Weird Things...

Here are some things I made that came out successfully and not at the same time...

So, this doesn't look too bad does it? Yeah, I think it looks pretty darn good. But it wasn't that great, sadly. It's just a veggie soup with turkey meatballs and farfalle. It was kind of bland, but edible. One thing I must remember: cooked pasta does not fair well in the freezer. I made a big batch of this, put it in the freezer, and when I microwaved it... bleh the consistency of the pasta just turned horrendous. I couldn't eat it after that.

Here's a meal that was pretty good, flavor-wise. It is just some chicken thighs that I marinated in some type of sauce. Pretty sure the sauce was on the sweeter side (no surprise there). But the chicken came out kind of tough because I think the thigh meat is best for low and slow cooking. And the skin was really thick and kind of chewy...

So this was not too bad. But we all know that again, ribs are best when they're done low and slow. I didn't have the patience for that. But the flavor was pretty good. It was a spicy/sweet combo. On top are some julienned korean peppers and sliced almonds. I really like the almost licorice-like element the raw korean pepper added, and the almonds gave it some good nutty notes.

I think the biggest thing to learn here is that you can have something that tastes good, but it won't go as far as it could go without the right texture. I have to remember to have more patience.

Asian Food!

I love Asian food.

But how could I not? I mean, after all, I grew up on Asian food--I'm Korean. Here are a few meals I made with Asian inspiration.

This one here was specifically Korean-inspired. Korean porridge is called "jook" and chicken porridge (pictured here) is called "ddak jook." It's sooooo easy to make. I don't know why I don't make more, seeing as how it's really comforting and hearty at the same time. I boiled some water, added some cooked short grain rice (the only kind I really use with Asian food), sesame seed oil, and then when it was all bubbling together and at the right consistency (like a really thick stew, or similar to rice pudding) I added the chicken. I topped it with a little furikake, which is actually a Japanese seasoning that usually consists of a variation on seaweed, bonito flakes, seasame seeds, etc. If it needed salt, I just added soy sauce. Eat hot!

I haven't made this in forever. It is fried tofu and tilapia, with scallions and ginger. I don't remember how to make it exactly, as there is a certain sauce you need to steam the scallions with perfectly, but it must have some rice wine vinegar in it and that sauce that you dip soba noodles into (I don't remember the name right now!). I need to remember to cook the scallions really lightly--it's best when they still have a bit of that crunch. And I love ginger in anything; it really gives a certain quality of life to the food. Serve over rice and enjoy!

This is fried rice, with kimchi. It is a basic fried rice, but I added baby corn and water chestnuts for some crunch (are those things in there normally?)

Last but not least is a tofu-veggie stir-fry. Woah, it looks so gross in the photo but I swear it doesn't taste the way it looks. No need to go into detail with the cooking process, because it literally is what it is. One thing I might mention is that I always finish it with mirin, rice wine vinegar, because I like it slightly sweet and tangy.

Just for kicks, here's my baby: my rice cooker. I haven't used it all year actually. Sad face. But last year I would make a batch of rice, separate it into individual servings, wrap them in plastic wrap, and stick them in the freezer. That way, it was easy to just take one serving out, give it a zap in the microwave, and I would have delicious homemade rice ready for me in 5 minutes!

Tortilla Time!

Just a bunch of different recipes that are unified in that fact that they use the glorious tortilla!
I love tortillas--corn, flour, small, big, you name it, I love it.

Here I used basic corn tortillas. The filling is a plantain-chicken mixture. I took the dark meat off of a rotisserie chicken, chopped it up and fried it a little more, added some chopped up plantains to it, and there you go! Pretty simple, but pretty delicious. It's amazing how good simple food can be.

Here is the same idea, but with homemade salsa, and no plantains with the chicken this time. Yum!

This actually looks pretty gross... Oh and I'm eating on my bed... Classy... But I'm sure it was good. Pretty sure it was a flour tortilla with some sort of filling (you can really put anything you want in there) and then put on a pan to toast a little. Do it seam-side down first so it doesn't burst open everywhere and you end up with a mess on your hands.

I've also come to realize that all my pictures are pretty gross... Oh well, what can I do? I'm a poor college student without a real camera--all these pictures are from my phone's camera!

Randoms That I Don't Have Recipes For!

I had this when I was in the city again at a hotel restaurant called Niles, I think. It was quite a while ago but I remember I liked it. It is a grilled sea bass filet on top of asparagus with lobster ravioli. I believe the ravioli pasta part had some squid ink in it, hence the dark stripes. Unfortunately, I don't quite remember what the yellow sauce was... All in all, a really good meal!

