dinner

Boazi

1 Comment

When mom came to stay with is for a while she made all SORTs of yumm foods. Before she left she made a boat load of Boazi and froze them for us. This is inspired by hers but also combines Diane’s Won Ton flavors. They turned out fantastic and Jacob loves them.

Boazi Filling

1 Kilo Ground Pork
1/2 Kilo Shrimp (cleaned and ground)
3 Tbsp Corn Starch
3 Tsp Five Spice
2-3 Green Onions
1/2 Bunch Cilantro
1 Cup Chinese Dried Mushrooms (hydrated and chopped)
1 Medium Piece Ginger Root
2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Cups Finely Chopped Cabbage (Nappa)

Put dried mushrooms in a bowl and fill with hot water. Place another bowl on top to hold them down into the water to hydrate and set aside.

Clean and grind shrimp and pork. Chop cabbage into very fine pieces. Chop very fine or put green onions, cilantro, mushrooms, and ginger into food processor.

Mix everything together.

wpid-wp-1422630666614.jpeg

Boazi Dough

3 Cups Flour
3 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
2 Tbsp White Sugar
2 Tsp Salt
1-1 1/2 Cups Warm Water

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Slowly add warm water a little at a time. Thoroughly mix before adding more. Kneed dough until thoroughly mixed. It should be slightly dry and not sticky. Place in a covered bowl somewhere high to ferment for at least an hour.

wpid-wp-1422630700789.jpeg

Once doubled in size punch out the air and work into a roll. Let rest then cut into pieces. Roll the pieces into slightly thick skins and fill.

wpid-wp-1422630717143.jpeg

Steam or pan fry.

wpid-wp-1422630730475.jpeg

Scalloped Potatoes

Leave a comment

Potatoes
2 Cups Milk
1-2 Onions
Garlic
1/4 Cup Butter
1/4 Cup Flour
Pepper & Herbs
Ham or Bacon
Cheese

Melt butter in sauce pan, lightly saute garlic, then add flour and spices. Gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Slice potatoes and layer into baking pan. Slice onions then make a new layer. Chop ham/bacon and add to same layer. Add another layer of potatoes then pour over sauce. Top with bread crumbs and cheese. Bake at covered at 180° C for an hour. Uncover then bake for 30 minutes until golden.

wpid-wp-1422299411678.jpeg

Lasagna

Leave a comment

Lasagna Noodles
Pasta Sauce
Mozzarella
Provolone
Ricotta
Emek
Parmesan

Cook noodles leaving them slightly firm so they can absorb extra liquid from the sauce. Then layer sauce, noodles, cheese, and repeat.

wpid-wp-1420657381548.jpeg

Layering should always have sauce on at least one side (top or bottom) of a noodle layer. I do sauce, noodle, sauce, Emek, sauce, noodle, Mozzarella, sauce, noodle, sauce, Ricotta, noodle, sauce, Provolone & Parmesan.

wpid-wp-1420657397667.jpeg

Italian Sausage

Leave a comment

Ground Pork
Ground Beef
Garlic
Onion
Fennel Seed
Oregano
Basil
Parsley
Paprika
Thyme
Black Pepper
Chili Flakes
Brown Sugar
Salt

There are no measurements because all this is really to taste and depends on what you want your final result to be. For sweet, use more basil, sugar, onion, and parsley, and less garlic and peppers. For spicy do the reverse. The key for that nice “Italian Sausage” flavor though is the fennel seed. Use some whole and more that has been loosely broken up with a knife.

Blend it all up thoroughly then let sit in the refrigerator overnight to allow the flavors to settle.

wpid-wp-1420631057420.jpeg

Bulgogi

Leave a comment

Beef (thinly sliced)
Onion (sliced into strips)
Green Onion (Cut into 2″ pieces)
Soy Sauce
Sugar
Sesame Oil
Garlic Minced
Ginger Minced
Black Pepper

Mushrooms (sliced)

wpid-wp-1419785959210.jpeg

Once mixed, cover and put in fridge. I sealed mine in a ziploc bag with as little air as possible then put in the fridge over night. Grill it or cook in a very hot pan until just done.
wpid-wp-1419785969120.jpeg

Baked Corn Dogs

Leave a comment

Homemade baked corn dogs! Yum! These take a while but the results are fantastic.

1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Cups Corn Flour
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt
6 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Mustard (optional)
3/4 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Honey
12 Hotdogs
Cheese (optional)
6 Kebab Skewers halfed

Whisk together dry goods. Cut butter and mustard into dry goods with fork until its fine and crumbly like pastry dough. Fork in honey again until crumbly. Thoroughly stir in milk and let stand for a few minutes to absorb.

