Get ready:

• 1lb sweet Italian sausage, sliced into chunks
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced
• 1 large red bell pepper, sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tsp dried Oregano leaves
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 Tsp turmeric
• 1 1/2 cup medium grain rice
• 3 cups chicken stock
• salt and pepper

Now Let’s Play:

Heat up 2 Tbsp olive oil in a 12 inch cast iron skillet. Brown sausage chunks on all sides in batches. Set aside. Add onion slices. minced garlic, and pepper slices into the skillet. Season with salt and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes over medium high heat. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp of olive oil, the rest of the seasoning and rice (plus 1 tsp of salt). Saute for a minute or two while stirring continuously. Add chicken stock and bring to broil. Tuck sausage chunks back into the mixture evenly throughout the pan.  Turn down the heat and simmer till all the liquid has been absorbed. Serve immediately (about 4-6 people).

After-play thoughts:

I like to think this is a adopted American version of the classic Spanish dish. It uses ingredients that are very easy to find, even though couple of challenges still exist. First, the dishes has to be seasoned before it’s done cooking. Seasoning after cooking is completed will destroy the presentation and also the ingredients would not absorb the flavor intended. I always season when ingredients are in raw stage due to the latter reason, but if you are the opposite of me, practice is the only solution. Second,  the amount of liquid used is not always the same. Depending on where you live, what’s the whether like, how much heat is retained in the skillet, and etc., liquid amount needed varies. Solution? Have 1 more cup chicken stock standing by. Two most common situations where require extra liquid are if there is too much of crust forming at bottom or if rice is not quite cooked through yet. However, in the case of the first situation , in addition to adding a bit more liquid in that area, you may want to consider turning down the heat, or even removing the pan from the heat.

Get ready:

• 1 4-5lb boneless beef chuck roast
• 4 Tsp olive oil
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 1 yellow onions, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 2 cups Burgundy
• 1 6oz can tomato paste
• 6 cup beef stock (more if needed)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Tsp dried oregano
• 1 Tsp dried rosemary
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• salt and black pepper

Now let’s play:

Heat up oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat while season the roast with salt and pepper. Sear all sides of the roast till golden brown. Set aside. Saute chopped onion with a pinch of salt for 2 minutes. Add minced garlic, celery, carrot, bay leaves, dried oregano, and dried rosemary; saute for two minutes. Add tomato paste, and pour in Burgundy to deglaze the pot. Add the roast back into the pot, and pour in beef stock to cover the roast by one inch. Bring to boil. Then cover, turn town the heat to low, and let it simmer till the roast is tender but not falling apart. When it’s done, take the roast out of the pot. Let it rest on a carving board for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, add heavy cream to the braising liquid. Bland the liquid into gravy with a immerse blander. Then cook the gravy to the right consistency and adjust the seasoning if necessary. When ready to serve, slice the roast horizontally against the grain at 1/2 inch thickness, and serve with gravy along the side.

After-play thoughts:

When there’s leftovers needed to be reheated, I find it better reheating the meat in the oven, with adequate amount of gravy spread on top and covered with foil.

Get ready:

• 4 lb red potatoes, quartered
• 4 extra large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
• 2 Tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 Tsp dried dill
• salt and black pepper to taste

Now let’s play:

Put quartered potatoes and eggs in a large sauce pan. Cover with salted water by one inch. Bring to broil and then let simmer for 5 minutes or till potatoes and eggs are cooked through. Drain the water, take out the eggs, transfer potatoes to a large vessel, and stir in minced onion immediately. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Shell, chop, and stir in the eggs when cooled. Serve room temperature or chilled (about 8 servings).

After-play thoughts:

Stirring in the onion immediately into hot potatoes is to cook onion a little, so the taste of onion is more well-blended into the salad.

Get ready:

• 1 Tsp olive oil
• 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cubed
• 4 Tsp butter
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1 Tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed

Now let’s play:

Cut the sheet of puff pastry into quarters, and bake in a 400F oven for 15-20 minutes or till it’s all puffed up. Meanwhile, heat up olive oil in a saute pan while seasoning the chicken with salt and pepper. Saute chicken till juice runs clear. Take out chicken and set aside. Melt butter in the same pan. Saute diced carrots with parsley, oregano, and a pinch of salt for 5 minutes. Dust in flour and whisk till it’s fully combined with the carrots. Pour in chicken stock and whisk vigorously till there is no lump. Stir in the peas and milk. Bring it to boil. Then turn off the heat. Stir in chopped onion.  Wait for 5 minutes. Season to taste. Place one square of puffed pastry on a plate, slit the top open, serve the chicken mix in and out the pastry as the pastry is a serving device (about 4 servings).

After-play thoughts:

Chicken pot pie always brings the cozy feeling as it’s one of the home-cooking classics. This recipe puts an elegant twist on the classic dish, and fool-prove.

