Not your College Ramen

Mami’s Spicy Japanese Ramen

My friend Helen and I was talking about New York City and eating in Chinatown when she brought up Flushing and Korean Town.  She got really excited and said that she had the best ramen noodles in Flushing, NY.  I was confused, I asked her, “You paid for ramen at a restaurant?”

She explained to me that my experience with ramen is not the same as what the Japanese and Korean eat for their staple dish.  She told me she liked her ramen with bamboo shoots and meats.

This morning, I woke up remembering our conversation. Usually for breakfast, I make the Mo a typical western breakfast of eggs and meat or a simple Cambodian fried noodle dish.  Since I’ve been lacking with the blog, I decided to challenge myself and try something new.  I “Googled” image Japanese ramen and was inspired by some of the photos.  I didn’t choose one dish that I would imitate from but I would gather whatever ingredients I had readily available and use it.

Hard Boiled Egg

I raided my freezer, fridge and pantry and brought out anything that I thought would be relevant to my ambitious new noodle dish.  In my freezer, I found Asian beef meatballs, shrimp, pork belly, and fish cake. In my fridge, I was able to gather scallions, romaine, cilantro, spinach, eggs, and chicken thigh.  Of course we had the dried ramen noodles in our pantry along with some chicken broth and other seasonings.

First I boiled eggs for 2 minutes and set it aside in its hot water for 10 minutes. Careful not to overcook.  After cool, slice eggs into halves.

I deep fried the pork belly, chicken thigh and fish cake.  After they cooled down, I sliced them up.

I blanched the spinach, shrimp and meatballs.

Giant Beef meatballs and small shrimp

Open 4 packages of ramen noodles and remove seasoning packets. Boil 10 cups of water and place dried noodles in rapidly boiling water for 3 minutes. Gently stir to break up the noodles.  After cooking for 3 minutes, drain noodles and set aside.

In medium sauce pan, add 2 cans of chicken brother, (I prefer Market Basket for the price) and 2 cans of water. Add the garlic oil seasoning but not the flavoring seasoning.  Add a dash of fish sauce, a teaspoon of salt and sugar and 2 teaspoons of garlic chili oil and a pinch of black pepper.  You may add more chili based on your preference.  I also like to add a generous tablespoon of fried red onion. (see image below)

Market Basket Chicken Broth

Fried Red Onion and Ground Chili with Fried Garlic

Wash the romaine, cilantro and scallion.  Thinly slice the scallion and cilantro for topping.  Place the romaine on the bottom of a large bowl with 1/4 of the leaf sticking out of the bowl.  Use chopsticks to carefully pick up the cooked noodles and place desired portion in bowl. Add the sliced meats, spinach, seafood, scallions and ciliantro to the bowl in a presentable manner.

Use a ladle to add the soup broth to the bowl and fill almost to the top of the brim.

In the restaurants, the ramen dishes are typically ordered with gyozas or dumplings, so I made served mine with Organic chicken and cilantro dumpling from Costco’s and a ginger soy sauce.

Costco Cilantro and Chicken Dumpling

Enjoy!

Fancy Hamburger Helper

Hamburger Helper

It’s been way to long since my last post so I decided to write a quick one tonight. Since I’ve been trying to eat, “healthier”, the Mo has suffered a bit and he’s been forced to make ramen or I would whip him up a burger or sandwich. Sometimes, he would eat what I would eat, but that’s not too common.

Tonight, I decided to make hamburger helper, but with a little variation.

In addition to the ingredients on the back of the box, I swapped out 1/2 a pound of Italian sausage to make it 1/2 sausage and 1/2 lean ground beef instead of the standard 1 lb ground beef.

I also added in a cup of diced onions .

First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Brown the sausage/ground beef mixture in a skillet.
Add Onions at the end.

Boil the water and add the noodles per the directions on the box. Tonight I used the 20% more classic beef pasta by Hamburger Helper because it was on sale.  I usually buy the Market Basket version.

Measure 1 1/3 cups of milk and blend in the seasoning

After pasta is cooked halfway or for 5 minutes and most of the water has evaporated, add the beef and seasoning/milk mixture.

Bring to a boil and let it simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, stir occasionally.

After its cooked, place in a deep casserole dish. Sprinkled fresh shaved Parmesean cheese and French’s Fried Onion. Place in oven for 5 minutes.

Cut up a handful of parsley (not to be confused with cilantro) for garnish

 Serve alone or with a side. I heated up some frozen steak taquitos to keep it simple.

