Veggie Orzo Pasta with Smoked Scallops

Oh, what a day yesterday had been. If you've seen my tweets and facebook status updates, I was a victim of theft. It's not fun finding out that thieves had cashed a couple a checks that were issued to a different company. How they did it...I have no idea. Just goes to show how desperate people are coming to these days. It's a sad shame. And the wasn't for a small amounts too. Frustration and anger.

This was a test of some kind, I can feel it. This is God saying..."you've had it easy to a little while. Here's a little curve ball."  Testing my will power and seeing how I will react. But I'm staying positive that this situation will be resolved. Sure, it'll be a a little difficult for a little while, but in a time when everyone is tightening their belts, I have to tighten mine a little tighter than usual.  Have I passed the test yet? Sorry for this not being as food related, but it's a frightening situation that could happen to anyone that I thought to share with you as an example to be extra cautious with all your personal information. I thought I lived in a quiet and safe neighborhood, yet you'll never know what hides beneath that nice exterior.

Anyway...after dealing with all that. I needed to calm myself down. I ventured into the kitchen and made something. luckily it just around dinnertime. I mentioned before that I find cooking and baking to be therapeutic. It really does help take your mind off things that bother us.

Have you ever heard of smoked scallops in those sardine-like cans? I had gotten a couple of these from the grocery and they looked really interesting. They were small scallops packed in cottonseed oil. I once again make a risotto like dish using orzo pasta with some frozen veggies, chicken stock, and evaporated milk. The result deliciousness on a plate. It helped deviate from the stress of the day.

Edited to add: I'm submitting this recipe to 5 Star Foodie for the 5 Star Makeover. This month is pasta.



Serves 2

Veggie Orzo Pasta with Smoked Scallops 

1 c uncooked orzo
1 12oz can chicken stock
2-3 c frozen mixed veggies - defrosted
1 large garlic clove - fine chopped
1 can smoked scallops in cottonseed oil - drained
1 5 oz can evaorated milk
1 Tbsp paprika
extra virgin olive oil
pepper to taste


Heat a small drizzle of olive oil in a large skillet. Saute the garlic for 30 sec, the add the scallops and saute for a couple minutes. Add the vegetables and paprika. Cook for another few minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the stock and orzo. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once the orzo looks like it's cooked to al dente and has absorbed most of the stock, lower the heat and add the evaporated milk. Simmer for a few minutes and season with pepper to taste.

Serve warm.

Marinated Broiled Tofu Sandwich

Here's that other tofu recipe I mentioned a few days ago when I posted that Pan-Fried Tofu. The longer title of this would be Marinated Broiled Tofu Sandwich with caramelized onions and mushrooms on sourdough. Way too long to put on the title line. I had a couple pieces of tofu blocks that I had marinated in the Filipino BBQ sauce left and this time around I decided to broil them. Giving them a nice crisp crust and soft inside. I served this along some caramelized onions and I sauteed with some chopped white onion then added some shredded cheese and a dash of hot sauce into the mix.  You hungry yet?

Then on the bread I spread a really tin layer of dijon mustard to give it that nice little tang. Pressed it with ol' Georgie and what you got here is one really good sandwich. You wouldn't really think that you'd be eating tofu, if you ate this.

Makes 2 sandwiches

Marinated Broiled Tofu Sandwich

1 14 oz package firm or extra firm tofu - water drained
4 slices of bread or 2 sandwich rolls

1/4 shredded cheese
1 tbsp butter
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp hot sauce
dijon mustard
1/2 sliced mushrooms
1/2 small sweet onion - sliced

Marinade
1/2 c soy sauce
juice of half a lemon
3 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
1 large garlic clove - fine chopped

Combine the ingredients for the marinade together in a shallow dish. Make sure the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.

Remove the tofu from the package and carefully pat dry with a paper towel. Slice them into 4 or 5 3/4-inch to 1 inch steaks. Places the slices into the marinade.

Marinate the tofu steaks for at least an hour before cooking. Even better is done the night before for better flavors absorption.

Preheat you broiler.

