the chef's madam

salads, mains and desserts

2006-04-07T10:57:00.000+08:00

Since i have been quite lazy and not doing the daily posts, I have decided to put everything i have been cooking on one post....i have since started in the gym (I think i celebrated my 3 week anniversary this week) I have tried to avoid eating too heavy in the evening...which means...
none of this

or this

These really great Italian dishes (Fettuncini Alfredo and Chicken Caciatore) were made by our house guest Dom, who happens to be Italian American and is the son of a restaurateur.
But i have been busy experimenting with Chinese vegetables, one of these being tanghao (Chrysanthemum leaves) to be used as a salad, two salads i tried with it were
Tanghao with a honey walnut dressing (tanghao has a rather bitter taste similar to rucola so the crunchy sweet dressing balanced the flavours)

The second was walnut chunks, goats cheese and tanghao with a walnut oil and balsamico dressing.

As i mentioned i have been experimenting not only with tanghao but also duck eggs (which i have never eaten previously and fava beans, which i love love love, they cook so quickly and are so tasty:
Warm salad of fava beans and poached duck eggs with tuna balsamico dressing

Three other very simple salads
Wasabi cucumber salad (spicy and cooling)

Tropical fruit salad

Warm roasted eggplant salad with Italian herbs

On the subject of simple cooking...I love sun-dried tomatoes and have always wondering if i could do the same thing at home...now i will wonder no more...i made oven-dried tomatoes which were just as good as any store bought item..i am so proud of myself.
spinach and carrot quiche served with oven-dried tomato on rye toast.

And now on to the mains....
this delicious Salmon dish was inspired by a recipe from bon appetite, it was prepared for me by my darling chef.
Lemon-honey rosemary crusted salmon on a bed of warm tomato salad, it was absolutely delicious, every single bite, the salmon was crisp in all the right places.....

and since we are talking about seafood....juicy spicy crab marinated for 4 hours and baked in the oven, saipin and i had this and we ended up licking everything, plates, fingers even the shells!!

and on to desserts ....i tried my hand at carrot cake and i guess i can honestly say i was presently surprised...the carrot cake was everything a carrot cake should be moist, rich, carroty and absolutely delish!! I tried two shapes in a 9-inch pan which was good except for the part that was still uncooked!!!

and then mini cupcake size...perfect..two bites and finished..of course all of this topped with creamy rich and fattening cream cheese frosting!!

I also made orange pudding cake, this seemed as though it was going to be difficult, but turned out relatively simple, and i served it with an orange sambuca honey sauce

very elegant and easy...definitely somethig to try again.
I know that mass blogging is probably not so great..but for right now i think it is the only way i will be actually updating my pages:)

and the Oscar for best fun goes to....

2006-03-23T10:11:00.000+08:00

us girls...for the first time ever we decided to have an after oscars party...reason being the oscars were shown on star movies 2 days later and we also just wanted to have a mid-week hangout. There was plenty of food for snacking on: chicken drumettes and winglets, tomatoes stuffed with tuna and mini pizzas...i made just over 60 pizzas for 7 girls...i know...but i thought everyone was hungry...obviously not!!
That day the 8th of March was also International Womens Day..hurrah for us!
We watched all 4 hours of the show, had a good laugh and a good chat! and of course a brillant dessert...poached pears and creme brulee.
Pizzas in the making

all done yummmy yummy

Chicken drumettes (whats a gathering without chicken to nibble on?)

tuna stuffed cherry tomatoes and shrimp and mushroom quiche made oh so lovingly by Sof...

and dessert......my special and absolutely tasty creme brulee

We had lots of fun, ate alot laughed alot and i think we really do deserve the oscar for most fun had at an after oscar party!!

the deadly sin of the blogger

2006-02-27T21:29:00.000+08:00

Laziness....yes forgive me.....i have been very lazy and have not posted anything, but i have been very busy, cooking and eating and really enjoying it! and of course being cooked for...over the last two weeks we have been having the best Italian home cooked food everything from pasta to roasted peppers to Italian sausage made from start.
But back to what i have been so busy doing, first.... fast food part 2: spicy chicken pizza

to freshly baked breakfast rolls

Deliciously rich chocolate cake with freshly whipped cream

Jack Daniel's Apple Pie....

And pineapple upsidedown cake.......a bit sweet.....very dense and absolutely delish...before and after flipping photos

I have tried lots of other new stuff besides these like pita bread which i must say was very sucessful, i will be busy again next week as we plan on having an "academy award" party ie another excuse for the girls to get together and gossip and have bit of delish canapes after all if we are going to watch a stylish fashion event we might as well eat stylish food:)

the slowness of fast food part 1

2006-01-25T13:46:00.000+08:00

Anyone who has ever tried making pizza from scratch will know the time it takes, making the dough, the toppings...i am very proud of myself because last night i attempted to make Flammenkueche or Alsace Pizza (compliments a Martha Schulman recipe)and I succeeded...yes even with the pizza dough..everything was perfect....even though i made some substitutes like lean bacon instead of the fatty not by choice but because that was what was in the fridge.
All the ingredients waiting to be made into a thin crispy pizza....

the fruits of my labour... crispy, thin and creamy...perfect!

...and since we had a bottle of the sparkly stuff from new years eve we had this with the pizza...who's says fast food has to be washed down with soft drinks!!

tomorrow on the menu....spicy chicken pizza

cooking together

2006-01-24T13:09:00.000+08:00

There is a saying...no correct that...my saying is the couple that cooks together stays together...it is well into the new year and this is my first post ...shame, shame...i cant even say that i have been soo busy so no time to write cause this would have been definitely not true...i think i am just lazy....the curse of Garfeild!
Even though i have been lazy i have still been cooking and enjoying it even more since i have my darling in the kitchen and to make matters even better we go food shopping together...very sweet.
Sunday night our cable was down so we decided to stay in and enjoy a movie night and of course a delicious meal, on the menu that night....
Baked snapper on Fennel

Baked Endives in an orange reduction

Red cabbage salad

and penne pasta (for my darling)
The food was really tasty and fresh...thanks so much to the wonderful wet market at Xin Yuan Li....
I am looking forward to a wonderful year of cooking and eating with my darling...

Here's to a happy Gorging!

2005-12-28T13:51:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas to everyone...or rather i hope you all had a merry christmas...i had the good fortune of being in Hong Kong for 4 days to experience a quiet Christmas with some friends and their 2 wonderful daughters...very nice and relaxing...for 4 days all we did was eat. As our friend is an executive chef in a famous Hong Kong hotel so we were treated to self-made foie gras, smoked salmon (less than 4 days old, also smoked by him), juicy boiled ham, succulent roasted pork and i've-died-and-gone-to-heaven prime rib....it was fabulous..i unfortunately didn't get to take any pics of the food but take my word on this it was excellent.

Under the tree this year for me was an ipod nano (in black) which i can see keeping me company while i use my new kitchen center (also a very thoughtful gift) and alot of love and more importantly health two things which are essential in life.
Hope 2006 will be a good year for all concerned!

Punch a creme (my way...)

