Fresh Beets Salad with Egg, Dried Cherries, Asian Pears, and Cherry Tomatoes

How fresh can a salad be?  Made with a fresh beet right out of the garden and prepared right in your own kitchen.    Imagine this beet is regenerated from the beet's own 'head / crown'.     I purchased a beet from the market, and cut the crown off with leaves still in its place.     I planted it into the ground the next day.      After a month, I notice the new leaves started to grow.     After another month  and half, voila, a new beet growing a top the head/crown that I chopped off originally.     It tasted wonderful.     It has so much less 'earthy' taste than the store bought ones.    

Chinese Fried Sesame Balls

There are so many different types of Chinese snacks and desserts that I don't think I can finish  trying all of it.    My mother's list of her favorites are just mind boggling - some I have never seen or heard of her regional specialty snacks.    For fun we wanted to try making the Chinese fried sesame balls at home.     We figured that we know how to make the YAKI DANGO and DAIFUKU MOCHI, we certainly could handle this one.      The ones that we really enjoy is the one sold at the SF China Town.      Sold at the third restaurant up the hill from the main parking lot after the bakery.    Sorry, I don't even know the name of the restaurant.    The sesame balls sold there is about the baseball size, $1 for one.    The dough is made of sweet rice.    It has the consistency of the OMOCHI - guewey and yummy, filled with red bean paste, etc.    Not knowing which recipe to use, my son found a recipe from the internet.    This recipe required baking soda and powder. . . hmmm, very interesting.     The dough's texture turned out 'cake' like.     Not OMOCHI consistency - guewey that we are looking for.    Nevertheless, we enjoyed every bite of it.

Polly's GAZPACHO - Fresh cold tomato soup

With so many fresh vegetables from the garden in my kitchen, I wanted to try this Spanish GAZPACHO soup.  When I first encountered this recipe, I did not know that none of the vegetables are cooked.     Nor does it get heated up.    I was quite surprised with the fresh V8! you can make at home.
At the end, I actually end up with another personal tapas - Smeared GAZPACHO spread over a toasted Ciabatta slice.

 

Not sure where my GAZPACHO soup picture went,.... I think I ate it before I took the picture!

BBQ Short Ribs - No Grill

Surprisingly this no-grill BBQ Short Ribs are succulent and tasty that it added another dimension to my culinary adventure.
** Try not to use Teflon coated pan.

Roasted Vegetable Salad

Eggplants - how we all love it.     Most of us love eating eggplants, but yet we try to avoid preparing it at home.     It's an oil hungry sponge!     Well, sort of.    It drink oil right into it before it is cooked.  And it wants more.    I think we all love to eat the Chinese EUSHANG-CHIEZE  I am not sure how you spell its pronunciation, but basically I think it is translated as Szechwan style fried eggplants?
   I learned a couple of ways to tackle it without using much oil - Microwave it (no oil needed) or roasting method.    For this salad, I roasted all the vegetables.     Peeled, cut, and tossed all together in a large bowl with lemon vinaigrette.

Polly's TAPAS - PAN CON TOMATE Y PARMA PROSCIUTTO

I learned all about this tiny "Dim Sum" like Spanish and Portuguese's TAPAS.    They are all the favorite snacks and  flavorful dishes on skewers and small plates.  It reminded me of South Viet-Nam a bit.  As you are seated in a cafe, a plateful of small pastries are served, etc....
So, I tried making tapas for myself with whatever I have in the refrigerator.     I have hard boiled eggs, home baked Ciabatta, home grown tomatoes, cucumbers, and I got hold of the Prosciutto di Parma from the Corti Brothers Market.    Thank goodness, I met a Italian woman at the deli section, and she was purchasing the prosciutto.    She told me Parma' prosciutto is better because it is less salty.    I purchased 1/4 lb of it.     Wow! $28.99/lb.    But only a slice is enough for my tapas.

I love the toasted Ciabatta bread slice deeply flavored with the fresh tomatoes.    The tomato juice permeated every bread crumbs and softened it for a great bite.   The saltiness from the prosciutto complemented the hard boiled egg sprinkles with Hungarian paprika.   Top it off with anything I can find in the refrigerator - Provolone cheese slice, tomato slice, fresh basil leaves (from my garden).      I enjoyed every bite of it.     I hope you will try making your own tapas - in place of that bag of chips?

RADISH-SUBIEN & Family Lunch

One of the family fun activity is definitely cooking together.    We were learning the SUBIEN - equivalent to French Puff Pastry in Chinese method.    The "YOE SUE" (like the butter block) is made with Olive Oil mixed with flour.    Then it is enclosed in the dough.  Rolled and filled and baked.
The filling is made with shredded Japanese DAIKON - white radish and some chopped green onions.    Thought it would taste bitter, but cutting out the liquid from the shredded DAIKON really worked out to be the technique to remember.    The flaky pastry made with olive oil covered with plenty of sesame seeds is just so much fun to bite into.    Make you really feel that this is a very special pastry, and psychologically make your taste buds look for the best.
And our lunch is just filled with all sorts of vegetable and meat dish - home style, and it was a great fun day.

 

 Bake for 20 minutes, and there they are!
Now it's time for our lunch.