Corn Fried Rice

Got this idea from Food Network

This is their picture and recipe - it's ok, but...

Scramble 1 beaten egg in peanut oil in a skillet over high heat; remove to a plate. Heat more peanut oil in the skillet. Add 4 slicedscallions, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, and salt to taste; stir-fry 30 seconds. Add 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wineand 1 cup thawed frozen corn; stir-fry 1 minute. Add 2 cups cooked rice and cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Stir in the scrambled egg and season with salt.

I am thinking more corn and vegetables  less rice.  Even if you used brown rice that is way to many empty carbs.

My way...less carbs, more protein, more vegetables

Dad's Corn Fried Rice

Ingredients

6 eggs, beaten with a fork
1 cup leftover brown rice
2 carrots, diced fine and microwaved for 3 minutes
4 green onions, diced
12 oz frozen peas, nuked for 2 minutes
1 lb frozen sweet corn, cooked
2 tbs Braggs Aminos (or soy sauce)

Recipe

Scramble eggs, place to side
In same frying pan, add 1 tsp oil, heat to back to medium/high
Add cooked rice, carrots, peas, sweet corn.  Cook till hot
Sprinkle Braggs Aminos over rice and stir quickly. 
Add eggs and green onions, mix
Serve

Using 1 or 2 eggs and then substituting chopped raw, peeled shrimp would be great also

Black Bean and Sweet Potato and Sweet Corn Chili

When I first started cooking, more was always better.  Two spices?  No, lets add four!  Hmmm, doesn't taste right - lets make it six!  Needless to say, my cooking was not that good.

As time goes by (no, not that time going by) I leaned that sometimes, often, less is more. Fewer spices, fewer ingredients, make for a better meal.

Well, this recipe is a throwback to the bad old days - more more more!

Black Beans are one of our favorites - but as with many things, the same dish over and over is boring.  So with a limited amount of time and a dog walk to get in, I went for the old stand by - Black Bean Chili. But of course, black beans are not enough - we need more, More, MORE!

So in went the sweet potato.  Nope, not enough.  Lets add some tomato.  Not enough.  Fresh frozen sweet corn!

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG - more more more - onion powder, garlic powder, chili con carne seasoning, cumin, lime zest, vegetable stock, braggs aminos - more, More, MORE!

Tasted pretty good.  Served it over brown rice.  To be honest, I started with this recipe - but then the beserker took over.

Ingredients

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 sweet potatoes, pealed and diced 1/2 inch size
1 lb frozen sweet corn (our own)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained.  Feel free to use those mixed with green chiles if you like heat
1 tbs chile con carne seasoning (Penzey's)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 lime, zested (no juice)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 square baking chocolate or 1 tsp cocoa
1 can vegetable stock (you might need more - add enough to cover all ingredients)
1 tbs Braggs Aminos
1 chipotle in adobe sauce if you like it hot.  Dice it small.  Skip if you don't like heat (wimp)

Recipe

Toss all in pot.
Bring to low boil, reduce heat to medium
Walk dog
Cook till sweet potatoes are done (at least 30 minutes)
Serve with whatever- rice, pasta, chips, potatoes, sour cream, cheese.

That's it - dirt simple, and pretty good.  The key to remember is, chili needs time to cook for the flavors to meld.  It might me "cooked" and ready to eat in 10 minutes, but it will taste better after cooking for 30, even better after 45 minutes or an hour.  Just don't let it dry out completely.  And don't worry about the canned beans - they won't fall apart if cooked for an hour.

Fish Taco's - Why Don't You Make Them?

I mean really - how easy can you get?  You really just want to have some ground up mystery meat stuffed in a piece of bread?  No I say - especially with Tilapia available year round, and usually inexpensive.

So tonight's dinner - Tilapia Tacos with grilled onions and peppers, corn with black beans  and a salad of lettuce, tomato, sour cream and guacamole.

The other advantage is that this is about the only way I actually like fish, and everyone else in the family is usually wining at me for more fish.  So.....Fish Tacos

Served on whole grain tortilla, this is a very healthy and very delicious meal - one you don't have to feel like you deprived yourself in order to have a good meal.  No, this is not real Mexican food.  But is good.
Ingredients

Corn and Beans
1 lb frozen corn - a great use of your own corn
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime

Salad
Lettuce
Avocado or 1/2 cup Guacamole
1 tomato
1/2 cup sour cream

Fish Tacos
1 lb Tilapia fillets (cut fillets in half the long way so each filet gives you two pieces)
2 tbs Chicken Taco Seasoning from Penzeys
1/2 lime
1 Pepper - yellow, red, green or orange, sliced thin
1 Onion - sliced thin
1/4 cup Cilantro
4 large whole wheat tortillas or 8 small ones
shredded cheese if you like

Recipe

This is a three pan dance.  Start the corn and beans in first pan, then lower temp and hold.  Make and place salad on plates.  Cook Onions and Peppers in one pan, Tilapia in the other, then assemble plates and serve (see above picture)

Corn and Beans
Heat Corn and Beans
Before serving stir in juice of 1/2 lime and cilantro
Serve.  If you like more spice, 1/2 tsp of cumin would be fine.

