I'm going vegan...again!

Welcome back.  I am trying my best to make this a priority, so here's to trying again.

What's going on with me:

I am recently back from a vacation back in the United States over the holiday period.  It probably goes without saying that my partner and I have put on a few pounds over this festive period.  Being back in my home country made me vulnerable to the foods that I can no longer acquire in the United Kingdom and I found myself indulging in things I don't typically like simply because I can't get them in the U.K.
Not only that, the last few months have been a bit chaotic with myself finishing my bachelors degree and my partner starting postgraduate education.  We didn't always have the time or energy to ensure that we were eating well.  It was all about convenience and very little thought was put into what we ate.  Most nights we would eat a takeaway and feel disgusting after, yet we did this almost every night.

Cut back to today.  We decided that we were going to participate in Veganuary to give our bodies some much needed nutritional therapy and challenge our way of cooking and eating in our house.  I know that this blog in the past has been run as a vegan recipe blog, but I have not always been a strict vegan.  I typically eat vegan for about three months and then add a little bit of meat into my diet every now and again.  If you are crazy about labels, I guess you would call me a flexitarian.  But the term isn't important to me.  What is important is that I am feeding my family delicious food that doesn't break the bank.  I like to make vegan food and then I like to share it with you, the audience.

We started Veganuary early to jump straight back into the groove the moment we landed back in the U.K., so keep an eye out for new recipes in the coming month!

Pineapple Cookies

It seems as though I have fallen off of the bandwagon again.  This last month has been a little crazy: from moving and applying and interviewing for new jobs to starting school.  All is well, but I need to catch up.  In the next couple of days I will be working on a few updates to the blog, but to tide you over I have a quick and sweet recipe to share with you.


Pineapple Cookies

Pineapple Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 9 oz. crushed pineapple
• 3-1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Instructions

1. Cream together the shortening, sugar and egg.
2. Once combined add the crushed pineapple, flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.
3. Spoon onto ungreased baking sheets and bake at 400° F for 8-10 minutes.

When making cookies I like to use parchment paper on the baking pan for easy cookie removal (and clean up).  Also, when making the dough don't add all of the flour in at once.  If you have never made cookies before, just try it...but keep a broom near by.  HAHA!  To avoid the mess though, adding in the dry ingredients slowly and in smaller increments to the wet will help you to avoid flour EVERYWHERE!!!

But that is all I have for everyone tonight.  Keep an eye open for some upcoming recipes and reviews.
Until then...

Happy snacking!

Luke

KoMex Express

It's not often that I get a few days off in a row, but when I do...well, I don't make much use of them.  This week for example:  I finally have three days off in a row and what have I been doing?  Playing League of Legends, going for daily runs and updating this blog.  What I should be doing is finally unpacking and getting situated into my new place so as not to keep my life and belongings so out in the open.  (Humph... A strange thing for a blogger to be worrying about).  

There are so many things that I have been thinking about as of late and sometimes I just don't know where to begin.  That being said, I was excited to hear that my aunt who lives in town wanted to get together for dinner.  It has been over a month since the last time that we were able to spend some time and this outing was long overdue.  Now I am not always one for huge family outings or get-togethers.  My preference is in the cultivation of the connections that I share with a select few family members.  That isn't to say that I don't value the presence and rapport I have of other family members - I do, but I have a few good souls I can call upon in my need or if I just need a friendly ear or mind to bounce ideas off of and my Aunt D is one of them.

D and I are one-in-the-same:  we enjoy being by ourselves and having our own space, crave and appreciate the companionship's that we come to hold dear to our daily lives (an interesting dichotomy) and love to meet each other for dinner to talk about what is going on in our lives and get the aided boost we need from spending time with a loved one.  We are also similar in the fact that when we go out, it takes us an ungodly amount of time to decide where we are going.  This particular meeting was no different.

From the beginning of the night I knew that I wanted to try something new.  The one thing that I had on my mind was KoMex Express here in Las Vegas.  Though, every time I think about a fusion restaurant I get excited, this place has always made me feel uneasy. Fusion restaurants to me means a new twist on something that I already love, but for those of you who don't know what KoMex is...well, it's a Korean-Mexican Fusion restaurant.  Not being a huge Mexican fan this never sounded good to me, but I LOVE Asian food.  Knowing that I couldn't just say let's go here, I threw out some other ideas that would be less appealing and finally (45 minutes later) it was decided.

