Category: What Can I Do With This? (Page 3 of 3)

Must make something out of what you have in kitchen.

How Leftovers Become Stars.

July 1, 2013 / Shannon Zeta-Jonez / 1 Comment

I love taking leftovers and reworking them into something else. Fried chicken into chicken salad, symptoms roasted veggies into soup, order tortilla chips and salsa into chilaquiles con huevos and the list goes on. I learned this from my father who would take the previous nights dinner and make it part of breakfast. It was completely common to have spaghetti and eggs or enchiladas and eggs in the morning. I have taken that one step further and turn leftovers not only into breakfast but lunch or dinner. I know a lot of people do this especially if your a parent or a chef. I find it to be a fun challenge and really get into it. You may recall a posting where everything was round. All leftovers. If I’ve made you brunch or you’ve come over to a bbq, cure there is a good chance some part of it was a leftover. My latest is was very simple. Curried corn that had previously been grilled con on the cob. I just cut the corn off the cob added curry powder, lime juice, red onion, a seeded jalapeno, salt, pepper and some melted butter. Simple, easy and a crowd pleaser.

Pork Shoulder with Fennel Slaw

May 7, 2013 / Shannon Zeta-Jonez / 0 Comments

So I came up with this recipe one night when we had some friends come over and convinced them to stay for dinner. We were already three hours into making a pork shoulder but hadn’t decided what else to go with it. I looked around the kitchen as I usually do to see what we need and I found a fennel bulb and thought, medical hmmmmmm what can I do with this? I was already making and Asian inspired pork shoulder, for sale Why not continue that theme with a fennel coleslaw? So here is the recipe for both!!!

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Asian Pork Shoulder with Fennel Slaw

Author: Shannon

Recipe type: Main and Side

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 6 hours

Total time: 6 hours 20 mins

Ingredients

3-4 pound pork shoulder
5-6 cloves of garlic
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup rice wine vinegar
½ cup fish sauce
½ cup dark agave nectar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon Sriracha
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
salt and pepper to taste
SLAW
1 medium to large fennel bulb
1 large carrot
¼ quarter of red bell pepper
4 green onions
Dressing
Juice of 1 lemon
¼ tablespoon of fish sauce
¼ tablespoon of white wine vinegar
Sprinkle of red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Score shoulder
Smash garlic and place cloves in scored pork
Combine all other ingredients in a bowl
Place shoulder in plastic bag
Add marinade
Refrigerate from 6 hours to 24 hours
When done marinating preheat oven to 400
Place shoulder and marinade in roasting pan
Cover with parchment paper and aluminum foil
After 30 minutes lower heat to 300
Cook for 4 hours
Take off parchment and foil
Cook for another 20-30 minutes for crispy skin
Check with meat thermometer, should read 185 degrees when done.
Remove from oven cover with foil again and let sit for 20 minutes before serving.
FENNEL SLAW
Julienne fennel bulb, carrot and red pepper.
Chop onion
Toss in bowl
Mix dressing and pour over slaw
Toss slaw to coat with dressing
Salt and pepper to taste
Serve immediately at room temperature.

Notes

Cooking time and temp varies with each oven. Keep an eye on your roast and baste the shoulder with juices. I like to check and baste every 30minutes or so. You don't want a dry shoulder. Dressing for slaw - taste and add more fish sauce or vinegar for your preference. Prep time does not include marinading time. If it's already too hot for you to have the oven on for 5-6 hours then use a crock pot for the roast. Just cut the fat off and pierce the meat then put the garlic cloves in the holes before you marinade. Also since you've cut off the fat, keep a good eye on it so it doesn't get dry. Cook on low for about 4-6 hours. You will know when it's done, it should fall off the bone.

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Beer-ritas

May 3, 2013 / Shannon Zeta-Jonez / 0 Comments

What is a Beer-rita? Well if you believe the commercial hype, treatment it’s any wanna be mexican beer in a margarita. But for us it’s our chili beer mixed with margaritas. It sounds crazy, I know, and isn’t for the lighthearted. We started this last year and it was a huge hit. Most of our friends loved it and few hated it, but all were glad we made it. What we didn’t know is we found the perfect way to use this beer. We were having a bbq and a couple of our guests wanted one, but were on our last bottle. What to do? Well being us and our friends being as adventurous, we decided to put it in the margaritas we were making. Kick it up a notch. Well to say it was a hit is an understatement. That pitcher of margaritas didn’t stand a chance! I know it sounds weird, and it’s not the most attractive drink, but it worked and really well. The spice and bubbles gave the margaritas just the right amount of zing and cut the sweet enough to make it refreshing. Now cut to a year later and bam! We have more chili beer!!! So when you come over to the roof top there will be a pitcher of Beer-ritas waiting for you. For as long as they last.

But if you can’t make it over, or don’t want to make the chili beer from scratch then try adding a chopped jalapeno , that has been soaking in the juice of one lime or lemon for about 10 minutes(brings out the heat in the pepper) and one dark Mexican beer, like Negro Modelo. This is per pitcher. It may not be as exact as ours but you get the spice and bubbles that really make this a great summer drink.

