06.2011
Your first choice for good food
A SPECIAL DAY FOR DAD COOKING WITH KIDS
KUBLAI KHAN COMES TO KATY
A R T I C L E S | NEWS | HEALTH | LIFESTYLE | FOOD
contents 04
14 08 FEATURES
04 A SPECIAL DAY FOR DAD 8
KUBLAI KHAN: CRAZY MONGOLIAN
12
20 ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS
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June 2011 | 3
A Special Day for DAD How To Make Father’s Day Special by: Paul Auster
I
t’s not like mothers only bear the burden of bringing up a child and to take care of the family needs, Dads also deserve the appreciation and in order to honor their important role, a special day was designated as Father’s Day. Father’s Day began as a day honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, the influence of fathers in society and developed into a full-fledged celebration with gifts and greeting cards. So what can you do to make your Dad’s day very special this year? Give your dad the best gift this year, start with a big smushy Father’s Day hug as he wakes up out of his bed, which expresses how much you love him. Make dads day with culinary items that he loves the most, it can be a breakfast in bed, a burger or pizza at local sports club for lunch, dinner at his favorite restaurant or you can try all of them. You can give him a special email or gift card, with the subject: “With Love to the Best Dad in the Whole Wide World.” What
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you put in the message will be special for your Dad, from you. Make a scrapbook commemorating some lovely moments in your whole life together with your father, give dad a Father’s Day gift certificate from a local pro shop or a ticket to his favorite sport. Personalized gift can be a hit for fathers interested in shopping, gift him the things he really likes: monogrammed pens, clothing items, books, golf balls, sports goods and best-selling thrillers. Instead give him something you know he’d love but isn’t likely to buy for himself: perhaps like his favorite songbook collection on CD, a drawing, wallpaper or Environmental Graphics he admires the most, or an autographed photo of his childhood baseball hero. Think once about all the reasons that your Dad is special and you can’t go wrong. If you just include a personal element of creativity or fun, a gift becomes more meaningful. And don’t forget to tell him how great he is! He might not show it, because sometimes Dads don’t make a big deal about how they feel, but he will be smiling all inside.
June 2011 | 5
Sculpting FUN Eggless Marzipan Recipe Ingredients1 Cup Ground Almonds 2 Cups Powdered Sugar 2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice 4 Tbsp Maple Syrup 2 Tbsp Cold Water 2 tsp Almond Essence Concentrated icing colors
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DirectionsMix together the ground almonds and powdered sugar. Make a well in the centre of the marzipan mixture and add all of the liquid ingredients. Mix thoroughly. (You can add a tiny drop of lemon juice or syrup if the marzipan is a little dry) Separate into equal sections and add concentrated icing colors Cover and place marzipan into the refrigerator for an hour.
Marshmallow Fondant
Ingredients 1/4 cup vegetable shortening 1 (16 oz.) pk miniature marshmallows 4 tablespoons water 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, divided Directions Place the vegetable shortening in a shallow bowl, and set aside. Place the marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on High for 30 seconds to 1 minute to start melting the marshmallows. Carefully stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Slowly beat in the confectioners’ sugar, a cup at a
N
time, until you have a sticky dough. Reserve 1 cup of powdered sugar for kneading. The dough will be very stiff. Rub your hands thoroughly with vegetable shortening, and begin kneading the sticky dough. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Turn the dough out onto a working surface dusted with confectioners’ sugar and continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes. Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature, and roll it out onto a flat surface dusted with confectioners’ sugar. To add colors, separate fondant and add food coloring or concentrated icing color
Doing Good to Our Bodies and Our Earth
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June 2011 | 7
Crazy Mongolian invades Katy!
irst off, Kublai Kahn is not your everyday restaurant. Are you tired of sitting at a table, looking over a menu and trying to decide what type of food you want before the waiter arrives? Well make a u-turn Katy because this place is way out in the other direction.
