spaghetti with meat sauce - one step closer to becoming an italian grandmother

Growing up, I've never had much of an affinity for Italian food. Perhaps it was just an acquired tasted, or perhaps Hawai'i wasn't a top producer of quality Italian food (shocker). Either way, since my relocation to New York, I have more than learned to love Italian food- I've actually emotionally become an old Italian grandmother trying to feed everyone in sight. Speaking of grandmothers, I have recently found myself in the middle of bumblefuck South Dakota. Can you guess what I cooked up for her on my first day there? ...Italian!


I found myself in a bit of a rut, though. For anyone not familiar with people from the midwest, about 95% of them lack any tastebuds. The concept of "steak and potatoes" originated here.. and I don't expect they're talking about seasoned fillet mignon or herb encrusted potatoes. I literally mean they're the blandest of the bland.


To solve my dilemma, I knew I had to resort to the basics. Thinking that my midwesterner grandmother (who is full German, by the way) would know what penne alla vodka or baked ziti was, would practically be unheard of. Instead, I suppose basic conventional spaghetti and meat sauce will do... (I really do hate dumbing my cooking talents down).


Just because I had to restrain my skills and be forced to cook this mundane meal didn't mean I couldn't make it pretty and shit.


But alas- once you dig your fork into the spaghetti, all the prettiness subsides. What is left is an intermingled pile of Italian deliciousness. Even with the fact that all extra spices were subdued (half the amount of garlic, no inclusion of pepper or pepper flakes, etc.), the meat sauce turned out surprisingly delicious (as well as Italian-grandmother approved).


Now, I may never get the chance to be the Italian grandmother I pretend to be, but I'm damn near close. Give me a few years to catch up, and I'll be giving them a run for their money.

rice noodles with beef - a quick nameless last supper

My last night here in Orange County was an exhausting one. Packing was hectic enough, but trying to make sure I accomplished all my goals while being here was even more worrisome (I was here for only a mere 5 days). In the midst of attempting to share all my stories with my family, along with gaining all the knowledge I could from my grandparents, I did something I rarely ever do- I forgot about food. How could something like that happen to me of all people?


Luckily, I was surrounded by other food-conscious people (my entire family, actually). My aunt was already one step ahead of the game by preparing an easy yet equally tasty final dinner for me.


Before I begin and make this sound even more awkward, I have to tell you- I have no idea what this dish is called. I do recall them telling me, so it must have a name; but I just can't think of it at the moment. Whatever it's referred to as, the gist of this meal is basically this: Rice noodles, ground beef, stock, and accoutrement.


While everyone was running doing their assigned jobs, I stopped to take a moment and observe this little corner in the kitchen. There it was- a peculiar grating gadget and a beautiful chunk of raw ginger. I hunched over and took a photo of this amazing sight, only to be startled when my aunt turned around and asked me what the hell I was doing. Well, apparently I appreciate the little things in life- literally. I love taking an overlooked unimportant object and elevating it to the status of a beautiful piece of art. I sound cheesy, I know.


As typical dishes I've tasted at my grandmother's house, it begins by building the foundation. First is always the noodles/rice, with the soup/broth poured on top. These rice noodles may look strange and albino, but honestly they're delicious enough to be eaten alone. Plopped atop these mock fettuccine noodles is a heaping amount of ground beef (properly seasoned, of course).


The brothy soup gets added along with the desired greens. And voila- an easy dinner that satisfied the stomach and still gave everyone enough time to do what they needed.

super bowl - cheesy bacon mini slider burgers - my boyfriend doing what he does best

Burgers just seemed fitting for a Super Bowl party... And better yet, mini slider burgers sounded even better. I let my boyfriend (who is a 99% carnivore) handle the meat and all that manly stuff. I can't emphasize this enough- but I'm a horrible cook. No, wait- I can actually follow directions flawlessly- I just can't improvise. So this is why I let my talented boyfriend take over in this department; but my only request was that it be cheesy. Knowing him and his personal tastes, I didn't doubt that it would indeed be cheesy as well as delicious.


How my boyfriend comes up with these ideas are beyond me. He decided to make a cheese spread to top the patties. A combination of cheeses and god knows what else got mixed into the food processor and mixed with crumbled cooked bacon (delicious alone might I add). What befuddles me is that he makes these things up from his head. I have to like research recipes for days to come to a conclusive idea as to how to make things.


While I was busy decorating cookies, my boyfriend readied the patties. (Obviously these were created by him, because we know I wouldn't create uneven sized patties... Not saying it's wrong- it's just not how I roll.)


Once again- I'm perplexed as to how he created these little gems. I mean, I've tasted many burgers in my lifetime (most of which ehhh- not so good), but honest to goodness, these were delectable. And that's saying a lot from me because I'm not much of a "meat" person.


The beef was cooked perfectly (I hate overcooked meat) and the spread gave the perfect creaminess (I didn't even need mustard- and I'm a mustard freak!).


If I ever doubted the abilities of my boyfriend before, this burger made up for that, and then some.


I hope to one day be as inventive as my boyfriend and learn to improvise while cooking. (At the same time, I also hope he learns how to follow directions while baking so I don't lose my cool like last time, hehe.)

super bowl - crab cakes - contrary to belief, i did help make these

As an appetizer for our Super Bowl party, my boyfriend suggested we make crab cakes. Now, I'm not much of a seafood person at all, but I've always enjoyed crab cakes for the most part. As soon as I was certain that crab cakes were on our menu, I started searching far and wide for crab cake recipes. My boyfriend, on the other hand, said not to worry, and that he'd make it up as he went along. This is the thing that I admire most about my boyfriend- that he is capable of "winging it" when it comes to cooking. I, being incapable of such a feat, would have to read the recipe thoroughly and then follow it precisely. I hope to one day attain that magical "feel" for cooking.


First of course we needed the lump crab meat. We bought a total of 2 pounds of crab meat, and in my head I began calculating necessary amounts of ingredients to accompany this amount. My boyfriend, yet again, assured me that he'd be able to make these crab cakes sans recipe.


In the time it had taken me to precisely and finely chop 1/4 of a red bell pepper, my boyfriend had already prepared the majority of the crab cake mixture. I couldn't tell you what exactly all went into this mixture, nor the amounts, but it appeared to contain bread crumbs, Old Bay, Dijon mustard, seasonings, mayo possibly... I'm not even sure what else.


On the day of the Super Bowl we pulled out our crab cake mixture and began assembling. I noticed that it looked a little wet and didn't seem like it would stick together much. I suggested we add a handful more bread crumbs and also an egg (I noticed that most recipes online used egg, probably as a binder). So basically that was my entire contribution to these crab cakes (oh, and also the chopping of the bell pepper).


A dredging station was set up, complete with flour, eggs, and panko bread crumbs. (He found a huge jar of panko at Costco and insisted he must have it. I think it was really only because it had the words "Iron Chef" written on it.)


The crab cakes were prepared, set aside, and then fried in the pan (all of which, done by my lovely boyfriend).


These crab cakes were massive by the way (I wouldn't expect any less from my boyfriend, lol).


The outside was perfectly coated and had just the right amount of crunch, whereas the inside was moist and tender.


I really gotta hand it to you babe, you made one hell of a crab cake.


The dipping sauce that accompanied these crab cakes was just as delicious.


Now, of course, I can't let my boyfriend take all the credit for these- I was the one who suggested more bread crumbs and the egg! And of course, let us not forget who did the spectacular chopping of the bell pepper.

---RECIPE---
Made by my imaginative boyfriend. (Amounts are rough estimates. I made him recite the recipe to me about a week after he made these so he sort of forgot some things.)

ingredients for the crab cake:
2 pounds lump crab meat
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon mustard powder
2 tablespoon garlic powder
3 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
3 tablespoon honey Dijon mustard
A little lemon juice
A little sprinkle of parmesan cheese
1 egg
1+1/2 cup breadcrumbs
Enough mayo to combine
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped finely
Salt and pepper to taste

ingredients for frying the crab cakes:
flour
eggs, beated
panko bread crumbs
oil, for frying

directions:
1. Mix everything in a large bowl until fully combined.
2. Form 4 inch patties and place to the side.
3. Get 3 dishes ready- one for the flour, one for the egg, and one for the Panko breadcrumbs. Dip each crab cake in the flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Set them aside.
4. Put some oil in a pan and cook crab cakes for a few minutes on each side.