Mulled Cider (Spiced Apple Cider)

4 cups apple cider
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks6 whole cloves
20 pepper corn
zest of 1 orange
4 slices of (the same) orange

Toast cinnamon, cloves and pepper corn over medium heat for a minute or so, toss occasionally to prevent burning. Add apple cider, turn to high heat, when it is warm enough, stir in and dissolve the brown sugar. After cider come to a boil, reduce heat, add the zest and simmer for 30 minutes. Pour cider into a cup over strainer, float a piece of the orange in the cup.

Substitute orange with any citrus fruit.
Substitute cinnamon sticks with 2 Tsp of ground cinnamon.
Could just toss everything in rice cooker, tastes just as good. Add cider and spice as necessary.

Source: cookingforengineers.com

Fennel Orange Cranberry Sauce

8 ounces frozen or fresh whole cranberries
1/2 navel orange, zested
1 whole navel orange, juiced
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until cranberries begin to break down and water evaporates, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before serving.

fennel seed = fennel = sweet cumin
Substitutes: anise seed OR cumin OR caraway seeds OR dill

I didn't have any fennel seed or any of the possible substitutes, but I did have some Chinese 5 spices which contains some of the herbs above, so I used that. I think it was OK substitution, but I used too much.

Recipe courtesy Dave Lieberman
Show: Good Deal with Dave Lieberman
Episode: Thanksgiving For $45

Ham with Pineapple

3-4 lb boneless ham
8 oz can pineapple slices
1-2 Tbsp whole cloves

2 cups water
1 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp butter

Note: use already smoked honey ham, 1/4-1/2 lb per person. Prefer the pineapple to be canned in syrup. Cloves is rough estimate, enough to cover the ham in inch square diamond pattern. Starch is rough estimate, I had put too much in mine.

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Score the rind of the ham with a diamond pattern. Press the cloves into the ham along the corners of the diamond pattern. Place pineapple slices on the ham, securing with toothpicks. Place the ham in a baking dish with the water.
3. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, and mix in the syrup, brown sugar, honey and syrup/juice from pineapple, until heated through. Pour 1/2 the mixture over the ham.
4. Bake the ham 1 hour and 30 minutes in the preheated oven (~15-20min per pound). Baste frequently with the remaining butter and syrup mixture.
5. Remove the ham from heat, and drain pan dripping into a saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir until thickened, and serve with the ham. Add 1 tea spoon of starch to help thicken if necessary, dissolve starch is small amount of water first then stir solution in to the sauce.

build your own burger

ingredients:
1/4 lb ground beef (not too lean, i think 20% fat?)
1 burger bun
1 egg
1 slice of bacon
1 slice of large tomato
1 slice of onion
1/4 ripen avocado slices
(other adding options: sliced portobello mushroom, shreds of bell pepper, slice of american or cheddar cheese, mustard, ketchup, etc)

- score avocado along the long way up to the pit, twist the 2 halves with your hand and separate them. with a heavier knife (like cleaver or chopping knife), hit the pit so the knife gets a little stuck on the pit, twist the knife and lift the pit out. with a smaller knife (like steak knife), slide it around between the meat and the shell, then remove/tear the shell away from the meat.
- cut onion at the cross section so that we get rings, cut all the veges into 1-2mm slices.
- toast the bun, with inside down to get grill mark, this make the bun stronger.
- make patty out of the ground meat with hand, don't squeezes too hard or pack the meat too tight, make it as big/wide as you can, best if as wide as the bun, but not so thin that it will fall a part, also make sure the middle of the patty is flat or lower, not bulged.
- heat up griddle, put down the bacon first, so we can use bacon fat to grease the pan.
- put the burger patty down, griddle should be in high or medium high heat, cook patty for few minute, and flip over. cook until you don't see any more juice or blood coming out from center. poke it with a fork to check the center, if you aren't sure.
- also flip the bacon and fold it/shape it so it will fit on the bun.
- grill onion and other veges, such as mushroom and bell pepper, but not avocado or tomato. don't over cook the veges, remove it after its cooked. better under cooked then over cooked.
- on a flat grill, grease pan with a little bit of oil or butter. crack the egg on it, try not to break the yolk. use spatula to prevent egg white and yolk from spreading too much, try to keep egg to size of the bun. once egg white forms shape, break the yolk and spread it over white, then flip it over and cook it thru. alternatively, scramble it before cooking, but it would be harder to keep it in shape. you can also try cooking egg on griddle, doable, but difficult to scope up. fry egg without grease does not taste very good.
- stack your burger. suggested stacking order: bottom bun, burger, [ketchup,] bacon, [cheese,] egg, onion, [mushroom and grilled veges], tomato, avocado, top bun.

