Meat for food

I'm not a vegetarian, and not planning to be one. But each time I when I prepare meat for food (cutting up chicken leg quarters, trimming off fat, etc), a deep soberness fills my heart. Each piece of meat belonged to a body and a life that had once lived and walked on this earth. Life is sacred. To waste food is to despise life. Therefore, I resolve to make good use of every bit of meat, bone and fat I purchase, not to waste anything, especially since this food comes to our table at the expense of a life.

Roasted butterflied leg of lamb

Hubby loves lamb, and we have not eaten it for ages. Last week, when lamb was on sale in the grocery store, I really couldn't resist it, even if it's at $4.99 a pound. I bought back a leg of lamb, butterflied, boneless, about 3 pounds. So this week is my experiment on roasting a leg of lamb. The amount of seasonings used for one lamb leg is adapted from Joy of Cooking.

Recipe: roasted butterflied leg of lamb (about 2-3 lbs raw, cooked to 1 lb 4 oz)

Ingredients:
- 1 boneless butterflied leg of lamb
- 2 tp salt
- 1 TB black pepper
- 1/2 tp finely crumbed dried rosemary
- 1 TB vegetable oil

Procedure:
1. Mix salt, pepper and rosemary.
2. Wash leg of lamb. Pad dry or allow to drain of all water. Trim off all fat on the surface, may save a little fat in between the muscles.
3. Rub the seasonings on the surface of the lamb. Place in a pan. Cover with plastic wrap. Allow to marinate overnight in fridge.
4. About 1 hour before cooking, take pan out of fridge to warm up.
5. Heat 1 TB vegetable oil on high heat in a heavy non-stick skillet. Then lightly brown all sides of the leg of lamb on skillet. Do not allow herbs or anything to burn on the bottom of pan.
6. Transfer lamb leg to a baking pan. Bake at 350F, uncovered, middle rack, for about 40 minutes.

Results:

3:29pm, leg of lamb, marinated overnight and brought to room temperature before browning:

3:33pm, one side of lamb lightly browned:

3:35pm, other side of lamb lightly browned:

3:39pm, lamb ready to bake:

3:41pm, lamb started baking at 350F, middle rack:

4:22pm, lamb baked 40 minutes uncovered, without basking:

4:26pm, lamb allowed to cool, covered with foil:

4:26pm, total amount of pan juice left when done:

Results:
1. Oh my! I must have used too much seasonings. The lamb is very tasty no doubt, but perhaps too salty. I will cut down the seasonings by half next time.
2. I do not have to bask the lamb this time. It's cooked pretty well and thoroughly because it's already cut up. The meat is not tough at all.
3. The lamb meat becomes harder when it is cooled to room temperature. It means that I'd better serve it not too long after it's out of the oven.

Despite the hardness of the meat, my husband really likes the taste of it. It's very flavorful. My hubby was under the weather today. This leg of lamb, along with a loaf of eggplant cheese bread brought him a pleasant surprise at the dinner table.

Hubby's favorite caesar's salad

Hubby likes caesar's salads, especially in hot summer days. Basically, he likes romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese, carrots, and the white lightly sweet and sour dressing. So I try making something like that for him. After his first mouthful, he simply put his thumb up, speechless. The charm in this salad lies in the small amount of pineapple and dried cranberries, along with a little walnuts, and some freshly toasted croutons.

Recipe: Caesar salad (for 2)

Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup of fresh croutons from about 2 thin slices of French bread or fried bread
- 4 cups of 1"-cut romaine and escarole lettuces
- 1 small carrot, shredded very thinly
- 1 slice of pineapple, cut to 1/4" wedges
- 1 TB of pineapple juice
- 1 TB dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup walnut pieces
- dash of pepper
- dash of celery seeds
- 1/3 cup (or two generous scoops) or miracle whip

Procedure:
1. To prepare fresh croutons, spread a thin layer of butter on staled French bread, then cut into 1" cubes. Bake at 350 F for just a few minutes. Watch carefully and turn heat off once the crumbs are golden. For more uniformly baked croutons, trim off crust and bake separately, because crust generally browns faster than the crumb. Croutons made from crust can taste just as good as from crumb as long as they are not over baked. If fried bread is used, then slice it while frozen, because fried bread tends to be soft.
2. Mix all the vegetables, fruits and nuts together. Shake well. Add miracle whip. Then sprinkle pepper and celery seeds. Lastly, sprinkle croutons on top just before serving.

