Moroccan Spiced Lamb with Date Barbecue Sauce

好吃不怕麻烦。如果有着这种态度和心里准备。这到菜就不是个大挑战了。 这道菜很是有点西域风情。

老妈笑我。 做个饭这么麻烦。满厨房乱转。一会儿书一会儿电脑的。搞忙完！她没有搞清楚的是。这个又不是她的家常便饭。把一堆佐料弄到一起，在锅里乱弄一下就搞定的。 这就是为什么，老妈是二厨，我是大厨的原因。

Mom laughed at me. She could not understand why I was so all-over-the-place when I just made one dinner?! Why I had to reference both the cook book and my computer all the time？！

What she did not realize is that this is not a simple Chinese pan fry. This is why I am the chef but she is the sou-chef. :)

Ingredients to marinate the lamb
The lamb needs to be marinated for at least 6 hours in advance.
1) 1 tbs ground coriander
2) 2 tsp ground cumin
3) 2 tsp paprika
4) 1 and 1/s tsp ground ginger
5) 1 tsp cinnamon
6) Pepper and salt
7) 2 lb of lamb leg
8) 4 garlic glove and thinly sliced

Marinate the Lamb
1) In a bowl, combine all the ingredients above and set aside 1/2 of the spice mixture for the BBQ source.
2)Stir in 3 tbs of olive oil
3) Adjust pepper and salt to taste
4) Use a small sharp knife to make 1/2 inch deep slits all over the lamb.
5) Press the garlic slices into the slits
6) Coat the lamb with the spiced oil. Make sure to tub it in the slits
7) cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours

Ingredient for the BBQ source
1) 5 garlic glove minced
2) 1 medium onion, finely chopped
3) 3 tbs tomato paste
4) 1 and 1/2 cup beef broth
5) 1 tbs honey
6) 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
7) 6 large pitted dates, minced (2 ounces)
8) 4 tbs fresh lemon juice

Make the BBQ source
1) IN a medium sauce pan. Heat some olive oil
2) Add the chopped onion and minced garlic. Cook over moderately low heat. Until it's softened
3) Add the remaining 1/2 of the spice mixture (the one made to marinate the lamb)
4) Add tomato paste and cook. Stirring for about 1 minute.
5) Add beef broth, honey and cayenne pepper. Simmer over high heat until slightly thickened. About 8 minutes
6) Add minced dates. Simmer over low heart until they break down and the sauce is thick and glossy. About 10 minutes
7) Remove from the heat. Stir in the lemon juice.
8) Season with salt and pepper

Grill the lamb
1) Gril the lamb over moderate heat. Tuning once, until the lamb is nicely charred all over and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the leg registers 130 degree.
2) During the last 3 min of the grilling, brush the reserved date BBQ sauce all over the lamb.
3) Transfer the grilled labm to a carving board and let rest for 10 min

Serve the lamb
1) In a small bowl, toss some mint and cilantro.
2) Slice the labm across the grain and serve with the BBQ source with the mint and cilantro

Broccoli Cauliflower Casserole - Comfort Food Can Be Healthy!

最近我的工作都有点让我们忙得晕头转向，我也开始贯彻一切从简的革命方针。

那就做个简单，美味，营养的芝士芥兰杂烤吧。谁说“COMFORT FOOD”就不能又好吃又营养呢？这款烤菜，特别适合带中餐。第二天，虽然扮相一般，但口味不减。试试吧！

A simple vision of food sometimes comes with many advantages, especially when recently both of us have been crazy busy and dealing with nutty jobs.

If we can remove peanut-butter sandwich from the gourmet food category temporarily, just for the sake of argument, nothing comes easier and tastier than a basic, down-to-earth broccoli casserole. The vegetables tasted tender and flavorful. The whole wheat bread added extra chewiness and texture of the dish. It’s perfect for taking leftovers as lunch the next day. And, who said comfortable food cannot be delicious and healthy at the same time? I added some lean ground-turkey in the recipe to give it an extra kick with protein. And this recipes has loads of fiber in it, as it include broccoli, cauliflowers, carrots and whole wheat bread.

Ingredients for the Source

1) 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
2) 1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt
3) 1 1/4 cup light shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4) 1 can of clam chowder soup
5) 2 large eggs
6) 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Make the Source
In a bowl combine the above ingredients together.

Dry Ingredients
1) 4OZ whole wheat bread (2 days old)
2) 1 12OZ bag of broccoli
3) 1 12OZ bag of cauliflower
3) 4oz diced carrots

Cook all the veggies in boiling water for 3-4 min till crispy tender. And put them in a icy cold water to keep them green. Set aside.

