Carb-Friendly Chicken Lettuce Wraps!

We have just recently discovered that we can make chicken lettuce wraps that taste a hundred times better than anything you could order at PF Changs,  Yardhouse or any other chain that offers this item on their menu!

It is a super carb-friendly meal and you don’t have to feel guilty about having lots of it!  It’s a super easy recipe with just a few ingredients and prep time is nothing!

This recipe will feed two easily with leftovers galore.

BUY: 

• 2 small chicken breasts, halved, and minced.  DO NOT buy already ground chicken, the consistently is too soft.  But if you are short on time, this is an easy substitute
• Small can of water chestnuts (chopped into small pieces)
• 1 bag of shredded cabbage (green & purple).  You can get a small bag of coleslaw mix (with carrots) from the local grocery store
• 1 head of butter lettuce (any lettuce will work, but we love butter lettuce!)
• Fresh cilantro (as much as you want of this stuff)
• Green onions (a few stalks, chopped)
• Fresh Garlic (3-4 cloves minced) – you can use the already minced garlic in a jar but the fresh stuff really works better here
• Fresh Ginger root (1/2 tsp) minced finely – again, you can use a powder, or already prepped ginger, but the fresh ginger root will make this dish special!

If you don’t already have these in the pantry, you need to buy:

• Oyster flavor sauce (2 tbsp)
• Maggi or regular soy sauce (1 tbsp)
• Thick soy sauce (1 tsp)
• Sesame oil (few drops to coat nonstick pan)
• Garlic powder, onion powder and white pepper
• Cayenne pepper ( a few sprinkles)

For the sauce:

• Equal parts dumpling sauce, citrus soy sauce
• A few drops of soy sauce or Maggi, a drop of sesame oil, half tsp of Asian chili sauce, a few pinches of fresh ground black pepper, squeeze of lemon or lime and mix with a fork

This can be made ahead of time or right before serving 

PREP:

• Mix minced chicken meat in bowl with garlic powder, onion powder and white pepper and the think soy sauce (this sauce is mainly for color) and mix thoroughly.  Set aside to briefly marinade while you cut the rest of your veggies
• Wash and prepare water chestnuts, green onions, fresh garlic, fresh ginger root and set aside
• Wash butter lettuce and set aside

CUC:

• In a nonstick pan, add sesame oil, minced garlic and ginger and sauté until garlic turns golden brown, NOT BURNT!
• Add chicken and continue to saute on med-high heat until almost cooked.  (The minced meat cooks faster than whole breasts so keep a close watch, 5-7 mins should be plenty of time in the pan)
• Add chopped water chestnuts, oyster flavor sauce, maggi or soy sauce, cayenne pepper and mix in pan
• Add cabbage (slaw mix) at the end, toss and turn heat off.
• Garnish with fried onions and cilantro and serve with Butter Lettuce leaves

They are super light and has less than 4g of carbs per serving!  Enjoy and stay fit!

Lemongrass Jalapeno Chicken Stir Fry

Here is another one of my favorite recipes!  I've often joked about opening a restaurant completely devoted to LEMONGRASS!  I think there is already a Lemongrass restaurant in Southwest Houston, but it is not even close to what MY Lemongrass would be like! 

Lemongrass, also known as Cymbopogon, or XA (sah) in Vietnamese, is a widely used herb in Southeast Asian cuisine.  It has a subtle citrus flavor and can be dried and powdered, or used fresh.  I wouldn't recommend ingesting lemongrass in bigger bitesize pieces.  It becomes strawlike and stringy.  I always use the minced form unless I am adding lemongrass stalks to my soups or broths.

I grew up eating Ga Xao Xa Ot (Lemongrass chicken) as a bone-in dish with big chunks of chicken and a more caramel-ly flavor.  Over the years, I have altered my mom's recipe a bit.  It isn't so much caramelized as it is savory and spicy!  Give it a try, you're going to love this dish!

