FIFA party--challenging KFC fried chicken

No one thinks fried chicken is healthy, but it's just so great, for some people, it's something they have to eat regularly. You can never imagine how awesome KFC is in China, it's something we miss back at home.
It's so hard for me to make it without a deep fry thermometer, well we eventually made it , left a house of smoke...

This is buttermilked fried chicken. Buttermilk makes wonderful battery by those magical chemical reactions. Everything sounds more tempting after put ' buttermilked' before it: buttermilked pancake, buttermilked waffle, buttermilked onion ring... buttermilked fried chicken
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buttermilk

I have read /watched bout buttermilked fried many times, theoretically:
1.Brine: soaked the chicken in season buttermilk overnight: 2cup buttermilk with 2Tbs kosher salt( 1Tbs table salt)
2. pat chicken dry: chicken +seasoned flour +buttermilk+seasoned flour: press to let more flour stick on the chicken
3.let chicken sit 0.5-1hr before deep fried
4. 375F
Besides those, we also put chicken in 425F oven to 'raise-up' the skin
A lot of effort and smoke,  not too bad as a firstime work . But after we checked out KFC product, got to know:
1. more salt rate in brine, (KFC is a little bit salty for me though), I will adjust to 1.5 Tbs salt with 2cup buttermilk
2.more layers, at least three to achieve the crispiness.
well, ours couldn't be counted as 'crispy' but ok to be as 'original' ones, I guess.

I am just so not good at fried food, my onion rings failed 3rd times, things getting frustrating, but other food seemed very welcomed.

Cheese puffy:
it's made from "pâte a choux doug", like make roux first(cooked), then add egg and other stuffs( usually cheese here) , then bake or deep fried.
more information: http://blog.ruhlman.com/2009/01/pate-a-choux.html
If baked, high temperature to form the shape, then medium to bake inside

buttermiked fried chicken with cheese puffy

Baked almond  crusted goat cheese, strawberries with fig +blueberry balsamic syrup

Everything in this salad is cooperated perfectly, baked goat cheese is pretty simple, as you bake crusted fish or chicken, layers are: cheese+flour+washed eggs+almond, 350F baked about 10min, check them frequently. The dressing is I mixed my secrete fig balsamic syrup with blueberry syrup( which made in Acadia :P

cucumber with beet hummus  , goat cheese, mint/basil

Beets hummus : I like beets, impressed by its stunning color( like red velvet cake, color is really something important in food). It is just to replace chickpea with baked beets in hummus,recipe from simply recipe:

• 1/2 pound beets (about 4 medium sized beets), scrubbed clean, cooked, peeled, and cubed*
• 2 Tbsp tahini sesame seed paste
• 5 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 small clove garlic, chopped
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp lemon zest (zest from approx. 2 lemons)
• Generous pinch of sea salt or Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper to taste

this is the family bucket we got on the same day for a night snack.... It's a long long way to go to make perfect fried chicken~~~~

made in KFC

Don't let your strawberry feel lonely

Strawberry, Greens, Roasted Pecan and Goat with Rhubarb Dressing

It is said before we came to the world, each of us and  his partner were glued together back to back, and we won't stop feeling lonely until we find the other parts of ours. Because our partners and we couldn't see each other, so we can't recognized them, we can only let our heats to tell us we find the right person.
All the living creatures are looking for their partners, not only human being, like tomato and basil, I guess they were stick to each other on the back.They are good by themselves, but when they meet their partners, the reunion comforts their loneliness and makes them taste better than solely either of them.
I think the partners of strawberries are rhubarbs, they come in the same season, both in red color , after boiling rhubarbs, they show the similar texture as strawberries, rhubarbs are sour , which is the tartness of the taste of strawberries. That is why most of the strawberries recipes has rhubarbs in them.

