Ghetto lo mein

If ramen is wrong, then I don't want to be right

I know what you're thinking - "Ghetto lo mein?  What the H does that mean?  Is it from the hood?  Is Nhu-Y from the hood?"


Well let me answer those questions for you, my friends.  Ghetto lo mein is a concoction dreamt up by my kitchen-illiterate cuz.  I love her dearly, but she's no Julia Child.  So it is not from the hood, it's from a little asian girl from the 'burbs.  And no, I'm not from the hood either, but I lived pretty close to some not-so-reputable places when I was a kid (one time, I even wore my hair in cornrows - and that's hood).

Let me preface this recipe by saying that it is not lo mein. It's just what my cousin calls this dish.  In no way does this resemble lo mein, with the exception that it is composed of noodles and grease.  So if you are looking for something that you can get from your favorite Chinese restaurant, check back later.  But if you are looking for cheap eats, read on.  


Now, don't judge.  I know ramen is the fare of a college freshman.  But hey, I am a medical student in lotsa debt.  I can't always afford to eat foie gras, truffles and gold.  Besides, I haven't cooked in about a week, and I feel guilty not posting something that I didn't cook.  That's how much I like you guys - I feel guilty when I eat things like burgers, ice cream, and deep fried Snickers bars that I can't share with you :)

When my cousin makes this dish, it consists only of ground beef, ramen noodles, and ramen seasoning.  Yes, only 3 ingredients. Really, only 2 ingredients because the noodles and the seasoning come together. But surprisingly, it tastes good.  Maybe it's the pound of grease they pack into each tiny bag of ramen noodles.  Or maybe I can taste the memories from my good ol' college days, I'm not sure.  I did decide that this recipe was a little too ghetto for me, so I added some greenage in the form of scallions and broccoli. 


Try it, you'll like it.  And if you don't, you've spent a dollar - you probably have more money lost in your couch. 


Ghetto Lo Mein
Serves 4
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Ingredients
4 packages of beef flavored ramen noodles
1 pound of ground beef
1 tablespoon oil (optional)
If you want it fancy, add:
2 scallions, cut on the bias
1 large head of broccoli, cut into florets


Directions
1. Boil 2-3 quarts of water.
2. While waiting for the water to boil, brown the beef in the oil on medium-high heat (if you use a nonstick pan, some nonstick spray should do).  Break the beef up as well as you can. Drain the beef once it is cooked through.
3. Stir one package of the ramen seasoning into the beef and add the whites of the scallions.  Cook for an additional minute or two. Reduce heat to medium-low.
4. Once water boils, cook the broccoli for 3-5 minutes, depending on how crisp you like your broccoli.  Remove the broccoli from the water with tongs or a slotted spoon and add to the meat (leave water in the pot for the noodles).
5. Bring the water back up to a boil and cook noodles for 4 minutes (or 1 minute less than the directions on the package).  When noodles are cooked, drain and add to the beef and broccoli mixture.  Turn heat back up to medium-high and stir in 1.5 - 2 packages of ramen seasoning to taste.
6. Top with the greens of the scallions. 
7. Eat with a your hat cocked to the side, an oversize white tee, and some gold teeth.  


I promise a sophisticated recipe next time. Until then -- 


Peace out homies. 


xoxo <3
Nhu-Y

Me and my lovely cousin

Fettuccine Alfredo

Let's spice it up!!!

Good morning! I have the morning off so I decided to get a quick post in :)  I spoke to a friend from college a few days ago, who has a great food blog of her own.  She has tons of great recipes and I asked her where she finds the time to cook so often.  And what she said -- when cooking is a hobby you enjoy, it's not work -- really made me think about this blog.  I don't want it to turn into work. I love cooking so much and I want you all to know how much I love it!  I delayed the start of this blog because I was so busy with school. But medical school is not an excuse anymore!  I'm telling you now - I will make the time to cook most of the week, and I will try a new recipe at least twice a week.  Accountability!  And I'll cook even more when Mikey gets back in town, because it's way better to cook for two :)


I've also been thinking about ways to spice up this blog.  Here are some ideas: Posting weekly menus (planning makes cooking so much easier!), weekly themes, and some sort of challenge.  I read a lot of fashion blogs and I often read about "remix challenges", "color challenges", and even "no-repeat challenges".  I think that I can translate those challenges to food.. eek, I'm so excited now!  More details to come.. 


