cream of turkey & wild mushroom soup

Velvety and comforting, this recipe transforms any left over poultry into a bodacious meal with its own identity. Enjoy ^.^~

2 cups left over turkey breast, diced
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 sprig fresh thyme
2 leaves fresh sage, finely minced
1 stick butter, 1/4 cup
1 cup mixed mushrooms (button, beechwood and porcini), sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small carrot, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup dry white wine
1-2 cups cream
4 cups water
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

In a small saucepan, heat the butter on low heat, add the flour and cook for a few minutes. Add the white wine and bring to a boil. Use a whisk to stir until smooth. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

In the mean while, heat olive oil in a medium pot. Add chopped onions and saute until lightly caramelized for good flavor. Season with salt & pepper. Add the thyme, garlic, sage, mushrooms, carrot, celery and cook until vegetables are soft. Season again with salt & pepper.

Add the water, cream, turkey and the butter mixture. Stir to combine. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Do not boil, this will separate the butter and cream. Serve hot with crusty bread.

holiday cocktail sauce

This spicy cocktail sauce is so tasty it was a big hit at our holiday dinner party. We changed our original recipe up by adding wasabi and smoked paprika. It’s great served with any chilled seafood such as shrimp or oysters and the recipe is so easy to make! The blue prawns are super sweet with a fresh taste of the sea. They are available at Jiashan Market @ 24 RMB/jin (from the 2nd fish monger stall if you enter the side entrance from Taiyuan lu). Happy holidays everyone! ^.^~

1 cup ketchup
1-2 teaspoons wasabi (tube)
1 teaspoon Tabasco
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 juice of a lemon
Splash of Worcestershire
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, stir all ingredients together. Chill until ready to serve.
*Be careful of the tubed wasabi. They can be a bit overpowering so add with caution.

zha jiang mian (炸酱面)

Here’s an authentic recipe for you. It was handed down from my Shandong Grandmother who grew up in Beijing. She was a wonderful cook who taught my Mother everything she knows about Chinese food and I learned from the both of them. Thank you Grandma and Mom ♥!

For these fresh thick noodles, you can find them at Jiashan Market (328 Jianguo lu near Taiyuan lu. 嘉善菜场, 建国西路328号近太原路.) If you’re looking at 2 noodle stalls, it’s the one on the right. Pick the thickest noodles she has on display. They have the toothsomeness (al dente) you’ll want for this dish. Happy Cooking!

1 1/2 pound pork, coarsely grounded
1 cup canola oil
1 cucumber, julienned
1 carrot, julienned
2 scallions, julienned
1 small bunch young pea shoots or bean sprouts
1 package soybean paste (Green Food brand 葱伴侣豆瓣酱 150g)
1 package sweet bean paste (Green Food brand 葱伴侣甜面酱 150g) *Please note, the package says “Hoisin Sauce”, but it’s not. It’s sweet bean paste. Sweet bean paste is a condiment used in northern China such as for Peking duck, pancakes and noodle dishes. Hoisin is Cantonese for seafood. Both are sweet, black in color but has two very different flavors.
1 piece 2″ ginger, minced
1 bunch scallions, minced
2 red chilies, minced
2 medium ripe tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons rock sugar
2 tablespoons rice wine
2 cups water
1 bunch hand spun thick noodles (Northern style)

Heat a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add canola oil, ginger, scallions, chilies and saute until fragrant.

Add the ground pork, stir fry until cooked through. Deglaze with rice wine then add the soybean paste and sweet bean paste. Turn heat down to a simmer and stir to combine. Make sure the ingredients are fry-boiling with small bubbles. “Zha jiang” in Chinese, means fry the sauce. The sauce is meant to be fried to bring out the fragrance of the bean pastes, about 15 minutes. It looks like a lot of oil, but you need it to “fry” the sauce. Stir occasionally and cover.

Add the tomatoes, rock sugar and water. Simmer until tomatoes are completely dissipated.

Boil the noodles until al dente, strain and place in a large bowl. In the same boiling water, add a pinch of salt and flash boil the pea shoots or bean sprouts, about 5 seconds. Strain the vegetable.

Top the fresh cooked noodles with the zha jiang sauce, pea shoots, julienned carrots, cucumbers and scallions. Mix and serve immediately.