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! ; )

Mac n' Cheese Casserole

Guess what Goh goh made the other day? : D
This is one of his FAVORITES... with a new twist ; )



Taaaaa Daaaaaa!



Cooked mac & cheese +
fried onions +
diced ham : )

Hearty & wonderful for this chillin' weather! ; )

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?

Meaty Pasta

Goh goh loves pasta --
hence his nickname... P-A-S-T-A.

I tried numerous time... cooking pasta,
but i just couldn't get it right : (
Therefore, he took up the role as our home's
Master Pasta!

Let's take a peek at the Pasta Kitchen:

















































































































































YUM! : D

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...

Cheesecake Factory Birthday Dinner : )

Two weeks ago, my parents offered to take me (& goh goh) out for dinner for my birthday.
For a dessert-lover like Ma, and pasta-lover like goh goh,
it'd be a no-brainer that i picked Cheesecake Factory : )
& indeed, it was quite a DELICIOUS choice, despite the long wait... 0_o"

To save tummy room for dessert, we skipped appetizers & dove straight in for the entrees.

Fafa picked: Skirt steak with Mushroom White wine sauce,
Served with Mashed potatoes & Fried onion rings.
Fa's testimony: The steak is very flavorful : )
















My choice:
Shrimp Scampi x Steak Diane,
Served with Mashed Potatoes & salad veggies.
My testimony: MMmmmM... Creamy garlic sauce + Tender steak!
















Ma's choice: Shrimp Scampi Cappellini
Ma's testimony: She kept saying she's full but she didn't stop eating...
















Ma & my choice: Vanilla Bean Cheesecake : D
Our testimonies: So Smooth! Def. one of my favorite cheesecakes ever : )
















Goh goh's choice: Pineapple Upside-down Cheesecake
Our testimonies: SO fruity! It's the kind that brightens up your day! : )
















Aww i wanna go back already!
Next stop: Waffle house!! : D