Giant Scallop Pasta with White wine sauce

Recently, Kevin signed up for a costco membership. I love costco...I think it might be because of the free tastings. Most of the time, we don't end up buying a lot. We never really end up buying too much since we're just two people.

While walking through the frozen aisles, we discovered a bag of frozen "dry" giant scallops. Dry scallops mean they haven't been soaked in sodium tripolyphosphate (STP) to prolong their life. When soaked in STP, it causes the scallops to absorb water and get heavier. It means you are partly paying for water. However, does this still apply to frozen scallops?

So anyway, we bought a bag of these giant scallops. I originally wanted to bake them in a buttery white wine sauce with bread crumbs to soak up the sauce, but got too lazy to think of a side dish to go with it. So I made pasta with it.

1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup butter
1 pound sea scallops
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup Heavy cream (optional) or milk
Spinach
Spaghetti pasta

1. Cook your choice of pasta al dente.
2. In a skillet over medium heat, mix the chicken broth, wine, lemon juice, shallot, butter, and garlic.
3. When the sauce is gently boiling, put scallops into the sauce to cook. About 1-2 minutes each side (depending on how cooked you like them). Usually I like them just opaque. Remove them when cooked to your preferred doneness.
4. Add heavy cream (if using) into the sauce and boil until slightly reduced.
5. Optional step (if using heavy cream): you can use cornstarch mixed with a little bit of water to thicken the sauce quickly.
6. Add spinach. Toss pasta in the sauce. Add peppers and salt to taste.
7. Enjoy pasta with scallop on top.

I tried a variation of this recipe. I made this recipe twice. The first time is as written, the second time I tried a "healthier" version. I substituted the heavy cream with milk, and used margarine instead of butter. I preferred using butter over margarine. But liked using milk instead of heavy cream. I'm usually not a big fan of tossed pastas. I like having sauce, but this was good. It would be even better if I had bread to sop up some of the sauce. This was a heavy but satisfying meal.

Dark Chocolate cup with Raspberries and White Chocolate cream

I can't remember how I discovered the food blog where i found this recipe. I found this recipe on Tasty Palettes. My favorite kind of chocolate is dark chocolate. And it certainly helps knowing that it is the healthier type of chocolate because of its antioxidant properties.

I haven't made dessert at home for a while. I haven't baked that much. Kevin is not really a big dessert fan, so I never really founda reason to make anything. But this recipe looked too yummy to pass. Kevin loves raspberries, and we had some in the fridge. So I decided to give it a try.

Dark chocolate
1/4 cup Whipping cream
White chocolate
Raspberries
Dark chocolate curls for garnish
Muffin liners

1. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners.
2. Melt the dark chocolate in microwave for a minute, stirring once in between. The chocolate should be uniformly melted with a sheen. With a pastry brush or back of a sppon, brush the insides of the muffin liners, coating thoroughly. Freeze for 30 minutes. Take cups out, and give a second coat with the remaining chocolate. Return back to the freezer and freeze for 2 hours or refrigerate overnight.
3. In a separate bowl, melt the white chocolate in the microwave for 30-40 seconds, stirring every 10 seconds. Whip the cream in another bowl until it forms hard peaks. To the melted white chocolate, add 1/3rd of the whipped cream. Gently fold the cream into the chocolate. The cream will deflate now, but will hold its shape during subsequent additions. Add the rest of the whipped cream to the chocolate mixture. Gently fold and do not mix vigorously. When it is combined, scoop the chocolate-cream mixture onto a pastry bag fitted with a nozzle of your choice, or onto a zip-top bag with a corner cut. Refrigerate this mixture for at least an hour.
4. When you are ready to serve, set the chocolate cups on the countertop for 5 minutes. This makes the peeling of the muffin liner easy. Once the liner is peeled, set on the serving plate. Fill the bottom with whipped cream-chocolate, top with raspberries, and finish off with another swirl of whipped cream-chocolate. Garnish with dark chocolate curls, if desired.

