Strawberry system- Buttercup squash sage polenta cake with bacon and fried sage

Not sure since when , sage becomes a regular stuff in my refrige, fresh sage is just cute itself, as a piece of feather, fuzzy and soft with fabulous smell, warms you up.

I added sage when making the polenta, and added roasted buttercup squash at the end, which brought in the sweetness. To make it as a perfect friends gathering, I can't miss out on bacon.  Well-done..

ah, tonight I had a half of strawberry fromYue's birthday cake( happy birthday, Yue, now it's really your birth DAY), well, I hadn't have strawberry since the winter came, so ,it's another  reason for me to expect the spring/summer's coming. Love strawberry, I would be cheeredup simply by reading or seeing its name.
What if one day, when I look up at the sky, I can see it's actually a giant strawberry in the sky

( even if it is only a balloon or origami~~)
ps:

Addiction--cauliflower , Roasted garlic and Parsnip soup

Went to Mohegan for super band's concert, only for 华健，other guys are fine, I think I have addiction to his voice, it is something magical that can reach my heart.  it has been almost 15 years, I kept liking and unliking different ones, but the favor for him, never lessened.
Very disappointing, they didn't sing '抱着你' .

Since last year, when I addicted to a song, I would listen to it again and again, for the whole day,  the first is love story meets viva la vida  by jon schmidt,  Relient K's ' this is the (end if you want it)', then “最天使”， Rufus‘emotional commontion,  now is '抱着你' .

And also since last year, I started to addict to soup,I have to make sure I have soup in refrige all the time. This is a cauliflower , roasted garlic  and parsnip soup , topped with Dijon mustard and shaved parmasan.
Maybe I am just too tired and lazy to chew, : D

The 2800 minutes of WALL-E

Walle, born on 02/16/2010, 17:36pm,  he was alone there most of the time, I felt bad that I didn't make Eva for him, in the 2800 minutes, he witnessed the gorgeous scene after snow, the sunny and bright days, the cold and quiet nights. I guess he was thinking all the time, thought about the people he cared,  wonder why they were so busy, why he couldn't have eva with him.

Walle is gone, I made him a crepe cake, it was a Chocolate crepe cake with Avocado coconut cream. It was a cake involving a lot of work, but sometimes, it is just you care then you don't feel bored. I remember when I ate in 'Craige on Main', I noticed the chef looking at the people there, he was observing, he wanted to know if people enjoyed his food, he put caring in his food, he wanted to make sure people could taste it. As the customers, we are loved by him :)

Chocolate crepe:  flour，almond meal, cocoa powder, (3:2:1, total 1cup), sugar
                           brandy(2Tbs), vanilla, melted butter(3Tbs), egg(2 large)
Avocado coconut cream: avocado, coconut milk
Topping: whipped cream, toasted coconut flakes

Ginger Cream Crepe cake(mille crepe) Giveaway

two more left

Submarine's sadness--Almond crusted tilapia with red and green sauce

Boby Flay made a soup , it was like filled in the plate with half tomato soup and half avocado soup in the avocado battle', Guy Fieri made a pumpkin seeds crusted handcock with cream cilantro sauce.

And I, made this --Almond crusted tilapia with roasted pepper coulius sauce and avocado cilantro tomatillo sauce.( I guess tomato sauce will  be better to go with avocado sauce), but it was just some leftover sauce.

Avocado cilantro tomatillo sauce:

tomatillo , garlic, scallion, cilantro, Serrano  chiles, chicken stock--cooked part

avocado--raw

sour cream

use blender to make  a puree--------I think i made it way too thick

Almond crusted tilapia

first layer: flour, salt, white pepper, coriander

second layer: washed egg

last layer: almond flake

pan fried, medium heat

Recently, I wanted to  draw something under the sea, then  I thought of Ponyo, Yes, submarine can meet ponyo! But after I was done with that, I realized Ponyo would become a real girl and go wherever she wanted, but submarine could go nowhere but staying in the water forever, she could never really celebrate friend's birthday, never really pass a tea , never really get a hug...

isn't it  sad? :(

Spring Dessert-Red wine poached pear with Ginger Anise Syrup, Pistachio, Candied Ginger, Ginger Ice Cream

I actually made this before,but I didn't know the tip of using beets to color it, so I made it again. if let me name it, I can only come up with 'beauty', or things like that.

