Miyazaki Movie & Dinner Double Date 

My sister decided to host a Miyazaki movie night at her place and we picked one of our childhood favorite film, Kiki Delivery Service. On the dinner table, we have a fusion of American, Italian and Asian! Thanks to everyone who cooked! Vivian made manicotti, stuff mushrooms, garlic bread and honey garlic chicken wings. Orlie made the salad and mozzarella with tomato and basil. Andy made delicious soft boil soy sauce eggs.  

I wanted to make something that I've never made before and was craving shrimp so I made Thai fried rice with shrimp and pineapple. It was really simple to make and tasted great. Please see the recipe below: 

Thai Fried Rice with Shrimp and Pineapple: 

 

Ingredients:

2 Cups-Rice (made overnight)

2-Eggs (Beaten and Scrambled)

3-Garlic Cloves (Minced)

1 Can-Pineapple Chunks

1 lb-Shrimp (Peeled and Deveined)

1 Cup-Frozen Peas (Thawed and Boiled)

2-Green Onions (Chopped)

1/2 cup-Cashews (Chopped)

Sauce: 

(This is the tricky part, I don't have measurements of how much sauce I used because I always "sauce to taste", meaning I put a little of the sauce then taste it to see if it's good or needs more, so here's an estimate of how much I used.)

Soy Sauce (~2/3 tablespoon)

Fish Sauce (~2 tablespoon)

Sriracha (1 tablespoon)

Lemon Juice (~1 tablespoon)

1) In a bowl, whisk two eggs. Heat a large skillet with high heat and add a little bit of oil or cooking spray. Add egg to the skillet and quickly use a spatula to mix the eggs. Cook the eggs for  ~2 mins then remove from skillet and keep warm.

2) Use a skillet to saute onion with a little bit of oil until it is tender and fragrant. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the shrimp and cook it until it turns pink. Stir in the rice, pineapple, peas, cashews, scrambled eggs and green onions. Mix well...

3) Pour soy sauce all over the fried rice mixture and mix well (this will give it the nice brown color). Add fish sauce, Sriracha and lemon juice- sauce to taste! 

4) Garnish with more cashews and green onions on top when served. Optional-cut up a lime and put on the side for people to add more citrus favor to their fried rice. 

Taste of Belgium #7: My Favorites!

#1: Belgian Waffles and Frituurs

#2: Sausage Roll from Panos!
Panos is a chain store that sells sweet and savory bake goods. You can find this store everywhere in Belgium (it's like a Starbucks, you can find one on every corner). It's a quick snack which is cheap and taste so good!

They make different types of rolls like turkey, chicken and sausage.

#3: Belgian donuts:
I must mention these delicious Belgian pastry and donuts. They were SOOOOOOO good! We had these for breakfast. The chocolate one is like our boston cream donut but the only difference is that it's flaky outside. SO DELICIOUS!!!! The other pastries were cinnamon, custard filled and raisin.

#4: Blood Sausage by Sita's MomStesi planned something special for us to try but won't tell us what Sita's mom was going to make for us. They said Belgian people love it but some people hate it. Sita said she didn't like it as a child but was going to try it again when we do. It turns out to be blood sausage! I've tried it before but hated it. The ones i tried was very hard and the taste was really bad but this time it was soo good! You can eat it with apple sauce and some people eat it with brown sugar. I actually really like it w/ apple sauce.

Thank you so much for cooking this for us Sita's mom *hugz* Dank je wel!!!

Healthy Recipe Contest: Applications due May 15, 2010

Like to cook? The Charles B. Wang Community Health Center Health Education Department invites you to participate in its Healthy Recipe Contest. All adults aged 18 and older are invited to submit a healthy recipe for the chance to win a prize. Selected recipes will be published in a cookbook. After the first round of recipe selection, ten finalists will be asked to prepare their dishes in a live cooking contest. Finalists will receive the following cash prizes of up to $200. All participants will receive a free copy of the cookbook comprised of selected recipes. All submissions must include the completed application and recipe form. Applications are available online at http://www.cbwchc.org/ and at the following addresses:

-268 Canal Street, 1st floor, New York, NY 10013

-125 Walker Street, 2nd floor, New York, NY 10013

-136-26 37th Avenue, 2nd and 4th floors, Flushing, NY 11354

-Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, 62 Mott Street, 2nd floor, New York, NY 10013

After the first round of recipe selection, ten finalists will be asked to prepare their dishes in a live cooking contest. Ten finalists will be informed by June 15th, 2010 by mail and phone. The live cooking contest will take place on July 11th, 2010 at the Whole Foods Market Bowery Culinary Center (95 E Houston St, New York, NY). Dishes will be judged by the following criteria: presentation, aroma and taste.