BUY:

• minced garlic
• olive oil
• one whole sliced onion
• green onion, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 2 fresh jalapenos, sliced
• onion powder (few dashes)
• garlic powder (few dashes)
• white pepper (black is fine)- (few dashes)
• 3 chicken breasts (sliced into bite-size pieces)
• finely chopped lemongrass (1-2 tsp)
• red pepper flakes (for heat, 1-2 tsp)
• fish sauce (muoc mam)
• oyster flavor sauce
• corn starch - 2 tsp

PREP:

Marinade for chicken:

• sesame oil, 2 tsp minced garlic, 2-3 tbsp of fish sauce, 1-2 tbsp of oyster flavor sauce, few dashes of cayenne (Remember marinades are very forgiving, exact measurements are not super important)

Add sliced chicken breast and marinade in separate bowl for 30 mins prior to cooking

optional (for color): 

• Slice onions, green onions, jalapenos
• Julienne bell pepper, optional
• Julienne red pepper, optional

CUC:

1. add oil and garlic to heated pan
2. add chicken, set aside marinade bowl (do not wash yet)
3. saute until almost cooked through
4. add lemongrass and stir
5. Add bell peppers, red peppers, and onions, saute for a few minutes until veggies are cooked to your liking
6. Add jalapenos (they cook very fast)
7. Add the remaining ingredients to the marinade bowl (onion powder, garlic powder, white pepper, fish sauce, oyster flavor sauce, corn starch, and about 1/4 cup of warm water).  Mix until the corn starch has dissolved. 
8. Add mixture to pan and stir.  The mixture will create a thicker and more consistent sauce for the stir fry.  Serve with jasmine rice :)

Bye Bye Carbs! Blackened Catfish

Josh and I decided we really needed to start eating better and losing some of this happy relationship weight that has inched its way into our britches!

We are trying a semi Atkins diet.  Pretty Low - carb, close to no carb, but it almost seems impossible to cut ALL carbs out of one's diet :/  A few years back, I remember that I tried a carb-free diet and lasted all of 2 days!  I simply could not give up my jasmine rice - I was soooo moody and felt completely depressed.  I am a lover of food, I never really over indulge, just hate to exercise!  So it's time to make a change and it's so much easier to have someone join you in the crusade against weight! Thanks JB <3

Last night I pan-fried catfish for our inaugural Lo-Carb supper!

Blackened Catfish is pretty easy!

You can usually find fresh, farm-raised catfish in the grocer's fish market (HEB). . . I bought 3 fillets (for myself, Josh and Jonah).  Jonah skipped out on us to meet friends at Myako's for there very awesome sushi happy hour!  Here is the recipe for 3 servings.

BUY:

• Catfish fillets (1/person)
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• olive oil 
• fish sauce
• blackened seasoning, Tony's cajun seasoning, or Lawry's seasoned salt
• black pepper
• cayenne

PREP:

• Rub 1-2 drops of olive oil on fish (both sides)
• Sprinkle onion, garlic, and cajun seasoning on fish (both sides)
• Depending on your desired level of spice, sprinkle black pepper and cayenne on fish
• very carefully, add 2-3 drops of fish sauce to one side of the fish (you do not need more than that)
• Let rest in fridge for 20-30 minutes to marinade

CUC:

• Heat nonstick pan on high, add olive oil to pan
• add fillets and turn heat down to medium high heat
• fish tends to cook pretty quickly, about 5 minutes on each side (depending on size of fillet)

**I added a little water to the pan when it looked like it was charring or smoking, this created a more darker golden color on the fish!

Squeeze some lemon on it and normally I would serve this with dirty or jasmine rice, but since we are not eating CARBS, we just had it by itself.

Here are the nutrition facts if you are curious.

Taken from FatSecret.com

My Famous Grilled Ribeye Recipe

I LOVVVVVE to grill!  When I opened Three Sheets, one thing I knew for sure was that I wanted a Steak Night!  A lot of places would have Steak Night, but the steaks were not as flavorful as I liked em!  Okay, so I am asian!  Our idea of steak was thin slices of marinated eye of round, pan-fried (well-done, by the way) and served with jasmine rice, soy sauce and sriracha . . . I didn't really start grilling REAL steaks until I was in my twenties.  And I never ate my steak the right way (MEDIUM - RARE) until my (ex) husband forced me to give it a try . . . boy was I missing out on flavor!!!!

