Garlic noodle

We bought 5 pounds of spaghetti because it was on sale. That's a lot of dry spaghetti, and I need some diversity in what I can do with it. Ideally, something non-tomato-sauce based. So Andrea Nguyen's take on garlic noodle is just perfect. I modified it with suggestions from her comments and the result is ... divine. I am craving it right now again, even though I just had it yesterday.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound dry spaghetti
2 sausage link (I had some from Trader Joe's, but you can skip it)
4tbsp butter
5 cloves garlic: very finely minced (I use a grater), and mixed with 2 tbsp of water
2 tbsp soy sauce
a dash of fish sauce
2 tbsp each chopped green onion and cilantro
salt, pepper, parmegiano cheese

Bring water to a boil in a medium sized pot. Add some salt. When water starts boiling, cook pasta until tender (about 12 minutes). Drain the pasta, but reserve a cup of the pasta water
In a deep skillet, melt butter, then add the garlic mixture. Cook for 1 minute. If you use sausage, add it to the skillet and cook until heated, about a minute or two. Add the soy sauce, the pasta water and a dash of fish sauce. When the mixture is boiling, add the pasta and toss with a tong.  making sure the pasta is coated with the sauce. When liquid is almost fully absorbed, add green onion, cilantro. Toss. Turn off the heat, add however much parmegiano cheese you want and toss again.
Serve with some boiled veggies.

The list of the ingredient sounds really weird, I know, but in the end, everything works so well together, you'll only taste wonderful, creamy, garlicky noodle. Promise!

Vietnamese chicken salad

Another way to use my left-over garlic chicken legs, but you can also use left-over rotisserie chicken, or just roast some chicken legs or breast. The key of this dish is the fish sauce dressing. I give you my recipe, but it is subjective, so just keep tasting until you have found your perfect combination.

Ingredients (for 2 as appetizer, for 1 as entree)

1/4 medium cabbage
1/2 small sweet onion
2 garlic chicken legs
some chopped cilantro (or Vietnamese corriander - rau ram)
2 tsp crushed peanuts

for the dressing
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp sugar).
If you like it spicy, have some some thinly sliced chili pepper on hand.

Thinly slice the onion, put it in a small bowl and cover with vinegar (I use rice vinegar). Thinly slice the cabbage and put it in a big bowl (makes it easier to mix later). Add a pinch of salt and toss. Shred or cut the chicken into long pieces. Add to the cabbage. Drain the onion and add to the mixture together with the cilantro. Toss.

Mix the fish sauce with vinegar (you can re-use the vinegar that you used for the onion) and sugar. Stir to dissolve everything. Add some chili if you like it hot.

Add the dressing to the cabbage, meat and onion mixture and toss. Let it rest for 5 minutes then serve with crushed peanuts sprinkled on top.

Garlic chicken legs

Chicken legs are cheap and tasty - the perfect student food. I know it, because my student life is long, very long, in fact it still hasn't ended. So, unless you stay in dorms and eat in the dining halls, you'll find yourself buying a lot of chicken, especially when they are on sale for 99 cents/pound. What you can cook with chicken legs - a lot and a lot of things.  You can make porridge, 3 drumstick will be enough for a medium size pot, you can de-bone them and grill, or you can leave the bones on and roast, for a quick and easy meal, like with the recipe below.

Ingredients
4 chicken drumsticks (or 2 leg quarters: 2 drumsticks and 2 chicken thights)
1/2 cub of chicken broth (or whatever broth you have on hand)
4 large gloves of garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp chilli powder
1tsp oregano
if you don't have oregano, substitute it with whatever other herb you have on hand. I have made it with fresh cilantro, dried thyme. The chicken will taste slightly different depending on the herb you use, but it will taste good. Also, if you use fresh herb, increase the amount, since the flavor is less concentrated.

Now wash the chicken legs and pat them dry with paper towel.  Mince the garlic really fine then mix it with all the spices, salt and pepper. Rub the mixture onto the chicken. Push it under the skin as well as massage it onto the skin. Place the chicken legs in a baking dish. Add the broth and bake for about 40 minutes in the oven, preheated to 425F.

Serve with salad, mash potatoes, fries or rice (in a word, whatever you desire).

