When I think about risotto, two things come to mind. I think about the episode of Seinfeld where George’s girlfriend eats the risotto, is satisfied, and George is weird and jealous. It’s awkward, hilarious, full of innuendo, and classic Seinfeld. If you haven’t seen it, watch the clip in the link. The second thing I think about when it comes to risotto is Top Chef. Every time someone on Top Chef makes risotto everyone talks about what a risk it is, how ridiculous that chef is for trying, then it comes out terribly, and the chef gets blasted by the judges. So with all those associations together, I was intimidated about making risotto.

A few years ago I got over my fears and I made risotto for the first time. The recipe used a kobocha squash (which is also kind of daunting), and it was just gloriously delicious. It was amazing and I was in adoration of risotto. And that’s when I realized, “oh it’s not that hard and it’s fantastic.” The thing about risotto is that it takes some time and lots of attention. When you usually make rice you simply get it started, set a timer, and walk away. Risotto on the other hand needs you next to it the entire time. In short, risotto is a needy baby.

However, even though risotto needs you, you shouldn’t be overwhelmed. Risotto needs you to stir regularly for about 20 minutes. We can all do that! Also, this is the reason I think the people on Top Chef fail. They’re too busy running around, sweating, and cursing to stir the risotto. But you? You can do it! I think you could even turn on the TV and watch that 20 minute episode of Seinfeld as you stood by your stove and prepared your filling risotto.

I also want to tell you two other good things about risotto and one annoying thing. First, the good. Risotto is a lovely way to pack a variety of veggies and meat into a one pot dish. One pot dishes that incorporate a variety of food groups are my holy grail for dinner time.  When I saw this recipe for bacon and vegetable risotto in the magazine Great British Food, I was instantly hooked. I want to eat more vegetables, Ryan would prefer a little meat with dinner, and a dish like this can satisfy both of us.  It’s also really easy to change what goes into your risotto. You could add shrimp instead of bacon, asparagus instead of the soy beans. Once you know the basic method for cooking the rice, then it isn’t too hard to experiment with what goes in the rice.

The other thing I love about risotto is that it is so creamy. A hunk of butter and a bunch of cheese gets thrown in at the very end and turns something that looks like a nicely cooked stir fry into a rice and hearty wave of flavor. It’s that sticky, creamy texture that makes risotto special. However, it’s that very thing that can make risotto go wrong. Overcooking it can turn everything into glue, and that’s sticky in a bad way. So, stay near your risotto, check it occasionally as you think it’s about to finish, and serve it immediately. Once it cools all the way it will thicken up and won’t be very nice.

You might be confused about some of the ingredient conversions. Since this recipe came from a UK magazine, the ingredient amounts are listed in grams. I have tried to make the conversions as best as a I could, but for the bacon, soy beans, and peas that amounts don’t have to be perfect. They don’t have to be perfect because they are the add-ins and as long as you don’t add way too much or way too little the whole dish will still cook evenly. And finally, this recipe makes a ton of food. Seriously, it serves 6-8 people. Cut the recipe in half if there are fewer people. Better yet, invite some friends over and share this goodness with friends.

Adapted from Great British Food magazine, May 2015.

Bacon and Vegetable Risotto

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 200g/ about 1 cup bacon lardons
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 400g/ 1⅔ cup arborio rice
• 1.5 liters/6.5 cups vegetable stock (you might not use all of it)
• 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
• 200g/about 1 cup frozen soy beans
• 200g/about 1.5 cups frozen peas
• 50g/1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• hunk of butter, about 2 tablespoons
• pepper

Instructions

1. In a large pot heat the vegetable stock until it is lightly simmering. Let it keep simmering throughout the cooking process.
2. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pan. Seriously, use your pan with the largest diameter.
3. Once the oil is hot, add the bacon and cook until lightly brown.
4. Add the onions to the oil and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in the garlic and arborio rice and cook for 1 minute to toast.
6. Pour in about half the stock (enough to cover the rice) and cook for 10 minutes. Adjust the heat as needed so the whole thing is bubbling happily but not ferociously boiling.
7. Add the soy beans and stir.
8. Add a ladle full of stock and stir. Repeat. This is where you need to be nearby. Basically, you're adding a ladle full of stock, stir, and then add more stock once the first stock is mostly absorbed. Keep adding stock until the rice is cooked. It's ready when the rice is tender and you have a saucy consistency. Your goal is to have this whole cooking process done in about 20 minutes (might be less, might be more that's ok).
9. When the rice is cooked, add the peas and cook for 1 minute more.
10. Remove from the heat.
11. Stir in the butter and Parmesan.
12. Season with some pepper and serve immediately.

3.3.3077

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Kim is actually someone I credit with helping me learn to cook. Five years ago when I moved to New York I was sad to leave my friends, but one of the ways we kept in touch was through a food blog that Kim ran. You can check it out here. Five of us were contributors and in the about section it says “we can’t cook, but we are gonna damn well try.” All of us had talked about wanting to cook and learn more, and the blog was a way for us to do it together. Kim would choose a theme and we’d all cook to the theme, share some stories, the recipe, and photos. It pushed us to try new things in the kitchen, help each other learn, and for me stay involved with them even though I was states away. When that blog stopped, it pushed me to start Cooking is Messy. 

I like that good food can be a way to connect with people. This recipe in particular is really nice, but the first time I made it Ryan said, “smells good, tastes good, doesn’t look good.” I asked him why and it was because I made it with white rice. It was white chicken, on white rice, on a white place. He was right, it looked bland and not very inviting. Which brings me to something I’ve thought about a lot – what’s more important taste or appearance? I always want to say taste because if food doesn’t taste good then what is the point? However, if it looks bad you won’t even want to eat it so you won’t want to taste it. For example, one of the best things I’ve ever tasted is Jacques Pepin’s French onion soup but the photos I took of it are hideous. How will people know it’s amazing if it looks bad? What do you think – taste or appearance? Feel free to weigh in in the comments.

So to improve, the next time I made this I used red camargue and wild rice, which I had never tried before. The rice is chewier and nuttier than regular white rice. It also of course adds nice color and helps the green basil pop.

Overall this recipe is pretty easy to make, which just a few elements that might be unfamiliar. First, it includes oyster and fish sauces, which are ingredients I’ve never used before. However, if you like cooking Asian dishes it’s probably a worthwhile investment and they aren’t so expensive to buy. Also I really liked the flavors. Something I did final unusual is that this recipe asks you to blitz the chicken in a food processor. This is nice because it decreases cooking time, but it’s just not something I thought about doing before. If you could find ground chicken then you could probably skip this step. What’s best about this recipe is that the final dish ends up with all the flavors – sweet, bitter, spicy, umami. It’s really lovely and complex. Basically, the flavors are doing a ton but it doesn’t require a lot of work from you to get all that deliciousness.

Messy level: So much of the prep is done in the food processor that this makes the cooking part really easy and mess free. However, I hate cleaning all the parts of the food processor and since you’re pulsing raw chicken, you really are going to have to do some serious scrubbing in the end.

