Vietnamese Chicken Sausage (Cha lua ga)

Ingredients:
3 lbs chicken legs, turkey breasts skinless, boneless
Liquid marinade
10 tbs water
4 tbs fish sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp mushroom seasoning
1 tbs baking powder
3 tbs sugar
6 tbs cornstarch
Wrapping
Banana leaf
Plastic wrap
Aluminum foil
Kitchen twine

Directions:
Mix the marinade very well.
Cut chicken and turkey into small cubes and pour the marinade on top. Mix thoroughly and cover. Let marinate overnight.

In the morning, prepare the wrapping. Each sausage needs equal-size pieces (10" x10") of banana leaf. plastic wrap, and aluminum foil.
In a food processor, grind the marinade mixture into paste and freeze it for 20 minutes.

 Repeat the process three or four times until the sausage looks smooth and silky. Divide the meat paste into 4 equal portions.
Assembling the sausage:
On a countertop, lay the banana leaf piece.

Add a portion of meat paste.

Roll up as a log and seal both ends.

 Enclose the sausage in plastic wrap.

Repeat the same with aluminum foil.

 Use the kitchen twine to tie the sausage at equal intervals (several inches apart).

 Take a long wooden skewer and make several holes around the sausage for the steam to escape while steaming. Repeat the same procedure until finished wrapping sausages.
In a large steamer over high heat, place sausages into the steamer and steam for 30 minutes.

Turkey Roulade

I have had this wonderful recipe for turkey roulade for quite sometime and decided to prepare it for Christmas this year. The concept is like chicken rolled up that I always prepare for everyday meals but with a larger bird. Because a turkey is larger in size, the stuffing can have a variety of nuts, rice, mushrooms, artichokes, etc. Each cook should use his/her imagination and have fun cooking.
Equipment:
Large baking pan with rack
Butchers twine

Ingredients:
3 lbs turkey breast, skinless
1/2 cup minced onions
1 shallot, minced
1 minced garlic
1 cup wild mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup artichokes, chopped
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup black olives, chopped
1/2 cup each raisin, dried cranberries, soaked in wine to plump
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 chopped walnuts, almonds
1/2 cup chopped fresh oregano, parsley, and sage
Enough salt, black pepper to taste
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
Spice rub
Paprika, caynene, salt and black pepper, poultry seasoning (make up about 2 tbs of the spice rub)
1/4 cup soft butter

Directions:
Preheat oven set to 350°.
Preparing the baking pan – on the bottom, add 1 cup of chicken broth, the wine after soaking the raisins and cranberries, carrots, onions, and celery cut up (this will help the turkey stay moist).

On a large cutting surface, place a sheet of plastic wrap. Place turkey breast on top of the plastic wrap and make a butterfly cut.

Cover the turkey with an additional sheet of plastic wrap and pound the turkey breast to an even thickness of about 1/2 inch. Set aside to make stuffing.

In a large non-stick pan, add olive oil, garlic, shallot, and minced onions. Stir for a few minutes or until fragrant.

Add mushrooms and 1/2 tsp salt and cook until the mushrooms are wilted.

Add nuts, fresh herbs, sundried tomatoes, chopped olives and artichoke hearts, cooked quinoa, brown rice, soaked raisins and cranberries.

Cook until the mixture appears too dry. Season with salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Remove from heat and let cool.

Assembling the turkey – Place the turkey breast flat side up on a clean surface. Rub the skin side of turkey with the spice rub and soft butter on both sides of the turkey breast. Arrange the stuffing over the turkey to reach within 1 inch of all the edges.

 Carefully roll up the roulade.

Use the butchers twine to tie the roulade at even intervals so the filling will stay inside the roulade.

Place the roulade inside the rack of the baking pan and roast until golden brown or when a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the roulade reads 150° to 155° (about 1 to 1 1/2 hours).

Let rest 15 minutes before serving.

Marble Cheesecake

Cheesecake is a popular American dessert topped with fruits, nuts or chocolate. Most American cheesecakes are made from soft cream cheese and sweetened with sugar or honey. Some recipes of cheesecake are made with ricotta cheese or Neufchatel cheese from France. Cheesecake baked in a water bath will distribute the heat more evenly. Some say this method will prevent cracking on the surface during the baking time. There are a variety of cheese cake recipes on the Internet. New York cheesecake and Marble cheesecake are the most elegant-looking-cheesecakes. They are both made the same way except the marble cheese cake uses either espresso or melted chocolate, or it can be both as the one I present here to create the marble effect. A talented cook can swirl the marble on the top of a simple cheese cake and turn it into an artistic, beautiful cheesecake.
Equipment:
9 inch springform pan
Baking pan large enough to hold water and the 9 cake pan
Foil to cover entire springform pan

Ingredients:
Crust:
2 cups chocolate or regular graham cracker crumbs
6 tbs melted butter
2 tbs sugar
Filling:
3 lbs. cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1 yolk
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips melted and cooled
2 shots of expresso
1/8 tsp salt

Directions:
To make crust: Combine cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press into bottom of the prepared springform pan. Push the crumbs up the sides. Bake in preheat oven set to 375° for 10 minutes. Remove from oven

In a small bowl, combine expresso and melted chocolate.
To make the fillings: Using a standing electric mixer, combine cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and cornstarch. Attach the beater and turn to medium to whisk cream cheese mixture until combined. Add eggs one a time until combined. Remove 2 cups of the filling and add into the expresso-chocolate and mix well. Pour about 1/2 cup of expresso-chocolate batter onto the bottom of the crust and pour the cream cheese fillings over the crust.