We looked up the hours and found that the location on 633 N Decatur Blvd Suite H was closed on Sundays, but we were pleasantly excited to find out that there was a second location that was open so we headed down to Buffalo & Flamingo (4155 S Buffalo Dr. #103,104) to try out their second location.

Pulling into the lot it was a typical after thought addition to the mini complex that it was located in.  Walking into the restaurant it is evident that this place was never intended to be the original occupant of the space they were renting, but they tried hard to make it their home.  It was cozy enough as was evident by the mix of people they had sitting at their tables.  With one waitress on staff she promptly greeted us offered for us to choose a table and quickly get our drink orders.  This is the point that I always order a water so as to give me enough time to browse through the menu to decide what I want to eat as well as what I actually want to drink.

I ended up ordering a Full Size Wonton Soup to share with Aunt D, pork belly on a stick, Bolgogi Fusion Nachos (1/2 size) and my Aunt ordered a single Fusion Chicken Lettuce Wrap for herself and chicken and pork belly on a stick to share.  It wasn't long after they brought the complimentary chips and salsa/guacamole basket they we were staring down at the massive amount of food that we had ordered.

Wonton Soup - Wontons stuffed w/ ground Beef & Pork with Mushroom, Egg and Onions in Mild broth

It almost saddens me to have started with the Wonton Soup as it was clearly the favorite dish by the end of the night, but suffice it to say that is where I began.  Not really expecting much from the soup I ordered it really as something to try prior to our food coming out.  Had it not come out at the same time as the rest of the food I would have kindly asked the waitress to cancel the rest of my order and let me have my fill in this soup alone.  Luckily I didn't finish all of my half and I had enough to bring home to savor another day.  (Note to self:  Though this soup is delicious, do not eat prior to a run.  I did and by mile three I was beginning to burping up the garlic that resides in this soup.  Not fun.)

Left to right:  Chicken on a Stick and Pork Belly on a Stick

Next came the (Insert Meat Option) on a stick portion of our meal.  For Aunt D it was chicken and for me pork belly.  Personally, I think I made the better choice, but as she wouldn't try the pork belly I don't have another persons word to compare the two.  So you will just have to take my word on it - the pork belly was by far superior to the chicken.  Though, the chicken was beautifully marinated before it was cooked and never stood a chance at becoming dry.  It's simplicity lead to the possibility to try the many hot sauces they offered.  My favorite was the KoMex hot sauce.  It delivered some nice heat that brought sweat to my brow but not so much as to test my taste buds in a battle that they were never going to win.  See all hot sauce options below.

Clockwise from Top Right:  Korean Sweet and Spicy, KoMex, Salsa Roja and Salsa Verde

That brings us to my last selection of the Fusion Nachos with Bolgogi beef.  What I liked most about this is that the beef was marinated beautifully and was married to the tortilla chips with a mozzarella cheese that pulled to a glorious strand when lifted off of the plate.  The one complaint that I had about this dish is that the Pico de Gallo was a little too sweet or the Korean Hot Sauce is what was explained to be as the Korean Sweet and Spicy sauce.  Either way, I feel that the KoMex would have been a better choice, but other than that loved every bite.

Fusion Nachos with Bolgogi Beef - Meat, Mozzarella Cheese, Pico de Gallo, Jalapeno & Korean Hot Sauce

At the end of the meal you are presented with a fortune cookie and a half of an orange slice up and served with little spears to share.  It brings the meal to the most amazing end as the oranges are so refreshing and cold that there is no way that you could not enjoy your meal here.  The thing that I like about this place so much is that there is a great amount of ability to customize any meal to different meats and non meats alike.  It is virtually friendly for all types of eaters.  Maybe not 100% vegan friendly, but can totally be customized to vegetarians and meat lovers alike.

Hands down I will be back for the Wonton Soup alone and may venture further into their menu, but can now say that a Korean-Mexican Fusion Restaurant is no longer the beginning of my culinary nightmares.  Try it for yourself.  I think you will also be pleasantly surprised.

KoMex
633 N Decatur Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89107
(702) 646-1612

Mon-Sat 11am - 8pm
CLOSED SUNDAYS


KoMex Express
Buffalo & Flamingo 
4155 S Buffalo Dr. #103,104 
(702) 778-5566

Tue-Sat 11am - 9pm
Sun 11am - 8pm
CLOSED MONDAYS


Hope you guys and gals enjoy this as much as I did.  Remember to Comment, Share and Visit some of the sponsoring sites.

And, until next time....
Happy Snacking!

