Dejah

Been on a road trip since Aug 13 and, in spite of many lovely meals out and in friends' homes, I am SO ready to get to the farmer's markets and my kitchen at home! The meals presented are all fabulous! Huiray's Pork Hocks in Black Vinegar brought up many memories for me. For each of my children's births, my Mom made gallons of this soup, kept in crocks in an extra fridge...a couple of weeks before the due date. She also put daylily buds, peanuts, and hard-boiled eggs in the soup. The balance was perfect - tangy and gingery enough to "burn the back of the throat" ( not really burn but don't know how else to describe it) yet balanced with sugar tho' not cloyingly so. The vinegar is to tighten up the uterus after birth, the peanuts to increase the milk production, and so on. There was enough fat and gelatin to form a fat cap on top and the liquid would be gelatinous. Mom would heat a bowl of it up with all the goodies before I'd devour it. When the baby is one month old, friends and relatives would come to visit.The visitors were given a choice, this soup, or one made with whisky, chicken, lilybuds, peanuts, etc. Most of the men-folk declined both and just went for the whisky! I've tried to reproduce Mom's recipe, but it never tasted the same. I miss my Mom.

BonVivant: Those rice paper rolls look great! Mine sometimes tend to be limp, probably because of my filling...Must practice! Scubadoo97: Like your addition of "heat" to the roasted cauliflower...Must try next time. I am always adding heat of some sort onto ours. Gravy is a thing of beauty. I know my family - siblings, nieces, nephews, kids all fight for the last drop. Rice is the preferred carb but failing that, mashed taters or biscuits will do nicely!

Our Superstore is quite good at getting the Thai basil in. Sometimes, it's in good shape, other times, not usable. Of course, that's when I REALLY need it. My s-i-l was loaded with the basil last summer, so he dried a whole bag...not good like regular basil. Summer, no problem...I grow basil in my herbs patch. (And, we DO have summer )

gfweb: That chili pepper date paste sounds wonderful! Still cleaning out the veg crisper before we leave on Thursday. Following Anna's Thai influenced coconut chicken, I also made Coconut Curry Chicken in the slow cooker for supper. Eaten with store-bought naan. Should have made them myself in the Big Easy, but it was wayyyy too hot outside! Heatwave on the prairies all this week. +32...feels like +40C! Only 6 carrots and 10 little taters left for tomorrow.

Thanks, huiray. Appreciate your taking the time to explain again. Been AWOL from eGullet, thus forgetful I will try adding garlic to a Chinese soup one day. Hubby may not appreciate it, but I might!

huiray: Is it traditional in "your part of China" to put garlic in your soups? I don't remember my Mom putting garlic in the Toisanese / Cantonese style soups...Ginger. cilantro, ham choy yes, but not garlic. I am curious...

Thai-influences Chicken Coconut soup would be perfect with a crispy baguette, or some of the lovely homemade bread that Anna and Ann_T bakes! huiray: You gogi soup. I know you used re-hydrated berries. Is the leaves for soup variety of the gogi plant available in your markets? We have to grow our own. When I was at our farm property this afternoon, I noticed a new gogi plant about 5 feet from the original, planted 30 some years ago from a shoot of my mother's plant. As we were out "at the farm" until past supper, we needed something quick: BBQ Beef ribs with Montreal steak spice while I stir-fried a package of rice noodles with beansprouts and green onions. Trying to clean out the fridge before we head off for a 3 week road trip.

Inspired / reminded by Anna N of a favourite breakfast combo from the musicians' digs while performing in England! It was the first time I had ever encountered canned tomatoes, and I loved them from the start, with anything, everything, and straight out of the can with a fork. . Scrambles a couple of eggs with chopped cilantro, fresh green peppercorns, and a sprinkle of Cajun spice. Added the canned tomatoes and fresh peashoots. Satisfying brunch!

Oh Anna N! Your dish has my two favourite foods: scrambled eggs and canned tomato! That'll be my bunch tomorrow! S-i-l made ribs - slow roasted in foil for 6 hours, then blasted for a few minutes after he slapped on the sauce he made. He mistakenly used tapioca starch instead of cornstarch for the sauce. It was very thick. The rub was an assortment of coriander, cumin, paprika, etc. and the sauce had one dried ghost pepper, Chinese wine, a bit of ketsup, etc. The ribs were sticky and spicy. Delicious! I boiled some baby taters, smashed them a bit then fried in butter.

