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Showing posts with label
Cindy's Homemade Food-Appetizers.
Show all posts
Showing posts with label
Cindy's Homemade Food-Appetizers.
Show all posts
Posted by kenny
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Hello Taiwan!It's been almost one week since I arrived in Taiwan,My parents are really taking good care of me,Not sure about other families, but to mine, that involves a lot of feeding...Don't get me wrong,Feeding is good, especially everything's homemade and childhood favorite dishes,But man oh man, how much I miss cooking and messing around the kitchen.Luckily, I finally got my cooking time back yesterday,My dad got tons of Matsusaka pork slices for friends and business partners,6 of that high pile of meat containers went into my fridge, Yes!Ingredients?30 slices of Matsusaka pork slices2 garlic cloves1 stalk of scallion1 tablespoon of black bean soy sauce1 teaspoon of chili sauce (*not the paste kind, preferably with some fine grounded Szechuan peppercorn)Little olive oilLittle saltHow?Here're my beautiful Matsusaka pork slices - The texture is on the chewy side once you cooked it,But it's tender at the same time due to its high fat content.I've decided to go light on the seasoning so I get more taste from the meat,Here's how I did it,Drizzle some olive oil in the pan and turn to medium high heat,Just a little bit of oil is fine since the meat is so fat.Toss in peeled and sliced garlic, sprinkle a little bit of salt,Cook till the garlic just about to get burned,Add in pork slices, soy sauce, chili sauce, and chopped scallion,Cook till the sauce is fully absorbed by the pork.All 30 slices, finished in 6 minutes, by myself.That's life \( ^ _.^ )/Cindy's Rating: 8
Posted by kenny
Monday, December 27, 2010
PB&J?You mean...peanut butter and jelly? Yes that's right!My first PB&J was way back then, when I started to live in the states,Believe it or not, There's no such thing in Asia (well, at least not as common and most of the time, it can be a rare find).Who would have thought mixing peanut butter together will fruit jam can create such a balanced and addictive flavor profile,So I, once a little Asian girl, fell in love with it right after that very first bite.And here's my take on PB&J,The basic taste remains, but in a cuter/rounder form.Ingredients?Minimum of 2 slices milk toasts/white toasts/or whole wheat toastsCreamy peanut butterStrawberry and guava jam (or any other kind of preferred jam)Chocolate sauceHow?Just like how you make peanut butter and jelly,Let's spread the peanut butter on one toast, jam on the other,Stick them together with the peanut butter and jam sides in the inner part. With a medium round-shaped cookie cutter,Or you can substitute with any circular shaped objects,Guess what did I use?Wine glass!So press the cutter down, You might want to twist it around in order to cut through the toasts.Now you have a perfectly round shaped, semi-finished PB&J,Go ahead and seal the edges by pressing the toasts down with your fingers.Once done, heat up a skillet and toast both sides of the bread for a wee bit,Before serving, simply transfer the tiny PB&J to the plate,Drizzle some chocolate sauce over to make it even better!Please enjoy.Cindy's Rating: 7
Posted by kenny
Monday, December 20, 2010
My kitchen resembles a 3/4 empty shell at the moment.Since the majority of my stuff was packed yesterday, ready to ship oversea back to Taiwan,I have nearly nothing left to cook with.No knives, no pots, no blender, no fancy plates,Just a few small bowls and utensils scattering here and there,Oh, and an ancient old Teflon pan in the corner.That also means I've been dining out for the past few days,My tongue and tummy are crying out for some homemade food (partially I think they're just spoiled!),MSG-loaded food no more, today, I shall have my simple homemade lunch in da house!Plus this super easy appetizer below!Seared tuna served with ponzu sauce and chopped scallionLunch: Noodles with soup base, plus tons of spinach (not included in recipe)Ingredients?Some sushi grade tunaSome ponzu sauceSome toasted sesame seedsSome "finely" chopped scallionSome sriracha sauce if preferredSome olive oilSome sea saltsSome black pepper (Use freshly ground black pepper if possible, sadly mine's been packed away)How?Season both sides of the tuna with salt and pepper.Drizzle some oil in the pan, turn to high heat,Once the oil gets hotter, transfer the fish and sear both sides for about 30 seconds each,You can definitely sear it till lightly browned. Remove the fish from heat to a cutting board, let it cool down a wee bit,Cut into about 1 center meter thick slices,Serve with some ponzu sauce, finely chopped scallion, a small drop of chili sauce if desired.So how did I manage to cut the tuna and scallion without a knife?Well well well, a very dull steak knife can still do the trick,*if you don't mind suffering from finger cramping afterwards.