Fresh Strawvberry Pie

It's nearing the end of strawberry season, so I had to hurry and bake a strawberry pie before the season ends!
I normally do not bake my own pie crusts because they are so much work and I can just buy a yummy pre-made one from the store.

If you are not maki ng your own pie crust, then this dessert is SO easy.  and no one will have to know that it was easy to make  (If you buy one of these from Marie Calendars, you are paying at least $13 for one of these).

Just make sure that if you are making the pie to give to someone, and you need it to look pretty, don't get the red jelly stuff spilled onto the pie crust!  Does not look nice! oops!

To make two pies, you wil need:
2 pie shells (already baked), 2 1/2 quarts of fresh strawberries (this is about 2.5 boxes), 1 cup white sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 cup boiling water, 1 (3 ounce) package of strawberry jello.

In a saucepan, mix together the sugar and corn starch; make sure to blend corn starch in completely. Add boiling water, and cook until everything is mixed and thick. Turn off the stoveand add in the jello powder until its all melted. Let it cool to room temperature.
Wash the strawberries, remove the stems, then place the strawberries in the pie sell with points facing up. Pour cooled gel mixture over strawberries.
Refrigerate for a couple of hours until the gel is hardened.

Making your own strawberry gel tastes WAY better than the store bought stuff.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

I thought I already posted about my mac & cheese recipe, but now that I look through my archive, I guess I did not!
Good thing I caught it.  How can good ol' mac & cheese not make it on the blog?  =)

I think both Jeff and I are spoiled from eating lots of homemade mac & cheese bakes.  Now, whenver we hear people say "i made mac & cheese today", or "I ate some mac & cheese", we automatically think that they are referring to homemade macaroni and cheese bake casseroles! 

But no... majority of the time, they are referring to the boxed macaroni and (fake) cheese sh*t. 

Well, boxed-macaroni-and-cheese eaters, here's your chance to make your own crispy, (real) cheesey, noodley goodness.  It's actually quite easy.

For your ingredients, you will need:
8 ounces macaroni, 4 tbs butter, 1/4 cup flour, salt, pepper, 1 cup half-and-half, 1 cup, 1 cup bread crumbs, 3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese.

Cook the macaroni, then pour the macaroni into your baking dish.  In a seperate sauepan, melt the butter, then stir in flour. Add the salt, pepper, and milk and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add 2 cups of the cheese.   When everything is melted, pour the sauce over the macaroni in the baking dish, and mix.  Top it with the rest of the cheese then top it with bread crumbs.
Bake for about 25 minutes, until lightly browned and bubbly.

Some toppings you can add with the bread crumbs and cheese is ham or bacon.

Sautéed Swiss Chard

Recently, my sister moved to a different apartment, and was unable to take her plants with her (no balcony at the new place). So she harvested her swiss chard and gave some of the chard to me.  In addition to the chard was 1 leek.

I was not sure what I can do with simply 1 leek, so I decided to mince it up, and sauté it with the Swiss chard! 
After washing all the soil out of the chard, I seperated the leaves from the stem, and chopped the stem into little pieces.  I minced up a little bit of garlic, and the 1 leek, and added it to a heated pan with olive oil in it.  It was so frangrant already.
Add in the chard stem first as they take a while to cook, then add in the leafy green part later.  Season it with kosher salt, stop cooking when the stem is tender.

The red is quite pretty.
You can also add in spinach if you like, to add a little more green to red ratio.  :) spinach takes the least time to cook, so you would add that in at the very end.

Beef Pot Roast

I actually made this dish a couple of months ago, but forgot to mention it on my blog!
I was making beef pot roast in the slow cooker, as a "test trial", in preparation for a beef pot roast dinner with my next door neighbors.

The photo you see here is of the "test trial" pot roast.  There is no photo evidence of the actual pot roast I made on the day of, because I was running late, so I never stopped to take pictures.

Making pot roast in the slow cooker is actually quite simple.  All you need is some beef  (whatever is on sale. usually beef chuck roast is cheap), onion soup mix (its a powder that comes in a pouch), beef broth, carrots, potatoes, carrots, potatoes, salt and pepper.  That's it!

I like to pan sear the meat first before putting it into the slow cooker, but you don't have to.  I'm not entirely sure if it really makes a noticable difference once you cook it in a slow cooker for several hours. haha.
I also prefer putting the entire chunk of meat in the slow cooker whole, rather than cutting it into cubes first.  up to you.
Then add in the rest of the ingredients, then cook on low for 8-9 hours, or on high for 4-5 hours.

Right before serving, slice up the chunk of meat into think slices, and serve it with the vegetables on the side.
I served it with a side of egg noodles and salad.

