Dejah

Spring yard clean-up has begun! Quick meals ahead! Curry Beef, Basmati rice, and stir-fried veg. Basmati rice redux= Veg fried rice with bits of the leftover curry beef tossed in Our Soo's Restaurant #12A: Cantonese Chow Mein with liberty taken with veg;-) Dinner was a staple in my pantry: canned deep fried dace with black beans: over Shanghai bok choy. Eaten with Jasmin rice. Spent yesterday making Char Siu baos with the pork I cooked in the Big Easy a few days ago. Most of the 3 doz went out of the house. These 8 were the rejects;-) Dessert was one of these: Tart shells were bought from the Chinese grocery

Grandson was here Saturday to help me dismantle Xmas - finally! Put a ham and a pan of scalloped taters in the oven. It made for an easy supper when we were done working outside. Nice weather coming in! Was able to pull out the Big Easy yesterday and did up the char siu I had marinating the last 2 days. These slabs were from a whole boneless pork loin ($1.99 / lb). It's leaner than I'd like (usually use pork butt), but they turned out well. Will be making Char Siu baos later today. Had picked up a smallish AAA Striploin roast. Cut it into 2 thick steaks. Pan seared and finished in the Ninja Air-fryer toaster oven. Sweet taters were also done in the Ninja.

Never fresh from the fields but saw some at our local supermarket: $7.98 / lb! I didn't buy...

No fresh off the boat or going out in our area for any shell fish. We do have tanks at the local Superstore, but quality is never guaranteed. I have picked thru', bought, only to come home and find some dead. My best bet is to buy frozen - P.E.I Mussels - cooked, and also cooked clams from the Chinese supermarket. Will have to suffice until we get to the east coast to visit our son!

Boneless pork loin seems to always be on sale: $1.99/b. Picked up one with more visible fat for char siu, left 3 slices and a small roast (for the freezer. Slabs marinating for char siu, and did up the 3 with Panko crumbs and mushroom gravy. Potato slices in the air fryer from previous baked taters. Wishing we could have good fresh seafood, but alas, frozen will have to suffice. Bouillabaisse for supper last night.

I love green beans, especially the Romano ones. Hubby only likes green beans when they are stir-fried with FuYu. Kids all love that umami too. Using up more of the trimmings from the beef tenderloin. The local Chinese store brings in beautiful cilantro, cleaned, big bags with lovely stalks (my favourite part) along with the Romano beans. Still protein from the freezer: Italian hot sausages on red and green cabbage, sweet potato, Bush Pork and Beans, and my Cranberry Apple Chutney.

Beef, tomato, egg - a family favourite. Not sure if it's a southern Chinese version or just that my Mom always put in beef to please my Caucasian hubby who doesn't usually eat tomato! My Chinese students always said "just eggs and tomatoes". Our kids' all love this dish. Roasted a chunk of a whole boneless pork loin that was on sale. Slowly working down the protein in the freezer. Pork was rubbed with whole grain Dijon mustard and poked with stalks of fresh rosemary. Enjoyed some more of my friend's potato, cheese, dill stuffed perogies. The individual servings of apple sauce is perfect for one person. I had my Cranberry Apple chutney. Cut up leftover pork roast and stir-fried with udon noodles, julienne vegetables, beansprouts, oyster sauce, and sweet chili sauce.

Finally caught up reading and drooling over the last few pages. SO many dishes I now want to make: scallop boats, bacon wrapped duck breasts, Sek Pak, more galibut...and so on... A few more of the meals from weeks past: IP Black Bean Garlic Ribs Panko-crusted Halibut. This was a piece of fresh halibut on Superstore Flashfood app at 50% off. Guess nobody was buying at the present price. The piece was large enough to feed us both, under $10.00 A couple of pieces of oxtail and short ribs i picked up at our Latin food mart. They had advertised $5.00 / lb for ANY cut, cheaper than what I'd have to pay at regular supermarket. Cooked in IP Using some of the Vadouvan Curry from Silk Road Spice Market: Shrimp, Basmati rice, and stir-fried veg.

@C. sapidus Never thought of potato rendang. Looks fabulous! Will have to look into that.

