Magical Breakfast Cream

I've been enjoying Magical Breakfast Cream (or MBC) as my daily breakfast for a year now, from the French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook. I don't usually follow fad diets but I'm always on the lookout for good and healthy recipes. I really love this recipe because it really includes all that you need nutritionally in one bowl. It's a great start to my day!



Magical Breakfast Cream
Adapted from French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook by Mireille Guiliano. I realized typing this that I don't follow the quantities and suspect I have more yogurt and honey than the quantities below. Of course, ingredients can be improved to taste: different fruit, different oil. One of the suggestions in the book is to sweeten with mandarin juice. I would buy fresh mandarins and squeeze the juice out. It was good but rather tedious so I add honey instead.

* ⅓ cup Greek yogurt, any type will do but I like how thick it is
* 1 tsp flax oil
* 1 tsp honey
* 2 Tbsp cereal, ground (I like to use Grain Shop High Fibre Crisp)
* 1 Tbsp nuts, ground (I use a mix: walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts)
* handful of blueberries
* half a banana, peeled and sliced

Scoop the yogurt into a bowl.
Add the flax oil and honey, and mix.
Add the cereal and nuts, and mix again.
Top with blueberries and banana.
Tada!


Yogurt with honey and flax oil, then cereal and nuts.

This recipe made me start having flax oil, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acid. It has to be refrigerated and ingesting 1-2 tsp a day is recommended.



Clearly, I like this recipe so much that I've been having it regularly for a year. Even on weekends when I allows myself to splurge on breakfast, sometimes I just want to have MBC. My perfect spoonful is having some blueberries and banana, and the crunch of nuts.

White Beans and Mushroom Salad

After having dinner at her friend M's, my sister raved about a white bean and mushroom salad, served with steak. Her instructions were sauté mushrooms, with a lot of onion, mix with white beans and grilled veggies, and toss with a Dijon dressing; serve with steak. I decided to skip the steak and make a healthy and very filling salad.



White Beans and Mushroom Salad

Dressing
Honestly, I throw in whatever looks good for a dressing and adjust to taste. I cheat and rarely follow the 3:1 oil to vinegar usually recommended.

* 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
* 3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
* salt, to taste
* freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mix all the ingredients together.

Salad
* oil
* small onion, sliced thinly
* 2-3 good handful of mushrooms of your choice, sliced
* thyme, dry or fresh
* salt, to taste
* freshly ground black pepper, to taste
* dried chili flakes, optional
* 1 can white (cannellini) beans
* grilled veggies of your choice, such as peppers or zucchini

In a hot pan, heat oil.
Add onion and cook for 1 minute.
Add mushrooms and sauté.
Add thyme and season with salt, pepper and chili flakes.
Meanwhile, rinse and drain white beans.
Place beans in a bowl.
Once mushrooms are cooked through and dry, add mushrooms and grilled veggies to the bowl of beans.
Pour the dressing and mix well.
Refrigerate or serve hot.
Tada!


White beans and mushrooms. Grilled Zucchini.

I find that allowing the components to sit in the dressing really help add flavour to the salad. I am happy eating this salad as lunch for a whole week. I like eating it at room temperature so take it out of the fridge and let it warm up a bit. I love the creamy beans, with the mushrooms and grilled zucchini. Tasty eating with no guilt!



For mushroom lovers, more mushroom posts:
* Bacon & Parmesan stuffed Mushrooms
* Chicken and Mushroom Orzo
* Fried Polenta and Mushrooms
* Goat Cheese stuffed Mushrooms
* Mushroom Crusted Tilapia
* Mushroom Pita Pizza
* Mushroom Ravioli
* Mushroom Soup
* Potato Mushroom Bruschetta
* Red & White Quinoa Mushroom Risotto
* Spinach and Mushroom Cannelloni

Corn and Shrimp Fritters

My sister gifted me with six different spice blends from Chasseurs d'épices (Spice Hunter), a Québec company. The spices come whole to maintain the flavours, and you grind up the spices before you use them. The package also came with a little recipe booklet. I had eyed a number of recipes to make, corn and shrimp fritters, made with the satay spices, being at the forefront.