2005-12-22T16:16:00.000+08:00

This is a popular Christmas drink served throughout the caribbean at this time of year (along with sorrel), it is very potent...but absolutely delish...this is the original recipe for Punch a creme (thanks to www.barbados.org)

3 eggs
1 wineglass rum
1/2 tin (175g or 7oz size) evaporated milk
Piece of orange or lime rind
1 tin (325g or 12oz size) condensed milk
1 teaspoon bitters
Method:
Beat eggs well with the rind. Remove rind. Add milk. Stir well. Add rum and bitters and mix thoroughly. Bottle. Chill and shake well before serving. Makes 12-16 servings in liqueur glasses.

This is ordinarilly really nice but as i live in Beijing...you have to be careful with raw eggs so i made my own version of Punch a creme also with a nice kick!
For 2 liters
10 tins Coconut juice (Coconut tree brand)
1 tin condensed milk
1 tin evaporated milk
1/2 bottle white rum (i used bacardi)
nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice to taste
Method: Mix all ingredients and leave at least 36 hours before drinking...serve on the rocks.

Picture of fab punch a creme a la moi to come shortly....

the joy of baking.....with friends

2005-12-14T13:21:00.000+08:00

On december 11th...ladies and gentlemen please mark this date on the calendar we had our first ever joint cookie baking session...at times it was chaotic...but most of the time it was really really fun...thanks to Andrea (vanilla kipferl, gingerbread, cinamon stars) and Eva(chocolate & oat no-bake cookies, vanilla & chocolate spritz cookies and hazel nut cut-outs ) with your wonderful cookie contributions, my contribution (chocolate chocolate chunk cookies, almond cut-outs and 2 days later filled sugar cookies).
We couldnt of done all this baking without the promise of a really lovely Mauritian dinner....prepared by Sophie and Anoushka..wonderful savory crepes (made like they do them in Mauritius) with 3 fillings: a spicy corriander chutney, spinach and mushroom spread and a cooling cucumber raita.
Of course they were the cheerleaders and couch warmers...who made sure everything tasted good....thanks Buddy, Celine, Martin, Andreas, Dominic and the Chef.
We took so many photos so i am trying to post as many as possible for the benefit of all.
chocolate chcolate chunky cookies before heading in the oven..these cookies are wickly sinfully full of choclate...so much that they are actually black lol!

After baking ..really nice cripsy on the edges and soft inside....

Eva's very tasty chocolate oaty cookies before and after

look at the pretty lady in the kitchen...eva and her trusty mixer;)

the fruits of her labours or rather the delicate little nibbles

Andrea and the chef's madam trying to get those little cresents looking as cute as possible

Almond cresents or vanilla kipferl

...yum yum

the shapes of Christmas

the couch potatoes doing what they do best...besides of course tasting the nibbles;)

Cinamon stars...cut out by Sophie

ALmond cookies taking shape...

finally...all done and ready for the tupperware...help yourselves ladies and gents!

These were the filled cookies that didnt have any time to be made on sunday..so i managed to get around to them on Tuesday...and just in time....even though we made all those cookies on sunday by monday i was left with only a dozen....

After the bakers were finished it was time for the mauritian girls to take over....
step one...gather your ingredients

step two..chop, dice and mix....

and of course the batter...made by Sophie..the crepes were absolutely terrific...with the chives...excellent actually;)

it was as good as it looks...mauritian crepes by Sophie and Anoushka

another sunday...another big breakfast

2005-12-14T13:07:00.000+08:00

After a very wild saturday night which left some of us feeling like sh#t....and the rest of us wondering how on earth do we coordinate the cookie baking afternoon...we both decided the only thing that could possibly help was a nice sunday breakfast made with all the leftovers in the fridge...so for sunday brunch we (myself and the chef joined by the gorgeous sophie and the tall american Dominic)had...
parley scambled eggs
leftover risotto
crispy bacon
sausages in chilli tomato sauce
toast
fresh tomato slices

notes: for some reason the date is not working and yes i am very bad posting this only on the 14th even though it is from the 11th.....

D DAY!

2005-12-05T21:36:00.000+08:00

Saturday December 3rd...was our first official dinner party....we (my darling chef and I) had 20 people over for dinner at our place for most of them it was their first time. I had been busy from the sunday night before making filling and dough for the curry patties and continued to be busy for the rest of the week....lol....
On the menu for saturday as we or rather i decided the theme should be Tropical Barbados...i tried to prepare as many delicious dishes as i could remember that we eat at home....i made quite a few tasty alterations with the help of my darling so our menu that evening:
appetizers
curried tuna and fennel patties
curried beef patties
pumpkin and pinenut spread
spinach and cashew spread
tuna and yogurt dip
celery sticks
fresh baguette
the buffet
rucola, cress and iceberg salad with walnut oil vinegarette
reggae tomato salad (red, yellow and green) with garlic dressing
papaya salsa
sweet potato casserole
black-eye peas with and without smoked pork (thanks sophie)
potato chutney (thanks anoushka)
three mushroom stuffing
turkey and cranberry relish
spicy ribs with a rum rub
pan fried tilapia with a parmesan, basil crust (thanks darling)
dessert
white chocolate cheesecake
dark chocolate cheesecake
rum infused strawberry coulis (thanks darling)

Here is a photojournal of everything including my sometimes stressed preparation.
definitely the perfect cheesecake...baked in a waterbath three days prior to dinner, I made 2, one i glaced with dark chocolate and the other white chocolate the day before....perfect
blanching spinach for the spinach and cashew spread

sweet potato casserole with cheese topping before baking
three mushroom stuffing before baking
tasting and chopping
everyone digging in.....
and loving it!
dont forget the drinks.....from barbados...ginger beer, coconut punch and sorrel
and last but not least dessert......
all in all a good and filling time was had by all;) including the chef's madam.

a quick lunch...

2005-12-02T15:04:00.000+08:00

It is almost the end of the year and yes one day more to our first ever dinner party for our 20 or so friends....i had to use up some of the left overs in the fridge to clear some room for the ribs and the turkey for marinating purposes...i usually do this by putting whatever together for lunch...so today i had pastrami sandwiches (leftover from the cold platter Mr. Chef had yesterday), two types of sandwiches but both on whole wheat bagels so kindly given to me by Sophie (two weeks ago...i know i know..two weeks is a long time...but not long enough for a bagel to go off he he).
Pastrami and Apple and Pastrami and Gruyere
Instead of butter, I used a good gluck of olive oil on the bagels and 4 hours later at lunchtime, both sandwiches were great.

sunday brekkie.....not in bed....

2005-11-27T19:41:00.000+08:00

After a saturday evening of drinking champagne (or rather an afternoon as we started from 1pm....)you really need something to fill the space in your stomach on sunday morning;)
When we finally got out of bed around 8:30am I was feeling hung over or anything....on the contrary i felt quite good but hungry for something warm and filling....
so we had breakfast sandwiches
for 2 persons
1/2 baguette (sliced lengthwise into 4)
2 tomatoes sliced
4 rashers of bacon
1/2 cup of cheese of your choice.
Toast the bread on one side first while frying the half the tomato slices and the bacon rashers. Once one side of the bread is brown or toasted to your liking first place the fried tomato slices, followed by the bacon, then the cheese and top it off with fresh tomato slices and return to oven. After 2 or 3 minutes the egdes will be nicely browned and the fresh tomatoes grilled.

