Friday, January 29, 2010

Maple Salmon and Pasta with Herbs

Yesterday at the store, I found some cheap salmon. It had definitely been a while since I've bought fish and I really wanted to cook it. I found the salmon recipe on allrecipes.com, and it turned out delicious!!! The pasta was something I had found in a magazine and it went so well with the salmon.

Pasta with Herbs:
Ingredients
* 1/2 lb of pasta
* 1/2 cup of herbs - Whatever is in cabinet
* 2 tablespoon of olive oil
* 1 teaspoon lemon juice
* 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan

Directions
1. Cook the pasta
2. Mix cooked pasta with the rest of the ingredients and serve.


Maple Salmon Recipe
Ingredients
* 1/4 cup maple syrup
* 2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
* 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1 pound salmon

Directions
1. In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper.
2. Place salmon in a shallow glass baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover the dish, and marinate salmon in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning once.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake salmon uncovered 20 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Cupcakes in Tucson, AZ


LA Latte from Cupcake
Originally uploaded by carmenkchan19

While on a small shopping trip for others, Andy and I decided to stop at Cupcakes. They specialize in cupcakes for weddings, birthdays, or just desserts.

The restaurant was cute and refreshing. The person behind the register was extremely friendly and went through the cupcakes for us. Andy and I decided to just share one because we had just had a big lunch.

After much debating, we decided to on the LA Latte, which was a coffee flavored cake with vanilla frosting and cinnamon sprinkles. Overall, I would say the cupcake was OK. The first bite was good, the 2nd bite was OK, the third just started getting a bit too sweet. The ratio of the frosting to the cupcake was just too much. I don't think I would go there again for dessert.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Mango and Cucumber Salad


Mango and Cucumber Salad
Originally uploaded by carmenkchan19

My friend showed me this recipe a long time ago and I've been meaning to try it for a long time. I was just too cheap to buy Mangoes. Just recently, I was able to find Mangoes for cheap -> 2 for a$1!!!

The mango that I used wasn't super ripe, so it had a slight bitter taste, which was a good addition to the overall taste. Here's goes my version of the salad:

Ingredients:
1 Slightly Ripe Mango
1/2 Cucumber
1/2 Red Onion
Cilantro
Lemon Juice
Jalapeno (I used hot sauce because I didn't have any)
Salt and Pepper for taste

Dice the mango, cucumber and red onions. Add a little bit of lemon juice to coat everything, and handful of cilantro. I added a little bit of hot sauce, enough to be spicy but not cover the taste of everything. Mix everything together and then serve.

Monday, January 11, 2010

My Version of Chicken and Biscuits

I like to cook whenever I can. I usually don't have the time on the weekdays, but do on the weekends.

I was looking through my fridge this weekend trying to get inspirations and I was very limited. I didn't want to go shopping because I am trying to use up the fresh produces before they go bad. This was what I pulled out of the fridge:

1. Red potatoes
2. Celery
3. Onions
4. Garlic
5. Chicken

6. Ready to bake biscuit
I was able to make my version of chicken and biscuits with the ingredients I pulled out. I cooked the first five ingredients in chicken broth. To thicken the liquid part, I added milk, butter, and flour. I found that it thickened pretty well when I brought everything to a boil and then let it simmer.
I'm still trying to find the correct ratios of milk, flour, and butter to liquid. I didn't use salt or anything because the butter I used was salted and that was plenty of salt for me. I added pepper for extra taste. :)

I hope I can recreate this dish again because it was very tasty.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Spicy Asian Noodles


Spicy Asian Noodles
Originally uploaded by carmenkchan19

I asked my mom for Asian noodles when she came for Christmas and I finally tried them out today. These noodles were really simple to cook with adequate English instructions on the back. My experience with Asian foods is the instructions because they are always in broken English. One day this gap will end. LOL!

We visited this Asian place in Hays, Kansas and the food was really good. I tried my best to sort of recreate the taste. The ingredients I used was zuccini, carrots, onions, corn, mushrooms, and imitation crab (I had a little left and wanted to use it before it went back). For the sauce, I used Huy Fong Siracha Hot Chili Paste (It's the hot sauce with the rooster picture), light soy sauce and some lemon juice. I really liked the overall taste, though it was a bit spicy for me. I guess I'm still trying to build my tolerance.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Papa Murphy's

One of the staples of my house is Pizza. We have it at least once a week whether it's going out or staying at home. Although it may not be the healthiest food, it's wonderful after a bad or good day of work.

A favorite place of ours is Papa Murphy's. They make pizzas that one can take home and bake. We've tried many of their pizzas, ranging from gourmet meat lovers to the thin chicken delights and they've all come out great. Papa Murphy's also offer sides such as cookies and cheesy bread sticks that one can take home and bake. All were delicious!!

One may ask, "What is so special? I can just go to the frozen section and buy the same food for much cheaper and bake it too.". My answer to that is "Don't knock it till you try it."

Friday, January 1, 2010

Rocco's Little Chicago Pizzeria


Rocco's Hot Sticks
Originally uploaded by carmenkchan19

Rocco's Little Chicago Pizzeria is a great place to get wonderful appetizer and really good pizza. We were introduced to this place by Andy's sister. Rocco's is not a chain. It cannot be found in multiple places in Tucson, nor any other city in Arizona.

Rocco's is opened 6 days a week and closed on Sundays. They have great lunch and dinner menus. The lunch deals occur everyday, including Saturdays, and run from 11 to 4. The lunch menus have smaller portions and good prices and are a great way to try out things from the regular menu such soups, salads, sandwiches and wings. The dinner menu has a larger variety of appetizers, pastas, salads, and pizza.

We went to Rocco's for our New Year's Eve dinner. We ordered a large portion of the spicy hot sticks and a large stuffed Angry Samoan. It was definitely more than enough food for the both of us. The spicy hot sticks came with a large amount of ranch, which is better than any other ranch I've ever had. The pizza came out right before we finished our appetizers. Pizza is always covered in lots of sauce and cheese. There's never a shortage of toppings either. Every bite was delicious!


We came home with half the pizza which will last us for two meals. As 2009 comes to an end, I suggest everyone to try out Rocco's at least once in 2010.