burger by definition is not healthy, have to give up something for the taste =p

Hawaiian Heart Throb Smoothie

“Influenced by a vacation in Maui, this tropical drink is a blend of strawberries, bananas, grenadine, coconut cream & pineapple juice.”
- Red Robin Concoctions Menu

2/3 cup frozen strawberries, about 6-10
1/2 banana, peeled
2 Tsp grenadine
2 Tsp coconut cream
4 Tsp pinapple juice, frozen cubes
1-2 cube of ice
1 shot Vodka

Made according to the description and ingredient list from Red Robin, except the Vodka part. Dump everything into blender, should take up about 2 cups total. If your blender is not strong enough to blend whole ice cube, try crushing it into smaller pieces with a mullet first. Blend with slow pulses, so ice settles to the bottom and blend evenly. Pour into a chilled glass and enjoy

1 shot glass = 1.5 measure
1 measure = 3/4 oz = 1.5 Tsp

Mudslide

1 shot Kahlua
1 shot Baileys Irish Cream
1 shot Vodka
4-6 scoops of vanilla ice cream
1-3 cubes of ice

Dump everything into blender, don’t worry about amount of ice cream, more the merrier. Basically everything should take up about 2 cups in the blender. Use quick pulse mode to make sure ice settles to the bottom for even blend. Pour into chilled glass and enjoy

Kahlua and Irish Cream have low alcohol content compare to Vodka, this is only slightly stronger than smoothie. But if you want more buzz, try 1.3 shot of everything or 1.5 shot of Vodka.

1 shot glass = 1.5 measure
1 measure = 3/4 oz = 1.5 Tsp

Pina Colada

3 shots of Daily’s Pina Colada Mix (see substitution below)
1 shot of Rum
2 Tsp pineapple juice, frozen cube
1-3 cubes of ice

Blend everything together, serve in a chilled glass.

You can also substitute Rum with Vodka, or half white rum half dark rum. 1 shot of alcohol is just right for a smoothie type of drink. You can also try 1.5 shot, but any more than that the alcohol will over power the fruity taste.

If you don’t have the mix, substitute it with:
1 shot pineapple juice
4 Tsp coconut cream
1 Tsp sugar syrup

I usually use shot glass for measurement of most ingredients and large chinese table spoon for the rest. Figure most people can measure their alcohol tolerance by shots. But most recipies will use “measure” or other standard measurement units.

1 shot glass = 1.5 measure
1 measure = 3/4 oz = 1.5 Tsp

Rice congee

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked rice (aka left over, or half cup uncooked)
3 cup water
tiny bit scallion (green part)
1tsp salt

for beef congee:
1/2 cup shreded beef
marinated egg

for pork congee:
1/2 cup shreded pork
1/3 cup shreded pork belly

for sea food congee:
1/2 peeled shrimp
1 stick of fake crab

for sweet congee:
replace scallion and salt with sugar
add some sweet pickles

Boil rice in water in high heat, stir to make sure they are loose. Add salt, stir. Turn to low heat and cook for 20-30min or however long you like, best if you have slow cooker for this. Stir often and cook to the consistency you like, add more water if necessary. Add all other ingredients, turn to medium heat cook til boiled again and dish.

