Dejah

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.

Genkinaonna: A great start to your blog - dim sum! Will have to check out Jin Wah if we go thru' Portland this summer.

Cleaned, deep-fried, then slow braise with fermented black beans, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and chopped chilis. Or use a "master sauce" - lo sui.

Chipotle Cheddar-Ale Meatloaf by Steve Reid, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada For the Meatloaf 2 lbs of ground beef 1 onion (diced) 2 cloves garlic (fine dice) 1 stalk of celery (diced) 1/2 large red pepper (diced) 1/2 cup of beer (I used ale but I am sure a stout would work well also) 2 1/2 cups of roughly chopped french bread 1 cup milk 2 eggs (beaten) 1 Jalapeño (fine dice) 2 tablespoons line zest (grated) 2 Chipotle Chiles in Adobo (diced) 1 1/2 tsp of Adobo 1/2 cup cheddar cheese (grated) 1/4 cup of cilantro (chopped) 1 tsp Ancho Chili Powder For the Glaze 1 Tablespoon Chipotle in Adobo (diced) 2 Tablespoons Ketchup Method: Take out a large mixing bowl and a sautee pan. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Sautee the onion, garlic, celery, and red pepper in olive oil until translucent. (Approx 6-8 mins) Pour in the beer and simmer it until the liquid has reduced by about 3/4. This will intensify the flavor of the beer. Remove from heat and set aside. Cut the french bread into about 1/2 inch chunks and soak it in the milk in a shallow dish. Soak this for about 5 - 10 mins, turning a few times, until the bread has soaked up all of the milk. Once the milk is fully soaked into the bread, transfer the bread to a cutting board and chop the it up into a fine dice. Add the bread to the mixing bowl along with the cooled onions, garlic and red pepper. Add in the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix. Make sure not to over mix the ingredients as this may make it too dense. Form the meat into a rectangular block on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Mix the glaze in a small dish and spread it onto the top of the meatloaf using a spatula. Place the loaf into the oven at 325 degrees for approximately 1 1/2 hours or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees. Take out to rest for at least 10 minutes and the cut into thick slices...enjoy!

Pictures of a couple of meals lately: Seems roasted cauliflower is a popular way to encourage eating this veg. served with Shake 'n' Bake BBQ chicken: Roast Pork Loin with dry rub: Crab stuffed mushrooms: Chipotle-Cheddar-Guinness Meatloaf:

Wonderful blog, Heidi! Reading this is a great way to spend my Mother's Day! And, Happy Mother's Day to you and all the Moms on egullet.

Heidi: I am still catching up - on page three! I love all your pictures, especially the visits to the various markets and ethnic stores. I have never grilled neck bones, always used them for soup. Now I have a new use for them. I love picking away at the meat on the neck bones, but I can only imagine how wonderful they will be after grilling! Thanks.

Anna: I just buy some poultry skewers and bend them! I place one of the oven racks on the highest position, hang the pieces on it with a drip pan pf water underneath. I also do my char siu this way.

CFT: This time, yes, I used chicken stock. If I had fresh slices of pork in addition to the rest of the ingredients, I would have used stock made from pork neckbones or breast bones. Either way, yummy!

Our internet got knocked out for four days due to the crazy blizzard that hit us on Sat. April 30th. The 30cm of snow and 60k. winds screamed savory tong yuen: glutineous rice flour dumplings, dried shrimp, Chinese sausage, julienned daikon, cilantro, and chili radish. Last night, we had Cantonese Egg Foo Yung - something I hadn't made for a long time: shrimp, beef, Chinese sausage, scallion, bean sprouts.

Anna: I don't think you'd have to worry about the seasonings being too strong for the duck legs. I used to do chicken legs and wings with the kind of marinade in the third site: http://www.chinesefo...-roast-duck.php To roast the legs, I'd hang them in the oven with S-hooks. Place a pan of water under them and that will keep them from drying out.

In the midst of a crazy, absolutely unneccessary winter snow blizzard here in Manitoba, I so needed your blog from sunny California! The splash of sunshine in your first kitchen shot, the grapefruit tree, the views from your kitchen windows all provided the warmth and sunshine that's missing from my windows this weekend. Thanks, Heidi, and I'm looking forward to the week!

Char siu seems to go with everything, doesn't it? Are you one of these people who nip off the heads on mung bean sprouts?! I hope you don't do that when you have soy bean sprouts. The head gives these sprouts the nutty taste and texture.

Beautiful char siu, mgaretz. For tenderloin, they look moist. In the midst of a winter snow blizzard...yes...it's April 30th and we got 15 cm of snow so far. So, comfort food it is: beef tenderloin stir-fried with oyster sauce on a bed of green beans, sugar snaps, red bell peppers, and shallots.