Kits Chow

121. Corn chowder with chorizo - Recipe

2008-07-24T09:35:00.000-07:00

Corn chowder with chorizo sausage

Taste and Create is a food blogging event that pairs food bloggers together. Each partner peruses the other one's blog, cooks a recipe and writes about it. It is a brilliant idea and the roundup is full of interesting recipes and different points of views. One gets to discover new blogs and make new friends.

I have participated twice now and had a great time. In my first Taste and Create event, I was teamed with Zlamushka of Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen. I made her Creamy Cauliflower Soup and she cooked mung bean vermicelli for my recipe of Ants Climbing on the Tree.

The following month I made a Seafood Omlette from Jen's blog, Beantown Baker.

There was a mixup and I didn't find out from Nicole till yesterday that my partner is the Columbus Foodie.

Nicole asked me if I could still get something done in the next few days. I agreed.

I've visited Columbus Foodie before and it is a lovely blog. I was impressed by all the work Becke had done in creating a food blog directory. Kits Chow is listed under North American Blogs: Canada. Thank you very much, Becke!

There was no time to do a leisurely visit through the blog and, actually, the first recipe I saw caught my eye. I read it over and decided to make it.

Becke is participating in a food blogging event called One local summer which encourages people to eat local foods.

She submitted a recipe called CaJohns Corn Chowder with Smoked Sausage - recipe courtesy of John Hard. She is conscientious about using local inredients for her recipe.

I decided to make her recipe in the spirit of One local summer and use as many local ingredients as possible. I thought it wouldn't be too hard because we have excellent corn from Chiliwack. However, I couldn't find it. I don't think the corn is ready for market yet. I used organic frozen corn and a spicy chorizo made in Vancouver.

Columbus Foodie's recipe used Chipotle Grill seasoning. I checked online for CaJohns Chipotle Grill Seasoning and learned that it is a "Blend of Smoky Chipotle Peppers, Garlic, Black Pepper, Salt and Seasonings".

I made my own blend with pinchitos spice mix, black pepper, sea salt,garlic and oregano. The garlic came from the Kitsilano Farmer's Market and the oregano from my own garden.

Kitsilano Farmers' Market

Becke's recipe uses butter and 2 cups of cream. I skipped the butter and heavy cream as I am serving it tonight to guests and one of them is lactose intolerant. But I imagine with cream added, it would be super delicious!

Here is my very lose interpretation of her corn chowder:

Ingredients:

1/4 lb of chorizo, sliced
A 500 g package of organic frozen corn
2 teaspoons of pinchitos spice mix (contains cumin, Spanish paprika and other things)
3 shallots, chopped
2 tablespoons of finely chopped oregano
1 clove of garlic, minced
Cracked black pepper
2 cups Chicken Broth
1 cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Salt to taste
Chopped cilantro for garnish

Note: the recipe also uses Salsa Verde which I didn't have on hand.

Method:

Sauté the chorizo in a dutch oven until they are nicely browned. Remove the sausage and fry the garlic, shallots until wilted.
Add the corn and sauté until it becomes a golden color, then stir in the pinchitos spice mix and the chopped oregano. Sauté the mixture for about a minute.
Put the cooked corn into a food processor or blender and give it a whirl.
Put the mixture back into the pot and add the chicken stock. Bring the soup to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly.
Stir the sliced sausage into the boiling soup. Cook for a couple of more minutes.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with the shredded Monterey Jack on the side.

This is a great soup! It is rich and full of interesting flavours. Mr. KC had a taste and loved it. I'll certainly make it again. Next time, I'll have time to buy the Salsa Verde to make the authentic version.

This is my last minute entry to Taste and Create. Thanks, Nicole for hosting. It has been fun!

120. Bacon fried rice - Recipe

2008-07-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

Bacon fried rice

Fried rice is so easy to make. If you can fry an egg, you can cook fried rice.

It is a dish to make when you want a quick bite. It can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner, or anytime you like. Of course, you should have leftover, cold rice. So when you are cooking rice, add another cup of two to the pot and you'll have a delicious, quick meal the following day. What kind of rice? Long grain or Jasmine is the best but any kind- Uncle Ben's, brown rice - they are OK. Japanese sushi rice is a bit stickier so you have to stir fry more. Just keep the rice moving so it doesn't stick on the pan.

If you have a big craving for fried rice and don't have leftover rice, you can still have fried rice. Cook a pot of rice - the rice should be firm. You don't want hot mushy rice. In Chinese restaurants they make fried rice with freshly cooked rice. I've seen the line cooks do it - the rice goes straight from the cooker to the wok.

Here are some general instructions. Use whatever ingredients you please. Usually, the ingredients are of uniform size and cut into small bits. The photographs are self-explanatory.

Here are the ingredients I used:

4 rashers of smoked bacon
2 eggs, beaten, salt and pepper added
4 shallots, sliced thinly
Optional, a couple of tablespoons of ginger scallion sauce
A cup of frozen peas or any kind of mixed frozen vegetables
4 cups of cooked rice
2 or 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce
Sesame oil or hot chili oil
Oil for stir frying

Method:

Heat the wok or frying pan and add the oil. Fry the bacon and the chopped shallots. Add the ginger scallion oil.