But you  told me , it looked like a 'spring dessert', how sweet ! It is still winter here, windy, chilly, how could you think of spring?  I guess maybe you so love the summer here, so you are always thinking about spring?

February, March, April, May...then summer will sneak in, but at that time, I will already have moved away,  so unfair ! I am so patient waiting here, for the winter to pass, but when it really ends, I will not be able to enjoy the summer, brief but lovely.

I know you will be here, enjoying the passionate summer and the gorgeous fall which you have been waiting for almost half a year, I can imagine how exicited you will be, I will feel happy for you somewhere else

This is the spring I catched the other day

Dessert Adventure

There is one thing in the world called as: sugar on the snow
it is to drizzle hot syrup on the snow , then you get formed candied like stuff.
It is something MADE IN VERMONT
I love snow , and cooking, but never could make connection between them , so I was so excited to know such a sweet thing. I had been waiting for about one week for a snow shower.Then I got something like this:

Apparenly I failed, I guess one is because the snow is not heavy enough, the other I pure maple syrup but not drizzled it. Well, it still tasted SWEET.

Here is another adventure:

This is called BACON COVERED with MILK CHOCOLATE WITH ALMOND

YES,  it is bacon covered  with milk chocolate with almond

And, it is just so good, DOUBLE HEAVEN

It's not something I made up, there is one thing called: Bacon chocolate bar  from Vosges Haut

    

If you haven't tried, you should ( Luckily, some of you have tried , right ? :) . You deserve it

Icy Sky-- Chinese BBQ(沙茶) Spare rib with ginger white bean puree,cilantro in pita pocket

Aha, these is really something international:

Shacha((沙茶) --Chinese

White bean puree--Italian

Pita-Greek

I think I enjoyed it more than holding a piece of rib.

Chinese Shacha BBQ(沙茶) Spare rib:

Dry rub: Chinese five spices powder, salt , pepper, coriander(optional), cayenne pepper(optional)

(Dry rub overnight)

Marinade:  shacha sauce, oyster sauce

(marinade 2 hrs ahead )

Drizzle rice vinegar before put into the oven

350F foil covered 2.5 hrs, brush more marinade sauce, 400F 10mins or so

After it is cool, take the meat off from the bone, chopped

Ginger White Bean Puree

white bean, ginger juice, white pepper, a little bit chicken stock, oliver oil

drizzle shacha oil or hot chili oil

What is this?!

It is the icy sky!

It is the Charles river in the winter, gorgeous,isn't it?

I should fight and try to stay here, I don't think I will be as happy as now if I move to another place.

Listening to the birds singing-- Peanut Chipotle BBQ baby back with cheddar sweet corn polenta and red cabbage mango slaw

--(:(:(:(:( this pic looks so fake
This is Bobby Flay's recipe!, His Mexican bbq sauce, I love it, and I don't think I want to buy bbq sauce from store any more.  The highlights are chipotle chilies puree, molasses and, and ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,PEANUTBUTTER(old fashion,unsweetened)

The secret for BBQ:
1. Dry rub: my coffee rub -No.1 recommended Mexican Coffee Ancho  rub( I still prefer doing it overnight)
2. Drizzle red-wine vinegar before put it into the oven( this is the secrete to make it fall off from the bone)
3. 350F, sealed in the foil, 2.5hrs(at least 2 hrs)
4. pour the bbq sauce over , 400 F, another 10mins

Red cabbage mango slaw( no mayo version):
red cabbage
mango( along with the mango juice with you working on it)
red onion
apple cider vinegar,
Dijoin mustart
sugar
oliver oil

Among all the iron chefs, I think I like Bobby most :) He is so creative, steady and mature chef and his food always tastes the best, his dish is art for sure but he never lets it overwhelm the fact it is food, he never sacrifice the taste in order to go for the appearance.
(also , he is not fat but pretty fit : DDDD)

How many birds at most have you ever seen ?
Ok, you might see some birds migration
But....
How many birds at most have you ever heard them singing together?
How many birds at most sitting in a tree have you even seen ?
Well, this is the picture  I have seen frequently outside my window

they are just singing happily, flying orderly

The happiness of receiving a post card--coconut banana shrimp ball

I think this is the first time I got a post card since I got to the States, although it is for the resident proof and I asked him to send it to me, but still it looks like a super surprise for an ordinary day,  I thought it was lost, since it had been almost two weeks, and it turned out to be  a surprise.

