Too-Lean Dumplings

Lean meat is healthier, so they say, but it is not always good. I like my dumpling filling simple, just a little ginger, sugar, soy sauce and sesame oil to season. My favourite vegetable though is Chinese chive. Here I bought some very lean ground pork and the result is quite a dry dumpling.







Using store bought wrappers, the result looked fairly good.












Looked good boiled too but when I bit into it, it was rather woody. Next time I will either buy fattier meat, or add cornstarch and/or (more) water.

Back to Winter in Vancouver

Just got back to town, picked up my car from the repair shop, and I needed something nice. The good thing about winter in Vancouver is this ugly thing--sea urchin! It is not difficult to open up this spiny shell but getting and cleaning the good bits is a rather noxious process.







The result though is quite sublime. Here is the good bits with some of their oceanic friends.

East Asian Salmon Mushroom Soup

Speak of bones, I have a lot of bone, along with the giant head, from the giant salmon left. A stock is made, of course, with just the bones and head and water. I like to use this rich stock to make a hot miso soup. White miso, gochijang, wakame and tofu are usually what I put into it. Here I added some chanterelle to it too. Rich and comforting and health, do you see the omega-3 floating on the surface?

Crispy Skin

When a piece of gravlax is finished, you have a piece of skin left. There is nothing tastier than putting it under the broiler for a few minutes to crisp it up and eating it. The fattier the fish, the better it is. Now that markets sell the bones and collards of salmon, I wonder if they will sell the skin they cut from the fillets...

Good Morning Fish

When I was living in Southern New England and the Tri-State Area and staying with Jewish friends, I had a lot of cured and smoked fish for breakfast. I am still salivating from memories of those great smoked white fish that they had and I haven't been able to find any good ones else where. This is my version of fish in the morning. Slices of cured Chinook over some eggs and lightly toasted homemade baguettes. Pretty to look at too.

Gravlax

Here is a look at the gravlax I made from the big fish. It is amazing how rich and fine the meat is on this fish. Chinooks are often too soft but this one is just right. Now I think giant Chinook is the best eating salmon over the lean sockeye and the soft coho.

Homemade Smoker

When you have a 25-pounder salmon, you can't really eat it all at once, unless you have 20 kids. Preserving it is therefore necessary. Here I smoked part of it in cherry after brining in sugar, salt, crush peppercorn and dark maple syrup.

The smoker is my spare large stock pot with aluminium foil lining the bottom and racks hold a pan of water and a perforated dish for the fish. At low setting on the stove top, I kept the temperature at minimal for the chips to smoke. For about five hours, it was between 140℉ and 160℉. The inspiration is from smokers they sell in store that burns coal. I see that it is but a heat source that make smoke out of wood chip and then a pan of water and a rack. I change the hear source to the stove and I can do it indoor under the rangehood. The result is very good, the fish takes in sweet sweet smoke flavour without any hint of burnt. The house smell slightly of smoke, more like a little incense. All hail the powerful Cypress Hi-Jet!

Steak and Cukes

In old cookbooks cooked cucumber recipes are very popular. These days though you usually only find cucumber in the raw forms. I do like cooked cucumber very much, particularly at this time of the year when overgrown cucumbers are common in the garden. I simply sauté it in a little oil and salt. Rather enjoyed it with a piece of fillet mignon.

Scandinavian Sushi

After two days, the gravlax from the big fish is ready. Because I have too much fish and not enough dill, I make it with more black pepper and less dill. The process is simple, equally amount of salt and sugar are mixed together with plenty of cracked pepper and the fillet of fish is covered with plenty of the mixture. I put some thin slices of lemon on it and then chopped dill. Wrap tightly in plastic onto which some holes are poked. Put some weight on and then refrigerate for a couple of days. Et voilà, gravlax. One fun way to eat it is to make maki with it.

