Ramen

Here's another fun way to spice up the bland and ordinary instant ramen meal. Have you ever thought, "Yeah, I like ramen. I wish there was a way that I can enjoy it for breakfast." Wish granted. With this recipe, you can enjoy your favorite instant noodle meal in the morning or at anytime. Ramen with Steak and Eggs!

Ingredients:
1 steak(preferably left-over), sliced into strips.
2 large grade A chicken eggs
1/2 cup white onion chopped
1 package instant ramen
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil (you can use same amount of butter instead)
1 teaspoon Eric's Original Spice (recipe follows)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground peppercorn medley (black, white, green, pink)

Process:
Fill a small pot with enough water to cover noodles and turn stove to medium high. Once water boils, add noodles, but not the flavor packet. After three minutes, stir noodles then strain the water out. Add the flavor pack and mix. (I chose the chicken flavor but you may use your favorite) Set aside.
in a fry pan add 1 tablespoon of olive oil (or butter) and heat on medium high. Add onions and steak. Sprinkle half of the Original Spice and the garlic and black pepper. Stir continuously for 2-3 minuets or until onions begin to turn translucent. Add the eggs and stir. Continuously stir for a minute. Remove from heat and add any remaining spice.
Mix the egg mixture into a large bowl with the ramen and serve.

Can serve two, can be eaten by one.

Eric's Original Spice
1 part peppercorn medley (black, white, green, pink)
1 part crushed red pepper
1/2 part kosher salt
1/2 part garlic powder
2 parts dried cilantro

mix all ingredients into a spice grinder and pulverize into a powder.

This is a delicious way to add flavor to ramen and spice up your breakfast at the same time.

Ramen

Growing up in a busy home where we didn't always have a home cooked meal every night, I grew accustomed to instant dinners and the like. One of my favorites was instant Ramen noodles. I ate them at any meal of the day. Surprisingly, they are great at breakfast with some eggs. After many years of eating the ramen as directed(only with the broth drained out-I prefer just the noodles and not the soup) I decided to experiment with adding flavors and spices to the ramen either along with or in lieu of the provided seasoning packet. Since my tastes weren't very mature at the time, I found myself adding just about everything into the noodles including worcestershire sauce, vinegar, and all manner of seasoning mixes. Since then my tastes have become more refined and skill at seasoning improved. But I still find any opportunity to experiment with flavors and now with my desire to use my own seasonings I have new and tasty varieties of ramen dishes to share.
This one includes Asian inspired flavors.

Ingredients:
Leftover steak, thinly sliced
Pack of Instant Ramen(your choice of flavor) [not cup o' noodles]
teriyaki sauce
tabasco sweet asian sauce
Eric's Original Asian Spice Mixture(recipe follows)
1/6 of a medium white onion, cut into thick pieces

Process:
If the steak isn't already sliced up, do so. Place in a large bowl and drizzle with teriyaki and tabasco. Stir lightly to coat. Either heat in microwave for 1 minute or reheat in saucepan. Keep in mind that how the steak was previously seasoned will affect the final flavor.
Fill a medium or small pot with enough water to cover the noodles. Turn heat up to medium high and wait for water to boil. Place noodles in pot, but do not add seasoning packet. After about three minutes drain water from noodles. Add seasoning packet. For this recipe I used the chicken flavor packet, but you can use which ever you like. Stir to coat and drizzle some teriyaki sauce. Pour noodles into the bowl with the steak and mix to combine.
In a small sauce pan or pot, add the chopped onion with a pinch of the Asian Spice Mixture and a drizzle of teriyaki sauce. Cook on medium and stir occasionally. After 2-3 minutes the edges of the onion should be browned. Remove from heat and add to the noodle bowl.
Serves 1-2, time 6 minutes

Asian Spice Mixture:
1 part peppercorn medley(black, white, green, pink)
1 part crushed red pepper
1/2 part kosher salt
1/2 part garlic
1/2 part ground ginger

Mix all ingredients into a spice grinder and pulverize until everything is finely ground.

This is a great way to spice up what would have been a bland meal of instant ramen. It doesn't take long and could feed more than one person. If you like Asian food, this should be right up your alley. And the onions don't just go great with ramen; they are also great on hot dogs and hamburgers as well. Give it a try. You never know, you might not want plain ramen again after eating it this way.
There are many more varieties of ramen in my repertoire, and I would like to share them with you as well. Keep checking back to see what I come up with.

Stir Fry

One of the most requested dishes in my repertoire is also the most recent I've experimented with, Asian stir fry. Originally it was because of my love for hibachi style food. I really wanted to recreate that flavor. Unfortunately I did not have access to a hibachi grill of my own, so I chose to use a regular frying pan. While I'm still experimenting with this dish, I would like to share the recipe as is with all of you. It is great for any kind of weather and perfect for gatherings and cookouts. In fact this past Fourth of July I shared it with my fiancee, her family and friends. It was unanimously devoured. Not only that, it was requested at least three more times that week. And countless times since then.

Ingredients:
Thinly sliced Steak
1/4 White Onion chunky dice
1/2 cup Baby Carrots sliced lengthwise.
2-3 tablespoons Teriyaki Sauce
1 pack Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon Tabasco Sweet Asian Sauce
1 pack Duck Sauce (found at most chinese fast food stands)
1 pinch of Eric's Original Asian Spice Mixture (recipe follows)
1 cup White Rice
1-2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 tablespoon of freshly ground peppercorn medley (black, green, white, and pink)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Process:
In a large bowl marinate the steak with 1/3 of the teriyaki sauce, half of the soy sauce, the tabasco sauce, duck sauce, asian spice and ginger. Let sit for thirty minutes.
In a large pot, boil the rice.
In large saucepan or fry pan, heat 1/3 of the olive oil over medium high. Cook the steak. The moisture from the steak may fill the pan, drain this off and continue to cook. Remove meat from pan and set aside.
Move rice into the sauce pan and add half of the remaining oil. Stir continuously to prevent burning. Add the rest of the soy sauce and half of the remaining teriyaki sauce and continue to stir. Add half of the peppercorn medley. Move the rice to one side of the pan and add the onion and carrot. Add the remaining teriyaki sauce and peppercorn. Stir until the onion starts to brown. Mix the meat, rice and veggie mixture to evenly distribute the stir fry. Serve immediately.

If you have a love of Asian food, this is a great way to spice up the dinner routine. I guaranty that your family will regularly request it, and You may find yourself cooking it often.