Get ready:

• 1/2 thick sliced bacon, chopped
• 6 links sweet Italian sausage
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 Chinese eggplant, diced
• 6 cloves garlic , minced
• 2 14oz cans diced tomato
• 1 6oz tomato paste
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 Tsp dried oregano
• 1 pound rigatoni
• 3 cups shred mozzarella
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• salt and pepper

Get ready:

• 3 Tsp canola oil
• Meat of a 3-lb rotisserie chicken, chopped
• 1 onion, diced
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 1 Tsp ground cumin
• 1 Tsp chili powder
• 2 14-oz cans of diced tomato
• 16 corn tortillas
• 3 Tsp canola oil
• 1 Tsp flour
• 3 Tsp chili powder
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 14-oz can of tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar
• 1 cup shredded Pepper Jack
• salt & pepper

Now let’s play:

Heat up oil in a large saute pan. Add onion, garlic, jalapeno, cumin and chili powder. Saute till onion is translucent. Add chicken and diced tomato. Cook through. Then set aside. In a sauce pan, heat up the other 3 Tsp of oil and whisk in flour till well combined. Add the next five ingredients and cook through. Microwave tortillas for 30 seconds while setting oven temperature to 350F.  Ladle some sauce into a large roasting pan to cover the bottom. Roll up a tortilla with about 4-6 Tsp of chicken mix and place it in the roasting pan. Repeat with the rest. Pour the rest of sauce over rolled-up tortillas and sprinkle cheese on the top. Transfer into the oven and cook till cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling. Cool for 15 minutes then serve (about 8 servings).

After-play thoughts:

I don’t recommend making too many ahead of time as tortillas can get mushy after sitting in the sauce too long even when refrigerated.

Get ready:

• 1 rotisserie chicken meat, roughly chopped
• 2 Tsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium celery, sliced
• 3 carrots, halved and sliced
• 1 lb lentil, rinsed and drained
• 1 Tsp dried tarragon
• 8 cups chicken stock
• salt and pepper

Now let’s play:

Heat up oil in a large stock pot. Add diced onion and a pinch of salt; saute for 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots; saute for another 2 minutes. Add chicken stock and bring to broil. Add lentil and let simmer for 25 minutes or until tender. Stir in chicken meat and tarragon. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve (6-8 servings).

After-play thoughts:

This is soup is great for chili weather, busy schedule, or weight control.

Get ready:

• 1.5lb ground beef
• 2 Tsp canola oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 Tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground cayenne
• 1 Tsp dried cilantro
• 1 14oz can tomato sauce
• 1 16oz can black beans, drained
• 40 tortilla chips
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced
• salt and pepper

Now let’s play:

Heat up canola oil in a large saute pan. Season ground beef with salt and pepper. Brown and break apart the beef with a spatula till no longer red. Add onion and saute for another 3 minutes. Add chili powder, ground cumin, and ground cayenne. Saute for another 2 minutes. Add beans and tomato sauce. Cook for 3 minutes. Fold in dried cilantro leaves. Spread tortilla chips at the bottom of a large roasting pan. Spoon on half of cooked mixture on top of the chips evenly. Top off with cheese and scatter jalapeno slices over the cheese. Place the whole thing under a broiler (set on high) for about 3-5 minutes or until cheese melted. To serve, using a lasagna server to scoop out a small portion onto a plate. Then scoop out another small portion and lay it on top of the previous scooped out portion, so each serving has two layers. You can make another batch of nachos with the other half of cooked mix, or store it for later use (about 2-4 dinner servings).

After-play thoughts:

It’s a quite lean dish if you opt for 90% or above lean ground beef.

• 1 5lb pork shoulder, bone-in and skin-on preferred
• 4 Tsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 10 cloves of garlic, minced
• 8 anise seeds, crushed
• 20 peppercorn, crushed
• 3 Tsp grounded ginger
• 1 cups dark Chinese soy sauce
• 2 cups light Chinese soy sauce
• 1/2 cup fish sauce
• 1/4 cup Chinese vinegar
• 1/2 cup Chinese cooking wine
• 2 cups sugar
• salt and pepper

Now let’s play:
Mix well dark and light Chinese soy sauce, fish sauce, Chinese vinegar, and Chinese cooking wine. Heat up 2 Tsp oil in a large dutch oven. Season the pork shoulder with salt and pepper,  and then brown the entire pork shoulder when the oil is hot (skin sides first). Set the pork shoulder aside. Add remaining oil, diced onion, and saute for 3 minutes. Add minced garlic, crushed anise seed, crushed peppercorn, and grounded ginger. Saute for another 2 minutes. Add the pork shoulder back to dutch oven. Pour in mixed sauce and sugar. Add water until the pork shoulder is barely covered. Put the lid on, and bring to broil. Turn down the heat to medium low, and cook for 2.5-3 hours. To serve, pull the pork shoulder apart into chunks and drizzled with sauce (4-6 servings).

After-play thoughts:

This is a very authentic Chinese festival holiday dish. It’s totally fine to strain and then freeze the cooking liquid for future use. If you find skin too fatty, feel free to discard it when serving.

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup flour
• 5 Tsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp dried  tarragon
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 Tsp tomato paste
• 3 cups chicken stock
• salt and pepper

Now let’s play:

Preheat oven at 350F. Split chicken breasts lengthwise into half. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dredge in the flour till well coated. Heat up 2 Tsp olive oil in a large saute pan and brown 4 chicken breast halves. Repeat with the rest. Rest browned pieces in a 13*9 baking dish. Add the last Tsp olive oil to the saute pan and saute diced onion for 2 minutes. Add garlic and carrots. Saute for 3 minutes. Add celery, and saute for 1 minute. Add white wine, and scrape off the brown bites off the bottom of the pan. Pour the mixture into the baking dish. Add chicken stock into the baking dish. Cover and bake for 1 hour. Serve chicken breast halves with baking liquid (6-8 servings).

After-play thoughts:

You can strain the baking liquid and make gravy of it.