The Cheel: A Gem in the Midwest!

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Speedy Fried Rice

Today’s recipe will be really short as I am crunched for time but thought I’d share something that is very quick and easy to make. Not to worry, I haven’t skimped on flavor, taste or heartiness so if you like fried rice then you’ll definitely love this simple version I’ve come to enjoy myself.

 

FRIED RICE

• 3 cups cooked white rice
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots (thawed)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1tsp minced garlic
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/4 cup soy sauce

Instructions:

On medium high heat, heat the oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the peas and carrots mix along with the onion and garlic. Stir fry until tender. Then lower the heat to medium low and empty mixture into a bowl on the side, then pour your eggs in the skillet/wok and stir fry until scrambled. Now add the rice, soy sauce, cooked veggie mix and blend all together. Stir fry until thoroughly heated and you’re done. Garnish some green onions on top for more flavor.

Quick Note:

ADD COOKED SHRIMP OR CHICKEN FOR A COMPLETE MEAL!

Easy Fixin’

What’s better then eating a delicious meal with the reward of knowing you had fixed it up all by yourself? The quick answer is: an EASY and delicious meal with the reward of knowing you had fixed it up all by yourself with little to no effort! The great thing about today’s dish that I will be sharing is that it utilizes two ingredients that I’ve used in one of my previous recipes, so if you’ve already made my Poor Man’s Stir Fry and have some leftover smoked sausage and onions, then this dish will be perfect for any leftover ingredients! Also, this meal is very versatile and can be eaten as a side dish at someone’s potluck or be served as a breakfast meal with some extra additions! LET’S GET TO COOKIN’!

Cajun Flavored Smoked Sausage w/ Potatoes and Onions

What You’ll Need:

• 1lb-Smoked Sausage
• 1 Large Yellow Onion
• 2-3 medium sized Potatoes
• Cajun Seasoning
• Salt and Pepper to Taste

Instructions:

First thing you’ll want to do is chop the smoked sausage into bite-sized chunks about 1/2″, the yellow onion into 1″ squares, and the potatoes into 3/4″ chunks. This is all preference but you’ll want them a little bit small because it allows them to cook faster and makes them easy and fun to eat!

Throw the smoked sausage into a wok or wide cooking pan and cook on medium heat for about 5-7 minutes. You’ll want a semi-crisp on the sausages.

Then stir in the potatoes and cook them covered for about 10 minutes, stirring them 5 minutes into cooking.

Then add the onions and Cajun seasoning. Put in a good amount, about 1/2 to 1 Tablespoon worth and also a dash of salt and pepper. Mix well so that everything is covered in the seasoning. Cook for another 5-7 minutes until onions are transparent.

Once the dish is finished, taste to see if seasoned to your liking. What makes this dish so foolproof is that you can continuously add Cajun, salt and pepper until it is just right for you. Some people like a ton of Cajun flavor while others may want less, it’s entirely up to you and by adding small dashes of Cajun, salt and pepper until it’s perfect, you simply can’t go wrong! Again, great as a side dish for whatever occasion!

Breakfast Note:

Another awesome thing about this recipe is that with a few more ingredients, you can have yourself a super hearty and easy breakfast!

Salsa Scrambler Ingredients

• American Cheese
• 1-2 Egg(s)
• Salsa

How-To:

Start by scrambling the egg or eggs (depending on how much you want) however you’re used to making them. Then scoop a little of the Cajun style smoked sausage dish into a bowl and top with the scrambled eggs. Next, add a slice of American cheese on top of eggs and microwave for about 25-30 secs until cheese is melting. Then finally top with a dollop of salsa, mix and you have your very own SALSA BREAKFAST SCRAMBLER!

HOPEFULLY YOU’LL ENJOY THESE TWO RECIPES AS MUCH AS I DID!

Deli-cious Eats

By now you probably realized, I love to cook simple and easy foods. That doesn’t mean that they are bit sized snacks or anything, I try my best to take whatever hearty and full-filling meals that are out there and simplify it as much as I can so that people who just don’t have much time to cook can still eat very good food. I do my best to limit the ingredients and amount of handling time so I don’t have to spend all of my day cooking.

This next dish is also a very simple and easy dish to make and doesn’t require a lot of time; handling wise. I bring unto you: Classic Reuben Sandwich.

What You’ll Need:

• Corned Beef
• Sauerkraut
• Swiss Cheese
• Rye Bread
• Thousand Island Dressing

 

Instructions:

First thing you need to decide on is the type of corn beef and how it’s prepared. There are 3 different ways: make it yourself from scratch, buy a prepared and ready to cook corn beef, or go to your deli and get some freshly sliced corned beef sandwich meat. I went for option number two just because I didn’t want to prepare it from scratch but also didn’t want to grab the deli style corned beef. Whichever option you choose, they will all taste great.

If you elect to take option two, you’ll have to slow cook your corn beef in a crock pot on low for at least 8 hours or on high for 5 1/2 to 6 hours. This sounds long but when you cook anything with a slow cooker, most of the time it’s just setting and forgetting it until it’s done cooking, which is exactly what I did. Now, with the corn beef that I had purchased, it came with some minor seasoning packets so just follow whatever instructions they give you.

