Preserved Lemons

Lemons with salt cooling in the jar

Once in a while, I'll have too much junk and fried foods. So much so that I'll end up with a sore in my mouth. Usually from biting myself and it's worse when I haven't been sleeping well, but meh. This hurts like a B but putting a piece of preserved lemon on top of the sore helps.

Other times, I'll just mix it with some honey and ginger for a tea. It really does hit the spot when you're craving something sweet and salty yet refreshing. I know it sounds weird. Must be an Asian thing.

Steaming the lemons is optional. But it does get rid of that bitter taste so I recommend it.

Preserved Lemons

Ingredients:

• Lemons
• Kosher salt

Lemons 1 month later

Directions:

1. In a large pot, boil an inch of water with a steaming basket or steamer rack with a plate. When water has boiled, place lemons on plate or in the steamer basket. Steam lemons for 10 minutes. 
2. After 10 minutes, transfer lemons in a wide mouth jar (do NOT pour any of the bitter lemon water from the plate into the jar). Cover with 1 cup of salt per 3 large lemons. Cool to room temperature. 
3. Cover the jar with a lid and let lemons preserve for a month. 

Egg on Fish

Haha. I didn't notice it at first, but if you look at the picture closely, you can see a smiley face with a tongue (the fish) sticking out! How creepy...

So, did I mention that I bought a lot of snapper from Costco? I think this'll be the last time I do that. I always seem to forget that we just don't eat enough fish to validate buying it from there. Normally I'd freeze excess food, but with fish, there's no freezing! After it defrosts, it's so darn fishy that we can't even eat it. Ai..when will I learn? =\


Egg on Fish
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 small snapper filet
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil, divided

Directions:

1. In a small skillet, heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil in over medium low heat. Crack the eggs into the skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Let it cook slowly. If you're in a rush, cover with a lid to cook faster (which is what I did. Hence the whitish film over the yolk).
2. Meanwhile, heat up the remaining olive oil over medium high heat in another pan. Season both sides of the snapper filet with salt and pepper. Pan fry the filet until golden brown on one side. Gently flip filet over to cook other side. Add in tomato halves. Cook the fish with the tomatoes until fish is cooked through. Season with more salt and pepper, if needed.
3. Transfer fish onto a plate, top with fried egg & tomatoes.
4. Serve with toast or hash browns and coffee or milk.

Black Bean Salad

You know, I cannot believe I haven't made a post about this recipe yet. This is one of the salads that I make every summer because Hubby and I both love it so much. It's stupid easy and filling. It's better with the lemon juice (or even lime juice) but we don't always use it if we don't have it. It still tastes good but the acid from the lemon/lime juice really makes the salad scrumptious. :)


Black Bean Salad
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1 540ml (19oz) can of black beans, rinsed & drained
• 1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped)
• 1 311g (11oz) can of corn niblets, rinsed and drained
• 2 green onion stalks, finely diced
• 2 small or medium avocados, chopped
• 2 Tbsps garlic infused extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon or lime
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, toss everything, except the avocado, and a pinch of salt together. Season with more salt if necessary. Just before serving, toss in avocado chunks.
2. Serve with grilled chicken or steak.

Tomato Fish Stew

Never would I have thought to make a fish stew. I was actually going to make a chowder with all this snapper that I got from Costco. But then I saw "stew" and thought "oh why not?"

I gotta say...this isn't bad. It tastes especially yummy over Brown Rice and Beans. I had it the next day for lunch and it wasn't fishy either. SCORE! :D


Tomato Fish Stew
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 6 snapper filet, quartered into strips (about 2 lbs)
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 spring of fresh thyme)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 inch knob of ginger, minced
• 1 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1/3 cup water
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsps virgin olive oil, divided

Directions:

1. Heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat in a large sauce pan. Season the fish strips with salt and pepper. Pan fry the strips until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a plate.
2. Heat up remaining olive oil in the pan. Toss in onions, tomatoes, thyme, garlic, ginger and fish sauce. Cook until onions and tomatoes have softened. Add in water. Return fish to the pan. Cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until the fish is cooked through.
3. Serve over Brown Rice and Beans (or just rice).

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

A few years back, I was on this diet where I couldn't have any butter or oils (except for virgin olive oil), among other things...But I wanted mashed potatoes. So instead of adding butter and milk, I added cheese. It was a good idea.

