Wonton soup

I'm so excited for the weather! High 70s would be coming soon and finally I will be able to wear short-sleeves, wandering around.  I'm gradually getting over the cold; less nose-blowing but more coughing now. Maybe I'll expose myself underneath the sun more and see if the heat would kill the germs. As the weather gets better, I get more and more excited about this summer. The excitement keeps bubbling up from my mind from time to time, reminding me of the possible upcoming trip home. I've been praying everyday for the feasibility of the trip; I really miss almost everything in Taiwan...

Finally, I finished twilight just barely (because it's due today...I need to turn it in to Provo library). I plan to start New Moon today. It's fun to read young adult novels since for me it's easier to read. I also learn so many adjectives describing different kinds of emotions and body expressions; novels have taught me a different set of vocab. compared to what I've learned through digging in the academic journals in the past. I'm slowly overcoming the fear of reading English novels:) Please recommend some other fun, readable novels to me, plz!   

Wonton soup is very easy to make. By using store-bought wonton wraps, you can save plenty of time. The stuffing here consists of fine minced ginger, minced shitaki mushroom, minced water chestnut, ground chicken thigh, and cubed shrimp. The seasonings include oyster sauce, sesame oil, pepper, corn starch, and some water used to soak the shitaki mushroom. How to fold and seal the wonton? Just put some stuffing in the center of the wrap, brush water on the edge margin of the warp and fold it in halve as a triangle. Pinch the edge to seal it well. Pick two corners on the bottom of the triangle and pinch them together. You can freeze the fresh wontons individually and it should be good for at least one week.     

Broccoli, tomato, and mozzarella stromboli

Since I've been slacking on putting up food recipes and pics, I will contribute a stromboli recipe today. I don't really know what "stromboli" means but it looks like a chubby, stuffed bread stick to me. I didn't make my own dough and used a can of frozen pizza crust dough instead. If you are as cheap as me and use the Walmart-brand (such as Great Value) frozen dough, you would expect to make 4 of these in one can. It's not necessary to use frozen broccoli; if you can't find Genoa salami, just use any kind you can get on. 

Here is the recipe from EVERYDAY FOOD (Martha Stewart's magazine).

Broccoli, tomato, and mozzarella stromboli

serves 4

1 pound pizza dough, thawed if frozen

all-purpose flour, for work surface

1 package (1 pound) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

2 garlic cloves, minced

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 cup marinara sauce

1 1/2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella

2 ounces thinly sliced Genoa salami, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

------------------------------------------------------------

1. Preheat oven to 400 degree. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil. Divide dough into 4 pieces. On a lightly floured work surface, stretch out each piece, first to a 3-by-4 inch oval, then to a 6-by-8-inch oval (let dough rest briefly if too elastic to work with).

2. drain and pet dry broccoli if necessary.

3. Dividing evenly, scatter broccoli over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle with garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Dividing evenly, top with mozzarella, salami, and 1/2 cup marinara.

4. Starting at a shorter end, roll up each stromboli, and place, seam side down, on baking sheet. Using the tip of a paking knife, cut two slits in the top of each. Bake until golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve stromboli with 1/2 cup marinara for dipping.

Rice Rice and Chorizo with Black Beans

I have another good news! I just received a letter from USCIS, which calls for an interview scheduled on May 6th. After the interview, I would expect to receive the temp. green card soon and I could FLY BACK TO TAIWAN to visit!!!!! I really hope the interview will go well so that I can plan for the visit to Taiwan. Ah, how exciting! My brain couldn't calm down for a while after receiving the notice.

I wish I could be as professional as Miriam when it comes to taking pictures:( Although it looks a bit sloppy, it tastes good! Actually, I'm not much a bean person but I'm learning to love it now. Every time when I order a burrito, I would ask for more rice and less beans and that's typical of me. This dish has plenty rice for me and some beans for decoration (ha) so I still love it!