Serve with fresh juice or coffee.

the job of being a hostess....new but enjoying it!

2005-11-24T20:50:00.000+08:00

We had friends over for dinner for the first time tuesday night....it was not an impromptu thing....we (my chef and i) invited another couple over for dinner....we have been friends for ages and this is the first time we have ever cooked a meal for them....i know it sounds bad but this is our first real place that we can entertain at.
On the menu that night
Warm beef Terriyaki salad (i left out the cripsy potato chips) experimented on the day before
Tomato and Garlic salsa
Grilled Sophie Fish (i recently found out it's called Tilapia)
Roast Pork
oven steamed veggies
Cheesecake
The star of the evening was the roasted pork, i used a mixture of bajan seasoning, soya sauce and char sui sauce for the skin. I marinaded the meat for 24 hours to really let all the flavours soak through the meat, also i tied it up securely before roasting it with apples and onions in a renolyds oven bag. it was the first time using the bags and i was very impressed not only was the meat succulent but it had also browned nicely all over....just before we were ready to serve it my darling helped me rub the char sui sauce over the skin and put it back under the grill for a crispy finish.

Dessert as i mentioned was a new york style cheese cake from Chantal......thank you so much Chantal i follwed the recipe (even though i halved it) and the result was a light and moist cheesecake. I served it with fresh blended papaya and slices on the side. I got the ultimate compliment when my darling said that cheesecake was perfect sweety.

We are having a dinner party the 3rd and he suggested i make it again...which i probably will do......so keep your fingers crossed for me so that i can have the success of making another delicious cheesecake.

Salad for 2

2005-11-22T23:41:00.000+08:00

My darling has been complaining to me for the last months how fat he is getting....i mean i do understand because sometimes i am cooking enough to feed a small army.....but the purpose is not to fatten him up as he thinks....it is more a labour of love....i find it really relaxing to cook after a stressful day at work (especially all the crowds on the subway on the way home). SO i thought i would surprise him with something filling yet light and healthy for our 10pm supper (due in fact to him being sent to Hong Kong on sunday at 11am for a half day meeting that was only taking place on monday.....Chinese flight schedules i tell you....did i mention that even though the meeting ends at 1, he is only getting home at 10PM......).
I made a warm terriyaki beef salad with crispy oven baked potato chip

This salad was terrific I used walnut oil in the dressing and it complemented the ginger of the beef. My main goal of the evening was fulfilled filling my sweetheart with something healthy and nutrious in preparation for the dinner party we would have the following night. Actually if you must know this salad was so nice with its cripsy iceberg, peppery arugula and the sweet gingeryness of the beef we served it again the following night;) naughty i know but if you must cook for others you must make sure it tastes good yourself!
My next post will be all about our first ever dinner party featuring my first-ever cheesecake and a terrific roast pork with a char sui crust.

nibbles, sancks and tit-bits

2005-11-21T23:57:00.000+08:00

I had my girlfriends over for dinner maybe three weeks ago it was really nice we cooked (or rather i cooked) and chatted and laughed and just had alot of laughs.....fun, fun......i made some snacks that night which went down really well....and actually over the last few weeks i have been making quite a few snacks....here are a few.....
Oven baked wontons with sweet & spicy sauce

Oyster mushrooms with cream cheese and roasted garlic (great for spreading on crackers or baguette)

And of course Mushroom rolls with herb crust

a tale of two fish....

2005-11-17T13:44:00.000+08:00

Have you ever done something really silly and then kick yourself after for doing it? well this happens to me alot more than i care to imagine....On tuesday i went to the supermarket looking for something to accompany the leftover potato gratin i planned on serving that night (yes, a leftover potato gratin, i had 4 leftover baked potatoes in my fridge). SO i did what any confused housewife would do i called the man of the house who of couse said its up to you sweety (I expected this sometimes i dont know why i bother to call....then again maybe its to hear his sexy voice....ok enough of my day-dreaming and back to my post). In the end i decided on two sophie fish (not their real name but the chinese name is luo fei yu similar to sophie's chinese name).
We had one very delicious grilled fish with italian herbs (compliments a farmers market in Nice)and one very massacred steamed fish with the same herbs but a very dried out taste...(go figure..it was one of those cooking disasters....i thought i could filet the fish with a small but blunt knife and totally runied it....after i started hacking at the fish i thought no is definitely the time to stop but of course it was too late and no turning back once i wacked off the poor buggers head...so that was my faux pas for the day....well my chef forgave me and enjoyed the gratin and the delicious grilled fish).
Potato Gratin and grilled fish
I am not going to include a recipe for the gratin because it is one of those dishes i think that you add what you wish and add copious amounts of cream or milk, butter, cheese, eggs and herbs and you will never go wrong.

I didnt brown the top of mine only because i added more grated gruyere at the end after i removed it from the oven and it melted really nicely....
For the grilled Sophie fish, i used a herb mix and cut some slits in the skin and just put in under the grilled for about 20 minutes on one side...

in the future i think i will grill bother sides cuz i just love crispy fish skin.
the lesson learnt from this cooking episode....fish are beautiful whole unless you have a sharp fish fileting knife!!!

A weekend of dinners

2005-11-14T21:29:00.000+08:00

I did it Friday night.....i had my first ever dinner party....i was so thrilled i mean why else would you have a fully equipped kitchen if you cant entertain your friends.
What started off as a simple dinner for 4 turned into a dinner for 7....as i had not gone shopping this had to be done friday after work....horrendous...especially with the awful Beijing traffic....to cut a long story short i had to walk 20 minutes with my heavy laden bags from the supermarket to home....and had to start cooking with fat cold fingers....luckily i had my darling to meet me half way and then chastise me for not calling him in the first place to carry the bags home....is he great or what?
On the menu that night.
For the munchies
Mushroom and cream cheese spread acccompanied by whole wheat baguette rounds and Veggie sticks
The actual Meal
2 types of lettuce salad
Warm orange flavored Eggplant, zuchinni and tomato salad
Jerk Chicken with grilled onions
Grilled sticky pork ribs
Shrimp and Spring onion Quiche
Baked potatoes with buttter
I am not posting any recipes, but if you are interested in any of the dishes leave a note and i will fil you in.
I recieved lots of compliments and must say i was terribly pleased and big headed at the end of the day;) unfortunately i cant post any photos either as none were taken with my camera only those of my girlfriends and up to now i havent seen those yet:(
The second dinner or rather 'abendessen' as they say in Germany, the country of my guy, was on sunday night. They were 5 of us: Sophie, Saipin & daughter and D and I. Earlier in the evening we went to the gourmet shop "be kind this is one of the few places in Beijing you can buy proper cheese and cold cuts"....we also had some sausages from Austria (thanks Saipin)....so our evening feast was as follows and of course no cooking required (those smart German women).
Italian Sourdough bread (fresh from riverside cafe)
Crusty French Baguette (also thanks to riverside)
Hard Goat cheese (product of France)
Gruyere (Swiss)
Fresh Brie (Shari's favorite, French)
Putenwusrt (turkey sausage Austria)
Rotewurst (red sausage Austria)
and lettuce and tomato salad.

