April 23, 2016

Crab Rangoons

Crab Rangoons kinda night!?



The recipe is below.
8 oz of cream cheese (softened)
4 oz of imitation crab meat
2 scallions
1 clove of garlic minced fine
1 teas of Worchestershire sauce
1 teas of soy sauce
1 teas of sugar

for the sauce:
1/2 cup of dijon mustard
1/4 of rice vinegar
1/4 of warm or hot water (not boiling)
1 TBSP of sweetener
1 teas of sesame oil

Once your cream cheese is softened
(you can just leave it on your kitchen counter for 15-20 min.)
fold in the rest of the ingredients
and fold into your favorite shape with wonton wrappers.
Deep fry on medium high heat until the wrapper is golden.



Whip it good Let's Cultivate Food

April 3, 2016

Chicken Coconut Curry

Curry is a favorited comfort food for many.
Curry is common in many south Asian countries.

A very easy go to curry dish I like to show people
how to make is coconut curry.
You can use Masaman curry which is a medium spice level.
You can also use green curry and if your palate is
craving a spicy kick- you can use red curry paste as well.

I would use 1 heaping teaspoon of either curry paste that
you prefer and add to your liking little by little.


below is a basic recipe you can start with and then add to your liking.

Coconut curry with chicken
3/4 - 1 can of coconut cream
1 heaping teaspoon of Masaman curry 
1 chicken breast cut into cubes or chicken thighs
2 large potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes
1 head of cauliflower florets (about 1 inch)
3 cloves of garlic minced up or sliced (to your liking)
1 inch of ginger grated
1-2 onions diced small

It's best to cook for 45 minutes to an hour. 
The longer the better as everything with
infuse together.  Curry is best eaten on a bed of
Basmati rice (with celery seed) or coconut rice.  

For a topping or garnish- you can place thin slices 
of red bell pepper and scallions sliced thin.



Chop It Like It's Hot Let's Cultivate Food

January 21, 2016

How to tell if your eggs are fresh.

When did you buy your eggs?  Last weekend or the weekend before?
All egg cartons have a sell by date on the side of the carton aka an
expiration date.  You definitely want to look at that sell by date
BUT more importantly-  you want to look at the number above.
Look at the egg carton I purchased this morning.
(Today's date is January 21st, 2016)


The number above the month (FEB) in this case is "005".  
This number indicates that these eggs were packaged on January 5th.  
The number goes all the way up to... 365.  Yup, you guessed correctly! 
The number of days that are in a single year.  The eggs NEXT to these eggs 
(not pictured)  were on sale for 2 dozen eggs for $3.00.
The number on the eggs on sale were 360 meaning they were packaged
on December 26th, 2015.  Yikes!  Those 360 numbered eggs are pretty old.
Keep in mind that prior to packaging more often than not eggs 
are also stored up to one week.  As long as eggs are stored in 
temperatures of 33-40 degrees when raw- they will be ok.

The consecutive dates of the year from 1-365 on egg cartons are called 
the Julian Date. Don't worry if your Julian Date is 20 days over or even 25 days. 
 As long as fresh shelled eggs that are raw are stored in appropriate 
temperatures-  most eggs are ok  4-5 weeks beyond the Julian date.

So then what's the point of the expiration date then... you ask!?
Again, as long as un-cooked eggs are stored in temperatures up to 
40-45 degrees they are good but as the expiration date gets closer-
the egg will lose some quality ie: if you are baking-
the cake might not rise as high as expected or the whipped consistency 
in  a meringue might not be as fluffy etc. You get the idea.

Always read labels in your food.  You can eat healthy and fresher
sometimes simply just by looking at parts of a label or stamping.




Whip it Good Let's Cultivate Food