Sunny Side

Sunny Side Breakfast Sandwiches

I almost never do a breakfast post so I'd thought I'd share this easy recipe. I would say the only thing that took time was preparing the sausage, other than that it's nothing to complain about. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day but I tend to skip it often :\ not on purpose, I'm just kind of lazy. I got inspiration from Pinterest on this recipe and added my own twist. Instead of using a traditional grape or strawberry jelly, I used a cranberry sauce and spinach/tomato spread for the biscuits.

You'll need:

Spinach
Tomatoes
1 Can of Biscuits
6 pieces of bacon
Pork Sausage in ground form
Seasonings: Sage, Cayenne, Black Pepper, Thyme, Parmesan Cheese, 1 tsp of jerk marinate
6 eggs or depending on however many sausages you plan on using
1 glass cup

Mix the pork sausage, and seasonings in a bowl, don't be afraid to get those hands dirty. After mixing it, take a cutting or board or flat clean surface and form the sausages into patties. I made my patties in the pan I made them in so that it'll be easier. Take a glass cup and use it as a cookie cutter but if you choose to be more technical I guess you could use a cookie cutter LOL same difference. All you're doing is cutting a circle in the center of the sausage patty. As you have your circle in the patty take one egg and crack it in the center. Sprinkle with black pepper, parmesan cheese, and paprika on the yolk. It's ok if the egg whites are oozing on the side of the sausage, you'll live and it'll still be edible. If you're anal about that just make your patties a little bigger and cut a little more meat off the center. Make about 2 sausage patties at a time to quicken the process. You don't have to worry about sausage tearing it wont tear just as long as you flip it at the right time. As sausage begins to form at the bottom, take your spatula and flip carefully but quickly to get the other side to cook. Set aside, once it's finished, repeat!

I made my bacon on the side too!

Spinach Spread:

Half a bag of spinach, diced tomatoes, season to taste and sauté in a pan. After cools you could add cranberry sauce or spread the biscuit with cranberry sauce, afterwards the spread. Works both ways. See, easy as pie...

You're biscuits should be done baking at this point. When you dress the biscuit, you'll notice the fluffy yolk in the inside of the sausage, so it's well cooked if you did it right! Enjoy! Don't hesitate to serve with a side potatoes ^_^

Seasons Eatings

Gumbo with the "fixins"....

Ok you're going to need:

Neckbones
Okra
Onions, Tomatoes, Green Onions, Parsley, Kale
Habanero Peppers (JUST 1 or 1 1/2 if you like spice)
1 small tin of tomato sauce for texture
Shrimp (Fresh or Frozen, I prefer fresh)
Crabs (doesn't matter)
Andouille sausage
Coconut Milk (optional)
Chicken Stock or your meat's broth
Your favorite spices: I USED ALOT for instance, crushed pepper, salt, black pepper, cayenne, Tony's, Slap Ya Mama's and so much more. I needed that kick

Preparation

After hunting for crabs throughout north Houston and finding out only 1 store had crabs Christmas Eve, was exhausting. That lucky store was Fiesta. I usually go to Asian marts for my seafood but noooo they just had to be sold out and of course everybody and their mamas were making a gumbo so yeah... -___- I did buy 4 lbs of shrimp from Hong Kong Market for $30 which I didn't mind because they were tiger shrimp and fresh. I only like fresh seafood in my gumbo so it's worth the price. Nobody said making a gumbo for a Christmas event was going to be cheap LOL. I got about 2-3 lbs of cleaned blue crab from Fiesta for about $14 or so. Not that bad since they were already cleaned just needed to be seasoned and thrown in the pot. I won't say I got any sale out of this lol, I expected the prices.

Gumbo is a special occasion meal meaning once or twice a year type thing. Made a special pot for Christmas for my boyfriend's family. Pot was HUGE including everyone's appetite after bringing it over. Crabs, shrimp, andouille sausage, chicken, etc are the main attraction but it's all in the roux. Roux is easy but the duration is rather annoying because you're constantly stirring until it creates a dark brown color. Another option could be already mixed roux which you could boil with broth or water added with your favorite vegetables.

