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sweet and sour pork recipe | i am a food blog

I Am... Chinese Take Out at Home: Sweet and Sour Pork Recipe

January 31, 2019 • 4 comments • Posted in: bell peppers, chinese take out, pineapple, pork, pork butt, quarantine cooking, sweet and sour

If you asked me what my all time go to order for Chinese take away is, it would be sweet and sour pork. No, actually that's a lie. My all time favorite is honey garlic pork. But this isn't a post about honey garlic pork, it's about sweet and sour pork, which happens to be my second all time favorite Chinese takeout item. Who doesn't love crispy fried pork covered in a sweet and tangy sauce? I, for one, wanted to eat the entire plate after making this sweet and sour pork recipe. The only thing that stopped me was a tiny shred of self control. Really though, all I did was sneak into the fridge every so often to fork another piece of pork.

10 ingredients or less chinese food chinese take out dinner easy noodles recipe recipes Vegetarian Recipes

I Am... 5 Minute Easy Weeknight Pantry Chili Noodles Recipe

January 29, 2019 • 6 comments • Posted in: chili, chili oil, garlic, noodles, sesame oil, soy sauce, weeknight

This is an unbelievable quick and flavorful bowl of noodles that you can literally throw together in under 5 minutes. As any good Chinese kid knows, noodles are the solution to ALL hunger situations. Growing up, there were always, always noodles in the pantry, as well as a plethora of sauces.

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I Am... Air Fryer Tofu Recipe

January 29, 2019 • 2 comments • Posted in: air fryer, meal prep, tofu

I love crispy pan-fried tofu – it's the texture difference between the crisp outer shell and tender insides. Sometimes I'll crisp up a block of tofu and leave it in the fridge as meal prep. The tofu cubes taste great on salads, with noodles, or as little nugget snacks. But, as much as I love crispy tofu, sometimes I don't have time to meticulously fry all six sides of a tofu cube.

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I Am... 6 Ingredient Piri Piri Chicken – a Nando’s knockoff

January 28, 2019 • 8 comments • Posted in: chicken, portuguese, quarantine cooking

If you’ve ever had Nando’s, you’ll recognize these flavors. This is an easy weeknight recipe for portuguese-by-way-of-historically-unethical-african-colonies perfect oven broiled chicken thighs with spicy piri piri sauce. Nothing about this recipe is authentic, but damn if it doesn’t taste good with only 6 ingredients. It’s spicy, bright, tangy, sweet, and delicious. Why does this recipe work? Leaving the chicken out while you marinate it lets it come to temperature for more even cooking. If the idea of this makes you squeamish, you can marinate in the fridge, but then you’ll need to add additional cooking time and, ideally, use a meat thermometer to check when the chicken has come to about 180°F. You should marinate the chicken for as long as you can, but know that it takes 30 minutes for the chicken to cook. Piri Piri sauce is traditionally made with African bird’s eye chiles, which are far, far spicier than anything you can get in a grocery store. In this recipe, I went with Thai bird’s eye, which are plenty spicy. So spicy in fact, that you should carefully consider how spicy you can handle. The recipe calls for 4, if you can’t handle spice, go for 1, or even none. What do you need? A blender, an oven, and a baking sheet with a rack that fits. Optional but great: a meat thermometer. How do you serve it? You can demolish this on its own, or you can serve with portugese rice, potatoes, or a nice salad. You can also sub wings or a whole chicken for the thighs.

Nando's knockoff 6 Ingredient Piri Piri Chicken Serves 2 Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 30 minutes Total Time: 1 hour

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

4 Thai chilis

1 orange bell pepper

4 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon sugar

1 sprig rosemary (optional)

1lb chicken thighs

1. Make a marinade by blending the vinegar, thai chilis, bell pepper, garlic, sugar, and rosemary, if using. 2. Season your chicken thighs with salt and pepper to taste (I omitted this step, to be honest - it didn’t seem to need it). Marinate your chicken thighs with half of the sauce for a minimum of 15 minutes and up to two hours. 3. Preheat your oven to broil (500°F) with the rack set to the middle position. At the same time, cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a rack on top. 4. Meanwhile in a small saucepan, bring the other half of the sauce up to a very low simmer and hold it there until you are done. 5. When you are done marinating, position the chicken on the rack spacing each thigh about 1/2” apart. 6. Place the chicken in the oven, check back every 5 minutes or so for signs of burning, you want a little char, but not too much. 7. After 15 minutes has elapsed, flip the chicken and place back in the oven for another 15 minutes. 8. Remove and serve with the simmered piri piri sauce.

Welcome to Dinner & Chill, a new series focusing on quick & easy weeknight dinners with easy to find ingredients, low prep, and low effort.

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I Am... Small Batch Sundays: French Yogurt Lemon Loaf Cake

January 27, 2019 • 45 comments • Posted in: lemon, loaf cake, quarantine cooking, quick bread, small batch

Hello! Are you looking for a perfect sized small batch loaf cake to bake for the week ahead? Maybe you want to have cake for breakfast everyday but don't want a giant calorie bomb slice? This small batch French yogurt lemon loaf cake is for you!

instant pot red curry ramen | www.iamafoodblog.com

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I Am... 15 Minute Thai Red Curry Ramen Recipe

January 25, 2019 • 42 comments • Posted in: chicken, curry, instant pot, noodles, quarantine cooking, ramen, red curry, sesame, soup, soup noodles, thai

This bowl of noodles is what you want to eat when you're looking for a fast and cozy dinner. Creamy, spicy, full of vegetables, chicken, and noodles: perfect for warming up and relaxing after a long day in the cold.