This recipe was a 2 day process for me, because i only started making the chocolate cups late at night. Byt the next day, I was rushed to make the dessert, because Kevin had eaten a lot of the raspberries. The qhite chocolate cream was the toughest step for me. I was impatient and it was a liquidy cream and would have never kept its shape. I also had to use nutriwhip because my grocery store ran out of whipping cream. At last, it was pretty good. It's an easy dessert to make, but just long because of all the waiting.

Quail

I usually have some trouble keeping our menu fresh. It's hard to have something new on the table all the time. One week, while grocery shopping, Kevin pointed out that quail was 50%. We like to buy our meat on sale and freeze them. We used to buy our meat only when we need it, but I find it more economical when I buy meat in bulk when on sale.

I have never made quail before, but my mom makes it and I love it. She usually marinates the quail and stir-fry it. Quails are small, plump terrestrial birds. They are seed eaters but will also take insects and similar small prey. They nest on the ground and are capable of short, rapid bursts of flight. I also love quail eggs in a fondue. For this dish, I didn't look up recipes online. I called my mom instead. Since my mom doesn't cook with measurements, my recipe will be equally vague. Please taste the marinade before making.



1 pack of quails (6 in a pack)
A dash of five spice powder
soy sauce (about 1/4 cup)
1 tbs oil
about 1/4 cup corn syrup (can be subbtituted with honey or about 3tbs sugar) garlic
ginger root
2-3 stalk of green onion, cut into 4 inches
dash of cayenne pepper
black pepper

1. Using poultry shears, cut quail into 4 pieces (cut body in half, then cut the legs).
2. In a bowl, mix five spice, soy sauce, corn syrup, oil, cayenne pepper, black pepper. Taste to see if it needs more salty or more sweet. If too salty, add more corn syrup or if too sweet, add more soy sauce.
3. Add Quail to the mixture and marinade for 20 mins or more. You may marinate overnight for extra flavor, but it is not necessary.
4. In a lasrge skillet, add a little bit of oil, and sliced garlic and ginger into the oil until it sizzles and is fragrant. Add quail and marinade to the pan.
5. Simmer the quail in the marinade until the sauce is reduced and becomes thick.
6. Do not let the quail burn. It is done when the quails looks glazed from the caramelized sauce.

Chinese Five Spice poultry

Five-spice powder is a mixture of five spices used in Chinese cuisine. One common recipe includes tunghing or "Chinese cinnamon" (also known as rougui, the ground bark of the cassia tree, a close relative of true cinnamon), powdered cassia buds, powdered star anise and anise seed, ginger root, and ground cloves. Another recipe for the powder consists of huajiao (Sichuan pepper), bajiao (star anise), rougui (cassia), cloves, and fennel seeds. It is used in most recipes for Cantonese roasted duck, as well as beef stew. Source: Wikipedia

I've seen several recipes requiring five spice, but never bothered to make those recipes because I didn't have five spice in my pantry. I finally decided to buy it when my friend, Amy, was raving about her friends five spice chicken recipe. We had recently bought a whole duck and I decided to try the recipe with duck instead of chicken. The aroma of the roasting duck was very good. It was my first time making a whole duck, so i wasn't quite prepared to carve it.

My carving skills are pathetic. I was hacking every knife we had in the kitchen into the duck. It was not pretty. The duck was alright, but i think because of the thick fatty skin, the flavors did not get into the meat, even though i poked the duck numerous times with a fork.

About a week later, I decided to give the recipe another shot with chicken drumsticks. Better!

Marinade:
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp five-spice
1 tbsp oil
3 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp soy sauce

1. 1 hour before cook time or the night before, mix marinade together, be sure to stir until all the sugar is dissolved.
2. Put the marinade into the ziplock, or into a baking dish and put the chicken in with it. Toss around the chicken to coat it in marinade. Put the whole dish (or ziplock bag) into the fridge for 1 hour. Don't cut corners on the time.
3. 10 minutes before you are ready to cook, preheat oven to 375 degrees
4. Bake chicken until browned and juices run clear.

