Keeping with the Asian Style

Since I just posted about wontons, I decided it would be great to combine it with a nice wok recipe. Ok, it's not from the same country (the wok being Japanese) but it's from the same "area" ;)

I like diversity in the kitchen (as if you haven't noticed yet!) and always try to innovate. Turkey is a great and lean meat yet it tends to be really dry. At the poultry store, they have this cut called Ragu (the thigh part of the leg removed from the bone) and I love using it to cook now. I am a big fan of turkey legs but David hates all the connecting nerves in them so I had to find a solution. Ragu it was :)

Here is a little creation that I make and always pleases the crowd. People don't beleive that it's actually turkey meat as it's so tender.

Turkey Wok

Ingredients:

1kg turkey thigh meat
100grs shitake mushrooms
1 onion
100grs frozen spinach thawed
1 pack of chinese egg noodles
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp ginger
1 tsp coriander
2 tbsps mirin sauce
2 tbsps soya sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsps teriyaki sauce
salt and pepper

In a bowl, mix the turkey meat with the mirin sauce, soya sauce, teriyaki sauce, minced ginger, coriander, salt and pepper.

Marinate minimum 20 minutes or overnight.

If you have dried shitakes, soak them in water for at least 20 minutes. Slice them if needed.

Slice the onion and garlic.

Heat water in a pot. When it boils, remove from the heat and add the chinese noodles. Cook for a few minutes covered and drain. Keep aside.

In a wok, heat the sesame oil. When ready, add the turkey meat.

When lightly browned (which occurs really fast in a wok), add the veggies.

Mix well and cook for a few minutes until the onion starts to sweat.

Serve the meat and veggies mixture on top of the chinese noodles.

Add some soya sauce to taste.

That's it! Enjoy :)

Got some wontons?

Almost nobody here knows what wontons are! Some people know what gyozas are but wontons... sounds chinese to them. Well, that's maybe because it is :)

I am a huge fan of wonton soup. My sister and I used to get make it at home buying the wonton wrappers. Since those little wrappers were nowhere to be found, I looked it up online and have been making the dough ever since. It's not hard to make but long; especially in the summer months where the dough tends to get sticky.... be there, done that!

Fast forward to my sushi party where I found, through my best friend called google, this amazing little japanese store in Madrid with a bunch of typical products. I bought my gyozas wrappers and low and behold: wonton wrappers! No more mixing, rolling and cutting for me :)

So here goes the basic pork wonton recipe (quite similar to gyozas). You can fry them, steam them or boil them. Have fun with it :)

Wontons

Ingredients:

1 pack of wonton wrappers (about 50 pieces)
500grs ground pork
2 shallots
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp  ginger
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp mirin sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
salt and pepper

Mince the ginger, garlic and shallots.

In a bowl, mix the meat, ginger, garlic, shallots, mirin, soya sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper.

Using a small spoon, drop a spoonful of meat mixture in the middle of the wonton wrapper.

Dip your fingertip in water and pass it over the sides of the wonton wrapper.

Fold the wrapper in two, pinching lightly to close it off.

Close off by pressing on the sides, removing the air trapped in the middle.

Fold the two sides together and pinch them to form the wonton shape.

One done, 49 to go :)

(If you notice, I used papel towels on my plates to make sure they didn't stick to them. Worked like a charm!)

There you have it. Wontons are really to cook :)

Ok, so now, soup or fried? I did both!

Use chicken broth for your soup with shallots.

Drop them in the boiling water and they will be done after a few minutes.

Serve the soup with soya sauce and shallots:

or fry them up until golden.

You can tell we had a wondeful wonton supper :)

Enjoy :)

Another Rice Dish

I love cooking rice. I guess the Spanish cooking has been rubbing off on me ;) Seriously, add some veggies and any type of meat or fish and you got yourself an amazing creation.

I used to do this dish when we got here but we have somewhat cut off a lot of the chorizo from our kitchen after eating too much of it. This mix is good though and does come back once in a while :)

Chorizo and Veggie Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups round rice
3 chorizos
3 carrots
1 leek
100grs mushrooms
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup white wine
5 cups water
1g of saffron
rice seasoning
parsley
salt and pepper


Dice the leek, carrots, mushrooms and garlic.

Slice the chorizo.

In a pan, add oil and heat. When ready, add the chorizo.

Flip them around. When lightly browned, remove from the pan

Add the veggies. Cook for a few minutes.

Add the wine. Let reduce.

Add the rice. Mix well.

Add the water, rice seasoning and saffron.

Add the chorizo back to the rice.

Cook for about 20 minutes.

Remove from the heat and cover for about 5 minutes.

And there you have it. An easy yummy rice dish :)

Enjoy :)

Hamburger Steaks

Such a lovely dish. And one that makes every (or almost) husband happy :) Meat, gravy and potatoes!

My mom often made this dish when camping and it was always amazing. A great way to fashion up a meat patty.

Hamburger Steaks with Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

500gr ground beef
1 onion
100gr mushrooms
2 cups gravy (homemade or store bought)
6 potatoes
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/4 cup pecorino romano
garlic powder
parsley
salt and pepper
oil

In a bowl, mix the ground beef, garlic powder, parsley, egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.

