Butternut squash soup

I got a butternut squash from my organic produce box. I had no idea what to do with it until I found this soup recipe. It's so easy and it's great for a lazy lunch.

1 butternut squash, peeled, cubed
1 leek or large onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
dry white wine or vermouth
2 tbls. flour
3 cups soy milk
frozen corn (optional)

Put everything except soymilk in the soup. When veggie has soften, add milk and simmer for 15 minutes or so. Simple simple simple.

Chinese Spareribs

I was in the mood for some ribs and decided to make it the Chinese way. It's very easy to make and it tastes very yummy!

Ingredients
2 lbs Spareribs
1 cup of sherry or dry wine
1/4 cup honey
2 TB chinese rib sauce or fermented soy paste (miso)
2 TB Hoisin sauce
2 tsp chinese five spice

1. Mix everything except the spareribs in a bowl
2. Heat a heavy bottom pot with a little oil, brown the spareribs
3. Pour all the sauce into the pot, bring to a boil.
4. Mix the rib well with the sauce. Simmer for an hour
5. Flip the rib a few times when it's cooking to make sure it is evenly flavored.

That's it!!!

Tomato soup

Ever since summer started, my organic produce box is always packed with fresh tomato. Unfortunately tomato doesn't last very long and I could never seem to finish using them before they start to wrinkle. Today I decided to make a quick search and found a wonderful Tomato Soup recipe. It's very simple but very tasty and satisfying.

Ingredients
1/4 Cup butter
1/2 Onion, sliced
3 gloves of garlic
1 bay leave
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 TB tomato paste
3 big plum and ripe tomato, quartered
2 cups heavy cream or half & half or plain whole milk
salt and pepper
2 slices of bread
Olive oil
1/4 tsp of dried parsley

1. Heat a small pot over medium low heat.
2. Melt butter in pot, then add onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaf for about 5 min.
3. Add tomato paste and tomato, simmer for 30 min
4. In the meantime, cut up the bread to make croutons. Add a bit of olive oil to the cut up bread and bake at 350 degree oven for 5-10 min, until they are hard and browned.
5. Use a blender to blend everything. If you don't like to eat tomato seed in the soup, strain it. I'm too lazy to strain and the seeds don't bother me.
6. Add milk/cream and mix. Season with S&P. Remove pot from heat.

To serve:
Scoop out the soup to a soup bowl. Add a few croutons in the soup, and garnish with a sprinkle of dried parsley.

Shrimp stuffed zucchini

So I had some really nice zucchini and I was tired of chopping it up to make stirfry or pasta dishes. I did a little digging online and found a very easy but good recipe.

Shrimp Stuffed Zucchini

2 pounds small to medium young zucchini
1 pound shrimp, in their shells
1/2 cup toasted, unflavored bread crumbs
1 teaspoon garlic chopped very fine
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Black Pepper in a grinder
1 large egg

-Soak the zucchini in cold water for 20 minutes.
-Drop the zucchini into boiling salted water. Remove when it boils and let cool.
-Half the zucchini length wise, scoop out the seed. Save it on the side.
-Turn on the oven to 450 degrees
-Devein and Deshell the shrimp.
-Chop Shrimp
-Mix shrimp with 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs, the garlic, parsley, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, salt, pepper and the seed that was scooped out.
-Seperate the egg, set aside the white, and add the yolk to the bowl. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly.
-Grease the bottom of a shallow pan and place the zucchini on it cut side up.
-Sprinkle them lightly with salt. Beat the egg white lightly and brush the insides of the zucchini with it.
-Stuff the zucchini with the shrimp mixture.
-Sprinkle the top of each boat with the remaining bread crumbs and pour the remaining olive oil over in a thin stream.
-Place the boats in the uppermost level of the over for 10 minutes, until the top forms a light, pale golden crust.

Toddler bullying

This has nothing to do with food or money saving tips. It has to do with parenting. My son and I attended a forth of July party with a bunch of good friends who also have kids around my son's age. We haven't hung out much since the kids turned 2, and honestly I didn't have much expectation when it comes to the kids playing.

Coming unprepared turns out to be a bad thing. My son used to be a little bully and I was spending more time telling him to not hurt others or take other people's toys. Finally my little bully is now a little angel. He doesn't bully or take other's people's toys or have tandrums if he doesn't get his toys.

Well that is apparently also a problem when other people condone bullying behavior or are still dealing with their kids' territorial issues.

