katy cuisine- june 2011 issue

06.2011

Your first choice for good food

COOKINGWITH KIDS

ARTICLES | NEWS | HEALTH | L IFESTYLE | FOOD

A SPECIAL DAY FOR DAD

KUBLAI KHANCOMES TO KATY

2 | www.katycuisine.comFor more information: 281.781.4727 or [email protected]

contents

08

14

04

FEATURES 04 A SPECIAL DAY FOR DAD

8 KUBLAI KHAN: CRAZY MONGOLIAN

12 20 ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS

EDITORSHANNAN PARKER

Tel: 281.781.4727

Email: [email protected]

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SALESSHANNAN PARKER


DESIGNSARAH STANDLEY

Tel: 513.919.5628

[email protected]

www.sarahstandleydesigns.com

June 2011 | 3For more information: 281.781.4727 or [email protected]

ADVERTISE WITH US!281.781.4727

[email protected]

EDITORSHANNAN PARKER

Tel: 281.781.4727


www.katycuisine.com

SALESSHANNAN PARKER


DESIGNSARAH STANDLEY

Tel: 513.919.5628

[email protected]

www.sarahstandleydesigns.com

VISIT US ONLINEKATYCUISINE.COM

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How To Make Fa t h e r ’ s Day Spec i a lby : Pau l Au s t e r

A Special Day for DAD

It’s not like mothers only bear the burden of bringing up a child and to take care of the family needs, Dads also deserve the appreciation

and in order to honor their important role, a special day was designated as Father’s Day. Father’s Day began as a day honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, the influence of fathers in society and devel-oped into a full-fledged celebration with gifts and greeting cards.

So what can you do to make your Dad’s day very special this year?

Give your dad the best gift this year, start with a big smushy Father’s Day hug as he wakes up out of his bed, which expresses how much you love him. Make dads day with culinary items that he loves the most, it can be a breakfast in bed, a burger or pizza at local sports club for lunch, dinner at his favorite restaurant or you can try all of them.

You can give him a special email or gift card, with the subject: “With Love to the Best Dad in the Whole Wide World.” What

you put in the message will be special for your Dad, from you. Make a scrapbook com-memorating some lovely moments in your whole life together with your father, give dad a Father’s Day gift certificate from a local pro shop or a ticket to his favorite sport.

Personalized gift can be a hit for fathers interested in shopping, gift him the things he really likes: monogrammed pens, cloth-ing items, books, golf balls, sports goods and best-selling thrillers. Instead give him something you know he’d love but isn’t likely to buy for himself: perhaps like his favorite songbook collection on CD, a draw-ing, wallpaper or Environmental Graphics he admires the most, or an autographed photo of his childhood baseball hero.

Think once about all the reasons that your Dad is special and you can’t go wrong. If you just include a personal element of creativity or fun, a gift becomes more meaningful. And don’t forget to tell him how great he is! He might not show it, because sometimes Dads don’t make a big deal about how they feel, but he will be smiling all inside.

June 2011 | 5


Doing Good to Our Bodies and Our Earth

281-712-2222 goodtogokaty.com

23144C Cinco Ranch Blvd.

Eggless Marzipan Recipe

Ingredients-

1 Cup Ground Almonds

2 Cups Powdered Sugar

2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice

4 Tbsp Maple Syrup

2 Tbsp Cold Water

2 tsp Almond Essence

Concentrated icing colors

Directions- Mix together the ground almonds

and powdered sugar.

Make a well in the centre of themarzipan mixture and add all of the

liquid ingredients.

Mix thoroughly.

(You can add a tiny drop of lemon juice or syrup if the marzipan is a little dry)

Separate into equal sections and addconcentrated icing colors

Cover and place marzipan into therefrigerator for an hour.

Sculpting FUN

June 2011 | 7

Doing Good to Our Bodies and Our Earth


23144C Cinco Ranch Blvd.


Marshmallow Fondant Ingredients1/4 cup vegetable shortening 1 (16 oz.) pk miniature marshmallows4 tablespoons water1 teaspoon vanilla extract2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, dividedDirectionsPlace the vegetable shortening in a shal-

low bowl, and set aside. Place the marshmallows in a large micro-

wave-safe bowl, and microwave on High for 30 seconds to 1 minute to start melting the marshmallows. Carefully stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Slowly beat in the confectioners’ sugar, a cup at a

time, until you have a sticky dough. Reserve 1 cup of powdered sugar for kneading. The dough will be very stiff.

