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.