Sunday Roast-ess with the Most-ess

Story: In England, most pubs and restaurants offer a Roast that is only available on Sunday evenings. The "Sunday Roast" as it is creatively called usually consists of hearty food such as roast beef, rotisserie chicken, or a pork loin. The sides range from potatoes to broccoli to turnips. The veggies are traditionally prepared very simply with salt, pepper, and the drippings from the roasting meat.

The Sunday Roast first started when medieval squires provided their serfs with a meal on Sundays to reward them for a week of hard work. The meal would usually center around a roast boar or roast oxen.

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So as this story goes, my roommate and I had a ridiculous work schedule this week. In the spirit of our English forefathers, I made my version of a Sunday roast in which my roommate took part.*

*In no way should this be directly construed as my roommate being my serf, however; if it walks and talks like a duck...

The Meal: My version of dinner starts with a spiral sliced ham. I didn't have time to prepare an entire ham myself so I took the short cut of getting prepared ham. This one was from Trader Joes (hopefully one day I can get them to sponsor me).

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As far as my first side goes, I made a Hawaiian-style mac salad. Mac salad can be found all over the islands where they famously accompany sweet Korean short ribs. Tourists and locals alike

devour Hawaiian lunch plates consisting of a protein, a heap of mac salad, and a mound of white rice.

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Cook farfalle pasta with boiling salt water. I prefer farfalle pasta since I think the dressing coats it better than elbow noodles. For some reason, a few recipes will tell you to "overcook" the pasta (or cook it longer than you would al dente) since the pasta seems to soak up the dressing better.

Once the pasta is cooked all the way through, rinse it thoroughly with cold water to stop the cooking process.

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Once the pasta is cooled to room temperature, add the juice of half a lemon into the pasta.

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Take a heaping spoon of non-fat sour cream and a spoon of low fat mayo into the pasta. Most recipes don't require sour cream but most people I know are weirded out with eating that much mayo (the non-fat sour cream makes this dish a tad bit healthier).

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Add in salt, seasoned salt, pepper, and paprika into the mix.

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Finally, throw in a handful of shredded carrots. The carrots add a sweet crunch into the dish that works well with the salty creaminess of the pasta.

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Mac salad's close up.

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Put your "salad" into the fridge. Here, the longer it stays in the refrigerator the better the dish. You should give the pasta a chance to soak up the dressing and for the pasta to firm up.

Asparagus

For my second side, I decide to make a roasted balsamic asparagus. This is a very simple dish.

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Ingredients: Asparagus, olive oil, lemon, balsamic vinegar, blue cheese, salt and pepper.

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A trick that I just recently learned. If you take the asparagus and snap it while holding it at both ends, the stalk will snap into two parts. The top of the stalk is edible and the bottom is the part you throw away.

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You can use the snapped asparagus as a ruler to cut the rest of the asparagus.

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Season the stalks with salt, pepper, and olive oil and put them into a 400F oven for 7 minutes.

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When the asparagus start to slightly wilt take the asparagus out. Crumble some blue cheese and sprinkle balsamic vinegar onto the stalks.

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Put the dish back into the oven for 3-5 minutes until the cheese is fully melted and the asparagus is done.

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We hammed it up. This ham from Trader Joes was organic and nitrate free. I really don't know what that means but it sounds healthy.

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Sunday Roast is done. I added a biscuit it seemed fitting.

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Cheers!

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Picnic with a Friend: A (Medjool) Date to Remember

Story: My friend and apparently an avid reader of this blog was passing through Charlotte so I decided to treat her to some "home cooking". The day before, I was at a Beer, Bourbon and BBQ festival. I enjoyed the weather and food so much that I wanted to spend as much time outside as I could for the remainder of the weekend. I thought that there is no better way to enjoy the outdoors and the company of a good friend than a picnic.

I picked up my friend from the airport on Mother's day. After "very little" searching, we found a nice, quaint spot to set up. I just tried to make things easy to eat and that would hold up well in the heat (so little dairy). Needless to say, I had a great time.

The Food:

One of my favorites foods in the world is bacon-wrapped dates. It's super easy to make, surprisingly tasty, and very versatile. There are several types of dates out there but I prefer Medjool dates since they usually have a good size and are widely available.

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Why did the banana ask out the prune?

Answer: Because he wanted a date!

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The experience of biting into a delicious and juicy date with a seed is the pits! Speaking of, be sure to take the pits out of the dates. It's as easy as taking a paring knife and cutting half way into the date and then digging out the seed.

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Take some good thick cut bacon and wrap it around each date. Use a toothpick to secure the bacon around the date. Make sure you soak the toothpicks in some water so that they don't catch on fire or char.

