Culinary – Page 9 – SweetSourMoments

Shrimp Tomatillos

Published on March 18, 2012 by sweetsourmoments2 Comments

Lately I’ve become more curious about the stuffs sold in grocery store or farmer’s market, specially in produce section. I used to pick the same veggies week after week, bok choy, napa cabbage, and spinach are my regulars. Last week I was attracted to this cute tomato like fruit, Tomatillos!!! I grabbed 1 pound of it, just because the look and the name are so cute, no idea how I would use it … I thought “ahh, no worry, uncle google will offer help as always”. Later I found this recipe at simplyrecipes.com. It’s a keeper, will make it again.

Please be aware this recipe going from stove top to oven, so oven proof pan is ideal. However I use regular pan then transferred it to casserole dish.

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in pan. Add 1 chopped medium onion and 2 seeded & minced jalapenos. Cook until onion begins to brown.
2. Add 3 garlic cloves ( minced ).
3. Add 1 pound tomatillos ( cut in small wedges ), sprinkle salt as they are cooking. Cook for 10 minutes.
4. Add 1/4 cup water, followed by adding 1 pound shrimp ( cleaned and deveined ) and 1 cup feta cheese, stir slightly.

5. Bake in preheated 400°F oven for 10 minutes.
6. Remove from oven, add 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, pepper to taste, and a squeeze of lime juice.
7. Bon appétit.

Kani Corn Salad

Published on March 16, 2012March 16, 2012 by sweetsourmoments4 Comments

My lovely neighbor Jan inspired me to make my own kani salad. She told me about the delicious kani salad in a sushi restaurant close to our houses. The way she described it could make your mouth watering and your stomach singing … yummy, I think that sushi restaurant should give her at least a special discount for promoting its salad!!! Yes she is right, it’s the best kani salad I’ve ever had.

Then I started my search for kani salad recipes so that I can have it anytime. Here is the recipe, I adopted from 3 sources to make my own style, though it is not as delicious as the sushi restaurant’s but I think it’s close 🙂

1. Shred the 8 kani sticks ( imitation crab stick ).

2. Drain 1/2 can corn kernel.

3. 2 cups lettuce, finely sliced.

4. Fry 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs, leave it on paper towel to remove extra oil.

5. The dressing, mix together :

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ginger juice
1/2 tsp hot sauce ( optional )
2 tbsp sushi vinegar
pinch of salt

6. Arrange the lettuce on the bottom of serving bowl.

7. Toss kani, corn kernel, and panko with the dressing then put on the top of lettuce. Serve.

8. Bon appétit.

Potato Crust Cup-quiche

Published on March 15, 2012March 15, 2012 by sweetsourmoments8 Comments

I like quiche especially spinach mushroom quiche. Since I didn’t have pie pastry and felt lazy to make pie crust I decided to go with ingredients that I had in fridge, potatoes. I remembered reading a post about making potato crust for dessert then came the idea of making Potato Crust Cup-quiche.

I thought quiche in cupcake size would be super cute, just be patient with the process and you will be happy with the result. It is also good for snack. Instead of spinach and ham, I used broccoli and chicken sausage.

* 12 cupcake size servings

1. Shred 4 small/medium potatoes, squeeze extra water, add 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1/3 cup flour, and 1/2 tsp salt, mix thoroughly.

2. Press the potato mixture into well greased cupcake pan. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes.

3. For the filling : put 2 tbsp e.v.o.o in pan and cook 1/3 cup onion until transparent then add 1 cup sliced mushroom, stir for about 2 minutes, add 1 cup broccoli florets and 1/2 cup sliced/chopped chicken sausage.

4. For the egg mixture : whisk 2 eggs with 1/2 cup heavy cream, dash of nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

5. Put the filling into potato crust, add shredded cheddar cheese, pour the egg mixture.

6. Put back into oven for another 20 minutes.

7. Bon appétit.

Rugelach Challenge

Published on March 14, 2012 by sweetsourmomentsLeave a comment

The idea of making Rugelach actually came from nowhere. I just wanted to make something that I had never heard, tasted, and seen before. Thanks to uncle Google, I saw this recipe at Epicurious and thought it was a good challenge. To see how is the success rate, I brought it to my colleague who I assumed is very familiar with this cookies. He recognized the name right away, so at least from the appearance point it was in a right direction. Then he said “good”, which I translated to “passed” for this challenge.

I did make adjustment in sugar measurement because the recipe has apricot preserves which is sweet and raisin which is also sweet ingredient, and I am not the type of “sweet” person ~smile~

1. Whisk together 2 cups flour, ½ tsp salt, and 2 tbsp sugar.

2. Mix together 8 oz cream cheese and 1 cup unsalted softened butter until combined well.

3. Add flour mixture into butter mixture, mix them with wooden spoon until fully incorporated and form a dough ball.

4. Wrap the dough ball in a plastic wrap and flatten into 7 x 5 inch rectangle. Chill in refrigerator until firm for 3 hours ( the original version says 8 – 24 hours ).

5. Preheat oven to 350°F.

6. Divide the flatten dough into 4 piece.

7. Roll out each piece into 12 x 8 inch rectangle on well-floured surface ( refrigerate the remaining pieces in plastic wrap until you finish with the previous one, this is to keep the dough in firm shape ).The finished 12 x 8 inch piece then transferred to parchment paper and put back into refrigerator. Do this until all 4 pieces are finished.

8. Prepare the filling for 4 rolls:

whisk 1/3 cup sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon
chop ¾ cup raisin
chop 1 cup walnut
¾ cup apricot preserve

9. Onto each piece of dough, spread apricot preserves evenly, sprinkle chopped raisin, sprinkle chopped walnut, then sprinkle cinnamon sugar.

10. Roll the dough, place seam side down, pinch both ends, brush the top with milk, sprinkle the top with 1 tsp sugar, cut crosswise halfway through the roll at 1 inch intervals.

11. Bake for 45 minutes, cool on rack, cut into slices, serve.

12. Bon appétit.

Tofu Roulade

Published on March 13, 2012 by sweetsourmoments2 Comments

This is the tofu version of meat roulade. Meat roulade is one of the must have menu in our family’s special gathering such as Chinese lunar new year. The ground pork makes a big portion of the ingredient. Usually ground shrimp is also added. The casing or wrap is dried bean curd or we call it dried tofu skin.

Since I don’t like pork I used tofu to replace the ground pork. I also added vermicelli, but don’t ask me why because I just felt want to 🙂 .

You can always add, replace, or change the ingredient as you want to your preferred style, this recipe is easy and fun to make.