Breakfast Fried Rice

September 24, 2015 at 7:30 AM

I’ve decided that you make Breakfast Fried Rice when you order Thai food and they ask you if you want a side of rice and you say yes, even though you already ordered like 4 other things and one of them actually already came with rice but they didn’t tell you that over the phone because they decided to play on your fear that you wouldn’t have any rice. So, there’s that tiny little takeout container, that is only used for rice, in your fridge the next morning–completely untouched, still with those little steam beads on the inside of the flaps. 

The only reason this is called breakfast fried rice is because it has bacon in it, then furthermore, because I think it’s best with a 7 Minute Egg on it. There may be an adjustment period for those of you that do not equate rice with morning time but don’t knock it until you try it. The only downside is that the first couple times I made this, while testing the recipe, it didn’t kind of feel like dinnertime and made me even more cranky that I had to go to work afterwards. You’ve been warned.

Breakfast Fried Rice
Serves 2
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Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
20 min
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
20 min
Ingredients
  1. 2 cups brown rice, cooked
  2. 2 pieces of bacon, coarsely chopped
  3. 1 shallot, finely diced
  4. 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
  5. 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
  6. 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
  7. 1 tablespoon cilantro, coarsely chopped
  8. 1 tablespoon chives, coarsely chopped
Instructions
  1. Cook bacon. In a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, brown bacon until crispy, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and place on a paper towel. Discard bacon grease from pan.
  2. Sauté shallot. Lower heat and add shallot to the same pan where the bacon was crisped. Cook until soft, about 2 minutes.
  3. Pan fry rice. Raise heat back to medium and add cooked brown rice to the pan along with the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Pan fry, stirring frequently, until rice has developed a crisped texture, about 8 minutes.
  4. Serve. Top with chopped herbs.
Notes
  1. This dish is perfected, in my opinion, with a soft-cooked egg. Search “7 Minute Egg” for the recipe.
One Happy Place https://www.onehappyplace.com/
Filed Under: Breakfast, Eggs, Pork, Recipes

Hatch Chile Stew + End of Summer

September 7, 2015 at 4:38 PM

Another Summer has come and is almost gone. Even though my life is approximately twelve times happier than it was at this time last year, the undeniable and unpleasant signs of the end of Summer haven’t changed a bit. My overheated body that still hasn’t managed 2 shades of a tan all summer, three cranky animals, and my sauna-like apartment. Then, there is the fact that Summer is only technically almost gone. Knowing Los Angeles, the heat is going to stick around until flash forward, I am stringing up Christmas lights on my patio wearing short shorts, a tube top, and 50 SPF. Not many things around this town resemble anything close to seasonality. There is at least one thing though, that only comes around once a year and is the best, most special thing in the world–hatch chile season.

With my Dad being from New Mexico, home of the hatch chile, I grew up understanding their importance and sheer glory. Whenever a family member made a visit to Albuquerque, large frozen containers of green chile came back to the house and were enjoyed most often simply with a bit of garlic salt and a tortilla. In New Mexico, there is a rare meal that doesn’t include it. “Red or green?” is a question you’ll be asked everywhere you go in the state–red chile is made from more mature chile pods where as the green variety is made from chiles that have been picked at an earlier stage. If you end up in town and are asked the state question, be cool like me, and get everything “Christmas style.” In my opinion, there is a distinct heat profile in the hatch chile–it’s quite spicy but always seems to come across low and slow in its flavor and finds its way into being enjoyable despite its spicy heat. 

Towards the end of the summer, many local grocery stores and markets in the Western United States, will not only carry the chiles in the produce section but also roast them at roasting events. You can definitely roast them yourself but the way they do it is just the best–they are roasted in a caged cylindrical drum that is rotated, constantly, over a propane fueled flame. This method provides an even heat and blistering on every inch of the chiles.  Every year, I pick up at least 5 pounds of these amazing things and freeze them for dishes all Fall and Winter long. 

The recipe I’m showing you guys today is easily in the top 5 on my favorite list of my own recipes (yes, I rank my own creations.) It’s my take on a New Mexican hatch chile dish that is absolutely mind numbingly good. This recipe is not about technique–just about ingredients and time. If you don’t enjoy spicy food and you must make this dish, I will begrudgingly let you use Anaheim peppers. They are in the same family as the hatch chile but are a heck of a lot more mild. But if you can please trust me on this one and the spiciness won’t cause you to hate me for writing this recipe, pretty please make this dish. Click below to read more and get one step closer to committing to making this for dinner this week.

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Filed Under: Entrées, Pork, Recipes, Soup