Basil Thai Chicken

 

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Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup of rice (whatever kind you prefer)
• 2-3 cups water
• 1 cup fresh basil, divided
• 2 green or red Thai chiles, or 2 serrano chiles, or 1 jalapeno; stemmed and seeds removed
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1½ teaspoon oyster sauce
• 1½ teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon white vinegar
• 8oz boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inches chunks
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Read package instructions for rice and follow those guidelines. White rice usually needs twice as much water as rice. Red rice needs about three times as much water as rice. So, in a medium saucepan add rice and water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover and let simmer for 30-40 minutes or until the water is absorbed.
2. In a food processor, pulse ½ cup basil with chiles and garlic. Pulse until finely chopped, about 10-12 pulses.
3. Transfer 1½ teaspoons of the basil mix into a small bowl. Scrape the rest of the basil into a large skillet. Set the skillet aside. (Don't put the food processor in the sink, you'll need it again!)
4. Return to the small bowl with the 1½ teaspoons of basil mixture. Add the fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and vinegar. Mix until well combined. Set the sauce aside.
5. Add the chicken pieces to the food processor. Pulse until meat is chopped into small pieces, about 6-10 pulses.
6. Take the food processor bowl with the chicken in it and put it in the fridge for 15 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, add the shallot and oil to the skillet with the basil mixture. Stir until everything is well mixed. Turn the heat to medium and stir occasionally. You want the mixture to be sizzling. Cook for 5-8 minutes or until the shallots are browning and soft.
8. Add the chicken to the skillet. Increase the heat if needed. Stir and break up the chicken with a wooden spoon. After 4-6 minutes, when there are only traces of pink, add the basil-fish sauce mixture.
9. Stir until all the chicken is coated with the sauce. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink, about 2 more minutes
10. Turn off the heat, then add the last ½ cup of basil. Stir until the basil is wilted.
11. Serve chicken on top of the rice. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

3.3.2998

The post Basil Thai Chicken appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

However, the thing about being on vacation is that I don’t usually eat very well. I usually spend most of my time out at restaurants and eating whatever I want. Then, by the time I go home I’m ready for a healthy eating detox. Also, restaurants are expensive. So I was wondering if it was possible for me to cook some meals in my hotel room. Ya know, so I could be a little healthy, feel homey, and spend a little less. I did some research and I found out people make all kinds of crazy meals in hotel rooms!  I’ve compiled ten ideas for hotel cooking. 

I’ve chosen recipes that can be made with things found in a standard hotel room: mini fridge, coffee maker, iron, and mugs. The only special tools you should need are aluminum foil and knife, which I bet you could borrow from the hotel.

1. Yogurt with Granola – Easy, delicious and filling. Also, if you have a favorite homemade granola that’s really easy to bring with you in your carry on.

2. Cereal – Use the mug in your hotel room as your bowl, and you’re set for cereal. Buy your favorite brand from a local grocery store, or mix your own cereal using some granola, oats, and dried fruit. Just because you’re on vacation doesn’t mean you can’t mix and match what you make for breakfast.

3. Soft or hard boiled egg – This is such an ingenious recipe idea! Put the egg in the coffee pot then run the water through and your egg will cook. So simple and yet so cool.

4. Ginger and Lemon Fruit Salad – Fruit salad is so easy and eating lots of fruit in the morning always makes me feel healthy. I like this recipe because you can buy almost all the ingredients pre-sliced in case you don’t have access to a knife and cutting board. Also, I think using ginger and lemon sounds like a nice twist.

5. Oatmeal – I’m not a fan of oatmeal, but it makes sense for travel breakfasts. It’s easy to carry with you and easy to fancy it up with seasonings, fruits, and honey.

1. Rice –  Use instant rice and all you have to do it run the water and keep the machine running so it will stay hot until cooked through. Rice can be a great base. You can mix in things you buy at the store or mix in leftovers from when you went to a restaurant.

2. Steamed vegetables – This recipe seems like a lot of work because you’ll have to run the water through a few times to get the vegetables to your desired done-ness. However, sometimes I crave vegetables after eating lots of heavy foods, so it might be worth it. Also you could also cut the veggies thin and then “grill” them using the iron. You can see videos on cooking veggies in a coffee maker here.

3. Quesadilla – So easy and very few ingredients. All you’ll need is tortillas, cheese, and other thing veggies or spices you might like. Wrap it all in aluminium foil and then press it with a hot iron until melted. Easy and delicious.

4. Grilled cheese – Basically the same method as the quesadilla. You don’t have to go crazy and be as fancy as to make crab grilled cheese, but you can add some flair to your sandwich and simply press it with the iron covered in aluminium foil.

5. Lemon Pepper Chicken – I’m simultaneously terrified and intrigued by this recipe. I mean cooking chicken in a coffee pot?! But basically the idea is that you’re poaching the chicken. It seems worth trying just to see how it would come out. Also, you could cut the chicken really thin, wrap it in tin foil, and cook it with a hot iron.

So here’s a list of 10 recipes, 5 for breakfast and 5 for lunch and dinner, that you can cook in a basic hotel room. I’ll let you know what I try out and if I’m brave enough to cook in the coffee pot!

The post 10 Ideas for Hotel Cooking appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

When I made corn chowder, I told you that I liked to go to Zumba on Mondays. That means Monday dinner kind of gets short changed because I need something light and quick. This recipe fits the bill. Last Monday, I made this simple chicken dinner with broccoli and rice. As we were eating it I said to Ryan, “this is college Mariel dinner,” and he chuckled and nodded.

This was the meal I made all throughout college. It is the first real meal I ever knew how to make. It is probably the first meal I ever made for Ryan. In college I would’ve made this with defrosted frozen broccoli and a box of Near East rice pilaf, but over the years I’ve stepped up my game and now I can make everything from fresh ingredients.

I haven’t shared this recipe on the blog before because it didn’t seem very special. It seemed so straightforward, who would need this recipe? But the truth is my mom wrote this down for me when I was in college and didn’t know how to cook anything. She was writing down recipes for me in a spiral notebook and I felt like everything she was writing was too fancy (liked baked salmon filets). So I asked her, “how do I make just plain-ass chicken?” And this is it, plain-ass chicken.

This recipe is a great beginner recipe. It’s perfect for college students, busy people, people with few kitchen appliances, and people who want to learn to cook. Here are four other reasons why this meal is awesome.

1. It’s fast. The whole thing will take you 45 minutes. Yes, 45 minutes is longer than it takes to defrost a pizza, but it is faster than it takes to defrost a lasagna and can sometimes be faster than delivery.
2. It’s cheap. All the ingredients costs me less than £10. It serves two and you’ll still have rice and stock left for a future meal, so really cost per person is even lower.
3. It’s made of all whole, fresh, normal ingredients. So you can feel good about making a quick dinner with all ingredients you can pronounce.
4. It’s going to teach you three valuable basic cooking skills: how to make rice, how to steam vegetables, and how to cook chicken. Learn the basics and you have the foundation to make all kinds of more complicated stuff in the future.

Now a few notes on preparation. The only special equipment I recommend is a vegetable steamer. I like steaming vegetables because it is healthy and quick. Also, for beginner cooks you’ll be making everything on the stove which is good because it will be easy for you to keep your eye on everything. Also you can steam all kinds of veggies, green beans, asparagus, whatever you like. The vegetable steamer I use is pictured below. I like it because it’s easy to clean and store. It’s kind of floppy though so using the handles to remove the vegetables and steamer is a bit hard. If you aren’t going to steam your veggies, then I recommend roasting them. You can find my favorite roasted broccoli recipe at the Amateur Gourmet’s blog.