The original recipe is Rachel Ray's Smoky Red Rice and Chorizo with Black Beans from her Everyday with Rachel Ray magazine. After I modified it, it's not SMOKY anymore. The reason is that I took off some special ingredients which make it taste smoky, such us smoked paprika, fire-roasted smoked tomatoes, and so on. It still tastes good though. Let's see my version of it:

The ingredients (serves 4)

1 (3/4) cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon EVOO (hint: olive oil)

1 cup rice (uncooked)

2 roasted red peppers (Roast fresh bell peppers in the oven, roaster oven, or on the grill. After the pepper is charred, soak it in cold water right away and peel the skin off.) 

a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley (finely chopped)

1 teaspoon paprika

1  3/4- to 1-pound package Spanish Chorizo (sliced) (I used Mexican Chorizo since I couldn't find the Spanish one in Walmart.)

2 serrano chiles (seeded and chopped) (It's pretty spicy if you use two of them; adjust accordingly) 

1 small onion (chopped)

2 cloves garlic (chopped)

1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes

1 15-oz. can black beans

salt & pepper

The rice part: (I just cook the rice in my rice cooker; the original requires you to cook it on the stove.)

1. Make the rice in the rice cooker along with the chicken broth, EVOO, puree red bell peppers, flat-leaf parsley, and paprika.

The sausage mix

2. Meanwhile, cook the chorizo until crisp. Add the chiles, onion and garlic and cook until tender. Stir in the tomatoes and beans; season with salt and pepper.

Serve the rice in shallow bowls topped with the beans & chorizo.

Yu ting's trick: I squeeze some fresh lemon juice onto my dish and it brightens the flavor! You can also use cilantro to substitute for parsley. 

The bell pepper really adds flavor to the rice. It's pretty easy to make. If you're too lazy to roast the pepper and puree it, just get a jar of roasted bell pepper and that would save you time! 

Vietnamese Rice-Noodle Salad with Grilled Beef

I am still very awake:( It's not supposed to be like this but unfortunately I took about a three-hour after-dinner nap with Trav, my sick husband. He was coughing whole night last night so that none of us got enough sleep. Well, chancy weather is a daunting thing yet it's expected in the Utah Valley. 

So, I made this salad-like meal for dinner. I saw the original recipe on this blog (Chinese) and I modified it a bit as usual: 

tw.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!7.m6LNuRGBIUNIf. FWf.pMZ8/article?mid=1581&prev=1608&next=398&l=f&fid=15

It served well to my cleaning-fridge purpose and saved us from a hamburger helper dinner. Way to go!

The salad dressing:

fish sauce: sugar: hot water

2               :1         :4

garlic, red chili pepper flakes, and a tablespoon (or more) lemon juice

The noodles:

Vietnamese rice noodles

shredded lettuce, shredded carrots (marinated with sugar and rice vinegar mixture; about 1:1),

fresh cilantro, and (shredded cucumber), ground peanuts for garnish 

The meat marinate:

fish sauce: sugar:oil

1               :1         :1

oyster sauce (at least two times as much as fish sauce)

garlic, about one teaspoon five spices power, and some pepper

*marinate the meat for at least one to two hours before grilling it

*make the dressing in advance and chill it in the fridge

*I only had Korean long noodles made of potato starch so I used it and it turned out pretty well. You can certainly experiment on your own. 

Mix the meat, the noodles, and the dressing right before eating. Enjoy! 

  

Chinese Sour and Spicy Soup & Green Onion Pancakes

I made these dishes for dinner about a couple of nights ago. This version of sour & spicy soup is not as strong as those of some Chinese restaurants; therefore I like it!! I am not good at making dough so that I made an easy version of green onion pancakes. For these two recipes, I referenced to this blog: http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/jw!ErFND3KRGB5spcr2zj8sS1c.uA--/

Japanese-style Deviled Eggs

It was fun that Jill & Dave came over to our house for dinner last night! They were so nice that they brought a loaf of fresh bread over as well. In order to honor the St. Patrick's Day, we watched the movie Darby O'Gill and the Little People (and I finally had a glimpse on the mysterious leprechauns). I guess Trav still keeps his leprechaun message on his cell answering machine. Jill & Dave are indeed a very nice couple and full of fun and we're very grateful to have them as our neighbors. 