 Drizzle the expresso-chocolate batter onto the surface of the batter. Using a bamboo skewer, artistically swirl the marble around.

Preheat oven set to 325°. Place the baking pan with water into the oven. Place the cheese cake into the water bath. The water should come half way up. Bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven off. Crack open the oven door to cool the cheese cake for 1 hour before completely removing from the oven. Let the cheesecake cool in the refrigerator for 10 hour before unmolding the cake.

Sweet Cocoa Rolls

During the holidays, I like to make cinnamon rolls. When making these rolls, I like to add chocolate-coco powder to the dough to bring out the festive holiday spirit. They are also an easy homemade gift for your neighbors and friends.
Ingredients:
Dough:
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tbs butter
1/4 cup coco powder
3 cups bread flour
2 tsp active dry yeast
Filling:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips
4 tbs soft butter
Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

Directons:
Place all the ingredients listed above Fillings into the bread pan machine. Press the dough button to start the process. Let the bread machine do its job for mixing, kneading and rising.
When done, remove the dough from the bread pan and place dough on a lightly-floured surface.

Knead dough for a couple of minutes. Lightly cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes. While the dough is resting, butter a 9" x 13" baking dish.

Combine the filling and set aside.
After 15 minutes, roll dough into a rectangular shape (about 15 x 10 inches).

Spread the filling over dough to within 1 inch of edges. Roll dough up tightly lengthwise like a sausage.

 Press edges at both ends to seal and form into a 15 inch long evenly shaped roll.
With a sharp knife, cut roll into 12 equal-size pieces. Place rolls into buttered baking dish.

Cover and let dough rise in warm place for 40 minutes or until double in size. Bake in preheated oven set to 350° for 25 minutes. Let the rolls completely cool before icing.

Easy Moroccan Chicken Stew

The combination of sweet and spicy makes this stew hard to resist. I use leftover roasted chicken to cut cooking time in half and add more flavor to the stew.
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked chicken
1 can 14.5 oz canned tomatoes
1 can chickpeas or your choice of beans
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup white onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp honey
Salt, pepper, to taste
2 tbs lemon juice
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups fresh baby spinach

Directions:
Cook onion in 4 qt pot for 5 minutes. Add garlic, cinnamon, ginger, cumin, paprika. Cook 1 minute. Stir in tomato, honey, salt and pepper. Add the rest of the ingredients except the baby spinach. Simmer and cover for 15 minutes. Stir in spinach and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve

Chineese Tea Eggs using a Crock Pot

Tea egg is a traditional, flavorful and fragrant snack commonly sold by street vendors or at night markets all over the world. The flavor and fragrance from the eggs come from the long period of steeping the eggs in black tea and spices, such as a cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise and ginger. The process of making these eggs is divided into two stages. The first stage is partially cooking eggs in boiling water then carefully cracking the egg shells all around. The small cracks will give eggs beautifully marbled effects after steeping them in the flavorful liquid. The second stage is to make a flavorful liquid and to slowly cook eggs for 2 hours. Some recipes suggest letting eggs soak in spicy liquid in the refrigerator for days. This is one of the recipes that is perfect for using a crock pot – just turn the crock pot on and forget about it. The perfect tea eggs will have a taste balance between the eggs' natural flavor and the spices.
Equipment:
2 qt crock pot

Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 tea bags (English breakfast and Lipton’s)
2 cups hot water
1 cinnamon stick (2 inch length)
2 cloves
2 star anise
1/4 tsp whole black pepper
1/2 tangerine skin, sliced
1 knob of ginger thinly sliced (about 1 inch)
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs dry sherry

Directions:
Place eggs in a saucepan with water and bring to boil. Cover and turn the heat off. Let eggs continue to cook in the hot water for 10 minutes. Remove eggs. Place eggs into cold water to cool off.

 Break the egg shells all over with as many small cracks as possible.

In the crock pot, place cooked eggs, tea bags, and all the spices. Add 2 cups of hot water and turn the heat to low for 3 hours.

 Tea eggs are normally eaten cold.

Biscuits for Two

This is an easy biscuits recipe and takes no time to prepare. It is wonderful as is, but adding cheese, bacon or sausages gives these biscuits an interesting twist.
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tbs butter cut into cubes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions:
In a medium size mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar and baking powder

. Stir in butter and mix until the mixture looks like cornmeal.

 Make a well in the center of the flour.

Pour milk slowly into the center and little by little draw flour towards the milk until flour comes together. Knead dough a few times. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out to a desired thickness of about 2 inches.

Use a biscuit cutter to cut the dough into 6 small biscuits.

Place onto greased baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven set to 400° for 15 to 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

Serve with scrambled eggs.

Cheese biscuits: Add 1/2 cup of parmesan or cheddar to flour right after adding the milk.
Bacon biscuits: Cook bacon until crispy. Crumble crispy bacon. Add 1/2 cup of crumbled bacon to kneaded dough.
Sausages biscuits: Remove the casing from the sausage. Cook meat until golden brown. Add 1/2 cup of cooked meat to kneaded dough.