Mushroom Season

Besides great wild salmons, the other great wild product this time of the year here is mushrooms. For the last couple of years, it was rainy at this time of the year and the wild mushrooms were very wet and wormy. This year however was great. The ground is moist but the sky is clear so the mushrooms are very very good and plentiful. I picked up some pine and some chanterelles from Louis of Wild Products. I made rice with the pine for the salmon dinner; unfortunately my camera was out of battery to take pictures. Here I make this risotto with the chanterelles, onion, chicken stock, Parmigiano Reggiano, butter and rice. At the last moment, I added some crumbled roasted salmon from the other night. So very BC in the fall...

Giant Chinook Salmon

I went down to the Fisherman's Wharf by Granville Island three time in the last five days and finally got a good fish from Steve Johansen of Ocean Organic. I was luck, maybe as a reward of my persistence, because this is the smallest and last of his whole fresh fish, caught the day before. Normally a 25lber is quite large but Steve said he caught only 20+ fishes in this opening but the largest is 40+lbs. Too bad I didn't get to see that monster. I asked who got it and he told me it was Raincity Grill who ordered 100-lbs of salmon and he delivered just three fishes. That is pretty impressive.



To give a better scale, here is the head of the fish again my 9-inch Trident chef's knife. Makes it look like a paring, doesn't it? I simply pan seared and then roasted a 1.5lb fillet and the collar and the belly tips to serve to my aunt, my visiting cousin, her husband, and three of their friends. The meat is so moist, so sweet and so tasty that this simple preparation is just right. Now I still have a good 17 or so pounds of fillets, I will make some gravlax, some hot smoked, and some poached for the freezer. Should last me a bit of this winter.

Easily Roasted Chicken Pieces

I salt-and-peppered these chicken thighs before browning them in a pan. Some garlic, rosemary and sage were thrown into the pan and the pan were thrown into a 400℉ over for 15 minutes. The time in the over is just right for cooking vegetables and in no time a complete meal is done. Crispy skins.

Roof of the World Chili

This is what the Bhutan Chili looks like when fully ripe. Not as dramatic as the purple and green look earlier but still very pretty and bright. It would be nice if it tasted stronger, but then it is plenty nice enough already.

Leftover Pork

Thin slices of leftover roast pork are warmed by the heat of the rice. A couple kind of kimchee round up the meal.

Slow Raosted Pork

For a cut as lean as this pork loin, it is best to go slow roast. Here, I salt-and-peppered the pork and then browned it in a pan first. It was then rolled in a mixture of garlic, thyme, sage and rosemary before going into a 200℉ oven for a few hours until it reached 160℉ inside. The result is a superbly moist and tender piece of pork with the herbs and seasoning fully incorporated into the meat.

Garlic Chops

Here are a couple of pork loin chops that I simply salt-and-peppered and seared in a hot pan. When it was about ¾ done, silvers of garlic were added. When the garlic turned golden, it was done. With the big yellow beans from the garden, no need for extra starch.

Garden Bounty

These yellow beans grow thick but remain very tender and taste richer too. Much better eating than the already nice wax beans.

Local Oysters

I know the calendar say it is still summer, but I certainly feels like winter here. I couldn't resist the temptation to buy some oyster from Lobster Man on Granville Island. They are still a little to fat but they are still good and very tasty. If the weather says winter, eat winter then...

Poached Salmon

I had half of a sockeye salmon left from a barbecue. I poached it in lemon, dill, peppercorn and salt that night and then froze the pieces covered in the liquid. I warmed one piece of it slowly and the result is very good, as if it were poached today. A good way to preserve salmon.

Garden Fresh

Picked this almost perfect radish from the garden today. Tasted as good as it looked.

Roast duck breast

I have a duck but I am eating by myself, so I divided it. Here the breast is first blanched in hot water for a couple of minutes to tighten the skin before eing seasoned with salt, pepper, thyme, garlic, ginger and sugar. After resting for a couple of hours and the skin thoroughly dried, I roasted it in a 400℉ oven until the internal temperature reached 165. To finish I browned it in a hot pan before serving.







The back of the duck was roasted and then made into a stock with some carrot, onion and celery. The stock is reduced with fresh thyme and a couple drops of sherry vinegar are added to make the sauce. Turned out quite well.

