Hawaiian Meatball

The second dish which Minoo made was Hawaiian Meatball. The sweet and sour meatballs are very appetizing and kids will love this dish. Try and make it for your family.

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Minoo served the Hawaiian Meatballs with steamed rice. A little more sauce will be perfect to go with the rice.

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The Hawaiian Meatball is good for potluck too.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
  • 2/3 cup chopped onion, divided
  • 1/4 teaspoon grated ginger
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • 2/3 cup cracker/bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
  • 12oz can pineapple, reserve the juice
  • 1 cup chopped red or green pepper
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest
  • mushroom, optional

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Baked Spaghetti Squash

Ben was away on his vacation at New York City and of course he had his precious camera with him. I had to borrow a point and shoot digital camera from Polly for the community kitchen photo shoot. Every time I use a new camera, I have trouble adjusting with the focusing and maneuver with the settings. So, the photos might not be as nice as those taken with the Rebel XT. Please bear with me.

Minoo demonstrated this Baked Spaghetti Squash in the South Arm Kitchen and also the Caring Place. Since this is the season for squash, it is a great way to introduce the Spaghetti Squash to the community kitchen.

The spaghetti squash (known as Sharkfin Melon to Chinese) is an oblong seed-bearing variety of winter squash. When cooked, the flesh falls away from the fruit in ribbons or strands like spaghetti or shark’s fin and is slightly sweet, crunchy and watery.

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The Baked Spaghetti Squash is a complete meal with protein, fiber and dairy. It is an excellent healthy meal.

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Ingredients

  • 1 spaghetti squash
  • 1 lb hamburger, extra lean
  • 1 small onion, grated or diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup canned tomato sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon basil leaves, crumbled and finely chopped

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If you love spaghetti squash, here is a link to a Ultimate Guide on Cooking Spaghetti Squash.

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Chili Con Carne

At the Gilmore Park Church community kitchen, Jean paired up with Tanni for this week’s demonstration. Sharing the load makes it easier for members as one do not have to come up with at least 2 dishes to fill the time slot.

Jean made a pot of Chili Con Carne, commonly known as Chili, is a spicy stew like dish with meat (beef or pork), chili peppers (if you prefer spicy), tomatoes, onions, beans other vegetables. The vegetarian version of Chili is known as Chili Sin Carne. Chile Con Carne in Spanish means “chili with meat”. Chili Con Carne is the official dish of the state of Texas in U.S.

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Jean served the Chili Con Carne with whole wheat spaghetti. You may served it on rice or garlic toast too.

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Even though Jean just prepare a dish for this week, she also brought homemade pumpkin raisin muffins to share with us. Thank you, Jean for your generosity.

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Ingredients for Chili Con Carne

  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 1 cup diced celery
  • 1 lb lean ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 large can of tomato soup
  • 1 large can of chopped tomatoes or chopped fresh tomatoes
  • 1 large can of kidney beans, drained
  • 1 can of sliced button mushroom or fresh ones
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar, to tenderize the meat

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Vegetable Pie in Beef Shell

Jean demonstrated this Vegetable Pie in Beef Shell in the Caring Place Community Kitchen upon Minoo’s request. Jean had demonstrated this pie at another community kitchen which I did not attend and it was so good that the portion that the members supposed to bring home was gobbled up on the spot.

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This pie is unique in a way that the shell is made from beef, kind of like meat loaf with vegetables toppings.

Ingredients

For the shell:

  • 1 1/2 lbs extra lean ground beef
  • 3/4 cup rolled oatmeal
  • 1 cup tomato juice
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 egg, slightly beaten
  • few drops of tabasco sauce
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic

For the topping:

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup parsley, minced
  • 2 cups potatoes. diced
  • 1/2 cup carrots, diced
  • 1/2 cup celery, diced
  • 6 pearl onions
  • 1 cup peas
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Korean Bulgogi

Minnie demonstrated four dishes in the Gilmore Park Church community kitchen. She made Korean Bulgogi, Radish Salad, Green Salad and Korean Rice.

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The Korean Bulgogi is very easy to make and it goes well with rice. Minnie did not have the exact measurement of her ingredients. She goes by taste along the way.

