Burgers Today

Valentines day will soon be here. I always like to give gifts out of the kitchen then from a commercial department store. I’m not putting down anyone that buys their gifts but nothing says love to me than homemade Valentine’s Day gifts.

Each Astrology sun sign has a set of special Valentine’s Day gifts that is important only to them. I wanted to offer some food gift ideas that are specific to each Astrology sun sign.

Capricorn

Loved ones that are born under the sign of Capricorn can put a bookworm to shame. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make up a majority of the bookworms in the world. Since Capricorns like to read, a little treat during their reading time would be great.

Capricorns also love things that are home made. Valentine’s Day gifts that are baked or cooked from home would be hot on the list. Here are some ideas that you could use for Capricorn Valentine’s Day gifts.

Homemade mixed tea in a Valentine’s Day Jar to sip while reading
Homemade meal with their favorite artist playing in the background (They love music)
Classic and traditional homemade cookies (Capricorn’s love family and traditions)
A potluck party with all their favorite family members and friends (Traditional Values)

Sushi by zodiac sign suggests these homemade sushi recipes. The New York Roll, Green Dragon Roll or Vegetable Roll will go over well with your Capricorn friend.

Myspace Chinese New year Graphics

Would you like some Escargot recipes? People have been eating them for years. I’ve even seen Escargot being used in Gumbo recipes and chowders. Often they are used in a recipe called road kill gumbo that includes, fowl, Alligator, and more.

Let me know. I’d love to write up a post about the history of Escargot and find different recipes for you to enjoy.

Blessings Fellow Foodie

MJ

We started with the ingredients for Garlic, Brown, Sweet and Sour sauce so that you can make Chinese food into everyday food recipes. I want to continue with that and give you the ingredients for XO sauce, Black Bean, and Lobster sauce.

You can buy these sauces already made at your local food chain grocery store or at a local chinese market but I think that it’s always best to add fresh ingredients into your foods because you can control the amount of salt and sugar that goes into a recipe.

XO Sauce
Did you know that the XO in XO sauce comes from Xtra Old Cognac. Don’t worry about serving this sauce to children. The alcohol loses it’s effect when heat and flame are added to it and many people don’t use the alcohol at all.

The ingredients are:
Old Cognac 2 oz
Diced onion
Dried scallop
Fresh red chilli
Ground black pepper
Jinhua ham
Large dried shrimp, shelled
Minced garlic
rapeseed oil
Salted cured fish
Tiny dried shrimp, unshelled

For the dried shrimp, you may have to purchase those at a whole foods, local chinese market, or local spanish market. I haven’t seen tiny dried shrimp on display at major supermarkets, at least not at my major local supermarket.

Black Bean Sauce
peanut oil
fermented black beans
garlic
chicken broth
soy sauce
rice wine
sugar
cornstarch

Lobster Sauce
I love the fact that Chinese Lobster sauce doesn’t actually have Lobster in it but the sauce can be used with Lobster and shrimp. The sauce works really well with Chinese Snow peas, mushrooms, and shrimp.

ground pork
soy sauce
Pepper, to taste
cornstarch
fermented black beans
garlic cloves
green onions (spring onions, scallions)
sherry
granulated sugar
chicken broth
cornstarch
water
2 eggs
salt
cooking oil

That’s it for today. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about more ingredients that you will want in your kitchen to prepare Orange Ginger, Sesame Garlic, Hoisin BBQ, and other sauces for everyday Chinese food recipes.

It’s time to prepare your kitchen for Chinese food. I thought it would be a good time to prepare the kitchen with Chinese sauces and spices since it is the new year and we are so close to the Chinese New Year. It’s the year of the OX which means growth through hard work. I know that many of us will be working hard to produce everyday food recipes with a Chinese flair.

Before we can be like the Chinese dragon and set our burners aflame, the kitchen has to be stocked with sauces and spices so that everyday food recipes will be a breeze in the kitchen.

So get out your shopping list and I hope to get you prepared with these items.

Sauces
There are more than twenty sauces that restaurants use when preparing Chinese food. You can buy some of these already made at the store but most of them need to be made at home. The ingredients that you need are:

For Sweet and Sour Sauce
cornstarch
white vinegar
ketchup or tomato paste
orange juice
light soy sauce
salt
granulated sugar
vegetable oil or peanut oil
fresh ginger

For Brown Sauce
Brown Sauce is used a lot for beef dishes and my wife likes to dip her tofu in brown sauce.
beef broth (beef bouillion cubes can be used)
oyster sauce
dark soy sauce
sugar
cornstarch

Garlic Sauce
My wife loves to use Garlic Sauce with Chinese Chicken and Seafood recipes. You will need.
rce vinegar
granulated sugar
light soy sauce
dark soy sauce
Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
chili sauce
Asian sesame oil
cornstarch
vegetable or peanut oil
garlic cloves

That’s it for today. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about more ingredients that you will want in your kitchen to prepare XO Sauce, Black Bean, Lobster Sauce, and other sauces for everyday Chinese food recipes.

 A bit ago, I recieved a comment that someone had not tried coffee ground in thier gravy. I personally like to use grounds while my wife likes to use brewed espresso. It just adds a richness to the broth that you are working on. So, we both want to remind you not to be afraid to use different forms of coffee in recipes.

One of my favorite episodes of Iron Chef America was when the main ingredient was the coffee bean. Cat Cora and the challenging Chef whipped up nearly twelve amazing dishes with the essence of coffee.

I’m sure that your not going to serve these dishes to your family on a Wednesday night but the reminder is still there. That the coffee bean shouldn’t just be reserved for the coffee maker.

Here are some recipes and dishes that tempted my tastebuds during the episode of Iron Chef America.

Cassollette of Lobster and Sea Urchin with parsnips
Slow cooked egg with parsley root, coffee pureee and coffee glazed mushrooms
Black truffle and coffee fondue made with pigs feet of all things.
Venison Confit with mole and red perry sauce. I have a feeling this is the pear ale made from different types of pears.

The challenging Chef finished the meal off with a milk chocolate and coffee geo that was served with a hazelnut ice cream.

Cat Cora being the worldly Chef that she is wasn’t going down with a fight in kitchen stadium. She tempted us with recipes and dishes like a Sunny egg with pig candy brioche. This was also served with Bananas roasted in coffee, though my wife argues that it would have been better if they were plantains.

She’s such a foodie

Coffe smoked scallops with coffee braised fennel. This was also served with a coffee and salt Dough Baked NY Squab. Spring rolls with coffee infused swiss chard and golden raisins finished off the plate.

Cat Cora gave the judges a cheese plate that included Coffee braised black mission figs with Robiolla cheese. Robiolla or Robiola cheese comes from provinces of Cuneo, Asti and Alessandria and into Lombardy Italy.

To finish off with dessert, the judges were given a deconstructed Tiramisu. This was a layered espresso and mocha panna cotta that had a coffee gelle on the top.

O.K. I’m hungry already. As you can see, there are tons of things you can do with coffee. All you have to do is search out some recipes and give them a try. You never know, you may learn to love recipes that have foods braised, whipped, and mixed with coffee.