Here's the recipe (Serving for 4):

BUY:

• 1/4in to 1/3in cut of Ribeye (lots of the fat on it)
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp white pepper
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• A few dashes of steak seasoning (McCormicks Spicy Montreal Steak)
• 1/2 cup oyster flavor sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Worcester sauce
• 1 Shiner Beer
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2-3 dashes of cayenne pepper

PREP:

• Place all ingredients in a plastic bag or bin large enough to hold all the steaks
• Best if you can marinade overnight in the fridge, but an hour should be okay.  Heck, it's always better to marinade overnight ;)

CUC:
Take the Steaks out of the fridge half an hour before you are ready to grill.  Use a half of an onion to clean the grill and oil the grill as it is getting hot.


I use a gas grill so it doesn't take very long for the grill to get hot.  This is where it gets fuzzy . . . I never pay attention to the actual temperature of the fire, I start the grill on a high fire to get it really hot, turn it down a notch when I'm ready to put the meat on.  I like to get the grill marks first, so starting it off on a hot grill will make those marks!  Once you put them on, don't move them around too much.  You should only have to flip them once.

I don't use a meat thermometer either, but it's BEEF!!!!  I can usually tell by the tenderness of the steak if it is medium-rare and ready to take off! So touch your meat! Getting a thermometer ain't such a bad idea :)

rare 120°F - 125°F; medium rare 125°F - 130°F; medium 130°F - 135°F

Always let the meat rest for 5-10 minutes before serving or cutting!

For an even more Asian twist, serve it with jasmine rice, a few slices of tomatoes and cucumber, squeeze some lime on top of that ribeye and top it off with sriracha!  YUMMMMM in the tums!

Enjoy ;)

Beef N Broccoli

General Tso's chicken, shrimp fried rice, beef n broccoli!!!  These are a few all-time favorite dishes for a gringo to order from the local Chinese takeout or eat at the neighborhood Chinese restaurant.

Well, just because they are typical doesn't mean they can't be flavorful!!!   

First of all, please accept my apologies, work has been WORK lately and life hasn't slowed down enough for me to write . . . with late nights at baseball games and something always on the agenda, Josh and I have been eating out quite a bit lately.

Putting together supper requires planning, defrosting and/or major preemptive shopping! But sometimes, it can be as simple as a quick stop at the local Randall’s! 

So I actually cooked this meal on Monday night, after Josh's game . . . no planning, nothing defrosted--guided only by the desire to NOT EAT OUT AGAIN! 

I picked up some beef ( a butt roast, I usually buy eye of round, but they did not have any so I made due) and a few bunches of broccoli--all for under $10!!!

Here is the recipe (serving for 2): 

BUY:

• beef (1/2 lb eye of round, sliced for stir fry)
• broccoli (2 cups cut)
• olive oil
• minced garlic
• fish sauce
• oyster flavor sauce
• soy sauce
• onion powder
• black pepper
• garlic powder
• ginger powder
• sesame oil
• corn starch
• chili sauce  *if you have small kids eating, you may not want to use this

This is the sauce: 

PREP:

-Marinade for Beef - remember I am eyeballin' it!  And marinades are very forgiving on the quantities!

• Place sliced beef in a mixing bowl or ziploc bag
• Add 2-3 drops of fish sauce
• Add 2 tbsp of soy sauce
• Add 3 tbsp of oyster flavor sauce
• Few sprinkles of onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, ginger powder
• A splash of sesame oil
• tsp of the chili sauce

**You would typically marinate the beef for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.  On this particular occasion, it marinated for about 5-10 minutes while I was prepping the broccoli and making the rice.

-Rinse and slice Broccoli and set aside

-Thickening sauce

• 1 tbsp of cornstarch or reg flour
• a few drops of soy sauce
• a few drops of oyster flavor sauce
• 1/3 cup water

 CUC:

• Heat pan, add olive oil and minced garlic
• Add broccoli and sauté (I add a tiny bit of water, a few drops of oyster flavor sauce and cover for a few minutes to cook)  *If you prefer your broccoli al dente, you can remove it at the desired texture and set aside
• Add the beef and sauté until almost cooked the way you want it, add the thickening sauce and stir until the sauce has thickened
• Remove from pan, sprinkle with black pepper and serve with rice

It was pretty yummy this time!!! It's always been one of Jonah's favorites growing up!  Hope your family enjoys it!