So I made this strawberry salad with rhubarb dressing:

(it's more cream color instead of this peanut butter color :-/)

Method:

rhubarb , cut into half inch length(3 sticks, half pounds)

sugar: 1/2 cup

water(enough to cover rhubarb )

Boiling them together until it 's like syrup

Making vinaigrette

Dijon mustard 2Tbs

Apple cider vinegar : 1/4 cup

Olive oil: 1/3 cup-1/cup

rhubarb syrup

put them into  a blender to make vinaigrette

A play about spring

(Please adjust your volume to the maximum)

Golden beets, pear red beets puree, dill oil, beet emulsion, walnut dill arugula salad with truffle vinaigrette

Slow cook beet, Lemon ice cream, baby kiwi, fig balsamic syrup, basil lemon syrup

It looks like everybody is cheered up by the warm weather, so we are uplifting  each other. This is the spring from my note book:

1. Green sprouts

2.My neighbour took their griil out

3. Strawberry with reasonable price is back

4.STREET CLEANING > <

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

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

I will memorize these by ...---Seared Scallop with Vanilla Spicy Dressing

This semester is done. It is an.................................interesting one. That doesn't mean I am so good at them, but I think I had *fun*. And this should be my last semester with taking classes in school, ( next year, I only have project left).Wow, no more exams, no more classes( I don't think I want to study for the third engineering master). I think when I look back  I will miss the feeling of being in a class for sure , maybe I will also  be so weird to miss the feeling of being stressful by exams, no matter how I am sick with it now.  Glad that there is one way that can help me bear those in mind--Relient K's Christmas record. It has been accompanying me to get through all of those in this December. The sweet part is, whenever I saw the decorative lights flashing on the tree at night,  there must be some Christmas song singing in my ears :)  and it warmed my heart by making me have some sense of being part of something, but not a miserable student that was touched by school in this holiday season.

Yes, this is the way that I memorize it. Some day in the future when  I listen to this record again, it will remind me the days I was fighting in this chilly winter as well as the happiness of seeing lights on the tree coincodently with christmas songs singing in my ears. Does it work for you too? When you hear some old song,  does it just remind you the feeling you were listening to it  and those sweet days, heart-broken days, glorious days, bad days... ?  No matter what, I guess there must be a smile that already appears in your face.

Dec 7th, Monday, it snowed, not a good one for snowbuddy, I didn't have time to do it though, it was deadline for an assignment

                                                     

Dec. 9th, wednesday Super windy with rain, I almost lost my clear umbrella on the train, luciky I found it

                                                     

 Dec. 12th, Saturday, Sunny, it got cold, I managed to go to libary studying

                                                      

 Dec. 13th,  Sunday, rainy, I drew this to remind myself to hold the umbrella well not lose it again

Dec. 14. Monday, I thought I should have drawn it down since such a sweet thing happened to me everyday and my submarine should have helped to celebrate the holiday season too.

 

Dec. 16th,  wednesday , the eve  of Data Mining exam

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another pleasant thing, my new gear starts to cooperate!

This is a seared scallop salad wtih vanilla spicy dressing ( borrowed from steamy kitchen), interesting ?!

The dressing:

sweet chili sauce( i used chili sauce and sugar): ketchup=1:1

lime juice

seasame oil

spicy oil

vanilla extract

I didn't remember I have vanilla oil ( it's super spicy) after I mixed the spicy oil into it,  so it kinda doubled the heat.But it gives it the vanilla aroma. I will only use vanilla oil next time.

Oh, there is one thing I just got to know: Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Boston is  0.6miles away from my home on thorndike!! I should stop by , I will, for sure

                               

Thanks to Giada's idea--Pesto fennel with proscuitto

I have been enjoying drawing outside so far, and it makes me never want to go back to the room doing boring objects.
It's kinda like running, once I started run outside and never run on treadmill.
I am imaging, one day I have a gas grill, I wouldn't want to cook in the kitchen for sure : D

(PS: Boston is soso lovely, I should feel cheerful and thankful. Is it because of Fall? The first time I visited Boston was a Fall, and I fell in love with it right away, then in the next 2nd fall, I traveled around most of Boston, even now the memory about how I walked each street is still vivid , and this Fall, I guided Freedom trail. I think I should make efforts for staying here, since I love it so. )

This salad was earlier this week when I was preparing for packing for school and thinking about the idea for dinnerbox, catched Giada's idea on TV and I had everything she mentioned, such a perfect improvisation.
It was simple enough, just assemble fennel, pesto and prosciutto.
Honestly , this combination is not very impressive, I still think fennel is better to go with sweet stuffs. But it is simple and healthy.
        -------------------------Congratulations---------------------

To Chef Xiaodandan, made perfect steak with tempting grill prints

Legend of Fall(Series I)--Apple, apple , I love you :)

Apple cider cinnamon poached apple

Fall is here, fall means apple, butter squash, pumpkin....( why am I only able to think of 3??)
Falls is painted in orange, which makes you feel warm and comfortable like S-un-K-ist. I want to be a person that is easy to get along with, so I got that orange hoodie. But it didn't work as well as I thought:( The world is so complicated and gaogao is too powerless...


