I'm Back!

I know.. I'm a bad blogger. This always happens, I get super excited about a project and then after awhile the new-ness wears off I move onto something else new and exciting. Yep, commitment issues but let me share what I've been up to. The lack of motivation during the winter brought weeks of eating the same old dishes either due to laziness, exhaustion from work or lack of time.

My New Year's resolution was to have small dinner parties at home once a month and each time try something new. So far so good and the experience is wonderful. Let's hope I have new dishes to share in the upcoming months.

Long Beans w. Ground Pork



Fried Rice w. Chinese Sausage



Asian Style Butter Stir Fried Shrimp



Kare Kare (Oxtail)



Stir Fried Water Spinach w. Dried Shrimp



Bean Sprouts w. Ground Pork



Lnguine w. Clams



Chicken w. Chinese Broccoli



Seared Rib Eye Steak w. Chickpea Salad



Clams w. Black Bean Sauce



Anchovy Pasta



Leftover Prawn Mee Noodles Topped w. Pan Seared Shrimp & Pork



Vermicelli Grilled Shrimp - Bun Tom Thit Nuong

Winter Carb Hoarding

Ziti w. Prosciutto & Chicken

The winter seriously puts my carb craving into hyper drive. That's all I want to eat and I devour it. Winter brings winds cold enough to make you vulnerable, to want to crawl back into bed with a bowl of hot noodle soup. I wouldn't really eat in my bedroom though I was making a lame attempt at being dramatic in order to forget how lazy I've just become during these cold days.

After the Holidays with its "happiness and warmth" faded, the reality of winter sunk in. I think I like my job but the 10 minute walk to the subway while wearing 5 layers of clothing and still my face feels like it's going to rip off into the wind makes me suddenly feel the need to want to call in sick everyday. Since then I've sought the comfort of mom's home cooking, C's family's home cooking, Pizza Hut, Popeyes, Super Kew Chinese Take Out, and at work, bagels with cream cheese for breakfast, followed by a Sicilian slice for lunch. Seriously gross looking back. When I muster up the motivation to finally cook dinner it's either been noodle soup or pasta. Is it wrong that I don't feel guilty?

Beef Noodle Soup



Campanelle w. Leftover Roast Chicken from Chinese New Year Dinner, Bacon, White Bean & Kale

Christmas Day Breakfast - Bacon Corn Frittata w. Parmesan Cheese

I love the Holiday season - spending time with friends and my favorite sin of all time - gluttony. I admit the Holidays do become truly exhausting... after days of eating out or eating at others' homes and hearing mom dictate what to do in her kitchen I started missing cooking in my own kitchen. Some of the few dishes made during the month of December.

Galbi Jim - Korean Braised Short Ribs over Rice



Pork & Watercress Soup



Chinese Steamed Fish - The best part if pouring the hot fragrant oil over the fish.





Appetizer Experiment - Chicken Drumette Lollipops. I wish I remembered what I marinated the chicken in, so I could change up the combination. Flavor was only eh.



Weeknight Dinner - Three Cheese Tortellini from BJs w. Home Made Tomato Sauce (yes, from that batch of CSA tomatoes purchased over the summer) w. a side of Garlic Spinach.



Will post photos of the Holiday meals later..

Chinese Take Out My Way

I was exhausted from the 4 day weekend for some reason. Too much binging most likely. Usually when I come home from work and just want to be one with the sofa. That usually leads to going out for a cheap quick meal or ordering greasy, unhealthy take out. In order to cut back on spending money I decided to cook at least three meals at home for at least a few weeks. After all last week's carb kick and Thanksgiving binge of mainly American fare and yes, more carbs, I was craving some salty, sweet & comforting Chinese food. Instead I decided to make some Chinese "Take Out" dishes at home.

Beef w. Broccoli adapted from this recipe. Complete with Pan-Fried Frozen Dumplings





Chicken w. Ginger & Scallions adapted from this recipe.



