Thursday, August 5, 2010

Shrimp Dumplings and Noodle Stir Fry

I find myself fantasizing about food more and more as I sit at work these days.  Today, I dreamt of dumplings all day.  I have never made, or attempted to make them.  I looked up a few recipes and couldn't decide whether to make my own dough or buy some pre-made. Then I started thinking about my main course.  I've been eating a lot of rice these days and I rarely make noodles, and so my meal was born.

Shrimp Dumplings ~ I adapted this recipe from the Shrimp Scallion Dumpling recipe on my epicurious app.

8 medium sized peeled and deveined shrimp, finely chopped
1 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 clove of garlic minced
1/2 tsp minced peeled ginger
1 tsp soy sauce
2 scallions finely chopped
1 tsp Sriracha spicy sauce
About 8 dumpling or wonton wrappers

Stir together all ingredients except for the wrappers.

Put a rounded teaspoon filling in center of a wrapper. Lightly brush the edge of the wrapper with water, then fold in half (diagonally) and press to seal.  Bring the two long ends of the triangle together, moisten them and press together.

Next up, cook the dumplings in a medium pot of hot, but not boiling water until the filling is cooked.  Only takes about 3 minutes.  You can see the shrimp turning pink.  Fantastic!

Shrimp Noodle Stir Fry

8oz noodles cooked (I used Asian Gourmet Wide Lo Mein)
3 oz wok oil
1 tbs minced peeled ginger
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup broccoli
1/4 cup red bell pepper, julienned
1/4 cup green bell pepper, julienned
1/2 lb medium sized peeled and deveined shrimp
4oz can of diced water chestnuts
1/4 cup szechuan sauce (I only had a small amount so I added soy sauce and sriracha)

Heat up the wok oil then add ginger and onions to the wok.  Next I added the broccoli since it takes the longest to cook.  Soon after I added the bell peppers and let the vegetables cook for a few minutes until tender, but not mushy.  Then add the water chestnuts.  After the chestnuts heat up, push all the veggies to the side and add the shrimp to the middle.

Flip them over once they're pink, just a couple of minutes.  Once the shrimp is cooked on both sides, push everything to the side and add the sauce to the middle.

Once the sauce is hot, add the noodles and mix everything together.  Once all the ingredients are well coated in the sauce, serve then ENJOY!

Hungry yet?

P.S. This took me about 1 hour 10 minutes to make.  A good portion of that time was spent cleaning the shrimp.  I highly recommend buying cleaned and deveined shrimp if you can.  I wouldn't go as far as pre cooked because you never know what you're getting.  This is definitely not a quick weeknight meal, but you can make it if you start early enough and have the right shrimp!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Nacho Taco Salad

I had dreams of Paella all day today, but by the time I got out of work it was clear that wasn't happening.  Instead I went to the store picked up some ground turkey, tortilla chips and taco seasoning.

1/2 lb ground turkey (or beef)
1/2 taco seasoning packet
3 tbs black beans
3 tbs salsa
Tortilla chips
Handful of shredded lettuce

Cook the meat until it is brown then drain any excess juice.

Add the seasoning packet and 1/3 cup water.  Stir until everything cooks well and the seasoning becomes one with the meat.

Now arrange by layering and voila you've got yourself a Nacho Taco Salad.  You can add cheese, jalapenos and anything else that sounds good, but I don't recommend overloading because it's already pretty filling!

Hungry yet?

Cheap Eat of the Week: $15 dinner!

I've been asked a couple of times why I go to Spice so often.  Aside from it's extremely delicious offerings, it is also one of the more affordable restaurants in NYC.  So when Ms. S suggested that we dine there earlier this week, I happily accepted.

We ordered some of the usual that you've seen before, but there are a couple of new items too. Calamari was delightful as always.

Next up we tried the Nabon Steamed Dumplings.  Chicken and shrimp dumplings in a black vinaigrette sauce.