These deviled eggs are part of our dinner last night. I modified Sandra Lee's recipe and gave it a Japanese twist! Well, I didn't do this on purpose; I just didn't have "right" ingredients on hand. Here is my version of Sandra Lee's deviled eggs:

-6 boiled eggs

-about 2 tablespoons mayonnaise -> I used Japanese mayonnaise instead; according to my own experience, you might need to use a bit more than 2 tablespoons.

-about 1 teaspoon yellow mustard -> I replaced yellow mustard with Japanese wasabi. Again, you might want to use a little bit more than 1 teaspoon. You can also use Dejon mustard. 

-about 1 teaspoon sweet relish -> I used Japanese pickled ginger instead. Have you seen the pink ginger slices to go along with your sushi? Bingo! That's what I am talking about. 

-salt, pepper, and paprika for dusting. 

(I also added a few drops of rice vinegar to increase the acid flavor of the egg yolk mixture.)

So just boil your eggs, remove the yolks from the writes, and mix all of the ingredients with the yolks. Chill the mixture in the fridge for a while and then fill the whites with the yolk mixture. Just use the old ziplock bag's trick-cut a corner of a ziplock bag to pipe the whites. Chill the eggs in the fridge till completely cool. Garnish with paprika and choice of herbs.   

Shrimp and Edamame Fried Rice & Garlic butter Spread

Fried rice is super easy to make especially when you always have leftover rice on hand. You can pretty much throw anything into your own customized version; just remember to pay heeds to the following tips:

1. Aromatics: Always have some aromatic ingredients in your fried rice, such as garlic, onions, green onions, carrots, and so on. 

2. Cold steamed rice: Do not use hot, soft, and steamy rice. A overnight-refrigerated batch of rice might be the best. Using hot or warm steamed rice could result in a gummy texture. 

3. Special treatment of the main protein: Marinate your main protein thus give it an extra punch of flavor. I use shrimp here as my main protein. Shrimps here are de-veined, peeled, and marinated with a few drops of soy sauce, some corn starch, and a pinch of black pepper (or white pepper). Keep the marinate simple so that it does not overwhelm the natural flavor of the protein. 

4. In most cases, make the scrambled eggs separately: Eggs are one of the traditional ingredients of fried rice. Making the scrambled eggs beforehand and then assembling it with the main body of the fried rice at the last stage of cooking would keep the neatness of the entire dish. 

So here is how to do it: heat up oil and saute your aromatics (mine are chopped garlics, red pepper flakes, green onions, onions, and carrots) and add edamame and shrimps. Add a tablespoon of Chinese BBQ sauce (沙茶醬)and about a tablespoon of soy sauce (you can omit the Chinese BBQ sauce if you like). Finally add the cold steamed rice and the eggs. Mix them well. Enjoy!

I also enjoy making my own garlic spread. It's very simple (serve about 6 slices bread of a regular loaf): prepare a cube of unsalted/salted butter (well, I forgot the measurement; A stick of butter usually comes with some measurement on the wrapper. Take one unit of that!);  a pinch of salt (you may omit it if you use salted butter); a clove of fresh garlic; a teaspoon of sugar; herb (either some fresh parsley or some dried Italian herb mix). Put all of the above ingredients into a food processor till the spread appears smooth and well-blended. Spread this mixture on bread and toast it till perfection. It's great for soup-dunking! If you're like me, who likes the taxes roadhouse's cinnamon butter spread, try this very simple cinnamon-butter-spread recipe at home. Just mix cinnamon powder, a pinch of sugar, and unsalted butter together in a food processor. Adjust the seasonings according to your preference. You might try to put some nutmeg into the mixture (I haven't tried so yet since nutmeg is a bit too expensive for my budget now). Spread it on dinner rolls or on a hot, oven-baked sweet potato, yum!

