It was a chillier day in San Diego...well I don't know maybe it wasn't. I do know, however, that I wanted to make a stick-to-your-ribs kind of soup. This is a quick and hearty soup to make on those days where you have no idea what to cook for dinner.
The Ingredients
3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons olive oil
6 Tablespoons flour
1 small onion finely diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1.5 cups cubed ham
2.5 cups cooked rice
4 green onions sliced
5 cups of chicken broth
3 cups of water
.5 cup cream
1 cup milk
salt
freshly ground pepper
The Method
Heat a large stockpot on medium heat with the olive oil. Add the minced onions and some salt and caramelize until brown. This will take about 25 minutes. Be patient, this develops the rich flavor which the soup will need. The sugars will also caramelize making them sweeter. 
When they are caramelized and sweet, add the butter and flour. Stir and cook the onions for a couple of minutes. This provides the thickening for the soup.
Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the broth and water and wait for the soup to boil. Add the ham, rice, green onions, milk, cream, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for another 5 minutes.
Serve with some crusty bread on a rainy day.
Lumpia basah is definitely one of my new favorite foods. Lumpia basah is not your typical lumpia. Instead of the unhealthly, but oh so delicious, deep fried lumpia, this Indonesian version is wrapped by a savory crepe skin. In my book, these out rank their fried friends. My Indonesian friend, Janice, came over one night and we made about 40 of these with this recipe and ate most of them ourselves. This recipe is from what Janice remembers and what I thought would sound good. I would strongly encourage you to make these wrapped pieces of heaven. I promise you, you won't be sorry.
The Ingredients for the Filling
.5 lb ground pork
.5 lb ground chicken
.5 lb ground turkey
1 large yellow onion
2 carrots
1 small jicama
1 cup cloud ear mushrooms
4 green onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic
.25 cup chopped cilantro
4 bundles of clear, bean thread noodles
1 tablespoon soy sauce
.5 teaspoon sesame oil
salt
pepper
The Ingredients for the Crepes
3 cups flour
3 cups milk
3 eggs
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
The Method
This recipe works best with two people, one to make the crepes and the other to work on the filling.
The crepes are fairly simply but are perfect for this dish. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, milk, eggs, salt, and melted butter. Remember the whole discussion on over mixing, which leads to chewy, rubbery crepes...not good. Take a medium pan and put it on medium heat. Take about a 1/3 cup of batter and do the scoop, pour, and swish technique to cover the pan. Once lightly browned flip and cook for another 30 seconds on the other side. Repeat this process until you are left with a large stack of tasty crepes. Try and resist eating too many.
The filling starts with getting all the ingredients prepped. Soak the clear noodles in cool water for about 10 minutes until soft. Cut then with clean scissors into 2-3 inch lengths. Mince the garlic and slice the green onions, cilantro and the cloud ears. Cloud ears are a type of mushroom which have a crunchy texture.
Next, pull out a box grater. Grate the carrots, onion and jicama into separate piles. Take the jicama and squeeze out the juice to keep the filling from being too moist.
Take a large pan with a little vegetable oil and heat on medium high. Saute the grated onions, then add the carrots and garlic after a couple of minutes. Then add the jicama and cloud ear mushrooms. Salt this mixture to taste or add some soy sauce. Put this vegetable mixture in a bowl and set aside.
Heat the pan again, fry the turkey, pork, and chicken with some soy sauce until cooked. The pork provides flavor, and the turkey and chicken add body. You could use one kind of meat if you would like. Add the vegetables, clear noodles, cilantro, green onions, sesame oil, freshly ground pepper and more soy sauce/salt if needed. Stir to combine all the ingredients and check for seasoning.
Now comes the fun part. Get your stack of crepes, filling and a couple of spoons. Hopefully, you or your friends haven't eaten them all. Lay a crepes on a cutting board or large plate. Put a couple tablespoons of filing in the center of the crepes. Fold in the sides and roll the lumpia up like a burrito. Keep rolling until there are no more crepes and filling left.
These lumpia basah can be eaten warm or room temperature. They are really great with sweet chili sauce, available at many asian grocery store. I hope you enjoy this recipe because these lumpia basah are one of my favorite foods to eat, ever.
As the old adage goes, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." I love breakfast foods in all shapes and sizes. I grew up on fresh pancakes. On most Saturday mornings, before new episodes of Recess or Pokemon would come on, my dad would make fresh pancakes from scratch. They were fluffy, warm and the best way to start a day of relaxing. This one is not my recipe. My dad got it from a 1988 issue of Consumer reports. It's the best one I've tasted. They are super easy to make and beat any package hands down in my book.
The Ingredients
2 cups AP flour
2 Tablespoons baking power
.25 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons oil
2 cups milk
pinch of salt
The Method
In a large bowl, sift together the flour and the baking power. In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, oil, milk and salt. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until combined.
Some lumps are ok. Over mixing will develop gluten which will yield flat chewy pancakes.
Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Pour a little oil in the pan; this makes for crispy edges which I really like in my pancakes. Next, pour about a third of a cup of batter into the pan. Wait a couple of minutes until bubbles form on the surface.
Flip when the edges are browned and cook for another minute or so.
Enjoy your fresh pancakes while their hot; have some hot syrup and butter ready.
Mac and Cheese is always good. I admit to eating the stuff from the blue box with hot dogs on a late night of studying. I was really hungry one night and evaluated what we had in the fridge and this was the outcome. If I were to buy the ingredients, I would use a sharp cheddar cheese or another hard cheese with lots of developed flavor in it. But my method of cooking is taking ingredients I have on hand and making something. You might call it being lazy, I prefer to think of it being adaptive. Anyway, here is the dish...I bet you always have this stuff in your pantry right now.
The Ingredients
1 lb chicken breast
1/2 yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
4 Tablespoons butter + 2 Tablespoons more
4 Tablespoons flour
4 cups milk
1/4 cup cream
1 lb elbow macaroni or other small pasta
1 cup grated cheese (Cheddar)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon paprika
olive oil
salt
pepper
The Method
Start by prepping the ingredients. Cut the chicken into small cubish pieces. Mince the garlic and finely dice the onion.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Salt the water and add the pasta. Drain when the pasta is done.
In a large pan, saute the chicken in some olive oil on medium high heat. When one side is brown, add the bay leaf, onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the chicken is done and the onions are translucent.
In a saucepan, melt the 4 tablespoons of butter and then whisk in the flour. Whisk constantly to get lumps out. Add the heated milk in small increments when the roux turns very slightly brown. Think white beach sand. Keep whisking until the bechamel sauce returns to the boil.
Take off the heat. Add the cream, cheddar cheese, half the Parmesan cheese, paprika, thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Combine the pasta, chicken mixture, and cheese sauce in the large pan. Mix well and check for seasoning again.
Take out a 9 x 13 pan and grease with a little butter. Pour in the pasta and smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Then covered the pasta with the panko bread crumbs. Dot with 2 tablespoons of butter.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes or until golden browned and delicious. Resist the temptation and let it cool for 10 minutes.
When they are caramelized and sweet, add the butter and flour. Stir and cook the onions for a couple of minutes. This provides the thickening for the soup.