Observations:
For a good salad, the following points are noted:
1. Use equal amount of green leaves and white stems from the lettuce. If possible, use the center part of each lettuce leaf because it has both green and white parts, and is both crispy and flavorful.
2. The ratio of lettuce to carrot is about 4 large leaves to 1 small carrot.
3. Carrot needs to be finely shredded because it's hard.
4. Use flavorful ingredients, such as pineapple, cranberries, walnuts, in small portions. About 1-2 TB of each ingredients will be good, because they are very flavorful.
5. Drain all water from the vegetables before mixing the salad.
6. Use sufficient miracle whip to dress the vegetables thoroughly. Miracle whip is a thick dressing. This helps keep the salad thick.
7. Do not add the crouton to the dressed salad until it's time to eat.

This is such an excellent salad, hubby wants to have it all to himself!

Salmon fish cake rolls

We stumble upon this very flavorful combination one day. It is so delightful to us in the midst of our hectic and stressful life.

Recipe: Salmon fish cake rolls (2 rolls)

Ingredients:
- 2 sheets of Korean fried fish cakes
- 2 raw salmon fillets, about 4-6 oz each
- 4 TB mayonnaise

Procedure:
1. Spread mayonnaise on one surface of the fish cake. Place the raw salmon fillet on it and roll up.
2. Place rolls in a baking pan. Bake at 350F for 35 minutes until top is golden. May bask the top with the liquid in the pan occasionally, but not necessarily.
3. Slice and serve when hot.

Chinese broccoli and chicken breast in furu sauce

I tried something new today: frying Chinese broccoli with furu. It turns out really good!

Recipe: Chinese broccoli and chicken breast in furu sauce (for 1 to 2)

Ingredients:
- about 6 stalks of Chinese broccoli
- 1/4 of a chicken breast, cut into 1" pieces
- 5-6 cubes of furu (fermented tofu)
- 1/4 cup meat stock
- 2 TB vegetable oil

Procedure:
1. Wash Chinese broccoli. Separate stems from leaves. Cut stems into 1" pieces, sliced diagonally.
2. Heat oil in non-stick pan on medium heat. Add furu and smash. Add chicken pieces. Cook on medium heat until chicken pieces are almost cooked.
3. Add broccoli stems and stir. Turn heat to med-high or high. When the bottom of pan appears to dry up, add meat stock in about 2 TB. Once the stock is added, the vegetables will cook in the steam.
4. Add leaves of the broccoli. Cook likewise until the leaves freshen in color.
5. Serve hot.

Coffee in liqueurs

Sometimes, my stomach just feels the disturbance of coldness. So I like something really strong and soothing. Here is one of my latest favorites:

Recipe: Coffee with liquors

Ingredients:
- 1/2 pack of starbuck decaf instant coffee
- 1/4 cup evaporated milk
- 1/4 cup boiling water
- 1/2 oz (half a shot glass) amaretto liqueur
- 1/2 oz (half a shot glass) kohlua liqueur

Procedure:
Heat instant coffee in boiling water and milk until it boils again. Add liqueurs. Mix and serve.

Seafood dinner

It's all because of a friend who gave me an avocado. Never really known much about it, I went to JOY of cooking to find out how to handle it. The authors suggested making an avocado cup of seafood salad. That really sound yummy to me. But just one avocado cup doesn't make a dinner. So I ended up scouting a lot for seafood to make tonight's seafood dinner.

