Inspired by my recent trip to The Dunaway Restaurant at Strawberry Banke (blog post coming soon!), I’m experimenting with different plating designs. What is this lovely vision called? Well, the Monday night special is a Seared Mahi with Grapefruit Mussel Salad.

The Mahi fillet was sear-roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper and a splash of soya sauce. The Grapefruit Mussel salad also has finely chopped Red Onion, Grapefruit zest and juice, finely chopped celery, Garlic Butter paste and topped with toasted Pine Nuts.

The sauce is a simple mixture of Mayonnaise and Siracha hot sauce. Mahi stands up very well to bold flavors and it went well with the sauce. The heat with a bite of the citrusy and refreshing Grapefruit salad.

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Come learn a little Italian with me! Tonight’s dish is “Pasta del Fuoco con Pancetta”. I coined this dish myself. Translated, I believe it means “Fire Pasta with Pancetta”. The idea was to have a highly seasoned, spicy and flavorful dish without adding any salt or pepper! In that respect, this dish was a resounding success!

So how did I get the “fire” into this pasta dish? I didn’t use the traditional method of using jalapeño or other chilies and peppers. Instead, the spice and flavor came from the ingredients themselves. The pasta du jour was Linguine. Pancetta (Italian Bacon) provided the saltiness, Sun Dried Tomatoes were full of flavor, garlic and parsley for fragrance, and my secret ingredient influenced by South-East Asian cuisine - Sambal Chili Sauce!

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This Sunday would be the last weekend in Canada for my dear friend Catherine. I couldn’t be there for her while I’m in the U.S.  But she had previously requested a lamb dish, so here’s an ode to Cat! This is Curry Tea Rubbed Lamb, served with a Mango Chutney and Balsamic pan reduction. The plating is a simple spelling of “Cat”. It’s fun to spell with food!

I french-cut (exposing the bone) the lamb chops myself. The lamb’s curry tea rub mixture was inspired by chef Ming Tsai. Coincidently, Catherine’s Chinese name is Ming Tai Tsai! LOL…. I augmented the rub by adding fennel seeds for more texture. The mango chutney also contains raisins. I know the chops looked burnt because of the rub, but the lamb was actually a perfect medium-rare on the inside, pink with no blood. 

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I wanted to redeem myself from my last attempt at cooking Pad Thai. Not satisfied with that weird vegetarian version, I had to try the dish again. This go-around, I made a Shrimp Pad Thai, hot and spicy, garnished with julienned scallions.

Learning from my last attempt, I made sure I did not forget the shrimp. I also added bean sprouts for crunch, used firm tofu instead of soft tofu, and made the Pad Thai sauce from scratch with Tamarind, lime juice and fish sauce. I also liberally added Siracha hot sauce as I like the dish spicy.The additions do make a difference! Am I ready to open a Thai restaurant yet?

Update: I’m submitting this post entry to Once Upon A Feast’s Presto Pasta Nights.

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A rose by any color is still a rose? This green imposter is my 3 Herb Pesto Pasta. I didn’t want to waste some of the herbs I had leftover so I decided to make a Pesto sauce out of it. I used Cilantro, Parsley and Basil combined with slivered Almonds, Garlic, Parmesan, Salt, Pepper and Olive Oil. The pasta I used was Angel Hair pasta.

I decided to fancify my plating. Doesn’t it look like a green rose? The functional aspect is that it’s a one bite appetizer. Tell me honestly how you like this plating!

Update: I’m submitting this post entry to Once Upon A Feast’s Presto Pasta Nights.

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Tonight’s Pan Seared Tuna was inspired by an episode “Simply Ming” starring Taiwanese-American Chef, Ming Tsai. Since I’m near the Boston area, I should really visit his restaurant, Blue Ginger, one of these day. Now I know that plating Tuna on rice doesn’t so remarkable. But you should know that the rice has been pumped up full of flavor with dried Bonito shavings and Chives!

The sauce was inspired from an episode of “Simply Ming“. It’s made out of 3 simple ingredients: soy sauce, sugar, and lime juice… reduced to the consistency of syrup.

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Saturday was all about learning to do appetizers! Appetizers are very important as they set the tone for the meal, they wet your appetite, and get you ready for the main course! Here are two appetizers I present: a Jelly Fish salad with Cucumber and Shrimp, and a Spring salad with Arugula, Mushroom and Radish slices.

The Jellyfish (sold in most Asian supermarkets) was cold tossed with cooked Shrimp and shaved English Cucumbers. The sauce had balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, chili oil, white pepper. The Arugula salad was tossed with white mushrooms, radishes in a simple sauce made from Olive Oil and Lemon Juice, and topped with Parmesan

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Since I started cooking this past June, tonight’s pasta dish is my best one yet. The texture of the tri-colored fettuccine was perfectly al dente, bouncy, firm and flavorful. I cooked up a complementary pasta sauce to lay over top. The toppings were a mixture of red onions, white mushrooms and smoked salmon. The sweetness of the red onions shone well against the backdrop of the creamy sauce. The cream sauce also took alway that smoked salmon after taste but kept the smokiness and salty flavor intact.

I first sautee’d the red onions in a mixture of olive oil and butter until softening. Mushrooms were added and cooked a bit further. Finally, in goes the smoked salmon, cream (not too much for me, I wanted the natural flavors to be the focus), salt and pepper, garnished with chopped parsley. A very simple, and colorful dish to celebrate summer!

Update: I’m submitting this post entry to Once Upon A Feast’s Presto Pasta Nights.

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