Breakfast

Sometimes I wonder why I eat breakfast out. A ham omelette with home fried potato takes just 15 minutes...

Crab Fried Rice

I had a steamed crab in the fridge but didn't want to just peel and eat it. I took the meat out and made a fried rice. Drop a couple of beaten eggs into a oiled hot wok, when it is half set, cooled cooked rice is crumbled on top, toss and break up the rice, when it is all heated throught, the crab meat is added, when the crab is heated, season with a little soy sauce, sprinkle on some chopped scallion and bean sprouts, and there it is.

Quick cook spicy pork

I have a small piece of pork butt so I marinated it with ground cumin, Indian chili pepper, sugar, black pepper, salt, corn starch, fresh oregano and thyme. I sautéed it with a little oil and served it with rice. Quick good food.

Himalayan Chili

The chili seeds my friend brought me from Bhutan has beared fruit. It is a bit of a surprise considering the weather we are having this year (the habaneros have hardly grown at all). This is an unusual looking pepper too, purple and green, very cool. It is mildly hot with fresh flavour. Good eating raw.

Chicken Salad

It is sometimes a blessing to have leftovers. I was hungry and didn't feel like cooking. A couple spicy roast chicken thighs, a tomato and a handful of lettuces from the garden and a very lovely main course salad is made.

Summer Chocolate Mousse

This is a very light version of chocolate mousse. The mousse is made almost entirely of egg white, a quarter cup of so of whipped cream is used to thin out the very fine 70% chocolate from Thomas Haas. Fold the chocolate-cream into the whipped white with a little salt and the mousse is made. Chill overnight in the fridge and you have a very rich yet light mousse. I forgot to put plastic wrap over the surface of the mousse so I have some unsightly condensation. Still taste very good.

Garden Salad

It has been so long but finally I have salad from my own garden. One thing about weeds is that some, dandalion at least, is very good eating. I always leave a couple young dandalion in my garden for salad. Four kinds of lettuces, arugula and baby dandelion makes for a lovely salad.

Colourful Zhajiang Noodles

Zhajiang Mien is typically a winter dish but with increased amount of crunchy vegetables, I think it makes a very good summer dish also. Here I have thin sticks of small cucumber, carrot scallion and pressed garlic. Same zhajiang as before but bright and crisp for the summer.

Alternative Burger

Still have beef left but don't particularly want hamburger two days in a roll so I made some chinese flat bread. All purpose flour, hot water and a little salt are all that go into the dough for the bread. It is rolled into rounds (well, roundish in my case) and toasted for a couple three minutes in an ungreased pan over medium heat. I roll them up with pieces of the burger, vidalia onion, tomato, cucumber, tabasco sauce and tomato ketchup. Seems similar to a burger but the whole experience is very different.

Burger--it is summertime

It is summer and, as if from instinct, I want burger. And, what do you know, lean beef is on sale in the local market. I keep the burger thick and cook it in a pan at medium-high heat with the lid on, flip a couple of times. When it is about 80% done, I spoon a teaspoon of truffle paste on top and then cover it with mozzarella. Put the lid back on and by the time the cheese melts nicely, it is done. Lettuce, tomato, vidalia onion inside a kaiser bun. A little Dijon mustard and tomato ketchup are all I need. So little truffle paste, so much flavour. No better burger anywhere.

Baked Pasta

A bit lazy and doesn't know what I want to eat. I then remember that pasta can be baked without cooking first. I sort of make up this recipe. I mashed up a can of tomato, mixed in some thyme basil and garlic to make the sauce. Dry bucatini (sort of a hollow spaghetti) is layered with the sauce and lightly browned lean ground beef before being topped with slices of mozzarella and grinded Parmigiano Reggiano. To cook the pasta properly, water is added to top it off. Baked for an hour and her we have a very tasty and simple dish.

Italindian

The ingredients are a replete but I thought the curry lentil, white rice and goat vindaloo together look rather like the Italian flag.

