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December 27th, 2006

Cranberry - Pistachio Biscotti *SUPER YUMMY ALERT*

One word describes this baked goodness:  HEAVENLY~

The Chef had great success making the Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti.  Given this is her first time trying the American recipe step by step, she was very careful in making sure all the necessary ingredients were included, the oven was timed, the dough was properly mixed, etc.

There were two parts the the baking process:

1. Making the bread

2. Making the Biscotti

Here's a picture of the finished bread, decorated with pretty cranberry pieces and pistachios:

Isn't it beautiful?  The red and green provides the perfect holiday spirit!  Did I mention the cranberry pistachio biscotti is one of the top favorite Christmas home baked goodies?   This is a greatly present to give to your loved ones during this special season.

After the first part of the baking is complete, you have to cut the bread into chunks, the thickness if up to you, I would suggest 1" to 1.5" per piece.

Good luck and don't forget to use fresh pistachios!

December 27th, 2006

Keung’s Congee Restaurant

Remember the iCook restaurant I talked about the other day?

Well….next to iCook, there's a Congee shop, serving mainly different types of Cantonese style congee along with some Chinese dishes. The restaurant also have a good selection of beverages, including yummy bubble tea and ice cream drinks.

In the summer, we ate at this Congee shop once.  At the time, I was very disappointed with the lack of sweet congee choices and did not like this place.  Today, we decided to give it another try.

The cantonese speaking population of China, from my observation, prefers to add all sorts of meat to their congee.  Unlike the Northern and Mandarin speaking Chinese who prefer plain rice congee or sweetened red bean congee, Cantonese tends to prefer salty congee.

Thankfully, their menu includes pictures, we picked the following three dishes:

Lobster Congee

Fried Squid (spicy)

Steamed Fish

Out of these three dishes, the lobster congee was the best!  For $13.99, you get a whole lobster.  Unlike adding just pieces of lobster for flavoring, which was what we had originally expected, they put in an entire lobster, together with shell and everything!   It was very delicious and definitely a good deal.

The other two dishes, the steamed fish and the squid, were somewhat disappointing.  I didn't realize they would deep dry the squid ( I'm used to simple stir fries), also the strong spices were too much for our taste buds.  The fish…unfortunately, also didn't quite meet our expectation.  It looks very yummy, but the flavoring wasn't too great, the fish itself also tasted weird.  Maybe it's just us not used to this type of cooking style, but the squid and fish sure wouldn't be on our selection list next time.

Overall, they have some really good dishes and some disappointing ones.  Make sure you know what you're getting before you order.

 

BaoZi's rating: 3 out of 5

Keung's Restaurant

8380 Kennedy, Markham

December 10th, 2006

Steamed Fish in Green Onion and Garlic Sauce

Here the beautiful fish in its raw form. As shown in the picture, you put finely chopped green onion and garlic on top of the fish. (The fish should be cleaned, most of the supermarkets will clean them free of charge).  Make sure the fish is fresh, this one was live when we picked it out.

Here's the yummy after piece.  Ready to serve!

December 8th, 2006

Sweet Yam and Rice Congee

I like this.  :)

December 8th, 2006

Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

 

December 8th, 2006

Steamed Cat Fish in Special Sauce

My favorite type of fish:  CAT FISH!

They have whiskers…..so so very cute~

December 8th, 2006

Banana Bread

This isn't as soft as the typical American banana bread, but good nevertheless.

December 8th, 2006

Cabbage, Chicken and Black Fungus

This is a very earthy and healthy dish~  I know you might be a little suspicious about "fungus"….but it's good!

Similar to mushrooms, these black fungus don't have supreme reputation in the food world, however, if they're cooked properly, they are extremely delicious.  =)

 

December 5th, 2006

Fried Turkey Meat Balls

The taste is a lot like the fried chicken meat balls.  Very delicious.

December 5th, 2006

Meshed squash and potato chunks

Does this look intriguing?  It's the healthier version of the classic meshed potato:  meshed squash and potato chunks!

10 times as yummy, 20 times healthier! :)


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