Had beef short ribs in the freezer, so made Beef Rendang from Cradle of Flavour. It's been a long time since I've made this. I made a gravy at the end with some of the goop and oil. Thinned down the rue with a small can of coconut milk and another tbsp. of red curry paste. This was very rich, but went perfectly with cumin basmati rice and stir-fried Shanghai bok choy. Hey! That's 3 countries in one meal.

Thanks, liuzhou When you started the savory blueberry thread, I also thought - duck! I have pork ribs out thawing, maybe I'll try something with that tomorrow. Did you give the ingredients in the above experiment? Blueberries are abundant at the moment, so I'll have to try. My Mom called the Morning Glory as "hollow heart vegetable". I learned Morning Glory while we were on our trip to Indochina. I ordered it whenever possible as it is difficult to get this in good condition here. I was surprised that it kept well this time, for 5 days before I had the opportunity to cook it. Apparently, there are two ways to grow this vegetable: on land or in the water. Can you verify that? I would think "in water"?

Think my brains is on summer holidays mode! Been forgetting to take pics until the leftovers stage. Had some friends over for supper on the weekend. Requests were from our restaurant days The container has the leftovers - left to right: Kung Pao Chicken, Shanghai Noodles, Pepper Shrimp with Gai Lan, Crispy Ginger Beef, Shitaki Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce with Gai Lan leaves, Earlier, we had Summer rolls and Fresh Lily Bulb Soup. S-i-l and son came out from the city to do some chores. Made food that are their not-cooked-at-home favourites: Aromatic Lamb Shanks a la Nigella Lawson Had 2 leftover fresh shanks, so lunch was Scotch Broth Scored a BIG bunch of Morning Glory / Ong Choy / Water Spinach while in the city! Ong Choy cooked with garlic, ginger, and fish sauce The Ong Choy was eaten (mostly by me!) with Beef and Ho Fun (Rice noodles) It's been hot weather here, but once s-i-l fixed the A/C, cooking in the kitchen has not been a problem! Tonight, we'll be eating Beef Rendang with short ribs - another request / reward for cutting down trees, fixing fences, water hoses, doors, etc!

Exams are done, marked, and results are in. My holidays have begun! Work sure cuts into my eGullet reading time Love all the meals posted here, and it'd take me all night to "like" them all! But Ann_T - your pizzas always kill me...Gorgeous rims. That's all I'd want...just the rims. It's been hot here on the prairies, but s-i-l fixed the A/C, so no problem using the oven - so says he who wanted pie - both savory and sweet. To keep s-i-l happy as he fixes things and cuts down trees, I've been cooking his requests: Fish';n'Chips with fresh pickerel Steak 'n' Kidney pie Cherry pie with fresh cherries Saskatoon Pie with fresh berries and a big tray of Moroccan Spiced cigars for a friend's 60th bday party

It's been very hot, humid, and smoky (forest fires out west) here for the last 3 weeks...Dare not turn on the oven, so it's been the "smoker" and slow cooker (outside) S-i-l is here and using the old BBQ as a smoker. I picked up lamb chops, and he rubbed them with pineapple sage, Thai basil, fresh green peppercorns ( all mushed in the pestle and mortor). The chops were smoked with applewood chips. They were delicious! Picked up new taters at farmer's market - boiled, smashed up a bit, and add loads of butter and fresh sage... Today, we had an airshow here in the city. Hubby is a volunteer with the British Commonwealth Air Training Museum, and he was the MC for the show featuring the Commemorative Air Force from Mesa, Arizona. I was his water girl. S-i-l loves lamb,as do we, so I cut up a lamb shoulder roast, threw in a bunch of vegetables, lemongrass, Kaffir lime leaves, red Thai curry, coconut milk, into the slow cooker to simmer away for the afternoon. Half hour before supper, I added Thai pea-eggplant, fresh mushrooms, and fresh green peppercorns. Had supper with Nasi Lemak and "salad" fixings. I DID cave and turned the oven on a couple of nights ago. Had some Not-sweet-enough cherries to use up, so I made pie at 11 PM!

rotus: Don't have to be really really old to know The Man Who Never Returned... 1959 ... Ham yeu: Salted fish. Cut up chunks of salted fish, lay them on top of seasoned ground pork, top with loads of fresh ginger. Eaten with loads of steamed rice. The salted dish is also wonderful in fried rice! Yeah...there's always leftover prime rib at our house 'cos I always cook BIG roasts...The rest went home with the kids, along with one leftover (of 24)Yorkshire pudding. The main reason really, was because 16-year-old grandson was absent;.

