Dejah

Supper tonight: Steelhead trout sandwiched between layers of cilantro, scallion, ginger, jalapeno peppers, lime slices, lemongrass, and Kaffir lime leaves, wrapped in foil and baked in the oven for 45 minutes. Sides: mixed vegetables "sauteed" in chicken stock and pan seared firm tofu.

Meredith: I had a small piece of the breast leftover (had unexpected company) and put it in my watercress salad to lunch. It's lovely, moist and flavourful. You are right...it just might be even better the next day. As for broccoslaw, I love it. One supermarket here sells the MANN brand and it's never woody. I just use Kraft Mango Chipotle dressing , throw in some cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and coconut flakes, and even my husband will eat it - and he hates broccoli.

Made soy sauce chicken in the crock pot last night. Made up the aromatics, soy sauce and let it cook for 2 hours on high. Seemed to have been the right temp. as it just sent out lovely aromas without a bubble breaking the surface. It produced that silky chicken texture that my Mom always loved.

Made the Betty Crocker recipe for Slow-cooker Coconut Chicken soup while I slept last night. Added the coconut milk, sliced mushrooms, and chopped basil this morning before I went to work. I used a "mature stewing chicken" instead of just boneless skinless thighs. When I took the breast out before adding the last 3 ingredients, it was really firm! Uh oh...not good eating...I shredded the meat and left it soaking for the day while I was at work. Came home late and tried a couple spoonfuls as I was starving...Mmmm...mmmmm GOOD! Even the breast meat was good. It'll be even better once it heats up - in time for supper!

Anna N: I love the look of the creamy eggs on portabello cap and the beansprouts. I think you also did the poached egg on cap with spinach and grape tomatoes? I made that last week and loved it. Now, I must make this latest version. eGullet is indeed a wonderful source for "what should I make for..." Last night, we had the Citrus Marinated Roast Chicken from Fine Cooking that Smithy had in her blog. Even before cooking, the whole thing looked delicious and refreshing for a cloudy Jan. prairie day. Smithy added pomegranate; I added kaffir limes leaves. While it was in the oven, the smell was incredible! The finished product: A bite? Definitely a keeper! Thanks Smithy for the inspiration!

Patrick: What Ann_T and Franci said...DOUBLE that, actually...Wow...WOW!

Thanks for a great week, Smithy! You've given me a couple of new recipes to try out. Tonight, we are having the Citrus Marinated Roast Chicken with my addition of Kaffir lime leaves;-). It's now enjoying the marinade in the fridge.

I didn't have a fish basket used for BBQs, but I really wanted to cook the rainbow trouts I picked up in the Big Easy. They fell off the hooks once they started cooking. I ended up putting the fish on the half rack that fit into the BE. The trouts were seasoned with a "cajun spice mix", stuffed with parsley, Meyer lemon slices, and kaffir lime leaves (gotta use the bounty somehow before the next fresh batch comes in!) The fish turned out lovely. Anxious to try again once I pick up a fish basket!

Luckily, I can buy short cut ribs at our non-Asian supermarkets. I guess our population is such that there is a demand for these "sweet 'n' sour" cut ribs. I've been making coffee-flavoured ribs that we first tasted in Singapore - a lovely change from sweet 'n' sour.

lennyk: See if you can find some heavy poultry skewers (ones used to close up openings in poultry after stuffing) and bend them into hooks. That's what I do. rotus: Did you ever buy the Big Easy? I know you were tempted.

I am so enjoying your blog but suffering terribly with kitchen envy. I've just added your citrus marinated roast chicken to my weekend cooking list, along with your meyer lemon fish. Thank you!

It was excellent! Let us know when you are coming - we'll do lunch! That would be wonderful! Will definitely keep lunch with you ladies in my plans!

