Dejah

@ShelbyYour meals look great, especially the Peach strawberry galette for dessert ! Lots of thunderstorms and tornadoes all around us. We've been lucky as all extremes, like golf ball size hail and plow-winds - within a 30 mile from us, have gone around our city. Lots of rain, and now of course, weeds and mosquitoes! Forgot to take a picture until after plating: Pork ribs in brown bean paste, eaten with baby bok choy & jasmine rice Hamburger & onion / mushroom green peppercorn gravy. Goes great with mashed taters Pork Katsu, with new taters and asparagus from a Hutterite Colony Chicken fillets from the freezer cooked up quickly with curry and onions, and sesame chicken - both delivered to a friend's home as comfort food in time of loss of a family member There was enough leftover for our supper Seafood Singapore rice noodles

Fabulous meals to catch up drooling about! @Kim ShookThat char siu is spot on! WE have not been starving, but it's been a busy place, everything in disarray as our 2-story cedar house was being sanded and stained. Nearly done after 2 weeks, sometimes stalled by extreme temperatures then major thunderstorms. I have bee planting, planting, planting flowers, but nothing can be moved into place, along with all the statues, etc until all the painting is done. Some meals the last while: Had the 8 and 11 year old granddaughters up one day. Good grief! They DO love perogies and steak. They each devoured 12 perogies and steak Got some fresh asparagus from a Hutterite colony not far from us. Blanched them, sauteed in butter, then topped with toasted nuts, seeds etc: Went well with Shake and Bake BBQ chicken legs Too hot to BBQ, possible? With good A/C in the house, cooked up low and slow, some pork ribs. Corn looked too ripe but was actually really tender and sweet. Love one wok meals when I am busy. Local supermarket had lovely bitter melon - a favourite for hubby and me. Black bean garlic beef & bitter melon Pickerel and vegetables stir-fry: Daughter-in-law was away on a Outdoor Women Weekend where she was going archery, fire arms, and butchering! She brought back lovely lamb and shared some shank meat with us. I did a curry in the IP: Last night: Hamburger steak with onion, mushroom, green peppercorn gravy. Comfort food with mashed taters!

@Ann_THappy Birthday to your Moe! Steak looks fabulous, and great tradition with strawberries! ❤️ Friends and former customers have been talking about the ribs we served at our restaurant. We made our Sweet & Sour ribs #13, using bite-size pieces. The ribs were put thru' a seasoned egg wash, coated with cracker crumbs, and "squeezed" to make sure the coating stays on and the meat more or less "tight" against the bone. The ribs were then deep fried. Man! These were good, and it was always hard to keep the staff away from the bin! These made for great appetizers. To make #13, the ribs were simmered with water, ketsup, sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce. The "broth" must be bright (sour) and sweet without being cloyingly so. Definitely NOT the red sauce we so often see, and my kids called it the Christmas sauce. The ribs are strained into a container in the steam table, and the sauce is thickened with cornstarch slurry and kept in a separate container in the steam table. All we needed to do for orders was to ladle the sauce over the ribs. The ribs may not be "authentic", but they were sure popular with our customers. No one else in our town made them this way. It's labour intensive, but we had the staff to prepare them this way. Two of my Vietnamese ladies used to sit on a low bench after the lunch rush and bread each of these pieces of ribs! We enjoyed them tonight! Had a few shrimp left in a bag, added that to mixed vegetables for a stir-fry.

@Kim Shook: Your hubby's pulled pork looks great! I seem to always end up with stringy pork whenever I have ordered it. Lovely selection of meals in your post! @Shelby: Always love seeing your meals! My chicken feet is a once a year effort. SO much work for so little meat. LOL! @Senior Sea Kayaker: The prime rib bone is my favourite of the roast! Quick meals are the order for gardening days! I just plant flowers and herbs, no rook for vegetables. But soon, market gardens! One of my local elder Chinese aunties grow the biggest and best Moo Gwa. Made soup with pork breast bones, part of a melon and some Shitaki mushrooms Followed by Ma Po Tofu. I love fresh mint this! A friend has a cottage up in the lake country. She brought back a package of Kurtwurt, made in Lac du Bonnet. It was smoked, and I cooked it stove top. Been finding Romano green beans, so it's appearing in many meals. I had picked up a couple of packages of Sterling Silver Beef Sirloin Medallions at Safeway. I was disappointed with the first package that I grilled - hit and miss bits of tender and tough. This time, I chunked it up and made stew in the IP. The meat was tender, but fell apart into shreds. Give me chuck or short ribs for the best stew! No spotted prawns here on the prairies. A couple of years ago our local Chinese grocer brought some in, and some of the people who bought and ate became ill. Not sure what the issue was, but the price made ME ill. Glad I didn't buy any. But I do have a local guy who sells lovely frozen shrimp @$25.00 / kg, peeled and deveined. We enjoy those whenever. This week, Giant Tiger had the 21-30 on sale for $5.97 for 345 gm. My supplier had come in yet, so I picked some up to tie us over. Did a quick stir-fry with lots of onion and tomato sauce. Eaten with gai lan and jasmine.

Way too windy for playing in the dirt, so a good opportunity to play catch-up instead! Haven't done chicken feet for a year or so. Chinese grocery store had some big feet in, so I couldn't resist! This is my usual set up outside: deep fat drying on the old turkey fryer burner, and a bucket of ice water to immerse the feet immediately after. This is followed by braising in aromatics for a couple of hours. Delivered some to my brother and s-i-l at 9:30 when I had finished steaming them with the sauce (9 pm!) They called at 10 and said they ate all of them (12 feet!) for midnight snack. LOL! Was hoping I'd have some for the freezer, but after sharing with curious friends, none left! I had also picked up soy bean sprouts at the grocery along with shrimp dumplings. Working down on my reserve of joong from last June! Time to make again once I finish planting all the flowers. First BBQ of the season: Had a request from a friend going thru' a difficult time: our sesame chicken, Soo's #111. Made veg fried rice as well, but the Romano beans and lap cheung were for us! Had another piece of steak left and had thawed shrimp which I didn't need for my friend, so did up the combo for ourselves. Reheated the leftover potato on the BBQ as well. It's been a while since Superstore Flashfood had any protein on for 50% off. Yesterday, at 5 am, I picked up packages of turkey scallopini, so it was Turkey Katsu for supper. Rather than the the heavier katsu sauce, we had mango chili sauce.

Looks SO good! May have to make this once gardening is done!

Hi @Kim Shook: Apologies for late to reply. It's actually spring here and I've been busy playing in the dirt! Not sure what is traditional chow mein, but our Soo's #12A Cantonese Chow Mein has always been a bed of noodles topped with mixed veg and proteins with a light "gravy" of chicken stock and slurry. We used the packages of dry egg noodles, toss into boiling water until softened, cold rinse, drain and keep in the fridge. With each order, we'd toss them into a hot wok with hot oil. We'd let them get a little bit of a crisp on the outside, then plate. Then we'd cook the topping. The sauce can soften the centre of the bed of noodles, but they outer part stays dry, unless you want it softened. I've also made it so it's like a thick pancake. The outside is crispy but the inside is soft. My grands like just the "stir-fried" noodles, with crispy bits but still soft. Lots of sesame oil! Lo Mein is noodles with all ingredients tossed together and a bit of sauce, but not gooey or runny. We don't like those. LOL! I usually use flat noodles for soup, or flat rice sticks for pad thai. I can get "steamed noodles" in the supermarket. They are loose rather than in cakes. Still have to dunk them into boiling water before the wok. But I am expecting @liuzhou to chime in with what he eats IN China.

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: