemon wedges

Cilantro
Thai Basil

Chili pepper sliced
Chili paste sauce/ hoisin sauce/ sirachau sauce

Directions:
1.     For Pho broth, bring 6 quarts of water into a big pot to boiling. Add pork neck bones, onions cut in halves, ginger, fish sauce, cardamom, cloves, fennel seeds, cumin powder and fish sauce. Simmer in in medium heat for three hours.  Strain the stock and use broth only. It can be stored overnight or use immediately.
2.      Cook the pho noodles according to direction in the packet.
3.     For preparation of pho bowl. Put cooked pho noodles in a bowl, thinly sliced beef bottom roast and pour a hot pho broth on top of it. The hot broth will help to cook the meat. And garnish the bowl according to your needs. Enjoy!!!

January 14, 2013

Lamb chops with herbs and oven roasted brussels Sprouts




Hello friends!! It has been a year that I haven’t updated my food blogs. I am finally back!!Hopefully I will be able to continue sharing my recipes with you guys. I wish i can be a good writer and can manage some more time just to write. I am kind of craving for soupy dish for this rainy day instead I am cooking lamb chops with herbs and roasted Brussels sprouts. I need to finish the brussel sprouts sitting in my fridge for two weeks. Phew!  I have such a bad habit of piling all those veggies in fridge; thankfully it still looked good and fresh! To go with Brussel sprouts, I decided to cook lamb chops with fresh herbs. Those lamb chops came out real good; I love the aroma of kitchen with all those fresh herbs while cooking. Oh I am still eating oven roasted brussel sprouts while writing…






Yield :4 serving
Time Pork chops: 2 hrs 15 minutes
Brussel Sprouts: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
Pork Chops with herbs
2 pounds lamb chops
2 teaspoon fresh rosemary
2 teaspoon fresh thyme
2 teaspoon ground garlic cloves
2 table spoon olive oil
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Directions
1.  In a bowl mix all the above ingredients. Rub it on both sides of lamb chops properly and marinate it for two hours in the fridge.
2.  Heat a pan in high heat, pan sear each side of lamb for 6 minutes. Take it out and let it rest for 4 minutes before serving.
Roasted brussel sprouts.
Ingredients:
1 pound brussel sprouts
3 table spoon olive oils
1 teaspoon of shredded parmesans cheese
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
Directions:
1. Pre heat the oven 400 degree. Cut the end of brussel sprouts. Mix it properly with olive oils, salt, black pepper and parmasean cheese.  Oven roasts it for 40 minutes tossing it couple of times while cooking.