Temperature in the -single digits after a a couple of weeks of -30C with some days of windchill at -50C. Time to head out to the Big Easy! 2 nights ago, I cooked 2 chickens stuffed with fresh Kaffir lime leaves. It's got to be my favourite taste, and I don't think I'll be running out of leaves any time soon. I won't post pics of the chickens - just see above. A friend was pruning his kaffir lime tree and asked if I was running low from the last bag he gave me. Just in time I quickly replied. My coffee table is 4.5 feet by 2.5 feet. This pile is 12 inches deep. Once I stripped off the leaves, I got SEVEN large ziplock bags full! He also gave me several branches of bay leaves and some of the kaffir limes. Last night, I cut up cubes of pork shoulder, marinated them in coconut milk, lemongrass, lime leaves, ginger. Today, I strung them onto skewers using the branches from the lime leaves. My hands felt a bit raw as the branches have tiny thorns on them. I did trim them before using, but they still left a bump. I laid the skewers across the basket - should have remembered to just stand them up in the basket. I think they would have cooked more evenly. Only 2 skewers had to cook longer in the BE. The others were perfect. I loved the charred bits of fat coated with coconut milk! To use more of the leaves, I tore up several, added to jasmine rice along with some green cardamom for flavour. The rice cooked up like sticky rice - must have used more water than usual, but it was perfect with the pork! A squeeze of lime was added to the pork. The kaffir added a lovely aroma and flavour. The coconut milk didn't come thru' as strong as I thought, but it helped with the char.

Must make a longer trip to GTA - maybe this summer. I have yet to find calamari as you two enjoy, and now...this exquisite squid! I hope it was as good as the picture looked.

Smithy: I enjoyed reading your posts in glamping, so I am happy to see you blogging this week. Your first post already has me excited - to see those silicone covers! Hubby picked up a set of non-descript covers at one of the mall kiosks in desperation for a stocking stuffer for me. They came in a plastic bag with NO description whatsoever. He tried to remember what the vendor told him, so you can just imagine... I've only used mine as covers for use in the microwave and washing by hand, but they are great! I'm hesitant to use them in the oven because there was no information on them, but I will definitely look for the pretty ones that you have. I assume they can be found in any kitchenware store? Can you provide more detail on the "New Radwan Fish"? I have 2 bags of Meyer lemons and would love to try this dish. I must also look for your juicer. My niece gave me one a few years back, and it's useless unless you're doing half a lime!

Finally got the Big Easy back from my brother's where we cooked the Xmas turkey for the family gathering. AND, the temperature's back to "tolerable" with no windchill warnings of -50C. Time to satisfy my need for BE chicken! Did two chickens so I'd have lots on hand to share and for lunch. The bottom one was marinated with "chicken rub" by a company called Szeged. I love their Hungarian Hot Paprika, so I thought I"d try their chicken rub. It's pretty basic but it was good. The top chicken is stuffed with Kaffir lime leaves - my favourite. With -18C temperatures, I was able to cook the 2 chickens in 1.5 hours. Did up some mixed vegetables in the wok, seasoned only with no-salt chicken broth. We had some moo gwa (hairy squash) soup with pork and rehydrated oysters about an hour before supper. Dessert was "previously frozen" durian, for which I have developed a craving since our trip to Malaysia! These are not as "aromatic" as the fresh, but they satisfy my need.,, I accidentally ate the little piece of mint with the durian, and it tasted great together!

Would love to get that lamb chop recipe. Lamb chops were just seasoned with Montreal Steak Spice and seared in a hot pan. They were great, especially with mint sauce...

Dry Stir-fried Cumin Beef - Hakka style as presented in The Hakka Cookbook - Danford Dragon Restaurant Thinly sliced beef stir-fried in a hot wok and a little oil. Removed from the wok. Chopped onion, ginger, garlic, hot peppers, cumin, red chili flakes and curry leaves (my addition 'cos I love the flavour!) fried separately until fragrant. The beef is tossed into the veg mixture. Add a splash of dark soya and thinly sliced green onions. The recipe called for Asian chili sauce, but the peppers gave enough heat, so I left it out. This is the best version of dry cumin beef I've found. Served with stir-fried bell peppers, blanched gai lan and rice.

