How to Grill a Whole Fish

What a fresh meal!  My dad went fishing and caught a bunch of rainbow trout, which Aki then prepared for dinner in 2 different ways.  I prefer my fish steamed with ginger, green onion, and soya sauce; but he much prefers it barbequed.  We also had it with a side of fresh vegetables from my grandmother's garden.  Unfortunately I can't tell you what type of vegetables these are because I do not know what they are called, but they are delicious and taste a bit like spinach (but better!).  Also, as you may have noticed all of the protein-rich meals lately, my iron levels are fantastic and I have not been tired!  So, thank you meat, fish, iron pills, and protein powder.

Grilled Fish
-sprinkle outside and inside with a bit of salt
-heat up BBQ very hot
-grill directly on grill for 6 min one side, 5 min other side

-try not to be scared by the eyeballs and enjoy!  (notice how the head is conveniently not included in the picture).

Steamed Fish
-steam fish with grated ginger in large fry pan, covered, for about 15 min
-top with green onion and dash of soya sauce

Steamed Veggies
-steam veggies with sliced garlic until tender
-top with oyster sauce

Beef Eye of Round Roast

I think this recipe needs a better name, but it really is just a beef eye of round roast, so what can you do?  I was originally going to make a stew with the beef but felt like eating a roast.  I was not sure how it would turn out, as it is a leaner and cheaper cut of meat, and indeed it was a bit tough.  Well, that is life, and one day when I am rich I will only buy the finest cuts of meat.  Serve with horseradish, and lots of it (I love horseradish!).

Roast (3 pounds)
-cover with gravy (I had leftover gravy in my fridge, but I think you can omit this step)
-season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder
-preheat oven to 500 degrees F for 20 minutes (although my oven only went up to 450 F.  Lame!)
-roast in oven, uncovered, for 21 minutes (3 minutes/pound)
-when it is done, without opening the oven door at all, let sit in oven for 1 to 2 hours
-take it out and let sit for half an hour
-slice thinly


Green Beans
-cook green beans lightly (I prefer to steam them)
-add 2 tbsp butter, salt and pepper, juice of half a lemon, 3 tbsp minced parsley


Enjoy!

Cauliflower Gratineed with Cheese and Tomatoes

I really enjoyed this dish!  Thank you again to Julia Child. The dish looks pretty thanks to the extra colour of the tomatoes, which also gives it a nice tangy flavour.  The cheese and butter help too!

Ingredients:
-1 cauliflower, cut into flowerets
-3 tomatoes, sliced
-1/3 cup melted butter
-1/4 cup breadcrumbs
-1/2 cup grated parmesan
-salt and pepper

Directions:
-blanche cauliflower (which means to cook it, but just barely, then submerge in cold water to stop the cooking process)
-arrange cauliflower in middle of baking dish, with sliced tomatoes surrounding it
-cover with half of the melted butter
-top with breadcrumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper
-top with rest of the melted butter
-bake at 375 degrees F for about 20 min

Chicken with Cream Sauce (aka Poulet Saute a la Creme)

I am so full of rich food I can barely keep my eyes open, let alone muster up the energy (haha, I just wrote "courage" by accident) to write this.  This is another Julia Child recipe, but adapted to be a touch healthier.  I will keep it short and simple. 

Ingredients:
Chicken thighs, without skin
Butter
Salt, pepper, dried thyme
Fresh parsely
Half of a shallot, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream

Directions:
-Fry chicken in 1 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp butter
-Cover and cook over medium heat until cooked thoroughly (about 15 min)
-Remove chicken from pan and season with pepper and dried thyme
-Discard all but 1 tbsp leftover oil/butter

-Fry half shallot until slightly browned in leftover oil/butter
-Add white wine and cook until reduced to about 3 tbsp liquid
-Add cream and cook until slightly thickened
-Remove from heat and add 1 tbsp butter and diced parsely

-Add in cooked chicken and serve

Adzuki Bean Soup

Adzuki beans are red beans that are cheap and very healthy, and are typically used in Asian desserts.  I have had them in dessert soups and pastries, and have always liked them since I was a little girl.  You can find them in Asian supermarkets or sometimes in the "ethnic" section of other grocery stores.  Here is some nutritional information from the website livestrong.com to try to encourage you to make this recipe:

"A 100 g serving of cooked adzuki beans offers 128 calories, 0 g of fat, 7.5 g of protein, 25 g of carbohydrates, 7.3 g of dietary fiber, 8 mg of sodium, 0 mg of cholesterol, 121 mcg of folate, 532 mg of potassium, 168 mg of phosphorus, 52 mg of magnesium, 2 mg of iron, .57 mg of manganese, and 1.78 mg of zinc."

Convinced?!

Recipe/Directions
-soak 1 cup of adzuki beans in water overnight
-rinse and drain well
-place adzuki beans in large pressure cooker or pot and add 7 to 8 cups of water
-cover and simmer for 20 minutes in pressure cooker or 1 hour in regular pot

-serve with 1 tbsp condensed milk
-eat for breakfast, snack, or dessert!

Variations:  Other people thicken the soup, and/or add raw or brown sugar instead of condensed milk.  Do as you please!

Julia Child - Mastering the Art of French Cooking

TIME TO GET FAT!!!!

Inspired by the book & movie, Julie and Julia, I will be embarking on a French cooking journey and making a series of recipes from the book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I will be interspersing these dishes with some healthier, less heavy meals, especially considering it is summer and ridiculously hot outside (i.e., not really a time for heavy stews and meats with cream).  All recipes will be slightly adapted since I cannot be bothered to follow exact recipes.

Recipe 1:  Potage Parmentier (Leek and Potato Soup)

4 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
4 cups leeks, sliced
10 cups water

Boil and then simmer these ingredients for 50 minutes.  Mash with potato masher.  Add 2 to 3 tbsp of butter and decorate with fresh parsley before serving.

PS. This is not a recipe with a lot of butter and cream....wait for it!

Steamed Wontons & Fried Wontons

Wow, it has been so long since I have posted that I have had to create a "to blog" folder on my desktop to clean up all of the files of pictures cluttering it up.  Since I have last posted, I have had these wontons twice.  The first time I had made the filling and there were not enough wonton wrappers to use it all up, so I froze the meat mixture and used it again last night.  Here is the recipe!

Meat mixture
pork or chicken (or shrimp if you are a fancypants)
canned bamboo shoots, drained
canned water chestnuts, drained
green onion
1 egg
3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp soya sauce
pepper to taste

*process all ingredients together in a food processor

Buy wonton wrappers (make sure they are not dumpling wrappers, as wonton wrappers are thinner).  Wrap about a tsp of meat mixture in the wontons and seal with either water + cornstarch (pre-mixed in a little bowl) or a beaten egg.  There are many ways to wrap wontons, some more elaborate than others.  Look!
http://www.homemade-chinese-soups.com/how-to-fold-wontons.html

I don't actually do any of those.  My techniques are a family secret.  And by family secret I mean that it is too hard to describe in words and I can't seem to find a picture on the internet to show you.

Cooking wontons
I had planned to boil all of the wontons (in a separate pot of water, NOT directly in the broth because the flour from the wrappers will come off into the broth and it will taste bad).  Then I was going to make a separate soup broth with green onions and Chinese vegetables.  However, Aki decided to deep fry some of the wontons and they were DELICIOUS!!!  We dipped the deep fried ones into Japanese mayonnaise.  Last night when we had them again, we actually fried all of them as a delicious Friday treat!