7 Appetizers under $ 10.00

With the holiday season in full throttle and the Evites and Facebook event requests for family gatherings and office potlucks start to pour in, one may start to feel strapped for cash.  It’s not bad enough that you already have to buy gifts for your family, then add yankee swap gifts and food or liquor to every party you go to?

Everything seems to add up and that Christmas bonus is not coming quick enough.

In an effort to reduce the stress, (plus my friend Amsi, emailed me asking for recommendations yesterday), I’ve decided to come up with a list of appetizers that are not only tasty but definitely fit the budget for holiday parties or even Superbowl parties for next month!

Disclaimer: Prices are based on my local grocery store (Market Basket) and Costco’s and is subject to change.  Variation of brands also affect pricing.

1. Slow Cooked Kielbasa in BBQ Sauce–
Slice Diagonally (3) 14 oz packages of Smoked Sausage or Kielbasa.  You can also buy it a 3 pack at Costco’s.  I prefer the Hillshire Farms brand. Heat a skillet to a high temperature and sear the sausages until it is browned.  Add the browned sausages and 2 bottles of store brand hickory BBQ sauce into a slow cooker and set on High for 3 hours.
Optional: Add a shot of Jack Daniels for a hint of whiskey
Optional: You can use turkey or lite sausage

Sausage: (3) x $ 2.49 = $ 7.47 Sale price (regular price 2.99 ea)
Store brand BBQ Sauce (2) x .99=  1.98
Total: $ 9.45 for almost 3 pounds of Savory Smoke Sausage

2. Meatballs in Sauce
For those who are Italian, please do not take offense to my non-homeade sauce.
Mix 2 pound of ground beef and .5 pound of ground pork with 1 egg, 1 cup of bread crumbs. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

Optional: Add a dash of Adobo seasoning to mixture
Mix thoroughly and shape the mixture into meatballs
Bake in oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees or until lightly brown.
Remove from oven and drain fat
Add meatballs in slow cooker with 2 cans of Hunts Tomato Sauce for 3 hours on High

Previously Frozen Ground beef 2 pounds: Around $5.00 (give or take since the package sizes vary)
Previously Frozen Ground pork=  $1.50
Store Brand Plain Breadcrumbs= $1.00
Hunts Tomato Sauce (2) x $1.00=2.00

Total: $ 9.50 (estimate)

3. Spinach and Cream Cheese stuffed Mushrooms
Remove the stem of 2 packages of mushrooms and wash and drain.  In a saucepan, melt one stick of butter     and 1 sleeve of store brand butter crackers (similar to Ritz).  Set aside to cool. Thaw one frozen package of chopped spinach in microwave or hot water.  Drain spinach and add half of the package to the cracker/butter mixture.  Add one bar of store brand cream cheese.  Spoon mixture into mushroom caps and bake for 15 minutes at 380 degrees.
Optional: Lightly toss the mushrooms in oyster sauce for extra flavor before adding mixture


Optional: Substitute  cream cheese for goat cheese (extra money)

Mushrooms:     (2) x 2.99= $5.98
Crackers:        (1) x 1.50= 1.50
Frozen Spinach(1) x 1.00= 1.00
Cream Cheese (1) x 1.00 = 1.00

Total: $9.48

4. Cheese and Crackers
You can’t go wrong with cheese and crackers! My favorite crackers are by Pepperidge Farms (although we won’t discuss the caloric count!) If you don’t have time to prep a dish or you are afraid you will burn the kitchen down, try this.

1 box of Pepperidge Farms crackers, I prefer the “Entertaining Quartet” if you are only going to buy one package.  Pick up 2 packages of presliced cheddar cheese and a wedge of brie.

Pepperidge Farms Crackers: (1) x  $3.00= 3.00
Sliced Cheddar Cheese (2) x $2.00= 4.00
(I do have to mention the cheese is really only $2.00,presliced and everything! It’s a steal!)
Brie Wedge (1) x 2.49= 2.49
Total: $9.49 for cheese and crackers

Note: As basic as cheese and crackers come, it is very important to display it nicely. Put some effort into it.

5. Wings, Wings and More Wings
I can write a whole blog about wings as there are so many variations on how to make them. For my last party, I made, Battered BBQ Wings, Buffalo wings and naked wings to accommodate all preferences.  A 10 pound bag of wings at Coscto’s usually cost less than $16.00 so that is about $1.60 a pounds. If I wanted to, I could even save more money and big the wings by the case at the local Asian stores.  Obviously the $16.00 bag is more than the $10.00 budget, but its 10 pounds! You can split the bag and prepare it for 2 different parties, so that comes out to about $8.00 for 5 pounds.

