Lattes in the City

At the end of last year, my mom came to help me move out of my apartment. At the end of the trip, we spent a couple days in New York, shopping, eating ... shopping and eating mostly :]. One night we ended up at a cafe to munch on a few things before going back to the hotel to turn in for the day. I didn't know what drink to order. I knew I didn't want water, hot chocolate, or tea. I decided to try something I've always been curious about: a chai latte. I was not pleasantly surprised ... because I knew it was going to be delicious! The latte was warm, spicy, with nutty and fruity notes. I almost wanted to rub it all over a pork loin and put it in the oven with a side of couscous! Anyways, I may not be a coffee drinker yet but I'm getting somewhere to more adult-appropriate drinks haha ;].

Title Change

So I've changed my title from "19 and Hungry" to "In Hungry Youth." The basics are all there (the fact that I'm hungry -____-) but I'm 20 now, which would mean I would need to change the title every year, or stay 19 in the blogosphere into my mid-20s. I just realized that this would be quite impractical. So this way, I've kept the integrity of the food diary while solving a few problems! Ta-da! Here is a little photo for (my, yours, whoever's) enjoyment:

Stuffed Rigatoni

I made this stuffed rigatoni a few months back, but of course, never posted :/. Anyways, because of my procrastination, I don't remember exactly how this recipe goes, but again, I'll try my best. These rigatoni were so big they were just begging to get stuffed with a ricotta cheese mixture. The sauce is a cherry tomato sauce. I love using cherry tomatoes because they have that added sweetness already, without having to add sugar or sweetener like other recipes call for when using regular, for example, steak tomatoes. You will also see though, that I add rice wine vinegar to the sauce. It is an unusual ingredient for italian food, but I find that it adds depth and a little sweetness and tanginess and I happen to love it!


Ingredients
1 to 1&1/2 cup of Rigatoni pasta shapes
Salt
1 cup of ricotta cheese
Olive oil
Pepper
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of diced white onions
1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
1-2 splashes of rice wine vinegar
A few leaves of basil

Procedure
Boil water and salt. Add the pasta shapes and let become almost al dente (the pasta cooking process will finish with the sauce). Let the pasta shapes cool while you mix together ricotta cheese, a little (about a tablespoon) olive oil for a thinner consistency, and salt and pepper for seasoning. When the mixture tastes as salty/peppery/etc. as you prefer, stuff the rigatoni. I prefer to put the cheese mixture inside a plastic ziplock baggie then snip off one corner and use like a piping bag. I find that you have to fill one end of the rigatoni and then the other side to prevent pasta breakage and cheese spilling all over the place. Once the pasta has been stuffed, add olive oil to a pan on medium heat. Add chopped garlic and onions. Let these veggies cook almost completely through. Add your tomatoes, salt and pepper, and cook until the tomatoes seem to be breaking apart. At this point, add your vinegar and let it cook off a bit. Then, gently add your rigatoni and let the pasta heat through again. The cheese should become a little like a liquid. Plate your rigatoni and garnish with a few slivers of basil leaves. Then enjoy!

Un-planned-tains

Plantains are slowly making the transition from unknown and obscure in the U.S. to widely-used and appreciated. Plantains, from my knowledge, are cousins of the popular banana that you can find in any of your local grocery stores. Unlike the banana, a plantain is rather large, slightly harder, and a little less sweet. This description may seem daunting and unwelcoming, but trust me, plantains have a secret goodness that, once unlocked, is like a treasure trove of taste in your mouth. I believe there are many ways to cook the plantains (boiled, mashed, fried, dried, etc.) but I have chosen to present a practically no-fail way to prepare it today. I saw them in the freezer section and decided, right then and there, that I had to have them that day. And when I got them home they were so quick and easy to cook. I actually just made this a few months ago, but I'll share it anyways.

Ingredients
Box of frozen plantains cut into approximately 2" pieces (unfortunately, it is very hard to find fresh plantains in your normal grocer's fruit section)

Procedure
Fry the plantains in a little oil until hot through (the box would probably provide more specific instructions). Plate up with whatever you've chosen to eat alongside your fried plantains.

Here, I had chosen to eat the plantains with some simple spanish rice (boxed) and a warmed up flour tortilla.

Here Fishy, Fishy...

Mmm, do I love seafood. I love it all ways, fresh, fried, sauteed, boiled, baked, you name it, I'd probably eat it. A seafood that I think should be more incorporated into our diets? Salmon! It's a steak fish so it holds together great, on a grill, in a pan, etc. Omega-3 Fatty acids, bring em' on! Have you ever heard doctors actually recommend a FATTY anything? Anyways, the following dish is just your basic meal. One part protein, one part grain, one part vegetable. Very balanced, if I do say so myself. The only real cooking to do here is frying the fish. Everything else I took shortcuts with ;].

Ingredients
Olive oil
6-8 ounce piece of salmon
Salt
Pepper
Microwavable rice
Steam-in-a-pouch vegetable medley

Procedure
To a pan heated on medium-high heat, add a tablespoon of oil. Season your fish liberally and add the fish, season-side down to the pan. Once it's on there, don't move it! You want a whole piece that you can present on a plate, not a few chunks flaked off and piled together. For about 5 or so minutes, you should see the flesh turn opaque on the sides of the filet. Once you see that it has cooked more or less halfway, gently flip and allow to finish cooking. This will probably take less than however long it took for the first side to cook. Once done, plate up with rice and veggies and you're done!

Mushu "Pork"

The following is my version of mushu pork. The parenthises basically symbolizes the switch I made from pork to ground turkey. It was especially delicious because of the contrast in textures. The mixture pictured was softer, bold in flavor, and meaty. The lettuce cups that I placed this filling into were crisp, crunchy, and light. It's a great meal when I feel like I need to incorporate more veggies into my diet, especially because almost all of it is vegetable and only one component is a protein. I regret, because I made this during the year and it has been quite a while, I won't be able to write down everything that is involved in the process, but I'll try to be as thorough as possible.

Ingredients
Bean Sprouts
Mushrooms
Scallions/Green onions
Sliced water chestnuts
Onions
Ground turkey
Hoisin sauce
Rice wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Lettuce

Procedure
Heat a pan to medium heat. Add meat. Add salt and pepper and allow to brown. Add vegetables. Allow the water to cook off from the mixture. Add a tablespoon of hoisin sauce. If it is not coating the mixture well, you may add a fourth of a cup of the vinegar to thin it out. Otherwise, add the vinegar after the sauce is incorporated and let cook off a bit. When the mixture is done, spoon desired into prepared lettuce cups and devour! Who said asians couldn't make tacos?... Oh, no one? Well, its delicious anywho!

Without Further Ado...

I lied, there is some "ado." I would just like to explain myself. It's been forever and a year since I last posted and I promised and didn't deliver. I suppose since this is just an online food diary and not really for publicity or things of that sort, it's fine. But still, a promise to myself is still a promise.

So here I am, finally at that point where I've got some time on my hands. So here it goes!