Ok, here's a quickie recipe for you all.  Fettuccine alfredo.  It's not the typical Americanized fettuccine that you have in the restaurant with thick and goopy (is that a word?) sauce.  Folks, this is the real deal. It's how fettuccine alfredo started in Italy.  That's right, Italy, not America. Here's a really interesting post on the original fettuccine alfredo. The ingredients are simple: pasta, butter, cheese.  What could be bad about pasta, butter and cheese?  Oh right, the fact that it's pasta, butter, and cheese :) But who cares?  We all need to indulge every so often. This isn't as heavy as restaurant fettuccine, but it is definitely rich - and absolutely delicious. 


I've said this before, and I will say it again because it is of utmost importance - since this recipe is so simple, it is important to use quality ingredients.  Parmigiano Reggiano, real butter, freshly ground black pepper.  You can use fresh or dry pasta, but I think that fresh pasta holds on to the sauce better. This recipe does have an option to add cream - for those of you who can't quite say goodbye to cream :). Bon appetit!

Fettuccine Alfredo (adapted from Simply Recipes)

Serves 4
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Ingredients

1/2 pound fettuccine noodles

3-4 Tbsp unsalted butter

2/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Black pepper

Additional, for creamy version:

1/2 cup cream

Nutmeg

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salty water to a boil and drop in your fettuccine.

2a. Plain version Melt the butter in a large sauté pan set over low heat. Once the butter has melted, turn the heat off.

2b. Creamy version Melt the butter in a large sauté pan set over low heat. Add the cream to the butter as it melts. Stir often to combine the two, do not turn off the heat, but keep the heat at its lowest setting while the pasta cooks.

3. When the fettuccine is al dente (cooked, but still a little firm) lift it out of the pot with tongs and move the pasta to the sauté pan. Do not drain the pasta. You want it dripping wet with the cooking water. Turn on the heat under the sauté pan to medium and swirl the pasta and butter together to combine. Add half the cheese, then swirl and toss the pasta until it has incorporated into the sauce. If needed, add a few spoonfuls more of the pasta cooking water. Add the rest of the cheese and repeat.

4. Serve at once with either a little black pepper (for classic version) or nutmeg (for creamy version) ground over the pasta.

I ate this as a side dish, but if you add some meat and veggies, it would be a (very filling) entree. 

That is all.

xoxo <3

Nhu-Y

Yellow squash lasagna

A healthy twist

Hello friends!  Hope you've been doing well.  The weather is beautiful here in Ohio!  It was in the 50s this morning when I woke up and will be in the 70s today.  It's a dream.  I love the summer (I am Vietnamese after all) but this heat and humidity is really getting to be too much.  I can't walk from my car to the hospital without breaking a sweat.  I can't wait until autumn is here.  I have lots of fun scarves and boots that I have just been aching to break out!


Now I know that in my last post, I promised that I would cook more, but I haven't gotten to all of the recipes yet :/ But it's not because I've been eating junk, it's because I grossly underestimated how much lasagna my recipe would make!  I have a huge 9x13 pan which isn't even half gone.  I may freeze the rest of it so I can start eating something else :)


I came up with this recipe because I love pasta.. a little too much.  I grew up eating rice with every meal (yes, even with breakfast sometimes) so naturally I love carbohydrates.  Bread, pasta, rice - I'll even eat it plain and be happy.  However, now that I'm getting older I don't think that my body appreciates all that starch.  I even get sleepy after I eat a bowl of pasta nowadays!  I didn't completely eliminate the lasagna noodles because it would be too sad to make lasagna without any pasta (could it still be called lasagna?) so I just substituted half of the noodles with thin slices of quick roasted yellow squash.  I just used my mandoline to cut 1/4"-1/8" slices, but you can easily use a sharp knife as well.

I especially like this recipe because it tastes like a traditional lasagna, even though it is a healthier version.  I use reduced fat cheeses, ground turkey, and the squash in both the sauce and as a substitute for noodles, but it's still mighty good.  I think I've seen healthy lasagna recipes with eggplant "noodles" instead of yellow squash, but I think that the eggplant gets kind of mushy.  The squash maintains its texture and has a very mild flavor - a great substitute for an al dente lasagna noodle.  If you can't find yellow squash, you can use zucchini instead - or if you don't want to be healthy, just use all noodles, full-fat cheese, and beef and have a regular lasagna (I'm not judging)


The recipe takes a little bit of time to make, but you can do some of the steps simultaneously.  Also, the time spent cooking is worth it because you'll be eating for days!  I recommend you halve or even quarter the recipe if you are cooking for just one or two people. Alright, enjoy!