-Side note-Marinate the fish beforehand should make this dish tastier,Maybe some soy sauce, mirin, grated ginger, and scallion will do.I would like to fry up some thinly sliced garlic or lotus roots to go with the tuna,But without a very sharp knife or slicer, I'd better skip this part just so I can still see all of my ten fingers together. Cindy's Rating: 6 (Consider this good enough with my limited tools and seasoning)
Posted by kenny
Monday, December 13, 2010
After devouring two slices of foie gras with rib eye steaks,My freezer is now left with four more liver pieces, I have to finish everything before shipping all the kitchenware back to Taiwan,That means...seven days for four more foie gras meals!Is it possible to eat such fatty and oily stuff nearly everyday for one whole week?Well, with the help of my strawberry guava jam, I believe foie gras should be gone in no time!Ingredients?1 piece of foie gras1 tablespoon of fresh Asian pear (finely diced)Some strawberry guava jam (black currant jam should do the trick too)Some toasted sourdough slices (or simple baguette)Toast the bread slices on both sides,*I actually brush some extra virgin olive oil on the grill pan beforehand.Preheat the oven to 365 degrees Fahrenheit.Sear the foie gras till both sides turn slightly brown,Transfer to the oven till desired doneness.This time I cook the foie gras straight from the freezer,So I left it in the oven for about 5 minutes or so to make sure that the center is well cooked-through.To assemble,Transfer the bread slices onto a plate,Spoon some jam and place the foie gras directly on it,Serve with finely diced Asian pear.Foie gras matches well with ingredients that carry some sort of acidity,It balances out the oiliness from the duck fat,I actually had this dish for breakfast,Come on, bread and jam, of course it's good for breakfast ( > _.< )"Believe it or not,This will be on my table again tomorrow morning.So good.Cindy's Rating: 8
Posted by kenny
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Tired of same old potato dishes?Wanna try something new?This simple Asian/Japanese influenced recipe can definitely jazz up your meal,By the way, did I mention it's good with beer too?Ingredients (for 1 potato)?1 medium size potato5 tablespoons of mentaiko2 tablespoons of Japanese mayonnaiseSome seaweed flakesSome toasted sesame seedsSome butterHow?Simply mix together the mentaiko and mayonnaise, there we have it, the sauce - Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.For the potato, you can either boil it first or just use the microwave,If you're boiling it,Bring a small pot of water to a boil, Toss in peeled potato and cook till you can easily poke a fork/chopstick down to the center.If you're using the microwave, again, put the peeled potato on a small bowl,2 minutes at a time for about 6 minutes,Remember to change sides in between.Once the potato cools down a little bit, Slice it, about 2 mm in width.Line up tin foil on a baking sheet, Cut the butter into small squares.Here's how we gonna do it,Put one butter square on the sheet, Lay one potato slice on the butter, press it down a wee bit if needed,Drizzle the sauce over the potato, repeat the steps for the remaining slices. *Butter prevents the bottom of the potato slices from drying up.Don't worry if the potato slices are tearing apart, You can just treat it like clay and form the pieces together again,It'll all stick together after baking.Into the oven for 14 minutes, Quick check, if the sauce still looks semi-wet, turn to broil and cook for few more minutes.Sprinkle some seaweed flakes and toasted sesame seeds before serving,Mentaiko makes this dish slightly spicy, That little kick is perfect with....beer!(Good for football season huh?)Cindy's Rating: 7