Or fry the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon from the pan, break into bits and set aside. (Toss the bacon bits in with the fried rice just before serving). Then fry the chopped shallots until they have softened. Mix in the ginger scallion oil.

Add the eggs and fry them the way you cook scrambled eggs.

The eggs should be runny. They will be cooked more later. Remove the eggs from the pan and set aside.

Add some more oil and heat it. Then add the cold rice, lumps and all. Use the spatula to break up the pieces.

Add the frozen peas. It isn't necessary to boil them first. Use the spatula to break the peas up.

Stir fry the peas and rice together.

Put the scrambled eggs back into the pan.

Stir fry everything together. Add some oyster sauce and mix everything together. Sprinkle some sesame oil (or hot chili oil) and toss everything together. Dish up and serve.

This dish was ready in fifteen minutes.

Here are some suggestions for ingredients:

chicken
roast duck
BBQ pork or roast pork
canned corned beef
Montreal smoked meat with green onions fried rice is delicious
Spam
shrimps (frozen mixed seafood is very handy)
sausages
mushrooms
lettuce
in fact, just about anything can go into the fried rice

Here is an example, Curried beef fried rice.

One of our favourite fried rice combos is what we call Beijing fried rice. We ate it in Beijing and since then, I make it a lot in Vancouver.

It is just scrambled eggs fried rice. The only other ingredients are salt and pepper. But the salt is coarse sea salt. So you get bursts of crunchy, salt in your mouth as you eat the rice. Try it. It is cheap and delicious!

Before I joined the South Beach Diet Programme, I liked to mix some mayo to my fried rice.

What is your favourite fried rice? What do you add to it?

This is my entry to Lore's food blogging event, Original Recipes. Fried rice is not an original recipe but the combination and the addition of ginger scallion sauce makes it my own recipe. In my house, fried rice never tastes exactly the same way twice.

Lore is so helpful. She wants to "wants to encourage those of you who for one reason or another have never tried to create a recipe and to prove there’s nothing to be afraid of."

Check out the tasty recipes from last month's roundup at Culinarty. Enter your own original recipe, you have lots of time - the deadline for the roundup is August 15th.

119. Bowen Island, British Columbia

2008-07-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here is a deer in the forest.

I tried, unsuccessfully, to photograph a dragonfly.

These pictures were taken on Saturday, July 18, 2006 at Bowen Island, BC.

118. Kitsilano Farmers Market

2008-07-21T08:09:00.001-07:00

The Kitsilano Farmers' Market is open on Sundays from June to the end of October. It is held in the parking lot of the Kitsilano Community Centre.

The Kits market was only started last year and has proven very popular with the locals. It is a relaxing way to buy food and is quite a community event - we see our neighbours there and get to catch up on the news.

These pictures were taken on Sunday, July 20, 2008.

This sign is the first thing I noticed at the market.

117. Water convolvulus, 蕹菜 - Recipe

2008-07-18T09:16:00.001-07:00

Water convolvulus cooked with fermented bean curd

I was shopping at an Asian supermarket when I saw a table full of water convolvulus. It was on special and there were lots of people buying it. I asked one of the canny, old lady shoppers how to cook it and she told me with garlic and fermented bean curd. So I bought a bunch to try.

By the way, that is the best method to learn about cooking. I've got recipes from fellow shoppers, vegetable sellers, butchers and passers by. Mind you, they assume you know the cooking techniques because the directions are given in cooking shorthand. But they have always responded in a generous manner.

I have even received gratuitous advice while shopping. I was in a checkout line and an old gentleman looked over my choices. He was shaking his head at a ready-made package I intended to buy. He told me not to waste my money and proceeded to give me instructions on how to make it. Then he directed me to return the package. He held my place while I meekly did as ordered! I just couldn't argue with a well-meaning old man. I returned to the store later to buy those ready-made goods! How is that for assertiveness!

I never liked water convolvulus when I was growing up. It was served to us when we were visiting Guangdong province and I ate it to be polite. Our hosts were very proud of this local, aquatic vegetable. They said their area produced the best convolvulus and it was shipped to Beijing for the party leaders to enjoy. I don't remember how it was prepared but it was delicious. We ate it a few times when in China and I acquired a taste for it. Now I would order it in restaurants occasionally but I never cooked it at home.

蕹菜 Ipomoea aquatica , water convolvulus, aka water morning-glory, ong choy, kongxincai, kangkung, kangkong, rau muống.

The hollow stems of this aquatic vegetable

This vegetable is grown widely in Asia and is a very popular. It is similar to spinach in nutritional values. It is usually cooked stir fried. Like spinach, it shrinks when cooked and one bunch will serve about two or three people for a side dish.

