..Home Alone...AGAIN!..

The boyf's parent's are on vacation, so we're left to fend for ourselves. *SOB*  Their absence is deeply felt.  They'll be gone for over two weeks, so I'll be responsible for any cooking that is to be done.  Cooking during the week will be a lot more difficult since we're both pretty busy, so I decided to make a huge batch of bolognese sauce.  Tonight was whole wheat penne with bolognese sauce.  I will probably use the rest of the sauce one day this week to make a baked spaghetti dish with eggplant parm or lasagna.  Another night will be turkey chili.  I don't really have a plan for the rest of the days, so I'm just going to wing it.  D:  It's easy to be lazy with ourselves and order take out or go to a restaurant, but one thing we must be diligent with is our little Lucky.  If only he were self-sufficient!

He's so cute...

The bolognese sauce I make is really simple and it's not from any specific recipe.  It's not completely from scratch either.  I usually buy a jar of organic pasta sauce from the market and I'll add ingredients to it.  

Ingredients:

2tbsp of olive oil

1/2 of a large yellow onion

3 cloves of garlic

1lb of ground beef (I use 97/3 ground beef)

1jar of pasta sauce (preferably something with really simple, healthy ingredients and very low in sodium)

2tbsp of brown sugar (adjust according to how sweet you would like it)

1tbsp of dried parsley

3tbsp of chili flakes (use more or less depending on how spicy you like it -- 3tbsp is good for us, but we like our food spicy)

salt and pepper to taste

All you need to do is...

Add oil to a large pan.  Add the garlic and onions.  Then add the ground beef and brown.  A lot of people like to drain the liquid that collects from browning the beef, but I like to keep it in the pan.  Add the pasta sauce, parsley, chili flakes, and brown sugar.  Add the salt and pepper to taste.  Adjust and tailor the flavors to your liking.  Cook your pasta of choice according to the instructions on the box and then mix the sauce with the pasta. 

Why the safety goggles? My eyes are super sensitive when cutting onions. 

While the pasta was good, it was not the star of the show.  I also made cheddar biscuits today!  The recipe is supposed to be similar to Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits.  I LOVE me some Red Lobster biscuits.  I think the only reason why I would want to go to Red Lobster is for the biscuits.  I got the recipe from Rasa Malaysia.  Rasa Malaysia's recipe yields 10-12 biscuits, but since it's only me and the boyfriend eating it, I didn't want to make a bunch and then have it go to waste.  Most of the recipe, with the exception of the garlic powder and dried parsley, was cut in half.  Method was slightly revised as well:

1 cup Bisquick biscuit mix (I got the Heart Smart Bisquick Mix)

1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
1/8 cup butter (melted)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley

**Preheat oven to 450 degrees**

1. Mix Bisquick biscuit mix, milk, and cheese together until soft dough forms.  

2. In a separate bowl, mix butter, garlic powder and dried parsley together.  Take half of the mixture and incorporate it into the dough.  Make sure the mixture is incorporated well in the dough for evenness of flavor.

3. I separated the the dough into two large biscuits.  You can probably make 4-5 smaller biscuits.  Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes.  Since I was making two large biscuits, it took a bit longer to bake (about 10-15 minutes)

4. 3-5 minutes before biscuits are finished baking, brush the other half of the butter mixture onto the tops of the biscuits.  Sprinkle a few pieces of cheddar on top.  Allow biscuits to bake for the remainder of the time.

Finished product

The biscuits came out really good.  One thing I would change is instead of using mild cheddar, I would use sharp cheddar (mild cheddar was my choice).  I felt there needed to be more of a strong cheesy flavor to it.  

I can't wait for the parental units to come back...

..Beef Stew Noodle Soup -- Abridged..

The boyf may find this blasphemous, but I was never a fan of Beef Stew Noodle Soup.  The ones I've had were either too bland, too oily, or just plain not good.  Plus, aside from pho, I've never been a big fan of soup noodles.  This has changed though and it's because of the boyf's dad.  He makes a great bowl of Beef Stew Noodle Soup which is called Niu Rou Mian in Chinese.  I always get excited when he makes it.  I even crave it sometimes.  I decided that I had to learn how to make it.  Traditionally, the way to make this dish takes many hours since it involves making a stock from beef bones and stewing the meat.  While I have a lot of patience, I do not have patience for food.  If I want something, I want it then and there.  I can't wait 5-6 hours for it.  Luckily, the boyf's dad has cut down the cooking time to about an hour.  Instead of making the stock, he makes a stew.  The flavors of the liquid of the stew are very condensed and intense.  Then he adds the water used to cook the noodles to dilute the liquid from the stew and that is the soup base.  He doesn't have an actual recipe to follow.   He does everything by eye, so I did my best to approximate the amount of ingredients used.  Everything should be tasted along the way and adjusted according to your taste. 

