Mushroom Quiche

I just baked a mushroom quiche for supper today and my mom asked me a really tricky question: "What is this ? ..tastes wonderful :O"

I thanked her gratefully and in my mind, i was thinking what is Quiche in Chinese?? I really have noo idea.... Anyways, if I have to explain what is it, I would say quiche is a simple and flexible dish that could be prepare for anytime. Really, it is very causal, dump in whatever is left in your fridge and walaa, an elegant dish is done!!! For me, I saute some sliced mushrooms, a handful of chopped onions, ham, some mined garlics and shallots in advance. Lay a baked pie shell with shredded mozzeralla cheese and sprinkle the cooked ingredients. Pour beaten eggs and milk over and bake for 45mins or until its set. Aint that easy?? 

recipe:

one 9inch pie shell, prebaked for 10-15mins in 400F oven

sauted : mushroom, ham, onions, garlic, shallot

1/2cup mozzeralla cheese

3eggs

1cup milk

1/2tsp salt

1/4tsp black pepper

Veggies risotto

Look at the creaminess of this risotto, OMFG! Can you believe this was my first try of making risotto?! I can't even believe myself, lol, I got skills :p by the way, the recipe is really flexible, I didn't include wine in it since I'm making it more kid-friendly. But, really , just do whatever you want as long as the amount is the same. I used water just because I ran out of stock and I also didn't stir in butter at the end as what most people would do because I think the milk already did an amazing job of adding creaminess and richness to the risotto.

Mushroom Risotto (4servings)
3 garlic gloves, minced
2tbsp oil
1 1/2cups arborio rice
2cups chicken stock, hot
2cups hot water
1/2cup hot milk
Cooked veggies: Mushrooms, shitaki mushroom, zucchini
1/2cup parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
1) in a heavy pot, add oil and minced garlic, fry until golden, about 30sec on medium high heat.
2) quickly stir in rice and toast rice for 3mins until rice is hot.
3) stir in chicken stock slowly and add in other liquid once the rice has absorbed all the liquid. Cover and simmer for 15mins or until rice has cooked through.
3) stir in cooked veggies and cheese. Give it a taste test, add salt and pepper if needed.
4) serve right away. For leftovers, add some water to loosen it when reheat.

Thin-Crust Pizza

Food Review: Sushi Tei

I have to say this march break was so much better than the past one, at least i went out to eat a lot and enjoyed the food. One of the restaurant i went for dinner is Sushi Tei , the one in Mississauga. I actually went there before for a couple times already, it has varieties of choices to choose from and note that the menu for lunch and dinner would be slightly different. I usually go there for supper, I had lunch there once though. Every time I go there, I would remind myself to take a picture first before I dig in, but well, once the food had arrived, people had gone out of control since no one can hold their hunger against food, moreover, those food are tempting. I did manage myself to take one picture though, that's the best I can do.

Sushi night :)

Even though im not japanese, japanese cusine, especially sushi meant a lot to me and my family. We  have it at least once a week, either make it at home or have it in a restaurant. We are just a huge lover of japan and all the food in japan :D So, i guess everyone will figure out the answer for this question: "what makes friday even better?" of course is SUSHIII !!!! OMGGG. After I got back home from yoga, I immediately went into the kitchen (which included washing my hands) and started preparing my sushi rolls for today's dinner. Doesn't it look so good?? hum?? I guess your mouth is watering too, right? k, i know it doesn't look as fancy or professional as the store-bought one, but it definitely has no difference in taste. That's why i perfer to make sushi at home, cas of the hygine problem and the money issue. Sushi is like the easiest food in the world, it doesn't take long to make as long as you have everything prepared. All you need is to wrap in the stuffing you like, in my case, i had avocado/ crab sticks/ crab meat/ ham/ mayo/ tuna/ ... etc. (cant name them all, hahaha..i put lots of stuff in it:) anyways, yea...and it doesn't even require any skills to roll, like a kid could do it too. k, so,,,my point is that why would you bother to spend so much on store-bought sushi when it is that easy to make it at home, btw, you got to enjoy the fun part of making it too :DDD 

Baked Ham 焗火腿

Even though today was not Christmas or any special day that we need to celebrate, there's no way to stop us from eating this gorgeous baked ham, a dish which my mom has learnt recently and became one of our occasional meal lately.

