Jack is Cooking Vietnamese Style Lemongrass Tempeh Stir Fry

Well Hello Internet!

For dinner tonight Julie and I made some stir fried Tempeh with Lemongrass, Peppers, and Snow Peas

to make this you will need:

2 inches of lemongrass very finely diced

1 inch ginger diced 1 tablespoon olive oil
4 ounces tempeh, cut into cubes
1 yellow pepper sliced
a handfull of snow peas 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 1/2 tablespoon rice syrup
1 teaspoon chili garlic sriracha 
2 cups rice or Coconut rice  (to make coconut rice, if you are making 1 cup of rice, use 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup coconut milk.  follow recipe in link)
cilantro 

lime juice

So first, we sautéed the tempeh in the olive oil until it got brown.

then we added in the lemongrass, the ginger, the pepper, and the snow peas and stir fried for about 4 minutes, or until the pepper started to get a little soft.

Then we added the soy sauce, the rice vinegar, the apple cider vinegar, the chili garlic sriracha sauce, and the rice syrup.  stir fried it for another minute, and then took it out and put it over the rice!  sprinkled a little cilantro on top and a squeeze of lime juice! and that's it!

mmm mmm delicious!

Jack is Cooking Tacos

Well Hello Internet!

Tonight for Dinner i made Tacos.  and i don't mean i went out and bought some taco kit and mixed in some ground beef.  i made REAL tacos.  Taco's like how you would get them in mexico.  or how i would imagine you would get them there, i've never actually been!

anyways, these tacos were delicious, cheap, and really easy to make.

Here's what you'll need:

1 tomato

6 tomatillos

1 green pepper

1 hot pepper (you can really use whatever type you want, and put more if you want it more spicy)

1 can of corn

1 onion

the breast of 1 chicken

cilantro

paprika

corn tortillas

sour cream

guacamole

cheese

so first, i roasted all of my vegetables (except the onion) in my broiler.  even the canned corn.  i just strained it and dumped it out on the pan with the other vegetables.  i roasted them until they started getting a nice browning on them. then i turned them until i got the same on the other side

Next, i took the tomato, the tomatillos, and some cilantro, and i pureed them in a blender.

in a large pot i took my chicken breast and i browned it quickly on both sides.  then i poured in the tomatillo sauce to begin to simmer the chicken.

after the chicken had simmered for about 10 minutes i cut it up a little bit.  i let it simmer a little while longer, until i could pull it apart with a fork.  at this point i added the rest of the roasted vegetables,  an onion i had cut up, and some paprika

i let all this good stuff simmer together for a while.  finally in the end i through in some more cilantro, and a little lime juice for good measure.  (lime juice is pretty awesome on everything)

now!  for the tacos!  i took my tortillas which i heated up in the microwave, and in each one i put a little bit of this delicious chicken mixture, some guacamole, some sour cream, and some grated cheese.

oh man was it good.

(btw this mixture made enough sauce to make like 12 tacos)

mmm mmmm delicious

Jack is Cooking Banana Flambé

Well Hello Internet!

this morning i decided to make banana flambé for breakfast. its pretty fun setting things on fire, and bananas are delicious, so these two things naturally go together!

this might be one of those don't try at home things, but i dunno whatever. if you think u can do it go for it. hahaha

what you need:
bananas
butter
powdered sugar
rum
vanilla extract
lemon juice

Jack is Cooking Root Vegetable and Leek Soup

Well Hello Internet!

This past sunday, julie and i decided to make a Root Vegetable and Leek Soup!

its very easy to make.

heres what you need

1 leek

1 potato

1 rutabaga

3 carrots

3 parsnips

1 onion

2 inches of ginger

parsley

chicken stock (3-4 cups)

salt and pepper (1/2 tablespoon each- more pepper if you want)

cinnamon

half and half (1/2 cup)

first chop everything up into 2 inch cubes (except the ginger.  chop that up pretty finely)

then with a little butter sauté the carrots, onions, ginger, and parsley for about 5 minutes, or until the onions start getting a little clear

put the rest of the vegetables in the pot with the chicken stock (enough that all the vegetables are covered)

cook for about 45 minutes.  at this point all the veggies should be nice and soft.  take a potato masher

and mash them all together.  i prefer the masher to an immersion blender, because i like it still a little chunky.  then add in the half and half, the salt and pepper, and the cinnamon (just a dash)

cook it for 15 more minutes, then serve.  i served it with a spoon of greek yogurt, some chives, and a dash more cinnamon

mmmm mmmm delicious

Jack is Cooking Gluten Free Carrot Cake

Well Hello Internet!

