Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage and Quail Eggs

With a big pot of leftover rice, I wasted no time in making fried rice. It has been a long time since I made fried rice and it brought back delightful memories of the past. With some chinese sausages in the freezer, what I need was something "different" and I chose quail eggs to be the difference maker.



I love the spots on the quail eggs. Each egg is like a piece of modern art. Pollock anyone?



It was my first time frying quail eggs so it took me a while to figure out how to crack and cook quail eggs properly. In this case, 50% failure, or 50% success, depending on how you see it. The biggest lesson I learned from cracking quail eggs is that the shell membrane is very thick so it takes more force than you would use to crack a chicken egg to break through that membrane. I was worried that the force may damage the yolk but fear not, quail egg yolk is quite "sturdy", which explains the very "yolky" consistency of quail egg, which also explains why some people really enjoy eating quail eggs. The money is in the yolk

Pork Rib Soup with Peanuts

I made this soup not too long ago. The ingredients were simple to get, the steps were easy and the result was delicious with a D.

In order to develop a deep flavor in the soup, I did two things that you normally don't see in traditional chinese soup cooking instruction - I browned the pork ribs and roasted the peanuts separately before mixing them both together with water. A few slices of "old" ginger, a few pinches of salt and a few splashes of soy sauce sealed the deal in a nice package of intensely flavored soup that warmed the heart and the stomach.

Tri-tip Steak

I bought a cast iron pan a year ago and I have been using it once a while to cook steak, lamb chop, and chicken chop. As many people have said, cast iron pan is perhaps the best thing one can use to cook a piece of steak. I bought a piece of tri-tip steak from a local grocery store. Not the best cut but it is at least affordable. 

My preparation is very simple. Marinade the steak with Worcestershire sauce, dry thyme and dry parsley. 

Did someone say BUTTER???

Deglaze the pan with some left over wine. Season the glaze with salt and pepper

Rest the meat for 10 minutes

Serve.

This steak was cooked to medium-well because my family prefers it that way. If it was entirely up to me, I will take the steak out 3 minutes earlier at the medium-rare stage.

10 Dishes Every Beginner Cook Should Master

10 Dishes Every Beginner Cook Should Master http://zite.to/1EbL33x

Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce

This is one of my all-time favorite pasta dish and I am sure many of yours too. The recipe below was adapter from Jamie Oliver's, which is actually quite simple.





Jamie Oliver added bacon into his pasta sauce to create flavor but I took it one-step further by adding ground pork to increase the complexity of the meaty flavor




Star of the bolognese sauce. I used canned tomatoes imported from Italy. Save the canning juice! You need it......

My own secret ingredient. First person to guess the answer gets a small prize from me!! 

The rest of the recipe is fairly standard. Jamie Oliver's Spaghetti Bolognese

Cook the aromatics and the meat

Add the tomatoes

Add the tomato sauce that you saved

Add some red wine

Add a few other aromatics such as bay leaves, rosemary leaves, oregano, etc.

Let this cook slowly for a few hours. Add water if the sauce becomes a bit dry

Season with salt and pepper

The only ingredient missing from this dish is the CHEESE