Corn and Shrimp Fritters - Makes 10 fritters
Adapted from Spice Hunters - Ethné and Philippe de Vienne. Add more shrimps if you like or skip them altogether to make this a vegetarian appetizer. If you don't want to make the whole spice mix, just pick a few ones, like a bit of cumin.

* 1-½ cups corn kernels, fresh if they're in season
* 1-½ cups shrimps, roughly chopped
* 1 green onion, sliced thinly
* coriander (optional)
* dried chili flakes (optional)
* ½ tsp salt
* ½ Tbsp Satay spices, ground (cumin, coriander, cardamon, white pepper, bird chili, kaffir lime leaves, dried lemon grass, dried garlic)
* ¾ cup flour
* 1 egg, beaten
* oil

In a bowl, mix corn, shrimp, green onion, chili flakes, salt and spices.
Add enough flour so that the ingredients are somewhat dry.
Mix in the beaten egg to make a stiff batter.
Shape into 3" patties.
In a large pan, heat oil over medium-high heat.
Cook patties until golden brown (about 3 minutes per side).
Serve hot or cold - I like them hot with sweet chili dipping sauce.
Tada!


Satay Spice Mix.



(1) Ingredients, (2) making the batter and (3) frying the fritters.

I was very happy with this recipe. It was easy to put together, and very good. I am loving corn right now, and this was the perfect recipe to showcase this seasonal offering. I enjoyed the combination of the sweet corn kernels with the chunks of shrimps. Let's be honest, the word fritter always win me over and these fritters made for a delectable appetizer!


Perfect bite of corn and shrimp.

Other recipes featuring fresh corn:
* Corn Soup with Dill
* Corn Spring Rolls
* Fresh Corn Salad
* Lobster and Corn Soup
* Sautéed Corn

Trứng Chiên Củ Cải Muối (Vietnamese Omelette with Pickled Daikon)

As mentioned in my previous post, I asked my mom to have trứng chiên củ cải muối (Vietnamese omelette with pickled daikon). I remember having this dish growing up with rice. As it's just an omelette, it's quite easy; I just wasn't sure where to buy the ingredients. Pickled daikon (củ cải muối) can be purchased at Asian grocery stores, in sealed plastic. It is often served with bánh tét for Vietnamese New Year, after being soaked in fish sauce.



Trứng chiên củ cải muối (Vietnamese Omelette with Pickled Daikon)
Củ cải muối is salty so this dish does not need added salt.

* oil
* small onion, sliced
* ⅓ cup dried salted radish (or pickled daikon) - or more if you'd like
* 3 eggs, beaten
* freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in a large pan.
Add the onion slices and salted radish.
Meanwhile, season the beaten eggs with black pepper.
Once the onions have softened, add the beaten eggs.
Turn over your omelette, once the bottom is cooked.
Tada!


Củ cải muối (pickled daikon) is purchased bagged and not refrigerated but I did refrigerate it once I opened the bag.


Cooking the omelette.

Củ cải muối (pickled daikon) has a distinctly salty and a bit sweet taste. It also has a crunch that combines well with the crunch of the onions. For someone who loves salt like me, this has been my go to recipe for a quick and easy dinner for the past few weeks.


Trứng Chiên Củ Cải Muối (Vietnamese Omelette with Pickled Daikon).

Sautéed Pea Shoots

My mom came to visit for a long weekend a couple of weeks ago. She always asks if there is something I'd like her to make. In the laziness and heat of the summer, I just wanted something simple and easy. So my request was rice with sautéed pea shoots and omelette with pickled daikon (recipe to come on the next post).