A light supper

2005-11-11T21:55:00.000+08:00

I find with cooking at home we eat alot....and as i am trying to really stay within my weight barrier....i decided opne heavy dinner once a week is quite enough. So on thursday night in preparation for our big weekend ahead i made....
crusty pork chops and warm eggplant salad
The pork was something new i never tried before....but luckily it came out just perfect. I was looking for a way to keep all the lovely juices in the pork so that they could be enjoyed....hence the crusty pastry shells...and they did work fabulously. I seasoned the pastry with chives and used a short crust pastry dough.

check out my new bright red serving plates.
I served the pork with a light warm salad, grilled eggplant with fresh tomato with roasted garlic and bay leaves, which was just a matter of throwing the eggplant chunks into an olive oil, rosemary, garlic and bay leaf mix and grilling in the oven until slightly soft to the touch and finally mixing with the chunky chopped fresh tomato.

I served it in my gorgeous new jet black salad bowls. This meal was just as i had imagined filling but light and refreshing.

A new take on fast food

2005-11-11T03:31:00.000+08:00

I am not such a big fan of mickie dees or wendys or anything along those lines, but i had been thinking for awhile about making burgers so juicy and so delish that my chef would say "WOW love you outdid yourself this time!".
I told him sunday, "baby monday night is burger night"....he smacked his lips and said "gorgeous i cant wait..."
then you know what happened he got a call at 6:30pm Monday evening....please be at the airport at 7:30pm cuz you are flying to Shanghai....he said sorry love, maybe we can do it tomorrow when i return at 10:30pm....
well, yes love but i wished it was tonight....oh well the beef will just marinade one day longer....enhanced flavours i told him
I had bought 1/2 kg of minced beef, with of course the requisite amount of fat after all you do need some fat to keep the burgers nice and moist. I used chilli flakes, salt, chilli-garlic marinade (compliment lee kum kee), barbeque sauce (heinz) and of course my good ole bajan pepper sauce so for two days my beef was sitting in this lovely marinade. I wanted to keep the burgers as juicy as possible so i decided to dress them in bacon.
Bacon wrapped beef burgers
Shape marinated meat mix into patties (i got four big burgers)and place two slices of streaky bacon in a cross and burger in the middle, when ready to cook place folded side down.

I grilled the burgers in the oven with sweet peepers and onions for 15 minutes (this was for well done burgers) actually the thing about my oven was i found it difficult to control the doneness of my burgers. Just before you are ready to eat add two thick slices of gruyere to each burger and leave for 30 second just so its slightly melted.
Instead of just plain old chips i wanted something that would really stand up to these bacon wrapped burgers, over the weekend i had purchased some new potatoes, so i thought thats what i will pair them with.....
Rosemary oven roasted new potatoes
as many potatoes as you wish
olive oil, whole peeled garlic cloves, salt, cilli flakes and dired rosemary

Roast in the oven until skins are crispy and insides are soft.
To assemble your gourmet fast food
spoon some of the juices from grilled burgers onto a hamburger bun and generously add grilled peppers and onions and place under the grilled so that bun is nicely toasted, nicely sit the burger on th bun and garish with grated gruyere. .
Serve new potaotes and a herb dusted tomato and iceberg salad on the side

Notes: Honey those burgers were delish, they were fantastic! they were also good the next day too when we had the other two for dinner.

eggless AND chickenless.....

2005-11-08T15:33:00.000+08:00

Good grief...what am i going to do?
Apparently with the way the avian flu is going....it seems as though we are going to have to stop eating all chicken related products sooner or later urgggggg......
I thought we were going to have a burger night tonight (monday) but unfortunately D had a last minute trip to Shanghai, so I tried making something else that could also be used for lunch for the rest of the week, so i made Quiche, not any ordinary quiche but eggless quiche.
Creamy corn bacon and mushroom quiche
2 cups mushrooms of your choice
1 small tin of corn (creamed: blend with a little milk so result is thick)
4 rashers of streaky bacon chopped
1 small onion thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups of grated cheese
salt, pepper seasoning to taste
Mix all ingredients well.
wholewheat crust
1 1/2 cup of wholewheat flour
4 ounces of butter
1/4 tsp of salt
dried herbs to flavor.
Press crust into greased pie pan and bake blind for at least 20 minutes. Remove from oven let cool slightly and place filling in pie pan.

Bake for 45 minutes in a moderately hot oven, in mine this is around 200C .
Slice and serve

Notes: this quiche was extremely rich and would be nice paired with a light salad which i will do tomorrow for lunch

a perfect dinner guest

2005-11-07T10:34:00.000+08:00

I was invited on saturday night to a girly dinner at one of my very good friends house....the theme was lingerie (no admittance unless you wore one piece of sexy lingerie)my idea he he he....
I went with A to the wet market during the day...it was the first time i went to this particular market...i wanna go back...it was great there was everything there and to make life even better it was spotlessly clean for a Chinese market. A bought salmon, watercress, potatoes, peppers (sweet and hot) and i got some new potatoes which i will probably use for my Monday burger night:)
And i got 3 delicious golden apples which were part of my role as a perfect dinner guest. I offered to make some dessert as A is not too fond of either making or eating them, so i wanted to make something that would be difficult to refuse as it would be either too cute or the individual portions just a mouthful to make them easier to swallow (two bites and you are done)and there was also the fact that i went to the market and picked up some cute foil and paper cakecups that i just couldnt wait to use. So i made mini apple pies, you can never go wrong with apples.
Mini Apple Pies (makes 24)
sweet short crust pastry
4 ouces of butter
2 tablespoons of fine sugar
4 ounces of flour
mix until crumbly (feel free to add a little ice water if dough doesn't bind)
Press into mini cake tins
Filling
3 apples quartered and thinly sliced
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 dashes of cinnamon
a dash of brown Rum and raisins are optional
Mix all ingredients and set aside for at 45 minutes
Place a teaspoon of filling in each cup and bake in a medium oven until the crust is brown, mixture will probably bubble a little and apple turn brown.

Notes: this would be really nice with a scoop of vanila ice-cream

Making something from nothing

2005-11-04T14:56:00.000+08:00

1 tin of tuna, 1 tomato, 1 sweet pepper and half an onion. The contents in my fridge on November 2nd (well, the tuna was in the cupboard) as i knew we would probably eat out thursday and friday night.....
These ingredients found themselves metamorphisizing into:
Savory Tuna Bites
I mixed the above ingredients with approximately 1/2 cup of oil, 1/2 cup cornmeal and 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour (I also added some roasted garlic, salt and pepper sauce to give it a kick).
Once i mixed everything together i spread the dough thinly in a flat pan and baked in a medium oven until it was nicely browned and crisp on the edges. Allow to cool and cut into 4 to 5cm squares. Serve with your favourite sauce , i used my fish marinade and thai sweet and spicy sauce.

Notes: i found them a tad dry due to the fact i think i added too much cornmeal (with my recipes the measurements aren't exactly accurate so you have to play it by ear)

something light...

