Dejah

My stomach tells me I need me some red-braised pork belly! My scales say, "No..No...NO! Not yet..." Prawn: Did you use fresh soft-shell crabs or frozen? That's the only kind I can get here on the prairies. I can never seem to get them dry enough to deep fry to crispy deliciousness. What did you use for coating? I love soft-shell crab...

I want everything that everyone has posted! Acouple of meals from this week... Brunch: French toast/grilled cheese Grilled turkey breast fillet with fat-free mozza Coconut panko shrimp, baby octopus, homemade fries, and peas with fresh mint and a "gift basket" for my neighbor - coconut/panko shrimp

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/fish-maw-soup-recipe/index.html Just checked this site out and it's similar to what I do. I use raw chicken - marinated with cornstarch, salt, and a bit of oil instead of cooked chicken. And, I don't usually need to add cornstarch slurry at the end. I put less Chinese mushrooms in, but I may add diced wintermelon if it's on hand.

Words fail me, and I can guarantee that doesn't happen often. Everything looks so wonderful that I've been hesitant in posting. However, I was really pleased with our supper/dinner tonight. Lamb shanks braised in coconut milk, Thai curry paste (Mae Ploy), lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves. Threw in chunks of potato for the last 45 minutes. I also had some green leaf lettuce left over from a lettuce wrap lunch, so I chopped it up, added some sliced shitaki mushroom, ground pork balls, and tofu in chicken stock for a fairly light soup.

rotuts: Yes. That's the Nana's paste I use!

I use Patak Hot curry, tandoori, vindaloo pastes for Indian dishes, and Mae Ploy for green, Penang, and red Thai/Malay curry dishes. I will make my own pastes if I have the time and the required ingredients on hand, which is seldom these days... Has anyone seen the paste for Butter Chicken under the brand NANA? I've only seen it at the Safeway store. Again, it makes a nice dish without a lot of fuss.

Chris: Really enjoying your foodblog here. I was looking at your tortilla press set up. What do you use to cover the surfaces? I tie a big piece of Saran wrap on each side, but it's never satisfactory. The "covers" you have seem to be fairly stiff?

Been stockpiling lamb chops for a visit home from daughter and fiancé Ryan-the-Boy. Tonight was the night! Seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper,the chops were pan seared and finished off in the oven. The beets were roasted in foil, and the beet greens were sauteed in the fat from the chops. I think I started enjoying lamb just so I can have mint sauce. Ryan ate 7 chops, I believe! The beets were great with lots of butter.

My great-nephew Brendan was in town with his University of Alberta volleyball team against our guys. He asked to have supper with us, along with a friend. This was post-game, which ended up around 11:30 PM! I did a 5.8 kg prime rib roast as he was bringing one or two team mates, both around 6'8", and eat alot. The roast was pulled at 140 internal but tented and sat for 1.5 hours before the guys made it over. It was still quite warm but a little more done than medium. THat didn't both Brendan's teammate Kurt, who ate 4 slabs plus 5 Yorkies! Even Brendan was amazed. Kurt with his second helping!

Gorgeous, Keith! Such talent presented here by all of you! Mouth watering beyond control...

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Sheepish There is so much more in you to share, sheepish. I hope to see more of your offerings in various egullet threads. Thanks for a great blog!

Wonderful blog - such a contrast to urban offerings! Enjoying your sense of humour in details, AND Mutt On's comments. I'll have to check my sources about using large pig intestines so you can really make use of the whole pig! I just remember my mother stuffing it with sticky rice and black beans (can't remember anything else as I was pretty young). The "sausage" is steamed, sliced and served with a dipping sauce. Pig stomach - braised - SO good! I also used them in dried tofu stick soup along with rehydrated oysters. The braised stomaches are sold in Chinese BBQ shops.

My first thought was the tumbler idea... Wondering if a small rock tumbler would work...that kind of idea?

Thanks for that information, Margaret. Now I know! I'll have to try your riff on the cauli-rice, Heidi. I've been eating SO much cauliflower - in salads and cooked, I am having shiritaki noodles for a change. I haven't had any for a couple of months as I have to go to Winnipeg to buy them. Then today, I saw several packages at our local Safeway - in the gluten-free section! A couple were in fettucini shape, so tomorrow, it'll be ground turkey chili with marinara sauce over shiritaki noodles.

Here ya go, Bruce. Sure wish salmon didn't lose that beautiful colour!