F
decides what the chef will make? Will laughs, “Controlling the chaos, but still trying to keep it fun and casual. Just trying to keep everything productive and still be a positive experience for the customer.”
Recently we had a chance to talk with Will Brannon, the manager and director of Kublai Khan Crazy Mongolian Grill about food, style and just exactly what a Mongolian restaurant is. Now if you are looking for someone to decide your meal for you, then they can do that too. What makes this place so different and special is as Will sates, “The customer is the boss, whatever they want to eat, spice or create. Nothing is to over the top.” The atmosphere is fun, exciting and free for your imagination to run wild with all the different ingredients and styles to choose from. “You can create dishes that have an Asian, Mexican or even Italian taste to it.”, said Will. So what is the hardest aspect of running an establishment where the customer
The atmosphere is so different from your standard restaurant, what can the customer expect when walking in the door? “Whatever they are in the mood for, we can do it, says Will. “ We have a well trained staff that can walk them through the ordering process if they need help and also make suggestions for them depending on what they are trying to create. We also have a large menu that makes it easier for them to see what spices and additional ingredients go together with certain plates. Once they decide we cook it for them to perfection.” Now the experience is almost as important as the dish, but if the customer needs it to go or delivered that is available as well. “We have an
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By Jeff Parker
online ordering process that the customer can go to, also we can deliver larger orders for them as well.” You walk in and the experience starts right away. Ordering a starter of maybe the Coconut Shrimp with a sweet chili sauce, or something even lighter like the Chicken Lettuce Wrap with shiitake mushrooms and water chestnuts wrapped in crispy lettuce and topped with green onion, roasted garlic and dry angle noodle. Remember you decide what ingredients are used when making your dish, but if you want to keep to the menu the next step would definitely have to be the Tilapia Lemon Grass, an amazing mixture of chicken with onion, green and red pepper, snow peas, mushrooms, celery, fresh basil, cilantro, ginger, garlic, lemon oil and lemon grass sauce, or maybe the Chicken Fajita Plate, made of seasoned chicken with scallions, onion, red and green pepper, lemon oil, black pepper, fajita seasoning and fajita sauce. There are so many different possibilities that you could eat here every night and never have the same thing. Will adds, “All of our cooks are trained monthly by our owner who is a very experienced Hibatchi chef. They start out as prep chefs and move up as they demonstrate mastery at each level.” So what does Will enjoy the most about running an amazing style restaurant? “That’s easy; the diverse type of clientele that we get has been great to experience. Constantly getting to meet new people and create a dish that they personally put their stamp on is a wonderful feeling.”
The absolute best thing about Kublai Khan is that it is right here in Katy located in the Westgreen Garden at I-10 and Westgreen. Monday through Thursday from 11 am til 10:30 pm and Friday and Saturday from 11 til 11. Don’t feel like cooking on Sunday is not a problem since they are open from 11 til 10. “We also have the ability to handle private parties when requested”, says Will. “Just give us a call and we will be happy to set something up.” So stop on by or go online and create your masterpiece. And don’t worry; if you’re not a cook, they’ve got you covered too.
June 2011 | 9
20 Activities for KIDS
by: Renata Hepner
K
ids love to play outdoors and
What makes this activity even better for kids
fun, right? But playing the
out the leaves, the local cats, and the snails as
we love to see them have same outdoor game again and
again can be boring to your kids so you have
to be a little creative. Actually, with just a little
is when you act as spies as you walk. Check you go.
A Work of Art
While strolling to the
imagination you can create hundreds of ways
shops, make sure you ask your kids to collect
some of the fun activities for kids that you’ll
ers, which you can use later on to do some
of having fun outdoors. Here I’ll share to you surely enjoy playing with your kids.
