It's grilling time!

It's finally summer.
For this summer, our plan is to try two grilling recipes every week.

Here are the two things we made like week:
1. Bratwurst sandwich with apple mustard sauce



















The apple mustard sauce is super easy--just mix Dijon mustard with apple butter.
But it has great flavor and I'm sure it will work with for grilled pork chop too.



















2. steak sandwich
New York strip steaks marinated in redwine+soy sauce+balsamic vinegar+brown sugar+garlic













It is topped with grilled onions that were marinated in the same red wine marinate.
The onions are definitely the best grilled onions I have ever had!!!
(other topping: watercress--it's suggested in the recipe, but the watercress is really bitter so we took it out after the first bite.
Sauce: horseradish cream sauce)

Cucumber Salad

In China, all appetizers are served cold.
And what is called salad in the U.S. is often an appetizer in a Chinese meal.

For example, this cucumber mung bean noodle salad.
(Dressing: soy sauce, wasabi, garlic, sesame oil)













And the main dish is chicken wing stew with potato, carrots, and shitaki mushroom.

Ants on the trees

Don't worry. This blog is still about food.
"Ants on the trees" is a traditional Chinese dish. But...
There are no ants or trees in the dish.

Ants=grounded pork/beef
trees=mung bean noodle
There two are stir-fried together and look like ants on the trees :p

Rotisserie Chicken Risotto

What's the most unpopular part in a whole rotisserie chicken?
If your answer is chicken breast, then it is the perfect recipe for you.

We like buying a whole rotisserie chicken from the store every once a while.
After having the tasty wings, thighs, and drumsticks, we always don't know what to do with the giant breasts without much flavor.

Today, I cut the two pieces of breast into cubes and made a yummy risotto.
Besides the chicken and chicken broth, there's onion, garlic, green peas, asparagus, and shitaki mushrooms in the risotto.
So again, a single dish with tons of flavor and nutrition.

My 30-minutes meal

With Chinese stir fry, it's always easy to make a few dishes within 30 minutes.

Main dish: porkchop in pineapple sweet and sour sauce (20 minutes, doesn't need to be tended most of the time) Secret ingrediant for sweet and sour sauce in Chinese cooking? You'll never believe it---ketchup :p
Sides: stir fry spinach with eggs (5 minutes, including cleaning);
stir fry tofu with double mushrooms (button and fresh shitaki mushrooms) in oyster sauce (5 minutes)

DONE!













About shitaki mushrooms: Most stores only sell dried shitaki mushroom, but the fresh ones actually have amazing favor and super smooth texture. Check out your local Asian grocery stores, they are often sold at a very reasonable price.

What can be more fusion than cola+soysauce :)

Yes, it is Coca Cola, my secret ingredient for cooking chicken wings.
Compared with sugar, the flavor is more rich and complex. And when the cola is thicken, it tastes even better than caramelized sugar.

My signature cola chicken wings!
Sides: cucumber with egg, stir fry green peas with sweet corn with green onion (Chinese name of this dish--jade & gold, pretty fancy :p )

Rainy day dinner: sausage stew

It's been rainy since the weather has gotten a little bit warmer. A bowl of warm stew seems to be the perfect dinner.

This is a recipe from one of my Korean friends, but with bacon & sausage in it, my guess is that it is a Korean+American fusion dish.

Stew: sausage+bacon+tomato+onion+green pepper+spinach+garbanzo beans
(very soupy, very thick, very tasty, very healthy:-D )
Served with sour dough bread.