#16 Sesame Pancake Brunch

Today's feast is a celebration! "A celebration for what?" might you ask. My first half-day in the new lab. I can't think of a better way to celebrate than making the breakfast that I skipped out on. Pancakes it is! I still have some sesame seeds on my pantry so I sprinkled some of those into the batter to get a whole-grain sort of look and texture. And, hey, not bad.

Recipe? Erm... make some pancakes and then add a splash of awesome (aka fried ramen and whiskey). Presto!

#15 Scrabbled Spring Ramen

Ouch! I haven't made a post in awhile. Sorry about that guys. It seems like my free time went from 100% to 0% in a week; which I am perfectly content with. Anyways, it's wonderful Sunday for ramen! Last Monday I made a visit to a local Asian Supermarket. I was pretty excited about this and had intricate fantasies of strolling down aisles full of Bento flakes, Kimchi, and fish cakes. Not suprisingly, the reality was a cold slap in the face. This place looked like they hadn't updated their stock in 5+ years and I was lucky enough to find sesame seeds. It make matters worse, I discovered that instant noodles can expire. Intensely. I did however, pick a pack of semi-expired spring roll sheets for 20 cents. They don't have the best structural integrity anymore, so I decided to soak them and fry them up. Which segweys into my lasted deconstruction: an egg spring roll.

This bad boy is a polygamous marriage between ramen, an omelete, and a spring roll. And do take note of the sesame seed topping. Mmmmmm....

#14 Mermaid PIZZA: Keisha-Tossed Crust

So the glorious thing about this pizza creation is that I managed to make my own crust. This comes as a bit of surprise because I've just had terrible luck with yeast lately. I understand the principles of yeast activation and militant kneading, but for some reason all of my past efforts have been mute. I can only assume that my understanding of "warm water" had been off.

Anyways, TA DA! A wonderful crusty creation. This pizza has a creamy and spicy sauce, and is topped with Ramen, Mackerel, Kale, and Mozzarella. Clearly, with the gold noodle locks and fishy taste, Mermaid is the appropo name or this dish.

Ingredients:

Arg.... too tired to list. It's been a long weekend.

#13 Breakfast Taco: pig vs ramen

This morning I decided against boiling ramen. You see, I was trying to revive some cold potatoes on a frying pan with mint leaves and oil, and I assumed that throwing in some raw ramen would be easier. Little did I know how AMAZINGLY FRIGGIN' DELICIOUS fried ramen is! They just absorbed the flavor of mint and sausage and took on the consistency of fried duck skin. Because of how satiated the mixture is in flavor and fat, I highly recommend stuffing it in warm tortillas.

Ingredz:

Sausage

Egg

Fried Ramen

Mint

Cilantro

Potatoes

Cheez

#12 Steamed Buns with Ramen + Tripe

The beautiful thing about Vietnamese left overs is that all of the ingredients are stored separately. So, say you have extra tripe and mint, you can use them later on in a completely different fashion. Today I used some left-over tripe, ramen, and bean sprouts to make a meat filling that I stuffed into home-made steam buns. To be honest, the dough didn't rise as I would have liked so the end product was a bit too doughy for my liking.

Oh yeah... I sliced up heirloom tomatoes and added them for some extra sweetness.

#11 Whiskey Waffles & Ramlette

Insomnia proved to be productive this evening/mid-morning. While moving out of my apartment, I unearthed a waffle maker. And she's a real beaut! She does not have a heat setting per say. But, hey, that's what I like in a lady: a one-tracked mind (note: I haven't slept in awhile). Anyways, I've had waffle meals on the mind. There's this famous brunch spot in Houston, "The Breakfast Klub", that is known for its southern belle, Chikin' & Waffles. Because seating is practically impossible on the weekend and of my phobia of public eating, I doubt I'll ever be able to go. But, I knew it was time for me to crank out some nontraditional waffles. Instead of using vanilla extract, I added Maker's Mark into the batter.

These bad boys were topped with a mushroom, ramen and kale omelette and were smothered in maple syrup.
In order to make these "waist-friendly", I recommend using egg whites for the batter and omelette.

#10 Nach-ur-ramen

So this colossal meal was inspired by a heaping amount of left-overs from a Mexican Resturant, El Tiempo. It's one of those fine establishments that makes sure that the chip basket never empties and the salsa bowl never runs dry. Needless to say, there were A LOT of tortilla chips left in my fridge. Restaurant tortilla chips rarely get a second chance at glory. I, however, pride myself in being a necromancer of left-overs. This plate is a mean, BEAN, RAMEN NACHO machine!!

Ingredients:

Lima Beans

Refried Pinto Beans

Zucchini Squash 

Tortilla Chips

Ramen

Tomatoes

Pepper Jack Cheese

Bon Appetit!

#9 Meatball + Blue Cheese Revival

Sorry about the short hiatus, Ramen fans. Moving and an infected-tooth took it's toll on my time and ability to stomach ramen. But never fear, it is back with a vengeance. I understand that some people have reservations about pungent or unfamiliar ingredients. If that is the case, this is not the blog for you. I am not one to palate discriminate but I can truthfully proclaim that I like bold flavors. I love BOLD flavors. And they will continue to float in my ramen until the day that IBS says otherwise. That's precisely why I used blue cheese in this meatball and blue cheese ramen dish.
Chezz faktz
What is blue cheese? Cheese that has been infused (naturally or artificially) with the mold Penicillium. When grown in a dark and dank environment, this blue and black strain is able to colonize throughout the cheese creating a sharp and salty flavor.

Ingredz:

Carrot Soup

Ramen

Parsley

Meat

Blue Cheese

Cumin

Salt + Pepper