2005-11-03T08:44:00.000+08:00

After the ribs and veggies we had, I couln't very well make something heavy again...or those were at least my thoughts dunno what mr. chef was thinking. We had for dinner an assortment of dishes, one because i bought these spring roll skins and didnt know what to do with them (there were just sitting in the fridge getting lonely...) so i made some accompaniments for them.
So that night we had Steamed fish with Sweet peppers & Onions, Tomato Garlic Salsa, Carrot sticks (julienned carrots) and the spring rolls (to be assembled and eaten as you wish)Steamed Fish with Sweet peppers & Onions
1 steak per person
2 sweet peppers sliced thickly
1 Onion chopped finely
Salt and pepper to taste
Place all ingredients in a foil packet and steam in a hot oven for 15 minutes (Or once fish is cooked, for soft fish will be shorter and for meatier fish longer).
Tomato Garlic Salsa (this was really great can be used on sandwiches or as a dip)
2 tomatoes chopped finely
4 cloves of oven roasted garlic
salt and pepper to taste
a dash of bajan pepper sauce (optional)

A food orgy

2005-11-01T11:52:00.000+08:00

Last night was my first time....that is with my new oven....it works great....it has a roaster which will be tried later of course.
Last night we had.....(drumroll please)
Pork ribs & Seasonal Veggies
As you know it is getting colder and colder in those countries that have winter so if they are anything like Beijing this means less and less delicate veggies.
the Pork Ribs
I used just over 1 kg of ribs which the butcher generously cut for me, I knew it was too much for the two of us but I figured why not use all regardless cause then I will have some for lunch for the next two days.

I marinated the ribs in chili garlic paste (compliments Lee Kum Kee), Barbeque sauce (Heinz), apple vinegar, Soya sauce, salt and pepper for at least an hour.
Why did I chose to call this dish a food orgy, simply because I made everything in one container and it was everything in one, when I was finished I had veggie soup, veggies, potatoes and of course the spare ribs.
the Veggies
Celery (chopped)
Leeks (thickly sliced on the diagonal)
Onions (thickly sliced)
Tomato (thickly sliced)
Sweet Pepper (chopped roughly)
Garlic (whole and mashed with the back of the knife)
Potato (sliced in rounds)
Preparation
Place all veggies at the bottom of the roasting pan with spare ribs on top of everything, cover well and place in the pre-heated oven for at least 45 min at 250 degrees.

jerk it!

2005-10-31T07:12:00.000+08:00

One thing about going home is that you can bring back all the really nice spices and seasonings that remind you of home that you won't find in a foreign country or you can't prepare.
As i mentioned a few posts ago i live on a farm and we raise chickens, sheep and pigs...i am a meatlover...nothing more to be said...except that i love chicken...the chicken god will protect his own until people believe in the power of the other white meat again, the first being pork (yes as far as i am concerned pork is superior to chicken and i love love pork).
Anyway back to bring back goodies from home (pictures soon to follow), I brought back rum, rum punch (already finished), ginger beer mix, sugar cane brandy, homemade guava jam (made by me with this wonderful sugar just for making jams given by my mother-in-law), conkies (thats another post), fish marinade (soon to have its day of fame on the blog), bajan seasoning and bajan mixed jerk seasoning (featured on todays post).
We had this dish for dinner last thursday (oct 27), i made the chicken again yesterday for my sweety (hint: the chef) and gorgeous best friend who enjoyed it....i was also quite happy cuz the taste was much better the second time around.....
Bajan (slang for barbadian someone from Barbados) Jerk Chicken and Warm Rosemary flavored Tomato and Zucchini Salad
To sucessfully make jerk chicken you need the mixed seasoning (picture coming)
For 12 drumettes, 1 tablespoon of the seasoning is sufficient, add salt and lemon juice,mix well and marinade for at least 1 hour (it is worth the wait).

The salad is also quite easy. For two people i used 4 Zucchinis (cut into 6 lengthwise)and 12 cherry tomatoes (halved).
to prepare
Dress halved tomatoes with balsamico, olive oil, salt and pepper.
marinade zucchini in olive oil, salt, pepper and dried rosemary for 10 to 20 minutes, then place in oven on foil and grill until zucchini is soft and slightly charred.
Cut each stick in half in and place on a serving plate, when ready to serve pour tomatoes in dressing over sliced grilled zucchini

after with tomatoes

odds and ends

2005-10-30T03:17:00.000+08:00

After gushing and gloating about all the wonderful things i brought back from sunny Barbados, it is only fair that i share some of these things on my blog.
1. Guava Jam
made from fresh white guavas from my autie's tree. I peeled and blended the guavas seeds and all then just strained it and used the pulp. I was fortunate enough to have this wonderful 2:1 fruit jam/jelly sugar given to me by my mother-in-law last christmas. I took it to Barbados then but it sat in the back of the cupboard since my mum doesnt read German (she mentioned later the jam was worth the wait), my dad who cant eat very sweet stuff enjoyed it too, since it is not as sweet as the normal caribbean style guava jam. It is terrific on warm toast with butter.
2. Guava Pineapple Jam
this was made as an afterthought, thanks to my darling sister (she received a fruit basket with a huge pineapple in the center from a secret admirer, she said i should use the pineapple to make jam since its probably sour which it wasnt....so we ate it and used the tinned pineapples for the jam just to have our pineapple jam. But on the same day I realised that our guave tree with its huge pink guavas was loaded and we had to do something with them, hence the guava pineapple flavour, turns out the guava won the battle and it is the most dominating taste...
3. Jerk Seasoning (bajan style)
These extremely convinient resealable packages are great especially for someone like me who only seems to cook monday to wednesdays (thursdays if we are lucky:). I also got the regular bajan seasoning. btw bajan is someone from barbados!
4. the booze
in this case it translates to the rum...i also get some rum punch (2 litres) expecting it to last 1 month, this was not to be my darling finished it in less than 2 weeks with of course some help from yours truly!
5. Last but not least, Fish marinade...i have never tried this before but it is really great it works well as a dip too...i tried it with my savory tuna squares (see advanced posting).

it's been too long

2005-10-25T05:45:00.000+08:00

I was on holiday....i wish i didnt go...it was so good...it was fabulous...absolutely fabulous!!!
Barbados was good.... beach, relax, eat...the same thing everyday... and great each and everytime.

I know i promised to keep updating my blog..but i was just too lazy and relaxed to do anything.
The good news is my hot water is back, we have gas in our kitchen and my darling chef got me a top of the line teka oven (it is absolutely gorgeous). I will definitely post some pictures.
look at those lines!

