Things to Remember

General Tools for the Tim Tang Test

2009-05-22T23:05:00.008-04:00

Here are some general tools that could help to solve puzzles from the Tim Tang Test (TTT).

Google (link)
Anagram generator (sample)
Morse code chart (sample)
ASCII table (sample)
Price Look-Up (PLU) code (sample)
Emoticons (sample)
Make your own conversion table from letters of the alphabet to its numerical location in the alphabet, such as A=1, B=2, C=3, ..., Z=26
Roman numeral converter (sample)
Anniversary Gifts by Year (sample)
Decoding UPC bar codes (sample)

Avocado Ranch Salad Dressing

2009-04-05T09:19:00.009-04:00

This all-purpose dressing Washington Post's Chef on Call columnist and former restaurateur David Hagedorn is great for a composed salad or as a sauce for chilled, blanched green beans or asparagus. Makes 2 cups.

Ingredients

Flesh of 1 medium avocado
1 1/2 cups nonfat buttermilk
1 1-ounce packet ranch dressing seasoning, such as Hidden Valley Ranch
Finely grated zest of 1 medium lime

Directions

Combine the ingredients in a blender and purée on high speed until smooth.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Stewed Chicken in Wine Sauce

2008-11-16T15:43:00.014-05:00

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, cut up into pieces
1 cup flour
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
1 cup wine
1 tomato, diced
1 cup chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1 medium onion, cut into 1 inch thin strips
1 green pepper, cut into 1 inch thin strips
1/2 cup frozen sweet peas
1/4 cup golden raisins

Directions

Mix flour, salt and pepper, then coat all sides of the chicken pieces with the flour mixture.
In a large pan, brown coated chicken pieces on all sides.
Move the browned pieces to a pot, then add wine, can of diced tomatoes including the liquid, broth and bay leaves to the pot. Bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, add the onion and green pepper to the same pan used to brown chicken pieces, saute for 3 minutes.
Add the sweet peas and raisins to the pot of chicken. If the liquid has not reached boiling point yet, wait until it is boiling.
Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 35 minutes or until chicken pieces are fully cooked.
At this point, check on the sauce. If you would prefer a thicker sauce, bring the pot to a boil and keep boiling until the sauce reaches your desired consistency. As with any recipe, taste and adjust the salt / pepper level if necessary.
Serve chicken over plain white rice.

Low Fat Mascarpone and Cherry Rice Pudding

2008-11-15T18:59:00.007-05:00

I first had this at Rice to Riches in New York City. Amazingly, I found this simple recipe and it tastes just like the one in store!

Ingredients

6 cups skim milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 tbsp confectioners sugar
10 oz unsweetened dried cherries
8 oz mascarpone cheese

Directions

In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, salt, rice and sugar.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 60 minutes. Pay attention that the heat is high enough to maintain a simmer. After 60 minutes, the rice should have reached a creamy texture, with some liquid remaining in the saucepan.
Stir in vanilla, confectioners sugar, dried cherries and mascarpone, mix well.
Turn off heat, cover and let stand for 10 minutes.
Serve either slightly warm or cold. I prefer to let it chill in the fridge overnight before serving.

Shandong Lamian (Zha Jiang Mian)

2008-11-09T21:41:00.009-05:00

This is a delicious recipe from the Shandong region of China. Generally these noodles are made and stretched by hand. However, you can purchase dried versions of these noodles from Asian grocery stores. The spicy brown bean sauce can also be substituted by peking duck sauce or hoisin sauce.

Ingredients

1 lb of shandong lamian noodles
1 tbsp of oil
2 cloves of garlic, sliced into slivers
1 lb of ground pork
2 tbsp of sherry or brandy
1 cup of diced spiced dried tofu
4 tbsp of spicy brown bean sauce
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of dark soy sauce
1/2 cup of chicken stock
1 cup of diced cucumber, skin and seeds removed

Directions

Cook the noodles in water according to directions on package.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pan.
Add the garlic slivers to pan and saute for 1 minute.
Add the ground pork and the sherry or brandy, saute until the meat is browned.
Add the tofu and stir for 2 minutes.
Mix in the bean sauce, soy sauce, tamarind, and chicken stock. Cook for 2 more minutes.
Add the noodles to the mixture and mix well.
Serve with diced cucumbers.