I hadn't made it again since then. But I thought I'd try that diet again. So here we go...Cheesy Mashed Potatoes that even K and Hubby will devour. :)


Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
(serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

• 3 large russet potatoes, cubed
• 1 cup cheddar/marbled cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup hot milk
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Boil potatoes in salted water until fork tender. Drain water.
2. Add hot milk and cheese to the drained potatoes. Mash with potato masher. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Serve with veggies and grilled meat.

"About to Get Sick" Soup

The weather here has just been horrendous. It gets warm, and then the week after, it's below freezing. This makes for a lot of people getting sick and spreading their germs around. Yuck. A friend of mine had told me about this soup and swears that it keeps her and her family from getting sick every time they feel something coming on. Since I was feeling it coming on and K was already feverish for a couple of days, it was only a matter of time before I'd be down for the count as well. May as well give it a go, right?

It's pretty darn good. It's a pretty sweet soup because of the corn and carrots. I have no clue why K didn't drink more of it, but he just didn't care for it. I loved it and just drank it like water throughout the day. TEEHEE. And sure enough, I only had a mild cough for a week (usually my coughs last at least 3 weeks) and then I was ALL better. Hubby didn't get sick at all either. So I'd say it's pretty good stuff.


"About to Get Sick" Soup
(makes about 2 1/2 liters)

Ingredients:

• 2 small corn on cob with 1 layer of husk
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 1/2 lb pork sirloin (or any cut of boneless meat)
• 10 whole chestnuts
• 2 inch knob of ginger
• Salt, to taste
• Water

Directions:

1. Throw everything into a large 5 quart dutch oven. Fill with water until about 1 1/2 inches of space is left from the top of the pot to the top of the water. Bring to a boil. Lower to the lowest setting and simmer, covered, for 2 hours. Season with salt and skim off any excess fat.
2. Serve hot and drink as you would water throughout the day.

You can eat the veggies. They're still pretty good. I usually make a soy dipping sauce to eat the meat with when making soups like this. Nothing goes to waste!

Mom's Chicken Soup

Call it a broth, consomme or whatever but to me it's a "soup". That's what we call it in Canto anyway.

Super SUPER easy. It just takes some time. Mom always uses a whole chicken (skinned so that it's less oily) but I use chicken carcasses. I find that if you use two carcass for a large dutch oven, it's good. I'll use a 3L pot for one carcass. This takes a while, but it's so yummy. I used fresh goji berries for the soup that's pictured, but if you use the dried goji berries, it gives the soup a deeper red colour.

You can get the dried goji berries and dried Chinese yams in Chinese medicine shops or Chinese supermarkets. The goji berries would usually be labeled wolfberries and the Chinese yams would be labeled dioscorea opposita. Thank goodness I know what they look like because I always have a hard time remembering their Chinese names and I never had a clue what their English names were. Just imagine me poking around an Asian supermarket at the bags of Chinese herbs with the English names. Now THAT was a whole new experience. Totally different than going to Chinatown with Mom to shop for these things.


Mom's Chicken Soup
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole skinless chicken, or 2 skinless chicken carcasses (skin on will produce more fat to skim off later)
• 1/4 cup fresh wolfberries (goji berries), or 3 Tbsps dried wolfberries (goji berries), rinsed
• 3 pieces dioscorea opposita (dried Chinese yam)
• 2 inches knob of ginger, smashed
• Water
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Throw everything into a large (5.4L or so) pot or dutch oven. Add enough water to fill the pot/dutch oven 3/4 of the way up with water. Bring to a gentle boil. 
2. Skim off any scum that surfaces. Lower heat to the lowest setting. Cover and simmer for 2 hours.
3. After 2 hours, bring the soup back to a boil. Skim off remaining scum and oil. Season with salt.

The soup can be made in a slow cooker. I've dumped the chicken carcasses (frozen or fresh) into a slow cooker with everything else and just cooked it for 6 hours on low. It works fine. Just harder to skim off all the scum and oils at the end because the soup isn't boiling. Still good though!

Broth Butt Chicken

Okay, so I lied. I wasn't going to roast a chicken any other way than when I did my Sage & Bay Salt Roast Chicken but I had a friend's beer butt chicken one day and it was just crazy moist. I was intrigued...

