Dejah

Franci: I like that idea of pairing the rice cakes with the clams and lobster! I've only eaten it stir-fried with vegetables. You may have known this as "nian goh" because Toisanese families typically made these for Lunar New Year. My Mom used to make piles of these in small balls or oblong pieces. They were kept in water in a cool place to be used for the next couple of weeks. Mom would bring some out, slice the thicker ones, then fry 'em up. SO delicious. Now, one can buy the dried ones, rehydrate, then cook accordingly. Huiray, of course, is thinking of the sweet version eaten as cake, sweet and sticky. These are also made for Lunar New Year. We always made one according to tradition, but none of us really enjoyed it. I was really happy to have made the halibut two ways, Ann_T and Kim. Let me know how you liked it, Kim. Kim: Do you have the recipe for Kalua pork or a link to the recipe on line? I have banana leaves, pork and slow cooker. Sounds like something to have ready for when the kids come home for Easter.

Late lunch today: Fennel, pear, orange, cucumber, dried cranberries, toasted pecans, and quarter kumquats salad with mango chipotle dressing, Scrambled eggs with dill, crumbled feta, and grape tomatoes. Loved the tang and saltiness of the feta with the eggs.

Another feed of fresh halibut: One piece coated with panko and parmesan cheese, and the second piece marinated in ponzu. Both grilled then finished in the oven. Both were delicious. Eaten with stir-fried Cantonese noodles, baby bok choy, roasted beets and grape tomatoes. MUST take a break from the halibut so we don't OD...

Have not been able to find fresh green peppercorns lately, but I did find Madagascar Green Peppercorn cheese by Bothwell at Sobeys! For breakfast today to put the fire under me for marking final exams: slices of the cheese with English cucumber on black olive ciabatta...

Oh those senior moments! Forgot that I had already posted the pics of the lamb and Ryan. Hopefully, this "edit" removed that part and left the salad on. Hubby said the salad was more appropriate as dessert, so he did. Fennel, orange, Yu pear, cucumber, Romaine lettuce, coconut flakes, dried cranberries, toasted pecans with mango chipotle dressing.

Norm Matthews: Beautiful looking cornish hens, and I know they would be delicious! Reminds me of a surprise bday party I gave for hubby many years ago. I was cooking 24 hens, started prepping them the night before and hidden in a basement fridge. The next day, he told me he was taking the day off! I still had to blanch and glaze them throughout the day. In order to keep the secret, I was only able to show 2 hens at a time. As they were ready, I had to hide them in various places...Good thing I knew how many I had in total! Daughter and s-i-l came back from a trip out west. They love lamb as much as we do. Hubby had a rack, daughter and I shared one, and Ryan had a loin chunk. I guess it would have been cut into chops, but was left whole with the tenderloin attached. These were seasoned with Montreal steak spice, seared then finished off in the oven. Perfect with fresh mint sauce, smashed baby taters with chopped mint, and peas. Ryan is very handy with any kind of repairs. I keep his tummy happy and he fixes things for us. Last night, it was the garage door opener. My car is no longer trapped.

FINALLY! Fresh halibut at Sobeys! What they had packaged was pretty thin, but they brought out a whole fillet to cut for me. I couldn't let them do it, so I bought the whole piece. Cut it up into 2 meals, and we enjoyed some last night. The halibut was coated with just seasoned panko crumbs, pan seared on one side then into a 425F oven for 10 minutes or so. It was moist, almost silky texture...Lovely! Ann_T and teapot: Did you just season and pan-seared the halibut you posted up-thread? I thought of adding Parmesan to the crumbs, but I didn't want to detract from the flavour of the halibut itself. Looking forward to the next meal!

Not sure if it was my citrus marinated roast chicken you saw, but I also did the same dish tonight for our daughter and s-i-l. tonight. They loved it and will use the leftovers for their lunch-on-the-road tomorrow. Here's the one I made a while back. The recipe is for 2 chickens, and even though there are only the two of us at home, we really enjoy the leftovers for a couple of meals and lunches after. It travels well too. I took it for a 3 hour drive to our son's home for supper one weekend.

