Hiatus

I know many of you are wondering why I haven't posted anything lately. There's a very good reason why...

Ramble On and its owners are moving! We are in the process of selling our house, packing up our belongings, and relocating to Washington state for new jobs and new adventures. I will get back to blogging regularly once we have settled in to our next abode. I have packed away most of my kitchen stuff already, but will try to squeeze out one more post before I move, within the next couple of days. I will miss the beautiful kitchen that has been my "foodie home" for the past four years, but look forward to discovering and settling into a new home and kitchen and a continued culinary journey. Thank you for reading! Until later.

Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls (Summer Rolls)

What can I say? I guess I've been on an Asian food kick this week...enjoy!

Spring can't come fast enough and we are all craving fresh foods. This is a deliciously fresh-tasting bundle of veggies wrapped in rice paper skins. Have you ever used rice paper skins? They are very brittle to the touch, and need to be handled carefully. Soaking it in water for a few seconds softens it, and makes it easy to work with. They can be eaten raw like this once softened. Here is the recipe:

 Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls (Summer Rolls)

You will need:

2 cups shrimp, peeled, thoroughly cleaned and cooked (click here if you're wondering how to clean)

1 cup peeled and thinly sliced cucumber
1/2 cup matchstick carrots
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
splash of lime juice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
12 rice paper skins (available at any asian grocery)

Combine all ingredients from shrimp through black pepper together in a bowl. Put some water in a shallow dish, or dinner plate, and soak a rice paper skin in this for about 15 seconds, then turn over and soak again - this softens it. After soaking, remove to a clean work surface and pile one heaped tablespoon of the shrimp mixture on top of the skin. Fold sides in, and roll up, laying seam side down when finished. Repeat for remaining skins, or until you've run out of the filling! Serve immediately, or refrigerate until needed. These can be made up to one day in advance, or make terrific cold lunches the next day. Enjoy!

Garlic Shrimp

This is an authentic Chinese recipe for Garlic Shrimp that I learned at the last meeting of our little International Cooking Club this month. Not only are the flavors wonderful, it is very easy to make, and requires just a few basic ingredients. And it sure beats the greasy take out chinese alternative. Perfect for a quick dinner on a weeknight, paired with some cooked long grain white or brown rice.

Garlic Shrimp

You will need:

2 cups of cooked, peeled, and cleaned shrimp (see this post for a terrific way to clean shrimp)

6-8 garlic cloves, finely minced

1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons soy sauce, or more as needed

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Combine cleaned shrimp and minced garlic, and steam this either in a steamer basket over a large pan, or in a bamboo steamer for 15 minutes. Remove to a dish, and add a couple tablespoons of the steaming liquid to the dish. Add the soy sauce. Then, heat up the oil in a small saucepan, and when very hot pour this into the shrimp dish - be careful, it WILL splatter, so stand back! Stir well, cover the dish, and let it come together for a couple of minutes. Stir in the green onions just before serving. Enjoy!

A Terrific Way To Clean Shrimp!

I recently learned this genius new way to clean shrimp, which gets rid of that "shrimpy" smell. This technique is credited to my new chinese friend, from our little International Cooking Club (we did China last week). The smell I am talking about seems to be one main reason that people who don't eat shrimp (for reasons besides allergies) continue to avoid it. It does a wonderful job of cleaning shrimp, and getting rid of the smell. Here is the method, for approximately one pound of shrimp. All you need is salt, cooking wine (whatever you have - I used sherry), and cornstarch! It doesn't get any simpler.

Peel the shrimp, pull off the tails, and remove the yucky black stuff from the ends, then rinse thoroughly in water. Then, add about 2 generous teaspoons of salt, and about 1/4 cup of the cooking wine. Mix thoroughly (yes, with your hands) to make sure all shrimp are coated. Then add about 2 or 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and mix well for about a minute. Then rinse well and wipe all the moisture off and make sure they are thoroughly dry. Your shrimp is now ready to sauté, steam, grill, bake, or cook any way you want!
I just cleaned a whole lot of shrimp and prawns this way and will be posting several shrimp and prawn recipes this week!