We’re going to be using boneless skinless chicken breasts. They don’t often get a lot of love because chicken with bones and skins have a bit more flavor. But boneless skinless is cheap to buy, easy to prepare, and quick to cook. You want to make sure that your chicken breast is uniform in thickness. The reason for this is that the thinner side can cook and dry out before the thicker side is even cooked. To even your chicken you can hammer it with a meat mallet. I don’t have that so I’ll sometimes use the bottom of a sturdy glass. You could also cut your chicken breast lengthwise, giving you pieces of even thickness. This is the method that I like, also because it also cuts down on cooking time.

Last note, for seasoning I used adobo and Old Bay, because that’s what I like. You should use what you would like. Don’t know what you like? Garlic powder, salt, and pepper are always a good choice.

Ok, now let me take you back in time to Mariel’s college days.

Messy level: This recipe is really easy and there isn’t much opportunity for spills or splatter. Still, you have to use three pots so that’s almost a full sink of dishes. Overall though, clean prep and easy clean up.

Easy Beginner Chicken Dinner

 

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Cook time

45 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

An easy recipe for a beginner's chicken dinner

Author: Cooking is Messy

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• ½ cup white rice
• 1 cup chicken stock (you can use water, but stock is more flavorful)
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• adobo (or your preferred seasoning for the chicken)
• 1 medium head of broccoli
• Old Bay (or your preferred seasoning for the broccoli)

Instructions

1. Start with the rice. Put the rice and stock in a medium sauce pan. Heat on high on a back burner (since you're going to set it and leave it). Bring to a boil. Once it boils, lower the heat to low. Cover the pan, let it simmer until all the liquid is absorbed. This takes usually 35-40 minutes, but check your packaging. [Beginner tip: to check for doneness, lift the lid, and use your spoon to push aside a bit of rice to see the bottom of the pan. Is there liquid? If so, not done]
2. Now prep the chicken to make the breasts even (see note above) Season generously with adobo/seasoning of your choice. Set aside.
3. 
4. Wash the broccoli. Cut into little florets.
5. 
6. In a medium saucepan put about ½ inch of water in the bottom. Put the steamer on top of it. Make sure the water doesn't come up over the steamer.
7. Put the vegetables on top of the steamer. Sprinkle with Old Bay or the seasoning of your choice.
8. 
9. Cover the broccoli. Cook on medium-high for about 10 minutes. [Beginner tip: At about 7 minutes, lift the lid and take out a piece of broccoli and test it to see if it tender enough for your liking. Turn off the heat when you feel it is cooked enough]
10. Put a little oil in a skillet. Heat the pan on medium-high.
11. Flick a little water into the pan. If it does nothing, your pan isn't hot enough. If it pops and sizzles aggressively then it is too hot. If it just jumps a little, you're ready.
12. Lower the heat to medium. Add the chicken. Cook on one side for about 3-5 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for 3-5 minutes. Chicken should be done at about 8 minutes. [Beginner tip: Make a small cut into the chicken breast. Still pink? not done. Increase the heat if it's taking forever, lower the heat if you feel it is browning too quickly]
13. Turn off the heat and serve.

3.2.2807

The post How to Make an Easy Beginner Chicken Dinner appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

On Tuesday, Ryan and I had an appointment to set up a bank account. We arrive at the bank and the person we were supposed to meet was out sick. Also, part of the ceiling had collapsed so things were a mess. We had to reschedule. Sigh.

I then had an appointment to see an apartment. The place was very close to the tube station and in a cute development, but in a very residential place, and we wanted something a little more urban. I get to the place and the owner shows me around. Some parts were really nice, and some parts were not. There was black gunk on the bathroom floors! It must have shown in my face because the owner asked me twice why I didn’t like it. Awkward.

Next, I went to a department store to buy some underwear. (Sorry for the intimate detail) The sizing is all different and I’m holding things up and Googling size conversions to see what might work.

Finally, I went to a coffee shop. I had a huge pile of coins in my purse and I was trying to figure out if I had enough to pay (because I don’t know the coins by heart yet) and then I spilled everything all over the floor. So embarrassing! Ryan and I had just read an article that said only Americans help other people in distress. And maybe that’s true, because no one offered to help me clean up my scattered coins. I took my coffee and pastry and slunk to a hidden seat in the back of the cafe.

But, the day turned around and Ryan and I explored a new neighborhood and had a great dinner at a small Turkish restaurant.

Since then, I’ve had some really great wins too. I went to the Globe Theatre! I love Shakespeare. Ten years ago, I visited London and didn’t see the Globe and I’ve regretted it ever since. I decided to walk there and I’m so glad I did! It was sunny, I walked along the Thames and took pictures of the skyline. The theatre itself was pretty impressive and I loved learning the history. I loved picturing what it would have been like in Shakespeare’s day, and I hope I can convince someone to see a show with me there.

I then got lunch and ate outside along the Thames. Only a few weeks ago I was in DC surrounded by snow, and here I am now eating lunch outside.

Ryan and I also have successfully set up a bank account, done some laundry, and gone to the grocery store.

In general I love going to the grocery store, and it has been especially fun seeing the new and different things here in London. Grocery shopping and cooking has really helped this place feel like home. There’s so much here I don’t know how to do, but shopping and cooking feels like an adventure I do know about, and is something I can do well.

They have all kinds of cool stuff in the grocery store. Their cheese section is huge! Seriously, there are about 4 different sections for cheese. There’s also a huge section for beans. The portion sizes are way smaller than we’re used to. The family sized juice is about the size of regular juice. The eggs aren’t refrigerated. But what I really thought was cool was that the cartons tell you the breed of chicken. I also saw quail and duck eggs, which I’ve never seen before. I will definitely need to figure out how to use those. There’s also beet juice! I need to try that, although I’m a bit afraid. Also, I saw brown sugar, which is totally normal. But, it was advertised as “treacly.” I didn’t know what that meant, so I had to look  it up. Finally the milk jugs look different and so do Starbucks to-go drinks.

Also, next time I go to the store I’m going to do a “myth busters” edition, where I’ll hunt down all the things people said we couldn’t find here in London. Stay tuned!

Anyway, I didn’t go crazy shopping in the store. Ryan and I are in temporary housing so I don’t want to make things that need a lot of ingredients. I need recipes that are low maintenance, can be made exclusively on the stove, and fairly healthy. A stir fry seemed perfect.

This is really an improv dish, so use the vegetables you like and trust your instincts. Use more veggies if you like. Cook until it looks good to you. Do what feels right. This is a super easy dish, quick, and great for people not wanting to do a ton of work.

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked rice

1 large carrot

1 1/2 cup broccoli florets

½ cup peas

4 (or more) white mushrooms

1 pound chicken breast, cut into chunks

About 2 tbsp of concentrated chicken stock (you could also use regular chicken stock, I just bought the small concentrated packets from the store)

olive oil

salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Put 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water in a medium sauce pan. Heat on high until the water comes to a boil. Turn the heat to low, cover the pot, and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the water is absorbed.

2. On medium high, heat a little oil in a sauce pan. Add the carrots and broccoli. Season with salt and pepper if you like. Add 1/2 the chicken stock concentrate. Also add about 1 tbsp of water to help make the stock saucy. Cook the vegetables for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally but not constantly. It might take longer than 10 minutes, but you want the vegetables to be easily chewable with a little bit of crunch.

3. Remove from pan, add a splash of olive oil, then add the mushrooms and peas. You’re doing this in steps so everything can cook evenly and the vegetables that need longer get longer. Cook for about 5+ minutes. You want the peas to be soft and mushrooms to be soft and a bit smaller and wilted.