Now if your like us and you make your margaritas from scratch, you might want adjust as needed or to your taste.

Fish Two Ways

January 30, 2013 / Shannon Zeta-Jonez / 0 Comments

As a quick post I thought I’d give you my tips for two easy ways to cook fish. The first is a Tilapia. A great fish that is not too fussy. I like to make tacos with it but today we are going to steam it over spinach. All you need is the fish, unhealthy spinach, a lemon, a garlic cove or two, olive oil and salt and pepper. Simply pat fish the dry, salt and pepper it and set aside. Next slice a lemon into rings, set aside. Simple so far, right? We are almost finished. Grab your spinach that you have rinsed if you bought in a bundle or if you bought a bag simply open it. Next saute it in a little olive oil and one or two chopped cloves of garlic. Salt and pepper to taste. Once the spinach has wilted lay the Tilapia on top then add the lemon slices on the fish, lower your heat, cover it and let sit till fish is opaque in the center, about 8-10 minutes depending on size. Serve with whatever you like. I usually have asparagus and some potato or a salad depending on my mood.

The second one is Flounder. Another white fish that is easy to tackle. I usually use Tilapia for this but I recently went to the store and they were out, so I grabbed a flounder instead and it worked out perfectly. This time we used flour, butter, egg and seasoning. Very simple. I usually don’t use egg with this recipe but since I never cooked Flounder it seamed as I was preparing it I should use an egg to help with the breading. Normally what I do is salt and pepper the flower, dredge the fish in it dry and fry it up butter. But, today we are going to do and extra step or two. First salt, pepper and season the flour, I used some smoked paprika. Next I beat one egg and set that aside. Then take the fish and dredge it in the flower. This is where I would normally put it the pan and cook it. But I wanted a thicker crust so I the put it through the egg wash and re drudged it through the flower. I then put it in the frying pan with the melted butter and cooked it for 3-4 minutes on each side, till golden brown and it had a nice flaky crust. Now your probably asking how much butter? Well, I leave that up to you……………..Along with whatever sides you like. Enjoy!!!

Japanese Market

December 3, 2012 / Shannon Zeta-Jonez / 0 Comments

Another Turkey day has come and gone and we are sad to see it go. Unfortunately we arrived at our destination late so we didn’t get any pictures of what was made. There was the usual suspects, more about Turkey, cost green beans stuffing cranberries but with a few new items. I made Jason’s famous smoked sweet potato/potato mash, there was a refreshing fennel salad, more sweet potatoes with paprika, and Anna’s butternut squash with parmesan cheese, thyme and fresh parsley. Luckily for us Jason did take pictures and made a fabulous pumpkin pie that disappeared faster than giblet gravy! Or was it a pumpkin pie? I told everyone I would let them know what was it it but not til after. So without further ado the secret ingredients in the the pies were Butternut Squash and Brandy. No pumpkins were harmed in the making of this pie. We got the recipe from The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/video/2012/11/14/dining/100000001903215/pumpkin-pie.html We thought, hmmmm interesting lets do it! The results speak for themselves. Two pies gone in no time. We also had an actual pumpkin pie and it was also delicious. But I think from now on it’s Butternut Squash Pie that will be made in The Lab.

So for my birthday we did a couple things, view one of them was go to our favorite Japanese market the Mitsuwa Marketplace in New Jersey. The prices are amazing and the selection is always interesting and different. We usually end up with half the store and very full bellies. This time we actually ate before we shopped, viagra
but not before taking a quick spin around. We had a great meal of Spicy Melty Pork Ramen and Pork Don. Then went in for the kill. We started in the produce department grabbed some Kyo Ninjin carrots from the local Suzuki farm, along with some daikon radish, and Chinese cucumbers we pickled using a Miso Pickling Mix. We also grabbed a jar of Teriyaki mushrooms, a package of dried mushrooms for soup, some saki, wasabi peas, instant miso soup and instant curry for those long busy days at work when you have little time for lunch. We always pick up something we have no idea of what it is, this time it was a package of unusual veggies in water. To me they are screaming soup!!! We actually showed great restraint this time. With only two bags of goodies we walked away happy and not over burdened with what we purchased. All in all it was a good Birthday outing.

$3 Grab Bag!

October 9, 2012 / Shannon Zeta-Jonez / 0 Comments

Look what you can get for $3 at the farmers market! We got 2 bags!! We made a cucumber salad, try added the carrots, treatment celery and some onion to our roast chicken, advice then with the leftover chicken, the veggies and drippings from the pan we made Chicken Pot Pies! The potato’s will go great in the morning with eggs and bacon. The parsnips and yellow beets we will roast with other root veggies later this week and the peppers we will probably stuff and make an appetizer out of them. So the next time you stop by your local farmer’s market and see a grab bag don’t walk away. With a little imagination you can make some really amazing dishes, and you’ll be supporting local businesses.

What is it?

September 27, 2012 / Shannon Zeta-Jonez / 0 Comments

What is this gadget? When was it made? What is it used for? If you know what it is then you could win a special prize from us!!! You have until Midnight tonight 9/27/2012 to answer. The first person to answer correctly will get a special prize. Good luck and good cooking!!