Puff Pastry Triangles

It was a lazy Sunday when I didn't know what to make for lunch. Kevin had some leftovers to eat and I didn't want to eat instant noodles again. I love instant noodles, but two days straight was a bit much. I'm not a student anymore. So I poked around the freezer and fridge and found a lot of leftovers; half a pack of puff pastry, leftover steak stir-fry, a few mushrooms, some cheese (cheddar, mozza, and feta). So I decided...why not have a meal of hors d'oeuvres. I've had more than my fair share of hors d'oeuvres at wedding cocktails before.

• Puff pastry (defrosted)
• cheese
• leftover steak or chicken cut into bite size strips
• mushroom

1. Preheat oven 400F
2. Cut puff pastry sheet into 9 squares, more if you want your hors d'oeuvres smaller.
3. Place meat, cheese, mushroom in the center
4. Fold the square diagonally and press on the edges. You can use an egg wash on the edge if you want to.
5. Bake until golden brown.

This is fool proof, unless you leave it in the oven and burn it to a crisp. You can mix up ingredients any way you want it. I actually had some chicken and dill as well. I ended up like the mushroom, mozza, and dill combo a lot. I also loved how crispy burned cheese that oozed out of the pastry. Yums!!! The options are endless.

Bourbon Chicken (without Bourbon)

Bourbon chicken is a flavorful chicken dish named after Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana and for the Bourbon whiskey ingredient.

In university, a classmate and I did a project on New Orleans culture, but we never ventured into the culinary side...but we so should have. Bourbon chicken is awesome. Although I have never had authentic Bourbon chicken, I fell in love with the dish when I visited my friend Jenn in Ottawa a couple of years ago. I have to admit, it was just a fast food counter that sells bourbon chicken, but it was dang good chicken! After that time, I craved it, but didn't have it for many years, until last month!

Kev and I were visiting his parents for a weekend and on our way to the in-laws, we had to stop by the mall and I was hungry. The counter was still there. So I went to buy, while Kev went to Tim Hortons for a very expensive mediocre chicken salad sandwich. I mean really...he should have just followed me. Follow me and you will find good food. I gave him a taste and he quickly regretted not buying it. He then proceeded to "help" me finish my plate.

I found a recipe for bourbon chicken and it sounded super easy, my only problem was I didn't have the essential ingredient for bourbon chicken; I didn't have bourbon whiskey. So, I had to sub with white wine, which didn't quite cut it. But here's the recipe if you want to try it.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 ounces soy sauce
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/8 cup bourbon
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Place chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. In a small bowl combine the ginger, soy sauce, onion flakes, sugar, bourbon and garlic powder. Mix together and pour mixture over chicken. Cover dish and place in refrigerator. Marinate overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
3. Remove dish from refrigerator and remove cover. Bake in the preheated oven, basting frequently, for 1 1/2 hours or until chicken is well browned and juices run clear.

Lahmajoun (Armenian Pizza)

Lahmacun or Lahmajoun is an Arabic dish consisting of a round, thin piece of dough topped with minced meat (most commonly beef and lamb). Lahmacun is often served sprinkled with lemon juice and wrapped around vegetables- including pickles, tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce, and parsley or cilantro.

I first heard about lahmajoun from Judy's blog. I didn't really think about it until I was browsing a recipe website and their featured recipe of the day was Lahmajoun (Armenian Pizza), so I decided to give it a try. This was my first time having a Lahmajoun (term used lightly, since I'm sure it's not authentic at all)

1 pound lean ground lamb
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
4 pita breads, or fluffy tortillas

1. Place ground lamb in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and break into small pieces until mostly browned. Drain any excess grease. Add the onion, green pepper, and garlic. Cook until onion is translucent. Stir in diced tomatoes and tomato paste, then season with parsley, basil, mint, cumin, and if using, cayenne. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and refrigerate overnight to blend the flavors.
2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Distribute the lamb mixture evenly over the tortillas, and spread out to the edges. Place the tortillas onto a baking sheet.
3. Bake for about 20 minutes in the preheated oven. These can be served hot or cold. Cut into small wedges.