Niu Rou Mian Recipe - makes about 4-6 servings
1lb of beef brisket - cubed
2tsp of hua jiao a.k.a Sichuan peppercorns + 5-6pcs of star anise in a spice bag or tied in a cheese cloth
1 pack of beef stew spice pouch - purchased in an Asian market.  The pouch contains anise, cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg, cloves and licorice. 
1-2 tbsp of oil (vegetable, canola, olive oil -- whatever your preference is)
3/4 of a 16oz can of diced tomatoes (you can use fresh if you want)
1pc of scallion - diced
4-5 cloves of garlic
4 slices of ginger
1.5 tbsp of soy sauce paste
About 1/2 cup of premium aged soy sauce.  
1tbsp Chinese rice wine
3pc rock sugar (small pcs - the kind he used looks like pebbles)
2-3tbsp of Dou Ban Jiang a.k.a spicy broad bean paste
1/2 cup of water
cilantro and scallion for garnish - depends on how much you like
2 cups of veggies - For veggies, you can use some form of bokchoy (regular, baby, Shanghai, etc.) or spinach. I prefer bokchoy.  
You will also need a package of noodles.  Sorry, I don't know what the brand is that we use, but it looks like linguine.  You can use udon noodles too.  Unfortunately, I don't know how much noodles you should use. 

1. Bring a pot of water to boil and add beef.  Let it cook for about a minute or so and then drain the beef.  Run the beef through cold water and put aside.  Do not thoroughly cook the beef.  You should still see some pink.

2. In another pot, put in the 1-2 tbsp of oil.  Saute garlic, ginger and scallion.  Add beef.  Add soy sauce paste and aged soy sauce.  Add the rock sugar.  Cook and stir occasionally for about 3-5min.

3. Add Chinese rice wine and 3/4 can of diced tomatoes.
4. Add 1/2 cup of water.  You should do a taste test at this time.  The mixture should be saltier than what you're used to since you will used cooked noodle water to dilute it later.  If it's not salty enough, add some salt or chicken base or soy sauce.
5. Add 2tbsp of spicy broad bean paste.  Add more or less depending on how spicy you like it. 

This is the brand we use

6. Add in the homemade spice pouch as well as the store bought one.
7. Cook on med/low-low heat for about 50-60 minutes.  The beef should come out very tender.  Make sure the heat isn't too high or else your beef will come out chewy and tough.
8. Cook noodles according to the packages direction.  You should wait until your stew is almost done to cook the noodles (depending on how long it takes for your noodles to cook).  You should also steam your veggie of choice at this time.
9. Put your noodles in a bowl, add a few pieces of beef and a few ladles of liquid from the stew.  Add some of the water used to cook the noodles.  Adjust the proportion of the beef stew liquid and the water according to your taste.  Top it with veggies.  Garnish with scallion and cilantro.

It's not niu rou mian in the traditional sense, but I love it. :)

..Summer's Over..

I can't believe school starts tomorrow.  I'm not exactly excited about it, but I'm not totally hating the idea either.  I've been off for 3 weeks, so I look forward to being busy again, but we'll see how I feel when I get really busy.  For my last weekend of freedom, the boyf and I decided to go away for the weekend.  Since we didn't have that much time we decided wherever we went would have to be close by.  We decided on Providence, Rhode Island because it was only a little over a 3 hr drive and we've heard that it's a nice and quaint city.  The place is certainly small!  We were able to explore most of the main attractions of the city within a few hours.  The city is very clean and quiet.  We arrived on Saturday and we weren't sure what to do with the rest of our time there, so we decided on an impromptu trip to Boston the next day since it was only about an hour drive.  The gods were not on our side because it rained the entire day Sunday.  We didn't let the rain stop us though.  We went to Faneuil Hall Marketplace, New England Aquarium, Copley Square, and The Shops at Prudential Center.  Then we drove to Cambridge and visited the M.I.T and Harvard campuses.  I love the area surrounding Harvard.  There are a ton of shops and restaurants.  It's lively and there's a lot of charm in the architecture of the buildings.  I'm not sure if I could ever live in Boston because of it's harsher winters, but I certainly love the look and the feel of the place.  Definitely one of my favorite cities.  

There won't be many trips from now until the end of my fall semester.  I can't wait for another vacation!  It's probably a little too early to say that...haha...