The first series is dedicated to Apple. it is said having an apple everyday, all kinds of illness would keep away from you. There are many kinds of apple, in China, we like to eat Fuji, golden Delicious. After I came here, I started to like gala, even red delicious, because it is not very sweet(low-sugar) and dark-red skin makes me feel it has so much vitamin. Then I turned out to be a fan of more tangy ones , like bourbon. My new favourite is Jazz , it is very pretty, tangy , crispy, sweet.


Did some apple firmness test for poaching:
Gala: mild easy to lose firmness
Jazz: tangy takes longest
Honey crispy: crispy but mild easy to lose firmness
Grand smith: easy to lose firmness

Pork tenderloin nugget with apple sage onion sauce

Baked pork tenderloin nugget. rub pork nugget with salt, brown sugar, sage, onion powder...
'dress it up:
1st layer: starch
2nd layer: egg+water
3rd layer: panko mixed with butter
(SK taught me to do the 1st layer and 2nd layer twice, I guess it will be easier to stick more panko)


Sauce:
Saute Jazz Apple(peeled, diced), onion, sage
Add apple cider, chicken stock, honey, let it boiling
Add starch water mix,
Garnish with minced sage.

Apple Pecan Fennel Salad with Apple cider vinaigrette

A Dream Comes True--
I dreamed about an old special friend that felt like hadn't contacted me for long pinged me in pidgin, as usually, it ended up I woke up disappointed. But something magical happened , It just happened at night, at the end of the day. Unbelievable, it's such a miracle, my life is therefore brightened, I appreciate it .
Aware it doesn't happen often, and not everyone has a fortune like this, so ...Gao_Gao should be happy :)

Love the cast iron pan--blacken chicken grilled pepper avocado salad with ranch

Cast iron pan, an amazing toy, I want to use it everyday for everything. E said I can't have grilled food too often , it's not healthy. Well, I do not want to get sick, I have so many dreams that haven't come true, I can't die !!

Grilled avocado: toss avocado with lime juice and seasoned with salt pepper( I used bread dip mix)

Grilled pepper: tossed with olive oil, and seasoned
Blacken chicken: boneless chicken thigh(" I love chicken thigh, it doesn't dry out when you cook it" ) rubbed with smoke paprika, Cajun mix as well as some oil---- it really can kick CBC's ass .

Tortilla chips: brushed with olive oil and canjun mix, 300F 10mins, remeber to turn them over once in the half way

Dressing: Ranch

This low-carb tortilla chip is not as crunchy as the whole wheat one, but it's low-carb, which makes me very happy. When I cook for myself, I always use heathy choices, but for others, I am always afraid the heathy stuffs would degrade the taste, so always whole milk, heavy cream, butter, non-wheat bread. I remember when I shopped panko, I hesitated for 30 secs between whole wheat one and original one.
We have to admit, it is difficult to get both healthy/diet and good taste. French cuisine loves butter, there is a trailer of 'Julia and Julie' about french scramble eggs, I believe it is good, but I don;t think I want to cook myself scramble eggs in that way.
Well, as long as most of time , we stick to a healthy way, it's fun and enjoyable to have high-calories good eats.

Have a relationship with myself-grilled tomato bread salad

Envious of those RAs, TAs, they have their own places in the school, a desk, a chair, a desktop, they can just leave their stuffs there, unlike me, have to carry everything to school and carry back. I still like to go to school every day, although I don't have classes every day, it makes me feel like part of something.

