I know you've all probably had a simply tuna fish sandwich-- some canned tuna slapped together with mayo and squished between two pieces of bread. My boyfriend ended up with a surplus of canned Salmon and I thought, well, why not try to make something like tuna fish? But better? He went all adorably wide eyed, because how do you make salmon spread fancy without taking a lot of time? Well, here's how you fancy up a canned fish spread in about ten minutes with some alternative suggestions for ingredients in parentheses.
It's Chinese Boyfriend Approved.
-2 cans of Salmon (or tuna, or whatever)
-1/2 a container of whipped cream cheese (this can be substituted with mayo or sour cream)
-1 green onion (or half of a small bulb onion)
-4 to 5 baby dill pickles (or sweet if you like that better)
-1 small celery stick **optional
-1 small carrot or a few baby carrots **optional
-1 table spoon of mustard (I use sweet hot or honey, but any mustard works)
-Garlic salt, pepper, and Tabasco to taste-- usually a few good shakes of each.
1) Drain salmon, this is a perfect boyfriend or kitchen novice exercise. Empty both cans into a medium sized bowl and stir with a fork breaking up any large clumps.
2) In another bowl, add half a container of cream cheese. Stir this until it's easier to work with or heat it up for a few seconds in the microwave. This will make it easier to mix with the salmon later.
3) Add mustard, spices, and Tabasco sauce to the cream cheese and mix well.
4) Finely chop your veggies and pickles and stir them into the salmon.
5) Add cream cheese mixture and stir until it is evenly mixed with salmon.
From here you can make your normal-but-now-extra-exciting-tuna-fish-but-really-salmon sandwich with a couple of slices of bread. Or you can spread it on pieces of baguette, crackers, pita, etc.
Showing posts with label om nom nom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label om nom nom. Show all posts
October 3, 2011
February 12, 2011
Pioneer Square Eatery
I probably shouldn't say this, but I work in Pioneer Square. I have a feeling that there's perhaps a few things in my blog (and maybe in the future) that could be...compromising, but whatever, I want to talk about food.
Specifically, lunch.
Admittingly, I eat at work 90% of the time because they give me free food. Who can pass up free food? But some days, those rare 10% days, when either I have a wild craving or the kitchen is too slammed to meet my hunger needs, I roam the streets of Pioneer Square looking to shove something into my face. And thus, my list of food establishments was born.
This is no means a complete list and I'll probably have to do a follow up post in the future. I have yet to go to Tat's and, really, venture beyond a block radius of Pioneer Square Triangle Park, but if you're down here in the area, let me tell you what to get, what to miss, and what's passable if you're starving.
Specifically, lunch.
Admittingly, I eat at work 90% of the time because they give me free food. Who can pass up free food? But some days, those rare 10% days, when either I have a wild craving or the kitchen is too slammed to meet my hunger needs, I roam the streets of Pioneer Square looking to shove something into my face. And thus, my list of food establishments was born.
This is no means a complete list and I'll probably have to do a follow up post in the future. I have yet to go to Tat's and, really, venture beyond a block radius of Pioneer Square Triangle Park, but if you're down here in the area, let me tell you what to get, what to miss, and what's passable if you're starving.
February 4, 2011
How to make an impressive cake in non-impressive ways.
If you didn't know, Valentine's Day is quickly approaching. There are two different ways you can go about this joyous (or joyless) holiday of chocolate merryeatery:
1) Like the parentheses capture, be completely joyless and fester inside of your emo cave refusing to enjoy the bounty of 50% off chocolate bound to come your way on the 15th, slamming on your WASD keys until your mage reaches level 60 so you can commence with a hollow celebration at the nearest 7-11. Hey, slurpees are delicious.
2) Embrace the holiday by ignoring your New Years resolution to not eat your body weight in things so bad for you, but taste sooo good, and decide to go to the gym some other time.
I prefer the second. I also understand that some of you spend this day sending off gifts of delicious to other people, which is quite nice of you, but I'm greedy. Well, not really, I slave for days in the kitchen making delicious things for people who burn water on a regular basis.
Ignoring that, I thought I'd go ahead and share some tips and tricks for making really basic desserts look and taste better in order to impress your special someone.