I found the corn beef to be particularly difficult to handle once it was done cooking and very delicate to take out of crock pot for cutting. So I elected to take the easier route and just used two forks to pull apart the meat. Also, don’t forget to drain the liquid and as much as you can from the corn beef itself because it can cause your bread to become quite soggy.

Next comes plating. You’re going to want to place two slices of rye bread down, and a slice of swiss on each bread (don’t mind the oddly shaped swiss cheese slices as my son had nibbled on them). Then top with the drained corned beef and a good serving of thousand island dressing. For the sauerkraut, I find that it helps to drain it of any excess liquids as it too can cause your bread to get soggy. Once everything is in place, we’re going to go ahead and grill it.

I just used my George Foreman grill to do the work but if you don’t have one, you can use a panini griller or just a skillet. I used a spray oil like PAM to grease both sides of bread and grilled on the Foreman for about 5 minutes or until the cheeses are melting and oozing out. For a skillet, just melt butter and place sandwich on skillet and cook for 3-5 minutes, then flip and cook the other side for another 2-3 minutes until cheese is melted; serve hot.

And there you have it, a very easy and super simple recipe on how to make yourself a Home-made Reuben Sandwich. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Poor Man’s Stir Fry

With the recent bad weather lately, I’ve been feeling a little gloomy and spaced out but that’s expected if one chooses to live in good ole’ Wisconsin (oh and by the way, still heart broken over the Badgers lost).  Don’t ask me why I choose to stay here as I contemplate that thought many a times very well knowing it’s definitely not the mid-March snowstorms or the below freezing winters that have won my heart.  I don’t know and probably will never have an answer as to why I continue to stay here but one must make the best with what they have.

This brings me to my lazy man’s dish today that I will be sharing.  It’s simple, easy and requires very little ingredients to make.  I bring you, Smoked Sausage w/ Cabbage and Onion Stir Fry.

Before we get into making this dish, I want to give you a little back story on how this very simple and quick meal came to be.  Growing up in a huge household amongst 5 brothers and 2 sisters, my parents never had much and being immigrants made it even harder for them to provide for us.  The great thing about this stir fry is the fact that it requires very few ingredients and most of the flavor comes from the smoked sausage.  Also, it’s quick to make and requires no measuring; it’s more of an add as you go kind of dish.  This dish is eaten with rice so if you have no clue how to make it, please check out my other post where I give you easy step-by-step instructions on how to make rice.

Sausage w/ Cabbage and Onion Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• 1lb – Smoked Sausage
• Small Head of Cabbage
• Medium Sized Yellow Onion
• Salt and Peper to taste
• Oyster Sauce (optional)

Quick Note:

Oyster sauce is a very dark cooking sauce made from sugar, salt, water, and thickened with cornstarch. Its flavor is then enhanced by oyster extract. It adds a very unique flavor and a little goes a very long way. It can be found at your local oriental market and quite possibly at your local Pick n’ Save or larger grocery market.

Instructions:

What you want to do first is thinly slice the smoke sausage and toss into wok or non-stick pan on medium heat. You can optionally add a little bit of olive oil but I find that the smoked sausage does have enough fat in them to do without. Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes stirring occasionally until the smoke sausage very slightly brown.

While you let the smoke sausage cook, prepare the yellow onions for cooking by cutting it in half then thinly slicing it.  This ensures for fast cooking of the onions and adds great texture to the dish without making each bite of onion too overwhelming.  Add the onions once the smoked sausage has cooked and cook the onion and smoked sausage mix for an additional 5-7 mins or until the onions are translucent and soft.

As like the other ingredients, you want to also slice the cabbage into thinly sliced pieces.  This is very important as the cabbage can take quite a long while to cook down and soften.  Cut as much or as little as you like depending on how much you want but I find that more is always better then less.  Once the onion and smoked sausage is done cooking, add the thinly sliced cabbage into the mix and stir.  At first it may be hard to fit all of the cabbage in or just too much but rest assured, the cabbage will begin to cook down.  Continuously stir so that all the cabbage can cook down which should be about 10-15 mins.

Again, it will seem like a lot of cabbage

but it will cook down over time, just make sure

to continuously stir so that all the cabbage gets

a chance to cook down.
 
 
 
 
 

Quick Flavor Note:

At this time while the cabbage is cooking down, if you decided to grab the oyster sauce or already have some, you can add it to the dish for a nice kick of flavor.  Careful in adding a lot as I’ve previously stated, a little goes a very, very long way. Also, if you decide to use the oyster sauce then just omit the salt and add only the black pepper. If you don’t use the oyster, then add both the salt and black pepper to taste.

 
 
 

Once everything is all done and cooked, place rice onto plate and top with your stir fry and enjoy! Simple and easy but very a delicious Poor Man’s Stir Fry.