We brought a ball today for the kids to play with together. My son was more than happy to throw balls with other kids, because what's the fun just to play by himself! I'm very proud that he likes to play with other. I was not as thrilled when one of the girls grabbed the ball, and refused to throw to my son. I made a point with the girl that if she doesn't play with my son, I'll take the ball away because the ball is for everyone to play with. Not to mention, my son kept saying "throw to me. I'll catch". After making a few comments, the girl finally threw the ball to my son, a couple times. And eventually she went off and held the ball. My son was a bit disappointed but he was ok with sharing. I didn't do much because my son wasn't too hurt by it. But thinking back, I realized that I should've follow through with my original comment.

Sometimes I wonder if I should just let the kids duke it out, but if there isn't an equal amount of parenting from both sides, I have to step in. Because my son needs to know how to defend himself too! Next time, if someone refuses to play together, I'll tell my son to stand up and say that the toy is for playing together. And the child that refuses to play together, don't get to play with it.

And there was also another situation where one child was playing with a toy for a long time, and my son really wants to play with it. When that child finally moved on to something else, I told my son that he can play with it. But then the other child came back and took the toy away. At the time, I said that "oh he's not done yet, so we'll wait for our turn". Again, thinking back, maybe I was being too nice to the other child. If the child isn't playing with the toy, he/she loses the turn. That's how I teach my son, and that's the rule that should apply on both sides. What I should have done is to teach my son to say that it's his turn now and he shouldn't have to give it back up. And since my son wasn't sure how to take it back, I should've stepped in and kept the other child from reclaiming it.

Bottom line is that with children, they should learn how to play fair. Even though I cannot teach other children what to do, I should teach my child how to be fair and defend himself when others are not fair, and be prepared to step in if my child's efforts aren't efficient. Being too nice to friends' children isn't necessary a good thing. There is a time for sharing and there is a time when it is okay not to share. A child may misconstrue my effort to be nice as teaching him that he should always give up, and that is certainly not a good thing.

So lessons learnt, I'll have to remind myself to read this blog before my son playdates!

Tomato sauce with hidden veggie

So I was trying to figure out all the wonderful produce from my produce box. Then I found this little recipe and used almost everything from my produce box. This is so heavenly and healthy!

Ingredients
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 TB veg oil
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 cup scallop squash(or whatever squash u have. I just happened to have these wonderful squash)
2 TB butter
1/2 white part of leek, sliced
2 lb cherry tomato, cut in have
1/2 TB dried basil (or double for fresh)
1/2 TB dried parsley (or double for fresh)
Pinch of sugar
S & P

Direction

Sautee onion and garlic in oil for 2 min
Add carrot and saute for 4 min
Add red pepper, zucchini for 2-3 min
Add butter, leek for 2-3 min
Add tomato, parsley, basil, sugar, S&P, 1/2 cup water and cover to simmer for 20 min
Blend all in a food processor

This tastes wonderful with some whole wheat angel hair pasta!

Scones

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1/8 cup white sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
  
• 1/2 cup milk
• Choice of flavoring: one of mini chocolate, dried strawberry or dried cranberry
  
• 2 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Sift the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt into a bowl.
3. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, the rest of the ingredients and enough milk to mix to a soft dough. Keep in mind that the sweeter the flavor (e.g. chocolate), the less sugar. But if you're making a plain scone, you probably will need more sugar.
   
4. Turn onto a floured surface, knead lightly and roll out to a 3/4-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch rounds and place on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with milk to glaze.
5. Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 10 minutes then cool on a wire rack.
   

Potato Leek Soup

I didn't have a chance to post since I have been feeling under the weather for a long time. Anyways, I'm back to cooking new dishes. My organic produce box is giving me new ideas and these freshly picked produce makes such good dishes!

First I highly recommend this hearty Potato Leek soup. It's great for lunch/brunch and light dinner!

ngredients

• 3 large leeks, cut lengthwise, separate, clean.
  
• 1/4 lb ham
  
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)*
• 2 lbs potatoes, peeled, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• Salt & Pepper

Method

1 Cook ham, leeks in butter with salt and pepper in a medium sized sauce pan. Cover pan, cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Check often. Do not brown leeks! Browning will give leeks a burnt taste.

2 Add water, broth, and potatoes. Bring to a low simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Scoop about half of the soup mixture into a blender, puree and return to pan. Add parsley, and thyme. . Add some freshly ground pepper, 1-2 teaspoons salt or more to taste.

