Grapefruit Salmon Salad

Grapefruit Salmon Salad

Prep Time: 10 min    Cook Time: 15 min    Ready In: 25 min

Serving Size: 4

INGREDIENTS

4 Pc of Salmon

2 Avocado

2 Grapefruit

4 Cups of Arugula

1/2 Cup of Alfalfa Sprouts

SAUCE

1/2 Cup of Grapefruit Juice

1/4 Cup of Olive Oil

1 Tbs Sugar

1 Tbs Dijon Mustard

1 Tsp Salt

2 Spring of Dill, chopped into small pieces

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake salmon for 16 minutes. Place arugula onto a serving plate. Cube avocado.
Cut the top and the bottom of the grapefruit off. Use a curving cut, slice off the peel portion of the grapefruit. Cut into big wedges by cutting between skins.

Top arugula with avocado, grapefruit wedges, alfalfa sprouts.

Combine all ingredients for the sauce and top over the sauce.

Greek Chicken Wings and Cucumber Dip

Greek Chicken Wings and Cucumber Dip
Prep Time: 2hrs    Cook Time: 35min     Ready In: 2hr 35min
Serving Size: 4

INGREDIENTS
2lb Chicken Wings
6 Tbs Lemon Juice
4 Tbs Olive Oil
4 Tbs Honey
2 Tbs of Dried Oregano
1/2 Tbs Salt
4 Cloves of Garlic, minced

DIP

1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Shredded Cucumber
Dash of Salt


DIRECTIONS
In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the lemon juice, oil, honey, oregano, garlic and salt. Add chicken wings; seal bag and toss to coat. Refrigerate for at least 2hrs and up to two days.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees, grease pan and place wings onto the pan, discard marinate. Bake for 35 minutes. Combine sour cream and cucumber into a small bowl. Mix well and add in salt to taste.

Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad

Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad
Prep Time: 5min     Cook Time: 0 min     Ready In: 5min
Serving Size: 4


This is a really simple recipe!

INGREDIENTS
2 Tomatoes
1 Fresh Mozzarella Ball (Ava. at superstore in a package see photo)
12 Basil Leaves
2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt to taste


DIRECTIONS
Slice tomatoes and mozzarella into 1cm thick. Place a slice of mozzarella on a serving plate, top with tomato, basil. Drizzle with olive oil and salt.

Spanish Rice

Spanish Rice
Prep Time: 5 min     Cook Time: 12 min   Ready In: 13 min
Serving Size: 4


INGREDIENTS
1/4 lb Pancetta
1 1/2 cup of 5 Minute Rice
1 1/2 Cup of Water
10 Strands of Saffron
Parsley to garnish
1Tbs Oil


DIRECTIONS
Brown Pancetta on a pan with oil about 4 minutes.
Set pancetta aside, with the same pan add in water and saffron.
Let broth simmer for about 2 minutes and add in rice.
Let the rice cook for five minutes and add the pancetta back in.
Toss with parsley for 1 minute and the dish is ready!

Japanese Style Cheesecake

Japanese Style Cheesecake
Prep Time: 10min    Cook Time: 35 min    Ready In: 45 min
Serving Size: 8


INGREDIENTS
30 ml Flour
125 ml Cream Cheese
60 ml Milk
60 ml Sugar
5 ml Butter
3 Eggs
2 Cups of boiling water


DIRECTIONS
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, beet flour, egg yoke, cream cheese and milk together until blended. In a separate bowl, beat egg white until soft peak. Add sugar and beat until stiff peak. Fold in other ingredients and pour into a greased 9 inch round baking pan.

Pour boiling water onto a baking sheet pan and add in the round baking pan. Bake for 35 minutes and enjoy.

Greek Potatoes (Side Dish)

Greek Potatoes

INGREDIENTS
8 Yukon Gold Potatoes (Med Size)
2 Lemons
1 Whole Garlic
1 1/2 Tbs of Oregano
8 Spring of Parsley
1/4 Cup of Olive Oil
1/4 Cup of Butter
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS
In a large pan heat up oil and butter. Dice potatoes into big chucks. Add potatoes into the pan and brown potatoes on medium heat for 15 minutes. Zest two lemons and juice two lemons, bring zest and juice into a bowl. Mice one whole garlic add salt and olive oil and chop again. Now the garlic should turn into a paste. Add the garlic paste into the lime juice, stir in oregano.

Toss cooked potatoes with the garlic paste, add salt and pepper to taste.