Ingredients:

A bunch of water convolvulus
A couple of cloves of garlic, smashed
Optional - 2 cubes of fermented bean curd, mashed with a bit of sesame oil (press it through a small strainer to get a smooth paste)
Oil
Salt and pepper to taste

腐乳, Fermented tofu

Method:

Use a dutch oven, heat some oil on a medium/high temperature and add the garlic. Let it brown a bit.
Put the water convolvulus into the pot. Cover the pot with the lid for a minute.
Add the fermented tofu and stir together.
Turn the water convolvulus over so that the vegetables on top come into contact with the pot and the oil.
Cover the pot with the lid for another minute.
If the water convolvulus is not completely cooked roll the it over until it is limp and cooked. Warning: Use long chopsticks. The heat builds up in the pot. I used regular chopsticks and scalded my hand.
The whole process should take about three minutes. This will produce a bright green, crisp vegetable. I cooked the vegetables much longer, about fifteen minutes on low heat, as my mother-in-law has to eat soft food. That's why is is not a bright green colour.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Splash some sesame oil over the vegetable. Dish up and serve.

This is my entry to Weekend Herb Blogging, the great blogging event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen fame.

This week Archana from Archana's Kitchen will be hosting. Do join Archana to "come open your senses and palates to the spices of life". Who can refuse an invitation like that?

116. White cut chicken, 白切雞 - Recipe

2008-07-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

白切雞 White cut chicken with ginger scallion sauce

White cut chicken is a traditional Cantonese dish. It is eaten at Chinese New Year and yet is everyday fare. It is so simple a dish. It is just a poached chicken but, my, what a poached chicken! The chicken is barely cooked and the flesh is smooth and juicy. Melt in your mouth flavour is how a friend describes it.

It hardly seems worth the trouble to make because a store bought one often costs less than the price of a chicken. But cooks like to make it at home. Home made is always better, if you can pull it off.

It only takes three things - a whole chicken about 3 1/2 lbs (traditionally, with head and feet attached), some ginger and a large pot of boiling water. However, a perfectly-done white cut chicken is quite an achievement and requires a fair amount of skill. Quite a few cooks botch it and have to return the undercooked thighs to the pot for further cooking.

The skin should not be ruptured. In the movie "The Scent of Green Papaya", a white cut chicken was served at a family gathering and one of the sisters proudly points out the perfect skin in her chicken.

There are countless ways of making white cut chicken. The traditional way is as follows:

Have a large stockpot of boiling water ready and put a whole chicken, breast side down into the boiling water. Throw in a large piece of ginger. The water should cover the chicken by about an inch.
Bring the water back to the boil. Use a ladle to fill the cavity with the boiling water.
Turn the fire off and cover the pot. Leave the chicken to soak in the hot water for about twenty minutes. Do not uncover the pot to check. Keep the lid on. The chicken is cooked by the retained heat of the boiling water.
Take the chicken out of the pot and refresh it under cold, running water, ie take the chicken to the kitchen sink, put it on a plate or in a colander and turn on the tap. Some cooks plunge the chicken into a pan of ice cubes. Throw out the water used for poaching.
Dry the cooled chicken with paper towels and rub sesame oil over the skin.
It is now ready for cutting and serving.

Sounds simple but very often the breast and wings are overcooked and the thighs are still raw. I used this method for many years and it was a chancy business. Then a chef told me another method which works very well:

Note:

These two poaching methods are not suitable for cooking an old stewing hen.
The chicken should be prepared a few hours ahead of serving. Let it cool down before cutting it up.

Place the chicken in a pot of boiling water, breast side down and bring the water back to the boil. Throw in a large piece of ginger.
The water should cover the chicken by about an inch. Use a ladle to fill the cavity with the boiling water. Skim off the scum and turn the heat down to the lowest setting for a very gentle boil. The pot is uncovered.
Let the chicken poach for forty-five minutes. You are now free to meditate, watch a soap opera or just chill. Or prepare the ginger-scallion sauce.
Take the chicken out of the pot and refresh it under cold, running water, ie take the chicken to the kitchen sink, put it on a plate or in a colander and turn on the tap. Throw out the water used for poaching.
Wipe the chicken dry with paper towels and rub the skin with sesame oil.
Set aside the chicken until you are ready to chop it up. Some cooks chill the chicken but I leave the chicken on the counter and serve the chicken at room temperature. The chicken is cut in small pieces with a cleaver and reassembled on a platter. Many people consider that the meat is tastier with the bone on. I don't do this as chopping through bone is a messy and dangerous business. I serve boneless chicken.

One of the pleasures of the table - white cut chicken

Note: I made the chicken just before dinner so I had to cut up a hot chicken. The chicken had been refreshed with cold water - the skin was cool but the meat was still hot. Not easy on the fingers and messy too because the juices are still running. My mother-in-law usually takes over cutting the chicken. She disjoints the chicken, slices the meat and reassembles the chicken. She does a beautiful job. Unlike Kits Chow. But the chicken was delicious though the presentation lacked appeal. I cropped the picture below as that section looked better.

Serve at room temperature with ginger scallion sauce.

Here is the traditional method for making ginger scallion sauce:

Grate the ginger and chop the scallions. The amounts should be equal. 1/2 a cup of each is sufficient but you may use more or less . More is more efficient since making the sauce entails the same amount of work. Put the ingredients in a bowl and add some coarse salt. Put the bowl in the sink.

