Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad

October 4, 2011 § 2 Comments

My first salad on COZYBOGIE! Which strikes me as a little odd because I eat salad quite frequently…but oh well. 🙂

I wish I could say that I concocted this amazing mixture myself, but again, I have to give credit where it’s rightfully due to my darling Amanda. (She will be on SOON for a delicious guest-post!)

Notes:

1. You can use marinated mozzarella or plain Bocconcino for this, just don’t add as much salt when you use the marinated mozzarella.

2. Heirloom tomatoes taste best with this! But in a pinch grape or cherry tomatoes will do.

3. This is SUPER FAST (20 minutes max – and 15 minutes of that is just waiting) and delicious.

4. I like the ratio of 1 cheese to 2 bites of tomato. But of course, you can switch it up.

Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 lb heirloom tomatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces if they are too big
  • 1 small container of marinated mozzarella or bocconcino
  • 1/4-1/2 coarse sea salt (start with 1/4 teaspoon, add more to suit your taste)
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 cup shredded basil leaves

Directions

  1. Rinse and wash the tomatoes and basil. Place tomatoes in a large bowl for mixing.
  2. For bite-sized pieces, halve or quarter the cheese and place into the bowl with the tomatoes.
  3. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and olive oil over the tomatoes and cheese and mix gently so that all is coated.
  4. Top with the fresh basil leaves, I like to tear them by hand but for a prettier presentation it’s fine to slice them. Mix a few times and let it stand for 15 minutes for the flavors to combine.
  5. Enjoy!

Basil Fried Rice with Beef

October 3, 2011 § Leave a comment

I have been on a Thai-kick lately! I mean, really, what’s more satisfying than a plate of spicy, delicious, rice/noodles/curry?

I used my creative thinking cap the other day to come up with this dish. Do you ever feel strangely proud when you’re able to use your imagination, past the age of 10? I remember when I was little, I could literally spend hours creating this magical world with my friends or by myself, and only recently realized that it is much harder than it seems! Whenever I babysit or look after little kids and they ask to play or tell them a story, I start getting a little nervous because nothing seems quite as cool or fun as the stories I used to make up. So HUGE kudos to the parents and nannies that have to do it every day. 🙂

Notes:

1. You don’t have to use an expensive cut of beef. I think the one I used was just chuck/stew meat, but the KEY THING IS to cut it as thinly as possible AGAINST THE GRAIN.  Then it’ll be nice and tender and easy to chew. To make it easier to slice, you can freeze the beef a little for 1 hour before use.

2. I like a lot of egg in my fried rice, but if you don’t like it as much, you can cut down the number of eggs.

3. Depending on how spicy you like your rice, adjust the hot chili peppers accordingly. I put 3 in, with the seeds, but it wasn’t spicy at all! I think next time I will put in 5.

4. Use day-old rice, preferably chilled. It will be easier to mix.

Basil Fried Rice with Beef Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb chuck stew meat, sliced thinly against the grain
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 6 cloves of garlic, minced finely
  • 3-5 jalapeno peppers, sliced thinly
  • 1/2 onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Golden Mountain seasoning sauce (or substitute 1 tablespoon soy sauce)
  • 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 4-5 cups of day-old cooked rice
  • 1 cup of loosely packed basil leaves, rinsed
  • 2-3 eggs, scrambled with 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • Sriracha *optional

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a large wok on medium heat. Add garlic and chili peppers and cook until fragrant and lightly browned, about 30 seconds.  Add onions. Cook 30 seconds.
  2. Increase heat to high. Add the beef, and stir until it is well mixed with the garlic, onions, and chili peppers. Then add the fish sauce, seasoning sauce, black pepper and oyster sauce, and cook until beef is cooked through, about 3-5 minutes.
  3. After the beef is cooked through, add the rice and break apart clumps and incorporate well into the beef and onions.
  4. Scramble the eggs in a separate saucepan and mix into the rice after they are just-cooked through.
  5. After the rice is well mixed and hot, turn off the stove and immediately add your basil leaves. Mix well, and serve! Enjoy. You can add sriracha on top if it’s not that spicy.

Phat Kee Mao Gai (Thai stir-fried spicy chicken with basil)

March 24, 2011 § 1 Comment

I don’t know about you, but Thai food is an addiction of mine that I succumb to several times a week.  I also have attempted to make Thai-dishes in my kitchen that have been ultimate fails, I can’t seem to recreate that amazing restaurant-flavor at home! That is…until I found this recipe and tinkered around with it, and came up with something really delicious a few days ago.

I love basil, and even moreso I love Thai-basil, which feels like basil taken up a few notches.  I’m sure that this recipe could be done with American basil if you can’t find Thai-basil in your Asian supermarket, but perhaps add more of it than the recipe calls for because of the milder properties of American basil.  But definitely try to find and use Thai basil.

The prik-khing paste can be found in the curry/wasabi aisle of the grocery store and I’ve added a picture of it so that you won’t be completely lost looking for this Thai-product.

Also, I added eggplant to this dish because I seriously love eggplant.  I am sure you can add or not put in any vegetables in this dish, but it’s up to you really.  I wish I put in more eggplant, as I only put in one, so next time I am definitely going to add more.

I also used two green serrano peppers and three red chili peppers which weren’t that spicy…but I know I have an abnormal spice-resistance so only start with a little and add more if you can handle the heat.

Phat kee mao gai (Thai stir-fried spicy chicken with chili and basil)

Adapted from Cooking with Kai

Ingredients

  • 1 lb of boneless chicken thigh-meat, minced and sliced into tiny pieces
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon prik khing paste
  • 2 Chinese eggplants, washed and sliced in half and then into diagonal slices
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce (use 1/2 tablespoon if you don’t really like it)
  • 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 1 cup of packed Thai basil leaves
  • green and red chili peppers (according to how spicy you want it) sliced into diagonal pieces

Directions

Heat oil in large wok or pan in medium-high heat.  Add the prik khing paste and stir until fragrant, around 20-30 seconds.

Add the chicken and cook for around 5 minutes until almost done, and then add the eggplants.  Cook together until the eggplant is cooked through, another 4-5 minutes.

Add water, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar, and stir until well-mixed and coated over the chicken and eggplant.  Stir for another 30 seconds.

Add the basil, red and green chili peppers, and stir for 15 seconds.  Then take off the heat and serve with rice.

Enjoy this super quick, easy, and delicious recipe!

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