Hangzhou dishes

Had some local Hangzhou cuisine for the first time yesterday and it was delicious. I had a bowl of handmade noodles in beef soup. The noodles were not the thick qq chewy variety but were rather of the very slurpy variety. I know that doesn't make sense. They were smooth even silky, not too thick, and had a slight bounce to them. I like that the cooks added a good handful of gailan stalks to the bowl. Then there were two stir fried dishes that I hope to replicate at home. Both had pork, which I will omit. One was a saucy fry of enoki mushrooms, 榨菜, bamboo shoots, and leeks or green onion. The other was dry fry of bamboo shoots and 梅菜. Should be easy peasy, though there will be no way for me to replicate the freshness of the ingredients. Oh well.

Turnips

Cooking a new dish without a recipe is probably not a good idea when you're sick. I had a total fail in the kitchen with turnips last week because I was too experimental while being sick!

Next time, I'd like to try this recipe for turnips:

Shalgam Chalow, described on a menu this way: Round slices of fresh turnips cooked with tomato sauce, butter, onion, fresh ginger, brown sugar and Kashmiri masala. Served with white rice.

To Make: Beet Salad from NGA

-beets cut into chunks (seeminly canned, but not sure)
-mandarin orange segments (fresh, but suppose canned would be OK)
-walnuts
-shavings of a mild white hard cheese. might have been manchego, not sure. even parmesan would work.
-pomegranate vinagrette. you could easily make a raspberry or honey vinagrette if pom. isn't available.

dishes to make

dried cuttlefish, dried mushroom, garlic, jicama, carrot, cabbage, black pepper, soy sauce/oyster sauce, salt, fried shallots

竹笙炒苦瓜

steamed eggplant strips served with pidan and soy sauce and chili

dumpling fillings: tomato and egg; zucchini and egg

Cauliflower Pasta

So I changed up this recipe with what I had (paprika and Parmesan) and came up with something delicious. I was reluctant about the recipe because it looked pretty boring but I was really happy about my substitutions.

Broiled Dinner

Roasted Spring Onions

Heat oven to 475 degrees F. Place one bunch of cleaned spring onions on a baking sheet lined with foil and a bit of olive oil. Roast until caramelized, about 10-15 minutes. To prevent long green stalks from blackening too much, place another sheet of foil on top after about 6 minutes.

Broiled Corn

Heat the broiling element of the oven. Place husked corn on a baking sheet with a lightly oiled liner of oil. Broil under the heat for 12-14 minutes, turning at the halfway point.

Broiled Fish

Heat the broiling element of the oven. Cut out sheets of foil. Place a piece of fish onto each sheet and season with salt, pepper, and chopped garlic. Fold the sheets into packets. Place on baking sheet and into the oven. Broil for 6 minutes.

Warm Cauliflower and Edamame Salad

This recipe came about because I didn't have the lemon juice called for in the original and my husband dislikes feta.

Warm Cauliflower and Edamame Salad

Potatoes
1 head of cauliflower
16 oz of shelled frozen edamame
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
pepper
bunch of green onion, only green parts chopped.

Cook potatoes in salted water until just tender.
Cook cauliflower in salted water.
Cut up potatoes.
Toss still warm potatoes with frozen edamame and chopped green onion in a bowl.
Add cauliflower when done.
In another small bowl, mix together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and pepper. Pour over veggie mix and let sit for at least a few minutes to let the flavors mix together.