Ginkgo nuts

1-31-2010 Sun. cold, sunny

WEEKEND BREAKFAST --- coffee | scallion pancake | grape fruit | apple
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Wulong green tea | roasted ginkgo nuts
DINNER --- roasted Japanese sweet potatoes | sauteed Swiss chard with ginkgo nuts | pan-fried whole fish ( silvery pomfret ) with scallion and ginger sauce | Chinese chives calzones | red wine

• Ginkgo nut has a shape similar to almond. The shell is thin and smooth like pale wood veneer, the meat is soft and translucent. The taste is slightly bitter and smoky either cooked in broth or roasted, it adds interesting texture and attractive visual effect to dishes.
  

Brave the storm for Yangzhou dried tofu threads

1-30-2010 Sat. temperature in teens, snow

WEEKEND BREAKFAST --- coffee | toasted limpa bread | eggnog |
grapefruit | apple
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Long-jing green tea | Mandarin orange
DINNER --- (at T.S. Chinese restaurant) Yangzhou poached dried tofu threads | sauteed celery with fresh lily bulb petals and ginkgo nuts | clay pot of simmered eggplant with salt-cured fish | sauteed white fish fillet in rice wine sauce | rice

• The snow storm did not stop us from having a nice dinner with Sharon and her family at T.S. Chinese restaurant. The cooking is authentic, and some ingredients such as delicate dried tofu threads, fresh lily bulb petals are rarely seen in most of Chinese restaurants around here.
  

Qabili pilau

1-29-2010 Fri. freezing cold, cloudy

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- rice with stir-fried shrimp and vegetables ( leftover from yesterday's dinner)
AFTERNOON-TEATIME ---green tea | Mandarin orange | Pocky chocolate pretzel stick
DINNER --- steamed Brussels sprouts | sauteed five-spice eggplant | Afghan baked rice with braised lamb shank (Qabili Pilau)| wine

• The lamb shank was braised in wine till the meat separated from the bone. Basmati rice was mixed with meat juice, then baked in the oven with lamb meat embedded in the rice. Qabili Pilau has most of the distinguishing characteristics of Central Asian cooking.
  

Lotus root and seeds

1-28-2010 Thu. cold, windy, cloudy

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- rice porridge with grated lotus root and dried bonito flakes | tempura of lotus root stuffed with minced shrimp and ginger | popover
AFTERNOON-TEATIME ---Fu-jian Kongfu tea | sweetened lotus seeds | Mandarin orange
DINNER --- tempura of stuffed lotus root | porridge of minced Tong-ho leaves and egg | stir-fried shrimp with winter bamboo shoot, brown mushroom and lotus root | rice | red wine

• Sharon came to have lunch together. We enjoyed homey food and good conversation. Lotus root and seeds are in season and made into various dishes.
  

To the northern land

1-27-2010 Wed. cold, sunny

BREAKFAST --- coffee | Pocky pretzel stick
LUNCH --- steamed bun with pickled mustard greens | apple
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- green tea | Mandarin orange
DINNER --- popover | Korean-style hot pot of simmered napa cabbage, mushroom and fried tofu with chili sauce | pan-roasted Northern-Chinese turnover with fillings of flat-leaf chive, clear mong bean vermicelli and dried shrimp | red wine

• Northern Chinese food and Korean food have much in common, lot of simmering, lot of garlic flavor. Flat-leaf chive has strong roasted garlic smell, as does Korean chili sauce.
  

Wonton soup for the soul

1-26-2010 Tue. chilly, windy, cloudy

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- roasted ginkgo nuts | eggplant pizza (leftover from yesterday's dinner)
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- green tea | apple
DINNER --- wonton soup with chopped capsella fillings and spiced vegetable pickles (Shanghai Ji-cai wonton) | pan-fried Japanese dumplings (gyoza) | red wine

• Wonton soup is supposed to be breakfast food in China. Actually it is good for anytime, particularly after rushing around in a chilly and gray day. Capsella (shepherd's purse, or Ji-cai in Chinese) has unique flavor and can be used as herb. These tiny pretty greens are very hard to find at markets in the US.

Homemade pizza

1-25-2010 Mon. warm, rain

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- rice with sauteed winter vegetables (leftover from yesterday's dinner)
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- green tea | Mandarin orange
DINNER --- homemade Rome-style pizza with toppings of sauteed sweet onion, shiitake mushroom, eggplant and Asiagio cheese | red wine

• It is worth all the troubles to make pizza from scratch at home. the crust is modeled after Rome-style, thin and rustic. The toppings are whatever in season, as we tasted in Rome, zucchini flower in summer, or porcini mushroom, even truffle in early fall.