I usually use ground beef, or pork if my grocery store doesn't have ground beef. Kevin really likes this and I've already made this 3 times. I like it too, however, it's not the best recipe to bring to lunch unless you're work has a toaster oven. Soggy pita is not yummy. This is best served the same night you make it. The pita is crispy and yummy.

Braised Rabbit

The only time I remember ever having rabbit was at Kevin's aunts place. We didn't know it was rabbit until she told us. It tastes like chicken but less meat, leaner, and bonier. And I discovered they are pretty pricey. We got it on sale and it still cost us a good $18 for a whole headless rabbit. I have to mention that I have never owned a pet rabbit, if I had, I don't think i would be able to eat it. Same goes for cow, chicken, pigs...

Rabbit meat is actually not that hard to prepare. You just need to make peace with the fact that it used to be a cute and cuddly animal. I treated it like any other raw meat that passes through my kitchen.

1 (2 1/2 pound) dressed rabbit, cut up
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup lemon juice
5 tablespoons cold water

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook rabbit in oil until lightly browned; remove and keep warm. In the same skillet, saute onion and garlic until tender. Stir in the broth, thyme, pepper and bay leaf. Return rabbit to pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until meat is tender and a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F.
2. Remove rabbit to a serving platter. Discard bay leaf. Combine the flour, lemon juice and water until smooth; stir into pan juice. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with rabbit.

This recipe is pretty good and I love that it was easy to prepare. Kevin grandmother in Toronto was impressed that I made rabbit. But really, it's so easy. I'm glad we tried this recipe, however, for the price and meat, I'd pick chicken any day.

Easy Cinnamon Buns

I love cinnamon buns. Most people prefer Cinnabon over St-Cinnamon, but I have many fond memories eating at St-Cinnamon during my student days. The buttery sweet taste with a nice cold carton of milk...what could be better. It was one of my edible splurges as a poor student. I still crave them from time to time, but I don't work downtown anymore. I've looked up how to make my own, but cinnamon buns seemed like such a hassle. I was super excited when I found an easier way from Stephanie .










5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tbs brown sugar
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, defrosted

For the filling:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
light brown sugar
teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400. Cream the 5 tbs of butter with the 3 tbs of brown sugar. Put a small dollop into each muffin cup.
2. Unroll the puff pastry and give is a butter wash (or egg white for a healthier version). Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon...seriously, the more the better in my opinion.
3. Re-roll the puff pastry and cut into 12 pieces. Place pieces into the muffin trays, on top of the creamed butter.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until browned.
5. Take out of the oven and let it sit for no more than 5 min, otherwise the caramelized sugar with solidify into the bottom of the muffin cup.
6. Scoop out with a spoon. Enjoy.

These...were...so...good! I was in heaven. These were so easy to make, and i liked that they were lighter than the yeasty kind. I'd make this again...but not too often. As Rachelle put it "These are dangerously easy to make!" Indeed...

Gyoza (Pork and Napa Cabbage dumplings)

One of the dishes I miss most from my mum is her dumplings. She makes the best dumplings, and I'm not saying this just because she's my mom. All my friends, and my siblings' friends, who have had them love them as well. When my brother would have my mom's dumplings for lunch, his ex-coworkers at IBM used to bully him and eat his lunch. lol I haven't inherited the recipe...yet. But to be honest, I don't think there is a recipe. I think my mum just puts whatever she has on hand. Unfortunately, I am not much of a cook without a base recipe.