Rub your hands thoroughly with vegetable shortening, and begin kneading the sticky dough. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Turn the dough out onto a working surface dusted with confectioners’ sugar and continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes.

Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. To use, allow the fondant to come to room tem-perature, and roll it out onto a flat surface dusted with confectioners’ sugar.

To add colors, separate fondant and add food coloring or concen-trated icing color

Sculpting FUN


First off, Kublai Kahn is not your everyday restaurant. Are you tired of sitting at a table, looking over a menu and trying to decide what

type of food you want before the waiter arrives? Well make a u-turn Katy because this place is way out in the other direction.

Recently we had a chance to talk with Will Brannon, the manager and director of Kublai Khan Crazy Mongolian Grill about food, style and just exactly what a Mongolian restaurant is. Now if you are looking for someone to decide your meal for you, then they can do that too. What makes this place so different and special is as Will sates, “The customer is the boss, whatever they want to eat, spice or create. Nothing is to over the top.” The atmos-phere is fun, exciting and free for your imagination to run wild with all the differ-ent ingredients and styles to choose from. “You can create dishes that have an Asian, Mexican or even Italian taste to it.”, said Will. So what is the hardest aspect of run-ning an establishment where the customer

Crazy Mongolianinvades Katy! By Jeff Parker

decides what the chef will make? Will laughs, “Controlling the chaos, but still trying to keep it fun and casual. Just trying to keep everything productive and still be a positive experience for the customer.”

The atmosphere is so different from your standard restaurant, what can the customer expect when walking in the door? “Whatever they are in the mood for, we can do it, says Will. “ We have a well trained staff that can walk them through the ordering process if they need help and also make suggestions for them depending on what they are trying to create. We also have a large menu that makes it easier for them to see what spices and additional ingre-dients go together with certain plates. Once they decide we cook it for them to perfection.” Now the experience is almost as important as the dish, but if the customer needs it to go or delivered that is available as well. “We have an

June 2011 | 9

By Jeff Parker

online ordering process that the custom-er can go to, also we can deliver larger orders for them as well.”

You walk in and the experience starts right away. Ordering a starter of maybe the Coconut Shrimp with a sweet chili sauce, or something even lighter like the Chicken Lettuce Wrap with shii-take mushrooms and water chestnuts wrapped in crispy lettuce and topped with green onion, roasted garlic and dry angle noodle. Remember you decide what ingredients are used when making your dish, but if you want to keep to the menu the next step would definitely have to be the Tilapia Lemon Grass, an amazing mixture of chicken with onion, green and red pepper, snow peas, mushrooms, celery, fresh basil, cilant-ro, ginger, garlic, lemon oil and lemon grass sauce, or maybe the Chicken Fajita Plate, made of seasoned chicken with scallions, onion, red and green pepper, lemon oil, black pepper, fajita season-ing and fajita sauce. There are so many different possibilities that you could eat here every night and never have the same thing. Will adds, “All of our cooks are trained monthly by our owner who is a very experienced Hibatchi chef. They start out as prep chefs and move up as they demonstrate mastery at each level.” So what does Will enjoy the most about running an amazing style restau-rant? “That’s easy; the diverse type of clientele that we get has been great to experience. Constantly getting to meet new people and create a dish that they personally put their stamp on is a won-derful feeling.”

The absolute best thing about Kublai Khan is that it is right here in Katy located in the Westgreen Garden at I-10 and Westgreen. Monday through Thursday from 11 am til 10:30 pm and Friday and Saturday from 11 til 11. Don’t feel like cooking on Sunday is not a problem since they are open from 11 til 10. “We also have the ability to handle private parties when requested”, says Will. “Just give us a call and we will be happy to set something up.” So stop on by or go online and create your masterpiece. And don’t worry; if you’re not a cook, they’ve got you covered too.


