GZ Tai-Tai

Latkes

Just before Christmas the kids were in the mood for latkes. It was actually during Hanukkah that they made them. We are not Jewish but we do enjoy the food and the latkes the kids made were delicious.

The recipe is from a book that Expat Son received last year for Christmas. Kids in the holiday kitchen by Jessica Strand and Tammy Massman-Johnson.

Here is the kids and my adaptation.

Latkes

8 potatoes, peeled

1 large onion

4 eggs

1 C bread crumbs

1 Tbsp Sea Salt

1 Tsp black pepper

Vegetable oil for frying

Sour cream to serve

Thinly slice or grate the onion. Grate the potatoes, and toss onion and potatoes together to combine evenly. Put paper towels or a clean dry tea towel on a cookie sheet, squeeze moisture out of potatoes with your hands and then spread the potato mixture evenly on the toweling, to collect any  moisture that has not come out of the mixture.
Then place the potatoes into a dry bowl. Beat the eggs and pour into the potatoes, stir while adding the bread crumbs and salt and pepper.

Heat a large frying pan with approximately 2 inches of oil over a medium high heat. Form the potato batter into patties and place them gently into the hot oil. Turn the latkes when they are a nice golden brown color.  When the latkes are finished browning on both sides, remove from pan and drain on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Serve hot with sour cream.

Gourmet Seven Layer Bars

 

 

This morning I had a cuddle with Expat Son; these are getting fewer and further between as he gets older. I mentioned while we cuddled that I did not have to go anywhere today, I could even stay in my pajamas if I wanted today. His reply was," you could make cookies too."

Well I showered and dressed as usual before 7:00 A.M. After Expat Son left for school I organized my closet. When that was finished I decided to see what type of cookie I could make. I scanned the Pantry and came up with Seven Layer Bars, but not your average Seven Layer Bar, a gourmet version.

 

Gourmet Seven Layer Bars

1 ½ cups Anna's Pepperkakor ginger thin crumbs

½ cup butter, melted

1 cup Marabou milk chocolate cut into chunks

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 1/3 cups baking coconut

1 cup pecans, chopped condense

1 can (370g) sweetened condensed milk Eagle brand

 

Mix cookie crumbs and melted butter then press into 9 x 13 pan. Layer the rest of the ingredients on top of cookie mixture. Pour sweetened condensed milk over top of everything. Bake at 180 - 190 C or 325 – 350 F for 20 - 25 minutes, or until golden. Cool. Cut into bars.

Macaroni Salad

We had a beautiful day today the weather was perfect for grilling burgers. When I asked Hubby what he wanted with his burger, he requested Macaroni Salad. Here is my very basic Macaroni Salad, feel free to dress it up if you want, with some chopped pickle,capers, cheese, bell pepper or even some tuna.

Macaroni Salad

4 cups macaroni cooked,drained, and cooled
1/4 of a medium onion chopped finely  about 4Tbsp
2 stalks celery chopped small
6 hard-boiled eggs chopped
3 Tbsp heaped, mayonnaise
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard  or American mustard like French's
cayenne pepper or paprika, garnish

Mix well to coat all ingredients well, sprinkle with cayenne pepper or paprika for garnish.

Chili for an Autumn day

This morning is one of those cool in temperature mornings here in GZ China that remind me that Autumn has arrived. The cooler temperature puts me in the mood for comfort food, and for me nothing says Autumn like a bowl full of Chili.

Here is my recipe for Chili from my Archives.

Tai-Tai's Texas Chili Your Way

500g  beef cut into cubes

 OR

500g Ground Beef – lean

2 - 400g cans peeled tomatoes whole or diced

1 - 425g can Red Kidney beans or Pinto beans

1 onion chopped

1-2 cloves garlic crushed or chopped finely

1 tsp. dried oregano (optional)

Water

2-3 Tbsp. Chili Powder

1 - 6 oz/170g can of Tomato Paste used to thicken

Salt to taste

Oil for browning the meat

In a small amount of oil brown the meat; add the onion and garlic during the browning. Add tomatoes break them up while stirring the meat. Add Chili Powder and Oregano.

Add water at this time enough to make it look like soup.

Drain the kidney beans and rinse then add to the soup mixture.

Let simmer for an hour to an hour and a half on low heat. You may have to add a little water if the heat is too high.

After about an hour add the tomato paste and some salt to taste and let simmer stirring occasionally until ready to serve.

Serve with shredded cheese, green onions or sour cream.

Optional ingredients

2 tsp Cumin

1 Tbsp Cocoa

You can use both or only one. Occasionally I use these last two ingredients…but usually I make the Chili without them, because, the kids prefer it this way.

This Chili is pretty mild, if you want to make it really hot, you can, by adding fresh Chili’s or Hot pepper sauce like Tabasco. Although the next day it is usually spicier on it's own. Remember a recipe is a guideline you should experiment and make it the way you want.

Tai-Tai's Texas Chili - Make it Your Way

Cook Club went off well even though I am a slave driver and we made a ton of food.

The menu was Chili, Corn Bread,Taco's made with homemade seasoning, Chicken Fajitas, and Guacamole, with that we had 3 types of cheese, Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack and Cheddar, Sour Cream, Salsa and lettuce and tomato for garnishing.
Since Mexican food is a mystery to many of the club members it was a real hit and everyone enjoyed making and eating it.
What's for dinner tonight? Leftovers of course. I will try to post all of the recipes from this class. I already posted the Corn Bread recipe a while ago, It is a back of the box recipe which is very good.
The Taco Seasoning is here .   Today I will leave you with my recipe for Chili you can make it your way.
The recipe is versatile and I enjoy adding cocoa to it once in a while for a little different taste. Is it really Texan, well, I lived in Dallas - Fort Worth when I was 5 years old, so maybe just a smidgen, Y'all.

Cook Club Meets - Homemade Taco Seasoning

Our Cook Club the "Hot Chilies" meet this Friday. I have been busy preparing for the class that I will teach. Scouring recipes, cooking them, adjusting, and even writing a few from memory as I tend not to follow recipes when cooking for the family, and printing them up.
We will have a Mexican theme for this class. Mexican food is non-existent in our corner of Guangzhou, China. I can think of one restaurant that boasts that it is Mexican, and it does not serve anything, that resembles Mexican food or Tex Mex food. So I make Mexican food at home and when we are in Hong Kong we are lucky enough to know of a Mexican Restaurant that is quite good and worth the trip.

Finding the ingredients for some Mexican food is a lot easier than it used to be in the years of 1996-2001. I carried (smuggled) in from Hong Kong in those years, many a taco shell, flour tortilla, salsa and refried beans. All of those items are available now in the little specialty stores where the expatriates shop. We can even buy avocados more frequently now. However if you are looking for tomatillos and cactus you will have to look in Hong Kong and try smuggling them in, and hopefully, not be caught.

In the old days the Taco Seasoning packets were only to be had in Hong Kong. I scoured many a book to find a seasoning years ago, Ex-pat Daughter then about 8 years old loved tacos and I had to come up with something.  I found this recipe in a Church cookbook. Here it is with a few tweaks that I have given it over the years too.