Back to my roots 3 - Singapore street noodles

Merrrry Christmas! Ahh, I can’t believe it’s Christmas yet again. I especially don’t feel as festive as other years perhaps due to the fact that it is my first Christmas on my own away from my family in...forever!

But it sure was an exciting Christmas for my pup Yoshi with a big bag of presents from our landlord and her pup!

Yoshi even got homemade dog cookies from his neigbor maltese puppies Ike and Julie!

He loved his new furry toy...

 

And I got my cookin’ on by sauteing some chicken breast and onion yellow-fied by some curry powder! This was the first step to my attempt at a homemade Singapore street noodles: a Chinese take-out favorite of mine.

Then some Christmas spirit with red and green bell peppers...

The Singapore street noodles that I love usually have shrimp and roasted pork, but given my budget and time constraints, I just sauteed some tofu instead.

All in the pan,

and voila! Goes the mei-fun noodles and dinner is served.

Although it was quite a lonely Christmas Eve, I enjoyed some time with my rugrat puppy Yoshi who I won’t get to spend much time with in the next few days... I love him, he’s become my baby! Anywhoooo... MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY! Since I work ALL day tomorrow (and for other reasons ;) ) my Christmas won't really begin until the night of the 26th. What do I mean by that? You'll see!

Back to my roots 2 - Short Ribs

Can you believe it? FOUR days till Christmas!?! Yowza. Amidst all the Christmas shopping bonanza, I am actually not doing presents this year....because I have a better plan in mind. ;) Until then I just have to resisted all the temptations of all the retailers’ e-mails.

 
It’s been quite dreary in Aspen as the warm climate made the estimated 5-10” of snow all into rain falls... And despite the absence of snow and/or ice, I somehow managed to fall on my butt while on my morning walk with Yoshi. Talk about a wake up call! Ugh.
 
Contemplating on my next Asian-inspired dish, I was browsin’ through the aisles of the good ole City Market when... ding, ding, ding!!! Short ribs were on sale! For $3.99/lb, I scored big hunks of short ribs that got me thinking about short ribs soup- another Korean favorite of mine.
 
After a jolly trip to the store and a phone call to mom for “recipe,” (my mom has no recipes, it’s usually ‘a little bit of this and a little bit of that’) I got cooking!
 

I browned the hunks o’ meat...

 

Then sweat some yellow onion with whole smashed garlic cloves,

 

Then back in the pot they all went to boil and simmer for about two hours.

 

I added some half-mooned zucchini and yellow squash with the traditional toppings of scallion and some serrano pepper. (Oh, it’s mei-fun noodles in the soup by the way since I couldn’t find the classic noodles).

 

Not gonna lie, but it was a big disappointment. Not only did I forget to put the daikon in the boiling pot (ugh!) but I don’t think I simmered it long enough. The soup was definitely missing the “umami” if ya know what I mean...
 
But not to worry! I turned this downer to an upper! With the leftover zucchini and yellow squash I whipped up some buttery beef “stir-fry” to serve up alongside some chewy brown rice. Ingredients? Butta’, stir-fry beef, veggies and S&P. Mmmm. I love how the impromptu meal topped off the planned meal.

 

mmm check out the butter! haha

Since I have some leftover mei-fun noodles, I think it’s time for me to experiment with my favorite Chinese take-out dish next. Singapore mei fun! :D
 
PS. Is it weird that I find raw meat appetizing? Agh, such a carnivore I tell ya!

Back to my roots - Eggplant bulgogi

Back to my Asian roots that is...
 
Ever since I moved out here to Colorado, now and then I would crave some yummy Korean and other Asian grubs which seemed to be so much more accessible back in Illinois and Wisconsin. There are a few Asian bistros and restaurants around town, but I have yet to try one that I can call legit. I still haven’t gone to Phat Thai in Carbondale or Matsuhisa in Aspen, but until then I figured I could give it a shot in my tiny hole-in-the-wall kitchenette.
 
I first went to the store with the intention of buying ingredients for bulgogi (a famous Korean beef dish), but these gorge purple eggplants caught my eyes while I was browsin’ around the produce section. So I thought, ‘heck, why now? Eggplant bulgogi?” Which is all ironic since the “gogi” in “bulgogi” means “meat.” bah!
 