20 Activitiesfor KIDSKids love to play outdoors and

we love to see them have fun, right? But playing the same outdoor game again and

again can be boring to your kids so you have to be a little creative. Actually, with just a little imagination you can create hundreds of ways of having fun outdoors. Here I’ll share to you some of the fun activities for kids that you’ll surely enjoy playing with your kids.

Obstacle Race Nothing can be more fun than to watch your toddler go through your homemade obstacle course. This is sure-ly one of those activities for kids that can make you laugh. And I’m sure your little one will enjoy crawling through a big box, walking along a rope, and stepping onto old clothes.

Old Time Favorites Century old games such as, What’s the Time, Mr Wolf? Simon Says, and Ring-a-Ring-a-Rosie are still fun to play. Remember those days when you were playing them with your neighbors? A lot of things must have changed around the neighborhood, but these remain as some of the favorite activities for kids.

Have Some Exercise Another one of those fun activities for kids is strolling. Instead of driving to a mini-store to get some bread or milk, why not stroll with your kids?

What makes this activity even better for kids is when you act as spies as you walk. Check out the leaves, the local cats, and the snails as you go.

A Work of Art While strolling to the shops, make sure you ask your kids to collect some simple treasures—like leaves and feath-ers, which you can use later on to do some simple collage. Give them a piece of paper to be the base of their collage. Then using glue let them stick all their collections onto the paper as artistically as they can. I’m sure your little ones will crave for more of these activities for kids.

Go Treasure Hunting Make a list of treasures for your kids to find. Then head your small team of treasure hunters out into the local neighbourhood and find the items on the list. After playing this, I’m sure you’ll agree that this is indeed one of those fun activities for kids.

Write All You Can Let your little ones write on any piece of concrete using a jumbo-sized chalk. Like the other activities for kids that I’ve shared, this one can occupy them even for ages.

Splatter on the Puddle Next time it rains, look for raincoats, gumboots and umbrel-las. Play with your kids in the rain and splatter through puddles. This is one of the outdoor

by: Renata Hepner

June 2011 | 11

activities for kids that they won’t forget.

Fun Ride Lead a team of bikers onto paths with a mild slope. When you return, your kids will have fun trekking on Mount Everest.

Finder’s Keeper Another fun game to play with your child is to look for simple items in the garden such as three black stones, five yellow leaves, etc as quickly as they can.

Spraying Spree Hand a plastic spray bottle filled with water to your little one. Then ask him to spray each and every plant in your garden. This is not just one of those enjoyable activities for kids, but this is also good for your plants.

Go Green Watching plants grow and pro-duce flowers is probably one of the best activities for kids. This is activity can be a combination of fun and learning.

Indiana Jones Spend some time hiding some tiny treasures, such as candies and toys, around the garden. Then organise your kids to go treasure hunting.

Tea Party Organize a tea party for your little guests using just a tea set and a small table. Let them have fun as you serve them with some biscuits and water.

Fun Ride at the Park Bike parks are great places to do some fun activities for kids. This is also a safe place for them to master their biking skills.

Take a Ferryboat Being out on the water will definitely bring

joy to your little ones, and to you, too.

Bushwalking No kid would miss the chance of going for a bushwalk. What makes

bushwalking as one of the favorite activities for kids is that it’s a good time for them to get dirty as they roam freely and ‘talk’ with beetles and flowers.

Fly A Kite Flying a kite is fun. And did you know that activities for kids can be a whole lot better if you make it more personalized? Here’s how: Cut a cardboard into a diamond shape, put on some decorations, make a hole in one end and then attach a long piece of wool through it. Let your toddler have fun running with a kite flying behind her.

Mini-Olympics This is surely one of those activities for kids that are simple and fun. All you need to do is set up a simple course at the playground for your kids. Ask them to go through it while timing them. Brace yourself as you watch them beat their own record in every lap.

Catch Games Should you’re toddler be a beginner in aerial catches, start by training her roll the ball. When she’s already used to it, you can already bounce the ball towards her. Then try gentle throws until she becomes an expert in catching balls.

Sail A Boat One of the best activities for kids is that of sailing a boat, even with just a model one. Make it in your own house with materials such as paddle-pop sticks, poly-styrene foam ice cream containers, or paper. Design your own boat as uniquely as you can. Then take it to a backyard pool or a pond. Have fun sailing!

