Lebanese Styled Stuffed Eggplant

When I thought this dish from Smitten Kitchen would definitely be the hit for the dinner gathering I planned the other night, it turned out one of the ladies was allergic to eggplant. And I didn’t know that until she told me at the table before we started eating. I was all “how stupid I am, I should’ve let them see the menu before!”

But thank God who did help me a bit. Since there was too much stuffing for the eggplants I had, and so happened a couple of red peppers just appeared in my refrigerator without telling me, I made some stuffed red peppers as well. Gosh, I was so glad that I made extra peppers or…..I don’t know what “or” would happen.

Honestly, the stuffed red peppers did taste better than the eggplants. One thing was the natural sweetness of peppers, another reason was I did not season the inside of eggplants (which I think is hugely necessary) according to the original recipe, and so the eggplants tasted a little bit plain.

(serves 4 to 6)

Ingredients:

6-8 baby eggplants

1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups chicken stock
5 roma tomatoes, diced
3/4 lb ground chicken, lamb or beef
1 teaspoon thyme or oregano, finely chopped
1/2 lemon
3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

salt and pepper for seasoning

Directions:

Hollow out each eggplant with a melon-ball cutter or a pairing knife, leaving about 1/3 inch eggplant flesh along interior walls.

Rinse rice in a sieve under cold water until water runs clear. Drain well.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, until golden, 6 to 8 mins. Transfer 1/2 cup onion mixture to bowl with pine nuts.

Add stock and tomatoes to the covered skillet and simmer, season with salt and pepper, while stuffing eggplant.

Add rice, meat, herb, salt and pepper to bowl with onion mixture and mix well.

Sprinkle a little salt along the inside walls of eggplants. Stuff eggplant with meat mixture, being careful not to pack tightly (rice will expand during cooking).

Transfer stuffed eggplants to skillet with tomato sauce and simmer, covered, carefully turning once, until rice is cooked through, 50 mins to one hour.

If sauce is watery, transfer eggplants to a plate and boil sauce, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, 3 to 5 mins, then adjust seasoning if necessary. Return stuffed eggplants to sauce. Squeeze lemon over dish and sprinkle with parsley before serving.

Tomato Risotto

One thing about Facebook is you would have someone you could barely remember by looking at his/her name wishing you “happy birthday” on your birthday. That made me realize one cruel truth – without Facebook, your barely remembered friends wouldn’t care less about your birthday! It just takes too much for them to send you a greeting through other ways, like email or phone. Don’t mention a party! Over Facebook, you are reminded of all your friends’ personal events. What you have to do is just type and send a greeting message. No strings attached!

And how ironic it is, when I’ve been trying to forget my birthday, I am actually being reminded by some really not close friends.

Except being away from my really close friends (which sucks!), my birthday was actually pretty much what I’ve been asking for – a very first one with my lovely son, Ethan!

This risotto was not part of the birthday dinner. This is actually Ethan’s daily meal. Yes, who said baby can’t eat gourmet food!

(serves 4)
Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 small onion, minced

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 1/4 cup Arborio rice

1 cup white wine (replace with 1 cup chicken broth for Ethan)

5 medium sized tomato, chopped (peeled for Ethan)

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, warmed

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions:

Heat oil and butter in a skillet on high heat, cook for 1 minute.

Add onion and garlic. Cook for 2 mins. Add rice and stir to coat. Cook for another 2 mins, or until a white dot is visible in the center of each grain.

Stir in wine and cook for 1 min or until almost absorbed, stirring constantly.

Add chopped tomato and 1/2 cup chicken broth and cook until the liquid is absorbed.

Add 1/2 cup broth at a time, cooking until the broth is absorbed before adding more. Stir constantly.

When all chicken broth has been added, rice should be tender but still firm when done. The total cooking time should be about 30 mins. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat, stir in Parmersan cheese. Top each serving with chopped fresh basil.

Basmati Rice Salad

It was record-breaking hot last week here in Vancouver – 37 °C in the afternoon in late May. It just reminded me of the weather in Florida. Everything is so dry. My whole skin, everything was dried out.

Even my appetite was dried out too. Both me and my husband were just too hot to eat! Gotta made something summery to stimulate appetite.

(serves 4)
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup basmati rice
2 cups water
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 cup cooked and chopped sausage (any type)

1 cup chopped broccoli florets
2 cup mushroom, sliced
2 tbsp dried cranberries
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice from 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to season

Directions:
Combine rice and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Boil 5 mins or until water level falls just below rice. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 10 mins. Remove from heat, let stand, covered, 10 mins.

In a fry pan, stir fry the broccoli with olive oil for 5 mins. Set aside.

Put in mushroom, stir fry with olive oil for 3 mins. Set aside.

Make dressing by mixing extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon rice into a big salad bowl. Stir in tomatoes, sausages, dried cranberries, broccoli, mushroom and herbs. Pour in dressing. Toss well to combine. Serve at room temperature.