I marinated the cubes of eggplant in the traditional Kim household bulgogi seasoning: soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ground black pepper... (photos courtesy of my good ole Blackberry, haha)

Note to self: two eggplants will serve about 10 people not 3.

Then a quick sauté/simmer on the pan with carrots, broccoli, green bell pepper, and red onion...

Topped off with slivers of green onion! (I used a few sprinkle of flour to thicken the sauce)

Served alongside chewy brown rice... what a perfect and hearty vegetarian meal!

 I’ve decided that since I’ve been so homesick craving for my mom’s good Asian home cooking, I’ve decided to dedicate the next couple of posts to Asian cuisine! Yipee! :)

G'bye turkey, it's been a good week

I finally demolished all evidence of thanksgiving this evening with a super easy dinner: chicken turkey soup. I had some chicken stock in the fridge from some leftover rotisserie chicken last week, so pretty much all I had to do was chop, throw in the pot, and bring to simmer/boil!
 

I started my soup with some jalapeno then added the cubed pieces of turkey leftover!

I sauteed the turkey + jalapeno mixture along with some sliced carrots...

Then in went the chicken stock (lazy version: rotisserie chicken bones, celery, onion, bay leaf).

Ever since my friend from Mexico Angeles showed me, I loved to garnish my clear stock based soups with cilantro and red onion with a squeeze a lime to follow. It definitely brightens up the whole soup and cuts through any fattiness.

For dessert, some gala apples with my fave: white chocolate wonderful PB. I bought another jar today at the store! I sense an obsession coming to surface. Oh, and I can’t wait to try the “Oats in a Jar” that’s been roamin’ around the food blog world quite q while now. YUM.

Despite the rumors of snow, it was so warm in Aspen today. Bad news for the skiers/snowboarders, good news for a non four-wheel drive owner: moi. Speaking in the French tongue reminds me how awesome of a glass of wine I’m having right now. It’s Folie a Deux’s Menage a Trios which is a mixture of Chardonnay, Mescato and Chenin Blanc. After a long week, I was definitely craving some wine to rewind with and I remembered this wine specifically from a few weeks back at my work when testing a few whites.

Ahhh with a satisfied tummy, and a yummy glass of wine with my puppy next to me...I can’t think of a better way to end my Saturday evening. I am going to sleep like a baby tonight.

Thanksgiving that keeps on giving

What do you do for at least three days after the biggest feasting Holiday of the year? If you’re like me or my family, you’d reach in the fridge to find mounds and mounds of goodies such as leftover roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and more.

Although I didn’t get to celebrate Thanksgiving with the family this year, I had plenty of leftovers from a Thanksgiving buffet over at work (one of the perks of working in the food and beverage industry!). Some food purists or in a bad way “snobs,” would refuse to touch the leftovers as if their palates are in a way superior to leftover foods but for a single gal like me trying to live on a limited budget, leftovers are always welcome :) I probably saved over $30 this week not having to shop as many groceries as I probably would have if it weren’t for those leftovers. So don’t trash leftovers, utilize them to the best of you ability!!

First Thanksgiving leftover remix required the following: ham, cranberry sauce, whole grain bread, and veggies. I bet you had some too! I put the ham in the middle of my two fluffy and grainy multi grain bread and smeared the cran-pom sauce on top. For veggies? Easy. Just pop ‘em in the microwave!

I mean.., need I say more?

Next was nothing extraordinary. Just a reheated plate of turkey thigh meat rolled with fresh herbs and garlic next to mashed potatoes. Just bumped up the veggie volume by adding sauteed pencil asparagus (that was on sale for $1.79/lb << a total steal).

The mountains have been definitely getting a ton of snow lately as I whip up my little bottom on walks to and from the bus stops. I am definitely going to focus on investing in some ski apparel to take advantage of my four-mountains pass. Yesterday was my first day at my part-time and although I loved being in Aspen and interacting in other ways aside from the restaurant, my feet/legs felt the pain when I woke up this AM. Anyways.... HELLO DECEMBER! :D

Thanksgiving for the service peeps

Happy Thanksgiving!

