Italian Meatball for Super Bowl!

Use the cast iron Takoyaki or Aebierskiver pan to baking meatballs to keep the great shape of the meatballs. These pans work great on the oven! 

The meatballs were a mixture of pork and beef which I prefer, salt pepper, bread crumbs, one egg and chopped parsley

My husband and I did not like bread crumbs in the meatballs.  We decided the bread took away from the taste of the meat!

Refrigerator Bread dough was used to form these buns.  The extra touch was to brush the buns when hot with Olive Oil with chopped parsley and garlic! 

Traditional Cantonese Duck; Chinese New Year; Year of the Dog,

Chinese Year of the Dog

The Menu 

Sushi rice with Asian flavoured Coleslaw

Cantonese Duck 

 Long Life Noodles

Stir Fried Bok Choy 

Asian Pork Ribs 

Dessert

Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku) 

Delicious Spring Rolls were prepared by my granddaughter and her mom

This year, Cantonese Duck was the feature.   

After the duck was cleaned and pierced all over with a fork, it was plunged into hot boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then dried well.

Sauce for the duck.

• 2 T Hoisin 
• 2 tsp 5 Spice Powder 
• 2 T fresh Ginger
• 1 chopped Shallot
• 1-2 T Sherry
• 3T Honey
• 3 T Soya sauce
• 1 c Water

Combine ingredients, heat to combine all the ingredients, then spread on the duck and repeated every hour until the skin has dried out. 

Reduce the reminder of the sauce to serve with the duck

Preheat oven to 500 degrees, roast the duck on a rack for 10 to 15 minutes, then reduce to 325 and bake until crisp

Long Life Noodles  were again prepared for this meal as this is a delicious and easy recipe. 

Since it is the Year of the Dog, I decided to make a dog shaped out of Sushi Rice that sat on a Asian flavoured coleslaw.

Dressing for the Coleslaw Salad


Dressing for the Asian flavour Coleslaw

• 1 Tsp wasabi powder
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 T olive oil
• 1-2 tsp Sesame seed oil
• 1 T soya
• 1 T rice vinegar

The challenge of this meal was to make and use the correct sauce for each dish prepared.  Although the sauces were so close in taste, I'm sure one wouldn't notice! 

The girls loved the sushi shaped dog and did recognize it as a dog! 

Stir Fry Bok Choy

• 2 T oil
• 2 ch garlic
• 1 T ginger
• hot pepper flakes
• Bok Choy
• 1 T Soya
• 1 T Water
• 1 -2 T Sesame Seed Oil

Heat oil, add pepper flakes and garlic.  Watch that it does not burn. add Bok Choy, soya sauce and water

Cook for 2 minutes, covered, then uncovered and cook until fork tender

Drizzle with Sesame Seed oil

This is a quick way to do any Chinese greens and can also be done in the oven!  

Special Japanese cups always makes Green Tea special!

And for dessert, the girls helped me make Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku),

I thought this was a perfect Chinese cookie fortune saying for me. Don't you think?

Shrimp and Lobster Ravioli and Valentines

Valentines has always been special for me as a day to celebrate those that are special to you and to tell them so!  When we were in Puerto Rico, Valentines is most special and recognized as a church holiday 

Strawberry and cottage cheese filled Crepes are a delicious way to start the day!

The after school snack was cherries filled dumplings, topped with a strawberry sauce! 

A recipe that I have wanted to try for a while is Lobster and Shrimp Ravioli.   Lobster tail was steamed first. 

The filling consisted of lobster meat, shrimp, garlic, shallots, parsley, ricotta cheese, but one could use other seafood. 

Ravioli Dough

• 2 c flour
• pinch of salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp oil
• 3/4 -1 c water 

Mix dry ingredient, mix eggs, oil and about 3/4 c water and add to the dry ingredients, knead until it comes together. 

The dough was very soft and difficult to pinch tightly. Since I didn't want to loose any of the filling, I did steam the dumplings.

The dough was cut into square pieces so as to form a heart shape!

Limoncello Cream Sauce

Simmer together in saucepan

• 3-4 T limoncello
• juice of one lemon and rind

Whisk in

• 1/3 c butter

Add in until the sauce is thicken

• whipping cream

 

To assemble, cook the ravioli, spoon on th4e sauce, garnish with chopped parsley