Chicken in Tomato Sauce/Ayam Masak Tomato

There are many times where I have to clue of what to cook for dinner. I will just have the door of my fridge open and stare at it for a long time. I came up with this dish on a day like this especially with so many over-ripe tomatoes on the kitchen counter. We eat a lot of tomatoes salad so I tend to overstocked them. I usually left them on the kitchen counter and try finishing them as fast as I can but quite often they get over-ripe so I will end up cooking them. This is a pretty healthy dish actually without any coconut milk in it.

Strawberry Tart

We have been enjoying high 60’s to low 70’s weather here in CA even though it is still winter. I already see a lot of cheap strawberries at the supermarket shelves and they are pretty cheap. I paid only $1.78 a punnet and have been buying it every other day. The one I bought last week were not as sweet so I decided to use it to make tart. The tart turns out beautifully – the slight tartness of the strawberries compliments the pastry cream really well. Carlos said it is one of the best tart he ever eaten. I think he just said that to make me happy ha ha.....

Salt and Pepper Stuffed Lotus Root

I love lotus root especially in my soup. I usually boil them with pork ribs and peanuts. Beside that I sometimes do add them into stir-fry. I like the sweetness of this root vegetable and also adding extra crunch to a dish. The lotus root is a root vegetable that is indigenous to Asia, and is found underwater. Similar in shape to a long squash, it is not uncommon for lotus roots to grow to a length of four feet. The exterior of this root is covered with a peel that is a reddish brown color in appearance, with a white interior that has the appearance of lace. The meat of the lotus root has a texture that is slightly crunchy, and mildly sweet.

When I saw Messy Witchen prepared the lotus root in a different way I knew I have to try it out. She adapted the recipe from Flavor Magazine. Inspired by her dish, I came up with this. Instead of cooking the fried stuff lotus in sauce I just give it a quick toss in salt and pepper.

I'll Will Be Away!

Diana is in town so I will be away for a few days. Blogging will resume again on Thursday. Best regards and have a wonderful day!

Banana, Cranberry and Apple Bread

I whip this bread up one late night when I realized that we don’t have anything to eat for breakfast on Sunday morning. It is just a simple mix and bake bread which take no effort at all. All it takes is 5-6 minutes to measure, mix everything and about an hour to bake and you have something wonderful for breakfast the next day.

Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce

Carlos and I like this dish a lot. Sometimes we just have it with some sauté vegetables or serve it over pasta. It is so versatile that you can even eat it with rice or make sandwich out of it. Instead of frying the meatballs, I used the oven baking method to cook and brown the meatballs. If you have a large crowd to feed this will be a great dish to serve.The ground beef is cheap and so is the pasta. This recipe serves 4-5 so you need to double or triple the ingredients if you need to feed a large crowd.

Oreo Brownies

I know. This dessert is way sinful. I am sure many of you including me are on diet right now after indulging all the sinful food and cookies during CNY. As for me I’ve been having outside food for the past 3 weeks so it is time to start having some lighter meal. Well I made these 2 months ago and haven’t had a chance to post it until now. These brownies are sinful, rich, decadent and super delicious especially with the Oreo chunks peaking through the brownies.

Beef Chow Fun/Stir-Fry Rice Noodles with Beef

Beef chow fun or stir-fry beef in rice noodles is a very popular dish here in the US. Every Chinese restaurant or take out place will have this dish in their menu. Basically it is just beef strips stir-fry with fresh rice noodles (hor fun), bean sprouts and onion. The important factor in making this dish is very hot wok and stir-fry must be done quickly. I like having this dish in the restaurant but they are usually very oily which I am not a fan of that is why I prefer to cook it myself. This way I can control the amount of oil I put into it.

Tangerine Scones

How time fly and tomorrow will be the last day of Chinese New Year. It is also known as Chap Goh Meh (15th day of CNY) in Hokkien dialect. I didn’t do anything this CNY but I am planning to make some pineapple tarts and maybe another type of cookie as Diana will be flying in for a visit so I can give her some to take back to NY. Is already a week since we move into our new home and I am starting to venture out on my own. There is a supermarket near our house that sells really cheap produce. All the vegetables and fruits are so much cheaper than other supermarkets. I bought a whole bunch of Tangerine for only $0.58 a pound. They were super sweet and delicious. I decided to use it to make some scones for our breakfast. Actually this is my very first bake from our new home. I still have to get to know my oven as it work a bit different from the one at PA. These scones were so light and fragrant that Carlos had 2 right after it came out of the oven and don't they look great to serve them on Valentine's Day?

Oven Baked Chinese Five Spice Chicken Wings

We still don’t have internet connection at home yet but it will be installed this Saturday. I managed to sneak out to the Starbuck right behind our house to make a quick update here.

This was the last batch of frozen chicken wings I had in my freezer before the move so I made it into this delicious finger food. I love the taste of five spices power as it added a nice aroma to the wings. Don’t be alarmed by the long list of seasonings as most of it can be found in your pantry. Make sure you let the wings marinate for at least 2 hours before baking for the flavor to blend into the wings.