Last night i made a Gluten Free Carrot Cake.

its pretty easy to make!  heres what you'll need:

2.5 cups gluten free flour  (i used arrowhead mills all purpose gluten free flour.  it is a fantastic GF mix)
3 teaspoons baking powder 
1 teaspoons salt 
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
1 cup sugar 
3/4 cup corn oil
4 eggs slightly beaten 
1 tablespoon REAL mayonaise 
2 cups grated carrots 
1/2 cup chopped walnuts 
9 oz or so canened crushed pineapple with juice 
1/2 cup dried cranberries


What you'll need for the frosting:
Cream cheese frosting: 
1/2 cup melted
8 ounces cream cheese softened 
1.25 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Directions 
preheat the oven to 350°
i did this in my kitchen Aid, but you can do it by hand if you want.   mix flour, baking powder,  salt, sugar and cinnamon.  Mix in the  corn oil, eggs, and mayonaise. Stir well. Stir in the carrots, the nuts, the cranberries, and pineapple. 
i used 2 circular 9" cake pans.  this mixture makes the perfect amount for these two pans.  grease the pans and fill them with the batter.  bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Fosting 
whip all ingredients together till fluffy.


when the cake cools down, put one layer down, and spread frosting on the first layer.  put the second cake on top, and spread the frosting all over the top and the sides!  then you can put nuts all around the side, and a little more on top. 

(yes this is actually the cake that i made! did i mention i am a photographer?  i took the cake to work with me, so i could take a picture outside of my kitchen)

mmm mmm delicious

Jack is Cooking a Peanut Butter Rice Casserole Thing

Well Hello Internet!

tonight for dinner, i have made a delicious Rice Casserole thing.  im not really sure what you would call it. but its got rice, and vegetables, and peanut butter in it, and its really really good!  the other really awesome thing about this is that it all happens in one pot, or pan, so the cleanup is very minimal.

Heres what i used:
2 tablespoons oil
2 green onions
1 cup of rice
1/2 cup of stock
1 slice of ham (totally optional)
1/2 to 1 whole red pepper
2/3 cup of milk (you can also use coconut milk, which makes this even more delicious)
2-4 cloves garlic
2 inches of ginger
1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce
salt
3 tablespoons of peanut butter
1 small can of chopped tomato
1 large sweet potato, or a few small ones
1 carrot
baby bok choy

heres everything all chopped up and ready to go:

so the first step, is to mix the peanut butter, the milk, the garlic, and the sriracha sauce together in a bowl.

then in the casserole pan (or dutch oven)

put the oil.  then the onions.  then the rice:

then add the stock:

lay the slice of ham on top of this. ( i recommend slicing some holes in the ham so that the milk mixture while incorporate with the rice mixture below)  on top of the ham put the peppers and the ginger:

Pour the milk and PB mixture over this.  then put the carrot, the tomato, and then sweet potato over that:

Finally, put the Bok Choy over everything, and drizzle some spicy sesame oil on it:

Cover with tinfoil and bake in the oven at 450° for 45 minutes

take out and enjoy!

keep the leftovers in the fridge.  its even better the next day!

mmm mmm delicious.

Jack is (not) Cooking a Mango Lassi

Well Hello Internet!

Tonight i just have a quick post.  the other day i got some free mangos, so out of one of the mangos i decided to make a mango lassi!
they are real easy to make.  heres what you need

a mango
1 cup of yogurt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
a blender

so take your mango, and peel it and cut it up.  put it in the blender with 1 cup of yogurt, and 1/2 cup of milk, and 2 tablespoons of sugar (if you want it sweeter you can put more sugar).  blend it up good until its nice and frothy!  enjoy!

mmmm mmmm delicious!

Jack is Cooking Cold Sesame Noodles

Well Hello Internet!

phew the holidays are over!  i feel like i cooked a ridiculous amount of food, some of which has made it up here, some of which will make it up here eventually, and some of it that just slipped through the cracks!

anyways, as a result of all the cooking i did, be it cookies,  turkey, beef wellington,  pot pies, and whatever else i made, Butter has now become my number one used ingredient!  yum!  if you want to know how i can tell, if you look over in the right hand column of this blog you will see a list of ingredients.  every time i do a post i put the ingredients as labels, and it tallies them and puts them in descending order from most used to least used.

if you were to click on these ingredients you can then see all the recipes used involving that ingredient.

all that aside

Cold Sesame Noodles!  these are delicious, and they have no butter in them!  i need a break from butter!

they are super easy.

heres what you'll need

1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce (shoyu)
1 tablespoon hot toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
sesame seeds (optional)
1 carrot - julienned or i like to just use the peeler, and peel it all the way to the core (optional)
1 green onion (optional)
some kind of noodles, udon, soba, rice, or just plain old spaghetti (enough for 1 person but not enough for 2)

ok so take all the sauces, and whisk them together in a bowl

then, cook the noodles as per the instructions on your noodle packet

if you are using carrots, when there is 1 minute or less left for the noodles, throw the carrots in with them.  this will soften them slightly, but they will still be nice and crunchy. 

strain the carrots and the noodles, and run cold water over them to stop the cooking and turn them cold.

then put them in the bowl with the sauce mixture

toss everything until the sauce is coating the noodles nicely, throw on the green onions

and you have a delicious meal or snack! 

mmmm mmmm delicious!