Okay, so my colleague Bernie and I decide to kick off our new blog endeavour with a practice run at fried rice. Simple enough. The idea is to cook fried rice as you like it. Put in whatever you want and get a feel for blogging and taking pictures of the process. So here goes. 
Ingredients:
4 Cups cooked medium grain rice *Room temperature preferably a day old
6 Eggs Scrambled
1 Cup Diced Protein *For today I used SPAM
1 Minced Onion
Vegetable Oil
Salt
We start by getting our ingredients in order. So the fist lesson of the day is Mise en Place pronounced Meez on plauss. What that essentially means is getting your stuff organized and ready to go.
Get your rice ready if possible earlier in the day or the day before. I like using an asian medium grain rice. I rinse it with fresh water for a few cycles until the water run a little less opaque. I think fill it with water so that when I stick my finger in it the water level is about at my first finger joint of my pointer. I learned that trick in college from an ex gal pal. Once your rice is washed stick it in your rice cooker and cook away. Now you can begin down your journey of fried rice.
First onions. I slice them up parallel to my cutting board leaving the root end intact. Then slicing them vertically to make long cuts. I then slice the long strands creating a nice mince. The only reason I went with the mince over a dice is so that the onions sorta melt into the rice as I cook them.
Next is the SPAM. I didn't have any other protein on hand so I went with protein in a can. First slice the SPAM into 1/8 of in slices then into matchsticks the into a dice. Finally blitz the eggs in a bowl with a fork. Voila! mis en place. Now we're ready to get poppin. 
You can use whatever pan you want. I like using my 8 quart Le Creuset Oval Dutch oven. Why? I'm glad you asked largely because it has a nice large surface area to cook and tall walls so as I'm mixing the ingredients about they aren't going all over my counter top. I also really like enameled cast iron for its ability to hold onto a sustained temperature without dropping and the non stick quality of enamel. When cooking with a starch such as rice you can find the ingredient stick sometimes adhering to the surface area of the pan.
So 4 tablespoons of oil goes into the vessel. Blast the heat and let it go for 5 minutes. You want your vessel sizzling hot. The oil should slick back and forth in the pan loosely when its really hot. Throw in the Protein *SPAM for me and make sure it cooks thoroughly. 
Just before its where you like it to be toss in the onions and start to smell the aroma. You'll want to lower the temperature a bit for this part because you don't want your onions to color. You want to saute them not cremate them. If you burn you onions you will find that it will impart a bitter taste to your food. Once the onions begin to look transparent approximately 5 minutes you can pump the heat back up and toss in the rice.
I like to start stabbing the rice with a straight edge flat spatula to break it up. Season with salt to taste and keep stabbing away. This can be really cathartic if you're having a bad day. Put on some Dexter and stab your rice. Toss the rice around to make sure the flavored oil coats each grain.
Just before its where you like it to be toss in the onions and start to smell the aroma. You'll want to lower the temperature a bit for this part because you don't want your onions to color. You want to saute them not cremate them. If you burn you onions you will find that it will impart a bitter taste to your food. Once the onions begin to look transparent approximately 5 minutes you can pump the heat back up and toss in the rice.
I like to start stabbing the rice with a straight edge flat spatula to break it up. Season with salt to taste and keep stabbing away. This can be really cathartic if you're having a bad day. Put on some Dexter and stab your rice. Toss the rice around to make sure the flavored oil coats each grain.In a separate plan *I like to use my Lodge preseasoneed 12 inch Skillet, toss in a tablespoon of vegetable oil and blast the heat as high as it will go. In about 6 minutes you'll see slight whisks of 
smoke coming from the pan. That's the pan telling you its about to start burning the oil. Pour in the eggs and watch as the liquid egg comes to solid form in the pan. 
Start pulling the eggs from the sides to the center. As the center mounds up with cooked eggs keep twirling the pan around so the liquid hits the open pan areas.
You don't need to cook this all the way. I like to avoid any color on the egg at all. Once mostly solid tossed the cooked eggs directly on the rice, onion, protein mixture and stab away again to break up the large chunks of egg. 
Once the mixture is homogeneous you can kill the heat and serve it up. 
This is my version of comfort food. You can essentially throw in any protein and vegetables you like. The dish is forgiving so experiment away. I hope this will add one favorite easy comfort dish to your repertoire.
smoke coming from the pan. That's the pan telling you its about to start burning the oil. Pour in the eggs and watch as the liquid egg comes to solid form in the pan. 
Start pulling the eggs from the sides to the center. As the center mounds up with cooked eggs keep twirling the pan around so the liquid hits the open pan areas.
You don't need to cook this all the way. I like to avoid any color on the egg at all. Once mostly solid tossed the cooked eggs directly on the rice, onion, protein mixture and stab away again to break up the large chunks of egg. 
Once the mixture is homogeneous you can kill the heat and serve it up. 
This is my version of comfort food. You can essentially throw in any protein and vegetables you like. The dish is forgiving so experiment away. I hope this will add one favorite easy comfort dish to your repertoire.
