Served

Slow-roasted pork belly char siu and crispy turnip cakes with...

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 17:30:06 -0800

Slow-roasted pork belly char siu and crispy turnip cakes with quick pickles and confit shiitake mushrooms

Cooking time: 1 day (marinate) + 3-4 hours (slow roast)

Char siu marinade recipe
3-4 lb pork belly or pork shoulder
package of turnip cake
shiitake mushrooms
1/2 cup cucumber, peeled and sliced (about 1/4 an English hot house)
1 green onion
salt, sugar, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar

Marinate pork at least 8 hours, but less than 24 hours
Preheat oven to 300 degrees
While oven preheats, peel and slice cucumber into rounds.
Combine 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp salt and 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar with cucumbers in a bowl. Mix until dissolved, cover, and refridgerate.
Place pork into heavy oven proof pan or roasting rack and into oven
Check pork every hour, making sure to baste pork with its own fat and turn pan sideways for even browning.
During last hour of roasting, add mushrooms directly into pan to slow-cook.
Pork is done when you can insert a fork or knife straight through to the other side with little to no resistance. Let rest for 20 minutes while you…
Add dab of butter/oil into pan and crisp up turnip cakes on medium heat.
Slice green onions thinly for garnish.
Spoon some remaining fat/roasting liquid and combine with 1 tbspn hoisin sauce.
Arrange everything together with alternating rice cake, pickle, pork. Drizzledrop remaining pork marinade/fat sauce over dish and green onions.

Almost Bakesale Betty Fried Chicken Sandwich...

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:00:07 -0800

Almost Bakesale Betty Fried Chicken Sandwich (recipe:http://bit.ly/ijDgid - changed the coleslaw greens, took out jalapenos)

Salmon Tartare - I’m a fan of no-cook dishes. And salmon....

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 08:00:06 -0800

Salmon Tartare - I’m a fan of no-cook dishes. And salmon. And avocado.

Valentine’s Dessert: Molten Chocolate Cake (formerly known...

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 21:57:39 -0800

Valentine’s Dessert: Molten Chocolate Cake (formerly known as failed Double Chocolate cookies/brownies)

Moules Mariniere - Mussels in White Wine Sauce 1 lb of...

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 08:00:00 -0800

Moules Mariniere - Mussels in White Wine Sauce

1 lb of mussels per person
1/2 cup dry white wine per lb of mussels
1 shallot, minced
lots of garlic, minced (I used almost a whole clove)
salt, pepper, parsley
butter and oil
a lid or aluminum foil to cover your pan

Clean mussels, making sure there’s no dirt or “beards” on the mussels
Heat pan to medium-high and add butter and oil
Once butter starts sizzling, add shallots and garlics, stir for around 30 seconds
Add the mussels, spreading them evenly across the pan
Add dry white wine, and more butter
Cover pan with lid or drape with aluminum foil so that mussels can steam
Check the mussels in about 3-4 minutes, if they’re open they are done!
Turn off the heat, get a spoon and sauce the mussels so that garlic, shallots, and sauce get into all the nooks.
Sprinkle with some parsley, have a field day eating.

Homemade Pizza: mozzarella, blue cheese, corn, caramelized...

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 16:00:00 -0800

Homemade Pizza: mozzarella, blue cheese, corn, caramelized onions, zucchini, garlic, lime juice

This dough takes 1 advance day of prep so make it the night before and go to sleep. Since toppings are self explanatory, here’s the pizza dough recipe adapted Peter Reinhart and Jim Lahey:

Makes 2 13”x18” sheet pan pizzas, or about 3 12” round pizzas

2 1/4 cup bread flour (can use all purpose if that’s all you got)
7/8 cup of slightly warm water (almost a cup, I wouldn’t worry too much about this, just don’t go OVER a cup)
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast (or instant)
flour or cornmeal for dusting
oil (optional)

Mix the flour, water, yeast, and salt together until there are no flour streaks
Separate dough into two or three equal pieces, depending on how many pizzas you want to make
Lightly oil (just a few drops!) bowls to put your dough pieces into so they don’t stick
Put dough balls into the fridge overnight or for at least 12 hours. Dough should have significantly risen or doubled in size.
Pull dough out of the fridge and let rest for about 30-45 minutes at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Shape dough into desired shape, working from the middle to stretch the dough (I use my hands). If dough is resistant and bounces back, rest for another 10-15 minutes and return to it.
Put all your desired toppings on the pizza.
Bake for around 12 minutes on the middle rack, or until cheese is bubbling and crust is browned.

Valentine’s Dinner #1: Ribeye and roasted vegetables with...

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 12:40:00 -0800

Valentine’s Dinner #1: Ribeye and roasted vegetables with bacon and blue cheese.

