The funny things Tyler says....

I've been totally MIA from this blog, between working, caring for a preschool, trying to maintain a semi-clean household and this pregnancy, it really feels like there are not enough hours in a day. I am still cooking here and there, but nothing really worth blogging about. All I can say is frozen chicken fingers, salad kits and the slow cookers are definitely my best friends!

I'm slowing easing into the "nesting" stage of the pregnancy, only one week to go. I spent the whole weekend cleaning, sewing and getting the nursery ready. I guess this is the best time to hiberinate and do nothing, since the weather is so yucky outside anyways.

Anyways, I just wanted to use this post to write down a few funny things Tyler has been saying lately, this boy is a real goof, and always manage to make me laugh. As our family of 3 is going to be expanded really soon, I don't want to lose sight of Tyler's precious moment, and I figure I can always use these on his wedidng speech one day! HA!

1) Tyler is convinced I'm a kid and not an adult, he covers my eyes when something scary is on TV, saying: "Mommy, don't watch, this is for adults, and not for kids like us"! I wonder why he thinks that? Maybe because I'm short or because I act like a kid sometimes?

2) Everytime you ask Tyler how much things are, he says "Five hundred dollars"...I asked him why, and he said that's what people on the radio says...then I realized he was referring to "Beat the bank", the game from CHUM104.5, which we listen to every morning.

3) After we cleaned the nursery over the wekeend, I forced asked Tyler to sit on my lap while I tried to rock him to sleep like a little baby. He sat on my lap and let out the biggest fart, I had to gasp for air...and he said: "It's okay mommy, babies always fart"!

I'm sure there are a lot more, but these are the ones that come to mind right now! Tyler is really a joy to have around, he is nuts, high energy and crazy at times, but overall, he is a really easy going kid. I really hope his little brother will take after him, and the transition to big brotherhood will be easy for him.

It's been a longggggg time!

It's been such a long time since I last posted! I have no particular reason, just got lazy, life happened...summer is fun, and I rather be outside chilling than slaving over the stove and taking pictures! But no worries (not that anyone is really worrying), I am BACK!!!

I am going to post some yummy and quick recipes very very soon! Stay tuned!!!

Chinese snack - Part II - Beef/Pork Jerky

This is another impressive looking "Chinese Snack", it looks complicated but it's actually quite easy to make! The idea came to me from my mother in law, she has been making a lot of HK style pork jerky lately and it soo good, so I decided to try it out as well. Unlike the beef jerky you get at the local gas station for $1, the Chinese style pork/beef jerky is more of a high end snack. There are speciality stores that sell these jerkies for upwards of $7 a piece! The main difference is that the Chinese style jerky is more moist, a softer consistency and is often sweet. I always thought making jerky will require a lot of special tools and equipments, but it turns out all you need is an oven. And all the ingredients required are mostly likely already in your fridge and pantry!

Chinese style meat jerky

Ingredients


2lbs of  minced pork (or minced beef, I used a combination of 1.5 lbs of pork and 0.5lb of beef)
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp 5-spice powder
1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp Chinese wine (Hua Tiao/Shao Hsing)
dashes of black pepper
5 tbsp sugar

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mix until the mixture is in a gluey consistency. Let marinate for a few hours in the fridge.
2. Place the mixture on a large cookie sheet covered with foil.

3. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap, and flatten/roll into a thin layer, as thin as possible.

4. Preheat oven to 180°C, bake for 12 minutes.

5. Set oven to broil and broil until the edge is brown and slightly char. Remove the jerky from the oven, let cool, flip the jerky over, and broil the back side until it gets brown and char as well.

6. Slice (A pizza cutter works really well) and ENJOY!

Chinese Snacks - Part I - Mango Mochis

I’m a huge mango lover! I love anything mango, and these little mango mochis definitely fit the bill! Mango mochis are not easy to find, the first time I had it was at a Chinese restaurant which specialized in their lobster feast, the best way to end the 5-course lobster dinner was with these little mango mochis. They look so complicated to make, so I was pleasantly surprised when I surfed the net and came across this super duper easy recipe. This recipe has been tried and tested, and it’s a real winner!! ENJOY!

