Go ahead! Serve Each Other : )

Last Friday, my church fellowship -- YCF
(Youth Career Fellowship) had a special program:
SERVE EACH OTHER DAY!

It originated from the past years' Valentine's Day
celebrations -- when one year the guys surprised
all the girls by preparing dinner/programs/
decorations / gifts all on their own...
then the following year the girls returned the favor : )

We had very fond memories of love & surprises
that sprung from these events...
but it also involved a lot of work/pain that takes
to plan / prep / make events like these a SURPRISE!

So this year, we went a 3rd route...
and established the SERVE EACH OTHER DAY instead!

We all signed up for various roles...
& without hesitation, i, of course,
signed up for COOKING! duh!

Here's GG cutting the parm. cheese for Goh goh /
biting them off because his tummy's rumbling...

Here's the 3 trays of Baked Ziti with Sausage
that goh goh made : )))



My favorite cooking partner Jules was so helpful
in chopping the various veggies & garlic for me *0*

While Shirls was the main coordinator that
helped us transport the trays from 4/F down
to the basement... for a couple of times!



GG helped out a lot : )
Here he's washing some of the veggies i got...
Although... he got confused about the difference
between Choy Sum (菜心) /
Dau Miu (Snow Pea Green豆苗) /
Bok Choy(白菜)......
GG: "I DON'T KNOW MY VEGGIES!"
; ) hehe that's ok... as long as you eat them : b



Here's my lovely sis Karen,
posing with a full plate of food that
each of us was served : D



P.Al & Cindy made some VERY DELISH beef stew!
Could you please tell me the secret to your dish?! 0_o




Other dishes --
Jules: Puerto Rican Arroz con Pollo with plantains;
Justin: Drippin' w/ Butter Mashed Potatoes;
My Veggies Delight A: Slightly Salted Edamame

P.Al & Cindy: Fresh Bread (to go with the beef stew!)
My Veggies Delight B: Garlicky Soy Sauce Choy Sum
My Veggies Delight C: Spicy Snow Pea Greens
My Veggies Delight D: Garlicky Broccoli

My Veggies Delight E: Soy Sauce w/ scallion
over Enoki + Button Mushrooms & Asparagus

Desserts:
Megin's Spice Cakes (below)/
JJ's Spiked! Tiramisu
(which i didn't get to take a pic of : / )

Everybody was full at the end of the night,
as was God's love & abundance obvious : )
YAY!!!

***********************************************

Usually, when a group of people get together to eat,
i'd always wait to see what others make / order,
and come up with something that compliments /
balances the meal : )

This time, i signed up for VEGGIES for the same reason.
But i've never been a Vegan nor
had any signature dish that is based
primarily on veggies '_'

Hence, this was yet another challenge / experiment! : D
I named my dish(es) Veggies Delight,
because i had no idea what would be
in it until that night! : b

I picked up a book from the library --
Great Dishes -- Just Blanch and Eat!
(See my book review at: http://365booksayear.blogspot.com/
2008/02/book-32-great-dishes-just-blanch-eat.html)
hoping to be inspired...

& it sure did! : D

I ended up buying 7 kinds of veggies,
blanching them,
& then drenched them in the 2 sauces i whipped up ; D

WOOOHOOO! : ) STF Mission Accomplished!
Maybe we should have more
Serve Each Other [FOOD] nights! ; )

Rice Pot Wonder #2!

As i promised before,
i continued to explore the potential dishes
that i can make with my microwavable rice cooker : )

Are you ready for this? : D

Minced beef --
marinated in curry powder, salt,
pepper, onion powder......



Meanwhile, i submerged the rice into coconut milk,
water and a tiny bit of sesame oil : )



Sorry, the photo came out a bit disgusting...
i added coconut milk to the marinated beef too : )



When the rice is half cooked,
i added the beef, shallots, seaweed,
peanut butter, and a little water into the pot : )

15 minutes later...
TAAAA DAAAAA!!!!!



Yeah, i suppose it's a bit Thai inspired!
hehe... ok perhaps except the seaweed : b

Probably due to the coconut milk / beef / peanuts,
this is quite a filling dish ; )
Very economical and satisfying!
ENJOY!

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?

Rice Pot Wonder #1

This has to be the fastest REAL dinner e-v-e-r.
No, cooking instant noodles or nuking leftover doesn't count.

Thanks to Hippo Grande's Chef Fafa,
I've grown accustomed to the fabulous
Microwavable Rice Cooker years ago.
















A lot of people have doubted,
but if you've come over and tasted our RICE,
your doubt shall cease.

Now, to take that to another level,
I decided to mess around with cooking a 1-pot dinner,
Chinese style with a hei twist ; )

Marinate the beef with sugar, cornstarch, yada yada...
You know, the usual suspects.

Then i bought a pack of spicy pickled veggie,
we call it 柞菜 (zha choy) --
It's got a crisp texture, with a slight spicy/salty taste.

Marinated with sugar & sesame oil as pictured.














Cooked some rice till the water is bubbling,
but the rice not quite done.
Stir and mix both ingredients in,
put it back to the microwave to cook some more : )

Taa Daaaaaa!
There's no going back after trying this : )

I'm now contemplating a future cookbook, written by H-E-i...
Freshly titled: Rice Pot Wonders : b

Well, until then, I gotta explore & experiment more!

East Meets West Concoction

Goh goh has been cooking way more than me lately.
& boy... it's been quite a feast! : D




























He decided to make:
- Garlic Butter Shrimp with Fettuccine














- Chinese Mushroom with sliced beef/pork/chicken.















The shrimps were juicy & meaty,
pasta al dante (why can't i ever cook pasta like that?),
the mushroom bursting with flavor,
& the meat soaked in all that BBQ sauce goodness!

Obviously, I'm still floating in YUMMY heaven...

The other half of STF...

As some of you know, G0h goh cooks too : )

This was our first home-cooked meal after the Honeymoon:














Stir-fried String beans with sliced beef,
on top of thick Chinese noodles.

Another homemade meal --














Garlic sauteed asparagus +
Chicken thigh chunks with soysauce lo-mein.

Goh goh's been making all our breakfasts,
on days we go to the gym & work-out ; )
Fresh Ham & Cheddar / Parmesan cheese sandwich!















[Special thanks to Ters & Eric for the sandwich grill!]

: D YUM!