  

Coconut & Shrimp Soup

After being sick & in-bed for a bit over one week, I'm finally feeling that the renewal of my body is taking place (Thus my blog entries are renewed as well). Although I haven't been feeling up to cooking, dinner still needs to be served daily. This soup is one of Trav's Thai-restaurant favorites! I modified the recipe of Emeril's Shrimp Coconut Soup with Ginger and Lemongrass on Foodnetwork and made this dish. My modified version is as follows:

Coconut soup (about 2 to 3 servings; Trav & I had two bowls each last night. If you're a big eater like us, this recipe only serves two, haha!)

The soup base:

*One can of chicken broth (or seafood/fish broth) and one can of water (use the very same chicken broth's can as measurement)

*Half a can of coconut milk

*One stalk of fresh lemongrass (at least 3-inch long), chopped

*A chunk of fresh ginger (about the size of a thumb), smashed (don't bother to chop it)

*Any sort of dried or fresh chiles (I just put in one dried red chili pepper)

*one regular size of lime, juiced (half to the cooking process and half for garnish)

*Two tablespoons of fish sauce (IMPORTANT! Please don't omit it and find a good quality bottle.)

(I omitted the Kaffir lime leaves in the original recipe; well, it did no harm to the outcome though.)

Add all of the above ingredients together and simmer it for about 20 minutes. 

The variations:

What's inside of the soup? I put tofu, shrimps, onions, carrots, mushrooms, and some thin-sliced tomatoes for garnish. Sprinkle some chopped cilantro on top. Serve with steamed rice if you wish.  

 

Curry Rice Gratin

It's THAT time again-to clean up my fridge. Trav has a thing with casserole; he hates it without a verbalizable reason. So every time when I am about to make this dish, I need to say: Honey, I'm making the oven rice again! Yet Gratin is truly a subcategory of casserole. As far as I understand, every casserole dish thrown into the oven has bubbly, golden-brown topping (made of cheese and/or bread crumbs) as the outcome could be called Gratin. 

So I started with a container of steamed rice, which is a staple of our leftovers. I also gathered the last cube of Japanese curry form the fridge's compartment and a frozen link of chorizo sausage. Let the assembling line begin!

The rice part:

Chop onions, garlics, carrots, cabbages (you can certainly use something else, such as peas, corn kernels, celery, or bell peppers) into fine cubes, set aside.

Heat up the pan and add a bit oil on it; discard the case of the sausage and torn the meat into the similar size of the vegetables; adding all of the vegetable mixture onto the pan after the sausage turns slightly brown. Add a bit flour into the mixture and stir well at this time.

Add one can of chicken broth and a cube of Japanese curry, and then the rice.

After all of the ingredients are combined well, the texture would turn risotto-like, starchy- looking. Adjust the seasonings and set aside.

Finish it in the oven:

Prepare a casserole dish (with a shallower depth and wider-opening face). Grease the bottom of the dish very slightly and dump the rice mixture into it. Preheat the oven to 380 degree. Sprinkle your fav cheese generously on the top of the dish (I used pepper jack, smoked cheddar, and parmesan, which were the only three cheeses I had at that time). Add some herbs if desire. Bake it for 15-20 minutes. For golden-brown result, crank the heat up to 390 (or 400) degree after the first 15 minutes for another 5 minutes/or you can simply use broil. Please keep an eye on it at this stage of cooking; you want a golden-brown topping instead of a burnt one. 

If you like comfort food, you would love this dish! 

p.s. If prefer more chewy. starchier texture of rice, you can use risotto rice instead. Yet it would be more expensive alternative, I think. Even for just using the regular sushi rice, the result is quite starchy and satisfying.   

 

Steamed buns & Taiwanese shrimp pancakes

I do think marriage is not easy. Before getting married, I sometimes wondered if I would be a good wife. I still ask myself the same question silently often.

I bought a package of flour mixture to make steamed buns and followed the instructions printed on its back. And the result--not very successful. I think I should have rolled out the dough thiner so that the bun wouldn't have tasted so...cakey. Anyway, I need someone to teach me how to wrap a bun in person...