And i will be back in action from tonight as i have all of these really nice seasonings from home...looking forward to be cooking again.

improvisation

2005-09-24T13:50:00.000+08:00

they are so many foreigners who come to china and complain and complain and complain....i guess you get the message, actually i am sometimes in this group. if you have ever been to a jingkelong you will know what i mean...or in barbados as we say if you dont have a horse ride an ass... well i have been thinking about juicy stuffed eggplants for awhile, and i wanted something different to all the chicken we normally consume...BEEF...juicy BEEF...and in jingkelong you cant just go to the butcher and ask for 2 pounds of your best minced rump....you never know what you will get...ha ha....so i got the next best thing 500g of fuhua fei niu A ji (grade A fatty beef from fuhua)...this is the type of beef that goes in Chinese hot pot...and we always go to fuhua and i am never disappointed with their beef, always juicy.....
this was the improvisation in my recipe.
I made stuffed eggplants with garlicy cheese puffs on the side (really good for mopping up the juice)
stuffed eggplants
2 medium sized eggplants (cut in half horizontally, with insides removed (sounds gross huh..) and chopped as small as possible...)
500g of beef (minced or thinly sliced fei niu)
1 medium onion (chopped as finely as possible)
garlic, chilli, salt, soy sauce, to taste
Place eggplant cups in salted water until ready to use.
Mixed spices, chopped insides and meat and marinade for at least 45 minutes....for me it was until the meat had completely defrosted.
before stuffing eggplant shells, add a little olive oil to the inside of each shell, they should look like this.
Wrap with foil and place in the oven, in my oven they need at least 30 min to make sure the meat is thoroughly cooked.
When you unwrap them there will be plenty of juice, pour this back on to each eggplant before serving.
garlicy cheese puffs
4 cloves roasted garlic (smashed once once)
savory pastry mix
cheddar or another sharp cheese chopped
mix all ingredients
break off pieces of cherry sized pieces of dough and use your thumb to press the center,
Place on baking sheet in oven and cook until brown and crispy.

farm girl fare

2005-09-21T08:33:00.000+08:00

for those of who who dont know i was raised on a farm, we still have this farm and my dad and my brother raise chickens, pigs, sheep...grow vegetables...and we have a menagerie...at one point in time 13 cats..and as many dogs...2 geese..a guinea bird...a monkey..2 goats....a terrapin you name it we have raised it!
i love my chicken...actually i love all meat...i am a proper carnivore...last night i made roasted chicken drumettes and yogurt potatoes for my guy...proper belly warming food especially with the weather going down hill.....hmmm i miss summer....

roasted chicken drummettes (for 2)
12 chicken drumettes (the mini drumsticks that come from the wing)
seasoning mix of your choice (i used chilli flakes, salt, soya sauce)
mix chicken and spices well and let marinade for at least 45 minutes.
place uncovered in the oven until chicken juices run clear after you stick with a toothpick, turn at least once.

Yogurt Potatoes (for 2)
2 large potaoes (peeled, halved and sliced as thin as possible)
1 pot of natural yogurt (no sugar, no taste, cooking yogurt, because in Beijing sugar free yogurt is still sweet)
1 small onion sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
seasoning (salt and black pepper)
optional 2 rashers of bacon chopped

mix all ingredients
place in a deep foil pan or oven dish and cover tightly.
cook until potatoes are tender approximatley 40 minutes.

the first and the last

2005-09-20T06:36:00.000+08:00

we had our first picnic on saturday in conjunction with the beijing pop festival...if i knew that the picnic was so much fun we should have done it sooner...the weather was perfect on saturday (perfect for beijing) blue skies, lots of sunshine and clean air.
The girls and i organised the picnic 2 days in advance with everyone promising to bring a tasty nibble and some potent booze...we lived up to our promises...and by 7pm after 5 hours of lying and laughing in the sun we were on a booze induced high:) The music was just ok but the company was terrific and i would have another picnic in a flash if we could get another month of sunshine...
on the menu
spicy tuna in pita pockets & rose wine (compliments anoushka)
roast chicken and yogurt dressing sandwiches & red bull vodka (compliments sophie)
veggies and dip & red and white wine (compliments emanuelle)
spicy noodles & vodka orange (compliments Franz)
Chips & rum and coke (compliments Erin)
mini cheese melts, bacon pockets & rum punch (compliments me)

I can only give you recipes for what i prepared but i would love to have the recipes for the other food because it was really delicious.

Mini cheese melts
savoury pastry of your choice (i added extra herbs to mine)
cream cheese
hard cheese (sharp cheddar etc. chopped into small cubes)
4 cloves garlic (roasted in oven)
1.roll the dough as thin as possible and use a shot glass to get small disks
2. mix the cream cheese, hard cheese and garlic until you have a relatively smooth paste
3. use a teaspoon to place a small amount in the center of each disk.
4. place in oven and bake until crispy, slightly brown on edges and cheese is melted and bubbly.
5. cool and store in air-tight container

Bacon Pockets
savoury pastry of your choice (i added extra herbs to mine)
4 rashers of streaky bacon (chopped)
1 small onion
red chilli
cream cheese
1. saute or grill bacon and onion and chilli (i found the bacon salty enough so i didnt use salt), drain well, keep liquid
2. allow to cool and mix with cream cheese, mix well and place in fridge.
3. roll pastry thinly and cut into squares
4. place a small amount of filling in each square and seal edges
5. before putting in the oven brush well with the reserved liquid.
6. bake until brown (10 minutes)
7. cool and store in air-tight container.

Rum punch my way (makes 2 liters)
watermelon seeded and blended (i used 1/4 of a medium melon) with rum (as much as you wish...he he he), place in freezer for at least 1 hour
orange juice (i bought a 2 liter bottle and poured off 1/4 of it)
1. mix all ingredients well, if you are consuming this at home, return to freezer, shaking occasionally so it does not freeze completely.
2. serve icy cold.

a night of debauchery....or rather a whole afternoon of it!!!

goobye summer...

2005-09-16T02:56:00.000+08:00

its getting cold outside...autumn is definitely in the air....then that means winter is just around the corner:( and as i said before i am a sun-goddess...
Last night i tried making bread and it was not sucessful so that sucks but i think bread making is a challenge for everyone, and it needs time and practice so i will just continue. On a sucessful note i made two really nice dishes for autumn: a soup and a salad.
Autumn pear salad.
In Beijing, pears are really good in the autumn and winter because they are great at combating the dryness, which is always present.

I got these really nice pears from the market, i dont know their english name but the vendor called them su li (no idea which su). They are soft, sweet, slightly acid and not at all crunchy. I used 1 pear (cut as chunky as you wish), 1 carrot (also cut as you wish, it can be circles, sticks or a mixture of both).
Blue cheese vinigarette
blue cheese, this amount is variable i used very strong danish blue so i only used approx 1 teaspoon
apple vinegar...a splash (not very accurate, but it was not alot so i guess thats the best way to descibe it)
olive oil salt and pepper to taste (if available use freshly ground back peppercorns nicer taste) Mix well and pourover mixed carrots and pears.

Creamy healthy Pumpkin soup
is it an oxymoron creamy healthy? well the soup i made from my tang shan xiao nan gua (little pumpkin from tang shan). since i have no stove i roasted the pumpkin in the oven, it was great cuz all the juices which are lost by boiling were preserved in the foil and of course the pumpkin.