Originally I was going to use some beer instead, but I found some beef broth in the fridge I wanted to use up, so I used that instead. Shouldn't you be using chicken broth instead? Yeah, I probably should've but that would've meant I'd open up another 1L thing of chicken broth when I really only needed to use a little over half a can to cook the thing.

I can't tell you how important it is to let anything you plan on roasting to rest on the counter an hour before you roast it (same goes for steaks). It cooks more evenly so it tastes way more awesome. I hope I never forget to do this. Lol. :P


Broth Butt Chicken
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 can of chicken broth/beer, can rinsed and dried
• 4 russet potatoes, washed, peeled & cubed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 head of garlic, cloves separated & peeled
• 4 tsps Sage & Bay Salt, divided
• 2 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, toss potatoes, onions, carrots, celery and garlic cloves with olive oil and 1 teaspoon of Sage & Bay Salt. Pour into a 9" x 12" roasting pan.
3. Open up a can of chicken broth or beer, pour 1/3 to 1/2 of the can onto the veggies (or consume the beer). Make a little spot in the middle of the pan for the can and place the can in the opened space. Set aside.
4. Rub chicken with remaining Sage & Bay Salt. Stick the chicken onto the can so that it props the chicken up (as if can is sticking up into its butt opening).
5. Carefully place roasting pan into the oven and roast for 70 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 165F.
6. Carve the chicken and serve with the roasted veggies and potatoes with a side salad.

Yellow Wine Chicken

I made "all" this yellow wine over the summer and still haven't used it for anything more than marinades and sauces. I've been meaning to make Yellow Wine Chicken, and so I finally did. I normally don't like it at all, but I liked this one. Probably because it wasn't so strong that it could kill someone and wasn't so weak that it makes you wonder where the wine went. :P

The broth is very good for you, so don't waste it!


Yellow Wine Chicken
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken legs, thigh and drumstick separated
• 1 inch knob ginger, sliced
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups yellow wine

Directions:

1. Place everything in a medium pot and bring to a gentle boil. Lower the heat and simmer covered for 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
2. Serve alone or with rice.

Braised Pork with Apple & Onion Gravy

First time ever combining apples with pork. It's pretty good. It's weird that I've never tried this before, but it was pretty good. I think I prefer the roast pork from Hong Kong style BBQ places though.

This made a lot of gravy (could've used more flour to make it thicker, but meh), which I then stored in the freezer for future pork chop uses. I wouldn't call this a traditional gravy though. More like a sauce? Oh the identity crisis...


Braised Pork with Apple & Onion Gravy
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 5 lb pork shoulder, cut in half
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 3 medium (or 2 large) apples, cored and sliced into wedges
• 4 cups apple juice
• 1 cup beef broth
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tbsps canola oil (or bacon grease)

Directions:

1. Heat up the bacon grease or canola oil in a large Dutch oven or pot on medium high heat. Rub a generous amount of salt and pepper onto the pork shoulders. Carefully place one into the Dutch oven and sear all sides. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the other one.
2. Transfer the second piece onto the same plate as the first. Stir in onions and apples to the Dutch oven and sauté, scraping up the brown bits as the apples and onions start releasing its juices.
3. Return the pork shoulders back into the pot, cover with apple juice, broth and two bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover and lower heat to the lowest setting simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
4. After 2 1/2 hours, transfer pork shoulders onto a plate to rest. In the mean time, crank up the heat to full blast and let the sauce reduce to half. In a small bowl, mix the flour and water to make a slurry. Once the sauce has reduced to half, whisk in the flour slurry and heat thoroughly. The oniones and apples should've disentegrated by now. If not, just use the whisk or a spoon to smush it all up.
5. To serve, slice pork shoulders and pour gravy over the slabs of meat, accompanied with some wild rice.

Pollo a la Brasa with Potatoes

I was looking at this Peruvian restaurant's menu. I've never had Peruvian food before, but I'm always up for trying new cuisines, so I was intrigued. I hadn't a clue what I'd order if I went to the restaurant, so I did a little research.

One of the least adventurous dishes was the pollo a la brasa (Peruvian roasted chicken). I thought it looked yummy so I went and looked up some recipes and came to this one. I don't know how authentic this is but it was indeed yummy. Of course I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I tried. I really did, but I hate water brines, so I didn't do that. Instead, I had planned on marinating the chicken over two nights rather than just one. But then I got impatient and wanted to eat this. Next time I'll marinate it for two nights because the flavour didn't really get all the way into the chicken. Oh wells.