What? I’m 2 days late? Uh.... well Happy Thanksgiving Week! My Colorado friends and I, being employed in the lovely hospitality/service industry, worked our little booties off on Thursday hence the feasting celebrating on Friday. Friday celebration was fine with me, since we had more than enough food to stuff our faces with...I guess we did the holiday proud.

I was in charge of cornbread w/ butter, roasted asparagus, and cranberry sauce. Nothing extraordinary on the first two; I just baked a box of Jiffy mix with whole corn kernels to be served with softened butter mixed with chopped thyme while the asparagus simply roasted for 15 minutes in the oven alongside smashed garlic cloves. One thing that was a bit more near and dear to my heart was the cranberry sauce!

What makes mine so special? Well first of all I had to go through with permanently staining one of my favorite zip-ups...thanks to POM! These little things are what I love about my cranberry sauce. I almost bought a short-cut already separated arils for $4.99, but for $1.99 ended up with a whole pomegranate and a brochure that simply read, “EASY OPEN.” ‘nuff said.

I never knew the trick with the water! But like the brochure said, all the arils sank to the bottom leaving the white chunks float!

I used a can of whole berry cranberry sauce, jellied one, an orange and last but not least the POM!

I bring the sauces into a simmer then get a good squeeze out of the orange,

then I add the POM and simmer again for another few minutes. How easy, no?

Well I guess it wouldn’t be a Thanksgiving post without pictures of the bird (the juiciest turkey breasts!):

And here goes our assembly line!

We all squeezed and sat around Amy and Jeffrey’s gorgeous dining table...

Then got ready to FEAST!

The night was capped off with a round of good ole Cranium and Jay's famous Apple Crumble Pie with vanilla ice cream. Good food and good company always equal good times...

This year, I am thankful for so many things... first and foremost my beautiful family who gives me so much support from so far away. Then my wiener of a boyfriend and his family who I’ve come to call my own. :) I’m thankful for dear friends back in WI and NY/East Coast, as well as new friends out here in the mountains... Thankful for my jobs, thankful for Yoshi, thankful for my car... thankful for my God who allows me to wake up every morning and be thankful everyday.
 So which post next? Well I believe after Thanksgiving comes the bestest leftovers!

aireese's pieces' pieces

As per usual, I was reading through a few of the awesome food blogs from my blog roll, and somehow it got me to go back on my blog archive. I started to read my first few posts, and boy my blogging "style" has gone off lately. I read this one, this, and this and I had to think 'whoa, did I really write that?'
 
I think I took my affection for photo-heavy posts a little bit too seriously. And granted I have flippin' 10 posts for this month, but which ones actually count for having quality content? Okay, don't answer that. It's a rhetorical question. haha
 
One of the reasons for my short and sweet, photo-heavy posts could be the fact that I feel like I need to be a posts-pumping machine and try to squeeze in any posts I can without delay. So what was I going to do when I'm going to be overloaded with work starting next week? Just post pictures? Hmmmm...
 
I need to take some time and make sure I put out the good stuff. In the meantime, back tracking through the blogs led me also to this post which will be my inspiration for the next cooking extravaganza. :)

Kudos to my BB :)

I've been going to Smoke (the modern barbecue) a lot. First, it's right by my place and second, the prices are right up my alley, and lastly the food is deeeelish. I went to another ladies' brunch and had this humongo plate of pulled pork salad. Can you see the crunchy fried okra bits?

Then a side of their famous macaroni and cheese...

Then a few nights after the brunch, I went for dinner where I had a giant plate of barbecue (brisket and chicken), and we shared the nightly special mac n cheese, chicken and mushroom Tuesday. I didn't care so much about the side mac n cheese, but this special mac n cheese was absolutely out. of. this. world. YUM.

All these photos are taken by my good ol' Blackberry Tour. Didn't it do a good job? Oh, and check this Mr. Scruff after sniffing through the snow:

Speaking of snow...we are expected to get about a foot of snow from Sun-Wed! Two of our mountains open up Thanksgiving Day, the town is slowly waking up from the dreadful off-season! Aaaand another reason to be more excited? We have our food tasting for the new menu items at work today, yippeedadoo!