Now, these are just hilarious, dcarch, not because YOU think the pictures are "not decent" but because I thought they were good! They are not your usual well laid-out art pieces, but you still did "presentation" that would be considered "wow" by many, including me.

I used 1 cup of flour + 1.5 tsp. baking powder and .5 tsp. salt. Chilled this in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Whisked in 1 cup of beer and chilled in the fridge again until the fish was dredged with seasoned flour. Whisked in enough cold soda water to make a batter. Dipped the fish in and deep fried in a mix of canola oil and rendered beef fat. I topped it up with canola as I didn't have quite enough beef fat. I have never tried the chilling part before and it seemed to have made the difference in maintaining the crispy texture. Any other suggestions would be most welcomed.

New Year's Day, I made savory tong yuen loaded with ground pork balls, shrimp, dried scallops, Chinese sausage and loads of daikon julienne - my favourite part. This was one of my Mom's favourites, and I am so glad she taught me how to eat these "sticky balls" of glutinous rice flour. Hubby is not adept at chewing and swallowing these, so he got wontons and shrimp roe noodles. For supper, we had lamb chops and basmati rice with toasted jeera and green cardamom..

My crispiest attempt at fish'n'chips to date! The batter stayed crispy and not too greasy. The chips were delicious, dipped in curry gravy- memories of Whitby, England.

Supper just for the two of us tonight: Steamed Alaskan King Crab legs, strip loin steaks, homemade fries with spicy ketsup: Tomorrow, I'm going to make savory tong yuen - Cantonese rice dumplings in a soup with shredded daikon, dried shrimp, and pork. For supper, if I'm not too lethargic, will do rack of lamb for hubby and me. Enjoying the peace and quiet after a hectic Xmas with the families!

Get yourself a Big Easy for at home, Anna, and you'll never have to put up with supermarket over-cooked rotisserie chicken again!

The best-laid plans... The family would not allow me to do the prime rib in the Big Easy, so it was in the oven by 2:30 after the Yorkies were done. It was to be pulled at 120F but we had a visitor, so it was 125F. It was closer to medium, but still tender, delicious, juicy. Main side attraction was brussel sprouts sauteed with bacon, shallots, pecans, and whole grain mustard. Santa brought all the kids T-shirts when he visited A Christmas Story in Cleveland in the summer. I got the apron - most appropriate when our family has gatherings. That's my future-son-in-law Ryan who also loves to cook...and eat! Xmas Day dim sum was sort of cancelled until grandson decided he really wanted to come up for brunch. So it was a rushed job with only siu mai, char siu baos, and deep fried wontons. Luckily, I had all the prep. done as previously planned. Supper was some of the leftover roast beef. Boxing Day was with my brother and his families - for 25 people. Ryan and I decided to make a marinade to inject into the turkey instead of using a brine. Bought a utility turkey, used everything except the dark meat to simmer with roasted vegetables. The broth was seasoned with fresh herbs and reduced to 2 liters of intense marinade. This was injected into the turkey as well as the bone-in turkey breast. The whole turkey was cooked in the Big Easy for 2.5 hours in -20C weather. The dripping was incredible, and made the best gravy ever. My nieces had a battle to see who would take the leftover gravy home! We also had meatballs, and ham with raisin sauce, plus a gazillion sides. Dessert was mango pudding for 30 - made in a big catering dish. It was such a busy time that no pictures were taken... Dec. 27, we had visitors for brunch, and made dim sum again: siu mai, har gow, sticky rice in lotus leaf, char siu baos, summer rolls, shanghai bak choy stir-fried with garlic and ginger, and another batch of mango pudding. Families all went home to the big city late afternoon. I was so tired I had a 4 hour nap. Woke up at 11:00 pm. cooked rice and had it with Chinese cheese (fuyu)...SO good after all the rich meals and baking... Yesterday, I made a pot pie with the ground-up, well seasoned dark turkey meat that Ryan had made up. I added frozen mixed vegetables, topped it with creamy mashed taters, and it was very good. I think we'll keep Ryan as a s-i-l!