Beef Teriyaki Stir Fry

Your refrigerator is full of leftovers. What are you to do? One thing that can easily be done is to take those leftovers and crate an all new dish. I look in the fridge and I see some leftover beef, and some rice. quickly glancing around the fridge I see some other ingredients, and inspiration strikes.




Ingredients:
1 small steak sliced
1/4 cup zucchini sliced lengthwise
1/3 cup onion sliced
1/3 cup Teriyaki sauce
1-2 tablespoons Tabasco Sweet Asian Sauce
1/2 - 1 tablespoon freshly cracked peppercorn medley
1 - 2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Amateur Chef's Asian Spice
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bowl of leftover rice

Process:
In a zip-top bag marinate the sliced steak in a mixture of peppercorn medley, garlic, Asian Spice, and Tabasco Sweet Asian Sauce. Close bag and mix by squeezing with hands and turning over and over. Let sit for 15-20 minutes.
In a large skillet, heat up the oil over medium. Add steak and marinade. Stir, and add the zucchini and onion. Stir and add the rice. Continue to stir until rice has taken color and onions are translucent. Add more teriyaki and seasonings if desired.
Serves 1-2

There are many was to spice up leftovers. All you have to do is experiment.

Ramen

I'm always looking for ways to improve upon the ordinary ramen meal. Here's a simple one that is sure to become a favorite.

Ingredients:
1 Teriyaki Chicken breast
1 packet Ramen Instant Noodle Soup
1 cup sliced Onion
2-3 tablespoons Teriyaki sauce
1/4 teaspoon Eric's Original Asian Spice

Procedure:
For this recipe I used a leftover Teriyaki Chicken breast. Slice the chicken widthwise into thin pieces and set aside in a bowl marinating in 1/3 of the teriyaki sauce for five minutes.
In a small pot, boil noodles in water for three minutes. Drain the water and then add the flavor packet. You may use whatever flavor you want; I chose the chicken flavor. Add a small amount of teriyaki and a pinch of the Asian Spice.
In another pot, cook the onion in 1/3 of the teriyaki sauce until the slices become translucent. Add the chicken, Asian Spice and any remaining teriyaki sauce. Stir until chicken is hot.
Serves 2. Serve either in one large bowl all mixed together or in two separate bowls.

This is a delicious way to enhance the ordinary ramen meal. I know you'll enjoy it as much as I do.

Hamburgers with Asian Inspired Flavors

Hamburgers are just about everybody's go to food, and we all have our own ways of topping them. From different kinds of relish, to the standard lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle. Do you like ketchup and mustard? Perhaps mayonaise? Honey Mustard? Hot sauce? How about trying some Asian flavors like ginger and teriyaki? Well you'd be surprised at just how trying different things can spice up the ordinary hamburger.

Ingredients:
2 hamburger patties
bell pepper
onion
garlic
teriyaki sauce
Eric's Original Asian Spice
2 hamburger buns
lettuce

Dice up some about half a cup of onion and bell pepper and mix into the patties. Cook as you normally would, either in a skillet or on the grill. As they cook add a touch of teriyaki sauce. In a saucepan. drizzle teriyaki on sliced onion and sprinkle Eric's Original Asian Spice. Cook until the onions become translucent.
Lay the lettuce on the bottom bun, then add a few of the teriyaki onions. Place the patty on top of that then more onion. And cover with top bun. Serve with your choice of side.

If you like Asian flavors, this is a good way to get your fix with just a few changes to the classic burger.

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.