Tag Archive: Pan Frying

Brussel Sprout and Potato Hash With Fried Eggs

April 4th 038

I can never have a savory breakfast; it just doesn’t appeal to me at all. I need something sweet and as close to a dessert as I can get away with eating when I wake up.

Dinner is another story. I love a big plate of hot, savory food at night. I also love eating all the “traditional” breakfast foods like hash browns then since I’d never eat them otherwise. Sure, you could make this for breakfast. But I think it’s much better for dinner. Just imagine all your cares from that day flowing away like the runny yolk when it breaks and suddenly nothing seems so bad any more. Just remember to leave room for breakfast dessert.

Brussel Sprout and Potato Hash With Fried Eggs

Ingredients(for 2 servings):

  • 1 1/2 brussel sprouts, steamed*
  • 2 medium potatoes, cooked and diced*
  • 1 onion, julienned
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 cup of butter, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

*You can do this easily by microwaving them together for 4 minutes before starting.

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Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pan over medium heat. Once the pan is heated, add in the brussel sprouts, potatoes, and onion.

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Cook for 10 minutes tossing the contents of the pan periodically until all the sides have had a chance to brown. Divide the contents of the pan between two plates or bowls and return the pan over the burner.

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Using the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, fry each egg individually in the pan. When each is done, plate it over the hash two to a plate. When all are done, season with salt and pepper.

April 4th 032

My favorite part really is the runny yolks. If the yolks aren’t runny, well, I’d still eat it but it wouldn’t be the same. Apparently pregnant women shouldn’t eat runny yolks; I’m glad that’s never in my future.

Chickpeas With Sole And Spinach

February 19th 019

“These chickpeas have sole, and they’re super bad”(bad as in good)

Sometimes when you make a winning dish, you know even before tasting it that you’ll make it again and again. Since sole is on sale, I used it to make a comforting bowl of food one night that won me over with all its merits: it takes 10 minutes; it’s healthy; it’s flavorful; you really can’t overcook any of it; the ingredients list is short and simple. You can even adapt the recipe by using a different fish, a different bean, or a different green. I omitted the dill because I didn’t have any on hand but that’s one of my favorite flavors for fish when I have it and I think it’d add another layer to this.

Chickpeas With Sole And Spinach

Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):

  • 1/2lb sole(or any other flaky white fish)
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cups of spinach, chopped
  • 1 can of chickpeas, water drained
  • 2  Tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried dill(optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat.

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Add in the fish fillets to cook through, about 90 seconds on each side.

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When the fish is fully cooked, add in the spinach and chickpeas.

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Stir the pan and continue cooking until all the ingredients are warm and the oil has been soaked up.

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Season with salt and dill before serving.

February 19th 021

Maybe it’s because I’m part Italian but all fish needs a little lemon to make it complete.

February 19th 029

I made this several times over the weekend because I couldn’t get over how fast and easy it was, yet still nutritious. Even though the fish is broken up you still get that fishy flavor in every bite. It was just as good as leftovers with a little salsa on top for some added flavor.

Chili-Rubbed Sole With Sautéed Kale And Avocado

February 16th 034

I’m a sucker for a sale. So when I saw sole on sale for 50% off at Whole Foods, my gut reaction was to buy it. Never mind that I hadn’t cooked/ate fish for probably half a year. It was on sale.

When I actually thought about how I wanted to eat it, fried and spicy seemed right. This dish has everything you could want: the fish is a soft; the avocado is creamy; the kale is a little tough and gives it all a bit of a bite. It felt like something you’d order at a restaurant.

Chili-Rubbed Sole With Sautéed Kale And Avocado

Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):

  • 1/2lb sole(or other white fish)
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 bunch of kale, chopped
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 avocado
  • Lemon for serving

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Cover one side of the fish with half of the chili powder and rub it in. Shake off the excess and do the same for the next side.

In the meantime, heat a large pan over medium-high heat with the oil.

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Lay the fish in to cook. After about 90 seconds flip the first side over. Use a wide tool and be careful not to break the fillet.

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Cook for another 90 seconds or so until the center is cooked through. Gently remove the fish from the pan to rest but not the oil.

