Cooking with and for family and friends always brings back memories of cooking with my mother and sisters and how much fun we had in the kitchen! I love creating food memories and it doesn’t have to be a big production. The secret is to make a big splash with the table layout so when guests arrive, they’re already impressed. I learned a lot of these tricks from my mom who was absolutely brilliant entertaining at home.
Next trick is to prepare dishes that are colorful, has texture and has a wow factor. These are the three elements I always teach when giving my cooking class and I apply them to my everyday cooking no matter what I’m serving!
My British friends visiting were craving seafood and after scouting seafood restaurants with exorbitant prices, I decided to have a hand at preparing some surf and turf for them. My efforts came out handsomely and it was very rewarding to see my friends enjoying their dinner. The best part was getting some serious time together reminiscing about old times and having good laughs.
LetsLunch is a virtual lunch where food bloggers from all over the world come up with a theme and hosted by different bloggers. I’ve met the neatest food bloggers, if you want to join, post a comment below or on Twitter using #LetsLunch. Today’s post celebrates the USA release of Lisa Goldberg’s Monday Morning Cooking Club’s cookbook, congratulations! I love how a group of Jewish ladies got together to cook and shared their recipes and experiences.
Anne Marie Cruz‘ Honey Pecan Almond Cheesecake Sammy Bites at Sandwich Surprise
Eleanor Hoh’s Surf and Turf at Be a Wok Star
Grace Hwang Lynch‘s Zha Jian Mien at HapaMama.
Jill Warren Lucas‘ Pickled Corn Beef at Eating My Words.
Linda’s Vegan Pumpkin Pie at Spicebox Travels
Lisa‘s No Ordinary Meatloaf at Monday Morning Cooking Club
Lucy’s Sweet Potatoes with Cane Syrup at A Cook and Her Books
Pat‘s Thai Red Curry Noodles at The Asian Grandmother’s Cookbook
lamb
Salad Stir Fry
Clearing fridge to accommodate food for my cooking class came up with a surprise stir fry! I had mostly salad vegetables: snow peas, radish, Persian cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, onion & red bell peppers. So, I decided to fry them in duck fat & sprinkled black sesame seeds right at the end. Just goes to show, you can stir fry any vegetables!
The rosemary slow roast lamb shoulder
a la Jamie Oliver has been so handy. I warmed up in its own juice & added chopped cilantro. Went well with my salad stir fry, seaweed salad and quinoa lentil.