Shucking Oysters

So here's the question: how many oysters would Chuck shuck if Chuck could shuck oysters? I bet he could shuck lots of 'em. Today I went seafood shopping and saw some great stuff. Dungeness crab for 3.99/lb, small/large abalone (bao yu) for 3.79 ~ 27.99 each, and some live oysters for 0.69 each. I thought, wouldn't it be nice if I could have half a dozen oysters tonight served on half a shell with some lime? A delicious thought indeed. So I picked out the fattest looking oysters but didn't have the strength to pry them open-- so I let my mom shuck 'em. She's the man. Tehehe :)

Oysters tonight! Shuck 'em open, serve them on half a shell with some lime, and slurrrrp them. Nom nom! Nothing like the freshness of the ocean, and the sweet taste of fresh seafood! Two thumbs up! I'd give more if I had extra thumbs anywhere.

Pasta ai frutti di mare

Seafood pasta. Delicious Shortneck clams and tiger shrimp with a garlic-tomato and white wine sauce. Garnished with Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.
I wanted a little kick in my dish so I chopped up some jalepeno peppers for some heat. Doesn't appear to have enough sauce-- next time I'll opt for some more tomatoes and water. This recipe can easily serve 2, if not 3 people. Great dish to cook for company. It's delicious and filling!What you'll need for 3 servings

• 1/2 lb spaghetti or linguine
• 1 lb tiger shrimp
• 1 lb littleneck clams or manila clams
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (I used Chardonnay)
• 4-5 large tomatoes
• 4 cloves garlic
• Fresh, flat-leaf Italian parsley (about a small handful)
• Basil
• 3 1tbsp unsalted butter, divided
• some oil
• salt & pepper

Cooking instructions (multi-tasking skills required)

1. Soak clams in white wine for a few minutes.
2. Bring stock of water to a boil, add enough salt to make the water taste like the ocean and then the pasta. Cook pasta until it is al dente or 2 minutes before "done." Drain pasta.
3. Meanwhile, chop your tomatoes/jalepenos and sauté 2 cloves of sliced garlic in 1 tbsp of butter melted with some oil. When garlic turns golden brown, add 2 ladles of pasta water and cook tomatoes until they have turned into a sauce. Then add salt, pepper, some basil, fresh parsley, and jalepeno.
4. Meanwhile, drain the wine into a pan and bring to boil. Reduce to medium heat, add clams and cover pan with a lid. Cook clams until they are parted. Then remove clams and set aside, reserving about a ladleful of cooked wine.
5. Marinate the shrimp with jalepeno, some lime juice, salt, and pepper. Heat skillet/pan to medium-high heat. Melt the remaining 2 tbsp of butter in some oil and sauté the shrimp until cooked. Quickly remove from pan and set aside.
6. Finally, add the reserved wine and the pasta into the tomato sauce and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. When pasta is done cooking, remove from heat and toss in the clams and shrimp.
7. Plate and garnish with the remaining parsley and Parmesan cheese. Bon appétit!

Best Buttermilk Biscuits Ever

Here it is Ladies and Gentlemen, the only buttermilk biscuits recipe you will ever need. It's so delicious, I can eat a dozen of these and not have any room left for the mashed potatoes. It's great with gravy and sweet too! The texture is so wonderfully soft, one bite and you will understand :) So go ahead, give these a try. I baked these darlings in a dark cupcake pan. I felt it was the only way I could get them to hold their shapes. Spray with some oil to give it a light-golden coating! (And yes, I've got this baby memorized)

Buttermilk Biscuits

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
  
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1 tsp white sugar
  
• 1 cup buttermilk
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, white sugar
   
2. Use pastry blender, fork+knife, or food processor to mix butter and flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
   
3. Incorporate buttermilk and mix just until dough comes together.
   
4. Shape and bake for ~12 minutes!

Strawberry Granola Parfait

Bought a tub of non-fat yogurt, one pound of salad greens, two pounds of strawberries and a box of honey granola from Costco and Albertsons. Looks like it's going to be a healthy month at San Diego starting tomorrow! I also got a large bottle of House Italian dressing for my salad and pasta. Sounds so great, I can't wait! :)

I'm going back to San Diego tomorrow. It was a good weekend to stock up on fresh produce. I have a paper due tomorrow, oh I guess I'll get to that now...