The Taiwanese shrimp pancake is supposed to be an oyster pancake. Taiwanese usually puts oysters into this kind of street food. the most important things are the freshness of the seafood and the sauce. You can put any kind of seafood you like into this pancake. 

The dough:

1 cup sweet potato starch; 2/3 cup 太白粉(or corn starch); 2 1/2 water

mix them together and set aside 

The sauce

ketchup; miso paste; dark soy sauce （醬油膏, I usually don't have it in my pantry, so I just use regular soy sauce); sugar; water (I got this recipe from this blog: tw.myblog.yahoo.com/jersey-wind/)

Saute the shrimps or choice of seafood first, and then add the dough, cook for a while

add some leafy vegetables and one egg, cook till done. Drizzle the sauce freely on the top.

Egg Dumpling

Egg dumplings are usually used in Chinese hot-pot cooking. To be honest, I've never made it on my own since I always had easy access to it in Taiwan. Well, apparently, things have changed a lot after I moved over here. I went to Old Chao (老趙店), located on University Ave, last Saturday and intended to get some blood rice cakes. Apparently this delicacy is not popular here, thus the store doesn't carry it any more:( Ah, I do miss the blood rice cake though. When I go back to Taiwan, I definitely will eat some steamed blood rice cake, fried blood rice cake, and spicy stewed blood rice cake with stinky tofu (my fav)!

I guess not everyone is crazy about the blood rice cake or stinky tofu as much as I am. So I went ahead and got some hot-pot dumplings, such as fish dumplings and a sort of fish ball with fish-egg stuffing, which is Trav's fav. Egg dumplings are easier to make as compared to the above two. If you have made 1) dumplings (pot sticker) and 2) omelet before, you'll find making egg dumplings is a piece of cherry pie (in commemorating President's Day, haha!)

For the stuffing 

Mix ground pork, ginger, green onion, pepper (preferred white pepper powder), soy sauce, chicken powder (optional), sesame oil, and salt. Knead it till the consistency shown in the pic.

For the egg wrap 

Mix 3 to 4 egg with some water, some corn starch, pepper, salt, and chicken power (optional). pour about 1 to 2 table spoon egg mixture onto a hot pan. Place the pork stuffing on one side of the omelet and fold the other side unto the pork side before it's completely cooked. Make sure you seal the edge of the omelet before it's completely cooked. See the pic. The size of one egg dumpling should resemble that of a regular Chinese dumpling. 

You can add the home-made egg dumpling to your chicken noodle soup or any kind of soup. I added it to my kimchi soup along with some vegis and hot-pot dumplings, yum!

Chinese-style Tomato Beef Noodle Soup

I had a rough day yesterday, so did Trav. We went up to the USCIS office in Salt Lake City and met with some officer to go over our questions about the application. I'm still waiting for my birth certificate sent from Taiwan while Trav needs to deal with his dad's & his Tax info. Ahhh...How dreadful it is! If I miss the deadline to submit all of these required documents, my application might be denied and we need to start it over. Consequentially, I won't be able to visit Taiwan in anytime soon. I haven't been home for almost two years and I really want to go back to visit. I need prayers, the more the merrier:(

Trav loves this noodle soup very much and I've been making it several times since we started dating. It's funny that I've never made this dish before I met him so it's packed with our mutual memories, I guess. I'm suprised that he likes the anise flavor. Here is how to make the soup base (about 5-6 servings):

1. Saute fresh ginger (chopped and lightly-smashed), roughly-chopped onion, and roughly-chopped green onion till they're aromatic. 

2. Add beef chunks (about 0.9 to 1 lb), which has been boiled with hot water thus removed some bloody water.

3. Add about 2 table-spoon sugar and 1 big table-spoon chinese chili bean paste, saute till aromatic

4. Add fresh tomato chunks (about one big tomato), saute till soften. Adding tomato this time makes the result somehow thicker and starchier. Good stuff!

