There are very few foods that I don’t like but I don’t like beans. But since they’re so good for you (and economical), I’ve been trying to incorporate them into my diet. I’m a firm believer that you can teach yourself to like ANY food no matter how much you dislike it. So when Green Giant frozen lima beans went on sale, I bought some and made this simple soup. It turns out I don’t dislike lima beans after all.
Steamed egg (or water egg) is a Cantonese dish that is served with rice alongside other dishes at dinner. It is a very light dish that is incredibly quick and easy to make. There are many variations that include combinations of dried scallops, dried shrimp, minced pork, soy sauce, and green onions. But my favourite variation is the three colour dish (referring to the three different types of eggs used). Note that the texture of the eggs in this dish is very soft, silky, and slightly watery. The flavour comes from the salted duck egg and preserved duck egg (also known as century old egg).
I’ve made these twice now and I love them. I love their chewy texture and I love that they’re not the standard chocolate brownie. Note that these come out thin. If you prefer them thicker, you could try baking this in a 9 x 9 inch pan and adding a few minutes to the baking time. (See my favourite chocolate brownies recipe here and brownie cookies recipe here.)
Ed and I used to order potato skins in bars and restaurants all the time, until I started making them at home. It takes a bit of work but they’re really easy to make, they’re perfect for parties, and it’s much more cost efficient to make your own. The bars and restaurants deep fry their potato skins but these are baked in the oven so they’re not as crispy. You could deep fry your potato skins (after you’ve scooped out the baked flesh) in vegetable oil at 350 degrees F.
The texture of tilapia makes it very easy to handle and the thin fillet allows it to cook very quickly so it’s perfect for a quick and easy weeknight dinner. Since it’s such a mild fish, I like to pair it with more flavourful dipping sauces like honey mustard, tartar sauce, or ketchup. I buy tilapia fillets in bulk and freeze them separately. They defrost in no time since they’re so thin, which is another reason I use them for my lazy meals.
You can make one pot meals using Chinese clay pots. These rice dishes are some of my favourite foods. When done right, the bottom layer of rice is crispy and the top layer is beautifully flavoured with the juices from the meat and other toppings.
I have to admit that this is the only Mongolian dish that I make and other than Mongolian grill, I don’t know much about the cuisine. Eventually, I’ll cook my way through more Mongolian food, I’m sure. I like the sauce of this beef dish because it has a subtle sweetness to it that differs from other Chinese beef dishes.
I happened to have extra potatoes and leeks on hand so I thought I’d try making this soup for the first time. I’ve noticed that many recipes involve sauteeing the leeks first. But I decided to trust Julia Child’s recipe which also happened to be the simplest soup I have ever made. Potato and leek soup has a very simple flavour and unlike the overly thickened soups that you get in restaurants, Julia Child’s version is very light and smooth.
Thai green curry is spicier than the red and yellow curries. (See my Thai Red Curry post.) I know this green curry doesn’t look very appetizing – in fact, I served it as “swamp sludge” at a Halloween party once 😉 – but it’s my personal favourite thai dish. Sometimes I make this vegetarian and it’s the only vegetarian dish that doesn’t leave me craving meat. I ate the eggplant and bamboo shoot green curry dish at a local Thai and Cambodian restaurant every day for about a month before I finally stopped being lazy and figured out how to make it myself. Thai curries are incredibly easy to make at home and, like a Chinese stir fry, you can use any combination of meat and vegetables you happen to have on hand. These freeze well too.
I used to get anxious about baking cookies because it was a guaranteed Fail for years. But I finally got the hang of it by pushing my way through more than a dozen different peanut butter cookie recipes over a short period of time. Here’s a link to my tips for baking cookies. After I recovered from baking peanut butter cookies, I took on a mission to find my favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I love cookies that are chewy in the middle with crunchy edges. I tried 13 different recipes before I declared 2 of them the best.
Both of the recipes that I’ve posted below will give you beautifully chewy and crunchy chocolate chip cookies. If you like your cookies crunchy, the second recipe makes excellent crunchy cookies if you make them smaller or add an extra minute or two to the baking time. The first recipe is the one I use when I want to make a large batch quickly and easily. The second recipe is unique in that it uses browned butter. I prefer the flavour of the first recipe but I prefer the texture of the second recipe. Also note that cookies from the second recipe taste better on the second day compared to cookies made from the first recipe. Both make excellent cookies but the second recipe requires a bit more time and work. Also, the second recipe doesn’t make as many cookies as the first one.
Steamed spareribs is a dim sum dish, but it also makes a great meal when served with rice. It is very easy to make at home. Dim sum refers to various types of small dishes that are served with tea during the meal, yum cha (“drinking tea time”), which starts early in the morning and ends between noon and 3 pm, depending on the restaurant. (Check out the other dim sum recipes that I have posted in the Asian – Dim Sum category.)
This recipe uses Chinese fermented black beans (douchi) which have a sharp smell and a unique salty flavour that is also slightly bitter. They are used to make black bean sauce (which can be purchased in stores) that is used in some Chinese noodle dishes, chicken stir fries, bitter melon dishes, and steamed pork spareribs, to name a few.
I watched the mens’ hockey game for the gold (Winter Olympics, Vancouver, 2010) at a friend’s house. It was the gold medal that helped Canada set the new world record for most gold medals at the Winter Olympics. I made this baked cheesy spinach and artichoke dip and served it with thin slices of toasted baguette. I used my new brie baker for this.
Cooking with Alison 