Fried Rice Recipe

Basic Fried Rice Recipe

Serves 4 to 6

This is a basic recipe for fried rice that you can add to as desired. If adding other ingredients, increase the number of eggs to 3.
Need a bit of help? Here are step by step photo instructions showing how to make basic fried rice.

Ingredients:

• 1 - 2 green onions, as desired
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Pepper to taste
• 4 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed
• 4 cups cold cooked rice
• 1 - 2 tablespoons light soy sauce or oyster sauce, as desired

Preparation:

Wash and finely chop the green onion. Lightly beat the eggs with the salt and pepper.

Heat a wok or frying pan and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the eggs. Cook, stirring, until they are lightly scrambled but not too dry. Remove the eggs and clean out the pan.

Add 2 tablespoons oil. Add the rice. Stir-fry for a few minutes, using chopsticks or a wooden spoon to break it apart. Stir in the soy sauce or oyster sauce as desired.

When the rice is heated through, add the scrambled egg back into the pan. Mix thoroughly. Stir in the green onion. Serve hot.

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Meatball Recipe

Meatball Recipe

These meatballs are delicious simmered in purchased or homemade spaghetti sauce. Double the recipe and freeze some for another day. Serve meatballs with pasta and a tossed salad, and pass the Parmesan cheese.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean or extra-lean ground beef
• 1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage (or remove from casings)
• 1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
• 3 medium cloves garlic
• 1 scant teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried leaf basil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons water, or as needed
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation:

Line a large shallow baking pan with foil; oil lightly. Combine all ingredients, using just enough water to moisten. Shape into meatballs, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter.

Broil the meatballs about 8 inches from the heat source for about 10 minutes. Turn and broil for 10 minutes longer.

Put the meatballs in a large saucepan and cover with your favorite pasta sauce, homemade or purchased. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
Serves 6 (about 18 to 24 large meatballs).

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Sushi Recipes

Ingredients:

1 cup of cooked rice, warm.
½ cup of cooked crab meat.
½ cup of vinegar.
½ cup of sugar.
3 tablespoons of golden caviar.
2 tablespoons of sesame seeds.
½ avocado, chopped.
Wasabi paste.

Directions:

Mix the vinegar and the sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Cook until sugar has dissolved completely; remove from heat.

Stir 2 tablespoons of the sugar/vinegar combination into the cooked rice.

Stir the sesame seeds into the rice.

Press pickled rice into a square.

Cut rice into squares.

Press each square so that rice clings, and dab some wasabi paste on each square.

Press some crab meat, golden caviar, and avocado on each of the rice square.

Ingredients:

2 cups of boiled potatoes.
1 tablespoon of mustard oil.
1 teaspoon of rice wine vinegar.
1 teaspoon of mustard.
½ teaspoon of salt.
½ teaspoon of wasabi.
½ cup of crayfish tails.

Directions:

With a fork, mash the boiled potatoes with a fork.

Add the mustard oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and wasabi.

Set aside and allow to cool.

Roll out the potatoes into appropriately sized pieces; placing a craytish tail on top of each piece.

Serve warm.

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Chicken Noodle Recipe

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

3 to 4 lbs. chicken 5 cups water or chicken broth 1 lb. baby carrots 5 cloves garlic, minced 3 celery stalks, finely sliced 2 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced 1 tsp. low sodium chicken soup base (or bouillon) 1 large onion, chopped 1 or 2 green onions, chopped (optional) 2 bay leaves pinch ea oregano and thyme salt and pepper (to taste) additional seasonings of your choice (to taste) Put all ingredients in Crockpot. Cooks Note: Allow soup to come to a boil for 1 minute, then reduce heat until steaming hot but not boiling (barely simmering is OK). A boiled chicken soup is tasteless. If your Crockpot doesn't allow a steaming hot soup without rapid boiling, do not use it for making soup. Cook all day (6-8 hours) or until chicken is tender (not stringy). Thirty minutes before serving time, add homemade noodles; cook until noodles are tender. Taste and season soup with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, to taste, before serving. Homemade Noodles: 1 cup sifted flour 1/2 tsp. salt 1 egg, beaten 1-2 tbsp. water or milk Measure flour onto a work surface or into a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and add egg, water and salt into the center. Mix to make a stiff paste. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead until it forms a smooth ball.Cover and lest rest for 5 minutes. Roll out to a 1/8-inch thickness. Turn and roll very thin. (A pasta machine may be used). Allow to dry for 1 hour, then cut into lengthwise strips of 2 1/2-inches wide and stack. Then slice the other way to one-eighth to one-sixteenth inch width. Separate and allow to dry. Add noodles to chicken soup and cook on high for 20 minutes. Variation: To make pot-pie noodles, cut noodles into 1 1/2 to 2 inch squares.