Favorite Mobile Websites

2008-07-19T21:45:00.008-04:00

Social

Travel

Hop Stop - http://www.hopstop.com/pda
(public transportation and walking directions for major cities)
Flight Status - http://mobile.flightstats.com/
Mapquest - http://www.mapquest.com/
Seat Guru - http://mobile.seatguru.com/
(provides information on airplane seats)

Entertainment

Female First - http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/mobile/celebrity
(celebrity gossip)
Yahoo! Movies - http://us.m.yahoo.com/p/movies
YouTube - http://m.youtube.com/

Shopping

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/
Edmunds - http://pda.edmunds.com/
(provides market values of new and used cars)

Information

CNN - http://www.cnn.com/
Mobile Wikipedia - http://wapedia.mobi/en
(search Wikipedia pages rendered specifically for mobile browsers)
Weather - http://m.weather.com/

Food

All Recipes - http://mobile.allrecipes.com/
Open Table - http://mobile.opentable.com/

Trinidad Curry Chicken

2008-07-14T22:42:00.010-04:00

I used to love getting this from the food trucks when I lived in New York City. But since I no longer live there, I've found a way to make it myself.

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp curry powder
2 chicken breasts, cubed
1 onion, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 green pepper, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 small potato, diced into 1/4 inch pieces
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp garlic hot sauce

Directions

Heat a large nonstick pan on high until hot.
Lower the heat to medium and add oil.
Fry the garlic until golden brown.
Stir in curry powder and cook until blended.
Add in chicken and stir well to coat all chicken pieces.
Add in onion, green pepper, pototoe and chicken stock. Stir until pototoes are cooked through.
Stir in ginger powder and coconut milk, simmer gently until the sauce thickens.
Add in hot sauce then serve with rice or roti.

Peruvian Aji Sauce

2008-07-12T16:51:00.015-04:00

This is the amazing green dip that is served with breads at Peruvian restaurants. It also tastes great on most central and south American food.

Ingredients

1 cup of romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
5 medium to hot peppers (preferably Aji Amarillo), seeds and veins removed
1/4 cup mayonnaise
5 green onions
1/2 cup of cilantro leaves
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
5 cloves of garlic
Juice from half of a lime

Directions

Blend all ingredients in a food processor.
Drizzle in water if necessary to reach your desired consistency.

Healthy Baked Eggplant Parmesan

2008-07-07T22:03:00.007-04:00

Ingredients

Cooking spray
2 eggs and 1 tablespoon water, mixed
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
Salt
Your favorite sauce
Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
Lightly season both sides of the eggplants with salt.
Place egg mixture in a shallow flat-bottom bowl and breadcrumbs in another shallow flat-bottom bowl.
Dredge eggplants in egg mixture then breadcrumbs.
Lay the dredged eggplants in a singer layer on the baking sheet.
Spray top of eggplants with cooking spray.
Bake for 20 minutes, flip eggplants over, then spray with cooking spray.
Bake for another 20 minutes or until golden.
Plate the baked eggplants and lightly spoon sauce over the top. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

Chinese Style Pork Shoulder

2008-07-07T20:51:00.007-04:00

Simmer Ingredients

1 bone-in pork shoulder
Garlic salt
1 cup dried wild mushrooms
1 tbsp ginger powder
1/2 cup sherry or brandy
Water

Sauce Ingredients

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rock sugar

Directions

Thoroughly wash the pork shoulder.
Sprinkle both sides of the pork shoulder with garlic salt.
Place seasoned pork shoulder with remaining simmer ingredients in the slow cooker, use enough water to cover the pork shoulder or as much as the pot will allow.
Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours.
Remove pork shoulder from slow cooker, place aside.
Spoon out 1 cup of broth and filter away solids.
Season remaining broth with salt to taste. Great as a soup or stock base.
In a dutch oven, mix soy sauce, filtered broth and rock sugar over medium heat. Cook for about 3-5 minutes until the mixture is slightly sticky. Note that rock sugar may not have completely dissolved by this point, that is fine.
Turn heat to simmer, add in pork shoulder, and cook for 10 minutes.
Flip to another side of the pork shoulder that has not been simmered in sauce, and cook for another 10 minutes.
Continue until all sides of the pork shoulder have been simmered in sauce.
It may be more convenient to first cut the pork shoulder into pieces, then simmer the individual pieces in sauce.
Serve pork shoulder with remaining sauce.

