MGFK: Parmesan Tilapia On My Mind

Their Description:
Lightly nestled beneath a light Parmesan coating of Italian seasoning, garlic and paprika, and drizzled with a lemon caper sauce. This eco-friendly fish will be forever in your thoughts, forever on your mind, forever in your dreams.

My Thoughts:
The tilapia was very moist, and most of the flavour was in the crust (which was fine by me!). I made the mistake of drizzling the lemon caper sauce on the fish (it was really tart!). It was probably better to serve the sauce on the side of the fish.

Ghetto Fried Rice

Many years ago, a friend once asked me if I've ever had 'ghetto fried rice'. Apparently, a 'Chinese' restaurant (owned by an African-American couple) in her neighbourhood serves a rather tasty version of fried rice made with bacon. Curious (as usual!), I prepped a batch to determine if the combination works. Since then, I've made this dish countless times (mostly when I run out of shrimp, Chinese sausages, ham, char siew, etc.).

MGFK: Lemon Herbed Pork Chops

Their Description:
The tree is very pretty and the blossom is flowery sweet. But the juice of that dear lemon makes this the perfect meat. Grilled lemon and oregano pork chops with garlic mashed potatoes. Pucker up for perfection.

My Thoughts:
Pork chops were tender, juicy and well-seasoned. The garlic mashed potatos was way too salty.

MGFK: All-Star Chicken

Their Description:
Six chicken breasts delicately flavored with walnut oil, cranberries and raspberry dressing for cooking by grill, broil or skillet with penne pasta on the side. Simple, classic, wonderful. Give 'em the red carpet treatment with this dinner.

My thoughts:
The chipotle and cranberry combination was surprisingly good. Spicy, with a sweet tang. Didn't need the raspberry dressing - it overwhelmed the flavour of the chicken breasts. The penne pasta was inedible. Ended tossing the lot even though I hated the thought of wasting food.

Homemade Pizza...

With a little help from Trader Joe's (i.e. the garlic herbed pizza dough). I skipped the red sauce and opted for an olive oil seasoning base, followed by salami, goat cheese, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. It smelled good as it baked in the oven!

The Transition From 2007 to 2008...

2007 ended with a post about a batch of delicious mandelbrots I received from my partner in a cookie swap. It is only fitting that my first post for 2008 shows a batch of mandelbrots I made from the very same recipe. Here's to a year of great food and new discoveries in the kitchen!

California Deluxe Mandelbrots

These cookies are awesome! I love biscotti-type cookies, and these are sorta like that, but not quite as dry. Can't wait to experiment with other add-ins (such as chocolate chips, almonds, toffee bits, lemon zest, etc.). Oh the possibilities!




California Deluxe Mandelbrots

INGREDIENTS
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of oil
4 large eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 drops orange extract
1 cup whole unsalted pistachios

DIRECTIONS
Mix wet ingredients with nuts then add dry. Preheat oven to 350°F. Make two dough logs on greased sheet. Bake 15 to 20 minutes then cut into biscotti-like mini shapes. Bake more until golden brown.

Grandma's Gingersnaps

I love gingersnaps! These were baked for a cookie exchange of sorts. Simple, but delish!

Veggie Tofu

I <3 tofu!

Giving Thanks for 2007...

This year, Q asked me "What are you thankful for?" Caught off guard, I blurted "I'm thankful for you!" I could hear the glee in his voice when he said "That's a good answer!" *smile*

Once again, it was cooking mayhem in my pristine (read: often neglected) kitchen. Truth be told, I like my kitchen c-l-e-a-n. By the time we were ready to sit down and enjoy dinner, someone remarked "Hmmm. The kitchen looks just like it did BEFORE we started cooking the meal!"

Turkey! Turkey! Turkey!



Leek Gratin



Butternut Squash Risotto



Warm Apricot Ginger Cranberry Sauce



Bacon Rosemary Stuffing



Sweet Potato Pie



Maine Pumpkin Bread

Rock Buns

This was one of the first things I learned in Home Ec.! After a bit of trial and error, I think I've managed to duplicate the recipe!!!



Ingredients:
200 g all-purpose flour
100 g brown sugar
Generous pinch of salt
100 g butter, cut into pieces
150 g dried currants
1 egg, beaten
Enough milk to bind the mixture

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix flour, brown sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Rub butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
3. Add currants.
4. Add egg and enough milk to form a sticky dough.
5. Place tablespoonfuls of dough on ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Remove promptly from the oven and cool on rack.

Not For The Squeamish...

A plate of chopped up pei dan (i.e. century eggs), ready for a big vat of jook (rice porridge).

Chicken & Noodles...

Yep. It's creamy chicken marsala with mushrooms and capers. Oh, and spinach fettucine noodles!

Where's My Red Meat?

I have a natural preference for chicken or fish, but sometimes, a girl craves steak :) For last night's dinner, we had a quick meal of pan-seared beef tenderloin topped with peppery mushrooms, mashed potatoes and broccoli florets. Oh...and a nice bottle of shiraz.

Hot Pot

I've been on a cooking hiatus. During the summer months (what with work and the warm weather) it's often easier to dine out or dine on foods that require minimal preparation. It was a rainy 65°F Sunday evening...and well, we decided on hot pot for dinner. Along with two types of broth (chicken and tom yum), we had veggies, enoki mushrooms, shrimp, rice sticks, shaved rib-eye steaks, fish cakes, shrimp balls, and beef tendon balls. Quite a feast for two people, but we had a good time cooking and enjoying the homestyle food.

Unwrapping A Package Of Stroopwafels...

I received a wonderful surprise in the mail. Stroopwafels!!! OMG. It was my first, and now I'm hooked!

Braised Mushroom Noodles

This is one of my experiments! I braised three types of mushroom (shitake, enoki and straw) for an hour or so, and added it to some egg noodles. It was pretty good!

Thursday's Breakfast...

I'm not the sort to have breakfast in the morning, but I couldn't resist the little mochi that my sis sent over in one of the care packages!!! The white one has a mung bean filling, the tan one has a peanut filling, and there's a black sesame paste in the the last one. Delish!!!

Hamachi

For lunch, I had some sliced hamachi. It was sooooo good!!! Note that the package says "For Institutional Use Only". That was $20 well spent!

Carrot Cake Cheesecake

What sort of dessert does one bring for an office potluck? Who knows. For some reason or other, I decided to bake a carrot cake cheesecake. Not that I've ever made one in my lifetime. Actually, it wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be. Both of the cake batters were a breeze to assemble, but the frosting recipe didn't look quite right to me. Uh-huh. If anything, I'm a frosting sorta girl. Hence, I was forced to come up with an alternate concoction! Picture time!!! Here's a shot of the cake, sans frosting.


And here's a shot of the frosted cake...after I've done my bit of decorating!