Obstacle Race
Nothing can be more
fun than to watch your toddler go through
your homemade obstacle course. This is sure-
ly one of those activities for kids that can make you laugh. And I’m sure your little
some simple treasures—like leaves and feathsimple collage. Give them a piece of paper to be the base of their collage. Then using glue let
them stick all their collections onto the paper as
artistically as they can. I’m sure your little ones will crave for more of these activities for kids.
Go Treasure Hunting
Make a list
one will enjoy crawling through a big box,
of treasures for your kids to find. Then head
clothes.
the local neighbourhood and find the items on
walking along a rope, and stepping onto old
Old Time Favorites
Century old
games such as, What’s the Time, Mr Wolf?
Simon Says, and Ring-a-Ring-a-Rosie are still fun to play. Remember those days when you
your small team of treasure hunters out into the list. After playing this, I’m sure you’ll agree
that this is indeed one of those fun activities for kids.
Write All You Can
Let your little
were playing them with your neighbors? A
ones write on any piece of concrete using a
neighborhood, but these remain as some of
kids that I’ve shared, this one can occupy them
lot of things must have changed around the the favorite activities for kids.
Have Some Exercise
Another one
jumbo-sized chalk. Like the other activities for even for ages.
Splatter on the Puddle
Next time it
of those fun activities for kids is strolling.
rains, look for raincoats, gumboots and umbrel-
bread or milk, why not stroll with your kids?
through puddles. This is one of the outdoor
Instead of driving to a mini-store to get some
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las. Play with your kids in the rain and splatter
activities for kids that they won’t forget.
Fun Ride Lead a team of bikers onto paths
with a mild slope. When you return, your kids will have fun trekking on Mount Everest.
Finder’s Keeper
bushwalking as one of the favorite activities for kids is that it’s a good time for them to get
dirty as they roam freely and ‘talk’ with beetles and flowers.
Fly A Kite
Flying a kite is fun. And did
Another fun game to
you know that activities for kids can be a whole
the garden such as three black stones, five yellow
Here’s how: Cut a cardboard into a diamond
play with your child is to look for simple items in leaves, etc as quickly as they can.
Spraying Spree
Hand a plastic spray
bottle filled with water to your little one. Then
ask him to spray each and every plant in your
garden. This is not just one of those enjoyable activities for kids, but this is also good for your plants.
Go Green Watching plants grow and pro-
duce flowers is probably one of the best activities for kids. This is activity can be a combination of fun and learning.
Indiana Jones
lot better if you make it more personalized? shape, put on some decorations, make a hole
in one end and then attach a long piece of wool through it. Let your toddler have fun running with a kite flying behind her.
Mini-Olympics
This is surely one of
those activities for kids that are simple and fun.
All you need to do is set up a simple course at the playground for your kids. Ask them to go through it while timing them. Brace yourself as you watch them beat their own record in every lap.
Catch Games Should you’re toddler be
Spend some time hiding
a beginner in aerial catches, start by training
around the garden. Then organise your kids to
you can already bounce the ball towards her.
some tiny treasures, such as candies and toys, go treasure hunting.
Tea Party
Organize a tea party for your
little guests using just a tea set and a small table.
Let them have fun as you serve them with some biscuits and water.
Fun Ride at the Park
Bike parks are
great places to do some fun activities for kids.
This is also a safe place for them to master their biking skills.
Take a Ferryboat
Being out on the water will definitely bring
joy to your little ones, and to you, too.
Bushwalking
No kid would miss the
her roll the ball. When she’s already used to it,
Then try gentle throws until she becomes an expert in catching balls.
Sail A Boat
One of the best activities
for kids is that of sailing a boat, even with
just a model one. Make it in your own house with materials such as paddle-pop sticks, polystyrene foam ice cream containers, or paper.
Design your own boat as uniquely as you can. Then take it to a backyard pool or a pond. Have fun sailing!
Paint with water
Give each kid a
paintbrush and a container of water and let him paint anything on the back fence and trees.