Form 4 hamburger patties with the meat.

In the meantime, peel and cut the potatoes. Drop them in a pot and add water, boil them for about 20 minutes or until soft.

Slice the onion and mushrooms.

In a large pan, add oil and heat. When ready, add the onion and mushroom. Cook for a few minutes. Remove from the pan.

In the same oil, add the four patties. When brown, flip them around.

Cook for a few minutes until the meat is almost done.

Add the mushrooms (I used wild mushrooms) and onions.

Add the gravy.

By then, the potatoes should be done. Drain them.

Add the milk, butter, pecorino romano, garlic powder, parsley, salt and pepper. Using a masher, mix everything together.

Serve the patty with the veggies and gravy on top. You can also top the potatoes with gravy as well :)

Enjoy :)

A Perfect Appetizer

I love making these little devils when I am having a party. David's birthday was at the beginning of August (yes... I have recipes from then waiting to post....) and these just flew away. And they are SO simple to make! My mom used to do them all the time as well and I took her little touch with me to Spain. Maple syrup :)

Since it was for David's party, I had many plates going so I guess my camera was forgotten at times.

Maple Bacon wrapped Sausages

Ingredients:

50 mini hot dog sausages
25 bacon slices
maple syrup


Cut the bacon slices in half.

Wrap a bacon half arond a sausage and, using a toothpick, hold it in place. Continue with all the sausages.

Place them onto a baking pan.

Drizzle some maple syrup on the bacon wrapped sausages.

Broil in the oven until golden.

Flip the sausages around to get a nice crispy look on both sides.

And there you have it! Super easy, super good :)

Bacalao al Pil Pil

I love this dish for the simplicity, yet it does have a little trick to it. A lot of spanish people say that if you can do the bacalao al pil pil, you're a good cook :) The pil pil sauce is the combination of the gelatin released from the cod and the oil at the perfect temperature. It can be tricky but it's like making mayo, once you've done it, you've got it forever!

This dish is a Basque country specialty. The pil pil sauce really enhances the cod's flavor.

Bacalao al Pil Pil

Ingredients:

1 cod cut in small filets

3 garlic cloves

1 guindilla (cayenne pepper)

oil

Slice the garlic.

In a pan, add oil and heat. When ready, brown the garlic with the guindilla.

When browned, remove the garlic and the guindilla. The oil has been flavored.

Add the cod. I didn't remove the skin and I placed it skin down. Cook for a few minutes.

Flip the cod. Cook for a few minutes.

As you can see, the skin was breaking off, so I removed it.

Remove from the fire and let rest a few minutes. The oil really needs to cool down before making the sauce.

Now to make the pil pil, there are different ways. You can remove the fish and then using a strainer, make big circles in the oil until it unites. I use the fish and move the pan around. Grab the pan on both sides and make circles until it forms. You can see the color here changing.

Add the garlic back onto the cod as decoration.

And there you have it. A perfect bacalao al pil pil!

Enjoy :)



Quesadillas

I love quesadillas and I used to make them quite often. Since living here, I have not made them as much since I have been too busy absorbing the wonderful spanish culinary culture. I made some a few weeks ago and have decided that these needed to get back on my regular menus :) They are just delicious.

The original meaning of quesadilla comes from queso and tortilla. You can basically add whatever suits your fancy to the tortilla bread and cheese and it will come out good!

I made these little rockers and they were to die for:

Wild Mushroom and Shallot Quesadillas

Ingredients:

4 shallots
100grs wild mushrooms
oil
100grs grated cheese (I used a mixture of cheddar, emmental, swiss)
2 tortilla breads
salt
pepper


Slice the shallots and wild mushrooms.

In a pan, heat oil. When ready, add the shallots. Sweat for a few minutes.

Add the mushrooms.

Season with salt and pepper.

Place the filling on half of the tortilla bread.

Add the cheese.

Close the tortilla bread.

Place both breads onto a cooking pan and broil at high in the oven until brown (or until the cheese has melted).

And there you have it. Cheesy and good :)

Enjoy!

Wonferful seafood

I miss my Canadian scallops. Spain does get some but mostly in the North and personally, the flavor is not the same. Here they sell them with the coral on the side (orangy part) and I find it super original for presentation (colors!!!) and tastes great. You can find some in the frozen section of Carrefour so I bought some with the shells to make for an even more wicked presentation.

We went to a wedding in Galicia last year and they served as one of the appetizers Vieiras. They had cooked them with a tomato and vine based sauce and it was delicious. So off I went with my scallops to the kitchen to try to recreate the recipe. Our guests loved it and Gen raved about how amazing they were. Another recipe adding to my favs :)


Vieiras en salsa

Ingredients:

16 scallops and shells
1/2 onion
1 garlic clove
oil
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup tomato sauce
salt and pepper

Finely mince the onion and garlic.

In a saucepan, add some oil and heat. When ready, add the onion and garlic. Sweat.

Add the wine and let reduce. Add the tomato sauce.

Cook for about 10 minutes adding salt and pepper.

Place the scallops in their shells and on a baking sheet.

Add the sauce to each scallop.

Cook for about 10 minutes at 180C.

Enjoy!