Thankful for Good Food

Wow! It's been a while since my last update! Sorry about that folks, it's been a crazy November.  I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving shared with friends and family. This Thanksgiving at my parents house was lots of fun but a ton of work.  This year, my extended family was coming over as well, so cooking for over 20 people was going to be a mission, which required lots of prep work and planning.  But in the end, it was all worth it and I was happy with the results. I have so many reasons to be thankful this year, I am appreciative of my family, friends and my life. Shout out to my sister Jenny for always helping me with my various cooking projects.  She is the ying to my yang in the kitchen....

Lemon Garlic Basil Chicken cooked for 4 hours on low in a slow cooker.. what a time saver!

Caprese Salad... Yummy

Chinese Chicken Salad, not pictured is the homemade dressing my sister made with apricot preserves and freshly minced ginger, and mandarin oranges 

Crimini  Mushrooms with garlic and basil

Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Penne pasta with cheese sauce 

Slow Roasted Pork Belly 

Honey and Brown Sugar Glazed Ham, Roasted Beef

My specialty!!!! Chicken Pot Pie... I think I need to start making this more often... it was very good and I was very happy and proud of the results! 

Grilled Oysters on the half shell with crushed peanuts and scallions 

SHOUT OUT to my Cousins who made ALL the Desserts... They were soo soo good!

Chocolate covered Strawberries with almonds and coconut.

Cheesecake... one of the BEST I have ever eaten!!

Almond Jello with Mixed Fruit... YUMMYYYYY!

Chocolate pecan and coconut cake

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Homemade Tiramisu... Yummy!

Thank you David Chang.....

.....for these AMAZING Pork Belly Buns.  For everyone out there, David Chang is the executive chef and brains behind Momofuku.  Over the past few years I have read various articles written on Chang, his innovative ideas brought into his kitchen, and how insanely long his wait list for his various restaurants are (we are talking about months long people!) I am not the type of person that gives into the hype until I experience it first hand.  Well... I wasn't able to try any of his restaurants in NYC, but I was able to try his recipe on Pork Belly Buns.  It seemed simple enough, all I needed were a few ingredients: steamed Chinese buns, pork belly and garnishes.  Easy right?! Well, it was... to a certain degree, it was a long process, but it was worth it! I brined the pork belly for about 12-14 hours, roasted it for 2.5 hours in low heat, cranked up the heat for 20 more minutes, then took it out of the oven to rest for 30 minutes before slicing it.  As for the buns, I took advantage of the fact that I live in a heavily populated Asian community and I bought them in the refrigerated aisle at a local Asian supermarket.  I did not buy them frozen which is an option, but I knew the refrigerated buns were just made a day earlier.  My results were amazing!! My Fams and Tone are already requesting this again for Thanksgiving! Here is a link for anyone out there that want to make there own: Pork Belly Buns

*side note* I did not follow the recipe to a T.  I added my own spices to give it more diverse flavors.  This is what I love about cooking... even though I have a guide (recipe) I can still make it my own and different.

Porky goodness... a gift from the oven.... 

My Pork Belly Buns assembled with seedless cucumbers, scallions and a quirt of hoisin sauce. 

I also made stir fry Udon noodles with oyster mushrooms, scallions, garlic and ground pork.