These are great activities for kids that encourage their creativity.
chance of going for a bushwalk. What makes
June 2011 | 11
Colourful Waterplay
Now here’s
one of those activities for kids that is fun but
a bit messy so kids must play it outdoor with an apron. Head outside with bottles of water and a
variety of food colorings. Then let your kids mix and match the colors until everyone has the same uniform color in each bottle.
Bookworms
If you’re thinking of activi-
ties for kids that are not only fun but also enriching, then consider reading books to them. And
yes, books aren’t just read in your bedroom. A shaded part in your yard can be a perfect place
to enjoy a book with your child. Spread a rug and take out those books.
Be Sandy
Let your little ones go wild in
their imagination by making anything such as
pizza, cake and even castles using sands. Just supply them with small buckets, your old kitchen utensils, and biscuit cutters. This is indeed one of those activities for kids that can bring out the best in them.
Hidey-Hole
And when you think you’re
running out of ideas of fun activities for kids,
here’s one you should really try make an outdoor home using a sheet and some chairs.
Let Your Young Artist Shine
Make
the most out of a sunny day, by setting a table
outside. Next, arrange an easel, spread the cray-
ons, the glitter glue and encourage your kids to be crafty.
My list of fun activities for kids ends here.
Actually, the list can be endless if you just add your own activities in this list or even make your own variations. What is most important is that you and your kids will have fun!
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June 2011 | 13
Well-Done, Medium-Rare, Rare... What Do They Mean? Explanations And A Quick Tip For Cooking Your Meat by: Kathryn Steed
M
edium-rare, well-done, rare…sometimes it seems like these terms are all relative. When you ask for a well-done steak at a restaurant and it comes back pink, is it okay to complain? If you’re preparing meat for guests, how can you cook it to their desired doneness? We’ll tell you exactly what each term means and share a helpful tip for perfectly cooking your meat! Here are the generally accepted definitions of each level of doneness: Rare: A rare piece of meat will have a bright red center, and its outside will be brownishgray. The center will be warm, but not hot. (approximately 125 degree core temperature) Medium-rare: The center of a medium-rare piece of meat will be slightly warmer and reddish-pink instead of red. (approximately 130 degree core temperature)
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Medium: A medium piece of meat will have a large band of pink through the middle, but will be primarily grayish-brown throughout. (approximately 145 degree core temperature) Medium-well: A medium-well piece of meat will just have a slight hint of pink in the middle. Otherwise, it will be primarily cooked through and will feel quite firm. (approximately 155 degree core temperature) Well-done: A well-done steak should show no hint of pink whatsoever. Its center will be grayish-brown throughout and the outside will be nicely charred. (approximately 165 degree core temperature) If you want to tell how done your meat is without cutting into it, use this easy trick:
Feel the heel of your hand (that’s the fleshy part between your thumb and your wrist). When your hand is open and relaxed, a rare steak will feel as soft and tender as the heel of your hand. Now pinch together your thumb and forefinger and feel the heel of your hand again. It’s a bit firmer now. This is what a mediumrare steak feels like. You can then move down the line, pinching each finger, and feel the heel of your hand get firmer and firmer. When you pinch with your middle finger, the heel of your hand is the firmness of a medium steak, your ring finger a medium-well steak, and your pinky a well-done steak. Now all you’ll have to do is poke your steak a little bit and you’ll be able to tell its level of doneness.
June 2011 | 15
Cooking For KIDS by: Chris Grimbilas
C
by • Christine Szalay Kudra
inco de Mayo is a holi-
helping you make pinatas, setting the table with
Mexican, American, Canadian
tissue paper flowers (if they’re old enough to
day, which is for everyone. or people of every other
nationality, people of all ages and from all
walks of live enjoy celebrating this festive
holiday and the Mexican food and drink
party favors like miniature sombreros, making use scissors safely) and other activities which are both fun and useful in decorating your home for the holiday.
