Monday’s Bread Bowl: Red Chicken Wings Adobo

Seeing yummy…again

This red colored chicken adobo got a boost in the taste from the folk who do Filipino best. Here’s the recipe:

What you will need:

1 large pot w/ lid

1 long wooden spoon

3 tablespoons cooking oil

1 medium yellow onion, sliced

3 garlic cloves, halved

2 lbs chicken wing drumettes and wingettes

1/3 cup white vinegar

1 (12 oz) bag frozen peas

1 (40 g) White King Pancit Bijon Seasoning Mix

1 cup warm water

½ tablespoon achiote powder

Pinch of salt and black pepper

Cooking and Directions:

Heat pot on heat at medium-high heat.  Combine cooking oil, garlic, onion, salt, and black pepper in pot.  Stir well.  Sautee ingredients until onion turns translucent.  Add chicken.  Allow wings to brown then add water.  Cover with lid.  Let ingredients reach a rolling boil then lower heat to medium-low.  Stir in vinegar and Flilipino seasoning mix.  Return cover and let ingredients braise for 45 minutes.  Stir occasionally.  Mix in achiote powder and peas and cover with lid.  Chicken should braise for another 20 minutes.  Serve immediately.            

Tuesday’s Helping: Background on Pork Ribs Adobo w/ Broccoli

Asian fusion…really

This hybrid recipe possesses shades of our Baby Broccoli w/ Cashews dish.  Meanwhile, we also know its adobo-style thanks to the slow cooking time.  The braising works to tenderize the pork ribs’ meat.  Meanwhile, the walnut chunks add some crunchy bite to an otherwise traditional Asian-staple that’s well-known for its spicy sauce.  The Mixed stew crew then threw in a serving of broccoli for extra nutrition.                 

Tuesday’s Cupful: Background on Sausage with Creamed Gravy

A British/ American amalgam

The Mixed Stew crew, again, stresses the simplicity in making this week’s dish.  Grilled meat sausages lend their flavors to the zucchini, onion, and peppers to make a well-rounded goulash with extra oomph.  Yes, The Mixed Stew was inspired--just a little-- by that American comfort food fave – Sausage Gravy w/ Biscuits.  Meanwhile, this week's recipe amounts to a slight twist on that British staple—Bangers and Mash.  We recommend that you try it.

Wednesday’s Helping: Options for Chili Mac

Elbows and more

This macaroni dish is more rustic compared to others.  We suggest substituting the elbow macaroni for bow ties, shells, or even penne.  If you want to reduce the salt-content, then take out the chicken broth and use water instead.  We also suggest making this dish using shrimp and fish stock to give it a seafood twist.  Lastly, substitute the ground beef with ground turkey for a different yum experience.    

Friday’s Last Spoonful: Food Surf

Pot Pie Madness

Food Surfing will feature fun food links from around the Blogosphere, including leads to hardcover helpers. These recommended links may give you other interesting ideas for making your life taste better. The Mixed Stew crew likes hunting through cookbooks for a good recipe or three.

Cooking Light provides 10 lovely potpies to savor.  The Chicken & Root Vegetable Potpie is especially unique but they also have a virtually “Instant” Potpie but you’ll scroll through to learn its trick.

Meanwhile, The Huffington Post provides over 25 generous helpings of this comfort food favorite. 

Vegetarian Potpies?  Yes, vegetarian times offers several versions of this “no meat” potpie.  

Tuesday’s Helping: Background on Mediterranean Braised Lamb Breast

Whilst away to the Middle East

What’s not to like about our braised lamb breast?  The meat absorbs all the warm spices, such as cumin and coriander, which evoke flavors from the Orient.  The keys—for this recipe--are a slow cooking process and for the cook to use equal amounts of each spice so that not one specific seasoning overpowers the rest.  It’s okay to leave out the saffron if you cannot find this pricey spice.  Remember that lamb meat, in general, has more gamey gusto compared to beef and chicken.   

         

Thursday’s Side Dish: Wang’s Crispy Sea Snack

Catch a seafood wasabi

Get cravings for sushi flavors but don’t know how to roll ‘em?  The Mixed Stew recommends Wang’s seasoned and dried seaweed with Wasabi.  Yes, this snack item is spiked with real Wasabi.  Best of all – it comes conveniently packaged in 1 gram bags.  The Mixed Stew crew bought 4 packages for $ 4.99 at H-Mart.  Also, look for this product at Lotte Plaza.  If you’ve never had it, we suggest that you enjoy Wang’s “Crispy Sea Snack/ Wasabi” with an ice cold beverage since the hit of Wasabi, in every crisp piece, is very palpable.         

