Food with a Passion

Rice Cakes with pork and pickled mustard greens

2008-01-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

Here I am again. I've been doing some interesting cooking again but I have always forgotten to take a picture of what I had made. So it didn't make any sense to make a post without a visual. Just yesterday I made a 4 layered chocolate pear cake layered and iced with truffle chocolate for a friend's birthday. Oh was it ever decadent. It wasn't sweet but certainly very rich. Yummy. Again, I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of it. It looked so yummy.

Tonight's latest concoction is this recipe for fried rice cakes. It turned out to be a hit with the hubby and I really liked it too! These are the recipes that go into my personal collection! Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
2 cloves minced garlic
500g minced pork
2 carrots shredded
1 small bottle pickled mustard greens (remove from bottle and wash with hot water till oil is gone)
1 tbsp Oyster sauce
1 tbsp Black sauce
2 tbsp Soya sauce
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
750g Korean rice cakes
3 spring onions finely sliced (garnish) or cilantro
DIRECTIONS
Break up rice cakes into individual pieces and put in boiling water. Cook till soft. Drain and add cold water and rinse till excess starch is removed from rice cakes. Drain well.
Marinade mince in oyster sauce, soy sauce and black sauce. Set aside. On high heat, fry garlic till golden, then add mince. Allow mince to brown well and break up meat as you stir-fry.
Remove access oil from mince and add carrots and pickled greens. Stir fry cooked mince and veggies.
Add rice cakes and fry till well mixed and rice cakes are heated through.
Garnish with spring onions or cilantro.

Blue Doll Cake

2007-12-01T20:49:00.000-08:00

Its been a very long while since I have really done anything fancy but making 3D doll cakes are one of my favourite hobbies. I don't know very many little girls to make them for and this one is for a special friend who is turning 40! A little birdie told me that she would love to get a doll cake like the ones she has seen me make. So this one is a little more grown up. I always enjoy designing the doll's dresses though they never quite turn out the way I envision them. Below is a sketch of what I really had in mind. There were just some challenges with the transition of the doll's body and the main skirt. I am not the greatest at smoothing out icing perfectly. I guess I don't have enough practice.

I also didn't refer to my drawing when I iced the body of the doll. I'll have to pay more attention next time.

Chicken and Lime Noodle Salad

2007-07-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

Another Asian inspired dish. Although I didn't make this recipe up, this was the first time trying this recipe and it turned out to be a lovely light summer salad. Here's the recipe for it.

250g bean-thread noodles,
1 medium carrot
1 small cucumber or zucchini
2 green onion, sliced thinly
1 small red pepper
4 cups shredded chicken
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup cilantro/corriander leaves
3 red thai chillies, seeded and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic crushed
1/3 cup lime juice
1/3 cup peanut oil/veg oil
2 tbsp fish sauce (essential)
1 tbsp sugar

1. Place noodles in a heat proof dish and cover with boiling water. Stand until tender, drain.
2. Using vegetable peeler, slice carrots, cucumber and red pepper into ribbons.
3. Combine noodles, carrots, cucumber, onion, red pepper, chicken, mint and cilantro. Toss till well combined.
4. Mix sauces, lime juice, chilli, sugar, garlic and sugar together till well blended. Then pour over the noodles and veggies and toss well. For a more refreshing salad, refridgerate noodles before combining with remaining ingredients.

Rosae Alfredo Pasta

2007-07-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

When Living Sword and Chocolate Girl came over for a visit, I made this with what I had in my refridgerator and freezer. I had some of that marinated BBQ chicken from Costco in the freezer, fresh asparagus and parmesan cheese in my refridgerator, red onion and vine ripened tomatoes sitting on my kitchen counter. All I needed was some heavy cream. Since I knew we were going to Zerelli's, I also knew that I could get the cream there.

I used large tubed pasta for this dish but any shaped pasta would work too. I cooked it as usual in salted water for the stated time but just a minute before it is ready, I added cut asparagus to the cooking pasta. Once cooked, I drained both pasta and asparagus and returned it to the pot. While still hot, with the stove on medium heat, I added shreaded grilled chicken, freshly chopped tomatoes and thinly sliced tomatoes. Gave it a good toss and then added heavy cream and parmesan cheese to give it a lovely creamy sauce. Season to taste with a little salt and serve. It was good with some freshly ground pepper. I actually wanted to top it off with some fresh basil but I forgot. I think that would have give it that added flavour to the dish. Only thing messy with this is having to cook the chicken first and shreaded it before making the pasta. I call this a rosae because of the mixing of tomatoes and cream.

Simple cooking for Robyn's Family

2007-07-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

Some people might find it strange but I really enjoy cooking for families. In this case, my girlfriend, Robyn had gone with me to Eat-Vancouver earlier this year and when she purchased a bunch of Asian sauces and condiments, I told her that I would teach her how to use some of them. This was what I did this past week. Unfortunately, the day we chose to do this happened to be one of the hottest record breaking day of this summer, 37C. With no air conditioning and no breeze, we found it very hard to keep cool let alone cook, but we did manage. Mercifully, as the evening progressed, the temperatures started to drop a little. Not something I would like to do again. I mean cooking in such hot weather!

So I made 2 dishes. The first is just a simple mixed veg stirfry with prawns because Robyn wanted to learn how to make this. Next I made a simple fried noodles with chicken and bak choy. Both of these dishes were seasoned with oyster sauce, soya sauce and a dash of sesamee oil. The mixed veg recieved a little bit of Chinese cooking wine at the end of cooking while the noodles had some dark soya sauce and cilantro for garnishing. I think it was a hit but you never know it they were just being polite!

In exchange for cooking, I recieved 3 portions of bison meat. I'm already thinking of using it to make lettuce wraps! Not sure yet. I'll keep thinking.

Green Papaya Restaurant in White Rock

2007-07-16T08:09:00.000-07:00

Green Papaya is one of my favourite restaurants down in White Rock. Located on Marine Drive facing the majestic Semiahmoo Bay, the Green Papaya Restaurant offers a unique combination of Vietnamese and West Coast cuisine. It is situated just at the top of the hill and you can get one of the best views of the beach and water from there.
Reno Man and I went there for dinner and as usual, it was very good. On the left is Tropicale Halibut and the one on the right is Macadamia Seabass. We both enjoyed our dinner very much. It was light and very healthy. We also ordered a mango lime smoothie that was just right to cool us down from the heat of the day. Oh I forgot that we also had these chilli chicken skewers. They weren't quite what I expected. I would have liked a little more sauce and chilli spice to it.

On past occassions, we have ordered their specials and have never been dissapointed. I have also tried their crab linguine alfredo and fire cracker calamari. Though both were very good, my favourite is the crab linguine. It has such a creamy sauce made with roasted garlic and Asiago cheese. Yummy! Green Papaya also serves good Pho Noodles that you would expect from a Vietnamese restaurant.

Stirfried Japanese Noodles

2007-07-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

This was a hit! This was the first time that I used these Japanese udon noodles in a stirfry. As usual, I found this a really easy and simple meal. First I marinated minced pork with soya sauce, ground white pepper, sesamee oil and a little sugar. Next I sauteed some minced garlic in a large non-stick pan or wok.

Once golden, I put in the Japanese udon noodles and cook it till it starts to loosen. Push the noodles to one side of the pan and add the pork and fry till pink is almost gone before adding washed bak choy. This time I used both bak choy and yau choy because I didn't have enough of one kind of veg. So I decided to mix it.

