Cleansing my Stomach

Been feeling pretty FAT lately... : /

Resolution?
Eat some veggies for dinner! : D

Since i don't like salad, canned tomatoes +
canned corn became my best friend! : )

The other night, i bought some Japanese
Seaweed salad (basically some kunbu,
mixed with sesame oil, red pepper flakes
& white sesame as dressing)
and mixed that with Corn...

MMMMmmMMmM : D
Veggies can be yummy and filling, too!

Valentine's Dinner #2 -- OMAHA

I'm a little behind in posting this...
but here's our 2nd Valentine's day dinner! ; )

Since goh goh wasn't able to schedule the Kittichai
dinner on Feb. 14th, he decided to go the extra mile
& cook a special homemade meal ; )

Here's the mushroom / onions / diced Tilapia side dish
bubbling in the red wine / Balsamic Vinegar : )

When goh goh announced 2 weeks prior to V-Day,
that he's gonna cook and has planned a special meal,
i knew that something's up.

But i definitely didn't think he'd go so far...
as to order Omaha Steaks!!!



I ended up picking out Ribeye &
Pork chops for the night...

Pork chops were cooked on the stovetop
in a corningware dish -- i didn't know that
could be done!
It's so true that you can learn something new
every day : ) hehe...

Here's the chef's content smile,
with a special occasion drink: Sparkling cider!
(Although, we both agree that the traditional
Apple flavor tastes better than the berries / peach!)

Yipppeee! : ) Such a wonderful meal ; )

Thanks, goh goh : D

** p.s. In terms of the Omaha Steaks,
we agreed that they didn't really live up to the hype,
the fame and the $$$.

A normal Ribeye, i suppose, would be much thicker
than what we received in the package.

It doesn't taste bad,
but it doesn't taste any better than
the fresh ones we can get at Stop n' Shop either.

It wasn't an unpleasant experience,
but neither was it spectacular : 0

Well, let's see if the other cuts are better
(we still have the filet mignon & the burger patty
in the freezer).
I'll certainly let you know '_'

Fake Chicken Cacciatore

I set out to try to make Chicken Cacciatore
for the first time. EVER.
(ack... i can't even spell CACCIATORE by heart.)

The night before:
Marinate Chicken thighs (skin on) with salt / pepper overnight.

Next day:
Drenge them in flour : ) so juice would stay in, i suppose?



Slice up some onions



The recipe suggested chopping rosemary.
but i failed miserably... -_-"
i couldn't find a way to chop them without them flying
all over the place.
i gave up before they had a chance to land on my eyeball 0_o"



Sauteed the onions, rosemary with minced garlic : )
AROMATICS! : D ahhh haaa!
i learned that word from Mr. Alton Brown.



Ohoh... backtrack a little.
before cooking the aromatics,
i deep-fried the thighs in the same pot with olive oil.




There's gotta be some sort of starch to go with this dish, right?
So i decided, SHELLS pasta would be a good match : )



Although, i didn't realize how long it'd take for them to cook,
just because they're LARGE 0_o (14-16 mins!)



While the pasta's boiling away,
my focus turned back to the sauce.
Added a) Dry White Wine + b) Canned Diced Tomatoes : )



After a while, dump all the chicken back into the rich, beautiful sauce.
(Private remorse of the moment: NOOO!
There goes the crispy skin! : / )




On my way home from work,
i saw my new favorite veggie: Mini cabbages!
For some reason, they taste somewhat buttery *_*
BUTTERY veggie!
Can you imagine how satisfying this is,
for those that enjoy the intense flavor (& thought) of butter
minus the horrifying calories?!



After lots of bubbling in 3 pots...
TAAAA DAAAA! : D



Goh goh's comments:
- "I don't know what I'm eating,
but I'm hungry!"

Okay, what he meant was this:
This dish does not taste like what he expected
of Chicken Cacciatore...
The sauce is not as thick as it usually is --
(which brings the question... does it mean i should use:
a) cornstarch? b) tomato paste instead of diced tomatoes?)
BUT IT TASTES GOOD NONETHELESS!

Yup! I'd call this the most successful Pasta dish as of today : )
Despite the unsuccessful recipe and all...

Semi-Failure: Beef Pot Roast

YAY! New Toy : )
Do you know what this is?



The Japanese call it "Shuttle Chef,"
which in essence, is like a slow cooker
minus the electricity : )

Fafa recommended using it to make soup / congee,
but i was in an adventurous mood the other day,
so i decided to test it out & make a pot roast.

Originally, i set out to buy a pork pot roast '_'
But somehow Stop & Shop doesn't have it that day...
so i got Beef instead, thinking i can improvise...
(hmm but that might have been the fatal error...)



Aromatics / Veggies: Potatoes, Onions,
hmmm and i don't know why i used an apple also.


Everything diced up : )
you can see the garlic being diced at the corner, too!


then i marinated the pot roast with
salt, pepper, garlic powder & onion powder : )


Brown it, baby!



I skipped a few steps in the pics coz i was busy:
1) take the roast out of the pan,
2) pour the veggies into the Shuttle Chef pot,
3) put the roast back in,
4) cover it with diced garlic,
5) pour a can of chicken broth into the pot,
6) bring to a boil,
7) pour a can of cream of mushroom in also,
8) stir!



BUBBLE BUBBLE BUBBLE...



Then i put the heavy hot pot into the Shuttle Chef,
leave it in overnight, and in the morning...

VOILA!

But then... this post is named
'Semi-failure' for a reason. : /

I guess due to the nature of Beef,
the pot roast came out quite tough,
and for those that like their steak RARE,
i'd have probably killed the cow like 10 times, in their opinion.

The sauce came out really well, very flavorful,
and so was the roast & veggies.



i made macaroni to go with this : )
& Fafa suggested slicing the roast REALLY THIN,
to make up for the toughness : b
while goh goh suggested cooking with red wine next time,
to break down / tenderize the meat texture.



Yay! it's all good : )
No successes could be achieved without mistakes, right?

New Year's Intimate Dinner

We had a quiet, relaxing New year's eve --
then we got lovely company for a dinner gathering
on our first day in 2008 : )














We love company of all sorts,
but not all parties have to be big ; )
Since Fishcake & Jules both love Food Network
as much as we do (high-5!!),
we spent the late afternoon watching:
The Next Iron Chef Marathon : D
It was a capturing show -- very inspiring too!

Then, goh goh made an appetizer
that hit a home-run, according to our opinions:
Bacon wrapped Jumbo shrimps
with BBQ & honey sauce *____*














An hour later,
i forced goh goh to make another of my favorite:

















GUACAMOLE!!!!! : D
[So sad, Fishcake's allergic to it : /]













Can't you see how happy i am? : D
muahahaha...













For dinner, I made:
Chicken soup with Chinese mushrooms --
learned from Chef Homer aka Fafa : )
































-Cauliflower with spicy soy sauce/oyster sauce;
- Pork chop bites & sauteed onions with garlic black bean sauce;
- Pan-fried Chicken thighs with sweet & sour peanut dip.
While goh goh made white rice with garlic & chicken broth : )













I think it's true that cooking is easier than baking,
in the sense that you don't have to be as precise & neat.
However, i'm seeing how there's plenty of room
to be creative in both arears.
Yes, I aspire to master higher culinary skills! ; D














Obviously, I won't let them leave
without sending them off with desserts.
They were excited (& probably watched too much TV)
as they exclaimed: Wow you plated it like an iron chef!
I made a marshmallow sour cream tart
(more about that in the next post),
served it with coconut sorbet & toasted peanut sauce.

Thanks for coming by, sis!
I look forward to cooking over @ your home! ; D