Cauliflower Beef

I first had this dish at a Cantonese childhood friend’s house when I was about ten years old. It was delicious with plain white Jasmine rice. I am glad I am able to replicate it in my own way after all these years.

Ingredients A:

1 big Shallot, mince
1 Garlic, mince
1 Cauliflower, remove stems and cut apart the little florets
2 to 3 pieces of Petite Sirloin, slice thin
Corn starch
Oil
Water

Ingredients B:
1 tablespoon of Lemon juice
Kikkoman light soy sauce
Oyster sauce
White pepper
Black pepper
Ginger powder
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Brandy
Sesame seed oil

Method:
Season the beef with ingredients B. Add just enough corn starch to coat all the beef slices.

Heat up 1 tablespoon of oil on high heat. Stir fry beef separately from cauliflower. Add shallots and garlic, stir fry the beef until tenderly cooked. Dish out the moment they are no longer pink. Don’t over cook them. Add cauliflower to the frying pan to absorb the sauce from the beef. Add a little water if necessary to lightly steam the cauliflower. Stir fry cauliflower until you can prick them with a fork. Add more oyster sauce if necessary. Make a corn starch slurry with some corn starch mixed well with cold water, pour into cauliflower and bring it to a boil to thicken it. Turn off the heat immediately and pour cauliflower and sauce over the sliced beef.

Enjoy!

Copyright 2013 From the Kitchen of Eloise

Borscht

There is nothing like a bowl of hearty borscht in Spring time when the weather alternates between hot and cold and fresh beets are widely available. This is a Russian beet-based soup. Always cook this soup with fresh beets. I have tried canned beets and it just isn’t the same. I first had this yummy soup in a little hole in the wall steak house near where my family used to stay growing up. I made this soup with the ingredients I remember having in the soup at that time. There are many different ways of making this soup according to Wikipedia. Most recipes seem to ask for cabbage but I prefer to omit cabbage as cabbage doesn’t add much flavor to soup in my opinion.

Beets are low in cholesterol and fats. They are very low in calories and have lots of Vitamin C. The beef in the soup provides lots of iron. This is a great soup with lots of vitamins for preggies like me.

The following ingredients make a big batch of soup requiring a big pasta pot. If it is too much for you, cut the ingredients down to half or less.

Ingredients:

3 pounds of Organic, Grass-fed Beef Chuck, trim off most of the fats but leave some to flavor the soup, cut into big chunks about 1 inch wide by 1/2 inch thick

1 stick of Celery, slice thinly diagonally

3 Russet Potatoes, peel and cut each one into 8 big chunks

8 small Carrots, peel and cut into 1 or 1 1/2 inch long chunks

6 Beets, peel, cut off and discard ends, then cut into chunks

1 Yellow Onion, peel and slice into thin wedges

2 Big Beefy Tomatoes, cut into big wedges

1 can of Campbell Beef Consommé (810 mg of salt)

12 cups of Boiling Water or enough to cover everything

Sour cream for serving

Method:

Place all ingredients and boiling water in a big pasta pot. Always use boiling water to make clear soup with meat in it. Cold water will make the soup turn cloudy. A tip my mom taught me. Bring the soup to a boil, turn down the heat to low and simmer, if it completely stops bubbling, the heat is too low. Turn it up a little just to have a little bubbling around the edge of the soup. Simmer for two hours.

Serve each bowl of soup with a dollop of sour cream!

Enjoy it while it is hot!

Copyright 2013 From the Kitchen of Eloise

Spinach and Ham Frittata

Talk about preggies making simple meals, here’s a simple one that doesn’t take more than 30 minutes to prepare and it is chock full of protein, iron and fiber.

Ingredients:

1 Box of Organic Baby Spinach (You might not use up everything, save the rest for making soup or salad)

10 slices of Oscar Meyer Chopped Ham, cut into even small pieces about 3/4 inch by 1/2 inch

10 Organic Brown Eggs

Garlic Salt

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Black Ground Pepper

Milk

2 cups of Shredded Parmesan Cheese

PAM for cooking

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

Spray the bottom of a square casserole dish with some PAM for cooking. Spread two layers of overlapping baby spinach to the bottom of the dish and press down. Spread two layers of Oscar Meyer chopped ham over the baby spinach, repeat with another layer of baby spinach and chopped ham so there are two layers of spinach and two layers of chopped ham in alternate order.

Beat all 10 eggs up with the seasoning. Pour the egg mixture over the above layers of spinach and ham evenly and pour just enough milk to come up to the same level as the top layer of ham.