Then I just tossed everything together well till the veggies are wilted. Finally I added finely sliced bird's eye chilli and some dark soya sauce. I might have added a little more light soya sauce making sure that the noodles are well seasoned. Reno Man must have had 3 helpings. Another keeper.

Roast Beef with Burnt Butter Mash & Bak Choy

2007-07-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

I recently got a hankering for good ole roast beef. Before moving to Canada, I had never made roast beef before. Didn't know how easy it was until Reno Man's mum taught me how and I have been making it the same way ever since.

I normally buy an oven roast from Costco and season it with salt and pepper. Then I make somewhat of a crust/paste for the top using French onion soup. I make it into a thick paste and spread it on top of my roast and put it into the oven for 20 mins at 450F and then turn it down to 375F for the next 25-35 mins depending on the size of roast. I always use a temperature gauge to make sure I get the meat cooked exactly medium rare.

While the roast coooks, I made mashed potatoes and added melted butter that I browned over the stove in a pot. Ofcourse I added some milk, salt and pepper to taste. The burnt butter just adds a buttery nutty flavour to the mash that I love.

For the bak choy, all I did was to wash the veggie and put it into a steamer. Once it was cooked, I added a splash of onion oil, oyster sauce, soya sauce and sesamee oil. Mixed it well and its ready to serve.

Since I love gravy with my mash and meat, I made a green peppercorn sauce using the beef drippings and a regular mix. I love how the pink tenderness of the meat show through, sitting on top of the bak choy and mash. A lovely meal that leaves lots for roast beef sandwiches the next day. The extra gravy makes the sandwiches just perfect.

A Feast Laid Out

2007-07-07T15:49:00.000-07:00

Doesn't this Italian feast look fantastic? Granted, its not the best photography but I couldn't resist. Last night we were invited to this lovely meal at Chocolate Girl & Living Sword's home. Knowing what a great chef Chocolate Girl is, we knew we were in for a feast. There was fresh bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, BBQed lamb sausages, BBQed hot Italian sausages, procini ravioli in a tangy lemon sauce, gorgonzola ravioli in what I think was a tomato pesto (yum!), garlic stuffed olives, tomato & mozarella salad and to wash it all down, San Pelligrino orange fizz!

After this yummy meal, a HUGE bowl of red cherries and Rainier cherries, and a plate of Lindt cherry chilli filled dark chocolate. Ho ho ho! These people never hold back on the yummies! All this of course was made perfect by the company and conversation.

Ever play Uno Stacko? Haha. We had such fun with this simple game. It wasn't long before more yummies showed up. Tranditional tiramisu. I was told by the chef that it was his grandmother's recipe who is still in Italy! And the finale, dessert wine. With our bellies filled, hearts connected and spirits high with laughter, we reluctantly departed for the night.

Malaysian Curry Laska

2007-07-06T12:08:00.000-07:00

You might be able to tell that I have been craving for food from my country of origin, Malaysia. Not too long ago, my mummy sent me a care package with a bunch of food items that I am still not able to get in British Columbia, Canada. In this package she included a single packet of Curry Laska Paste. Below is what it looks like.

I haven't been feeling too well lately and thought this would be a simple fix. If it didn't live up to my standards, I could always get take out! Now, I have made curry laksa on my own from scratch before but I could never recreate it exactly because of the lack of some ingridients though I came close. I couldn't believe it when I tasted this. This is truely authentic! The only thing missing was the cockels to go with the meal. When I write about this paste, it only gives you the paste to cook the curry soup. The rest of the ingredients like the yellow noodles, chicken, tofu etc are fresh ingredients you have to put together yourself. I was so delighted with this. Not only that, it was so easy too! If I remember correctly, I just sauteed some minced garlic and onions, added the paste and water. Bring to boil and then add tofu and coconut milk. Simmer for a minute or 2 and its ready! HAH! It sure transported me back to the hawker stalls in Malaysia.

Malaysian Mee Rebus

2007-07-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

I couldn't believe how close to home this packet sauce tasted. I haven't had this for over 4 years and even when I was back home it was difficult to find a place that made good Mee Rebus.

So I bought this packet mix at Eat-Vancouver. I have seen this before at T&T but never bought it because of the price and also I didn't know if it was any good. At Eat-Vancouver, the price was right and I decided to give a few of their items a try. With this one a success, I can't wait to give the others a try.
This of course is not totally original because of the different condiments I used. But close. I just followed the instructions to a tee (which I don't normally do) and the results were great. I used yellow noodles, boiled egg, pea shoots instead of bean sprouts, fried tofu, cooked shrimp, fish cakes and fried onions to garnish.

A Change of food...

2007-06-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

Here's some food for the eyes. I've been working on these 2 pieces for a few weeks now. They are not quite finished but close. There are bits of each painting that I like and it just seems not quite together for me. Reno Man likes it, so I guess its ok. Still a long ways from where I see my paintings should be.

The top piece still needs the keyboard to be painted in and there is still some shading left to be done in both pieces. Aside from that, they are mostly done.

I just love learning from Jackie at her studio in Crescent Beach called Tiggy's. Not only is she very encouraging, but she is a great teacher with a lovely personality. Come October, I'm going to take the beginner's course with her. That should give me some good basic foundations on acrylic painting. Can't wait.

Potstickers in Egg Drop Soup

2007-06-26T14:14:00.000-07:00

It was a rainy, cold Sunday afternoon, after a nap. All I felt like having was a hot soup but it had to be super fast since I was starving having missed lunch because of the nap.

So, to start, I sauteed some minced garlic with oil in a pot. Once golden, I added water and when the water came to a boil, I added frozen potstickers from Costco and some yau choy and let it cook. Meanwhile, I seasoned the soup base with wanton soup stock powder, white pepper, fish sauce and a little sesamee oil. Oh and some soya sauce.

Lastly, when the potstickers are cooked, stir in one beaten egg and gently stir the soup and turn off the heat. Serve immediately with fried onions or cilantro. It help me get through to dinner but best of all, it warmed me up.

Homemade egg noodles

2007-06-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

Another meal with cod and pea shoots. But this time instead of putting everything in a broth, I coated the noodles in black sauce, soya sauce, cooked onion oil, fish sauce and sesamee oil. I poached the fish and cooked the pea shoots and noodles in fish broth. I made noodles as a photo prop for my other blog, VISUAL SPACES. I thought it would make a good meal feature for this food blog.

Homemade egg noodles are really easy to make. Just 1 cup of flour, 1 egg yolk, salt and white ground pepper and a little veg stock powder. I kneaded it together with some water until everything forms into a firm dough.

Once it is well kneaded, I ran it through my pasta press a few times to give it a smoother texture to the noodles before I ran it through the cutter. Then I separate the noodles as best as I can with a little flour and dried it over a large mixing bowl.

Fresh noodles cook very quickly compared to that of the dried kind and it is so much tastier and more tender too. Reno Man and I enjoyed this very much.

Chocolate Strawberry Custard Trifle

2007-06-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

Yummy! Strawberry season is here. An easy and tasty dessert I'm sure many know how to make. Chocolate cake, masserated strawberries, custard and whipped cream make a great combination.

Beef Curry Pie Two Ways

2007-06-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

I made the filling for these tasty treats a couple of days ago. The one above, I call it Beef Curry pot pie since I put it in a pot and covered it with store bought puff pastry. Had I time, I would have made short crust pastry and made it into some turnovers to be frozen.

Below I turned the pie filling into little appys, also with puff pastry and garnished with a few sprigs of lovely parsley from Richard and his lovely wife. I was hoping that the crust wouldn't open but, I guess it added to its presentation.

