C H I C K E N

P I C C A T A

W/ S U N  D R I E D

T O M A T O E S

Hey hey hey! Merry belated Christmas to all you folks out there! 

Todd & I are so thankful/ blessed to have had such a good time with all our friends + families this month. It's been nonstop drinking & eating this entire month; our bellies are bigger than ever!

Of the many gifts we got this year I have to say our favorites had to be the edible ones. A culinary enthusiast/ cousin of Todd's has been studying in the islands of Malta & brought smuggled back some savory treats for us that I am wildly obsessed with! 

What'd we get? Well we scored basil infused cold pressed olive oil (heavy breathing), sea salted capers (heavier breathing), & TONS of sun dried tomatoes (heaviest breathing).. mmmhmmm ^_____^

Capers instantly make me think piccata- so I figured let's make a ginormous thing for the week! I've made this dish before but added a secret ingredient that I think really helped smooth out the tart, saltiness that you get from the lemons & capers. 

See if you can guess what it is!

Ingredients:
1lb Chicken breasts
Flour for dredging
Olive oil
4 tbsp Butter
Salt & Pepper
Adobo
2-3 tbsp Capers
2-3 tbsp Sun Dried Tomatoes
2 cups Chicken broth
2 Lemons
1/2 cup Almond milk
1 package Capellini or Angel Hair Pasta

Directions:

1. Prep the chicken! With a long enough piece of plastic wrap put one piece of chicken in the middle & tenderize! Don't have a meat tenderizer? Use a bottle of wine or Jameson- because that's something I always have around ;)

2. Once all chicken has been flattened out to your desired thickness cut in half. Salt & pepper (& adobo)! 
3. Put a scoop of flour into a bowl & dredge chicken in flour. This helps them fry up & brown real nicely.

4. Get your skillet to medium heat & add 2 tbsp of butter & around 2-4tbsp of olive oil. Mix around & add your chicken pieces! Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side (check thicker pieces). 

5. Remove chicken once all cooked & keep covered on a plate. 
6. Rinse the salt off your capers! This really makes a difference in assuring your dish is not TOO salty*

7. Add to the skillet chicken broth (I made this with 2 cups water & 2tbsp Knorr's), rinsed capers, sliced sun dried tomatoes, lemon juice + slices, remaining butter & almond milk! You can of course use cream to make this creamier but I didn't have any & think this is healthier (; Simmer for a few minutes!

8. Get a pot of water boiling now! Since the cappelini (or angel hair) pasta is so thin this cooks in just 3 minutes. 

9. Turn off the heat for your skillet sauce & add cooked/ drained pasta. Toss around to coat. The pasta will soak up the sauce- so this is where you should taste! Need more broth? Add some! Need more lemony flavor? Squeeze it in! Salt & pepper if you want.

10. Once you have your pasta all coated top with your chicken, add more lemon slices & garnish with parsley! 

Serve & enjoy! 

Hope you all have a safe & faaaaaabulous New Year! 

Oh & my resolution? Host more breakfast/ brunch/ lunch/ dinner parties! ♥

S P I C Y  K I M C H I
+ K I N G  C R A B  L E G S
w/ U D O N  N O O D L E S

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! I'm heavier & as always incredibly thankful for the family + friends I have around me. 

Todd & I hosted our 3rd Annual Friendsgiving this past Saturday & wow! So so damn heart warming to see everyone come together! We really have the best squad to call friends. Oh & charades was histerical- TEAM #2 RULES!!

recently very obsessed with eucalyptus! 

Side note: My Truffle Mac & Cheese was WIPED OUT!! That deserves a post in itself.. Let's just say a tiny $20 bottle of Black Truffle Oil does magic.

Back to this udon dish, though! 

When I was thinking of making this random concoction I had hopes of a dreamy, fiery, chewy masterpiece.. I have to say it was all of that & more! Udon noodles are so comforting that whatever you throw on it will still taste pretty damn heavenly.