Homemade Chai Latté

Save yourself $4 next time and, instead, invite your friend over for meaningful conversation over your homemade Chai Lattés.

Where I come from, the words chai and tea are redundant. They mean the same thing in several Indian languages. But when the western world speaks of chai tea, people are talking about a deliciously hot tea drink that is steeped with spices and served mixed with milk, simmered to spicy goodness. Here's my version of how to make Chai Lattés it at home with just a few pantry staple ingredients, (and you don't need a fancy steaming machine to do this):

Homemade Chai Latté

You will need:

1 cup milk

1 cup water

1 2" strip orange peel

3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick

2 or 3 black peppercorns

1 pinch nutmeg

2 teaspoons sugar (or more if you like)

2 teaspoons black tea leaves

Combine the milk and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. When warmed, add the orange peel, cloves, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, nutmeg, sugar and tea leaves into the pan.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the color deepens to your liking - mine takes about 2-3 minutes. Strain, and pour into teacups. Enjoy!

Tilapia in Lemon-Butter Sauce (fakeroo Sole Meunière)

I've been on a roll lately with these decluttering food experiments. So, after some frustrations all day today, I was craving a tasty yet easy - and, of course, decluttered - weeknight dinner that would not disappoint. Crispy, buttery, and tangy...Sole Meunière is just that. Fans of Julia Child (including yours truly) know all about the Sole Meunière that was a unique part of her story about falling in love with French food. A classic French dish, it is a fillet of fish (Sole) that you dredge in flour, then pan-fry in butter, and serve with a pan sauce of butter and a generous twist of lemon. However, the slight problem for me was that none of the supermarkets in my little town had Sole. But I did have plenty of Tilapia, and discovered that you can achieve the desired results with Tilapia and pantry staple ingredients. Here is this very simple recipe:

Tilapia in Lemon-Butter Sauce

(fakeroo Sole Meunière)

You will need:
4 tilapia fillets
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons + 4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh chopped parsley (or ½ teaspoon dried)

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Mix flour, salt and pepper in a large shallow dish. Pat tilapia thoroughly dry, then dredge these in the flour mixture on both sides. Shake off excess flour, and add to the pan when the butter is hot. Cook for four minutes on medium-high heat, then carefully turn over and cook on the other side for another four minutes. Remove these, and set aside. Turn heat down to medium-low, and add remaining 4 tablespoons butter to the same pan, along with the 4 tablespoons lemon juice, and parsley. Stir well, making sure to scrape together all the yummy bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the tilapia fillets back into the pan, and spoon the sauce over each fillet. Turn the fillets over and do the same. Best served immediately, but it would also make a terrific next-day-lunch. Enjoy!

P.S.:  This decluttering thing may be my most successful new year's resolution yet! See some of these earlier posts for inspiration if you're inclined to do this in some creative ways  :)

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts with Brown Butter

So far so good on the "decluttering" New Year's resolution. We had a nice quiet Saturday night dinner at home and, in keeping with our resolution, enjoyed an utterly uncomplicated Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts with Brown Butter, accompanied by sides of peas and corn, and egg noodles. I am starting to really enjoy these simple meat dishes. (Remember the Salt and Pepper Roast Chicken post?)
Yes, there is a way to make very simple bacon wrapped chicken breasts, sans stuffing and other fuss. But, okay, maybe there's a little basting involved...

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts with Brown Butter

Serves 4

You will need:
2 chicken breasts, sliced in half horizontally, and pounded thin
4 slices bacon
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8 toothpicks

For Brown Butter:
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

Nicely pepper both sides of chicken breasts and roll up on short side. Wrap each piece of chicken with a strip of bacon, and secure with toothpicks on either end. Lay these in a large skillet heated up to medium-low, and cook covered for 10 minutes, turning over halfway through. Uncover the skillet, and add the butter, rosemary, and garlic. As the butter melts, it will combine with the juices in the skillet, and will come together with the rosemary and garlic to make a beautiful basting liquid, brown butter. Baste this all over the chicken periodically, and cook for an additional 7 or 8 minutes on each side - you want to be absolutely certain that the chicken cooks all the way through. Enjoy!