If you have pre-teens or teenage children in
which are always served on this day. If you
your household, they may enjoy learning about
opportunity to teach them more about our
Naturally, if you are throwing a party to cel-
have kids, however, this holiday is a great
next door neighbors by making your celebra-
tion a Cinco de Mayo for children, which is fun and educational at the same time.
Depending on the age of your children,
you may want to teach them more or less about the history of this Mexican holiday,
but even toddlers can take part in some of the holiday festivities by assisting you with getting the house ready for a fun reason for
a party. You can get your kids involved in
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the holiday while helping out in the kitchen.
ebrate Cinco de Mayo, you will want to make some authentic Mexican recipes. You can tell
your kids about the Battle of Puebla (which is what Cinco de Mayo commemorates - despite
what many people think, Cinco de Mayo is
not the Mexican Independence Day; that is September 16th) where the Mexican army won out over a French force which outnumbered them nearly two to one.
Any event for children should include
W
elcome to the world of picky eaters! You have kids. They turn their noses up at everything from peas to oatmeal. There are two main goals when it comes to cooking for kids. First, you want to cook what they like to eat, or at least what they will eat. This means searching through your vast library of cooking ideas to satisfy their hunger. Second, you want them to eat healthy meals. They learn about the food pyramid in school, but getting them to live it at home can be a challenge. Sitting at the table ordering them to eat their vegetables may sometimes be effective, but that doesn’t mean it will be fun for you or them. You can add some perennial favorites to health filled ideas. Try putting peanut butter on celery sticks. This works with cream cheese, too. Use cucumber chips and ranch dip instead of potato chips. You get a vegetable in their system and they are getting a treat at snack time. The same holds true for melon and cantaloupes. These make excellent snacks and are a much-needed fruit in these important diets for little ones. You know you can’t eat macaroni and cheese at every meal, but meals don’t have to be complicated either. There are easy recipes for dinner kids will love. We do a lot of mixin’s. We put chicken or turkey in the spaghetti sauce. We add tuna and a vegetable to the mac and cheese. Cheez Wiz ® on a vegetable seems to induce my kids to eat their veggies. The result is quick and easy recipes that the kids love to chow down. The other thing to remember is that while we like the idea of easy cooking, it
must be more than easy dinner recipes. We should plan healthy easy recipes. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, always go for fresh ingredients. If you can’t get fresh, use frozen. There are fewer additives in frozen fruits and vegetable. The water or juices that carry the sugar and preservative are used in frozen product. They make a healthier choice in you easy recipes for dinner. Boldly go where no kid has gone before in your kitchen. Try new foods. This is especially a good idea if you will do some cooking with kids. They are more likely to try what they helped cook. It also affords you some great family time. If you do some easy cooking with kids, neither you nor they will get bored with the process and they will be willing to try some new foods and different flavors. This will add a fresh look to some quick and easy recipes and offer your family some great meals. Work on the main things. You need healthy easy recipes. Great cooking ideas usually make great dinners. You need budget friendly and kid approved meals. This may take you a little effort in rewriting what you use for a cooking book, but it definitely has some long term benefits. Using easy dinner recipes and crock pot cooking will save you time, money, and exasperation. . You want meals that are kid friendly and easy on the budget. Make it fun. Make it healthy. Keep it easy. It is worth the rewards.
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June 2011 | 17
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KATY NIGHTLIFE
June 2011 | 19
katy’s recipe corner Send us your recipe, and a good photo of you and your creation, and you may be the next featured cook, in Katy Cuisine! Send Your Recipes To: info@katycuisine.com or find us on Facebook ! Cindy Tyree, Katy, Texas
My Persian neighbor introduced me to kofta a few years ago, he often has backyard parties complete with Persian music, family and plenty of food. His were made of beef and I never actually got his recipe but I’m pretty good at replicating flavors and these came pretty darn close... and of course using turkey instead of beef makes these a lot lighter.....