Crab Cake

Crab Cake

Prep Time: 4hrs     Cook Time: 12min     Ready In:  4hrs 12mins
Serving Size: 4


INGREDIENTS
Salad
4-5 Baby Cucumbers largely diced
2 Cups of Arugula
1 Tbs Salt
1 Tbs Sugar
1 Tbs Rice Vinegar

Tartar Sauce
1 Cup of Mayo
3 Shiso Leaves roughly chop
1/4 Cup of Gherkins roughly chop
3 Tbs Capers roughly chop
2 Tbs Tarragon roughly chop
1 Tbs Rice Vinegar
1/2 Tsp Dijon Mustard

Crab Cake
1 Cup of Crab Meat
1 Cup of Shrimp Head Peeled
2 Tbs Celery Finely Chop
1Tbs Tarragon Finely Chop
1 Tbs Chives Finely Chop
1 Lemon (Zest Finely Grated)
1/2 Cup of Mayo
2 Cup of Panko
2 Tbs Olive Oil

Salad: In a small bowl, combine salt and largely diced cucumber and let sit in the fridge for 4 hours.
Rinse salt off and toss cucumber with sugar and rice vinegar

Tartar: mix all the ingredients together

Crab Cake: combine all ingredients except for Panko and oil and let it sit in the fridge for 1hr

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Shape crab cake into 4 equal size balls, coat with Panko bread crumbs.

Grease pan and bake crab cake for 13 minutes.

Fill a serving bowl with arugula, top with cucumber. Add the crab cake ontop and drizzel with tartar sauce.

Cream Brulee

Cream Brulee

Prep Time: 10 min    Cook Time: 30 min    Ready In: 40 min

Serving Size: 6

INGREDIENTS

8 Egg Yokes

500 ml Heavy Cream

1/2 Cup of Sugar

1 Tbs Vanilla Extract

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.

In a pot on medium heat, bring cream and 1/4 cup of sugar to a boil and take it off heat.

In a medium size bowl, whisk egg yoke and vanilla extract together. Add in the cream mixture a little at a time with constant stirring. Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a jug. Divide mixture between 6 ramekins.

Arrange ramekins in a roasting tray, fill with boiling water to half way. Cover tray with aluminium foil and place into the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool. Put into fridge for at least 2 -3 hours. Just before serving, sprinkle 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar on the surface of each custard. With the Cream Brulee torch, move the flame continuously over the surface of the ramekins, in a circular motion until sugar melts and become golden brown and bubbly. Serve immediately!

Macaron

Macaron

Prep Time: 40 min      Cook Time: 15 min     Ready in: 55 min

Serving Size: 40

This is by far the most difficult recipe I have came across. I have failed a total of 8 times but I have finally master the trick to making these macarons! But don't be afraid, I will share what I have learned with you so you do not have to fail!  I usually feel guilty when I pay $1.25/ macaron at neighbouring cafes, so I have decided to make them on my own. Believe me, once you know how to make them they are definitely not worth $1.25 per bite! To all of you out there who crave for some, I am more than happy to charge you half their asking price : )

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 Cup of Confectioner Sugar

1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar

1 Cup of Finely Ground Blanched Almond Ready for Baking (Bulk at Save-On-Foods for $2.99/100grams)

3 Egg Whites

1 Pinch of cream of tartar (sub salt if you do not have cream of tartar)

FLAVORS

Green Tea - 1 Tea Spoon of Green Tea Powder

Strawberry- 4 Drops of Strawberry Extract and 3 Drops of red food colouring

Chocolate - 3 Tbs of Coco Powder

Lemon - 4 Drops of Lemon Extract and 4 Drops of yellow food colouring

FILLINGS

Green Tea Frosting - 3 Tbs. Betty Crocker Vanilla Frosting + 1Tsp of Green Tea Powder

Strawberry Jam

Chocolate Frosting - 3Ttbs. Betty Crocker Vanilla Frosting + 1Tbs of Coco Powder 

Lemon Frosting - 3Ttbs. Betty Crocker Vanilla Frosting + 5 drops of Lemon Extract

You can definitely make your won flavors and fillings of Macarons, the variations are endless!

DIRECTIONS

Beat the 3 egg whites until soft peak, add in cream of tartar and granulated sugar. Beat the egg white mixture until stiff peak and fold in flavorings. In a bowl, mix all other dry ingredients. Fold dry ingredients into the egg whites with a spatula. Make sure that you are folding the ingredients and NOT mixing at this stage. The purpose of folding is to allow a mixture to come together with out deflating all the bubbles that are whipped into the egg whites. The air bubbles are vital to keeping the Macaron  light and airy.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper, some recipe calls for double lining but I found no difference. I have lined 5 baking sheets per batch of Macarons. Fit a pastry bag with a round tip. I have used Wilton round tip #12 and fill with batter. Pipe loonie size disks 1 inch a part.  I found it easier if I had a loonie laid on the kitchen counter so I would know how big of a disk I needed.  I'd also find it really hard to pipe consistent disk size macaron, but I know it comes with practice.

