Earlier this year I started to try making whole wheat cookies for myself as breakfast, since I used to eat all kinds of energy bars as my driving breakfast and I decided to make home made cookies to replace those bars.

My first try turned out not bad, I modified a online recipe by using canola oil, brown sugar, walnut and chocolate chips. I called them “guilt free” cookies =) Later I modified my recipe further by using butter and banana to add on flavors, and with the help of a dear chef friend, it tasted so good! but I just couldn’t get over that saturate fat I take in every morning, so John decided to replace butter by olive oil-it turns out even better!

The ingredient includes wheat flour, oats, greek yogurt, egg, olive oil, white chocolate, walnut, brown sugar, and banana-all the good stuff!

Cookie Recipe

-3 cups wheat flour

-3 eggs

-1/2 Cup EVOO

-2 Bananas

-1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt

-1 cup Sugar

-1/2 cup Brown sugar

-1/4 tsp baking soda

-1/2 Cup oats

-1 Cup chopped Walnuts

-3 ounces of chopped white Chocolate

Procedure

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• cream oil and granulated sugar together in a bowl using a whisk
• add eggs to sugar oil mix
• add yogurt
• add walnuts, white chocolate, oats, and smashed bananas to mix
• add flour and baking soda using a spatula and being careful not to over mix (over mixing causes the gluten in the flour to turn into a paste)
• with damp hands roll 1/2 inch balls with the dough
• space dough on a lined or stick free pan 1 inch apart
• bake until slightly golden on the bottom of the cookie (approximate time 10-11 minutes)

Yield

26 cookies

I am getting back to my daily jogging routine for my best summer shape! Being a semi-vegetarian, I need some red meat sometime for extra protein and the iron. So today I decide to cook the fresh beef I bought this evening-must be good!

All my cooking uses basic and natural ingredients only, and I almost STIR FRY everything =)

To make a rocking Beef and green pepper stir fry you need only 6 basic ingredients: Beef, Green Pepper, Garlic, Olive oil, Sea-salt, Black pepper (and optional herbs/seasonings you really like)

The most important ingredient is USDA choice beef: leaner than prime but still gets decent marbling.

Slice 1 package of beef (about 1 pound) and 3 green peppers, mince since fresh garlic (strong antioxidants here!)–>6 servings (about 3 dishes) will be generated.

Okay! We are ready to stir fry! First of all use a measuring spoon to get 1 table spoon of olive oil and pour evenly into the non-sticky frying pan. Wait for 1-2 minutes until the pan gets hot.

Put sliced beef into the pan first and use spatula to stir. When beef turns brown, add garlic and green pepper in. Keep stirring until desired texture for green pepper is reached, seasoning with 2 tea spoon sea salt, handful of black pepper and cumin.

Tada! A wonderful looking and tasting healthy stir fry is born! Enjoy with cooked brown rice or baked potato, what a delicious meal!

I had my beef dish with home-made baked potato-simply cut 4 mid-size potatoes into small pieces and mix in 2 table spoon of canola oil, spread it onto a baking pan, and bake in 350F for about 30 minutes.

The upper photo is pre-baking and the lower one is all-done. Yummy yummy!

Chow Mei Fun means “stir fried rice noodle”, one of my favorite Asian Cuisine dish. It is widely liked by southern China and many other countries in South Asia. Depending on the cooking method, it can be high in fat and salt. The Chow Mei Fun recipe I developed at home use very moderate amount of salt and oil, but still carry multiple layers of flavor by using fresh ingredients and spices. It came out so yummy that I couldn’t help to eat an entire bowel after finishing it at 10pm! =D

The materials we need for Chow Mei Fun (5 servings) and the way to prepare them are as follows.

• Rice noodle: I bought it from a local supermarket. Immerse 2 pieces of dry rice noodle in warm water for more than half hours, drain the water.
• Shiitake mushroom: this bag of dry shiitake has been in my cabinet for a while since I got it from Chinatown. Take about 20 mushrooms to immerse in warm water for a hour. Press out the water and slice.
• Fresh ginger and garlic: a handful of each and finely mince them.
• Chicken: slice 6 oz fresh chicken breast and mix in 1 Tbsp of corn starch and some black pepper.
• Frozen Shrimp: about 10
• Scallion: chop into half-inch pieces
• Spices: black pepper, cumin, basil leaves

Dry rice noodle from local super market, Shiitake mushroom from Chinatown grocery shop, and minced garlic and ginger

When mix cornstarch into chicken, give it a nice massage to make chicken tender. Corn starch wraps the chicken pieces and preserve the juice during pan frying.