Layer the top of the frittata with shredded parmesan cheese. Bake the frittata in the oven for 25 minutes and broil on high for 3 to 5 minutes or until the cheese on top is golden brown.

Bon Appetite!

Copyright 2013 From the Kitchen of Eloise

Steamed Mushroom Meatballs

All preggies have cravings! I found myself craving for food that I either haven’t made for a long time or have forgotten. A few days ago, I thought of my mom’s steamed mushroom meatballs and remembered how much I loved them growing up but haven’t ever thought of making it myself. It is really simple to make particularly for preggies like me who don’t want to be on our feet all day. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients A:

1 pound of Ground Pork (or substitute with Ground Chicken or Ground Turkey)

1 piece of Dried Sole, cut finely (or substitute with a couple of Dried Scallops soaked in a little boiling water in a small dish for a few minutes and peeled apart or Cuttlefish cut finely)

4 water chestnuts, minced finely (optional)

1 heaping teaspoon of Dong Chye, it is a dried brown pickled vegetable that comes in an earthen jar from China which you can find in Asian stores

White Ground Pepper

Very little Garlic Salt because the Dong Chye is already salty

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

1 level tablespoon of Cornstarch

2 Eggs

Ingredients B:

20 big Shitake Mushrooms, soaked in boiled, hot water for twenty minutes or until soft, remove and discard stems

1 Tablespoon of Sesame Seed Oil for the meat stuffing

Cold water

1 tablespoon of Kikkoman Light Soy Sauce

Sesame seed oil

Method:

Mix ingredients A for stuffing together.  I used a small sharp knife to cut up the ground meat further and mix it well. Coat a Pyrex dish or ceramic plate (I used a pie plate) with some sesame seed oil. Then stuff each shitake mushroom from ingredients B with a dollop of meat stuffing with a spoon and place them on the plate. Add a little water to the bottom of the dish without pouring over the meatballs and drizzle the light soy sauce all over the top of the meatballs and the water at the base to make a sauce. You may need to steam the above portion in two different batches.

In a steaming pot or wok, bring the water to a boil while it is covered. You need a metal rack if you use a wok for steaming. The water should come up to the metal rack.  When the water starts boiling, place the dish of stuffed mushrooms in steamer or wok, cover and steam for 30 minutes. Remove the dish from the steamer or wok with oven mitts when they are done. Serve with steamed brown rice or white rice.

Enjoy!

Copyright 2013 From the Kitchen of Eloise

Stewed Chicken Noodles

Ingredients for the Stewed Chicken:

1 four pound Organic, Free Range Chicken

1 1/2 tbsps of Oyster Sauce

1 tbsp of Dark Soy Sauce

1 tbsp of Hoisin Sauce

1 heaping teaspoon of Honey

Ground White Pepper

Garlic Powder

Onion powder

1 tbsp of Sesame seed oil

Water

PAM for cooking

Method for stewing the Chicken:

Coat the chicken with the sauces in the order above, add more if there aren’t enough to coat the entire chicken, rub the sauces onto both sides of the chicken including wings and drumsticks and add sesame seed oil all over the chicken last. Spray the crock pot with PAM. Place the chicken breast side up. Add up to 1 inch of water in the crock pot from the side of the chicken without pouring the water over the chicken. Stew on low for 1 hour. Turn the chicken breast side down and stew for another 2 hours. Then turn the chicken on its back and stew for 1 hour. Lastly, turn the chicken breast side down again for 1/2 hour. Total stewing time on low is 4 1/2 hours. For bigger chicken, a slightly longer stewing time may be necessary. Feel free to test whether the chicken is cooked with a meat thermometer. It should be up to around 160 degrees Fahrenheit. The meat falling off the bones at the end of the chicken drumsticks is a pretty good indication that the chicken is done.

Ingredients for the Braised Shitake Mushrooms:

15 Dried Shitake Mushrooms, rinse quickly in cold water, discard cold water and soak them in boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes. Save the water from soaking the mushrooms. Slice mushrooms thinly.

Oil

Sesame seed oil

Ground White Pepper

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Stewed Chicken Gravy

Oyster Sauce

Method for Braising the Mushrooms:

Add about a tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of sesame seed oil in the frying pan. Fry the shitake mushrooms till slightly golden brown on each side. Add the seasoning and a few tablespoons of stewed chicken gravy. Add some oyster sauce to caramelize the shitake mushrooms. This will give it more flavor and color.

