Category: Wine

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups chopped broccoli florets
1 (8 ounce) can sliced bamboo shoots, drained
1 (8 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 (15 ounce) can whole straw mushrooms, drained

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into strips

1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine
1/4 cup chicken broth

Directions

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat until it begins to smoke. Stir in the fresh mushrooms, broccoli, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and straw mushrooms. Cook and stir until all the vegetables are hot, and the broccoli is tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the wok, and set aside. Wipe out the wok.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of vegetable in the wok until it begins to smoke. Stir in the garlic, and cook for a few seconds until it turns golden-brown. Add the chicken, and cook until the chicken has lightly browned on the edges, and is no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes. Stir together the cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine, and chicken broth in a small bowl. Pour over the chicken, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for about 30 seconds until the sauce thickens and is no longer cloudy. Return the vegetables to the wok, and toss with the sauce.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds fresh salmon fillet with skin removed
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Place salmon in a shallow, flat dish, and set aside. Combine the vinegar, olive oil, soy sauce, water, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, cilantro, and brown sugar in a blender. Blend until brown sugar dissolves. Pour the marinade over the salmon to cover evenly. Cover the dish, and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Line a broiling pan with foil. Remove salmon from marinade, and place on prepared broiling pan; season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer remaining marinade to a saucepan.

Turn on broiler to low.

Broil salmon about 6 inches from the heat for 5 minutes; brush with remaining marinade. Broil an additional 5 to 10 minutes, brushing 2 or 3 more times with additional marinade. Salmon is done when fish is no longer bright red and can be flaked with a fork.

Meanwhile, cook the remaining marinade over low heat until it thickens and reduces by one-third, 5 to 10 minutes. Use cooked marinade as a dipping sauce or drizzle over salmon just before serving.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped onion
1 teaspoon celery, chopped
1 chopped carrot
2 cloves garlic, pressed
4 ounces chicken livers, rinsed and sliced into strips
4 ounces lamb or pork livers, rinsed and cut into strips
1/2 cup red wine
1 tablespoon tomato puree
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 anchovy fillets, chopped
2 tablespoons chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon capers
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat the oil in a skillet over low heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic; cook and stir for about 5 minutes until onions are soft.

Pat the chicken and lamb liver dry, and add to the skillet. Fry over low heat until all sides are browned. Pour the red wine over the liver, and let it vaporize for a minute. Stir in the tomato puree, half of the parsley, anchovies, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Use a hand-held blender to puree the liver mixture. If you don’t have one, transfer to a food processor, and process until smooth. Return to the skillet, and stir in the butter, capers and remaining parsley.

Ingredients

1 pound fresh Chinese wheat noodles
1/2 pound fresh asparagus
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
1 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon fermented black beans
8 ounces spinach with stems, rinsed
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large pot of water boil noodles until al dente. Drain well. Rinse with cool water until the noodles are cool.

Break off the tough ends of the asparagus, and cut the rest of the spears into 2-inch lengths. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger, saute for 1 minute, make sure not to brown the garlic. Add the asparagus and 1/2 cup water. Simmer for 2 minutes.

Put the cornstarch into a small mixing bowl, stir in the remaining 1/2 cup water and the rice wine or sherry. Stir well. Add this mixture, the soy sauce, and the fermented black beans, if you’re using them, to the simmering vegetables. Let the sauce boil for a few seconds, add the spinach and stir until it wilts. Remove the skillet from the heat

Heat the remaining oil in a skillet over high heat. Divide the noodles into four mounds, and place the mounds of noodles in the hot frying pan. Flatten the mounds in the frying pan so that more surface area will brown, reduce the heat to medium-high, and fry the cakes for at least 5 minutes, until they develop a golden-brown crust on the bottom. Turn the cakes over, and fry them for 3 minutes

While the noodle cakes cook, reheat the vegetables and the sauce slightly. Add the sesame oil, salt and pepper to the vegetable mixture. Place the noodle cakes on plates, spoon the sauce and vegetables over and around the cakes, and serve.