Vermicelli Salad with Nuoc Cham

A month ago, we visited Kev's parents and they asked us if we wanted chicken. I guess it was on sale and they stocked up their freezer. We didn't see them pack it int he cooler, so we only found out how much they gave us when we got home and unpacked. Our freezer was packed with chicken. So for the last couple of weeks, we've been having a lot of chicken. I had some left over roast chicken in the fridge and I didn't know what to do with it. We're having a heatwave here, and I didn't feel like slaving in the kitchen. I poked around the fridge and found carrots, cucumbers, and coriander. I also had some crushed peanuts. Perfect. I'll make Vietnamese vermicelli salad. Not quite sure it's authentic Vietnamese, because I got the recipe from Canadian Living magazine. But this was really good, and very fresh for a hot summer night.


1 package of thin vermicelli noodles
crushed unsalted peanuts
coriander, chopped
carrots, shredded or julienned
cucumbers, sliced or julienned
cooked chicken, shredded

For Nuoc Cham:
2 tbsp sugar
finely shredded carrots (I used my zester)
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
2tsp white vinegar
crushed red peppers

1. Cook noodles following package instructions.
2. Meanwhile, whisk sugar with 1/2 cup warm water until dissolved. Stir in shredded carrots, fish sauce, lime juice, vinegar, and chili pepper. Set aside.
3. Assemble dish. Vermicelli, carrots, cucumber slices, coriander, peanuts, cold shredded chicken. Serve with sauce on top.

Banana Crumble Muffins

For as long as I can remember, I was never a fan of fresh bananas. I can tolerate it in a fruit cup, smoothie, and frozen yogurt, but I could never just have a banana for a snack. I love dried banana and I go ummm...bananas for banana bread/muffins. We buy 5 bananas every week, because Kevin likes to have it for his morning snack. One time last year, Kev had 2 bananas left over from the week and by the beginning of the following week, the bananas were looking sad. Kev was ready to chuck them in the garbage, but I decided to try finding a recipe for banana muffins and not waste them.

For the muffins/cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted

For crumb topping:
3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted (about 6 tbs)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients for the crumb topping. Melt butter and add to the dry mix. Mix until resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 17 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Since making the mini banana muffins, Kev has requested them every time we have ripe bananas. These are best served warm out of the even (isn't everything though?) with a nice glass of cold milk. I have shared these with friends, family, and co-workers. Everyone seems to like them. Well, here's the recipe. Enjoy!

Korean Potato Banchan (Gamja Jorim)

To follow-up with the Korean recipes I've tried from Maangchi...This was the recipe who introduced me to the blog. I was craving the sweet and savory potato banchan they serve at Korean restaurants and googled it. I found maangchi's food blog. If you're ever uncertain about her recipes, you can see her cook them on a video. Very helpful!

2-3 medium sized potatoes
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
2tbsp soy sauce
1 tbs corn syrup
1 tbs sugar
half cup of water

1. Peel the potatoes, wash, and cut them into 1 inch dice
2. Rinse the potato using colander in running water to remove starch
3. Cut half onion into bite sized pieces
4. Heat the pan and add 1-2 tbs olive oil and pour the potato into the pan
5. Add 2 cloves of minced garlic and sauté it until the potato look a little translucent, then add the onion and keep stirring it
6. Add water into the pan, soy sauce, 1 tbs of sugar, 1 tbs of corn syrup and mix it and cover and simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes until the liquid is evaporated. Stir occasionally to not burn the potatoes, if it needs more water, add some.
7. When the potato is cooked, turn off the stove and add sesame oil and sprinkle a pinch of sesame seeds.

I'm biased, because I love potatoes. Kevin is not a big fan of potatoes. In fact, he told me he was getting sick of potatoes. Breaks my heart. These would be great with Kalbi.

Dubu with Scallops

My love affair with Korean food started when my sister moved to Toronto. She took me to Korean BBQ and I was in love. The sweet and savory melt-in-your-mouth meat...When I learned that Montreal had opened a Korean restaurant, I tried it with a friend and discovered Bi Bim Kook Soo...it was so good. In the last couple of years, Korean cuisine has been popping up everywhere in Montreal.