Melting Pot of Hobbies Can Be Delicious

Many people ask me what it is that I’m particularly good at or what skills do I have that stand out from most.  I always wonder because I’m not what you would call your typical Information Science student. Yes I am deeply into video games and am a total nerd when people talk about technology. I marvel at the stars, planets and all things astronomy and am super geeky when you mention programming and mobile applications. So one may ask, what makes me any different? Well, on top of all those geeky and nerdy things, I also love playing basketball, football and doing manly outdoor activities such as camping, fishing and running. I like watching March Madness (Go Badgers!) and football (NFL) and I absolutely love Fantasy Football. I also enjoy watching boxing, mma and any kind of contact sport which involves pummeling the guy across from you. Not so much your typical nerd now am I? Well, you’re in for a surprise because it only starts there. To add to this list of hobbies I am also quite the handy man when it comes to a hammer and a nail; like building a bed frame for the wife so she can have her king bed or fixing the car so that we can save some money.

With so many hobbies, one must need a ton of energy to be able to do all these things right? Luckily in between partaking in all these activities, I also LOVE TO EAT. But I’m not talking about going out to your local fast food chain and ordering a super-sized Big Mac meal or chowing down on an unlimited buffet. What I’m talking about is a hearty and home cooked meal and this brings us to another hobby of mine that I enjoy doing when I’m not being a handy wood-working, car fixing, nerdy video gaming, pumped up cage fighting, sports watching, computer programming geek; I absolutely love to COOK.

I enjoy all kinds of foods and try to learn how to make many different cultural foods to help broaden my taste buds into being more accepting of all things consumable. So this brings us to what my topic for today will be; cooking a simple dish at home that tastes like a million bucks: Simple Home-made Oyakodon. Oyakodon is a tasty rice bowl eaten during lunch or dinner and consist mainly of green onions, onions, chicken and eggs. It is a staple in Japan and today I will teach you how to make it with just a few ingredients.

Many of these ingredients I already had in my pantry and was something I had been craving for awhile since my last stop at a Japanese restaurant. I figured then, why not make it myself?

Dish: Oyakodon

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Dashi broth (using dashi powder)
• 2 Tablespoons of Mirin
• 1/8 and up to 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 4 chicken thighs cut into small pieces
• 1 medium onion cut into halves and sliced
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 medium green onions, diced
• 3 large eggs

Quick Note:Dashi or sometimes called Hon Dashi is basically a fish stock made from bonito fish and can be found at your local oriental food market. Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine used in a lot of Japanese cuisine and has a very sweet taste to it. Mirin can also be found at your local oriental food market but can commonly be found at your local grocery market also; I got mine from Pick n’ Save.

Other Ingredients:

Cooking Instructions:

Preparing and Cooking Rice:

As stated, Oyakodon is a rice dish therefore you will need rice. For traditional Oyakodon, you would usually use short grain rice but long grain rice will also do. Whichever rice you decide to choose, will be a matter of preference. But you must rinse the rice before cooking it. To do so, poor water to just cover uncooked rice, rinse and drain then repeat until the rinse water runs almost clear. Drain the rinse water.

After the rice is prepped, you must cook the rice. Now, there are two ways in which to cook rice. The first and easy way is to buy a rice cooker. I know it sounds obvious but many people eat rice daily (including me) and find that it’s very efficient to just buy one. If you don’t have one, don’t worry. The second way is to use about 2 cups of uncooked rice and rinse with method above. Then bring 4 cups of water and the rice to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender and the water has absorbed, taking about 20 to 25 minutes.

Quick Note:The amount of water used may vary depending on the brand and what type of grain(long or short). If you are new to cooking rice, please follow instructions on the package to make sure you don’t mess up the rice!

Cooking the Other Ingredients:

First things first, in a saucepan, poor in 2 cups water and dashi powder (about 1 Tablespoon per cup of water) and stir until disolved. Wait for it to begin boiling under medium high heat and then add the chicken and let it cook for about 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Once chicken is cooked through, add the sliced onions and cook for another 5 minutes until soften. Then add the mirin, sugar and soy sauce and stir until sugar has disolved. Let it boil until slightly reduced; roughly 10 minutes.

While you’re waiting for the broth to reduce, whisk the eggs until well beaten. Once the broth has reduced, pour eggs over and then cover and let simmer for 5 mins.

As the eggs are cooking, place about 1 cup of cooked rice into bowls (feel free to eat more but I’d advise to portion as rice does contain a lot of starch! Also, don’t mind my image of the rice, I was using day old rice for my Oyakodon dish that’s why my rice doesn’t look so fluffy).

After the egg has cooked, remove from stove and immediately take about 1/4 of the chicken and egg mixture and spoon on top of rice. Also, take some of the broth and spoon it into your dish as the rice does a magnificent job of soaking up the broth. Last but not least, top with chopped green onions for a nice taste and VOILA! Simple and easy home cooked Oyakodon!

TASTY TIPS: One thing I like to do to contrast the sweet taste of the Oyakodon is squeezing some Sriracha sauce on top and then mixing it. It adds a subtle spicy flavor which accents the sweetness very well and makes it so much more flavorful and tasty! Also, feel free to toss in other vegetables after the dish is cooked such as sliced carrots, mushrooms, snap peas and etc. to give your dish a colorful look with a crispy texture and a ton of flavor!