Sautéed Pea Shoots
If you can't find pea shoots, you can replace with any other green, such as spinach.

* oil
* garlic, minced
* pea shoots, hard stems removed
* salt

Heat oil in a pan to medium-high heat.
Add the garlic.
After about 30 seconds, add the pea shoots.
Season with salt to taste.
Cook until the shoots are wilted, for just a few minutes.
Tada!


Picked over pea shoots and sautéeing the shoots.



Calling this a recipe seens a bit of an exaggeration. Vietnamese enjoy a variety of greens just simply sautéed like this, served with rice.

Lobster Ravioli

I was watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and saw the most decadent recipe: lobster ravioli! I quickly googled "Rino's Place" for the recipe but only found Rino's Special veal cutlet recipe, so I quickly scribbled down the ingredients for future reference. (I could also have watched the episode on youtube here.)

I really love lobster but have never cooked with it. When there was a lobster sale on Father's Day, I quickly went and bought 3 small ones at $4.99 each. I was hanging out with my friend T, so she made the pasta dough while I prepared the filling. It was a lot of work to get the lobster meat out of the shells, especially for someone inexperienced like me. However, the work was well worth it!



Lobster Ravioli - Makes about 3 dozen ravioli's (about 4-5 servings)
Adapted from Rino's Place on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Watch the episode here.
You can make these ravioli's as small or large as you want. My friend T and I had 7 each and it was plenty. You could make less and serve 2-3 per person as a decadent starter! These would also be great with crab instead!

Lobster Ravioli

* olive oil
* 1-2 shallots, chopped
* 1-½ cups of cooked lobster meat, from 3-1lb. lobster (set aside ¼ cup or so of lobster meat for the sauce), or use canned lobster - chopped roughly
* parsley
* ½ lb. ricotta
* 3-4 Tbsp Parmesan
* salt, to taste
* pepper, to taste

* 6 pasta sheets - or make your own!

Cook shallots in olive oil on medium high heat.

Once the shallots have softened, add lobster meat and parsley.
Take the pan off the heat and mix in the ricotta and Parmesan.
Taste filling and season with salt and pepper to taste.
On a pasta sheet laid out on the counter, add about a tablespoon or so of filling a couple of inches apart. (I was able to make about 12 ravioli's on one sheet but it depends on the size of your pasta sheet.)
Wet the pasta in between the filling creating the borders of the ravioli's so they seal properly.
Top off with another pasta sheet.
Around each mound of filling, press out on the wet area, making sure there are no air pockets in the filling.
Cut each ravioli out with a pizza roller.
Ensure the ravioli's are well sealed again (or they will open up in the water when cooking).

In a large pot of boiling water, cook the ravioli's for 7-8 minutes until they float up.
(If you are lucky enough to have extra, lay them individually on a baking sheet and freeze before cooking them. When they are frozen, place them in a sealed plastic bag.)

Taking out fresh lobster meat was hard work but worth it!

Top: Sautéeing the lobster; adding cheese.
Bottom: Making the ravioli's.

Lobster Sauce - for 4 servings

If you want to make this sauce even more lobster-ey, cook the shells in the sauce and strain out. I didn't do this and it was still very good!

* oil

* chopped shallots

* minced garlic

* a handful of sliced mushrooms (optional)

* ¼ cup lobster meat that was set aside

* ½ cup tomato sauce

* 1 cup cream (heated in the microwave - this helps preventing from curdling)

* salt, to taste

* pepper, to taste

* a few basil leaves, chopped

Cook shallots and garlic in oil.

Add mushroom slices and cook on high heat.
When the mushrooms have softened, add lobster meat, tomato sauce and heated cream.
Turn down the heat and let the sauc simmer until it has slightly thickened.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add basil last.
Place the ravioli's in a deep plate.
Top with the sauce.
Tada!

