Sweet and Spicy

One of the my most favorite things to eat, ever is dumplings. And I have always wanted to make them, just never had the time or understanding of how to do that. So yesterday, doing one of my most favorite things in the world (grocery shopping), I found won-ton wrappers and decided to just go with it. Whats the worst that happens? They taste terrible and I pretend like this whole little shenanigan never happened... BUT! These happened to be a HUGE success. Like I was beyond belief proud of myself (and so was my family) So here I am, sharing my very own Christmas miracle of sucessful dumplings

Ingredients
1 lb firm tofu
2 large carrots (to be diced/shredded)
2 green peppers (whatever colors you pefer)
1 package of wonton wrappers
1 bowl of water
a vegetable steamer/some sort of steamer
a teaspoon grated ginger
soy sauce
mandarin sauce
siracha sauce
brown sugar

Start off by cutting down your vegetables and tofu, you want to get them pretty small in diced form or pull out your food processor and pulse about 2 times to get a great consistency. Mix together all your vegetables, the soy sauce, siracha sauce, and grated ginger and make sure everything is properly mixed. Make sure to give it a taste, see i
f you want to add any more sauces or more vegetables.  On a flat surface that is absolutely clean, lay out a won ton wrapper and spoon about a teaspoon of the filling. Dipping your finger in some water, spread the water along the edges and then close it into a triangle, then wrap the edges together as if take the edges of the triangle and folding them inwards to so they are hidden when looking at the dumpling. In your steamer, place your dumplings separately so they don't stick together from all the moisture. 

For your dipping sauce, take about 2 table spoons of brown sugar and the same amount of soy sauce. Add about the same amount of water to dilute the mixture a little bit, and then add a little bit of siracha. The dumplings should be a little spicy, and the sauce should be a little sweet - they will compliment each other very well :) 

Thanks for Apples

I guess it's safe to say I am one of the worst bloggers that bloggers have ever seen. I'm sure I could easily line up my list of excuses ranging from being a junior in college, to having a life, to just being plain old forgetful but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still here, I still love to cook, and I will still be sharing my love with everyone who is willing to read this.
I go to one of the greatest universities in the country, where we are profoundly known for several different things - one of them, I am most proud of. I go to a school where we spend half our academic year, working to help find a cure for pediatric cancer. Penn State THON one of the first reasons why I love my school as much as I do. There is nothing bigger in my life than philanthropy, and as I sit here trying to describe to you THON - I already have tears in my eyes (#sappy). I was honorably selected this year to be a member of a Finance Committee (shout to my FINEants) and for my very first not-Indian thanksgiivng, we had a potluck.
What could be more thanksgiving than apple pie? But really, what is more thanksgiving? So I looked up some simple recipes, and kind of eye balled my own measurements and threw this bad boy together... and it turned out pretty well for my first apple pie!

Ingredients
4 medium sized Granny Smith apples
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon nutmeg
9 tablespoons sugar
1 stick butter (total)
1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, please. Then dice up your apples, however you want them to be. I chose to do small dices, you could do slices, medium dices - anything you want. Just remember, the bigger the pieces the longer it is going to take to soften up in the oven. Melt about 3 table spoons of butter and in a bowl throw together the cinnamon nutmeg and sugar and add in the butter. Pour this mixture over the apples and mix it around. Enjoy that smell, just embrace it, because it is glorious. In your pre-bought pie crust, neatly place the apples. Try to keep it even as it will help in the timeliness of the cooking process.
Pop it in the oven preferably on the lower shelf, set your timer for about 12-13 minutes and check the apples for softness. You want them to still have a little crunch because you will still have your buttery topping to place on top which will allow the apples to keep cooking. While your pie is in the oven, start up on your buttery topping.
In a bowl, add in the flour and make sure you are keeping watch. You may have to lessen it a little bit if you don't want a lot on there. Melt your butter and using your hands, mash the flour and the butter together. Again, you may need to keep an eye how much more or less butter you need. Mix it around and add in your sugar; the whole mixture should be fairly crumbly but able to hold shape if you were to just grab a handful and ball it up.
Check your pie! Don't let that crust get too brown, and take the pie out and sprinkle your topping on top. Let it be as even, or uneven as you want - whatever works for you. Pop the pie back in the oven, this time TOP SHELF! Get some browning action going on, and about 8-10 minutes later - you'll be smelling the amazingness of a homemade apple pie.