Yellow Squash Lasagna
Serves 8
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Ingredients
6 lasagna noodles
3 medium yellow squash
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese 
15 ounces of low-fat ricotta cheese (one standard container)
1 egg
1/8 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
double recipe of meat sauce


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and boil a large pot of water.
2. Peel the squash.  Small dice one of them, and thinly slice the other two on the long axis (to make long slices, not discs).  Make the slices a little thicker than a lasagna noodle.
3. Take the slices of squash and drizzle them with olive oil.  Roast in oven for approximately 5 minutes.  Don't let the squash cook for too long, or they will become mushy.
4. While waiting for the water to boil, begin making the meat sauce, sautéing the diced squash with the garlic and onions.
5. By this point, the water should be boiling - cook the lasagna noodles according to the directions.
6. While the noodles are cooking, combine the ricotta, parmesan, 1/4 cup mozzarella, egg, parsley, salt, and pepper.  Set aside. 
7.  When the squash, lasagna noodles, and meat sauce are done, build the lasagna.  Start by ladling a small amount of sauce on the bottom of a 9"x13"baking dish so the noodles do not stick.  Lay 3 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce.  Now take a quarter of the ricotta mixture and spread it on top of the noodles.  Ladle a layer of sauce on top of the ricotta layer.  Take a quarter of the remaining shredded mozzarella and sprinkle on the sauce layer.  Place one thin layer of sliced squash on the cheese. Then ricotta, sauce, mozzarella again.  Now repeat these two layers again so you have 4 layers total. End with shredded mozzarella.  You should be left with about half of the meat sauce.
8. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cheese is hot and bubbly.  Slice and top with the remaining sauce.


I hope that these instructions made some sense.  I tried to write it so you can be efficient and do some steps simultaneously. I have realized how difficult it is to write recipes!  I really like to cook my own recipes, but I normally just throw things together and taste as I go.  Cooking is so much more difficult when you have to keep track of quantities!  


Again, somehow this post became super long, so I will let you go for now.  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!  


xoxo <3
Nhu-Y

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Home Cookin'

Mike, my boyfriend, is also a fourth year med student.  He wants to do urology and he’s doing his sub-internship this month.  It is super hard on him because he works for at least 12 hours a day and he still has to study when he comes home.  A few days ago, he worked for 19 hours!  So, being the good girlfriend that I am ;), I decided to cook for him this week.  Earlier this week I made maple-pecan pork chops, mashed sweet potatoes, and roasted broccoli.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures, so next time I make that meal, I will be sure to post!  Last night, I made spaghetti with meat sauce and meatballs.  Nice, comforting, home food.  I don’t have a lot of time to make my own marinara sauce, so I took a little help from the store and used a jarred sauce. But I added some meat, herbs, and spices so it wouldn’t taste like it came from a jar.  I usually make my sauce with ground turkey, but Mike can always tell, so last night I made it with beef.  The meatballs can be made with turkey as well, but they won’t be as moist as beef meatballs. It's really good and you can't even tell that jarred sauce was used after you add the meat, herbs and spices.  I hope you enjoy!

Meat sauce

Serves 4
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Ingredients

1 jar (24 oz) spaghetti sauce

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

½ medium onion, diced

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp sugar

½ lb ground beef (or turkey)

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp basil, chopped

Directions

1. On medium heat, heat onions and garlic in olive oil until onion begins to become transparent, about 5-7 minutes.

2. Turn heat to medium high. Add ground beef (or turkey) and break up well. When meat is broken up, add 1 tsp of sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.  Taste and adjust seasonings when meat is fully cooked

3. Add jar of sauce and turn down to medium.  Add 1 tsp of sugar and any additional salt and pepper to taste.

4. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add basil. Enjoy!

Meatballs

Serves 8 (I halved the recipe)
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Ingredients

¾ lb ground beef

¼ lb ground sausage

1 clove garlic, minced

½ tsp salt

1 egg

scant ½ Italian breadcrumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Combine all ingredients (be careful not to overmix!) and form into 1.5 inch balls.

3. Bake for approximately 15 minutes until meatballs are firm. 

4. Toss into sauce if desired.

I just served this with 1/2 lb of spaghetti noodles and I will have enough leftovers for dinner tomorrow!  The sauce is versatile and can be used for baked ziti, lasagna, or any other pasta. This recipe can be pretty healthy too!  Just make it with turkey and serve on whole wheat pasta. Yum!