While we were trying to eat up the leftover prime rib roast from the night before, my daughter requested rice and her favourite dish - ham yeu - for brunch. As she will be living in a studio apartment in Boston for a year, there will be little chance for her to cook it as the pungent aroma may offend other residents Yeah...my 3 kids, hubby, and son-i-l all love this, and they all want their own piece! That took most of a large salted Yellow Croaker! Then they all fought for the juice at the bottom of the pan for their "burnt rice":from the bottom of the rice pot. Needless to say, there was roast beef left over yet again...

We were at a celebratory banquet in Chinatown last weekend - all Chinese guests except for my hubby. The "dessert" end-of -the-meal course was red bean / lotus seed soup with orange peel. It was a lovely way to finish the meal. Other times, we've had a sweet soup with a few long noodles - for longevity. Maybe the dessert course is served at the request of the host...

First greens from an auntie's "Chinese garden": goji greens soup - the spring tonic next to rhubarb pie... This variety of goji is grown for its leaves. The stalks are cut when in leave, strip off the leaves then they can be replanted to multiply just by sticking it back in the garden! I don't have a sunny spot for vegetables ( only for flowers), but I get bundles from the "aunties". Soup is made by simmering pork bones. The leaves are added just for a quick boil, and a couple of salted duck eggs are swirled in. This is the way my maternal grandma and mom used to make it for me, and I'm sticking to it! Had a store-bought rotisserie to use up. Made a quick curry with Glico curry cubes, lots of onions, and added the mojos that came with the chicken. Added the fresh green peppercorns for more bite.

Been too busy to post but not too busy to read other's posts and EAT! Finally got back to the Big Easy: Boneless leg of lamb, marinated in red wine, whole grain mustard, and stuffed with rosemary First time doing lobster tails on the BBQ - previously frozen @ 4.00 each - about 5 oz...split, Montreal steak spice, butter, lemon juice S-i-l's BBQ ribeye steaks with charcoal and applewood chips a la Alton Brown's "reverse sear" Perfectly cooked...same all the way through! New recipe for me tonight: Burmese Curry Pork Ribs, and some of the smoked chicken wings by s-i-l...Absolutely delicious wings! And some pan-fried tofu to go with the ribs and wings

Prepared a couple of chicken dishes last night... Drumsticks slathered with whole grain mustard and marmalade. Baked at 400F...Ate that last night topped with green peppercorns. I had to pickle the last couple of packages as we were going away for a month. Had some brine left from a jar of commercial pickles, the kind that is not too vinegary. The peppercorns are much better than the commercial jars...closer to the natural taste. Also put together a pot of Thai curry chicken as I was planning to do lots of garden work today after work... Memories of Thailand...Pretty tasty but missing the essence of the Mekong River;-) The version we were served on the slow boat while travelling down the river somehow tasted better!

Love this! Now I know what to do with the fillets I've got in the freezer...

No whole pickerel to be had, so tilapia filled the bill... Steamed with loads of ginger, scallions, cilantro, and splashes of soy sauce and cooking wine.

And now, I'm salivating for all of the above, in particular, baguette and pizza...Ann_T, your hands are the most magical with breads! Smithy: We didn't get snow in the city, but it came down all around us. It was a chilly dreary day though and it dipped down to -4C last night! So for supper, I wanted something warm and comforting: Steamed tilapia with loads of ginger, green onion, cilantro, white pepper, a dash of Chinese cooking wine and soy sauce.

Green papaya shrimp salad for lunch today: green papaya, carrot, tomato, beansprouts, cilantro, lime zest, lime-chili roasted peanuts, blanched green beans. Dressing: fish sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, tamarind water,Truvia (daughter on sugar-free diet), little bit of broth from cooking the shrimp, Quite refreshing and a riff on the salad I made in the Vietnamese cooking class I took on our trip to Vietnam.