Prepare your skillet. Melt the butter on low heat and saute the onion until they have lightly browned. then add the mushrooms and saute again until the mushrooms had darkened in color. Season with some salt and pepper. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Take you tofu steak and place them on an ungreased baking sheet. Broil for 5-8 minutes until the top layer has charred slightly. Then flip and repeat for the other side.

Spread a thin layer of dijon mustard on all 4 slices of bread. Then add the cheese to the onion and mushroom mix as well as the hot sauce. Combine well. Divide the mixture between the two sandwiches. Slice the tofu steak in to 1/2 pieces and place them among the sandwiches. Put the top bread and toast the sandwich in your panini press of a clean skillet.

Heat each side for 3-5 minutes until the bread is toasted. Or you can toast the bread before assembling the sandwich.

Great Depression Cooking

I had seen a video once with a lady named Clara. In the video she showed how she would cook simple meals during the Great Depression. The other day, Kim from The Ungourmet posted another video featuring this same lady. I ended up watching almost all the videos.

Check out the you tube channel for other videos. It's really interesting and great. Depression Cooking. It's really cooking at its basics. Here's one using pasta. It's really great. She's like the grandmother you wish you had, if you never knew your grandparents like me.

Production Eats - No. 20

This week's production eats comes from a relatively super small production. How small? Try a cast and crew you can count on one hand. Yup, that small and low key. The day went very well. It's physically tiring, but I love working on set.

Corner Bakery it's a restaurant/cafe that serves up delicious sandwiches, soups, salads, pastries, and sweets. My friend had decided to order from their catering menu. "The Corner Classic" This included their sandwich basket which has a selection of Bavarian Ham, Chicken Pesto, D.C. Chicken Salad,  Tomato Mozzarella, Turkey Frisco, and Turkey Swiss. It also included two sides of salad and fresh fruit.

I took one of the tomato, basil and mozarella sandwiches and had one of the ham and cheese as a post shoot snack. You can't really see the inside of the sandwich from the photo above, but it was fresh and tasty and so good. I've always liked the food at Corner Bakery. If you've going to order from their regular menu try. the Chicken Pomodori on sourdough panini. Really good.

Oh, I must not forget...

Dessert! The sweets basket. This also comes with the "Corner Classic" Oh look at those cookies! Oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip, mini m&m's. Brownies, raspberry bars, maple pecan bars and Chocolate, banana and seasonal bite-sized bundt cakes.

I love their raspberry bars and the cookies. It's tempting not to stand next to it and munch off it for the rest of the day.

Pan-Fried Tofu

Tofu doesn't have to be a scary thing. I'm not afraid to admit that I like to eat it once in a while. It may taste bland to some people, but it all depends on how it's prepared. It's great paired with sauces, dips and veggie stir-fry. I purchased myself one package while at Whole Foods the other day. I remember in Trader Joe's, there's this ready to eat teriyaki flavored tofu that I would snack on sometimes. So I thought I make sometimes similar, but lightly pan-fried. I purchased myself the firm variety. Extra-firm works also as they keep their shape very well.

I used my usual Filipino BBQ sauce as a marinade, except instead of using yellow mustard, I used dijon mustard. One of the great things about tofu is that is absorbs flavors and marinades really really well. Marinated overnight, but you can make it the day of. The next day cook away. I lightly pan-fried these on my cast-iron skillet. A nice light crunch on the crust and soft BBQ flavor inside. Tofu is made soybeans, I served it with a handful of sliced mushrooms. See it doesn't look so scary. If I can cook with it, you can too.

I've got one other tofu recipe coming up, but that will have to wait as this weekend I'll be working on another production. Luckily, this one I don't have to worry about much.

Makes 4 tofu steaks.

Pan-Fried Tofu

1 14 oz package firm or extra firm tofu - water drained

Marinade
1/2 c soy sauce
juice of half a lemon
3 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
1 large garlic clove - fine chopped


Combine the ingredients for the marinade together in a shallow dish. Make sure the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.

Remove the tofu from the package and carefully pat dry with a paper towel. Slice them into 4 or 5 3/4-inch to 1 inch steaks. Places the slices into the marinade.

Marinate the tofu steaks for at least an hour before cooking. Even better is done the night before for better flavors absorption.

Prepare your grill or skillet. Heat a little olive oil. Just enough to lightly cover the bottom of the pan.

