Recipe: Homemade Thai Fried Rice

I found this Thai Fried Rice with Chicken Recipe (Khao Phat Gai) recipe about a year ago, and was making it as written until we run out of one of the ingredients at home. In the process of substituting whatever we had on hand for the recipe, I came up with my own version of this delicious homemade fried rice. I added A LOT of veggies, so that the ratio of rice to veggies is 1:1. That way I'm sure my family is at least getting quite a bit of their daily vegetable portion.

I first started out using chicken sausage (Aidell's to be precise), but one day we found these pork sausages on sale, and we haven't looked back since. They are already pretty salty, so that cuts down on the salt I use in the dish. They add a nice flavor to the fried rice when sauteed till they are a pretty brown color. I hope you enjoy making this at home. Feel free to add your own twist to it. Challenge yourself to use whatever you have on hand. You'll surprise yourself. :)

I'm trying something new on this post. I'm adding the instructions to the photos, then adding the text below the photos. That way you can follow along with the recipe when looking at the photos, or you can skip all the photos and go directly to the recipe instructions. It's all up to you!

Alrighty, here we go!

INGREDIENTS
2 cups diced sausages (I use...brand)
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 cups diced green onions
2 cups shredded carrots
2 cups green peas
1/4-1/2tsp hot cayenne pepper (optional - if you don't like your food spicy, feel free to leave out)
Dash of black pepper
5 eggs (or 5 egg whites)
2 tbsps + 2 tsps vegetable oil
1 tbsp grated garlic
6 cups hard boiled rice (jasmine rice or other type of long grain rice works well. Cook with less water than usual to keep the grains hard)
1-2 tbsps soy sauce
1/2 tbsp sugar

RECIPE

1. Place the sausages in a large frying pan or wok, turn heat up to high and saute sausage until they are beautifully browned. This will release the oil in the sausage, reducing amount of oil you need for the food. Add the fish sauce to the sausages.
2. Add the onions, carrots and peas and stirfry for 2-3 mins, then add the pepper to taste. Stirfry for 2 more minutes, then dish out to a bowl.
3. There should be a small layer of oil on the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to medium-high. If your vegetables took up all the oil, do not despair! Add 2 tsps of vegetable oil to the pan, whisk your eggs (or not), and add them to the pan. You can scramble the eggs into itty-bitty millions of pieces, or wait for it to set, then chunk it up so there are huge egg pieces in your rice. (I like itty-bitty, hubster prefers the chunks. I let him have the chunks since he inhales most of this fried rice.) Spoon egg out into a bowl/holding dish.
4. Turn heat up to medium-high, add the 2 tbsps of oil, and the 1 tbsp of garlic. Saute for about 30 seconds (garlic should look golden but not brown yet). Add the rice one cup at a time, stirring and breaking up the chunks after each cup.
5. Increase the heat to high, and add the soy sauce, stirring to make sure it's all mixed up very well (about 3 - 5 mins, depending on how hot your fire is). Add the sugar, and mix in properly.
6. Now add the already sauteed veggies, sausage and eggs. Mix it very well with the rice. Taste, and add some more soy sauce/fish sauce/pepper to taste. Dish out and enjoy!! :)

I hope you like it! Let me know what modifications you make to this recipe!

Recipe - Ghanaian Style Spinach Stew (with Catfish)

In Ghana, we eat quite a bit of spinach stew (ok kontomire stew, but there is no direct English equivalent. It's actually the leaves of the cocoyam plant). Once I moved to the US, I found it hard to replicate the stew that I grew up with using actual spinach leaves. Now that I have a family, and I'm trying to be a bit healthier in my cooking, I wanted to reintroduce the Ghanaian spinach stew with my own twist. I hope you like it.

PS:  Scroll straight to the bottom for the ingredient list and the recipe if you don't want to be tempted by the yummy pictures. I won't be offended, since I know how it feels to be hungry and want to cook something NOW! :)

Here are the ingredients.

