ND Food & Travel Posts
RSS Feed30 Recipes that I would make again
Origins
Six years ago I started cooking meal kits from BlueApron and Hawai'i FreshBox. This helped me level up from my pasta-and-jarred-sauce / rice-and-beans / pancakes-and-eggs cooking level.
During early covid, we made our food at home every day (often diced veggies and meat in a simmer sauce). By the end of the year I had tried a lot of aspirational recipes and ingredients.
In 2022, when I stopped Airbnb-ing, I was able to buy appliances (stand mixer, food processor), and attempt a new class of recipes.
Meals (i.e. not dessert)
Avokadopasta
https://damndelicious.net/2014/06/20/avocado-pasta/
I had this tasty avocado pasta sauce with a small helping of cherry tomatoes and red pepper flakes at Green Hippo in Helsinki.
You'll need a food processor.
Not sure what the 'right' recipe is for this. This one is a Finnish source, so maybe it's more legit? https://www.k-ruoka.fi/reseptit/avokadopasta-valimeren-tapaan
Biang Biang Noodles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiBnK5DcWCU
Two things to know about biang biang noodles: the written Chinese name uses a complex character, and part of cooking is slapping the noodle against your cutting board or counter. Fun! Video tutorial essential for technique.
You can order a meal kit from Xi'an Famous Foods, but I'd encourage you to attempt the noodles yourself (it's flour, salt, and water). My biggest issue was that I should have rolled the dough thinner before splitting it into noodles. Make sure you have chili crunch or chili oil.
Chorizo and Egg Breakfast Burrito
https://mexicanfoodjournal.com/chorizo-and-egg-breakfast-burrito/
There are so many ways that you could make a breakfast burrito - hard to go wrong - but this recipe became my particular go-to if you want to have specific ingredients and timing.
A lot of supermarkets have chorizo now, but if it's not there, I would recommend one of the marinated chicken options at Trader Joe's (i.e. not the soy-rizo).
Chuck Roast in the Oven
https://bestbeefrecipes.com/beef-chuck-roast/
I impulse-bought a chuck roast, and with a cut of meat like this you can't do whatever you want. The idea here is to cook in a Dutch oven in the oven for hours. For some reason I had some souvlaki seasoning in the cabinet, and sprinkled that in liberally here.
As mentioned in the recipe, beef broth can be used in place of red wine.
Cornbread with Jalapeños and Cream Cheese
I got a bunch of recipes by browsing this site, Chili Pepper Madness. The recipe is for mini-muffins, but I'm always using it for a full-sized dish of cornbread. The bake time will be different.
My family doesn't like that this adds cream cheese in there, but it's an inspired choice; it breaks up the monotony of a cornbread loaf.
Egg Bagels
https://www.browneyedbaker.com/egg-bagels/
If you're going to go to the trouble of making bagels at home, you might as well make them a little different from your local bakery. This is an opportunity to make a clasic New York egg bagel. I believe these are chewier or have more protein. Even when you put extra yolk, they do not turn bright yellow. Just accept egg bagels as they are, or add food coloring.
Option 1: add a shaker of 'everything bagel' seasoning
Option 2: Asiago cheese bagels are also good. Supposedly invented in the 90s at Au Bon Pain. You can generally find the cheese at Trader Joe's and upper-level supermarkets. Note that cheese is both mixed into the dough and sprinkled over the top https://www.browneyedbaker.com/asiago-bagels/
Indian Butter Chickpeas
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020739-indian-butter-chickpeas
Hard to go wrong with Indian sauces, paneer, chickpeas. Mutter paneer is also good (paneer + peas). I'm linking to the New York Times recipe which I think requires a food processor. It's easier to use a simmer sauce (which I prefer to pastes).
Keto Bison Meatballs
https://fitmencook.com/recipes/keto-bison-meatballs/
Wrap a meatball in bacon. Recipe amounts make huge meatballs.
Khachapuri - Georgian Cheese Bread
https://simplyhomecooked.com/khachapuri-georgian-cheese-bread/
Good for the palate and Instagram. It's basically making a pizza dough boat, and then dropping in scoops of cheese and an egg. Recipe amounts over-estimate how much cheese you'll need. Timing with the egg is tricky (it needs to leave the oven gooey; the cheese keeps it cooking).
