Welcome back!  Today, we have a recipe for a special preparation of a fruit: Poached Pears! Poaching is a great way to enjoy your pears by imbuing them with interesting flavors that really enhance the pear's natural flavor. This is typically done with a base of wine, red or white, but then the other herbs and spices can vary, really just depending on what you like. Of course, we tried to pick flavors that would complement the wine selection. Poached Pears Ingredients: 4 pears For a red wine poach: 2 cups red wine 1/2 cup orange juice or water (if the wine is not enough to poach the pears) 1/4 cup sugar 2 tablespoons honey 1 piece orange peel 1 stick cinnamon (or 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon) Other spices, like cloves, star anise, or peppercorn For a white wine poach: 2 cups white wine 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup sugar 2 tablespoons honey 2 slices ginger, thinly sliced 10 large leaves of mint Directions: In a pot, pour in the wine and any additional liquid, if necessary. Place the pears in...

Welcome back!  Today, we have a convenient version of a crunchy classic: Coconut Shrimp! These is a delicious dish that everyone enjoys because the combination of the crisp, fried shell and the fresh, juicy shrimp inside. In this recipe, we remove the hassle of having to fry these in a pot of oil by instead using the air-fry setting on our Breville Smart Oven Air, as we've done with chicken wings in the past. These coconut shrimp work great as an appetizer or with salads, just be sure to prepare your sauce! Air-Fried Coconut Shrimp Ingredients: 1 pound shrimp 1/4 cup flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 2 eggs 1 cup shredded coconut 1/2 cup breadcrumbs Some oil spray Directions: Peel the shell from the shrimps, but leave the tails on. If using jumbo shrimp (like we did), butterfly cut the shrimp and flatten them out in order to get a more even coating/cooking area. Take three bowls. In the first, pour in the flour, salt, and pepper. In the second, crack in and whisk the egg...

Welcome back!  Today, we have a unique recipe that comes from Central China: Pearl Meatballs! The name is quite interesting but makes sense: they're meatballs, but the translucence of the sticky rice that coats the meatball mirrors the luster of a pearl. It's often served on special occasions, like Lunar New Year, where everyone gathers for a feast and can enjoy this delicious dish. Plus, it's not even that difficult to make! Pearl Meatballs Makes about 30 meatballs Ingredients: For the meatballs: 1/2 pound ground pork 1/4 pound shrimp 80 grams (about 1/2 can) water chestnuts, finely chopped 2 tablespoons green onion, finely chopped 1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced 1 teaspoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon rice wine 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1/4 teaspoon white pepper 1/2 egg white For the rice: 1 cup glutinous (sticky) rice Directions: Rinse the glutinous rice and soak in water for 2 hours. In a bowl, place all the ingredients for the meatballs and mix until even. The mixture...

Welcome back!  Today, we have a popular Vietnamese dish: the Banh Mi! This is a really great recipe that hits a lot of the aspects of Vietnamese cuisine , despite being directly influenced by French colonialism with the baguette, of course. This sandwich features a combination of ingredients that works so well together, forming a product that has a variety of flavors, textures, and colors. And most importantly, it's quite healthy too! Banh Mi Ingredients: For the pork: 1 1/2 pound pork butt or shoulder 2 tablespoons shallot, minced 1 tablespoon garlic, minced 4 tablespoons (about 2 stalks) lemongrass, minced 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 tablespoon fish sauce 1 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon olive oil You could also use a mortar and pestle for a more intense lemongrass flavor. For the vegetables: 1-2 carrots About 6-inches of daikon (this can really vary) 1/2 cup white vinegar 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup water Pinch of salt 1 cucumber 1 teasp...

Welcome back!  Today, we have a delicious dim sum staple: shumai! This dumpling is known particularly for its distinct shape. We stuck to a more traditional Cantonese version of shumai, with a filling containing pork and shrimp, wrapped in a fairly thin wrapper. This is a great dish to pair with a variety of other small Asian dishes to enjoy in the classic dim sum style! Shumai Makes 18 shumai Ingredients: 18 Shumai wrapper, cut the corners to form an octagon 150 grams shrimp, finely chopped 150 grams ground pork (preferably a little fatter) 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 teaspoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon white pepper Directions: In a bowl, mix together the shrimp, pork, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and white pepper until even. It should stick together naturally and be a little springy. Wrap the shumai by placing some of the filling onto a wrapper and using one hand to wrap the wrapper around the filling, almost as if forming a ball. In a double boiler, heat some water u...

Welcome back!  Today, we have an interesting dish hailing from Hong Kong: Shrimp Toast! We know, it sounds a little strange, but it is quite delicious and a great addition to a dim sum meal or just as an appetizer. The idea actually originated as a sort of fusion food since Hong Kong has always long been a crossroads for culture; the toast comes from West while the preparation of shrimp in this way comes the Asian culture. When combined, you get this really fitting combination of crunchy bread and almost creamy shrimp. Shrimp Toast Ingredients: 4 slices sandwich bread 1/2 pound shrimp, finely chopped 1 egg white 1 teaspoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch Directions: Cut the crust off of each slice of bread, and then cut the bread into quarters to form 16 triangles of bread. In a bowl, mix the chopped shrimp, egg white, soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch until even. Top each triangle with this mixture, making sure to spread it out to the edges. Deep fry in some oil ...

 Welcome back!  Today, we have another cheesecake recipe, this time putting a little spin on the main attraction of the dish: the cream cheese, in which we incorporated some ricotta cheese. Another variation we implemented was the Ritz cracker crust. Of course, any other crust  would work just fine with this cheesecake, but we wanted to try something a little different - the flavor of the crackers certainly makes for an interesting combination. Ricotta Cheesecake Makes a 9" cheesecake Ingredients: Crust: 2 sleeves of Ritz crackers 5 tablespoons melted butter Filling: 2 8-ounce boxes of cream cheese, room temperature 15 ounces ricotta cheese 1/2 cup lemon juice 1/2 cup sugar 4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 tablespoons flour 12-16 ounces cranberry or other fruit preserves (optional) Directions: Prepare the crust: Crush the Ritz crackers. Mix the melted butter into the crushed crackers until even. Press the crust down into the bottom of the cheesecake pan. Bake in the oven at 3...