Paint with water Give each kid a paintbrush and a container of water and let him paint anything on the back fence and trees. These are great activities for kids that encour-age their creativity.


Colourful Waterplay Now here’s one of those activities for kids that is fun but

a bit messy so kids must play it outdoor with an apron. Head outside with bottles of water and a variety of food colorings. Then let your kids mix and match the colors until everyone has the same uniform color in each bottle.

Bookworms If you’re thinking of activi-ties for kids that are not only fun but also enrich-ing, then consider reading books to them. And yes, books aren’t just read in your bedroom. A shaded part in your yard can be a perfect place to enjoy a book with your child. Spread a rug and take out those books.

Be Sandy Let your little ones go wild in their imagination by making anything such as pizza, cake and even castles using sands. Just supply them with small buckets, your old kitch-en utensils, and biscuit cutters. This is indeed one of those activities for kids that can bring out the best in them.

Hidey-Hole And when you think you’re running out of ideas of fun activities for kids, here’s one you should really try make an outdoor home using a sheet and some chairs.

Let Your Young Artist Shine Make the most out of a sunny day, by setting a table outside. Next, arrange an easel, spread the cray-ons, the glitter glue and encourage your kids to be crafty.

My list of fun activities for kids ends here. Actually, the list can be endless if you just add your own activities in this list or even make your own variations. What is most important is that you and your kids will have fun!

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Medium-rare, well-done, rare…sometimes it seems like these terms are all rela-tive. When you ask for a

well-done steak at a restaurant and it comes back pink, is it okay to complain? If you’re preparing meat for guests, how can you cook it to their desired doneness? We’ll tell you exactly what each term means and share a helpful tip for perfectly cooking your meat!

Here are the generally accepted definitions of each level of doneness:

Rare: A rare piece of meat will have a bright red center, and its outside will be brownish-gray. The center will be warm, but not hot. (approximately 125 degree core temperature)

Medium-rare: The center of a medium-rare piece of meat will be slightly warmer and reddish-pink instead of red. (approximately 130 degree core temperature)

Well-Done, Medium-Rare, Rare...What Do They Mean?Explanations And A Quick Tip For Cooking Your Meatby: Kathryn Steed

June 2011 | 15

Medium: A medium piece of meat will have a large band of pink through the middle, but will be primarily grayish-brown throughout. (approximately 145 degree core temperature)

Medium-well: A medium-well piece of meat will just have a slight hint of pink in the mid-dle. Otherwise, it will be primarily cooked through and will feel quite firm. (approximate-ly 155 degree core temperature)

Well-done: A well-done steak should show no hint of pink whatsoever. Its center will be grayish-brown throughout and the outside will be nicely charred. (approximately 165 degree core temperature)

If you want to tell how done your meat is without cutting into it, use this easy trick:

Feel the heel of your hand (that’s the fleshy part between your thumb and your wrist). When your hand is open and relaxed, a rare steak will feel as soft and tender as the heel of your hand. Now pinch together your thumb and forefinger and feel the heel of your hand again. It’s a bit firmer now. This is what a medium-rare steak feels like. You can then move down the line, pinching each finger, and feel the heel of your hand get firmer and firmer. When you pinch with your middle finger, the heel of your hand is the firm-ness of a medium steak, your ring finger a medium-well steak, and your pinky a well-done steak. Now all you’ll have to do is poke your steak a little bit and you’ll be able to tell its level of doneness.


Cinco de Mayo is a holi-day, which is for everyone. Mexican, American, Canadian or people of every other

nationality, people of all ages and from all walks of live enjoy celebrating this festive holiday and the Mexican food and drink which are always served on this day. If you have kids, however, this holiday is a great opportunity to teach them more about our next door neighbors by making your celebra-tion a Cinco de Mayo for children, which is fun and educational at the same time.

Depending on the age of your children, you may want to teach them more or less about the history of this Mexican holiday, but even toddlers can take part in some of the holiday festivities by assisting you with getting the house ready for a fun reason for a party. You can get your kids involved in

helping you make pinatas, setting the table with party favors like miniature sombreros, making tissue paper flowers (if they’re old enough to use scissors safely) and other activities which are both fun and useful in decorating your home for the holiday.

