I bought an indoor grill pan today so I’m really excited to make grilled dishes! I have so many things to make, including kebabs!

I was going to add mango into my salsa but Whole Foods was out, so it’s just avocado.

[100% organic & wild]

Ingredients:

• Mahi-Mahi fillet
• 1 TB olive oil, for brushing over the fish
• 2-3 ripe avocado, diced into cubes
• 2 tomatoes, chopped into cubes
• 2 TB olive oil, for salsa
• 1 TB lemon juice
• 0.5 cup flat Italian parsley leaves, chopped
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Salt & ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat grill to high heat
2. Brush the fillets with olive oil and let sit for 10 minutes
3. Make the salsa by first chopping up the tomatoes, parsley, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper in a food processor
4. Then mix with avocado and olive oil, set aside
5. Grill fish for 3-4 minutes on each side
6. To serve, pour salsa over fillet

Traditionally, this congee is made with century old duck egg (the black jelly-like egg) and shredded pork. But since I had no pork tenderloin at home, I used half of a chicken breast instead. And I don’t eat modern-day made salted duck egg or century old duck egg anymore because they are made with chemicals that are not good for you. I prefer the old fashioned way… but it’s not available here.

Congee is Chinese porridge.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 10 cups water
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 chicken breast, whole
• 3 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Wash the rice three times and then soak in water for 30 minutes before cooking
2. Pour the 10 cups of water into the soaked rice and cook for 2-4 hours with the chicken breast, bouillon, and salt
3. After cooking, take the chicken out and shred it with a fork, and place the pieces back into the rice cooker/crock pot
4. Serve with chopped green onions and pork floss

I had 12 scallops remaining in my freezer so I decided to make this for dinner. This recipe has been bookmarked for 4 months now. I am emptying out my fridge for my pizza phase so I’m trying to make simple things for the food in my fridge and freezer.

[100% organic & wild]

Ingredients:

• 6 sea scallops
• 1 pack of enoki mushrooms
• 6 tablespoons of mayonnaise
• 0.5 tsp lime juice
• 0.5 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp chili garlic sauce (passed through sieve)
• Paprika
• Chives, chopped

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 475ºF
2. Clean the scallops and cut each scallop into 2-4 pieces of equal size (slice horizontally)
3. Chop off the roots of the enoki mushrooms and divide them into equal portions
4. Spread the mushrooms on a plate and layer the scallop pieces over the mushrooms and bake for 3-4 minutes
5. Mix the ingredients for the creamy spicy sauce and blend well (mayonnaise, lime juice, sugar, and chili garlic sauce)
6. Remove the scallops from the oven and top with creamy spicy sauce
7. Put the scallops back into the oven and bake until the surface turns golden brown
8. Sprinkle some paprika powder and chopped chives

*Adapted from RasaMalaysia.

I know mine looks kind of messy but it tastes really good and I can’t get enough!

Recipe can be found here. I ran out of dried shrimp so there isn’t that in there and I used red chili pepper flakes instead of whole dried peppers.

The clams I used in last night’s bisque.

After the shrimp bisque, I’ve been dying to use my blender for another bisque. Crab meat is expensive and so is lobster so I settled for shrimp again. But I bought a pound of prawns to use instead and some cherrystone clams.

[100% organic & wild]

Ingredients:

• 4 large cloves garlic, roasted
• 3 TB olive oil
• 2 TB butter and 1 TB butter
• 1.5 lbs butternut squash, peeled and cube
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup fresh carrots, diced
• 1 cup fresh celery, diced
• 4 cups chicken broth, divided use
• 2 TB fresh chives, finely chopped
• 1 cup milk
• Shrimp/prawns
• Cherrystone clams
• White wine
• Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
• Freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano for sprinkling

Instructions:

1. Prepare roasted garlic by heating the oven up at 4ooºF and baking the garlic head for 30 minutes
2. In a large soup pot over medium heat, add the olive oil and butter
3. Once the butter is melted, add squash, onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes
4. Add 3 cups of broth, reserving the rest
5. Cover the pot and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until squash is very tender (around 30 minutes)
6. Add the milk and puree the mixture until very smooth then return to pot. Thin with remaining broth if desired
7. Boil the shrimp and clams in a pot of white wine and 1TB butter
8. Season with salt, pepper, chives, and grated Parmesan Reggiano and serve

*Adapted from Gimme Some Oven.