I hope my friends that have got my postcards were as happy as I am now, since they were actually really unexpected. Everytime, when I sent out a post card, I would be nervous, would it arrive? how long would it take ? would you like it? All kinds of guessing  were haunting around until I got a 'thank you' letter, then I got relieved. But still, I couldn't get to know how it was when you found it in a bunch of billing mails, commercial mails,  did you smile? did you  imagine how I was when I wrote down those words? did your day get a little bit brightened? ....well, right now, I know!

Thank YOU, XGs!

(1st time)

(2nd time)

This shrimp ball also has a little connection with travelling. It was I took connection in San Francisco when I flew back from Seattle. I had a dim sum stuff, called banana shrimp roll, it sounded interesting and was very delicious, I didn't know shrimp and banana had this kind of friendship : D

Shrimp ball with banana

shrimp, cilatrol or scallion, oyster sauce, white pepper, starch, egg white, coconut milk, cubed banana

Marmalade dip: orange marmalade, dijion marstard,

I made it twice, the first time, there was too much panko, which made it not taste very coconut, and the banana didn't get cooked enough to be soft

the second time, I reduced the amount of shrimp, the shrimp layer was thinner, then the banana got cooked well also added coconut milk into the shrimp, and it made it very moisture.

It takes time for cheese to get melt(*panini*)--zucchini pine nut risotto with basil

Today, I got to know a new definition about heaven, ' rushed into a cafe with an empty stomach, watching your panini pressed in the grill forever, eventually get the first bite..........' oh, yes, I am above the heaven!

Well, we all know, it takes time for cheese to get melt, its PANINI, it's 'toasties' :P

I don't have gear, I can't make real panini at home, this is a story about risotto, a story about stirring, waiting, then getting to the heaven :)

You won't be alone--Salmon Gravlax tart(whole wheat) with tomato bruschetta filling

One of the mission to Seattle was to bring little robot back. I got one when I visted there in spring break, and gave it to a friend, since summer ended, I had been missing it so much, what I had by hand was only the picture of it:

so I decided to bring it back when I visited seattle again. The past year, it looks like I had a lot of connections with the west coast,  so in Christmas I got to fly there again. When I got to the store, I was surprise to see its  sisters( I assumed the ones in red) and brothers ( in blue), so I brought them all back home to make sure they have their family here in Cambridge too.

Honestly, when I am having it in hand, it feels very strange... And I find little robots can't hug each other, when I put the arms of one on the other one, it looks like one is hitting the other 8-\

And this, is more like dancing tango  -_-"

Back to the food, this is another 'Wwo' food for me, and it also involves lots of works. Firstly, I made myself salmon gravlax, besides those regular ingredients for curing it, I added ginger. I had been worried about how it would come out for 48 hrs, but it really doesn't let me down, sweet, spicy, melt in mouth.

Tart is made from whole wheat fillo sheets.

The filling is similar to bruschetta, tomato, tomato paste, garlic, shallot, basil, Parmesan , work in a sauce pot, let it reduce, then use  a filter to get the sauce, fill the content into the tart. Add some olive oil into the liquid as the sauce.

Bake first time ( 375F) to make the tart shell, after the shells are formed, fill the tomato fillings into the shells, bake (400 F) second time. At last, add the salmon on the top of each tart, dizzled them with the sauce.

This is a recipe I read from a book( 'the cook's book, concise edition') , and made some modifications .

the filling is so creamy, I can't tell which is tomato sauce ,which part is salmon ! and the shell is just so crispy, .........................

Plant--Beet Ginger Pear soup

I like pretty stuffs, so whenever I see something beautiful, I will try to re-produce it. Love it and it is very delicous too. I added pear which gives it a fresh sweetness and also increase the amount of ginger.

Beet Ginger Pear Soup:

Beet, ginger, pear, leek,  chicken stock, thyme, parsley, bay leaf

Use blender.

And next time, I will roast beet first,  it was a 'bloody' work to cut them : p

This is a *Giant* Josh Tree seed I got from Josh Tree NP, let me plant it at the beginning of 2010. It’s all about hope, good luck, my giant josh tree, let me make a record for you here.

Stuffed squid with red pepper coulis ( gaogao version)

I was going to make some basil oil, but saw it in the market, super happy to have it.(It doesn't look very green, is it?)

Sadly I can't re-produce the stunning presentation. A good chef is also an artist, I have been amazed by the plating by the masters in 'iron chef', and they are just able to come up with those ideas in such a short time!