1 small pumpkin (cut the pumpkin into quarters).
seasonings
1 clove garlic
1 small piece ginger
cinnamon either stick or powder (to your liking)
salt and pepper
250ml of soymilk
I placed the clove of garlic with a piece of pumpkin and wrapped well in foil and did likewise with the ginger and cinnamon.
The pumkin needs approx 25min in the oven (should be soft to the touch).
Once cooled scoop insides out into a large bowl, set ginger, garlic and stick cinnamon aside.
squeeze ginger and garlic into pumpkin flesh.
use a fork to mash pumpkin flesh. slowly add soy milk mixing and mashing until you have a smooth paste.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Return to heat just to warm.
Serve with crackers or toasted bread

to-MAH-to or to-MAY-to

2005-09-15T01:48:00.000+08:00

welcome to the confusing world of cooking....depending on which side of the ocean you live on you will use grams, ounces, cups, tablespoons, sticks, jin, liang etc etc...
I came across a recipe yesterday very simple....for peanut brittle from the bakingsheet it looks so deceptively easy....three problems 1) i am not overly fond of peanuts...and 2) how much of this stuff will fit in my tiny oven, cuz this will be a sample....which leads to the biggest problem of all 3) how to convert cups and sticks so i know how much to reduce the recipe by....
solutions
1) easy just change to some other nuts:) i used chestnuts, they were on special in the supermarket, they were chewy and crunchy at the same time really nice
2) reduce the measurement by 1/2
3) check online and find a useful reference
My tasters recipe for nut brittle
Original recipe (mine in brackets)
1 cup of butter, softened (115g or 1/2 cup)
1 cup white sugar (1/2 cup brown sugar)
2 cups flour (1 cup flour or 16 tablespoons)
1 cup peanuts coarsely chopped and divided (chestnuts approx 10 medium sized shelled ones, cooked, i bought a pack already cooked and shelled)
I followed the instructions given in the original recipe, and had a really nice smelling dough.
Method as follows:
Cream together butter and sugar, slowly add flour mixing until fully incorporated. they said stir in half the nuts and leave the rest for later well i used all the nuts instead, after all where's my spontaneous streak if i didnt?
turn dough onto ungreased jelly-roll pan, this is basically a flat pan, similar to mine (but mine is half the size) and use fingers (floured) to press into a thin layer.
Place in oven and bake for up to 25 minutes, since my oven is so small i only needed 15 mins which was enough for the dough to brown all over.

I turned it over into a plate and it the smell was heavenly i am sure the neighbors were happy too!
Note! I thought that this recipe was really sweet so i think next time i will tinker with it...until i get the right mix:) I took some to work and my colleagues liked it...its always nice to make other people happy too:)

SPONTANEITY...

2005-09-14T02:35:00.000+08:00

I am by nature a spontaneous person....or at least when it comes to cooking i am...i am so bad at measurments, i just add until i get the right texture or taste....
yesterday was the last day of my diet and i wanted something to celebrate...nothing too heavy but something different so i started thinking about this since 2pm...why not??
then i thought something with corn and chicken...so that was my inspiration....
I went to the market after work (the supermarket that is, not the wet market).
I bought some chicken breasts and asked if they could mince them for me...
no no to much mafan (trouble)!
why did i even think they would do it anyway??!!
Close to the meat they have the grains so i saw the corn flour and thought
"thats what i will do chicken and corn rolls!"
then i saw some really nice mushrooms and came up with.....(drum roll please).....herbed mushroom rolls.
I bought everything and was very excited when i got home, my other half was also at home first question, "what are you cooking love?"
me, "it's a surprise!"
him, "a long surprise?" (understandable especially after the eggplant rolls)
me, "i dont think so, you just watch some tv by the time batman is finish i should be done"
so for dinner that night we had chicken and corn rolls and herbed mushroom rolls
I am going to have to apologise in advance all measurements are very approximate
chicken and corn rolls
chicken filling
500 g chicken breast chopped as fine as possible or better yet minced in you can persuade the butcher!!
1 or 2 chillis roasted in the oven then also chopped as finely as possible
1 medium onion slightly sauteed or grilled in oven with chillis, chop finely as well
salt to taste
Mix all ingredients and set aside to marinate
corn pastry
1 tin of sweet corn, creamed (creamed corn is blending corn until it is like a thick paste, to do this drain corn, set aside water, place in blender and add approx. 2 tablespoons of water from corn and blend, if there is difficulty add a little more water....it should not be like juice...should be kinda like baby food....i dunno if this is a good comparison)
1 cup corn flour
0.5 cup white flour
0.3 cup of corn oil or olive oil
salt to taste
extra flour for dusting
Preparation
In a large bowl place creamed corn, add oil, salt, corn flour. mix well, it will be sticky...start adding the white flour slowly...if you add too much the dough will not be soft enough. You can tell when the dough is finished if you can mix it and none or very little sticks to your fingers.
Use the extra flour and dust your working surface, divide the dough into half. take the first half and either use a rolling pin or your fingers in make the dough as thin as possible, you will need the extra flour to stop the dough from sticking. the dough does not have to be too thin....but you dont want it too thick either. you will have to do this for both pieces
Assembling
place half the chicken mixture on the first piece of dough, make sure you cover as much surface as possible. to get the roll shape, start rolling the dough towards you (think swiss roll, or a paper roll), make sure as you roll you press the chicken into the pastry (not too hard we dont want holes). your roll should look like this
Wrap the roll in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, 45 would be ideal. This is done so it is easier to cut the roll. My other half was pretty hungry...so i think i left it in the freezer for only 15 mins...way too short, from my pictures you will see what i mean.
Herbed Mushroom rolls
300g mushrooms (i used the flat black ones shiitake), thinly sliced
olive oil, balck pepper& salt to taste
herbed pastry

1 cup of flour

1 to 2 tablespoons of assorted herbs

0.3 cup of olive oil

extra flour for dusting

optional: i had some left over grilled eggplant so i put that in the pastry gave it a different taste.

Preparation

As with above place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well, if not enough flour add, so that you have a pastry to above i.e. doesnt stick to your fingers. roll partry as mentioned above and spread the mushroom over entire surface. roll, place in plastic wrap and place in freezer to set.

baking rolls

remove from freezer and plastic wrap on a floured surface slice roll and place little circles on a greased baking sheet. bake until brown, approximatley 15 minutes. serve chicken and corn rolls and herbed mushroom ones hot with your favorite chilli dip.

NOTE: i did not leave in the frezer for 30 min or even 45 min cuz we were too hungry so my rolls are not exactly round. Alo they were difficult to cut cuz they were too soft, but the end result was great. my other half loved them...and asked where did the recipe come from? my answer.... it was just a whim...my love and gave him a wicked smile....and we went back to nibbling on the delicious rolls

the second picture is how your rolls will look if you cut them aftey have spent some time in the freezer...drumroll please....

even better than cooking!!

2005-09-13T02:17:00.000+08:00

you guessed it eating...and in Beijing there are no shortage of places...
the deity of meals...must be the buffet....in beijing from 38rmb (5 usd) up to 350rmb (50usd)
you can eat all you want...yeasterday i had a fish craving...my first thoughts...japanese food....i can get a large slab of fish to nibble on....cuz they should be no cheap lunch buffets on sundays..generally speaking this is true.

yesterday we arrived at Matsuko (great deal for money 68rmb all you can eat lunch buffet), there were at least 12 people in front of us waiting for a table...on a sunday....hard to believe!!