This is an apple-squash soup that I made with my friend, Brighton, when she visited me for her spring break. As far as making soups go, it wasn't that hard. I don't quite remember what the ingredients were but, obviously there was apple and squash in it. I also think there was a good amount of cheddar cheese in it. This soup was the kind you puree in a blender. Topped with chives, it was pretty delicious and I'm quite proud that we were able to pull it off!

Chiba's!! Oh, how that first visit changed my life. Chiba's is a restuarant in LA (North Hollywood on Saticoy Blvd.) and it has some of the best sushi I've had. Well it was great the first time anyways. Subsequent visits haven't wow'd me like that first time but it has still been consistently delicious. Especially that salmon toro and the scallop with the sauce. The salmon was melt-in-your-mouth delicious, with buttery notes, and the scallop was good, but especially when paired with that light sauce. Can't wait to go again!

Scoops is a delicous little ice-creamery right on LACC's campus. This place always has new inventive flavors. Pictured is what I think was Brown Butter and Blackberry, but I'm not quite sure. The ice cream is always soft and at the perfect texture/consistency, in contrast with the rock-hard ice cream that some places dish out. I really want to try the Olive Oil flavor, and other new flavors they might have now. I believe there is a board that customers can write new flavor ideas on... I think I've suggested garlic--I wonder if they tried it??

hey!

so some of my photos are messed up but im too lazy to care/change it.
going to do a lot of recipes today. not alot of time so just gonna get right into it.

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!

Recipe update

Recipe update coming soon to my online food diary.
Many, MANY, recipes to upload.

Backed Up...

And ready to explode!
(sorry for the gross reference, but you'll understand soon :])

Hey hey now, guess what? It's January! That's right, many-a-moon have passed since I last blogged on 19 and Hungry, which will soon change to 20 and Hungry :].
Sorry about that, but I really do have a lot of recipes to post.
That's what I mean when I say "backed up."

I will definitely do that soon, when things/life/I/craziness has gotten a little less crazy and a little more "what do I do now"-ish.

bonapetit!
♥ eileen

Chicken-Katsu

Donkatsu! It's a dish I've grown up with and always loved. I mean, fried anything, nom nom nom! But this is extra goodness wrapped up in extra yummy-ness. Reminds me of the local Wakko in L.A. In that restaurant, I'd be with my parents. We'd order combinations. I would get donkatsu with soba, and my sister would get udon. We'd all sample each other's food. It was so good, hearty, and hit you in the right spot. It was definitely a filler. I'm a little afraid to work with pork, so I decided to do chicken-katsu. I love this because I had an excuse to buy Panko crumbs, a delicious Japanese-style bread crumb that my family has been using for years and years. It has been the breading of choice for as long as I can remember. Panko is really crunchy, and gives a nice flake to the item. I also had the sauce already, microwaved some rice, and ate it with a side of sweet corn. Next time, I'd like to try it with a side of salad, with a light, possibly sesame-seed inspired dressing, and corn.



Ingredients
Thinly sliced chicken breast
Panko crumbs
One egg
Flour
Olive oil

Procedure
Have Panko, egg whipped with a fork, and flour set out in three different dishes
Have the chicken breast cut in two depending on its size
Heat oil in a sauce pan on medium (be careful to not let the oil burn you!)
Put the chicken breast in the ingredients in the following order: Flour, egg, Panko
Once the chicken is completely coated, put into the oil
Leave it for about 3-5 minutes, or until the crumbs are nice and brown
Flip and do the same
Take the chicken out and repeat process for other piece of chicken



This is just so delicious and home-y! Next time, I'll try it with a side of miso soup, or maybe even soba!

P.S. Pictures this time! Yay! Next time though I will try to work on the quality and look of the picture. I wasn't even thinking of plating when I put the dish together, but I'd say it turned out pretty well ;]

Lemon and Basil Chicken with Balsamic Mushrooms and Cheesy Potatoes

So I had the idea of finally using my golden potatoes that I bought the other day and possibly chicken. I like those potatoes because you can eat the skin, which means no peeling! That is a major time saver for me, not to mention it cuts down on much of the work I would have to deal with if I were using a regular potato. So I was missing a few ingredients, so I made a trip to the supermarket across the train tracks. I picked up a chicken breast, and I've decided that this is how I'm going to buy my meats or especially perishable foods from now on. The market is right across the street so why shouldn't I just go on a daily basis if I realize I don't have the ingredients I want for that day?
Anyways, those were my several realizations. So here it goes:

