seafood paella

Shrimps, Clams, Muscles, Long Grain Rice, Bell Peppers, Onions, Sausages, and Homemade Fish Broth. And Homemade Sangria (not pictured).

I may have forgotten some ingredients but I think this list summed it up.  On Saturday, Matt and I went to the city in the morning on a mission to buy sea foods for our Paella.  Matt wanted the sea foods to be fresh so we got them a couple of hours before cooking them.  By the time we came back home, it was already 1:30 pm.  Our family were coming around 5 pm for dinner so we were on a mission to prep and cook.  Matt did all the work.  He made the Fish Broth - that was the first thing he did when we got home. Afterwards, I was chopping up the bell peppers and washing the sea foods so it will be ready when he needs it. 

Matt sauteed the onions, bell peppers, 3 cups of rice, fish broths, sausage and slowly put the sea foods in except for shrimps.  He layered the shrimp on top of the rice when all clams and muscles went into the paella pan. We let everything cook in low heat for an hour while gentle stirring it so the rice doesn't burn.  When all the liquid evaporated, the paella is ready to be served!  It was so good and very filling.  A little bit goes a long way!

lamb shank dinner

Lamb Shank, Salad, Corn and Rice.

Last Friday, Matt made dinner while I was on my way home.  I was stuck in traffic for quiet some time and didn't get home until 7:30 pm.  That made him a bit worried since I left the city a little before 6 pm.  I pulled up the driveway and headed home.  As I was walking, I can smell the food cooking in the kitchen!

sweet & sour noodle soup

Rice Noodle.  Bean sprouts. Cilantro.  Tofu.  Portobello Mushroom.  Chili Sauce.  Soy Sauce. Lime and Lemon.  Sugar.  Lemon Grass.  Pineapples.

On Thursday evening, Matt decided to craft up a bowl of noodle soup.  The interesting part was, he didn't know where to start and purchased ingredients without a solid recipe in mind.  It was a bit of a challenge but he done a great job.  The broth developed into a Sweet & Sour flavor and tasted really good despite the fact Matt didn't have a recipe nor did he ever made noodle soup before.  Next time, we will buy a fish head and stick it in the broth to bring out the flavor.   And, we will buy some bowls too!  Got to have the proper bowl for noodle soups!

set it and forget it -- duck style

6.5 lbs Grass Fed Duck.  Basting Sauce Includes: chili sauce, sweet and sour, a touch of soy sauce, and apricot jam.  Let the sauce simmer before glazing the duck every 15 minutes for 2 hours.

I craved for duck on Saturday and really wanted some.  We weren't sure if we will be able to cook the duck on time since we had to be at a beer brewery by 5 pm.   Not sure why but I mentioned to Matt that we haven't had duck in a while.  Well, come to think of it the last time we had duck was in December.  Anyhow, before we began to clean out the extra bedroom, we made a trip 10 minutes down the road that sells meat.  They had one last duck left and we purchased.  The duck was 6.5 lbs -- he/she was a meaty duck alright.  This duck was about double the size of the last one we purchased and the price was about the same.  It was frozen when we purchase it so when we brought it home the first thing we did was to soak it in water.  I think we let the duck defrost for about 1.5 hours.  Not bad considering the duck was ice frozen.  Afterwards, we rub it with salt and used water to wash it out -- a cleaning process.  The duck was pretty big and we weren't sure if it was going to fit the "set it and forget it" oven.  But, Matt worked his magic and made the duck fit.  Good thing too! 

We place the duck in the "set it and forget it" oven around 1:20 pm and turned it off around 3:30 pm. We brushed the sauce on this meaty duck every 15 minutes and turned on and off the oven every 20 minutes so the duck won't be overcooked.  Matt told his parents we'll have duck for them and they came over at a perfect time because the duck was just ready.  We gave them 1/3 of the duck.  Matt cut it up so fast that I forgot to take picture of it.  Besides the fact we were both hungry too!

     

chili hot dog

Chili Hot Dog Topped with Cheddar Cheese.

Steamed Artichokes.