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Stuffed Pork Chops Recipe

Stuffed Pork Chops Recipe


This stuffed pork chops recipe is typical of the type of finely chopped vegetable stuffing Eastern Europeans love. Mushrooms, onions, celery, parsley and toasted bread crumbs are the only ingedients -- no broth, no eggs. The chops are browned on the stovetop, then baked in the oven.

Here's a larger picture of stuffed pork chops.

Makes 4 servings of Stuffed Pork Chops

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 (1- to 1 1/2-inch) pork chops, trimmed of excess fat
• 1 finely chopped large onion
• 1 pound finely chopped mushrooms
• 2 ribs finely chopped celery
• 4 ounces (1 stick) butter
• 1 large handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/2 to 1 cup toasted bread crumbs (not cubes)
• Salt and pepper

Preparation:

1. In a large skillet, melt butter and saute onion, mushrooms and celery until cooked and most of the juices have evaporated. Add parsley and bread crumbs and mix well. Let cool.
   
   
2. Meanwhile, Wash and pat dry chops. Using a boning knife, make a 1-inch slit in the center of each side. Using the knife, widen the pocket but leave the opening only 1-inch wide.
   
   
3. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Stuff the pork chops until they are nice and plump. You will probably have leftover stuffing. Season both sides of chops with salt and pepper and sear in a nonstick pan until nicely browned.
   
   
4. Place chops in a shallow baking dish and surround with any leftover stuffing. Add 1/4 cup water or stock and bake, uncovered, about 30 to 35 minutes or until internal temperature registers 150 degrees. Serve with pan juices, if desired. Sauerkraut and Apples would go well with this dish.

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Stuffed Cabbage Recipe

Stuffed Cabbage Recipe


This recipe for Bulgarian stuffed cabbages or sarmi is made with veal, pork, rice and yogurt. Here are more stuffed cabbage recipes.

Makes about 24 Bulgarian stuffed cabbages or sarmi

Prep Time: 0 hour, 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 0 minute

Ingredients:

• 1 (4-pound) whole cabbage head
• 1 bunch finely chopped green onions
• 1 medium finely chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup raw rice
• Sunflower oil
• 1 cup broth or water
• 1 1/2 pounds ground veal
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) black pepper
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon (or to taste) finely chopped mint
• Tomato juice
• 1 cup plain Bulgarian yogurt
• 1 tablespoon (or to taste) hot or sweet paprika

Preparation:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
   
   
2. Remove core from cabbage. Place whole head in a large pot filled with boiling, salted water. Cover and cook 3 minutes, or until softened enough to pull off individual leaves. You will need about 24 leaves.
   
   
3. When leaves are cool enough to handle, use a paring knife to cut away the thick center stem from each leaf, without cutting all the way through.
   
   
4. Chop the remaining cabbage and place it in the bottom of a large oiled casserole dish or Dutch oven.
   
   
5. In a medium skillet, saute chopped onion, carrots and rice in a little oil until rice grains are completely coated with oil. Add 1 cup broth or water and stir until water has been absorbed. Let cool and transfer to a large bowl. Add veal, lamb, salt, pepper, parsley and mint and mix until well combined, but don't overmix or the meat will become tough.
   
   
6. Place about 1/2 cup of meat on each cabbage leaf. Roll away from you to encase the meat. Flip the right side of the leaf to the middle, then flip the left side. You will have something that looks like an envelope. Once again, roll away from you to create a neat little roll.
   
   
7. Place the cabbage rolls on top of the chopped cabbage in the casserole dish or Dutch oven, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Pour enough tomato juice over rolls so it comes 2/3 up the side of the Dutch oven or casserole. Bring to a boil. Turn off heat, place a weighted ovenproof dish on the cabbage rolls, cover and place in oven. Bake for 1 hour or until cabbage is tender and meat is cooked.
   
   
8. Make a sauce in a small bowl by combining yogurt, paprika and a little sunflower oil, mixing until smooth. Transfer stuffed cabbages to a serving plate and cover with sauce.

NOTE: This same filling recipe may be used for stuffed peppers, eggplants and zucchini.

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Pan-Roasted Filet of Duck Breast Recipe

Pan-Roasted Filet of Duck Breast Recipe


This recipe for pan-roasted filet of duck breast is fast and easy, and delicious when served with a honey-brown sugar sauce. Eastern Europeans love turkey and whole roasted birds, but this is a nice change of pace, and can be found at many of the upscale restaurants in Poland.