Feel free to serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or even cool whip or just by itself which is also pretty damn delicious.
 

Quinoa goes South West

As I write this post sitting on my deck, swatting the flies and enjoying my moms ice cream cold coffee creation I can't help but think about what my summer would be like if I wasn't at home. But nevertheless, I am thankful for being able to enjoy time with my family and home friends before running back to the hustle and bustle of school. As crazy as it sounds, I have been home for 2 months already and I still have another month and a half to go before returning back to Happy Valley...and I am 100% okay with spending each and everyday in suburban town that I have grown up in. Recently, my mom and I have decided on trying new things and making my dad the guinea pig. Our most recent adventure was the inspiration for this post: southwestern quinoa. This recipe hid the secret ingredient, which I hope you were able to guess by now in a way that made my entire family emjoy taking this risk. This yummy casserole not only encompasses things that are common to southwest flavors like beans and onions, but asks you to throw in some cumin and cayenne to take it to another level. Take a chance with this safe but risky dish because I promise - you will not be disappointed.

• 1,5 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed, minced
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2½ cups cooked black beans, rinsed
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 cups cooked quinoa
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2  teaspoon cumin
• 2 bell peppers, diced (mine were red and yellow)
• 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese

Follow the procedure on the quinoa, it may seem a little confusing but just try and play along

see how fluffy they got? just like rice!

dem beanies!

Keep a little bit of water handy in case you realize you need to add - its going to take about 15-17 minutes for the quinoa to get where its supposed to be but in the mean time... cut up your peppers and onions and garlic. In a small pot throw in your garlic, and onions and get that aroma filling your kitchen. Then add in your beans and veggie broth and let them soak up and boil down until you have a very small amount of liquid left. In another DRY pan throw in your peppers - you are going to dry roast them. Just put them all in there once the pan is about medium-high heat hot and let them sit for about  3 minutes and then give them a quick toss and let them sit for another 2 minutes or so. Once the quinoa has cooked you want to do the same thing to them in a different pan - that will be a little harder and take a little longer as the quinoa was previously wet. While you do this, add in your spices - salt, cumin, chilli powder and cayenne pepper. Toast them all in and make sure everything is well mixed.

In a preheated oven at 375F, foil the dish for the first 20 minutes and then take the foil off and leave it in there 10 more minutes. Serve HOT with chips, tacos, anything you'd like! :)

 

Tie Me a Shoe? I mean...Tiramisu

My addiction to the Food Network and other culinary related programming has only grown since the school year has ended and I have been home. Not only have I realized how much I love American cooking shows, but I love Indian and Spanish (lolz 10+ years of Spanish coming in handy) programming as well. When I turn on the TV, the first few channels I visit are those that host my favorite cooking shows. Recently, I was watching Bobby Deen's show entitled Not My Mama's Meals - a spinoff of any show Paula Deen has ever hosted. (Bobby is the son of the infamous Paula) He manages to mimic his mothers recipes in a much healthier and modernized fashion. 
In this episode, Bobby took his mothers tiramisu recipes which uses more than 1 cup of sugar and multiple eggs and made it his own by lowering the amount of sugar and removing all eggs. I love this; being a vegetarian household that also does not allow eggs through the front door - its a struggle sometimes to make a dessert or any dish that requires egg substitution because the it just isn't the same.
So I used this recipe as my inspiration even though I changed some stuff around to make it work for those who would be eating it: my family!

• 8 ounces low-fat cream cheese 
• 4 ounces mascarpone
• 1/3 cup sugar
  
• 1/4 cup brown sugar 
• 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (pref in chips or coin form)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 2 dozen ladyfingers
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (to make whipped cream)
• 2 teaspoons espresso (for the whipped cream

 Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature (besides the heavy cream because thats just nasty). In a large bowl mix together your cream cheese, mascarpone and sugars all together. In order to melt the chocolate, you can either throw it in the microwave or create a double boiler. I made a double boiler just so that I could properly watch the chocolate melting. In order to make a double boiler have about half a cup of water in a pot and have your chocolate in a bowl on top - let it melt on its through the heat coming from the boiling of the water, keep the heat low. While that continues to happen, make sure you grease your pan or whatever dish you are choosing you use. Since you are not baking this dessert, it doesn't make a huge difference as to what pan you are using. Then you can start layering the first layer of your lady fingers, make sure it is even as this will make it easier when spreading the filling.