Now, what did put into the filling? Humm, I think I started with sauteing some minced garlic, then added pureed lemon grass and curry paste. Once fragrant, I added the beef, cubed potatoes and frozen veggies (unthawed) all at once. Gave it a good stirr and added a little water to help the bottom not stick. I also added beef stock and salt and pepper. Then simmered on med-low heat till potatoes were cooked and water has mostly evaporated. I let it cool and used as mentioned above. This pie filling was one of my mum and dad's favourite recipes on mine. I remember making this as a young teenager for my parents. Pastry from scratch too. Certainly brings back memories.

Cod with Rice noodles and Pea shoots

2007-06-19T21:04:00.000-07:00

I knew I wanted to have fish today but when Reno Man heard what I was planning to make for dinner, he said that he wasn't hungry because he was full from lunch. Indeed, we had gone out for a lovely lunch at Tropika, a Malaysian restaurant (my fav) and he really had alot to eat. We ordered sambal clams(Malaysian), nasi goreng (Indonesian), char hor fun (Cantonese) and for dessert bubur cha cha(Malay). Oh I forget. We also had roti prata (Indian).

So back to the fish. Although I knew I wanted to make fish for my dinner, I didn't know what kind of preparation I wanted. I was just going to throw the fish into some instant noodle soup but I thought I'd try making it from scratch. I found that it wasn't very difficult.

First I sauteed some minced garlic in a pot with a little oil. When golden, I added hot water, just enough for the soup base for the noodles. While I wait for it to come to a boil, I added seasonings of fish sauce, white pepper, sesamee oil, onion oil, seafood stock powder and soya sauce into the pot of water. When it came to the boil, I added my dried rice noodles, washed pea shoots and piece of cod. I let it gently cook. When the fish was cooked, I served it with fried onions and cilantro. As a dipping sauce, I sliced red chillies into a small sauce dish with soya sauce. I was surprised that it turned out so much like what I would find in Singapore.

When I sat down to eat it, Reno Man's interest perked up. So I asked if he would like a taste. He was sold on the first bite. Good thing I had made a little more than just one serving. So I shared my bowl of noodles. A good, healthy and simple meal.

Macaroni Chinoise?

2007-06-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a recipe inspired by my dearest Reno Man. A few years ago, I was really really sick. Can't get up for 2 weeks kinda sick and my hunny made this recipe for me. It was very yummy and very simple. The only seasoning he used was soya sauce! Not even garlic or any condiments. Anyway, I added a little to it to give it a little variety.

Cooked macaroni
minced garlic
beef cut into small strips
frozen veg & peas
fresh cilantro and sliced bird's eye chilli to garnish.
Sesamee oil and pepper
Oh, can forget soya sauce!

As usual, I sauteed the garlic, then added the beef. Stir fry for 30 secs and add the frozen veg. Once heated through, add cooked macaroni and seasoning. Sitr fry till well mixed. Add soya sauce to taste. When ready to serve, add cilantro and chilli if desired.

Sausages & Meatballs

2007-06-17T17:54:00.000-07:00

When I made this for bible study pot luck night, I didn't think I would get the requests I did for the recipe. Reno Man did like it so I took a picture of it but it didn't look very appetizing. So I tried it again and here it is, in a slightly more dignified sight and the recipe as well.

1 finely chopped onion
1 bottle of Classico's Sweet Marinara Basil Sauce (I'm not trying to advertise Classico, but I love this sauce. I use it for most of my tomato based sauce recipes.)
3-4 Bavarian smokies (I bought the ones from Costco)
As many as you like meatballs of your choice. I also used the Kirkland ones found at Costco.
1 stick of cinnamon
1 chopped red pepper
1 tbsp italian seasoning
a little sugar
1 small can of tomato paste
2 packets of beef stock powder.

Ok. I think that is it. So first, sautee the onions with the sliced smokies. Get them nicely browned. This might take a while. Use high heat but you have to keep stirring. Once browned, add the chopped pepper and all the seasoning. Stirr well. Then add the bottle of sauce and whatever is left over. This might be a little think, so add some water. Stirr to mix well. Then add heated / thawed meatballs and simmer for 1 hour on med low heat. Stirr occassionally so that the bottom doesn't stick. Add salt and pepper to taste. That's all to it folks! Enjoy!

Who's got the best burgers in town?

2007-06-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

Our bible study group got together on Friday and for some reason we got to talking about burger joints. According to JW, these were fantastic burgers,massive and very tasty. And I though... ah just my kind of burger. Lots of meat! Funnily enough, Reno Man and I have just discovered FATBURGER. Reno Man really likes the burgers there. I had seen it mentioned on tv's Unwrapped and thought it might be fun to check out. So we did. And since then, we have been there every weekend!

This weekend however, after that discussion with JW at our bible study, we decided to check out VERA'S BURGER SHACK. Because of the caution of its size, we just got the classic Vera's burger. Its a single patty with your usual fixings. I really liked it because you can taste the meat and have the condiments enhance its flavours while Fatburger's tend to get over powered but the bun and condiments. Like I said, I like lots of meat! Made fresh right there on the grill, it was for sure the a better burger than Fatburger. Their fries were hand cut fries, the kind that is great with vinegar! All in all a very satisfying meal. I had actually ordered the lamb burger but they were out. So next time, I am hoping they will have it. It sure sounded good.

Its a bit of a trek from South Surrey to Fraser Heights but I'd do it... would you?

Liquor filled chocolates anyone?

2007-06-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

Humm. Who says no to chocolate? This bit of tasty morsel was given to Reno Man and I from Chocolate Girl and LivingSword. It was a while back but I was saving it for a day just as today. The weather was lovely and sunny, beckonning us out on the deck to soak in the sunshine and take a little sweet to company us.

Now, this is not a block of chocolate that you can easily get because it has liqour in it, it is not found in our grocery stores. Chocolate Girl buys it from this place .... humm I can't remember where! But it sure tasted good.

Pineapple Rice and Tumeric Wings

2007-06-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why I have never tried making this before today. It turned out better than expected. I happen to have some fresh pineapple in my refridgerator, some left over rice and thinly sliced beef. I found a recipe for pineapple rice with minced beef and I though, why not give this a go. As usual, I never follow the recipe to the tee. Just picked up the ingredients and did my own thing.

As usual, sautee some minced garlic and add the beef that has been cut into thin strips or use minced beef. Then throw in lots of frozen mix veg and peas and stirfry till veggies are heated through. Then add chopped pineapple, you can use drained crushed canned pineapple or fresh, and rice. Stir out lumps in the rice and then add soya sauce, fish sauce and rice vinegar. To give it a little kick, I added finely chopped bird's eye chilli. Chopped fresh cilantro just perfects this dish. Hummm yum! Of course you can have this on its own but I had some chicken wings that I had thawed and wanted to make a traditional Malaysian style chicken with this. Tumeric chicken is really easy. My version is anyway. Traditionally, it is deep fried but I couldn't be bothered and it tastes just as good grilled in the oven and its much healthier too. So I started with cleaned chicken wings which I patted dry with a paper towel. Then seasoned it with salt, then garlic powder and then tumeric powder till well coated. Lay the chicken pieces on a rack with a drip pan and grill in the oven at 375F for about 40 mins. Turn half way through cooking.

Montreal Spiced Pork Tenderloin with mixed veg and rice

2007-06-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

Ever go to Costo and wonder if any of their marinated meats are any good? Well, I took a chance on this Montreal Spiced Pork Tenderloin and it was yummy! And oh so easy. Just pop into the oven till just cooked. It comes out so juicy and tasty. Great with any sides. Here I paired it up with steamed rice and stir fried mix veg of asparagus, red pepper, broccoli, cauliflower and brown mushrooms. Was a great combination. Check out how juicy the pork turned out when it came out of the oven.