Call the Health Education Department at (212) 966-0461 if you would like the application mailed or faxed to you or have any questions about the contest. Applications are due on May 15, 2010.

If you have any questions you can post it in the comment box and I'll get back to you!

The Tong's Chinese New Year Feast!

新年快樂

Happy New Year!!

年夜飯 Chinese New Year Eve Dinner:
Chinese New Year Dinner

Healthy tips for buying and preparing food for Chinese New Year

Gong Xi Fa Cai! It's time to ring in another Chinese New Year! Now that 2009 has passed, it is time to look towards the future to find good fortune that will awaits us in 2010, the year of the Tiger. A new year also encourages us to reflect on the past and to set goals for the future such as eating healthy as well as exercise to maintain a healthy life style.

An important part of the Chinese New Year is spending time with the family, visiting relatives and friends. During this time, we like to entertain friends and family by throwing parties and making festive foods. These festive foods can be high in sugar, salt or fat but low in nutrition values. To jumpstart a healthy lifestyle for the new year, here are some healthy tips for purchasing and preparing food for your Chinese New Year celebration:
· Avoid buying processed and preserved foods instead use fresh and wholesome ingredients.

· When buying pre-packaged food, check for expiration dates and make sure the package are intact. If the product is non-packaged and sold by the pound, pay attention to the hygiene of the store, if the containers are covered and whether the staff use clean utensils to handle foods. If you have doubts about the source of the product, do not buy them.

· Avoid buying traditional snacks that is sugary or fried. Try healthier alternatives snacks such as dried fruits, bake goods, and unsalted nuts.

· Use healthier cooking methods like steaming, grilling and baking. If you must fry, use healthier oils like canola and corn oil.

· Prepare food using less sugar, salt and sauces. Flavor your dish with garlic, onion, shallots and ginger. Add the sauce on the side so you can have control over how much or little you want on your dish.

Banana Cream Pie

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
• 4 bananas, sliced

Directions

1. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, and salt. Add milk in gradually while stirring gently. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is bubbly. Keep stirring and cook for about 2 more minutes, and then remove from the burner.
2. Stir a small quantity of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the rest of the hot mixture. Cook for 2 more minutes; remember to keep stirring. Remove the mixture from the stove, and add butter and vanilla. Stir until the whole thing has a smooth consistency.
3. Slice bananas into the cooled baked pastry shell. Top with pudding mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes. Chill for an hour.

Happy New 2010! Last meal of 2009....

Sorry, no time to update but I will finish blogging and put the recipe out soon!! The ham was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD! One of the best ham I've ever made! Stay tuned.....

Glazed Pineapple Cupcake

I used the Duncan Hines Pineapple Cake Mix. I chopped up some pineapples from the can and stuffed it into the batter after I put the batter into each individual cupcake paper cups. I wanted to make sure that each bite of the cupcake there is also a bite of pineapple. One tip is to use the pineapple that is in heavy syrup. I tried to be healthy and used the the other one but the pineapple turned out to be a bit too sour.

I thought the cupcake was too plain and sour so I decide to put a glazed on it. I used some condense milk with the pineapple syrup from the can and cooked it for a little bit. Thanks Andy for the idea! The glazed turned out creamy with a bit of pineapple taste which was really good!

Coconut Cream Pie

After Thanksgiving I got into a baking mood. Since my crab quiche, a savory pie, came out so well I wanted to make another pie but this time a sweet one. I attempted one of my favorites, coconut custard pie!

