Food Friday - Crispy Calamari

CRISPY CALAMARI

One of the things that my hb and I enjoy doing together is try different cuisine and try new restaurants in and around our town. Our old time fave appetizer is Crispy Calamari. We've seen calamari prepared in lots of different ways, and this one is from Kyoto Japanese Steakhouse & Bars. It's really yummy.

Food Friday - Happy Family

HAPPY FAMILY

This was one of the dishes we ordered at Lilac Blossom, a fine Chinese cuisine resto where we celebrated Father's Day. This dish is called Happy Family, a surf and turf dish of shrimps, scallops, beef, Chinese and roast pork with succulent vegetables in traditional brown sauce.

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Food Friday - Pomegranates

I never had pomegranate fruit in my life till after New Year's day. I just wanted to complete our traditional 12 different kinds of round fruits to welcome the New Year so I had to get pomegranates too. Believe it or not, I didn't even have a clue on how to eat this fruit. I didn't know how to pull out the seeds or if I should eat them too, lol. So for those of you who don't have any idea on how to eat pomegranate, here are the easy steps on how to eat pomegranate for your health:

POMEGRANATES

Step1

Eat the seeds from the fruit. While pomegranates are messy to eat (the juice will stain fingers and clothes) and it may be difficult to pull the seeds out of the fruit, eating the seeds is a great way to get the health benefits of a pomegranate.

Step2

Take pomegranate seed oil. Early research indicates that the seed oil itself may help prevent against various cancers and may help with hormone control as it is the only fruit that contains estrogen. You can find the seed oil in capsule forms at many health food stores.

Step3

Drink the juice. Pomegranate juice contains vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and is one of the only fruits where drinking the juice will get you more antioxidants than eating the fruit itself. This is because there are antioxidants in the peel and we don't eat the peel. When we squeeze the fruit to get the juice out, the antioxidants in the peel are released. While you can try to squeeze the juice yourself, this will take a great deal of effort from you. You can buy pomegranate juice in health food stores and in the health food sections of most grocery stores.

HEALTH BENEFITS:
Pomegranates are becoming increasingly popular from a health perspective as they are rich in antioxidants. In addition, pomegranates are full of potassium, niacin, Vitamin C and fiber. We are only just learning about the pomegranates' health benefits, but they may prevent some cancers and the hardening of arteries associated with heart disease, be a natural Viagra and may prevent Osteoarthritis.

(Source - ehow.com)

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Food Friday - Edamame

I always buy a pack of organic edamame for snack. It is fully cooked and ready to eat. I just microwave it for a couple of minutes before serving. My little tot also loves eating it. Eating is fun when I let him squeeze the soybeans into his mouth with his fingers. And sometimes I just squeeze the soybeans out of the pod in his bowl and he picks them.

Edamame is a green vegetable more commonly known as a soybean, harvested at the peak of ripening right before it reaches the "hardening" time. The word Edamame means "Beans on Branches," and it grows in clusters on bushy branches. To retain the freshness and its natural flavor, it is parboiled and quick-frozen. In East Asia, the soybean has been used for over two thousand years as a major source of protein. Edamame is consumed as a snack, a vegetable dish, used in soups or processed into sweets. As a snack, the pods are lightly boiled in salted water, and then the seeds are squeezed directly from the pods into the mouth with the fingers.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
(per 100 gms of Edible Portion)
CALORIES - 125.0
PROTEIN - 12.1
CARBOHYDRATES - 13.1
FAT - 3.6
ASH - 1.7
CALCIUM - 9.3
PHOSPHORUS - 180.0
IRON - 2.7
SODIUM - 5.0
VITAMIN A - 130.0
VITAMIN U1 - 0.31
VITAMIN C - 40.0

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Food Friday - Roasted Winter Vegetables

This dish is a perfect partner to my Broiled Salmon with Pesto Mayonnaise. Don't worry if you don't have every vegetables listed here. You can substitute your favorite vegetables if you want. I actually added red, yellow and orange bell peppers for added colors. You can't resist this dish, your kitchen will be filled with inviting aroma from the rosemary while roasting.

ROASTED WINTER VEGETABLES

INGREDIENTS:
2 potatoes
2 sweet potatoes

2 parsnips
2 turnips
4 carrots
2 stalks celery
2 red onions
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
salt
1/4 cup fresh rosemary
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

DIRECTIONS:
1. Peel the potatoes and turnips, scrape the parsnips and carrots, and cut all the vegetables into 2-inch chunks. Cut the onions into quarters or sixths.
2. Put all the vegetables in a large roasting pan and rub all over with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and half the rosemary.
3. An hour before dinner, put the pan into a 450 deg. F oven and roast, tossing the vegetable every now and then, for 30 to 40 minutes until the potatoes are browned and tender.
4. Take out of the oven and pour on the vinegar and toss rapidly to glaze. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons rosemary needles.

