What we’ve been eating……. Oyster Sauce Based Stir-Fry, Asian Stir Fried Rapini, Dill-Caper Celeriac Salad, and one you already know.

Whew, it's been a pretty busy week for me. Mucho thanks to Cathy for making sure both the blog and myself survive to eat yet another day! Since I'm pretty bushed….I thought I'd just go over a coupe of things I've made over the last couple of weeks, starting with one, very familiar dish:

Thanks to my shaky photo taking skills, the Missus actually thought this was an ice cream sundae when She first viewed the photos.

I actually made this the night before the Amazing Graze. I figured I'd need something extra to take me through the day. Actually, I was at Seisel's picking up some calves liver for Da Boyz, when I decided to pick up some ground beef. The bad thing was, Da Boyz's liver was nine bucks…my ground beef two-fifty……yes folks, our household has truly "gone to the dogs"…..

A couple of weeks back I came across some decent looking baby bamboo shoot at 99 Ranch Market, which I ended up purchasing. After arriving home I realized that I had no plan……..

So I ended up lightly blanching the bamboo shoots and doing a pseudo-braise stir-fry with shiitake mushrooms them……

The sauce was an interesting combo, one that I used to make when I still lived in Hawaii…man we're talking fourteen years already!

The Sauce:

4 Tb oyster sauce
2 Tb soy sauce
2 Tb mirin
1 Tb sesame oil

It is a little bit (con) fusion-ny, but works rather well.

Last week the Missus was working pretty hard, so I decided to make something She'd been requesting for a while, a celeriac (celery root) salad.

Since I was also smoking some salmon, I thought I'd tie this into the main course. I added some carrots for sweetness and mixed the following dressing:

1 Tb Dijon Mustard
Juice from 1/2 Lemon
zest of 1 lemon
3 Tb capers drained and chopped (I don't rinse, the Missus loves the briney flavor)
3-4 Tb Mayonnaise
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (this does add flavor, so if you're not a fan canola oil will do)
minced fresh dill to taste
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar (optional)
a dash of truffle oil

I used a base of baby arugula and topped with bacon. The Missus really enjoyed this. The next day She ate the rest of the salmon with the salad in a sandwich!

Another day, the Missus had to head off to work so I made Her a small bento of sorts:

Yes, that's some roast duck over some sliced cucumbers to help cut the richness…..

But what the Missus really loved was the Asian stir-fried Rapini, also known as broccoli rabe.

The sauce is just a combination of good soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch. First three dried chilis are scalded in peanut oil, the rapini is added along with a dash of Xiaosing. Three cloves of finely grated (you can't see, but you can taste) garlic is added later. The sauce is added at the end….. Man, this can out really good. And as you can tell, the Missus is getting into different vegetables…….or at least convincing me to cook them!

So what have you made this very hot week!