Fabulous Food

I love sushi. I love it too much, because I spend too much money on it. But for Christmas I got a sushi cook book with some chop sticks and a sushi mat. So I figured I would go out and buy the ingredients and try it out. Chances are, you won't have these ingredients laying around, so this is what you need when you go to the grocery store: 1 bag (1lb) of deveined and peeled shrimp 1 bag of tempura coating (or you can make it - it's very easy) 1 jar of real mayonnaise 1 jar of tempura sauce 1 bag of roasted seaweed sheets 1 container of Asian hot sauce (optional) 1 bag of sticky rice To make TWO handrolls, you will need: 1/3 cup of tempura coating mixed with 1/4 cup of water 12 of your small shrimp 2 teaspoons of tempura sauce 2 teaspoons of mayo (mixed with a drop of the hot sauce if you use it) 2 seaweed sheets 1/2 cup of cooking oil 1 cup of sticky rice, cooked Start by getting your sticky rice into your rice cooker/pot. While the rice is cooking, coat yo...

These shrimp that I made were actually left over from a pasta and then I deep fried them, but I will go over what I did anyways, and even let you know how I made the pasta in the next post. This recipe is for a single serving, or around 8 very small shrimp. You will need: 8 small shrimp, fully cooked, completely thawed, deveined and removed from the shell 1 tablespoon of cornstarch 1 tablespoon of water 1 tablespoon of chicken broth 1 garlic clove, minced 1 teaspoon of lemon juice  1 teaspoon of parsley 1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt 1 teaspoon of chilli powder 1 tablespoon of flour 1 tablespoon of bread crumbs 1/2 teaspoon of salt To start, mix the cornstarch and the water in a bowl. Pour a small amount of olive oil in your pan and add the garlic. Add the cornstarch mix until fully mixed and garlic is browned. Next, add the chicken broth, the lemon juice, and the spices. Mix thoroughly. Add the shrimp and saute for a few minutes. In a deep bowl, mix together the flour, bread c...

My mother in law has recently started a new diet, and one of her favourite things to eat now is spaghetti squash. It really is quite good, and good for you, however, it can be bland. I found this recipe on the Food Network and thought I would try it out. It's pretty easy too. You will need: 1 spaghetti squash 1/2 large can of pasta sauce (or make your own) 1 garlic clove, chopped finely 1/2 onion, chopped finely Any other veggies you may like to add (or even meat!) 1/2 cup of mozzarella, ricotta, or any other type of cheese Start by cutting the squash in half lengthwise. Most people bake them, but you can also boil them, which is much faster. Remove the gunky stuff from the inside and place the squash in a large pot of water and boil until the inside is soft. While the squash is boiling, saute the onion and garlic in some cooking oil in a large pan until browned. Add half of the pasta sauce to the pan and continue to stir. Using a fork, remove the squash from the skin...

This is another recipe that I got from work - I do a lot of cooking there and they have some interesting recipes. Before I get into it, I just want you to know that I have never tried this, it's really not my type of food, but everyone says it's great. You will need: 1 package of pasta  2 cans of cream of mushroom (or any other creamy soup) soup 1-2 zucchinis, julienned 1-2 carrots, julienned 1 large white onion, chopped 2-4 garlic cloves, minced 1 green pepper and 1 red pepper 2 celery stalks (optional) 2 cans of flaked white tuna 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese Begin by cooking your pasta in a pot until al dente. While the pasta is cooking, chop up all of your vegetables and place in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil. Saute until the veggies are tender. Strain the pasta and place in a baking dish. Add the veggies, the tuna, and the soup mix. Mix together thoroughly. Top with the mozzarella cheese and bake in the oven at 350 for about 20 minut...

Gnocchi is very similar in taste to pierogis but it is sooooo easy to make and can be a very elegant addition to a dish. You can add it to soup as the starch, use it as a side with a nice sauce, or just have it as a snack on its own. I opted to make it with the garlic cream sauce I've made before. If you sauté some onions and mushrooms and then begin the traditional sauce, you'll have a fantastic sauce for your gnocchi. To make the gnocchi, begin by peeling and cutting two large white potatoes and boiling them. Once they have boiled, remove them from the pot and place them on a cutting board. While the potatoes cool, you can make your sauce. Once the potatoes have cooled, take a fork and sort of mash them until there are no chunks left. Crack one egg into a medium sized bowl and add the potato. Grab some flour and slowly add the flour, a tablespoon at a time, mixing everything together, until you have a dough-like consistency. You shouldn't have to use more than a ...

I have made deep fried pickles a few times but haven't really perfected how to do it until now. The problem with a wet coating is that it tends to separate once you put it in the pan. The problem with a dry coating is that it sometimes doesn't stick or doesn't completely coat the pickle. I used the same method that I use to coat fish when I make it - first flour, then your egg, and then bread crumbs. This helps it to stick the best and it doesn't separate. Start by cutting large dill pickles into halves or quarters - depending on the size and your preference. Take three freezer bags or three deeps containers for your coatings. In the first one, pour some flour. In the second, whisk some eggs. In the third, mix some brea crumbs with any desired spices (garlic, chilli spice, etc.). Make sure your pickles are still nice an moist, and then coat them in each item, starting with the flour, then the egg, and finishing with the bread crumbs. The bags work well because ...