Chicken Cobb Salad

It's almost summer, so that means more salads! I swear it's the only time when I actually crave salads and can eat them without a grimace. This one is pretty darn good too. And filling. Until I realize I'm missing carbs. You see...I have a problem; if there aren't a lot of carbs in a meal, I'll believe I'm hungry until I eat a lot of carbs. But at least now I'm mixing in brown rice, red rice and black rice in with my Jasmine rice so it's healthier. :D

Anywho, this is an awesome salad. Definitely one of the staples we're going to have more often of.


Chicken Cobb Salad
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
• 2 medium avocados, diced
• 1 341ml (12oz) can of corn niblets
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup cooked black beans
• 4 slices of bacon, diced
• 2 romaine lettuce hearts, rinsed and chopped
• 4 eggs, hard boil and diced/chopped
• 4 green onion stalks, finely diced
• 1/2 - 1 cup ranch dressing
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a skillet, cook bacon over medium high heat until crisp. Remove from pan to a paper towel lined plate. Set aside.
2. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Brown in the skillet with the bacon fat. Cook for about 6-7 minutes each side until nicely browned on both sides and cooked through in the middle.
3. Meanwhile, divide romaine lettuce into 4 large bowls (or plates). Divide avocados, corn, tomatoes, black beans and eggs and arrange on top of the lettuce, leaving space for the chicken.
4. Once chicken is cooked, let it rest for 5 minutes before chopping into bite size pieces. Divide and add to the salad.
5. Sprinkle the bacon bits and green onions on top of salad.
6. Drizzle with ranch dressing and add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Serve alone or with garlic bread.

Asian Beef Stew

You can use beef ribs or stewing meat. Usually I'll use stewing meat because we're lazy with the bones. But I had extra beef ribs cut into cubes already that I needed to use up so I used the ribs. It makes the sauce way fattier but more flavourful. It's even better when served the next day. :O

Note: If you like your carrots soft, then just put them in when you start braising. Otherwise leave them out and only put them in when you have only 30 minutes left in the braising time.


Asian Beef Stew
(serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 2-3 lbs beef stewing meat, cut into 2 inches cubes
• 1-2 Thai chilies (optional)
• 1 bulb garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsps ginger, minced
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 tsp Chinese five spice
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 398ml (14oz) can of diced tomatoes, with juice
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp rock sugar
• 3-4 cups beef broth
• 2-3 medium carrots, roughly chopped
• 3 Tbsps canola oil
• Salt, to taste
• Cilantro and lime (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat canola oil over medium high heat. Add in chili (optional), garlic, ginger, star anise and cinnamon stick. Cook until fragrant.
2. Mix in onion, five spice and tomato paste. Cook until onions start turning translucent.
3. Stir in beef, diced tomatoes, fish sauce, rock sugar and enough beef broth to JUST barely cover the beef. Bring to a boil.
4. Cover partially, lower the heat and simmer for 2 hours. 
5. Stir in carrots. Cover partially and simmer for another 30 minutes.
6. (Optional) Garnish with cilantro and lime.
7. Serve with rice or French bread.

Taiwanese Noodles with Meat Sauce

I had something like this the other day at a restaurant and it totally made me want to make this. It's pretty nice in the hot weather because the cucumber is so refreshing.

Apparently this is something that most Taiwanese families have in their arsenal and it's different for every family. This is how I made mine and I like it.

Don't worry if the meat sauce seems salty; it's supposed to be that way so it doesn't taste bland against the noodles and cucumbers. The cucumbers are truly awesome (as you can tell from the abundance of cucumber we like to put in our bowls).


Taiwanese Noodles with Meat Sauce
(serves 6)

Ingredients: 

• 6 packs udon/don don noodles/ramen
• 1lb lean ground pork
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1/4 cup sweet thick soy sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp Chinese five spice
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• Water
• 1 English cucumber, julienne

Directions:

1. Prepare noodles as directed on the package. 
2. Heat a sauté pan on medium high heat. Brown pork. 
3. Stir in onion, both soy sauces and five spice. Mix well. 
4. Add enough water to just cover the meat. Bring to a gentle boil. 
5. Meanwhile, mix cornstarch with about 1/4 cup of cold water into a slurry in a small bowl. Add to meat mixture and turn off the heat. 
6. Divide noodles into 6 bowls. Top with meat sauce and garnish with cucumber. 
7. Serve immediately. 

Roasted Congee

I don't roast a lot of things, but when I do, I keep the carcass for congee the next day. Why waste it? The carcass typically has lots of roasted flavour from the roast, so it gives the congee a nice mouth feel and TOTALLY makes it less boring. Plus when I debone the roast, I don't have to stress over leaving too much meat on the bones. It wont' matter since it'll go into the congee the next morning. >:)


Roasted Congee
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• Leftover bones from a roast (e.g., prime rib, chicken, turkey)
• Water
• 1 cup uncooked white rice
• 4-5 cups water
• 2 thick slices of ginger
• Salt & pepper, to taste 

Directions:

1. Wash rice until water runs clearish. 
2. Combine rice, water (4 cups for thicker congee and 5 cups for a looser congee), ginger and leftover bones into the instant pot pot. Press the congee button. 
3. Once the machine beeps, wait 15-20 minutes before lifting lid. Remove the bone and separate any remaining meat from the bones. Place meat into the congee. Season with salt and pepper. 
4. Serve by itself or with green onions and Chinese donut. 

Foolproof Prime Rib

There are two ways I make a prime rib roast. Both are pretty foolproof. The first method is basically Paula Deen's method and I use her house seasoning cuz it's so simple and awesome on steak. You can always use whatever steak seasoning you like best, but I always have this one on hand. :)

Hubby loves prime rib so I make this once in a while. Only really the two of us eat it so we always have leftovers, which is AWESOME when we have it thinly sliced in instant noodles or other soup noodles.

Note: It's easiest to thinly slice the leftover prime rib (or any slab of meat) if you put it in the freezer first for about 15-20 minutes to firm up a bit.


Foolproof Prime Rib
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 5-6lbs prime rib roast 
• 1-1.5 Tbsp of seasoning (see below) 
• Seasoning: 
• 1 cup salt 
• 1/4 cup ground black pepper 
• 1/4 cup granulated garlic 
• In a small bowl, mix together salt, pepper and granulated garlic. Store in an airtight container.

Method 1 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. 
2. Place prime rib roast fat side up and bone side down on an aluminum foil lined baking tray. For every 5 pounds of roast, rub all over with 1 tablespoon of seasoning. 
3. Roast for 11 minutes per pound. (8 minutes per pound if using convection roasting option in convection oven.) Once cooking time is up, turn off the oven and leave the prime rib inside. DO NO OPEN THE DOOR. Leave alone in the oven for at least 3 hours and then reheat at 375F for 20 minutes. (If you left it only for 1.5-2 hours, reheat for only 10-15 minutes.) 
4. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before carving. Slice the prime rib off the bone and then into steak portions. (Keep bone for congee, broth, etc.) 
5. Serve with veggies and potatoes. 

Method 2 Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 500F. Place prime rib roast fat side up and bone side down on an aluminum foil lined baking tray. For every 5 pounds of roast, rub all over with 1 tablespoon of seasoning. 
2. Roast for 5 minutes per pound (11 minutes per kilogram). Turn off heat and let the roast rest in cooling oven for 2 hours. DO NOT OPEN!
3. After 2 hours, take prime rib out and let rest for 10-15 minutes before carving. Slice the prime rib off the bone and then into steak portions. (Keep bone for congee.) 
4. Serve with veggies and potatoes.