OH! Wish our weather would warm up so my rhubarb can come out! The first pie is the bestest! ❤️

Been a slacker in posting, but definitely not in eating 😉 Easter was a scramble. Didn't have my daughter to lend her hands, so had to plan accordingly. Not a pretty sight but the han was good. Had homemade perogies from a friend, scalloped taters, sprouts, carrots. Of course I made the mustard sauce per @Shelby! Made quick pickled asparagus a couple of days before as my 8 year old granddaughter loves them. From the freezer, a turkey breast on sale: stuffed and roasted. Love mash potatoes and gravy! The apple cranberry orange pecan chutney I made for the ham is perfect for this. Had ground beef to use up: with onions and Cavendish fries. It was extra lean ground beef, so I added a tbsp of peanut butter to the mix. For dessert, Egg Custard Pie! Still had ground beef left, so made Keema Curry with Ground Beef. Reminded us of the Keema Naan we had so enjoyed in England. I should have made naan from scratch and stuffed them before frying. Fish 'n' Chips with baby pickerel: Pan seared the tail piece of a whole tenderloin - more perogies! Off to see the band, the Stampeders - their 50th Anniversary!

Seems like several of us were cleaning out the vegetable crisper. I also had a couple of pieces of a chicken breast culled from the whole chicken used to make congee for a sick friend. Added some shrimp and a dollop of Toban sauce. Eaten with Jasmine rice. Son, an osteopath, came up to give hubby a massage after work (9pm), so he got some for a late supper. Last night, deep fried tofu puffs, stuffed with ground pork, water chestnuts, and Shitaki mushrooms. Pan fried then simmered with stock and oyster sauce. Stir-fried Shanghai bok choy and Jasmine rice completes the meal.

I had a can of Heinz, and it said British Style. It had too strong a tomato taste and knew hubby wouldn't have enjoyed it. But I al;ready knew he loves molasses;-) I snuck some of the British style in so as to not waste it. He didn't notice;-)

I've since gotten Neem oil, mainly for the Asian Lily Beetle. Wish I had known about it back then! The tree I had was old, and the trunk was at least 2" thick. I kept the trunk and use it as a trellis for vines in my garden.

Been reminiscing with friends about our younger days while driving across N.A on a shoestring budget - living on one salary as hubby was teaching on permit those days! 2 staples we ate on the way home when we were pretty short on $. We had one credit card - for gas, so we were always able to get home! One item was SPAM on fresh bread with cheese whiz. I bought a can when shopping last week, and WOW! $4.97 a tin! Hubby talked about his grandparents receiving tins of this after WWII as rations for seniors. I fried some up, and made sandwiches with cheese and fresh bread. Pretty salty! Won't be buying it again for another 50 years. The second staple was Pork and Beans. I always had a couple of cans of Pork and Beans for when we were really broke! Watching re-runs of "As Time Goes By", the British comedy with Judy Dench, where she and Lionel would have toast and beans for a quick supper, I've been wanting Pork and Beans! When our band toured in England, we stayed at musicians' digs for a month. Cheap rates, and breakfast was included: bangers and eggs, toast, and commercial size cans of pork and beans, and one of canned tomatoes (both were open and sat at the table until after breakfast) What we had for lunch yesterday: Bush's with molasses and pork is pretty upscale to what we had back in the late 60s!

I was given a big one years ago, and enjoyed just brushing against the leaves for that fresh fragrance. Used a lot for cooking, then mealy bugs got a hold. No matter what I tried, couldn't save it. I was so sad as I have not been able to find another. Now I have to buy bags when I get to a larger Asian store.

Pulled out some of the lamb chops from my stash. A couple were about 2" thick, and cut unevenly around the bone (trainee meat cutter!), so they were marked down $5.00 each package of 4, original price $24.97. Didn't want to smoke up the kitchen grilling, so these were done in the sous vide then a quick sear. Oven baked pork chops. Brushed with mayo and coated with panko. Fried up boiled potatoes from another meal. Had picked up in-store prepped packages of top sirloin medallions at Safeway, again marked down after being in the display cooler for 2 days. It was buy 2 get 1 free. Good enough deal when they are marked down. Should have done them in the sous vide before searing! One piece was good, but the larger one was tough. The other packages will be done properly! The mushrooms and green peppercorn gravy helped. Learned something new from a friend re-keeping sour cream, cottage cheese "fresh" after opening the container. Turn the container upside down! The contents drop against the lid, keeping out any air that could cause mold. Things I learn at aquacize! 😆

I just discovered pappardelle a couple of months back. These were in our Safeway store, and I grabbed one bag, tried them, loved them, and got the last 2. Haven't been able to find them again. Have tried some from Amazon (Garagalo) and others, but I like these best:

Picked up a smallish corned beef at Safeway. Was running late so sous vide for 10 hours @180F. It was the best I've ever made: moist and tender. Made the mustard sauce posted by @Shelby THANK YOU! We loved it! Stir-fried cabbage with bacon, steamed carrots, and boiled potatoes.