And it's easier to roast a chicken after it's been cut into 8 parts, so that's what I did. Hah. :P

I think this can be a dish that I could just serve on plain white rice rather than the potatoes. Or wild rice. I love wild rice.....or a rice pilaf! Oh the possibilities...


Pollo a la Brasa with Potatoes
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 1/4 cup canola oil/extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 3 medium russet potatoes, cubed

Directions:

1. In a large Ziploc bag, combine oil, vinegar, garlic, chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, paprika, oregano and soy sauce. Toss in the chicken pieces and massage until well coated. Marinade in the fridge overnight (or 2 nights).
2. Preheat oven to 375F. 
3. Add potatoes into the Ziploc bag. Massage until potatoes are well coated. Pour everything from the Ziploc bag into a roasting pan, arranging chicken to rest on top of the potatoes, skin side up.
4. Bake for 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through (165F when tested with a thermometer). Rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
5. Serve chicken with the potatoes and a side salad.

Update: You can always freeze the chicken pieces for up to 2 weeks in the freezer and then take it out the night before you want to bake it to defrost in the fridge.

Ratatouille

I watched the movie and was intrigued. But never did make any. But then I had this zucchini in the fridge and didn't have any ideas on what to do with it...Well, that's not true. I had wanted to make zucchini bread for K but was too lazy. I did have to use it up before it starts going bad, so I got some eggplant (on sale and should've gotten more) and mushrooms (also on sale!) to make ratatouille. It's always so exciting making something new. Exciting and scary since I gotta make sure that Hubby will actually eat it. And he did! He likes it. In fact, we all liked it. :)

We can't understand how it can be a meal though. It definitely needs some sort of protein with it. But that's probably cuz we love our meat so much. Although it did taste better the next day, so I can see why people would be able to eat it by itself the next day. :P


Ratatouille
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1 large zucchini, chopped
• 1 large eggplant, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 lb mushrooms, chopped
• 1 796ml (28oz) can of diced tomatoes
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp dried sage (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
• 1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. In a large pot or dutch oven, heat oil on medium high heat. Add in onions, garlic and mushrooms. Cook until garlic is fragrant and onions start to soften. 
2. Add in zucchini and eggplant. Season with salt, pepper, sage and thyme. Cook until eggplant starts turning colour. 
3. Stir in the can of tomatoes and sugar. Mix well. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer for 30 minutes, covered. Season with more salt and pepper, if needed.
4. Serve alone or with a protein.

Greekish Salad

I have fallen in love with Greek Salad. Not really, but it's so yummy and simple. Hubby doesn't like feta nor olives, so it's hard to get my fix some days. Luckily, I had a pot luck to go to sans Hubby and K, so I made some! I forgot to get bell peppers, so hence the "Greekish" vs "Greek" salad name. So just add the green bell peppers to make it a Greek salad! :)

No matter though, since it was still super yummy. If the other foods at the potluck weren't so good, I'd probably have polished this all off. :P


Greekish Salad
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 1 cucumber, diced
• 3 large roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup katamala olives, pitted
• 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 red onion, finely sliced/shaved
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse the red onions under some cold water and dry off with paper towels or in a salad spinner.
2. Combine everything in a large salad bowl. Go easy on the salt in case your feta is super salty. Using tongs or your hands, mix well. Season with more salt & pepper, if necessary.
3. Serve (with more feta cheese if you're a fanatic) as a side. It can be served immediately or made an hour or two ahead.

Rinsing the onion cuts the sharpness and drying it off makes the "dressing" less watery.

Update: So I decided to make this again. Only this time I added orange bell peppers and baby spinach. Yum!! 

