(Just barely) Food Friday: Pork kebabs and sesame rice

Well, I've just been a little bundle of productivity this week. Another freelance project came into my inbox, about Columbus' art scene this time. It's a tight deadline, but it should be a lot of fun to write. (For those of you who were interested in the fashion piece I mentioned a while back, that link will be up here soon!) Anyway, I stayed home tonight to tackle some stuff, get a head start on this project and have a long-overdue Skype date with by bff Emily...and I've only just now realized that I haven't yet posted the recipe I wanted to post today!

So here's a Food Friday post, just a half-hour shy of Saturday. This is slightly adapted from a Real Simple magazine recipe. Sorry for the poor photo; Matt and I were halfway through this meal when I realized it was a) good enough to blog and b) hadn't been blogged yet! Matt graciously allowed me to take pictures of his food, since his plate still had all the ingredients on it (I had already eaten all my pork).


Ingredients:
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 tablespoon dried cilantro
- 2 tablespoons butter
- salt
- 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 3 boneless pork chops, about one inch thick
- 1/2 bell pepper
- 5 or 6 green onions
- sesame seeds
- kebab skewers (we have metal ones, but wood ones will work too)

If you're using wood skewers, soak them in water for at least 15 minutes. While they're soaking, preheat your oven to 450 degrees (make sure the top rack is on the highest slot) and bring two cups of water to a boil in a pot.

While you're waiting for the water to boil, chop the bell pepper and green onions into one-inch pieces, and cut the pork into one-and-a-half-inch pieces.

When the water starts boiling, also add a healthy dash of salt, the cilantro and the butter. Once the butter's melted, add the rice, then cover and simmer over low heat until the rice is cooked (usually about 15-20 minutes or so).

While the rice is cooking, combine the hoisin sauce and rice vinegar (both of which can be found in the Asian or international section of most grocery stores) in a bowl. Line a baking sheet with foil, then thread the pork and veggies onto the skewers and place on the foil. Drizzle with half of the hoisin mixture and bake for about five minutes. Turn the skewers, drizzle again and bake for another four minutes or so. (Don't worry if the pork is a teensy bit underdone in the center; new studies have shown that it's perfectly safe to eat pork slightly rare. And that's always better than overdone and chewy!)

Just before serving, sprinkle sesame seeds over the skewers and over the rice. Cause sesame seeds are delicious and there's basically no such thing as too much sesame, if you ask me.

I love this meal because it's so freaking easy, and it's fast, and it's delicious. As evidenced by the fact that I was halfway through it before I realized photos were necessary. Enjoy!

Food Fridays: Salmon with asparagus & rice pilaf

Ever since I got Matt a grill for Christmas, the boy's been a regular grilling machine. Snow on the ground? Doesn't phase him. He's still out there, grillin' butter burgers, or steaks, or kabobs, or salmon. I'm just glad he likes his present so much :)

A week or two ago, we were going to do some cedar-plank salmon. But a lack of foresight on our part meant that when 7 pm rolled around, we realized we hadn't soaked the cedar planks. To prevent them from, you know, bursting into flame. So that idea had to be modified.

Instead, Matt seasoned the salmon with a Singapore signature blend from Penzey's Spices (part of a set his mom gave me for Christmas, actually) and some lemon, then wrapped them in foil and threw them on the grill. We could've done the same thing in the oven, really, but he just loves any excuse to use that grill. So I stayed inside, where it was warm and there was a bottle of wine with my name on it, and made the sides.



The asparagus really doesn't require a recipe at all; I just drizzle it in some really amazing olive oil (Giant Eagle Market District's "Arbequina" style) and some kosher salt, then roast it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.

The rice pilaf, however, is a recipe I got from Food Network Magazine. It's pretty simple, but it takes a while to cook because that's just how rice is.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup spaghetti, broken into small pieces
2 tbsp butter
1 cup rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tsp salt

Toast the spaghetti pieces in a pot over medium-high heat with the butter for about a minute or two. Stir in the rice, then add the chicken broth, water, garlic and salt. Bring to a boil and boil for three minutes. Give everything a good stir, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for about five minutes (note: I always skip this step and it tastes just fine, haha), then fluff with a fork. Remove the garlic because ew, giant chunks of garlic, and stir in some more butter because everything tastes better with more butter. You can stir in some cilantro too, if you want, but I'm not a fan so I usually skip that.

