Polly's Shrimp Paella with cut Fideo

After learning how to make paella and watching several TV travel and food show to Spain, I tried my cooking skill to come up with my version of Paella - cooking only with what I have in the pantry and refrigerator already.     I have plenty of frozen shrimps, a can of tomato paste, tomato, green bell pepper, onions, cilantro, thin cut fideo noodle, Bomba rice, and various spices.   Watching how it is made in huge paella pan over the open fire and a cooking spatula the size of boat paddle is really inspirational.

Pilaf Style Rice with Cranberries and Tagine Chicken

I love the new ways to prepare rice other than steaming them in my old faithful rice cooker.
This is a dish I concocted with all the ingredients I have in my kitchen at the time.   Ingredients include dried cranberries, Jasmine rice,  chicken with skin (extra chickens from the tagine chickens,  finger shredded), cumin, red paprika, chili flakes,  onions, etc.   prepared in extra virgin Olive Oil.   Served with roasted butternut squash.   If you know the basic cooking method of making Pilaf or Risotto or Paella, you got it.     I prefer to use water as liquid, however, instead of using chicken stock or flavored stock as liquid. 

Curry Chicken Noodle Soup with Lentils and Bulgur

Soup is great for cold winter nights, and this particular Curry Chicken Noodle Soup with Lentils and Bulgur is just great to warm up your family's hearts at the dining table.   It's easy and a good way to extend a can of ordinary chicken soup into a meal.

Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 can of Progresso Lite Chicken Noodle Soup
1/4  to 1/3 Cup French green lentils, rinsed
1/2 Cup Bulgur prepared in hot boiling water already, and set aside
1 to 2 Cans of water
1/8 tsp to 1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp to 1 tsp curry powder

Add the soup into a quart size pot, add 1 to 2 cans of water.   Add French green lentils and bulgur into the soup.  Add cumin and curry powder.  Bring to boil and turn to simmer.   Cook until lentils are done.   Stir from time to time.  Adjust liquid level as needed enough to cook the lentils till done.    Approximately 30 min. cooking time depending on your stove.
No need to add salt.

Serve with homebaked bread.

Cherry Empanada and Arancini and Guacamole

Snack Attack!?  during the football game....  but my commitment is to use whatever I have in the kitchen.... So, I came up with Cherry Empanada made with Flour Tortilla and canned Cherry Pie filling.     Deep fry it.   Coat them with Ceylon Cinnamon and sugar mixture.    Oh, yes!  it is delicious.      It is one of my recipe that I prepared for my children for easy snack.     It's my turn to treat myself.

 And yes! those frozen Suppli al Telefono that I prepared a month ago for the just in case... snack.   I defrosted them, dipped in beaten egg and coated them with the bread crumbs.     Voila, another satisfying snacks.

 And while at it, why not cut 1 or 2 flour tortilla into strips and deep fry them?  Make my own chips.   Mash those Avocado, add some lime juice, finely chopped onions, cilantro.    Uh, huh... it is good.

 

Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Breast with Dijon and Candied Oranges

Testing what else can I make with the existing ingredients I find in my kitchen.

Cooking it slowly with all the wonderful flavorful ingredients produced moist tasty chicken.     I was very satisfied with the tangy sweet taste infused by the sun-dried tomatoes and candied oranges.   Dijon mustard under the skin, added a coat to protect from the moisture loss for the 45 minutes that I was cooking this single chicken breast.   45 minutes?!  sounds crazy, but yep, it was cooking gently to it's perfection.    I packed it as my lunch for the next day.     That was really  a good lunch.

Rice Chex French Toast Coming Right Up!

This is a concoction of a hungry guy in a hurry.     A day old Sourdough bread slices dipped in beaten eggs and milk.    Then coated with Rice Chex and cooked in fry pan with butter.
Serve with your favorite syrup.
  

 Anyway you look at it - just eat it!  it is crunchy delicious!

Polly's Tabbouleh

 Why do I call some of the menu with "Polly's"?   because I added extra ingredients that are not normally added in the type of recipes.    This Tabbouleh included Japanese FUYU KAKI (persimmon) and navel oranges.    Anything that I can find in my kitchen.     I think it turned out very good.     I never thought of eating the curly parsley other than using them as garnish, but the lemon juice, garlic, onions, and olive oil dressing really brought out the gentle flavor of parsley.    Cilantro, Bulger, KAKI, and oranges made it a filling colorful dish.

 Enjoy with a slice of homebaked Ciabatta bread toasted in olive oil.

BA-BAO FUN - Chinese Eight Treasure Rice

For the longest time, I wanted to try making this.    It was one of the dessert dish that I always wondered how it is made.     It is so pretty with all the dates and dried fruits and nuts cut into flower shapes or in other form and artfully placed all around the sweet (glutinous) rice.    At the center of it all is yet another surprise - sweet red beans.     It is normally served at the large banquet party at the end of the course meal.    I don't see it served at the Chinese restaurants over here in the States.     My first experience is at the large multi-family banquet while living in Japan.    After 12 some dishes of wonderful colorful servings of varieties of meat and vegetable dishes all made from scratch by every women of the families in the kitchen, Ba-Bao Fun is served.    I always look for the Jujube dates and Longan - 'dragon's eyes' in it.    They are my favorites.   They are more like Northern province dessert than the south, 'I think'.   I have not done my homework, yet, to find out, because I have not seen it served often at the banquets held in South Viet-Nam (or here in the States.)     While my version does not include the normal LONGAN, cooked Ginko nuts, rehydrated and precooked Lotus nuts, peeled/roasted peanuts, and maraschino cherry, Jujube dates, peeled walnuts, red beans, Gwei Hwa, e.g. and long-grain sweet glutinous rice from Thailand .....  I included the Jujube, golden raisins, walnuts, cranberries, candied oranges (homemade) that I have in my pantry.      The result?   for the first timer, it turned out ... let's say A- for the taste.      I need to work on the fruits and nuts arrangement better the next time.

Jujube fruits - naturally air dried over the summer.        Rehydrate it a bit with some water and steam it in the microwave.

Arrange anything you like in a buttered or oiled bowl.     Oil is to help with releasing / unmolding of the 'sticky' rice when done.

Sweet glutinous rice is washed and kept hydrated overnight or for 4 hours min.       Then, cook it  -  If you have "Zojirushi" brand atomic rice cooker, set the 'menu' to "sweet rice".      If you have a regular rice cooker with no menu selection, just cook it normal.      But be aware that "New Crop" rice always need 1/2 cup less water per cup to cook.    (You don't want mushy rice.)   The old fashion way is to Steam cook the Sweet Rice in the Chinese steamer.
After arranging the fruits and nuts in the bowl.     Fill it up with cooked sweet rice in concave shape - hollow center - so you can fill it with red bean paste of your choice.    Then, fill the top up to seal the top.     Press down gently to pack.     Fill with some more sweet rice, if needed.

Place on top of a plate.     Fill with 2 TB or 1/4 C of water and cover with microwaveable cover.

Microwave for 5 minutes.         Place a serving plate on top of the bowl and invert carefully - wear mitten or hold the bowl with towels.    !! be very careful - the bowl if very hot .

Drizzle the the top with the prepared honey syrup/glaze.

Serve warm.

Tips:   if using walnuts, find peeled walnuts or peel walnuts before using. I did not remember to do that and it caused some bitterness.     And had to pick the walnuts out while eating.    Option is to use peel toasted almond and peeled peanuts.