Delicious History

China Yuan is still one of my favorite restaurants in Tampa. Once again, I can’t recommend the shrimp won ton soup enough. The won tons hold whole shrimp and minced garlic and bathe in a light and flavorful broth. The perfectly cooked greens round out the soup. My only complaint is that I’m reluctant to order different soup because I don’t want to miss my favorite.

Speaking of favorites, the shorts ribs with black pepper sauce will always be one of mine. The sauce is punchy without bring too aggressive. The spiciness of the stir fried jalapenos have mellowed in the wok and blended with the other ingredients. Best of all, the ribs make ideal finger food, as it can be awkward to try to nibble the meat off while holding with chopsticks or utensils.

It is hard to pass up the baked goods at the Chinese bakery in the same strip mall. I believe the proper name of the business is “Lucky Bamboo Bakery”, but the sign says only “Oriental Bakery.” Clockwise from top: sausage and scallion bun, almond cookie, ham and egg bun, chocolate almond treasure, and wife cake. The buns make wonderful breakfasts, especially on a road trip. The cookie is crumbly and not overly sweetened. The chocolate almond treasure is more like baklava than anything else— very rich, practically impregnated with honey. The wife cake is most unusual, with a subtle hint of sweetness, almond, and coconut in the bean filling.

Sometimes we all lose patience and passion for cooking, especially after a day at work.  I devised a couple quick meals that are meant to be nutritionally balanced and very tasty: Expedient eats.

The first dish might not be perfectly “healthy”, but it isn’t evil.  While hanging out with my brother Tim, I made a quick pizza.  I bought the crust at the store, used my leftover chunky fragrant tomato sauce with turkey, and topped it with some leftover cheese and bits of ham.  I missed the fresh crust, but it was quite good for a creation that took under 5 minutes to prep.

I almost never cook on Fridays, but the other night, I grilled a couple frozen turkey burgers and served them on wheat toast with baked sweet potato fries and granny smith apple.  With a drizzle of honey on the fries, a dash of cinnamon on the apples, and my own spicy peach sauce on the burgers, the flavors of this meal shined, healthy and happy.

In search of the best packed lunch, I made the filling for chicken pot pie. Another nice find from America’s test kitchen, it is fast and rewarding.

I started by browning about 2 lbs chicken breast in 3 tbl butter. Once browned on both sides but not cooked through, I removed the chicken and added 3 tbl butter to the pot. Then I sauteed 2 onions and 4 celery ribs until they softened, about 5 minutes. I stirred in 1/2 cup unbleached flour for a minute, then added 1/2 cup dry vermouth. This ingredient gave a wonderful aroma and tang to the whole pot of food and cooked off in under a minute. I added 4 cups low-salt chicken broth, 1 cup heavy cream, and 3 tsp dried thyme, which gave just the right flavor. I placed the chicken breasts back into the pot to poach in the liquid. When finished, removed the chicken to a plate and added 4 cups frozen vegetables (peas and carrots or such– i used peas, carrots, corn and lima beans) and simmer 2 mins. Cut up chicken and stir into sauce.

serve with biscuits or over egg noodles. Very healthy, especially if you skip the biscuits and opt for noodles. I used frozen biscuits for this dinner. As a lunch, the dish works especially well over noodles. It is quite healthy and eats like a meal.

The lunch special this week featured a hearty and healthy marinara with ground turkey breast. I cooked a pound of ground turkey breast and set it aside, being careful not to overcook it.

Then I sauteed a diced onion and green pepper. Once the veggies were soft, I added lots of chopped garlic (10-12 cloves), dry oregano (1.5 tbl), and fennel seeds (3/4 tbl). I recommend that you crush the fennel seeds in a mortar and pestle first.

A minute or so later, I added 2 14-oz cans of whole tomatoes. Once the moisture had almost completely cooked down, I added 2/3rd a cup of burgundy to deglaze the pan.  After the wine had thickened, I added 2 cans of crushed tomatoes and 2 tbl sugar.  The newly-added tomatoes really brightened up the color and flavor of the sauce.

I finished the sauce by adding the cooked turkey breast, 1-2 tbl pepper, and an entire package of fresh basil. The resulting sauce is chunky and rich, but almost completely devoid of fat or excess salt. It is also very flavorful, and the fennel seeds, oregano and fresh basil add a wonderful Italian bouquet to the sauce. Served over high-protein pasta with fresh fruit on the side, this sauce made a great healthy meal all week long.