1) Like the parentheses capture, be completely joyless and fester inside of your emo cave refusing to enjoy the bounty of 50% off chocolate bound to come your way on the 15th, slamming on your WASD keys until your mage reaches level 60 so you can commence with a hollow celebration at the nearest 7-11. Hey, slurpees are delicious.
2) Embrace the holiday by ignoring your New Years resolution to not eat your body weight in things so bad for you, but taste sooo good, and decide to go to the gym some other time.
I prefer the second. I also understand that some of you spend this day sending off gifts of delicious to other people, which is quite nice of you, but I'm greedy. Well, not really, I slave for days in the kitchen making delicious things for people who burn water on a regular basis.
Ignoring that, I thought I'd go ahead and share some tips and tricks for making really basic desserts look and taste better in order to impress your special someone.
January 2, 2011
Nom Nom - Spanish Rice
Not to toot my own horn, but my favorite thing about what I typically cook is how it's easily adaptable to one's personal tastes. This is why I typically forgo the practice of offering measurements as I believe that, if you really like feta cheese, I'm not one to suggest how much or how little you should put in there. I'll give my opinion, of course, and suggest alternatives but ultimately cooking for yourself is about you, so make it how you like it!
That said, Spanish Rice is totes easy and very adaptable so long as you and whoever else you may be cooking for like tomatoes and beef. And rice.
In order to make it exactly as I have, you will need: half an onion, 1ib of thin cut beef, 1 can of stewed tomatoes, 1 can of diced tomatoes with green chilies, 3 cups of rice (uncooked), chili powder, garlic powder (or fresh garlic), and brown sugar.
Other suggestions: cheese, 1 can of any kind of bean, lime/lemon juice, and any additional spices that you like (for example, I think yellow curry powder would be quite interesting).
1. Place three cups of uncooked rice and 1 can of diced tomatoes with green chilies in your rice cooker. Make sure to add extra water as the tomatoes and chilies will increase the water line causing inaccurate measurements. If you don't have a rice cooker...uhm...good luck!
2. Place the half onion face down and slice the entire onion from the side. I prefer big chunks of onion, but feel free to dice as wanted. Add these to a large frying pan and set to a medium-high setting. Cook until they are semi-translucent until moving on to the next step.
3. Slice your beef into bite sized strips and add them to the frying onions. Let this combination cook together for a while, but you can add lemon or lime juice here.
4. After your beef is as cooked as you want it to be and onions fully translucent, add the can of stewed tomatoes and any spices you want (also beans). The green chilies in the rice should bring a little bit of a spicy kick when introduced to the beef mixture, but you can add more hotness here as well. Brown sugar is completely optional, but highly recommended. I love spicy-sweet, which is why I added it.
5. Once the rice is done cooking, add it to your beef and tomato mixture and stir together.
6. EAT UP! This would be the time to top with cheese if you want to, or stick it inside of a tortilla for burrito action.
This dish should only take as much time needed to cook the rice, so about 20-30 minutes.
That said, Spanish Rice is totes easy and very adaptable so long as you and whoever else you may be cooking for like tomatoes and beef. And rice.
In order to make it exactly as I have, you will need: half an onion, 1ib of thin cut beef, 1 can of stewed tomatoes, 1 can of diced tomatoes with green chilies, 3 cups of rice (uncooked), chili powder, garlic powder (or fresh garlic), and brown sugar.
Other suggestions: cheese, 1 can of any kind of bean, lime/lemon juice, and any additional spices that you like (for example, I think yellow curry powder would be quite interesting).
1. Place three cups of uncooked rice and 1 can of diced tomatoes with green chilies in your rice cooker. Make sure to add extra water as the tomatoes and chilies will increase the water line causing inaccurate measurements. If you don't have a rice cooker...uhm...good luck!
2. Place the half onion face down and slice the entire onion from the side. I prefer big chunks of onion, but feel free to dice as wanted. Add these to a large frying pan and set to a medium-high setting. Cook until they are semi-translucent until moving on to the next step.
3. Slice your beef into bite sized strips and add them to the frying onions. Let this combination cook together for a while, but you can add lemon or lime juice here.
4. After your beef is as cooked as you want it to be and onions fully translucent, add the can of stewed tomatoes and any spices you want (also beans). The green chilies in the rice should bring a little bit of a spicy kick when introduced to the beef mixture, but you can add more hotness here as well. Brown sugar is completely optional, but highly recommended. I love spicy-sweet, which is why I added it.