Recipe 1: Avocado salad (for 2)

Ingredients:
- 1 black avocado
- about 10-15 medium shrimps, shelled and de-veined
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 tp caper
- 2-3 TB raw fresh corn kernels
- lemon juice
- dash of celery seeds
- 1 TB oil

Procedure:
1. Half avocado. Remove the large seed with a spoon. Rub the cut surface with lemon juice. Keep the halves chilled until use.
2. To pan fry raw shrimps: heat 1 TB oil on medium to med-high heat in a non-stick pan. Lay shrimps on the pan and allow to fry without touching, until the top and the edge are almost cooked (about 2 minutes). Then flip once. Add fresh corn kernels into the pan to fry in the oil for just 30 second. Place shrimps and corn kernels in a small bowl and allow to cool down. Then add caper, celery seeds and mayonnaise. Mixes very well to form a salad. Scoop salad into the avocado cups. Chill until serve.

Recipe 2: Salmon tofu (for 2)

Ingredients:
- 1 small pack of silken tofu
- salmon fillet, about 4 oz raw
- 2 TB dried scallops, soaked in 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup sweet peas
- 1/4 cup cream of chicken
- pepper

Procedure:
1. Cut salmon fillet into 2"x1" strips. Pan fry in 1 TB oil or in the pan from cooking shrimps (see above).
2. Slice tofu into 2"x1" strips. Add to pan, along with soaked scallops. Allow to cook without much water.
3. Dilute cream of chicken in the water that soaked scallop. Then add to pan. Turn heat to med-high. Allow to cook until thickened.
4. Add pepper and sweet peas. Cook for 30 seconds. Serve hot.

Lastly, we have the stuffed clams from Giants. They look great. The instructions say they can be microwaved for 4 minutes. I tried 3.5 minutes, then transferring the clams to the toaster oven at 450F to give them a nice finish. The result is that the stuffings seem too tough.

I love the avocado seafood salad!!

egg casserole breakfast

A few people have brought an egg casserole dish for brunch and congregational dinners. I love those dishes, and very much wish that I can make them. Here is my first attempt, with my homemade cereal bread.

Recipe: Cereal bread egg casserole (for 1)

Ingredients:

- 1 to 2 slices of cereal bread

- 1 TB fried fresh sausage

- 1 tp pepperoni

- 3 TB shredded cheddar cheese

- 1 egg

- about 1/4 to 1/2 cup whole evaporated milk

- 1 tp honey

Procedure:

1. Cut cereal bread into 1/8" thick pieces.

2. Line a small baking dish with bread pieces.

3. Add a layer of sausage and pepperoni. Then sprinkle a layer of cheese.

4. Cover the top with a layer of bread pieces.

5. Beat egg with evaporated milk and honey. Pour onto the bread.

6. Swirl the liquid around the pan until the bread has absorbed most of the liquid.

7. Use a fork to press the bread down.

8. Chill overnight.

9. Bake at 350F until cheese is melted.

Results:
Day 1, 10:31pm, most of the ingredients;

Day 1, 10:34pm, bread sliced to thin strips:

Day 1, 10:35pm, bottom layer:

Day 1, 10:35pm, layered with meat:

Day 1, 10:37pm, layered with cheese:

Day 1, 10:37pm, top layer:

Day 1, 10:41pm, egg, milk and honey:

Day 1, 10:46pm, egg mixture:

Day 1, 10:48pm, wet ingredients added:

Day 1, 10:50pm, additional milk needed:

Day 1, 10:54pm, bread pressed hard to get soaked:

Day 1, 10:55pm, topped with cheese and ready to chill:

Day 2, 10:12am, baked 30 minutes at 350F in toaster oven, first covered, then uncovered for the last 15 minutes:

Observations:
The crumb is a little tough. Maybe there is just not enough egg and liquid.

Kohlua cocoa

Found this incredibly inviting recipe from Joy of cooking:

Recipe: kohlua coca (for 1)

Ingredients:
- 1 TB unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tp sugar
- 1/3 cup evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1+1/2 TB kahlua
- dash or nutmeg or cinnamon

Procedure:
Mix cocoa powder and sugar in a small pan. Vigorously stir in milk, first by tablespoons, then in a steady stream. Heat mixture on medium heat until bubbling. Dilute with water. Then remove from heat and add kahlua. Top with spice of choice.