I first tasted this version at Houmas House Plantation and Gardens in Darrow, La. Chef Jeremy Langlois paired it with whipped sweet potatotes but I think this pumpkin and yam casserole is even tastier. Here's a larger photo of pan-roasted filet of duck breast.

Makes 6 servings of Pan-Roasted Filet of Duck Breast

Prep Time: 0 hour, 15 minutes

Cook Time: 0 hour, 17 minutes

Ingredients:

• Duck:
• 6 duck breasts
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Sauce:
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 ounces (1/2 stick) butter
• 1/4 cup beef broth
• Salt and pepper

Preparation:

1. To make the duck: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Season duck breasts with salt and pepper. In a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat, add olive oil. Pan fry duck breasts, skin side down, for 6 minutes. Flip duck over and place skillet in oven. Roast 8 to 10 minutes for medium rare.
   
   
2. Remove pan from oven and allow breasts to rest 2 to 3 minutes before slicing. Cut each breast on the bias into 1/2-inch-thick slices and fan on the serving plate. This is delicious with pumpkin and yam casserole.
   
   
3. For the sauce: While the duck is cooking, combine honey, brown sugar, butter and beef broth in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and gently simmer 5 minutes. Carefully taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Drizzle over plated pan-roasted duck breast.

User Reviews

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Jewish Stuffed Cabbage Recipe

Jewish Stuffed Cabbage Recipe


This Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish stuffed cabbage recipe or holishkes is a traditional dish for Sukkot, the harvest festival in autumn, but it is enjoyed year-round by Jewish communities in Europe, the United States and the Middle East. This recipe has a sweet-sour sauce with raisins and is adapted from "The Hadassah Jewish Holiday Cookbook" edited by Joan Schwartz Michel (Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 2002). Here are more stuffed cabbage recipes.

Makes about 20 Jewish stuffed cabbages or holishkes

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours, 0 minute

Ingredients:

• 1 whole head cabbage, about 4 pounds
• Sauce:
• 2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 finely chopped large onion
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and coarsely grated
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon sour salt (citric acid)
• 1 cup dark raisins
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• Filling:
• 2 pounds ground beef chuck
• 1 large grated onion
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons raw rice (omit if using for Passover)
• 1 tablespoon matzoh meal
• 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preparation:

1. Remove core from cabbage. Place whole head in a large pot filled with boiling, salted water. Cover and cook 3 minutes, or until softened enough to pull off individual leaves. You will need about 20 leaves.
   
   
2. When leaves are cool enough to handle, use a paring knife to cut away the thick center stem from each leaf, without cutting all the way through.
   
   
3. To make the sauce: Place tomatoes and their juices in a medium-large saucepan. Crush tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in onion, apple, lemon juice, white and brown sugars, sour salt, raisins, kosher salt and pepper, and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes longer. Add more sugar or more lemon juice for the sweet-sour taste you prefer. Set sauce aside.
   
   
4. To make the filling: In a large bowl, mix ground beef, grated onion, eggs, rice, if using, matzoh meal, 2 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, mixing thoroughly. Don't overmix or the meat will become tough.
   
   
5. To assemble the rolls: Place about 1/2-cup of meat on each cabbage leaf. Roll away from you to encase the meat. Flip the right side of the leaf to the middle, then flip the left side. You will have something that looks like an envelope. Once again, roll away from you to create a neat little package.
   
   
6. Spoon thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a large casserole dish or Dutch oven. Chop any remaining cabbage leaves and place over the sauce.
   
   
7. Arrange cabbage rolls, seam-side down, on top of the chopped cabbage leaves in as many layers as necessary. Pour remaining sauce over stuffed cabbage. Bring to a boil on the stovetop, reduce heat to low, cover and cook 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until filling is cooked and cabbage is tender.

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Eastern European Street Food

Eastern European Street Food

Cevapcici (Balkan)

It has been said the casing-less sausages known as cevapcici found their way into Eastern Europe via the Ottoman Empire, which picked them up from Arabic cultures around Persia.

Today, there are different versions of cevapcici throughout Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. Some use pork and lamb, others use pork, lamb and beef, and yet others omit the pork entirely.

Originally, they were skewered and grilled over an open fire. Nowadays, most cooks grill, broil or pan fry them. They make great appetizers and sandwiches on lepinje bread!

Makes 6 servings of Cevapcici

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef chuck
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound ground lamb
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onions
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Finely chopped onions, for garnish

Preparation:

1. Mix together beef, pork, lamb, garlic, 1/2 cup chopped onions and salt until thoroughly combined.
   
   
2. Roll meat mixture into a long, 3/4-inch cylinder. Cut links at 4-inch intervals. Or, you can use a sausage extruder. Place on plastic wrap-lined plate, cover with more plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to firm. Note: Sausages can be frozen at this point. When ready to use, thaw or cook from the frozen state.
   