OH AND P.S.!! Don't forget to link up to Bloggers Take the Town THIS SUNDAY. Get your super-cute-but-never-blogged-going-out-evening-clothes photos ready and show us what you got :)

Asian-Inspired Rice Bowl

There’s one thing you should know about me, if you’re going to read my food posts. I. Love. Carbs. I have yet to meet a carb that I don’t like, except maybe barley, which doesn’t count because apparently your body doesn’t process it like a carb. It’s kind of weird to admit this, but I’ve been known to eat just a bowl of rice (with some butter and salt) as a snack.

So it’s no surprise that I love Italian- and Asian-inspired dishes. When I was watching Iron Chef a few weeks ago, I saw Morimoto (my favorite, of course) make this delicious-looking rice bowl. He topped it with fish and a fried egg. It looked so simple, I just had to try it!



Ingredients:
If you read the “Food” tab above, you’ll note that I rarely measure ingredients when cooking. Don’t get tied to your measuring cups and teaspoons! Experiment with me :)
- 1 cup uncooked rice (I used Minute Rice, but the real stuff works great too)
- 2 eggs
- 1 package frozen snap peas (you will have leftovers!)
- 4 filets of a firm fish, like tilapia
- flour
- sesame oil (can substitute butter or canola oil)
- garlic powder
- salt and pepper
- soy sauce

Start by cooking the rice. If you’re using the real stuff, it’ll take about 20 minutes. If you’re using Minute Rice like me, it’ll only take about five minutes. Once the rice is ready, spread it out onto a plate and pop it in the freezer for about 10 minutes—just enough to cool it down, but not long enough to freeze it.

While that’s going on, dredge the fish in flour. You can use a little egg or milk to help the flour stick, but I usually go without on this dish for a lighter finish. Plus, I usually use fish that has just come out of my freezer and is still a little damp from the defrosting process, so extra moisture isn’t as necessary.

Heat the sesame oil (or substitute fat) in a skillet. Actually, heat it in two skillets. One for the fish (medium-high heat), and one for the eggs (medium heat). These will take about the same time to cook, unless you have a really thick cut of fish. Start cooking the fish, seasoning with a tiny bit of salt, some pepper and a dash of garlic powder. When you crack the eggs in the other pan, be careful to not break the yolks. Season those with salt and pepper too. In the meantime, start cooking the snap peas. I buy the kind that you can microwave right in the bag; it usually takes about five minutes.

Flip the fish after about three or four minutes. Just before you flip it, pour some soy sauce over the whole thing. Don’t go overboard or you’ll have a salty mess. I usually use about a tablespoon, maybe two. Ish. After you flip the fish, drizzle a little more soy sauce over the cooked side that is now facing up—just a couple drops.

As for the eggs. I prefer to flip mine to make an over-easy/over-medium yolk, which I still find a little difficult sometimes. In the pictures, you might notice that I did in fact break a yolk. If you want to play it safe, just cook them sunny-side up.

Now, the rice. Morimoto re-fried it in a pan, but I think it’s so much easier to nuke it. Grab two bowls and make two rounded little hills of rice in each one, making a medium-sized indent in the top (this is where the egg will go). When the snap peas are done cooking, set them aside and nuke the rice for 30 seconds to a minute, until it’s good and hot.

Time to assemble! Carefully slide an egg into the indent in each mound of rice. Make a small little pile of snap peas on one side of the mound, and arrange the fish on the other side. You’ll notice in my photos that my fish isn’t a filet; it’s a mess. I used cod, which is too flaky for this dish and fell apart while I was cooking it. Tasted good though.

This dish is particularly fun to eat. Break open the egg yolk and let it drizzle down over the rice. I like to dip my snap peas in it, too!