Homemade Chicken Fried Rice

Chicken Fried Rice

Everybody likes at least one item of Chinese food, be it egg rolls, sesame chicken, or lo mein, Personally, I can't get enough of it - I grew up eating Chinese food pretty regularly, and particularly on special occasions. Being adopted, my family used to always celebrate the day that I flew over from South Korea to JFK Airport in New York, and we called it my "Airplane Day". I'd get all dressed up and we would go to this Chinese restaurant in Wilmington called Szechuan 132. That's just one of the many reasons I have fond memories and associations when it comes to Chinese food, so when my wonderful fiancé started making homemade fried rice, not only did it make me extremely nostalgic and happy, but it made me love him that much more, especially since he knows how important those memories are to me. I'm going to share with you our easy-peasy recipe for Chicken Fried Rice. 

First thing's first - the key is using old rice. I know, the impulse is to make fresh rice, but it just won't work. The rice needs to be at least a day old (freshly cooked rice is too wet), but I recommend using rice that's been around for at least 2-3 days. As I've mentioned, we love Jasmine rice, so we saved some from a few nights ago to use. Next, pick your protein - obviously, you can choose any kind of meat, but we had some extra chicken breasts laying around, so Chris cut them into cubes. He put some sesame and vegetable oil in the wok and turned the heat to medium, adding the chicken and cooking thoroughly. He then drained the extra oil and set the chicken aside,

Next, we chose and sliced our vegetables. We used red onions, mushrooms and red and green bell peppers, (Peas and carrots are also typically included.) Once those were cut to his liking, Chris added more oil in the wok and sauteéd them all together, You don't want to overcook them, just enough so they're palatable but still have some crunch to them (especially the peppers). 

The next thing to go into the wok is the rice, then we added water chestnuts, and... pineapple! I'm sure you're wondering, "Why pineapple?" Trust me, once cooked, the pineapple bits are like little chunks of sweetness that brighten up the whole dish. Additionally, the juice that comes out while cooking flavors the sauce even more and rounds out the dish (in my opinion, anyway). After those are ready, we added the chicken, then the sauce. We like our rice to be on the moist side - personally, fried rice tends to be too dry, and more sauce equals more flavor, as well. Chris used a mixture of soy sauce and hoisin, and also added salt, pepper, garlic, and honey. He cooked over medium heat, stirring continuously, until the rice browned (keep stirring so the rice doesn't stick), and served. It's that easy!

I hope this provided a little insight to all of you who love ordering take-out but want to learn to make it at home - it's really not as complicated as you might think. Fee free to ask any questions, I'm here to help! Instead of a quote, here's a relevant image for you:

Can't disagree there. Happy eating!

Screamin' Sicilian Stromboli = Love, Italian Style

Hope everybody is doing well this (hot) Thursday! After finishing my last post I realized that I need to expand my horizons, that I'm limiting myself by only posting about full meals, either homemade or purchased, and that I should include any and all foods that I enjoy. That being said, I wanted to share my experience from last night with the Screamin' Sicilian "Mambo Italiano" Stromboli.

Screamin' Sicilian "Mambo Italiano" Stromboli

Let me first say that, next to Asian, Italian food is probably my favorite. First of all, they put cheese on EVERYTHING (as I've mentioned before, I love, LOVE cheese). Secondly, my fiancé is partly Italian, and he can make some incredible Italian dishes, so that definitely helps. Finally, after binge-watching "The Sopranos" on Amazon over the last few weeks, we have both been extra-obsessed with all things Paisan (little inside joke if you are a fan of the show - and while I'm mentioning it, RIP James Gandolfini).  Chris and I especially love strombolis, those little heavenly pillows of Italian bread stuffed with meat and cheese. We used to get this one brand from Harris Teeter but I haven't been able to find them anywhere here in Mooresville, so when we found the Screamin' Sicilian kind, we were extremely excited (possibly a little too much so). We had already tried several of their pizzas and loved them all, so I had high hopes for their strombolis - and with good reason!

