Honey Walnut Prawns - 核桃蝦

The first time I had walnut shrimp was when I went to visit my friends the Nielsons in 1995 or 1999 while they still lived in the Bay area. We went to a Chinese restaurant together and the food was so good. I ordered it in several restaurants in the Salt Lake area but it was never nearly as good. Finally I decided to do my research on the internet and see if I can come up with something better to serve in one of our annual Chinese New Year dinner. I eventually bought a deep fryer just for this dish because it works great for the walnuts and the shrimp. I also have some fond memories of helping my mother making candied walnuts in her little kitchen in Taipei. I don't remember what she was using the candied walnuts for but I sure remembered that they were yummy. I think I used to help her in the kitchen not because I was a helpful person but it was a great way to do some food sampling. The walnuts does take some time so I usually make it a couple of days in advance. The last time I made a batch of the candied walnuts, I had to hide them from my family or else they would be all gone before I get around to make the shimp.

Shrimp:

1 lb of large or medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
a dash of salt
1/4 cup corn starch
1 egg white
1 cup oil

Sauce:
2 Tbs honey
3 Tbs mayonnaise
1 1/2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tsp of fresh lime juice
1 Tbs condensed milk

Preparation:
Shrimp:
Mix cornstarch and egg whites together to from a think sticky texture and mix well with shrimp with a dash of salt. Set aside.
Sauce:
Mix honey, mayonnaise, lemon juice, lime juice, and condensed milk in a bowl until smooth.

Heat the oil in wok until hot and deep fry the shrimp until golden; drain the oil and fold in the honey mayonnaise mixture into shrimp. Mix well, sprinkle with candied walnuts and arrange on platter. Usually the shrimp is served over lightly stir fried or steamed vegetables like broccoli or Napa cabbage.

Candied Walnuts
1/2 cup walnuts
2 cups water
1/8 cup sugar, use 1/4 or 1/3 cup if you like more sugary walnuts
2 cups oil

Rinse walnuts; boil in 2 cups of water and continually changing water until water is clear. Drain water from walnuts and boil with sugar until sugar dissolved. Heat 2 cups of oil until almost smoking and deep fry walnuts until they are shiny and brown, no longer tan/golden; about 3 minutes. Place walnuts on cookie sheet, let cool.

The Vegetarian Burger

This is a recipe from my friend Lynell. It dated back to 1990's. We used to have it quite often until Kimberly protested very loudly that she had enough of "vegetarian" meals, "fake" cheese, "pretend" burgers, or anything that had the "organic" wording on the package. We were never vegetarians, but were trying to eat meat sparingly. Back then Cassidy was allergic to milk and soy, so for a few years we did not eat anything that had milk, soy, nor anything that had milk product in it. That was a pretty tough thing to do ten or twelve years ago since there were not as many alternative products out there and organic food was not as common. Maybe that was why Kimberly hated the restriction so much. I have been thinking about this recipe lately because Roland and I actually like the vege-burger a lot. I just make a batch today and am excited to let Kimberly try it again now that her taste buds are more interested in healthy food.

Ingredients:
2 eggs or 1/2 C soaked garbanzo beans blended well with 1/2 C water
1 C rolled oats, uncooked; I like to blend 2/3 of rolled oats for a few seconds in a blender, this helps the mixture to stick together better.
1 C finely chopped walnuts or use 1/2 cup chopped sunflower seeds and 1/2 cup walnuts
1 medium onion minced; I like it lightly sautéed
4 table spoon of milk; or rice milk
1/2 tea spoon of salt
1 tea spoon of sage (powder)
1 table spoon of soy sauce; I use 1 1/2 table spoon of soy sauce

Lynelle like the mixture thin so she can pour it onto a electric grill like pancake batter. I like the mixture thicker and I form it into patties and pan fry with a little olive oil until it's golden brown. It makes about 8 vege-burger patties.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

My friend Judith gave me the recipe but I am not sure which cook book it is from. When there are lots of zucchinis coming from your vegetable garden, it's time to make this cake. In the peak zucchinis season, I shred the zucchinis and freeze them in the zip lock bags so I can make this cake in the winter time.  I like to use the frozen zucchini to make this cake. I think freezing the zucchini release water and this make the cake moist and delicious.

1/4 cup butter
1 cup vegetable oil (or 1/2 cup apple sauce + 1/2 cup oil)
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sour milk (or milk with a little vinegar)
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated zucchini (I tend to use very over heaping cups or should I just say 3 cups)
3 cups of flour (whole white wheat)

Mix all ingredients together, place in a 9 x 13 pan, sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts (1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped nuts) on top and bake for 40-45 minutes in 325F oven.

Baja Mexico 2009

We went to Grandpa J's Baja beach house in June 2009; these pictures really make me want to visit there again!

Banana Cake, Bread and Muffins!?

My mother-in-law Linda gave me this recipe years ago and this is one of those that I have altered many ingredients but the cake still come out really good. I usually freeze bananas that are going to ripen soon and put 4 bananas per zip lock bag. On baking day, I take out a bag of bananas and leave it on the counter for a couple of hour to thaw and then dump the entire content of the zip lock bag into the mixer. I think the freezing process release the moisture from the bananas and make the cake moist. My kids like the cake without nuts but Roland & I both like the nuts. Lately it takes me a long time to get enough frozen bananas to make the cake because my kids are really into making shakes in Roland's "Blending Station Advance" Vita-Mix machine. This Vita-Mix blender looks like the ones Jamba Juice use in their stores; complete with the plastic cover to reduce the noise level. It's big, bulky, noisy, but sure blends well.

Wet Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup sugar, I like to use 3/4 cup blue agave
1/2 cup oil, I often use a mixture of coconut oil and safflower oil)
4 eggs or two large eggs, I go for the four eggs for extra protien
4 ripe banana
1 teaspoon vanilla

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour (I use white wheat flour - if using red wheat flour, I would use half whole wheat and half white flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
a pinch of salt
1 cup rolled oats (coarsely grind in the blender or use instant oatmeal)

Topping:
1 cup chocolate chips (I like to use some semi-sweet, some milk, and some double chocolate chips)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix all dry ingredients and set aside. Mix all of the wet ingredients together, place in a 9x3 pan, sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts on top, and bake for 40-45 minutes in 325F oven. I have use 2 regular bread pans or 4 mini bread pans to make banana bread or muffin tins to make muffins.

Since my kids don't like nuts in sweet bread, I skip the nuts but add some ground flex seed and some hemp seed to this recipe to make a healthier version.