Asian Ground Beef Lettuce Wraps and Alliterations March 29, 2010

With my recent obsession to not fail medical school, I have had little time to do much, but here is a quick recipe that I have successfully made on a few occasions. While I wish I had a lot of insight on how to improve it, the original recipe that I found on The Cynical Chef’s blog is spot-on. I made a few adjustments, not because I lacked faith in that recipe, but because I (as always) did not have all the ingredients that were needed, and used what I had. I am posting the link to the original blog entry here: http://thecynicalchef.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/and-it-takes-a-swan-dive/

Even if you follow my recipe instead, you should still wander over to that blog sometime since it has quite a few good recipes and some fun humor involved in the writing. I am a fan.

Here is what I used in my modified version, since I was too busy/lazy to go to Kroger to get the appropriate ingredients. Items in italics (like that alliteration??) are those that are not the same as the ones called for in the original recipe.

• Romaine lettuce leaves (dinner for two means 6-8 leaves)
  
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 large onion, chopped (I absolutely HAAAATE onions and decided to give them a try in this recipe. Somehow, with the flavor explosion, I managed to forgive onions for all their transgressions in my life and this dish has made me reconsider using onion in many things I cook. Thanks, Onions, you aren’t that bad in the right recipes.)
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder (I don’t love garlic and have yet to reconcile my differences with it, so I went with the powder. Maybe someday we can be friends…)
  
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/4 tsp. ginger powder (This is solely based on how lazy I was feeling, but I am really looking forward to trying it out with fresh ginger instead.)
  
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• Asian chile pepper sauce (optional)- (I used 1 tsp. of Sriracha red pepper sauce)
• 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil

The recipe is simple, and I will only make a few notes on what I found helpful for future preparations:

-Lay your washed lettuce leaves on paper towels to dry, so that when it comes time to serve them, you won’t be finding yourself using leaves that are dripping with water. Maybe some people like that, but given the results I found with my boyfriend, I think it worked out better when they were relatively dry.

-Chop all your veggies and measure out the seasonings before browning the beef. I didn’t do that the first time I tried it, and because I have a terrible attention span, I found myself chopping onions fervently (and tearfully), all which I could have avoided had I prepared earlier. (My high school world geography teacher, Coach Lee, used to say, “Prior proper planning prevents poor performance.” Boy, was he right.)

-Don’t let the spices overcook or the ginger will taste bitter.

-I don’t know if it was just left out from the other blog, but after the onion/sauce/chestnuts/everything-else mixture is done, you have to mix in the beef until it is evenly coated. Maybe it’s obvious to everyone else, but just in case, there you go.

Here is the actual procedure, taken directly from the Cynical Chef blog:

1. “Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not tear them. Set aside.
2. In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef in 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Drain, and set aside to cool. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, and sesame oil, and continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
3. Arrange lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter, and pile meat mixture in the center. To serve, allow each person to spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito, and enjoy!”

This is what my end-product looked like, sans-lettuce leaves. You get the idea, though.

An especially-aromatic wrap mix

Back to studying!

Alton’s Wondrous Blueberry Muffins March 10, 2010

I’ve been looking for the perfect blueberry muffin recipe for a very long time. I’ve come across many recipes that I considered okay, but until I tried Alton Brown’s blueberry muffin recipe, I have decided that my quest has been completed and I need not continue looking for a better recipe. This is the one.

Let it be known that although I respectfully tried my best to adhere to Alton’s recipe, there were a few deviations here and there, but they proved inconsequential. That’s why they are so wondrous.

Here is what you will need:

• 12 1/2 ounces cake flour (Of course, I did not have “cake flour” on hand, which happens to yield a fluffier consistency to the muffins. Instead, I used unbleached, all-purpose flour and hoped that no one would notice.)
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Heavy pinch salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup yogurt (I used plain Dannon yogurt)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• Vegetable spray, for the muffin tins (I left this out and just went with paper cupcake liners)

The procedures are very similar to Alton’s, with a few minor differences and suggestions added based on my experience.

First, preheat the oven to 380 degrees F. I like to keep a thermometer in the oven so that I can monitor when it has actually gotten to that temperature, as I’ve found that the oven doesn’t heat up as quickly as I’d like sometimes.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside. I live in an area with high humidity, so sifting is absolutely essential to get rid of any hardened clumps of baking powder which would otherwise yield bitter/salty bursts of flavor in random bites. In any case, once the baking powder has started to get too clumpy, the effectiveness is reduced significantly and I just end up having to replace it.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, egg and yogurt. (I used a stand mixer bowl for these ingredients.) Set aside one tablespoon of your dry ingredients.  Add the rest of the dry ingredients slowly into the bowl and mix until the batter is slightly lumpy but mostly smooth. Use the reserved tablespoon of flour mixture to gently toss with the rinsed blueberries. Fold in one cup of the blueberries carefully, stirring them in 4 times. Reserve the remaining 1/2 cup of blueberries.

To avoid the muffin tops from sticking to the tray, you can butter the rims of the tray (you know, where the muffin would spill over when it is growing like a delicious little monster). Then, line your trusty muffin tray with cupcake liners. For muffins, I prefer using the paper variety. Now pour in the mixture into each cup, filling about 2/3 of the way. Sprinkle the remaining half cup of berries on top of the muffins and gently press down to keep them in place.

