Layered Eggplant Casserole

Pan fried Ciabatta bread slices in olive oil were crumbled in the food processor.      It added the crunchy factor to the mouth feel to awaken the palate that is tasting the creamy, yet fibrous textures of the eggplants.    Eggplant is washed, peeled, and grilled between George Foreman's hamburger grill.   Brushing on the olive oil when it is 3/4 done.     Undercooking of the diced zucchini also helped in giving different texture when bite into it than the eggplants'.     I originally thought of making the eggplant boat and filling it in, but I decided to layer the eggplants with the sauteed ground beef with zucchini, etc.   Then, shaped it into eggplant halves; then, topped it with mozzarella cheese to keep its shape as it melts over it.     It worked out quite well.

 

 Add some Parmesan cheese.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

It's been a long long while since I last made stuffed bell peppers.     Probably 20 years ago.    I remember making stuffed rolled cabbage stew, rolled grape leaf stew, stuffed bell peppers.     I don't know why I don't make it any more, but as I started to prepare for this one, I kind of remember the dis-likeness of the 'mushy' rice in it.     The solution I came up with is perfect.     As the "new crop" rice use less water to cook with my rice cooker - instead of the 1 to 1 or the 2 to 1 -  water to rice ratio, I cook it 1/2 to 1 water to rice ratio.      I also used Thailand's long grain jasmine rice.    And used a bit more less water than the 1/2 - to undercook it.     I love the result with this rice.     The meat and sauteed vegetables flavored the rice all around and did not turn out mushy.

 The green bell peppers are home grown from my mother's garden.
Mozzarella cheese was placed on top of the cooked stuffed bell peppers after they came out of the oven.  Then, covered with the top aluminum foil for about 10 - 15 min to allow to melt.
I did not want the crusty browned cheese as the rice on the top has already formed a crust.  The Hungarian paprika and bell peppers complemented each other and brought the heat and flavor of the bell pepper well together.

Short Ribs Stew with Vegetables

This short ribs stew taste light and heart warming.     I enjoyed the variety of vegetables I added to it - carrots, onions, mushrooms, pearl onions, tomatoes, roasted peppers to give a bit of heat, sachet, and turnips from my own garden.    Straining the soup produced a clearer liquid.     It probably qualifies more like braised dish, but I used both methods to produced this versatile stew with clearer soup.      After the second day, I added ravioli to go with it to create another dish. 

 

Colorful Baby Carrots

They are cute and grows well in a small garden.     Good for salad,... cook it whole with stew, or saute them, or use them as garnish.

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.