If you have pre-teens or teenage children in your household, they may enjoy learning about the holiday while helping out in the kitchen. Naturally, if you are throwing a party to cel-ebrate Cinco de Mayo, you will want to make some authentic Mexican recipes. You can tell your kids about the Battle of Puebla (which is what Cinco de Mayo commemorates - despite what many people think, Cinco de Mayo is not the Mexican Independence Day; that is September 16th) where the Mexican army won out over a French force which outnumbered them nearly two to one.

Any event for children should include

by • Christine Szalay Kudra

Cooking For KIDS by: Chris Grimbilas

June 2011 | 17

by • Christine Szalay Kudra

Welcome to the world of picky eaters! You have kids. They turn their noses up at everything

from peas to oatmeal. There are two main goals when it comes to cooking for kids. First, you want to cook what they like to eat, or at least what they will eat. This means searching through your vast library of cooking ideas to satisfy their hunger. Second, you want them to eat healthy meals. They learn about the food pyramid in school, but getting them to live it at home can be a challenge.

Sitting at the table ordering them to eat their vegetables may sometimes be effec-tive, but that doesn’t mean it will be fun for you or them. You can add some per-ennial favorites to health filled ideas. Try putting peanut butter on celery sticks. This works with cream cheese, too. Use cucum-ber chips and ranch dip instead of potato chips. You get a vegetable in their system and they are getting a treat at snack time. The same holds true for melon and canta-loupes. These make excellent snacks and are a much-needed fruit in these important diets for little ones.

You know you can’t eat macaroni and cheese at every meal, but meals don’t have to be complicated either. There are easy recipes for dinner kids will love. We do a lot of mixin’s. We put chicken or turkey in the spaghetti sauce. We add tuna and a vegetable to the mac and cheese. Cheez Wiz ® on a vegetable seems to induce my kids to eat their veggies. The result is quick and easy recipes that the kids love to chow down.

The other thing to remember is that while we like the idea of easy cooking, it

must be more than easy dinner recipes. We should plan healthy easy recipes. When it comes to fruits and vegeta-bles, always go for fresh ingredients. If you can’t get fresh, use frozen. There are fewer additives in frozen fruits and vegetable. The water or juices that carry the sugar and preservative are used in frozen product. They make a healthier choice in you easy recipes for dinner.

Boldly go where no kid has gone before in your kitchen. Try new foods. This is especially a good idea if you will do some cooking with kids. They are more likely to try what they helped cook. It also affords you some great family time. If you do some easy cooking with kids, neither you nor they will get bored with the process and they will be willing to try some new foods and different fla-vors. This will add a fresh look to some quick and easy recipes and offer your family some great meals.

Work on the main things. You need healthy easy recipes. Great cooking ideas usually make great dinners. You need budget friendly and kid approved meals. This may take you a little effort in rewrit-ing what you use for a cooking book, but it definitely has some long term benefits. Using easy dinner recipes and crock pot cooking will save you time, money, and exasperation. . You want meals that are kid friendly and easy on the budget. Make it fun. Make it healthy. Keep it easy. It is worth the rewards.

For more kitchen resources, cooking ideas and to CLAIM YOUR FREE GIFTS, visit the Creative Cookery at http://cooking.cmg4life.net

June 2011 | 19

KATYNIGHTLIFE


katy’srecipe corner

Send us your recipe, and a good photo of you and your creation, and you may be the next featured cook, in Katy Cuisine!

Send Your Recipes To: [email protected] or find us on Facebook!

Persian Turkey Kofta Kebabs Ingredients:20 oz 93% lean ground turkey1 small onion, minced2 cloves garlic. minced1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped2 tbsp bread crumbs1/4 tsp allspice1/4 tsp coriander1/4 tsp paprika1/4 tsp chili powdersalt and fresh pepper (to taste)

In a large bowl combine the ground turkey, onion, garlic, parsley, breadcrumbs, spices, salt and pepper until evenly blended. Divide into a heaping 1/4 cup portions so you get 12; roll into log shaped ovals. Place on a cookie sheet and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. If using wooden skewers, soak in water at least

Cindy Tyree, Katy, Texas My Persian neighbor introduced me to kofta a few years ago, he often has backyard parties complete with Persian music, family and plenty of food. His were made of beef and I never actually got his recipe but I’m pretty good at replicating flavors and these came pretty darn close... and of course using turkey instead of beef makes these a lot lighter.....