Lemon and Basil Chicken with Balsamic Mushrooms:
The protein portion of this recipe was inspired heavily by this epicurious post. I followed the instructions almost to a tee, with the exceptions being the ingredient measurements. I wasn't cooking for a family of four. I was just making one portion for myself, so I cut the measurements down by 75% and used only 1/4 of what the recipe called for. Because of this, I ended of eyeballing on the parts where they specify how much oregano to use, etc., a dash here and a dash there. The chicken also turned out a little dry, but at least it was cooked. I'm not a master chef so guessing when meats, especially thick cuts of poultry, are fully cooked is a challenge. So I'd rather make sure that it was done, even if I have to sacrifice a little moisture. I'll work on this though.

Ingredients
One skinless chicken breast
1/2 of a lemon's juice
A few sprigs of fresh basil, chopped
A few dashes of dried oregano
A garlic clove, chopped
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Four or five button mushrooms, chopped (remove stems if desired)
Balsamic vinegar

Procedure
Combine lemon, basil, oregano, and garlic, and set aside
Heat oil in a pan over medium heat
Season chicken with salt and pepper on one side
Put chicken in pan, season side down
Season unseasoned side of chicken
Cook for approximately 8 minutes, or until the chicken is starting to cook on the sides
Flip chicken and cook for 5 more minutes
Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper
After 2 minutes, add vinegar to mushrooms
Cook for 3 minutes while stirring occasionally
Remove mushrooms
Add liquid mixture to chicken, trying to coat both sides with mixture
Cover, put on low
Let cook for 5 minutes

The goal with the mushrooms is to get a slightly charred taste to them. I find that it compliments the flavor of the vinegar. When the chicken is done, the lemon juice should have almost disappeared. Hopefully, it has condensed and infused the chicken with its flavor.

Cheesy Potatoes:
This is a quick and easy version of the baked potato. I actually tried to start this in the toaster oven, but after 10 minutes, it still wasn't cooked! So I finished them in the microwave. Therefore, the timing may need adjustment.

Ingredients
One golden potato, quartered, or in sixths
One chopped green onion
One tblspn of butter
One slice of American cheese, chopped
One tblspn sour cream

Procedure
Put potato in microwave for approximately 8 minutes
Add green onion, butter, and cheese
Zap in microwave for 1 minute
Add sour cream

This doesn't require any salt or pepper because the cheese and onion provide all the saltiness and kick that it needs!

I really liked the combination of these things together, and I could even dip a piece of chicken in the leftover sauce from the potatoes! Next time, I will try to add more vegetables, because this was very high carb and protein with not alot of fiber.

Have a scrumptious day!
Eiln

P.S. Been meaning to post pictures! I never remember! I'm always too eager to eat right after I've plated the food :]

Dry Spell... Wet it with Pico de Gallo!

So... I haven't cooked anything new lately.
Had tacos again last night though, but this time with homemade salsa and guacamole and I gave in to sour cream :/. So I will just write down the procedure for the salsa and guacamole.

Salsa:
I really winged this as far as measurements go, so it's really up to you. You should taste as you go.

Ingredients
Tomatoes (cherry or otherwise)
Half a red onion
Half a jalapeno pepper
Cilantro
Half a lemon
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Procedure
Chop tomatoes, red onion, cilantro
Combine
Deseed and devein jalapeno pepper and finely chop
Combine
Add lemon juice, about a table spoon of olive oil, a few dashes of red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper

The salt should extract the juices of the vegetables and in a few minutes, with careful stirring so as not to mash the vegetables too much, you should have a delicious salsa in your hands.

Guacamole:
This was really simple. When it comes to guacamole, I really love simplicity. Avacados taste so beautiful on their own so I like them to be the stars in this side dish.

Ingredients
One large, ripe avacado
Garlic salt
Half a white onion
Half a lemon
Cayenne pepper

Procedure
Remove meat from avocado (maybe I will post later on how I like to go about this)
Finely chop onion
Combine
Add salt, and dash of cayenne pepper
When adding lemon, be careful to add only a few splashes of juice (too much lemon can over power the guacamole)
Mash with fork or whatever utensil you have on hand

I like my guacamole just a little on the chunky side so that it is not like a paste and has more texture to it.

Hopefully I will be adding new recipes!
But other than this, enjoy!