BlogLuvin'

I’m a social media monster I’ve been told.  Not really.  But I do love sharing!  Criticize me if you will, yes, I am one of those people who wishes everyone a Happy Thursday!  Indeed, I do enjoy posting pictures of my meals – I’m gifted at Instagram.  And say what you want, but I love knowing that you LIKED my post! 

I admit it, I’m addicted to social media.  I’m a Duchess according to YELP!, a mayor according to foursquare, and one who spends the first 5 minutes of every meal checking in, taking pictures and making notes for restaurant reviews!  I’m not ashamed of who I am or doing what makes me happy out in the open, even if I see you chuckling or taking a picture of me while I’m taking my pictures ;)

I love it!  I love it all!  I’ve been exploring the blog world more lately. . .  I came across a couple of sites that I really love so far.  http://www.happiness-project.com/ is titled:  My Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life.  Gretchen Rubin is way more optimistic and sunshiny than I could ever hope to be, but I think everyone needs to be reminded that you can’t live everyday worrying about what is going on in Syria or North Korea or how the weather patterns are changing so dramatically because of our continued disregard for the environment.  Sometimes, the best you can do is focus on things that you can directly change or influence in your immediate and daily life.  It’s my drop of sunshine in my otherwise addicted to AP News updates about shootings, worldwide injustices, and the generally crazy state of society and its members world.

I haven’t read very much of her blog, I only subscribed to the “Moments of Happiness” that get delivered to my inbox each morning.  It’s like a fortune cookie to start your day J

The other blog I started following is http://www.nirandfar.com/.  This guy Nir Eyal is super interesting and I really enjoy his style of writing.  The blog is about business, behavior and the brain.  Pure Enlightenment and simple entertainment.  I get brain tickles when I read his stuff. ;)  Yes, brain tickles.

Enjoy your day.  Cheers to your moments of sunshine, wherever you may find them!

Spicy Fried Chicken Wings

I just read an article about how some of the best spicy fried chicken is from a joint called Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack in Nashville, TN.  I was inspired to share my own spicy recipe with you guys! 

I do love me some fried chicken, I know it’s bad for you but if loving fried chicken is wrong, I don’t wanna be right!  Here is a snippet of my YELP! Online profile to prove it:

Let’s start with the basics . . . I choose wing flats and drummettes because they are way easier and faster to cook.  And who doesn’t love WINGS!?!?!?  I don’t make the wet kind; I like mine spicy and dry.  If you want to toss them in a wing sauce, Jonah always likes the Frank’s Hot Sauce (with butter and tabasco)

This recipe will be enough for at least 2 dozen pieces.  Around my house, we prefer the flats to the drumsticks. 

BUY:

• 2 dozen wing sections or buy them whole and cut them yourself
• Tabasco (as much heat as you can handle)
• Cayenne Pepper
• Jalapeno powder
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Ground black pepper
• Minced garlic (in a jar)
• Red pepper flakes
• Season salt or Tony’s
• Shiner Bock Beer (any other dark beer)
• Cornstarch and flour
• *Here’s the Asian secret ingredient:  nuoc mam

PREP:

• Wash your chicken and pat dry
• In a large Ziploc bag, mix these ingredients:  half bottle of shiner bock (you drink the rest), tbsp of onion powder, garlic powder, ½ tbsp. cayenne, black pepper, jalapeno powder, a couple of spoonfuls of minced garlic, a few splashes of nuoc mam (a little of this stuff goes a long way) and 8-10 drops of tabasco (add more if you’d like). 
• Add the chicken to the bag, toss and make sure all meat is in the marinade.  Place bag in fridge for 1 hour.  (The longer you leave it, the more flavor it will absorb.)
• In a large shallow dish, mix ½ cup of cornstarch and ½ cup flour, sprinkle red pepper flakes, a few sprinkles of Tony’s or seasoned salt, a few sprinkles of onion powder, garlic powder and black pepper.
• Crack and mix a couple of eggs (use yolk and white) into a small bowl, add a few sprinkles of cayenne to this as well J.  Dip the chicken into the egg soak first and then lightly dredge in the flour mixture, remove and set aside on was paper.