What you need: Ribeye steak, carrots, brussel sprouts, bacon, blue cheese, butter, salt, pepper, oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Toss carrots and brussel sprouts with olive oil, salt, and pepper to coat
Spread vegetables onto a sheet pan or other oven-proof pan and put into oven for 25-30 minutes, turning and moving vegetables at the halfway point.
Meanwhile, generously salt and pepper both sides of the ribeye steak.
Heat cast-iron pan or stainless steel pan to medium high with dab of butter (non-stick pans don’t brown meat too well)
When pan feels hot and butter is bubbling, add steak to the pan. For about a 1” thick steak, cook 7-8 mins total for medium rare.
When steak is done, let it rest for 10 minutes. If you cut into it now, all your awesome juices will gush out like a delicious river….but not in your mouth.
While steak rests , cook however many bacon strips you want (I used 3 for two steaks), and crumble some blue cheese.
Pull out the veggies from the oven when they are browned and give easily when poked with a fork. Toss the bacon and blue cheese into the veggies and mix it all up.
Grab yourself a plate and eat.

Soon, I will have a party to make these. Or just eat.

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 23:18:49 -0800

Soon, I will have a party to make these. Or just eat.

Zuppe di Mare - Let’s Do It! Okay these posts are getting...

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 19:41:02 -0700

Zuppi de Mare

Slice up the squid, get garlic ready

Why yes, this is one head of garlic

Cut up the onions, I found baby ones

4.5qt pot with olive oil, garlic, onion

Can of tomatoes and spices ready!

Squid, scallops, some of the fish go in

Add tomatoes, potatoes, and spices

Let soup simmer & butter-poach fish

Fish nice and buttery, now EAT THE SOUP!

Zuppe di Mare - Let’s Do It!

Okay these posts are getting increasingly large. Ingredient list here, recipe through pictures:

3 fillets of red snapper
2 whole squids
1/2 lb bay scallops
1/4 lb shrimp
1/2 lb onion (one onion)
1 can of tomatoes
1 russet potato
1/2 eggplant
1 head of garlic (YES, ONE WHOLE HEAD OF GARLIC)
bunches of basil, parsley
thyme, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, bay leaf, salt, pepper, olive oil

You only cook some of the fish in the beginning to make your base for the stock. The rest of the fish is cooked separately so you can actually eat fish with soup. Otherwise, it will break up in the soup and you won’t even see the fish. Add the shrimp in last, just before you are about to serve. They cook fast. If you’d like a stronger seafood flavor, just let the soup simmer more and reduce down. I didn’t have any wine on hand to cook this, but I’m sure it would have helped alot..

Sprinkle your herbs after you get all settled. I like eating the soup with a big chunk of bread slathered with butter :)

Good Morning Mission! First Weekend Breakfast Frittatta with...

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 10:52:51 -0700

Good Morning Mission! First Weekend Breakfast

Frittatta with Ground Turkey, Zucchini, and Green Onions

1. Smash some garlic up. 2 (1 per person) cloves should be plenty, more if you love garlic. I’m not sure why I didn’t use more either.

2. Cut up some green onions. I use 1 sprig per person you’re planning to serve.

3. Cut up one zucchini into thin slices.

4. Crack up eggs, I like doing 1.5 eggs per person for the frittata. I know it sounds weird. Just crack 3 if you’re serving two okay? Mix up the eggs just enough to just break the yolks. No need to scramble. Add some salt and pepper to this.

5. Fire up a medium-heat skillet with olive oil and put in your ground turkey. Cook until it’s about turned color and then throw in your garlic, onions, and zucchini. Cook all until just about tender.

6. Turn on your broiler and stick the whole pan in there and wait about 6-7 minutes or until the top has set.

It should take about 30 minutes tops! GOOD MORNING.

Slow Cooked Eggplants with Chives, Thai Basil, and Sweet...

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:00:27 -0700

Today's lunch

Eggplants and zucchini

Garlic chive with basil and sweet ginger

Somen noodles

Done almost instantly

Rinsed with cold water

Slow Cooked Eggplants with Chives, Thai Basil, and Sweet Ginger

I watched Top Chef DC yesterday, and I got inspired by the Cold War challenge. Contestants had to create cold dishes so I decided to try a cold dish myself with my Japanese eggplants for today’s lunch. I’m actually eating this right now as I type.

I prepped the eggplants by salting them first and letting them sit for about 30 minutes so that water let out. This created a meatier texture by taking out the water content in the eggplant. This also made sure that I would be slow cooking the eggplants instead of steaming/boiling them. I slow cooked the eggplants and zucchini’s in a little bit of oil until they were browned and soft.

