Edamame Fried Rice

Edamame Fried Rice

The other night I made some Korean Spicy Beef, and I figured that Fried Rice would be the perfect accompaniment. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com and altered it to my liking.

To keep the rice texture firm, it is recommended to rinse the cold cooked rice and drain it well before adding it to the stir fry. (I didn't do this though, and it turned out okay.)

Ingredients:
1 T canola oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 C minced yellow onion
4 C cooked long-grain rice, chilled - BE SURE TO COOK AND CHILL THE RICE BEFORE STARTING ANYTHING ELSE!
3 T low-sodium soy sauce
1-2 C shredded lettuce (can also use Asian style coleslaw)
1/2 C (or more) shelled edamame (if frozen, be sure to thaw first)
1/4 t salt
1/8 t white pepper
1/2 C minced green onions
1 t dark sesame oil
additional soy sauce to taste

Preparation:
Heat canola oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add eggs; stir-fry for 1 minute or until done. Remove from pan.

Add yellow onion to pan; saute 2 minutes or until translucent. Add rice and soy sauce; stir-fry 2 minutes. Return eggs to pan; cook 1 minute. Stir in lettuce, green peas, salt, and white pepper; stir-fry 1 minute. Sprinkle with green onions, and drizzle with sesame oil and soy sauce.

Yield:
6 servings - I was able to get 2 1/2 good-size meals out of this recipe.

Red Velvet Monster Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Filling

So....all my friends have finally driven me to start my own cooking blog. You will be amazed, I'm sure....

...Or not. I used to be an amazing baker, but my latest project was something of a mess. A tasty mess though, I must add! I figured I would start off my blog with a grand welcome - a photo documentary.

Red Velvet Monster Cupcakes
(with Cream Cheese Filling)

This blog is dedicated to my friend Clara, who wanted to see how I filled my cupcakes. I used a Duncan Hines cake mix for Red Velvet cake. My oh my, was that some red batter! I followed the package instructions for mixing.


After mixing, I went to pour the batter into the muffin tins. Alas - I discovered that my muffin tin did not make it during the move! It must have been left at the bachelor pad. What to do? I found some Halloween cupcake liners in my cupboard, and put them in a baking dish, hoping for the best.
Since I was planning to fill the cupcakes with cream cheese filling, I only filled the tins about 1/4 - 1/3 full.


My next plan of attack was to make the cream cheese filling. I used:
8 oz cream cheese (fat free!)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
red and yellow food coloring :)
I used the mixer until it was smooth, and then put the whole mess into a Ziploc bag and cut off the corner. (For easy cupcake filling.)


Then, I squirted a little filling into the middle of each cupcake.


My oh my, is cream cheese filling yummy!!!


Once I finished eating the leftover filling out of the bag, I carefully filled the cupcakes with the remaining batter, being sure not to let the filling peek out. The cupcake liners were about 3/4 full.


After I popped the cupcakes in the oven for 22 minutes, I got busy licking the beaters and the bowl. I wanted to see just how much food coloring was in that batter.

It's a lot of red, but I think it's a good look for me.

Time to take the cupcakes out of the oven! Oh dear...they are completely deformed - looks like it's not such a great idea to make cupcakes without a muffin tin. :( I'm sure they'll still be tasty though.


When Mike got home from work, we got busy decorating. We used the whipped cream cheese frosting, and added some yellow and red food coloring to it. By the time we were done mixing, it sure wasn't very whipped anymore. It was just gooey. Oh well. We added some Halloweenie candy corns to them. What we got was a frightful mess of gooey cupcakes.


Mike was the first guinea pig. Carefully he takes a bite...


Check out that creamy middle! (And that scary red tongue!)



Overall, the cupcakes were a success. Although I'm embarrassed to show them to anyone else. Next time, I'll be sure to buy the right pan before I try making cupcakes again!