Meat tastes better with bones

1-24-2010 Sun. mild, light rain

WEEKEND BREAKFAST --- coffee | toasted Limpa bread | pan-fried dumplings | apple
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Long-jing green tea | Mandarin orange
DINNER --- clay pot of pickled mustard green, napa cabbage, winter bamboo shoot and brown mushroom | spiced pork short ribs braised in rice wine and sweet soy sauce (Shanghai xiao-pai) | rice | red wine

• Braised short ribs in Shanghai style takes patience, it cannot be rushed. The meat is spiced by star anise and ginger, and is braised on low heat in rice wine and sweetened soy sauce for nearly two hours. The fat is slowly released into the liquid during the braising, by the end the meat is lean, tender and flavorful.
  

Black tea from Wuyi mountain

1-23-2010 Sat. mild, sunny

WEEKEND BREAKFAST --- coffee | toasted Limpa bread | grape fruit | apple
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- black tea (Lapsang Sauchong) | roasted ginkgo nuts | Mandarin orange
DINNER --- steamed clams | boiled green | boiled new potatoes | pan-fried whole fish in sweet-sour ginger sauce | white wine

• Lapsang Sauchong is black tea from Wuyi Mountain of southeast China. We tried it first time in a tea house on Gu-lang-Yu island in China, and were impressed by its subtle fruity taste. Today we found some of it in a local tea store, but the quality is rather disappointing, the taste is somehow different.

Japanese theme without sushi

1-22-2010 Fri. cold, cloudy

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- | rice with puree of tong-ho leaves (leftover from yesterday's dinner)
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- green tea | roasted ginkgo nuts | apple
DINNER --- pan-fried Japanese winter squash patties | roasted Japanese sweet potatoes | seasoned pea shoot leaves with dashi broth | sauteed shrimp and two kinds of mushrooms in ginger sauce | red wine

• Winter is good season for vegetables from Japan with distinguished flavor and texture.

Napa cabbage

1-21-2010 Thu. cold, cloudy

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- | steamed dumplings (leftover from yesterday's dinner) | Mandarin orange
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- green tea | apple
DINNER --- tempura of stuffed lotus root | clay pot of sauteed napa cabbage, king mushroom and chicken in dried shrimp sauce | puree of sauteed tong-ho leaves with crushed peanuts | rice |white wine

• Sauteed napa cabbage and thinly cut meat in creamy sauce is a winter staple of home cooking in southeast China.
  

The winter of our content

1-20-2010 Wed. a bit colder, cloudy

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- red lentil dal | boiled and marinated pea leaves and tofu
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Wulong green tea | apple
DINNER --- vegetable soup of shiitake, pea leaves, Chinese black fungi and tomato | steamed dumplings with fillings of chicken, shiitake, and bok choy | red wine

• Making steamed dumplings every other week has become a ritual. life is good when one can make and have delicious dumplings.
  

Eat food, mostly plants

1-19-2010 Tue. a nice day, mild, sunny

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- barbari bread | rice with sauteed taro root and black mushroom (leftover from yesterday's dinner)
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Wulong green tea | apple
DINNER --- steamed buns with vegetable fillings | sauteed Swiss chard with mustard seed and garlic | white wine

• Swiss chard from local farmer's market is very tender and fresh. These are winter greens, different from the red stem green leaf kind seen in the summer.

Street food for lunch

1-18-2010 Mon. a very nice day, mild, sunny

BREAKFAST --- coffee | sweet red bean pastry | apple
LUNCH --- (at Rita's Crepes) lemon butter crepe
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Wulong green tea | Mandarin orange
DINNER --- marinated cherry stone clams and chayote | Persian flat bread (barbari) | five-spice sauteed taro root | scrambled eggs with Chinese flat-leaf chive | white wine

• It is a long weekend and very nice day. To downtown we walked instead of driving. Rita's Crepes is a street food stand near the movie theater. Rita makes fresh crepes to order. It is nice to watch the crepe takes shape and gets golden brown on that hot cast iron cooking surface.
  

