Potato Chips with Herbs Salt

This doesn’t look so healthy, but I gotta do something easy and quick with these potatoes before they transform to potato plants for another cycle. Today is good to have snacks around anyway because our bear family will have Chuck and 24 lined up to watch at night. huuhuu..excited

Hubby’s favourite (Pancake)

I’ve found pancake recipe from smittenkitchen.com, my favourite food blog. So far I have tried many recipes from this awesome food blog. The texture of the pancake is really soft and perfect portion for two. I made berry syrup and toasted walnuts to go with it. I feel like saying thank you to Deb (from smittenkitchen) for sharing many good recipes.

This dish has been my favourite of all time and I am not sure that this is a Chinese or Thai dish. So, let’s call it an Asian dish. It’s very simple to make. I learned how to make this dish from my father because I like it so much and sometimes I feel like having it every week. I start by wedging the cabbage then cleaning and draining all the water out. Let it sit aside. I used a medium to large pot (depending on the size of cabbage). I let the pork ribs lay on the bottom and then I minced garlic ( roughly 2-3 cloves), and added freshly grounded black pepper. Add the cabbage that sits on the side on top of everything. The last part is mushroom soy sauce. Put the lid on with the low heat. Let it cook with the lid on for 60 – 90 minutes (varies by the amount of cabbage and pork ribs). After 45 minutes, the juice will start to come out and the cabbage will reduce down to half size. Don’t leave the heat on too long because the juice will dry out and make everything burn. Serve it over rice and it’s great for any meal.

Since I hang out in Union Square for my t-shirt business a few days a week. I often have a chance to get fresh vegetables from the Farmer’s Market. One day, I found these really chubby snap peas and couldn’t walk away without them. I like to make simple sauteed vegetables and I actually measured the ingredients for my friends this time. Heat the wok pan, add olive oil and minced garlic. As soon as I smell the garlic, I add sliced pork and cook it halfway. Then add the snap peas. Season it with one tablespoon of oyster sauce and one and a half tablespoon of soy sauce. Stir them together until the vegetable are cooked. Very simple and unexpectedly tasty.

This dish reminds me of when my father taught me how to cook. My father would use the fat layer only, but I found that pork belly has a nice balance of fat and meat. I started by infusing pork belly with galangal (this herb looks similar to ginger and it’s also in the same family. However, they have different fragrances) I mention this because I have seen people think they are the same. Back to the pork belly : brown them together until a crispy texture is created. Then, add a slice of lemongrass. I take them out and rest them in another plate. In the same pan, cook chilli paste (red curry and yellow curry in the same ratio) and add the pork belly back to the cooked curry paste. Add oyster sauce, fish sauce and stir them together. It could be complete right there but I like to add string bean and bell pepper for colour and full nutrition.

This was our surprise dessert after dinner yesterday. I saw organic berries on sale and couldn’t resist buying them. I sliced the strawberries and mixed them with raspberries and lemon thyme in my little pot. I let them chill as they infused the lemon fragrance in the fridge for an hour because my husband just loves cold fruit. I simmered 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar, 2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar and a small pinch of salt together (I’ve seen Giada de Laurentis make this kind of sweet balsamic many times. It tastes great!). Let it reduce to half and cool completely.  After the meal I assembled the mixed berries in small bowls and topped them with the balsamic syrup that I’ve just made. I added 1 scoop of ice cream on top. A yummy surprise because it looked like chocolate fudge. This treat is very refreshing and good for summer desserts even though it was raining throughout the week.

Many times while going to the Asian Supermarkets in Elmhurst (Queens, NY), I get inspired to make Thai food . I grabbed some green papaya and already planned making papaya salad for dinner. That is a super impulsive greedy thought that I usually have with food. I don’t think it’s right to give measurements of the flavour for papaya salad because people have different taste preferences. Where my mother comes from, people don’t put sugar in papaya salad and they prefer to taste saltiness over sour. However, the basic ingredients are green papaya (of course), carrots (optional), string bean, cherry or grape tomatoes, fresh chilli, garlic, coconut sugar, fish sauce and lime juice. The accessories to papaya salad vary to specific areas of Thailand. All I can say is that it should have 4 flavours; spicy, salty, a hint of sour and slightly sweet.

I saw roast pork seasoning from the corner of my eyes in a supermarket last weekend and I figured that I should attempt to make it. I mixed the seasoning with water and cracked black pepper and added pork loin and pork ribs. I let it sit overnight even though 2-3 hours is enough. I roasted the pork loin and ribs at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. I boiled the seasoning mixture by adding 1/2 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of light packed brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce. I only kept the clear part of the sauce after boiling and brought it to boil again. I then added a mixture of tapioca flour and water into the sauce to create a gravy texture. Finish with black or white sesame for a touch in the sauce.

Slice the pork after letting it sit for 5-7 minutes and put it over rice. Pour sauce that I have already made over the pork. Woohoo.. easier than I thought! I have to thank the makers of the seasoning package to satisfy my craving.

I have made banana muffins many times. Today was banana bread’s turn because bananas ripen so fast. I personally love banana with chocolate. Again, I added my husband’s favourite nuts — walnuts, to the mix. I made a simple recipe for banana bread and add chocolate swirls on top. I start by making chocolate sauce. In a stand mixer, I mix butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and follow with vanilla. I fold dry ingredients in with a spatula until it’s well mixed ( don’t overmix it). Then I fold in chopped toasted walnuts and pour everything into a loaf pan that I’ve already buttered. I bake in 350 degree F for 58 minutes. My favourite part is here: I take pictures and send them to my husband at work – to tease him… haha!

Banana Bread Recipe

1 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup room temperature butter

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs (room temperature)

3 ripe bananas (mash)

1/2 cup toast chopped walnuts

Chocolate sauce

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup milk

Put everything together and double boil it. Set it aside for the last part of the process. After pouring the chocolate sauce on top of the batter, use a toothpick to swirl the sauce.

I happen to love chives since childhood. In Thailand, there is a snack (people here might call them dumplings) named “Gui Chai”. It literally translates to chive dumpling, but the size varies. Gui Chai has been in my experimental plans for a while, but I have yet to try it. Sauteed chives are a favourite for the Kriheli’s. Chives generally go well with chicken liver or pork liver, however since my husband and I are not a big fan of organs, we chose pork to go along with it. A quick sautee can raise the attraction to otherwise simple vegetables. This is what I prepared for our lunch today. Garlic, pork, chives, oyster sauce and soy sauce sauteed together. I sprinkle chilli flakes (optional) at the end for a Thai touch.