Stir fried bacon french beans

I picked up a huge 2lb bag of french beans from Costco. They are like green beans, but thinner, and a little more crispy. The freshness is refreshing. So I do a stir fry with it, and some cooked bacon, also from Costco.

Recipe: Stir fried bacon french beans (for 3-4)

Ingredients:
- 3/4 lb french beans, washed and shaken off all water
- 5 pieces of cooked bacon, heated and absorbed off any excess fat with paper towel
- 1/4 of a boneless chicken breast
- 0.5 tp broad bean paste
- 1 tp hoisin sauce
- 1 tp sesame oil
- 4 TB oil
- sriracha hot chili sauce, to taste

Procedure:
1. In a saucer, mix broad bean paste with hoisin sauce and sesame oil.
2. Cut chicken breast into 1" to 2" pieces. Pad dry. Fry chicken on high heat in a small amount of oil (about 1 tp) until mostly cooked. Add to the chicken the sauce mixture and cook until the sauce is caramelized on the chicken surface. Set apart.
3. Tear cooked bacon into bite size pieces.
4. Heat the remaining oil in a flat non-stick pan on high heat. Add french beans to fry on high heat (about 1 minute). When the beans have lightly brightened in color, add the chicken pieces and bacon. Stir to mix. Then add in about 1 TB of hot chili sauce. Stir to mix.
5. Serve hot right off the pan.

My husband exclaimed that this is such a creative combination while soaking it down! He really loves the contrast between the bacon and the crispy spicy french beans.

Tender roasted beef

Practice makes perfect alright. I've purchased some round beef steak that is very lean. So the challenge is to cook it until soft. With time, I'm getting it better. The trick is really to slow cook it at such a low temperature that the liquid barely bubble once in a few minutes the whole time of braising. Once the beef is done, it can be stored apart from the liquid. The liquid can be boiled for a few minutes and then saved as stock. To make a stew with fresh vegetables, tender beef and savory gravy here is my approach:

Recipe: Tender roasted beef (for 1)

Ingredients:
- 1 slice of slow-cooked beef round steak, 1-1.5" thick, very lean
- 1 cup of green beans chopped
- 1/2 cup of carrot chopped
- 4 cups of stock from cooking the beef
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce

Procedure:
1. Heat the stock with the slow-cooked beef round steak in a saucepan, until boiling. Allow the stock to boil for a minute. Then take out the beef.
2. Use the boiling stock to blanch the chopped vegetables, taking about 1 minute or less.
3. Take vegetables out immediately and allow to drain off any excess water while cooling.
4. Boil the stock with tomato sauce until the mixture is reduced to a gravy of desirable thickness, about 1/2 cup.
5. Return the beef and the vegetables to the saucepan to mix with the sauce, taking 1 minute.
6. Serve right away.

Sima's salad

My Persian friend knows my veggie-junkie appetite. Whenever I visit her, she'd make me a huge tray of salads. Her salads are always fanciful, with a distinctively middle-Eastern (ample herbs and no sugar!). And I really love it.

Recipe: Sima's salad (half to one veggie junkie's serving)

Ingredient:
- 1 plum tomato
- 1 small Persian cucumber or Costco's small cucumber
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 stalk spring onion
- 1 TB Parsley flakes
- 1 TB mint flakes
- 1 TB red wine vinegar
- 1 TB lemon juice
- 2 TB olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- a few walnut pieces

Procedure:
 Chop all vegetables to 1/2" cubes. Mix with all dried herbs. Add vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil. Toss or mix well. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Add walnut pieces. Serve.

Spring mix salad with longan, spicy pineapple, and sunflower seeds

Spring mix salad is a collection of young leaves of deep colors. These vegetables do not high water content, and is a little strong in flavor. I like them with some dry fruits, chewy seeds or nuts, lemon and red wine vinegar, along with olive oil. Here is a variation.

