Recipe: Vegetable Pancakes

I was going to make some spinach cakes but instead decided for some vegetable pancakes. Healthy and delicious - this pancakes can be serve as an appetizer or main dish. The pancake batter can be prepared the day before and is better served warm.

For this recipe, I added some long hot pepper for just a little kick that you won't even notice. Tamari soy sauce is more thicker, darker and richer than the usual soy sauce.

For the sauce
3 tablespoon Tamari Soy Sauce
3 tablespoon Teriyaki Sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced hot pepper

For the pancakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup water
2 eggs
1 garlic bulb, minced
2 hot peppers, minced
4 indian egg plants, cut into fine julienne
8 oz white mushrooms, cut into fine juliene
1 bunch green asparagus, thinly sliced
3 tablespoon crushed basil
salt and pepper

Preparation:
Make the sauce by combining soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, minced garlic and hot pepper in a small bowl. Set aside while you make the pancakes.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, water and eggs. Mix gently until just combined. Add in the remaining ingredients and fold together.

Heat the griddle to 250 degrees F. Using a small soup ladle. Add the pancake batter into the griddle. Cook each pancake for about 4 minutes. Flip the pancake to the other side once the pancake as settled. Press with a spatula to compress ingredients. Cook for another two minutes.

Serve while hot.

Options: If you do have have a griddle, you can use a nonstick skillet. Heat it over medium-high and coat with oil.

Recipe: Chicken and Pork Adobo in Coconut Milk

Coconut milk is use in many tropical cuisines -Cambodian, Filipino, Indian, Malaysian, Vietnamese and Thai - to name a few. It's hard to find fresh coconut milk here so I resorted into using canned milk. For this recipe, I added some serano peppers to add some kick to it.

Ingredients:
1 lb Chicken thighs
1 lb Pork chunks
1 serano pepper, sliced
Juice of 2 medium sized lime
4 stalks celery, chopped
small bunch of parsley, chopped
1 garlic bulb, crushed
2 cans (13 oz each) Coconut Milk (I used Thai Kitchen)
Salt and Pepper
Oil

Preparation:
Heat oil in a large pot or dutch oven, add garlic and serano peppers. Saute for five minutes.
Add in pork chunks and chicken thighs, pour in lime juice, stir until chicken and pork are covered with lime juice.
Pour in coconut milk. Bring to boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for an hour.
Add in the parsley and celery. Simmer for another hour or until pork is tender and chicken is cooked
Serve over jasmine rice.

Enjoy and let me know how it goes.

Shogun at District 36

Shogun came to New York City and played an amazing set at District 36! His set was amazing with a great mix of tunes from Space Odyssey, Skyfire and Save Me to Sanctuary, Use Somebody, Miss You Paradise and Angel's Love

Recipe: Italian Vegetable Soup

A really great friend of mine shared this Italian Vegetable Soup recipe to me the other night and I made it this afternoon with some tweaks. The pepper adds a kick to this delicious recipe. It is really easy to make, good for those cold nights and its quite healthy.

Ingredients:
2 Poblano Peppers, chopped
2 Serano Peppers, chopped
2 Cherry Peppers, chopped
32 oz Vegetable Broth
1 can White Cannellini Beans, drained
2 large tomatoes, diced
2 medium zucchini, sliced
4 stalks celery, sliced
a band of green onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1 garlic bulb, peeled
2 tbsp. fresh marjoram, chopped
2 tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
2 tbsp, fresh basil, chopped
3 Tbsp EVOO or Canola Oil
Juice of a small lemon
Salt and Pepper

Place peppers, green onions, and oil in a food processor, minced. Add marjoram, parsley, rosemary, lemon juice, basil and garlic. Continue mince cycle.
Heat a soup pot, keep the heat on medium or low. Add the mixture to the pan and let it sweat.
Add in tomatoes, zucchini, celery, carrots. Stir to mix the vegetables.
Pour vegetable broth into the pot. Add in the cannellini beans. Increase the heat.
Cover and let it boil. Then decrease heat to simmer. Season with Salt and Pepper.

Enjoy!

Optional: Use some Romano Cheese if you want to add taste and texture.