Homemade Pita Bread

Today's blog post is inspired by leftovers. Yes. Leftovers. Mr. Incredible is not a picky eater, but he does have this thing about leftovers. He doesn't eat them unless they've been "reincarnated" as another dish. This forces me to be more creative in the kitchen. You should have seen some of the leftovers I totally went Iron Chef on (the majority of them are not worth mentioning). In the end, they usually end up served with jasmine rice, a fried egg on top with a good dousing of Sriracha sauce.

I have been wanting to make pita bread and saw this as the perfect opportunity to try a carbohydrate, besides rice, with a meal ;) Last night's leftover steak has been reinvented as ...I wasn't sure what to call this... Steak stuffed pita bread.

Fried Stuffed Mushrooms

Back in April I decided to take a short two week break from food photography and food blogging. Before I knew it, two weeks turned into months. My sincere apologies. I have missed you LPB!

Ok, let's fry something, shall we? This recipe is inspired the jumbo shroom appetizers I gorged on during many happy hours at Hoolihans. These go great with their liter sized long island iced teas :)

Fried Stuffed Mushrooms Recipe

Filling
8 oz onion and chive flavored cream cheese
1/4 ts. garlic powder
1/4 ts. cayenne pepper
1/2 ts. salt
1/4 ts. pepper
1 ts. Tabasco sauce, optional
 20 large button mushrooms

Coating
1, 8oz package Panko bread crumbs
3 beaten eggs
1 cup flour

Oil for deep frying

Start with clean mushrooms.

Separate the stem from the mushroom cap by gently wiggling the stem back and forth. It should pop out. Do this for all the mushrooms, then set aside.

Mix the cream cheese, garlic powder, cayenne, Tabasco, salt, and pepper until thoroughly combined.

Take a heaping teaspoon full of the cream cheese filling and stuff  it inside the cap. Continue stuffing all the mushrooms.

Take 3 bowls. Fill the first bowl with the flour, fill the second bowl with the beaten egg and the third bowl with the Panko bread crumbs.

Dredge the mushroom cap in flour and shake off the excess.

Next, dip the mushroom in the beaten egg, making sure the entire mushroom is coated.

Last, coat it with the bread crumbs. (Note, if you like a thick, crunchy coating like I do, then re-dip the mushrooms back into the egg and then the bread crumbs for a second time).

Finish coating all the mushrooms and then let it sit for 10 minutes to set the coating. After 10 minutes, put the mushrooms in the freezer for 30 minutes. I like to think this helps set the cream cheese so it doesn't ooze out in the hot oil.

Heat your oil on medium heat.

Fry until golden brown.

Best when served hot with lemons.

Junior's Cheesecake

Fill in the blanks game...ready?

1. "I'd rather eat a ____________ than a ______________"

2. "My ___________ has improved remarkably since ______________"

3. "_________ will keep us ________________"

4. " Wow, I wish I wouldn’t have bought that ____________"

5. "I wish cheesecake went straight to my _____________  instead of my _____________ ."

Kahlua Milkshake

You won't believe what I heard today.

Word on the street is that Rum and Kahlua are BFFs.

Johnny Walker heard it from Baily who told Jack Daniel who may have mentioned it to Skyy who turned around and told Jim Beam and Jose Cuervo. Vanilla Breyer said she didn't care because she's good friends with both of them...scandalous.

Tiramisu Cake and Le Petit Brioche's first birthday!

I starting food blogging as a way of documenting the recipes I enjoyed making and eating. Along the way, I've developed friendships with many talented home bakers and cooks who share the same passion for food and food pornography photography. They've inspired me to try new dishes and be more creative with my own.

Thank you to my blog followers and friends who stop by to check out the new recipes. Your kind comments always make my day a little brighter.

In honor of this occasion, I made one of my favorite desserts in cake form. Tiramisu cake. Layers of sponge cake are soaked with a coffee-sugar syrup spiked with Kahlua then topped with mascarpone filling.

Heavenly!

Tonkatsu and a haiku

Tonkatsu is a popular pork dish from Japan. The meat is usually salted, peppered, dredged lightly in flour, dipped into beaten egg and then coated with panko (breadcrumbs) before being deep fried.

I've enjoyed this dish at different Japanese restaurants, but had yet to make it at home. My first time turned out to be easier and tastier than I thought. So tasty in fact, it inspired me to write a haiku. Like to hear it? Here it goes...

succulent pork bits

fried golden to perfection

it's tonkatsu-per

It's good right? There's more where that came from...

if pork was a place

i would pack right now and go

and never look back

add salt and pepper

atop the succulent pork

set aside to rest

all purpose flour

four eggs and panko bread crumbs

dredge the pork in each

why do panko crumbs

make everything taste better?

i am too Asian

fry in hot oil

flip when crust is golden brown

cook two more minutes

sweet tonkatsu sauce

hot jasmine rice and lemons

it's tonkats-yummers!

Tonkatsu

4 boneless pork chops, thin sliced

1 cup of flour

4 eggs

2 cups of panko bread crumbs

salt and pepper 

oil for frying

Sauce

from allrecipes.com

1 cup ketchup

4 teaspoons mustard powder

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper the pork chops. Dredge pork chops in flour then dip in the beaten egg. Coat with panko crumbs, dip in the egg mixture again, then coat with another layer of panko crumbs. Lay coated chops on a plate until the rest are finished. If you have time, let them set for about 10 minutes and the coating will set very well. If you wish to freeze the chops, now is the time. 

When the oil is hot, place pork chops into the pan, and fry for about 2.5 minutes on each side, until golden brown.

Sauce

In a small bowl, stir together the ketchup, mustard powder, garlic powder, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to blend the flavors before serving.

Sticky Spicy Honey Garlic Wings

I'm ready to put away the heavy down comfortor.

I'm ready to put on a pastel colored cardigan over a light floral dress.

I'm ready to jump on a banana seat bike for a leisurely ride down the block.

I'm ready to look for four leaf clovers and pick daffodils in the park.



Spring I'm ready for you.  Oh yes.

You know what else I'm ready for? These delectable wings. Serve with steamed jasmine rice and stir fried broccoli.   

Sticky Spicy Honey Garlic Wings

Adapted from MomWhoCooks via Allrecipes.com

24 chicken wings, split
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons sriracha hot chili sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons honey, or more if you like a sweeter sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Directions

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Mix together the brown sugar, garlic, chili sauce, 1/2 cup water, honey, and soy sauce.

Arrange the chicken wings in a baking dish; pour sauce over the chicken wings and cover with foil. Bake for 25 minutes, or until cooked through.

Take wings out of the oven and pour the cooking juices into a saucepan; bring to a boil. Mix cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water together and add to the sauce. Cook until thickened.

Set oven to broil on Hi. The rack should be positioned in the middle of the oven.

Pour the thickened sauce back over the wings and return to oven. Broil until sauce is golden and bubbly.