5. Once the rice is done cooking, add it to your beef and tomato mixture and stir together.
6. EAT UP! This would be the time to top with cheese if you want to, or stick it inside of a tortilla for burrito action.
This dish should only take as much time needed to cook the rice, so about 20-30 minutes.
November 26, 2010
Rainbow Dragon Cake of Awesome
For two of my friends' 25th we decided to throw an early Thanksgiving dinner to celebrate, and one of the food items I elected to bring was a birthday cake. They didn't know what kind of cake, and one of them spent nearly every day persuading me to make whatever outlandish cake he felt like having at that moment.
In the end, I decided on this beauty:
Well, that's not exactly how it looked at the end (I added some pirate action figures and a large gummi alligator for good measure), the castle may have been more leany-- but that's basically it.
Oh yeah, I did mention it was a RAINBOW cake...
In the end, I decided on this beauty:
Oh yeah, I did mention it was a RAINBOW cake...
October 17, 2010
Cookies for Breakfast
My twin told me I have the worst eating habits and that my cravings are weird. Weird, but delicious. She recently spent some time explaining to her step brother why Flaming Hot Cheetos need to be eaten with pieces of bagel (a staple of my high school diet), to which he earnestly replied, "Uhh...why not just eat the Cheetos without the bagel...?"
She very matter of factly told him, channeling my fourteen year old self, "Wrapping the bagel around the Cheeto keeps it from turning your fingers red."
It also deadens the intensity of the heat, but for some reason that seems much less reasonable than the Red Finger argument.
I also love spaghetti sandwiches, it's basically just like eating spaghetti anyway, only the pasta is wedged between two slices of bread (bonus points if it's garlic) instead of being garnished with bread. I put brown sugar in my chili, lessen the amount of butter in my chocolate chip cookies so they have the consistency of cake, and will only eat eggs with Tabasco and ketchup. I like bacon on maple bars (actually, I just like bacon, period), syrup on my eggs if I'm eating them with pancakes, and usually cook stuffing with some kind of fruit, dried or fresh (my favorite is fresh nectarines). Speaking of fruit, I love pineapple on my peperoni pizza, screw Canadian bacon!
And right now I'm eating cookies for breakfast.
I've also craved all of the following at the same time: phad thai, pho, fried rice, top ramen, Indian food, garlic fries, Tim's jalapeno potato chips, and cheese.
I mentioned that list on my Facebook once, and I got several replies asking how my pregnancy is going. It's been over a year now and I think it's still going well. I plan on birthing Unicorn Raptor sometime in the near future, already have his room set up and everything.
For years I didn't think I ate very differently from everyone else, and I've often accused others of eating outlandish concoctions. It wasn't until I moved to Seattle and made friends with people who were not used to my eating habits at all did I finally realize that I eat odd things (mainly because they made it a point to yell about it every time it happened). I also realized that I don't eat very differently from everyone else considering that we all eat something (or several things) odd.
Just don't bring shrimp chips when you go fishing, okay? Your white friends won't appreciate the fishy waft coming from your bag and not at the end of their fishing line.
She very matter of factly told him, channeling my fourteen year old self, "Wrapping the bagel around the Cheeto keeps it from turning your fingers red."
It also deadens the intensity of the heat, but for some reason that seems much less reasonable than the Red Finger argument.
I also love spaghetti sandwiches, it's basically just like eating spaghetti anyway, only the pasta is wedged between two slices of bread (bonus points if it's garlic) instead of being garnished with bread. I put brown sugar in my chili, lessen the amount of butter in my chocolate chip cookies so they have the consistency of cake, and will only eat eggs with Tabasco and ketchup. I like bacon on maple bars (actually, I just like bacon, period), syrup on my eggs if I'm eating them with pancakes, and usually cook stuffing with some kind of fruit, dried or fresh (my favorite is fresh nectarines). Speaking of fruit, I love pineapple on my peperoni pizza, screw Canadian bacon!
And right now I'm eating cookies for breakfast.
I've also craved all of the following at the same time: phad thai, pho, fried rice, top ramen, Indian food, garlic fries, Tim's jalapeno potato chips, and cheese.
I mentioned that list on my Facebook once, and I got several replies asking how my pregnancy is going. It's been over a year now and I think it's still going well. I plan on birthing Unicorn Raptor sometime in the near future, already have his room set up and everything.