Here ya go, @Senior Sea Kayaker. In your honour, our last meal for March 2023! Smoked Winnipeg Goldeyes were seasoned with salt and pepper, dabs of butter, then wrapped in foil and into the 450 oven for 15 minutes. Eaten with perogies, homemade by a friend, canned corn, and field green salad with pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, pecans apple and grapes. The fish was wonderful; but oh so many tiny bones!

My hubby likes a bit of chew to his porridge, so we have Red River Cereal. There was panic when the original company stopped producing it, but last October, a flour mill, ARVA, in Ontario bought the rights and now we have it back in the stores. Apparently, they can't ship to USA, but a friend of mine gave me a recipe. Recipe for Red River Cereal YIELD: 4 cups INGREDIENTS 2 tablespoons brown flax seeds 2 tablespoons golden flax seeds 2 cups cracked wheat 2 cups rye meal My friend Kathy’s own mix: Ingredients: STEEL CUT WHEAT, STEEL CUT RYE (triticale) , CRACKED AND WHOLE FLAX, oatmeal 1/2 c of flax and 1 cup of all the other stuff 1 c triticale, 1 c oat meal, 1/2 c bulgar wheat, 1/3 c flax seed To cook: Add 1 cup RRC to 3 cups boiling water. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and cook until all water is gone and cereal is thick.

Oh yes! Safeway has them quite often. Our band used to play a 3-day gig for Abitibi Power and Paper Company when they reach their paper production goal in Powerview, Manitoba, and for the town's 3-P Festival (Pulp and Paper, Power, and Peas (grown and exported for pea soup!). There were always booths selling food, and the favourite was smoked Goldeye. We used to buy several, take it back to the hotel for late night snacks - with a squirt of lemon. Now I'll have to go and pick some up!

Got a new shipment of pickerel fillets. I ordered some thicker fillets for steaming. I enjoyed all the cooked aromatics placed on top after steaming, and the fish retained its mild flavour. Also made winter melon soup with pork hock and re-hydrated oysters. Marinated a couple of chicken breasts and 3 legs for Citrus Marinated Roast Chicken. Followed @Shelby directions and did up some roasted taters and steamed asparagus with Feta cheese. Love using the fresh thyme from a friend's greenhouse. Left overs for lunch today!

Your bowl with all the bony pieces would be my choice! Had picked up a couple of prepackaged mustard and rosemary lamb shanks on sale at Safeway. I don't usually buy marinated meat, but it was cheaper than other shanks at my moment of weakness. It was wayyy too salty, so I tried to rescue it by rinsing off the marinade after braising. Too late, even with 2 cans of coconut milk and a bit of red curry. Lots of herbs, stir-fried veg and roasted taters were the highlight of that meal! Grandson picked up a smallish Wagu beef to try. I donated a single rib roast. The wagu was a weird shape, he said, so he cut it into 3 steaks and cooked it with the cold pan start method I showed him. The roast was done early and sitting took it to beyond medium but still good. I made scalloped taters, one side with dill as the kidlets like the taters plain;-) Also took over Michael Symon's Holiday brussel Sprouts, which the picky kidlets have always loved! and a quick pickle with English cucumber and sushi seasoning.

Was in pain yesterday with a crazy kink in my back. I was so happy I still had the extra chicken bao filling in the freezer. I managed to thaw that, cooked some rice, and stir-fried some sugar snaps and red bell peppers. Slept most of yesterday with aid of Tylenol Extra Strength, did an hour of gentle aquacize in the pool at the Y and a short sauna, and the kink is nearly gone! Have containers of pho spice pks and seasonings, and fresh Thai basil and beansprouts on hand, so Beef Pho for supper.