Next, I mixed garlic chives with thai basil, ginger, and mirin (mirin is a sugary Japanese cooking wine.). I let them sit on medium heat until the mirin sugar started to brown slightly and the ginger got crispy.

You can grab the Somen noodles from most Asian markets. They cook almost instantly once put into a boiling pot of water. Rinse them afterwards with cold water, construct your plate, and drizzle a little sesame oil and soy sauce over it if you want!

How do you make Chinese brown sauce? Here’s how I make it...

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:23:42 -0700

How do you make Chinese brown sauce?

Here’s how I make it - and it comes out pretty close to what you’d expect from a Chinese restaurant or you want that take-out taste:

2 parts chicken broth
1 part soy sauce
1/2 part Chinese rice wine
1/2 part garlic
OPTIONAL 1/2 part ginger (works well if you have lots of vegetables, otherwise you can do without)
pepper (white if possible)
sugar to taste (I don’t like mine too sweet, but others do)
1/4 part of corn starch/flour (thickener)

Mix the corn starch/flour up with a little water just so it’s liquid and then pour it in last. The recipe above is in parts because it depends on how much food you’re making. Good luck!

Carrot Cake Experiment So Wei and I decided to try making THIS...

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:01:42 -0700

Ah yes, it tastes great

Disaster zone

Frosting - too much butter I think

Vegetable oil version fresh out

Lots of carrots

Carrot Cake Experiment

So Wei and I decided to try making THIS carrot cake. Carrot cake is my favorite cake of all time. Probably should have known to check out THIS carrot cake over at Foodie Friday instead. I’m terrible at baking, which is why you rarely see any baked goods here on Served. Here’s what happened in our experiment:

Oh crap. No vegetable oil. Guess we’re compromising with olive oil. Bad start already. I hear olive oil tastes bad with baked goods.
No food processor. Time to hand grate these carrots!
No 9x13 pans, didn’t realize you could calculate different servings on AllRecipes either so we just split the recipe by half for our 9” round pan
Got Mr. Fung to bring us some vegetable oil so we got two batches of carrot cake going
These carrot cakes don’t look like what we eat. They look like curry cakes. I think we should have used brown sugar.

After eating a slice of both batches, one with olive oil and one with vegetable, there really wasn’t a difference after all that sugar and frosting, but it could taste way better. The moistness was there, but the flavoring wasn’t quite all there. I’ll try again soon…

Two’s Cous I had two-way chicken earlier this week, but...

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:40:33 -0700

Cous cous for dinner

Cous cous for lunch the next day

Two’s Cous I had two-way chicken earlier this week, but now for something lighter - couscous for lunch and dinner. First one is with cannellini beans, giant white beans, and onions served on a bed of roasted beets. Second one is my leftover couscous with shitake mushrooms, my own pickled cucumbers (or pickles), giant white beans, and some lime juice. P.S. If you eat that many beets, your uhhh…bio-movements will turn pink.

Summer Pizza, Round 2 Cheeseboard dough recipe made by Kelly Eng

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:02:43 -0700

Summer Pizza, Round 2

Cheeseboard dough recipe made by Kelly Eng

Two Variations of Roast Chicken Leg and Roast Vegetables Made...

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:01:42 -0700

Chicken with peppers, zucchini, beans

Chicken with beets, carrots, zucchini

Two Variations of Roast Chicken Leg and Roast Vegetables

Made the same way:

400 degree oven
Chicken leg with olive oil, salt, pepper (add fresh herbs for more flavor, I used fennel and thyme)
Whatever vegetables you want tossed with the same olive oil, salt, pepper
10 minutes for the chicken, flip over, 5 more minutes or until brown and crispy
10 minutes for the vegetables, longer if you like them softer

Summer Pizza cheap and affordable especially if you make your...

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:00:41 -0700

Summer Pizza

cheap and affordable especially if you make your own dough (but I used Trader Joe’s dough this time)

Vegetarian Combo of all flavors Panko Fried Tofu with...

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:20:28 -0700

Panko Fried Tofu with Teriyaki

Seashell Pasta

Curried Lentils and Smashed Potatoes

Stir-Fried Eggplant

Vegetarian Combo of all flavors

Panko Fried Tofu with Teriyaki

Seashell Pasta with Zucchini, Three Beans, Sun-Dried Tomato, Breadcrumbs

Curried Lentils and Smashed Potatoes

Stir-Fried Eggplant

Fettuccine with giant white beans (from Trader Joe’s!) and...

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:12:31 -0700

Fettuccine with giant white beans (from Trader Joe’s!) and baby broccoli

5 mins for the pasta to boil.

3 mins for the broccoli to cook.

1 min to stir the beans in.

Easy meal :)

Lamb Ragu Rigatoni and Basil

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:34:17 -0700

Lamb Ragu Rigatoni and Basil