Note: I'm making double the recipe, since this stew freezes well. So, if the amount in my photos looks more than you expect, that's because it is. :)

First, chop up the onions. I love onions so I use a lot of them in my stew. Next, add the garlic and oil to the frying pan. Saute on medium high until onions are almost clear. Aah, I LOVE the smell of onions frying.

Then add the curry powder, black pepper and cayenne pepper. [Sorry I forgot to take a photo of the black pepper. :( ]

Saute for 1-2 minutes more, then add the can of diced tomatoes. Add the water, reduce the heat to low or medium low, cover the saucepan and let the stew simmer for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (I like my tomatoes softened in the stew so I don't inadvertently bite into a big chunk of tomato. If you are a tomato lover, feel free to shorten this cooking time.)

Now add the salt, and taste. You might need to add more salt once you add the spinach.

Next, add the spinach (you don't need to let it thaw before adding it), mix it in thoroughly, cover the pan and let the stew simmer on low heat. You might need to add about 1/8 - 1/4 cup of water to help the flavors stew properly. Leave the stew to simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes. Taste and adjust the spices as necessary.

If you aren't adding the catfish, your stew should be done now. You can add whatever protein you like. This stew would go really well with some pre-cooked black-eyed peas or black beans (for a vegetarian twist). Add a dash of cumin if you are making this with beans, as I've found it to enhance the taste of beans quite well.

Now this part is for us catfish lovers. I will put up a post about a simple way to fry catfish for this stew (or any other similar stew where you want the fish to stay whole). Add your already fried fish, and let the whole thing simmer for 5 more minutes, then you are done. So yummy!

So what will you eat this yummy stew with? I personally love it with some plain boiled rice. My hubby loves it with boiled rice AND fried plantains. Here's how I had it last night. :)

I hope you enjoying making and eating this meal like I did!!

INGREDIENTS

1 large onion (2 cups chopped)
1.5 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2-1 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2-1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2-1 tsp cayenne red pepper (or hotter pepper if you have it)
1 14.5(or 15)oz can of diced tomatoes - petite diced is even better
1 16oz bag of frozen spinach
1/4-1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 - 1/2 cup of water
2-3 fresh catfish fillets (optional)

RECIPE

1. Place the onions, garlic and oil to a pan and saute on medium to high heat until onions are almost clear. 
2. Add the curry powder, black and cayenne peppers. Mix well and saute for 1-2 more minutes.
3. Now add the can of diced tomatoes and 1/4 cup water, reduce the heat to low or medium low, cover the saucepan and let the stew simmer for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
4. Sprinkle a 1/4 tsp of salt to the stew, taste and adjust it to your liking.
5. Next, add the spinach (you don't need to let it thaw before adding it), mix it in thoroughly, cover the pan and let the stew simmer on low heat. (You might need to add about 1/8 - 1/4 cup of water to help the flavors stew properly.) Leave the stew to simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes. Taste and adjust the spices as necessary. If not adding any extra protein, your stew is ready!! 
6. If adding protein (beans, catfish, whatever your fancy), add them now, simmer on low to medium heat for 5 minutes, and your stew is ready!! 

The first post

It's past 2am. I have a 7am run appointment with a good friend, and I need to sleep. Instead, I'm up setting up a new blog. A homemaking blog. Who would have thought, right?

I realized very recently that one of the ways I deal with stress is to pick up a new project and distract myself with that. So, in the midst of job hunting, I've decided to reorganize our home and make it more streamlined. No one has complained about how the house is now, and I'm sure whatever changes I make won't make much of a difference. However, it calms me down so I don't have to think about what is stressing me out too much. Hence, the randomness of my homemaking adventure.

I don't expect to share any groundbreaking insights about homemaking on here, just photos and updates from projects I'll be doing around the house. I hope you have fun watching me de-stress through my projects.

Okay, off to bed I go now.