Friday's Last Spoonful: Food Surf

Holiday Turkey Tales

Food Surfing will feature fun food links from around the Blogosphere, including leads to other interesting sites. These recommended links may give you other interesting ideas for making your life taste better.

Thanksgiving is done but wanna prepare a turkey that’s different this holiday season?  The Food Network has over 60 turkey recipes that you may find worth adding to your arsenal.  We like the Roasted Turkey a la Tangerine,  Maple Roasted Turkey, and the Pioneer-Style Herb Roasted Turkey.

Cooking Light features over 12different Roast Turkey recipes on its site.  The Parmesan-Sage Roast Turkey and the Apple Poblano Roast Turkey look especially yum.

Lastly, bon appétit lists several distinct Roast Turkey recipes from easy to very fancy.  Try the Tarragon Roast Turkey w/ Vermouth and the Salted Roast Turkey  w/ Chipotle Glaze and Caramelized-Onion Gravy on their menu.

Tuesday’s Cupful: Background on Chamorro-style Fried Chicken

An extra special Guamanian treat

Why do we love chicken that’s prepared like this?  The deep frying process seals in juices unlike barbecuing or grilling.  Deep frying also ensures extra crispy skin in the end product without the thick, carb-loaded batter.  Meanwhile, the island-style soy sauce and vinegar marinade is a classic Chamorro staple.  The Mixed Stew crew, in fact, dares you to try making fried chicken like this instead of American-style fried chicken that’s dredged in flour.

Thursday’s Side Dish: Potu Pops

Marshmallow like treats


The small size of these puto treats makes them delicate morsels.  We suggest biting into these instead of oily potato chips, salty pretzels, or super sweet candy.  The texture and ingredients translate into eating a confection with taste and texture akin to a semisweet marshmallow.  Try serving these pops with chocolate fondue for dipping at the next small gathering at the office.  The baby cake pop iron guarantees uniformly shaped puto pops every time.      

Monday’s Bread Bowl: Fried Brown Rice

Brown Calrose does it again

The hardy texture of sticky brown rice serves as the foundation for this more nutritious version of regular fried rice.  Here’s the recipe:

What you will need:

1 frying pan or large wok

1 wooden spoon

2 to 3 cups cooked brown Calrose rice/ leftover brown Calrose rice

3 tablespoons cooking oil

1 cup broccoli, chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 hot dog wieners, diced

3 slices bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 red bell pepper, chopped small

1 yellow onion, chopped small

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 eggs, scrambled and chopped up

Pinch of salt and pepper

Cooking and Directions:

Heat up pan on medium-high heat for 3 minutes.  Add cooking oil.  Pour in garlic, onion, bacon and hot dog pieces.  Sautee ingredients for 5-8 minutes.  Occasionally toss and stir ingredients in the process.  Next, add egg and veggies.  Toss again.  Let veggies cook through.  Finally, add brown rice and mix well.  Let rice fry while stirring for another 5 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.  

Thursday’s Side Dish: Korean Hot Pepper Paste aka Gochujang

A staple so good it’s a side dish

Look for loads of this food item on store shelves in HMart and Lotte Plaza.  Gochujang is one of the most popular food ingredients and seasonings among Korean households.  This paste usually has a deep red color, pungent flavor, and slight scent of fermented soy beans.  Gochujang contains glutenous rice, soy beans, chili peppers, and salt.  The combined ingredients are then fermented outdoors in large clay pots.  The result is a viscous and spicy paste that’s used to season many authentically Korean dishes, such as bimbimbap, jae yook bookum, and tteokbokki.  A 16 oz jar or container will run for $6.99 and up so do shop around for the best price. 

Thursday’s Side Dish: Pizza is just right for fusion

Different tasty and fusion possibilities

The Italian staple aka pizza makes a great foundation for fusion cuisine.  Our Buffalo Chicken Pizza, for example, is a fusion combo that’s hot and spicy to boot.   Why not try non-traditional toppings for a fusion kick?  Add sliced Cajun andouille sausage, Greek gyro meet, or even julienned hot dog wieners as pizza toppings for a change.  Wanna go Tex-Mex?  We suggest adding minced cilantro, chopped chorizos, and sliced jalapenos to a store-bought or frozen cheese pizza.  Use your imagination.         

Monday’s Bread Bowl: Hawaiian Poke

A fresh fish delicacy

This dish pops up a lot on The Mixed Stew crew menu.  Fresh fish and simple seasonings make for a unique but unforgettable meal item.

