Cooking an Asian Fusion Menu for a Birthday!

Although every. single. person has a birthday--
it is always fun to celebrate with friends and or family.

Many of our In-Home Cooking Classes are where
people spend time together with a hands-on activity
that they can relish forever.
We spend time cooking, cutting, sauteing, baking,
learning, challenging each other, eating and most importantly
having and spending quality time with loved ones.

 

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Celebrated another Birthday,  Let's Cultivate Food

Asian Fusion Noodles class in Philadelphia

Asian Fusion Noodles class through Cheltenham Adult School.
We had a great time  learning about 7 different types of noodles.
Cooking them and then eating them of course!
From soups to salads to appetizers to entrees.

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slurped some long noodles,  Let's Cultivate Food

Lemon rosemary chicken

I always enjoy the flavor and scent of this lemons  and rosemary .
You can use chicken wings, breast or if you're brave and have the time-
do the whole chicken.

Take some olive oil and put it all over the chicken.
Sprinkle coarse sea-salt, fresh OR dry rosemary and squeeze juice
from a lemon all over. Let it sit over night in the refrigerator
or at least 30 minutes to marinate.

Bake in the oven at about 350 degrees until it's tender.
Once it's tender I like to place the chicken right under
the heat on broil and let it get a little crispy.
(You will have to bake for about 30-40 minutes)

The scent will fill your kitchen with lemony goodness!

Bacon wrapped dduk

Dduk  is made from rice.
It comes in many different forms
sweet and plain. Dduk is a Korean word.
Sometimes you might hear it being called
Mochi which is simply Japanese.

The rolled out cylinder shapes are often
associated with a street food called Dduk-bok-gi.
Dduk / Rice cake is cooked rice that is rolled out and
then made into many different shapes.
They can be used as a protein because they are really
hearty.  You will have a hard time just eating one skewer.

Of course when you add bacon to it...
it makes it even better. Bacon. Enough said right?

These are SUPER easy to make.
Purchase some dduk (rice cake)
that is in the cylinder shape. (already cut that way)
Take the bacon strips that are not cooked and cut it into thirds.
Wrap the bacon around the rice cake and use a wooden skewer
or a toothpick and skewer 2  together.

Turn your frying pan on medium high and cook until
the bacon is crispy. (about 3-4 minutes on each side)
You don't have to add any oil because of the oils from the bacon
will be more than enough.

It's best when you drizzle a little sweetened soy sauce on top
right before eating!

Sweetened soy sauce is soy sauce with a drizzle of any sweetener.
You can also  garnish with some chopped scallions too.


Roll it,  Let's Cultivate Food

Apple Banana Fritters

I recently heard someone say that taking something that's already
good and then wrapping it up and then frying it makes it.....
EVEN BETTER!
So....  I thought why not take an apple and my-
starting to go brown banana and make a fritter-like egg roll.
The only ingredients needed is a banana, an apple egg roll wrappers
and a sprinkle of cinnamon (the cinnamon being optional)

I've found that it's a lot easier using a melon baller to take the
core out rather than using a paring knife.

You simply dice and then let the apple sweat in the pan with
a little butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I add the banana after the
apple has softened a little since the banana is already soft.

Spoon your filling on to an egg roll wrapper and then fry it in a 

deep fryer or in a pan with oil.

Once your fritter/egg roll is golden brown, take it out and lay it onto 

a paper towel to let some of the excess oil drain and then cut it in half 

on a diagonal to make it look a teeny weeny bit fancier.

An Apple Banana Fritter is a good easy dessert to make especially if
your bananas are starting to brown!


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Chop it like it's hot,  Let's Cultivate Food

Types of Tofu

I think  many people realize there is more than one
type of tofu especially as far as texture and soft or firmness.

Here is a picture of the different types.
The firmer they are it is easier to saute or fry
for they won't fall apart on you whereas the softer
or silken/silky they are- the better they are for soups.

Everybody is TOFU-fighting,  Let's Cultivate Food

How to hard boil eggs perfectly.

How to cook hard boiled eggs perfectly every time.

Start with filling your sauce pan with cold water... 
enough water that your eggs are completely covered in water.


Turn your stove top to medium high 
with no lid on your pot and when the water 
comes to a  rapid boil,  let the eggs sit in the hot water 
for at least 10 full minutes with the lid on.
After the 10 minutes are up, take the lid off, carefully pour 
the hot water out and  run cold water over all the eggs.
You can also place the eggs in a bowl of cold water and ice cubes. 
Ice water will literally shrink the eggs away from 
their shells, making it super easy to peel.

No more ring around the yolk, Let's Cultivate Food