Tag Archives: dinner

Chinese New Year Eve Dinner

14 Feb

Some pics from dinner tonight. I hope everyone has a lucky new year! Year of the Tiger, which is the year I was born (1986) but I was born before new year day that year so I’m an Ox rather than a Tiger. Rawr.

The whole spread: (click to see tags)
dinner table

roast park
Roast pork with hoisin sauce.

lobster
Giant lobster. We had two of these guys.

ringo lobster
Ms. Ringo kitty sniffing da lobsta. I think she liked the smell, she later sneaked into the bag and licked it.

cheesy lobster
Lobster with cheese sauce cooking in wok (recipe from Rasa Malaysia). I stir-fried the lobster instead of deep frying it and used 3/4 cup cheddar cheese instead of American cheese. This dish was delicious melt in your mouth heaven. We’re going to save the leftover sauce to make pasta. A must try recipe, so easy and tasty!

shrimp chips
Homemade shrimp chips. We have these every year. They look like plastic discs (like this) before frying, it’s pretty awesome watching them puff up.

cereal milk
Lastly, we made some cereal milk (refer to Momofuku post), which was not that amazing. It just tasted like milk from frosted flakes. Good thing we didn’t buy it from Momofuku; perhaps having it as fro-yo would be more interesting.

bella eula
Happy New Year! Lucky fortune cat (aka Bella) wishes you a prosperous new year of the tiger!

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Turkey Chili and Cheesy Polenta Dinner

19 Dec

I made turkey chili based on this recipe. Randomly bought some polenta at the grocery store while shopping for this dinner and decided it would be perfect with the chili.. and it was!

turkey chili polenta

Here’s my recipe:

Turkey Chili (adapted from above link)
Makes a huge pot.. probably enough for 6-8 servings.

Ingredients:
Olive oil to coat pan (about 2 tbsp)
1 medium onion, small dice
1 red bell pepper, small dice
2 stalks celery, small dice
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 Jalapeno peppers, chopped (remove seeds for less heat)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
2 Tbsp chili powder
~ 1 lbs ground turkey
½ cup corn (fresh if possible, frozen if not)
2 – 14 oz cans red kidney beans
1 – 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 – 14 oz can cannellini beans
1/2 – 32 oz carton chicken stock
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Sour cream, as garnish

Directions:
1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Sweat onion, pepper, and celery until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and Jalapeno peppers and cook for an additional 2 or 3 minutes. Add spices and stir to evenly distribute in the pot.

2. Meanwhile, brown ground turkey in a separate pan and into bite sized pieces. Add to pot when fully cooked.

3. Add corn, beans, tomatoes, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered until chili reaches desired thickness. (You can thicken with corn starch dissolved in cold water.)

4. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve with cilantro and sour cream.

turkey chili polenta sc

Cheesy Polenta
Serves 4-6 as a side.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup polenta
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese (i used the green can stuff)

Directions:
1. In medium pot heat milk and chicken stock. Stir in the polenta while the liquid is still cool to prevent lumps.
2. Add some salt and pepper. Stir often until almost to desired consistency.
3. Add cheeses and stir until melted. Serve immediately.

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