Fusion without boundaries

4-13-2011 Wed. chilly, cloudy.

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- steamed vegetable buns
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- black tea
DINNER --- egg drop soup with tomato, fennel and mushrooms | Lebanese egg and olive salad | Cantonese style BBQ pork shoulder and caramelized sweet onion | Indian flat bread Naan | wine

• the Canton-style pork shoulder was marinated for two days and oven-braised for two hours, though long time procedure, the actual work is minimum. the meat was tender and flavorful, goes very well with sweet onion and flat bread. the marinating/oven-braising method can be applied to pork belly as well.
  

Lebanese green olive and egg salad

(from Saha -- G. and L. Malouf )

• 1 small purple onion ( finely sliced crosswise)
• 4 eggs
• 24 big green olives ( pitted and halved)
  
• 1 tbs pine nuts ( toasted and roughly chopped)
• 2 tbs flat-leaf parsley (finely chopped )
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
  
• 2 tsp ground sumac
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbs sesame seeds ( toasted)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 clove garlic ( crushed with 1/2 tsp salt)
• extra-virgin olive oil
• pepper
• paprika
  

1. soak the onion in cold water for 10 min, to reduce the sharpness
2. boil the eggs for 5 minutes or a little shorter time for soft-boiled yolk, then cool them under cold running water
3. peel the eggs and chop 3 of them roughly. reserve 1 eggs for garnish
4. put the chopped eggs in a mixing bowl with the onion, the olives, pine nuts, parsley, spices and sesame seeds
5. in a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, garlic paste and olive oil
6. pour enough of the dressing onto the salad to moisten it, and toss lightly, taste and season with pepper
7. to serve, pile the salad into a small serving bowl, slice the top off the reserved egg and sit on top, sprinkle the egg and salad with a little paprika and serve at room temperature. serve 4.