Chicken Paella

I was advised not to eat seafood when I was pregnant and breastfeeding because baby would be allergic to it. I still don’t figure out the reason. Isn’t it supposed to be that the more you eat that food, the easier your baby gets used to it?

Anyway, I wasn’t dare to take risk. Afterall I don’t want my child to miss any chance to taste one of the best food in the world when he grows up. So, I stopped having seafood for more than one freaking year! Not only myself, but my husband also had to cut it down since I’m the chef in the house who controls our daily menu. But, just because you have to sacrifice one of the best food, it doesn’t mean you can’t have another delicious alternative. So, instead of having seafood paella, I made chicken paella.

(serves 6 persons)

Ingredients:

8 chicken thighs
1 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp ground coriander
6 garlic cloves, minced
1-3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 roma tomatoes, diced
1 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth 2 cup balsmati rice 2 carrots, diced 3 tbsp finely chopped parsley Salt and pepper

Directions:
Mix cumin, coriander, garlic, salt and pepper together. Rub the seasoning on the chicken pieces.

Heat oil on medium high heat in large sautee pan. Add the chicken (skin side down) and cooking until browned on each side. Set aside.

Add onion and tomatoes, and cook for 10 mins. Stirring occasionally.

Add wine, cook for about 20 mins over medium heat until the liquid is reduced by half.

Add broth, rice and carrots. Mix well.

Put in chicken thighs. Cook until the juice bubbles. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 15 mins or until the rice is tender but still slightly firm.

Stir in parsley and serve.

Moroccan Duck with Couscous (Served with Mint Yogurt Dressing)

This recipe is an adaptation of Tyler’s Ultimate’s Brick Chicken with Apricot Couscous. Since I only had a whole duck at home the other day, and I’ve roasted duck for many times, I was confident that this dish would turn out good. And the result? My husband and me enjoyed it a lot!!!

I didn’t use brick nor cast iron skillet as I don’t have any. The trick for having really crisp skin is to really flatten your bird. How? I’d suggest you to have your butcher to split the bird and remove the bone for you. (I did it myself though, and it took me 45 mins @_@ ) Then you will have a really big bird “carpet” that you can easily slide and flatten onto you pan.

(serves 4)
Ingredients:
For Moroccan Duck:
2 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp ground coriander
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1 whole duck (Bone removed and flattened, gently prick the skin all over using a fork to help render the fat when cooking)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For Couscous:
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, diced
1/4 cup pinenut, lightly toasted
1 cup couscous
1 1/2 cup chicken broth, warm
1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 green onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint leave, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

For Mint Yogurt Dressing:
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
1/2 bunch fresh mint leave, chopped
2 green onion, chopped
2 tbsp honey
1 lemon, juiced
1/3 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Mix all duck ingredients (except the whole duck and extra virgin olive oil) to make a paste. Rub the blended spice all over the duck. Marinate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Heat a large heavy oven-proof pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add extra virgin olive oil, and place the duck skin side down in the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 10-15 mins until duck is golden brown and has a nice crust. Pull away half of the fat from the pan. Finish cooking in the oven for another 30-mins.

When duck is cooking, prepare mint yogurt dressing. Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender. Blend until mixture is fully incorporated and has a smooth consistency.

Around 5 mins before the duck is done, prepare couscous.

In a saucepan, sautee red onion gently in olive oil over low heat until slightly fragrant.

Mix red onion with couscous. Add in warm chicken broth. Stir with a fork to combine. Add lemon zest and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for 10 mins, then uncover and add pinenut, green onion, mint and parsley. Fluff again with a fork. Season to taste.

Bibimbap

This is a popular Korean dish, also one of my favorites (my another all time favorite is kimchi). Basically bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with sauteed and seasoned vegetables, beef, fried egg, sesame oil and gochujang (Korean hot sauce). All the ingredients are stirred together thoroughly before eating.

Usually it’s served in a very hot stone pot of which the bottom is coated with sesame oil, making the layer of the rice touching the bowl golden brown and crispy.

My last trip to NY, we were introduced to a very good Korean restaurant where their bibimbap was really tasty. And it inspired me to try to make my own at home. Thanks to Jung, my Korean colleague who also loves to cook, who shared his most authentic recipe which I used as a reference to invent my own simpler version.

(serves 4)
Ingredients:
For Rice:
3 cup of rice
3 1/2 cup water

For Vegetable:
1 cup carrot, thinly sliced and cooked, keep warm
1 cup cooked bean sprouts, keep warm
1 cup cooked spinach, keep warm
1 cup shitake mushrooms, keep warm

For Beef:
1/2 pound beef flank, cut into thin strips
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
1 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp vegetable oil

Others:
1 egg, cooked over easy
2 tbsp sesame oil
Gochujang

Directions:
Rinse rice. Put rice and water in a stone pot. Bring to a boil, turn to low heat, cook covered for 20 mins.

To easily slice the beef, place beef flank in freezer for about 30 mins. When partially frozen, remove from freezer and thinly slice. Set aside.