Heat about a cup of oil and put in a piece of garlic. Let the garlic brown. I like to heat the oil till the garlic turns black but I was cooking in my mother-in-law's kitchen and she would be startled when the fire alarm goes off so I just browned it.

Pour the hot oil over the ginger scallion mix.

The oil will cook the herbs and there will be a wonderful aroma. Mix the herbs in the oil.

The smokier the oil, the better the sizzle.

Ginger scallion sauce, 薑蔥蓉

There are a couple of other methods for making white-cut chicken - by microwave and by pressure cooker but that will be for another post.

White cut chicken is excellent for salads and sandwiches. It is also South Beach Diet friendly, if you eat the breast without the skin. The sauce is also OK, if you have just a bit.

I am entering this recipe to Nutriferia where they are Hungry for Some Chicken.

This is a great blog, every month they host a foodie roundup with a theme. Last month's them was Strawberries.

They will be having themes with low fat, gluten-free, vegetarian and low salt dishes. Do join these roundups, there are sure to be blogging events for people with different interests in cooking.

I found this website through Lore's wonderful blog Culinarty.

115. Yummy Blog Award and Blogging With a Purpose Award

2008-07-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

View from Mayne Island, British Columbia

On May 20, 2008, my friend the chiliaddict, aka Zlamushka of Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen won the Yummy Blog Award. Quite rightly so. Her blog is yummy, not just for her delicious cooking but for her sense of humour and her lively personality.

A couple of months ago, Z started the brilliant blogging event, Tried and Tasted and it has become very popular. Last month's T&T featured Nupur's Blog, One Hot Stove for Blog of the Month. There were 74 entries. This is only the second event of Tried and Tasted!

I was thrilled to bits when she passed on the Yummy Blog Award to me. This is my first blog award!!!!

At that time I was literally dealing with death and taxes and didn't do anything about the Yummy Blog Award. I wanted to show my appreciation to Z properly and think about the bloggers to whom I would pass the award. I decided to leave it for another time.

Now is the time. There are so many great blogs and I had a very hard time chosing. Here are the winners, revealed in no particular order, as they say on Dancing with the Stars , of the Yummy Blog Award:

Mochachocolata Rita - Rita may have already won this award but my motto is "More is more!" Rita is an Indonesian girl who lives and works in Hong Kong. She is unique! Her posts have me laughing my head off and her cooking is great too!

Cathy of Not Eating out In New York. Cathy writes so well and has such a great view of life. She is a smart cookie too. Not eating out in New York. I wish I had her sense when I was her age. Think of all the money I would have saved not eating out in Montreal. I could be retired and living on a beach in some tropical paradise by now.

TS and JS of Eating Club Vancouver. The food and the pictures in this Vancouver blog are, well, yummy. They are a Filipino family who share their wonderful meals and parties with us.

Last but not least is Cynthia's blog - Tastes like home. I am a big fan of Cynthia's, as are lots of other bloggers. It is such a pleasure to visit her blog. Her recipes are delicious and the pictures are splendid!

Once again, thank you, dear Zu for passing on this award to me!

Now for my four favourite desserts ... well, the sum total of my desserts are six so it is very easy to choose. As you will see, I am not a baker. All my desserts are cooked on the stove. Here they are:

Kirsh meringue ice-cream cake. This is a great dessert, it looks so impressive, tastes scrumptious and, best of all, there is no cooking involved.
Muhallabia, milk pudding. This sounds like nursery food but grown men love it. And it is a vegan version.
Water chestnut puddingv馬蹄糕. This is a great recipe, given to me by Daniel.
Piña colada pudding - Version 1 and Version 2. My family and friends love it. It is very easy to make too.

How about that? I managed to promote five of my recipes!

I was so honoured to receive the Yummy Blog Award and then, to my amazement, Zlamushka passed me another award, Blogging with a Purpose.

Thank you so much, Zu! I am so touched by your praise " because she makes the best Chinese Food ever!". I'm just a home cook! I wish my Mom were alive to hear this! She thought my cooking was only passable.

I am hoping this will be the start of a trend. Every time the ever popular and talented Spice Girl, Zlamushka wins an award, she'll pass it down to me! I'll be guaranteed lots of awards!

I am passing this Blogging with a Purpose award to Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen. She is the Blogger Extraordinaire! Her blog combines "a love for delicious food with a commitment to healthy, lower glycemic eating."

Her South Beach Diet Story and advice have been an inspiration to me and to lots of bloggers.

Deer crossing road on Mayne Island

114. Chocolate pudding - Recipe

2008-07-12T08:45:00.001-07:00

Make it from scratch

I was going through my piles of recipes - all those newspaper/magazine clippings with recipes or pictures, mostly the pictures, that caught my interest but which I almost never made. They got filed in the wastepaper basket but I kept the yellowing one shown below.

The recipe probably came from the Georgia Straight and it is a great recipe. You'll never buy packages of pre-mixed puddings again. Think of the savings money wise and space wise when you make your own pudding. A box of cornstarch is about the same price as a box of pudding mix and you'll be able to make many more servings with the cornstarch. Plus, cornstarch is handy for thickening sauces, marinating meat, etc.

