Pineapple Spam Fried Rice

We were in Hawaii when we had the great fortune to try this at Sam Choy's restaurant.  Spam is super popular in Hawaii.  McDonalds has a breakfast meal that includes Spam, eggs and rice.  It was absolutely great. So, through trial and error and lots of experimenting, I came up with this recipe that my husband believes is just as good if not better than the one we had in Hawaii.

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked jasmine or basmati rice (preferably from previous day)
1 tin of Spam (cut into small bite size cubes)
2 green onions (chopped)
1 cup of peas and carrots (thaw first if frozen)
3.5 oz can of pineapple chunks or fresh pineapple
2 tblsp light soy sauce
2 tblsp canola or olive oil
1 tblsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste
4 cloves garlic (minced)
2 eggs (beaten)

Heat oil and butter in a deep fry pan.  Add the Spam and stir fry until slightly brown.  Add garlic and onion and saute for approximately 2 minutes.  Add peas and carrots until heated through.  Push all ingredients to the side and pour eggs.  Scramble eggs until no longer runny.  Add rice and pineapple chunks.  Continue stirring until all ingredients are well incorporated.  Add soy sauce and mix well to ensure rice mixture is well coated. Season with salt and pepper.

Chiles Relleno de Picadillo (Stuffed Chiles Relleno)

I was watching the movie Tortilla Soup the other day.  One of my favorite movies. It has a really good story, but I watch it for the food.  All the foods are prepared  by two fabulous Chefs, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger.  After watching the movie, I went through their cookbook "cooking with two hot tamales" to see if I could even find the recipes they prepared.  Must be in their other cookbooks.  Anyway, I saw this recipe and made some minor adjustments.  Roasted stuffed chiles are very Mexican-American.  I have made picadillo before, but this one is different.  It does not use your typical Tex-Mex seasoning.  I had a lot of fun making it for lunch one day. It went home with a couple of friends and now their husbands want to be my official food tasters.  Cut the recipe in half if the 12 is too many. I found people wanted at least two (2).

Ingredients:
1 1/2lb ground turkey
1 medium onion (minced)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup raisins
5 Italian plum tomatoes (canned, drained and chopped)
1 1/2 tbls cider vinegar
1/2 cup toasted almond slivers
Salt and Pepper to taste

12 large poblano chiles
6 large eggs (separated)
1 1/2 tbls all purpose flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour (in a shallow dish)
3/4 tsp coarse salt (kosher)
Peanut or vegetable oil for frying

You can roast the chiles in an open flame if you have a gas burner. Rotating directly on the flame allowing the other layer to char.  Or you set your oven to broil.  Coat the chiles with a little oil and place on a tray.  Place under the heated broiler and allow to broil for 20 minutes, turning it occasionally to ensure charring on all side.  Once the outerskin is charred, remove from heat and place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to steam.

To make the picadillo, heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat.  Add onions, season with salt and pepper.  Stir the onions for approximately 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes continually stirring so as not to let the garlic burn. Add ground turkey breaking it up with a wooden spoon as you stir it with the onions and garlic.  Remove any clumps and cook until turkey is completely browned.  Add the cinnamon and cloves and cook for another minute.  Add the tomatoes, raisins and vinegar.  Lower the heat and allow simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pan juices are gone and all the ingredients as well incorporated; approximately 20-25 minutes.

Once the chile peppers have cooled. Uncover the plastic wrap and gently remove the outer layer or skin. The skin should come off in large pieces.  Be very careful so as not to tear the peppers.  Cut a slit across the top (stem end) of the pepper and then down the center creating a "T" opening.  With a small spoon, remove all the seeds and membrane.  Be very careful not to scrape too hard so as not to tear the pepper.  If you want heat, leave the membrane.  Loosely stuff each pepper with the picadillo and close with a toothpick.  

In a large bowl, beat your egg whites with salt until soft peaks.  Beat in each egg yolk one at a time. Then beat in the 1 1/2 tsp of flour until flour disappears.  Heat your oil in a large heavy skillet deep on medium with enough to fry the chiles.  As the oil is heating, roll the stuffed chiles in the 1/2 cup of flour in the shallow dish. Patting gently to remove excess.  When the oil is hot, dip the stuffed chiles into the egg mixture, shake off excess and carefully place in the hot oil.  Repeat with the other chiles. Do not crowd.  The chiles will brown pretty quickly, gently roll them over to ensure browning occurs on all sides evenly.  Remove from skillet and allow to drain on a paper towel.  Cover to keep warm while you cook the rest. 

To serve, place a stuffed chile relleno on a plate, ladle with your favorite salsa (red or green) and serve with your favorite rice (spanish or cilantro lime). Enjoy!

 

Bacon and Egg Fried Rice

I am always looking for something different for breakfast.  I enjoy the standard American fare, but I like to do something different just to make it interesting.  With the daily grind to the office, I usually do something quick or fast food.  But on the weekends, it's nice to do something different.  Fried rice is such a versatile dish.  You can make it with just about anything.  This is a breakfast fried rice.  I normally use garlic and ginger, but since this is breakfast, I thought I would forgo it this time.  Use any bacon you prefer.  I find applewood bacon is really good with this dish. 

Ingredients:

2 tbls canola or olive oil
4 Eggs (beaten)
6-8 slices of bacon  (cut into bitesize pieces)
1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots (or peas only if preferred)
2 stalks of green onions (chopped)
3 cups cooked rice
3-4 tblsp light soy sauce
2 tblsp sesame oil
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a wok or deep skillet.  On medium heat, add the beaten eggs and season with salt and pepper.  Scramble the eggs until soft but not runny.  Remove the eggs from the skillet.  Increase the heat and add the bacon to the skillet and cook until brown and crisp.  Add the green onion and cook until heated through, approximately 1minute.  Add the green peas and carrots and continue stirring until heated through.  Add in the rice. Reduce the heat to medium and continue stirring, breaking up the rice as you go.  When all the ingredients are incorporated, add soy sauce; continue stirring until soy sauce is well mixed and rice is well coated.  Drizzle the sesame oil and return the eggs into the skillet.  Continue cooking, breaking up the scrambled eggs so that it can be completed incorporated.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  If rice appears too light, add a little more of the soy sauce being careful not to add too much as this will make the dish very dark and salty.  Serve immediately with your favorite morning beverage.

Kedgeree

This is a classic English dish served during brunch that originated from India when it was under the British rule.  I've always been curious about this dish and even more so when I met Chef Darren McGrady. When Darren published his cookbook "Eating Royally", I figured I had to try it.  Once I had his, I had to make it my own. So, here is "my" version of the Kedgeree. Thanks Darren for inspiring me.

Ingredients:
1 cup basmati rice
4 cups water
2-3 strands of saffron thread
2 cups heavy cream or half-and-half
1 1/2 tblsp curry powder
4 had boiled eggs (peeled and quartered)
2 stalks green onions (finely chopped)
1 1/2 lbs of  salmon or smoked haddock or, mackrel (flaked)
2 handfuls of cilantro or parsley (roughly chopped)
Cayenne pepper to taste (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Poaching Liquid for salmon:
1 bay leaf
1/2 lemon (sliced thinly)
5-6 whole pepper corns
enough water to cover salmon

If cooking rice in a rice cooker, place rice, water and saffron threads into rice cooker  and follow recommended cooking method. If not, place rice, 4 cups of water and saffron threads in a large pot and allow to boil. Cook until all liquid has been absorbed and rice is tender.  Reduce to low and cover and allow to steam for 15 minutes.  In a large separate sauce pan, combine heavy cream, curry and cayenne pepper, whisk until blended.  Allow the cream mixture to simmer until slightly thickened.  Add the rice and green onions, stirring constantly until well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add flaked fish and continue to stir gently so as not to break up the fish.  Top with the hard boiled eggs and cilantro or parsley.  Serve while warm.

Poaching Salmon:

In a deep pan, add enough water to barely cover salmon, lemon and bayleaf.  When water starts to simmer, add the salmon. swirl water and pour over salmon.  Continue until salmon is cooked through and is a very light pink.  Remove from the poaching liquid.  Allow to cool slightly before flaking the meat.

P.S. Darren's website is - www.theroyalchef.com.  Check it out.