Of the three cheeses, farmer's cheese is hard to find, but I see it at larger Whole Foods locations. If that's not an option you can substitute ricotta or cottage cheese. Online recipes vary widely on cheeses and other toppings (spinach, artichoke, macaroni).
I want to invent a muffin-sized khachapuri (maybe with a quail egg??) but so far no luck.
Malai Rigatoni
https://theglobalvegetarian.com/recipes/malai-rigatoni
An Indian spices-inspired pasta sauce. I saw this on Malala's Instagram!
Maple Glazed Duck Breast
https://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/maple-glazed-duck-breast/216d7640-d608-4078-8106-28f564c37c3e
Pretty straightforward and tasty.
Misir Wat (Ethiopian Spiced Red Lentils)
https://www.daringgourmet.com/misir-wat-ethiopian-spiced-red-lentils/
Tasty use of red lentils. Goes well with eggs and beans (I'd love to have a full spread of authentic Ethiopian veggie dishes, but they take time to cook).
Niter kibbeh is spiced clarified butter. I've gotten this from the Ethiopian market twice, and I'm pretty sure I could use store-bought ghee instead.
Hopefully you have access to injera bread from an Ethiopian market (or order extra from a restaurant). Because injera is fermented from the air, some people insist on injera imported from Ethiopia. My local market has 3 in plastic wrap for $3, so I'm sure I'm getting the Chicago-fermented version. Reheat injera in the microwave with a sheet of wet paper towel.
Nasi Goreng
National dish of Indonesia. Here's a video from Marion's Kitchen to see how it looks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3P-x12qvsw
For nasi goreng to work, you'll want at least the dark soy sauce and overnight-fridged rice. I haven't tried the shrimp paste. There are some nasi goreng packets which you can order.
Nasi Lemak
Everyone has their own version of Malaysia's national dish.
Here's Marion's Kitchen again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJi7h-nKngw
For nasi lemak, I made coconut rice, hard-boiled egg, and bought sambal and niboshi (anchovies) from Amazon. The end product didn't look like a full plate, so I wish I made the fried chicken or fish as well.
Bonus video : a Japanese couple (iChang) make Nasi Lemak for friends and family to the fascination of their Malaysian audience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Hh6DUQJY8
Pasta and Lentils
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023006-pasta-and-lentils-pasta-e-lenticchie
This uses brown lentils (I have an excess of red lentils at home, so I made this only once).
The comments are highly critical of this dish and advise cooking the lentils separately, adding or removing liquid, different cooking times, etc. I followed the original directions closely, and wasn't disappointed.
Red Lentil Curry
https://rainbowplantlife.com/vegan-red-lentil-curry/
Everyone already seems to know this recipe from Rainbow Plant Life, but I do make it often, and it dictated the spices I bought for my kitchen. Wash the cup of lentils and start your rice cooker or pot first thing.
My version is vegetarian (butter). I prefer bell pepper, poblano pepper, and/or a jalapeño instead of serrano peppers.
Roti Canai
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/285148/malaysian-flatbread-roti-canai-with-curried-lentil-dip/
Tasty flatbread. You will need to watch some YouTube recipes to get the motions right (especially crushing it immediately after pulling it from the pan).
I used a tortilla press.
A related dish is Roti Canai Sarang Burung (a ring of roti canai dough with 1–2 eggs and maybe mince meat in the middle). Also included 1/4-weight amaranth flour.
Roti Jala (Net Crepes)
https://www.rotinrice.com/roti-jala-malaysian-net-crepes/
This is a tricky one but looks amazing. I was lucky to try it on my first day in Kuala Lumpur.
You need to sift the flour and have a three-nozzle ketchup bottle or special cap to sprinkle trails of batter onto the pan. Then it's a question of when it's solid enough to flip. If you get it right, it's good with curry dip (savory) or maple syrup (sweet).
Scalloped Potatoes
https://www.spendwithpennies.com/scalloped-potatoes-recipe/
Another option for potatoes is https://bakingmischief.com/italian-roasted-potatoes/
Spaghetti Carbonara
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12965-spaghetti-carbonara
Everyone knows it, here's the New York Times take on how to make it, etc.
Dessert and Pastry
Afelia's Cannoli
https://www.afeliaskitchen.com/afelias-cannoli/
Halal and vegetarian cannoli recipe (substituting for wine and lard). You'll need to order some cannoli rods or cone forms, and a deep pot to submerge them in coconut oil for the deep fryer.