The king crab legs were definitely the star of the show though. Since I had leftover masago or fish roe which is "seafood" I thought to stick with something from the ocean. 

While grocery shopping the other day I noticed that I literally could not take my eyes of the ginormous crab legs at the market. So I grabbed those suckers & voila! I made the richest udon dish ever. 

If crab isn't your thing I can't imagine this being horrible with shrimp or LOBSTER. Oh god. I think I will make this with lobster next..

Ingredients:

2 bricks of frozen Udon Noodles

1lb King Crab Legs

1 Cup kimchi

3-4 tbsp Masago

2 tbsp Japanese Mayo

2 tbsp Chili Garlic Sriracha

Half a stick of butter

Scallions

Directions:

1. Prep your king crab legs! I thawed mine under cold water since they were frozen & saved a pretty piece for the garnish. Scoop out the rest of that meat!

2. Cut up your kimchi into small bite-sized pieces. This is just nice so there aren't colossal kimchi bites [;

3. Heat up a wok full of water & get a little boiling action going. Add your udon noodles & cook just for 2 minutes or until soft then drain.

4. Add butter & kimchi to that same wok (yay less dishes!) Sautée til warm!

5. Add the udon noodles back in along with japanese mayo, chili garlic sriracha, & masago. Stir around & get everything all sexy!

6. DUH. Let's add the king crab leg meat & scallions ^______^

7. Turn off the heat & when you think everything is all married up start to dish it out. Garnish with extra masago, scallions + the reserved king crab leg.

Mmm.. my mouth is phantom chewing this right now. Enjoy!

C R I S P Y

P O R K  B E L L Y

Words? NONE.

I don't know about you but pork belly to me is the epitome of naughty, sexy, food porn. Chills, mad fucking chills. The fatty layers that you know you shouldn't be eating but inhale anyways. Heart attacks? Who cares. Eat more pork belly!

Growing up a little Laotian girl I would always snack on "kiep moo" which are pork cracklings also known as pork rinds. When I discovered "chicharrones" in Spanish cuisine I knew my days were numbered. I could never be a vegetarian. I did try in high school & skipped class one day to get breakfast & whoops! There was bacon.

This recipe is the simplest way to get the ultra crunchy, crispy skin on the pork belly that makes it so goddamn irresistable. Sorry not sorry! Go get fat, winter is coming.

Ingredients:

1lb Pork belly

1 Scallion

1 nub of ginger

1 tbsp Chinese five spice

1 tbsp Sugar

1 tbsp Soy sauce

Salt

Directions:

1. Rinse off your pork belly & put in a pot of water. 

2. Add scallions & smashed ginger. Bring to a rumbling boil.

3. Strain off scum *these are meat yuckies!* & after ~14 minutes drain the water & rinse with cold water to clean off the pork belly.

4. Season with all the Chinese five spice, sugar & soy sauce. 

5. With a few toothpicks prick as many deep little holes into the skin. 

6. Heat that oven up to 475ºF & using tinfoil wrap up the sides of the pork belly exposing only the skin side up. Crack some salt on the skin! We want CRISPY & SAVORY!!

7. After 30 minutes it should look a little like this..

8. Time to broil now- HIGH is fine but just the center rack will do. We don't want to burn anything [; Another 4-8 minutes. Watch this entire mesmerizing-as-shit- show while sitting on the kitchen floor!

9. Take out that glorious piece of meat & be ready to cut in! How holy! How godly!

Simple!? Truly, it's unreal. Get yourself some freshly cooked white rice, cilantro & a squirt of soy sauce/ hoisin sauce/ sriracha. BOOM TOWN, USA.

C R E A M Y + S P I C Y

B A K E D  G R E E N 

M U S S E L S

SO HELLOOOOO FROM THE OTHER SIIIIIIDE!!! 