Cheese Crust Avocado Pizza

I went to Ralphs at 11pm with the intention of making pizza. A cheese-pepperoni pizza was all I intended to make, but I thought why not make the pizza healthy? I saw that the avocados were 2 for $1 so I bought two and incorporated that into my pizza. I made the dough from scratch with the following pizza dough recipe and included all the veggies that I thought were healthy and delicious on my pizza. I made avocado pesto with half of my fruit and thinly sliced the other half to garnish. I also included some thinly sliced red onion and hokkaido mushrooms (the only type available in my fridge) and some pepperoni bits. Leave out the bits of meat if you're vegetarian, but I assure you that this is delicious!

* PS: No SLR with me right now. Just using a regular Canon Powershot.

Pizza Dough

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. Heat the water to around 110 degrees (I use my finger to test the temperature-- just make sure it's warm but not hot enough to burn your skin) and proof the yeast if it is active dry. If it is "rapid rise" you may skip the proofing step and add yeast directly to dry ingredients.
2. The process is the same as usual: knead the dough, proof the dough, flatten and roll out into flat circle. (See dough-kneading process)
3. Sprinkle some Italian seasoning onto the dough. Roll sides out thinly and add a border of mozzarella cheese. Then fold the dough over the cheese and pinch down.
4. Spread out pizza sauce OR avocado pesto. Then add other ingredients and brush crust lightly with extra virgin olive oil.

Avocado Pesto

• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 avocado, mashed into paste
• salt + pepper to taste

Avocado Pizza

• 1 pizza crust
• Avocado pesto
• 1 handful of coarsely chopped spinach
• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup mushrooms
• 1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tomato, thinly sliced or cherry tomatoes
• 1/3 cup bacon bits/ sausage bits/ pepperoni bits

* Note: avocado will turn brown without acid, so drizzle about 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice on sliced avocado.

Congee with Century Egg (皮蛋瘦肉粥)

It seemed that every Sunday, without fail, my dad would make congee and we would eat that over a bowl of dumplings or noodles for brunch. The flavors varied; sometimes we would have leftover turkey for turkey congee (an unconventional creation of my dad's), fish congee (魚片粥), and my favorite congee with century egg (皮蛋瘦肉粥). That is probably the most common type of congee and easiest to make (right next to plain congee). I've always had fond memories of this food; it was like chicken noodle soup, good for the heart, good for the soul. The Chinese believe that a bowl of congee will help you cleanse your diet and rid minor illnesses.

This somehow fits into the category of strange Chinese dishes; many people who are unaccustomed to century egg find the sight of it repulsive. Understandable of course, century egg by itself gives off a pungent odor of sulfur and ammonia. When broken up and added into a plain-tasting pot of congee, however, it becomes soft and its flavor mellower. But since I grew up with the acquired taste for century egg, I find it hard to believe that people would find the food so repulsive. Either way, I think it's great and I'm glad I can eat it again. (I've been craving it for a while) Century egg acquired from home, as usual.

Plain Congee (白粥)
yields: 1 pot

• 1 cup rice
• 9 cups water, might have to add more
  
• salt and white pepper to taste (optional)
  

Bring rice and water to a boil. As soon as it boils, turn down the heat to a med-low heat and simmer for 40-50 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes. Caution: It is very important to stir the bottom to make sure the congee does not burn! It will also burn if there is not enough water so check the consistency of the congee often to make sure it doesn't become too thick!
The congee is done when it becomes mien or soft. (You can't taste the individual grains of rice)

Spicy, sour, a hint of sweetness-- Kimchi!

I've pickled cucumbers, I've pickled carrots, now I'm pickling napa cabbage. I don't know why I suddenly felt the urge to *attempt* to make kimchi-- maybe because my aunt made it last month and my suitemate had a tub of it in the fridge-- that I suddenly felt like I wanted to make it. I pickled the cabbage overnight in a salt brine. I used about 4 cups of water to 1.5 pounds of napa cabbage, then set a plate over it. The pickled cabbage will smell terrible if you don't refrigerate, just so you know.

So I added my own variety of ingredients such as sliced ginger root, scallions, garlic, julienne carrots and cucumbers. Don't forget the chili paste and chili powder to give it that signature red hue!

Kimchi

• 1 head (~1.5 lb) napa cabbage
• 4-5 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons coarse salt
  

Wash (and wash it well! because napa cabbage tends to be dirty!) and cut up into square pieces. Mix salt, water and soak cabbage in brine. Don't worry if the water doesn't completely cover, because the cabbage will soften up as it pickles. For this reason, remember to set a big plate over the cabbage to weigh it down.

• shredded ginger
• julienne carrots
• julienne cucumbers
  
• minced garlic
• korean chili paste
  
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar (more or less to taste)
  
• reserved salt-brine
  

prepare all the ingredients, and mix them all together. Use the reserved salt-brine to sort of soak up the kimchi half way or until the desired dilution. Yep. Kimchi, yay.