Japanese style Salmon 日式三文魚

I am always eager to try a Japanese recipe and today I finally got a chance to make something that is related to Japanese cooking- salmon served with teriyaki sauce ! Salmon is a really common dish in a Japanese restaurant, it often comes with a bowl of steaming hot rice, in which the sauce makes a good combination with the soft white rice and lovely pan-fried salmon. I'm glad that I could actually make my own sauce that tastes as good as the restaurant ones.

Teriyaki sauce recipe (3/4cup):
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp garlic powder
1tsp corn starch
2 tbsp water
1) in a small pot, combine together soy sauce, water, sugar and garlic powder, bring them to boil.
2) mix together corn starch and water, then add to the soy sauce mixture. Cook until sauce has thickened.

The sauce is good with everything, beef/chicken/fish.etc.
I chose to serve the sauce with salmon since that was I had on hand. To prepare the salmon fillet, I cut it in half, pick the bones out and season it with salt and pepper to take away that fishy smell. Before frying it, I also pat it with flour and drizzle some olive oil on top. The frying part doesn't take long, around 5mins per side. :)

Chicken pie with mashed potato 薯溶雞批

Seriously, this is one of the best pie I have ever made. I could not find any word to describe how amazing this pie is. All i can say is to try imagine a buttery and flaky pie crust filled with creamy chicken and mushroom filling and finished off with a rich mashed potato topping. That is how amazing it is.

Pan fried sea bass 香煎銀雪魚

With only a few ingredient on hand can also make a meal for dinner! I consider myself as white-washed and eating fish appears as a really big problem to me since fish contains lots of tiny bones and I got scared to pick them out from my mouth. Therefore, I started eating fish fillet like salmon and sashimi to keep my intake of omega 3. But this fish- sea bass, even though it still has some bones, I found no reason to resist it. It is super easy to prepare and those are big bones, so I can actually pick them out with my fingers(lol).

Sea bass recipe:
Sea bass
Salt
Butter
Mayo
1) lightly sprinkle salt over sea bass, marinated it for an hour.
2) in a big frying pan, melt a few tablespoonfuls of butter. Place in the sea bass and fry each side for 5mins or until golden brown.
3) serve immediately, it's good by itself or with mayo.

Butternut squash soup (a winter comfort)

A recipe that is incredibly easy, tasty and healthy. Even though I was having a bit trouble cutting the squash (great strength is needed and I have none) I would still give this soup a thumb up and would definitely make it again. By the way, take a quick glance at the nutrition facts table, you will be amazed by how amazing this soup is:)
And oh .. Forgot to say, if using spinach , mushroom and onions.. Please pre-fry them first. Therefore, to save my time, I used broccoli and tomato, leftover would be a good choice too, but sadly I had none at that time。

Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
(4-5 servings):
1tbsp olive oil
350g butternut squash, ( since i have a small family to serve, I only used half of the squash)
1/2tsp salt
1/4tsp garlic powder
1/8tsp black and white pepper
100g white potato, diced
450mL chicken broth
450mL water
450mL skim milk

1) cut the squash in half, peeled off the skin with a peeler, then chopped it in large cubes.
2) heat olive oil in a pot, sauté squash cubes for 5mins, add in seasonings.
3) add in diced potato, broth and water. Bring mixture to boil then turn heat down to medium and let it simmer for 10mins.
4) when the squash and potato are soft, put them in a blender and purée them with milk. Add mixture back to the pot and cook for another 10mins.

Veggie n ham soup

OMG, i cant believe my mom and my sister were away for the whole afternoon today and came back at like 9. Lucky that I didn't get lazy and actually prepared soup for them. I call this the "Ultimate Energy Soup", Lol, this soup is my new invention:p its super easy to prepare and can be done in half an hour (maybe i just work too fast:3) the result is super amazing, except for the fact that i accidentally put too much pepper in it..oh and I also added rice in it for dinner:3 so good man! Hope uguys enjoy;) if you are going for vegan, just leave out the ham and add some mushrooms or other veggies in it, this soup recipe is just a base, you can do whatever you want.
Recipe(4servings)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small garlic clove, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp flour
3cups water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4tsp black pepper
1 small head cauliflower , chopped
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 small carrot, diced
2 slices ham, diced
1 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 slice cheese
1) in a medium pot, add in oil, garlic and onion, cook until the onion is golden brown, add in the flour, then stir in the water, mix till they are combined.
2) add in the spices and cauliflower. Put the lid on and cook until the cauliflower is tender and soft enough to mash.
3) once the cauliflower is softened, mash it (you could do it with a blender or a potato masher ) then add the milk, cream and remaining ingredients.
4) cook for about 10mins or until the thickness you want.