And I'm back...

Sorry for the extra long vacay.  New jobs, new diets and trips just got in the way.  

No excuses you say?

Well, let me begin with a recipe from this past weekend.

I had to work at a booth for my job at a farm fair this past Saturday.  I really wanted to buy a funnel cake, but I didn't think my work would appreciate their representative covered in powdered sugar.  I also didn't want the additional calories...sort of.  What really shocked me was the amount of people only eating a small portion and throwing away the rest.  When I got in line, I couldn't believe that one funnel cake was $7.00.  What?!!  There had to be a way of making them for less calories and $$.

Here it is!  Funnel cakes with lime zest.

- 1.5 cups of Bisquick
- .5 cup of hot water
- zest from 1 lime
- a lot of powdered sugar
- olive oil for frying

Add about a half inch of oil to your skillet and heat to medium. Mix the hot water with the Bisquick and lime zest until you get the consistency of pancake batter.  When the oil is hot enough (test with a few drops of batter), place batter in a zip loc bag and cut a small tip off one of the ends.  Push the batter through the hole into the oil in circular shapes.  Flip once, when the cake is golden brown.  When finished, place on paper towels to drain excess oil and cover with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

Chocolate covered bacon

Thanks, Santa!

Biscuits and Milk Gravy

My weekday breakfast routine consists of either a bagel or fiber bar and a coffee on the go. Weekend breakfast? One word: Bacon. Actually, bacon AND bacon fat.

I love the weekends.

Here is Paula Deen's recipe for biscuits. I used White Lily flour instead of AP and placed them in the oven at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

Note: Paula omitted the temperature information for the oven. Michael must have interrupted her when writing the recipe.

I also decided to not roll them out and save time by making them drop biscuits.



While those are baking, I make milk gravy.

- 2 strips of bacon, cut into small pieces
- 1/2 tbs of butter
- 1 tsp of olive oil
- 2 tbs of flour
- 1 cup of warm milk

Cook the bacon in a frying pan until crisp; set aside.

Keep about 1 tbs of bacon fat in the pan. Add the butter and olive oil and melt. Spoon the flour into the frying pan and cook until golden brown. Add the warm milk and keep stirring until mixture turns into a thin gravy.

When the biscuits are cooked, put the bacon pieces back into the gravy.

Cherpumple

Yeah, yeah, mom. Sorry I have not updated this thing in months. While my running and healthy diet efforts are nothing for a foodie to blog about...I can thank Charles Phoenix for adding me to his site for attempting the Cherpumple.

click here

I'll post more pics and the recipe later, but here is one pic of the group enjoying the creation.

Bahn Mi

Tasty, tasty pork sub. Finally gaining popularity in the states, this sandwich layers the best of Vietnamese and French cooking. There are tons of variations online and most people will...annoyingly...protest if you add or subtract from the traditional recipe. What IS annoying are the lack of grocery stores that will sell the necessary ingredients for the sandwich. I can never find good Vietnamese baguette rolls, pate and daikon.

A similar problem occured about a year ago when trying to find all the ingredients for my student worker's pad thai recipe. She is from Thailand and was kind enough to print out her mother's instructions and grocery list for the dish. I dare ya...go to a supermarket that specializes in hot dogs and ketchup and ask if they have preserved turnip.

*crickets*

I e-mailed her while home and asked if there were any substitutions since I could not find a few items. Her response? "Improvise, Jen! That's what I do! We never have all of the ingredients, so add what you have and be creative!"

What a thought.

In that same spirit, I bring you my version of Bahn Mi.


For 2 sandwiches:

Pork:
- one boneless pork chip, sliced into thin strips
- zest and juice of one orange
- tsp of sesame oil
- chopped ginger
-tbs of vegetable oil
- sriracha sauce

Marinade pork strips with the next five ingredients for at least two hours.

Toppings:
- english cucumber, cut into long strips
- mayonnaise
- hot sesame chili oil
- mango (not traditional, but quite tasty)
- shredded carrots, about half a cup
- rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 tsp of sugar

Mix the carrots with the vinegar and sugar about 20 minutes before making the sandwiches.

Assemble:

Cook the pork quickly (30 seconds to one minute per side) in a hot pan coated in oil. While cooking pork, take two demi baguettes and toast.

Place mayonnaise and as much hot sesame chili oil as you like on the baguettes. Top with pork and the rest of the toppings.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Maybe it is easier to buy them off the $1 menu at Wendy's, but why not give it a shot if you have the ingredients. Ya know what I mean?

For 10 nuggets:

- 4 chicken tenderloins

- 2 eggs

- 1 cup buttermilk

- 1 or 2 tbs of heavy cream

- hot sauce

- italian spice mix

- 1/2 cup each panko and flour, combined

- vegetable oil

Marinade the tenderloins overnight in a mixture of buttermilk and hot sauce.

Cut the chicken pieces into small cubes and add them to a food processor with one egg, heavy cream and spice mix. Blend until smooth. Arrange on a plate into nugget shape and refrigerate for one hour.

Heat vegetable oil in a pot, about one inch.

While heating oil, beat the other egg and place into a shallow bowl. Place panko and flour mixture onto a plate. Add nuggets to egg mixture and cover with dry ingredients.

When oil is hot, add nuggets and cook until lightly browned on each side. When cooked, place on paper towel to drain oil and add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy with your favorite dippin' sauce. I prefer hot honey mustard. The guy likes bbq. Whatever makes you happy.

Pistachio Macaroon

The perfect lunch dessert.