Rachel Ray's clam stoup

This is like a paella dish. It looks like there is a lot of stuff but I seriously managed to pull this off in less than 30 min. It's pretty much dump it all in and it's done.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 pound kielbasa, diced
• 4 cups (half a 32-ounce bag) frozen diced hash browns
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 to 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 rounded tablespoon seafood seasoning (recommended: Old Bay)
• 4 large ears corn on the cob or 3 cups frozen kernels
• 1 (15-ounce) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 4 dozen littleneck clams
• Hot sauce, to taste
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• Handful fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
• 4 jumbo sourdough English muffins, split
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives

Directions

Heat a large soup pot with extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the kielbasa and brown for 2 minutes; add the potatoes, onions, celery, bay, thyme, and salt and pepper and let the veggies soften up 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pat shrimp dry and toss with a rounded tablespoon (a generous palmful) of seafood seasoning.

Invert a small bowl and place at the bottom of a larger bowl. Shuck corn and stand on end on the small bowl. Scrape off kernels. Add corn to soup pot.

Add the tomatoes and stock to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and clams and replace the cover. Cook until shrimp are pink and firm and the clams have opened up, 5 to 6 minutes. Finish stoup with hot sauce, lemon zest and juice and a handful of parsley.

While the seafood cooks, toast the English muffins. Soften the butter in the microwave. Mash the garlic cloves with a little salt and make a paste. Add the chives and garlic paste to the softened butter and mix. Rub hot toasted muffins with garlic/butter mixture and chop into large dice.

Serve stoup in shallow bowls with muffin croutons. Place an extra bowl at each setting to collect shells as you eat your Clam Bake Stoup.

Tuscan chicken

Who knew a recipe on the bag of Costco size chicken breast can be pretty good.

2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup basil
1/2 cup spinach
1/2 cup sliced mushroom
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup wine
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese

Heat 2 tsp of cooking oil in medium high heat. Cook seasoned (salt and pepper) breasts for 4 min on each side (if thick, cook for longer)
Add wine and wait for it to boil. Let simmer.
Remove chicken from pan.
Sautee mushroom for a couple of minutes. Add everything except the greens.
When the sauce is thickened, add basil and spinach and cook till it wilts.
Add chicken back to the pot and cook through.

Serve on pasta.

Mojito chicken

I found this long time ago from Foodnetwork.com's Guy's Big Bite. I can't believe I didn't save it here before. It's such a great recipe for a very citrusy flavor.

• 1 (2 1/2 to 3-pound) chicken or just chicken thighs with bones
  
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• Marinade, recipe follows
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Mojito Glaze, recipe follows

Directions

Remove backbone of chicken with poultry shears; flatten chicken out by pressing firmly on skin part of chicken so it will sit evenly in a pan.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Combine all the dry spices and rub chicken with spice mixture, especially under the skin. Put into a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients for the marinade, then add chicken to marinade and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Remove chicken from marinade and shake off excess marinade. In a large saute pan over medium to high heat, add 4 tablespoons of extra- virgin olive oil. When oil is hot, place chicken skin side down and sear.

When skin is golden brown flip chicken and add 1/2 cup of marinade into pan; place pan in oven and cook the chicken for 25 minutes or until chicken has internal temperature of 165 degrees F. on an instant-read thermometer.

Remove the chicken from oven and brush with Mojito Glaze. Place chicken under broiler for 5 minutes. Remove from broiler, cut and serve immediately with more glaze on the side.

Marinade:

• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sliced garlic
• 1/4 cup dark rum

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl.

Mojito Glaze:

• 1/2 cup dark rum
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In medium sauce pot, place rum, chicken broth and brown sugar. Reduce by 1/3 over high heat. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together water and cornstarch. When rum mixture is reduced, add cornstarch mixture slowly to simmering liquid and whisk for 3 minutes, until 50 percent thicker. Keep in mind that you might not need all of it. When glaze is at desired thickness, add mint leaves and transfer to small bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Baked chicken strips and baked yam fries

Chicken Strips

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup Corn Starch
  
• 2 cups finely crushed cracker crumbs or plain breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt or kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon italian seasoning

Cut the chicken breast into small pieces.
Dip the chicken in corn starch, and then egg, and then the mixture of crumbs and seasoning.
Bake in 375 degree for 20 minutes

Baked Yam Fries

So I have tried tons of times to make baked yam and it always turns out soggy. I did a little digging online and turns out what I need to do is preseal the starch in yam. And viola, crispy baked yam!

1 Yam
Olive oil

Quarter the yam
Cut the yam further into 3-4 equal size wedges
Soak the yam in hot water for 10 minutes
Thoroughly dry the yam and mix it with olive oil.
Bake in 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Take them out when the corners are turning brown.