Here’s a 1 minute video with a tip on how to cut carrot for presentation: Kitchen Convivial Tips: Fancy Cut Carrot
I like the way Chinese restaurants often cut carrot for presentation in their dishes.
This is simple technique to make carrot slices that are much more attractive than round pieces!
Here’s a related video on how to cut matchstick or julienne carrot: Matchstick Carrots
Here’s a 2 minute video with a great tip about how to keep leftover rice in your freezer: Kitchen Convivial Tips: Leftover Rice
You can keep leftover rice, i.e., sticky rice, as individually wrapped servings in the freezer.
Then thaw them in the microwave on their own, e.g., to use to make fried rice, or top them with your favorite accompaniment, and reheat them together.
Microwave perhaps 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on high.
Stuffed Shrimp and Oven-Roasted Asparagus
Here’s a delicious, decadent dinner!
Ingredients (to serve 2):
Large raw shirmp, ~3/4 to 1 pound (6-10 whole with tails intact but otherwise peeled and deveined, the remainder peeled and chopped)
Extra virgin olive oil (a few tablespoons)
White onion, (~1/2 cup)
Scallions, (2, thinly sliced)
Fresh garlic (2 cloves, minced)
Celery (2 stalks, finely diced)
Fresh mushrooms (e.g., Baby Bella or white, ~3/4 cup, finely chopped)
Salted butter (1/2 cup)
All-purpose flour (~1/4 cup)
Soup stock (e.g. chicken or fish, ~1/4 cup)
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
Thyme (dried, 1 teaspoon)
Cayenne pepper powder (1/8 teaspoon)
Worcestershire sauce (~1 tablespoon)
Saltine crackers (6-8, finely crushed)
Fresh lemon or lime (1)
Optional:
White wine (a few tablespoons)
Fresh asparagus (oven-roasted, as a side)
Here’s my video recipe for Stuffed Shrimp:
This recipe is based, in part, on a recipe by Chef John Besh.
Check out his site here:
http://ChefJohnBesh.com
Whole Red Snapper in Spicy Sauce
If you haven’t eaten anything with a face on it lately, you might like to try this.
Tonight I finally rose to the occassion and made this Chinese dish using the star anise I bought months ago. My Chinese friend made snapper something like this – in his dorm room, no less – when I visited him years ago and it was great, so I’ve been meaning to try it myself.
To prepare: remove the scales from the cleaned fish (it’s a good idea to do this out in the yard :-), and cut some slits in each side and fill them and the cavity with coarsely chopped fresh ginger and garlic.
For the sauce, mix the following in bowl: water (perhaps 1/2 cup), a couple tablespoons vegetable oil, apple cider vineger, soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar, chopped ginger and garlic, black pepper, five spice powder, perhaps 5 star anise pieces, 4 hot red thai bird peppers (finely sliced), minced onion (I used red onion because I didn’t have scallions), and bring this mixture to boil in a hot pan. Next, reduce the heat and place the fish in the pan, and cover with a slightly vented lid, cooking the fish until it is opaque and flakes easy, flipping it once half way through (perhaps 5 minutes per side on medium high heat). Move the fish to a serving platter; in the pan, add some corn starch to the sauce and return it to a boil to thicken it.
Lastly, I sprinkled the dish with sesame seeds and garnished with cilantro leaves and served it with steamed brocolli and white rice.
I also made a similar video recipe for Chinese Red Snapper:
Here’s one recipe I consulted for hints: http://chinese.food.com/recipe/whole-red-snapper-in-szechuan-hot-sauce-53686
Kitchen Convivial 