One package of Gyoza wraps (they are round, not square)
ground pork
Napa cabbage, blanched and chopped
1 green onion, chopped
ginger, minced
1 garlic bulb, minced
soy sauce
white pepper
corn starch
sesame oil
pinch of sugar
water for sealing

1. Mix all ingredient together. Don't be a wimp, use your hands and fingers.
2. Set up work station: bowl of filling, wraps, small bowl of water for sealing, plate for uncooked dumplings.
3. Place some filling into the wrapper, be careful to not over stuff. Don't be greedy. Wet the edge of half the wrapper and fold. Scrunch it to make a nice-ish design...can't explain it any clearer. lol
4. Once all dumplings are wrapped. Put about 2 tsp of oil in a skillet. Place the dumplings on the skillet. Don't overcrowd. Pour about 1/2 cup of water into the skillet. Cover and cook on high heat on the stove top. The water will evaporate and make the bottom crispy. Careful not to burn the bottom.
5. Serve hot with dipping sauce.

Making dumplings is actually not very hard, just time consuming. Kevin likes my dumplings. I think they are okay, they can't compare to my mum's. I can't seem to make a good mix for a dipping sauce. So far, the best thing for these dumplings are just plain soy sauce. My mum's dumplings also sometimes have chicken pieces, scallops, or shrimp in it. I haven't tried adding those yet. Chinese chives are a very popular option as well. My parents grow them in their backyard...maybe I should visit soon.

Miso Pork Chops

I've always had trouble with pork chops. They always end up chewy and dry. My best pork chop was the ones braised in mushroom sauce...and even those weren't that great. They still had a bit of a chewy dryness to them. And don't get me started at how they are when i bring them for lunch the next day.

I was browsing the oriental aisle at the local Loblaws and found that they started selling tubs of miso paste. I remember reading about miso being amazing on meats and fish. So I bought a tub of red miso (akamiso), which is best for red meat. Use the lighter colored miso for fish.

Apparently the combination of miso paste, sake, and mirin is magic. I wasn't going to believe it until I had it. I didn't have sake so I subtituted with white wine. I also ran out of mirin, so I used sugar mixed in a bit of water.

Approximately 1 1/2 pounds of your choice meat
1/3 cup miso
1/4 cup mirin or 4 tbs sugar
3 tablespoons sake or white wine

1. Mix miso, mirin, and sake in a bowl until well blended and smooth. Rub the marinade on your meat and refrigerate for at least 5 hours.
2. Scrape off marinade from meat and pat dry with paper towel. Do not rinse the meat.
3. Prepare the meat the way you want to; pan fried, oven baked, grilled...

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the texture of the meat. Even after nuking it for lunch, it was still amazingly tender. I really liked the taste as well...Kevin was not as enthusiastic about it though. If only Kevin liked it, i'd make it again. I just might anyway.

How to preserve coriander

I used to hate coriander. My mom would always make coriander soup when someone had a sore throat. She believed that coriander soothed the throat...i'm not too sure about that. Like dill pickles, I do not when and how I started liking it. I like using coriander in thai dishes and also salads, like my crab salad. But I always have a lot of trouble keeping my coriander. They usually last a few days and start to rot. I mentioned in an old post that the moisture make the coriander rot faster. It is true.

My friend Wynn told me to wrap my coriander in paper towels to keep the moisture out. I did that, but preferred the freezing method. This way I can add coriander to curry or soups, but not really for salads.

Wash and chop coriander leaves and stuff them into an ice cube tray, then fill it with enough water that the leaves are all submerged. Freeze.

♥

Cold Noodles with Snap Peas

Cooking is enjoyable only when it's not 35C degrees out. When it's hot, I just want to avoid turning on any kitchen appliance. I originally wanted to make cold soba noodles, but didn't have time to get soba noodles at an Asian market. So I decided to get some vermicelli at Loblaws. I got this recipe from a cookbook I have at home. The recipe in the book is the one with the smoked salmon, but I knew Kev would find this combination weird. So I made his with Shrimp instead.






1 pack of vermicelli, prepared as indicated

Sugar snap peas, blanched

Shrimp or Smoked Salmon

Sweet and Spicy Thai sauce (I used PC Memories of Thailand)

1. Cook everything, then rinse in cold water.


2. Mix all ingredients with the sauce.


3. Eat.

The combination of smoked salmon and Thai sauce was a strange mix of flavors. I didn't hate it, but it was definitely strange. The shrimp version was a bit better, but i think maybe a scallop version would be even better. I liked how easy it was to make, but I wouldn't recommend leftovers.