Sweet Chilli Beef Stir-Fry

2007-06-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

This recipe came to me as I was marinating the thinly sliced beef. Just like the recipe before I used top sirloin steak, slightly frozen and thinly sliced. Then I marinated it with soya sauce, sesamee oil, Chinese cooking wine, minced garlic and sweet chilli sauce. Then I prepared the bak choy as in the recipe previous to this.

In a hot wok, heat some oil and when heated, stir in the beef for 1 minute. Then add bak choy, toss well and book till desired tenderness. I also thinckened up the sauce with a little bit of corn starch and water mixture. Just before serving, I topped it with chopped cilantro and finely sliced bird's eye chilli to give it a little more kick! Hummmm. Yummy.

Satay Beef Stir-fry with Bak Choy

2007-06-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

Somehow, coke always goes so well with Malaysian food. Hence the coke cans! Besides, they tend to bring a good contrasting colour to my pic! Now this is something I made up. I used Top sirlion steak, slightly frozen so that I could easily slice the beef thinly. Then I marinated it with soya sauce, a little sugar and minced garlic.

Then I prepared the bak choy. Just washing each leaf and separating the leaves invidually. Then I prepared my satay sauce. You can buy this from and Asian grocer instant or a pre-mix. I used a pre-mix where I just added water anda brought it to a boil for a few minutes. Next I put my pan on high heat and added a little oil. When the oil was hot, I added the beef and fried it for about 30 secs before adding the bak choy. This takes a little skill with 2 cooking utensils to toss till the bak choy is wilted. Finally, I add the satay sauce. Once it is well mixed and the meat and veggies area well coated with the sauce, I quickly serve it hot with steamed Jasmine rice. Oh! I think this is my current favourite. So quick and easy. And clean up is that too! -end-

Black Bottom Cup Cakes

2007-06-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't resist these mouthwatering sight whose recipe comes from Eleanor's blog. I think hers turned out better or at least hers looks better through lenses. She was the one who directed me to Smitten Kitchen who is hosting the recipe. Really easy recipe and lots of helpful hints. I was really excited to taste them but I found that these need to get quite cool before they really show a good tasting. I did use a piping bag to pipe the filling into the cupcakes. I also made some large and some mini just to see which works better. I've only tried the mini ones and they are yummy... but only after they were well cooled. When they are just fresh out of the oven, they tend to taste a little cheesy, overpowering the chocolate.

What can I call this?

2007-06-06T21:56:00.000-07:00

Humm, not sure what I would call this. All I know it that I really liked it. I used a pack of pre-marinated chicken thighs (hot buffalo style) from Save-ons (local grocery store). Cooked them in my non-stick pan first, once it was nicely browned and cooked through, I added broccoli and cauliflower and a little water to deglaze the pan. I also covered the pan and let the veggies steam till cooked. Lastly, I added some shrimp and a little light soya sauce. It didn't take too long for the shrimp to cook. I served this with freshly cooked Jasmine rice. I'm open to suggestions as to what to call this dish.

I have also used these hot buffalo style chicken thighs in a salad. I just love how the chicken is marinated. Wish I could recreate it instead of buying it from Save-ons.

Another Quick-fix!

2007-06-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

Hot days call for simple finger food. With all the summer weather, Reno Man and I decided it would be very nice to have our lunch on our deck. I wanted to make egg salad sandwiches but I didn't quite have the right bread or the other items one ususally find in an egg salad sandwich. I did have hot dog buns, cilantro and red onion. So that was what I used. Mashed boiled eggs with finely chopped cilantro, red onion, mayonaise, french's mustard, salt and pepper. I also took out some on the bread from the centers of the hot dog buns and stuffed them with the egg salad. They worked well.

Meanwhile, I had some egg rolls in my little toaster oven. Those were also good. Ofcourse they were store bought (again from Costco). I mixed a sauce of sweet and sour and some Vietnamese hot sauce. Surprisingly enough, it worked well with the egg rolls. Sitting out on the deck with a couple of cokes with this weird combination, seemed to work.

A platter of fun!

2007-06-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

Its been so hot that I decided to do a play on little plates , tapas. The croissants were fresh from Zerelli's Mediterranean Market that I got that morning. The first tapas I had was marinated cherry tomatoes with balsamic vinegar and evoo. I added chopped fresh basil and red onion and topped it with lovely creamy goat cheese! Oh this combination is always a winner. The second tapas was garlic crimini mushrooms with butter and olive oil. This was lightly sauteed and served as is. We had this for lunch and it hit the spot nicely.

Fried MiFun (vermicelli)

2007-06-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Easy fried vermicelli. I guess it very simillar to fried rice though with using noodles to stir fry, I like to use green leaf veggies like bak choy or yau choy or kai lan.

First I sauteed some minced garlic. Then I browned some sliced chicken that had been seasoned with soya sauce and pepper. Then I added alot of veggies. This time I used yau choy and sugar peas. Then I added the prawns and vermicelli that had been soaking in warm water. Before stirring, I added sweet and thick dark soya sauce and a little light soya sauce. OH! I also added a shredded carrot and tossed it all till well mixed. This type of noodle does not need very much cooking. It just needs to be warmed through. It will start to break into tiny pieces if this is over cooked. Also keep this stir fry relatively dry. Too much liquid or sauce will make the noodle mushy. To spice it up, I added some sambal after adding the veggies. It just gave it a bit of a zing. Oh! Don't forget to add a splash of fish sauce. It just adds to the flavour of the noodles. Just don't sniff the sauce from the bottle. Trust that it will taste good!

Another decorated cake!

2007-06-01T23:50:00.000-07:00

Just another decorated cake. This was made for Cecelia for helping me with a class when I was feeling ill. Its a 4" chocolate cake covered with blue butter cream and royal icing daisies! I personally like how this one turned out.

Bridal Shower Cake

2007-05-31T23:34:00.000-07:00

Here's the other cake I had to make. This didn't turn out as I had hoped. I did try a different design. My options for the picture for a three tiered cake, wedding bells, an umbrella, champagne glasses or a wedding dress. Humm... I'm thinking I should have gone for the wedding dress. Oh well, maybe next time. Any suggestions? The cake is a butter pecan flavour with Wilton's classic butter cream icing with pink royal icing flowers. Nothing much to add to this pretty picture except that I do enjoy decorating cakes. If I had more time, I would try more complicated designs. I enjoy working with fondant but it is so expensive to buy and I still haven't found a good fondant recipe that uses easy to find ingredients.

Baby Shower Cake

2007-05-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

This is the first baby shower cake I've made and I am quite pleased with how it turned out. I would have added a little baby's face but due to the lack of time and also I had to make another shower cake that I will post tomorrow.

For some reason, my icing didn't turn out the way I like. There seemed to be alot of air bubbles. Might have been due to the fast whipping of the icing toward the end of the mixing. For this cake, I made a rainbow bits cake. I used to love eating this cake but now, I'm more into the golden cakes and of course the chocolate cakes. Humm... that makes me think of the carrot cake I used to make. I just might have to make that some time soon. The cake is iced with Wilton's classic butter cream icing and the blue morning glory flowers are made of royal icing.