Yummers! The dumpling was light and perfect. The vinaigrette was pretty light and didn't overpower the flavor of the dumplings.  To keep things light, we ordered the Spice Caesar Salad with miso ginger and szechuan crouton.

First time I tried salad at Spice.  It was perfect...the croutons were the perfect addition.  It was so tasty that I couldn't believe I was eating leaves :-)

We rounded out the meal with the 6 o'clock spicy thai fried rice with chicken.  It took them about 15 minutes to bring it out but it was worth the wait.

2 appetizers, one salad and one entree for $15 each (tax and tip included!)  Seriously how do you pass up this opportunity?  We feasted and couldn't have been happier.  As always Spice gets my highest recommendation!

Hungry yet?

Spice on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Totto Ramen!!

Since it opened almost two months ago, I have been dying to try Totto Ramen.  I finally found a willing and available person to join me today!  Ms. B, our newest employee, was as excited for Ramen as I was.  We arrived and I was thrilled that there was no line outside.  We put our name on the list and waited a short while for two seats to open.

We sat at the counter where we were able to get a great view of the chefs at work.  I ordered the Totto Spicy Ramen.  The soup is chicken based which isn't always the case at these ramen joints so I was thrilled.  I watched as they poured the spicy oil into my bowl and spooned some broth into my bowl.  They added homemade noodles, onion and scallions with one sheet of nori (seaweed).  I also asked for a seasoned boiled egg.

Look at that beauty!  I was practically drooling when I dipped in my spoon and mixed everything together.

Ms. B was also kind enough to let me sample some of her Spicy Bamboo Shoot.

Yup they're as spicy as they look, but totally edible.  The chefs were impressed at her tolerance for spicy food.

I LOVED Totto Ramen.  It is a delicious lunchtime treat that is quite filling.  The portions are large, but not overwhelming.  The noodles are fresh, the broth is delicious and you have options to add (or remove) items on the menu.  I will definitely be going back and can see myself eating here multiple times during the winter.  Only thing is with only 16 seats, it's a bit unpredictable how long you'll wait to taste the goodness.

Hungry yet?

Totto Ramen on Urbanspoon

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Nas & Damian Marley @ Williamsburg Waterfront

One of the best parts of summer in New York is the number of outdoor concerts.  There are so many venues and lots of the concerts are free!  A few months ago I saw that Nas and Damian Marley were going on tour.  I decided to get a couple of tickets for Mr. G and I.  I forgot all about it until last week...wohoo!

Williamsburg Waterfront is beautiful, and apparently there are plans to make it even prettier.  It was a great concert venue the acoustics were much better than Governor's Island and the park was wide enough that even from afar, you felt kinda close.

Nas and Damian Marley kept it live!  (apologies for the super blurry Nas picture...can you even tell it's him?! Don't worry I'm camera shopping!) As expected, they performed songs off the Distant Relatives album and they performed a few songs from their respective solo albums.  The flag man was also around waving the flag in the air having the time of his life.

The best part of the concert was the last half hour.  Damian busted out with Jamrock which had the crowd jumpin'! Next they did Road to Zion and if I wasn't so hyped already I would have started crying because it is my absolute FAV.  They closed out the regular set with Africa Must Wake Up.  LOOOOVED IT!!!

We started making our way out of the venue but then they went back on stage! Nas performed One Mic with great passion and the crowd was definitely still in it.  Then Damian got back on stage and they performed Could You Be Loved?

I was in heaven!!! Seriously it was the best part of the concert!  Nas & Damian Marley rocked out and I was so happy to be part of such a positive environment and in a wonderful outdoor space.  If you ever have the chance to go to Williamsburg Waterfront, you should definitely do it.

Oh and of course there was food at the concert! We got there right around the time they got on stage so we didn't fully get to explore our options.  However, we did get a chance to try out Roberta's Pizza.

Delicious! I don't know what they put in that dough or why that mozzarella tastes so fresh, but I'm way into it.

Hungry yet?