4. Remove mushrooms and peas from pan. Add a flick of olive oil and add the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the chicken is all the way cooked through. This could take as little as 5 minutes, but close to 10 minutes depending on thickness of the meat.

5. When the chicken is all the way cooked through, add all the vegetables back in. Add the rest of the chicken stock and another tablespoon of water. Stir to get everything coated. Taste it and adjust seasonings as necessary.

6. Serve the stir fry on top of the rice. Eat and enjoy!

Messy level: 2 spoons. The messiest part is just switching out everything between the pans. You could do everything in multiple pans if you wanted, but I only have 2 burners, and that would be super messy. Mostly, this is a super clean dish.

The post Chicken & Vegetable Stir Fry with Rice appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

This recipe might be the easiest and cheapest recipe I’ve ever posted. There are a couple of “flair” ingredients in the recipe, but it would be good if all you had was a bag of rice, a can of chickpeas, and bottle of teriyaki sauce. Those ingredients don’t cost much and you might already have them in the pantry. What could be simpler?

Also, I think this is a great meal to make if you’re only cooking for yourself. Is that a weird thing to say, that this is a good dish for one? Maybe…

However, when I lived alone I was always looking for recipes that didn’t make a billion servings. I didn’t like cooking that much then because I’d make eating that same meal for lunch and dinner for the next 4 days. It can get old. But this dish, is perfect for 2-3 meals. It’s perfect if you want to whip up something quick, small, and tasty.

While I stand by my original statement that this is good plain, it’s super delicious topped with pineapple salsa. It adds a little sweetness from the pineapple and some great zest fro the onions and cilantro. Yes, making the salsa is a little more chopping and prepping, but it’s tasty and beautiful.

The recipe is adapted from the a great cookbook called The Happy Herbivore. It’s a vegan cookbook, but really accessible for people who like vegetable based meals, but don’t actually want to be vegan.

Messy level: This is one spoon! You cook everything in two pots, there’s so little chopping, and it’s just so darn easy!!

Teriyaki Chickpeas and Rice

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Chickpeas

• 1 15oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• ⅓ cup teriyaki sauce (or more if you like!)
• 1 tbsp hot sauce
• ½ tbsp raw sugar (just swipe 2 packets from your local coffee shop)

Rice

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup uncooked white or brown rice

Pineapple salsa

• ½ cup chopped pineapple
• 2 tablespoon chopped red onion
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• lime juice (from about ½ a lime)

Instructions

1. In a large skillet, mix together the chickpeas, teriyaki sauce, hot sauce and sugar. Let the chickpeas marinate in the skillet while you get the rice ready.
2. In a medium pot, bring the 2 cups of water to a boil.
3. Once the water has come to a boil add the rice. Cover the pot and turn to low. Let simmer until the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Rice is done when rice is tender and water has cooked off.
4. Turn the skillet with the chickpeas to medium. Heat until the chickpeas are cooked enough to our liking, usually about 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
5. While everything else is cooking do whatever salsa chopping you need to do in case you didn't do it before you started. Then mix also salsa ingredients together in a bowl.
6. Serve the rice in a bowl then top with chickpeas and salsa.

3.5.3226

The post Teriyaki Chickpeas and Rice appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

thanks to Charlotte for suggesting I include my learn to cook dude!

This is one of Ryan and my favorite, go-to, weeknight dinner recipes. Ryan loves Mexican flavors. I love rice and beans. It’s a great meal. But even so, I’ve been debating about posting this. I even made a pros and cons list. Here it is:

Cons –

• Creates a lot of dishes and that’s annoying
• Requires some finesse and timing. Lots of things are cooking at the same time, which can be stressful

Pros –

• Takes less than 45 minutes to make everything
• Tasty and filling
• It’s easy to make a lot, so it’s great for guests or if you want some to take for lunch
• There’s lots of options for making this even faster or even more homemade (more on that below)
• There’s lots of options for adding all the toppings and add-on foods that you like

So the pros outweigh the cons, which means you all get a nice recipe. Before we get started let me tell you about some of the options to amp up or amp down this recipe.

I use canned beans, frozen sofrito, and a taco seasoning packet. I prefer using these products because they still taste great and they decrease my prep time. Specifically, I liked Goya pink beans or any brand’s pinto beans. But of course you could use black beans, re-fried beans, or whatever kind of beans you like. If you don’t like canned beans, by all means use dried beans. People tell me they are much better, but I grew up often eating canned beans so I like them just fine.

You can also make your own sofrito. If you’re not familiar, it’s a tomato based seasoning blend. I prefer not to make it because it requires a lot of ingredients, some of which can be hard to find. If you are so inclined, a recipe I like is from Wilo Benet’s book Puerto Rico True Flavors. You can also do some Googling, and find a recipe you like. But the Goya frozen sofrito is great because it’s such a big tub and it keeps for a long time.

Finally, I buy taco seasoning packets. Again, it’s because taco seasoning is made up of a lot of ingredients and not all of which are already in my spice cabinet. However, when I’ve found myself without a seasoning packet, I’ve used this recipe.

Now, for the rice. I’m going to give you the recipe for making rice on the stove. I don’t have a rice cooker so I don’t know how that works, but go ahead and use it if you have it. If you really want to save yourself time, go ahead and use Uncle Ben’s 90 second rice – but I’ll be judging you a little bit. And I’ll be judging only because I think you should try stove making rice before you go to prepared rice. I’ve totally had Uncle Ben’s 90 second rice (sorry Mom), but the bag doesn’t make much and it’s not cost effective. I like making rice myself because it’s largely passive cooking, it makes a ton, and it’s cheap. Seriously a 2 pound bag of rice cost about $2 and will last a long time.

Just a few more notes and we’ll get to cooking. I never use tortillas when Ryan and I make taco salad. This is largely because I feel guilty about waste. I buy a bag of tortillas, we use about 6 and then they go stale and I feel bad about throwing them away. Usually Ryan and I make a taco salad heap and then use chips to scoop up the food. Feel free to use taco shells, tortillas, chips, or just a fork. Make it your own.

You’ll have three things going at once. I like rice on the back burner and beans and veggies/meat on the front two. This way, when you stir, you aren’t reaching over anything.

And the last thing about “make it your own,” is that this meal allows for you to put whatever you like on top of it. We usually add at least cheese and salsa, but there’s so many more options and I’ll list some below.

That’s enough background, let’s get to cooking. With this recipe you’ll be cooking 3 things. The directions will be all together, and I’m doing this because it should allow you get all 3 dishes finished at the same time. And that’s what you want because then you can serve everything hot.

Ingredients you don’t have to cook and can use as toppings:

salsa

chopped tomatoes

shredded cheese

sour cream

lettuce

guacamole

Ingredients (for the cooking-part):

1 cup long grain white rice (you can also use other types of rice if you prefer)

2 cups water

1 tbsp butter

1 medium onion

1 can Goya pink beans

1/4 cup Goya frozen sofrito

1-2 bell peppers (any color you like)

1 tbsp and 1 tsp (or 4 tsp) taco seasoning

1 lb ground turkey (or beef if you prefer)

Directions:

1. Start with the rice. I recommend following the package instructions, but I’ll also give you my instructions. Use a back burner, this is important because you need 2 other burners and the rice will be largely left alone so it shouldn’t be in the front. Anyway, add 1 cup of rice, 2 cups of water, and 1 tbsp of butter to a medium pot. Bring the water to a boil. Once it’s boiling, turn the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer until the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes.  I recommend you set a timer for 20 minutes and use it to help you synchronize the rest of your cooking. Below is the rice mid-cook.