Thai Mango Salad

My summer fruit of the year is mango. As mentioned before, Kevin and I have been going crazy for mangoes. Sometimes I'll be too anxious and cut one to eat before it is ripe. Sour mango is bad, bad, bad.

Today I noticed one of the mangoes had bruises. Bruises that weren't there when I bought it. So I peeled it and discarded the bruised flesh. I've tasted worse mangoes, but this one was still too sour.

So I decided to look up a way to use up sour mangoes. I thought about making orange jello with mango pieces in it...too kid's party. Maybe coconut jello with mango pieces...I don't have coconut milk at home. Then I found a recipe for Thai mango salad. If I remember correctly, I believe Thai mango salad is made with green mango and not red mangoes, but decided to be a rebel and try it out anyway.

1 mango, peeled and shredded

1/2 red onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced and crushed

1 tbsp of fish sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 red chili pepper, minced (can be subbed with cayenne pepper and/or red pepper flakes)

1/2 or 1 tbsp of lime juice

Cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)

Peanuts crushed for garnish (optional)

1. Mix everything in a glass bowl. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Serve over green lettuce leaves.

As can be seen from my picture, I was missing a lot of ingredients. I had the basics, but I think it could have been better with the cilantro and peanuts. The mango salad was spicy, and I couldn't detect the sourness from before...I'd make this again if I ever encounter another sour mango, but I'd peel a mango early just to be able to make this. I marinated it in the mixture for about a day and half. It was delicious!

Goat Cheese & Arugula Pizza

When I was younger, whenever my mom wasn't home to make dinner, we'd order pizza delivery at a local place. The pizza was always dripping in oil and full of cheese. I loved it, but then eventually got sick of it when I got older. When my sister lived in Toronto, I'd visit her every holiday I had from school and she'd always take me to the Pizza Pizza place close to her place. Back then, Pizza Pizza was not available in Quebec. Their pizza was delicious. I liked that they weren't dripping with cheese and oil.

But it was my trip to Quebec city with Kevin that made me fall in love with gourmet pizza. We went to this Italian restaurant right outside the walled city and it was the best pizza I have ever had.

When I get lazy, I make "fancy" pizza at home, It's fast to make. I had a bunch of arugula leaves in my fridge and some tomatoes. I hate how vegetables go bad so quickly. So I went out and bought some goat cheese and voila...


1 large pita bread
Pesto
Roma tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Arugula leaves
Goat Cheese
Olive oil
Pepper
lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Spread pesto all over one side of the pita.
3. Cut medallions of goat cheese and place them on the Pita. Or crumble goat cheese.
4. Add sliced Roma tomatoes, sprinkle minced garlic
5. Bake for about 10 minutes or until pita is crispy.
6. Chop arugula and mix a bit of olive oil, pepper, and lemon juice in it.
7. Take pizza out of oven, spread arugula on top. Enjoy!

When I make a veggie gourmet pizza, I often make a regular pepperoni with cheese one for Kevin. He sometimes complain when there's no meat in our dinner. However, when he had this, he said he liked it better than the pepperoni pizza. Victory! My only complaint about this is that it's not great to bring to lunch...unless you bake it again in a toaster oven at work. The pita gets really soggy.

Crab Ceviche

I know, I have been lazy with the blog. After starting my new job, I'm just usually too tired to blog after work...and I'm too busy to blog at work. lol

A few weeks ago, my old friend Wynn invited us over for a BBQ get together at her place. I remember adding a recipe for crab ceviche in my favorites a while ago, but just never got a chance to make it at home. This was an easy recipe and fast recipe to prepare. It's great for the summer.

I couldn't quite make up my mind about whether it should be called crab salad or crab ceviche. Ceviche is basically marinating in a citrus-based mixture. The reason why it confuses me is that usually ceviche marinates raw foods...like scallop or fish, but I'm using imitation crab.