Cheesy "Refried" Red Kidney Beans

Okay, fine so it doesn't look all that appetizing. But it's actually pretty darn good. K loved it when I wrapped it in some tortilla and dipped it into sour cream. That kid is learning to love sour cream, which is good for me, since I love the stuff too. Mind you, that kid also will eat raw onion. He's so weird! Just like his daddy. =\

I didn't have a can of refried beans and I didn't have any pinto beans, so I made red kidney refried beans instead. Love it! You can always change the consistency if you like it thicker. I like it a little thinner since it's easier for K to eat it. This actually makes enough to make 8 burritos if you're using it as an ingredient for burritos. That's what I did. :D


Cheesy "Refried" Red Kidney Beans
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 1 540ml (19oz) can of red kidney beans, drained
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 - 1/3 cup water
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Cilantro (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan on medium high heat. Sauté onions until translucent. Add garlic cloves and stir until fragrant.
2. Pour in the beans and 1/2 cup of water. Lower heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until beans are soft. Use a potato masher and mash the beans. Add more water if you want it to be thinner. Stir in cheese and season with salt and pepper.
3. (Optional) Garnish with some cilantro if desired. Serve as a dip for tortilla chips or use as a side.

Pico de Gallo

We love pico de gallo. We have it every summer with tortilla chips. It's healthy and one of the few ways I can get Hubby to eat a buttload of veggies. It's the easiest way, actually, so why not, right? The fact that tomatoes are going on sale now means that summer's just around the corner. I can't wait! I get to eat watermelon soon. I'm drooling just at the thought of it. In any case, for now it's all about the pico de gallo. And maybe some chunky guacamole thrown in there. :)


Pico de Gallo
(makes 4 cups)

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded & minced
• 1 large bell pepper (any colour), finely diced
• 1/3 cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 green onion stalks, finely chopped
• 3 large tomatoes, finely diced
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. (Optional) Soak onions in cold water for 10 minutes or so to take some of the spice out of it. If you like spice, skip this step.
2. Combine everything in a large bowl. Mix well and season with salt. Add more lemon juice if you like more acidity. Chill for at least 15 minutes before serving to let flavours marry.
3. Serve with tortillas as a dip or spoon over fajitas, tacos, burritos, grilled chicken, etc.

Roast Veg & Sausage Casserole

I'm always scared of trying out new veggies. Hubby doesn't eat many veggies, so if I try something new and he doesn't like it, I'm forced to eat it all. Hence there's this enormous pressure to make sure it tastes delicious. I finally tried fennel! After passing it by so many times during my many grocery shopping trips, I finally took the plunge and bought one. It had lots of the fronds on it so I used it as garnish. I figure if I roast the veg, it should be fine right? Roasting veg is the best way to have any veg!

So here's what I did with the fennel bulb I bought...after chopping everything into bite sized pieces anyway. The sausage is pretty salty so I didn't give it to K. But he ate up all the veggies and potatoes. He even had the roasted garlic! I do hope that boy will continue loving onions and garlic as he gets older. :)


Roast Veg & Sausage Casserole
(serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 fennel bulb, chopped
• 2 Yukon gold potatoes, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 lb garlic sausage, chopped
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp dried Italian herbs
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• Handful of fennel fronds (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In a large bowl, combine chicken stock, olive oil, herbs, garlic and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Mix well.
3. Add in veggies, potatoes and garlic sausage and toss/stir until well coated.
4. Pour everything into a large (2L) casserole dish. Cover with a lid (or wrap tightly with aluminum foil). Bake for 45 minutes, or until veggies are fork tender.
5. Take out of the oven and add the balsamic vinegar. Mix everything and then bake for another 10-15 minutes, uncovered.
6. Set on the counter to rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with the fennel bulb fronds (optional) and serve in a bowl.

Quick Congee for Sickies

K isn't feeling well :(

I hate when he's not feeling 100%. The mommy guilt is at an all time high whenever that happens. I should be at home taking care of my baby but mommy has to work. To help put food on the table. It blows. And then there's the "oh if only I made those special soups for him everyday like mom did for us then he'd have a better immune system and wouldn't get sick". But I'm too tired and drained from work to do it everyday. I dunno how single moms do it seriously. Hubby is great and helps out so much but it's still so much taking care of K. Kudos to all you moms out there.

Anywho, K is sick so I made some plain congee for him in the morning before I left for work. I cheated and ground up the rice before cooking it so it would cook at a fraction of the time it normally does. Thank god cuz it normally takes hours to get it to the consistency where he wouldn't spit it all out.