2. While you’re waiting for the rice. Chop the bell pepper and onion in strips.

3. When you have about 15 minutes left on your rice timer, heat a large pan (on a front burner) on medium. Once it gets hot enough, saute your onions and pepper strips until they are browned and soft. This takes about 5-7 minutes.

4. At about 12 minutes left on your rice timer, put the beans (and the liquid in the can) in a small pot. Add the sofrito. (Note: if you’re using frozen sofrito, microwave the tub for 30 seconds and then scrape out 1/4 cup. It’s not serious if you have more or less). Simmer the beans on medium for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Beans are done when they are tender and hot throughout.

5. Ok, once your peppers and onions are soft, remove them from the pan and set aside. You should have about 8-10 minutes left on your rice timer. Add the ground turkey to the hot pan. Stir in the taco seasoning. Cook until the meat isn’t pink. This takes about 5-7 minutes. Stir the onions and peppers back in. (Note: You don’t have to mix the onions and peppers in with the meat, but I like to because it ensures we eat our vegetables).

6. Put a paper towel on a plate. Pour the cooked ground turkey on the paper towel plate and let the grease drain.

7. Your timer should be going off! Check the rice! Take off the lid, use a fork and push aside the rice so you can see the bottom of the pan. Is there water? The rice isn’t done. Is it dry and does the rice look fluffy? Then it’s done! Fluff it up and serve. (Note: Technically you shouldn’t open the lid while you’re cooking rice but if you’re new to this, I suggest checking on the rice maybe 5-7 minutes before it’s supposed to be done. This will help you gauge if the rice is cooking too fast (the water is already gone) or if there is some water left then things are going well).

8. Turn off all your burners and you should be ready to serve! I like rice on the bottom, then beans with their juices, then meat, then toppings. But you should plate however you like!

Messy level – This is a three spoon recipe because of the amount of dishes this makes. You’re going to use 2 pots, 1 pan, a knife, and a cutting board. And if you put all your toppings in serving bowls, you’ve got yourself quite the mess. But, in terms of cooking, this doesn’t make much of a mess. The technique is pretty much heat, stir, serve so there’s no splatter or craziness. I think it’s worth the mess. And Ryan’s my resident dish washer and requests this meal, so the dishes can’t be that bad… right?

This past weekend, Ryan and I had dinner with our friend Shane and his girlfriend, Molly. Shane told me he had been binge-reading my blog. I was so touched, and I told him I’d give him a shout out in my next post. So here it is: Hi Shane!! Thank you for reading my blog!

Want a shout out of your own? Post a comment about something food related and the next shout out could be yours. Tell me about your favorite meal, favorite dish you’ve had on vacation, childhood favorite, a food you’re afraid of, or whatever you want. If I like the post, I’ll give you a shout out. 

The post Taco Salad appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Something you might not know about me is that I have two part time jobs. I’m lucky because both are great. The are fun, intellectually stimulating, and I get to run around and don’t have to sit behind a desk. I also have flexible hours so sometimes I get home really early, and sometimes I sleep in late. But, the downside of this is that I often work on the weekends resulting in a 6-day work week and a 1-day weekend. So, imagine my great surprise and delight when my bosses and lady luck smiled down on me and gave me ALL of Memorial Day weekend off. That’s three days off! IN. A. ROW. It was greatness. And it gave me a lot of time to play in the kitchen. I made a spicy carrot and beef tagine, lemon squares, strawberry sorbet, pizza, cookies, and arepas.

Arepas are fried dough, and Ryan and I liken them to Puerto Rican latkes. Other Latin American places besides Puerto Rico have latkes, but we’re focusing on my family’s recipe today so we’re calling them Puerto Rican. I’ve been researching how to make arepas for almost a month, and the long weekend gave me the chance to final dive in and make them.

Let me say, before we get in too deep, that for me, this is a recipe in progress. Think of it as “Arepas 1.0.” The recipe I’m going to give you is a complete recipe that you can make and enjoy. But my quest isn’t done, because I’m trying to channel the arepas recipe that my grandmother used to make. My grandmother passed away a number of years ago, so while this recipe is delicious and works well, it’s not exactly the way I remember. So I’m going to continue tinkering and testing, and will update accordingly. I’m working on memories and tradition, and so maybe my nostalgia is un-achievable, but I’m having fun trying. Now, before we get into the recipe, let me back up and tell you about why trying this is so important to me.

I started cooking regularly, and with interest, about 2 1/2 years ago when I moved to New York. Before that I “cooked” in that I could make pasta, cook a chicken breast in a skillet, and heat a box of rice. But I didn’t know how to make anything that was a little bit special. When I moved to New York I wanted to try my hand at cooking because it was the first time I was living alone in a non-collegey atmosphere. Also, New York is expensive so cooking at home would be cheaper, and my apartment was only a few blocks from the Union Square Farmer’s Market, which is year round and has a huge variety.

But, also I started cooking, because I’m a little crazy. I was living in a new place, and when I thought about what felt like home, a lot of memories had to do with my favorite meals. And then I had a realization that I didn’t know how to cook anything that my future family might like, ask for, or long for. Now, I was a single girl (to be clear I was dating Ryan, so I was single in the government forms check box sense of the word) in New York, but I was worrying about the needs of my future family. A husband I didn’t yet have, and children that were non-existent. I was twenty-five, and crazily worrying about feeding future people.

So I started to learn how to cook. And in lieu of family, I fed classmates and friends. But all that prep paid off! I’m now happy to say that me and Ryan, my little family of two, has a few go-to recipes. There are meals now that Ryan requests or is happy to see when he gets home. Now that I have some of my own recipes, I’ve become interested in tackling some of my family’s existing recipes. Some recipes I’ve made, like my mom’s apple pie or the arroz con gandules that Titi Lisa (Aunt Lisa) brings to Thanksgiving every year. And some I haven’t gotten to yet, like Papa’s breakfast cornmeal.

But arepas have becomes especially important in part because they come from a potentially a lost recipe. As far as I know, when my Abuela (grandmother) passed away, no one knew her arepa recipe exactly. Her arepas were crispy, airy, and delicious. They were perfect for stuffing with rice and beans or eating solo and dipping them in the bean sauces. We only had arepas if we were visiting her, or if she sent some pre-made dough back home with us. They were somewhat special because we didn’t have them all the time. But mostly, they were so tasty. I would easily wolf down 3 or 4 in a sitting.

Now it’s funny that I covet this recipe so heavily because my abuela wasn’t known for her cooking. Her arepas were amazing, her rice and beans were good, and everything else was… not good. I liked going to her house because she had grape soda, which I had never seen anywhere else. And she bought us fried chicken buckets from KFC, which also wasn’t something I had at home. And for dessert she’d give us those little cups of ice cream, half chocolate and half vanilla, with a little wooden spoon. But she didn’t really cook and even heating things up didn’t always go well. I remember an Eggo waffle that was hot on the outside but rock hard on the inside. Eric, my brother, and I sawed at them until Papa gently suggested that maybe we should eat something else.

My abuela and me. Yes, I was a pudgy baby.