5. Add water till cover all of the ingredients.

6. Add three star anises and about 1 cup of soy sauce 

7. Ok, then you can add some carrots and Daikon radishes. Daikon radish is usually pricey so I've been substituting regular green cabbage for it. Add some more water till cover all of the ingredients.

8. Simmer the pot for at least two hours. Cook some noodles to serve with the soup.

Well, I usually cook it without recipe so it's hard for me to give you the measurement. Just trust your taste bud when it comes to adjusting the seasonings and flavor. It's better to use beef with tendon parts. I don't like to use the regular beef stew parts; it's just not as good as the fattier or beef tendon parts. This dish is also better on the next day! Garnish with fine-chopped green onion and cilantro. 

Humble Oven Fries & Split Pea Soup

Urrrr...I can't believe it's snowing AGAIN! I was really looking forward to spring and warm weather, sigh. Anyway, I made the oven fries and the pea soup a couple of days ago. These are so easy to make and they also clean up the leftovers in your fridge well. 

When it comes to fries, I use any kind of potatoes I can get my hands on. I know some breeds are starchier than others and the retainment of starch affects the crispness of fries. Generally speaking, less-starchy potatoes yield crispier fires. (But it's kind of annoying to figure out which is starchier than others, isn't it?) I used to prefer red potatoes, especially those tiny ones, for oven fries because I just needed to chop each one  in half. How convenient! But red potatoes are usually pricier than others. Russet potatoes are pretty common and price-friendly.  

So this time I used russet potatoes to make fries. The trick is to keep the skin on for at least two good reasons: one is that it's more nutritious this way and the other is that it saves time and trouble. (and the outcome is yummier!) Just simply use a scrub sponge (I have one reserved for scrubbing vegetables only) to remove dirt or mud off the skin. And then julienne the potato into desired strips. On the other hand, mix olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt, and Italian herb mix (or thyme, rosemary, fresh/dry parsley...well, you get the idea). Wanna get fancy? Sprinkle some paprika. Rub the oil mix onto the potato strips and send the whole thing into the oven on 380 degree for 30 plus minutes. If you want the result crispier, then just let the fries stay in longer. No-brainer, right? If by any chance you have truffle oil in your pantry, you may drizzle some on the fries and then it becomes the truffle-oil fries ($8) I had at a restaurant in Carlsberg, California:p  

The pea soup is another easy task. If you have milk/half-half/whip cream and chicken stock in your fridge, then you can make any sort of creamy soup. I first sauteed chopped leak (the white and light green parts), chopped onions, and two strips of bacon pork with butter and then added flour into the pen. After mixing well, I threw in few cauliflower florets along with almost 1/3 bag of frozen split peas (the fridge-cleaning act). Added chicken stock. After all of the ingredients soften and cooled-down, I pureed the soup with a smoothie maker (well, the main point is to puree, so use any reasonable tools you can get hands on). Afterwards I heated the soup again, poured in some cream, and seasoned it with salt and pepper (and parmesan cheese). You can also make corn, roasted red pepper & tomato, or other other kind of vegie soups in this manner. Good luck on experimenting your own!     

   

Chicken Pot Pie?

I love libraries! I've been checking things out of the Provo public library, such as books, DVDs, and magazines. I'm glad I didn't need any "American government-issued" IDs to apply for the library card. Ah! I love the feelings of using stuff for FREE! The Provo library is located on University Ave. and is merely 10-12 minutes away from my house by walking. I've been more willing to walk around my neighborhood lately since the temperature has been much warmer than before. I really can't wait for the spring anymore. I'm not a big fan of working out (yeah, I know, it's bad...) so I count the walk back and forth to the library as my daily exercising regimen. Walking makes me move around, being "green," save gas money...How wonderful !(Yup, I try to comfort myself and overlook the fact that I can't drive)

Yeah, do you notice the chicken pot pie in the pic doesn't look like a regular one? It doesn't even look like a "pie" and definitely doesn't look like  one you can get from your grocery store's freezer aisle. I've tried some of the store-bought kinds; some of them are good whereas the others only contain little flavor with plenty of salt. A good store-bought chicken pot pie usually costs more than 3 bucks; as a thrifty shopper, it's no way for me to spend a penny on it!