Mango Mochi

Makes 18

1 cup glutinous rice flour


180ml mango juice

1/4 cup sugar

3 mangoes cut in tiny cubes

½ bag of unsweetened, finely shredded coconut for dusting/coating

Method:

1. Cut the mangoes into tiny cubes, lay them flat on a plate and freeze for 30 minutes or up. (This will make the slimy mangoes easier to work with)

2. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the glutinous rice flour, juice and sugar. Stir and mix well, there should be no lumps.

 3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, microwave for 2 minutes. Remove and stir. Return to microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir-well (it’s going to be hard to stir, the mixture should be a uniform and very sticky at this point).

4. Put the shredded coconut on a plate, drop a tablespoon of the mixture into the coconut. Flatten the ball into a thin disk, cover it with coconut, drop some mango in the middle of the disk and wrap the “dough” around the mango to form a ball, pinch the top to seal the ball. Add more coconut if it gets too sticky, once the ball is seal, lightly roll it into ball shape, and put onto muffin cups.These can be made ahead and refrigerate in a covered container for up to 2 – 3 days. They are a crowd pleaser and a great compliment to any Chinese dinner.

Weeknight Entertaining

We love having people over for dinner even on weeknights, I know it seems like a hassel, but sometimes a night of catching up and laughter is exactly what we need after a long day at work. And obviously due to time constraint, pizza and Chinese takeout are usually the way to go. But honestly, with a bit of advance preparation, you can have a nice meal on the table for your family and friends in no time! Here is one that doesn’t take a lot of effort, it’s yummy and also somewhat elegant.

Bacon wrapped stuffed pork tenderloin
Serves 2 (Multiply the recipe for your party)

1 pork tenderloin

1 head of garlic
6 pieces of bacon
1 tbsp each of thyme and rosemary
Salt & Pepper to taste


1) To make roasted garlic: Slice the top of the garlic head (exposing part of the flesh), place on top of foil, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap the garlic with foil, place in oven (Preheat to 375F) and roast for 60 min. Set aside to cool, this can be made in days ahead and place in the fridge.

2) Squeeze out the garlic flesh from the bulb into a bowl, mix with thyme and rosemary (the herbs can substitute with any other herb you like), season with salt and pepper.

3) Cut the pork tenderloin in half lengthwise, spread the garlic mixture onto the cut side of one piece of the tenderloin, place the other piece back on top.

4) Cut each piece of bacon into 2, wrap each piece of bacon around the tenderloin, with all the bacon seams on one side, place wrapped tenderloin seam side down in a baking dish.

5) Bake in 375F oven for 30 minutes
6) Slice and serve

This is a truly simple and elegant dish, only a few ingredients and a short prep (if you roast the garlic ahead) and cook time! You can serve this with roasted potato, a salad or roasted vegetables too!

Eat Light, Eat Well

Happy 2012 everyone (Yes, I know I’m a few weeks late)! I don’t usually set any new year resolution, but this year, I plan to put more focus to being happy! And cooking makes me happy, so hopefully I will get to do more of that and post more new recipes. January is always the time where everyone wants to eat healthier and lighter, especially after all the heavy holiday meals, so today I would like to share a recipe which is both quick and light. The star ingredient in this dish is the fish, fish is a great alternative to meat, and fish like black cod and Chilean seabass can be just as hearty as red meat. For this recipe, I used cod which is lighter and overly fishy tasting.

This recipe is actually inspired by one of the past Top Chef winner recipe (Michael Voltaggio's Miso cured cod in dashi), the cod sits on a bed of veggie and a deep flavoured miso broth. This is the perfect meal on a cold winter day, it really sooth the soul! And I bet, besides the fish, you already have all the ingredients stashed in your fridge or pantry, and if you don’t, you can easily substitute any of the ingredients with ones you already have.

