Bread Adventure - Starbread

Practice makes it perfect is what we have been taught.  So, to make sure I will be prepared for the coming bread project, I made this Starbread.  It's suppose to use the straight white bread dough, but I was bit tight with the resources, so I used part of my baguette doughs for it.

Special Occasion Cake with Marzipan Pears

A few weeks ago, I made this marzipan pears at home for our ARC Clulinary class' cake project. It turned out quite beautifully. I love the Almond Paste that Gabi posted at her site - http://www.thefeastwithin.com/2009/11/04/almond-paste-easy-and-homemade/. It works much better and tastier than the ones I have tried.
Here is my photo journal of my Marzipan pears and how it looks like on a special occasion cake.

Stir Fried Eggplants with Chicken and Shrimp

Baking breads are lot of work, but there is a quiet period while waiting for the dough to rise.  So, I got some ingredients out of the refrigerator and here it is:  Stir fried eggplants with bell peppers, garlic, cilantro, chicken and shrimp, served with Gen-Ji-Mai brown rice.

Ingredients:
2  ea     Chinese Eggplants, washed, cut in halves, cut into 2 inch triangle wedges
1/4 C     Cilantro, washed, stemmed, and chopped
1/2 C     Bell peppers, red, green, yellow, cut in strips 
                        (For ease, use frozen, sliced bell peppers)
263 g    Chicken tenders - approx 5 pieces, cut into cubes
145 g    Shrimp, raw, peeled with tail - approx 10 pieces, washed in salt water and rinsed
2 cloves Garlic, peeled and chopped finely


Seasoning:
1 tsp    Salt
1 tsp   Japanese MIRIN or cooking wine
2 Tb    White Vinegar
2 Tb    Low Sodium Kikoman Soy Sauce
1 Tb    Sugar
**MIX all seasoning above together in a bowl.  Set aside.

1/4 C  Vegetable oil to saute eggplants
2 Tb   Vegetable oil to saute Chicken and Shrimp
2 Tb  water + 1-1/2 tsp cornstarch   mix and set aside.  Stir again before use.

Procedures:
Wash the shrimp in salt water and rinse thoroughly.  Strain to dry.  Set aside.
Place cut eggplants on a large plate with 2 tablespoon of water.  Cover with microwave oven proof cover.  Microwave it for 3 minutes.  Check for tenderness.  It should not be cooked through (not translucent), but 1/2 way.  Set aside.
Heat large wok over medium high heat.  30 to 35 sec.
Add 1/4 C vegetable oil.  Heat  until when you drop a small piece of eggplants, it sizzles.
Add eggplants and cover with lid.
Cook for 2 min.  Open and stir.  Flip each eggplant to face the opposite side down.
Cover.  Cook for another 2 min.  Open, Add bell peppers.
Stir.  1 min.  Eggplants should show signs of tenderness.
Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Return wok to medium high heat.  Add 1 - 2 Tb of oil.
Make sure the oil is hot - add a piece of garlic, it sizzles.  Add Chicken.
Stir fry.  2 min.  Add Shrimp.  Stir fry.  1 min.
Add eggplants, garlic.  Stir.
Add seasoning mixture.   Stir.  Cover. Cook for 2 min
Open, Stir, Add cornstarch mixture.  Stir gently to help cornstarch to thicken.
Add Cilantro, but save 1 tsp and set aside.  Stir.
Remove from heat.  Transfer to a serving plate.  Top with cliantro.

GEN-JI-MAI - Nutri-whole grain Brown Rice
Prepare enough Gen-Ji-Mai as directed in its cooking instruction.
Note:** wash your rice, any rice thoroughly, until the water turns clear as much as possible.  Nothing is worse than eating a bowl of rice that is gunky and smelly other than the true rice.
GEN-JI-MAI is really great tasting.  I like it much better than the usual brown rice.  Like it says, it has much better texture, and much softer.  Yet, it has 64% more fiber and 400% more antioxidants... well at least that's what it claims, but I will stick with the taste bud test.