I discovered Maangchi's food blog when i googled for the potato banchan. I can't say I've tried a whole lot of recipes from her blog, but a lot of them look delicious.

I was originally going to make Tofu Scallops that Kevin likes so much, but i find the recipe to be just OK. I remembered I had saved one of maangchi's recipes in my favorites. Dubu (dooboo) is a popular Korean dish of sliced and/or pan fried tofu served with kimchi or sliced pork. I decided to use the scallops I bought.

1 package of tofu, sliced into rectangles
Vegetable oil for pan frying

1 clove of garlic, minced
1 green onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic chili sauce (more if needed) can be subbed with pepper flakes
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil

1. Slice the tofu into bite size pieces (¼ inch thick rectangles). Blot each piece with a paper towel.
2. Heat a pan with vegetable oil. Add the tofu. Cook over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes or until tofu is golden. Flip the tofu and brown the other side.
3. Transfer the cooked tofu to a serving plate.
4. Make your sauce in a small bowl by mixing the rest of the ingredients.
5. If using scallops, stir-fry scallops with salt and pepper until opaque. Do not overcook.
6. Spoon the sauce evenly over the tofu, and sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds just before serving. Serve with rice.

This was a very simple dish. The tofu frying on the stove smells a little weird, but the dish is very good. Kevin said the sauce was strong, but gobbled up everything anyway. I had no idea the dish was so quick to make. I had dinner on the table in 25 min. We did not have leftovers.

Lemon Squares

A few years ago, I was in Ottawa for my brother's 31st birthday BBQ. His friend Angeline makes him some kind of dessert every year. I was looking forward to tasting the new treat this year. I overheard someone calling them "Orgasms" ,and for some reason, I really thought that was what they were called. They were actually just Lemon Squares. When I bit into it, I think they should be called Orgasms. They were so delicious. So I asked her for the recipe.

Some of my old co-workers go crazy for these. I like them a lot too, but when I make a batch, I have to share, cause it's just too many for one person. And if I don't finish them, they start to taste funny in two days. The shortbread crust is the best part. Do not substitute with a pre-made shortbread pie crust. it's not the same at all.

Crust:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 sticks (12 tbsp) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Filling:

• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp heavy cream (that's the 35% kind!)
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp salt

Decoration: Icing sugar for sprinkling

1. Make the crust: Put rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350 F
2. Pulse together flour, sugar, salt in food processor just until combined.
3. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.
4. Press dough onto bottom of greased 9-in square baking pan. (or use parchment paper)
5. Bake until golden brown, about 20 min.
6. Make the filling:Whisk together eggs, sugar, flour, heavy cream, zest, lemon juice, salt in a bowl until combined.
7. Bake the bars:When crust is baked, rewhisk lemon mixture and pour onto hot crust. Bake until just set, about 16 min.
8. Transfer pan to a rack to cool.
9. Refrigerate bars, covered, until cold, at least 4 hrs. Before serving, cut into bars and sprinkle with thick layer of icing sugar.

Lobster Bisque

In December, Kev and I went to this fancy French restaurant to celebrate 3 wonderful years as a couple. The restaurant had a fabulous tasting menu. It was about 15 courses! Our favorite was the restaurants signature dish, the lobster bisque. It was light and fragrant.

The following months, whenever we had lobster, i'd keep the lobster shells in the freezer to eventually make lobster broth for a bisque.

1 cup chicken broth or homemade lobster broth
2 medium slices onion
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups cream or milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound cooked and cubed lobster meat
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2-3 tbs tomato paste
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper

1. if making homemade lobster stock, boil lobster shell in water and let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
2. In a small frying pan place 1/4 cup stock and the onion. Cook over a low heat for 5 to 7 minutes.
3. In a medium size pot over medium heat melt the butter. Slowly whisk in flour. Whisk until a creamy mixture is created.
4. Gradually pour in stock, whisking constantly. Whisk in milk, salt, onion, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne pepper. Heat until soup is almost boiling. Do not boil the soup as the milk will curdle when boiled. Simmer at low heat for about an hour. Add cooked lobster meat into bisque before serving.

