Cumin Fatty Beef

Tis the season for hotpot...and sometimes we forget we can't eat as much as we used to in our youth. In this case, we had an extra pound of fatty sliced beef leftover. It can't be refrozen...so what to do? This:

Fatty sliced beef
Onion
Cumin
Caraway seeds
Chili pepper 

Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Salt
Green onion garnish

Sauté the onions with the spices, add the beef. Continue sautéing with the rest of the seasoning until all the liquid is evaporated. Then garnish with green onions for color. Goes great with rice! (What's even better is to do this with sliced lamb.) Enjoy!

Apple Cumin Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is actually pretty easy to cook...especially when baking it. I made this similarly to this recipe which was baked with fennel. This time, it's baked with apple. 

Pork tenderloin

Apple

Onion

Cumin

Cinnamon

S&P

I rubbed the tenderloin with the seasoning spices while the onions were browning in a pan. Then I added the pork loin to sear for about a minute on each side. The whole thing is transferred to a baking sheet, apple slices added, covered with foil, and  baked until internal temp of tenderloin is 130 F. Baking time gives me time to cook the Brussels Sprouts and barley.

Gazpacho

Fall means harvest time and we were passed a ton of heirloom tomatoes from my Uncle. One giant yellow one was too old and ripe to eat by itself so I thought a gazpacho would be nice to cap off the last of the summer harvest. I looked up recipes for inspiration and then made my own. Sorry, the picture should really feature the gazpacho in the top right corner and not the rest. =) But what a colorful meal no?

Tomatoes

Cucumber

Purple Onion

Garlic

Balsamic Vinegar

Lemon Juice

Cayenne Pepper

Cumin

Tomato Juice

Olive Oil

Basil for garnish

Just puree everything raw, add S&P to taste and enjoy! 

Salmon was seared with rosemary, garlic, S&P. Salad is bagged kale salad mix from Costco. And basmati rice...leftover from Indian take out. 

Fish soup

I've been wanting to make fish soup for a while. My Dad told me that these red, big eyed fish are ideal because it (and tilapia) are pretty much the only fish that will make the soup milky and creamy when you boil it long enough. That's when you know it's good'n ready. Fish soup is also supposed to be good to drink after injuries or surgery...to promote circulation and healing. I'm sure no clinical studies have been done on this...but it's a known fact for Chinese people...and they have a 5000 yr medical history so they could be onto something. Can't hurt anyways. Fish Onion Carrot Tomato Ginger - helps take away the fishiness I put the fish into a cheesecloth bag so that I don't have to deal with the bones afterwards. Make sure all the gills and guts are cleaned out well before putting the fish in the soup! Keep it at a rolling boil until the broth looks creamy (so start with more water). Add a pinch of salt and enjoy!!

Beef stew

 

Another stew...cuz it's still cold out. =)

I used veal brisket as stewing meat...and these ingredients:

 

Tomatoes
Onions
Caraway seeds
Paprika
Cumin
Ketchup
Srirracha   

Rice wine

S&P to taste

Onions were softened first with the herbs. Then the brisket pieces were browned with the onions. Then a dash of rice wine (I didn't have red wine in the house.) The tomatoes went in after that along with ketchup (I didn't have tomato paste in the house) and srirracha. Heat was turned low for a nice simmer. And the consistency turned out just fine with the tomatoes releasing the water it had. I didn't have to add any more liquid surprisingly.

The only down side was that I only had about 40 minutes to stew the meat before it was served. While it was cooked through, it remained on the chewy side. It tasted great though.

My husband made a variation of this recently but it got to sit in a thermal cooker overnight. OMG. The brisket was melt in your mouth. I just need to plan a little further in advance....like I would need to for the ox tail stew. =)

Pita Pockets

 

It was one of those days where I couldn't think of what exactly to put together. I had bits of everything but not enough of one thing to make a main dish out of it. And then I was inspired by the  pita pockets I saw in my fridge....filling the pockets only require a little of everything to fill. And it's yummy. So I just cooked each thing separately and we filled our own pockets the way we liked.

Paprika sautéed mushrooms

Sautéed zucchini
Sautéed kale & onions
Pan seared chicken
Pita pockets
Chipotle mayo
Mayo

Tip: Warm or slightly steam the pita pockets first if they're coming straight out of the fridge. They tear easily otherwise.

Nine Bean Pork Stew

 

Every now and then I have enough foresight to presoak the handy nine-bean mix from Costco. And then I decide what to do with it the next day. In this case, it was another cold day, and a stew was in order. This was super simple...and quite tasty...