I'm interested in using ube and pandan in the future for color.
Apple Skillet Cake With Salted Caramel Frosting
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019536-apple-skillet-cake-with-salted-caramel-frosting
Recipe you can bake in a cast iron pan. It helps to have a peeler/corer/slicer to process the apples. Let everything cool before even starting making the frosting.
Bird Nest Baklava
https://hildaskitchenblog.com/recipe/bird-nest-recipe-osh-el-bulbul-baklava/
A super-cute variation of baklava which I saw in Granada (though on closer examination, they might have a peanuts and chocolate version).
For the dough, I found dry kadaifi on Amazon. These are short, dry strands and need to be misted with water to the right level to wrap around your finger. These then took longer than expected to brown or caramelize in the oven
Cookie Butter Babka
https://cookienameddesire.com/cookie-butter-chocolate-babka/
My first babka, and it uses a big scoop of Trader Joe's cookie butter. The recipe calls for "chocolate cookie butter" -- does it exist? I thought regular was fine. Added some chocolate chips on top.
This is another example of "if you're not buying a babka from a store, make it something different".
Crispy Peppermint-Lime Slices
https://www.latimes.com/recipe/crispy-peppermint-lime-slices
In 2021 we got a gay holiday bakery box from Ursula in Brooklyn. These were my favorite of the cookies, so in 2022 I made them at home. The soft peppermint candy is a bit tricky to find and then to cut up or mash, but I did OK with a bag of candies from CVS.
Split the cookie roll into two rolls; one for red sparkling sugar, one for green.
Dulce de Leche Stuffed Mexican Chocolate Cookies
https://butternutbakeryblog.com/dulce-de-leche-stuffed-mexican-chocolate-cookies/
Big, tasty cookies.
Gochujang Caramel Cookies
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023675-gochujang-caramel-cookies
A coworker suggested this recipe. Awesome.
Pain aux Raisin
https://www.thespruceeats.com/the-ultimate-pain-au-raisin-recipe-1374870
For frangipane, follow the instructions! Don't assume almond butter is the same!
Pandan Chiffon Cake
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/pandan-chiffon-cake-recipe
Even King Arthur is getting in on the Asian dessert trend. You need an angel food cake pan.
Pandan has a green color and unique flavor. I looked at a few options on Amazon and got what look like food coloring drops, but I think they work as a pandan extract / flavoring.
Start by carefully making the meringue. I messed this up and it didn't come out the way I wanted.
Pandebono (Colombian Cheese bread)
https://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/pandebono-colombian-cheese-bread/
A favorite since I went to a Colombian bakery in Queens. Requires cassava flour.
Honorable Mentions
- If you have access to an InstantPot, try stuffed bell peppers: https://www.wellplated.com/instant-pot-stuffed-peppers/
- Shakshuka sauce (from TJ's or grocery) helps you make a fancy breakfast (but it's basically sauce + eggs, not a whole recipe)
- I tried many simmer sauces, curry pastes, spice packets, etc. and top of the list would be "Khazana" simmer sauce, or "A Taste of Thai: Spicy Thai Peanut Bake" on tilapia.
- Japanese Golden Curry boxes (available in many grocery stores) have a recipe on the back. You cook meat, potatoes, carrots, and onions in a big pot, then stir in a block of curry. Serve over rice or quinoa!
- Spaghetti tacos, no regrets
- If you get a rhea or ostrich egg, try a 'one egg quiche'. I don't think I used a pie crust, just baking eggs with broccoli, ham, and cheese. It will look cool hard-boiled, but it takes an hour and can feel like biting into a loaf of egg white. My eggs came from Floeck's in New Mexico, wrapped in diapers; availability is seasonal.
- Orzo pasta feels fancy. I know it's just rice-shaped pasta, but it's true.
Future Food Goals
- Making pasta, chocolates, or ice cream from scratch
- The Tom Cruise white chocolate coconut cake
- There's got to be a nasi lemak / eggs benedict fusion dish out there. Discussed with ChatGPT whether this can work with typical ingredients, a layer of beef rendang over rice, or what. I haven't poached an egg yet.
- I keep planning to make a full meat or tofu katsu curry rice. I just didn't do well on the first attempt.
- Have been meaning to do recipes from Sip and Feast, Anti-Chef, Binging with Babish, and Josh Weissman - I have some chicken wings and green hot sauce and wasabi for one! - but so far it's more watching videos