Recipe: Spring mix salad with longan, spicy pineapple, and sunflower seeds (for 1)

Ingredients:
- 3-4 cups spring mix salad
- 3-4 dried longan, torn to small pieces
- 1 piece of spicy pineapple preserve, cut into small pieces
- 2-3 TB extra virgin olive oil
- 2 TB raw sunflower seeds
- 1 TB lemon juice
- 1 TB red wine vinegar
- flakes of hint-of-salt triscuit

Procedure:
Mix all ingredients and shake. Serve.

Baking spring rolls

I just bought some spring roll wrappers. I think they are made of wheat flour. What I like about these spring roll wrappers is that they have the versatility of pastry dough but with very low fat content. Spring rolls are made mainly by deep frying. I want to try how it turns out when baked. I'm not all that concerned about the combination of ingredients. I choose this current combination only because the stuff is mostly dry. This helps preventing the wrapper from falling apart.

Recipe: Baked spring rolls (5 rolls)

Ingredients:
- 1 fresh sausage, removed of casing, browned and drained
- 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup finely shredded zucchini
- 1/4 cup cooked and mushed sweet potato
- 1 TB oil

Procedure:
1. Defrost spring roll wrappers for 1-2 days in refrigerator. When fully defrosted, open package. Place wrappers on a large plate. Cover wrappers with a damp cloth. At this point, all the wrappers will stick close together.
2. Allow the top wrapper to be lightly softened by the damp cloth (1-2 minutes). Then peel the top wrapper very carefully.
3. Transfer the wrapper to another plate. Put all the ingredients at the center of the wrapper. Fold up into a roll. Place the roll folded-side-down on another plate.
4. When all the rolls are done, line a tray with a sheet of parchment paper. Brush paper with oil. Place the rolls folded-side-up on the paper. At this point, the moisture from the ingredients may have moistened the folded-side of the roll. The wrapper tends to be more fragile when moistened.
5. Brush top of each roll with a little oil.
6. Bake at 350F for 5-10 minutes. Then increase temperature to 375F and bake until rolls are crisp. Serve hot.

Wrappers:

Wrappers defrosted and moistened with a damp cloth:

Wrappers to be used with dry ingredients:

Rolls preparing to be baked:

Rolls baked about 15 minutes or until crispy:

Observations:
1. It works!!! The spring rolls do not turn golden, but they are very crispy both top and bottom.
2. By placing the folded side down at the beginning of making the rolls, the moisture from the ingredients may help the wrapper to stick together. Then, by flipping the rolls the other way when baking, this enables moisture to go the opposite way. Because of the way I fold it, the seamless side tends to have more layers than the folded side. Placing the seamless side down helps cooking the multiple layers through contact with the pan.
3. I have come to conclude that the spring roll wrappers are the Chinese counterpart of the Turkish phyllo dough.

Beef zucchini egg pie

I am having a lot of fun exploring the varieties of ingredients in an egg pie. In this experiment, I have zucchini, minced beef, and egg.

Recipe: beef zucchini egg pie (for 4)

Ingredients:
- 4 egg, beaten
- 4 oz lean minced beef
- 2-3 TB medium dried shrimps, soaked
- 1 medium zucchini, sliced very thinly
- 3 TB sweet corns from can or defrosted
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- dash of oregano flakes
- dash of extra strong chili pepper
- dash of cumin
- dash of salt to taste
- 2 TB oil
- mixed herb oil (rosemary, sage etc)

Procedure:
1. Fry beef, dried shrimps and garlic along with all the spices and oil in a non-stick sauce pan until the meat is cooked. Add zucchini and fry lightly.
2. Beat eggs with salt.
3. Grease a baking pan with shortening.
4. Pour beef and vegetables into greased pan. Then add the egg. Flatten the solid ingredients to fully immerse under the egg.
5. Top with thin slices of zucchini. Then brush the top of zucchini with herbed oil.
6. Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes.

Ingredients prepared:

Toppings made:

Baked and cooled: