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

Pork Schnitzel

The original dish is called the Wiener schnitzel a.k.a. Viennese schnitzel. This is a traditional Austrian dish made up of a thinly sliced meat, pounded, breaded and deep fried. It is also traditionally made with veal (young calf).

I first came across this dish at a restaurant called Edi & The Wolf and it was one of the most memorable meals I ever had, for three reasons. This restaurant has the the "chillest" decor (see the pictures below for yourself), and the most amazing piece of fried meat - the schnitzel. What made that evening truly memorable was the atmosphere of that evening. It was one of those cool autumn evenings and I was with a group of buddies. We ate, we drank, we chatted, we laughed while the world passed by us in a slow motion. This is what life is all about - surrounded by friends, enjoying good food in a quirky place. 

Image source: www.ediandthewolf.com

Now, back to the star of the evening - Wiener Schnitzel. Two things about this dish at Edi & The Wolf stood out - the crust is super crispy and puffy (more on this later) and the meat is super thin and tender. 

Here is what the owner of this restaurant said on TV

                                   Edi & The Wolf's Wiener Schnitzel (image source: CBS News)

"2/8th of an inch, pounded....perfectly fried....crisped and puffed."

There you go again, the word "puff" is used. Let me explain. When you bread and fry a piece of meat, the breading will stick to the meat like glue, but not the Wiener Schnitzel served at Edi & The Wolf. Their breading puffed up, which creates an air pocket between the crust and the meat. This creates two additional effects - the crust is very crispy and the meat feels tender on the teeth. 

           

               Edi & The Wolf's Wiener Schnitzel (image source: http://culturesplosion.wordpress.com/)

When asked how he created the puffed schnitzel, this was what he said:

The meat has to be "perfectly pounded, perfectly breaded....the flour has to be perfectly strained...and fried...."

I have two challenges to overcome - I don't know where to find veal and I don't like to fry stuff at home. My solution is to use pork loin and then "shallow fry" it on a skillet. 

I sliced the pork loin to about half an inch thick before pounding it thinly then I seasoned the meat with salt, pepper, a bit of light soy sauce and a bit of dark soy sauce (schnitzel purist don't shoot me). Next, I dip the meat in flour, shook off excess flour, dipped it into the egg wash, shook off excess egg wash, then coated it with bread crumbs. 

I bought a cast-iron skillet not too long ago and what I really like about a cast-iron skillet is that I can heat the oil to a very high temperature and it will not damage the skillet. This gives me the function of a faux-fryer. Not perfect, I know.

I served my pork schnitzel with a quickly made hummus. 

Did my crust puffed up? Clearly not. Was it crispy? Oh yes. The meat was tender, from the pounding, and the flavor was subtle yet flavorful. I am not here to create a replica dish but to cook something new and delicious. On that end, I think I have succeeded.

Second "My Burger Lab" review (official name is myBurgerLab)

If you missed my first review, you can read it here review.

I went to myBurgerLab for the first time more than a year ago (too long!) and I went again recently (still thinking about it!).

For those who have little patience to read through this page, here is how I would describe the experience:

took the first bite..."this is so good"....took a second bite...."hmmmmm"....took a third bite....."this is amazing".....took a fourth bite......"look at the juice"...took a fifth bite......"I don't recall it being this good the last time"......took a sixth bite....ate in silence........and.....I am out of burger.

You get the gist.

My first review wasn't glowing because of two things - The QUEUE and The Nostalgic factor. You see, I was still too hung up on Shake Shack. It was only when I learned to let go that I learn to enjoy the new. On top of that, I went on a weeknight so the QUEUE was a breezy 5-8 minutes of waiting in-line and 5-8 minutes for the food. Compare to 45-50 minutes on a weekend. I feel blessed to have the option of going there on a weeknight.

A few things got this place going for me again - the burger was very juicy and the beefy flavour was very prominent. I also ordered the double-patty burger, which came with two slices of cheese. Double the meat juice and double the cheese made this a winner. The fries wasn't over-salted like last time and I would like to think that the managers read my first review.

Now, I am already plotting my 3rd visit.