Turkey Zucchini Pasta

One night after work feeling tired but still in the mood to cook. The first thing that came to mind was pasta as I had most of the ingredients at home already. All I needed to pick up was some ground turkey and fresh basil. 

Turkey Zucchini Pasta

• pasta
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 med. onion - diced
• 2 cloves garlic - minced
• 1 can of crush tomatoes
• 1 zucchini - diced
• dried oregano 
• balsamic vinegar
• brown sugar
• chili flakes
• grated cheese 
• fresh basil

1. Bring pot of water to boil for pasta 
2. Heat a pan with oil, add the diced onion, ground turkey, brown then add minced garlic-sautee for a minute. Add crushed tomatoes with juice. Bring to a gentle simmer
3. Add the oregano, chili flakes, sugar, a quick drizzle of balsamic vinegar and zucchini, stir.
4. Done when zucchini are cooked

Another delicious simple pasta dish!

Isn't it always nice

 to come home to 

 a well stocked kitchen *

                                                                                                                                               

pass the cheese please.....

Steamed Tofu with Ground Turkey and Mushroom

Tofu is one of mom's favorite and the way she like to make it is just by taking it out of the container and slicing it into 6 equal size pcs, drizzle some oyster sauce, scallion and steam until done and serve with rice for a simple night.
At the market shopping for dinner spotted the tofu section and thought of mom's simple recipe mmm....good idea for a chilly night.......but decided to jazz it up instead. Here are the ingredients and photos!
Ingredients

silken tofu (box)

ground turkey

oyster mushroom

dried shitake mushroom

garlic

shallot

oyster sauce

sesame oil

white pepper

broccoli rabe

minced the garlic , slice the shallot
slice the oyster mushroom
soak the shitake mushroom until soft
then thinly slice (shitake has a stronger flavor)
** keep the mushroom water**

Brown the ground turkey until desire size
remove from pan to a plate

I kept some of the juice from the pan
and add oil, garlic, shallot and the both mushroom
until fragrant, oyster sauce , sesame oil and then
add some of the mushroom water.
. Return the turkey to the pan let it simmer with the
mushroom.

Remove the tofu from the box carefully by sliding
knife into the gap between the side of the box and tofu
and work around it. take the plastice off put a plate ontop
and turn it upside down holding the them together, slowly
squeeze the container until it slides out. ( see perfect! )
here it is in the wok to be steamed.

Here was a tricky part , i steamed it on a small plate ( fits in wok)
then to slide it on a larger plate but need to get rid of the water
that steamed out. Tilt the plate slowly wear gloves letting the extra water into the wok, spooned out the rest. ( thought i was going to lose it) Slide on to the good plate and surround it with the brocolli rabe that
i blanched while the tofu was steaming. how pretty


and finally finish it off with the turkey and mushroom topping

With the many flavors and textures from the mushrooms, silky tofu and hint of green with a bite ,
a dash of white pepper and a bowl of rice It was delicious and nice!
( remove the turkey and turns into a vegetarian friendly dish!)

Chinese Pasta Bolognese with Soft Fried Egg

One of my favorite seasons......
I know ( there's only four)
Fall has finally arrived...time to enjoy the crisp autumn air and the warm colors of the fall foliage to come...
And of course ....get out your favorite cardigan , boots , hats and recipes!

Spaghetti Bolognese....one of the world best comfort food especially on a chilly evening. And it is fun putting this dish together, you can recreate this wonderful traditional sauce in a snap!
By keeping the traditional base sauce/ ingredients and if you're not in the mood for beef you can just simply replace it with vegetables, any meat of choice, seafood, shellfish or just the sauce alone and of course top it of with your favorite sharp cheese - parmagiano reggiano and parsley
Buon Appetito!

Here's My Twist - Chinese Bolognese
Ingredients:

• ground turkey + pork ( mix together and marinate with soy sauce , oyster sauce, seasame oil, worchestershire sauce, chinese cooking rice wine )
• asian eggplant + carrot -chopped
• dried shitaki mushroom - soak in water then slice
• crush tomato and paste
• garlic - minced
• onion - chopped
• brown sugar
• milk
• udon noodle
• egg
• parsley

Sauce -
Heat pan, add oil until heated, add onion let it sweat then the garlic until fragrant ( dont let it burn)
add the meat , stir until in bits , remove and put to the side.
Keep the oil and juice in the pan , add the carrots, mushroom and the crush tomato with juice
let it simmer until carrots are cooked.
Time to put the meat back in to the pan, stir in the eggplant, brown sugar,tomato paste and milk. Let it simmer on low flame for a few minutes. Sauce is done!
Noodle -
Japanese udon noodles is what I used for this dish, I like the rice noodle with the savory sauce.
Bring a pot of water to boil add noodles , cook until done ( instruction on the package)
Take your favorite bowl (as it will keep everything together nice and warm)
First put noodle then the bolognese sauce.
You gonna like this one ,topped it off with a nice soft fried egg! ( i think it's a traditional Ng topping) and sprinkle with parsley...
slowly place the fork thru the soft egg and mmmmmm...let it just drown into the lovely bowl of goodness with hints of mushroom, eggplant and the lightness of the rice noodle, .....went for seconds ;)

Nice Soft Fried Egg- heat small pan with oil - medium heat , add egg, when you start seeing the bottom whitening add alittle water and lower the flame , cover ,and let it steam. There ! enjoy.....  

( care to share your recipe...pretty please)

ground turkey stir fry

We always have ground turkey in the fridge. We use it for turkey bolognese and this stir fry which we have every week. It is inexpensive and super quick & easy to make! We love it with rice and siracha. You can use whatever veggies you like. I like using long beans but have used kale, broccolini or cabbage. I also add carrots when I have them in the fridge.

• 1 lb ground turkey dark meat
• 1 bundle of long beans ( cut into 2 inch pieces and blanched)
• onion
• garlic
• 1 square preserved bean paste (fu yu) mix with water to thin
• 1 tablespoon black bean paste (lee kum kee is my friend)
• 1 teaspoon hoisin
• salt and soy sauce to taste

Brown turkey, unless you have an industrial strength stove like Annie, this takes a while. I drop the turkey in the wok in large pieces over high heat to get the sear. After I get some color then I break the meat up to smaller bits by pushing a wooden spatula through it. The meat usually gets a bit watery at this point. Just keep stirring until the water condenses and you hear the sizzling come back. At this point add a little more oil. I use olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and let it cook for a few mins. Then add the veggies. Once the wok is sizzling again, turn the flame down a little. Add the sauces and stir fry until veggies are at the tenderness you like! I put all the seasonings at the end because the turkey gets too salty if you season along the way.

Molly likes just the turkey and rice. I tried sneaking in the long beans cut into tiny pieces. She found them! "No"