. dash of food .

Photo posted by Kaishin Chu © 2008. For the first time, I cooked with lamb. Bought a lovely pkg of lamb leg steaks, organic to boot! Med rare seems to work best here. Also for the first time, cooked the quinoa with some tomato juice (V8 was used) along with water. The flavour was richer and the grains became a bit more sticky, as the juice helped to carmelize a bit. Lamb Leg steak, pan grill till med rare with sea salt and black pepper. Quinoa cooked 1/2 water and 1/2 tomato juice for the liquid. Panfried Broccoli & Cherry Tomato halves with minced Garlic, salt & fresh black pepper. (saute garlic first to bring out aroma, then add tomatoes to get them heated through, then add broccoli to cook. Add a TBSP of water and put lid on to allow flash steam heat. Remove lid after a min, and cook another min or two... depending how cooked through you like your brocs.)

Photo posted by Kaishin Chu © 2008. Humus (Chick Pea Dip) 1 can (540ml/19 fl oz) of chick peas/garganzo beans or can substitute with Cannelli Beans to make a Bean dip 2 tsp of crushed garlic 2 -3 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice ( you can adjust this to your taste, don't be afraid to put some of it first, blend then taste to see if you need more) 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil 1/4 - 1/2 cup Olive oil Salt & Pepper Paprika Put Beans, garlic, lemon juice, and sesame oil into food processor and blend until pureed. With process running, drizzle in Olive oil, enough until mixture smooths out to a consistency you like. Add 1/2 Tsp Salt and fresh ground pepper. Then scoop out into serving container, then sprinkle paprika and drizzle some fresh olive oil. Let sit for an hour or two to let the flavours meld, or serve immediately. Brushetta Your favourite loaf of rustic bread or bagette Olive Oil Garlic Clove Slice your bread about 1/2 thick on the bias, then place on baking sheet to broil unti...

Matt is my hero when it comes to food photography, teamed with his beautiful graphic asthetics. Here's a great article on Matt Armendariz, with links to his food blog and websites.

scalloped and pretty , originally uploaded by .kaishin. . purple potatoes layered with onions, and yellow potatoes. drizzle layers with olive oil and sprinkling of sea salt and fresh black pepper. cover with tin foil and bake till almost tender, then remove foil to brown the top layer while finishing up the cooking. remove to cool a bit from oven. heat 3 tbsp of olive oil and put in 1 tbsp of minced basil and 1tsp of minced/crushed garlic. heat just enough till aromas come out and lessens the bite of the garlic. spread on top of potatoes. serve.

Knog = Kai's Egg Nog... hahah This has become my Christmas classic, as it seems friends and family request it now. This Nog has even converted non-eggnog lovers to liking egg nog, the real egg nog that is. It's so much better than store bought container nog, which has been thickened with cornstarch or other. One year I even made Egg Nog daiquiris, which was extremely yummy and popular even in the month of July, while at my Christmas in July party. All you need is vanilla ice cream, some ice, and a blender, and voila! This recipe uses imitation Rum to flavour the nog, allowing people to choose whether they want rum in their nog, and how much cheer to add ;-) First make the Soft Custard : 3 large free range eggs, beaten (if not using free range, then you may add 1-2 drop of yellow food colouring to the custard to help get the yellow colour) 1/3 Cup white sugar 1/4 tsp salt 3 Cup 2% or Whole Milk 1 tsp Vanilla extract Mix well together eggs, sugar, salt in a large saucepan (2 qt)...

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...

(Italian style Meatballs or Burger Patties) Photo posted by Kaishin Chu © 2007. I made a scrumptious ground meat recipe that worked both for meatballs and hamburger patties. I did spaghetti the classic Italian way for Jason, while I used kamut rotini for myself, since I'm to avoid wheat and rice. 2 kg Ground Pork ( you can use both beef and pork or just of one or the other) 2 Eggs, room temp. 2 cups Day old bread Crumbs (use food processor to break down to fine crumbs) 2 cups Parmesan, grated 2 med Onion (yellow or white), minced 1/2 cup Green onion/scallions, minced 2 cloves Garlic, crushed or finely minced 2 tsp Black pepper, freshly ground 4 tsp Salt 3 tbsp Red Wine 3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce 2 tbsp Italian seasoning (dried basil, oregano, chili flakes, etc..) or minced fresh Basil and Oregano Combine all ingredients and knead to mix well. If mixture feels a b...