Beef and Mushroom Chop Suey

A recent trip to a Chinese restaurant ,where I enjoyed this dish as part of a combination meal for three, led me to make my own version of beef and mushroom chop suey. It was tasty in the restaurant but the pieces of beef were few and far between. The dish was mostly bean sprouts. My version was much more generous on the beef front with about half a pound of steak divided among two portions.

The only change I made to this recipe was to ‘velvet’ the beef by marinating the sliced beef with one teaspoon of baking soda, for half an hour, before the beef was thoroughly rinsed in cold water, patted dry and then marinated.

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Spinach-Feta Scrolls/Rolls

I wanted to make something with spinach and feta for Easter for some reason. I was brain storming a pork roast roll up with the two items in the middle but then switched gears to making a bread instead because the leftovers from the rolled up roast would not be as flexible for future meals.

I ended up making these rolls/scrolls using a wreath filling recipe and the enriched duck fat dough recipe I’ve used in the past.

The results were delicious though they’re best served fresh. I ended up microwaving for about 10-15 seconds on low to get them back to that soft texture.

Happy Easter ! (2023)

Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates the occasion.

I was on my own and threw together a pork roast with fiddleheads, hash brown patties and  onion rings for supper. Cream puffs filled with whipping cream for dessert and a glass of Pinot Grigio to wash it down. The latter was a Christmas gift from my nephew.

Vietnamese Omelette or Vietnamese Pizza

This is a Vietnamese street food that you can make at home for a fast breakfast or lunch or even just a snack. The inspiration came from here.

Here’s one of the simplest topping ideas: In a non-stick pan, over medium heat, place your rice paper circle. Drizzle some chili oil over the top, break an egg onto the rice paper and scramble it, spreading it evenly over the rice paper with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle some thinly sliced green onion over the top, fold over and fry until the omelette is lightly golden and crisp. Flip over and repeat with the second side. Cut into three or four wedges and dig in. NOTE: If you don’t fold it over but eat it open faced, it more closely resembles the ‘pizza’.



Other topping ideas:

1. egg, avocado slices, shredded fake crab, Sriracha, hoisin
2. chili oil, egg, shredded cheese, mayo, Sriracha
3. egg, thinly sliced leeks, mayo, Sriracha
4. ketchup, egg, mushrooms sauteed with some fresh garlic, mayo, Sriracha, microgreens

Pepperoni and cheese omelette – I forgot to take a picture of the strips of American cheese I added to the omelette before folding it over. Next time, I’d only put in half a slice as I had some oozing out. A drizzle of Sriracha gave the omelette a nice bit of heat.

March Baking Round-Up

My nephew offered to pick up a bag of all purpose flour for me on his recent trip to Costco. I wasn’t sure if I should say yes, since I haven’t been doing as much baking as usual, lately. At least, that’s what I THOUGHT.

And then I realized that I’ve baked or used flour to make the following this month: ‘pizzaman’ steamed buns, a loaf of traditional white bread, Irish soda farls, banana-raisin oat muffins and a nectarine pie.

Oh well. Guess I should say yes. 🙂

Banana-Raisin Oat Muffins

When you’re clearing out your pantry, and have just over a cup of rolled oats left, make these delicious oat muffins.

During my search on line for a recipe, I found that bananas were often included in the recipes for moisture. This recipe seemed perfect as I had some peeled bananas frozen away for smoothies. The google results that suggested that two bananas would equal one cup, however, were inaccurate. At least once I thawed and mashed what ended up a soupy mixture. It was only about half a cup. So, I threw half a cup of raisins into the bowl and let the mixture sit for a while to plump up the raisins. The recipe seemed a bit bland so I increased the vanilla extract to one teaspoon and added half a teaspoon of cinnamon. Just because. I also used half a cup each of brown and white sugar.

I was very pleased with the result and would make this recipe again.

  

DIY Tandoori Paste and Tandoori Chicken

I know it’s St. Patrick’s Day but I made an Indian meal today. There are a number of  tandoori paste recipes out there but I chose this one because I had all of the ingredients and didn’t have to make any substitutions. Since it’s too cold to barbecue in south-western Ontario, and I don’t have a BBQ anymore, I broiled the boneless, skinless chicken thighs (720 gm) on high for 13-15 min and then transferred the tray to a lower shelf and baked for another 10 min at 325 deg F, until the meat registered 160 deg F in the thickest parts.

You can use the paste to marinate fish, lamb, mushrooms or tofu according to what I read. I may chop up the leftover chicken and make some butter chicken. Or I may just eat it all as is.

Irish Soda “Farls”

For St. Patrick’s Day:

Farls or ‘quarters’ are a type of quick Irish soda bread cooked in a griddle or a cast iron frying pan. Simple, four ingredient recipe found everywhere on the internet.

The only tricky part is adjusting the cooking temperature and time so that the top is not burnt while the inside remains raw.

Pizzaman (Steamed Buns)

Pizzaman are pizza filling stuffed Chinese style buns found in Japanese conbini (convenience stores). The dough was made based on this recipe from Youtube though I had to increase the amount of water I used to 120 ml rather than 100 ml. The filling was spicy Italian sausage filling removed from the casing and cooked off, cooled and then combined with jarred pasta sauce and grated mozzarella cheese.

I had to do a bit of fiddling with the amount of pasta sauce I added as it was too wet to start with and my pleating needs work but otherwise, this recipe was a winner.

Pasta with a Blue Cheese Sauce

Another quick and easy dish based on this recipe.

You can use your home made pasta for this but I went with bought pasta and spent my free time making the sauce.

Pasta with a Danish Blue cheese sauce garnished with crispy strips of bacon and toasted walnut pieces. If serving to company, you can garnish with some fresh parsley, but I didn’t bother, especially because I didn’t have any.