Oh let's not forget my pride and joy for Thanksgiving. For my Roast Ham I ended up combining processes from two recipes as I was undecided on how to proceed. The diamond slits were cut on the ham and the dry rub of Emeril Essence & Cayenne pepper was massaged on and cloves added while I was bringing it to room temperature. I coated the ham with a simmered mixture of Coke, Jack Daniels, Thyme, Brown Sugar and Orange Zest. Then added more Jack & Coke to the bottom of the roasting pan. The Ham was basted every 30 min in its drippings until done. For the last 30 minutes the ham was glazed with the remaining coating base boiled down further with orange marmalade.



The result was a crust that was a combination of sticky and crispy and the meat oh so succulent. I managed to keep the ham bone for next day's lunch and turned it into more comfort food. Mmmm.... too bad there were no leftovers past the next day.

Always a Time for Food

Work has been getting the best of me lately. There are many days I come home with the lack of motivation to pick up a pan let alone pick up the phone for take out. Some days I'll be happy with a bowl of cereal or nuts but after awhile my stomach will crave something a bit more substantial. I'm tired and beat but on to better things! Meals from the past 1-2 weeks.

Cheese Tortellini (courtesy of BJs) w. Pancetta & Kale



My attempt at Caesar Salad with homemade dressing. Used the anchovies and all but am too paranoid to use a raw egg.



Lemon Butter Chicken Breasts with Roasted Garlic Potatoes



Cucumber Salad



Lemongrass Shrimp



Breakfast w. my attempt at Homemade Sausage Patties



Chickpea Salad



Pepper Steak Stir Fry

Simple Comfort

A big bowl of this for the night. I feel a cold coming.



BF trying to perfect his breakfast skills. I know it' same boring stuff but it's fun to see how the same old evolves.

Healing

I've been lazy again.. but for good reason. It's almost been two weeks but I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth taken out. Oh, how brave I thought I was. The surgery was cake, but the aftermath was utter torture. I'm a lot better now than I was last week but still cautious of what & how I eat. I haven't eaten foods like rice or corn, both foods I love, for fear they would get stuck in my holes. Ok, before this post becomes TMI...

BFF and I purchased a 20lb box of tomatoes through our CSA and spent a fun day (the next day after my surgery) making tomato sauce to pack in our freezer for a rainy, lazy day. Disclaimer: I'm not too fond of red sauce pasta as I'm more of a garlic and oil kinda gal. We used this recipe from Chez Pim for one batch and cooked down the second batch longer with some additional herbs.



Breakfast courtesy of hun. He makes better home fries than me and should be cooking more often me thinks.



One of my very good friends got married last weekend. After a week of neglect to my stomach I said F my surgery and ate everything in sight but I tell you my mouth made me pay all night. As with most Chinese Banquets, dinner is about a 7-10 course meal with TONS of leftovers at the end of the night. Figured I would take them home and re purpose the dishes.

What to do with the plain leftover noodles? Refry them with aromatics (garlic & scallions), meat (cured pork belly) & add a veggie (frozen peas then topped with scallions)



Leftover fried whole chicken? Strip the meat and throw it into a pasta. Looks gross but it was one of the best tasting pasta dishes I've made so far and there were enough leftovers for 2 days worth of lunch. Recipe Adapted from here.



Now that I'm healing and not suffering from chewing, the cooking has commenced again - my BF rejoices.

Tonight: Sauteed Baby Bok Choy w. Garlic



Creamy, Garlic Mashed Potatoes w. Chives



Ahh, I miss fish



Simple Grilled Fatty Salmon

Weekend Fare

I got these adorable mini purple potatoes in my CSA box this week. Threw em together with the other red potatoes to make a potato salad.



A good, stinky belachan dish starts out with these - dried shrimp and belachan paste.



Okra Belachan - I hate this slimy vegetable but my BF seems to love it so I was nice enough to pick up some at the Farmer's Market. I get to munch on the dried shrimp bits as reward for my kindness.



Pan-Fried Chicken Wings - a household favorite paired with the potato salad.



Vietnamese Beef Cubes satisfied a long overdue craving (taken from here - used arugula in lieu of watercress) Those are cherry tomatoes and not egg yolks.