I still had my heart set on my slab of fish....but alas when we finally got our table 30 mins later...my girlfriend told me there are at least five types of fish on the buffet....and you know me...variety is the spice of life....after two plates..the first full of all the fish that was on the buffet even the tempura shrimp which i undressed before consuming...i should have stopped then cuz i was full...but noooooo....i needed some veggies so plate no.2 was full of veggies (really tasty kim-chi yum)...
my stomach by this time was screaming, "stop stop no more..."
if i was not on the diet my eyes would have replied "you are always complaining....just take a deep breath there's more coming....like the yummy japanese rice desserts... "
I was very good....i stopped and watched my lunch companions continue to gorge themselves, my stomach feeling relived and happy, while my eyes longingly lusting after the roasted chicken wings and spicy tuna rolls...
I think maybe another visit is needed on another day when i have more room in my stomach and am not restricting my eating.
As i said there are so many good buffets in beijing...matsuko is one of the nicer japanese ones.
the st. regis the nicest (and also most expensive) overall
and i would say maybe indian kichen for the nicest (and cheapest) indian spread
this is a picture of the kempinski hotel spread, if you have 350rmb, 2.5 hours on a sunday and a very empty stomach...oh and a tolerance for screaming kids this maybe the place for you...they have evrything from breakfast right through to new york cheese cake.

some like it hot!

2005-09-10T13:52:00.000+08:00

i think in a former life i must have been a tropical sun goddess....yes a goddess:)
i love hot stuff...
hot weather (which is slowly going away...it will soon be winter in Beijing)
hot foot (as in spicy, believe it or not this is a newly acquired taste...i woke up one morning and thought i could eat something really spicy today)
hot water (which i am currently wthout boo hoo hoo....what will i do when it gets really cold??!!!)

Enough of my hot rantings...today is friday...and i was told by my other half we have a HOT pot dinner appointment tonight....this is not good news I am on a diet...but no fear...i have reshuffled saturday and friday night's dinner, so instead of fruit salad and yogurt tonight it will be un gros steak avec les legumes a big steak with veggies or in this particular case...hot pot: lots of finely sliced beef with veggies in a spicy broth.
Today is day 11 of my 14 day diet...yesterday day 10, for dinner i could have 2 eggs, ham and salade....sounds boring...well thats what i thought too...and did i mention i had a craving for something spicy...and we have to satisfy those cravings!!!

I made spicy roll-ups they were exactly what i wanted and used the below ingredients..perfect but the only drawback was the preparation time (for recipes they normally have this written and it says 15 min 30 min etc) well for this recipe i think we just have to write LONG!
Spicy roll-ups
These are the ingredients i used...
2 large round eggplants
2 red chillis
2 eggs
smoked ham (cut into halves )
toothpicks (soak in warm water before using to avoid burning)
seasoning to taste.

Chillis
The first thing you have to do it roast the chillis it gives them a really nice taste and brings out the flavors, this is very easy.
1.Cut chillis in half remove seeds (alternatively you could leave them whole but i find them easier to handle if i cut in half)
2. Place face down or skin side up on foil on the oven rack, the chillis will be done when their skins are burned not completely black but puffy and crispy, similar to the picture above, they will also have this wonderful spicy smell.
3. remove skin, and finely chop soft flesh. set aside
Eggplants
in order to roll the eggplants you need to first grill them or slightly fry them to get them soft, since i have nothing to fry on i grilled mine in my small oven two at a time (this is what took the bulk of the time!!!).
1. slice eggplants in rounds, not too thin or when they are grilled they will fall apart, so maybe about 1 to 1.5 cm thick.
2. Place in salty water it draws some of the bitterness from the eggplants and keeps them white
3. Place as many as your oven will hold on foil (if you wish you can brush with oil, i didnt and they were fine)
4. eggplants should brown a little and start getting soft, you will need to turn at least once. each set of eggplants should take about 10 minutes (this is what i mean about the long preparation) it would be a good time to start a dvd if you plan on making many of these!!!
5. Once eggplants are done place on a covered plate (i used a bowl to cover the plate it works womderfully cuz the steam stays in)
Eggs
the eggs are going to be slight scrambled so they are moist. this can be done in the oven in little foil ramekins or on the stove top, season to taste, once finished add the chopped chilli and remove from the heat. You should have wet and creamy scrambled eggs.

Assembling your spicy roll-ups
1. Place a slice of egglant on your work surface
2. Place ham, a scoop of the scrambled egg mixture, roll those together but fold the eggplant in half and secure with toothpick.
3. After each roll is assembled placed in baking container folded side up (toothpicks showing).
4. Sprikle with dry herbs and oilve oil
5. Place in oven for another 7 to 10 min until eggplants and contents are sizzling
6. Remove and place on serving plate.

we had this for dinner with cold sliced cucmbers, because as i had imagined it was quite spicy, but my boyfriend wolfed them down, so i knew they were good:)

notes
i guess cheese would be nice sprinkled on top
and maybe using creme in the eggs (but i am on a diet)....

New additions...

2005-09-09T01:08:00.000+08:00

My sister gave birth to a 5lb 2oz daughter at 3:15am September 7th (barbados time).
I bought regtangular foil pans.
We both have new additions! Although it's not really fair to compare.

And i guess i also forgot to mention i am on a diet (hence the healthy and light stuff) because i will be heading off to the caribbean in 2 weeks time and i need enough space to eat all of that delicious food yummy yummy....and don't worry i will keep up the postings from there too!

In celebration of my new foil pans I tried making soup. For those of you you don't know my kitchen is sparsely equipped emphasize on SPARSE!!!
Yesterday I made what I hoped would be a cold tomato soup: a garzpacho...but once I got these foil pans I thought why not give warm soup a try...did I mention I also have no gas and no pots but I do have me a terrific mini toaster oven...As you can see it is quite used!!
those are the tomatoes grilling inside.

Warm tomato and tuna soup
2 tomatoes
1 clove of garlic
1/2 cup of tuna
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 pinches of chilli powder
seasoning to taste
Cut 1 tomato in half and place in oven cut side up until soft and skin is sizzling, this should take 10 to 15 minutes, mash to a pulp (the skin can be removed).
Combine 1 tomato, olive oil & garlic in a food processor.
Mix all ingredients with tuna flakes and re-warm either in oven (in my new foil pan) like I did or on stove top in suitable pot for approx. 10 mins (in oven) or on stovetop until starts smelling yummy (maybe 3 or 4 min).
Serve with croutons (cubed bread baked crispy in the oven, I think it is better to use a hard bread for this, I used ordinary bread and they were still a little too soft on the inside).

finished product...warm soup with croutons on the side.
One other note some may find the soup a little sour; unless you have really sweet tomatoes, if you don't like the sharp sour taste (i love this...), you can add a little sugar or cinamon.

the beginning of something good

2005-09-08T06:09:00.000+08:00

I am starting this because hopefully in a few days time i'll be finish writing my thesis.....yippee! and will have some time on my hands....also because i love cooking and have a very limited amount of equipment with which to do so! so i thought it would be interesting to share with everyone what a few good pieces of machinery can do.
I have been reading so many food blogs, some terrific and others just so so....i hope i can put enough effort into this one so it will be one of the ones that people will love to look at:)