Persian Turkey Kofta Kebabs Ingredients: 20 oz 93% lean ground turkey 1 small onion, minced 2 cloves garlic. minced 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped 2 tbsp bread crumbs 1/4 tsp allspice 1/4 tsp coriander 1/4 tsp paprika 1/4 tsp chili powder salt and fresh pepper (to taste)
In a large bowl combine the ground turkey, onion, garlic, parsley, breadcrumbs, spices, salt and pepper until evenly blended. Divide into a heaping 1/4 cup portions so you get 12; roll into log shaped ovals. Place on a cookie sheet and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. If using wooden skewers, soak in water at least
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30 minutes before grilling. When ready to eat, preheat grill to high heat. Carefully insert the skewer through the formed meat. Grill for 10 to 15 minutes on indirect heat turning occasionally, until meat is no longer pink.
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June 2011 | 21
MANGO SMOOTHIE 1 1/4 cups Yogurt 1/2 tsp Lemon juice 1/2 cup Fresh mango pulp 1/3 cup Cold water Sugar Ice cubes Method: Peel the mango and remove flesh from pit and cut into small pieces. In a blender, add yogurt, lemon juice, mango pulp. water, and sugar. Blend approximately 2 to 3 minutes or until you see a little forming in the mixture. Add the ice and blend until frothy.
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DELICIOUS CHICKEN QUESADILLA 6 soft flour tortillas 2 lbs. chicken breast cubed 1 large red pepper 1 medium onion, chopped 2 teaspoons Adobo seasoning 1 PKG of grated mexican cheese Oil Butter Sour cream In a hot skillet, heat some oil. Add the chopped chicken, onions, peppers, and seasoning to the skillet. Fry, stirring frequently, until chicken is cooked. Remove from heat. Assemble quesadilla: Place flour tortillas on a flat surface. On each tortilla, cover one half of the area with the fried chicken mixture. Sprinkle with Mexican cheese mix. Fold each tortilla in half. Preheat oven to 400F. Place assembled quesadillas in a nonstick cookie sheet (I usually line the cookie sheet with either wax paper or aluminum foil to avoid the clean up afterward). Place quesadillas in oven for about 10 minutes. Once the tortillas are out of the oven, slice each quesadilla in half (making 12), and serve immediately with sour cream, guacamole, or any of your other favorite dips. June 2011 | 23
POTATO-SPINACH CASSEROLE....
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POTATO-SPINACH CASSEROLE 6 to 8 lg. potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed 1 c. (8 oz.) sour cream 2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 2 tbsp. chopped chives or green onion tops 1/4 c. butter 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained 1 c. (4 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese
In a large bowl, combine all
Homemade Fresh Italian Cuisine
ingredients except cheese. Spoon into a greased 2 quart casserole. Bake, uncovered, at 400
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June 2011 | 25
HOW TO:
STIR
S
tir fry method of cooking is very healthy. It uses less oil and leaves the food crisp and not overly cooked, and thus not stripping out all the nutrients and vitamins from raw food especially vegetables. Stir frying only takes a matter of minutes if you follow these few easy steps.
1. Well equipped Firstly, a wok is a must, not pan, a big round wok. A round-based one works well using gas burner while a flat based one works well on electric stoves. A good wok is heavy usually made of cast iron or carbonated steel, easily available is departmental store and Asian hardware shops. Teflon based just doesn’t give you the same rich flavor. When first purchased, the iron wok must be seasoned, heat the wok until smoke start rises from the wok, and then pour in a table spoon of peanut oil. Wipe the oil around the wok surface and throw away excessive oil. This way, all dirt will be removed from the wok surface. Secondly, a ladle is a must. Choose one with strong handle. 2. Prepare your ingredients All raw meat and vegetable must be cut uniformly in thickness and size in advance. This is to ensure the food is evenly cooked. Once the wok is heated, there is not enough time to cut any more. Rice and noodles need to be precook, rice to be steamed while noodles to be boiled to soft.