March has been a sparse month of cooking due to flu and bronchitis, but getting back into the groove. Love all the meals shared on these pages, but Ann_T always kills me just for the halibut... Some meals I've managed lately: Beef stew with tagliatelle: MapoTofu with addition of eggplant a side of mung bean noodles and lettuce Cumin beef Something new for me - fenugreek - Aloo Methi. The recipe I tried didn't call for cumin. I checked another recipe and I will definitely add cumin seeds next time. It was a nice change from aloo gobi. Pork cutlet and aloo methi

It's been quite chilly here on the prairies due to windchill temps - hovering around -40, and to -50 last Sat. Many of our meals have been colourful and spicy with my attempts to convince my brain that spring IS coming. Well, I think it worked as it's in the single digits this week! Citrus marinated roast chicken Chicken and dates tagine with carrot fries. The dip is Spicy Mayo by Spice Goddess on Food Network? I've discovered fresh curry leaves and enjoying it. The dip is toasted brown mustard seeds (dry) curry leaves, unsweetened shredded coconut, chili powder or flakes, ground coriander, and mayo. I love this dip for anything! And my Not-your-usual-butter chicken. I got lazy while preparing the chicken and the side of mixed vegetables, so I threw it all into one pot. Turned out very well and only one pot to wash

Supper last night: Chicken Dopiaza - Chicken and Onion Curry

I found the recipe and post from rarerollingobject too late for my experiment this past weekend. I will refer to her the next session. This was my first attempt while my s-i-l was out for the weekend. He's a big Scottish lad who loves dim sum. While my daughter is away on a course, he wanted to try his hand on these dumplings and surprise her when she gets home this weekend. The filling and gelatin were spot on. The wrappers definitely need thinning out. Not too shabby for a first attempt. We ate many of these taste testing, so it ended up being an all day lunch or supper... If anyone has a great recipe for the wrappers or tried and true technique, please share! Gelatin was made from 2 skin-on pork hocks, the bone and skin from a fresh pork picnic, big nob of ginger, scallions, and 1 pkg of unflavoured gelatin to 4 cups stock. Filling was ground pork, shrimp, scallions, white pepper, Chinese cooking wine, grated ginger, salt, and soy sauce. We incorporated small bits of gelatin in the meat as well as adding a small cube on top before pleating and closing the wrapper. The baos got smaller and pleats were better as the experiment progressed There was a fair bit of soup in the baos, but the wrapper needs to be thinner. We didn't eat many of the wrappers, but the meat and soup were great! The granddogs enjoyed some of the wrappers.

SO many beautiful meals to warm my heart on the cold winter days (windchill most days at -45C!) Made braised beef short ribs with star anise, cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, Chinese wine, soy sauce, deep fried tofu, chunks of daikon. Lovely, aromatic, rich, warming from the inside out.

These were the best baby pickerel fillets we've ever had - even frozen. They came from a fishing town, Gimli on Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. I dusted them with flour, freshly ground salt and pepper, then fried quickly in a bit of butter. Spaghetti squash was microwaved, pulled up with a fork, then covered with grated reduced fat Parmesan cheese and a slice of fat free mozz cheese. Put them in the oven and mistakenly turned onto broil...the "crust" looked worse than it tasted.

Fish and potstickers look still very nice! Did you brown the bottom before adding the liquid? You can keep browning a little more after the water and/or stock is gone and the potsticker will have some brown bits they can stuck to. Franci: I think dcarch was kidding...

Thanks for this thread, liuzhou! I haven't had the pleasures of stinky tofu for...oh...55 years, until we went to China last May. Had some at one of our tour destinations, and I bought some at a vendor. They were ok...not as good as I remembered. Memories play trick but I didn't even need to hold my nose for the first bite. Definitely toned down for the tourists. Disappointing. I always remember my brother going outside of our house and chasing the stinky tofu vendor away. You are right...the smell travels for a long distance and my brother was always waiting just inside the door to chase the guy away! I would love to try the version you pictured. It's got to have spicy chili sauce. I seem to remember the kind that is slightly sweet but very spicy. I have grown to love durian, both the fresh in Malaysia and the previously frozen ones sold here. The last 2 we had were especially delicious - ripe! The custardy texture and sweetness felt cool in the mouth. I have always loved ham ha (fermented shrimp paste) spread and steamed on fatty siu yook / pork belly.. My Scottish hubby, raised on a farm looking after hundreds of chickens said it smells like chicken poop (thus his name for this dish), but he loves it. Salt fish...YES! My kids all grew up eating these fermented ingredients that other Asian kids turn up their noses...