So why there is no crust on the "pie"? I'm just too lazy to do it. If you're familiar with the food network star host, Rachael Ray, you would notice she seldom bakes. Well, I can totally empathizes with her. I am that kind of person bakes from a box, a klutz when it comes to making any sort of pastries. So I adopted Rachael's recipe Chicken Mug Pie (please look it up on the food network website) and used the alternative way to replace a traditional crust with biscuits! I got ready-made biscuit dough and baked it in my oven; for one dollar I can make ten biscuits. Just simply dunk the biscuits into the chicken filling in your bowl then done! Make sure you either bake the biscuits in your oven or warm up them before you serve. Fresh biscuit is the best for this dish!

Sesame Noodles

I've made sesame noodles several times and it's been an easy way to whip up something simple, also has a taste of home. The trick here is to substitute peanut butter for Chinese sesame paste. I believe the peanut butter in the states is generally cheaper than Chinese sesame paste. For this dish, you need to mix fresh minced ginger, minced garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar (or honey), sesame oil, and peanut butter for sauce and eat the noodles with your fav toppings, such as shredded carrots, cucumbers, Japanese egg omelet, shrimps, green onions, and cilantro.    

Parmesan Eggplant

You might have heard parmesan chicken, but have you heard parmesan eggplant? The first time I had parmesan eggplant was in a local restaurant in BG, Ohio (or Biaggi's ?). The eggplant was crispy and golden-brown outside, tender and juicy inside, complimented with basil & tomato sauced pasta. As you can see in the upper picture, the making of the outward crispy coating goes through three steps; first is to coat the eggplant with flour, salt, and pepper mixture, second is to drench it in a egg & water (egg wash) mixture, and finally finish it with seasoned ground bread crumbs (seasonings: dried parsley, salt, and pepper) and shredded parmesan cheese mixture. 

The trick is that the eggplant needs to be thinly coated with these three mixtures. And it's better to slice the eggplant into no bigger than a quarter inch in thickness so that it's easier to pan-fry it and cook it through that way. If you decide to deep-fry the eggplant, you may divide it into thicker slices as desires. Serve the eggplant with tomato sauced pasta, or, like me, serve it with fettuccine alfredo. 

p.s. If you want to make parmesan chicken instead, you may pound chicken breast into thinner piece first for the best result.  

sushi

Thanks to YouTube, I can listen to pop music for free. As to the old days, the happy time of downloading pirate musics & movies onto my PC laptop has long gone. Due to moral & technical issues, I have abandoned this habit for a while. (Now playing - OneRepublic's Too Easy) 

It was my first attempt to make sushi and as you can see the outcome was a bit...umm..."homemade" looking. I didn't really make sushi rice, which is supposed to be infused with rice vinegar and sugar. My brand new kitchen pantry is still equipped with very scarce variety of spices and seasonings. There is neither rice vinegar or toasted sesame seeds in it. Anyway, the upper one has imitation crab and avocado in it while the bottom one has cucumber, carrots, and cream cheese in it. Eat both with wasabi & soy sauce mixture.  

Times When You Don't Want to Make Dinner

This is my miniature slow cooker, a wedding gift from Trav's friends, Rob & Leah. As time went by, I've been making meals in this house for about one month and I've been cooking ALMOST everyday! The time finally comes. I'm getting tired of keeping every meal different and novel (to Trav). I decided to repeat things from now on without any guilt, haha! 