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R FRY
3. Seasoning a must. Before cooking the main ingredients, Asian usually put in chopped garlic or shallots to enhance the taste of stir fry dishes. When the wok is heated, oil is put in, then garlic or shallots are put in to fry until golden brown. Only then the main ingredients are put in. 4. Meat first, vegetables second For stir frying, this is can be considered the golden rule. Always cook meat first, vegetables second. Meat is harder to cook compared to vegetables. If both are cook together, the vegetables tend to overcook. Meat or seafood must be marinated with a pinch of salt first. Always toss the ingredients for even cooking. When stir frying rice or noodles, the goldren rule still applies, always meat first. 5. Sauce and seasoning Lastly, add sauce to your stir fry dish. Sauces, such as oyster sauce, or sweet and sour, thin and thick black soy sauce are added into the wok to complete the stir fry dish. Oyster sauce, thin and soya sauce is the most common, packaged in bottles and easily bought from the supermarket shelves. Sweet and sour is popular unique but it’s just simply tomato sauce and sugar. Simply put in the sauce after the meat and vegetables are cook in the wok, sautÊ for a while, and the dish is ready to serve.
June 2011 | 27
Herb & Garlic
Lamb Chops INGREDIENTS: 8 lamb loin chops 1/4 cup olive oil 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced zest of 1 lemon 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
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Preparation: Combine olive oil, thyme, basil, rosemary, garlic, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a bowl. Dip lamb chops into mixture to coat evenly. Cover chops and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Preheat grill. Place lamb chops on grill over a medium high heat. Grill about 5 minutes per side. Chops should be browned on both sides.
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June 2011 | 29
Nicoise Salad
INGREDIENTS: Vinaigrette 1/2 cup lemon juice 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 medium shallot, minced 1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme leaves 2 Tbsp minced fresh basil leaves 2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano leaves 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Salad 2 grilled or otherwise cooked tuna steaks* (8 oz each) or 2-3 cans of tuna 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and either halved or quartered 10 small new red potatoes (each about 2 inches in diameter, about 1 1/4 pounds total), each potato scrubbed and quartered Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 medium heads Boston lettuce or butter lettuce, leaves washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces 3 small ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into eighths 1 small red onion, sliced very thin 8 ounces green beans, stem ends trimmed and each bean halved crosswise 1/4 cup niรงoise olives 2 Tbsp capers, rinsed and/or several anchovies (optional) 30 | www.katycuisine.com
Preparation:
*Marinate tuna steaks in a little olive oil for an hour. Heat a large skillet on medium high heat, or place on a hot grill. Cook the steaks 2 to 3 minutes on each side until cooked through. 1 Whisk lemon juice, oil, shallot, thyme, basil, oregano, and mustard in medium bowl; season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside. 2 Bring potatoes and 4 quarts cold water to boil in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and cook until potatoes are tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl with a slotted spoon (do not discard boiling water). Toss warm potatoes with 1/4 cup vinaigrette; set aside. 3 While potatoes are cooking, toss lettuce with 1/4 cup vinaigrette in large bowl until coated. Arrange bed of lettuce on a serving platter (I used two serving platters, shown in the photos). Cut tuna into 1/2-inch thick slices, coat with vinaigrette. Mound tuna
in center of lettuce. Toss tomatoes, red onion, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste in bowl; arrange tomato-onion mixture on the lettuce bed. Arrange reserved potatoes in a mound at edge of lettuce bed. 4 Return water to boil; add 1 tablespoon salt and green beans. Cook until tender but crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain beans, transfer to reserved ice water, and let stand until just cool, about 30 seconds; dry beans well. Toss beans, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste; arrange in a mound at edge of lettuce bed. 5 Arrange hard boiled eggs, olives, and anchovies (if using) in mounds on the lettuce bed. Drizzle eggs with remaining 2 tablespoons dressing, sprinkle entire salad with capers (if using), and serve immediately.
June 2011 | 31