   
3. Broil "cevapcici" on a charcoal grill or a preheated oven broiler rack coated with cooking spray 4 to 6 inches from flame, 4 minutes per side or until no longer pink in the middle. Or they can be pan fried in a large skillet coated with cooking spray over high heat for a total of about 8 minutes, turning frequently to brown all sides.
   
   
4. Serve with chopped raw onion, Serbian potato salad and pogacha bread. Cevapcici make great appetizers!

Mititei (Romanian)

The story has it a popular mid-19th-century Romanian inn, famous for its sausages, was out of a customer favorite. To save time, the chef formed the unstuffed meat mixture into sausage-shaped cylinders and grilled them over charcoal. The customers delighted in "the wee ones without skin," and so these casingless sausages became known as Mititei or "the wee ones."

Mititei also can be made with lamb or pork or a combination, and formed into patties or meatballs and grilled, broiled, pan fried or baked in the oven. Indoor grills work great, too.

Makes 6 servings of Romanian Mititei Sausages

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds ground chuck
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons water
• 3 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon hot Hungarian paprika
• 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

1. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly, wetting your hands frequently to keep the meat moist. Cover bowl and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.
   
   
2. Using slightly dampened hands, divide mixture into 18 equal portions and form into oval sausages about 3 inches long and 1 1/2 inches thick.
   
   
3. Grill, broil or pan fry 7 minutes per side or bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
   
   
4. Serve with tomato and green onion salad, sour cream sprinkled with paprika, baked potato or french fries, or rice.
   
   
5. "Mititei" make great appetizers and are wonderful cold the next day in a sandwich.

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Braised Pork Belly Recipe

Braised Pork Belly Recipe


Eastern Europeans cooks are frugal, not wasting one ounce of the animals they slaughter -- heads, feet, tails, innards and more all find a place in the culinary repertoire. Pork belly, once considered scrap meat and relegated to the soup or cabbage pot, is now treated like royalty in trendy restaurants around the world. It's a fatty piece of meat, but when handled properly, wow!

Makes 4 servings Braised Pork Belly

Prep Time: 0 hour, 30 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• Marinade:
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon ground fennel seed
• 1 tablespoon ground allspice
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• .
• 1 1/2 pounds pork belly in one rectangular piece, at least 60 percent lean
• .
• Braising Liquid:
• 1 medium chopped yellow onion
• 1 large chopped carrot
• 3 ribs chopped celery
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 whole tomatoes
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 2-inch cinnamon stick
• 1 whole star anise
• 2 whole juniper berries
• 1 cardamom pod
• 1 whole clove
• 1 quart chicken stock

Preparation:

1. For the marinade: Combine all marinade ingredients thoroughly. Rub onto all sides of the pork belly, place in a nonreactive pan and pour any remaining marinade over the meat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
   
   
2. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Remove belly from refrigerator and place in a roasting pan.
   
   
3. To make the braising liquid: In a large saucepan, saute onion, carrot and celery in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes. Add wine and cook until evaporated. Add cinnamon stick, star anise, juniper berries, cardamom and chicken stock. Bring to a boil.
   
   
4. Pour hot braising liquid over pork belly. Cover and place in oven. Cook 3 1/2 hours or until completely tender when pierced with a fork. Note: The pork belly can be prepared up to this point and refrigerated in the braising liquid until ready to proceed.
   
   
5. Remove the belly from the braise and cool. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut belly into 4 portions. Saute in a hot skillet with a little oil for two minutes, fat side down. Finish warming in oven for 5 minutes.

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Balkan Meatball Shish Kebabs Recipe

Balkan Meatball Shish Kebabs Recipe

Serve these meatballs as appetizers or a main course.

Makes 4 to 6 servings of Balkan Meatball Shish Kebabs

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 slices white bread
• 1 3/4 pounds ground lamb
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cloves finely chopped garlic

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, place milk and bread. Work with your fingers until bread is moistened. Add lamb and remainder of ingredients, and mix well.
   
   
2. Heat grill. With slightly dampened hands, shape mixture into 32-36 evenly sized meatballs. Thread 4-6 meatballs on metal skewers or wooden skewers that have been soaked in water for 15 minutes to prevent them from setting on fire.
   
   
3. Lightly brush kebabs with olive oil and cook on a grill or under a broiler for 8-10 minutes, turning once during cooking. Serve with roasted red peppers, green onions and rice, if desired.

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