Cook Turkey
1) Get 0.8lb ground fat free turkey
2) Simply marinated the turkey with some salt, poultry seasoning, sage, black pepper and 1-2 tbs of olive oil.
3) Set aside while cooking the veggie
4) Pan fry the turkey with some garlic (optional); take it out and set it aside

Assemble and Bake
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) In a separate bowl combine the veggies with bread cubes (See the pictures above)
3) Put Turkey meat on top of the veggie mix
4) Spread the wet mixture and vegetables to evenly coat. (See the picture on the left)
5) Place in an 8 by 8-inch baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray
6) Bake for 45 minutes covered.
7) Then remove cover and bake for additional 15 minutes to brown. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Broccoli Cauliflower Casserole Recipe Healthy Casserole Recipe Healthy Comfort Food Recipe

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Roast Duck with Apples and Cranberries

脆皮多汁香浓美味的苹果蔓越梅烤鸭。

感恩节做了烤火鸡，蛮成功的。做烤鸭吧。那说做就做，没有二话。成品相当好吃，极力推荐！皮有点脆，肉鲜嫩多汁。用糯米饭苹果蔓越梅做的馅酸甜适中，回味良久。

按我说，烤鸭其实比烤火鸡简单省时。先用开水里里外外的淋个透。然后擦干，再抹上花椒，盐和黑胡椒。挂在通风处2小说以上。想要脆皮，就多晾个把小时，就这么简单。我早上把鸭子烫好，然后出门健身买菜，下午4点开始烤。1个半小时就搞定了。

详细做法看下面。

The roast duck is juicy, flavorful and a bit sweet. Just one word - Yummy!

It was the first time I made the roast duck. The whole process is similar to make a Thanksgiving turkey, except that it's easier and takes less time.

I personally found the roast duck is much more flavorful than a roast turkey. The total time in oven is less than 1 hr when the duck reached the 160F. The duck was fully cooked but not over cooked.

The next time I will try to roast the duck a little shorter to make it medium rare.

Ingredients to Prepare the Duck

1)1 duck (5 lb) (The one I used was purchased in Ranch 99, only 2lb)
2)Salt, black pepper

Prepare the Duck

Duck is a notoriously fatty bird. To diminish the fat and produce a crispy skin, begin by trimming the excess fat from the body. Rinse the duck with boiling water thoroughly, inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Season the bird inside and out with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Hang it up and let the air dry it out for 3-4 hours before roasting, if you prefer crispy duck skin. The longer the skin is more crispy.

Ingredients for the Stuffing
1)1 yellow onion, chopped
2)2 celery stalks, chopped
3)3-4 ounce dried cranberries
4)3 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and cut in wedges
5)1 tbs ground age
6)1 tbs poultry seasoning
7)1 pint of dried bread cubes, or some cooked sweet rice (1 cup)

Prepare the Stuffing

Add some olive oil in a pan. Add the onion, celery, cranberries, apples, sage, poultry seasoning; Season with salt and pepper; Saute for about 10 minutes until soft. Add the cooked sweet rice and toss the mixture together to combine.

Roast
Then, stuff the duck just like stuffing a turkey. Roast the duck at 375F till the inner temperature reached at 160F.

The recipe is for a duck of 5 lbs. The duck I got is only a little over 2 lbs. So, there were extra stuffing left. I added some cheese on top and baked it like a casserole. It makes a yummy lunch for the next day.

roast duck with apples and cranberries roast duck recipe

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Chicken Stuffed with Cream Cheese

This dish is delicious, easy-to-make. great for entertaining guests. When the dish were taken out from the oven, the entire kitchen was filled with the flavor of parsley, tomato.

Ingredient (serving 4)
1)3 tbs butter, plus extra for greasing
2)9 ounces mushrooms
3)some lemon juice
4)1 garlic clove
5)1 tbs chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
6)4 skinless, boneless chicken breast portions
7)Some thin sliced prosciutto
8)1/2 cup of whipped cream
9)Some tomato

Chop the mushroom into thin slices and sprinkle with the lemon juice to prevent discoloration. Melt some butter and olive oil in a small pan, add the garlic and cook until it turns brown. Remove the garlic and discard it. Add the parsley and mushrooms and cook over high heat for about 5 minutes, then remove the skillet from the heat.

Slice horizontally through the chicken portions without cutting all the way through. Open out each portion like a book, pound with a meat mallet and season with salt and pepper.

Place a slice of prosciutto on one side of each piece of chicken. divide the cream cheese among the portions and top each one with a tablespoon of the mushrooms.

Fold the portions together again and secure it with toothpicks if necessary.