Roll out dough on lightly floured baking paper to about 1/2 cm thick. With a knife, divide into twelve even rectangles slightly longer than a hotdog and about 3 times wider.

corndog_roll

Wrap and form dough rectangle around hotdog. Skewer with half a kebab stick. Optionally add cheese inside before wrapping over hotdog. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes @200C

corndog_prebake

The finished corndogs!

corndog_baked

On the plate ready to eat! Yum!

corndog_ready

Pho Broth Recipe

Leave a comment

Awesome Beef Tail Pho Broth Recipe

2 Beef Tails
10 Liters of Water
3 Medium Onions (quartered)
5 Inch Piece of Ginger (halved)
3 Cinnamon Sticks
1 1/2 Tablespoons Coriander Seeds
1 1/2 Tablespoons Fennel Seeds
9 Star Anise Pieces
9 Whole Cloves
1/3 Cup Fish Sauce
3 Tablespoons Sugar

Add bones to pot and fill with cold water. Bring to boil keep boiling for 5 minutes. Drain dirty water and bones. Rinse bones in warm water. Thoroughly clean pot.

Add clean bones and cold water to clean pot. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer.

Quarter onions, halve the ginger, then broil (turning occasionally) until charred/browned on all sides. Add to simmering pot.

Toast spices by adding them to dry frying pan and cooking on low heat until fragrant. Add to simmering pot.

Add fish sauce and sugar. Simmer all day or overnight.

Pro tip: wrap everything except bones in a tied cheese cloth before putting in pot to make it easier to filter.

Refried Beans

Leave a comment

Homemade Refried Beans
To make refried beans that are a bit easier on the intestinal tract (less gassy), soak beans in baking soda water overnight. The baking soda gleans out the raffinose sugars that tend to make you a bit gassy after eating ;)

3 Cups Pinto Beans – Presoaked
9 Cups of water
1-3 Chopped Peppers
3 Onions – Chopped
3-6 Cloves Garlic – Chopped
1 TBs Cumin
1-2 TBs Salt

Combine beans and other ingredients into slow cooker. Cook on high for 8 hours. Drain but save water. Mash beans adding saved water to desired consistency. Contrary to the name, they don’t need to be fried. Serve as is or fry as follows..

Heat 2 tablespoons oil with some freshly chopped chilis. The idea here is to get the flavor of the chilis into the oil, then fry the beans in the flavored oil.

Spicy Refried Beans

Spicy Refried Beans

Hot and Sour Soup (with Hand-cut Noodles)

Leave a comment

What happens when your gas runs out for your gas stove? One answer is that you could find out how to use your rice cooker in more efficient and variety-filled ways than you ever have before. Our version of this, was to make Chinese hot and sour soup. The soup can be optionally served with hand-cut noodles, which I’ll also describe how to make below.

Ingredients:
10 cups water
about 1/2 kilo of ground beef, pork or chicken
large bowl of cold water
3/4 cup dried Shiitake mushrooms
1 and 1/2 cups lettuce or Nappa cabbage, chopped into slivers
3/4 cup dried orange flower (optional)
1/2 cup dried Chinese wood ear mushroom (optional)
4 slices ginger
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
red pepper flakes or rooster sauce
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons corn starch, mixed in a little cold water
2 eggs, beaten
a bit of green onion (optional)
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
salt to taste
1 cup carrots, cut into slivers (optional)
1 cup bean sprouts (optional)
3/4 cup bamboo (optional)
3/4 cup baby corn (optional)
1/2 block of tofu (optional)

Soak the Shiitake, the orange flowers, and the wood ear mushrooms in the bowl of cold water. Let sit for half an hour.

Chop up the lettuce, ginger, garlic, and any other vegetables.

Bring the 10 cups of water to a boil in the rice cooker. Stir in the ground beef. After stirring briskly for several minutes, the meat should break apart into pieces.

Pour in the soy sauce, sesame oil, and vinegar. Mix in the sugar.

Chop up the wood ear mushrooms into large pieces, and cut the Shittake into slivers.

Mix all of the vegetables into the pot. Let cook for about 10-15 minutes.

Pour in the beaten eggs, stirring the pot while pouring. Then mix in the red pepper flakes and white pepper. Add salt to taste.

Serve the soup on top of hand-cut noodles. Sprinkle a bit of chopped green onion on top.

Hand-cut Noodles
(if you only have one rice cooker, pour your prepared hot and sour soup into another pot, and wash out the rice cooker pot in order to cook the noodles)

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup water

Stir and knead the flour and water together until a dough is formed that’s not too firm and not too soggy. Add extra flour or water as needed.

Knead the dough for another 2-3 minutes. Then split the dough into halves.

Roll out a half into a large, flat piece. Sprinkle flour over it generously.

Fold the flat piece into thirds. Then cut up the piece into slivers. Unfold each sliver. The result should be long noodles.

Boil a pot of water. Throw the noodles into the pot while boiling. Do not overfill the pot with noodles.

Stir slightly while the noodles are cooking, so they don’t stick to each other or to the pot.

After 10 minutes of cooking, take the noodles out of the pot. Serve immediately. For more noodles, use the other half of the dough, or save the other half for leftovers.

hot-n-sour-soup