 

Pork chops cubed

Costco nine bean mix - soaked over night, cooked ~40 min, drained
Veggie stock - I used the Trader Joe low sodium one
Thyme
Sage
Onion

Quinoa

The onion and herbs were sauteed together first...then the pork cubes added. Once sufficiently browned, I took the pork out. Then I added the stock and scraped the charred bits off the bottom of the pot. I figure that adds flavor. Once the stock came to a low boil, I added some quinoa for fibre. Once the little curly tails of the quinoa was visible I added the pork back, then I tipped in the cooked beans and simmered everything until the pork was cooked through. My husband added extra heat (i.e. sirracha) to his bowl. Served with a dollop of  sour cream made it so nice.

Variation - don't add pork...and just enjoy a bowl of vegetarian stew. 

Variation - add way more stock...and make it a hearty soup.

Kimchi Tofu & Chicken Stew

 

I've made some pseudo kimchi stews, but this is more like the real thing...though maybe less soupy than I've had it at Korean restaurants. Makes perfect use of the leftover kimchi juices when the tub of kimchi is finished. 

Chicken

Tofu
Carrots
Onion
Green onion
Soy sauce
Kimchi juice 

The chicken is marinated in soy sauce and some kimchi juice, then pan seared separately. In a pot I browned the onions then added carrots as those take the longest to cook. Tofu cubes added and once the pot has warmed back up to a simmer, I added chicken and more kimchi juice to the level of soupiness I want. Green onions added last so it retains the green color. I didn't need to add extra water because a lot of moisture comes out of the tofu once you cook it. 

Enjoy!

Ox-tail Stew

 

Winter is stew season....love! Hence this will be the Valentines post....though oxtail doesn't sound romantic. I'm non-cliche like that.

This is my first try at ox tail stew. Actually, I bought the ox-tail for soup, but since I didn't have any other meat defrosted, I used it for dinner instead. 

 

Ox tail

Tomatoes
Carrots
Veggie stock
Onion
Garlic
Wine
Ketchup (decent substitute for color when you don't have tomato paste)
S&p

Stews need to simmer for a while to get the meat fall-off-the-bone soft. I started cooking it at 5:30pm and we ate at 7pm. While it tasted very good, especially on rice, it was chewy. In this case, ox tail also has some tendon/cartilage that adds to the chewiness if not cooked long enough. I should've started the stew after lunch and then let it stew away in a slow cooker or thermal cooker for the afternoon before consuming at dinner. Ah well, lesson learned. Still tasty. =)

Chipotle Mayo Pork Chops on Spaghetti Squash

I asked my husband to help marinate the pork chops we got and he creatively put this marinade together:

Chipotle mayo
Soy sauce
Mustard

Quite a tasty marinade I must say. The chops were pan seared...about seven minutes on each side because it was so thick. I've started to be daring and take pork to a medium well instead of fully cooking it. It's so much juicier and tender that way. It was served topped with mango salsa (from Costco). The flavors worked really well together!

As for the spaghetti squash...after it was baked and scraped into a large pan, I added all the little extras for additional flavor and texture and color. Hard to go wrong.

Squash
Onion
Garlic
S&P
Tomato
Cilantro
Parmesan

Quick stir fry

I've forgotten how easy it is to make veggie stir fry. It's so easy there isn't much to say about it...

Red yellow orange peppers
Zucchini
Onion
Szichuan Spicy Noodle Paste by Lee Kum Kee

Only tip is to sautee in the order of whatever takes the longest to cook to your liking.

Pot Braised Ribs

I love eating ribs...the meat is especially tasty and tender. Probably because of all the fat...but whatevs. If you're going to eat ribs, it better be fatty and good. Just don't eat it often. I cut up the ribs into two's and then boiled it in water for ten minutes to get rid of some of the fat and scuz. Then I drained the ribs and in another pot, started the marinade in which I'll eventually braise the ribs in:

Onion - sauteed until almost carmelized
Tomatoes
Paprika
Bbq sauce
Ketchup
Sirracha
Honey
Chicken stock
Apple cider vinegar

The ribs simmered in that sauce for...I dunno....40 minutes? Until the meat was soft and everything smelled heavenly. Then it was served and paired with the Beet and Brussel Sprouts salad.

I liked the sauce with onions and tomatoes more than I liked the ribs...but I think that's account my pregnancy tastebuds still throwing off the taste of meat. One day...in five months or so...this will taste as good as it smelled.

My hubby made these!

I just want to showcase my Husband's handiwork. He made meatballs from scratch! They were super tasty. I forgot to ask him what ingredients he used. Sorry guys. We had the vodka pasta sauce from Trader Joe's but he added extra onion and mushrooms to it which enhanced the flavor and texture. Next time he endeavors to make the whole thing from scratch: meatballs, sauce, pasta

I look forward to it. =)

Baked Portobello Caps

The picture doens't look like much...but those are baked portobello mushroom caps. I've always wanted to try cooking portobello...this was my first time! I didn't know it's actually a tedious process to scrap the brown gills looking stuff from the underside of the caps first. It ended up taking way longer than I expected so the stuffing for the caps overcooked on the stove (and then I had to bake everything afterwards.) Oh well...live and learn.