I don't consider a pre-mixed pudding a time-saving item. The pudding has three ingredients that don't even take a minute to assemble and measure and the home made one doesn't contain preservatives. A ready-made pudding would be a timesaver but the pudding mix still requires work and an extra ingredient - the milk. So why not make it from scratch?

I'm not sure if I'm infringing on copyrights by publishing this clipping but, if the owner of this recipe objects, I'll remove it.

I didn't make the chocolate pudding in the microwave but used the same ingredients and made it on the stove.

Put the dry ingredients in a saucepan and add a little bit of the milk to make a thin paste.

Have the element on at medium heat. Add the rest of the milk and stir. Keep stirring as the pudding cooks and becomes thick and glossy. At this stage the pudding is ready but I don't believe the dictum that "Less is more" when it comes to chocolate, "More is better" so I would add a chocolate bar - chopped Cadbury's crunchie is a favourite addition in our house. I used chocolate chips this time but put in your favourite chocolate bar. Spoon the pudding into ramekins or bowls and cool on a rack. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve. Top it with whipped cream if you don't worry about butter fats and calories.

It takes less than ten minutes to make and the result is a delicious, chocolaty pudding. Homemade caramel pudding beats any packaged mix but that recipe will be for another post.

Try this chocolate pudding. Make it in the microwave or on the stove. You'll love it.

113. Rosemary-flavoured fava beans - Recipe

2008-07-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

Rosemary-flavoured fava beans

Do you remember the fairy tale about Jack and the Beanstalk? The five "magic beans" that Jack planted which grew overnight to reach the clouds were fava beans.

Fava beans, Vicia faba, aka broad beans, actually are members of the pea family. They are very nutritious, containing phosphorous, vitamin A and C and are a good source of dietary protein. They also contain a substance called L-dopa which may be effective in treating Parkinson’s disease. L-dopa is thought to improve the libido – so fava beans might be nature’s Viagra!

Fava beans have a long history as a food crop. They have been eaten for over 6,000 years, beginning in the Middle East and continuing to this day. Many people start their day eating a fava bean dish called Ful Medames. They are also popular in most Mediterranean countries and each country has different traditions and folklore about the bean. In Portugal, a Christmas Cake called Bolo Rei or King's cake is baked with a broad bean inside.

Do you have a traditional recipe or a superstition about fava beans?

I am familiar with broad beans fried for a savory crunchy snack. These snacks are enjoyed in China, Peru, Mexico and SE Asia. There is a famous Sichan bean paste called doubanjian which is made with fermented broad beans and chili peppers. My blogging parter, Zlamushka, used doubanjian in her recipe for "Ants climbing up a tree" .

My dish of rosemary-scented fava beans is based on a recipe by Alice Waters. I found it in a cookbook called “ Great vegetables from the great chefs”.

Note: Buy and cook fava beans only if you have lots of time.

The Alice Waters recipe calls for 5 lbs of beans. When I was preparing the beans for cooking I discovered the reason. What one buys are mainly pods, so there are lots of offerings to the gods of the compost heap but very little beans for eating. 5 lbs of beans sound a lot but that's what is needed to serve four people.

Also, this is not an item for a quick shopping trip. One should take the time to choose the fava beans. Choose them not just by sight but by touch. Feel up each pod to make sure there are some beans inside. I had quite a few pods that yielded nothing but pods and some shriveled bits of beans. A couple of pods contained four beans but mostly there were two or three beans. So two pounds of beans yielded about a cup of beans for cooking.

Here is my recipe, loosely-based on Alice Waters’ recipe for fava beans

Ingredients:

2 lbs of fresh fava beans
1 tablespoons of olive oil
A sprig of fresh rosemary, approximately 2 inches long
Half a cup of water
1 clove of garlic smashed
A pinch of coarse sea salt
Freshly- ground pepper to taste

Method:

Remove the beans from the pods.

Remove the outer husk of the bean. I got the hang of it after a couple of tries. Make a small cut along the side and use the tip of a vegetable knife to pry the outer husk lose.

Heat a small pan and pour a bit of olive oil into the pan. Add the garlic, rosemary and beans and stir to coat them with the oil. Add the water and cover the pan. Lower the heat and simmer the beans for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and ground pepper. Remove the garlic and rosemary.

Dish up and serve.

These beans were delicious! They took a bit of work but the results were well worth it.

Are they South Beach Diet friendly? The SBD Good Fats Good Carbs Guide hasn't forbidden them but this food is "limited". I take that to mean that 1/2 cup is allowed once in a while.

This is my entry to Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging. Simona of Briciole is hosting this week's WHB. Simona has a great blog. It is "An idiosyncratic and opinionated dictionary of Italian words related to food, with audio accompaniment". Everything you ever wanted to know about Italian food and cooking can probably be found here!

There is still time to enter your recipe for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging. The deadline is Sunday, at 3pm Utah time.

112. Ginger scallion sauce, 薑蔥蓉 - Recipe

2008-07-06T11:48:00.000-07:00

Ginger scallion sauce

Ginger, scallions and garlic are what I call the trinity in Cantonese cooking. Most dishes use these three herbs in some combination or other. I can't recall a kitchen that didn't have these three items.