Cross-posting tonight's supper from the "Cooking for weight loss" thread because the salmon fillet was so pretty! I usually cook this on the BBQ wrapped in banana leaf. A bit chilly at the moment, so the fish was done in foil in a 375F oven. The fillet was sandwiched between layers of lemongrass, ginger, green onion, cilantro, chili pepper, lime slices, pepper, salt and sprinkled with olive oil. It was silky, moist, and no fishy tast or smell at all. I've been cooking salmon steaks and was ready to give up on salmon as it tasted fishy to me, no matter how I cooked it! Prep. and ready to go into the oven:

Picked up a beautilfu salmon fillet this afternoon. This is the way I used to cook salmon. Not sure why I switched to steaks, which I find fishy no matter how I cooked it. I used to BBQ this wrapped in banana leaf in the summer. In the winter, I do it in foil in the oven. The fillet is sandwiched between layers of onion, cilantro, lemongrass, ginger, lime slices, chili peppers, salt, pepper, and olive oil. This was silky and moist, no fishy taste at all. Hubby got rice with his. I had tofu shiritaki noodles done in a non-stick pan with a dribble of tamari soy.

Those duck necks would be my dish! I'd take a dish of it, sit infront of the telly and pick 'em clean with my fingers and teeth! I do that with chicken necks. Really enjoying the blog so far. Lamb is one of our favourite meats. Kids can't afford to buy it - not really because of the price, but due to the humongus amounts they want to eat! Mrs. Sheepish's baking looks great. Would she post the recipe? And the kitchen...that's exactly the way it should look when it use!

Darienne, I am at where I was before in terms of weight loss - recupping from Xmas. At least it's coming off again. I got the Caramel Krisda at Wal-Mart, so you may want to check there. Our Safeway is the only other source for regular Krisda, and their prices are higher. I like this stevia product better than any other one - a little more expensive, but worth it! Of course it's great in coffee too! I am glad to be off the aspertime... I also bought myself a double-wall beverage cup. It holds 12 oz. and keeps my hot water hot. Otherwise, it cools off before I can down the 8 oz! This is the thermos I have, and it holds my 8 glasses of water plus enough for my hot water and lemon juice in the morning. I make sure it's empty before I go to bed.

Been doing ground turkey burgers lately - with chopped onion, a bit of egg white, and crumbles of low-fat feta cheese mixed in. The pattie with Cajun rub was fairly thick, pan seared in 1.5 tsp. olice oil, then baked in 400F oven until cooked temp. It stayed juicy and flavourful. Tonight I had Shanghai bok choy stir-fried in a little olive oil and fat-free, no-salt-added chicken stock, ginger and garlic, brocoslaw with reduced calorie dressing, and steamed cauliflower topped with melted fat-free mozz slice and crushed chili flakes. Very satisfying meal. Dessert was 4 oz. of fat-free plaiun Greek yogurt with half packet of caramel flavoured Krisda. I love this new flavour! I split a turkey fillet, rubbed with Cajun seasoning, seared and baked for hubby. He had it on a slab of pumpernickle bread. On the 13th day of the 17-Day Diet and down 8 lbs.

I can see why the boiled pork ribs would be tender and tasty. I love them when I simmer the ribs for one of my favourite Chinese vegetable soups - with bok choy, celery, carrots, and ginger. I will be interested in seeing what you do with the pig stomach and large intestine!

Was butchery something you got interested in after (if indeed you did) you moved out of the city? Did you take a course on butchering your own animals?

Crispy Ginger Beef is similar to crispy Sichuan Orange Beef. Orange beef is made with rehydrated orange peel and orange flavouring in the batter and the sauce. I make ginger beef with ginger powder and shreds of fresh ginger in the batter and in the sauce. The sauce also has a little 5-spice, chili peppers, sugar, vinegar, and water. Have to be careful when coating the crispy strips with the sticky sauce (thickened with cornstarch slurry) as too much would ruin the crispiness. You'd want just enough to coat SOME of the surfaces. I usually deep fry some strands of ginger to put on top before serving. This was a popular dish in my restaurant. The spiciness is adjusted to presonal requests.

Very much looking forward to your blog. Will this be more "village focused"? Sechuan cooking and offal...Welsh ingredients...Irish food...wonderful teasers.

Heidi: Cauliflower rice is very easy. Other's say use only florets, but I just take a big chunk of cauliflower, hold it by the stem and grate on the largest-holes side of a grater until it gets too close to my finger tips for comfort. You can also do this with a food processor, but I find the grater easier for clean-up. I grate into a shallow Corning ware casserol. DO NOT ADD WATER. Cover and microwave for 6 minutes on high on my microwave. I stir at half way and may sprinkle in a bit of salt. It has the texture of steamed rice - "fluffy".