Like, the other side of these mussels.. that are completely smothered to death with "DY-NA-MITE" sauce & makes me really miss living/ eating at Hook's in St. Pete!! 

These broiled-to-perfection babies are insanely easy to make so seriously if this post makes you crave/ want/ freaking need them- you have absolutely NO excuse not to make them yourself!  

With the colder weather creeping up on us here in the New England area I for sure have been making my soups every night. I decided to switch things up a bit & make these for an upcoming potluck- because DUH.. who DOESN'T love mussels?

Most of the ingredients were bought at HMart in Burlington, MA. If you cannot find Kewpie Mayo (which is just the most delicious of ALL mayonnaises) I will sign your permission slip & say that it's totally fine to use regular ol' mayo. BUT.. you should definitely find this!

I was trolling on Pinterest for other recipes & I saw most of them called for plain Sriracha. This is cool & all but I've lately been using more of the Chili Garlic style- it just has more spice & garlic flavor that I love in dishes. Sriracha still has my heart! Don't worry :) Sambal Oelek would also work in this since it's just as chunky & flavorful.

This took about 20-30 minutes to make & tastes sooooo good. In the words of my fiancé, "I can taste the spice, the naughty mayo, the crunchy panko, the mussels & everything is really balanced." Mmmmhm, people.. mmmm to the mothafuckin hmmm...

Ingredients:

1 dozen green mussels

1/2 cup Kewpie Mayo

1/4 cup Chili Garlic Sriracha

1 tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos or Soy sauce

1 tbsp Rice vinegar/ Sake/ Mirin

2 tbsp Masago (1 tbsp for garnish!)

Sliced Scallions

Sesame seeds

Panko breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. If using frozen mussels thaw them, suckers! Do this by submerging them in cold water in a bowl on the counter for a few minutes. 
2. Drain + remove all the mussel meat from the shells & cut with kitchen shears into bite sized pieces. 
3. Place mussel meat back in bowl & line a baking sheet with aluminum foil to place your shells on.
4. Mix Kewpie Mayo, Chili Garlic Sriracha, Soy, Rice Vinegar & 1 tbsp of your masago into your bowl of meat.
   
   
   
   
5. Scoop a nice amount of mussels into each shell. 
6. Top with panko crumbs & broil on HIGH for 6-8 minutes or until bubbly & brown!
7. Once they are to your liking take them out & garnish with the leftover masago, green onions/ scallions & a little sprinkle of sesame seeds!

Yeaaaaaah! Easy doesn't even cut it. Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend & thank you so much for reading my ramblings! ♥ 

S Z E C H U A N

B L I S T E R E D

G R E E N  B E A N S  

Mmmm.. here we go again guys! 

Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner (omgomgomgomg) let's talk sides. Green beans are such a wonderful veggie when you think about it.. yes. Think about it. You can eat them raw AND cooked. Plus, they are super healthy (as I'm reading this website)! 

When I'm not making an asian stir-fry out of them I also use them to make spicy salads or just plain steam them then drizzle some oyster sauce on them. 

The recipe I have tonight is an easy gingery & slightly spicy one. I kinda just love the word "blistered" so hence the title. Give e'r a go!

Ingredients:

1lb Green Beans trimmed on both ends

1 round of Ginger cubed
1 tbsp Szechuan peppercorns muddled

1 tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos (or Soy Sauce!)

Sprinkle of Sesame Seeds

Veggie/ Canola/ Olive oil 

Directions:

1. Heat up a wok, cast iron skillet or a plain ol' pan to medium to high heat.
2. Add a few swirls of oil & toss in your green beans.
3. After you see some blistering/ charring add your ginger & szechuan peppercorns.
4. In about 1-2 minutes you should notice the intoxicating aromas! Smell & enjoy.
5. Drizzle a few dashes of your Bragg's or soy sauce. 
6. Sprinkle sesame seeds over & char the beans up some more. You are dunzo!