1 package of imitation meat, chopped or flaked.

tomatoes

red onion finely chopped

cilantro leaves, chopped

Lime juice

red bell peppers (yellow or orange works too)

Olive oil

salt and pepper

sugar

*Important: Use a glass bowl. Do not use metal or plastic.

1. Mix crab meat with olive oil until well coated. Add all the veggies. Add lime juice , salt and pepper, and a bit of sugar to balance the dish. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

These were gone in 5 minutes at the BBQ. I liked them a lot too and was planning on making them again with the leftover cilantro. But my cilantro went bad after only a few days. Why???

I actually did some research since I got so sick of my cilantro going bad. The bad guy here is the plastic bag and moisture/water. Cilantro can apparently be kept for 2 weeks if you store them correctly. For starters, ditch the plastic bag and dry the cilantro with a paper towel before storing them in the fridge. The water on the leaves makes them rot more quickly. So this is why my mom wraps some of her veggies in paper towels in the fridge. Another way to have cilantro is to freeze into ice cubes to be used in stew or curry, but not useful if you want to use it in a salad...

Chicken with Mango Salad

Kevin and I are going through a mango phase. I blame this on his uncle John in T.O. When we visited them over easter break, he gave us a couple fo mangoes. These mangoes were not ripe yet. The week after we visited them, we went on vacation in Punta Cana. When we got back, the mangoes were just perfect. And that got us hooked on mangoes. So we kept buying mangoes at the grocery store.

When they went on sale, I bought too many and they were going bad, so I had to look for a recipe to use it up. This recipe was originally for tilapia, but I used chicken.

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 chicken breasts butterflied.

1 large ripe mango, peeled, pitted and diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons minced red onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

1. Whisk together the extra-virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, parsley, garlic, basil, 1 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl and pour into a resealable plastic bag. Add the tilapia fillets, coat with the marinade, squeeze out excess air, and seal the bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
2. Prepare the mango salsa by combining the mango, red bell pepper, red onion, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper in a bowl. Add the lime juice and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and toss well. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
3. On the grill: Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil grate.
   Remove the chicken from the marinade, and shake off excess. Discard the remaining marinade. Grill the chicken until cooked. Serve the chicken topped with mango salsa.
4. In the oven: Preheat to 400F. Bake until cooked, about 20-25 minutes depending on thickness. Serve with Mango Salsa.

The mango salsa is what makes this dish. I loved it so much that I made the salsa on its own a few days later. The chicken was not great, but kevin said that the blend of herbs tasted like pesto.

Singapore Noodles

One of my favorite noodle dish to have in a Chinese restaurant is Singapore Noodles. I'm usually someone who likes saucy dishes...but i guess the spicy curry in this dish made up for it. Kevin's not a huge curry fan. Most of the time he's just afraid to bring strong smelling food for lunch at work. Me...I don't care too much.

1 pound dry vermicelli pasta
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into strips
2 butterfly pork chops, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1/2 (12 ounce) package frozen shrimp, thawed
1 cup bean sprouts
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons curry powder
1/4 cup water

sesame oil

fish sauce

cayenne pepper

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add vermicelli and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. In a deep skillet or fry pan, brown chicken, pork and garlic in the oil over medium-high heat.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low, and add the onion, carrots and water; cover and steam for 5 minutes. Stir in celery and shrimp. Cover and steam for 2 minutes.
4. Mix in the bean sprouts, curry powder and soy sauce; stir together until blended and hot, 4 to 5 minutes. Toss with noodles, and serve with the option of hot pepper sauce and soy sauce as condiments

Make sure you have a giant wok to make this, because my poor little one was over flowing with ingredients. I ended up with vermicelli pieces all over my stove. The measurements can be more or less depending on your taste. I used a bit more curry and soy sauce. Fish sauce and sesame oil was not in the original recipe, but i added it for the extra flavor. I also added some cayenne pepper for that extra spiciness. For the meat part of this recipe, I only used shrimp. I was too lazy and cheap to add pork and chicken too. But if you happen to have leftover pork and/or chicken that would work. For veggies, I used only green onions (shallots), onion, and red pepper. I couldn't justify buying a whole bag of carrots and a whole stalk of celery just for one recipe. We don't eat those veggies very often. The results ended up pretty good. It tastes better the next day when the dish has absorbed all the flavours. Kevin told me he liked it too. Although he took something else to work for lunch. My one complain was that the vermicelli I had was a bit too thin. I would have preferred a slightly thicker vermicelli.

Baingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry)

Eggplant. Never liked it, never though I would. Last year, Kevin's family came to visit and we had a big dinner with the whole extended family. We had a kids table and an adults table. They brought out this super stinky casserole dish to the adults table and if we could see stink lines, they'd be green. I will always remember this story of eggplants.

I disliked eggplants so much that it was the first thing i put on my "don't cook" list when I was living with Rachelle. We had a list of all the foods we didn't like or were allergic to on the fridge. So we knew not to make anything with it or to not share if made.

But then, a few weeks ago, Kevin and I invited Kev's little cousin, Benjamin, over to play video games. Because we promised him this when he watched our fish when we went on vacation. His mother invited us to stay over for dinner when we dropped him off. Her friend was over at their house and made this indian feast and my favorite dish was this veggie curry mash. I was very surprised when she told me it was eggplant. That's when I decided to look for a recipe and try my hand at making this classic Indian dish. I altered it by adding ground pork for my carnivore fiancé.

1 large eggplant
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste or minced ginger/minced garlic
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tomato, diced
1/2 cup plain yogurt (optional)
1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper, finely chopped (subbed with a few dashes of cayenne)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

Ground pork

1 1/2 Tbsp corn starch

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Place eggplant on a medium baking sheet. Bake 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until tender. Remove from heat, cool, peel, and chop.
3. Meat option: Mix corn starch into the ground pork and mix in pepper and salt for taste.
4. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook pork. Mix in cumin seeds and onion. Cook and stir until onion is tender.
5. Mix ginger garlic paste, curry powder, and tomato into the saucepan, and cook about 1 minute. Stir in yogurt. Mix in eggplant and jalapeno pepper, and season with salt.
6. Cover, and cook 10 minutes over high heat.
7. Remove cover, reduce heat to low, and continue cooking about 5 minutes. Garnish with cilantro to serve.

I'm not sure how it would taste like with the yogurt, but the way i made it with the substitutes, it was yummy. I'd make this again. I think the yogurt would give it a more bland taste, which wouldn't be a bad thing. Without it, it had a much stronger curry flavor.

Cinnamon Walnut Pastries

You know, cooking doesn't require that much effort. I don't make it a secret when I shortcut some of my recipes. Real cooks would be ashamed of my kitchen practices. I use frosen vegetables, minute rice... If you look at the pictures i take, they look complicated to make, but in reality, i always pick recipes that are easy. I like cooking, but I get tired from work like everybody else. "Anyone can cook" (quote from Ratatouille)

At my old employment, I had a little baking group thing with a few co-workers. Once a month, we'd bring in baked goods to share with each other. Bakin is something I like doing, but it's even more time consuming than cooking a meal I find. I have great respect for pastry chefs. That weekend, I didn't have time to make something from scratch for our baking meet. So I bought prepared puff pastry.

1 package of frozen butter puff pastry

Cinnamon

White sugar

Walnuts

1 egg white

1. Defrost puff pastry as indicated on the package.
2. Preheat oven to 400F. Unfold pastry and brush egg whites all over one side.
3. Sprinkle white sugar and cinnamon. The more the better!
4. Sprinkle walnuts.
5. Start rolling the pastry from one end to the other and brush egg white at the end so it doesn't unroll.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until browned.

For the bake meet, instead of rolling them I put the second sheet on top of the first one after step 4. Then cut them into little strands and twisted them. So when they baked, they look like twirl sticks.

These look great after they're baked. My dad, who doesn't really eat desserts, liked these a lot.