Christmas Gingerbread Houses

Photography by *kaishin*

Well, the holidays are soon to be here, and thus the holiday baking begins...

First off, I want to convey the fun that is to be had when especially baking and decorating with friends. This year I decided that I wanted to make Gingerbread houses and gingerbread cookies. For the Houses, I had decided to focus on the fun part, thus used graham wafer cookies instead of baking gingerbread. My friend Rachael and I, spent about two hours making our houses and decorating it, while we gabbered and had many laughs.

For the cookies... see next post ;-)

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Italian styled Garlic Prawns with Spicy Sausages

Italian styled Garlic Prawns with Spicy Sausages © Kaishin Chu 2008 I made this for a potluck gathering, it turned out really well as it reheated under the broiler perfectly. Don't forget to have some good bread for dipping and soaking up the juices at the end. 2 Cups of fresh prawns or room temp. defrosted ones, shells off with tails on (easier as finger food) 1 cup spicy Italian sausages, sliced about 1/4" - 3/8" thick pieces 1/2 cup minced red onions 1/4 cup diced red and yellow peppers + 1 TBsp for garnishing 1 Tbsp. crushed or finely minced garlic 2 tsp. paprika Sea Salt and Peper 1/4 tsp. chili flakes chopped fresh parsley to garnish Use a decent amount of olive oil (2-3 tbsp) and butter (1-2 tbsp) to quickly heat the garlic, onion, chili flakes, and peppers, just till the aroma comes out. Then add the sausages in to cook. saute until cooked through. Then add Prawns, and sprinkle in the paprika, stir and sautee till just slightly undercooked, then turn off...

Balsamic Vinegar Pancakes

Photos posted by Kaishin Chu © 2009. I created this recipe a few years back while we vacationed in Tofino in a log cabin. I had hoped to make buttermilk pancakes (a recipe originally developed in my college days), but we couldn't find any buttermilk to purchase at the local little market on our way into town. Since I often adapt recipes in lieu of missing ingredients, so in this case seeing that I had brought a container of strawberries macerating in balsamic vinegar, I thought I would use the vinegar with milk to create something similar to buttermilk. I figured it couldn't hurt. Photos posted by Kaishin Chu © 2009. The breakfast turned out amazing, the pancakes were fluffy yet substantial, moist and full of flavour, esp. with maple syrup... After the meal, the idea for a proper recipe was set forth. Last year, I dreamt up another delectable recipe using balsamic vinegar left over from macerating fruit, to make panna cotta... I'll save that recipe to share with you for a...

Pan seared Cod with Sesame Soy Garlic/Ginger Glaze

Photo posted by Kaishin Chu © 2007. Finally got around fine tuning the Glaze recipe. Sorry for the wait Heather! Sesame Soy Garlic/Ginger Glaze 3 Tbsp Soy Sauce (or any other soy based sauce, Memmi or Teriyaki works well too) 1 Tbsp Cooking wine 1 tsp Crushed garlic 1/2 tsp crushed ginger (optional) 1 tsp cornstarch 2 tsp brown sugar (if you are using Memmi or Teriyaki sauce, omit the sugar) 1/2 tsp sesame oil 1-2 tsp of sesame seeds Add all ingredients together in a bowl or cup. Let sit. After pan frying fish filets that have been lightly salted and peppered, remove from fish from pan. Remove pan from stove and add 1/4 cup water to deglaze pan and cool down a bit. Use your spatula to scrap up any flavour goodies on the pan. Stir up your soy mixture, so that cornstarch is stirred up, then add mixture to pan. On med. low heat, stir constantly till mixture thickens and clears up, then remove from heat. You can now either place your fish back in the pan to coat pieces, or plate t...

. dash of food .

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