But still, the taste is always the most important part with no doubt. Long way to go, gaogao

Also , I noticed julie and julia group have a post about 'the most complicated thing I have ever made' in facebook, I guess, for me, they they are portobella bruschetta and this guy :) well, the work is always paid off and super worthy. Remember, how much care you put into it, how much taste it gives back to you .

I want a golden 2010, which starts from a fresh Spring--Roast golden beets, red grapefruit,roasted hazelnut salad with orange vinaigrette

Roast golden beets, red grapefruit,roasted hazelnut salad with orange vinaigrette

Emm...I want my 2010 to be a golden year, I do, because it is a crutial year, I am going to finish my student life and start my career. I want an energetic start.

Not sure since when, I got to be afraid to make plans, subconsciously I assumed I wouldn't be able to accomplish it. But, really , it has been feeling so good that I can sleep 10 hours a day <(-O .

In Bosotn, spring won't really come until April, but it will be too late. Gaogao's spring should start now, wake up, get back on track, make plans, just DO it,

My memory about beets was all from those canned beets, you know how they taste like. But now, it shows up in the supermarkets, always happy to use the in season vegetables. It is my first time to have golden beet and roast it from scratch. Wwo, I claim beets become one of my favorite vegetables.It is sweet like sweet potato but juicy like a fruit( I can’t come up with a more proper match)

Orange vinaigrette: orange juice, champion vinegar, sugar/honey, Dijon mustard , shallot, olive oil

My 2008 : O, My 2009: !! ???

I thought my 2009 would end in Times Square, sharing the moment with people from all over the world, excitedly but chilly. In fact it ended in playing games with my friends in a cozy house, no bell but laughter. It was very impressive because I accidently checked the time on my phone, it was exactly 12:00am, then we wished happy new year to each other during the first minute of the new decade.

My 2009... well, it was more like a loop, a runner finished his route and went back to the start point, exhausted but gratified. I have been growing but not mature enough yet, I know about myself more but I will not be surprised if something more is discovered. I feel thankful and lucky, because I know you, my friends, and I know you better, my old friends. It was not a super happy year, but when I look back, I can see you at each single delighted moment, thank you all :)

The wish, I never ask too much, and just hope if I work hard, my efforts will be paid off. But still, I am very excited about the unknowns in 2010, who will be my new great friends? what kinds of cool experiences will happen to me? which great places will be pinned on my tripadvisor map?

I guess you already heard a lot of 'happy new year', so let me wish you a hopeful new year, which means a lot, isn't it?

When the sale assistant asked me to pick up a pink dog for free, since I started to favor the color of golden, I picked up this one for sure. Then I saw it had a ‘HOPE’ on it, suddenly my world got brightened.

This is something I learned from here, I love the stunning presentation and tried to copy it, but it looks like there are a lot of plating skills I need to learn. But I want to say something about the coulis here. When I was making it, I doubted if it was really worthy with so much work , and I talked to myself if maybe I should just used the canned roasted pepper, but after I had the first taste of it, OMG, it is one of the amazing sauce I have ever made, I felt like all my work had been paid off. I just used red pepper, added Spanish smoke paprika, I guess it would be more authentic if I used piuillo pepper. Also for the stuffing, I added celery and sweet corn, which proves to be a great company.

Spanish Stuffed Flounder roll with Red Pepper Coulis:

Stuffing: chorizo, shallot, garlic, celery, sweet corn, thyme, pine nuts, bread crumbs

Red Pepper Coulis: red pepper( roasted , peeled and chopped), garlic, shallot, chicken stock, Spanish smoke paprika, light cream.

Fish roll: pre-season the fish fillet with white pepper and a little bit salt, lemon juice. Make the rolls, and use teeth picks to secure them. Use the wine and Spanish oliver oil as the bed for the fish roll, brush the fish with olive oil to prevent it from being dried out during baking. 375F, 10mins.  Carefully use a flat spatula to move the fish to plate

Holiday

----What is holiday?

Food

(Celery with Almond butter and Dried Cranberries)

(Apple Cider Brined Pork(cubed) with Apple, Pearl Onion Plum Sauce)

Gift

(Mastering the art of French Cooking by Julia Child)

Santa

(A letter from Santa)

This is my holiday( of couse, there were many other kinds of wonderful food), how about yours?