Favorite Turkey Recipe

2008-06-21T12:10:00.003-04:00

Ingredients

1 10-pound turkey (not a self-basting type)

Brine

1½ gallons water
1½ cups pure maple syrup or maple-flavored syrup
1 cup coarse salt, such as sea salt or kosher salt
¾ cups packed brown sugar

Oil Rub

¾ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Salt to taste

Do-Ahead

For brine, in a 10-quart kettle combine water, syrup, salt, and brown sugar; stir to dissolve sugar and salt. Set aside.
Rinse turkey; remove any excess fat from cavity. Add turkey to brine in kettle. Cover; marinate in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours.

Day-Of

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Remove turkey from brine. Drain turkey; pat dry with paper towels.
In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, basic, Italian seasoning, black pepper and salt to make the oil rub. Set aside.
Remove any large fat deposits from the turkey. Loosen the skin from the breast. This is done by slowly working your fingers between the breast and the skin. Work it loose to the end of the drumstick, being careful not to tear the skin.
Using your hand, spread a generous amount of the rosemary mixture under the break skin and down the thigh and leg. Rub the remainder of the rosemary mixture over the outside of the breast. Use toothpicks to seal skin over any exposed breast meat.
Tuck ends of drumsticks under the band of skin across the tail. If there is no band of skin, tie drumsticks securely to tail. Twist wing tips under the back.
Place the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan. Add about ¼ inch of water to the bottom of the pan.
Insert a meat thermometer into the center of an inside thigh muscle. The thermometer should not touch bone. Cover turkey loose with foil.
Roast turkey in preheated oven for 2¼ hours; cut band of skin or string between drumsticks so thighs cook evenly; remove foil.
Continue roasting until the internal temperature of the bird reaches 180 degrees F, about 45 minutes.
Remove turkey from oven. Cover and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes before carving.

Remove Safari from Apple Software Update

2008-06-21T11:57:00.004-04:00

Lately, I regularly receive updates from Apple Software Update for Safari. I don't have Safari on my computer, only iTunes, and I don't want to install Safari either. So if you're like me and want to stop receiving further updates regarding Safari, here's what you do:

Open Apple Software Update
Select the update for Safari
Go to Tools
Select Ignore Selected Updates

If somewhere down the line you do want to start receiving Safari updates again, just go back to Apple Software Update, Tools, and select Restore Ignored Updates.

Opt Out of Prescreeened Credit Offers

2008-06-14T21:04:00.002-04:00

Call the consumer reporting agencies, preferably from your home phone number.

1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688)

Or write to any of the following consumer reporting agencies:

Experian Information Solutions, P.O. Box 919, Allen, TX 75103
Equifax Options, P.O. Box 740123, Atlanta, GA 30374-0123
TransUnion, P.O. Box 97328, Jackson, MS 39288-7328

This will remove your name from credit and insurance offers for 5 years.

Latin Slow Cooker Pork Shoulder (Pernil)

2008-02-25T08:37:00.006-05:00

This recipe is tailored to my broiler, which has a high/low setting. Hence you may need to adjust it accordingly to ensure the meat does not burn.

Cooking time

Preparation - 10 minutes
Slow cooker - 10 hours
Roasting - 20 minutes

Tools

Slow cooker
Roasting pan

Ingredients

1 bone-in pork shoulder with skin
1 onion, sliced
½ cup chicken stock
½ cup white wine

Dry rub

2 tsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp adobo seasoning
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions

Separate the skin from the meat, but leave the skin attached.
Mix the dry rub ingredients in a bowl.
Rub the skin with the dry rub as well as underneath the skin all around the meat.
Place the onion slices in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Pour chicken stock over the onions.
Place the pork shoulder on top the onions.
Cook on low for 10 hours.
Lift out the pork shoulder and place on a roasting pan with skin side up.
Pour white wine into bottom of the roasting pan.
Crisp the skin 1-2 inches away from the broiler on low for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, reduce juices from slower cooker to make the sauce.