Ginger scallion oil is like Chinese pesto. I am seldom without this delicious paste at home. It is so versatile.

It is the sauce for white cut chicken - a traditional Cantonese dish. But it is much more than that: it can also be a condiment in a bowl of noodles, a marinade or used in salad dressings. It is excellent with steamed or grilled fish. I used it in an Asian version of guacamole and it makes a great egg salad. In a pinch, use a couple of tablespoons of the sauce to make fried rice. Just fry leftover rice with the sauce, add salt and pepper and you get a delicious treat! I like to fry the rice in a cast iron pan until the rice is popping.

Ingredients:
1/2 a cup of shredded ginger (or finely minced ginger)
1/2 a cup of finely chopped scallions
1 cup of peanut oil
A clove of garlic
Some coarse sea salt

Method: There are two ways to make it, the traditional way, but is dangerous and messy and a simple way.

Let's live dangerously but first, a few words of advice:

Keep children and pets out of the kitchen. You do not want to trip over them and splatter them with hot oil!
Keep the area between the stove and the sink clear. In your dash to the sink, you do not want to trip.
Do not wear clothes with flowing sleeves.
Wear an apron.
Have good, thick potholders on hand.
Familiarize yourself on how to use a fire extinguisher and keep it close to you.

Put the chopped ginger, scallions and sea salt in a bowl with deep sides (I use a Pyrex 4-cup measuring cup). Clear out the kitchen sink and spread newspaper on the counters next to the sink. Put the bowl in the sink.
Heat the oil in a small saucepan and add the garlic. Note: I use a small, cast iron frying pan for heating the oil. The iron handle becomes very hot. Good, thick potholders are essential.
When the garlic is turning black and the oil is smoking, carry the pan over to the sink and pour the hot oil over the chopped ginger and scallions. There will be a big, sizzling mess. The oil will splatter and bubble over the herbs. Use chopsticks or a wooden spoon to mix the oil and ginger/scallions evenly. There will be a wonderful smell of ginger and scallions. When things have calmed down, pour the ginger scallion oil into a bowl and set aside.
Open windows to air out the house.

The less hazardous method:

Heat a small frying pan with oil and add the ginger and scallions. Cook them without browning until the vegetables become limp.
Add the rest of the oil and heat the oil for about 30 seconds.
Add the sea salt when the mixture has cooled.
Put the contents of the pan into a bowl and set aside.

Ginger scallion oil can be stored, covered, in the fridge for about a week.

White cut chicken with ginger scallion sauce

The sauce is South Beach Diet friendly if eaten in small amounts. I suggest you strain the sauce to get rid of as much oil as possible.

I am entering this post to Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging. This week, the host will be Pam from Sidewalk Shoes.

Her blog is new to me and I haven't had a chance to read anything as I am dashing to meet the deadline. But I have been struck by the beauty of her photographs and I am certainly coming back to read more of her blog.

111. Cool spinach raita - Recipe

2008-07-02T17:50:00.000-07:00

Cool spinach raita

The second Blog of the Month, is Nupur's One Hot Stove.

Every month, my lovely friend, Zlamushka, of Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen fame, features a blog for her blogging event Tried and Tasted.

Zu describes her brainchild as "an excellent way to discover other blogs and cuisines. a monthly event of appreciation of other blogs - an opportunity to thank your fellow bloggers for sharing their recipes by re-creating them. Peek into their kitchen to see what’s cooking and go for it! Take it, make it and say it!"

This is wonderful. A whole array of different personalities and cuisines are there for us to discover.

When I visited One Hot Stove, I was really pleased as Nupur cooks Indian vegetarian food. I cook Cantonese food and don't use too many spices. This is an excellent opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and experience new foods and cooking techniques.

Nupur's blog is lovely. She writes well and her blog is about Indian home-cooking, knitting and crochet and her beautiful dog. The recipes are healthy, interesting and easy to follow. Some of them, such as Shrikhand requires no cooking. Just what I like - a delicious dessert that is easy!

There were so many tempting dishes to try. I wanted to make Kikizartma and Couscous but, made Cool spinach raita for my entry instead. This recipe is South Beach Diet friendly, plus I already had all the ingredients on hand. Nupur's recipes are user-friendly - many of her recipes can be made in a non-Indian kitchen with ingredients available from the local Safeway. Here is how I made the spinach raita:

Ingredients:

A bunch of spinach, washed
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 cup of low-fat yogurt
2 shallots, minced
1 teaspoon of fresh ginger, minced
salt to taste
4-5 mint leaves, shredded (optional) - I used homegrown lemon verbena mint

Method:

I used the same method of cooking spinach as I did for spinach with garlic except I didn't use oil or garlic. Nupur cooked her spinach in the microwave.

