Dejah

2 nights ago, it was -35C. Today 0C and big chunks of snow was melting and falling off the roof! Breaded pork chops, mushroom gravy, mixed veg and rice.

Had to do some googling "Benedictine spread on hoecakes" 😋 Supper tonight: Pan-fried baby pickerel fillets with brown butter lemon sauce, roasted sweet taters and grilled zucchini. Fillets dusted with Old Bay seasoning and flour.

Our go to ham: skin-on, bone-in smoked pork picnic. Always have scalloped taters and peas.

Love these one pot meals (other than the rice pot) Chicken & Tofu in Sandpot. I used the fresh Shitaki mushrooms and Romano green beans I had picked up in Winnipeg last week.

@Kim Shook: I'll take your raw onions! But hope they've been soaking in ice water for a bit 😋 Made Chicken Wellington for supper. Next time, I'll even out the thickness of the breast for easier wrapping an d more even cooking. Interesting with the Duxelle on top of cream cheese Dijon mustard mixture.

Steamed Lion's Head Meatballs made with 3/4 ground beef, 1/4 pork. Much like the bouncy meatballs served at dim sum restaurants. Wrapped in Napa cabbage, and served with a mixture of soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. I had a Chinese sausage in the fridge, so sliced that up and added the slices for extra flavour.

Lazy days but I managed to do up a couple of dishes for CNY: Sun Neen Fie Lok to you all! It's the Year of the Tiger but the new year came in like a lion : blizzards, wind, and temperatures in the -35 range, with windchill of -50C tonight! Tang Yuen New Years Eve: Some families have sweet version . We prefer the savoury. My sister sent out dried shrimp meat, larger then the usual "Ha Mi. Lovely flavour and chew. I had picked up a packet of 2 frozen abalone on the shell. Not worth the 16.00 I paid! Braised and shrunk! The canned ones was $75.00! The fresh shitaki mushrooms were a nice change from the dried ones. I bought over $200. worth of groceries, so I got a free box of cooked shrimp. They were pretty good in a salad. I deep fried the rest quickly and had them with peashoots.

More quick trips to the city for hubby's medical apptns. Was hoping to try some different meals via DoorDash to the hotel, but noooo...Chinese please - comfort food. The first night was pretty good. It satisfied my craving for lots of vegetables. Singapore Noodles could have been spicier, but asked for regular in deference to hubby's medical procedure next morning. He really enjoyed the huge bean paste stuffed sesame seed balls! Picked up BBQ duck again , so rice bowl with duck and pea shoots was easy supper My s-i-l brought over waterchestnut "cake" (goh). It's like a firm jelly made with waterchester starch and diced waterchestnut. Supposed to fry slices lightly before eating, but we preferred it just cold and as is.

Yo-yo weather! -30C yesterday then -1C today! It's 11:36 pm and it's -3. Makes for treacherous roads - black ice, and for part of the day, the TransCanada was closed. That's the stretch we have to drive tomorrow - another trip to Winnipeg for medical apptns. Meanwhile, supper tonight was steamed whole pickerel with ginger, green onion, and cilantro. I get these whole dressed as well as fillets from a fisherman from Gimli, MB - Lake Winnipeg. Have been coming to our city for several years, 3 times / year. I always stock up. Whole or 1 lb fillet baby pickerel is $10.00. Eaten with stir-fried beansprouts and char siu, and jasmine rice

Another cold day with wind chill temps around -40 Curry Coconut Lamb with Lemongrass and Kaffir Lime leaves Threw i8n carrots, taters and celery for a meal in one Instant Pot!

Been resisting, but I caved. It was a $0 Dash delivery on a first order, so we had spicy Popeye Chicken. It was fast, still hot, and pretty good. Coating was crispy and not greasy. Had Cajun fries but forgot the rice and beans. Will be lunch tomorrow with the other 2 pieces of chicken. Not a meal I'd want too often, especially if I don't want to over-indulge on the breading! Biscuits were the only real failure.

Had cooked a whole package of fresh Shanghai noodles a couple of days ago. Used the leftover up tonight with some stir-fried mixed vegetables and a whole pile of spicy tomato shrimp. I peeled hubby's shrimp, but I like mine shell on. - taste better that way. He doesn't know how to stuff the whole shrimp in his mouth then spit out the shells as I do. 🤪 Short cuts today: shrimp were seasoned, tossed with oil and cornstarch, fried up in a hot wok, then added spicy ketsup and some salsa I had left in a jar.

More snow and cold temperatures. Good night for Chicken and Salted Fish Sand Pot. I like this one pot cooking!

We enjoy the stuffed version as well. I had to laugh about the single note "cringe" - describes how many react on first taste. I also make a long simmered soup with loads of ginger and re-hydrated dried oysters.

This is the variety that I buy, and some of my Chinese elders grow in their gardens: I see this variety, I presume, Indian Kerala? I bought it once and didn't care for it using my usual black bean sauce. Maybe better in curry? THIS is the "cooling tea" my Gramma and Mom used to make me drink to stay healthy. It was bitter! But I always got a chaser - sugar cane juice.😘

Quite the amazing meals for someone "running out of stuff" and "using up leftovers"!🤪

I haven't had a lot of experience with radicchio, other than small amounts in a salad. But I think bitter melon, and the Indian Kerala would be much more bitter. I always blanch the bitter melon before stir-frying. Even tho' we both love the bitterness, we enjoy it with a little less than stir-frying from fresh. Maybe @liuzhou can give his thoughts. I did find this chart:

Lovely looking bitter melon at the store. Must have whenever I see them! Had Shanghai noodles on hand + black bean garlic bitter melon, topped with shrimp

Chicken Breast Neptune

These are SOY BEAN sprouts, as opposed to MUNG BEAN sprouts. The "heads' require more chew but so delicious. I like to stir-fry them with lots of green onion, and some protein sometimes.

Soup was on the menu here as well. Picked up packages of Ramen noodles. These were vacuum packed "fresh". So handy to have on hand as they do not need refrigeration. Had a few pieces of leftover soy sauce chicken, added some bok choy, all cooked up in chicken broth with a bit of miso.

Such a coincidence as I have also been trying out a couple of WW (Weight Watchers) recipes Tonight was a riff on Goulash in the Instant Pot Orange Chicken in the air dryer: Steak and Beets: Citrus Marinated Roast Chicken

I know what I'll be cooking for supper tonight! Thanks @BonVivant!