Whisk together all the beef ingredients (except beef and vegetable oil). Add the sliced beef and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Heat skillet with 1 tbsp vegetable oil over medium-high heat, add beef and saute for around 4 mins or until done. Keep warm.

To assemble, place beef with juice from cooking and vegetables on top of rice separately. Put egg on top. Sprinkle with sesame oil.

When ready to eat, mix all ingredients in the bowl. The bibimbap should be moist and not dry. Add gochujang to taste.

Tandoori Chicken with Coconut Rice

Lately, just too busy to cook, too busy to make something nice, sometimes even too busy to eat. But unbreathable schedule does make us deserve a better meal, so I’ve decided to prepare this dish. This dish does sound complicated, but after you make it, you know how simple it is to go for something orientally special.

(serves 2-3)
Ingredients:
For Tandoori Chicken:
6 chicken drumsticks
3 tbsp tandoori powder
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/4 cup yogurt
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil

For Coconut Rice:
2 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallot, chopped
1 cup jasmine rice
1 can coconut milk

Directions:
Prick the chicken legs at several places with a fork.

Rub the tandoori paste and the minced garlic on the chicken and allow the chicken to marinate, covered in a bowl, in the fridge for an hour.

Stir the remaining ingredients into the yogurt. Add yogurt mixture to the chicken and mix well. Push the marinade into the gashes. Let the chicken marinate, covered in the fridge for overnight.

Grill for about 20-25 minutes or until cooked.

Meanwhile, for coconut rice, heat the oil in a saucepan over high heat,add the garlic and shallots and cook for 3 minutes until starting to crisp.

In a rice cooker, add rice, coconut milk, cooked garlic and shallots.

Cook for around 20 minutes.

Open lid and let the rice sit for 5 minutes.

Serve both chicken and coconut rice with few drops of lemon juice.

Baked Pork Chops with Fried Rice

Fried rice in Asian food is such a rustic food that is basically a combination of leftover rice with leftover anything to form a one-dish meal. And it actually brings out the beauty of fried rice that there are unlimited range of ingredients that can be used to create your own version of fried rice.

The essence of a good dish of fried rice is the rice itself. You might be surprised to learn that the perfect rice for making this is leftover rice. You have to put the freshly cooked rice in the fridge for at least a day. In that way, the rice will turn firm and be easier to separate. If you go for freshly made rice, your dish will probably be pretty mushy. And that’s the reason why I always cook rice for more than we need, and have the leftover lying in the fridge for days.

(serves 4)
Ingredients:
For Pork Chops:
4 pork chops
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper to season
1 cup canola oil

For Sauce:
4 tomatoes, chopped in small pieces
1 onion, chopped in small pieces
1 garlic clove, mashed
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup oyster sauce
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water

For Rice:
8 bowls of leftover rice
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil

Directions:
For Pork Chop:
Season pork chop with salt and pepper.

Dredge the pork chops a piece at a time, first in flour, then in the beaten egg.

Heat 1/2 cup oil for deep frying.

Deep fry the pork chops in medium high heat until slightly golden brown. Set aside.

For Sauce:
In a saucepan, saute the garlic and the onions in oil till transparent without browning.

Add tomatoes. Saute until the tomatoes begin to soften.

Add tomato ketchup, salt, pepper, oyster sauce.

Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Thicken sauce with the cornstarch and water.

For Rice:

Heat oil in wok until smoking.

Add eggs. Then add cooked rice and stir fry over high heat.

Add soy sauce and sesame oil to taste.

To Assemble:
Preheat oven to 375F.

Put the fried rice on a large oven proof dish.

Place the fried pork chops on top of the rice in a single layer.

Pour the sauce evenly over the pork chop.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or till the sauce is slightly brown on top.

Paella

I am not a rice person. I love noodle instead. However, I do love “flavored” rice, fried rice, baked rice, risotto, and paella is one of my favorites.

This traditional Spanish dish carries bright and colorful presentation, thanks to the fresh seafood and meat. Plus it’s actually not as much work as the lengthy ingredient list tells, and really well worth the effort. An easy task to make a big pot for a big party too. I found it also good the next day as well, maybe the seafood juice continues to infuse the dish.

(serves 6 persons)

Ingredients:

1 lb Italian hot sausage, cut into bite size pieces

5 boneless chicken thighs, chunked

1 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 cup white rice

1 can chicken stock

1/2 cup white wine

1 tbsp dried herbs (basil and thyme)

1 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:
In a large pan, brown chicken in oil, remove and add sausage, sautee about 2 minutes.

Remove sausage, keep fat in pan. Sautee shrimp quickly until bright pink, remove and set aside.

Fry the onion and garlic in the same pan, add reserved chicken and sausage, wine, rice and chicken stock. Sprinkle in the herbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and simmer gently about 15 minutes.

Add the shrimps, cook uncovered for 5 minutes.

Add more chicken broth if needed. The rice should be moist but there should be no excess liquid.

Sprinkle parsley on top when it’s ready to serve.