Most importantly though, my abuela was awesome. She was the first person I knew who lived in an apartment, and didn’t have a car, and walked everywhere. I thought that was cool, and scary, and unusual, but amazing. I’m totally convinced to this day that she could have wrestled a bear and won, because she was strong and had such a fierce personality. She liked to crochet and made pretty dolls and covers for tissue boxes. But she was also into WWE wrestling, following the story lines closely. Each time we visited she gave us gift bags full of fun goodies she bought at the dollar store. Things like puzzle books, pens that you can click to change the ink color, and crazy socks. And looking back now, I think she filled her home with things that just made her happy – no matter how silly. She wore sparkly shoelaces in her sneakers, she had a fake bearskin rug – complete with bear head, and she had a sign in her bathroom that said “if you sprinkle when you tinkle, be a sweetie and wipe the seatie.” She had a print of Picasso’s Femme, which is basically a few lines that make a picture of a butt. I thought it was hilarious and awesome. She was loving, quirky, and passionate and it was fun to visit her.

So, I feel like by making her arepas it’s a nice way to cherish her warm, quirky, and unique memory. By doing this, I can feel close to her and remember all the lovely things about her.

Also, not only does this recipe make me feel closer to my grandmother, it’s brought me to my parents and my aunt. In preparation for this I reached out to my Titi Mari for advice, and she provided me with the recipe below. I also asked Papa what he remembered about the arepas. Then I made my first batch and sent my mom a picture with no information except, “looks good right?” She called me almost immediately exclaiming, “are those AREPAS?!” And so we had a nice talk about what had worked well and what I could do next.

And my arepas came out pretty darn good. We each ate two the first day. And I’ve been having them for lunch at work, greedily scooping up beans and rice and wishing I had brought more. I find myself budgeting the arepas so I have at least a few bites saved for the end of the meal. They tasted crispy and golden, with some doughy parts, just like I remembered. But they weren’t airy with pockets for beans. So I will push on and try again.

I hope you think of trying this recipe. Or, better yet, what’s a meal you love from your childhood? What gives you a happy memory? Whatever that is, I think that’s a recipe you should try. Hopefully we all have a happy food memory. So why not try and recreate it?

Ingredients:

1/2 lb all purpose flour

2 oz lard

8 oz salted water (salted to your taste, I used 2 tsp and Ryan said it could use more)

Now, when I read this recipe from my aunt I said to myself, “lard?!” Lard can definitely make things delicious but it’s not popular any more. It’s texture’s a bit weird in the tub, it’s high in calories, and the fact that it’s pig fat (yeah, if you didn’t know, lard is pig fat) is a little off putting when you think about making pies or other meals. But I was going to try my damnedest to do it like my abuela, so I went on a quest for lard.

I usually show at Trader Joe’s, and they didn’t have lard. I then walked to Whole Foods thinking that foodies shop there and so might need lard, even though it goes against the healthy vibe. I had read that lard can be hard to find so I searched in the butter section, the baking section, the ethnic food section, and then finally to the meat counter. I went to the meat counter and had this conversation:

Me: Do you have lard?

Lady at the Counter: What?

Me: Lard? (In my head: sigh, if she doesn’t know what lard is I’ll never find it!)

Lady at the Counter gave me a confused face

Second Lady at the Counter jumped in and said she’d help me. She took me to the shortening, which she said I could use as a substitute. It was on the bottom shelf below all the cooking oils. I was feeling a little deflated and I called Papa to confirm that I could use shortening. He said yes, he had seen his mom do that. So that’s what I used. But I’m told lard is the best and can make the arepas more flaky. Next time I’ll do more searching and find lard. If you don’t want to use lard, use shortening or butter.

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl mix the water and salt. Stir to help the salt dissolve.

2. Put the flour in a medium bowl. Cut in the lard/shortening/butter.

3. Pour a little bit of the water (I did 2 tbsp at a time) into the flour. Mix with your hands. You want to add water until you have a dough that does not stick to your hands. You may not need all 8oz of water. If the dough gets too wet, add a little flour to dry it out.

4. Form discs with the dough. I made about 8 discs and they were about 1/2 inch thick. Put them on a plate, not touching each other. Let sit for 30 minutes.

5. Pour a thick layer of vegetable oil in a deep skillet. You’re deep frying, so pour as much oil as you’re comfortable with. Heat on medium to medium-high. Your oil is hot enough when a.) you flick water at it and it pops and bubbles or b.) you put a little of bread in the oil and it floats, not sinks.

6. Fry the arepas in the oil, flipping occasionally, until both sides are golden brown. If you’re nervous about frying oil, I totally get it. Oil can pop and splash up and even one little fleck can hurt a bit. To avoid lots of splatter when you put in the arepas, here’s a tip: use the side of the pan as a slide. Gently nudge the dough disk over the side of the pan and down the edges. It will slide in nicely to the oil.

7. Once cooked, put arepas on a paper towel to drain off excess oil.

8. Serve with rice and beans! Or even, eat it alone. I knew I was on the right track to making my abuela’s recipe when I was ravenously eating the arepas alone and wishing I had more to scarf down.

Messy Level:

At the suggestion of my friend Charlotte, the new feature for Cooking is Messy is the “messy meter,” to help show how messy these recipes are. The scale is measured in dirty spoons, with one dirty spoon being low level messy, and five dirty spoons being high level messy. Hope you enjoy the new messy meter!

I’m going to call this medium. It’s messy first because you have to put your hands in and work the dough. If you over water the dough it gets really soupy, sticky, and sort of nasty on your hands. Also, oil is just a bit messy to clean up. It pops and splatters so you have oil on your stove top and on your apron (yeah I wear an apron). Also, cleaning up oil just takes a bit of work. However, you only need one bowl, one pot, and a spatula to make this recipe so the clean up really is minimal.

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Sushi we made during our class at Sur la Table

A trait I get from my father is that when I really want something, but maybe it’s a little frivolous, I take forever to actually jump in and do it. If Papa wants golf clubs or a new television, he’ll research characteristics and prices, he’ll go online and in stores, and he’ll talk about it. He’ll visit, and re-visit stores. And my mom will eventually say, “just buy it!!!”  But he needs to take his time. It’s what makes him feel comfortable. And I’m pretty much the same way. For a long time (like over 2 years, I’m embarrassed to say) I hemmed and hawed over a sushi making class. I wanted to go, but it seemed a little expensive and unnecessary. I mean wouldn’t it be too hard? Wasn’t class too expensive? Would I ever really make it at home? Why did I even want to make sushi? Who would I go with? And so I thought about it. And I researched which places had classes, and I price compared, and menu compared. I did this when I lived in DC, then when I lived in NYC, and then again when I moved back to the DC area. And then, as can be expected, I never signed up. But I talked about it and thought about it a lot. So, I’ve inherited this trait and now Ryan has to deal with my crazy inaction.

And like my Mom, who tells Papa to just buy it, Ryan gave me the push I needed. He suggested to Santa that I might want a cooking class for Christmas. And, Santa, Ryan and my parents came through.  (The same also happened for blooming tea, which I talked about and researched to death, and then my family finally bought it for me and I now have 4 different kinds of blooming tea).

For a Christmas gift my parents bought me a gift certificate to Sur la Table and I used it to sign up for sushi class (after repeatedly asking Ryan if we really should do that class over something else). No more thinking and planning, I was going to make sushi! And I’m happy to say, the class was totally worth it. Thanks Mama and Papa! Is making sushi at home faster or cheaper? No, it’s not. But is it more awesome? Absolutely. And shouldn’t we make the world more awesome? Yes. Now go watch the Kid President (who also wants to make the world more awesome) video I just embedded so you can feel awesome. No wait, finish reading my blog first.