Turnover

1-17-2010 Sun. mild, rain

WEEKEND BREAKFAST --- coffee | Chinese scallion pancake | Mandarin orange | Fuji apple
DINNER --- rice soup with side dish of pickled gourd squash and spicy tofu | pan-roasted Northern-Chinese turnover with fillings of flat-leaf chive, mushroom, fried tofu and dried shrimp (jiu-cai he-zi) | green tea

• This is the first experiment on making jiu-cai turnover from scratch. Making the dough is pretty straight forward, but the slow roasting on the stove ( low heat without any oil ) takes more practice.

Dim Sum in the tea hosue

1-16-2010 Sat. mild, cloudy

BREAKFAST --- coffee | sponge rice cake | apple
WEEKEND DIM SUM --- mini fried dough twist ( ma-hua) | marinated tofu (lan-hua dou-gan) | roasted Japanese sweet potatoes | sake || wonton soup with mushroom and greens | mini steamed buns with mustard green fillings | fried Japanese squash balls | steamed dumplings with fillings of seasoned rice and mushroom (Shanghai shao-mai) | tempura of lotus root with dipping sauce | four-delights in clay pot | white wine || sweet lotus seeds | mini custard | sweet red bean pastry | clementine | Fujian Kong-fu tea

• The dim sum lasted the whole day. Vegetarian version of dim sum is challenging, but everything turned out nice and interesting. The meal started with "sake" part in the garden tea house, continued with the main part in the dinning area, and finished with "Kong-fu tea" part back in the tea house surrounded by bamboo lit by evening lights.

Risotto!

1-15-2010 Fri. mild, cloudy

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- Japanese buck wheat noddle with mushroom and winter bamboo shoots (soba) | sushi (at Hinata) sweet shrimp (Ama-Ebi) and mackerel (Saba)
AFTERNOON-TEATIME ---Long-jing green tea | clementine
DINNER --- (Sonia's Italian dinner) Beet Risotto |Veal scallops topped with prosciutto and sage (Saltimbocca alla Romana) | grilled red lettuce (Radicchio alla trevisana) | mashed potatoes and carrots | custard dessert (Zabaione) | wine | espresso

• Sonia served an Italian dinner at her place for out group of five. She stood by the stove to stir the risotto for more than half an hour, the risotto is creamy and delicious.

Homemade pita bread

1-14-2010 Thu. not as cold, sunny

BREAKFAST --- coffee | Pocky pretzel stick
LUNCH --- pasta with shrimp | apple
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Wulong green tea | clementine
DINNER --- king mushroom and winter bamboo shoot simmered in dashi stock | sauteed chive flowers and cured tofu | spiced red lentil dal | pita bread | red wine

• It is tricky to bake pita bread in a home oven, it needs high heat. About 70% of chance so far that the bread would puff up to form the pocket. Today it is a 100% success!

How green is my tomatillo sauce

1-13-2010 Wed. barely above freezing (daytime), cloudy

BREAKFAST --- coffee | Pocky pretzel stick
LUNCH --- steamed buns with mustard green and mushroom fillings
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Wulong green tea | clementine | apple
DINNER --- egg and tomato soup | roasted Japanese white sweet potatoes | spicy and sour bean sprouts | Pennoni regati with green sauce of tomatillos and chilies serranos (Salsa verde) | fresh ginger sauteed shrimp | red wine

• Tomatilllos look like green tomatoes, but in fact they belong to gooseberry family. Salsa verde ( Mexican) is a mixture of roasted tomatillos, chilies serranos, garlic, white onion, and raw cilantro. The sauce is green in color and refreshing in taste.

If it is Tuesday, this must be pan-fried pork chops

1-12-2010 Tue. cold, cloudy

BREAKFAST --- coffee | Pocky pretzel stick
LUNCH --- rice and sauteed chive-flower with beef
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Wulong green tea | clementine | dried plums
DINNER --- stir-fried rice with egg, green onion, shiitake mushroom and sweet peas | pan-fried breaded pork chop | red wine

• Tuesday evenings are for music rehearsal and dance. Dinner has to be prepared in half a hour, pan-frying is quick and easy, , no cutting and chopping needed.
  

Winter bamboo shoots

1-11-2010 Mon. cold, sunny

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- rice with Tong-Ho leave puree (leftover from yesterday's dinner)
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Wulong green tea | clementine | dried plums
DINNER --- spicy soup of fried tofu and vermicelli | sauteed Swiss chard with leek | fried chicken wrapped in wafer rice paper ( Zhi- Bao-Ji ) | winter bamboo shoots and mushroom simmered in dashi stock | rice | red wine

• One can feel the Lunar New Year is getting closer when fresh winter bamboo shoots start to show up at oriental markets. They have more flavor and crisper texture than the kind coming out in spring.
  