Fried Rice with Chorizo and Eggs

This is a classic breakfast from the Philippines.  It is a filling and hearty meal to start out the day.  The chorizo used is the Spanish version (very different from the Mexican Chorizo; they don't come close) or longaniza (Philippine sweet sausage).  This is great for using up leftover rice.  We occasionally do this for breakfast on the weekends. It is a great comfort food.  Many serve it with coconut vinegar and patis (fish sauce) to dip the chorizo in.  Note: Fish sauce can be purchased at your local Asian grocery store.

Ingredients:

2-3 cups leftover cooked rice

3-5 tblsp canola or olive oil

3-4 cloves of garlic (minced)

1 small onion (finely chopped)

2 small chorizo or longaniza (cut diagonally)

4 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

coconut vinegar and patis (fish sauce) for dipping.

Heat the 2-3 tblsp of oil in a deep non-stick skillet.  Add onion and garlic; cook stirring occasionally until onion and garlic are brown (do not burn).  Add the rice, breaking up the lumps.  Stir-fry until the garlic and onions are incorporated and the rice is heated through.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a separate frying pan or wok, add 1 tblsp of oil and fry the chorizo/sausages until lightly crisp on both sides.  Remove from pan and allow to drain on paper towel.

In another pan, heat the remaining oil and fry the eggs.  Fry either sunny side up or over easy (turning the eggs over carefully without breaking the yolk). Cook eggs to preferred doneness.  Season eggs with salt and pepper.

Spoon rice into a small bowl and pack lightly, turn bowl over on a plate to create a small mound of rice.  Arrange chorizo/sausage around the rice.  Top the rice with an egg.  Serve with coconut vinegar and patis for dipping the chorizo/sausage.

Egg Fu Yung (Shrimp Omelet)

I love egg fu yung, but not a lot of Chinese restaurants prepare this dish. When I order it, the owner always tells me that this dish takes a while to prepare. One day, I asked the owner of my favorite Chinese restaurant why not many restaurants have this on the menu. She told me that this can only be prepared by a true Chinese Chef. That egg fu yung is time consuming and not easy to prepare. During one of my forages through a second hand book store, I found a Chinese cookbook that had the recipe with 1 problem.......part of it was written in Chinese....I don't read Chinese. I bought the book and kept it on my book shelf for almost 4 years. I kept wanting to try to make this dish, but kept remembering the Chinese proprietress' comment about the difficulty. One day, I stopped at the restaurant and found it closed for remodeling. No egg fu yung!!!! So, I went home, took the cookbook out, squared my shoulders and started to make it. After several attempts (remember, I don't read Chinese) I found it....and it was no where near as difficult as she said it would be. It is as simple as fixing an omelet. So, below is "my translation".

Ingredients:

8 eggs

2 tbsp water

8 fresh mushroom (chopped)

1 1/2 cups bean sprouts

1 1/2 cup cooked shrimp (chopped)

4 green onions (finely chopped)

1 celery stalk (finely chopped)

salt and pepper to taste

oil for frying

Sauce:

2 cups water

6 tsp cornstarch

3 tsp sugar

5 tsp soy sauce

2 chicken boullion cubes

salt and pepper to taste

Prepare the sauce by disolving the 2 cubes of chicken boullion in 2 cups of water. In a sauce pan, combine the chicken boullion in water, sugar and soy sauce. Heat thoroughly. In a small bowl, pour a small portion of the heated liquid, add the cornstarch and stir until completely disolved and there are no lumps. Slowly stir it back into the pot, continually stirring so as not to create lumps (stirring with a whisk reduces the chances of lumps). Gently boil until sauce thickens; reduce heat to keep warm. Season with salt and pepper.

Beat eggs and 2 tbsp water in a bowl and season with salt and pepper until it froths; set aside. In a bowl combine mushrooms, shrimp, onion, celery and sprout. Stir until well combined; add beaten eggs and stir until well mixed.

In a skillet heat oil (approx. 1 tablespoon at a time) for frying. Using a ladle, pour a portion of the mixture in the pan. Cook until it starts firming up and edges are light brown (2-3 min). Flip the egg omelet and cook other side. When light brown, remove and place into a warm plate. Continue cooking each omelet and stack on top of each other when done. Pour warm sauce over stack. Garnish with sliced green onions and serve while hot with your favorite rice - long grain, jasmine or basmati.

Note: the filling is flexible in this dish. I've used peas and carrots. You can also use ground pork instead of shrimp. Be sure to season the pork with salt and pepper and brown first before adding to the omelet.