Hello! Hope you’ve all been well, both safe and sane in these trying times. We’ve been on quarantine for over two months now, with no foreseeable date of when we’ll get back to our normal lives, pre-Covid 19 days. Being at home 24/7 these past months, have evoked mixed feelings to some us. If you’re like me, there are times that I feel to just bum around and just be lazy for the whole day or two, binge watching series and movies on Netflix. Other days I feel like I want to be productive and do a lot of household chores even at night time. All these and more just to keep me sane while stuck at home.
As I have so much time on my hands, and considering I can’t go out to eat my favorite foods when cravings arise, I went to my kitchen to bring these food cravings to life. In the past 2 months, I was able to test out some recipes I’ve found online and in pinterest, or make some recipes of my own. Normally, I’m not the type to make my own recipes as I’m not skilled enough to do that. I guess, this is one positive thing that came out of this quarantine for me! 🙂 Achievement unlocked, they say!
I’ve been watching a lot of k-dramas lately and almost always they have scenes where the actors are eating Korean dishes. Watching makes me go hungry and crave which is sad given that majority of the restaurants are closed; and if there are open for take out or deliveries, it’s in another city where I’m unable to enter (border restrictions).
Here are some of the recipes and dishes I’ve made. Hope you’ll try and enjoy making them as much as it did for me. Don’t forget to leave a comment below once you’ve made them and what you think of them. Enjoy!
Kimchi Fried Rice
This first recipe is a Korean inspired dish brought about by watching all these k-dramas. All you need is a good and tasty kimchi, rice (day old is ideal but newly cooked rice would also do), red onion, spring onion, garlic, sesame oil and some paste (I used tomato paste). If you want more spice and kick like typical Koreans, you can add lots and lots of chili or use their gochujang paste. I typically don’t add chili or peppers in mine as I’m not that into spicy/hot food and sometimes, spicyness would alter the taste of the dish, thus I won’t be able to appreciate the food. So, if I can opt not to have a spicy one, I’d go for it. 🙂
Here are the procedures:
- Mince garlic, red onion, and spring onion separating the white part from the green part
- Chop the kimchi into desired sizes. I usually use a cup or two of kimchi which is good for about 2 to 3 cups of uncooked rice (about 4 to 5 cups of cooked rice?)
- Prepare the cooked rice and set aside
- Heat a pan/wok, add a little bit of vegetable oil or any regular oil
- Saute garlic, red onion and the white part of the spring onion.
- Add in kimchi, sweat the kimchi out a bit for infused flavors. Add the kimchi juice.
- Add a generous amount of sesame oil. The more sesame oil, the more flavorful your kimchi fried rice is. Thank me later! 🙂
- Add about 2 to 3 tablespoon of tomato paste or ssamjang or gochujang paste. Stir and simmer for a minute.
- Stir in the cooked rice. Mix well, make sure to coat your rice properly or no white parts are visible.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook to your desired consistency/doneness.
- Sprinkle green spring onions on top and serve.
I love to serve mine with fried egg cooked sunny side up style and with crispy SPAM pieces. I’d say this dish is already creeping it’s way to my comforting food list. It may not sound or look healthy but comforting foods need not necessarily be a healthy one, right?
You can have this dish anytime of the day and pair it with other dishes or viands.
Just so you know, this is one of the few dishes or food that I’ve made from scratch, which is a success on a first try! If I was able to successfully do this, so can you. This is a type of recipe that’s easy to follow and need not require us with culinary degrees. 🙂
Pepperonccino Pasta
I was craving for pasta one day. Something that’s easy to make and with lesser time to prepare. A pasta that’s not too “heavy”, meaning those that’s not cream based or red sauce based.
I remember eating this kind of pasta dish from my previous workplace and just haven’t had the time to experiment and create one at home.
The recipe is simple and also easy to follow. You only need pasta, bell pepper, garlic, red onion, sili espada (Philippine chili variety), cherry tomato or regular tomatoes would do as well, and parmesan cheese. For the pasta, you can choose whatever you like spaghetti, penne, fusili.
When I made this, the only available pasta in the kitchen was spaghetti so that’s what I used. For the cheese, I think only parmesan would pair best with the sauce compared to mozzarella or cheddar. This is because mozzarella and cheddar cheese are on the creamier, runnier and heavier side.
First off, boil water with salt in a casserole. While waiting, mince garlic, red onion, bell pepper and the sili espada. Cut the cherry tomatoes into halves.
When the water has boiled, put the pasta in and cook until al dente. Make sure to not overcook your pasta so that it’ll not be soggy when you eat it.
In a pan, heat a tablespoon of butter and olive oil (or just enough for the pasta you’ve cooked). Since these are experimental recipes, I don’t have the exact proportions of the ingredients. I just estimate. 🙂 Saute garlic, onions, peppers, and cherry tomatoes. Add in your cooked pasta.
What I did was from the casserole I just took out the pasta and transferred them straight to the pan with the sautéed spices. Don’t worry about the excess water from the boiled pasta, it’ll actually help make your dish not dry and the water would also help bind all of them together beautifully. Add in salt and black pepper to taste. Serve it while it’s hot and sprinkle a generous amount of parmesan cheese on top.
This is my pepperonccino pasta. I served mine with margherita toasts on the side.
For the margherita toast, I cut up a baguettini into 4 parts (half then half). In a pan, I’ve heated up butter with crushed garlic and toast up the baguettinis. Once the toasted side is in a nice golden brown color, I took it out of the pan. I then spread some tomato sauce on the toasted side, topped it with regular medium sized sliced tomatoes. I then grated some cheddar cheese on top. I’ve used Magnolia Quickmelt cheese. Once done, I’ve put them in the oven for about 5 to 10 minutes or until the cheese melted and the bread is crispy or toasted.
This dish has no meat but still a very filling one. It would have been best paired with white wine or a moscato, but it’s liquor ban, so water it is!
Chia Pudding and Overnight Oats
I was able to buy a kilo of chia seeds a while back, which is a lot. Now I have chia seeds to last me a lifetime.
I usually mix it with lemon juice for a pick me up drink. But you can only use that much of chia for a drink. So, I looked at Pinterest for chia pudding recipes and other uses of chia. I was able to add in one of my butter cakes, and it was just so-so. As chia seeds are bland so it doesn’t have the umph feel when combined with cakes. It was from that trial and error that I’ve appreciated chia seeds in drinks and puddings better.
For my chia pudding, I used greek yoghurt instead of milk. I found that with yoghurt, the chia seeds will bloom/set faster compared to milk and I just love the sour taste of yoghurt. I just mix together 4 tablespoons of greek yoghurt or plain yoghurt, 3 tablespoons of chia seeds, and 1 tablespoon of honey or syrup. Mix them all together and make sure that every chia seeds especially those in the bottom of your mug/jar is included in the mix. Set it for about a minute. Top this with your favorite fresh fruits and nuts, and you’re good to go.
My version of overnight oats, I used 4 tablespoon of rolled oats, 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, 1 tablespoon of honey, and 1/2 cup of milk (fresh milk or low-fat or non-fat or almond). Mix them all together and put them in the fridge (overnight). In the morning, you can top them with fresh fruits and nuts of your choice and eat them up. The next time I’m making this, I might want to add in 2 tablespoons of greek yogurt and lessen the milk. Will see! 🙂
SingleBakedMiss by KiaraC 