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When the fish is removed, add in the kale to sauté in the oil. This is a great time to use frozen kale for a cheap but nutritious option.

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Sauté the kale until it’s soaked up the oil and reduced to about half the size. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

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To plate, first make a bed of kale. Next add a piece of the fish fillet and season that with a sprinkle of the remaining salt. Cut the avocado in half and then into wedges and lay them down among the fish, serving with a wedge of lemon.

February 16th 029

I really really hope this sale goes on for a while.

Lemon-Garlic Asparagus

February 8th 075

As much as I love cooking desserts and brownies, standing over a stove with a  pan of olive oil and garlic and other familiar ingredients is just as comforting. The more garlic the better. The flavors reminded me of Spring and Easter, which is where my mind wants to be when the temperature is negative degrees with the wind-chill. I was a little heavy handed with the lemon when I made this so if you’re not in love with the flavor then I’d suggest going with less as more. 

Lemon-Garlic Asparagus

Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch of asparagus
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

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Start by heating heating the oil in a pan with the minced garlic. Let the garlic sauté for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the asparagus into 1-inch long segments.

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Add the asparagus to the pan and toss with the garlic and olive oil to coat.

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Pour in the lemon juice and continue to cook for 5-7 minutes until the asparagus is tender. If you’re not sure if it’s cooked enough, taste one from time to time.

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When it’s ready, sprinkle with salt to finish and serve hot.

February 8th 068

I’m not sure what you could serve this with. Or rather, I’m not sure what you couldn’t serve this with. It would be great as a light side dish with some red meat or a perfect flavor pairing with Jenna’s Lemon Brown Sugar chicken and mashed potatoes(OK, I just love mashed potatoes, but who doesn’t?).

Lentils With Potatoes And Caramelized Onions

January 24th 011

Comfort food rarely looks appealing, and yet there’s nothing we want more. It’s warm, thick, and often rich with flavor; who cares what it looks like? This has been my favorite comfort food lately. It’s not really a stew because there’s no liquid. Instead, it’s a thick, creamy bowl of flavorful carbs. And that is the most comforting thing in my eyes.

Lentils With Potatoes And Caramelized Onions

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup dry lentils
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 3-4 starchy potatoes, diced and cooked
  • 1 onion, julienned
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for finishing

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Start by cooking your lentils to completion with the bay leaf, salt, and pepper. When the lentils are done cooking, remove the bay leaf and discard.

Meanwhile, caramelize onions in a large frying pan with the olive oil. Once the onions are loose and translucent, add in the potatoes as if you were making a hash and cook for 10-15 minutes until they start forming a crust.

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Add the onions and potatoes in with the lentils and mix the contents together well. Don’t worry if the lentils start mashing and the potatoes break apart; that just means the flavor will blend together more. Serve hot and drizzle with good extra virgin olive oil(the kind Ina’s always pushing).

January 24th 008

I didn’t promise a pretty bowl, but I will promise that you can’t eat this without smiling. It’s thick and hearty and can please the cravings of a meat and potato lover. I like to eat this with ketchup, which is weird because I don’t normally put ketchup on anything. I’d also suggest eating this on the couch watching trashy TV wearing old sweat pants, because it’s that kind of comfort food.

Gluten-Free Dumplings With Dipping Sauce

December 31st 067

It’s rare that I’ll put more than 30 minutes of actual laboring into cooking a meal. But some things are worth the effort. As a kid, my favorite food to order from a Chinese restaurant was always their dumplings; I love the soft, doughy exterior with the savory filling dipped in a sweet sauce. I never even thought to make these gluten-free until I saw them on another blog and wanted to give them a shot. Unfortunately, that recipe didn’t work out for me at all. A few kitchen sidesteps and 2 hours later I had 30 cooked dumplings and 1 burnt pan(but that’s a story for another day).

I’m not going to pretend these are a nice simple recipe for a weeknight; they aren’t. But what they are is incredibly impressive to make and very flavorful. Make a batch over the weekend and you can enjoy them through the week.