Baked cod in miso broth
Serves 3

3 pieces of Cod (I used fresh ones, but you can also substitue with frozen)
1 Medium Sized Carrot (Cut into long sticks)
1/2 cup of frozen, shelled, edamame
5 - 6 pieces of shitake mushrooms (or any other type of mushrooms)
1 bunch of green onion (chopped)

Marinate for Cod

1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 tbsp of mirin

Miso Broth
4 cups of water
1 sheet of kombu
1 cup of bonito flakes
1/4 cup of miso

1) Soak the shitake mushroom in hot water overnight, drain and slice very thin. If you don't have shitake, use enoki or even white button mushrooms, they are much easier to find and you can skip the soaking step.
2) Place cod in marinade for 30 min or so, a little more or less won't hurt
3) Bake the fish fillet in oven (375F) for 15 min, the fish is done when it is opaque and flaky
4) While the fish is baking, cook the carrot and edamame in boiling water (If using other type of mushrooms, pan fry the slice mushrooms in bit of oil). Set aside
5) For the broth, boil water and put in the piece of kombu and simmer for 10 minutes.
6) Remove from heat, and put in the bonito flakes, let steep for 10 minutes.
7) Strain the broth to remove the kombu and bonito flakes, return the clear broth back to the heat and whisk in the miso.
8) To assemble - lay the carrots, edamame, mushrooms and green onions on the bottom of the bowl. Place a slice of cod on top, and pour broth to finish. Serve with a bowl of rice (and seaweed if you are into that like us!!)

I know what you are thinking, holy, there are so many weird ingredients! I'm going through a Japanese phase, and totally been stocking up with all kind of japanese ingredients. But like I mentioned above, you can substitute anything in this recipe, use bok choy if you don't have edamame or even peas. There is no need to use the kombu and bonito flakes for the broth if you want to keep it simple, you can just whisk miso into water for the broth, or even use instant miso soup. The whole idea of the recipe is combining veggies and fish with some sort of broth. You can invent your own recipe, maybe using salmon and chicken broth? Experiment!! That's part of the fun!

Pot luck ideas - part I

The holiday season is near and eating is definitely a big part of the holidays! I love hosting festive parties and also attend quite a few parties during the holidays, one thing that always gets me is what to bring to the next pot luck. Pot luck dishes need to be easy to make, can be made ahead and should feed a crowd. Lasagna definitely meets all those criteria, the only problem is that it can hard to serve up sometimes. So this year, I decided to change it up a bit and turn the classic lasagna into a roll –up. It still has all the classic flavours of the traditional lasagna, but it’s a smaller portion size and easier to serve up, perfect for any pot luck and also a made ahead weeknight dinner.

Lasagna Roll-Ups

1 box of Lasagna noodles (approx 14 – 15 sheets)

1 tub of ricotta
1 bunch of spinach (or 1 box of frozen spinach)
1 cup of mozzarella cheese, shredded
½ cup of parmesan cheese, shredded
¼ cup of milk

1.5 lbs of ground beef

1 tbsp oil

1 bottle of your favourite pasta sauce (I used crushed tomatoes and added my own seasoning, but past sauce is just as good)

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Cook the lasagna noodles as per packaged direction, drain and set aside
3. Heat oil in frying pan, brown ground beef and add pasta sauce. Simmer until boiled, turn off heat and set aside

4. Cook spinach in a pot of water, drain and chop to small pieces
5. In a mixing bowl, mix together the ricotta, chopped spinach, ½ cup of mozzarella cheese, ¼ cup of parmesan cheese and milk. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Spread half of the tomato sauce mixture to cover the bottom of the baking pan, reserve the other half for later use
7. Put 1 spoonsful of mixture at the end of the lasagna noodle, roll it up, and place it seam side down onto the sauced baking pan

8. Repeat until all mixture is used up
9. Cover the noodles with the rest of the meat sauce, and sprinkle with the rest of the mozzarellan and parmesan cheese.
10. Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and broil the top until cheese is golden brown
11. Serve it up and eat it up!

I really hope to post a few more recipes before the holidays, but if I don't, have a great holidays everyone!!!