After all materials are ready, set up two pans on heat-one for noodle and one for chicken and mushroom.

1. Set the noodle pan on medium heat, use 2 Tbsp of olive oil and 1 cup of water. Put in the noodle and stir occationally. Dilute 1 Tbsp of soy sauce by half cup of water, then stir it into the noodles to give the nicely brown color. After about 10 nimutes when water is completely evaporated, add in frozen shrimp and keep stiring until all the shrimp turn red.
2. Set chicken and mushroom pan on high heat, use 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Put in minced garlic and ginger first, when oil starts to sizzling, add in mushroom and chicken. Stir continously until chicken become white. Add 1 tsp of seasalt and whatever spices you like (I used cumin and basil).
3. Combine two pans into one, add in scallion right before serving. Mix well and serve in plates.

Enjoy! So Yummy =D

“Shiitake mushrooms are promoted to fight the development and progression of cancer and AIDS by boosting the body’s immune system. These mushrooms are also said to help prevent heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels and to help treat infections such as hepatitis by producing interferon, a group of natural proteins that stops viruses from multiplying.”

I just love, and am very proud, of the old wisdom from the Chinese culture! =D

By Lin and Chef John Goulette, Sous Chef/Pastry chef

Beef is one of the most delicious and popular meat that widely loved by people around the world. Lean beef with visible fat trimmed can be an excellent source of protein, minerals (especially zinc and iron) and B-vitamins. Most people will benefit from one or two servings of lean red meat per week.

This week Chef John showed Lin how to make the “Boeuf Roulade” at home, a French rolled beef. He used swiss steak, which is a steak from the round cut of a cow and is mechanically tenderized with a mallet. It is much leaner comparing to other steak cuts, and as a result relatively inexpensive. Healthy, tasty and affordable, that is all we ask for!

All the ingredients you need to make 4 servings:

-Swiss steak 12 oz

-1 bunch of asparagus

-1 small squash peeled

-handful of sliced Mushrooms

-2 medium green peppers

-3 stalks of celery

-1/2 white Spanish onion

-4 Tbsp olive oil

- 3 Tbsp Red wine Vinegar

- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Okay, this time the cooking process can be a bit of technical, but we invite you to challenge yourself to be a French Chef for one day by following these steps:

1. For Swiss steak, seasoning it with a pinch of salt, 2 pinches of pepper, and 3 pinches of cumin, after seasoning allow your steaks to sit at room temp. Now preheat the oven to 350F.

2. To make the stuffing, dice all vegetables except mushrooms into small pieces (brunoise-1/4 inch dice) and julienne mushrooms (julienne- 1/8 inch thick match stick about 1.5-2 inches long).

3. Place saute pan on a burner, add olive oil, allow oil to heat, add onions and mushrooms, on medium heat allow the onions to caramelize and the mushrooms to brown, add peppers and celery cook until peppers are al dente. (al dente- cooked but maintain a slight snap in texture when biting)

4. Allow vegetables to cool, until they are about room temp. Add cooled vegetable mix to the steaks. Form a small pile in the middle of the steak and roll the steak sealing the sides.

5. Sear the rolled steak (roulade) in hot olive oil, browning the bottom, place in oven bake at 350F for 12 minutes.

6. make butternut squash sauce: Boil a pan of water, add rough chopped Butternut squash, cook until soft, set aside. Finish Squash, place in blender and puree, add seasoned water.

7. Prep asparagus: cut off woody ends and discard. Place the florets in simmering water and blanch. remove once asparagus has changed from forest green to vibrant green. Shock in ice bath. In a couple of mins, cut asparagus into 1 inch pieces and sauté in oil and garlic.

8. Tada! Now it’s the time to serve! Cut the Roulade into 1 inch thick pieces. Serve 3 pieces of steak with steamed Asparagus and a butternut squash puree.

9. The final step, sit back and enjoy =)

Swiss steak is a very lean steak. Without the tenderizing, it would be very tough. The cooking method also allows the steak to remain tender, over cooking would result in a very tough product. When done right this meal is very healthy, delicious and satiating.

The stuffing is made of mushrooms, green peppers, onions, and celery. These are just some random vegetables that happened to be in Lin’s fridge, you can substitute any of them to make your own stuffing.

This recipe is a little bit complex, but isn’t it awesome to surprise your family and friends with a healthy elegant French dish? Hope you will enjoy the cooking process and the applause for the end product!