Simple, right?! If you want your green beans to be spicier throw in some chili oil. Serve with steamed white rice, some Laos Sausages & baked tamarind salmon- dinner is served!

S L O W - M O T I O N

P U L L E D  P O R K

W/ P U R P L E  S L A W 

&  S W E E T  C H I L I  

C R E A M  C H E E S E 

Where to begin with this? Well, let's rewind to a couple years ago when I first got a Pinterest account (basically when my life became so much more unproductive). I naturally made a food board called "MMM...". While browsing & drooling my life away I stumbled upon this mind-blowingly, vivid & seductive looking sandwich! 

Right?? Those colors, that elegance & that class all in a bun. I ended up making them for my two girlfriends for a little potluck & they came out really good! Forward to today.. I'm stuffed. I'm so happy.. & I'm wondering so damn hard why it took me this long to make again!

There's just too many good things out there to cook ^______^

A few Sundays ago my fiancé.. OMG I DIDN'T EVEN MENTION THAT I GOT ENGAGED!! I GOT ENGAGED!! Here we are in a canyon that seems not apart of this world freshly engaged! 

So we hung out with our friends Joe & Kaylyn. Our plan was brunch! Then SoWa got brought up.. hello FOOD TRUCKS! 

We kicked things off with a Lychee Slush from Sweet Bubble. Wow was it so perfect for that 90º+ day! Since we were starving we went with the tried & true dumplings from Moyzilla. So. Good. 

One lap around the lot full of 15+ food trucks & I turned around for what caught my eyes.. "Bulgogi Rib Eye Steak with Kimchi Scallion Slaw + Sweet Chili Cream Cheese STUFFED IN A SOPAPILLA" from Stuffed By Papi. Wahhh YES! The sopapilla (pronounced so-pa-peeya) is the softest, fluffiest fried dough ever. Please let me die eating this sandwich.

Moral of the story? The key & most crucial difference between the two handfuls of heaven was that freaking sweet chili cream cheese sauce, guys! So ever since I had that one at SoWa I had to make the pulled pork again.

Alas, here we (takes a nice sip of beer) finally are! An updated recipe for the AZN-styled pulled pork sammiches.. 

PS! There's literally nothing more wonderful in this world than to come home to a crockpot of goodness & the whole entire building of your condo smelling like sweet, fatty, meat.. <3

Ingredients:
Sandwich/ Hamburger Buns, Challah, Tortillas etc!
A piece of dat pork butt (~2lbs)
2 tbsp Chinese five spice powder
1/2 cup Brown sugar
1/4 cup Soy sauce
1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp Adobo
1 tbsp Smoked paprika
1 tbsp Cayenne
1 tbsp Black pepper

For the Slaw:
1 Red Cabbage 
1 bunch of cilantro
1 tbsp Sesame oil
1 tbsp Fish sauce
1 tbsp Sugar
Juice of 1 lime

For the magic:
1 8oz tub of cream cheese
1/2 cup of sweet chili sauce


Directions:

1. Prep the butt to get ready for the slow cooker! Rinse & plop her in. Whisk together all of your spices & sauces & add to the slow cooker. I set mine up for LOW on 8hrs.. perfect for turning on in the morning before I leave for work.
2. Slice cabbage in half & in half again. Cut into thin strips working from the sides going in towards the heart of the cabbage.. sooo pretty.
3. Cut your cilantro off where the leaves start to form & chop into small pieces.
4. Throw cabbage & cilantro together in a large tupperware container while adding in the other ingredients. Let this sit in the fridge covered for at least an hour to get the flavors all mingly! Taste it now though- isn't it so crunchy & yummy!?!!! You can even add pepper flakes to it if you want (;
5. In another tupperware add cream cheese & sweet chili sauce. Mix mix mix mix!! This totally reminds me of crab rangoons & that's probably why I ate some with my fingers while mixing.
   