Before the Crabs were added
 

Onions, garlic, green onions, tomatoes, celery, parsley sautéed with extra virgin olive oil until tender. Add a handful of flour, stir until brown and keep stirring frequently. I used broth from the neck bones that I seasoned and boiled separately in a pot, to put into the gumbo later. Yes! Neck bones are amazing in gumbo. Neck bones don't have a surplus of meat but they do have enough flavor to go around. I used 1 package of neck bones and chopped them
up, seasoned them, tossed in some onions, and let it boil till it builds up a broth. Pour it into the vegetables and flour stir continuously, let it boil.

I added my spices and sometimes I could get a little too spicy so to weigh the spice down, I add coconut milk. Yes coconut milk but NOT the whole can just gradually. Besides coconut milk gives your roux some texture but don't worry it still keeps it color. After test tasting go ahead and spice it up to your taste. Boil it down on medium heat. Boiling for about 30 minutes and gradually adding water to thin out your roux and preventing from sticking it to pot.

Andouille sausage and turkey necks are added in the roux. Roux will get thicker but nothing a little water can't do. Remember season to taste as your gumbo is cooking! Season at your discretion.
Great thing about gumbo is your meat can be seasoned so well and it season the whole pot! Another option you can use is crab boil and gumbo boil for the roux. Nothing wrong with using one or the other or maybe even both. No harm done.

Seafood ALWAYS come last, they don't take long to cook at all which is the best thing about them neither do you need to season them with salt since they come from salt water. Maybe spices like paprika, cayenne, cumin, or anything with a kick. Honestly not necessary since your gumbo is well seasoned and the seafood will be filled with flavor. Okra is usually before the seafood but there's no preference whether you add it now or later. I added the okra before the seafood FYI. at this point everything should be in the gumbo: turkey necks, sausage, crab, shrimp, okra, seafood and etc. Throw it all in there without mercy, let it be on a low simmer and just have it boil for about 30-45 minutes. Keep it on low, it needs to be at a simmer standing so it can have time to soak in all those flavors.

Little Italy

Spicy Butterfly Cornish Hen with Chicken and Crab Stuffed Shells...

The Finale!

It was my little brother's 19th birthday and he was too excited already after waking up to Jay-Z tickets so he had an awesome day. Couldn't complete it without food though. Thought about taking him out but I figured a home cooked meal satisfied the soul much more. I gave him a menu and he chose what he wanted so this was his doing in a sense. I've never made this before but knew it would be easy. I had a hell of a lot of groceries so why spend money when I could cook? Only thing I purchased was the $0.77 shells that I stuffed and $2.76 ricotta cheese. Got an idea from my girl Noms post one day and Pinterest. I had a light bulb! I had random Cornish hens in the freezer so I put em to work!


Cornish hens are sooo easy to prepare it's literally a baby hen. If you can make baked chicken then you can make this. I butterflied the chicken before seasoning. Taking the  knife at the top of the breast and splitting it down to the butt. Don't chop the chicken in half! JUST SPLIT IT sort of like an open heart surgery LOL.

Searing

Seasonings: Jerk (my fave) cumin, rosemary, paprika, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce, lemon, salt. Pan sear the chicken before baking and sear it season side down first before flipping. I sear the chicken until it's almost done then put it in the oven 375 degrees. Before placing it in the oven I turn over the chicken and add tomatoes, spinach, and lemon juice. I made 2 Cornish hens so 375 sufficed. If you're only making one I say 300-350 degrees depending on how crispy you like your chicken.

Chicken and Crab Stuffed Shells

Shells before the oven!

Used half a bag of shells and boiled them with salt and olive oil and cooked to al dente and placed them on a foil sheet to cool and so the noodles won't stick together.