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30 minutes before grilling.When ready to eat, preheat grill to high heat. Carefully insert the skewer through the formed meat.

Grill for 10 to 15 minutes on indirect heat turning occa-sionally, until meat is no longer pink.

June 2011 | 21

281.391.4167

832.437.4062www.3oliveskaty.com

ALL THREE LOCATIONS ARE LOCATED INTHE VILLAGIO TOWN CENTER •

22764 Westheimer Pkwy @ Peek • Katy, Texas 77450

The Food, the Music and the International Tapa Culture has arrived in Katy!!

We have Karaoke, Live Entertainment & Great Food

Have your next Party or Networkingevent at Babaloo!

3 olives is a freestyle Italian restaurant in the heart of Cinco Ranch, Katy!

www.babaloocafe.net

For Reservations: 281-646.0829www.bistrokaty.com

Bistro 829 IS BACK!!In the Villagio Town Center


MANGO SMOOTHIE

1 1/4 cups Yogurt1/2 tsp Lemon juice1/2 cup Fresh mango pulp1/3 cup Cold waterSugarIce cubes

Method:Peel the mango and remove flesh from pit and cut into small pieces.

In a blender, add yogurt, lemon juice, mango pulp. water, and sugar.Blend approximately 2 to 3 minutes or until you see a little forming in the mixture.

Add the ice and blend until frothy.

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DELICIOUS CHICKENQUESADILLA

6 soft flour tortillas

2 lbs. chicken breast cubed

1 large red pepper

1 medium onion, chopped

2 teaspoons Adobo seasoning

1 PKG of grated mexican cheese

Oil

Butter

Sour cream

In a hot skillet, heat some oil. Add the chopped chicken, onions, peppers, and seasoning to the skillet. Fry, stirring fre-quently, until chicken is cooked. Remove from heat.

Assemble quesadilla:Place flour tortillas on a flat surface. On each tortilla, cover one half of the area with the fried chicken mixture. Sprinkle with Mexican cheese mix. Fold each tortilla in half. Preheat oven to 400F. Place assembled quesadillas in a non-stick cookie sheet (I usually line the cookie sheet with either wax paper or aluminum foil to avoid the clean up afterward).Place quesadillas in oven for about 10 minutes. Once the tortillas are out of the oven, slice each quesadilla in half (mak-ing 12), and serve immediately with sour cream, guacamole, or any of your other favorite dips.


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June 2011 | 25

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POTATO-SPINACHCASSEROLE....

POTATO-SPINACH CASSEROLE

6 to 8 lg. potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed

1 c. (8 oz.) sour cream

2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 tbsp. chopped chives or green onion tops

1/4 c. butter

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach,

thawed and well drained

1 c. (4 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese

In a large bowl, combine all

ingredients except cheese.

Spoon into a greased 2 quart

casserole. Bake, uncovered, at 400

degrees for 15 minutes.

Top with cheese and bake 5 minutes

longer. Yield: 6-8 servings.


HOW TO: STIR FRYStir fry method of cooking is very

healthy. It uses less oil and leaves the food crisp and not overly cooked, and thus not stripping

out all the nutrients and vitamins from raw food especially vegetables. Stir frying only takes a mat-

ter of minutes if you follow these few easy steps.

1. Well equippedFirstly, a wok is a must, not pan, a big round wok. A round-based one works well using gas burner while a flat based one works well on electric stoves. A good wok is heavy usually made of cast iron or carbonated steel, easily available is departmental store and Asian hardware shops. Teflon based just doesn’t give you the same rich flavor. When first purchased, the iron wok must be seasoned, heat the wok until smoke start rises from the wok, and then pour in a table spoon of peanut oil. Wipe the oil around the wok surface and throw away excessive oil. This way, all dirt will be removed from the wok surface. Secondly, a ladle is a must.

Choose one with strong handle.

2. Prepare your ingredientsAll raw meat and vegetable must be cut uni-

formly in thickness and size in advance. This is to ensure the food is evenly cooked.