If you want a gravy with it: add 2 tbsp butter to the baking dish, 1 tsp of flour. Stirring, cook until the mixture turns into a brown paste, slowly add 1 cup warm broth, whisking. Let it simmer for 5 minutes or until you have the desired consistency.

Chicken salad

This is a great recipe for leftover rotisserie chicken. Everywhere I go I have my favorite rotisserie chicken. In LA it's Zankou chicken, in Vegas, Crazy Pitas. If Zankou has a garlic sauce to die for, Crazy Pitas' chicken is just full of garlic (and other flavors). As it always happens, I tend to think I can eat so much more than I really can, so I would end up with lots and lots of left over. This is also a great recipe if you don't like white chicken meat, because the sauce imparts more flavor and moisture to the meat.

Ingredients:

2 cups cubed rotisserie chicken
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped sweet onion.
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tblsp mustard
a splash of vinegar
salt, pepper and some chili powder to taste

In a bowl mix the mayonnaise with mustard, vinegar, some salt, pepper and chili power. Add the chicken, onion and celery. Mix well. Taste and add more salt, pepper and chili if necessary.

Serve with some greens for a salad. Put some on salad leaves for a tasty appetizer or with toasted bread as sandwich.

Enjoy.

Spanish tortilla

I first had Spanish tortilla at a tapas bar, called Ceviche, in Tampa Florida. Maybe it is the nostalgia, I haven't been back since my first two times in 2009, but Ceviche remains my favorite tapas bar, even after I have been to Spain.  They have great Sangria, 9 different types of ceviche, and Spanish tortilla, a small, thick omellette filled with potato and onion and served with a secret sauce that I just cannot figure out beyond guessing that it just has to have mayonaisse.  After going to Spain I realize that their version of Spanish tortilla is not necessarily most authentic. The ones we had in Madrid and Barcelona, and we had Spanish tortilla a lot during our 10 days in those 2 cities, were sweeter, and did not come with a mayonnaise sauce. Call me what you want, but the non original stuff taste better to me, so here is a rendition of that deliciousness from Ceviche.

Ingredients:
3 medium potatoes
1 small onion
6 large eggs
1/4 cups of milk
optional: 1 medium zuchini
optional: 2 pieces of spicy sausage
oil, salt, pepper, pimientos or spicy chili to taste

Peel the potatoes and slice them into slices, not too thin, but not too thick. The original way of making Spanish tortilla is to fry the potatoes until they are cooked. I just mix the sliced potatoes with olive oil, some salt and pepper, spread them evenly on a baking tray and bake them for 25 minutes at 350F.

In the mean time chop the onion. Beat up the eggs, add the milk, and onion and mix it all up.  Add some salt, pepper and pimientos. Mix some more. If you use zuchini, slice them up and add to the mixture as well. If you want sausage. Slice them up, but keep them separately.

When the potatoes are cooked, add them to the mixture of eggs and veggies. Mix it up, so all the ingredients are distributed in the egg mixture, otherwise some of you tortillas will have just potatoes, while other too much zuchini.

Heat up a medium, deeper skillet. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil. Pour in half of the mixture and using a spatula distribute the ingredients evenly in the skillet.  The egg should cover most of your veggies. Turn the heat to medium/medium low depending on your stove. If you use sausages, place them on top of the tortilla now.  Let it cook for about 5, 6 minutes.  Until, the eggs are set.  Take a big place (should be bigger than your skillet.  Cover the skillet with the plate and flip so the tortilla falls onto the place, then just slide the tortilla back onto the skillet.  Voila, you just managed to flip the tortilla. If some of the eggs are dripping, just keep practicing.

Cook the tortilla on the other side for another 4,5 minutes until it's golden brown.  Slide it out onto a clean place. Repeat the cooking with the rest of the egg mixture.

Spanish tortilla should be serve warm, or at room temperature, on its own, or as filling for a sandwich.  You can use my simple sauce below.

Mix up 3 tbsp of mayonnaise, 1 tsp of mustard, 1 tsp of vinegar, 1 tsp of sriracha hot sauce, 1 tsp of minced green olives, salt, pepper. Spread the mixture on a piece of toated bread, top it with a piece of tortilla and enjoy.

Btw, Spanish tortillas make awesome left over.