Kitchen Tip #6

High-heat roasting works magic on most vegetables.

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Almond-Crusted Tilapia

ALMOND-CRUSTED TILAPIA

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 lbs Tilapia fillets
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp water
3/4 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup Panko (Japanese style) bread crumbs
1 Tbsp shredded orange zest
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Rinse tilapia with cold water, pat dry with paper towels. Set aside.
   
2. Place flour in a shallow bowl, set aside. In a second shallow bowl, beat together eggs and the water. In a third shallow bowl, combine almonds, panko bread crumbs, and orange zest.
   
3. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, dredge tilapia in flour, shake off excess. Dip in egg mixture. Coat with almond mixture.
   
4. Fry almond-crusted tilapia in hot oil for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a ford.
   

Honey Walnut Shrimps

Honey Walnut Shrimps is one of the favorite dishes I love to order in a Chinese restaurant. The very first time I had this dish was during our vacation in Washington state in 2005. I have tried making it once, and it was pretty good. Every time we go to Boston, we usually eat at Jumbo Seafood and of course I never fail to order this entree.

HONEY WALNUT SHRIMPS

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup water
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup walnuts
4 egg whites
2/3 cup mochiko (glutinous rice flour)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 lb. large shrimps, peeled and deveined
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp canned sweetened condensed milk
1 cup vegetable oil for frying
Broccoli florets for garnish, steamed

DIRECTIONS:
1. Stir together the water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and add the walnuts. Boil for 2 minutes, then drain and place walnuts on a cookie sheet to dry.
2. Whip egg whites in a medium bowl until foamy. Stir in the mochiko until it has a pasty consistency. Heat the oil in a heavy deep skillet over medium-high heat. Dip shrimps into the mochiko batter, and then fry in the hot oil until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
3. In a medium serving bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, honey and sweetened condensed milk. Add shrimp and toss to coat with the sauce. Sprinkle the candied walnuts on top and serve.

Korean Food and Japanese Sushi

Hi folks, we discovered another resto around town, actually it's recommended by one of our friends, it's called Korean King BBQ in Canton, MA. They serve a buffet of Korean dishes and Japanese sushi, yummy! We tried it out last Sunday after mass, and they've got pretty good selections. We came just before opening at 11:30am and the place got crowded easily. Here are some of the stuffs I got - different kinds of sushi, potato noodles, marinated tofu, dumplings and more.

Food Friday - Mini Banana Muffins

I always buy banana and I slice some in my cereals every morning. But when I bought too much I always end up with overripe ones that I just make into banana bread or muffins. This one is a recipe for banana bread that I poured into mini muffin tray, I just shorten the baking time to avoid burning them up. This is one of my toddler's favorite afternoon snacks.

MINI BANANA MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 deg. F (175 deg. C). Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan or a 24 hole mini muffin tray.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan or muffin tray
3. Bake in preheated oven to 60 to 65 minutes (in loaf pan) or 25 to 30 minutes (in mini muffin tray), until a tootpick inserted into center of the bread/muffin comes out clean. Let bread/muffin cool in a pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

New England Pasty

This is an American version of the English tradition of pasty, one of my favorite dishes to order at British Beer Company in MA. The New England Pasty has slow roasted turkey breast and cornbread stuffing. This dish includes fries, cranberry sauce and gravy and steamed vegetables.

Kielbasa In Raspberry Preserve Sauce

This is a very hearty appetizer that is so easy to prepare. You just need 4 links of Kielbasa either beef or turkey, sliced into bite pieces and 3 jars of 18 oz Red Raspberry Preserve. Just mix the two ingredients in a crock pot (slow cooker) and cook on high for 4 hours, and you're done! You may think it might be too sweet of an appetizer, but it will have a tangy bite as the saltiness of the kielbasa and the sweetness of the preserve marry together.

Craving For Pancake

I'm not a usual pancake eater for breakfast, I usually go for oatmeal or cereals, but I suddenly craved for this fluffy pancake smothered with butter and syrup, slurp! Here's my entry to Food Friday.

English Tea with Donut and Biscotti

I love any kind of tea especially Japanese green tea and English black tea. I take afternoon tea with anything sweet on the side like biscuits, cookies or donuts. Today, I had English tea with cream and sugar paired with Chocolate Donut and Biscotti. This is my entry to Food Friday.

Fried Vegetable and Pork Potstickers

Potstickers are one of our favorite snacks or dinners depending on the amount I cook ;-). I normally steam them in my bamboo steamer, but for a change I fried them in canola oil. I used lite soy sauce mixed with calamansi juice for dipping sauce.

Food Friday - Frozen Lemons

As my first entry to Food Friday, here is a shot of my frozen lemons. Lemons in US are usually expensive so I buy them in bulk at Costco and freeze the juice in ice trays for later use. Here are some pieces I popped out of the tray and used to marinate the salmon we grilled for dinner.