#33 There's bacon in my ramen bowl!!!

I just got back to Houston from a mini-trip to San Antonio. Apparently, you may contract "Island Fever" in your living room if you cope yourself up for enough days. My condition was severe; but spending a day in a different room to study gave me enough of a boost to make a ramen creation. Kroger had a sale on bacon; naturally, I could not resist this temptation. I sauteed green bell peppers and onion in the sweet and meaty lard that is bacon; and stirred them into some cooked ramen. And this was the result:

#32 Mediterranean Garden Ramen

Where all vegetables came together to meet a singular fate.... my belly

#31 Teriyaki Pig Taco

Once again, I apologize for the delay. Busy times are in motion. Anyways, I gave into my old ramen ways last weekend. I had far too much homework to leave the house and purchase real food; ramen seemed like an appropriate alternative. Fortunately, I have a fridge with a modest amount of sauces and condiments so Teriyaki was an available option. I skinned and marinated Italian Sausage in Teriyaki sauce for  minutes. After that, I simply place the sausage on crumbled ramen noodles, and baked them together in the oven. The sausage-rue cooked the ramen perfectly.

#30 Spinach and Ramen Salad

I tentatively say that I am a fan of chicken salad. It embodies the phrase: "hit or miss". I am not a fan of chicken salads with an overabundance of Mayo; especially ones that overcompensate for poor flavoring with heaps of fluffy lard. So when Dan brought home some Costco chicken salad, I decided to add some extra ingredients. I pretty easily transformed this sad-looking chicken salad into a gourmet ramen dish. Dill, onions, salad, and ramen were mixed in, and cooled for 20 minutes. Lastly, I sprinkled some sesame on top because... I can.

#29 Ramen Lo Mein

I guess I should start off by coming clean. This is not the most imaginative dish. I do have another one in mind, but work is keeping in a cage of laziness. Albeit, I still have a cash-related dependency on ramen; and so this meal was created. I hypothesize that Dan had ordered some chow mein last night. My observation of finely chopped onion, shoots, and water chestnuts would reject my null hypothesis, so let us agree to agree. Anyways, the leftovers consisted of some sauce and pathetic-looking mushrooms. I could not get any satisfaction with this. Naturally, I started adding things in my refrigerator. I sauteed some egg yolks with ground turkey; added some beans, cilantro and FRESH julienne mushrooms. And, cheers, a delicious meal in less than 10 minutes.

#28 Grilled Chikin Guacamole Taco

Sunday nights are Grill nights at the East End Thunder Shack (a.k.a Dan's house), which makes Monday afternoons intense clean-up sessions. This past Monday wasn't an exception to the rule, but it was a lot less dismal than usual. Everyone who over brought food, and left food. As a result, our kitchen counter was full of leftovers that I could use for yet another ramen creation.

This scrumptious taco features a random piece of grilled chicken, some sauteed onions, guacamole, ramen, and some leaves of cilantro.

#27 Kimchee Pork Ramen

I have had an extensive love affair with kimchee for quite some time now. This Korean staple first peaked my interest when I was a weight-obsessed teenager. For some god-forsaken reason, I became fixated on a cabbage diet. Cabbage. Cabbage. Cabbage. Cabbage was all that I would eat. Fortunately, I came up some creative ways to mask the blandness that is green cabbage, but my world was truly awakened when I stumbled across the complex dish that is kimchee. Well, those days of strict cabbage meals are over, but my love for kimchee remains intact and has even evolved.
This ramen dish includes some of the more traditional ramen ingredients: miso-based broth, enoki mushrooms, and tofu. However, it would have been a crime to not take it to the net level. I made my version of a tortilla soup, but chopping up a char-grilled pork quesadilla and adding it to the mix. The kimchee came last.

#26 Beer Battered Ramen

For those of you who have gone out with me to get a beer, you have learned by now that I have transcended the category "beer snob". I believe my unwarranted exclamations and histronic reactions have earned me the title, "beer douchebag". So when I stumble across the inevitable mediocre Saint Arnold in my fridge, my shriveled heart fills with dismay. Well... not anymore. Apparently, there is a use for beers that just do not make the taste bud cut. Pour it in a batter. I scored an excellent beer batter recipe off of allrecipes.com that took no skill and very little time to complete. This recipe called for beer, eggs, and flour. Check and CHECK. I've always been a fan of fish and chips, so I decided to try my luck at battering up some ramen/ Much to my surprise, it did not turn out awful. In fact, it was delicious. I boiled the ramen for about 2 minutes, and packed some into a dense ball with sauteed tuna and onions. The ball was dipped in a batter mixture and place in a saucer with oil. Ta da! Instant fried creation.

#25 Gouda Chili Ramen Bowl

So this ramen bowl is actually an old recipe. "Old" in the sense that I had actually made this a couple weeks back, not "old" in the implication that this dish is a classics dish. More importantly this meal was a collaborative effort. My good friend, Kevin Rivas, decided to cook chili for the house one night. And it was remarkable.

 I'd like to think that he artfully turned a cow's carcass into a delicacy. I can't fully enclose information about how he made his chili but I do know that he added Italian sausage, peppers, and dark chocolate powder. The chocolate really smoothed out the spicy bite of the peppers and resulted in a some heat gradient for the tongue. I, being the sacrilegious person that I am, took his fine chili and smashed it into a bowl of ramen. I added some carrots and corn to enhance the sweetness, and soaked the noodles in a chicken broth. Cheese didn't seem like a terrible idea, so I also melted and stirred in some peppered Gouda.