Coconut Cream Pie
Ingredients
1 cup white sugar (I used only 3/4)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk (I used 3 cups of coconut milk)
4 eggs
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flaked coconut
1 (9 inch) pie shell, baked

Directions
1. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, flour and salt over a medium heat; gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture is thick and bubbly. Reduce heat to low and cook 2 minutes more. Remove the pan from heat.
2. Separate the egg yolks from whites. Beat the egg yolks slightly. Gradually stir 1 cup of the hot mixture into yolks. Return the egg mixture to the saucepan and bring the entire mixture to a gentle boil. Cook and stir 2 minutes before removing the pan from heat.
3. Stir butter, vanilla, and coconut into the hot mixture. Pour the hot filling into the baked pie crust. Cool. Cover and chill to store the pie if not serving immediately. (I actually baked it for 15 minutes.)

Ta-daaaa, my first coconut cream pie:

The consistency was a bit too soft, next time I would bake it longer. The pie filling was so good and creamy! The coconut milk gave it a lot of coconut taste. It wasn't too sweet but I think I could have use less sugar because the milk is already very sweet. I will definitely make this again!

Last Minute Thanksgiving Dinner 2009

My Thanksgiving Dinner 2009:

4 hours of food/supply shopping

5+ hours of cooking

7 dishes

Spending thanksgiving with people I love = Priceless

Our thanksgiving feast:

This Thanksgiving we did everything last minute! I planned what I wanted to make and shopped the night before thanksgiving. I was going crazy running around finding ingredients for each of the dishes. After all the shopping, I was just too tired to start prepping so I told myself I would wake up really early (at 7am) to start everything...I over slept and totally missed my alarm so I woke up around 9. I was panicing because dinner is suppose to start at 2ish. I didn't think I could finish all 6 of the dishes in 5 hours but with the help of my father and sister (Vivian) we managed cook everything we wanted to make. Yay!

So this year I decided to make 7 dishes, 2 of them are my all time favorite potato shrimp salad and corn casserole (I make these every year! My fans, I mean my family members always request them). Five other dishes are new recipes which came out great!

Lumpia Shanghai (Flipinino egg rolls): I love Filipino food so I wanted to attempt my favorite Filipino dish. Special thanks to Maribeth and Joanne for their recipe:

String bean casserole:

Shrimp and prosciutto with alfredo sauce

Crab quiche

Crown Jewel Cake

Let me know if you want any of the recipes, everything was so simple to make!

Home Made Vietnamese Beef Pho Noodle Soup

On Friday, Isabel came back from her lunch break carrying a bunch of groceries. I was curious what she brought so I went up to her and asked. She said she was going to make Vietnamese Beef Pho Noodle Soup (aka the #1 on every Vietnamese restaurants menu). She told me that the soup take around 4-5 hours to make and has alot of ingredients in it. She was telling me how to make it but it sounds quite complicated and I didn't know half the ingredient in it. I told her I'll probably stick with ordering it from the restaurants but I wonder how the homemade one taste like and how similar it would be from the restaurant's. I jokingly said oh how I wish I can taste hers and being an awesome coworker and friend, she surprised me with her delicious beef pho noodles soup a few days later....

She packed the noodles and soup separately:
The noodles nicely packed, it has viet noodles, thin sliced beef, bean sprouts, beef balls and cilantro.
I heated up the soup first then I added the noodle packet into the soup and heat it up some more. Another coworker caught me taking pics in the kitchen area...it was quite awkward. See what foodies have to go through to bring you guys pics of food but I don't mind at all!! ahha...

When I opened the cover to the container, the aroma of the soup filled the air and made my mouth water from just smelling it. I think it taste better then the viet restaurants because it wasn't as salty and I didn't taste alot of MSG so it was light but yet very flavorful. The noodles wasn't soggy or over cooked because she separated it in the beginning. The beef was fully cooked not raw like how they would serve you in the viet restaurants (they usually give you thinly sliced raw meat on top of the noodles and the boiling hot soup suppose to cook it for you). This was exactly what I needed on a freezing cold day like this. I hate Mondays but she made this one a very warm and delicious one. I <3 Isabel!

I found a recipe, if anyone would like to make it! Enjoy and let me know how it goes....