Something New: Beef Lo Mein

Welcome to Thursday!

The second pasta week recipe is completely different from the first. Which, among other things, means it takes a bit more time and work to cook. But it's almost impossible to be easier than the Egg Spaghetti recipe.

I believe this is the second recipe Chase and I ever tried in the wok. We made the Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry first, then this one. I remember being shocked at how much different the Lo Mein recipe tasted than the Beef & Broccoli. For some reason, I was expecting two dishes made in the wok with the same protein to taste very similar. But they were distinctly delicious.

And since then, the wok has proven itself over and over again.

Happy pasta cooking!

ps- This recipe is equally tasty if you make it Pork Lo Mein.

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Beef Lo Mein

Ingredients

1 lb steak or pork, cut into thin strips (I used top round steak)

8 oz egg noodles

2 Tbsp peanut oil

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp ginger, finely chopped

2 carrots, julienned

½ cup sliced mushrooms

½ can baby corn, sliced

½ tsp salt

1 Tbsp soy sauce

½ cup hot beef or chicken stock (I microwaved it)

1 cup bean sprouts

2 Tbsp chopped green onion

Marinade

1 tsp soy sauce

½ tsp sesame oil

¼ tsp pepper

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine all marinade ingredients. Add beef (or pork) and refrigerate. Let marinate for at least 20 minutes.

2. While the beef marinates, cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

3. Place the wok over medium-high to high heat. Add 1 Tbsp of the oil and heat.

4. Once the oil is steaming, add the beef/pork and stir-fry until cooked through. Remove from the wok and set aside.

5. Add the garlic, ginger and last 1 Tbsp of oil to the wok. Cook until fragrant.

6. Add the carrots and cook for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute.

7. Add the beef, baby corn, soy sauce, salt and stock to the wok. Heat through.

8. Toss in the noodles and the bean sprouts and stir well.

9. Serve topped with green onions.

Carrots soaking up the ginger and garlic.

Stir fry is too fast for photography!

Look at all that woking goodness.

Happy cooking!

Something Simple: Egg Spaghetti

It's pasta week, food friends!

Chase found this recipe on on "The Minimalist" Mark Bittman's list of his 25 favorite recipes. On that list and this video, he calls the recipe "Spaghetti with Fried Eggs." In one of his posts, Bittman refers to the recipe as "Poor Man's Spaghetti." Out of silliness and verbal laziness, though, Chase and I usually opt for "Egg Spaghetti."

Whatever you call it, this recipe is ridiculously easy and filling. It's also my favorite meal to make for 1. I just make it with one egg and one serving of pasta and I'm well fed.

Also, when I'm feeling particularly famished or disinclined to wash extra dishes, I skip the garlic blonding step. I make the pasta in the pot, drain it, put the oil in the pot where I just boiled the pasta, cook the egg in that pot, put the pasta back in, and presto! Only one pot to clean.

But if you have an extra minute or two, totally worth the garlic step. I'm just lazy after working the dinner rush.

Happy pasta cooking!

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Egg Spaghetti

Ingredients

½ lb uncooked spaghetti

5-6 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, quartered

4 eggs

about 1 cup Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.

3. Blond the garlic (cook until barely starting to color) in the oil. Remove garlic from oil.

4. When pasta is done cooking and drained, begin frying the eggs (sunny-side up) in the garlic-flavored oil.

5. When the whites have almost set but the yolk is still runny

(shouldn't take but 30-60 seconds)

, add the pasta to the eggs.

6. Break the yolks and toss spaghetti to coat with egg. The residual heat from the pasta will cook the yolks.

7. Add salt, pepper and Parmesan and toss to coat.

8. Serve and enjoy.

Blonding the garlic.

Whites are set, yolks are runny. Your eggs are ready for spaghetti!

Tossing everything together.

Happy cooking!

Something New: Pad Thai with Shrimp

Last week, a friend asked if I could post more vegetarian recipes on here. While Chase and I are not vegetarians, we do occasionally make recipes that are veg-friendly and optionally meat-free. Granted, this recipe is pescetarian, not strictly vegetarian. However, it's perfectly delicious without the shrimp, or you can add your favorite meat substitute (thick sliced portabella mushrooms would be fabulous in this).

It's been two or three weeks since Chase and I cooked this Pad Thai recipe, which came from my Betty Crocker Cookbook, of all places. We've been cooking so often, though, that I've had to delay posting recipes until I get up recipes that Chase and I made even longer ago. In any case, this friend's request told me it was the perfect time to post this recipe.

While this is a wok recipe, it's also skillet-friendly (although I'm going to keep pushing woks until everyone is as in love with theirs as I am with mine.) And there's plenty of protein in this recipe to make it quite filling.

Happy cooking!

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Pad Thai with Shrimp

Ingredients

1 package (8 oz) thin or medium egg noodles

1 package (12 oz) frozen cooked deveined medium shrimp, thawed

⅓ cup fresh lime juice

¼ cup water

3 Tbsp brown sugar

6 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp rice vinegar

½ tsp cayenne pepper

3 Tbsp peanut or vegetable oil

2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

¼ cup finely chopped onion

2 eggs, beaten

½ cup peanuts, crushed

½ cup chopped green onions

¼ cup shredded carrot

¼ cup shredded cabbage (optional)

Directions

1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Undercook the noodles by 2-3 minutes, as they will be cooked further later.

2. Meanwhile in a small bowl, combine lime juice, water, brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, red pepper and 1 Tbsp of the oil.

3. In a wok or large skillet, heat remaining 2 Tbsp of oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook until slightly browned.

4. Add eggs and cook for about 2 minutes, until scrambled but still moist.

5. Stir in drained noodles and lime juice mixture. Cook for about 1-2 minutes, constantly stirring, until the sauce starts to thicken.

6. Add shrimp, half of the crushed peanuts, and half of the green onions. Stir until shrimp have heated through.

7. Serve garnished with shredded carrots and cabbage, and the remaining peanuts and green onion.