I miss Ashley's crock-pot; a ideal size holds about 4 servings and makes real meals. My tiny one barely makes 2 servings and no soup allowed. What's cooking in the pot? I put chopped onions on the bottom, topped with two chicken thighs, potato chunks, and finished with half a jar of Patak's tikka masala curry sauce. This kind of indian curry features scents of citrus, tomato, and cilantro, not spicy at all. I got it from a nearby grocery store and you might be able to find it easily as well. I've also tried another onion-chicken crock-pot recipe which Trav loves much (Kath loves it too). It begins with chopped onions on the bottom and chicken on the top. Chicken with bones and skins is the best for slow cooking. I don't even bother to put additional oil in. The sauce going with it calls for Hoisin sauce, Chiashu sauce, honey, soy sauce, sugar, a pinch of Chinese five spices powder, orange juice, garlic, and ginger. If you would like to substitute rice cooking wine for orange juice, go for it. I don't really use measurements that much so I only can share the proportion roughly: Hoisin to Chiashu is about 1:1 (Chiashu is usually sweeter than Hoisin), honey could weigh half of Chiashu, soy sauce is just a splash, and believe me, a tiny pinch of five spices powder is all you need. Serve the chicken with streamed rice.

I'm actually looking for more easy and simple slow cooking recipes, especially non-soup kind, so I can use the most out of my tiny cooker. Does anyone have his/her fav slow cooker recipes?  

  

p.s. Yeah, I don't know how to edit my pic on blogger yet, any thought?

Potsticker/煎餃

I can't remember when was the last time I ate store-bought dumplings/potstickers. Making dumplings is very easy and there is a wide range of ingredients you can choose from for the stuffing. Well, I consider this Chinese thing is very similar to its Italian counterpart,ravioli; the determinant is that Chinese would not stick any sort of cheese into their dumplings. 

I come to realize that the fad of making potstickers is to pour flour-water mixture into the saute pan so that the mixture would form a thin, crispy, and golden-brown crust. The ratio of flour to water is about 1:2 and it doesn't need to be exact. After pouring the mixture, put on a lid which roughly covers the saute pan and wait till the dumpling's skin turns translucent. 

Kimchi Fever!

Trav and I have moved into our new home in Provo for about one month now. He's still juggling among school, work, and his dear wife while I've been a full-time housewife. The fact that being at home all the time is totally out of my hand and I'm still trying to manage my new post-student life:) (I just hope that USCIS can approve my green card application ASAP).

I thought I was totally not a blogger material, just as what I stated on facebook one time. Yet It's undeniable that writing blog entries is one of the easiest ways to kill time (and keep on practicing English writing). I hope I can keep in touch with my dear families and friends through this blog, an intimate site and hopefully, a cozy, fun spot for all the blog visitors in the future. The entries in the blog would appear in either English or Chinese, reflecting the different natures of my life events (or merely my moods). 

Ok. So for people who know me pretty well understand that I'm a food nut and I can't bear monotonous, repetitive diet. This personal trait is getting even more obvious after being a full-time housewife (since I don't have any other obligation now). On the contrary, Trav is that kind of guy who can live on pizzas and McDonald's dollar menu. I guess I am converting him to my foodology somehow.

Thanks to God's mercy that Trav was sent to Japan for his mission. During the nearly 2-year span, he's learned to deal with and appreciated different food cultures and palettes. We went to the First Oriental store and brought a huge jar of kimchi home. The pic of kimchi hot pot is one of our experimental dishes. Making Asian food in the states, especially in Utah, definitely requires some improvising skills and a creative mind. (It's not saying I have either). Well, I sauteed kimchi along with a piece of fresh ginger and some green onions and then mixed all of them with chicken broth. I also poured in some kimchi juice to make rich and flavorful hot pot broth. The following list shows what was in that pot: tofu, napa, broccoli, enoki mushroom, fresh shitaki mushroom, bacon pork, squid fish ball, oden fish ball, and etc. I was dreaming to get blood rice cakes...well, maybe next time. when it comes to dipping sauce, I sticked to my Taiwanese root and made a Chinese-barbecue-based sauce. A profound flavor blending Chinese BBQ sauce, soy sauce, chopped green onions, sesame oil, and a splash of Chinese black vinegar gave this korean dish a Taiwanese twist.