After incorporating the chocolate into your cheese and sugar mixture, don't forget to add the vanilla extract! Once everything is ready, start layering the filling on top of the lady fingers, then continue the second layer of lady fingers and the second layer of filling. Make it as clean or as messy as you want it to be, it will still taste delicious - I PROMISE! Keep the tiramisu in the fridge overnight or for at minimum a few hours for everything to soak in and firm up. The whipped cream is totally optional but there is a little less sugar in this dessert than normally expected of desserts so I decided to make it. Using 1/2 cup of heavy cream and a hand mixer, just whip. Whip it until you can create peaks or take a spoonful and flip it over - if it doesn't fall or slide off - you have made a great whipped cream! I added some espresso to mine to make it more coffee-like as a typical tiramisu is.

 I hope everything works out for you and whoever you feed it too loves it as much as my family did! Happy cooking! :) 

A Bit of Everything

Adaptation is one of my fortes, but change is not. I hate change; it makes me anxious and nervous and now, I have a pit in my stomach just talking about it. But sometimes, change can be worth it. Moving out of my first apartment, saying goodbye to some of the people that have made my first two years of college as amazing as they were, and spending my first summer at home in 3 years has been the assortment of things I have been doing this week.
As cheesy as it sounds, this dish is kind of like a mix of my feelings this week... something new, something old - just a bit of everything. I think I tend to eat my feelings, not in quantities but definitely in tastes. Chinese food is my comfort food (besides Indian... #DesiPride), so the minute you hand me a bowl of noodles - I am a happy girl. Throw in some vegetables and tofu - I am a happier girl. I made this dish for my parents, and it was a hit in the house; I used spaghetti as my noodles, household vegetables, and a new twist on cooking tofu.

Ingredients
1 container of extra firm tofu
2 bell peppers (same color, different, whatever floats your boat)
1/2 onion (red or white, whatever floats your boat)
12 baby carrots
1 can of baby corn
1/2 a head of broccoli

Marinade
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
2 hefty tablespoons Siracha sauce
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons brown sugar

The first and the hardest part about handling tofu is making sure it is not as wet and water-filled as it is when you first take it out of the package. After removing it from the package, make sure you have drained all the water out and then you can begin to cut it into triangles/squares however you chose. Using either multiple paper towels or 1 cloth kitchen towel - lay your tofu pieces on top of this surface. Then cover it with another of the safe surface. Press down LIGHTLY! Make sure you are not squeezing your tofu, but you are just giving it a nice big hug to let out whatever water may still be in the situation. Let your tofu friends, sit and hang out (aka dry out) for a little bit while you can move onto making the marinade and cutting the vegetables.

Cut the vegetables however you want and make your marinade. Make sure you have let your tofu sit for at least 30 minutes. In an IRON skillet that is preferably FLAT (to make it easier for you), without adding any oil or butter, take your pieces of tofu about 5 to 8 at a time and place them on your skillet.
Keep the heat pretty low, and using a spatula you want to just pat down on the pieces - make sure you can here them sizzling. This is helping your tofu pan-sear in its own water; this will help make the tofu soft and chewy and absorb your marinade more. Flip and make sure to do both sides. Your aim is to get something close to a golden brown.
Once you complete pan-searing your tofu, throw them into the marinade and let them sit until the very very last second. In another pot, get your spaghetti going! Thats the easiest part of this whole process; you really can't mess up pasta...

And in one third pan... throw in some garlic and your cut onions and let them sizzle and enjoy themselves for a little bit. Throw in your peppers and carrots and baby corn and let them hang out and join the party. Then at the very last minute, add in your broccoli.

clearly I missed some veggies

Make sure you don't forget about your pasta in all this veggie madness!  Drain your pasta, and throw in into the veggie pot and mix it around lightly.

Add in your tofu, along with the marinade and let everything sit at about medium heat, letting things quickly mingle together, tossing it around and making sure the vegetable and the noodles get a bit of everything.

