Carbo-Loading: Asian Style

Actually, for the types of races I run (5k and 10ks) it's very unnecessary to carbo-load, as the body as enough glycogen stored to keep you from bonking. That being said, I still had to eat dinner the night before a recent 10K, and I've realized that spaghetti doesn't really do much more me but make me hungry a few hours later. So what did I eat? Chicken fried rice.

From top to center: Julienned carrots, frozen green peas, chicken marinated in soy sauce, a bit of kosher salt, white pepper, and corn starch, chopped onions and minced garlic, beaten eggs.


Long-grain jasmine rice

The first step is to assemble the ingredients. I used 2 carrots, about 3/4 cup peas, 1 large onion, 5 cloves of garlic, 2 chicken breasts (I prefer using chicken thighs as the meat remains tender after stir-frying), and 2 eggs. For the rice, it's important to make it the day ahead of when you want to make it. This ensures that the refrigerated rice is chilled thoroughly, thus keeping the grains separate when it comes time to cook instead of having clumps.

There's a procedure needed to make fried rice that keeps the process efficient. First, you need a large skillet, wok, or a large electric skillet. Secondly, since the heat of whatever pan you'll be using will be on high, all the ingredients must be assembled and within reach. Not shown is a small pitcher of oil, a little dish of kosher salt, a container of white pepper, soy sauce, and sesame oil. The cooking process of the ingredients is quite fast, so you don't want to have to stop mid-way in search of anything you need (keep two clean bowls for the chicken and the eggs when they are finished cooking).

The procedure for the actual cooking is the aromatic ingredients first (green onions and garlic, but I forgot the green onions so I mixed the garlic with the onions), the onions, then each individual vegetable, the eggs, the chicken, and lastly, the rice.

Pour a few teaspoons of oil into the pan and move it around with a spatula. Add the onions and a sprinkle of kosher salt and white pepper; stir constantly until the edge are getting charred, or all the onions are beginning to turn brown. Remove to a bowl/container.

Repeat the process with the vegetables.

Add oil to the pan, pour in the beaten eggs, and use one hand to keep the eggs moving while using the other hand to sprinkle the salt and pepper on top. Cook just until the eggs are set, but not completely dry. Remove to a bowl and use a fork to break up the large curds.

Stir-fry the chicken just until no pink is left or only a tiny amount remains, then immediately remove from the pan.

Season the rice, then stir-fry until brown or it begins to look charred.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the rice and gently toss. Turn down the heat to medium-high. Pour in about 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Continue to toss until everything is evenly coated and the rice looks brown (add more soy sauce as needed). Check for seasoning and make the necessary adjustments.

Place in a large serving bowl (I used a deep-dish pie pan).

Fried rice is extremely easy to make, and it can be made into an all-in-one main meal dish, or a side dish. The add-ins can be varied, as well as any sauces or oils that are added at the end, making the flavor different each time. Be creative!

Muffins for Elevenses

Because saying 'elevenses' sounds cooler than calling it a 'snack', or a 'mid-morning coffee break'.

What I like about this recipe that it's all whole wheat, yet it doesn't have the typical density you'd think a 100% whole wheat muffin would have. Also, the warm muffins are dipped in a simple orange syrup, which adds a burst of orange and an extra, subtle sweetness as well as giving the tops a nice sheen. Similar to how a glazed fruit tart looks compared to one that isn't, it's a simple step that really makes a difference.

Recipe after the jump

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Blueberry Whole-Grain Muffins
From King Arthur Flours

Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour or King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour


• 3/4 cup quick-cooking rolled oats (I used regular oats)


• 1/4 cup buttermilk powder or nonfat dry milk


• 2/3 cup sugar


• 2 teaspoons baking powder


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 cup fresh blueberries


• 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans or walnuts (optional)


• 1 tablespoon orange zest (finely grated orange peel)


• 2 large eggs


• 3/4 cup milk


• 1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted butter (I used butter)

Glaze

• 2 tablespoons orange juice


• 3 tablespoons sugar

Directions

1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then stir in the cranberries and nuts. Whisk together the orange zest, eggs, milk, and oil or melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring until blended; don't beat, or your muffins will be tough! Fill 12 greased muffin cups or paper liners about 3/4 full.



2. Bake the muffins in a preheated 350°F oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven, leave them in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack.



3. In a small saucepan or the microwave, stir together the glaze ingredients. Bring just to a boil, to dissolve the sugar. Dip the tops of the warm muffins into the glaze. Yield: 12 muffins.

Mr. Food on Lattes

If you know about Mr. Food at all, you probably don't understand this title. Mr. Food? Espresso connoisseur? I'll explain.

I used to look forward to watching Mr. Food's segments during the local news. Not necessarily because of his recipes, but I liked seeing how he would fit in his trademark line, "Oooh, it's so good!", onto the end of each segment. My mom was watching the news the other day when Mr. Food had a recipe for for Mocha Latte Syrup. Because of the rise in gas prices and people cutting back on unnecessary expenses, he came up with an alternative to the popular chain-we-all-know-and-love's espresso-based beverages.

From the metal container clockwise: Water, cocoa powder, sugar and cinnamon, espresso powder.

Assemble the ingredients.

Whisk the dry ingredients with the water in a saucepan over medium heat

Bring to a boil, and boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat, whisk in vanilla extract, let cool, then pour into a container.

Mr. Food says to use half & half, but I thought that was disgusting. A) I never order half & half in my espresso drinks, B) the heaviness of it might overpower the latte syrup. I used 1% milk, but whatever you have is fine. Heat to 180°, and remove any skin that formed on top.

Add 1 tablespoon of syrup to the bottom of each cup.

Since the size of these cups are smaller than average, and taking into account I wanted to top the milk with foam, I probably used about 6 oz. of milk per cup.

Guess what this is!


Parting words from Mr. Food!


This was not drunk as fast as Usain "Thunderbolt" Bolt sprinted the 200 meters.

The flavor of this mixture was pretty good, a nice change to hot chocolate, but not quite potent enough to be my daily coffee fix. No worries, next time I'll replace half the milk with coffee. If you want a different flavor, grate orange rind into the cup before pouring the liquid in, as well as on top.