Pan Seared Yellow Croaker

Yellow Croaker fish is a very popular fish among Chinese people.
Then why am I barely learning about yellow croaker now?!?

It's so delicious, and so easy to prepare.  a quick pan sear on 2 sides with a bowl of steamed rice, and you are good to go.

On our last trip to the Asian market, they were having a special Mothers Day sale where their frozen fish was a fraction of the cost.  Now, I typically prefer fresh fish but when frozen fish is on sale, then I go where my wallet takes me.  

The 5 pound box of fish contained a bunch of small sized yellow croakers that were not yet gutted.  The fish gutting process took much longer than the actual cooking time (especially because the fish were so tiny) so it was tedious and I had to do it gingerly. 

After gutting, I simply rubbed a little salt on each side, added a drizzle of oil in a heavy pan on high heat, and seared the little suckers.
Only sear each side once (do not flip the fish several times), and turn the fish when the skin is loosened from the pan and there is a crunchy char (this is true anytime you sear anything).

Both Jeff and our dinner guest enjoyed the fish.  She was even more happy with the fact that she was eating a home-cooked Chinese meal -- these are hard to come by.
I love cooking for people when they appreciate it  (both the food, and my efforts).  =)

French Onion Soup

We recently had some dinner guests over and I served French Onion Soup as one of the side dishes.
In the past, I made french onion soup using chicken broth and white wine.  It was very delicious, but this time, I decided to be more bold and use beef broth and red wine.

The verdict?

It's the land of no return.  Beef broth and red wine only moving forward!
The flavor was more rich and bold.
I think everyone enjoyed the soup, and Jeff even said that its wayyy better than the french onion soup we had in France!  What a compliment.

Unfortunately, french onion soup never comes out nice in pictures I take.
This picture does not do justice to how it tastes.

The ingredients consists of 1 stick of butter, about 6 onions (thinly sliced), 2 garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves, 1 cup red wine, 3 spoonfuls of flour, 2 quarts of beef broth, 1 sliced baguette, and 1/2 pound of grated gruyere (great prices at Trader Joes for gruyere!).

In a large pot,  melt the butter and add in the onions, bay leafs, salt and pepper.  I turned the onions over and over and over for about 25 minutes until it was carmelized  (good food takes time!)
I then added in the wine, and kept stirring until all the wine evaporated.  Remove the bay leaves and add in the flour.  Cook the flour for about 10 minutes until its cooked and mixed with the onions.  Add in all the broth and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

When you are ready to eat, get your oven safe bowls, and ladle in the soup, 2 slices of toasted baguette per bowl, and a TON of gruyere cheese.  yum yum!
Pop it in the broiler until its bubbling and melted.

My own attempt at Pho

I love pho.  It's so hearty, tasty and rich.
I was excited when I was at Ranch99 and found a jar of their broth base on sale. 
I bought a jar of the broth base, some beef flank, pho vermicelli noodles, and beef balls with tendons.  I went the cheap route and did not buy the tendons and tripe.

Where I live, its so hard to find good pho, so making at-home pho with a powdered broth base seems a win to me!

I first simmered the beef flank in water and onions to create a tasty broth, and to cook the beef down so its softer.  Then following the engrish directions on the broth jar label, I dissolved the broth powder and added in the seasonings bag. Finally adding in the beef balls to cook last.  When I was ready to eat, I boiled the pho vermicelli noodles for a minute, strained, then placed them into bowls.  Ladling the pho soup over the bed of noodles.

My pho does not *look* like your traditional pho, but it sure tasted like it.  And making it at home is so much cheaper and so easy too.  Maybe next time, I'll get the tendons and mint leaves.

Grilling is not limited to the summertime

One of the many perks to living in Los Angeles is that grilling is not limited to the summertime.  In fact, we grill year round because the weather is so wonderful!

Early last month, we had my sister and her husband over for dinner, so of course we had to pull out our grill!  I cannot remember the reason why we got our hands on some yummy rib eye steaks, but I'm glad we did.

The steak came out so tasty and tender -- it was a big hit.  Big thanks to the grill master!
I also baked up some fluffy baked potatoes and quickly chopped up a simple salad.

Yes, I know you wish you could come over to my house for dinner every night.  =).

our grill master.  kiss the cook! muah!

chopped salad

a little grill seasoning, and it's ready to go on the grill

 Rib eye steaks are my fav cut of steak.  I prefer my steaks rare or medium-rare.
The fat keeps it juicy and tasty.  Cut off the fat before eating.

baked potatoes

The (under dressed) hosts!

Oh well.  That glass of red wine makes us look a little bit fancy