Put a bunch of spinach into a wok or dutch over and cook on high heat. Cover the pot with the lid for a minute. The spinach is cooked with the water clinging to its leaves.
Open the lid and turn the spinach over so that the vegetables on top come into contact with the pot. Cover the pot with the lid for another minute.
If the spinach is not completely cooked roll the it over until it is limp and cooked. Warning: Use long chopsticks. The heat builds up in the pot. The whole process should take about 3 minutes. The spinach should be bright green.
Place the limp spinach in a colander to rinse under the tap with cold water. Squeeze the excess liquid out and chop the spinach. Put the spinach in a zip loc bag and keep it in the refrigerator.
Toast the cumin seeds lightly and crush them in a mortar and pestle. Add the shallots, ginger, mint and salt and crush everything together. Stir the yogurt into the mortar.
Put the yogurt mix into a bowl and place the bowl in the refrigerator (or put the mortar directly into the refrigerator, if it is not a heavy granite one). Chill until ready to serve. The yogurt and spinach can be prepared an hour before dinner.
When the rest of your meal is ready, stir the chopped spinach into the yogurt mixture and serve.

Spinach raita is delicious and refreshing. Everyone loved it! We ate it for our July 1, Canada Day celebration dinner. It was very hot in Vancouver and the raita was a perfect pairing with grilled salmon, our traditional, West coast meal on Canada's big day!

This recipe is a keeper. I will be visiting One Hot Stove often for great, healthy recipes. Thanks, Zu for hosting Tried and Tasted.

Last month's Blog of the Month was Cynthia's Tastes Like Home. I made her delicious Coco-cilantro rice and have made it a few more times since.

110. Winter Melon Soup 冬瓜盅 – Recipe

2008-06-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

Winter melon soup is a summertime treat. This may sound like a contradiction but winter melon, aka white or ash gourd needs very warm weather to grow and is ready for eating in the summer.

Winter melon soup looks very impressive and is very tasty. In restaurants the soup is the pièce de résistance at banquets and is brought to the table with ceremony. The melon sits in a silver basin and the skin has been intricately carved with designs of dragons and words meaning good fortune or longevity. When the top is removed and the rich soup is revealed, the diners usually exclaim with pleasure.

It is not as complicated as one might think and can be attempted at home. It is well worth the trouble. I skipped the carving but someone might like to use the melon skin for artistic expression.

I am making an simple version of winter melon soup as it is difficult to find a whole, round 10 lb winter melon. The kind most often available is the cylindrical one. These are large vegetables and are sold cut crosswise into sections. I managed to buy the end piece so I have what looks like the bottom section of a test-tube. This piece is probably one-fifth the size of the whole melon.

By the way, the name is misleading. Winter melon is a vegetable. It is eaten in savoury dishes but there are also sweets made with the melon, e.g. candied winter melon and a flaky pasty with winter melon filling, known as wife cake. Mr. KC’s description of wife cake that has a skimpy filling is “too much cake, not enough wife”.

Ingredients:

1 bottom section of winter melon, approximately 3 lbs
2 cups of rich chicken stock
4 Chinese dried black mushrooms, soaked in boiling water to soften
4 pieces of dried scallops, soaked in boiling water to soften
1/4 cup smoked ham, diced
1 cup of mixed seafood (I used frozen seafood which had shrimps, squid rings and tentatcles, mussels and scallops)
1 cup of fresh mushrooms, diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Equipment needed:

A deep bowl to hold the melon
A large, deep pot for steaming and a steaming rack (I put the melon in an 8-inch, blue and white bowl and steamed it in the pressure cooker)

Method:

Wash the outside of the melon. Scoop the seeds and the centre part out and discard.

Using a sharp knife cut away the flesh of the melon. You are turning the melon into a deep bowl with walls about 2 inches thick. Chop or dice the cut out bits of melon.

Dice the softened mushrooms and break apart the softened scalloped. It will become shreds.

Put the melon in a heat-proof bowl.

Fill the melon with the chicken soup and add the mushrooms , scallops and chopped melon.

Steaming:

Cover the melon with aluminium foil. You might want to put the bowl on the centre of a dish cloth and tie the opposite corners together. This would make it easier to remove the hot bowl of soup from the steamer.

Place a steamer rack inside the pot and fill it with enough water to cover the rack by about 2 inches.

Place the aluminium-covered bowl on the rack and cover pot. Steam for about an hour. Check that the water has not evaporated too much. Add more water if necessary. It probably will be necessary. The soup is ready when the melon has absorbed the soup and is soft.

Add the seafood, ham, chopped melon and fresh mushrooms and steam for another ten minutes.

Remove the bowl carefully from the steamer and place on a heat-proof plate. Bring to table and serve.

Steaming - Pressure cooker method:

Put a steamer rack in the pressure cooker. Add enough water to cover the rack by a couple of inches. Put the foil-covered melon on the rack.

Note: The pressure cooker should not be more than 2/3 full. Leave a space between the contents and the lid. There is an indicator inside the pressure cooker about the safe level for cooking.

Put the pressure cooker on the stove and turn the heat to high. Lock the lid into place and bring to pressure, then lower heat and cook for 30 minutes.

Allow pressure to drop by the natural release method for 15 minutes.

When it is safe to do so, open the lid and remove the bowl with the melon and soup.

Note: It was too difficult to remove the bowl with the melon soup filled to the brim. I transferred the soup to a small pot, added the smoked ham, seafood and mushrooms and brought the soup back to a boil to cook the seafood. I brought the melon bowl to the table and re-filled the melon with the soup. It was safer than tottering from kitchen to dining room with a very hot bowl of soup. Then I invited my family to table. They were impressed!