Celery with Almond butter and Dried Cranberries:

Celery: peeled, put into the boiling water( when boiling , add some oil into water,and the vegetable will be shiny afterwards) , take them out when the water is about to boil again

Almond Sauce: almond butter, white/black pepper(prefer to white), salt, sesame oil, stir as well as adding hot water to adjust the thickness

Serving:  mix celery , chop dried cranberries and almond sauce

Apple Cider Brined Pork(cubed) with Apple, Pearl Onion Plum Sauce( Chinese Version):

Brined the pork tenderloin, sliced them , then using hammer ( or the back of knife) to make cubed pork steak, pan fried.

Sauce: Instead of using Dijon mustard,using Chinese plum sauce and oyster sauce

Have you written to Santa yet..?--Orange and Banana Crepe

I am so surprised that kids believe there exists Santa, besides happy for them , I am jealous~~ I wish I had such a magical memory from childhood too.

Kids: Why did you not have Santa when you were kids?

Grown-ups: Well... you know, we can fly back to China , so can Santa..but before Santa didn't have a plane. But  now Santa can visit boys and girls in China too.

Kids: Ooooooohhhh...

Cooking for kids, it's SWEET ^_^

This orange and banana crepe was so welcome. The secrete is to make a orange syrup and soak the crepe in the syrup ,also brown the banana and orange, mix cinnammon into toasted pecan.

Orange syrup: butter, sugar , orange juice, boil to reduce

I refered to the recipe from Epicurious

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Banana-Orange-Crepes-109044

 Did you write to Santa ?  Have your wish come true?

Again ,warmest wishes for you, my friends

Hello Seattle--avocado/basil rice topped with seared scallop with orange blenc

 

I’ve been listening to this for a while, but just realize it’s time for me to say hi to her, ‘Hello Seattle! ‘.

I don’t know why I was not very excited about my trip, even you are all more nervous than me, you, reminded me to pack earlier, you, asked to not to stay up late before fight, and you , you and you all wished me a good trip very excitedly. But me… I was so confused to be waken up by the alarm this morning, then after 10 seconds, I figured it out I had fight this morning. o_O

In Boston, I’m almost able to tell who is local, who is a visitor, make a guess about where he is heading to, what she is going to do. But airport is a place full of question marks for me, I like to watch people in the airport, are they visitors and this is their destination, or they are just passages for connection, or they are local and heading to somewhere else??? If by any chance I get to know the answers, I will put labels on them and all the sudden, those strangers with the same labels have a connection between each other in my eyes. How do I look like in other people’ eyes? Will they put a fromBoston label on me?
（ps: I am not from H U though~~)

Time for landing, I remember I used to look at the outside trying to find the place you live, or even to catch the car you are driving on the highway, and then enjoyed the moment of the strong bump, a real feeling, which could physically confirm with me the fact ‘I’m home!’. Unfortunately, not for this destination.

Anyway I want to be a happy visitor for the Christmas, let me uplift myself first, one of my mission is to bring them more delicious food!

This is an avocado/basil rice topped with seared scallop with orange blenc
avocado/basil rice is to make avocado and basil ‘guacamole’ first, then mix it into hot rice.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/green-goddess-rice-recipe/index.html
ps: I catched it from tv and borrowed it to go with my scallop and orange blenc .  although  the review is not very good for this ‘guacamole’,  I still think it works well here

Snow Panda and something others--Maple Apple-cider brined pork tenderloin and polenta

(immature photographer’s bad day)

I am leaving Boston again, every time when you were complaining about Boston’s winter, I just couldn’t get you, now I realize that I actually haven’t spent the holiday time in Boston so far, I always get away. So I hope during I am away, you will stay happy, stay warm, with your family, stay with friends, stay with hope,with peace, with love...but not with loneliness. It snowed, unbelievable coincidently around the same time as last year, the same weekend, the exactly day before I was about to leave. It was just the very first snow for the last year, and my snowman was staying there lonely. But this year, my snow panda was luckily enough to have some audience.

lonely snowman in 2008

 

Muddy Snow Panda 2009( I am not pretty, but I got a little bit applaud

This weekend was very productive, especially on the cooking side. I made brined pork tenderloin and am very satisfactory with it this time.

Maple Apple cider brined pork tenderloin
Apple, Fennel, Orange peopper salad with apple cider reduction vinaigrette dressing
Acorn squash polenta
( Camera was run out of battery—immature photographer’s bad day!)

Leftover meal:
Polenta cake topped with pork and salad