Dejah

Had oven baked chicken and corn on the cob for supper, but I was so happy with the jazzed up brocoslaw - a nice change-up for out-of-the-bag way. I added slivers of fresh ginger, walnuts, cranberries, Thai basil, and bottled mango-chipotle dressing. So pretty too!

Chapch'ae makes a good vegetarian dish. I made it for the first time last night. Had mine without any protein, but hubby got quick stir-fried shrimp with his. It was very satisfying, with a real contrast of textures: the slippery sweet potato noodles, crunchy vegetables, soft egg, and shirataki muchrooms.

Finally a supply of good long beans. Hubby is not a big green bean fan unless they are cooked with fermented tofu (fuyu - aka CHinese cheese). Topped the beans with stir-fried chicken breast and Thai basil flowers and chopped leaves. First trip to the local farmer's market - not much in the way of produce. Everything is late because of the flooding in our area and rainy spring. I did manage to pick up some of the last garlic scapes and a big basket of local strawberries. Found a partial bag of squid tentacles, so stir-fried them up with the scapes, lots of ginger, and toban jian - chili bean paste. Loved that burst of garlicky flavour of the scapes.

Your three pots, three dishes definitely shows off multi-tasking. Here are some of my fav, vegetarian dishes: Fish-Fragrant Eggplant Meatless Ma-po Tofu Meatless Singapore Rice noodles Moosewood's Hungarian Mushroom Soup - substitute chicken stock with veg stock Vospapur - Armenian Lentil Spinach Soup - again with veg stock Vegetarian Lasagna from Loony Spoons - my daughter's fav. Egg Fo Young with bean sprouts, mushrooms, onion, celery, cabbage

I use duct tape to hold the "retaining bracket" on the bottom condiment shelf of my fridge. Seems that's all I can do as I couldn't get a replacement. Maybe I need to get Gorilla Tape as duct tape does need to be replaced every couple of months...

Blether: I'll ask Oliver when he recovers from his faint. The Moussaka was to use butter to coat the dish, but I used margarine with olive® oil, and olive® oil for sauteeing - thought I'd give a nod to cholestrol restraint seeing as the meat was lamb. Altho' there wasn't much fat in the pan after I browned the meat. All in all, very tasty.

Supper tonight was Lamb Moussaka served with baby taters and carrots, and a few yu choi leaves sauteed in oliver oil, drizzled with sesame oil. The kick was provided by pickled jalepenos. Dessert was Canadian Cheddar Cheese Apple Crisp - not the usual oatmeal brown sugar topping, but rather, a drop batter of flour, baking powder, sugar, butter, milk, and cheddar cheese. Great warm or cold, with or without ice cream.

That's true about adding cornstarch last in a marinade. Once you add the cornstarch, it seals the meat so the seasoning would not be able to penetrate.

I often throw lettuce, any kind of lettuce into Asian noodle soups: ramen, shrimp noodle, etc, in place of bok choy or yu choy. I use entire leaves so they don't "melt" away. There's always lettuce wraps - for larb, or with stir-fried ground / diced meats, various diced crunchy vegetables, some fermented black soy beans, a dash of hoisin sauce.

Intrigued by the discada. Had to do some research. This will be something new to try this summer!

Genkinaonna: more info' on the sauce? My f-s-i-l loves ribsand it's usually his job to mix up the rub and BBQ sauce. I'd like to try somethign different to surprise him. I could probably add heat to your cola and jam sauce?

I requested and received a propane camping stove for Xmas, but have yet to break it out of the box. I wanted it mainly for cooking class, and now, I can add the induction as another station. This is in anticipation for my retirement hobby....sometime down the road. Nothing like being prepared. LOL!

Cook over medium heat and never beyond medium doneness. I usually add shredded mild cheese, such as Monterey Jack. We don't make many burgers, but we do BBQ NY strips. Again, a shake of Montreal Steak Spice, then grilled to med. rare on medium heat. Perfection each time: tender, juicy...