Now that your  muffins are about ready to be perfected, you may feel like there may be a way to add just a little more zazz to them than they already have. I propose the optional addition of a streusel topping. This is very quick and easy to make. Here is what you will need (with plenty left over to put on more muffins or save in the freezer for a future recipe):

Streusel Topping
2 tbsp flour

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp  butter, softened at room temperature

The topping is simple to make: take your ingredients in a medium sized bowl and knead them together until you have formed a clumpy (yet, mostly uniform) mixture of them all. It will be messy but that is why faucets evolved out of sinks (and it is more rewarding than using a device to mix everything well).

If you choose to add this topping and defy the laws of Alton Brown, proceed here. If not, continue to the next paragraph and don’t judge my experimental side. Take the crumbly topping and sprinkle it on the muffin tops, patting down gently (just like with the blueberries) and add enough to the edges as they will expand in the oven.

Place the tray into the oven and increase the temperature to 400 degrees. Alton Brown instructs us to bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Being the scatterbrain that I tend to be, I forgot to rotate the tray altogether and they still came out fine. Remove from oven and turn out, upside down on tea towel to cool completely. Serve immediately or store in airtight container for 2 to 3 days.

Here is a picture of the final product. Just like Alton instructed, I flipped the tray upside down, but I have a feeling that if I hadn’t, they would have turned out much more domed than the sample I’m showing.

Backward muffinz

I apologize for the lack of posts and the lack of step-by-step pictures, but alas, “bored” studies have taken over my life until my board exam in June. Until then, I will do my best to post a good recipe when I can take a break.

Savor the muffins and only share them with loved ones 🙂

Jackson Pollock Oreo Brownies February 21, 2010

Apparently, there was once a type of Oreo brownie mix that you could buy at the store and make easily. Well, I haven’t found it (though I found an Oreo brand mix), leading me to believe it was discontinued. Thus,  I had to look for a recipe that would make do and here it is.

I found this recipe online, via Tramie’s Kitchen. You’ll notice that there are a few adjustments to the recipe, but those were simply due to personal preference or because I lacked the proper ingredients. C’est la vie. You will need:

• 1/2  cup powdered cocoa
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cup chopped Oreo cookies
• Betty Crocker brownie topping marshmallow icing

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a 13″ x 9″ baking pan by lining it with parchment paper, and set it aside. (I had previously done the silly thing where you butter the pan and hope that the brownies won’t stick, but this parchment paper solution was magic when I was removing the end product.)

Take a medium to large mixing bowl and begin your Oreo brownie-making adventure.

Mix the cocoa and melted butter until there are no clumps of cocoa in the mix. (This is my first substitution: cocoa instead of the chocolate squares that the original recipe called for. Apparently Kroger only stocks baker’s chocolate squares when I don’t need them.)

I used Nestle Tollhouse cocoa and plain ol' butter.

Add the sugar and mix, mix, mix.

Grainy-looking. No worries.

Add the vanilla and the eggs, again mixing very well. I usually try not to over-mix the batter, but in this case, I didn’t really think it mattered.

Add the flour, and make sure the mixture looks pretty homogeneous. (Here is another substitution. I did not have regular flour on hand, and much to the dismay of my boyfriend, I used wheat flour. He couldn’t tell until I mentioned it anyway, so it’s a good substitution if you want to incorporate a tiny bit of fiber into your brownies.) Then, mix in 1 cup of the chopped Oreos. As with the other ingredients, mix evenly.

If you look closely, you'll see the Oreos peeking back at you.

Put the mixture into the parchment paper-lined baking pan and spread it evenly. I found the mixture to be somewhat thick, so i had to spread it out with a spatula, albeit haphazardly. It turns out that when you do your best at making an even layer, it evens out a little. It’s all gravy, though, because either way, they will get eaten.

I did my best to even it out, and that's all that matters.

Sprinkle the rest of the Oreos over the batter, and pat them down with your trusty spatula.

You're not going anywhere, Oreos.

Now stick it in the oven and keep busy for about 20-30 minutes. This time frame is so wide because the original recipe called for 30 minutes of baking time, but it took Tramie less than that and it only took me ~23 minutes. Yes, 23, not 20 and not 25. To test this, you can stick a butterknife in the center of the brownies and it should come out with tiny crumbs, and no batter. When this is ready, take the brownies out and let them cool.

Once have cooled, you can squeeze marshmallow icing onto the brownies as you wish (Jackson Pollock-style). My only complaint about this pre-fab icing is that the nozzle is gigantic (that’s what she said) but I had tips from another icing bottle and just stuck them on there, for thinner icing streaks. If you can figure out a better (and easier) way of doing it, then I tip my proverbial hat to you.

So here they are. Once cooled, you can store them covered in plastic wrap and that’s it.

Ta-da!

My boyfriend thinks that they had a dark chocolate-y taste to them (“Not Hershey quality”), because he was expecting a more milk-chocolate taste, I suppose. In any case, give them a try as I have strong faith in them. Enjoy!

Hello :)))

"Hey, hey, hey!"

I’m Iz. I like to cook and bake and am in medical school. I try new recipes that I find here and there, sometimes making my own modifications. After some convincing from my friends, I finally decided to start a blog about my experiments in the kitchen, since they tend to be) random recipes I pick out of nowhere. Either way, I’d like to share what I find that works for me and hope that it works for you, too. Suggestions are always welcome, as I have no training in culinary arts and mostly cook/bake as a stress outlet.

Nice to meet you 🙂