My friend T and I were so happy with the outcome of this dish. It felt like quite a treat between the lobster in both the sauce and the filling, and the fresh pasta! This recipe is definitely worth saving for special occasions or when lobsters are in season!

I wish I had this in front of me right now!


Slicing into the lobster filling!

For other lobster recipes:
* Lobster and Corn Soup
* Salt and Pepper Lobster
* Stir Fried Lobster with Ginger and Green Onion

Café Vasco Da Gama (Montréal, QC)

1472 Rue Peel
Montréal, Québec
514.286.2688
website

I went to meet two of my friends during their lunch time. My friend D suggested Café Vasco Da Gama in between both their workplaces, in downtown Montréal.



I got there right before the lunch time crowd to snag us a table. This small restaurant gets busy very quickly. Once you have a table, you wait in line to order. There are a variety of sandwiches, salads and baked treats. You pay, then go to your table with a number, and your lunch is served to you.



I decided to get a trio of salads ($10.25): hearts of palm and avocado, barley salad with sun-dried tomatoes and chorizo, and a Greek salad. I also ordered a salted cod fish cake, which I forgot to take a picture. The salty little treat was heated up and crispy.


Trio of Salads.

The trio of salads came with some bread slices. I loved all three salads. I've even tried to duplicate the hearts of palm and avocado salad with great success (recipe to come!). I liked the barley with salty bits of chorizo and sun-dried tomatoes. I ordered this another time, when the barley was replaced with orzo - also good, but not as healthy! I also enjoyed the Greek salad with large chunks of vegetables.


Hearts of palm and avocado; Greek Salad.

If you're in downtown Montréal and are looking for a little spot to eat, Café Vasco Da Gama will definitely hit the spot! I also noticed that they serve tapas after 6 pm. I'll have to come back and try them out!

Cuisine Szechuan (Montréal, QC)

2350 Guy Street
Montréal, Québec
514.933.5041

My family in Montréal tried Szechuan for my mother's birthday back in March and really looked forward to take me. I am half Chinese on my father's side, more specifically Cantonese, so am not familiar with Szechuan cuisine.

[As a long side note - please skip if you're not interested: I just finished reading Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: a Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop. It was a very interesting read. "Chinese food" is really a general term that doesn't mean much considering how varied food can be from province to province. The book spends a large amount of time on Sichuan food since the author spent her first year in Chengdu. She then follows by cuisine in Hunan, Fujian, Hong Kong, Beijing, Kashgar, etc.

What was interesting was understanding Chinese cultures through food, such as one of the chapters callled "Only Barbarians Eat Salad", in which the author is frustrated that she has put effort in being open-minded about Chinese food and the feeling is not at all reciprocated. The book spans more than a decade of travel in China. Changes and events are discussed, and their impact on the food culture, such as the growing middle-class' purchasing power for delicacies like shark fin, pollution, the Communist regime and SARS. She also touches on how ethnic minorities are treated in China.


I thought the book came full circle. The author first opens herself up by trying all food. At a point, she realizes that she's moved on from being an open-minded adventurous eater to actually enjoying such delicacies as goose intestines. Finally, she becomes somewhat weary of eating Chinese food and yearns for simple food. I really liked the description of the progression of eating in China (p.303): first, 'eating to fill your belly' - this is eating as a means to stau alive, followed by 'eating plenty of rich food' - splurging to make up for years of deprivation and the final phase, one I think everyone should strive for, 'eating skillfully' -"eating with discernment, seeking out 'green food products', reducing their consuption of animal foods, and ordering less gluttonously in restaurants."

Each chapter ends with mouth-watering recipes related to the chapter, such as fish-fragrant aubergines (I've tried a recipe here.) and Dan Dan noodles. The book is also rich with descriptions of different foods - the one I was most intrigued with was guo kui.

I highly recommend this book if you're at all interested in Chinese food, and really China in general, since food plays such a large role in China.]