One of signs that we have grown up is our own time become more important, you can't ask for too much company from others, otherwise you would feel guilty, at least for me. I remember in high school, I could just ask my friends' company for a bathroom trip, a candy-shop trip, or even more simple, just a walk. But now, we can't do that, I can't do that. The other day, Xiaodandan and I went to gym together, but she finished earlier than me and had to wait for me, so our gym plan trial wouldn't work. My Mom often wishes it would be wonderful if she had twins thought it would be weird to have a twin sister. But now, I do wish I had someone as same as me, I want to cook, she would cook with me, I want to run , she would run with me, I want to go shopping , she would go shopping with me. When I feel cold, she would give me a big hug. Yesterday, when XGs was here, he asked what he could help with cooking, I told him, maybe he could just talk with me, it felt very good to have someone around listening to you , answering your very clueless questions. then I laughed, because I know there is a kind of job for accompanying old people, talking with them . Does that mean I am already old?

This guy was basically failed yesterday. It is true how much attention you pay to food, how much taste it gives back to you. So today, I re-made it, very carefully, very patiently.

For vinaigrette, I added some sugar, I used to use sweet stuffs( like sweet corns figs) for my salad, so it's OK no sugar added in vinaigrette, but if no sweet ingredient, it's good to add sugar. Also I removed Dijon mustard , use sherry vinegar instead of balsamic.

For bread, I increased the rate of butter and bread, carefully saute garlic in butter, not let it brown, mixed parsley afterwards before bread go into the oven.

For salad, add thyme, red onion( marinade it in vinaigrette ahead), as well as bacon.

For grilled tomato, carefully removed the seeds.

And it has to be served immediately after mixed with vinaigrette.

It is SOOO good, buttery crispy bread with juicy warm grilled tomato and bacon surprise. sK's comment on Bacon is ' everything is good with bacon' :)

Zhaozhao just called, I thought I would end up keeping silent for the whole day, I am often worried I would get aphasia if I didn't talk for long enough.
Boston's fall is such a beautiful season, I guess most of the love stories start in fall, here. Tomorrow, when it stops raining, I decide to start a relationship with myself, seriously.

I should have made a wish-Apricot Ginger Glazed pork tenderloin with bread salad

New semester started, Taking T comes back to my daily life. I never mind commute by T and I can always do reading , the funny part is I am more concentrated :) Reading a Chinese novel on the T is like putting a label on myself: I am an awesome Chinese ! Maybe one day, I could get to know some new friends because of it, but it has to be Milan Kundera's big fan.

He wrote : there is a very expensive grocery store, so for the people that do shopping there: it is more important to pay than to eat. It reminded me the whole foods and Market basket.

I admit the meat in whole foods are almost the best, but for the vegetable, it is also pretty fresh in market basket, because there are so many people shopping there so the one on the shelves are always fresh. It can't be guaranteed in the whole foods sometimes. But I just love to shop in the whole foods, I remember one of sK's friends said 'the whole foods along the river' is a very BEAUTIFUL store and it is. I do enjoy shopping there or just hang out there to check out each item.

Weekend depression, so sad, it is a Friday again, and it is raining, nothing could be worse than this for me. So I have to do big cooking to help me get over it.
Apricot Ginger Glaze, I used it for chicken wings in Duncan’s BBQ. People liked it which was one of the few things that could make me happy during that time.
(apricot preserve, ginger, soy sauce)

I wanted to do pork tenderloin again, because I wanted it to come out really tender, 10F lower, it will be raw , 10F higher, it will lose the juicy. It said it should be took out of the oven when it reaches 140F and let it cook by itself. 350F , 15min, I checked, it about 120F, then another 5mins, it got almost 140F, then I boiled it, and didn't take it out from oven until the glaze layer was formed. so you know, it didn’t come out what I expected it to be.

The salad is bread cucumber grilled heirloom tomato with basil. I got the new cast iron pan , and it really can be a grill only without the smoke flavor. I was in a rush , so didn’t remove the seed of tomato, and it was a little messy. Bread is cubed sourdough bread, dipped with garlic butter then bake until crispy.
Lovely heirloom tomato, it has the flavor of the ones in my Dad’s garden during my childhood. I will make it again, love grilled tomato J

Summer is just gone, for me it was a very special summer , and I grow up one year old with a very different birthday. I watched one EP of Grey Anatomy, it was Izzie’s birthday, Alex asked her to make a wish and I just realized I didn’t make a wish on my birthday. Actually I did not have any wishes at that moment, but maybe I should have made a wish for nothing to be changed…

Proscuitto wrapped fig, cucmber mushroom salsa, bacon greased tortilla chips

James is back from Chicago, and will come over for dinner tonight. I knew it last night, very excited, I can cook! My plan is :

Appetizer:
Prosciutto wrapped fig arugula with pesto and balsamic syrup

Main course:
Tamarind glazed pork tenderloin, shrimp pineapple red pepper skew, with
Tomato basil sweet corn risotto.