Pre-heat your oven to 275 degrees. Once all the piping is done, let the batter sit on the baking sheets for 30min at room temperature. The batter will spread a little. This is another important step that you do not want to skip. Leaving the batter out at room temperature allow the batter to dry and harden at the surface. This process will allow the shiny Macaron surface turn dull. If you bake the Macaron without letting it sit, your Macarons will crack.

Depending on the oven that you have at home, you may need to tweak the temperatures. My oven tend to have a higher temperature than 275 once it is pre-heated. I found out the hard way because my first batch would always crack but my second batch will turn out great. So my trick to this is to lower my oven to 250 after it has gone up to 275. I have also open the oven door to let it cool down a bit to speed up the process. So when the temperature is lowered, it is safe to put the Macaron into the oven, let it stand for 10 minutes and then turn back up the heat to 300 this time and cook for 5 more minutes. The increase in temperature will help cook the batter. Trust me, you would want your batter to cook well otherwise your macaron will stick to the parchment paper.

If you have a really nice oven at home, then you probably don't have the same issues as I do so you can just bake your Macaron at 275 for 15minutes.

Let macaron cool down for 15 minutes and they are ready to be matched up and filled. The macarons should come off the parchment paper easily. If you have to force it, then it was under cooked. The macaron should not have any cracks. If there are cracks, you may not have let the batter rest at room temperature long enough or your oven temperature was too high at the beginning of the baking cycle.

Because I am not a professional baker, my piping skill were lacking and not all of my macarons turned out to be the same size. I had to match up my macarons that were similar in size and placed a dollop of filling in between.

Even I had failed 8 times, I did not give up on this recipe. Let me know how yours turn out.

Lobster Pot

Lobster Pot

Prep Time: 2hr    Cook Time: 10 min    Ready in 2hr 10min

Serving Size: 2

INGREDIENTS

2 lb Lobster

1/2lb Mussels

1/2lb Clams

1 Corn on the Cob

1 Onion

1 Shallot

6 Mini Potatoes

2 Cups Dry White Wine

1/4 Cup of White Vinegar

1Tbs Vegetable Oil

DIRECTIONS

Rinse the lobster with water and store in the fridge wrap with newspaper, do not wrap lobster in plastic bag.

Unwrap Mussels and Clams so they can breath. Keep the Mussels and Clams under running cold tap water. Rinse the mussels and clams a couple of times. Soak mussels and clams with cold tap water again but this time add 1/4 cup of white vinegar into the soak. Soak for at least 1/2hr this will allow mussels and clams to spit out their sand and salt.

Cleaning Mussels: Most mussels have beard, you may remove them by a yank with your fingers. If they do not come out you can simply trim them with a pair of scissors. Sort of the dead mussels. Again the mussels should have a thigh seal, if they are open, you can simply give them a tap. If the shell close after the tap than the mussel is still good. If they are still open after the tap, discard mussel. All broken and damage mussels are also to be discard. Set all the good mussels aside.

Dice onion and shallot. I have used an All-Clad Dutch Oven, but you may use any pot you have at home. Turn heat on medium high, toss in onion and shallot, let it cook for 5minutes. Split corn on the cob into 3 chucks. Add in wine, potato, and corn, let simmer for 3minutes. Add in lobster as a whole and close the lid for 3mintues. Add in mussels and clams and close lid again for 7minutes and ENJOY!!

Japa Dog

Japa Dog

Prep Time: 10min     Cook Time: 20min    Ready In: 30 min

Serving Size: 12

For those who are not from Vancouver, Japa Dog is a hot dog stand that produces hot dog with a Japanese flair. Their menu consist of hot dogs with Japanese condiments. If you are not in Vancouver and would like to try some, the following is a recipe that you must try.

INGREDIENTS

12 Hot Dog Buns

12 Bratwurst Sausages (or any pork sausages will do, we got our from Superstore PC brand)

GARNISH

Wasabi Mayo (If you cannot find wasabi mayo you can make your own, one part wasabi and 3 part mayo)

Chinese White Radish

Ponzu

Shredded Seaweed

Bonito Flakes

DIRECTIONS

Turn on the grill to medium high. Score sausages in a slant so the sausages will not burst when they are heated on the grill. Gill the sausages until the meat is well cooked.

Toast hot dog bun on the grill. Grate the Chinese radish, drain the radish and season with ponzu.

Put sausage onto a toasted hot dog bun, garnish with ponzu radish, wasabi mayo, shredded seaweed and bonito flakes.

This is a relatively easy recipe and you may sub or omit any ingredient you like to make various version of Japa Dogs!