Culinary Adventures of MadZak

Hello foodies,

So this quest is really turning out well as the second attempt has made drastic strides in flavor! I knew the frozen ingredients and dried herbs would affect the quality and flavor but this is tasted like 500% better! Yes no kidding! I’ve been making a nice risotto with the stocks as a kind of measure given those nice little rice grains soak up all that stocky goodness. Although i should probably start a risotto quest as well, my so-so risotto sky rocketed in likability. Here are the ingredients and reflections from this attempt. Oh and I followed the same “tips” as last time.

Ingredients:

• carrots (without skin)
• onions
• 1 bunch celery stalk
• 1 head garlic
• 2 corn cobs
• 1/2 pack white mushrooms
• fresh basil
• fresh thyme
• fresh oregano
• fresh tarragon
• salt

Reflections:

I didn’t realize it but I actually put in less of the items from last time, so I guess I made 2 differences with this batch. Regardless the freshness was the KEY in terms of flavor of the stock. I have also been stressing the limits of the 4 days in the fridge rule for “fresh” I’m finding in my fridge it’ll last about 5 to 6. I don’t recommend this to everyone so in just reheat the stock on the 4th day to get 3 more days out of it and accomplish a nice make 1 day use all week base! Next attempt will be to add the same original ingredients and also see if I can’t strain it in some cheesecloth/coffee filters.

When I was in Taiwan I had a very delicious beef noodle soup and have been longing for a soup to that caliber. Luckily January is when I started to perfect my vegetable stock and figured I’d give it a shot with some vegetable noodle soup.

The broth is what really seals this dish as the ingredients do nothing but soak up the flavor. If you can make the broth yourself, you are better off as store bought just won’t cut it!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 carrot (peeled)
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 wood-ear (any fungus like mushrooms)
• 1 tomato
• 1 tablespoon basil
• 1 tablespoon thyme

METHOD:
Combine vegetable broth and water in a pot and bring to boil. Add frozen udon noodles, carrots, onions, wood-ear or mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic, basil, and thyme. Once frozen udon noodles start to break apart, go ahead and add the sesame oil, rice vinegar, and soy sauce.

Once vegetables and noodles are soft, remove from heat, add salt and pepper, and serve.

Hello foodies,

Today I am announcing my quest to develop the perfect vegetable stock. I’ve been reading a book lately (book recommendation coming once I finish) that mentioned you aren’t much of a chef if you can’t make a good stock.

I completely agree with this remark and realized that my stocks were just so-so. I’ve begun researching various basics on vegetable stocks and have started focusing on a few factors. My plan/goal is to hone in the stock within a month, so I’m giving myself 4 tries at getting it right. I guess over time I can continue to work on it but I’ll post the great recipe after the 4 attempts. So far these are the items to look out for in creating a great vegetable stock.

• Do not cook for more than an hour.
• “Boil” your vegetables in the stock pot before adding water (this usually means to let your onions get translucent in some oil, I used 1 tablespoon).
• Once you’ve added your water watch for the stock temperature to reach up between 170 and 180, then turn that heat down to maintain it. You should never boil or simmer from what I’ve heard, although I’ve noticed a lot of recipes would like you to go back up to a boil after adding the water.
• Make sure mushrooms are in the stock, they give it more depth.
• Strain after the hour of cooking and let to cool to room temperature before going into the fridge or freezer.

Ingredients in today’s stock are as follows:

• carrots (with skin)
• onions
• celery
• “fresh” rosemary
• garlic
• tomatoes
• corn kernels
• mushrooms
• wood-ear (Asian fungus)
• bay leaves
• dried basil
• dried thyme
• dried oregano
• dried parsley
• peppercorns

Reflections:

First I know it was silly but I actually made all these vegetables up and froze them about a month ago. They don’t do bad in that condition but really to get to a perfect stock, this is unacceptable so next time they will all be fresh. The same thing goes for my herbs as they were all dried and not fresh. So the stock is way better now that I focused on the list of requirements above, however, the real test will come with fresh ingredients. Week 2 should knock my socks off I hope

Green curry and rice is a personal favorite dish of mine and I’ve seen it served as soup or as a thick sauce on the rice. It is super great to warm you up during the winter and no one should be afraid of curry as it’s easily adjustable. The flavor from the green curry is what makes this dish, combined with coconut milk and you get a nice sweet heat. Not only will all the ingredients soak up the flavor but the rice will absorb whatever is left leaving you with a dish to remember. You can adjust the green curry paste based on your heat tolerance. I’ve found that 4 seems to work good for Judy who doesn’t like heat at all and is still a bit hot for my medium tastes. Play with the ingredients, most everything will work fine!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk (1 can)
• 4 tablespoons green curry paste
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup broccoli
• 1 cup cauliflower
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 4 cups rice

METHOD:
In a skillet, bring 1 cup of coconut milk to boil with green curry paste. Reduce to medium and add everything but the chicken into the milk/curry mixture. Cook the chicken separately and add into the soup mixture once done. Cook for 15 minutes or until vegetables are soft and serve on rice.

Having a bunch of turkey left overs from Thanksgiving, I’ve spent most of the week working on utilizing it as much as I can. Last Night, I made a nice turkey fried rice for my wife and as always it was super simple and super tasty.

As with many of my recipes, it is a bit of a blank canvas and you can use any type of meat you’d like. Enjoy the great mix of carrots, green peppers, turkey, and egg as it melts in your mouth and warms you up. This is what fried rice should be, notice the lack of that weird yellow color? I still haven’t figured out why that’s added to the take outs! Make a big batch as you can warm this up for quick dinners or lunches as well.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups turkey (pulled/shredded)
• 1 carrot (vertical sliced)
• 1/2 green pepper (horizontal sliced)
• 4 cloves garlic (diced)
• 1 egg
• 2 cups rice (cooked)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine
• 1 tablespoon garlic (diced)
• 1/4 cup green onion (sliced)

METHOD:
Warm a skillet on medium-high heat. Once warmed, add oil and garlic then sauté for 30 seconds or so. Add carrots, green peppers, pepper, and turkey. Turn heat up to high and fry for 5 minutes stirring to make sure things don’t stick to the pan.

Add rice, rice wine, and soy sauce and mix well. Make a small hole in the center of the skillet and crack the egg in the middle. Mix the egg until it is cooked, add green onions and then mix the whole skillet up, remove from heat and serve.