CUC:

• Heat your oil to 350 degrees.  You can cook this in a deep frying pan or a small fry daddy.   
• Once all of the chicken has been coated with the flour mixture, start placing in the hot oil. 
• Because wing pieces are smaller, they tend to cook a bit faster.  Each batch should take no longer than 8-10 minutes to cook.  The coating should be on the light side because of the cornstarch. 
• Pieces should be crispy and golden brown. 

Lick those fingers when you’re done!!!

MudBuggin' in Houston

Ok Folks, I loooooovvvve to eat crawfish!  Like not just love, but LOVE!!!!!!

I remember when I was 8-9, back in Long Beach, Miss’sippy, my cousins, friends and I would fish for mudbugs in the ditch in front of our apartment complex.  We actually unhinged the screening from our windows to use as nets!  Lol!  I often wondered how many other Mississippi chilluns did this!

We NEVER ate them!  They were filthy!  And from a ditch!  My mama would’ve put a hurtin’ on my butt if I had tried to eat one of those suckers! Makes me laugh to think about how something so dirty has become such a food craze in the south—everywhere really!

Crawfish season typically runs from March through about June.  From August to February, the shells are quite hard and not very easy to peel.  The actual crawfish season begins in the spring, so this is actually the PEAK TIME for plump, meaty crawdads!!!

Here is a list of my favorite CRAWFISH DIVES in Houston!  There is only one on this list that I have not tried yet, but because of all the fabulous word of mouth (from experts like myself ;), I think it will be great!

Cajun Corner

photo provided by YELP!

For the longest time, I refused to go anywhere else because the garlic flavor at this joint is ridiculously good!  It also wins in my book because of the seafood fried rice!  They use a generic store-bought sausage in their boil, but I am convinced that my shoe would taste great covered in their Garlic Sauce!  When in season, the crawfish is a good size and for $6.99/lb , it is a great deal.  I think the price goes up around the peak so it may be $7.99/lb.

LA Fisherman

I visit this restaurant quite often (may have to do with a certain little lady name Katie, who is the boss around those parts)!  LA has a KABLAM sauce that is incredibly flavorful.  I have to admit, I cannot handle it, it is too spicy! 

Yes, I have shed a few tears and dribbles of snot trying to survive the spicy heat! What I like most on the menu is the snow crab legs and their boiled shrimp NEVER disappoint! 

I like to make my own “fried rice” when I visit, give me a bottle of maggi, some steamed rice, a few shrimp and snow crab legs to peel and VOILA, it’s seafood fried rice, CUC’ed  and yummy!



Crawfish & Noodles

photo provided by YELP!

This place is located in the Kim Son shopping center on Bellaire.  What is most impressive about Crawfish & Noodles is the SIZE of their crawfish never disappoint!  OMG, they are huge!  They have a garlicky  butter sauce that is pretty good as well, not as good as Cajun Corner!  I have a suspicion that there is a big French influence in their cooking style.  Lot s and lots of butter . . . a bit too rich for me, but still very good!  They have a pretty extensive Asian menu so if you’re really adventurous, you can try one of their Vietnamese dishes!

The Cajun Stop

photo provided by YELP!

Lisa boils em’ up right at the Cajun Stop!  I’ve only had the crawfish here once but it was pretty delicious!  Wish it wasn’t so far!!!  They always have great daily happy hour deals for crawfish (sometimes as low as $5/lb).  OhhhEmmGeee - her Poboys are delish!  The Surf N Turf makes my mouth water!  It is authentic Nawlins flavored crawfish!

LA Crawfish

photo provided by YELP!