Since there are so many variables, its hard to give an estimate on how much the wings will cost in the end. If its naked, of course it will cost less than the Buffalo wings that require Hot Sauce and side of Bleu cheese and celery.  If you bake them or slow cook them, they will costs less than deep frying them since you don’t need to buy extra oil.

6. Frozen Wholesale Club Appetizers

I’m a huge fan of frozen appetizers. My family usually gets jalapeno poppers, crab cakes, coconut shrimp and my friend Chuba never disappoints at his parties.  He always has an array of pigs in the blanket and an assortment of pastry puffs.  For less than $ 20.00, you can get a box of frozen Hor D’oeuvres from Costco’s with 70-120 pieces per box.  Again, you will have to split the box into 2 parties to achieve the “less than $10.00” goal.  Again, you are bringing A dish to the party, not hosting it.

My new favorite frozen food is Nancy’s Petite Quiche.  Not only are the delicious, but they are also vegetarian, which helps fulfill the gaps for my Vegetarian friends.  There was a coupon for this month, so I think I ended up paying $11.00 for the box of 72 pieces which I served at 36 pcs at 2 different events.

7. French Bread Pizza

Rachel Ray’s French Bread Pizza

Not sure where this recipe came from, I vaguely remembering my sister introducing it to me.
Slice 2 loaves of French Bread into 2 lengthwise long slices
Spread Hunts Tomato Sauce on the bread to cover all the white
Sprinkle Mozzarella Cheese to the 4 slices
French Bread: (2) x $ 1.50= $3.00
Hunts Tomato Sauce (2) x 1.50= 3.00
1 Bag (2 cups) of Mozzarella Cheese (1) x 2.99= $3.00
Total: $9.00
Optional: Add Pepperoni, Sausages or Peppers and Onions for extra costs

To be Continued

Mo’s Birthday Feast" "Surf & Turf"

Mami Eggroll’s Baked Stuffed Lobsters

The Mo didn’t want to have a big extravagant bash for his 30th birthday party but I still wanted to do something nice for him.

Instead of spending tons of money on a fancy dinner in town, I attempted to whip up a Surf and Turf meal on a budget.  I was inspired by this idea by Market Basket since they were running a special this week on lobster at $4.99 a pound.

Tonight we feasted on baked stuffed lobsters, Delmonico steak, homemade crabcakes, seared scallops drizzled in lobster bisque, and Cesar salad with fresh parmesan cheese.

I also was going to bake fresh rolls, but I forgot to with all the other dishes I had to prepare. I finally realized I forgot the rolls as we were sitting down for dinner.

The cost of this meal was about $60.00 including a cheap bottle of wine.  I still could have save some money if I substituted some of the ingredients but I didn’t want to trade off quality and flavor.  I looked up the prices of lower end seafood restaurants for comparison purposes and our meal at a decent restaurant would have set us back $120.00 minimum.

Of course you don’t get the ambiance and waiter service of a restaurant, but I thought the savings was worth it.  We can use the $60.00 towards my birthday meal or our anniversary meal.

Baked Stuffed Lobsters

Canned Crab Meat (Found in the seafood department) roughly $13.99 for 1 lb

2 Sleeves of Ritz Crackers

Crushed Crackers for Seafood Stuffing

Combine Crabmeat, crumbled crackers and seasoning

Steam lobsters and split in the middle (without going through)

Stuff lobsters and place on broiler pan and bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees

Garnish with lemon and fresh parsley and serve with drawn butter

Mami’s Crabcakes

Same base as seafood stuffing but add onions, egg and mayonnaise

Pan fry lightly on each side for 4 minutes, serve with horseradish sauce

Easy Caesar Salad

Romaine Heats, Cherry Tomatoes, Garlic Croutons and Fresh Shaved Parmasean

Seared Scallops 

Blanched Baby Spinach

Legal Sea Foods Lobster Bisque (Can be found in the seafood department)

Sear scallops in butter for 2 minutes on each side then serve on a bed of spinach. Drizzle with lobster bisque

Delmonico Steak

Marinated with Montreal Steak seasoning, soy sauce and olive oil

I forgot to take a picture of the after product, but pretty much I seared the steak for 2 minutes on high heat on each side then placed it under the broiler for 6 minutes.  If the weather was warmer, I would have grilled it outside.

