Pear Salad with Goat Cheese and Tamari Pecan

 You can make the salad dressing in advance. The dressing is mostly sweet, if you want it more tangy, you can add more cider vinegar.

Ingredients 

* 3 cups pear juice or unsweetened filtered apple cider or pear cider 

* 2 tablespoons pear or cider vinegar  

* 1Salt and freshly ground pepper  

* 1 1/2 teaspoons tamari or soy sauce  

* 2 teaspoons molasses  

* Pinch cayenne pepper  

* 1/2 cup pecan halves  

* 6 cups mixed bitter salad greens  

* 1/4 cup chopped raisins  

* 1/4 cup goat cheese crumbs 
* 1/2 ripe pear, cored, peeled, and thinly sliced

Directions

1) Bring pear juice to a simmer and skim thick foam that rises to surface. Reduce heat to low and simmer very gently, skimming occasionally, 30 to 45 minutes, or until juice reduces to consistency of maple syrup. Cool to room temperature. In a small bowl, combine pear syrup and vinegar. Whisk in oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

2) Preheat oven to 350°. In a shallow bowl, stir tamari and molasses, a pinch of salt, and cayenne until blended. Add nuts; toss until coated. Transfer to a double layer of paper towels; drain briefly. Spread pecans on a baking sheet on a wire rack; roast 10 minutes or until fairly dry and toasted. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

3) In a large bowl, combine greens, pecans, currants and cheese. Whisk vinaigrette again and drizzle it over salad. Toss gently and briefly. Serve pear salad with pear slices.

Shrimp Salad with Mango and Avocado

 This appetizer can be served as party snack as well. If you cannot find Belgian endive, you can use tortilla chips instead.

Ingredients

* 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 pounds cooked shrimp , diced
* 2 ripe avocados , seeded, peeled, and diced
* 1 mango, peeled and diced
* 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
* 6 heads Belgian endive (preferably 3 red and 3 white)
* Few sprigs cilantro , for garnish

Directions

1) In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt until salt dissolves. Slowly whisk in olive oil until well blended. Season with pepper.  
2) In a medium bowl, gently stir together lobster, avocados, mango, vinaigrette, tarragon, and cilantro.  
3) Remove bases of endives and separate leaves. Arrange lobster salad in the center of a large serving platter and place endive spears around the salad. Garnish platter with cilantro sprigs.

Thai Mussels

The first appetizer is Thai Mussel.  This can be a main course if you are making the same quantity as the recipe below.  We have about 3/4 of left over when we had it as an appetizer.  The red curry broth was very tasty and it matched very well with the mussels.  

Ingredients  
* 1 cup coconut milk
* 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
* 1 teaspoon red curry paste
* 2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce
* 2/3 cup sake
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil
* 2 pounds mussels, cleaned and debearded
* 2-4 basil sprigs (for garnish)

 Directions
1) In a large bowl, whisk together coconut milk, lime juice, curry paste, fish sauce, sake, garlic, ginger and basil.
2) Heat a heavy saucepan over high heat for about 30 seconds. Add mussels and broth. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until mussels fully open.
3) Divide mussels into bowls and serve with broth and plenty of crusty bread.

Mr. S Birthday Feast 2013

I have a seafood theme for Mr. S birthday feast this year.  We are fortunate that we live in a neighborhood that have a local fish market to provide us the freshest seafood.  I always try to avoid seafood from chain grocery stores, because a lot of times they are frozen and defrosted before putting out to the display. 

For those of you who are new to my blog, it is my own tradition to make a meal feast for Mr. S to celebrate his birthday. You can click here to see the previous feast: 
Mr. S Birthday Feast 2012 
Mr. S Birthday Feast 2011


Here is this year's menu: 
Thai Mussels
Shrimp Salad with Mango and Avocado
Pear Salad with Goat Cheese
Cauliflower soup
Steamed Dungeness Crab
Parmesan Zucchini Fries Recipe
Rum balls

I always plan ahead when I am cooking a big meal. To cook this meal smoothly, I made the salad dressing and the rum balls the day before.  On the day of the feast, I spent around 2-3 hours to prep and cook.  The results of the meal was fantastic! They are very easy recipe and they all tasted delicious!


 

Tomatillo Chicken

I love making one pot meal during Winter time.  It is fast and easy, perfect for a weeknight meal.

Ingredients
*2 pounds tomatillos (husks removed), washed and halved
*1 tablespoon vegetable oil
*1 whole chicken (3 to 4 pounds), cut into 10 pieces (wings reserved for another use)
*Coarse salt and ground pepper
*2 jalapenos, chopped
*1/2 medium white onion, chopped
*3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
*1 can (15 ounces) hominy (optional), drained
*1/4 cup chopped fresh, cilantro

Directions

1. In a food processor, puree tomatillos; set aside. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to pot, skin side down. Cook until browned on one side, 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add jalapenos and onion to pot and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatillo puree and hominy, if using; season with salt and pepper. Nestle chicken, skin side up, in sauce. Cover pot; simmer until chicken is cooked through, 22 to 25 minutes. Stir in cilantro; season with salt and pepper.

Slow cook beef short ribs

Mr. S's parents are in town. To be able to impress them with food and be able to entertain them at the same time, I chose to cook a meal with the slow cooker.  Digging through my freezer, I saw some beef ribs from the quarter grass fed cow share I got from last year.  From my experience, thick cut short ribs taste the best when they are cook in the slow cooker.

*My freezer after picking up the quarter grass-fed cow.

Ingredients

*1/3 cup flour 

*1 teaspoon salt 

*1/4 teaspoon pepper 

*2 1/2 lbs boneless beef short ribs 

*1 cup homemade beef broth 

*3/4 cup apple cider vinegar 

*3/4 cup organic brown sugar 

*1/4 cup chili sauce 

*2 tablespoons organic katsup 

*2 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce 

*2 tablespoons minced garlic 

*1 teaspoon chili powder 

*1 cup chopped organic onion 

Directions: 

1) Put flour, salt and pepper in a bag. Add ribs and shake to coat. Brown ribs in a large skillet. 

2) In a small bowl, whisk the rest of the ingredients.  Place ribs and chopped onion in the slow cooker and pour sauce over ribs. Cover and cook on low for 9 hours or high for 5 hours.

3) When done, pour sauce in a sauce pan then skim the fat and simmer to a thick sauce. Serve ribs with thicken sauce. Enjoy!

Zucchini bread

My co-worker Kiwi G gave me a gaint zucchini for zucchini bread.  As you know, small to medium size zucchini is good for salads or saute, but if the zucchini gets too big, it won't taste as good, so you use them for bread. 

**Recipe yield 2 loafs

Ingredients
*3 1/4 cup organic whole wheat flour
*1 1/2 teaspoon salt
*2 teaspoon baking soda
*1 teaspoon nutmeg 
*1 teaspoon cinnamon
*1/2 cup organic butter, melted
*1 cup raw honey
*4 farm fresh eggs
*1/3 cup water
*2 cup zucchini, puree
*1 teaspoon lemon juice
*1 cup organic walnut
*1 cup organic dried cranberry

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan, and set aside. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon in a medium bowl, and set aside.
2) In a large bowl, using a electric mixer to combine melted butter, honey, eggs, water, zucchini, lemon juice and mix until combined. Add the reserved flour mixture, and mix on low speed until well incorporated, about 10 seconds. Stir in walnuts and dried cranberry.
3) Pour batter into buttered pans. Bake until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan on a wire rack. Invert bread to unmold; reinvert, and let cool completely on rack.