Place the tofu steak and cook each side until it gets a slight char on the edges. roughly 3-5 minutes -- on medium heat. Be careful of splatters.

Serve warm with some of the BBQ marinade. 

Leftover Chicken Salad with Honey-Dijon Dressing

I was wandering around Whole Foods trying to think what I can make for dinner. I had plans to make something with tofu for the weekend when I remember I had a head of lettuce in the veggie compartment as well as a tomato giving me those sad puppy dog eyes saying "eat me." An old fashioned salad just didn't seem too appetizing to me at the time, so I bought myself some pre-sliced white mushrooms, from the hot foods section I got one large cajun roasted chicken breast and one whole roasted yellow bell pepper.

When I got home I just prepared everything. removed the skin from the chicken and shredded it. . Chopped up a tomato, the lettuce, the bell pepper and some of the mushroom. Added some pineapple tidbits. And tossed it all together.  Another way, I'd like to call this is the leftover chicken salad because you can use up any leftovers you may have sitting in the fridge.  Of course, you don't have to follow exactly what I have here. make it your own and jazz it up. I paired with a honey-dijon dressing with a hint of soy sauce and olive oil. It was filling in a good way.

Serves 2-3

Leftover Chicken Salad with Honey-Dijon dressing

1 c cooked shredded chicken (breast) - from roasted, fried or baked - no skin
1 small head lettuce - rough chopped
1 medium tomato - deseeded chopped
1 small yellow bell pepper - deseeded, stemed, rough chopped
1 c pineapple tidbits
1 c  white muchroom - rough chopped
1/2 c firm tofu - cubed - optional

Honey Dijon Dressing
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp soy sauce


Combine ingrediets for the dressing together. Blend thoroughly. Set aside.

For the optional tofu, heat a small skillet with a little olive oil. Pan sear the tofu pieces until they have lightly browned.

Mix together all the salad ingredients. Drizzle the dressing and toss thoroughly to distribute evenly.

A little fun on a Monday night

This past Monday night a few friends and I went to see Butch Walker & the Black Widows perform at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles. (It was an awesome concert, btw.) Anyway, I hadn't eaten before hand so it just so happens that there's a little tiny restaurant right next door.

The place is called Cowboys & Turbans. They also have a location in Silverlake. It's fusion between Mexican and Indian. Though, the selection they have isn't big. You can choose from naanwiches, tanoori tacos, tikki masala, tandoori burritos, tandoori quesadilla, and a few sides.  I wasn't sure how big certain portions were, so I stuck to ordering from the side dish section. And I'm glad I did.

Masala fries, which is basically regular seasoned french fries served with a side of masala sauce to dip. I shared this one with my friends. The masala had a nice hint of spice to it. i may just have to make some for myself, so I that i can it it with some baked fries next time.

I also ordered a veggie samosa. It may look small in the photo, but that is no optical illusion. That thing was as large, if not larger than the size of my fist! It was good though. I kid you not. The look on my friend's faces as my order came. Their eyes wide with surprise.

Inside were peas and potato with some spices and other ingredients usually found in samosas. Deep fried and served with some sweet chili sauce and a green masala. It was good. It's 'sort of' something you'd definitely need to have a fork hand (...considering the size of it).

After, the concert we hit up a local pub, Timmy Nolan's. I didn't know that place was there. It a quaint  little spot near Universal Studios, but they've got a really great selection. This would definitely be a place I'd like to come back to. It does have a pub vibe to it. They have a kitchen that serves up some food. But by the time we got there, it was pretty late. So afterward we hit up a local Denny's. It's possibly the only thing open in the wee hours of the morning. Plus, it's usually a good late night meal type place. I'll spare you the photo of the biscuits and gravy with hashbrowns. Ok, I'll put just for fun.

A globby mess and what I like to call this one -- "the 3am who cares what" grub. -- It's from the $2 menu selection. Two biscuits, what looks like sausage (I didn't eat the sausage. It was late into the night and eating meat at that time wasn't really appetizing for me) Doused with white gravy and served with hash brown. I did eat the hash browns and the biscuits.

Anyway...  it was a Monday night well spent. With friends and good times!