 This is the only place on my list that I do not have first-hand knowledge of!  Their YELP! Reviews are great and the pictures look so yummy!  I’ve actually been told my many of my friends and family that this place rocks!  So I will definitely try it soon!  Maybe with Ms. Jimmie and John on our CRAWFISH CRAWL!!!!! ;) 

88 Boiling Crawfish & Seafood

This is the newest addition to my list . . . they won me over with great service from a friendly, attentive staff!  The big porch area with running multicolored Christmas lights is quirky charming!  Now, getting to the crawfish . . . it was 88 SPECIAL!  The 88 special flavor is the one to go with (a combination of garlic butter, Cajun and lemon pepper seasoning).  They had fabulous fried rice and you cannot leave without trying their home-made boudin balls!!!  SO delicious!  Also, soooo close to home, it is a shoo-in for my new favorite seafood dive!  You can read my full review of this place on YELP!

There it is . . . a list of my favorite crawfish joints in Houston!  The common theme:  All of these places are Asian.  Don’t get me wrong, I have tried crawfish at plenty of non-asian places, but it just never meets my expectations of spice and flavor.  Pretty sad, really.  You’d  think that Ragin’ Cajuns or Papadeaux could get it right, but it just doesn’t cut it for me!  Too bland, too expensive, too hyped!  A lot of local bars that have crawfish boils are pretty spectacular as well, but I consider those events as one-offs, not consistent enough for me.

If you got the pot, time and lots of friends to help drink cold beer while you’re boilin, you should CUC em’ yourself!  Lousiana crab/crawfish boil, garlic, onions, minced garlic, butter, cayenne, black pepper,  dried thai peppers, oranges, lemons and limes!!!  That’s all you need!!!  Throw in mushrooms, asparagus, potatoes, corn, sausage and some shrimp and you got yourself a Cajun party!!!

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Love for Spotify

So I've been on quite a recipe kick lately . . . there are other things in my life that get CUC'ed! :)  If you are a facebook friend of mine, you've seen me post a lot of links to random songs on SPOTIFY!  Josh told me about Spotify over a year ago.

Spotify is a Swedish-based commercial music streaming service providing content from a range of major and independent record labels, including Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group and Universal.  Total users reached 20 million by December 2012. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify). 

This little green sphere has really changed my life!  I think all music lovers will agree with me . . . one of the joys of hearing something that touches you is the ability to share it with someone else!  And Spotify allows you to do just that, instantaneously, at that very moment! 

When I think about you
I think about 17
I think about my old Jeep
I think about the stars in the sky
Funny how a melody sounds like a memory
Like a soundtrack to a July Saturday night

~Springsteen by Eric Church

Indeed, it is pretty awesome how a melody sounds like a memory!  I strongly recommend you give Spotify a listen; you'll fall in love as I did.

Here is a playlist of my favorite tunes both old and new, thank you for letting me share!

Sweet Disposition ~ The Temper Trap
It's Time ~ Imagine Dragons
Never Gonna Leave This Bed (Acoustic) ~ Maroon 5
Springsteen ~ Eric Church
Someday ~ The Strokes
Say (All I Need) ~ OneRepublic
I Want the World to Stop ~ Belle & Sebastian
Dakota-Decade in the Sun ~ Stereophonics
I'd Rather Dance with You ~ Kings of Convenience
Gotta Have You - The Weeppies
1,000 Ships ~ Rachel Platten
Southern Girl ~ Amos Lee
Spaceman ~ The Killers
Starlight ~ MUSE
Siempre Me Quedara ~ Bebe
This Is the Day ~ The The
Bruises ~ Chairlift
Beautiful Girl ~ INXS
Sympatique ~ Pink Martini (Hotel Costes)
Stero Love (Edward Maya Acoustic) ~ Kaitlyn Rosenblum
Good Life (Acoustic) ~ Tyler Ward ft. Heather Janssen

One of my favorite things about Spotify is discovering so many new versions of songs that you already love.  Acoustic versions are often refreshing and brings a whole new perspective to your favorites! 

Cheers to the silly little tunes that got you by the heartstrings! <3

Grilled Lemongrass Pork Chops

Every chef has a signature dish or something she is known for knockin’ out of the park . . . this, my friends, is mine J  I’ve been accused of lacing these bad boys with crack!  Harharhar!  This is a really easy recipe that involves a few of those Asian essential ingredients that I love to cook with:  nuoc mam, oyster flavor sauce, garlic powder, white pepper and onion powder!