Once the wok is heated, there is not enough time to cut any more. Rice

and noodles need to be pre-cook, rice to be steamed

while noodles to be boiled to soft.

June 2011 | 27

HOW TO: STIR FRY3. Seasoning a must.Before cooking the main ingredients, Asian usually put in chopped garlic or shallots to enhance the taste of stir fry dishes. When the wok is heated, oil is put in, then garlic or shallots are put in to fry until golden brown. Only then the main ingredients are put in.

4. Meat first, vegetables secondFor stir frying, this is can be considered the golden rule. Always cook meat first, vegetables second. Meat is harder to cook compared to vegetables. If both are cook together, the vegetables tend to overcook. Meat or seafood must be marinated with a pinch of salt first. Always toss the ingre-dients for even cooking. When stir frying rice or noodles, the goldren rule still applies, always meat first.

5. Sauce and seasoningLastly, add sauce to your stir fry dish. Sauces, such as oyster sauce, or sweet and sour, thin and thick black soy sauce are added into the wok to complete the stir fry dish. Oyster sauce, thin and soya sauce is the most common, packaged in bottles and easily bought from the supermarket shelves. Sweet and sour is popu-lar unique but it’s just simply tomato sauce and sugar. Simply put in the sauce after the meat and vegetables are cook in the wok, sauté for a while, and the dish is ready to serve.


Herb & Garlic Lamb ChopsINGREDIENTS:8 lamb loin chops1/4 cup olive oil 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped2 cloves garlic, mincedzest of 1 lemon1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation:Combine olive oil, thyme, basil, rosemary, garlic, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a bowl. Dip lamb chops into mixture to coat even-ly. Cover chops and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Preheat grill. Place lamb chops on grill over a medium high heat. Grill about 5 minutes per side. Chops should be browned on both sides.

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Herb & Garlic Lamb Chops

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Nicoise SaladINGREDIENTS:Vinaigrette1/2 cup lemon juice3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil1 medium shallot, minced1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme leaves2 Tbsp minced fresh basil leaves2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano leaves1 teaspoon Dijon mustardSalt and freshly ground black pepper

Salad2 grilled or otherwise cooked tuna steaks* (8 oz each) or 2-3 cans of tuna6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and either halved or quartered10 small new red potatoes (each about 2 inches in diameter, about 1 1/4 pounds total), each potato scrubbed and quarteredSalt and freshly ground black pepper2 medium heads Boston lettuce or butter lettuce, leaves washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces3 small ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into eighths 1 small red onion, sliced very thin8 ounces green beans, stem ends trimmed and each bean halved crosswise1/4 cup niçoise olives 2 Tbsp capers, rinsed and/or several anchovies (optional)

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Preparation:*Marinate tuna steaks in a little olive oil for an hour. Heat a large skillet on medium high heat, or place on a hot grill. Cook the steaks 2 to 3 minutes on each side until cooked through.

1 Whisk lemon juice, oil, shallot, thyme, basil, oregano, and mustard in medium bowl; season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

2 Bring potatoes and 4 quarts cold water to boil in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and cook until potatoes are tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl with a slotted spoon (do not discard boiling water). Toss warm potatoes with 1/4 cup vinaigrette; set aside.

3 While potatoes are cooking, toss lettuce with 1/4 cup vinaigrette in large bowl until coated. Arrange bed of lettuce on a serving platter (I used two serving platters, shown in the photos). Cut tuna into 1/2-inch thick slices, coat with vinaigrette. Mound tuna

in center of lettuce. Toss tomatoes, red onion, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste in bowl; arrange tomato-onion mixture on the lettuce bed. Arrange reserved potatoes in a mound at edge of lettuce bed.

4 Return water to boil; add 1 table-spoon salt and green beans. Cook until tender but crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain beans, transfer to reserved ice water, and let stand until just cool, about 30 seconds; dry beans well. Toss beans, 3 tablespoons vinaigrette, and salt and pepper to taste; arrange in a mound at edge of lettuce bed.

5 Arrange hard boiled eggs, olives, and anchovies (if using) in mounds on the lettuce bed. Drizzle eggs with remaining 2 tablespoons dressing, sprinkle entire salad with capers (if using), and serve immediately.

katy cuisine- june 2011 issue

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