I went to Whole Foods Thanksgiving Feast sample event. There were way too many people there and the lines were ridiculously long. I did not see regular Whole Foods shoppers there… there were some people who did not belong… like ginormous people… ugh. I think the best “food” I had was the mushroom sage gravy. I did, however, enjoy the wine tasting. I like white wine more than red wine but I had a few really nice red wines. I don’t remember their names though…

Anyway, that’s not important. I met a chef today and she’s a friend of a friend’s sister! We had the best conversations and we exchanged our likes and dislikes. It was such a good time. She also told me about a seafood market in Austin! It’s called Quality Seafood, and they have a restaurant also. I’m just interested in the seafood. I think I’ll go check it out tomorrow!

What’s easier than shrimp? Seared scallops!

[100% organic & wild scallops from Canada]

Ingredients:

• Scallops
• Half an orange
• 6 TB sugar
• 7 tsp water
• 5 tsp red wine
• 3 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• Green onions for garnish

Instructions:

1. Run the scallops under some cool water and then pat dry with a paper towel
2. Zest the orange and squeeze the juice and remove the seeds, if necessary
3. Combine the zest and fresh juice with soy sauce and rice vinegar
4. In a small, heavy-based pot, stir the water and sugar together. Bring to a boil and continue to cook until the sugar caramelizes. You will have to gradually turn the heat down as you cook. This process will take about 15 minutes
5. Cook the mixture until just before burning point. You will see a little smoke. Remove pot from heat immediately. Place a sieve over the pot and pour the red wine into the caramel
6. Let it cool and add the zest, fresh juice, soy sauce and vinegar. Stir to combine and then set aside
7. Heat oil in a fry-pan over high heat
8. Add the scallops and fry for 40 seconds on each side once
9. Place the scallops on a serving plate and then spoon on the orange glaze
10. Garnish with green onion

*Adapted from Taste Buddies.

I love chewy cookies. I don’t eat cookies often enough because cookies make you fat… with all that sugar and butter and the simplicity of the process… that’s why.

NOTE: for excellent chewiness, take the cookies out of the oven just before they are done and leave them on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack.

[100% organic]

Ingredients:

• 2 cups + plus 2 TB all-purpose flour
• 0.75 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 2.5 sticks unsalted butter @ room temperature
• 1.5 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp pure coffee extract
• sanding sugar, for rolling

Instructions:

1. Combine and sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, set aside
2. Beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes
3. Add eggs and coffee extract, and beat to combine
4. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, beat to combine
5. Form dough into a flattened disk, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about 1 hour
6. Preheat the oven to 350°F
7. Shape dough into 1.25-inch balls
8. Roll each ball in sanding sugar
9. Place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart
10. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, rotating halfway through
11. Transfer to a rack and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes

*Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share.

I used to hate eating avocados because of my first encounter of the fruit in France, circa 1994, and all I remember is that the avocado that I had tasted like rotten eggs. So that feeling stuck with the fruit until I moved to America, where there are sushi rolls called Californian rolls with avocado, cucumber, and krab. Yeah, Californian rolls were new to me. In Hong Kong, most of the sushi were nigiri or else they were sashimi.

I didn’t start buying avocado until my second year of college when I moved out of the dorms and stayed in my own apartment. Now I can just eat a whole avocado and not care about the nonexistent smell. I really don’t understand where the rotten eggs came from. The fruit doesn’t even have a taste either.

Just thought I would share that.

I just had this for breakfast.

[100% organic & wild]

No recipe. It’s too easy.

I wasn’t planning on making this today, I was just going to cook it the old Chinese way but at the last minute I searched on Taste Spotting for a recipe and came across this one. Luckily I had all the ingredients at home so I was all set!

[100% organic & environmentally responsible aquaculture farmed mussels]

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs mussels
• 2 TB butter
• 2 TB olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• One 14 oz. plum tomatoes
• 0.5 cup flat Italian parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 cup Chardonnay
• Pinch of salt
• 0.25 tsp black pepper

Instructions:

1. Clean the mussels, remove their beards and scrub them
2. In a wok, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat
3. Add the onion and garlic, cook until soft, 5-6 minutes
4. Add the tomatoes, parsley, rosemary, wine, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil
5. Add the mussels and stir well, cook for 10 minutes
6. Discard unopened mussels
7. Serve with crusty bread or over pasta

*Adapted from Imagelicious.