Cooking has been stifled by marking midterm exams, but reading this thread always gives me the kick-in-the-butt to start cooking again. Great meals all! Robirdstx: That bacon wrapped pork tenderloin looks wonderful. I'll just eat the bacon! I may be inspired, but still too lazy to do much. Tonight was lean ground turkey burgers seasoned with five peppercorn mix, cumin, hot paprika, tumeric, fresh ginger and garlic, yogurt, and grated cumin Gouda cheese. I also grilled some veg: mushroom caps, bell peppers, red onion, and zuchinni. Broccoli, cranberry and pumpkin seed slaw, watercress, and mango chutney fill the void left by being "bunless".

I store mine in the wall oven...at the moment. I've got a red sticker on the oven door to remind me NOT to turn it on until... I tried using sterno for hot pot and it got pretty smelly without good heat. Propane stove would work, but wouldn't it get hot and smelly too? I've only used camping gear outside. My family is too lazy to do hot pot, but I'm going to have to have one anyway!

saluki: It's a EURODIB, item #P3D, power rate: 1600W, 120V, made in China - where else?! , imported by EURODIB Inc., information number: 1.888.056.6866. It's 15" x 11 4/5" x 2 1/2". 11 temperature settings from 150F - 450F - with digital clock timer: programmable to 150 minutes.

My first stir-fry with a single "element" induction cooktop. The unit sits on counter and plugs into ordinary electrical outlet. Heats up to 425F in no time flat! So far, my carbon steel wok is the only pot that'll work on it. Costco $100.80, taxes included and free shipping. Great little unit for when I need that extra burner. Mixed vegetables: snow peas, wood ear, sweet peppers, onion, celery, shitaki mushrooms. To test how well the unit stays hot, I added the whole shebang in all at once and it didn't have noticable "cooling" effect! Had to work fast! Velvetized chicken - breast and thigh meat marinated in seasonings, oil, and cornstarch Finished product

We can be generous with the filling whereas restaurant's will try to fill you up with dough.

Lemoncake: I'm away from home until Monday. Will post the recipe for vinegar splashed meatballs for you then:-)

Victoria Day long weekend. Had time to make a few joongzi: Jasmin rice, glutinous rice, lap cheong, dong goo, dried shrimp, salty pork, Spanish onion, salted egg yolk (just a couple).

I've never seen WATER CALTROP starch. I've eaten the nut. Mom called it gnow gok nut (water buffalo horn nut). They are a pain to crack, peel and eat. I DO use waterchestnut starch. It comes in small boxes and quite lumpy, but it dissolves readily in water. I use it along with cornstarch in my dim sum beef meat balls but have never used it as thickener. I have used arrowroot powder, but it is more expensive.

Buerre manie is not really suitable for Chinese cooking... I'll use reduction only when I don't want sauce / wet stir-fried vegetables, or dry-fried dishes like green beans either in chili paste or just garlic. I blanch the green beans so they don't need liquid to cook them through. Other times, I take the veg. out when I think they're done to my liking, then thicken the remaining liquid with a bit of slurry - just enough to barely coat my wok "shovel".

Ooooo...RRO! that lovely skin!

Hi Chris: My family and the restaurant have always used the cornstarch slurry in stir-fries or separate sauces for ginger beef, sesame chicken, etc. It really depends on how much sauce is wanted. Besides, who wants runny sauce? You want the sauce to stick to the surface on deep fried items and not soaking in. In stir-fries, I always mix the cornstarch with stock and only with water if there's nothing else on hand. As for starchy goob - no reason for that excxept that the cook has put too much slurry into the stock, or the slurry is too heavy with cornstarch. Like all cooking, it's a matter of balance. On the other hand, if the protein has been "velvet - ed?", then when the stock is added, it is thickened by the cornstarch already cooked into the protein. I'm speaking of marinating (velveting) the protein in cornstarch, oil, and seasonings before cooking. Others use the hot oil velveting methid with maybe different.

Lamb shanks braised in red Thai curry paste, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and coconut milk. Added potatoes in the last 30 minutes. Served with stir-fried zucchini, red peppers, eggplant, and red onions.