For years I didn't think I ate very differently from everyone else, and I've often accused others of eating outlandish concoctions. It wasn't until I moved to Seattle and made friends with people who were not used to my eating habits at all did I finally realize that I eat odd things (mainly because they made it a point to yell about it every time it happened). I also realized that I don't eat very differently from everyone else considering that we all eat something (or several things) odd.
Just don't bring shrimp chips when you go fishing, okay? Your white friends won't appreciate the fishy waft coming from your bag and not at the end of their fishing line.
May 16, 2010
Nom Nom - Rotini pasta with cream sauce and fresh spinach.
I like to cook and bake, and fortunately I'm not half bad at it. I've given up on being hush-hush about it since everyone who knows me found out about this within the last year, so now I'm a slave to the guys and girls in my life whose only accomplishment in the kitchen is starting a fire. In the mean time I thought I'd try to turn this into a benefit for the rest of you out there in internet land, especially you nerds out to impress your girlfriends (or maybe boyfriends).
When I cook, I typically like it to be fast a simple since I normally get home at 7:30pm from work and am just generally lazy. For the most part the dishes I share will be of that variety, but we're not talking Top Ramen fast and simple, k? Also, most importantly when it comes to cooking, once you learn a recipe, don't be afraid to improvise with it!
How I made it:
When I cook, I typically like it to be fast a simple since I normally get home at 7:30pm from work and am just generally lazy. For the most part the dishes I share will be of that variety, but we're not talking Top Ramen fast and simple, k? Also, most importantly when it comes to cooking, once you learn a recipe, don't be afraid to improvise with it!
Rainbow Rotini with a Cream Sauce and Fresh Spinach
How I made it:
July 20, 2009
Why melted cheese rules me.
Fondue is delicious. A large array of foodie bits next to a pot of melty cheese is one of the most amazing things ever. Imagine my utter disappointment when my mother revealed that, despite every trend her and my father managed to take up since the early 60's, fondue just wasn't one of them.
Skipping to now, I was beyond excited when I learned of The Melting Pot last year after moving to Seattle for college. I went again today with some old coworkers, now friends, for happy hour.
Let me tell you, fondue isn't cheap, and compared to happy hours I've been to before, The Melting Pot out-expenses all of them (which makes sense considering how much fondue is). But what I really wanted to talk about isn't how amazing melted cheese on bread paired with a good martini is, since we all know it's damn delicious, but this hilariously awesome promo The Melting Pot is currently doing.
I learned of the promo after visiting the main website as I needed to acquire an address for Google Maps. The Melting Pot is advertising its Facebook application.
Yes, a Facebook application.
On the plus side, adding the application gives you a coupon for a free chocolate fondue for two, given that you and your partner/friendly friend buy a regular pot of cheese goodness. The downside is that you have to add the application.
But free chocolate fondue is worth it, I tell you! And, actually, the application is quite amazing. See, you need to pick two of your friends you think should date and stir them into a graphic of chocolate fondue. So I picked my best friend's boyfriend and her brother.
I bet you're wondering why I find this so great as seemingly only I would know who I picked in order to get the coupon, and we're going to get to that part right now.
If you're paying attention, pairing two friends rewards you with a coupon...and a few emails to said friends and a Facebook announcement heralding that you think said friends should be together.
The Melting Pot application? Best Facebook application EVER.
Skipping to now, I was beyond excited when I learned of The Melting Pot last year after moving to Seattle for college. I went again today with some old coworkers, now friends, for happy hour.
Let me tell you, fondue isn't cheap, and compared to happy hours I've been to before, The Melting Pot out-expenses all of them (which makes sense considering how much fondue is). But what I really wanted to talk about isn't how amazing melted cheese on bread paired with a good martini is, since we all know it's damn delicious, but this hilariously awesome promo The Melting Pot is currently doing.
I learned of the promo after visiting the main website as I needed to acquire an address for Google Maps. The Melting Pot is advertising its Facebook application.
Yes, a Facebook application.
On the plus side, adding the application gives you a coupon for a free chocolate fondue for two, given that you and your partner/friendly friend buy a regular pot of cheese goodness. The downside is that you have to add the application.