Using left over rice cuts down cooking time, other uses: fried rice, rice pudding.

Imitation Samosas

Ingredients:
1 potato
1/2 pack wonton wrapper
1Tsp butter
1Tsp thai curry paste
pinch of garlic/onion powder

Peel potato, slide and cut into small pieces (cooks faster). Boil the pieces til you can poke thru easily. Drain and mash, mix in butter, curry paste and garlic powder. Stir til its even goldish color, let it cool.
Cut wrapper diagonally into 2 triangles (Optional, this is so you can wrap filling into triangle shape. Might or might not want to do this, depends on the size of wrapper. Of course you can wrap them however you like, just make sure not too much filling is exposed). Wrap 1/2 to 1 table spoon of potato paste into individual wrapper, lay them out on a big plate, don’t overlap, or they will stick together.
Fire up your deep fryer in high heat (use a small sauce/soup pot, pour in 2-3 cup of oil, 1-2 inches high) . Turn to medium heat and try to maintaint this level. Dump in the pieces one by one, into empty area in the pot, fish them up once they turn alittle yellow (less than a minute). They will turn more gold once they are out, so take them out early rather than late, you can always put them in again if needed. Drain them of oil and put them over sheet of paper towel.
You can heat up leftover in microwave, put them on a layer of towel to keep them dry. Or refry them.

Sweet and sour chicken over bok choy

Ingredients:
1 large chicken breast (1-2 pounds? you can also use other meat)
1 stalk of scallion (chop white part, dice green part)
2 cloves garlic sliced
1 cup potato starch (or other frying batter)
2 tsp salt and pepper (season salt)
2 Tsp sweet and source sauce (or any other chinese stir fry sauce)

2 stacks of bok choy (baby bok choy or any similar green vege)
1 Tsp squid/fish/soy based seasoning sauce
1 tsp sugar

Cut chicken into small bite pieces, add in salt and pepper, cover and shake it couple times, then let it sit for 10min. Pour in half cup of starch, squish around with your hand, cover all the chicken pieces. Pour in the other half of starch, this time lightly stir the chicken so they are evenly covered and won’t appear slimy. You want to stir alittle so the flour doesn’t just come off when frying.
Deep fry the chicken pieces (see 3rd part of Imitation Samosas), they should float when done. Set aside.
Peel, seperate and clean individual leave of bok choy. Boil one pot of water, put in bok choy, white part down. After it boils again, drain the bok chok. You can either stir fry the bok choy in squid sauce or sugar in a pot, or just shake it. Dish the bok choy, lay them out on the plate if you like.
Heat 1tsp of oil in a wok or large frying pan, add in white scallion and garlic, stir alittle, you should smell the aroma. Pour in sweet sour sauce, add chicken stir alittle. Dish on top of bok choy, sprinkle the green scallion.

Grilled chicken and squash

Ingredients:
half of squash, zuccini, eggplant
quater of onion
2 pieces of chicken breast
McCormick lemon herb marinade

Best to thaw chicken in the fridge for few hours, but if you need to use microwave, try short burst of 10/20 sec, don’t over do it. Cut (slice) chicken in to smaller pieces (cooks faster), marinade for 15min (could combine with thawing). Slice vegetables, slanted for larger pieces.

Heat up grill, spray/brush some oil. Dump the onion in first, then other vege. Flip over when grill mark shows on first side. Push aside to make room for chicken, grill til both side are fully cooked. But don’t over cook, or meat will be very dry.

Beef & vege stir fry

Ingredients:
half pound of beef
half eggplant
2 stalks of bok choy
(either or both vege)
1 garlic chunk
1 stalk of scallion (white half)
House of Tsang Szechuan Spicy Stir Fry Sauce (or any other soy sauce based stir fry sauce)

Cut beef into bite size, cut eggplant into bite size wedges, wash and split up each leaves of bok choy, slice garlic, cut scallion into 2cm pieces (as oppose to the usual dicing of green half).