• The wafer rice paper is different from regular wrappers for spring rolls. It is very thin and delicate, and it does not work with water or steam. The frying is pretty difficult too. Maybe the better use of it is to make an edible menu.
  

Maine sweet shrimp

1-10-2010 Sun. cold, sunny

WEEKEND BREAKFAST --- coffee | Swedish rye bread (Limpa) | lingonberry jam | grape fruit
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Wulong green tea | clementine
DINNER --- Maine sweet shrimp cured in lime juice (Ceviche) | roasted Japanese sweet potatoes | Chinese chrysanthemum leaves puree with crushed peanuts (Tong-Ho Hu) | rice | sauteed shrimp with chayote and mushroom | red wine

• Maine sweet shrimp is in season right now, they are small but taste better than most of bigger farm-raised shrimps. They are best served raw.

Breads, baked or steamed?

1-9-2010 Sat. very cold, sunny

WEEKEND BREAKFAST --- coffee | Swedish rye bread (Limpa) | raspberry jam | grape fruit
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Wulong green tea | apple
DINNER --- sauteed Chinese chrysanthemum leaves (Tong-Ho) | baby octopus simmered and marinated in ginger dashi stock | steamed buns with fillings of chicken, shiitake, leek, and cabbage (Zheng-Bao) | red wine
WEEKEND DESSERT --- chocolate mousse cake | chai

• In a cold day like this, it is nice to make bread from scratch. It takes four hours to prepare the rye dough and Limpa is baked in the oven. Zheng-bao are Chinese buns with fillings, it takes one and half hour to prepare the dough and the fillings, and the buns are steamed on stove.

Basmati rice

1-8-2010 Fri. even colder, windy and sunny

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- steamed buns with mustard greens and shiitake mushroom filling ( Cai-Bao-zi)
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- green tea | clementine | Pocky pretzel stick
DINNER --- boiled and sauteed new potatoes | slow-cooked carrots with caramelized onions | stir-fried beef and chive flowers | basmati rice | red wine

• the fragrance of cooked basmati rice is warm and sweet.
  

Precious piquillo

1-6-2010 Thu. cold, sunny

BREAKFAST --- coffee | apple
LUNCH --- rice bowl with five-spice cabbage ( leftover from yesterday's dinner)
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- green tea | clementine
DINNER --- stuffed small Spanish sweet pepper (Piquillo) with goat cheese | linguine fini with Catalan tomato and onion sauce ( Sofrito) | red wine

• Piquillo peppers are hard to find outside of Spain. They are very sweet with velvety texture, in pretty little triangle shape. I stock up on them whenever they show up in gourmet shops.

Vegetable day

1-5-2010 Wed. cold and windy, cloudy

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- steamed dumplings ( leftover from yesterday's dinner)
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Wulong green tea | clementine
DINNER --- spinach soup with shiitake mushroom simmered in dashi stock | roasted Japanese white sweet potato | five-spice cabbage | eggplant stew with mushroom, cilantro, caramelized onion in fermented-black-bean sauce | short grain rice | red wine

• Japanese sweet potatoes are the best, one kind is white inside with purple skin, and the other kind is in completely reversed colors: purple inside with white skin!

Dumpling day

1-5-2010 Tue. not as cold as yesterday, cloudy

BREAKFAST --- coffee | clementine
LUNCH --- rice bowl with eggplant and kale (Cai-fan)
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Wulong green tea | clementine
DINNER --- egg-drop soup with shiitake mushroom, tomato and Chinese pickled radish | steamed dumplings with fillings of minced chicken, bok choy and shiitake mushroom (Zheng-jiao) | warm sake

• The steam from the bamboo steamer and the soup pot warmed the kitchen quickly. Dumplings are juicy and chewy, winter is good season for bok choy and shiitake.

Mole dulce

1-4-2010 Mon. cold and windy, cloudy

BREAKFAST --- coffee | Japanese pretzel stick with chocolate (Pocky)
LUNCH --- Chinese flat noodles with chive-flowers in Sichuan chili sauce (Dan-dan-mian)
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- Wulong green tea | clementine
DINNER --- sliced avocado, tomato, and broiled foie gras | eggplant stew with mushrooms in dark chocolate mole (Mole Dulce) | kale sauteed with minced garlic | rice | red wine

• Foie gras is a gift from Philippe's mother who visited us from France.