The bisque was thick, creamy, and heavy, not what we had at the restaurant. But this was still good. More like a meal soup than an appetizer soup. I used heavy cream for this recipe, which I thought was too much. Next time i'd suggest using light cream or do 1 cup milk and 1 cup cream. The recipes takes quite a bit of time to make, but i'd make it again...if only it didn't make my house smell like lobster for 2 weeks.

Jalapeno Popper Dip

The first time I ever had Jalapeno poppers was when Burger King had them. Not long after, they discontinued the item from their menu, but kept the mozzarella sticks...bad decision BK. I guess not many people can stomach spicy foods.

I have never attempted to make Jalapeno poppers before, seems like a lot of trouble. When I used to live with Rachelle, we'd sometimes indulge in a box of Jalapeno poppers from the frozen section of our local grocery store.

I was reading one of my regular food blogs one day and Kevin at
Closet Cooking had made a Jalapeno Popper Dip that sounded delicious. I saved the link into my favorites and forgot about it until months later. Rachelle had come all the way to my place one day and we decided to give the recipe a try.



1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (room temperature)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (grated) - we used mozzarella
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano or parmesan
1 (4 ounce) can sliced jalapenos (pickled)
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano or parmesan

Directions:
1. Mix the cream cheese, mayonnaise, cheddar cheese, parmigiano reggiano and jalapenos in a bowl and pour into a baking dish.
2. Mix the panko bread crumbs and parmigiano reggiano and sprinkle over the dip.
3. Bake in a 375F oven until bubbling on the sides and golden brown on top, about 10-20 minutes.

This was so good and so easy! We toasted some pita bread in the oven and it was great. However, this recipe for 2 people is way too much. We both did not want dinner after this. If you're making this as an appetizer, i'd suggest you invite a few people over.

Duck à L'Orange by Kev

I've been so bad at updating my blog that my friend Amy in California had to come to Montreal to tell me in person. So here I am...updating. I have tons of new recipes to write about, but i'm just too lazy. It's one thing to create a blog, it's another to keep it updated.

A couple of months ago, I had to do my very first inventory at work. I had to go into work at 7:30am on a Saturday. Being the amazing boyfriend that he is, Kev decided that he would do the cooking that night. He decided to make me duck a l'orange.

•¼ cup granulated sugar
•2 tablespoons water
•2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar
•1 ½ cups orange juice
•2 tablespoons shallots, minced
•1 1/2 cups chicken stock
•4 oranges, sections cut from membranes
•2 duck breast halves, seasoned with salt and pepper
•¼ cup unsalted butter
•2 tablespoons orange zest

1. Boil the sugar and water for several minutes, until the syrup caramelizes and turns a golden brown color.
2. Add the vinegar, juice, shallots, and chicken stock and simmer until the sauce is reduced to a little less than a cup.
3. Add butter and 1 tablespoon of orange zest. Stir in orange sections.
4. In a skillet, sear the duck breasts over high heat. Cook the duck for about 9-11 minutes on each side. Pour the prepared sauce over the duck breasts and garnish with the remaining orange zest.

The duck was good medium rare. However, I think I prefer the honey mustard kind that I make. Too bad kevin is not a big mustard fan. It was nice to have him cook for me though. He even did the dishes.

Teriyaki Chicken Wings

Last summer, Kev's aunt invited us to stay at their timeshare condo in Mt-Tremblant for a weekend. We mostly relaxed and walked around the Tremblant village, and later had a nice BBQ back at the condo. Kev's aunt made some tasty chicken wings, which I later asked for the recipe. Whenever Kev likes a recipe a lot, I try to make it at home for him. He's not always very enthusiatic about the recipes i pick. Kev's aunt says I spoil him. Maybe...but who else would i spoil?




Chicken wings

½ cup soya sauce
½ cup OJ
¼ packed brown sugar
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp pepper

1. Mix all the ingredients together and marinate chicken wings overnight.
2. Grill on BBQ or bake in the oven at 375F for 20 min.

I baked them because we were just too lazy to turn on the BBQ. They definitely did not taste as good as from the grill, but good enough.

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.