Chinese Pork Ribs

Years ago while I was living in San Diego, my church women's group created a cook book.  Everyone submitted their favorite recipes and we had them spiral bound.  After the book was complete we had a tasting party and everyone brought their best loved dishes to share.  These pork ribs were among those dishes.  They were delicious!  The secret to these is the simple perfect sauce!

Let me tell you just how easy this meal is!

First lay about 1-2 pounds of country style pork ribs in a pan.  Combine worcestershire sauce, vinegar, sugar and soy and pour over the ribs.

Bring to a boil, reduce to medium-low heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes depending on the cut of your meat.  You want them to be slightly pink in the middle.  If you overcook them they will be dry!  Remove lid, turn heat to high and thicken the sauce.  Turn the ribs occasionally to coat.  Once sauce is the consistency of syrup remove from heat.  Slice pork.  Serve pork and sauce over steamed white rice and garnish with green onions.

Chinese Pork Ribs

Chinese Pork Ribs

Ingredients

1-2 pounds country style pork ribs

4 tbsp rice

vinegar

4 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup white sugar (white works too)

green onions for garnish (optional)

Directions

Add all ingredients to a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer over medium-low heat, turning ribs occasionally for 45 minutes or until ribs are slightly pink in the middle.

Uncover, turn to high and cook until the sauce thickens to the consistency of syrup, turning ribs to coat. Be sure to watch carefully so they don't burn.

Remove from heat, slice and serve over steamed rice.

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Creamy Shrimp Risotto

When I think of risotto, the immediate scene that enters my mind is one from a Hell's Kitchen episode where all the contestants were to make risotto. The judge then went around and tasted each risotto, and when he got to one particular girl, he took one bite and threw it across the room, shouting, "Risotto?! This isn't risotto! This is mushy sludge! I wouldn't feed this to my dog!!"

(this is obviously edited to make it family-friendly)

Cue insta-tears from said Hell's Kitchen hopeful.

Risotto can be tricky to get right, but truly, unless you're like a Gordon Ramsey psycho-prodigy in the kitchen, this will be a party in your mouth no matter what.

The key is lotsa stirring. Consider it your bicep's friend. The Arborio rice has a high starch content, so that when it's cooked (correctly), it results in a creamy dish without having to add much fat.

But fat, we shall add. In the form of cheese. If you must, you may reduce the amount of parmesan cheese you add and it will still be fabulous.

Rice and cheese. Seriously, what could go wrong?

 First, dice your garlic and onions, then sauté in butter and EVOO. Best of both worlds.

Toss in your thawed (or fresh) jumbo, deveined, uncooked, shell-off shrimp. 

Now if you have an aversion to shrimp, you can sub chicken, or go protein-less. Sometimes I actually prefer a pure risotto. Something about mouthfuls of creamy, cheesy, soft rice without interruption screams bliss at me.

Anyway, for tender, non-rubberized shrimp, you must only cook it for the minimal amount of time. We're talking several minutes here, and that's it. This means that as soon as you start to see that those little suckers are opaque and pink, they are done. Remove them from the pan or else you will complain about the shrimp. Complaining should never be in the same sentence with shrimp. That is oxymoronic my friends. I repeat, remove, and set aside.

 To the onion and garlic, add 1 c Arborio rice, Cook 2 minutes, then you're going to add in the first cup of your broth. Stir. Stir. Stir. Stir until you have a low simmer and most of the liquid is absorbed. I probably stirred about another minute after taking this picture before adding the next cup of broth. Continue this process (1 c broth at a time) until all 7-8 c broth are in and absorbed into the rice, and the rice is soft and tender with a tiny bit of a bite in the middle. This will probably take about 20 minutes (stirring most of the time). 

If you have older kids, this is a good punishment, er, activity for them to do. Or bring your laptop to the kitchen counter and catch up on your shows. Or debate politics, religion, or Les Mis with dinner guests.

Either way, you're bound for some lengthy conversation.