Chocolate Iced Orange cake

2007-05-29T00:07:00.001-07:00

Baking again! Every time I bake, I am not quite sure what will turn out. I made this for our bible study group as it was our turn to host. It had great reviews! When I want an easy cake, I usually use a cake mix. But ofcourse, I cannot just leave it as it is. I like to spiff it up a little to make it more unique and perhaps homemade like? So, I used an orange...
cake mix from Duncan Heinz. Here's a great tip if you want a nicely leveled cake. I have noticed that many cake mixes tend to errupt in the middle when it cooks. So I usually sift the whole mix before adding the wet ingredients. This always helps to balance out the baking powder and evenly spread throughout the cake well. Normally I add orange juice instead of milk or water. But I didn't have any at hand. Another good tip to keep the cake level even is to bake the cake at a slightly lower temperature and bake for a longer time. Once it was cool, I divided it into two and brushed it with a light orange syrup made with orange marmalade or sometimes I use Grand Marnier. Just a tablespoon will do. Then I used a chocolate butter icing for the filling and to ice the whole cake. I had strawberried at hand and used it to make the cake pretty. Next time instead of cutting the strawberries into half and decorating it, I will use the strawberries whole. I found that putting the inside of a halved strawberry on the icing, made the strawberry start to screte its moisture. Next time, chocolate dipped strawberries would be even better for decorating.

Ginger Lime Chicken: Low Calorie

2007-05-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

I haven't made this recipe for a while now eventhough I knew it is easy and tasty. This recipe has very few ingredients .

Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter, 4 skinless chicken breasts - sliced, salt and peppered, juice of 1 lime, 2 tbsp liquid honey, 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger (read on for ginger tip) and 4 green onions thinly sliced.

Directions:
Melt butter in a large pan, preferably a non-stick pan over med-high heat. When bubbly, add chicken and cook till golden brown. Meanwhile, combine lime juice, honey and ginger into a small bowl and mix well. When chicken is golden brown, pour honey mixture over top. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add green onions and stir well. Serve immediately with jasmine rice and steamed yau choy or also great with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans or broccoli. Its that simple and fast! You can make an asian meal or a western meal with it.

Tip: You can keep fresh ginger in your freezer and just slice or grate to use in your cooking. You might like to skin the ginger root before you freeze it. To skin a ginger root without much waste, use a small spoon to scrape the skin off. It works better than using a knife. Not sure why but it works well.

Crab Cakes & Salad with Asiago cheese

2007-05-25T16:53:00.000-07:00

This was a cheat lunch since I bought those crab cakes from Costco. I love crab cakes but can't be bothered to make them myself. I guess I could try making it with crab meat that has been shelled already instead of doing it myself. Yummy as these are, the feature for today's post is Asiago cheese. Also purchased from Costco! Of course it is sold in bulk so it was alot of cheese. Not only is this a delicious cheese on salads and sandwiches but great as is with a glass of full bodied red wine. There's just something about the two that make them a perfect pairring.

Wikipedia explains Asiago cheese as an Italian cheese that according to the different aging can assume different textures, from smooth for the fresh Asiago cheese( Asiago Pressato) to a crumbly texture for the aged cheese (Asiago d'allevo) whose flavor is reminiscent of sharp cheddar and parmesan. The aged cheese is often grated in salads, soups, pastas, and sauces while the fresh Asiago cheese is sliced to prepare panini, sandwiches, or molten on a variety of dishes. It is often treated as interchangable with the parmesan and romano cheeses, as they are with each other.

The only "official" Asiago cheese is produced in the alpine area of the town of Asiago, province of Vicenza, in the Veneto region, and now is also made in the Alpine region of Trentino, which has become part of the DOP area for Asiago cheese production. Most asiago cheese in the world, however, is made somewhere else using techniques and cultures that produce a cheese of the same or similar flavor.

Spicy Chicken and Basil Stir-Fry

2007-05-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

Aromatic basil, sometimes called Italian basil, is fundamental to Mediterranean cooking. But on the other side of the world, in Thailand, another basil variety is equally essential. For a more authentic version of this dish, seek out Thai basil, which has smaller, narrower leaves than the common Italian variety, a reddish purple cast and a more pronounced anise flavor. Look for it in Southeast Asian stores or at farmers' markets, or plant seeds outdoors in pots or beds for easy harvests.
This recipe is a current favourite of Renovation Man and I. It has a very appetizing flavour and just the right amount of spice for us. I have tried this recipe with just dried basil and it works just as well though when using fresh basil, especially Thai Basil, it gives a lovely Thai taste to it. I highly recommend it.

6 Tbs. chicken stock2 Tbs. Asian fish sauce2 tsp. firmly packed light brown sugar1/2 tsp. cornstarch2 Tbs. vegetable oil1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch strips1 or 2 Thai or jalapeño chilies, cut into very thin rounds2 garlic cloves, minced4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into thin strips3/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves, preferably Thai basil3 green onions, cut into 3-inch pieces

Cooked jasmine rice for serving. In a bowl, whisk together the stock, fish sauce and brown sugar. Add the cornstarch and whisk until the cornstarch and sugar are dissolved. Set aside. In a large wok or fry pan over high heat, warm the oil. Add the bell pepper and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add chilies to taste and the garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add the chicken and stir-fry until no longer pink, about 2 1/2 minutes. Stir in the basil and green onions and stir-fry until the onions are barely wilted, about 1 minute. Whisk the sauce mixture and pour into the pan. Cook just until the liquid comes to a boil. Spoon the rice onto individual plates and top with the stir-fry and sauce. Serves 4.

Photo and recipe taken from http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/recipedetail.cfm?objectid=2A9C9595%2D0013%2D4661%2DBE339830267F9798

Special requests! Indian food

2007-05-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

My good friends Chocolate Girl and Living Sword left for Berlin for vacation a few days ago. I wasn't expecting to hear from them, let alone so soon after their departure. It was a short email requesting for some recipes! Of course I couldn't help but to take this opportunity to add another post to my food blog. Here's a recipe for Tandoori Chicken.
6 chicken thighs, 1/4 c lemon juice,1/2 small onion chopped, 4 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger, 3 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tbsp lemon juice(extra), 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp paprika, pinch of chilli powder or to taste, 1 c yoghurt, red food colouring (optional)

Directions:1. Remove the skin from chicken and brush with lemon juice. Cover and let marinade in refridgerator for 30 mins.
2. Process onion, garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, extra lemon juice and salt in a food processor until a smooth paste is formed. Combine this paste with the paprika, chilli powder and yoghurt and mix together until smooth. Add enough drops of food colouring to make the mixture a deep red colour.
3. Place the chicken pieces in a large shallow dish and spread liberally with the spicy yoghurt mixture. Cover in plastic wrap and refridgerate. Marinate chicken for at least 4 hours or over night.
4. Preheat oven to 180C or 350F. Place chicken pieces on a wire rack over a large baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until chicken pieces are tender and cooked through.

Well, Chocolate Girl, as for an easy curry dish I found this recipe that I have not tried myself but reads and looks good. When I make a curry, I usually make it the way my mum makes it. It is really easy but you must have good quality curry powder mix. If you have access to some, I'll give you that recipe. If not, here's the one I found in one of my favourite cook books. Red Chicken Curry.
2 tbsp ghee or butter, 2 medium onions sliced, 1 medium red bell pepper chopped, 4 colves garlic crushed, 2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger, 2 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp ground corriander, 2 tsp sweet paprika, 1 tsp hot chilli powder, 1 tbsp tomato paste, 425 g can tomatoes, 1kg chicken thigh fillets, 2 c chicken stock, 1/4 c cream or coconut milk, 1 tbsp concentrated tamarind.