BUY:

• 8-10 thin pork chops with bone-in
• Minced garlic – 1-2 tsp
• Oyster flavor sauce  - 1-2 tbsp
• White pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder (1/2 tsp each)
• Cayenne pepper – a few sprinkles
• Sesame Oil – 2-3 drops
• Fish sauce (nuoc mam) – 3 tbsp
• Red pepper flakes – 1 tbsp

PREP:

In a large ziploc bag, place all of the ingredients.  Add the pork chops to the marinade.  Leave in fridge for at least an hour before cooking.

I like to serve these chops with jasmine rice and a cucumber, tomato, onion salad.  You can make this and leave in fridge to cool until you’re ready to serve supper!

Cucumber Tomato Onion Salad:  Dice one red onion, a few roma tomatoes, and one large cucumber into ¼ inch size cubes, set aside.

Dressing for the salad:  In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp of sugar, ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar, ½ tbsp. of crushed black pepper, and 2-3 splashes of olive oil.  Stir until sugar has dissolved.

**Don’t pour the dressing over the salad until ready to serve, it will make everything soggy.  When ready, toss the salad in the dressing and add fried onions and a couple of tears of a cilantro bunch to finish.

CUC:

I use a gas grill . . . don’t be disappointed, I hope my next grill can be both a gas and charcoal master!  Gas is good because it heats up quickly and can be controlled with more precision.

I normally start the grill on high, use a half of an onion on end of a barbecue fork to clean the grill and then reduce heat to 375-400 degrees.  Place chops on the grill and close the top.  **The thickness of your chops will determine the cooking time.  I usually use thin chops, so cooking will be rather quick, about 10 mins (5 mins on each side).

Remove chops from the grill when finished, remember to turn off the gas valve.

Plate with a serving of jasmine rice and cucumber tomato salad.

My mouth is watering already!!!  Hope you enjoy it!

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

AKA:  Campechana de mariscos, a spicy tomato-based, citrusy cocktail packed with shrimp and avocado.   I learned this recipe from some friends whose son used to play soccer with Jonah when he was younger out in Sugarland.  Sylvia shared this delicious recipe and it has been a party pleaser for almost a decade now.  :) The only other place that serves this dish outside of mine and Sylvia’s cocina, is Goode Co. Seafood; it’s not bad there, but you’ll love making on your own!

The most important part is to find a gi-normous martini glass like this one at Marshalls or Tuesday Morning!  It makes it that much more fun to serve!!!

BUY:

• A bag of already cooked, tail off, peeled medium-sized shrimp (H.E.B. – about $11.98 a bag)
• 2 large tomatoes, firm and red, not soft; chopped into pico de gallo sized chunks
• 1 large red onion, chopped into pico sized pieces
• A bundle of cilantro (chopped coarsely)
• 2-3 fresh green jalapenos (sliced into pico sized pieces)
• 1-2 limes (keep half of the lime for freshening the avocado when serving)
• Tabasco (4-5 drops, or according to your desire for spice)
• Half a cup of ketchup (generic brand)
• 2-3 pinches of salt
• ½ tsp of black pepper
• 1-2 whole avocados, sliced and cubed when ready to serve, squeeze lime on top to keep avocado fresh
• 1 bag of tortilla chips for dipping

PREP:

• Soak the frozen shrimp in warm water to thaw. 
• Dice and cut tomatoes, onion, jalapenos and cilantro
• Mix all ingredients in large bowl

CUC:

There is essentially no CUCing involved in this recipe! 

• Drain the shrimp and remove all excess water (as much as you can) before adding the shrimp to the mixture. 
• Toss and taste for desired level of spice.  Add more lime or tabasco as needed

EAT:

• Pour mixture into serving piece (giant martini glass)!
• Cut up the avocado and add on top
• Serve with tortilla chips!

Egg Rollin'

Vietnamese Shrimp Egg Rolls

 I can’t tell you how often we crave these in my house, it is so easy to make if you have all of the ingredients around . . . most of the ingredients are dry so you can keep them handy in your pantry J 

There have been many occasions when I don’t have this or that so any variation of these will work just fine, be creative, be brave . . . they will taste great if you season them right! 