Heat up wok or frying pan with oil. Throw in garlic and scallion, stir alittle, you should smell the aroma from garlic and scallion. Throw in beef, stir til half cooked. Throw in vege, stir some more and cover the pot. Check and stir occasionally til beef is fully cooked, shouldn’t take long.

marinated pork belly with mustard leaves

Mei Tsai Kou Rou (marinated pork with mustard leaves) ingredients - Wu hua rou (pork belly, must have skin), mei tsai (dried pickled mustard leaves), scallion, ginger, soy sauce (you need two kinds - dark, aka shen cho, and normal), brown sugar. tools - frying pan, one tooth pick, and most importantly a steamable bowl that's just big enough to fit all the ingredients

direction - This is a laborous dish... but blue insisted on knowing its secrets ^^;; so here you go... the whole thing will take a while, 4 +- 1 hrs including wait time, so start early =)
1. boil the pork belly just enough so it's fully cooked but still contain all the flavors, maybe 20 minutes defrosted (do NOT cut it into pieces yet!) (tip: the water used to cook the pork is great for soup base, once u remove the bits with a filter)
2. poke holes on the surface of the pork skin with a tooth pick (so that it won't blister) and coat the skin with a layer of dark soy sauce. now pour some oil on to the frying pan and use SMALL to medium heat to fry the skin side of the pork until it's brown (might want to cover it to avoid getting burned)
3. mix normal and dark soy sauce with some brown sugar in a small bowl. cut the pork into thin slices, cover it with the prepared sauce, and line it neatly in the steamable bowl, skin side face DOWN and around the bowl.
4. soak the mustard leaves in warm water for a few minutes (cut it up afterwards if it's not already in small pieces) . Drain, and stir fry it with diced scallion and ginger. pave the cooked mustard leaves on top of the pork so it covers the pork evenly.
5. place the finished product in a steamer and steam for at least 1 hr (i usually steam for 2 hrs).
6. finally, take the bowl out of the steamer and cover it with a plate deep enough to hold the extra sauce ;). and in one smooth motion turn it upside down... let the sauce drain onto the plate and remove the bowl... now you should have a perfectly aligned pork belly sitting on the plate =)

notes
er... good luck, and don't burn yourself.

Chinese Pork Lettuce Wraps

1 lb Ground Pork 2 tbsp Hoisin Sauce 2 tsp Lime Juice 1 clove garlic 3 celery stalks 2 large carrots or handful of baby carrots 1 head of Butter or Iceberg lettuce (or any kind of flexible leaf lettuce) 1/4 small onion Salt and Pepper to taste

Marinate the ground pork in hoisin sauce, lime juice and garlic
Dice onion, carrots and celery
Stirfry the onion, carrots and celery until soft, then remove
Stirfry the ground pork (take care not to turn it into a giant patty!)
When the pork is done, mix in veggies

To serve:
Wrap the pork/veggie mixture in full leaves of lettuce. Wrap it like a burrito!
You can also serve with Hoisin on the table, but I didn't find it necessary.

Serves 3-4. All measurements are approximate! I made them up myself :P

Dijon Chicken Tarragon

ingredients 2 (14-ounce) cans chicken broth 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 6 to 8 ounces 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon or, 2 teaspoons dried Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Bring 2 cans chicken broth to a boil. Add chicken to the broth, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Poach chicken 12 minutes.
Remove chicken to a plate and pour broth into a large measuring cup or batter bowl. Return the pan to heat and add butter.
Slowly pour cooking liquid back into the pan, add flour until appropriately thickened, combining with a whisk.
Stir in Dijon mustard and tarragon and season sauce with salt and pepper. Return chicken to the pan and coat with sauce. Simmer 2 or 3 minutes to heat chicken back through and to combine flavors.

Presentation of Insalata Caprese

Insalata Caprese is another name for "tomato, mozzarrella & basil salad"

A cool way to serve this salad is in "stacks".