I am kinda nervous about pork tenderloin and worry about it will turn out too dry. The drama part is I dreamed about the cooking process, but for my parents. As always. my parents never had ll the ingredients I want , and I was kinda messy but not screwed it up.

Sunday, today, suddenly becomes an energetic day. I am gonna cook a good breakfast, since I had a hard run last night; go to work, catch up ; go to grocery; cook dinner! It will be a wonderful day.

For breakfast, I was not going to make it so 'fancy' but it just got there. I want to say something about the salsa . It has cucumber mushroom thyme sweet corn, pine nut, with sherry vinaigrette. The idea of Cucumber +sweet corn is from sK. I like to use the mini cucumber, so I can keep the thin skin, lovely bright green. Mushroom is marinade with sherry vinaigrette and roasted. But it was in a rush this morning, so I pan roasted it. The highlight is THYME, I am dying for it now. It gives a magical aroma, either cooked or uncooked, unlike basil , the aroma is gone in cooked food. So I decide, my second dog will be named as Thyme :)

Because I pan roasted mushroom, so there was some vinaigrette reduction, so no extra vinaigrette needed as dressing.

The chips, I spreaded applewood bacon grease on the foil and backed tortilla( whole wheat ones )

Still using tofu caesar, I know it sounds weird, but it goes well with fig and tortilla, and It is super healthy, more protein than pesto or hummer.

Never hurt to have a try-Tofu caesar

Very interesting idea, I guess it is trying to subtitle cheese with tofu and make it completely vegetarian. But I got to know how to make caesar dressing from scratch.
Basically:
Oliver oil( A lot ), garlic(Pan roasted first), whole grain mustard, olive, capers( I like to add it as complementary)

Bummer: I just realized I didn't pan roast garlic when I am writing this, I was wondering why the garlic is so strong there.

Maybe I didn't use enough oliver oil, so it turns out a little thick, like hummers, which I fall in so much. I think it will be a good spread for roast beef sandwich, I can use it for my lunch when school starts.

Cooking, forever and ever--Fennel and Apple Salad with Apple cider vinaigratte

I watched Julie and Julia, and I was so excited before watching it and It didn't disappoint me, it is just something I thought I would love. THREE important points:
No.1 : it helped me confirm my determination. I really like cooking and I really think it is more fun to shop food than shop dress , I have to admit this point no matter how I think I never have enough clothes.
No.2 it also help me confirmed that we do need recipe, it is an instruction, we need it at the first time. sK doesn't like following recipes, but I would never know so much if I didn't read those genius recipes.
No.3 Cook with love, it is not necessary for the one of yours, just for the beautiful life, it is worthy your efforts .
No.3.5 It is easy to put some weights as a cook ~~~ But now, I have so many friends that want to be volunteers, which is great!

So I want to get back to my blog, record what I made, even without pictures. I have been bothered by it a lot, which became a little excuse that prevented me from keeping blogging.
Let me start over, a thorndike kitchen after refurnished.

Fennel and Apple Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette:
It is all because I have a big bottle of apple cider, so I think I have to do something with it.
the dressing part, I made a reduction of apple cider:

Apple cider: apple cider vinegar=4:1
Oliver Oil
Salt
Cinnamon stick ( when It was boiling , my roommate thought it was APPLE PIE ; P)

I didn't think of reduction until I mixed all of them, but I don't think the acid of apple cider vinegar got less too much after boiled. next time, I will boil apple cider and cinnamon first then mix with some apple cider, see what happens .

Assemble:
Fennel----it has to be very very thin sliced
Apple--- now my favorite apple is New Zealand jazz
pecan
some green( optional)

I have so many good stuffs in the past month, Iwill try to remember and blog them.