For my stuffing, I sautéed lump crab meat and chicken breast with onions and tomatoes. Chicken and crab were well seasoned then I proceeded to add spinach and garlic. Separately, I used half a container of ricotta cheese which I seasoned with black pepper, salt, Parmesan, and mozzarella. Take 1/2 a teaspoon of the ricotta stuff the shell then take your sautéed chicken and crab and stuff the top. Add a generous amount. Don't be afraid to stuff them, the noodles shouldn't break they're pretty strong. It's common sense don't over stuff. Grab a case of tomato sauce which could be a homemade tomato sauce or your favorite brand. Pour your sauce at the bottom of your pan and place the stuffed shells on top, stuffed side up. Presume using your favorite shredded mozzarella cheese and sprinkle over the top and BAKE! 350-375 degrees is fine since you want the shells a nice brown color and Til the cheese is well melted. To die for :)

Serve dinner with your favorite salad. I love spinach so I use spinach in replace of lettuce. Lettuce is nothing but water ugh I don't care for it. Wine is perfect with this FYI. ENJOY! ^_^

The "secret" that's not really a secret...

Stuffed Chicken Linguine Dressed with a Portabella Mushroom Lump Crab Wine Sauce

Finished Product
Optional: Seasoned Avocados ^_^

 

Who doesn't love pasta? Pasta is probably one of the easiest things to make with a mild prep and cook time. There's so many ways to make pasta that's what I love about it. Pasta is all about your prerogative. I made a pasta with one of my favorite noodles, LINGUINI! Please be mindful, I made this recipe up and I wouldn't be surprised if someone had similar if not the same idea as well somewhere in the world. Besides pasta I was thinking of a cream sauce with some type of seafood. I didn't want shrimp though since everybody and their mom feels shrimp makes everything perfect and "fancy" -_____- LOL! My "secret" was crab meat. I love lump crab meat and I don't mean salad crab meat or imitation crab sticks LMAO, I mean authentic lump crab meat that you can purchase from an international store with a fresh fish aisle. I went to Hong Kong Market to purchase crab meat and boy it was NOT cheap I can't lie to you. 1lb+ of lump crab meat is about $14.99 so 15 bucks and this particular market doesn't count tax so it was $14.99 on the dot. I didn't mind purchasing it because 1) I'm sharing this recipe with people and I rather not do any half stepping 2) It has actual flavor 3) why would you buy imitation?

 

Chicken Stuffing

Chicken breast is pretty cheap for the most part. I was looking for thin sliced breast to make it easier to fold and stuff but I couldn't find it so I bought the normal boneless chicken breast and my mom slice them in half for me. I misplaced my mallet to pound the chicken, but all was not lost I could still stuff it the way I want I would just have to use more toothpicks or skewers. I used toothpicks instead since I wasn't grilling. Season your chicken to your taste I used the following that I almost always use on my chicken:

Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Cumin, Curry, Maggi, Bay Leaf, Jerk

Believe it or not I used my mom's leftover cornbread dressing, spinach, and garlic to stuff the breast, fold it, then seal with toothpicks. I proceeded to bread them with bread crumbs for that crispy coating. I seared them in a lightly oiled pan until they got a golden brown color. I didn't cook them all the way because I baked them right afterwards. So sear the stuffed chickens for about 15 minutes, turning them so they won't burn, and use tongs not a fork -_- Let them back for another 20 minutes and VOILA!

Lump Crab Meat Sauce

While your chicken is cooking, your noodles should be boiling at the same time your making your sauce.

White Wine
Portabella Mushrooms or simply your favorite mushrooms
Garlic
Lump Crab Meat
Butter
Onion
Tomato
Bell Pepper
Milk, cream, or Half and Half
Spinach
Cilantro
Flour
Salt, Pepper, Paprika, parmesan cheese
Mozzarella or your favorite cheese (goat cheese would've been great or asiago smh just thought about that)

I sautéed my veggies, added a half cup of flour, cooked it down till it was brown, added milk, butter and let it simmer. Seasoned, added my wine and lump crab meat last and let it cook altogether for at least 20 minutes on a simmer.

Your chicken should be ready at this point so remove it from the oven. Set aside to cool, noodles need to be coated with crab meat sauce, at least the majority of it and tossed lightly, I used some to pour over my chicken breast. Add a little extra virgin olive oil as well ^_^ it's optional. Swerve! Garnish with parsley or cilantro! BON APPETIT

BBQ A La Carte

Korean BBQ made with love...