Silicone sushi mat

Ryan and I finally went to class at Sur la Table in February and we made spicy tuna and salmon rolls, and a veggie hand roll. It was much easier to assemble and create than we expected. And after class I called my parents to gush about how fun and amazing it was. And we had so much fun, and so much success that we bought a sushi mat after class. There were two options for sushi mats: bamboo and silicone. Bamboo is the traditional option, but to use it at home you need to cover it with plastic wrap. According to our instructor, bamboo mats are easy to ruin and difficult to clean, which is why you need the plastic wrap. Silicone mats are modern and don’t look as nice, but you don’t need plastic wrap and  you can clean the mat in the dishwasher. We went with the silicone mat.

Prior to class, making sushi seemed like one of those secret mysteries that must be hard to put together. And real sushi masters, I’m sure, do much more complicated things with their ingredients and rolls. But for the average home cook, sushi at home is a possibility. Then, a few after the class our friends Steve and Jess came to visit and suggested we take a crack at making sushi at home. Steve and Jess are great friends to have visit. They’re easy going, but also up to try different things. The main goal being just to have a nice weekend. They’d been to DC before, so were open for less site-seeing and instead  welcomed a weekend of eating and drinking in Arlington. And for us, an eating weekend is becoming the norm. When they visited in New York we spent the whole weekend taking them out for pizza, ramen, and to drink boots of beer in dingy dive bars. Anyway, back in Arlington, we took them to El Chilango, a great Mexican food truck, and to Bayou for beignets. But the highlight was definitely spending the afternoon together making up sushi combinations and gorging ourselves on what we’d put together. It’s a great way to have an adventure and catch up with old friends. Also, making sushi at home allows you to  customize your rolls and create something that’s both delicious and brag-worthy.

I’ve made sushi once more since they came to visit and took more step-by-step pictures that hopefully will help be a guide if you decide to make sushi yourself. I’ll try to be as straightforward as possible, but some things need explanation and stories to show what to do. But I hope you decide to take on sushi at home. It’s a fun activity and even if it doesn’t come out perfectly, it will still taste delicious.

My focus in this post is mostly on the way to make sushi. I’ll leave fillings mostly up to you, but I have included a recipe for spicy tuna. This is sort of a long post, so let’s get started.

Sushi Rice:

Ingredients –

1 1/2 cups short grain rice (You can also buy rice called “sushi rice.” So far, every short grain rice I’ve found also had “sushi rice” written on the packaging)

Rice Vinegar

2 tbsp sugar

2 teaspoons coarse salt

Directions – 

Note – Sushi rice is seasoned! It’s not just plain white rice. The basic instructions are first you cook the rice, then you let it cool a bit, then you season it, then cover the rice to keep it moist. Also, this amount of rice will make about 6 rolls, which equals about 36 pieces.

1. Using a fine mesh strainer, rinse the rice with cold water until the water runs clear. This might take 2-5 minutes. Using your hands to gentle turn and move the rice so you can make sure all the rice is being rinsed off. This step removes excess starch from the rice.

2. Cook the rice according to package directions.

3. While rice is cooking, mix the vinegar seasoning. In a small bowl stir vinegar, sugar, and salt. Stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Or mostly dissolved, I have a hard time getting the coarse salt to dissolve all the way. Set bowl aside.

4. Once rice is cooked, remove the pot from the heat, let it stand covered for 5 minutes so the rice can cool.

5. Using a large flat spoon (you can also buy a traditional paddle in stores) gentle transfer the rice to a large platter. Traditionally a wood platter is used. In the classroom the instructor used a rimmed baking sheet. I used a glass Pyrex dish. Throughout this whole process you will probably need to rinse your spoon occasionally as rice gets stuck to it.

6. Once the rice is transferred, use your spoon to gently fold the rice over in your dish. This is giving it air so the rice cools a bit. While folding, fan the rice. (Sushi kits often come with fans, but I just used a stiff piece of paper). You want your rice to be cool enough that it doesn’t wilt or melt the nori when they come into contact. But you don’t want it so cold that the rice loses its stickiness. You want the rice to be “tepid,” according to my instructions from Sur la Table. Room temperature is fine, but if it’s a little warm that’s ok. If it’s a little warm the nori might get wrinkly (I had that happen) but the roll can still be made.

7. When the rice is the right temperature pour the vinegar mixture 1 tbsp at a time over the rice. You might not use all the vinegar mixture. You want to distribute the vinegar mixture evenly. Use your spoon to gently fold the rice and coat it all with the vinegar. Continue this until the rice has a sheen.

8. Cover the rice with damp paper towels. You can also use a kitchen towel, but the instructor said that detergent scents and flavors can be transferred through cloth, so paper towels can be preferable.

Fillings:

1. Chop up vegetables into matchsticks. I used red peppers, carrots, radishes, and cucumbers. You can really use whatever vegetables you like. Heck, use whatever you like – string cheese, Twizzlers, pretzel sticks. All of those things could easily be in matchstick form.

Spicy Tuna:

I think the part that makes people nervous about making sushi at home is buying the fish. How do we know what will be good? Am I going to get sick? I can’t make you any promises about the fish you buy, but I can tell you what I know. Our instructor at Sur la Table said that “sushi grade fish” means that it is fish that has been frozen down to a certain temperature so that bacteria will be killed. She said you can ask at the fish counter about what they recommend to use in sushi. She also said some sushi bars, and sushi bars in grocery stores, will also sell you fish.

Ryan, Steve, Jess, and I went to Whole Foods. I asked the man behind the fish counter what we could use for sushi. He told me that he wasn’t allowed to recommend any of the fish for sushi, but that people do it all the time, and in Europe this fish would be considered ok for sushi. So the four of us looked at each other and decided were were going to go for it anyway. We also went to the sushi counter at Whole Foods and I had the most ridiculous conversation where neither the lady nor I understood the other.

Me: Do you have fish we could use to make sushi?

Lady at the Sushi Counter: This is sushi

Me: No, no. I want to make it at home. What fish can I use?

Lady at the Sushi Counter: Sushi is here. You can eat this.

Anyway, I walked away and we bought the salmon and tuna from the fish counter and none of us got sick. Now back to the recipe.

Ingredients: 

4 oz yellow fin tuna

1 tbsp Sriracha

1 – 1 1/2 tbsp mayonnaise (If you can find Japanese mayo – which I can’t! – use that)

1/2 tsp mirin (it’s a liquid and you can find it in grocery store in the “ethnic food” section)

1-2 tbsp finely chopped green onions (more or less to taste)

1 tsp lemon zest

Instructions:

1. For the sauce, mix the ingredients together. Taste. If it’s too hot put in more mayo. Not hot enough, add some Sriracha. Based on my research, basic spicy tuna sauce includes hot sauce, mayo, mirin, and green onions. Mix those basic ingredients to your liking and you’ve got sauce.

2. For the tuna, remove any tough sinewy parts of the fish. In the picture below I’m holding a tough sinewy part. In between the tuna layers there is sinew, but you only really need to remove what is tough (and therefore what would be hard to chew). You can tell what’s tough because when you try to cut, you’ll have some resistance against your knife. There are two ways to remove the sinew. #1 Use a knife and cut the tuna into cubes. You can cut around the tough bits  pretty easily #1 Use a spoon to scrape off the layers of tuna. This will scrape the meet from the sinew and give you small pieces of tuna.

