Christmas Dinner: Coastal Cheddar Mac & Cheese and Spring Rolls

Belated Merry Christmas to everyone! This year I had a very low key Christmas without a big feast. Quite a contrast to Thanksgiving! I didn't have anything planned, and only decided on what to cook around 6pm the night of! I figure after such a huge Thanksgiving dinner, I wanted to keep it simple and quick. Simple it was, but it certainly wasn't quick! We didn't start eating until almost 9pm!

Pan Fried Ravioli

I'm usually not a fan of "semi-homemade" things. I much prefer to start everything from scratch, like using fresh tomatoes as opposed to canned tomatoes. However, sometimes when you are pressed for time, a quick elaboration on an already made food is not a bad idea either. I present you our dinner last night, a little twist from the usual water boiled ravioli.

I really need a lesson on food photographing. I don't like my photos at all.

Turkey Day 2010

This might actually be the first time that "Turkey Day" is an appropriate name for my Thanksgiving, although I am deeply disappointed at my first turkey. In fact, I'm so disappointed at my dry turkey, I don't know if I will have the motivation to try again in the future. I brined, I buttered, and I labored, but my 10lb petite turkey still turned out like chopped winter skin. I checked the internal temperature around 2 hrs, and its fat little thigh registered at 153 *F of unsafetyness. I let it roasted for another 45 minutes but covered the white meat part with Alton Brown's aluminum turkey diaper...it simply was not a good turkey day in terms of turkey for me.

Baked Orzo with Fontina

One thing that my mom always nags me about is the fact that I would buy a lot of ingredient for one recipe and fill the fridge with leftovers that I never use again. So for my previous recipe, Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables, I had to buy fontina cheese and smoked mozzarella. I really tried to buy only the amount I need so I would be left with leftovers, however the salesman mistakenly double estimated the amount I needed. Since both cheeses were pretty pricey, I really didn't want them to go to waste. Fortunately after a little search on the internet I was able to find Giada's Baked Orzo recipe that uses both fontina and mozzarella! I had to do a slight modification because the recipe uses fresh mozzarella instead of smoked version.

Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

Last Friday, March 26th, was my parents's 27th wedding anniversary. My dad wanted to celebrate it at his trusted Blue Mango Thai restaurant, but I had other idea. Being a vegetarian, it's difficult to find a good restaurant. And since we almost never go out to eat, I don't even know any restaurant that I would want to go. I suggested that I would cook instead. I saw this recipe while watching Giada's Everyday Italian last December with my grandma and have been wanting to test it since.

Wednesday Night: Chicken Piccata

 

I taking tomorrow off to bake, seriously. I have to bake macarons and breads for my grandma to take back to Taiwan. But for the amount of work I did on Tuesday and Wednesday, I think the break is well deserved. I helped, over-helped, many clients.

Tuesday Night: Chicken with Mustard Mascarpone Marsala Sauce

Drum rolls please... So, here I reveal the first special dinner I made for my grandma: Marsala Chicken, in short. This is a dish that I've made at least 5 times before, and 4 of which were during my previous carnivore life. It's one of my favorite dishes to make if my aim is to impress because I really consider it restaurant quality, if not better. I just love the taste of Marsala wine in combination with the creamy mascarpone cheese. It is really out of this world. (我做給阿勳叔叔吃過!)

Orzo Salad

When I came back from Europe last January, I invited my ex-roommate Amy over for dinner. My then-current roommate Jen suggested that she would make orzo salad for the occasion. I had my doubts because I can't imagine a cold pasta salad with raw herbs and sour dressing would be any good, but I complied. And thank god I did, this cold pasta dish has since become one of my favorite dish to make, and one of the most enjoyed dish in my family. I have made this dish many times to potlucks and others, and they were all very well received. The only problem with this dish is that it is difficult to find good orzo pasta. I only like the ones you purchase by weight at this one Safeway (market) in Castro, San Francisco. They are quite expensive as well, at $2.75/lb. Barilla makes orzo as well, but they are smaller, and the texture isn't as good.