On to the food, speaking of fish-fragrant eggplant , I think we ordered the Yu Xiang Eggplant with Dou Ban Jiang (Yu Xiang = Fish Fragrant, Dou Ban Jiang= black bean sauce). I think because my sister couldn't recall what she ordered the last time since there were 3-4 eggplant dishes. The aubergines were slick with a sweet and sour sauce that we all enjoyed.


Yu Xiang Eggplant with Dou Ban Jiang ($7.99).

The dish that my family was excited to have me try was the tofu flower & sliced halibut in a chili pepper & Szechuan peppercorn broth. It consisted of slices of fish in a very spicy sauce. The heat came from both chilies and Szechuan peppercorn, which gave the sauce a very distinct flavour. Under the fish, were soy bean sprouts. This sauce was very, very spicy!


Tofu flower & sliced halibut in a chili pepper & Szechuan Peppercorn Broth ($11.99).


Soy bean sprouts and Szechuan peppercorns.

We also ordered the Kung Pao chicken. I don't remember it being overly hot, and it had a nice sweet and savoury sauce.



Finally, we ordered a fried shrimp dish that was totally disappointing. Nothing exciting about it and the batter was too thick.



I know that Szechuan food has been out there for a long time but it was the first for me. This visit, combined with reading Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: a Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China really inspire me to not only try Szechuan food but Chinese food from different regions.

Gà Nướng Chao - Fermented Bean Curd BBQ Chicken

As I mentioned in the previous post (for the vegetarian mung bean noodle dish), one my sister's favourite dishes is Gà Nướng Chao, or fermented bean curd BBQ chicken. My mother uses the red bean curd, which leaves a nice red hue on the chicken. This recipe is quite simple as the bean curd is the main ingredient. The chicken is then grilled on charcoal.



Gà Nướng Chao - Fermented Bean Curd BBQ Chicken - Makes 12 drumsticks
Red Bean curd can be purchased at Asian grocery stores in jars. My mom likes making this recipe with drumsticks but any part of the chicken will work.

* 3 cubes of red fermented bean curd, and 1-2 spoonfuls of the liquid from the jar
* 1 Tbsp sugar
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 12 skinless drumsticks, sliced to the bone but not cut through

In a large bowl, add the red bean curd cubes, the liquid, sugar and garlic.
Mash the cubes with a fork and mix, creating a paste.
Add the chicken drumsticks into the bowl and slather the paste into every nook of the chicken drumsticks (that is why the drumsticks are sliced so there is more surface area for the marinade).
Marinate overnight (ideally) in the refrigerator or at least for 5-6 hours so the flavours seep into the chicken.
Take out the drumsticks 30 minutes before grilling so the drumsticks come up to room temperature.
Grill the drumsticks (not on too high heat, so on the periphery of your grill), about 5 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
Serve with bún.
Tada!



(1) Red bean curd jar (2) Red bean curd marinade ingredients (3) Red bean curd paste (4) marinating the chicken.

Not only does the red bean curd leave the chicken drumsticks with a red colour, it also imparts a distinctly bean curd flavour: salty and fermented. As my sister really enjoys this, it usually is a BBQ staple of ours when grilling Vietnamese food!


It's really finger licking good and I love the char from charcoal!

I am submitting this to the July 2011 edition of Delicious Vietnam, a blogging event featuring Vietnamese food and created by A Food Lover's Journey and Ravenous Couple. It is hosted this month by Lan from Angry Asian creation. (For my other Delicious Vietnam recipes, click here).

For other Vietnamese BBQ recipes:
* BBQ Corn with Scallion Oil
* Bò Lá Lốt (Ground Beef stuffed Wild Betel Leaves).
* Bún Thịt Nướng (Grilled Meat with Rice Vermicelli)
* Gà Nướng Xả (Grilled Lemongrass Chicken)
* Nem Nướng (Pork Meatballs)
* Sườn Nướng Xả (Grilled Lemongrass Ribs)