Salad
Pile it up - lettuce, tomato, avocado, guacamole, sour cream.  Sprinkle some cheese and cilantro.  Green onions over the top would be nice

Fish Tacos
Thaw and dry Tilapia.
Rub some oil (1tbs or so) on the fish, sprinkle with taco seasoning.  Let sit for 15 minutes
Heat two frying pans to medium/medium high (this is the only tricky part
In one pan put 1 tbs oil, add onions and pepper slices.  Toss till almost cooked to the way you like it, then turn off heat and hold.
In the other pan, at the same time, put 1 tbs oil, then add the Tilapia.  Cook almost all the way through, then flip.  Turn off stove - the residual heat will cook the fish through.
Arrange Taco by placing one to two filets on warmed tortilla, add onions/peppers, squirt some lime juice on top and toss with cilantro

Grand Finale
Set out four plates.
Arrange Salad, Corns and Beans, assemble one (or two) tacos per plate

House Wine Red 2009 Review

Wine Blogging.  I hear it is the way to drive traffic to your blog and get free wine from distributors looking for someone to shill their wine.  Some places only give good reviews, working from the perspective, If you don't have something nice to say, say nothing at all.  Phooey.  Swill is swill and it deserves to be called out, no matter if you buy it or someone else does.

Good news is, House Wine Red 2009 is a pretty good wine, especially for the 5 bones it cost me at Gordy's in Eau Claire, WI.  Gordy's clearances out a lot of wine - if it isn't selling, it gets clearanced and they move in something else.  So I manage to try a variety of inexpensive (under $20) wine.  I picked this up (regularly $12.49) for $5.00.  It doesn't have to be great to be good at that price, but this is worth it's regular price and a great buy at clearance - I intend on buying out the rest tomorrow.

So, what is House Wine Red?  Made by the Magnificent Wine company, it is part of their Washington State wines that are designed to go with food - Steak House Red, Fish House White, etc. This is the general red - a wine that goes with many items on the menu, if not all.  68% Cab, 22% Merlot, 4% Malbec, 4% Syrah and 2% Petit Verdot, all from the Columbia Valley.  Some companies would call this "Meritage" or some glossy name, but here it is just House Wine.  

Somehow both a deep red and a light red together - almost Pinot Noir like.  Through the side of the glass it is dark, but looking down, much lighter.  Odd.  The nose is fairly soft, with some fruit and alcohol.   First sip is slightly fruity (blueberry?), soft,(some might say silky) with slightly tannins, with the tannins building up and fruit staying.  While there is alcohol on the nose, there is none in the tasting..  A dry wine, but not a fruit bomb (thank you for that), this is a wine that is fine by itself, better with appetizers and great with food.  Beef, lamb, veal.  Should be fine with chicken, fish or pork - a real house wine, comfortable with everything you serve.  If you enjoy a red wine with your meal, you will find this more than acceptable.

Good at retail price, excellent on clearance.  For another review, try The Drunk Yinzer blog.

Lao Lang Zang - Restaurant Review

2098 Atwood Avenue, Madison, WI

Nice place with good food.  I had lunch with my daughter - she the squash curry, myself the catfish curry.  Don't pass on the squash curry - very good.  The catfish curry tasted slightly metallic - no sure if that was from the coconut milk or what, but it was just a little off.  Still good - but ....

Also, they definitely under seasoned when it comes to heat - I ordered the hot (but not native hot) and it was mild.  Barely would of qualified as medium.  It was good, but I wanted more heat.

Good service, nice decor, good location.  They have a good selection of drinks, I definitely would try this out for dinner or a group of friends after work.  Good for lunch also - lunch is $8 ish, comes with salad, spring or egg roll - good value and you can get in and out quickly.  Nice enough to take a business colleague.  Nice enough for a date.

Also has free wi-fi.

For just food, 3 stars.  Add great prices, good service, free wi-fi, nice atmosphere - 4 stars.



Link to Yelp Review

Concannon Petite Sirah - 2008

Petite Sirah is not a wine I drink a lot of - it is not very common, often used to mix with other grapes.  Add's color, depth.

Purchased this bottle at local grocery store - they are closing it out at $5 a bottle - who could say no to that?

Color - very deep - almost blueberry red in color.  Dark

Scent - alcohol, some fruit, but not to much.

Taste - this is wine.  Very full in texture.  Sticks around in your mouth, but not in a bad way.  Somehow both very dry, with tannins, but also sweet.  Has acidity. Nothing to much.  Not a fruit bomb, not sugary.  This is not like Apothic, or Cupcake, or any of those current fruit bombs.

Recommendation - This wine is fine on the porch, but I think this big boy needs food - grilled food.  Burgers, chicken, lamb.  If I was grilling, I would definitely pull this out.  If you can find this sub $10, do not be afraid of picking it up.  At $5 - great deal.

Some other reviews are here, here and here.