Directions: 1. Heat ghee in a large pan, add onions, bell pepper, garlic, ginger and ground spices. Cook till onions are browned lightly.
2. Add paste, undrained crushed tomatoes, chicken and stock, simmer covered about 20 mins or until chicken is cooked through.
3. Stir in cream or coconut milk and tamarind. Simmer uncovered about 15 mins or until mixture has thickened slightly. Serves 4-6.

Sesamee Beef Stirfry

2007-05-21T15:12:00.000-07:00

Simple, easy and tasty. In 30 minutes or less! Of course this is best served with freshly cooked Jasmine rice. So to start, get your rice started in your rice cooker or pot. Then, thinly slice a 10-12 oz of your steak choice. I used top sirloin but this would work well with a lower grade cut so long as you slice it across the grain. Marinade this in about 4-6 tbsp of soya sauce,1-2 tbsp of oyster sauce, 1 tbsp sesamee oil, 2 tbsp of roasted sesamee and 1 tbsp of sugar. Marinade well and lastly add 1-2 tsp of corn flour to the beef. Set this aside and wash a good portion of yau choy or bak choy. Cut the veg into 2 inch lenghts. Next heat your wok or non-stick pan to high with 2 tbsp canola/ corn or peanut oil. Add in 1 clove of minced garlic. When lightly golden, add marinated beef. Stirfry till meat is separated but not throughly cooked. Then add veggies and cook till just tender. Add a little water, stir till well mixed and then turn off heat. Serve hot with steamed rice. Its nice to toss a little more roasted sesamee on the beef before serving.

Mini Flower Cup Cakes

2007-05-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

Don't these look cute? I just love how they look and they taste pretty good too! Pre-mixed cakes are easy and convenient but I find that it always taste better when you spruce it up with something else. In this case, I like to brush my cakes with Grand Marnier or Kahlua or Cream Sherry before giving them a dusting of icing sugar or a coat of butter icing. Then to make them pretty, my favourite way is to use royal icing flowers that I made myself earlier. These royal icing flowers are hard and can keep for a very long time. If I'm out of these, I'll just pump flowers out of butter icing. Here are what my cup cakes looked like before they got decorated.

Baking- its been a while

2007-05-18T21:52:00.000-07:00

Its seems like its been forever since I last baked. If I recall correctly, the last time was when I made a birthday cake for a collegue's little girl. She is such a cutie. A blondie with beautiful curls so I made her a doll cake according to her specifications. She wanted a white cake with white icing for her dress with pink, yellow and purple flowers. I always enjoy making doll cakes. They aren't too difficult and the results are wonderful.

Feeling a little under the weather tonight, I needed a little pick me up and this is when I usually like to bake. So I made cup cakes of 2 sizes. They are cooling and awaiting icing tomorrow.

Green Curry Chicken

2007-05-17T13:50:00.000-07:00

So how would you say this? Green curry chicken , green chicken curry or chicken green curry? I love making this when my hunny is out of town. One reason is because he doesn't appreciate the taste of the coconut milk with the blend of spices in a green curry. Another reason is that I get to have this all to myself! *grin* Those of you who think this is difficult, its actually very very easy. I use the cheat method! Just buy green curry paste from your oriental grocer or look in the asian isle of your local supermarket. Thai food has become so popular now that it is easy to get most of the ingredients for it.

Most of these instant pastes come with instructions like this one that I used. All you need is 400g chicken, sliced or cubed, 400ml coconut milk and you can add baby aubergine or in my dish, since I do not like aubergine, I used cauliflower and red pepper and Thai basil to garnish. If I remember correctly, you will need to heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pot, add the paste and fry till fragrant (about 1 min). Next add chicken and stirr till well coated and cook till most of the pink is gone. Then add coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer. Next add vegetables of your choice (zucchini is also a good substitute for aubergine). Cook till desired tenderness . Add 1-2 tbsp of fish sauce if desired but I highly recommend this. Serve with Thai fragrant rice or noodles (pasta would work well too) and garnish with basil.

Tom Yum Soup

2007-05-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

This is a well popularised Thai soup. Coming from Malaysia, I do so enjoy a good Tom Yum soup. But eating out in Vancouver isn't always the most convenient or pocket friendly. Tom Yum refers to spicy fish or seafood soup. But it can also be chicken or other meats, too. It is generally hot and sour. A real hot Tom Yum should draw your sweat and tears.
4 cups water, 3 kaffir lime leaves, 1 lemon grass
1 cup shrimp, 5 mushrooms, 8 pieces okra
1-2 limes, 2 tablespoon fish sauce, 3 chili peppers
5 sprigs cilantro, 1 tablespoon Tom Yum paste

Start boiling the water in a 2 quart pot. Peel and devein the shrimp and set them aside. Cut lemon grass into pieces, 5-6 inches long. Use the back of your knife to pound the lemon grass, just to bruise it to release the flavor. If you want, you can tie the lemon grass into a knot to make it easier to manage. Drop the lemon grass in water and let boil for 5 minutes. Put the fish sauce and 1 lime's juice into the bottom of the bowls you will serve the soup in. Crush chili pepper and add to the bowl. Remove the stems from the kaffir lime leaves and add the leafy part to the pot. Add the tom yum paste. Clean and halve the mushrooms and okra and add them to the pot. Add the shrimp and turn off the heat. Shrimp gets too tough very quickly, and will cook even when it is just sitting in the warm broth. Scoop the shrimp and liquid into the serving bowls immediately. As soon as you add the liquid to the serving bowl, you will see that the broth becomes cloudy because of the lime juice. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve. Be very careful, the peppers can be hot. Take a small sip at a time. Add more fish sauce and/or lime juice if it tastes bland. It's right if it's good for your sinus.

Tips and substitutions: Unfortunately, for the true taste, it is difficult to substitute anything for the kaffir lime leaves. The richness of the sour taste comes from the complement of the different citrus flavored ingredients. I serve this soup directly into individual bowls for each person. If you don't like it hot, cut down on the chili peppers or do not cut them up, but leave them whole for decoration.

Chicken Alfredo

2007-05-14T13:08:00.000-07:00

I've been craving something creamy and I instantly thought about Spaghetti Carbonara. But those of you who know how it is made would know it is full of fat! All that bacon and heavy cream, tasty as they are, I thought I'd better make something a little healthier.

Chicken Alfredo isn't too much better but I used half and half instead of heavy cream. Start with boiling water and cooking your pasta. As always, I sauteed a little bit of minced garlic in some evoo. Then I added left over roast chicken from the local deli and strips of back bacon. Then the half and half plus frozen peas. Let this simmer for a few minutes to reduce the sauce. Add some parmesan cheese to the sauce to thicken and add flavour. When your pasta is ready, drain well and add to the sauce and toss till coated with the sauce. Serve immediately with more parmesan cheese and or freshly ground black pepper. It helped curb the craving for now. Hopefully this will carry me till October since I only try to make Speghetti Carbonara for Reno Man's birthday. It is a favourite of his.

Zerelli's Mediterranean Market

2007-05-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

A lovely day for a walk to Elgin Corners and a visit to Zerelli's Mediterranean Market to get freshly baked bread for lunch. The market is quite large for a little neighbourhood mall. Its filled with lots of goodies from greek salads, assortment of cheeses and meats to sweet treats to olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The bread featured here is foccacia. Made fresh everyday. Aside from bread, we also bought some very nice and lean capicolo and a piece of baklava.
I was starving and quickly slapped these sandwiches together and put them in a make shift panini press. I used a regular non-stick pan on the heat, put the sandwiches on that pan and used a cast iron pan to press the sandwich.
One sandwich had roast beef with jalapeno Havarti and organice greens. The other had capicolo, goat cheese and organic greens.
Both turned out pretty yummy. Perhaps next time I might not turn the heat on so high as to not scorch the bread.