Portion size is for an adult. K is sick but still eating lots. He gets that from my dad lol. Silly guy. :)


Quick Congee for Sickies
(serves 1)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup uncooked Jasmine rice
• 1 inch knob of ginger
• 2 cups pork stock
• 1/2 cup cooked pork tenderloin, shredded
• 1 green onion, finely diced
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse rice a couple of times and then grind it in a small blender, or spice grinder. It will be like a white paste. Add to a small pot. Use some of the stock to swish out the rest of the rice. Pour in the remaining stock and stir in the tenderloin & ginger. Partially cover and bring to a low simmer. Simmer on the lowest heat for 30 minutes for a thin congee or 45 minutes for a thicker congee.
2. Stir in green onions and season with salt to taste. Make sure you remove the ginger before serving.

The trick to making congee not stick to the bottom of the pot is to not move anything in the pot after the rice is put in and liquid is heating up and to make sure you're using the lowest heat possible to avoid any burning. If you move the rice once it's been heated, then you'll have to stir it very often while it's cooking to keep the bottom from sticking.

Honestly, you can use any broth. You can even just use water but that's really REALLY bland. Although it's fine if you add a bunch of other ingredients in there...like preserved duck egg and salted minced pork. Now THAT'S the stuff (even though it's so not for sick people). ;)

Organic Unsweetened Silky Tofu Pudding

I love tofu pudding but I'm kind of sick of driving an hour out of my way to get any decent one. And the place where I usually get it from has increased their prices significantly! I can't really blame them. They have to find ways to survive while everything's prices around here goes up. But still.....I'm just cheap. Lol.

I read that you can use sweetened soy milk for this recipe too. However, you have to make sure that the only ingredients are soybeans, water and sugar. Otherwise it won't work (or so I've been told). Since I'm going to sweeten everything up with that yummy ginger syrup anyway, I just made the unsweetened version.

Of course you can always use the non-organic soy milk but it's significantly silkier in texture when you use organic. In fact, it's so awesome that I don't even need the syrup. No lies! :O

The gypsum powder may be hard to find. Just look in the Asian supermarkets. They come in little pouches, like the kind you'd find for rice flour. Or on Amazon. :P


Organic Unsweetened Silky Tofu Pudding
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 8 cups unsweetened organic soy milk
• 2 tsp gypsum powder
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Bring soy milk to a vigorous boil in a large pot. Watch the pot because the milk will quickly boil over once it starts boiling.
2. In a separate large pot or casserole dish you'll be serving the pudding in, mix the gypsum powder and cornstarch with the water until well dissolved.
3. Once soy milk boils vigorously, pour it into the powder mixture. Cover with a tea towel (to absorb moisture) and then with the pot/casserole dish lid. Let sit undisturbed for 30-60 minutes.
4. Tofu pudding can be served warm or cold. Scoop with a shallow spoon or ladle into bowls and serve with ginger syrup, brown sugar, honey, simple syrup, black sesame paste, coconut milk, or any other sweetened topping.
5. Refrigerate unused portion for up to 2 weeks, if it lasts that long.

Ginger Syrup

(makes approximately 1 cup)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 knob of smashed ginger (2 inches)
• 1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Combine cold water and smashed ginger into a small pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Stir in sugar until dissolved.
3. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before using. Refrigerate unused syrup for up to a month.

Chunky Guacamole

One of the best ones I've ever made. I made it the first time for K's birthday and couldn't get enough of it. I had made almost a litre of this for his birthday and I thought we were going to run out of it. Luckily we had started eating real food instead of just snacks so I had more than enough. :D

May be used as a spread for sandwiches and wraps. I had it as a dip for nachos the other night. I have a feeling it would be awesome on top of a fried egg with a side of bacon. >_>


Chunky Guacamole
(makes 1 1/2 cup)

Ingredients:

• 3 avocados, diced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 3 green onions, diced
• 1 jalapeño pepper, diced
• Pinch of kosher salt
• Juice of half a lime

Directions:

1. Mash cilantro, green onions, jalapeño pepper and kosher salt in a mortar and pestle.
2. Add lime juice. Mix well.
3. Fold in diced avocados to keep the guacamole chunky.
4. Serve with nachos or tortilla chips immediately. 

Store any leftovers in an airtight container. to help keep guacamole from turning brown, oil one side of a Saran Wrap and place directly on the surface of the guacamole. The oil will help keep oxygen out, which is what makes the avocado turn brown.