What you will need:

1 wooden spoon

1 medium-sized glass bowl

Plastic wrap

1 lb fresh salmon, sliced into bite-size cubes

1 tbspn green onion, thinly sliced

1 tbspn sesame oil

2 tbspns rice vinegar

Juice of ½ lemon

Pinch of coarse salt and pepper

Preparation and Directions:

Combine ingredients in bowl.  Toss well.  Serve immediately or allow ingredients to marinade overnight before serving.    

Tuesday's Cupful: Background on Mediterranean BBQ Beef Ribs

Olives make all the difference

This recipe is actually inspired by typical olive oil and rosemary marinades that are usually applied to roast or BBQ chicken.  The Worcestershire sauce and vinegar provide semisweet and tangy zing flavor components.  Meanwhile, the olives serve as a salt and earthy flavor counter balance against the tangy ingredients.  The beef ribs end up infused with spices and seasonings that enhance the beef ribs’ natural flavors and texture.  The Mixed Stew crew especially likes the fact that this rendition of BBQ Beef Ribs doesn’t require soy sauce or tomato ketchup.

Friday’s Last Spoonful: Ramen vs. Simon

Relatives that have a similar effect

These two types of Asian noodles and soups seem to be used interchangeably; in fact, the Mixed Stew crew substituted ramen noodles for somen in this week’s recipe.  What makes them truly different from each other?  Both types of noodles contain water and wheat flour but Ramen noodles also contain eggs as a main ingredient.  Ramen noodles appear yellow in color and somewhat curly or wavy.  Meanwhile, authentic somen noodles are white in color and are comparable to angel hair.  Somen noodles also tend to be more light and delicate.  Saimin specifically refers to the rendition or offshoot of Asian noodle soup that’s popular in Hawaii.      

Thursday’s Side Dish: Dressing Leftover Chili

A second serving of spicy chili

Remember that you can dress this chili for a second meal.  We recommend serving leftover chili with al dente pasta, which makes it a hearty rendition of “chili mac.”  This will make it a hit with the kids.  Serve our chili with fresh veggies, such as carrots and cucumber, to make every bite more nutritious.  Try making a Mexican scramble for breakfast or lunch with spare chili.  Lastly, make a healthy spin on chili cheese fries by using blanched broccoli spears instead of fried potatoes.

Wednesday’s Helping: Other Broccoli Salad Fixings

Some cool substitutions

Tweak our original rendition to keep a palette of rotating flavors for this dish.  If you’re out of imitation crab meat -- we suggest canned crab meat, canned shrimp, or diced (cooked) shrimp.  Meanwhile, we suggest substituting the crushed egg for 3/4 cup loose corn or blanched and chopped carrot pieces.  Wanna go completely vegetarian?  Substitute the seafood component for ½ cup sliced sundried tomatoes in that come bottled in olive oil.  Remember that 1/3 cup bacon bits or 1/3 cup minced olives can also add a savory flavor dimension to this salad.       

Monday’s Bread Bowl: Supreme Broccoli Crab Salad

A more robust salad

The Mixed Stew crew recently prepared this hearty broccoli salad.  The richer ingredients make all the difference.  Here’s the recipe:

What you will need:

1 large serving bowl

1 medium-sized mixing bowl

1 wooden spoon

1 wire whisk

2 tspns Old Bay seafood seasoning

3 tspns sugar

1 package imitation crab, chopped into bite-sized pieces

½ cup green onion, chopped

1 egg, hard boiled and minced

1 red bell pepper, diced small

1 bunch broccoli, blanched

3 tbspns tomato ketchup

3 tbspns dried cranberries

1 ½ cups half -n- half

¾ cup mayo

2 tbspns horseradish sauce

2 tbspns cider vinegar

Preparation and Directions:

Combine vinegar, half –n- half, mayo, ketchup, sugar, and horseradish sauce in medium-sized bowl.  Whisk ingredients well .  Toss in green onion and red bell pepper before stirring again.  Next, combine broccoli, imitation crab meat, and dried cranberries in serving bowl.  Pour in salad dressing and toss well.  Sprinkle in Old Bay seafood seasoning.  Lastly, top salad with bits of hardboiled egg.  Chill salad for at least 1 hour before serving.   

Tuesday’s Cupful: Classico Alfredo Sauces

A neat friend to have in the kitchen

The Mixed Stew crew knows - all too well – how hard it is to make any rich cheese sauce from scratch.  We recommend Classico brand Alfredo sauces in a pinch.  You’ll taste the real cheeses that go into making this line of Alfredo sauces.   Look for several yummy flavors, such as Roasted Red Pepper, Roasted Poblano, and Roasted Garlic, on the shelves at most major supermarkets.  The (15 oz.) jars usually sell for $ 3.29 or above so shop around for the best price.