   
   
6. Get home & get so damn excited about how yummy & dumb GOOD that crockpot smells.
7. Take two forks & start to PUUUUUULLLLL the PORK!! Yeahhhhh baby!     
    
   
   
8. Transfer all the pulled pork into a dish- feel free to pour some juice over it but I ditched most of it because I'm trying to be healthy or something.. or something.
9. Toast your buns!
10. To assemble: Smear sweet chili cream cheese onto bottom bun (I used challah, but brioche would be bad ass too!). Add your hot pulled pork on top. Next, top with your purple slaw. Finish with your top bun & BOOM!! You are in PULLED PORK PARADISE :D

Obviously pair this with a nice beer like Green Flash's 30th Street Pale Ale!

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings & please let me know if you make this!! Oofz, look at that sweet & creamy cheese spread..

C O L D, S P I C Y  C H I C K E N
& N O O D L E  S A L A D
( lazy girl's spring rolls )

Ahhh.. potlucks! There isn't anthing I love more than a huge gathering of people & FOOD!! Holy smokes. My first potluck at the new job was such a success. There were over 20+ kinds of foods/desserts & we raised over $500 to donate for a good cause. Even better, the president is matching it!  [: 

I usually love to roll up spring rolls especially in the summer but somehow this time around I thought, "Hmm.. I'm sooo busy & I really could save so much time by just making it a salad!" Poof! What a hit it was, too. 

A fellow foodie/ coworker loved it so much that he asked for the recipe twice! Uhh.. how perfect (since I haven't posted a new recipe in awhile)!

The reason why this dish is so good is because of all the fresh herbs & veggies you get. Throw in some of that sweet, spicy, fishy nước chấm sauce & I guarantee your tastebuds will be in heaven. 

This made two dishes worth of salad~ 12 servings. Try it out!

Ingredients:

1 package Rice Noodles

4 Chicken Breasts
Mint

Thai Basil

Cilantro

4 Carrots

4 Cucumbers

1 Red bell peppers

Beansprouts

Crushed peanuts

Fried Shallots

Chili-Lime Vinaigrette:

Sugar

Water

Lime juice

Fish sauce

Thai chili peppers

Garlic

Directions:

1. Boil a pot of water & add your rice noodles. Cook until soft. Make sure to read the instructions because this depends on the size of noodle! 
2. Drain & rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Mix in a small amount of olive oil to separate & use kitchen shears to cut up the long bundles of noodles into smaller pieces.
3. Prep veggies. Rinse all herbs & take leaves off of stems. Cut carrots, cucumbers, & bell peppers into bite-sized strips.  
4. Cut your chicken (you can cook it any way you’d like- summer= grill) into nice strips.
5. In a large serving dish or bowl mix veggies, noodles & chicken together.
6. Optional! Top with crushed peanuts & fried shallots (this you can get at an Asian market or do yourself!) Also, I stuck some peppers in there for fun [;

To make the sauce:

1. In a mortar add 4 garlic cloves & 1-4 thai chili peppers- muddle with pestle. Try using 1 pepper first because they can be pretty, pretttttty hot! (Another way is putting the garlic & peppers in a ziplock bag & pounding them out with a rolling pin or bottom of a bottle!)
2. Melt 2 tbsp of sugar with 1 tbsp oil in a pot until you get a nice caramel- about 3 minutes while stirring.
3. Add 1/2 cup of water to the caramel & stir to dissolve the sweetness.
4. Once all the sugar is melted you get a nice brown colored sauce- let it cool for a few minutes outside or add a couple ice cubes.
5. Add the juice of a whole lime to the sauce, 2-4 tbsp of fish sauce & the smushed up garlic & peppers.
6. Taste! This can be as sweet or sour or as spicy as you’d like so add more of either ingredients to match your flavor. If you like it more saltier than sweet add more fish sauce. Like sweeter? Add a little sugar- or even agave!

#POTLUCKSFOREVER !!! Oh & making posters/ banners also tickle my fancy ^______^