Stir Fried Spicy Bell Pepper with Beef and Candied Orange & Beef with Broccoli

I love it!   I found a few good use of candied orange peels I made a few months ago while making my "Calisson de Polly".    I love the food adventure and learn about the spices the different cultures use.   They really bring out the interesting dimensions to the flavor and make the ordinary dish 'new', I think.    Of course, I wanted to make the dish that my mother makes, but I don't have her 50 years old wok (an excuse.)     Flank steaks were cut into strips and marinated in 'potato starch' (not corn starch)  with less sodium soy sauce, pinch of sugar, and a bit of water.
Stir fry the beef first in oil.  Set aside.   In the same wok or saute pan, stir fry bell peppers.  Add Oyster sauce and candied orange peel.   Return beef.   Add chili peppers and Salt and Pepper to taste.  

 Broccoli is blanched first, then stir fried.  Return beef back and stir fried.  

Crispy Sockeye Salmon over Jasmine Rice and Baby Japanese Potatoes

This is a dish that I concocted from all the ingredients I find in my refrigerator.   
Jasmine rice is cooked in a saute pan with finely chopped onions, chopped red bell peppers, pilaf style.  Japanese baby sweet potato fingerling about 3 inches were washed and microwaved at "potato" setting.   Peeled chopped and added to the rice to be stir fried.    At the end, add a few fresh crushed basil leaves from your kitchen's fresh herb garden (if you have some).  Cover and set aside.   Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon fillet is covered with Japanese bread crumbs - Panko mixed with some spices - Hungarian paprika, salt and pepper, chili flakes and placed breaded side down in a saute pan with olive oil - cook for approx 2 min or until the crumbs show sign of browning/crispness.    Then, turn the fillet over to finish cooking until done.
 

Chinese Peach Blossoms

The peach tree blossomed right on time with Chinese Lunar New Year to welcome the spring.    "TSWEN DAO  LE"   - spring is here.    They are so accurate.    But really.... February was freezing cold.     Maybe it was just me because of the terrible 'cold' I had.

By the end of March, after the heavy rain, all the beautiful petals covered the ground and now it has clothed itself with green leaves.

Chinese Herb Medicine

January and February haunted me with a terrible cold.    My body got so weak that the normal over the counter medicines only lasted two weeks to resolve the first attack.    It returned with revenge after the 3rd day.   This went on and on and on for two months.     I would not have made it through my classes.     I finally resorted to the ancient Chinese Herb Medicine.    My family knows about me and the herb medicine.    Just a whif of it before the bowl of medicine hits my lips, my stomach would turn upside down.    I think the last time I had taken the herb medicine was when I was in South Viet-Nam forty years ago.    But I know my body is just totally out of wack from all the antibiotics and what not I took over the last few years, and now I am allergic to almost all the antibiotics.    So, just for the record, here is how my herb medicine looks like.     They were slowly simmered in 4 cups of water in this special electric automatic clay pot for about 2 to 3 hours until it is reduced to one cup.    Effectiveness?  On the first day, I coughed for 3 hours.... it seems to be detoxicating me inside out.   Then, the second day, I was calm.  On the third day, my temple warmed up -- ahhh! finally, I don't have that cold spot on top of my head.    On the 4th day, I was getting a bit energetic.  On the fifth day, feeling better.     Then, .... I am much much better.    These herbs are specifically prescribed for my symptoms by the doctor.

I am not trying to sell you the medicine.   I just want to share the reason why I could not post the blogs as often.   Sitting and typing is my weakness after 8 hours of work with mainframe computing.

April Weather

Whew!  Lovely April weather.    March ended with high notes of spring rain falls.   My vege garden seedlings have sprouted with beautiful YOGA palms stretching out of their brown bed coverings.   They welcomed the warm sun today, and they looked very happy.   Of course, there are cold weather loving plants that sprouted a week ago that greeted the down pouring rain - KABOCHA and Kuri squash.  Then followed by some GMO free Tomato seeds sprouting their tiny leaflets in the egg shell planter bed that I made for them.  They are all enclosed in the recycled plastic Strawberry cartons, just perfect to keep them sheltered.    There are couple of  other veges in my garden that have been just enjoying the spring rain - rhubarbs and leeks.   I think I will harvest ... and make Rhubarb .... hmmm... something...  It's kind of natural to say "Pie", but can it be something else?   Actually I did come across Rhubarb something when I was visiting some other foodies' blogs.    My replanted red Beet stem tops are doing well.    They look like they will be growing / rebirthing beets again by summer.    The "rebirthed" Leeks did a great job from growing Leek from its own roots that I cut off and replanted in my garden.  

 I cut the leek right above the root to let it grow again.    I think it will grow again(?)
So, what happened in March as far as cooking?  Quite a few tasty adventure.    So, let me post a few Photo journals of my food adventure.   If you would like to have the recipes, please let me know.   Sometimes, while I am editing my photos, I have typed the information on the photos, so if you click on the images to enlarge it, you should see some notations.     I know most of you have different experiences with cooking, and I hope you can tell what ingredients are needed and prepared from the photos.   If not, please drop me a note.    I am more than happy to send you the recipe or direct you to the foodies who posted them.