Gluten-Free Chinese Dumplings

Ingredients(Makes 30-36 dumplings):

  • 4 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour(such as Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 3/4 cup cold water
  • 4 eggs, divided
  • 1lb ground pork or chicken
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 Tablespoons green onions, chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons sesame oil

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To make the dough, mix together the flour, water, and 3 eggs. Work the mixture until it forms a tough dough and roll it into a ball.

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To make the filling, mix together 1 egg, the meat, ginger, onion, garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Knead the mixture together until the ingredients are emulsified.

Roll the dough into balls and pound them into disks about 1/4-inch thick and 2 1/2 inches wide. Be sure not to pound them too thin or else they’ll tear.

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Scoop a tablespoon of filling onto each disk biased onto one side.

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With dry fingers, lift up the other side and bring it over to make a pouch. Pinch down to seal the edges. If any part shows sign of tearing, take a little extra dough and make it into a patch, pressing down lightly on the thinning area.

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To steam these, boil a pot of water with a fitted steamer on top. Add as many dumplings will fit without layering them on top of one another. Steam for 10-15 minutes until the outside starts turning a deep yellow and the filling is cooked through.

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To pan-fry these, heat a large skillet with a few tablespoons of oil in the pan. Once hot, add the dumplings and cook 5-7 minutes on each side until the breading is crunchy and cooked.

Gluten-Free Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 6 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil(preferably toasted)
  • 1 tablespoon chopped green onion

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To make the dipping sauce, mix the sesame oil and soy sauce well. Add the chopped onion on top as garnish right before serving. Be sure to mix the sauce again any time you serve it as the oil will separate.

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These were a pain to make. But it all became worth it with the first bite of doughy, savory goodness. I think I preferred the pan-fried ones both on flavor and ease of cooking. The sauce is a perfect balance of brininess and depth to match the filling. These are undeniably not take-out food.

December 31st 065

Bacon-Fried Quinoa

December 20th 026

I love leftovers. Even though they’re already cooked and flavored, they’re so easy to make into something new and flavorful. Some foods even get better on age. I made The Best Quinoa Stuffing to bring to a party on Sunday. First of all, you wouldn’t be able to imagine how much Italian grandmothers loved quinoa, even if they couldn’t spell it for their life. Soft, flavorful and easy to chew? It was bound to be a winner with my family. With the leftovers I wanted to do something a little different; I decided to cook it like I would leftover rice, except add bacon because bacon makes it better. Chinese restaurants should take a hint from me.

Bacon-Fried Quinoa

Ingredients:

  • 4 slices of bacon, diced
  • 1/2 cup leftover, prepared quinoa(I used The Best Quinoa Stuffing)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce

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Heat a pan over low-medium heat. Add in the diced bacon and cook it until it’s pink and starting to crisp at the edges.

Add in the leftover quinoa, egg, and soy sauce. Constantly move the ingredients around in the pan over the heat until the egg has cooked and the fat has been absorbed. Be careful as the quinoa tends to pop when the pan is dry. Serve hot.

December 20th 035

Just like fried rice, this isn’t the prettiest dish but boy does it taste good. Adding the soy sauce and bacon elevates the flavor of the quinoa a lot; I could hardly tell this was the same dish as the leftovers.

December 20th 020

I served it with steamed brussel sprouts with a little soy sauce, because I just love brussel sprouts and bacon. You could add more vegetables to cook with the bacon and make this into a stir-fry. Or you could forget vegetables together and add more bacon. I’m not one to judge when it comes to loving bacon.

Sweet Potato and Brussel Sprouts With Bacon

December 17th 017

As you could have guessed, I’ve been reuniting with a lot of things around here since I’ve been home, things like my own bed, Tivo, and bacon. Yes, bacon. I can’t believe it’s been over 4 months since I’ve cooked with bacon; I could feel Jessica’s heart breaking the whole time. The reason I didn’t buy bacon sooner is because I like to keep it in the freezer and my mini-fridge’s freezer was never that good. I learned from Food Network that if you keep bacon in the freezer, you can take it out, cut off the amount you need, and stick it back in and keep it like that for months! Genius, right? Because we all would like to believe that if we bought bacon we’d “eat 2 strips to satisfy the craving and then the rest would just go bad.” A likely story.