Luke

Kalua Pork with Cabbage

What a week!  It is good to be back into the kitchen, but better now that I am settled (sort of) in my new place.  Along with moving I was working on a commercial for NBA 2K15 - yes, the video game - on top of working my normal job.  With all of that going on this was placed on the back burner (no pun intended) and forgotten about.  But it is a new day and I have a new recipe to share.

If you are anything like me, you enjoy food...I would hope so if you are reading this blog.  If for some chance you got here by mistake and have read this far - good for you!  Maybe cooking isn't your thing.  That's totally fine, but try these recipes out.  If it doesn't turn out...well, just post about it on HERE and let me know so I can enjoy your mishaps while I photoshop the crap out of mine.

Back to the recipe, living in Las Vegas there is a large Hawaiian population.  With that comes amazing Hawaiian food and restaurants.  One of my favorites here is L&L Hawaiian BBQ where they have everything from Spam Musubi to Kalua Pork.  Personally, these are my two favorites but I'm not about to go out to eat all the time so I started making it myself.

Normally this recipe would have you cooking the pig in a hole in the ground.  For those of you that live in Vegas you probably know how impossible it is to dig into the earth here.  Though, it's delicious I am not about to try and dig through this ground, so we make due with what we have.  A SLOW COOKER!  Below is the recipe as I have found it online.  With that being said...let's just get to cooking.


Kalua Pork and Cabbage

Kalua Pork and Cabbage

Ingredients

• 2 TBS Kosher Salt
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 (5 lb) bone-in pork shoulder roast
• 1 TBS soy sauce
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp liquid smoke flavoring
• 1/2 large head cabbage, shredded

Instructions

1. Mix kosher salt, black pepper, and ground ginger in a bowl; rub evenly into surface of pork roast; place seasoned roast in a slow cooker.
2. Stir soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and liquid smoke together in a bowl; pour over the pork roast.
3. Cook on Low 10 hours.  Add cabbage to the pork and sauce in the slow cooker; cook another 30 minutes.  Shred pork to serve.

There you have it.  Simple and easy.  I did change the recipe a bit.  Before I do the rub I like to pierce the pork roast with a knife a fair number of times - a la Jodi Arias - so the liquid can get into it a bit.  With the pork in a slow cooker I will rub the liquid mixture into the pork as best as I can.  Doing this helps keep the dry mixture of salt, black pepper and ground ginger on the pork.  Whether this helps or not I don't know.  It's just what I do, and there is nothing wrong with deviating from recipes.  It's hard to mess this recipe up.  Also, as I don't need 5 pounds of pork so I only use two to three pounds and adjust the recipe accordingly.  Now, if you aren't into doing the conversions yourself HERE is the link to the original recipe where you can adjust the number of servings and it will calculate all of the measures for you.  This original recipe makes for 10 servings.  Changing it it to six servings as I did will call for just over 3 lbs of pork.

I love this recipe, but some of the people in my house didn't care for the lingering smell that comes with slow cookers.  Vegetarians...I hope catch a flesh eating virus.  How ironic would that be?!?  (Disclaimer:  Only kidding about that.  My roommates are neither vegetarians nor have a virus.)  On the bright side, if nobody else eats it at least the dog will like it.

That's all that I have for today.  Enjoy, share, reply and until next time....

Happy Snacking!

Luke

Refrigerator Pickles

I have been playing around with pickles lately...  **How do you continue writing after a statement like that?** 

Basically, I have been making pickles because they are delicious.  Last time I bought some pickles they were a lot sweeter than I wanted them to be.  The time before that there was too much garlic.  Getting annoyed that I didn't like the pickles I was getting I decided to make my own.  Looking at a simple recipe I threw something together that I like and hopefully you will too.

Pickled Cucumbers

Ingredients

• 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar, to taste preference
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 5 mini cucumbers, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• Dill, green peppers, garlic, etc. to taste

Instructions

1. Place sliced cucumbers, onions, garlic, green peppers (or any combination thereof) in a jar.
2. Combine sugar, vinegar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil making sure to fully dissolve the sugar.  Pour over the sliced vegetables.  Add fresh dill to taste, if desired.  Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.  Store in the refrigerator.

Before any of you go off on me - yes, I know that this isn't the best way to make pickles.  This is a way that I use when I want to make them quickly.  Last minute sort of deal.  There are probably better ways to pickle, but try this.  You may like it.  If not...no harm, no foul.

As always, until next time....
Happy Snacking!

Luke