Very Herb: Roast pepper, fennel, crispy prosciutto salad

I read several recipes but when I actually made it, I couldn't remember which one I should follow, so I just mixed those ideas in my minds. And It comes out very good again. It is a very warm salad; I believe it will be also good for winter.

Ingredients:
Arugula,
Fennel (very thin sliced)
prosciutto(cooked , crispy)long sweet pepper and small sweet yellow/orange pepper
(pan roasted, cooked in the same pan as prosciutto after taking the prosciutto out,
at the end put in some curly parsley--------parsley always good after heated, but never too long)
Artichoke ( I use canned, but it's actually optional, which is good, since sK doesn't fan it )

Dressing:
Walnut oil (any kind of nutty oil)
Champagne vinegar +sugar or apple cider
Dijon mustard
shallot
Herbs: parsley, thyme

Fresh thyme brings in a very special flavor, going perfect with smoky prosciutto and roast pepper and Fennel.

As for food, I like everything, so the stuffs I like usually can cover what sK likes. But actually there is one exception, prosciutto~~~ (it is a secrete . first time revealed!!) sK prefer to have it uncooked. But I haven't found the beauty of uncooked prosciutto; I still like cooked ones :)

Gift from Summer: Watermelon, feta, pine nuts, arugula salad with balsamic syrup

It is summer time, watermelon! So love it since I was young. I am so surprise that it can get into salad. But as I said here about salad with balsamic syrup dressing, we just need a sweet thing, grape, cherry tomato, so watermelon is also a candidate here. It is sweeter thatn cherry tomato, also bring bright red color which grape can't do.

But sK is not very fan watermelon, :(((( Maybe one day, he would? I didn't eat many things before, like carrot, garlic, ginger, but now I like them all.

Very Orange: Fennel, Orange, salad

Quick dish, orange tag, really hope sK will like it, also would like to make it with me.

Dressing:
shallot
orange juice
champion vinegar
olive oil
salt/pepper

Assemble, buttery lettuce( I love this green), orange, very thin slice fennel, pine nuts, red onion

Fennel, I like it very much, and it often goes with orange. The taste is alike tarragon. And here , when fennel meets pine nuts, it is wonderful !

Compete with the Whole Foods: Cranberries, pecan, sweet pea. israel couscous

I have been loving the cranberries, pecan couscous in Whole foods and have planned to make it for long and today it finally comes true :)

The way to cook is kinda like risotto, but no wine here
1. Heat olive oil, add minced garlic, shallot, couscous , turmeric ( it is where the YELLOW color comes from !) until couscous becomes a little brown

2. Add water cranberries, pecan, tarragon, orange juice, boil it, until it is done

3. I would like to mix some dried cranberries too, because after boiled, the cranberries lose their beautiful color.

4. Usually we want to stir the cooked couscous, let it cool down soon. Or use ice water.
But for efficiency, I just add frozen sweet peas , and I think it also works :)

Now squeeze some lemon juice, and mince fresh basil. I want to say my Basil-Lemon is super magic and it very highlights the couscous

sK admitted he likes couscous too, so I do hope he likes this version.( it has orange flavor, sK!)

A Story after BBQ: Kerean BBQ Beef with Kerean BBQ dressing

Beef:From BBQ leftover,

Dressing, sesame oil , korean bbq paste( green box), sprinle seame on top

Korean condiment , you don't need to know Korean, it can be identified by the color of box:)

Red box: red pepper paste, spicy,

Green box: BBQ paste, not spicy,

Yellow box: bean paste

Broiled Romaine with Banyuls Vinaigrette

Broiled romaine sounds weird, but sK, you must have tried or probably will have cooked romaine in restaurants over there. Anyway, banyuls vinaigrette is a wonderful dressing, either cooked or uncooked.

Banyuls Vinaigrette

Banyuls vinegar or sherry vinegar , red wine vinegar are also welcome
Dijon mustard( 1 Tbp with about 3 Tbp vinegar)
shallot
garlic
caper
olive oil ( 1/4 cup or so)
salt pepper

I also added that supper sweet red pepper, mix romaine and pepper with dressing.
Broiled until some burned parts appear, sprinkle with parmesan
(See the small pot of plant, it is Basil -Lemon!!)