Carrots, Strawberry-Meyer Lemon Ice Cream and Green Beans

The holidays! Ooooh the Holidays, they were great, I got to spend time with my family, I drank copious amounts of wine and got so many good things to cook with. I know. Im excited too. I have not taken as much time to cook as I probably should have but I did create some strange things.

So I got home very late at night after being out with my friends and it was maybe 2 or 3 in the morning and I really wanted something to eat, but not because I was hungry, but just to eat. I scrounged around the fridge and discovered that there was barely any food for me to make. I found some random juices and baby carrot. So I got the idea to julian some carrots and just stir fry them around a little bit and maybe give them an Asian flare. So I threw them in a pan, added some minced garlic, garlic chilis, sriracha and some soy sauce. Im sure there were some other random things added in throughout the process but I cooked them carrots until they were a little tender and then started to munch! I had created a masterpiece! A fantastic little dish that had enough spice and the salty flare I was looking for. It will be a fantastic side dish to something I make!

Carrot Creation

Looks a bit strange but I promise it was delicious.

One of my gifts for Christmas was an ice cream maker! So I really wanted to make some ice cream, and at first I really wanted to make green tea ice cream. Then I decided I would make some strawberry ice cream! Part of the process of extracting the juices from the strawberries it that you have to put it in lemon juice and and it softened the strawberries and creates a syrup of sorts. But I really liked how it tasted with the lemon juice so I decided to make strawberry Meyer lemon ice cream instead! Promising I know. Now the recipe I was following didnt have any eggs in it, but a lot of the recipes for ice cream I've read about include some part of the eggs. So I researched what they did in the ice cream... and decided to throw one in. Why not?

I made the ice cream batch and then realized I needed to wait for the bowl in the ice cream maker to freeze. So... I hade to wait another 24 hours. But finally the next day I was able to make it! It kinda comes out like a thick soft serve and then you have to freeze it. It turned out SO GOOD. It was rich and creamy and the lemon gave it sort of a sorbet tang.

Strawberry-Meyer Lemon Ice Cream

I invited people over for a small ice cream party.

I've been cooking a lot with soy sauce because I really like how it sinks into whatever your cooking with it. I have some green beans and some shrimp and i decided to do sort of a stir fry with garlic and onions minced. I added in some soy sauce, sea salt, garlic powder, about half a cup of water and some brown sugar. It turned out really delicious, I couldnt stop eating it! I'm really starting to get this little flare down.

Stir Fried Green Beans and Shrimp


mmmmm

Overall some delicious treats.

Soup, Curry, Fish and a little baking.

I have not done as much cooking as I wanted this week, I was away for the weekend and tormented myself by watching the food network while staying in a Bed and Breakfast with no kitchen for me to cook in. Eventually I made my way home and decided to make some soup since a storm was supposed to come in that week, and its been colder and colder these days. I used to work at Noah's Bagels back in high school and they always had this broccoli cheddar soup that I loved to eat and so I decided to make my own this time. I've noticed that a lot of soups start with an onion base and some delicious butter. It was fairly easy to make though pretty time consuming. It involved some half and half, chicken stock, flour, cheddar, carrots, broccoli and some salt and pepper. Turned out really delicious, a comfort food not to be missed!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Recipe:
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups chicken stock or bouillon
1/2 pound fresh broccoli
1 cup carrots, julienned
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
8 ounces grated sharp cheddar

Once again I was ready to start baking and I was determined to try and make something with puff pastry dough. What shall I make? Turnovers!
So I started in on making them and I didnt want to make just one kind, so i made 3 different kinds. I made strawberry, cherry and banana chocolate caramel. Delicious? I think so. Now I did have some troubles, when I took them out the first time I bit into one and it was still doughy on the inside. Gross. So I put them back in until they were fully done, and once they were, everyone in the house ate them. Now they arnt as good as the ones my grandma used to give me, but they're a start towards it.

Cherry, Strawberry and Banana Caramel Chocolate Turnovers

They disappeared very quickly.
I have been thinking about cooking halibut for awhile now but I bought some awhile back an defrosted it and it smelled bad. I was decided to cook halibut with some spinach and I really wanted some sort of gravy on it. I was going to make a tomato gravy and I started to make it but it turned out funky, it did not taste like it would go on a halibut. So I restarted and took some chicken gravy (I know chicken gravy on fish sounds controversial!) I thinned out the gravy and added some garlic and a little butter and some water. Now I dont know how to cook halibut, I dont know when its done (I assumed when its flaky) and I dont know what to cook it with to give it flavor. My aunt was telling me about how my mom would pan sear halibut with lemon juice and butter and so I decided to make some garlic butter, and once infused added a little lemon juiced. It really gave the fish little kick, less plain then most halibut. I then cooked some spinach in the same pan and put the dish together. One of the best halibuts I've even had.

Garlic Butter Halibut with Spinach and Gravy

I hope to make it again soon.
Last night I really wanted some Japanese curry. My girlfriend always makes it for me and I pleadingly tried to convince her to come over and make it for me. No luck. I had to make it myself. I went to the store and bought some Japanese curry, not the same kind we usually eat but same brand I figured it would do.
Oh! Also I tend to fail at making rice on the stove. And I hoped this time, because I really needed it for the curry, I would make it a little more cautiously. I cooked everything up, the chicken, onions potatoes and carrots and finally made the curry from the strange curry blocks that were in the curry package. And I was trying to do 4 things at once and i forgot the rice was cooking! Damnit.
Mid email I remember that my rice was almost done last time I looked at, it which was awhile ago. So I ran to the stove and turned it off, tried the rice and it was perfect! How could this have happened?
Im not going to question it.
It wasn't as fantastic as my girlfriends curry, but it was really good none the less. AND it was spicier then her curry, and everyone knows I like spicy foods.
I waited for my roommate to get home and we feasted!

Spicy Japanese Curry

Gotta practice making my Japanese curry but so gooood.