Stuffing:
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Onion
Diced mushroom stalks (cut from the portobello)
Panko
S&P
Dried herbs
Cumin

Sides were couscous and Shanghai bok choi.
It tasted good...but yeah, stuffing was over cooked. Next time!

Hot or Cold Pasta with Okra

I had never cooked with okra before and wanted to try. I heard it was pretty versatile and could be eaten cooked or raw. It's also supposed to be pretty nutritious. So one Vegetarian Vednesday I whipped this up:

Pasta
Cooked chick peas
Okra
Onion
Premade pasta sauce...from Trader Joes
Pan seared egg tofu

And it was pretty tasty! The okra was crunchy...with a bit of sliminess at the same time. The tastes went well together. And the next day, I ate the leftovers for lunch as a cold pasta salad. Perfectly tasty as well! Love a meal that keeps giving.

Crustless Quiche

I was too lazy to make a crust...so I made one of my regular quiches in a cast iron pan, then put the whole thing in the oven to bake. Lovely.

Kale
Mushrooms
Onion
Cheese
Eggs
Almond Milk (remember it's 3 eggs to 1 cup milk)
Cumin
Paprika
Salt/Pepper



One of the best parts was that I did the whole thing in the same pan from start to finish. A couple less dishes to wash. =)

Zucchini Pasta with Kale & Tomato

I've been seeing posts about a gluten free zucchini pasta...and what makes it gluten free is because you're actually using whole fresh zucchini pieces cut into pasta shaped noodles as opposed to processing zucchini with other ingredients to make noodles. It's a bit labour intensive...I used a mandolin then stacked and sliced the zucchini down to fettuccine sizes. And then I made "pasta sauce" by just sauteeing and simmering the rest of the incredients together. Season to taste.

It's REALLY good. =) Hope you'll enjoy it too!

Zucchini

Pasta sauce:
Garlic
Onion
Basil
Savory
Salt
Soup stock
Kale
Tomatoes
 

Baked Miso Tofu on Salad and Burnt Tomato Soup

I can't remember where I saw a recipe for baked miso tofu, but it sounded interesting. I had both medium firm regular and soft egg tofu. I've been buying organic since I hear soy is a major GMO product now.

Miso sauce:
Miso paste
Soy sauce
Sugar
Grapeseed Oil

Mix this all together and then spoon over the cut tofu in a baking sheet. Bake at 350-385 F until the liquids dry and it starts to brown. Serve over salad with a garlic balsamic vinegar dressing that you can also easily throw together.

Tomato Soup....sadly was a bit of a fail. I was browning the onions and had added cut tomatos to simmer with it, except I didn't include enough liquids in the pot...or maybe the stove was on too high. Anyways....the bottom burnt. I picked out what I could, added veggie stock and then put the immersion blender in until I got the desired consistency. My husband said it tasted good...so I'll go with that. But I'm not aiming for a repeat performance for sure. =)

Tomatoes
Onion
Garlic
Basil
Oregano
Vegetable Stock

Sautéed Kale with Onions

I found this Italian kale at the grocery and thought I'd give it a try. The leaves are softer than the regular kale I'd find at Superstore so I wanted to see how it'd taste. Usually we're asked to cut away the stalks of the regular kale and it feels like such a waste but these ones, I could throw everything in to cook. Super simple side for anything.

Kale
Onion
Cumin
Paprika (this Cumin paprika mix is totally one of my favorites as you can probably tell)
S&P

Covered it for a bit and then sautéed until the moisture was gone.

Bean Patties

Yup still going strong on the vegetarian kick. I still really love a good marbled piece of rib eye steak, med rare with a nice sear...but a much smaller piece now. Less is more! Anyways, as summer is swinging in, visions of bbq's and grills and burgers and wings start to float in. I realize the picture is of patties in a frying pan, but that's really only because we hadn't filled up our propane tank for the bbq yet.

So, patties...I've tried veggie burgers and I really don't like the ones that imitate beef patties. If I wanted beef patties, I'll eat beef patties. In this case, I wanted to try making bean patties....see if it can taste good. And also because that huge tub of nine-bean mix I bought at Costco isn't being used up fast enough.



I kinda followed this recipe for a Black Bean Veggie burger. I used a nine bean mix instead of just black beans. Sriracha instead of chili powder. Added paprika to the mix. And used flour instead of bread crumbs...because I didn't have any and didn't want to waste my bread to make some.

Everything was mashed/mixed by hand because we don't have a food processor. And maybe it could'e used more flour (or bread crumbs) because it wasn't holding together very well. The cooked result was quite crumbly too so it's a good thing I didn't put it on the grill. BUT, it was very tasty indeed. Yay!