liuzhou: How is this stinky tofu packaged, sold, and served in this picture. Looks really interesting! Is the texture soft and silky inside? WHY is it that stinky food, such as this and durian can smell SO bad but taste SO GOOD!? I think spicy chili sauce really adds to a dish like this.

dcarch: Thanks for the CNY contributions. Wishing I had easy access to LIVE tilapia... The fish seemed to fit perfectly on the plate. What did you layer on top of the fish? Lapcheung? Deep fried? They look pretty lean, so I wondered...

Oh hell. I'm licking the damn screen again. That looks so tasty. Chinese roast duck would require a trip to one of the Asian markets and with more snow on the way it won't likely happen this week. Oh well. Something to plan for the future.Anna: With the Big Easy, you too can have Chinese roast duck without an Asian market:-)

Liuzhou: Taro and pork belly was my Mom's favourite dish. Haven't made it for a few years. Yours look SO tempting, but I'd be the only one who'd enjoy it. I am waiting to be blowing away by food feasts from Chinese New Year! Prawncracker! Where are you? We can always count on you to show us your feasts. I was laid low by the "flu", so by the time I was able to cook this past weekend, I just made JAI - the vegetarian dish - or called Buddha's Delight. There's something about seamoss that really appeals to me, especially mixed with siu choy and gingko nuts. Gung Hai Fat Choy, Everyone! This combination was well received by my stomach. My 1.8 year-old granddaughter loved picking up the different ingredients and trying them out. Gotta start them young.

I have been making carrot fries in the oven in place of potato, rice, and breads. These are really good. Cauliflower "steaks" are also good substitutes for potatoes, and easier than cauliflower fries.

basquecook: that amount of heat would blow the top of my head off! But I'll bet it was great. Liked the grouper. Would this work with any whole fish? We love cumin, so I might try this in the Big Easy if I can find "fish baskets" for the BBQ, AND if the weather smartens up!

Bruce: We are avoiding potato, rice and bread at the moment, so as a substitute, we have lots of vegetables. Instead of boiled, steamed carrots, etc, I cut them into "fries", blanch them for about 5 minutes in the microwave. The fries are drained and dried off, sprinkled with vegetable oil, salt, then roasted in a single layer at 450F. I turn them once and they are really very good...good enough like fries that I dip them in spicy ketsup! We are on the 17-Day diet, and carrots is one of the cleansing vegetables that we can eat.

Plantes Vertes: Thanks for that info' for the shirataki rice product. I'll look for them next time I'm in the big city! I already use the noodles, so another option for when we are doing carb-free is great. I picked up a new griddle yesterday at, of all places, my favourite greenhouse! This was in the discount section...$89.99 with 50% off. It's a surgical stainless steel griddle with glass lid. I grilled turkey breast fillets seasoned with fresh ground black pepper and lemon zest for supper. After browning, added a bit of chicken stock and covered to finish cooking, cooked off the little bit of liquid, then added blanched sugar snap peas and Shanghai bok choy to grill for the last few minutes. Everything turned out great! We also had carrot fries done in the oven. Squeeze of lemon juice was perfect on the moist and tender fillets.

Thanks, Ann_T and kayb re-comments on the chicken and trout. They were both enjoyed:-) Had some left over from both to add to a lunch salad. Love the looks of your fried rice, Ann_T, and that carbonnades will be perfect on the lousy winter days we've been having... robirdstx: Beautiful crust on those mini crab cakes! kayb: Yes. I do have an oval crock pot and big enough for the chicken to lie lengthways I cooked it mostly breasts down, turned it around once onto its back, then back onto the breasts. The skin wasn't crisp...just looked that way once it "dried" off a bit. We didn't eat the skin as it wasn't crispy like when I cook them in the Big Easy! Was in a bit of a hurry tonight after spending too long shopping. Cubed up a chicken breast and a couple of thighs and made Thai Basil Chicken. Had some mini bell peppers and grape tomatoes and these went under the broiler. I also made cauliflower fried rice. This would have been much better if we had REAL rice...