I also cheated and bought the single baked potato from Wendy’s for a little over $1.00.  With so many dishes to prep, I didn’t have the time to spend on baking a single potato.

I had the steak and the lobsters both in the oven at once.. gotta love the double oven.. one was on broil and the other was on convection bake.

Bringing Brown’s to Lowell

Our friend Mark introduced us to Brown’s a few years ago.  We spent the whole day at Hampton Beach and we finished it with a casual seafood dinner at Brown’s Lobster Pound in Seabrook, NH.  The place was packed and the wait for a table was about 30-45 minutes.  They offer fresh live lobsters that you can choose the size and have prepared anyway you want.  Their steams and fried seafood is also extremely popular.  

I did like the fact that it was B.Y.O.B so we went to the nearby convenience store and grabbed a six pack for the two of us.  Since that year, it has become a tradition for us to go there at least once a year, usually after a long day at the beach. 

Brown’s Lobster Pound  Seabrook, NH

With having such a chaotic schedule this summer, we never got a chance to go to Brown’s this year.  To get my seafood fix, I decided to attempt at making my own fried seafood platter.  I picked up a pound of scallops and large shrimps from Market Basket.  I dipped the seafood into Milk then lightly coated it with McCormick’s Seafood Fry Mix and set it aside for 5 minutes while my oil was heating.  After the oil was heated, I fried the seafood for about 4 minutes and removed it from the frying pan.  

The recipe was really easy, I just followed the instructions on the batter box.

The Mo’s Seafood Platter

Mamie Eggroll’s Salad topped with Scallop and Shrimp

As a side, I used Alexia’s Panko Breaded Onion Rings.

"Game Night" Catered by "Tar-Jay"

Today, I ran out of all purpose flour and needed to make a quick run to refill my stash. I didn’t want to deal with the lines and parking at the Chelmsford Market Basket so I went to Target on Plain Street instead.  The original plan was to be in and out of the store in 5 minutes or less with a sack of flour.  Little did I know, I would be walking out of the store with a carriage full of groceries.

Rule #1 – NEVER GO FOOD SHOPPING ON AN EMPTY STOMACH!


As I browsed the “pantry” section in Target, I walked by some freezers with red clearance labels that caught my eye.  I opened the freezer door to find a variety of frozen appetizers and hors d’oeuvres that were on clearance. I assumed they were about to expire, but upon checking the date, they were all good until 2012.  I checked all the other freezers and there were other items like frozen juices, fries and frozen vegetables on clearance.

20 Minutes Later, I was at home, unloading my trunk with 10 bags of Red Bullseye bags with 41 items and a $51.00 receipt.

I pretty much stocked up for my next party or “game night” spending ONLY  $51.00 and now all I have to do is ask people to BYOB which they usually already do.

Here’s what I will be serving at the next game night:

• 36 Archer Farm’s Spinach and Artichoke Mini Broche
• 48 Archer Farm’s Sweet Savory Collection Puffs
• 36 Archer Farm’s Chicken & Feta Phyllo Pastry
• 32 Steak Taquitos
• 32 Chicken Taquitos
• 28 Chimichanga
• 18 Fried Ravioli
• 30 Pizza Rolls
• 4 Smart Ones Brownies A La Mode For Guest that are counting points 🙂 
• Alexia Onion Rings
• Alexia Sweet Potato Fries (The Mo’s Favorite)

If you plan on coming, bring your Tums!

I know you are probably thinking, “I can get the same thing at any wholesale club and probably for a better deal! I know they have the Mexican frozen assortment box and the puff pastry assortment box, I’m well aware of it. I think if I was to buy in bulk all the above, I would have too much food and spend more than $50.00. Also, you saw my previous post, I try to avoid Costco’s. Plus, I like the Archer Farm’s brand.. I kinda feel a little fancy.

I also got a bunch of frozen concentrated juice mix for making large batches of alcohol for my parties. I find it tastier to mix alcohol with concentrated juice or crystal light and add only a fraction of the water.

Wild Berry Juice Concentrate– I use this for in sangria along with frozen or fresh fruits, cheap cognac and a big bottle of cheap port wine.

Limonade  Concentrate– this makes for a great Margarita base, just add tequila, a little bit of water, and fresh lime.

Orange Concentrate– this makes for a great mixer for Sex on the Beach. The unflavored vodka dilutes the flavor of the juices, so having a concentrated orange flavor helps in addition to the triple sec or Cointreau