In case you're wondering, this place is located in Spring Branch so depending on your location it may be a little ways but it's so worth it including the price. It's on 1949 Gessner Dr. behind Memorial City Mall. It's open til 2am, so this would be great hangover food!
 o_o

Went out a night outing to BBQ Garden Korean Restaurant with my favorite person to eat with, Angelica and a friend of hers, who's now our eating buddy as well. I'm at work, we were texting thinking of what new place we should crash and thanks to yelp and it's reviews, we picked this place literally in the most random spot next to I-10. First of all I must say next to the food, the customer service was exquisite and Koreans sure know how to make you feel at home. I mean they were so nice to even charge my phone for me even though they don't have outlets anywhere. The décor I will give it 5 out of 5 stars because it's very homey not cliché but homey. It's not your average A
sian spot. Maybe I'm boostin, but I liked that. EVERYTHING is Korean in there even the gum you take to go after eating I mean EVERYTHING.

I found it interesting that they were very traditional as well. They handmade their dumplings where customers would sit with not a care in the world LOL! So if you're a dumplings fan, I would try them :) We started off looking at their amazing menu that had everything on it and which would take you about 20 minutes to decide since everything looked so good. We end up going with the beef and pork. The beef cooks very fast and I don't know what type of marinate they used for the pork but Lord knows, I will find out because it had a beautiful taste. It had every side unimaginable, from kimchi (Asian pickled cabbage), to fish cake, to raw yellow sweet potatoes that are actually very good for you. It was too much and let's not start on the sauces spicy or mild smh just wonderful. I thought it was Christmas the way I was acting, but our waitress got a kick out of my excitement lol!!!

If you're in the Houston area and love Korean bbq or if it's simply your first time, go and check it out, you won't be sorry ^_^

What to do with leftovers?!

 
Thanksgiving was more than a blessing and I'm more than thankful for the people that shared it with me. To be around your loved ones makes the holidays much more better but what makes it the best is the food. A holiday isn't right without a feast. While my thanksgiving was pleasant, I was still thinking of what I may do with leftovers. Every year we have so much leftovers and eating the same plate is boring -_- I'm thinking of cornbread dressing croquettes or something but I wanted more of an appetizer so egg rolls came to mind first. 

I Pinterest ALOT of things for ideas and searched for egg rolls with a thanksgiving plate twist. I didn't find the recipe on Pinterest I just researched to see how others made theirs and there wasn't too many things I like about some recipes. Egg rolls are easy so I just went with my own ideas. All that cornbread dressing, turkey, or etc you have rolled up in an egg roll just sounds like heaven YUMMY! :D This was a hit in the house, my siblings and mom smashed it immediately. 

Stuffed Thanksgiving Egg Rolls

Stuffed Thanksgiving Egg Rolls 

I went to a Hong Kong Market by the house and bought some egg roll wraps for $0.99! Do NOT but rice paper, those are for steaming not frying. You will look just as stupid as the rice paper if you deep fry that. 1 egg and 1 tsp for egg wash

For my egg rolls I added these items in order, no seasoning needed. Your leftovers should already have seasoning or flavor that's just me. Turkey, cornbread dressing, cabbage, and cranberry sauce MAN! Get the egg wash and brush the corners, roll it up till you can't see the filling, fold the corners and brush a little bit with the egg wash, fold in, fry! So simple and easy. You can bake them too but frying takes about 3 minutes front back to cook. Let it cool, cut them diagonally in half, garnish with cilantro or basil, serve optionally with your favorite cranberry sauce. Easy to make cranberry sauce but that's doing the most, buy a can of cranberry sauce $0.87 at your local grocery. You'll save soooo much time, nobody wants to deal with fresh cranberries and boiling them and etc, not that serious. This is a very good hor' douerve recipe to serve wanted or unwanted guest LOL very simple. Prep time really depends on how many egg rolls you're making. I would say it took me 15 minutes to prep and 10 minutes to cook. Bon Appetít! Enjoy my dears.