 The final risotto should be 'soupier' than your normal rice dish. On a plate, it should spread significantly, yet still keep some shape. This (and the rice texture) is how you gauge how much liquid to add, keeping in mind you will be adding cheese (which will thin it out a bit and make it more 'spreadable'). After the rice is done, slowly add in a little of the freshly-grated parmesan cheese at a time and stir until incorporated. Continue until all of the cheese is mixed in. 

Return the shrimp  to the pan, and add in the peas. Season with salt to taste, then top with freshly-cracked black pepper and chives.

Take that, Gordon Ramsay.

Creamy Shrimp Risotto

Ingredients

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 white onion, diced

1 T EVOO

1 T butter

1 pound jumbo, deveined, uncooked, shell-off shrimp

1 pound Arborio rice

7-8 c chicken broth

2 c parmesan cheese (freshly grated)

1/2 c sweet peas

chives to top

Directions

1. Saute the garlic and onion in EVOO and butter over medium heat.

2. Add in shrimp, and cook until just barely opaque and light pink.

3. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside.

4. Add rice to sauted garlic and onions, stir and cook for 1 minute.

5. Reduce heat to a low simmer, and pour in 1 c broth while stirring. Continue to stir until all of the broth is absorbed.

6. Add in remaining broth 1 c at a time, ensuring each cup is absorbed before adding the next.

7. Rice should be 'al dente'. Slowly mix in cheese a little bit at a time, then peas, and finally shrimp. Heat for 1-2 minutes while stirring until all combined.

8. Salt as needed, top with fresh-cracked black pepper and chives.

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Chicken and Rice with Crispy Onion Strings

This. Is. Comfort food.

Creamy rice, soft and hearty veggies, juicy chicken thighs, and salty onion strings.

I've had this basic recipe for a while now, and every time I make it I am pleasantly surprised how delicious this simple meal with simple ingredients is. The leftovers are also just as good, and soul-warming on a cool, fall day. Leftover turkey would also substitute the chicken perfectly.

Preheat your oven to 350'.

Heat 1 t EVOO in a large pot. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper and cook a couple minutes on each side until lightly browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.

*If you're using leftover turkey instead of the chicken, you'll skip this step. Obvi.

Add another 1 t EVOO to the pot and throw in your veggies, saute for a couple of minutes until they've softened a bit.

Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. In the pan, pour your chicken broth, rice, bouillon, salt and pepper, and parmesan cheese. Mix it up all nice and mixified.

Bouillon. A lot of bouillon out there has MSG in it. With all of the controversial studies out there on the stuff, I prefer to stay away from it. This stuff has been just perfect! Found it at Sprouts.

 Freshly shredded parm. 

Is there a better cheese out there freshly shredded? I submit that there is not.

Spoon the veggies onto the rice and broth mixture in the 9x13 pan, then snuggle the chicken (or leftover turkey) in among the rice and veggies. Cover pan with foil and bake 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.

Now for the guilty pleasure of the dish, the crispy onion strings topping.

Not only are these fabulous on top of the dish, but the huge plate of onion rings was quite divine.

I may or may not have eaten most of them and only hoped to have enough leftover to top the rice dish.

Start out by slicing the onion into thin little slices, then soak in buttermilk at least an hour.

In a bowl, mix your flour, salt, cayenne, garlic powder, and paprika.

 Heat up your vegetable or canola oil in a large, deep frying pan on medium heat to 375 degrees or until when you flick water into the oil, it immediately starts sizzling. If it's not hot enough, the coating will fall off and you'll have slimy, oily onions. Blech.

The other key is to fry small batches at a time. If you do too much, they all cling to one another, lower the temperature too much, and again, you'll have slimy, oily onions.

Blech.

Dip the buttermilked onions into the flour mixture (small batches) and coat onions well.

Gently place them in the oil, and they should immediately start sizzling.

Once the bottoms are starting to brown, flip onions over.

When they're done, take those crispy babies out and place on a plate covered with layered paper towels.

Taste them (for seasoning purposes only of course), and add salt while they're still hot if they need it.

 Top the chicken and rice dish with the crispy onion strings.

Try to stop staring at the golden, salty, crispy nuggets of onion.

Chicken and rice with crispy onion strings

Ingredients

2 t extra virgin olive oil

6 chicken thighs (or leftover turkey)

salt and pepper

1/2 yellow onion

1 c peeled mini carrots

1 c fresh green beans

1 c mushrooms

4 cloves garlic, diced

2 c chicken broth

1 c rice

2 t chicken bouillon

salt and pepper

1 c freshly-grated parmesan

1 yellow onion

2 c buttermilk

2 c flour

2 t salt

1/4 t cayenne

1 t garlic powder

1/2 t paprika

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute chicken in oil until lightly browned on the outside, set aside.

Saute veggies in oil for a couple of minutes.

Grease 9x13 pan, pour in broth, rice, bouillon, salt and pepper, and parmesan. Mix well.

Place veggies on top of broth and rice mixture, then add chicken (or leftover turkey).

Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes, or until rice is tender.

Slice onions for onion strings thin, then soak in buttermilk for at least an hour.

Heat oil in frying pan to 375 degrees.

Mix flour, salt, cayenne, garlic powder, and paprika in bowl. Coat onion slices in flour mixture, then (in small batches) place onions into oil and fry until lightly browned. Let dry on paper towel-lined plate.

Top chicken and rice with onion strings.

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Frito Chicken

*do not be mistaken! this recipe is Amy Jo's, I just took some pictures after I made it last night. So yummy. 

This meal is always a hit, especially with kids, and is so super easy. You've got to try it...you'll love it!

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1 can mexican stewed tomatoes
1 can diced green chilies
1 can cream of chicken soup
grated cheese
rice of your choosing
Frito chips

Directions:
Dice & saute the chicken.
Add tomatoes, chilies, and soup. Let it all simmer while rice cooks.
Layer rice, fritos, chicken mixture, and then top it with cheese. Yum! (sorry...no pictures)

Pictures, and typing from here on are by Des.

 I had a hard time finding the right kind of tomatoes at the store I was at. So I got these. They turned out very similar to the ones Amy uses. It was less spicy- hot wise.

 My daughter had just had fritos for lunch, so she opted to use tortilla chips. It was REALLY good like that too. So if you have those chips and not fritos- don't fret.

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Rumbi Island Grill {copycat recipe}

*updated: 10/18/12

Rumbi Island Grill was one of my favorite places to go in college. It sat next to another one of our favorite restaurants- Noodles & Co. (eh? Eh?!). I alway got/get the half steak/half grilled chicken bowl. Newt changed it up sometimes, but usually the bowl. I mean, for a whole $7.50 you get a ton of tasty, healthy food.

ah, those evenings of sitting on their patio.... good times.

So, 1.5 years ago when family favorite recipes posted a copycat recipe to their bowls I was very Excited to see it. like SUPER excited.

It was good, but not exactly like theirs...but not living anywhere near a rumbi it had to do.

Over the 1.5 years I now have my own way of making it.

This recipe is adapted from Family favorite recipes

Rumbi Rice Teriyaki Bowl

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 cups carrots chopped

3 celery stalks, washed and sliced

2 zucchini, chopped into small cubes (yellow and green mix it up:)

1  c. chopped broccoli florets 

3 grilled chicken breasts- cut into small cubes

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrots, celery, zucchini, and broccoli.

 Sauté until vegetables are crisp tender. About 5 minutes tops. Serve over Rumbi rice and top with chicken. Serve with Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce on the side

Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce

Ingredients

1 c. Mr. Yoshida's teriyaki sauce (found in the grocery store by the BBQ sauces)

1 tsp. soy sauce

1/2-2 tsp. chili garlic sauce (in the Asian section of the grocery store.. we used the one in the clear plastic jar with the green lid -- if you want to make it spicier.. add more of this to the sauce) ~I just did 1 tsp.

1 tsp. fresh ginger

pinch of salt

1 Tbsp of brown sugar

1/2 tsp. garlic

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

2 Tbsp. cold water

Instructions

Combine Yoshida's, soysauce, garlic sauce, ginger, salt, and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Combine cornstarch and water in a seperate bowl and SLOWLY add to sauce for thickening. You want it to be slightly thicker than the Yoshida's sauce. Allow to simmer for about a minute. Cool to room temperature and serve with your rice bowls. (If you find that the sauce is too thick when it cools, just add a little more Yoshida's to it)

Typically I swear by THIS coconut rice. but I do really like this recipe when combining rice.sauce.and veggies.