Sichuan Beef Noodle Soup

This used to be my standby lunch when I was living alone in graduate school and I almost forgot how good and satisfying it is. Here I used the small beef shank meat for its tenderness after cooking and the plentiful creamy tendons in the meat. Pieces of this meat are first parboiled for a couple three minutes to clear the of the blood. Sugar is caramelized to light brown in some oil before plenty of garlic cloves, ginger and Sichuan peppercorn are added for a moment. Hot Sichuan bean sauce 豆瓣酱 is then added to cook until no more water in the pan. Toast in the beef, coat well then add water to cook until tender. If you add a lot of water you have the soup ready for the noodles, but if you add less water the soup would be very strong so when you use it you have to add more water. Either case, cook some nice wheat noodles, add some pressed garlic, chopped scallion, some vegetable and sesame oil, and a really nice bowl of noodle is made.

Vindaloo

Is Vindaloo a English or an Indian dish? I am not so sure. It is definitely more popular in England than in India. Here I made a goat vindaloo.
The goat is first marinated in toasted and then grind coriander seeds, cumin, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, cloves, dried chillies, cinncmon stick, cardamon seeds, turmeric and salt over night before added to browned onions and sautéed until golden. Tomatoes are then added to cook away the water and then vinegar and water are added to cook until very tender. I was surprised that the sourness of the vinegar melted into the dish and make a very lovely mild acidity to balance the heat. No wonder they love it in England.

Late First Peas

The weather out here in BC is so bad this year that everything is a month late. Usually I get peas early in May, but this year it is mid June. Rather depressing really. The peas I sowed in the vegetable garden didn't even grow, to cold and too wet, I am guessing. I put some in a couple of big flower pots and those survived. Just a hand full for now, sweet but a little sad.

Chickpea Cake

I had some chickpeas left over so I experimented. I mashed them with some cumin, coriander leaves, onion, salt, pepper, egg and flour then pan fried them in small cakes. They are not bad but not exactly great either. Tasted healthier than Falafel, for better and for worse...

Sablefish

Sablefish is a good eating fish but because of it heavy fat content some methods are very much better than others. Here I tried simply searing it just with salt and pepper added with a couple slices of ginger in the pan. When it is almost cooked I put in a couple scallions. The fish tasted fine but not exciting, but the scallions are very very good.

Lamb Chops, Day 2

A spice blend of cumin, coriander, black pepper and garlic is rubbed onto part II of chops and the seared. Because the flavour is simpler so the side is richer--chickpeas cooked with onion, shiitake mushroom, tomato, thyme and oregano. Like this contrast.

Lamb chops, Day 1

Lamb rib chops are probably the quickest meat cut to cook and so easy to eat. Here I divided a rack into two part. These four chops I marinated in fresh thyme, sage, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt and pepper before searing in a hot pan for 1.5 minute a side and ate it with rice cooked with porcini mushroom, peas, onion and chicken stock. Spring!

Cornbread

I don't quite understand why this is call bread--it looks like a cake, it mixes like a cake and it bakes like a cake... It is a savory cake, sure, but a cake still... Well, it is a tasty thing either case.

Pepperoni Pizza

I baked this until crisp and brown, love it.

Pumpkin soup

Sauté a lot of leeks before adding cut up winter squash and potato, cook until soft, puree, sprinkle on some curry powder (or not) and serve with a spoon full or two of sour cream and you have this very hearty and tasty soup.

Hungry, no bread, what to do?

Got up in the morning, wanted some ham and egg, but no bread! Well, making some Chinese flat bread is quick and tasty. The dough is simply flour, hot water and salt. After mixing them together quickly let it rest for a few minutes before rolling into rounds (or in my case, sort-of-rounds). Cook them in an ungreased frying pan. The whole thing takes hardly 20 minutes.

Oxtail Stew

Again, it is oxtail. Same old same old--the tails are salt, pepper and floured before browning, onion, celery and carrot are added, after they are softened red wine, tomato, thyme, bay leaves are locked in with them all in the pressure cooker for an hour. I just love this dish with some pasta.