Slice tomatoes and fresh mozzerrella balls
Then arrange in a stacks
Drizzle with some olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

marinated beef stew

Top flat iron steak, turnip, onion, chicken broth, marinating spice pouch, soy sauce, brown suger, anise, garlic, ginger, "five spice powder", sweet noodle sauce.

First cut steak and (shaved) turnip into even sized cubes.

Sprinkle five spice powder on the beef cubes and stir fry on stove (bigger the fire the better). Cook it just enough so all sides are brown but the insides are still raw.

stir fry onion with the oil the steak produces until it's brown.

boil the chicken broth and stir in all the ingredients (beef, turnip, onion, ginger, garlic), add in the spice pouch, soy sauce, suger, anice, and sweet noodle sauce, and let it boil in medium heat for 30 minutes, then covered with the stove off for another 30minutes.

lazy veggie wraps

ingredients:
one can whole kernel corn, drained
one can red or black beans, drained and rinsed
one box spanish rice mix
one package soft flour tortillas or wraps
one jar salsa

cook spanish rice according to directions on box. add corn and beans to the rice, stirring until thoroughly heated. heat tortillas in microwave for about thirty seconds on high, placing a moist paper towel on top. spoon rice mix onto tortillas, spoon on some salsa or save it for the side, wrap and serve. serves 3-4.

spicy pad thai

Ingredients

1 pack Kikkoman Pad Thai seasoning mix
2 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 pound boneless chicken or pork, cut into thin strips
1/4 pound fresh bean sprouts
4 green onions, chopped
6 ounces fine egg noodles cooked, rinsed, and drained
2 Tbsp chopped roasted peanuts

Dissolve mix in milk; blend in peanut butter. Gradually stir in 1/4 cup water until well mixed. Heat oil in large sklilet over high heat; add meat. Stir fry until browned. Add bean sprouts and green onions, stir fry 1 minute. Reduce heat; stir in noodles, peanuts, and seasoning mixture. Cook until noodles are heated. Makes 3 to 4 servings.

I found this to be very tasty, but a bit on the spicy side- not as sweet as the pad thai I usually get at restaurants. If you prefer sweet over spicy, try adding some sugar.

scallion pancakes

1/2 cup of flour 1/2 cup warm water 1 tsp salt 1 tsp garlic powder (optional) 2 tsp sesame oil (vege oil or butter) 2 stalks of scallion 1 Tsp vege oil (shortening) rolling pin (beer bottle w/ sarin wrap)

in a large bowl, slowly mix water into flour with a spoon. i dont know how much water exactly, but mix until it becomes one dough, some what sticky. let it sit for 5min, while you chop up the scallion as small as possible [optional].

divide the dough in half. sprinkle flour on a flat surface (cutting board), flatten the dough on to board, sprinkle some more flour on the dough. roll the dough flat into a 10x10 in sheet. keep sprinkle flour to prevent it from sticking to board or rolling pin. just get it as flat and big as you can, shape of the sheet doesnt matter as much here, as long as it's in one piece.

sprinkle salt, garlic power, spread evenly with your hand. add oil, spread evenly with back of a spoon. sprinkly scallion [i usually cut stalk in 2, then cut both at the same time with a scissors right on to the sheet, so you get even spread of white and green part]. roll the sheet up like a jelly roll, pinch the ends. then roll the other way into a snail.

flatten the snail with your hand, sprinkle more flour. this time roll it into 6x6 in circular sheet. for a perfect circle, with tip of rolling pin at center of the sheet and handle at the right, roll it towards you, turn the sheet as you roll.

heat up oil in a frying pan, turn the pan so oil is evenly spread, it's ok if they are in drops. turn heat down to medium, put the sheet in, flip a couple times til you see some golden brown dots on both side. dish up, cut into 8 pieces and enjoy.

*makes 2 pancakes, use 1/2 to 1 stalk of scallion per pancake.

*when rolling the sheet up, bigger the sheet, more layers you will have, the oil is for taste, seperate the layers and add air bubbles