Hawaiian Coconut Rice with Red Beans (aka Rumbi Rice)

Ingredients

2 c. long grain white rice

2 1/2 c. water

1 (14oz) can coconut milk (about 1 1/2 c.)

1/2 Tbsp. sugar

1 can red beans, drained and rinsed

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a rice cooker. Gently stir it all together so the beans are all mixed. Place the lid on and start the rice cooker. Fluff rice with a fork before serving.

If you don't have a rice cooker... Combine water, coconut milk, and sugar in a saucepan. Stir in rice and beans. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 18 to 20 minutes, until rice is tender.

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Baked Tomato Risotto

I just love a good creamy risotto. 'Risotto' is style of cooking rice so that it is more creamy. The creamy happens because the rice is cooked in some type of broth and it releases starches making the entire dish thicken and become creamy. Long grain rice doesn't work so well for this. Short grained rice, particularly Arborio rice is the best. SO if you wanted to make a simple pot of arborio rice, you simmer some rice and veggie or meat broth and stir and stir adding more broth with the liquid is absorbed until rice is tender! Do it with a wooden spoon. The texture of the wood helps to rub the rice and release more starch, making more creamy deliciousnesses going on. That simple creamy rice is perfect. 

Now that you have the gist of what arborio rice is it's marriage to risotto.. here is one of my favorite risottos. It is simple and fast and only a tiny bit of mixing going on compared to more risotto recipes.
 To start, wash your squash and cut length wise and then in slices. Then Chop chop.

Combine with marinara sauce, chicken/veggie broth and rice in a greased casserole dish.  

Pop it in the oven at 350 covered. After 30 minutes, stir in 1 cup of the Mozzarella cheese. Bake another 20 minutes. Uncover top with remaining cheese and bake another 10 minutes uncovered. If you want a skinny version, half the cheese or simple get rid of it. The cheese is not necessary but is dern good. Isn't that always the way cheese is?! If something is lacking.. sprinkle a lil cheese and bam. Perfect. Bam... my thighs! not so perfect. 

Baked Tomato Risotto

Ingredients

2 medium zucchini or yellow sqaush

1 (28 oz) jar spaghetti sauce

1 can (14 oz) chicken broth

1 can (4 oz) mushroom slices

1 cup Arborio Rice

2 cups (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Cut zucchini length wise in half then in slices. Combine with spaghetti sauce, broth, mushrooms and rice in a sprayed 3 qrt. dish. Bake covered for 30 mins at 350 degs. Remove from oven and stir in 1 cup of cheese. Cover and bake for another 30 mins. Remove from oven, top with cheese and place back in over for 5-10 mins to melt cheese and until rice is tender.

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Coconut Rice

cook desired amount of rice: For one can of coconut milk I like to use 1 1/2-3 cups of uncooked rice.

set aside

In a small sauce pan boil one can of coconut milk, 1/2 cup of sugar, pinch of salt.

When it reaches a boil, remove from heat and stir into your cooked rice.

I like to let mine rest for a while. 5-10 minutes.

Serve! very yummy.

I love to eat this along side of my lettuce wraps, or the Mongolian Beef on top.

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Decadent Hawaiian Haystacks

It's all in the sauce with Hawaiian Haystacks!

You can make this either in your crock pot or last minute- either way it is a hit.

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 can of milk (you can add less if you like your gravy more thick)

1/2 package of room temp cream cheese

1/2 package of italian dressing mix

4 chicken breast shredded

fresh ground pepper

either cook all in a crock pot or heat first 4 ingredients and then add cooked chicken.

serve over rice (coconut rice is soo yummy)

then add the following to the top: trust me...as weird as it sounds its delicious!

* denotes it's a MUST, the rest are just options

crunchy chow mein noodles*

pineapple*

Cheese*

shredded carrots

diced tomatoes

cilantro

olives

celery

green onions

I've also known people to put one: sunflower seeds, green peppers etc. anything goes :)

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