We had picked out the Mambo Italiano version, which is filled with Italian meatballs and pepperoni and Mozzarella, Parmesan, ricotta and Romano cheese. The come two to a box, and each one is fairly hefty, which was perfect because there was no way I was sharing (not even with Chris)! The directions say to preheat the oven to 400 and bake for 12-15 minutes. As soon as we opened the package, we got a whiff of wonderful Italian herbs and spices (as you can see from the second photo, they were sprinkled with oregano and parsley and other herbaceous goodness), and, as the stromboli baked, the aroma only got more intense. It took a little longer (probably closer to 20 minutes, but then again, we only set our oven to 350 - we prefer the "low and slow" approach), but the wait was definitely worth it. A little bit of the cheese had oozed out of the middle and was bubbling when we set it on the plate, making my mouth immediately turn into Niagara Falls.  

I prefer to use a knife and fork with these due to the dripping globs of cheese, and also to better pace myself - otherwise I would eat the entire thing in about two minutes flat! As soon as I sliced into the stromboli I could see the steam coming out the top and smelled the most amazing combination of meat and cheese. The first bite was absolute heaven. The bread on the outside was chewy and dense, the meatballs were tender and flavorful, and the four cheeses had melted perfectly. The end result was a delicious savory turnover that bested all others that I've tried.  I closed my eyes and chewed, wanting to savor every mouthful. When I finally dared to open them again, I looked over at Chris and was delighted to see that he had the exact same expression on his face. We chewed in silence for the next few minutes (Netflix had the new season of "Orange is the New Black," but our main focus was definitely what was on our plates over what was on TV), and the only other sound was that of our forks and knives eagerly scraping the plates while we shoveled bites into our mouths as if we hadn't eaten for weeks. Something about the flavor was addicting, like I just couldn't get enough. Despite trying to take my time, I finished the entire thing in about 5 minutes, and Chris followed suit shortly after.

I have to say that we tend to be skeptical of frozen dinners - don't get me wrong, there are definitely some quality frozen foods out there, but we are fairly picky about the ones we purchase. Screamin' Sicilian has hit another home run with these strombolis. Had I not previously known that they were frozen, I probably would't have guessed. There was none of that typical cardboard flavor or texture that is indigenous to frozen sandwiches and pizzas, and the ingredients tasted fresh, not preserved. There was something comforting and familiar about these, and while I can't put my finger on exactly what it was, we were both thoroughly impressed and will DEFINITELY be making another trip to the store while they are still on sale (Harris Teeter has the two-packs for $5.99 - best six bucks I've ever spent!).

Today I'll leave you with a quote from Wolfgang Puck: "Italian food is all about ingredients and it's not fussy and it's not fancy."

Couldn't agree more - as long as it tastes good, it doesn't have to be [fussy and fancy].

Have a great day! =)

Nabisco Oreo Strawberry Shortcake Sandwich Cookies

Happy Friday!

Thought I'd do something a little different this morning and share a piece I wrote for the website Timothy McSweeney's Internet Tendency. I submitted it for their "Reviews of New Food" column this morning. I've enjoyed creative writing since I was in second grade and started hand-writing humorous stories about my days at school, but haven't submitted anything for publication since my high school literary magazine. I hope this gets published (and will definitely let you know if it does!).

DISCLAIMER: The following contains some profanity and high levels of sarcasm. I wrote in the satirical style that McSweeney's is famous for so please do not read if you feel you will be offended by it! It is meant to be a playful, whimsical tale of my first time trying these Oreos, so please take as such. For those who dare to continue, I hope you enjoy!

I have been an avid Oreo lover since I was old enough to eat solid food. I have fond memories of deconstructing these sinful sandwiches with my dad and stacking them back together with peanut butter, whipped cream, and other sweets to make towering, saccharine-filled monstrosities that would make any dentist cringe. (My dad actually is a dentist, making this even more ironic.) Needless to say, when my fiancé and I saw the Strawberry Shortcake variety at our local Wal-Mart one innocuous Friday afternoon, I nearly trampled some kids in the aisle on the way to grab a bag. (Side note: Wal-Mart is the only, and I mean ONLY, place we have been able to find these fucking things - meaning that whenever I get a craving for them, I must first endure horrific parking lots, masses of stupidity, and blinding florescent lights before I can finally tear into the famous blue bag. But that's an entirely different story.)

Over the years, whenever Oreo has released a new flavor, I have always been first in line to try them: lemon, gingerbread, mint, even the various flavors in the super-chocolatey "Fudge Creme" line. My favorite has always been the white chocolate-covered Oreos that show up around the holidays - until now. These have the golden Oreo cookie with a strawberry cream filling, and are a total game-changer. As soon as we got home we each poured a tall glass of whole milk (fuck that 2% bullshit - if I'm going to indulge, I'm committing 100%) and brought the bag into our room, where we closed the curtains, turned on Netflix, and ripped them open.