But free chocolate fondue is worth it, I tell you! And, actually, the application is quite amazing. See, you need to pick two of your friends you think should date and stir them into a graphic of chocolate fondue. So I picked my best friend's boyfriend and her brother.
I bet you're wondering why I find this so great as seemingly only I would know who I picked in order to get the coupon, and we're going to get to that part right now.
If you're paying attention, pairing two friends rewards you with a coupon...and a few emails to said friends and a Facebook announcement heralding that you think said friends should be together.
The Melting Pot application? Best Facebook application EVER.
July 12, 2009
Tango Restaurant in Downtown Seattle
My friend and I are currently on the hunt for the best dessert (coupled with a great dinner) in Seattle, inspired by a Seattle Magazine article from last year. Currently she and I have visited the Cheesecake Factory located across from the convention center and Tango, which is on the corner of Pike and Borne.
Since the Cheesecake Factory is a chain restaurant, I thought I'd share some thoughts about Tango instead.
One of the best things about Tango is on Tuesdays happy hour lasts all day, and the happy hour food is delicious (all their menus are listed on their website). Since Tuesday is coming up here shortly, I highly recommend you grab a friend (or more) and go. My friend and I met up after work at 6pm, and it was fairly quite, which was nice.
We went there primarily for the desert El Diablo, which is a large cube of dark chocolate rub in cayenne pepper floating on a pile of burnt meringue and topped with almonds and cocoa bean chunks. And when I say a cube of dark chocolate, I seriously mean a cube. But the chocolate is really fluffy, like it has been whipped and reshaped into a cube. Regardless, the desert is incredibly rich and we believe is meant to be share between several. We brought home the remains of the cube to my roommate, and even she couldn't finish off the rest. I think it may be a four person undertaking.
Anyway, from the happy hour menu we had the muscles, fundido, gachas de ajo, and the pulled pork. The fundido is absolutely delicious, it's basically toasted bread that you top with melted cheese, sausage, and a slice of apple. Highly recommended. My friend adored the muscles and ate nearly all of them. The pulled pork is paired up with a rather mild salsa that is meant to be wrapped inside of a tortilla, and rather good, too. The gachas de ajo, however, is basically spicy humus. I like humus well enough, but compared to the other three items we ordered, it wasn't good enough.
My friend ordered the house sangria, which we wouldn't really classify as a sangria. I ordered the Tango Colada and was quite pleased. Overall she and I spent roughly $24 per person. We included a larger tip because we gave our good humored waiter some guff, and any wait person willing to put up with us and our weird conversations is deserving of our money.
Great food, delicious desert, good drinks, and great staff. I'd love to go again.
Since the Cheesecake Factory is a chain restaurant, I thought I'd share some thoughts about Tango instead.
One of the best things about Tango is on Tuesdays happy hour lasts all day, and the happy hour food is delicious (all their menus are listed on their website). Since Tuesday is coming up here shortly, I highly recommend you grab a friend (or more) and go. My friend and I met up after work at 6pm, and it was fairly quite, which was nice.
We went there primarily for the desert El Diablo, which is a large cube of dark chocolate rub in cayenne pepper floating on a pile of burnt meringue and topped with almonds and cocoa bean chunks. And when I say a cube of dark chocolate, I seriously mean a cube. But the chocolate is really fluffy, like it has been whipped and reshaped into a cube. Regardless, the desert is incredibly rich and we believe is meant to be share between several. We brought home the remains of the cube to my roommate, and even she couldn't finish off the rest. I think it may be a four person undertaking.
Anyway, from the happy hour menu we had the muscles, fundido, gachas de ajo, and the pulled pork. The fundido is absolutely delicious, it's basically toasted bread that you top with melted cheese, sausage, and a slice of apple. Highly recommended. My friend adored the muscles and ate nearly all of them. The pulled pork is paired up with a rather mild salsa that is meant to be wrapped inside of a tortilla, and rather good, too. The gachas de ajo, however, is basically spicy humus. I like humus well enough, but compared to the other three items we ordered, it wasn't good enough.
My friend ordered the house sangria, which we wouldn't really classify as a sangria. I ordered the Tango Colada and was quite pleased. Overall she and I spent roughly $24 per person. We included a larger tip because we gave our good humored waiter some guff, and any wait person willing to put up with us and our weird conversations is deserving of our money.
Great food, delicious desert, good drinks, and great staff. I'd love to go again.
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