Remember, these are CUC recipes, these will not taste like traditional Vietnamese or Chinese egg rolls you may be expecting, but I promise you’ll never settle for one of those again after you have one of these! ;)

*Let me apologize now for my incorrect use of measurement . . . I’m a CUC.  In my kitchen, there are dashes, splashes, a little bit of this and a lot of that.  I’ve tried to guesstimate the equivalent portions as best as I can.   Cooking is so much more forgiving than baking!  It’s ok if you don’t have exact measurements, most of the time, the measurements are for marinades, and you really can’t do much damage that way! 

CUC ON!

This recipe will make about 24-30 egg rolls, takes less than an hour to prepare and cook.

BUY:

• 1 lb Shrimp – probably the best place to buy shrimp is at the Asian market, it is always so much less expensive- anywhere between $3.99 - $5.99 a lb, depending on the size.   This is what I use out of convenience and because they will be mashed up anyway. The size really doesn’t matter.   I usually go for the medium sized, already peeled ones (you have to devein yourself).  HEB has the med large ones already deveined and halved, so peeling is super easy – so this will be your best bet!  Use a large knife to chop up the raw shrimp into a paste.
• 1 yellow onion - medium sized, diced into tiny pieces
• Garlic (1 heaping tbsp) – use the already minced in a jar version (I always keep a large jar of this in my fridge, makes things that much simpler)
• ½ cup chopped Mushrooms – I’ve used all kinds, from portabellas to Chinese dried fungus (the black ones); my favorite is the black fungus.  Whichever you use, dice into small pieces.
• 2 bundles of Glass Noodles (bean thread) – one of my pantry essentials, so easy to use! Soak the noodles in hot water til soft (5 mins), then chop into small sections to be added to the mixture.  
• Sesame or olive oil (1 tsp)
• Nuoc Mam (fish sauce) – 2 tsp

Any of these brands will work

• Maggi (special soy sauce) – 2 tsp 

• Ground Black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder
• 1 pack Rice Paper – I use the small ones, (6 inch diameter)

• warm water to dip rice paper in

 CUC:

Get yourself a helper like mine :)  He is awesome at rollin!!!  back to work, no smiling!

• Mix all of the ingredients into a large bowl. 
• One of my tricks is to set 2-3 plates out for rolling the egg rolls.  By the time I am finished rolling the first one, the next paper will be ready for rolling.  You should start with 2, not 3, leave that to the pros ;)
• Dip and rotate the rice paper quickly in the hot water bowl.  DO NOT let it sit (will become gummy and un-usable)

• *When deep frying rice paper, you have to be very careful, there is water in the rolls that you just made, drop slowly and watch out for popping.
• Shrimp cooks very quickly, kepp turning the rolls in the oil and when you notice the mixture turning orangey, it is done cooking.  Rice Paper egg rolls will not turn the golden brown that you are used to seeing on egg rolls, they tend to be very light in color when they are cooked.

So my mom finally decided to share one of her egg roll cookin secrets with me after 20 yrs!!!  She adds a little bit of brown sugar to the warm water to give the egg rolls some color and the brown sugar is not overpowering and only adds a tiny bit of sweetness to the already delicious flavor!

NOM:

I usually have these yummy egg rolls with rice vermicelli, lettuce, mints, cilantro and cucumber and really tasty Nuoc Mam sauce (this is not the same as the store bought fish sauce in the bottle, this is a special Lam family recipe).  I will post soon!!!  Enjoy!

Other variations:

If you are making a ton of these, add 1/2 lb of ground pork to the recipe!  I have also used lump crab meat with my shrimp mixture.   One time I added cilantro, green onions and jalapenos to the mixture and I must say, it was pretty fantabulous!  You really can't go wrong as long as your have shrimp, glass noodles and onions!

If you are not a fan of the rice paper egg rolls, you can always use the traditional egg roll wrapper, it is rice flour based and will fry up much easier, but you will have to cook them a bit longer.   You will need to use an actual egg to seal the egg roll wrapper versus jsut warm water.  

They will be equally delicious!!