The first thing we noticed was the aroma: In my 33 years on this Earth, I have tried many a "strawberry-shortcake-flavored" treat, only to be severely disappointed (and, truthfully, pissed) by the end result. Not with these. Nabisco did it right, my friend. These little sons of bitches tasted like the best strawberry shortcake dessert I could ever imagine. I like to twist, eat one cookie first, lick the cream off the second, and then dip the naked cookie into milk and eat it, while my fiancé dunks the whole cookie at once and eats it lke that. I recommend eating these fuckers any way you can - there is no wrong way. The golden Oreos served as a perfect foil to the strawberry cream - the shortcake part of the dessert, if you will. Suffice it to say that we devoured that entire goddamn bag in one sitting, and were only left wanting more. We made three more unnecessary, horrendous, migraine-inducing trips to Wal-Mart that weekend alone, each trip resulting the same way - shame-eating the entire package by ourselves in the dark.

Cyntuccis Bakery - Authentic Italian sweets, here in the South!

Happy Monday everyone!

Today I thought I'd do something a little different and write about this amazing bakery my wonderful fiancé discovered in downtown Mooresville called Cyntuccis. We first realized our love for Italian pastries and sweets on our vacation to the Jersey Shore last July, when we found Del Ponte's Bakery in Bradley Beach. We visited that little spot every night of our trip and always came back to the hotel with multiple boxes of goodies, yet still didn't even come CLOSE to trying everything! Needless to say, we were both extremely excited upon finding Cyntucci's, which is the most authentic Italian bakery we've come across down south. In the past few months we've made every effort to stop in and try new things, and I'm going to tell you about some of our favorites (see collage below).

Clockwise from top left: Strawberry banana cake pop; pasta ciotti; Napoleon; assortment of goodies including chocolate torte) 

Starting at the top left, those strawberry banana cake pops were definitely the best cake pops I've EVER had. My fiancé the chef told me that the secret to those is to pre-make the cake, crumble it up, and then form it into balls. One bite into these cake pops and it's obvious that Cyntuccis does it the right way. These are extremely dense and moist (the benefits of making them this way, rather than baking the cakes into the round molds from the get-go). The icing on top is sweet but not cloying, and the flavor of the cake itself had the perfect balance of both strawberry and banana - ideal for summer! I noticed they had several other flavors of cake pops and will definitely be trying them sometime soon.

Next is my new favorite dessert ever - pasta ciotti. I had never tried them before but upon hearing the description I knew they had to be delicious, and believe me, they were! Pasta ciotti are essentially custard-filled dessert tarts, a sort of cupcake/cookie hybrid with sweet pastry cream in the middle. (What part of that doesn't sound good?!) Every time we visit the bakery we try to get 3 or 4 of these little gems. The best part of Cyntuccis' desserts is that they are not overpoweringly sweet, and they also keep their cabinets chilled, so the custard in the middle of these is always cool and creamy. 

The photo in the middle is of a Napoleon. I had never had a "real" Napoleon before going to Cyntuccis but feel like theirs is definitely a prime example. The puff pastry layers are light and flaky. The cream in the middle is, again, not too sweet, and melts in your mouth. Even the decorative flowers on top aren't too sugary. We try to get one of these every time we visit the bakery, and have never been disappointed. If you have ever been a fan of Napoleons you simply MUST try one from here!

The last photo is from just a few weeks ago and, as you can see, we got all of our favorites, as well as a chocolate torte. If you are big on chocolate this is perfect for you: chocolate cake with chocolate mousse inside and chocolate ganache on the outside. Now, let me say that neither Chris nor I are huge chocolate people, and would typically NEVER order something with this much chocolate. Upon his first visit, Chris asked the girl working the counter what her favorite item was and this was what she told him, so he figured it was worth a shot. Let me tell you, for not being big chocolate fans, we get one almost every time we go - it's THAT good. The cake is always moist, the mousse is creamy, and the ganache is rich and buttery. But it's not too overwhelming - and absolutely delicious with a glass of cold milk!

That being said, I am extremely glad we took a chance on this little mom-and-pop bakery. The place is small but inviting, the staff is friendly and helpful, and we have thoroughly enjoyed everything we've tried. I definitely recommend Cyntuccis to anybody who loves Italian pastries!