Tag: side dish

Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage

Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage

Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage

When Americans think of fried rice, they think of the Chinese take out fried rice that is dark brown from soy sauce. This Vietnamese style fried rice is not that. No soy sauce whatsoever. What this rice does have is sweet and salty Chinese sausage. This is really an easy recipe to make, especially when there is leftover white rice. .
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Keyword: side dish, Vietnamese
Author: Alex Gorgos

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
  • 4 garlic cloves minced
  • 1/4 medium onion diced
  • 4 Chinese sausages sliced
  • 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
  • 2 green onions finely chopped
  • 2 large eggs beaten
  • 1 tbsp pork bouillon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp white pepper
  • 3 cups day old cooked rice

Instructions

  • Heat up the cooking oil over medium high heat in a large sauté pan or wok. add in the onions and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes.
    Vietnamese, side dish
  • Stir in the Chinese sausage. Cook for 2 minutes.
    Vietnamese, side dish
  • Stir in the peas and carrots and green onion. Cook for 2 minutes.
    Vietnamese, side dish
  • Move everything in the pan to one side. Cook the beaten eggs on the other side for 1 minute.
    Vietnamese, side dish
  • Mix the eggs in the pan together with the other ingredients.
    Vietnamese, side dish
  • Stir in the white rice, making sure that all of the clumps are broken up. Season with the pork bouillon, salt, and white pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
    Vietnamese, side dish
  • Serve as a side with just about anything.
    Vietnamese, side dish
Mexican Style Black Beans (Instant Pot)

Mexican Style Black Beans (Instant Pot)

Mexican Style Black Beans (Instant Pot)

This is a traditional recipe for Mexican style black beans using an Instant Pot. Buy using the Instant Pot, it cuts down the cooking time from 2 hours to 35 minutes. Other than the amazing pressure cooker function the Instant Pot performs, it has a sauté function that works better than my stove top. Onion and garlic get sautéed for 2 minutes, add the rest of the ingredients, set for 30 minutes on the pressure cooker function, then done. Can’t get any easier.
If you want to make these beans vegan, substitute oil for lard.
One pot side dish by one pothead. 
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: instant pot, Mexican, side dish
Servings: 4
Author: Alex Gorgos

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp lard
  • 1/4 medium onion diced
  • 6 garlic cloves minced
  • 3 cups water
  • 8 oz dried black beans
  • 3 epazote leaves
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Set your Instant Pot to the sauté function on medium heat. Add 1 tbsp of lard. Once melted and hot, sauté the onions and garlic for 2 minutes; just enough to get a little color out of them. 
    Mexican, side dish
  • Add in the water, black beans, and epazote leaves. Turn your Instant Pot to the pressure cooker setting on high for 30 minutes.
    Mexican, side dish, vegetarian, vegan
  • After the 30 minutes is up, release the pressure. Add salt and pepper to taste.
    Mexican, side dish
  • Enjoy your beans as a side dish to any Mexican meal; breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
    Mexican, side dish
Refried Beans

Refried Beans

Refried Beans

This is a very simple recipe to make homemade refried beans instead of buying the canned variety. Once you get this recipe down, it will be like night and day compared to eating store bought.
I made my pinto beans in my Instant Pot. I kid you not, it took 25 minutes in total to boil unsealed beans. No more soaking of 8 hours and boiling for another hour for me. This has become a real game changer for me and beans. 
You can make the refried beans vegetarian if you’d like by using oil instead of lard. I happened to have a container of render pork fat from a whole pork belly that I made, so that was my fat of choice. 
There are many things you can add the the beans. You can add a little bit of cooked chorizo to your beans if you want them to have that flavor. Diced jalapeño would be great in your beans if you want a little spice. Refried beans are even better when topped off with some queso fresco cheese.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: Mexican, side dish
Servings: 4
Author: Alex Gorgos

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups cooked pinto beans
  • 1/4 cup white onion finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp lard/vegetable oil/canola oil
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • salt to taste
  • pinto bean broth

Instructions

  • If using an Instant Pot, add a whole bag of dried pinto beans to 4-5 cups of water. Set to Pressure Cook on high for 25 minutes. If doing this on a stove top, soak your beans over night or for at least 8 hours. Fill a stock pot up with water and boil your beans for an hour or until tender. 
    Mexican, side dish
  • Drain your beans. Save a cup or two of the bean stock water.
    Mexican, side dish
  • In a large skillet over medium high heat, sauté the onions in the lipid of your choosing. I happened to have some rendered pork fat from a whole pork belly I saved. Cook until browned.
    Mexican, side dish
  • Add in 2 1/2 cups of the cooked pinto beans. Cook for 2 minutes.
  • Using either a bean masher or the bottom of something flat like a ramekin, start mashing the beans while slowly incorporating the bean stock water. Continue this process until all of the beans are smashed and run smooth and are creamy. 
    Mexican, side dish
  • Stir in smoked paprika. Salt to your liking.
    Mexican, side dish