Moon Festival is a traditional festival for China and many other countries in South Asia. It is the second most major festival apart from the Chinese New Year. Moon Festival is the Aug 15^th by lunar calendar, on this day the moon is extra round and bright. Traditionally family members get together on this day to admire the full moon and sacrifice moon cakes to it. However, moon cakes gradually became a traditional festival snack that everyone in the family takes a share.

Su Shi, the famous poet of Northern Song dynasty, was once enjoying moon cake and wrote a poet about moon cake: “eating this little cake just like taking a bite of the bright full moon, so savory and sweet”. He even mentioned pork fat and sugar as the basic ingredients of moon cakes, just like today， over 2000 years after his time. Generally moon cakes can be categorized based on their origin:

• Guangdong Moon Cake pursues “thin skin and precious stuffing”. Precious ingredients like dry scallop, abalone and ginseng are used to make the stuffing. “White Lotus Seed Paste with Double Egg Yolks” is the most popular and classic item—the sweetness of white lotus seed paste complement the richness of egg yolks to create a real enjoyment for your taste buds.
• Northern Moon Cake is also called Beijing/Tianjin Moon Cake. The skin is thick and hard/crispy, while the stuffing is usually vegetarian. Dry fruit, nuts and seeds, sweet osmanthus are all commonly used ingredients. Sesame oil is the main fat used in the cake. “Five Kernels” represents Northern Moon Cake by the low level of oil and sweet, hard and thick skin and the variety of fruit ingredients.  Northern Moon Cake has a relatively high nutrition value than other moon cakes varieties.
• Suzhou Moon Cake looks like sesame seed cake, is more like a transition between Guangdong Moon Cake and Northern Moon Cake. The stuffing is usually a mixture of fruit and meat. Lard, ham and dry fruit are common ingredients.

As a symbol of the festival, moon cake has fairly low nutritional value for the modern diet pattern. The most popular style, Guangdong Moon Cake caters the taste of most people, but it is astonishing high in fat, sugar and salt. Guangdong moon cake uses lard, which is saturate fat and will elevate your cholesterol levels. It is also high in salt that would be problematic for people with high blood pressure and kidney conditions. The calorie content is even scarier, since a big “White Lotus Seed Paste with Double Egg Yolks” moon cake carries over than half of the daily calorie need for an average size adult. People with chronic diseases need to pay attention to the portion size, 1/8 to 1/4 of a moon cake will count as a portion.

Food safety is another issue about moon cake. In 2001, China Central Television (CCTV) exposed a food safety scandal of a well-known moon cake producer, Nanjing Guan Sheng Yuan. This producer recycles the stale moon cake stuffing from previous years to make new batches of moon cake. The producer even said the entire moon cake industry was doing the same thing, because moon cakes are so over produced each year that the stuffing has to be recycled to maintain the profit margin. Not surprisingly, Nanjing Guan Sheng Yuan closed down because of its bankruptcy shortly after. This event reminds consumers that, those elegantly packed moon cakes that you can keep a long time must contain a large amount of preservatives.  It is best to buy simply packed and fresh moon cakes directly from bakery, because they are more economic and tasty, and surely will go bad before they can even be considered to be recycled.

In China, all the supermarkets and bakeries start to promote and sell moon cakes 2-3 months before Moon Festival. All sorts of traditional or renovated styles come to market, and the Guangdong style is usually the most popular in recent years. I came to Boston for school several years ago, and found the Moon Festival very quiet here in US. The only place I used to get moon cake each year was on the Chinese Student Association Moon Festival gathering, and the moon cakes were divided into numerous little pieces that toothpicks are needed to pick them up. It felt so much like the sample tasting in supermarkets. It also reminds me of my childhood in my hometown in north China, every year I look forward to sharing moon cakes with the entire family. A trip to the bakery with mom was the most fun part of the festival. My favorite moon cake at that time was “five kernels”, since the various dry fruits, seeds and large chunks of crystal candy always left me a mouthful of wonderfulness. I also love the hard crust for its bland sweetness—because of its hard texture, I had to take little bits, chew thoroughly, and take my time to swallow. That sweet taste felt like a reward after all my hard work, a simple but dignified enjoyment.

Lately consumers pay more and more attention to health, and the demand for high nutrition value Moon Cakes increases. I was very glad to read that many bakeries in Taiwan this year start to produce “Healthy Moon Cakes”, which are low in sugar and oil and high in fiber. Healthier ingredients such as dry fruits, sweet potato, pumpkin and mushroom are used. That sounds very like a renascence of old style of Northern Moon Cakes. Hope in the near future, Northern Moon Cake will come back to market and become people’s favor again, with the mild taste and high nutrition value. Maybe at that time I can truly feel like home again in this piece of land on Moon Festival.