10 ingredients or less dinner easy meat recipes

I Am... Easy Weeknight Coconut Curry Braised Chicken Legs Recipe

January 23, 2019 • 8 comments • Posted in: chicken, chicken legs, chicken thighs, coconut milk, curry, curry paste, lemongrass, red curry

Easy, braise-y, beautiful. I'm a sucker for punny plays on words and easy weeknight recipes, so when I saw a Bon Appetit article claiming "These Braisey Chicken Legs in Coconut Milk Are Almost Too Easy to Make," I was sold. Of course it helped that the photo was gorgeous: deeply burnished chicken legs, golden brown coconut chips, and a coconutty red curry just begging for rice.

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I Am... How to Make Crispy Fried Eggs

January 22, 2019 • 1 comment • Posted in: eggs, how-to

With the perfect sunny side up egg the whites are usually tender and just set. The yolks are runny and everything is nice. But is it just nice eggs you want? Isn't "nice" a little bit bland when you think about it? Don't get me wrong, sunny side up eggs are good, but once you've had a crispy fried egg, you might never go back.

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I Am... How to Make Crispy Air Fryer Roasted Broccoli

January 22, 2019 • 1 comment • Posted in: air fryer, broccoli

I never thought I would say this, but I think I'm an air-fryer convert. We got one as a gift this Christmas, and after about three weeks of it just sitting there, taking up space, I decided to take the plunge and air fry something. You'd think it would be a package of frozen fries because I LOVE fries, but no, I decided to go the healthy route and do air-fryer broccoli.

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I Am... How to Make Restaurant Style Mexican Rice

January 22, 2019 • 1 comment • Posted in: cumin, mexican, onion, rice, spanish, tomato

If you've ever gone to a Mexican restaurant and had the rice and wondered, how the heck is it so delicious, this post is for you. Mexican rice is simple to make with pantry ingredients that you probably have at home. It's not a lot of work for a huge taste pay off. It goes along great with tacos or chipotle chicken or even chile verde.

10 ingredients or less basics breakfast brunch easy how to meal prep recipe recipes snacks

I Am... How to Make Jammy Soft Boiled Eggs Recipe

January 22, 2019 • 18 comments • Posted in: eggs

Jammy eggs are having their day in the sun, probably because they're been rebranded from soft boiled eggs to "jammy." I'm a sucker for a good rebrand, so I'm not complaining. I love soft boiled/jammy eggs.

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I Am... 5 Ingredient Oven Broiled Chipotle Chicken Wings with Salsa Negra

January 21, 2019 • 6 comments • Posted in: chicken, mexican, oven baked

This is one of the best things I've eaten in a long time. It's an easy recipe for perfect oven broiled chicken wings complete with charred edges, crispy crunchy skin, and fall-off-the-bone meat that will make you never want to pull out the deep fryer ever again. The chicken is paired up with an adaptation of Rick Bayless’s incredible salsa negra recipe. You can adapt this technique to any sauce you’d prefer, from hot sauce to honey garlic, and it'll still be easier and healthier than deep frying, and worlds better than ordinary oven baked chicken wings. If you've never tried salsa negra before though, give it a shot before you try anything else. It's sweet, spicy, and smoky in all the best ways. This isn't a true salsa negra, it's more like an easy-level version, but this is dinner & chill, who's got time for buying so many ingredients, there's tv to watch and wine to drink! Why does this recipe work? Leaving the chicken out while you marinate it lets it come to temperature for more even cooking. If the idea of this makes you squeamish, you can marinate in the fridge, but then you’ll need to add additional cooking time and, ideally, use a meat thermometer to check when the chicken has come to about 200°F (the fall-off-the-bone stage, for me). Salsa negra is simply spanish for black salsa, and it’s normally made with a mix of chiles, garlic, vinegar, sugar, and cumin. Here, Rick Bayless has substituted a single fairly easy to find ingredient - chipotles in adobo - and it works amazingly. What do you need? A blender, an oven, aluminum foil, and a baking sheet with a rack that fits. Optional but great: a meat thermometer. What do you serve with it? You can demolish this on its own, or you can serve with mexican rice, tortillas, or a nice salad. If you’re interested in turning these into tacos, sub the wings for boneless skinless thighs and save 1/4 of the marinade for use as sauce.

5 Ingredient Oven Broiled Chipotle Chicken Wings with Salsa Negra

7 oz chipotle peppers in adobo (aka one small can)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 lbs chicken wings

Make a marinade by blending the sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and chipotle in adobo.
Thoroughly mix the marinade in with your chicken wings and allow to sit, covered, on the countertop for a minimum of 30 minutes and up to 2 hours (a gallon ziploc bag is perfect for this).
Preheat your oven to broil (500°F) with the rack set to the middle position. At the same time, cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a rack on top.
When you are done marinating, position the chicken on the rack spacing each wing about 1/2” apart.
Place the chicken in the oven, check back every 5 minutes or so for signs of burning, you want a little char, but not too much.
After 15 minutes has elapsed, remove the chicken from the oven and move the rack up a position, then close the oven door so that no heat escapes. Flip the chicken and place back in the oven for another 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, remove and enjoy immediately.