August, 2009:

Chicken Chow Mein

Weeknights are tough for cooking. Getting home AT dinnertime and hungry just makes it worse. A lot of the time, I’m tempted by all of the take-out goodness in the Allston area and I give in, stopping by places like Rod Dee or the 88 food connection. As a result, I haven’t been cooking and as a side effect, I’ve been lazy with blogging. Which is bad. Terrible, in fact. Unforgiveable? Almost.

But I’ve promised to be better (rather than apologizing and posting nothing)! So I’ve set a goal for myself. I’m going to build a list of my favorite 100 recipes that take an hour or less to prepare. For a little perspective, I think I may have about a dozen (probably less) recipes that fit in that category and some of those might not make the final cut. That’s a lot of work in the coming months and (to me anyway) feels like a pretty daunting task!

The purpose for the whole “hour or less” thing is that I need something to cook on weeknights and that, in turn, will stop me from being lazy and getting take-out (though take-out once in a while would be ok, but let’s keep it at “once in a while” =P). And really, the time limit is more for prep/cook time, so after eating and cleanup, it could be more like an hour and a half to two hours. That, and it means I get to eat before 8pm.

So with my newfound project, I’ve been cooking away the past week and a half and hoping to maintain a head full of steam and cook at least 2-3 days during the week. I’m not quite sure I’ll be posting everything I cook (gotta save something for when I actually post the 100 favorites) but some of the more “interesting” experiments probably will make the cut =)

With that, the first thing to be cooked? Chicken Chow mein, courtesy of hzrt8w from eGullet. Simple? Check. Quick? Check. Easy? You bet. Fresh chow mein noodles from Russo’s (Or from your favorite Asian grocer, doesn’t matter, the same noodle company stocks most of the stores here in Boston), half a pound of chicken, a little bit of sauce? 45 minutes tops. And that included marinating the chicken and prepping the noodles.

Off to a good start!

Chicken Chow Mein

Time : 45 minutes
Serves : 4

Ingredients:
- ¾ lb Egg Noodle (Chow Mein)
- ½ lb Chicken Breast
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 stalks scallion, chopped (1 inch pieces)
- ½ cup bean sprouts, washed
- 3-4 tbsp oil

Marinade:
- Freshly ground white pepper (to taste)
- 2 tsp light soy sauce (Or Chicken Marinade)
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp Shaoshing wine
- 1 tsp corn starch

Sauce:
- 5 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Shaoshing wine

Method:
1. Mix marinade and add chicken, marinate for about 30 minutes
2. Boil noodles and set aside, slightly undercooked if possible
3. Heat wok with 2 tsp oil, brown chicken and set aside
NOTE : The next 5 steps are very quick!
4. Add 4 tbsp to wok, heat until oil is bubbling
5. Add onions and green onions, and in 5 seconds, splash in 1 tsp Shaoshing wine. Since the oil is very hot, this may induce a flame, so be careful!
6. Add the soy sauce
7. Stir once, add noodles and bean sprouts
8. Stir and toss for a minute, add the chicken, toss for another minute and then serve

Notes:
Adapted from hzrt8w of eGullet

Kelly’s Roast Beef – Natick

Aug 23rd, 2009

by dave.

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I was kind of tempted to switch the order of pictures for Kelly’s Roast Beef but I figured I might as well post something for the restaurant’s namesake. To be honest though, the first few times I’d been to Kelly’s, I actually didn’t end up having their roast beef at all!

I was told about Kelly’s by a family friend about a year ago. Each time they visit, they take a trip up to Saugus and buy a huge amount of clam chowder. I’ll admit though, I was a bit skeptical in the beginning but after having their clam chowder, roast beef, and seafood plates, I’m a big fan. Huge portions, good quality, and not a lot of filler. The clam chowder is chock full of clams and not as much filler, almost the direct opposite of what one might see in clam chowder elsewhere. It’s almost as if the staff at Kelly’s missed the memo that the ratio was supposed to be the OTHER way around, with more potato than clams!

I have to say I’m a huge sucker for fried seafood though, with the fried clams and fried scallops among my favorites at Kelly’s. Best yet, you can make combo plates out of them and get the best of both worlds! The lobster roll is pretty good as well, a toasted hot dog bun packed with lobster, though the last couple times I’ve been there I’ve had slightly less lobster than I remember (Maybe I’m just good at exaggerating things).

All of that, right inside Jordan’s Furniture in Natick. Kind of a funny place to have a ~~seafood~~, I mean, roast beef joint, but hey, I can’t complain.

Shrimp Scampi with Lemon Pepper Pasta

Aug 13th, 2009

by dave.

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I usually don’t cook Italian recipes too often but every once in a while (read: whenever I have fresh pasta), I get inspired. Usually, a lot of the recipes I end up liking involve oven use or an extended period of time on the stove (tomato sauce is definitely a Sunday during football season recipe).

This time was a bit different. While over in Somerville, I asked the kind lady cutting my pasta at Dave’s to recommend something to prepare and before I could finish, she suggested shrimp scampi, which she was conveniently cooking that night. Turns out that scampi is something easy and quick to cook on a weeknight, and tasty to boot. Just take a bottle of white wine, some other simple stuff like a ton of garlic, and off you go! After a little back and forth on the amount of butter to be used and conferring with my trusted second source, the Internet, I set forth.

Now I’m a huge garlic fan and butter, so scampi was a great choice, and pretty easy to prepare too, took less than 20 minutes to get everything ready!

Shrimp Scampi

Serves 4
Time : 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:
- 1 pound pasta
- 3-4 tbsp butter
- 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large shallot, finely diced
- 6-7 cloves garlic, sliced
- red pepper flakes
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 lemon’s juice
- handful of chopped parsley

Method:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add some kosher salt, stir to dissolve, then add the pasta. Cook until al dente, see box or other instructions.
2. Add half of the oil and half of the butter into a large skillet or frying pan. Add the shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the shallots are translucent, about 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple minutes, turning halfway through. Remove the shrimp when pink, and set aside. Pour the white wine and lemon juice into the skillet, and bring to a boil. Add the rest of the butter and olive oil. Stir the sauce for 30 seconds to combine.
4. Add the shrimp back to the skillet, season with salt, pepper, and the red pepper flakes. Add the drained pasta. Toss to combine. Serve with a sprinkle of parsley.

East Coast Grill – Cambridge

Aug 8th, 2009

by dave.

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Among my relatives and family friends (Now that I think about it, maybe among everyone I know), I think I’ve developed a little bit of a reputation about being a “little bit” too into food, maybe almost obsession level. Well, maybe or maybe not, but according to my uncle, I’ve got this “list” of 37 different restaurants I want to try out in the Boston area. Now, I’m not quite sure how it was 37, but I just counted and got closer to 100

Anyway, I crossed one of those off the “to-try” list and added it to the “definitely will be back” list two weeks ago while my uncle and his family were in town. East Coast Grill at Inman Square in Cambridge far surprised my expectations. It’s a laid-back and pretty casual restaurant/grill with an awesome raw bar and a huge selection of widely different entrees. I ended up sampling the oysters from the raw bar and getting a tuna steak, one of my favorite fish dishes, with a collection of grilled root vegetables, which were done very well too!

And to cap it all off, ice cream at Christina’s Ice Cream. By far the best ice cream I’ve had in Boston.