Avocado Salad with Parmesan Cheese.  Salad Dressing: Balsamic Oil Olive, Lemon, Salt and Pepper.

A simple Sunday dinner.  Matt had cravings for chili hot dogs and that is exactly what we had!  I requested for salad on the side so the food can balance out a bit.

valentines dinner

Medium Rare Rack of Lamb Marinated Olive oil, Rosemary, Garlic, Salt and Pepper.

Mash Potatoes with Stir Fried String Beans. 

An early valentines day dinner cooked by Matt. Dinner tasted delicious as always!  

...Happy Valentines Day Everyone...

lunars hors d'oeuvre (part two)

Our goal was to make 48 Lunars which is the amount required for the foodie contest.  At the end, we made over 50 of these lunars for the guests.  We went back and forth on how to present the lunars.  Matt wanted them in little glass plates and I (the cheap one) wanted to be more practical steered him away from it.  Have to say, it took a lot of "let's think about it" and "we'll see" in order to delay his urge in buying the plates.  Doesn't make sense to pay $50 worth of little plate and not know what to do with it at the end.  We placed the lunars in bamboo steamers!  This was Matt's idea and I loved it.  Perfect way to steam the lunars and serve them at the same time!  Anyhow, prepping and assembling the hors d'oeuvre took a long time.  In fact, it took up majority of the time.  Both Matt and I didn't have a break since 9 am until 10 pm -- that was when we sat down for the very first time and relaxed how exhausted we were.  Transporting them in the car was the fun part.  Everything was fine but I think I swing one of the bag and the lunars were a bit shifted to a side.  I gently moved them back in place once we got there.

      And... we won 3rd place people choice award!  Although we didn't get any prizes, hearing the compliments about our lunar made us very proud and happy!  Matt already have a dish in mind for 2012 holiday foodie contest!  And I think I'll make deserts.. I already have something in mind too!



lunars hor d'oeuvres (part one)

:: Pork Belly ::

Purchased the meat at Buds Meat. 

Brine for 12 hours. Slow roasted the 5lbs pork belly in the oven at 250 degrees for 3 hours and at 275 degrees at 1 hour. 
Olive oil.  Salt.  Pepper. Balsamic vinegar.

:: Dough ::

Flours. Salt. Sugar. Milk Powder. Yeast. Water. 

Let the dough raised over night at room temperature.  

:: Cookie Cutter ::

Our secret for perfectly rounded buns. 

:: Buns Assembly Line ::

Baking sheet light oil. Plastic wrap to retain moister so dough won't dry out.

 :: Sake Infused Green Onion ::

Finely cut green onions soaked in Sake for an hour.

:: Cilantro ::

Picking the prefect leaf. 

:: Mangoes ::

Half a dozen of mangoes cut into little squares.  Some were sweet and others were not that great. 

:: Cubes of Mangoes ::

Labor of love.  This was our contestants for the holiday foodie contest party that took place on Saturday night.  The guests had a choice of either making hor d'oeuvres (total of 48) or desserts (total of 24).  Creative is endless and Matt and I had a ton of fun doing this.  Although were we sick of eating pork belly during our first trial...

   There were a lot of prepping to do and it took up about 80% of the time.  Matt brine the pork belly overnight and we made the dough.. actually, he finished making the dough because I gave up on it.  The flour shifter didn't shift the flour well so the dough wasn't coming out as smooth as the first trial.  My virgoness kick in and I wanted to start over the next day which is the day of the holiday party.  Matt was determine and assured me that it was a good dough.  And he was right!  The next morning, he placed the pork belly in the oven for 4 hours, slowly roasting it. I started rolling out the dough, very thinly and used a cookie cutter to cut the dough out.  That way, the hor d'oeuvres will have the same shape with even consistency.  While chopping up the green onions, Matt had a great idea of soaking it with Sake.  It gave the green onions a little punch and tasted yummy, too! We purchased a bunch of cilantro and started going through it for the right leaf - not to small or overly big.  The mangoes was a lot of work.  Took me about 30 minutes to cut it up.  We purchased 6 mangoes but really only need about 2.


...To be continued...
:: Part Two - Assembling the Lunars and how we got the name ::