Ingredients

  • Marbled beef, thinly sliced
  • Shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted and sliced
  • Wood-ear mushrooms, reconstituted and sliced
  • Onion, sliced
  • Green onions, cut into 1 inch length
  • Carrot, sliced into match stick size

Marinates

  • Soy sauce
  • Sesame oil
  • Sugar
  • Ginger powder
  • Black pepper
  • Chopped garlic

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Swiss Pepper Steak

Jean started off her Gilmore Park Church community kitchen with two meat dishes. She made Swiss Pepper Steak and Oven-fried Parmesan Chicken.

Jean is a good leader by showing a good example in leading the cooking class. I noticed that many of the members of the cooking clubs are very humble and quite shy to show off their cooking skills. It is always a challenging task to fill up the schedule of who to demonstrate in the coming cooking class in the beginning of every session. Nevertheless, the schedule has been filled up to April and its a good start.

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Well, back to Jean’s dishes. The Swiss Pepper Steak is a great one pot dish which is even better when eaten the next day for the flavour to mellow. It uses the less expensive cut of meat as the long and slow simmering will break down the tissue of the tougher cut of meat.

Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 lbs of large round steak or sirloin steak, cut into chunks
  • 1 large yellow onion, sliced
  • 1 large red pepper, sliced
  • 3 celery sticks, sliced
  • 8 white button mushrooms, sliced
  • flour for dredging

Sauce

  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • pinch of sugar
  • 3 heaping teaspoons of chopped garlic

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Korean BBQ Beef Stir-fry

This is Lorna’s second dish as a supplement to her Taiwanese Sausage. Since the sausage cannot be eaten on the same day, she decided to make this simple Korean BBQ Beef Stir-fry so that the cooking club will have something to enjoy.

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Ingredients

  • 1 kg of marbled beef slices (those you found in the Chinese groceries stores for hot pot use)
  • 1 cup or more of Korean BBQ sauce
  • 3 sweet peppers of different colours, red, yellow and green, cut into diamond shape
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced

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Swiss Steak

This is Jean’s second recipe in this week’s cooking club meeting. The Swiss Steak recipe is best cooked in a slow cooker for 8 to 9 hours. However, due to time constraint in the meeting, Jean cooked it on the stove for only 1 hour. Though the meat is not as tender as desired, but the Swiss Steak is still very flavourful and creamy.

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Ingredients

  • 2 – 2.5lb sirloin tip steak
  • 1 can (10 3/4oz) Cream of Mushroom soup
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 1/2 cup chopped onions
  • 1 or 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 10 pcs sliced button mushrooms
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 – 3 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
  • 1 1/3 cups water
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

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Garlic Studded Prime Rib Premium Oven Roast

I stumbled on a good deal the other day at Save-On-Foods. The Prime Ribs were on special — just $18 for the three pounds of prime ribs. I recall the last time we bought it, it was something like almost $30.

With oven roasts, preparation is really simple and the dinner cooks unattended. Although I made this only for the family this time, premium oven roasts are wonderful for the special occasions and for those times you want to impress.

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To add flavour I insert garlic slivers all over the roasts.

Ingredients

When choosing the perfect prime rib, make sure that it is cut from the ribs and then tied back on. The bones will add flavour during cooking and they can be easily removed for carving. Here are the ingredients

  • Prime Rib
  • Garlic
  • Lea and Perrins Worchestershire sauce
  • Dried Thyme
  • Salt and Pepper, to taste

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Korean Style BBQ Beef on Dried Shrimp Pancake

When the big fish fight the shrimps must lie low.
~ Creole Proverb

The Richmond Community Kitchen, coincidentally, showed Korean BBQ beef for the session this week. The lesson today was led by Tanni Lee. I like Tanni because she is soooo cheerful and have a smile all the time for everyone.

Tanni made two separate dishes that complements each other. The Korean Style BBQ Beef goes very well with the dried shrimp pancake. For garnishing, she used kiwi fruit. She also used the kiwi fruit juice to marinate and tenderize the beef.

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Korean Style BBQ Beef

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 lb Beef
  • 1.5 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 tablespoon kiwi juice
  • 1.5 tablespoon green onions
  • 2.5 tablespoon korean soya sauce
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
  • 1/2 tablespoon chopped ginger
  • 2 teaspoon dark soy
  • 1.5 tablespoon sesame oil

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