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Bake the bacon-wrapped dates in the oven for 15 minutes at 350F. Then turn on your broiler for 5 minutes to crisp up the bacon. Enjoy these little treats! I enjoy them because of the contrast between the salty crispiness of the bacon with the sweet, delicate texture of the dates.

Variations: You can stuff the dates with blue cheese or fruit marmalade. I prefer the blue cheese since the marmalade can make the dates too sweet. I didn't use blue cheese here since my guest doesn't eat moldy cheese (know your audience).

Pesto-Chicken Sandwich

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Grill some chicken breasts with some salt and pepper.

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After the chicken is 75% done- take them off the grill and let them rest for a bit. Dice the chicken into cubes and throw the chicken cubes into a pan with olive oil and browned garlic.

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Add some pesto to the chicken and turn off the pan. The heat should finish cooking the chicken, You really don't want to over cook or for that matter under cook poultry. Refrigerate.

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I decided to use snow pea sprouts, tomatoes, and roasted bell peppers to accompany the pesto chicken. Snow pea sprouts are a great alternative to lettuce because they are sweeter and are easily layered in a sandwich.

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After putting on all the veggies, place the pesto chicken (preferably refrigerated for a couple hours) on top.

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To Drink:

I took pineapple cubes and mango slices and soaked them in vodka. I put the mix into the freezer for a couple of hours.

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The pineapples and mango would act as "ice cubes" and keep the drink cold.

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When it was time to drink, I combined the pineapple/mango mix with an orange soda (I actually used a drink that was very similar to Orangina).

No picnic would be complete without dessert. I admit I don't have a sweet tooth so I really don't know how to make desserts. Because my lack of desserting diligence, I picked up a serving of banana pudding (or nana pudding as it was called) believe it or not at a local gas station. It was my first time ever having it and hopefully not my last.

All in all---a good first attempt at picnic-ing. Would love to do it again....in Hawaii.

Peek-A-Bleu Porkchops!

Story: This is one of my favorite meals. While I was in Athens for school, I would get my fix of fried pork chops at Wilson's Soul Food. They would fry a bone-in porkchop and serve it with spicy chow chow. Although those ladies over at Wilson's do a great job, I think the addition of moldy cheese (there really is no other way of describing it) makes a regular pork chop into a mean pork chop. I think I was first introduced to these cheesy chops at my sister's house and have been making my chops this way ever since.

Picking your chops are important. Make sure you trim most of the fat off, but be sure to leave a little on for flavor. I usually use the cuts from the tenderloin of the pig. You can buy the loin yourself and cut them (usually into 1-1.5 inch slices) or get them already pre-sliced.

Once you wash and pat dry the cuts, take a sharp knife and make a pocket in the chop. This is made easier with a thicker piece of meat. Be sure to make your cut deep into the piece but not too far where you cut all the way through.

You want to make the incision deep enough so that you can stuff it with cheese and the stuffing won't fall out during cooking (or bacon--yes you can stuff pork with pork, or a garlic paste, or olives).

You want to season the chops with salt and pepper pretty generously since the cuts are thick.

* One word of caution--don't have too heavy of a hand with the seasoning since the cheese adds salt as well.

In another plate, season white flour with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. You may think it is overkill to season the pork chops AND also season the flour, but it really does make a difference.

Once covered on both sides with the seasoned flour, place the covered chops into a pan with a thin coat of H-O-T vegetable oil. I don't like to use olive oil when frying like this for two reasons---first olive oil doesn't do so well in a hot pan and imparts flavor in the food (usually I don't mind this) and second using vegetable oil makes more cents/sense (bwahaha!). I think that was three reasons.

Fry the chops on each side for 3-4 minutes until they are nice and brown on each side.

After you have fried both sides, take the chops out and put them into a 350F oven for 10 minutes. The chops are thick so you need to put them into an oven for them to cook all the way through.

A picture of the chops with a pocket of bleu cheese inside...peak-a-bleu! For sides, I made white jasmine rice and some sauteed bok choy with garlic and soy sauce.

It's quite a delicious meal and relatively easy to make. You won't regret making it.

Don't Fear the Paneer! Unless you fear delicious...

Story: Back in Charlotte after a long trip in Miami and Atlanta. I ate real real real well in Miami so I'm going to try eat healthier foods for a bit (aside from from the fried paneer I'm cooking tonight). I didn't have time to shop for groceries so I looked into the fridge and had some fried paneer, a tomato, and some onions. I typed those ingredients into Google and a dish creatively called "tomato paneer" popped up.

Tomato paneer is a side dish so I decided to grill some chicken breasts seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil, paprika, and garlic.

Tomato paneer consists of tomatoes, paneer, and onions.