Vroom.. Vroom...VROOOOOOOOOM!

2007-05-12T09:53:00.000-07:00

This is not a food article! I could not resist but I had to write about our fabulous, heart pounding, adrenaline racing day Renovation Man and I had yesterday afternoon. For whatever reason, Reno Man got a call from Jaguar, BC to invite him and a friend to come test drive either the Range Rover or the Jaguar. I was thinking, oh well, just going out for a car ride. I almost didn't make it because we were expecting a delivery at home but our awsome God had a plan! And oh boy! what an exciting fun filled blessing it was for my hunny and I.

Does this picture above look like a snippet from a James Bond movie or a day in the life of the rich and famous? Well, this was very much like the afternoon we had, minus the fancy hair, dress and heels! We arrived at Boundry Bay airport to a huge white tent. Our car was valet parked and we were ushered into the VIP tent that was filled with the latest cars from Land Rover and Jaguar, food and drink. They even had a barrista on hand with some espresso coffee from BOSA foods. Another plus for us since we love espresso.

It wasn't long before we were driven in a Range Rover Sport to a off-roading terrain to experience the car's full capabilities. I can only describe it as a slow motion roller coaster ride. It was exciting and amazing to see what this car could do. At some point it felt like we were going to roll over because we were tilted so far off to the right and we were climbing and descending such steep hills one might think we would loose control, but the car was in its prime element and did nothing but impress us with its capabilities. This was impressive but nothing compared to what we experienced next.

We got to test drive the Jaguar XKR Coupe (left)and Convertible (first image above) out on the main roads. Then on a short circuit track. We had a professional race car driver take Reno Man out first on the track and then Reno Man (actually I think I should give him another name after yesterday) took me out for a spin on the track. Oh my! I kid you not. My heart was thumping so fast and my adrenaline was just racing when we made our first stop. I could not believe what this car was capable of. But there's more! Before I could even catch a breath, our instructor told Reno Man to shift it into sport gear which would give it an even better handling and more speed. O Ho! I think I must have been on the verge of being sick when we got back the second time. I had no idea I married a sports car driver in the hiding! Not only was I impressed by the car but my hunny's slick ability to manouver this car at lightning speed through the red cones that was set up, without coming close to any of them! WOW!!! It felt very much like being one of Bond's special girls. I almost didn't recognise this tall and good looking, shade clad speed monster.

I too managed to test drive the XKR Convertible. Nothing like the speeds my hunny got to but it was sure a sweet ride. Even after that, it took me at least a good half hour before my heart and adrenaline came back to somewhat of a normal state. Even then, I still couldn't get over what we had experienced. What a great opportunity and experience. We are still running on a 'high' from yesterday's event. Check out the interior of the XKR Jag.

My kind of comfort food!

2007-05-11T03:11:00.000-07:00

It certainly seems that as I keep making posts, that alot of the time, I am just trying to make really fast no hassel food. Tonight was another one of those nights. I resorted to feeding Renovation Man left over spaghetti meatballs and making instant pho' noodles with beef balls for myself. Its not something my hunny likes but certainly hit the spot for me. Throw in a handful of leafy veg and some hoisin and Vietnamese chilli sauce for dipping and I'm a happy gal! There's just something about a steaming hot bowl of noodle soup that just reminds me of my Oriental heritage. Add this to a great Survivor episode and a glass of coke just made my evening. I guess I've mentioned how satisfied I was already.

BBQ Chicken & Mixed Veg

2007-05-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

Very simple but healthy lunch. This time I grilled the chicken we got from Costco and didn't burn it. I used, cauliflower, broccoli, red pepper, mushrooms, carrots for my stirfry with a healthy dolop of minced garlic and evoo(extra virgin olive oil). Yum. No seasoning necessary. So far I have posted our meals. I wonder what other home menus are out there. I would love to hear from anyone out there! BTW, anyone interested in attending EAT-VANCOUVER, the food festival with me?

Spaghetti Meatballs

2007-05-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

I am certainly finding that I am not very inspired to do anything fancy on the days I work. So last night, I got my hunny to get dinner together. It was really very good though none of my pictures turned out. That's from trying to take macro pictures with my phone that has only 1.3 MB capacity. He made us a lovely tomato and red onion salad marinated in balsamic vinegar and extra vergin olive oil then topped with crumbled goat cheese served with freshly baked bread. Yum! Its one of our favourite salads. Renovation man also grilled 2 pre-marinated ...chicken breasts from Costco which was very tasty. He actually enjoyed making dinner this time. I think this was so because everything was very tasty. Hopefully this will inspire him to cook more often eh?

Today's lunch was spaghetti meatballs with brown mushrooms. Surprisingly enough, it turned out tastier than I was anticipating. The only difference that might have changed the taste was the addition of a packet of beef stock from OXO. It just seemed to bring out the meaty flavours in the sauce. I could have had this with just the sauce and pasta.

Asian Concoction

2007-05-08T13:38:00.000-07:00

Here's one of my own recipes. I often throw a few ingredients together and hope for the best! I used something that is unusual to North America but more common in ... Oriental cooking. I marinated a pork tenderloin that I cut into thin strips with soya sauce, Chinese cooking wine, sesamee oil, a little sugar and 2 tsp of cornflour. I sauteed some minced garlic till golden in some canola oil and added the pork. I cooked it till is was nicely browned. Then I added chopped yau choy and stir till wilted. Then I added preserved green mustard stem in chili oil that have been cut into strips and oil removed. Here's what the preserved green mustard stem in chili oil looks like in a bottle. Then I threw in about 500g of Hokkein noodles. I tossed it till well mixed and heated through. Then I added a little more Chinese cooking wine and soya sauce to taste. Serve hot with sliced chili. My hunny, Renovation Man thought this was a good flavour combo.

Eat-Vancouver!

2007-05-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

Its the everything food and cooking festival. It looks and sounds really good to a foodie like me. I have not been to one here but if I can find someone to go with me, I'll be there! Check out their website at http://www.eat-vancouver.com/

West Restaurant, Vancouver, BC

2007-05-07T09:38:00.000-07:00

WOW! My hunny and I went to this restaurant last night and it was fabulous! We even managed to sit at the chef's table. Its a booth that is close to the kitchen where you can see all the action first hand. It was certainly like ... watching an episode of Hell's kitchen (with out the swearing) or Top Chef or Iron Chef. The restaurant was running like a well oiled machine. The food was fantastic! Probably one of the best meals I have ever had. The service was impecable. Check out their website at http://www.westrestaurant.com/

This was a special occasion for us celebrating the day we got registered for marriage in Malaysia. Its been 4 years and also 4 years since I moved to BC, Canada.

We ordered a bottle of red wine, first courses were seared Quebec foie gras with candied grapes, honeycombed wine and lime syrup (I love foie gras) and my hunny had the spotted prawns(photo on right). Both were excellent. Then for the main, I had the organic Peking duck 2 ways with seared foie gras, carmelized endive and apricot jus(photo on left below) and hunny had Alberta prime beef with a warm salad of wild mushrooms, horseradish chantilly and red wine jellies. Again, just wonderful tasting dishes. I didn't manage to get very good pictures with each dish so I'm just showing the ones I got best.