Ravioli and White Mushroom Sauce

Mmm, mmmmm... I love Italian food. I'm no Italian food connoisseur, but I know what I like! Tonight I had an appetite for pasta but not a lot of spare time because next week is going to be busy, busy, busy, with preparing for tests and writing essays, etc. So needless to say, I needed to do something quick. Thankfully, the dish I prepared had its main components ready-made (hey, I'm a college kid!). This first time around, the sauce was a bit lumpy from my lack of judgment (too much flour!). But hopefully, I've made the necessary adjustments for the next time around, which there certainly will be!

Ingredients
About 5 ready-made spinach and ricotta ravioli (or whatever kind of filling you want)
Tblspn oil
4 or 5 sliced white button mushrooms
1 Chopped green onion
Salt
Oregano
Pepper
4 Tblspns butter
1 tblspn flour
1.5 cups milk
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
3 chopped slices of deli turkey meat

Procedure
Boil 2-3 quarts of salted water
Boil ravioli for 5-8 minutes
In a pan over medium-high heat, heat oil
Add mushrooms
Salt mushrooms
Add a dash of oregano and pepper
Add green onion
Remove from pan into a seperate container (plate, bowl, etc.)
Melt butter in pan over medium heat
Add flour, whisking and allowing flour and butter to combine
Let flour/butter mixture to cook a bit (approx. 3 minutes)
Slowly add milk
Add pepper and salt
Let thicken
Add cheese and mushroom mix
Stir and top ravioli with white sauce, any left over cheese, and chopped turkey

And Bon Apetit!

Una Fiesta en la Boca!

For those of you who are spanish-impaired, the above title means "A Party in the Mouth!" And that is exactly what I mean. I didn't make this dish today, but a few days ago. I had made plans to make good, authentic, LA-style tacos for a while and I finally did it. Now, when I mean good, authentic, LA-style, I mean real tacos. I don't mean tacos slathered in sour cream (though I have no objections to sour cream) or mexican-mix cheese (also love this stuff). I mean tacos with just the good stuff--meat and onions. Now, this may not sound appetizing, but anyone who has been to King Taco or any taco truck knows that is the only way to do it if you want to do it right. It is really a good testament to the idea of simplicity. Why try to mess with/jazz up something that is already so delicious with just it's core ingredients. Of course, at home, I can't help but add a few extra goodies, but I try to stay as true as possible.

Tacos por Eileen:
Ingredients
4 small white corn tortillas
Beef cut into small chunks
Diced onions
Roughly chopped cilantro
Minced garlic
Dash salt
Cayenne Pepper
About a tblspn of oil
optional additions: guacamole, salsa, & Tapatio hot sauce

Procedure
Warm up/toast tortillas on a pan, both sides
Combine onions and cilantro
In pan, heat oil on medium-high
Add garlic
Stir until browning
Add beef
Constantly stir to prevent burning and sticking
Add salt and dash of cayenne pepper
Cook fully

Combine tacos in whichever way desired
I usually go meat, onions, guacamole, salsa, hot sauce, EAT!

19 and Hungry

My name is Eileen.
Almost two decades ago, in sunny Los Angeles, a baby girl was born on the third month of the year. Flash forward 19 years later, and here I am, a sophomore in college, in Boston of all places. People ask me all the time, "What in God's name made you leave 60 degree winters for 15 degree ones?" And truthfully, I don't know. It was probably a combination of things. Parents, friends, myself, they all somehow convinced me to pick the winter-y winters of the east coast. True, last year was a rough roller coaster for me. I wasn't the happiest pickle in the bunch--in fact, I think I was the sourest (if that metaphor even makes sense and if I even used real words). But I learned to appreciate the opportunity that I was thrust into. I was able to get through it--the classes, the homework, the dorms, the cafeteria--HOLD ON. The caf!?! Am I seriously saying I got through that? Well maybe I stuck it out, but I was certainly not eating my way to happiness through french fries, hamburgers, dry chicken, soggy vegetables, and salty rice. Which brings me to my current point in life--19 and hungry.

I've always loved food and in some ways I think food has always loved me :]. And to show my love more culinary compassion, I am proud to say that this year, I am living in an apartment, equipped with a refrigerator, a toaster oven, and a gas-burning, pilot-light-constantly-going-out, uneven temperature distributing, stove! And thus, God hath given man fire! And with fire, he (or she) actually made something edible! So here's the point: I plan on not just crawling my way through my sophomore year, scrounging up frozen foods and microwaveable lean pockets, but to actually wield a spatula, a chef's knife, a frying pan, and to cook.
I promise there will be dissapointing dishes, but there will also be delectable delights. My aim is to blog and record my adventures and misadventures, and come out victorious for going on the journey at all!

Let this be one little nudge for me and one tiny shuffle for all foodies alike!