Now that I’ve gushed about bacon for too long, I’ll just say that, besides bacon, I love sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts, and combining them all in one pan is a recipe for comfort.

Sweet Potato and Brussel Sprouts With Bacon

Ingredients:

  • 4 strips smoked bacon, diced*
  • 1 small sweet potato, cooked and cubed
  • 1/2 halved and cooked brussel sprouts
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

*You could make this recipe vegetarian by using a tempeh bacon or other bacon substitute. However, since those tend to be less fatty, add about a tablespoon of cooking oil in with the vegetables.

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Heat a pan at medium over a burner. Add in the diced bacon once it has come to temperature and par-cook the bacon until it slightly browning but still flimsy.

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Next, add in the brussel sprouts, sweet potato chunks, and soy sauce. You can cook these in the microwave or use them leftover from another meal(I steamed mine in a microwave).

Continue stirring the pan every few minutes until the fat has been absorbed and the edges start to brown/burn. Note: A little burning adds flavor into your dish. A lot of burning adds firemen into your kitchen. Serve hot.

December 17th 013

    December 17th 015

There’s something great about eating a food you love. There’s something amazing about eating all the foods you love and their flavors come together. This is sweet, smoky, savory, and wholly comforting. Now someone please hide the bacon from me for the next month.

Scrambled Tofu

November 21st 013

This is one of my favorite things to make for lunch or brunch on the weekend. It’s a flavorful dish that’s extremely easy to cook, and it’s very warm and comforting, just like real eggs should be. It goes great with hash browns or any other sort of carbs you could imagine. All you need is a block of tofu and a few pantry-staples to make this, too.

Scrambled Tofu

Ingredients(For 2 servings):

  • 1 block firm or extra-firm tofu
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add in the diced onion and cook until translucent.

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Next, crumble in the tofu using your hands. Sprinkle in the paprika, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder and fold them in with a fork. Cook 5-10 minutes while the tofu absorbs the oil and moisture cooks off. It will be done when the tofu starts sticking to the bottom of the pan and turning brown in parts.

Season with salt and pepper.

November 21st 015

These really can be made and used in any way regular eggs are. Stuff them in a tortilla for a new twist on a breakfast burrito, or eat them with ketchup or siracha—whatever floats your boats. And you could certainly fool even the staunchest meat eaters in looks and flavor with these.

Beef Stir-Fry With Brown Sugar Glaze

November 11th 045

Let me tell you about my Veteran’s Day: I woke up at 7 to run; I went to Whole Foods before lunch which, if you think would be less crowded, you would be very very wrong; I was shocked at least twice with what’s been going on on Days Of Our Lives in my absence; and I cooked a lot. 2 out of 4 of the recipes I tried actually came out. I’m going to be happy because, if this were professional baseball, that’d be a good batting average. This was my lunch and my dinner. Why mess with a good thing? And this was really really good.

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Beef Stir-Fry With Brown Sugar Glaze

Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):

  • 1/2lb stir fry beef strips
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil + more to drizzle
  • 3-4 tablespoons flour(or cornstarch)
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Leeks for garnish

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Heat the sesame oil over a medium-high burner until it comes up to temperature. In the meantime, add the flour or cornstarch sparingly to the beef until coated. Set aside.

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In a small bowl, add the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, chili powder, garlic powder, and water. Mix to dissolve the sugars.

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Next, add the beef to the pan to cook. Keep stirring and tossing until all of the beef has browned.

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Once the beef has browned on all sides, slowly pour in the cooking liquid. Continue to cook as the water evaporates off. Cook until the liquid forms a thick glaze that coats the beef.

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Once the glaze has formed, remove the beef from the heat. Add a drizzle of sesame oil and toss to finish. Add leeks on top for an oniony flavor.

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This was spicy and delicious. I needed this kitchen-win in my life to make me feel good, especially since dessert was 2(or maybe 3) very very flat cookies. Who would have thought the day would come where I could cook better than I bake? Oh well.

November 11th 051

No complaining here.