Then ofcourse we must have dessert. My hunny being a great fan of green tea ice cream had that and I had the chocolate tasting menu. Ah! Chocolate girl would have been envious. Each bit oozed of a version of chocolate. The flat piece of chocolate dessert is a chocolate torte with candied almonds. The middle is a chocolate espresso cake with Bailey's ice cream. The combination was just spectacular. And the little cup is Manjari chocolate cappucino with mocha espuma. I finished it off with a glass of Quail's Gate late harvest Reisling. They weren't stingy with the serving of this either! This was the icing on the cake! Oh! what an evening. We were totally satisfied. A high quality restaurant definately to be recommended, a place we will visit again.

Chinese Style Fried Rice

2007-05-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

I must be getting lazy. I make this when I have leftover rice in the refridgerator and am not in the mood to make anything fancy or creative. The most creative part of this meal was the simply carved flower tomato and the new plate this was served on. First thing I did was to dice up ...
1 cup of carrots which I sauteed in a large wok with
2 tbsp of canola oil and
2 cloves of minced garlic. Then I added in
1 cup of frozen peas (thawed and drained). For some spice or kick as Chocolate Girl would say, add
1-2 minced bird's eye chilies. Next add
2 cups of left over refridgerated rice (leftover plain white rice from Chinese take out works very well for this too). Stir out all the large clumps of rice. Next, scramble
3 eggs seasoned with a little salt and ground white pepper. Push rice to the sides of the wok and pour in eggs. Let it cook for a few minutes before turning the eggs and folding the rice into the eggs. Stir fry till eggs are cooked. Next add
10 medium prawns or diced ham in the middle of the wok and cook till half done before stirring in the rice. Next add
3 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
2 tsp sesamee oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp powdered vegetable stock(optional). This would give the rice a little more flavour. Garnish with sliced tomatoes and cucumber or shredded lettuce. Of course there are many variations that you can make fried rice. This is just one of them. You can use diced chicken, rost pork, minced beef instead of prawns or ham. To change the flavour, try adding some sambal or some curry powder or even use some tom yum paste.

Potstickers with Korean Rice Cakes

2007-05-04T15:55:00.000-07:00

Here's another one of my fast meals. It was 2:30pm by the time I got home for art class. I was going to have just an instant cup noodle but because my hunny was home and also hadnt eaten, I decided to make up something quick. I used ...
10 frozen potstickers from Costco that I pan fried with a little canola oil just till the pastry is a little crisp. These potstickers are often a life saver when I am in a time crunch to get a meal on the table. I have used them is stirfries and soups. Quite versatile.Then I add
1-2 cloves of chopped garlic to the pan and
1/2 a bag of frozen Korean rice cakes (you may have to pre-boil these first depending on the brand you get). Stif fry for 2-3 mins then add
1/2 tbsp sambal
2 tbsp soya sauce
1 tsp fish sauce. Stir till mixed well. Then add
1/4 cup water and
enough Bak Choy to compliment the dish. Stir till combined and cover with a lid to cook the vegetables. When vegetables are tender, this dish is ready to be served.

Char Siew Meen

2007-05-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

I finally found some time to cook again this week. This is meal is a variation of a traditional hawker stlye noodle found in Malaysia. I used ...
1 portion of fresh shrimp egg noodle (you could probably get this from an oriental grocer)
1 portion of Chinese BBQ pork sliced
1 handful of cut and washed Bak Choy

Bring to boil a pot of water. When boiling, add bak choy and cook till prefered tenderness. Remove and set aside. In the same pot of water, cook the needles till prefered tenderness. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce for the noodles. Mix together,

1 tbsp of cooked onion oil (you can do this yourself by cooking thinly sliced shallots in oil. when the onions turn golden , remove from oil and use it as garnish.)
1 tbsp of think sweet soya sauce
1/2 tbsp of regular soya sauce
1 tsp of fish sauce
1/2 tsp sugar

When noodles are cooked, drain well and addd to the sauce and toss till evenly coated. Plate as seen in the photo above with bak choy and sliced BBQ pork and golden fried shallots. This recipe serves one. Do try it if you are adventureous. Let me know if you have any questions. Sure was yummy to me! Pity my hunny wasn't here to enjoy it with me. This is something I would love to serve my very good friends Chocolate girl and LivingSword.

Check out livingsword's website at http://www.lifeontheblade.blogspot.com/

Smokies with potatoes and broccoli

2007-04-29T13:22:00.000-07:00

Totally uninspired, I resorted to just throwing a bunch of ingredients together resulting in something I call Smokies with potatoes and broccoli. First, boil ...

6-7 small red potato nuggets till tender, slice and set aside. Brown

3 sliced Bavarian smokies with a little canola oil, then add

1 large onion sliced, saute till softened. Add

1 head of broccoli cut into bite size pieces. Lastly, add

1 can of Campbell's broccoli and cheese soup with

1/2 can of water. Stir till heated through and well mixed. Cover and simmer till broccoli is a little tender. Serve with freshly ground black pepper.

Stir-fried Vietnamese beef noodles with sugar snap peas

2007-04-28T21:39:00.000-07:00

Tonight's dinner was a hit with my hunny.

700g Thinly sliced tender beef marinated with

1/3c Sweet chili sauce

1/3c Oyster sauce and

1/4c Fish sauce.

Use half of the mixed sauce and set aside remainder for later. Lightly saute the marinated beef and set aside. I used ...

500g Hokkien noodles which I blanched for a few minutes in hot water. Then sauteed

1 sliced medium onion in the same pan with

1-2c sugar snap peas till slightly tender.

Then return the beef to the pan with the noodles and remainder of sauce. Cook till heated through and serve with fried onions as garnish. Ready in minutes.

A new interest - Wall Tatoos

2007-04-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

Since watching Designer Guys use this technique of wall tatoos in one of their episodes on HGTV, I have been obsessing over them. Over the net, large wall tatoos can be purchased but these do not come cheap nor have I found the design I want. So I decided to try to make my own stencil ...for a wall tatoo. I'm not the greatest artist but I am really pleased with my efforts. I used a large piece of Christmas wrapping, free handed the design, cut it with a pen knife and gently afixed it to the wall with painter's tape. I used a small roller to get the paint on the stencil and I just love the results. This tatoo measures 2'x4'.

Another inspiration for my wall tatoo was my visit to the Bay's cosmetics gala event a girlfriend invited me to, when I got a henna tatoo. Its actually fading with all the washing up after each meal.

A lunch menu from my kitchen

2007-04-28T16:50:00.000-07:00

What an absolutely georgeous day, in beautiful British Columbia. My day started of with a lovely surprise from my hunny, Renovation Man.....doughnuts from Tim Hortons! For most living in Canada, Tim Horton's coffee and doughnuts are a staple in their everyday menu. (www.timhortons.com) Not so for my hunny and I. We try to eat and live healthy so a box of doughnuts is a very rare find in our home...

Lunch came surprisingly too fast. But I had purchased some black pepper pork chops from T&T (a large oriental grocer in the Lower Mainland http://www.tnt-supermarket.com/main-e.php) last night and thought that would be a nice and quick meal with yau choy and egg noodles in an asian sauce. It sure hit the spot. Unfortunately, in my excitement to get to the food, I forgot to take a picture of this yummy lunch.

This is certainly not a typical Canadian nor North American lunch and to some may sound like something one may have for dinner. But in South East Asia (which is where I am from), that meal could be for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I am certainly used to having a hot meal for lunch so although a soup and salad would suffice or even a sandwich, my preference would be a hot meal of some kind.

Tonight's menu is a stir-fried Vietnamese beef noodles with sugar snap peas.