fat kid potato salad

All of the ingredients from this potato salad are available at Tesco except for the sour cream and herbs de Provence are from the Avocado Lady. Happy Cooking!

4 large light yellow skin potatoes
5 strips bacon
1/2 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium red onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 leek, thinly sliced
1/3 cup Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise
3 tablespoons cream cheese
3 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoon butter
Herbs de Provence
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Wash the potatoes, pat dry then cut into cubes. Boil the potatoes until soft but not mushy, about 15 minutes. Drain.

In a medium saute pan, cook the bacon until brown and crispy. Pull the bacon out once they’re done and drain on paper towel. Crumble the bacon into small pieces. Reserve two strips for the onion mixture.

In the same pan, pour out half of the bacon grease, add 1/2 tablespoon canola oil. Saute the garlic, onion, half of the sliced leek (white part) and two strips of crumbled bacon until fragrant and caramelized. Add a pinch of herbs de Provence and salt & pepper to taste.

In a large mixing bowl, add the potatoes, fresh green part of the leek, crumbled bacon, onion mixture, melted butter, mayonnaise, cream cheese and sour cream. Incorporate all ingredients together and serve at room temperature.

spaghetti with leek & roasted peppers

This is an easy recipe and very tasty. The ingredients are fresh and popping with flavors. I can’t stress enough how good this was. You’ll just have to try it. The entire cooking time is just 15 minutes. We picked up most of the ingredients from the Avocado Lady down the street. The dried red chili peppers we always have in our kitchen. The jar of roasted red peppers came from the States, but you can easily find them at Pine’s or City Shop. For the granulated chicken powder, they are available at any Chinese supermarket. The brand Weimeisi (味美思) is our favorite. Happy Cooking!

1/2 package spaghetti (but you can use any pasta that you like)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
6 dried red chili peppers (stems cut off)
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 medium tomato, diced
3 roasted red peppers, thinly sliced (jar type)
1 tablespoon granulated chicken powder (味美思鸡精）
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Clean all vegetables and pat dry. Dice the tomato, thinly slice the garlic, leek (white part only) and roasted red peppers.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon granulated chicken powder and 1 teaspoon salt to the water and cook pasta until al dente.

3 minutes before the pasta is done. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium saute pan on medium-high heat. Throw in the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. Toss the chilies in, cook for another 10 seconds – garlic slices should be golden brown at this point. Throw in the leeks, saute until fragrant and golden. Now toss in the roasted red peppers and tomato, add a teaspoon balsamic vinegar. Cook for 30 more seconds.

Drain the pasta, it should be al dente. Add the pasta to the saute pan, toss ingredients together and salt & pepper to taste. Top with grated Parmigiano Reggiano and serve immediately.

*Note: to make dry chilies, lay fresh chilies out on a paper towel. Let air go through them in a dry spot in your kitchen, otherwise there will be too much moisture and mold will form.

bleu cheese burger with crispy leeks

There are all types and variations to a good burger. Ours is tasty and juicy with really good, robust flavor of the ground beef chuck. I’ll have to say this is the best burger in Shanghai, and you too can easily make it in your own kitchen! ^.^~

1/2 pound ground Australian or Shandong beef chuck or rib meat
4 tablespoons bleu cheese
1/2 large leek, julienned
4 cups peanut oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 sesame buns
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Form the ground meat into 2 burger patties, about 1/4 pound each. Salt and pepper liberally on both sides.

Clean and julienne the leeks to 4″ long strips. Separate all the pieces. Deep fry in peanut oil until golden brown.

In a frying pan, heat 1/2 tablespoon peanut oil (from frying the leeks) and cook the hamburgers until desired temperature. We like our burgers medium rare on the rare side, so about 3 minutes on each side. Serve immediately on toasted and buttered buns, top with bleu cheese, fried leeks and any condiment that you like.

How to make the best fries:

4 large potatoes
4 cups peanut oil, from frying leeks
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Cut the potatoes into 1/2″ thick strips, pat them dry with paper towel.

We will fry the potatoes twice. First cook them through, the second time we fry them until golden and crispy. Heat the oil in a deep pot, fry the potatoes in 4 batches until golden, about 2－3 minutes each. Crowding the fryer will lower the oil temperature, and your fries will get soggy and not brown. Drain on paper towel.

Fry a second time until the fries are golden brown and crispy, about one minute. Remove and drain on paper towel. Salt and pepper generously.

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