Slice the tomato and put them on top of each chicken, season with salt and dot with some butter. Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease a roasting pan with butter or olive oil. Put the chicken in the roasting pan, cover with foil and roast for 15 min. Then, brown it with broiler.

delicious chicken recipe Chicken Stuffed with Cream Cheese Christmas Dinner Recipe

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2008 Thanksgiving - Turkey Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

过完感恩节，那么老大一个火鸡怎么办呢？CHRIS爱吃火鸡三明治，但也吃不了那么多鸡肉。在网上看到这个方子，试做了一下，意外的很可口。开到朋友家的派对，一下子就强光了。给我得意得不得了。做法没有什么技术含量，有一点点炒中国菜的常识，就一定能搞定。
What I should do with so much left-over turkey? Chris loves Turkey cranberry sandwich. But, how many sandwiches he can handle before turning into a gigantic turkey himself? I found this recipe again from watching Food Network while using the treadmill in the gym. I tried it yesterday. It was a perfect solution for the leftovers from Thanksgiving, simple and yet delicious.

Here is the basic ingredient
1. 2 pounds ground turkey or chopped leftover turkey
2. 1 onion, cut into 1-inch dice
3. 2 carrots, peeled and grated
4. 4 ribs celery, chopped
5. 2 tsp poultry seasoning
6. 2 tsp ground sage

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

To make the turkey mix - In a deep skillet heat 2 tablespoons oil over high heat. Add meat and break up with a wooden spoon, season with salt and pepper, poultry seasoning and sage. Then Add onions, carrots and celery into the turkey. Stir, and cook for 5 minutes.

While vegetables are almost done, add the left-over turkey gravy, about 2-cup.

Stir peas into meat and turn heat off.

At the meantime, make the mashed sweet potato (about 1 - 1 1/2 pound). I added a dash of salt to the sweet potato, and a 1/2 cup of margarine to mix up with the sweet potato.

Put the meat mix into a casserole pan. Top the meat with the potatoes. (Optional)Cover potatoes with cheese. Place the casserole pan in the oven at 375F for about 5-8 minutes.

2008 Thanksgiving - Making the Turkey with the Family Tradition

Chris can care less about cooking. Peanut butter sandwich, cereal, micro-wave ready burrito are all excellent choices for dinner. BUT, there is one thing in the world that Chris cares about dearly – the Thanksgiving Turkey and stuffing. The Soukup family recipe must be followed without any deviation. Don’t even bother to think about adding those foo-foo thingy learnt by watching the Food Network.

So, let’s see how to make the family tradition for stuffing:
1. 3 cups diced celery (This step cannot be done with food processor in order to maintain the texture of cooked celery)
2. 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
3. 1 cup of diced green pepper
4. 1 cup butter
5 14 cups of bread cubes, firmly packed 2-4 day old bread (Please note - the grandma used Pepperidge Farm Sandwich bread)
6. 2 tsp minced parsley
7. 2 tsp. salt
8. 2 tsp sage
9. 1 tsp poultry seasoning
10. 1/2 - 2 cups broth or milk
11. 2 egg lightly beaten

Cook celery, onion and green pepper in butter (I secretly replaced it with extra virgin olive oil)over low heat, stirring until onion is tender but not brown. Blend bread cubes and seasonings in a large bowl. Add celery, onion, green pepper, butter, toss lightly to blend. Pour liquid gradually over bread mixture, tossing lightly. Taste and add more seasoning if necessary.

Microwave the stuffing with High for about 8-10 min. Then, immediately stuff the turkey just before placing it in the oven.

Roast it on 400F for 30-45 min, depending on how brown you want the turkey skin to look like. Then, reduce the temperature to 350F. Roast the turkey till the inner temperature gets to 170F. Take it out. Cover it with foil for about 20 min before cutting it. This way the turkey tastes juicier.

Make the mashed potato and sweet potato as two side dishes.

Steak, Sautéed Spinach with Pine Nuts and Mashed Potato

This week has been terrible, stock prince going south, work never ending, holiday shopping clueless, Steelers sucking…. I felt tired and over-worked everyday. And, Chris’ life hasn’t been any easier than mine. I watched him painfully suffering through the Steelers’ game, as if he were tortured by this medieval instruments used in prison for two hours. Steelers finally won the game with 11 to 10. Very odd score. But, thank God for blessing us with peace.

Apparently the fruit, the cucumber, the salad, was not doing the job of comforting us. So, we decided that we need some comfort food. What’s better than steak and mash potato with some sharp cheddar cheese on top? In order to balance our diet a bit, I also prepared some spinach sautéed with a little bit garlic, finish with some toasted pine nuts and Parmesan cheese.

Roasted Salmon with Mango Spinish Salad

Happy Halloween! Chris got the candy, and I carved the pumpkin. So we are all set for the little kids from the neighbourhood coming for trick and treat. As for us, how about a bottle of Merlot and some delicious roasted salmon and spinich salad. Sprinkle some cranberry on top of the salad to give it a little kick of sweetness.

halloween dinner roasted salmon lose weight

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