Ingredients for the Vegetables:

Oil left in the pan from frying the Shitake Mushrooms

Yu Cai Sum (Dark green leafy Chinese Vegetable with florets), cut off one inch of the ends of the stems and discard, cut the rest of the vegetables into thirds of their length, wash, rinse nd repeat three times and strain off the water

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Stewed Chicken Gravy

Water from soaking the shitake mushrooms

Method for stir frying the Vegetables:

Use the oil that was left from frying the shitake mushrooms, add a little more oil if necessary. Add the Yu Cai Sum to the frying pan and the seasoning. Stir fry for a few seconds. Then add some chicken gravy and water from soaking the shitake mushrooms to help soften the vegetables. Turn off the heat when vegetables turn jade green and the leaves are cooked.

Ingredients for the Noodles:

1 packet of Dried 1/4 inch wide flat Rice Noodles, the kind used for Pad Thai

Boiling water

Method for cooking the Noodles:

Place the rice noodles in a pot and pour enough boiling water to cover most of the noodles. Turn on the heat to bring the water to a boil. Push down the noodles with a pair of bamboo chopsticks. Boil the noodles until they are soft and not chewy but not until they fall apart and break, so you will need to test and try one or two strands. Be careful as they are very hot. Pour out the water in the pot or strain the noodles.

Serve the noodles on a plate with some warmed up stewed chicken gravy over it, the braised shitake mushrooms and stir fried vegetables on the side and some cut chicken on top of the noodles.

Voila! You now have a plate of Singapore Stewed Chicken Noodles. Priceless particularly if homemade!

Copyright 2013 From the Kitchen of Eloise

Sweet and Sour Shrimp

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of Peanut or Canola Oil

2 – 3 pounds of peeled and de-veined medium size Shrimp, preferably fresh ones from a fish market

2 tablespoons of Lemon Juice

2 cans of Dole pineapple chunks, drained but save the juice

1 can of Del Monte Sweet Peas with no added salt

1 Garlic, chopped

1 Shallot, chopped

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

1 tablespoon of Fish Sauce

1 cup of Ketchup

3 tablespoons of Kew Pie or Japanese Mayonnaise

2 – 3 tablespoons of corn starch with 1/4 cup or more of cold water, mix well to make a corn starch slurry

Method:

Add oil, garlic and shallots to a non-stick frying pan. Turn the heat to high, add the shrimp before the garlic and shallots turn golden brown. Add garlic powder, onion powder, fish sauce and lemon juice. Flip the shrimp to get both sides slightly but not completely cooked. Dish up the shrimp, using a spatula with holes, before it is completely cooked. Separate the sauce that is cooked out from the shrimp and save it in a separate bowl. Mix the sauce with the pineapple juice. Return the shrimp back to the frying pan with a little oil. Add the ketchup and the Japanese Mayonnaise. Mix the condiments well with the shrimp, then add in the pineapple chunks and sweet peas. Pour in the mixture of shrimp sauce and pineapple juice. Bring the sauces to a quick boil and stir in the corn starch slurry. Make more corn starch slurry with cold water if the sauce is not thick enough to your liking. Turn off the heat immediately when the sauce has come to a boil. The challenge is not to overcook the shrimp for this dish. Garnish the dish with freshly chopped cilantro.

Copyright 2013 From the Kitchen of Eloise

BBQ Pork/ Pork Char Siew

This is one of the dishes I cooked for my Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner this year.

Ingredients for the BBQ pork/ Pork Char Siew

3.5 – 4 pounds of Boneless Country Style Ribs

1 teaspoon of White Ground Pepper

2 tablespoons of Oyster Sauce

1 3/4 cups of Korean BBQ Bulgogi Marinade with Korean Pear and Apple

1 tablespoon of Sesame Seed Oil

3 tablespoons of Ketchup

2 tablespoons of Honey

1 cup of Water

Method:

In a bowl, cut the boneless country style ribs into foot long pieces about 1 1/2 inches wide or don’t cut them if they are already pre-cut in long sections. Mix the above sauces and condiments well in a medium size bowl and pour the marinade over the pork in a big mixing bowl. Marinate the pork in the fridge for 4 hours, flipping the pork over every hour so that each side gets well marinated. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Save the excess marinade after laying the pork across an aluminum baking pan that has been sprayed with PAM. Coat the meat with the left over marinade after 1/2 an hour and continue baking for another 1/2 an hour. Re-coat the meat again with the excess marinade. Broil on high for two to four minutes until some of the edges of the pork are slightly charred and crispy. Garnish the pork char siew with some freshly chopped cilantro.

This is a link to my earlier recipe on BBQ Pork/ Pork Char Siew and Dumpling/Wonton Noodles: http://fromthekitchenofeloise.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/bbq-pork-and-dumpling-noodles/

Copyright 2013 From the Kitchen of Eloise