Heat up oil and throw in the paneer. You want to have a high heat so you can have a crisp up the paneer. Then, you can throw in the onions (keep the high heat so you can caramelize them).

After ten minutes, you can season with salt, pepper, and coriander. When the cheese and onions are nicely browned, stir in the tomatoes and let it cook uncovered for five more minutes.

Here it is! Grilled chicken, tomato paneer, and brown rice.

I added some mango chutney and Sriracha sauce for some kick.

Ingredients: Paneer, Tomato, Onion, Olive Oil, Coriander, Salt, Pepper, Garlic

Things to Know:

1. Firm tofu can be easily substituted for the fried paneer.

2. Season the paneer heavily since it lacks flavor.

3. Make sure you cook the paneer until it's brown and crispy. Try not to stir it too much since paneer tends to crumble.

Tandoori Chicken and Fixins'

Good News: My roommate has a tripod so my pictures for my later meals will look better, I hope.

Story: I want to concentrate on different cuisines every week or two. This time it's Indian food. I may revisit a cuisine later and try some more dishes. So I went to the local Indian grocery store earlier in the week and spent three hours going up and down the aisles. After an hour, I could tell I was scaring the store owner so I went up to him and told him what I was doing. I made a bunch of Indian food today and I'll break it up into several blogs.

Apparently, there are a lot of Indians in Charlotte. Who knew? I went to a local place called "India Grocers" (not too sure where the owner got his marketing degree from). The store was located in Pineville which was about 15 minutes from my house.

I love Indian food and was really introduced to it during law school where some of my friends and I would go to a local Indian buffet (Taste of India) and stuff ourselves with naan, butter chicken, saag chicken, vegetable fritters and more. We found out very very quickly that eating 3 plates of Indian food is not a good pre-game for an hour long torts class.

While studying in Oxford, I found a great place called Aziz. This is probably the most amazing Indian, well technically Bengladeshi food, I have ever/will ever have aside from the food that some great friends have made me. Aziz has won the Top 10 Curry Award in the United Kingdom twice, the website is http://www.aziz.uk.com/scripts/homepage.asp . On Sundays, my friends and I would make a walk from our house through a park, through some of Oxford's farms, and eventually make it to Aziz which was about two miles away. It was well worth the walk there and back.

Inspired by my memories of Aziz, I decided to make tandoori chicken. Note: Apparently, the red color, the touchstone of tandoori chicken, is from food coloring. In that way, tandoori is the red velvet cake of the poultry world.

Making the marinade:

I mixed ginger power, cumin, salt, pepper, FRESH garlic (hooray!), paprika, and tumeric together.

It seemed like a lot of spices, but you have three pounds of chicken you can't be conservative with the amount of spice you put in. (After note: after trying the chicken, I definitely needed to add more spices) With all the spices I squeezed the juice of one lemon.

To prepare the chicken, here I used all drumsticks. It seems like the restaurants all use dark meat for tandoori chicken. I pulled the skins off of the chicken and washed them. Make sure you pat them dry or allow them to drain fully. The last thing you want is to water down your marinade.
Next, cut slits into the chicken. This does two things..First--it lets the marinade go deep into the chicken and second it makes cooking the chicken faster.

I mixed all the spices and the lemon into non-fat plain yogurt.

After you do that, you have this very fragrant--spiced pudding. Just not one you want to eat immediately.

I poured the spiced-gurt onto the drumsticks and got my hands dirty. You want to get the mixture deep into the chicken. I then put the chicken into the fridge and let them marry overnight.

When you're about ready to cook, take the chicken out for about 20-30 minutes before grilling. I lightly oiled the grill rack and put the chicken on the grill making sure that I scraped the excess marinade off the chicken.

I learned that you have to resist the urge to move the chicken and constantly check on it. I grilled the drumsticks on their first side for 8 minutes and got pretty nice grill marks.

I then flipped over the chicken and let the pieces grill covered until they were done. Grilling chicken is tricky. Since the pieces are odd shaped couple that with inconsistent thickness and it's a tough task.

A good rule of thumb that I use when grilling is putting the bigger pieces of first and also try to put them in the middle. That way you're more likely to have your chicken done all around the same time.

To make sure the chicken is done, see if the juices run clear or cut into and guestimate if the temperature is hot enough (160F).

I put cold fresh tomatoes and onion slices to eat with the chicken. I also put on the side some mango chutney which was a great compliment with the tandoori chicken.

Ingredients: Chicken, yogurt, tumeric, ginger powder, cumin, salt, paprika, pepper, FRESH garlic, lemon, onion, tomato

Wish List: I just needed to put in some more tumeric, salt and pepper into the initial spice mix.