3. Once you’ve removed the tough parts what you want it small pieces of tuna. You can do this by cutting the tuna into small pieces or by scraping the meat using the spoon.

4. Mix the tuna with the sauce. Set aside until you’re ready to fill your roll.

Making the Roll:

Make sure you have a spacious work area. Within your reach you’ll need a sushi mat, nori, the rice, cut up veggies, fish, knife, damp towel, and bowl of water. The first time we made this at home we made an epic mess. The second time I used my giant cutting board as a work space. This way I could spill, drop rice, and make rolls without getting stuff all over my table. To gush for a second, I’m crazy for my huge cutting board. I got it from the Container Store and it’s 20″x15″. Huge rights? It’s great because there’s space for EVERYTHING. Space for cutting, space for what’s on deck to be cut, space for what’s already been cut, and space for the bits that need to be discarded. Sure it doesn’t really fit in the sink, but it does fit in the dishwasher. Gush over. Let’s get rolling.

Sushi rolling set up

1. Place your sushi mat in front of you.

2. Put a piece of nori, shiny side down, on the sushi mat. The bottom of the nori and bottom of the sushi mat should be aligned. The nori is likely perforated. You want the perforation to be parallel to you. You also may want to break off 1 to 1.5 lines so you don’t have too much nori. I like to break off a bit of nori because it had a chewy mouth feel and I don’t want more of that.

3. Using the bowl of water lightly wet your hands. You want a light sheen on your hands. This is so the rice won’t stick to you too much.

4. Grab a baseball size ball of rice and put it in the middle of the nori. Using your fingers gently spread the rice across the nori. You want a thin layer of rice. Grab more rice and fill in any holes so that your whole nori sheet it covered.  If your hands are getting too covered in rice, use the bowl of water to wipe off the rice.

Jess spreading her rice

5. If you want nori on the outside of your finished roll move on to the next step. If you want rice on the outside of your roll, flip the nori over. Now the rice will be touching the sushi mat and the nori will be facing you. About 1/3 of the way up the nori from you, put a thin layer of rice.

6. Place the fillings about 1/3 of the way up the nori (if you are doing rice on the outside, you’re putting your filling on the thin layer you just made in the previous step). Layer your fillings parallel to you. Try not to go crazy, it’s easy to overfill.

This is an example where the nori will be on the outside of the finished roll

7. Put your thumbs under the sushi mat. Put the rest of your fingers on the fillings. Hold the fillings in place as you use your thumb to pull the edge of the sushi mat up and over the fillings. Press gently. What you are doing is creating a seal and locking the fillings in the roll.

8. Check on your roll to make sure it’s sealed. Then, gentle pull the sushi mat over the roll again, but this time keep pulling so you’re rolling the entire sheet of nori. You should not have a log of sushi.

Sushi rolled is sealed! Now to roll it all the way over. This is an example with rice on the outside of the roll.

9. Using a sharp knife cut the sushi into six pieces. You will likely need to use the damp cloth to wipe your knife between cuts. The knife will get very sticky from the rice and fish. I like to cut the middle first, then cut each half in thirds. Your end pieces might be a little sad and have things falling out. All you have to do it take some extra rice or fillings and stuff it in there to look nice. It’s your roll, in your house, so it doesn’t have to be perfect.

You can see the end piece is falling out a bit. I just shoved everything back in and placed it cut side up. Then you can’t tell it’s messy.

10. EAT IT! You earned it! Hope it’s delicious.

Messy Level: High. At least the first time, this was an epic mess. I’m sure professional chefs have this down to a science, but not so for me the at-home cook. The first time we had spills, rice, and soy sauce all over the table. The second time we were less messy,  but there were still a lot of dishes. Making sushi takes a lot of utensils, plates, paper towels, and ingredients. It’s another reason why you should make sushi in a group because then you have help cleaning up. Also, if you stay away from spicy tuna and stick to just plain, non-saucy fish you’ll probably have less clean up.

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Now, like all family recipes, many of the directions I got from my mom and my aunt were a bit vague. Things like “a lot” and “until it looks right” can be really confusing and frustrating until you make it and it comes out yummy and “a lot” and “until it looks right” makes a lot of sense. I’ll do my best to be specific, but this recipe allows for wiggle room when it comes to seasoning so don’t worry!

Before getting started, let’s talk ingredients. I use mostly Goya products. You can use whatever you want, but Goya is easy to find in grocery stores and always hits the spot. First, let’s talk pigeon beans, or gandules. I have only had pigeon beans in this dish so I have no idea how else to use them, and I really have no idea what they taste like solo, but they are great in this dish.

Second, is sofrito. I like the Goya frozen version. You can make your own fresh version. The recipe I like is from Wilo Benet’s book True Flavors. You can also buy the sauce-like Goya version, but the frozen container is the  largest and is less tomato-y. To use it, I just microwave the container for 20 seconds and then scrape off the portion I need.

Finally, let’s talk tomato paste. You can use regular tomato paste, but I’ve used whatever tomato based sauce I’ve had in the fridge. Some sometimes I’ve used paste, sometimes plain pasta sauce, and once the tomato juice from a can of whole tomatoes.

I think that’s the basics, so we should be good to get started!

Ingredients:

1 cup medium grain rice

1 can pigeon beans (drain the beans but hold on to the liquid)

2 cups of liquid (You can use all water, but it will be most flavorful if you measure the bean liquid and then use chicken broth or water to make the difference up to 2 cups) You might also need more than 2 cups of liquid, and I’ll explain why in the directions.

olive oil

1 small onion diced

2 tbsp garlic minced (can use more or less depending on taste)

3-4 tbsp sofrito

3 tbsp tomato paste

3 tbsp cilantro

*People also add green olives, cubanelle peppers, and diced ham. I don’t because Ryan doesn’t like olives and I don’t like ham, but if you choose to use these ingredients add them the step before you put in the pigeon beans.

Directions:

1. In a large pot, heat 1-2 tbsp of oil. I like to have the setting at medium-high.

2. Cook the onion and garlic for about 3 minutes, or until the onion in translucent.

3. Stir in the sofrito, cilantro, and tomato paste. Now here is where my mom said you can use “a lot” of sofrito. She said there was no way you could use too much, so don’t feel like you have to stick to just 3-4 tbsps of sofrito. I know I’ve used enough sofrito when everything that turned the color of sofrito and the onions and garlic now look they are cooking in a thin layer of liquid.

4. Stir in the drained pigeon beans.

5. Pour in the liquid. If you can see the pigeon beans clearly through the liquid, add a little more until you can’t see the ingredients at the bottom of the pot. Usually I add about another 1/4 -1/2 cup.  Bring it to a boil. Season with salt if you’d like.

6. Once the liquid has boiled add the rice.

7. Cook until the liquid evaporates and the surface of the rice is visible with some bubbling between the grains of rice. This usually takes 9-10 minutes.

8. Lower the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and cook for about 20 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is fully cooked. Some people like to overcook it a little at the bottom so those grains are crunchy – I usually have people fighting for those portions.

Messy Level – Low. It’s really a one pot dish so there’s not much to clean afterward. Also, everything cooks at a nice boil or simmer so there isn’t an occasion for thing to pop out of the pot.  Any mess I make comes in through spilling sofrito, chicken broth, and tomato sauce as I balance out how much I want to put in. But who doesn’t spill while cooking? 

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