If it isn't spicy enough, make sure to leave some Siracha sauce at the table for anyone to add in some more spice. Enjoy :)

A Little Homemade

I think I have successfully been awarded the position of worst blogger ever. Who takes 3 months to write a post? Apparently its me. Well my apologies to everyone who is out there and takes the time to read my blog (thank you!) but I PROMISE, with summer rolling around and nothing else to do but eat - you will be seeing plenty more posts!
So whenever I get a little homesick, I think of something to make that I often eat at home. I am a huge fan of Lipton/Knorr Pasta packets, but I know that spending that $1-$1.29 can easily be avoided by me making a meal at home. This little dinner adventure was my little homemade take on cheddar broccoli pasta. With a little insight from my mom, I made something pretty damn close to what this packet entails.

Ingredients
1 Head of fresh brocolli
1 half pint of whipping cream
1 package of shredded cheddar cheese
a handful of penne or elbow pasta
2 tablespoons butter



















In order to make this process go by a little quicker, the first thing you definitely want to do is cut your broccoli into small pieces. It doesn't really matter what size you make them, as long as you have a pot big enough to quickly steam them. Cut them up, and throw them in a pot with some hot water and put a lid on it - keep the stove on medium as all you want to really do is soften them up but not lose any of the color or lovely nutrients. Keep an eye on them, they won't need more than 5-7 minutes! Moving on, throw in your pasta as usual following the direction of the box - keep checking on it because no one likes mushy pasta. In another smaller pot or saucepan, melt down the butter a little and just make sure the pot is coated - you don't want to burn anything. Throw in some of the whipping cream and add the cheese. KEEP STIRRING! The last thing you need is your cheese to be stuck to the bottom of the pot! Keep adding the cheese until you have a good consistency, and if you think you are getting too cheesey (which I don't even think its possible)  add a quarter sized amount of the whipping cream if you really need it.
Finally, once all your components are done - make sure you have drained and let the broccoli cool for a little bit and the same thing with the pasta. You can either put it all together in the bowl you plan on serving it in, or put it all together and toss it around in the pot that you had originally made the pasta in considering size.
Let me know how it goes, what you add and what you change and how you like it! :) happy eating! 

Strawberry Lime Lovin'

Happy belated holidays to all of my readers! I just finished my first semester of sophomore year and had a great 2 week break at home. Although most people at PSU would say the break was too short, for me - it was just perfect. It was enough time to see family, friends and the people who matter as well as enough time to lounge, bum and contemplate the meaning of life. Although I did not cook too much during break and mainly tried to feast on my moms delicious home cooked meals, I did have time to make several desserts. This dessert, inspired by something I saw on Giada At Home on the Food Network (aka my second favorite show on the channel). My dad is a huge dessert person, and recently we've been trying to get him onto a more healthy lifestyle. He has always been the one to push us ahead in line for seconds for dessert because he says those are the little things in life we should enjoy.
This recipe was super simple and I thought of it on the drive home from a grocery trip with my mom; with just 1 store bought ingredient this will be something you adapt to make for any season!

 Filling portion:
1 tablespoon sugar
1 lime (for zest and for juice)
2 tablespoons water
8-10 strawberries (diced!)
1 jam packed tablespoon of orange marmalade

Topping:
1 1/2 cup oats
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 table spoon melted butter
1 Graham cracker pie crust or these ingredients for 3 mini-pies.

In a small saucepan, add the water and sugar and bring it to a boil - you are trying to make a simple syrup to add a little sweetness to the strawberries. Once this is at a boil, add the lime juice and the strawberries which you have diced up and then add the orange marmalade. Once they begin to bubble a little bit, take a taste and see if you want more sugar or more orangeness or more strawberries or if everything tastes good. Now, at the last minute add the lime zest! You want it to be in the strawberry "compote" long enough to infuse its flavors, but short enough so that the zest is still bright green like its original color. Take a taste and make sure these flavors have had enough time to mingle with each other, and turn off the heat letting the mixture cool. Before you begin to make the topping, preheat your oven to 350 degrees! For the topping grab a food processor or if its easier, just do a rough chop of the oats and add in the brown sugar mixture and make sure they are at the same size pieces. Melt the butter as your binding agent so that the sugar melts a little and sticks to the oats because the topping will become crispy but sweet all at the same time.
Fill the pies with the strawberry "compote" and then top it off with the oats mixture and send them into the oven for about 7-9 minutes, just until the brown sugar starts to darken on the top.

Eat them hot, thats the best part! Enjoy :) and let me know what other kinds of fruits you use!