Jan-chan’s Tidbits

Since my knife skills are very bad, I precut most of the stuff the night before but this can easily be done in 30 minutes since the cooking time isn’t that long.

Pasta with Veggies & Sausage
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• Pasta of your choice
• 2 cups Italian sausages - cut into large chunks
• 2 carrots - cut into small pieces
• 1 onion, large - diced
• 3 shallots - diced
• 1 bulb of garlic - peeled, minced (we love garlic so adjust amount to own preference)
• Italian herb mix or any other combination of spices of your choice as seasoning
• pepper flakes for some heat if you like it spicy

1. Boil water to cook pasta. Once you’ve added the pasta to the water, heat up a big pot with about 1/2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Add sausage and cook for about 2 minutes. Remove from pot and drain of excess oil, leaving about 1 tbsp.
2. In medium-high heat, add the garlic and shallots. Cook for 2-3 minutes. When it start to turn brown (caramelize), add in the onion and carrots with about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water or stock. Scrape up any brown bits on the pot. Cook the veggies for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding water if pot is too dry. Add in the sausages, spices and pepper flakes. Cook for another 3-5 minutes or until carrots are soft and sausages are heated. Remove from heat.
3. The pasta should have finished cooking so drain it, reserve about 1/2 cup of the liquid. Add the drained pasta to the sausage and veggie mixture. Toss it up with a dash of fresh pepper (optional) and it’s ready for plating. If it’s too dry, add a bit of the reserved pasta water to give it some moisture.

Note: This is the first time I’ve made pasta without sauce so let me know what you think if you try it. The twins said it was good but I don’t really trust them (they might only say that because they don’t want me to stop cooking!). Oh if you notice, I didn’t add any salt in the mixture because I find that the sausage is already salty enough for my preference.

I’m sure this recipe is out there but I made mine after reading Rachael Ray’s Poor Man’s Gumbo. I made this recipe to serve about 6 people. It was enough for 2 nights’ dinner for the three of us and Al’s lunch. We’re not big eaters though so keep that in mind.

Chicken, Sausage & Tomatoes Stew

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast - cubed
1 cup of smoked sausages - cubed
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion - cut into big pieces
2 carrots - cut into small pieces
3 stalks of celery - cut diagonally into small pieces
2 cans (796ml) diced tomatoes
1-2 can(s) tomato paste (use two if you want the sauce to thicken up faster)
dash of paprika, chili powder, pepper flakes (add to suit your taste)
salt & pepper

1. Marinate chicken with paprika salt and pepper for about 15 minutes. In a big pot, heat 1 tbsp of the oil and brown chicken pieces on all sides, for about 2 minutes. Remove from pan and add in the sausages. Cook sausage for about a minute or two. Remove from pan and drain off excess oil, leaving about 1 tbsp (if there isn’t enough, add some olive oil).
2. Return pot to medium heat and add onions. Cook until it start to get translucent. Add in celery, carrots and the tomato juice from the two cans of diced tomatoes. Cook, scraping up brown bits from the bottom of the pan, for about 3-5 minutes. Add in the diced tomatoes and tomato paste.
3. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Add in the chicken and sausage. Reduce heat and let it simmer for another 15 minutes or until it’s thicken to the desire consistancy. Add the chili powder and pepper flakes.

Serve with rice or crusty bread.

Note: I don’t like my tomato sauce too sour so I add a few tbsp of sugar at the end. Just add it a little bit at a time and taste test it to find the right amount.

Sorry, I didn’t have my camera with me this week so no pictures for the recent recipes.

So last night, after about two months away from the oven, I’ve decided to get my lazy butt back into the kitchen to whip up some goodies for the brownie monster (aka, WuWu). While I was preparing the brownies, I remembered I “borrowed” a bag of espresso coffee from the twins and thought it’d be interesting to add some “bam” to the old recipe. It actually turned out quite nicely and my taste tester (my mom) said it’s pretty good except I might have added a bit too much espresso since it covered the chocolate flavor. Continue reading »

The first time I’ve made this meat sauce was during cooking class in high school. I remember it was in Gr. 8 and I hated cooking back then because it seems like there are so much work. Look what happened in less than 10 years?! I’m writing about my kitchen experiments.

This tomato meat sauce is really easy to make. So easy that I don’t even have a recipe written down for it (I think I threw away my notes from cooking class already). There is minimal chopping and all you really need to know is how to use a can opener. Continue reading »

I’m still trying to perfect this bao (bun) recipe as every time I make it, it turns too brown at the bottom. I’ve tried lowering the heat, reduce the time and both but I still end up with a slightly darker, more crispy bottom than I’d like it to be. Anyways, if you try it, let me know how it turned out. Continue reading »