I have been doing a lot of Asian food lately and I asked Jan if she would like roast chicken. Of course, she said, “Yes,” and she said she wanted coleslaw to go with it. I also had some marble potatoes that I decided to roast at the same time I cooked the chicken.
Karl’s Rosemary Roasted Chicken
Filed under California Fusion, Chicken, Main Dishes, Poultry
I wanted some potatoes to go with my rosemary roasted chicken. When I was at the store I saw these tiny marble-sized potatoes. They were so cute I had to have them. They were also the same size as the pre-peeled Chinese garlic that I buy and it just seemed logical to mix them together.
Karl’s Rosemary Roasted Marble Potatoes and Whole Garlic
Filed under California Fusion, Potatoes, Side Dishes, Starches
My birthday falls in the middle of the week this year, so we have moved the party to this weekend. I like to have barbequed lamb, but the “spare the air” alerts have been almost constant this winter. Jan pointed out that next Friday is Chinese New Year and that we could use that as the theme.
Note: This post ties together my last nine posts. Each post covers one of the dishes I selected to make for my birthday/Chinese New Year’s dinner. In this post I try to explain my thinking in selecting each dish for this feast.
Filed under Main Dishes, Side Dishes
The Cantonese word for lettuce (生菜, san1 choi3) sounds like rising fortune. Lettuce wraps are an auspicious dish to serve on the New Year. These wraps can be filled with anything you would like to put in them. Lamb is an auspicious dish for my family—it is kind of a Lueck thing. I plan to fill my lettuce wraps with Mongolian lamb.
Karl’s Mongolian Lamb
Lettuce Wraps
Filed under Lamb, Main Dishes
Noodles are a symbol of longevity in Chinese tradition. A usual recipe for Chinese New Year would be to serve these in a Longevity Noodle Soup. Traditionally, you slurp these noodles whole without breaking them, so that you do not cut your longevity short. For my birthday/New Year’s feast I decided to go a different route.
Karl’s Cold Sichuan Noodles
original recipe
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches
I rarely go to the labor of making my own jiaozi. I will usually whip up the dipping sauce that that we were frequently served in Chengdu. I made this sauce to dip for my birthday/Chinese New Year’s feast.
Karl’s Sichuan Dipping Sauce for Jiaozi
Filed under Sauces and Spices
Shrimp (小虾; xiǎo xiā) are a symbol of happiness and good fortune. One reason for this is that the shells turn red, a very auspicious color for the Chinese. When my son-in-law, Chris, heard about the Szechuan Salt & Pepper Shrimp that I had made last week, he requested that it be added to the menu for my birthday/Chinese New Year’s feast.
Karl’s Szechuan Salt & Pepper Shrimp II
Filed under Main Dishes, Seafood
No Chinese meal is complete without some rice. You can eat until you are bursting, but if you have not eaten at least one bite of rice, then all you have had is a “snack.” To leave rice out of a New Year’s meal would be very inauspicious.
Mimi’s Confetti Rice
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches
Two Sundays ago, I bought some Persian cucumbers for a dinner that did not happen. I did not want them to spoil. There were too many of them just to eat on my own, so I decided to make pickles with them.
Karl’s California International Pickles
Filed under Pickles, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian MD
I have made steamed fish before, but this one is for a New Year’s dinner. I will be stuffing this one with “lucky” ingredients. Also, instead of cutting the ginger into match sticks I will be leaving the, as “golden coins,” because that is the way much of Chinese symbolism works; if it looks like the thing, it is the thing.
Karl’s Chinese Whole Steamed Fish II
Filed under Main Dishes, Seafood
karllueck
Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 