My version of Winter Melon Soup is South Beach Diet friendly. The melon has a bland taste and it absorbs the flavours of the rich soup. When serving, use a spoon to scoop out the melon flesh so a bowl with contain soup, melon and the other ingredients. When all the soup is eaten, all that remains will be the thin husk of the outer skin.

You may use different ingredients. It is generally made with chopped roast duck, skin and meat, Char siu, crab meat, lotus seeds.

I intended to give the method for making the soup with a whole melon and also a vegetarian version but will leave it for another post.

I'm dashing this post off to Kalyn who is the creator of the wonderful food blogging event Weekend Herb Blogging. This weekend, Kalyn is the host. Do visit Kalyn for great healthy recipes and enjoy the recipes of all the clever cooks who will be sharing their recipes for herbs and vegetables.

109. Sweet and sour caramelized pork spare ribs 糖醋排骨 - Recipe

2008-06-26T08:18:00.000-07:00

Sweet and sour caramelized pork spare ribs 糖醋排骨

These spare ribs are coated with a sweet and slightly sour glaze. You will bite into a crunchy, caramel coating and then into slightly salty, juicy pork. I urge you to make them. I guarantee that you will be promising to make them again tomorrow for your family. They will have polished off the whole plate in no time and will be wondering how come you only made such a little bit. My MIL loved this dish, she said it wasn't bad. Praise indeed!

It is so easy to make and the only drawback is that the kitchen will smell of grease and smoke. So be sure to turn on the range hood and open all the windows. Your hair and clothes will smell of cooking also so don't cook this dish in new clothes or after having your hair done. One of the problems of cooking is that it defeats the purpose of clean hair and perfume.

Ingredients:

2 pounds pork spare ribs cut into chunks
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of chinese rice vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil

Method

Have the butcher cut the spareribs into pieces which are approximately 2in long. My butcher cut them into strips so I had to cut between the bones to separate the ribs. Sprinkle salt and pepper on them.
Heat the wok (medium fire) and swirl some oil around. Add the spare ribs and slowly brown them in several batches until they are crispy and brown. Set aside on a rack to drain the grease.
Caramelize the sugar: Put a clean dry stainless steel frying pan on the burner and turn the heat to low. Add the sugar and tilt the pan slightly so that the sugar is in an even layer. The sugar will start to melt. Tilt the pan to keep the syrup moving to melt the rest of sugar. The syrup will be a beautiful, amber colour. I find it really isn't necessary to stir the sugar. It should become a thick syrup.
Add the spare ribs and mix everything together so that the ribs are coated with the syrup.
Sprinkle the vinegar over the ribs. This will be quite dramatic. There will be a lot of sizzling. Stir the meat to mix the vinegar with the sugar.
Cook the ribs slowly until the syrup is a dark mahogany colour. Don't be multi-tasking at this point. Give your undivided attention to the ribs as they can burn easily. The ribs are ready then they look like you have lacquered them.
If you like a dramatic presentation, finish the spare ribs as you would for toffee apples. At the table, dip the pieces into a bowl of iced water and serve your guests. The caramel will be extra crunchy.

I used black vinegar as this was what was on hand. The type of vinegar will determine the taste of the ribs. The black vinegar gives a strong, smoky taste. There is also a sweeter vinegar. You can substitute a malted vinegar or apple cider vinegar if you don't have Chinese vinegar.

Dish up. Bask in the compliments as your family polishes off the ribs in record time! I enjoy this dish vicariously, watching them eat the ribs. Unfortunately, this dish is absolutely not South Beach diet friendly!

Note: The measurements for the sugar and vinegar are approximate. I made the ribs without measuring - I just sprinkled the vinegar from the bottle onto the ribs. I used lumpy brown sugar and it was OK. Any kind of sugar, except icing sugar would do. If you like, you can add some boiling water to the pan first and then put the sugar in. The sugar will be melted and then slowly cooked.

July 2, 2008

This is my entry to the food blogging event Original recipe by Culinarty.

My recipe is original. I invented it when I left a pan of spareribs with a sugary soy sauce unattended and inadvertently caramelized the ribs. My husband loved the dish and never knew that it was the result of my non-mindfulness. He raved about it to friends who requested my famous spareribs when I invited them to dinner. I had to work backwards to figure out what I had done and then I improved it by making a caramel first.

I found a wonderful blog, Culinarty by Lore , in the serendipitous way one does when surfing the net.

I was checking the roundup for Meat and Greet. In April, I entered a dish of beef tendon for the offal event and had a great time. I intended to join again but missed the deadline for the June event featuring poultry. I posted my comment and then read the other comments. This led me to Nuria's blog where I read her entry for Original recipe. She posted a wonderful tutorial (featuring step-by-step instructions with fabulous pictures) for Paella.

I am taking her advice to "Hurry to present your original recipe before July the 13th. " Here is my recipe for Sweet and sour caramelized pork spare-ribs that I am entering for the Original Recipe Culinarty Round Up. There is still time to enter and share an original recipe with all the creative food bloggers.