PhoenixHeartsWithSnowyFlower

Weather: REALLLLY REALLLLY HOT
Feelings: Kinda good actually even though still recovering from flu-like symptoms
Mood: Taking shower

When was the last time I got sick? I think I get sick too easily these days or about to get sick then recovered. Well, I passed the "sick" threshold over the last weekend. I was not too sick since I was able to go out and did some stuff that were needed but sick enough that I had to take two Advil pills. Taking medicine is a big deal for me. I don't like medicine not because of how it lowers your immune systems, as some say, but because it gets rid of some symptoms but then gives me some other symptoms that last even longer that I don't like. Normally, I would get sick and I would endure it without taking any medicine if i could and then I would heal within about 2 or 3 days.  If I have to either do something that requires me to heal quicker or get rid of the symptoms then I would take some medicines. In this case my "sick" symptoms would go away in one day. But then I would develop mucus in my throat and nose, which leads to some coughing, which would require me to take additional medicine. These symptoms would normally last for at least 3 days and up to 1 week. If I heal "naturally" I would skip this "mucus" phase. I wonder to myself all the time if this happens to anyone or is it because I am doing something wrong. Maybe I am just weir like that.

I haven't been cooking like I usually did for a long time...almost 1 year already. From now on, or until I am busy again, I will cook something every week. I was going to post a dish that I cook yesterday but then I found that I had this post sitting here unfinished since April and it's one of my favorite dish. It's basically cauliflower stir fried with chicken gizzards. Here's what it looks like with a bowl of white rice.





I'll call this dish: PhoenixHeartsWithSnowyFlower

Recipes:

One package of chicken gizzards

One cauliflower

Oil, Fish sauce, sugar, pepper, mushroom powder or MSG if you prefer that.
Garlic

Directions:

Clean the gizzards real good and cut them into smaller pieces. There is usually a yellow layer on the gizzards that you have to peel off here and there. I usually also clean them with salt by sprinkling some salt over them and then massage and mix them with both my hands.

More cleaning. After washing them I boil them for a couple minutes and then put them in a mesh container to dry as I prepare the cauliflower.

Cut the cauliflower into pieces as shown below in the picture and wash it. Let it sit and dry in a mesh container while you continue onto the next step.

Sauteed some garlic with oil and then add the chicken gizzards and mix it a little first. Quickly add some fish sauce, sugar, mushroom powder, pepper, and a little water. Stir fry it until you can eat the gizzards. Add more of the sauce if necessary after taste test. Take off the stove when it's done.

Create a mixed sauce by adding mushroom power, sugar, pepper, and fish sauce to a small bowl. Add some hot water and mix it well. I always make this for stir frying any veggies.

Sauteed some garlic with oil and then add the cauliflower and the chicken gizzards. Pour in the mixed sauce and mix the cauliflower and gizzards evenly. Mix it regularly until the cauliflower is as cooked as you like.

It seems like a lot of work for this dish and it is. It takes me a while to cook it myself. I forgot to time myself and it has been a while so I can only guess....about 40 minutes I think. It's worth it though...to me that is. I like cauliflower and I like chicken gizzards so 40 minutes is not much and you can eat it like 3-5 times or once if you're an BIG eater. Oh shoot, I forgot to eat my own dinner!!!

******Tips******

You will want to clean the gizzards real good since it's an internal organ.
You don't have to make the mixed sauce but, to me, it distributes the ingredient more evenly to the veggies.
If you over cook the gizzards they will be super chewy. So you if get experienced enough you can stop stir frying the gizzards a little before you can actually eat it since you will stir fry them again with the cauliflower.

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BleedingFriedEggs

Weather: Hot and humid!!
Feelings: Sick. Tired and hungry
Mood: Wanna eat my food...but I guess I wanna write this blog too.

Do you know what's the hardest part about writing my blog? No, no...besides the fact that I am trying to write in proper English and never mind about me using big words. It's coming up with the name of the dish I prepared. It has been a couple posts but it hasn't got any easier. So from now on I'll just name all my dishes with the first thing that pops into my mind. Hopefully, it'll be as cool as the one I thought of today. Hey, if you think you have a better name then prepare it and write your own blog about it!!

Today recipe is a quick and dirty one. Well, just quick, I like my food clean. It's basically fried eggs with tomatoes. Why go all the trouble of frying eggs with tomatoes? If you have to ask, it's because it tastes much much better than regular fried eggs...duh! The time it took me to prepare was about the same time it took to cook two cups of white rice in my rice cooker. Actually, I finished a little before the rice finished cooking which included washing and cleaning the knife, cutting board, and bowl, etc.. Here's what it looks like on a bed of white steamed rice.

I'll call this dish: Bleeding Fried Eggs
Recipes:

3 Eggs

3 Roma tomatoes

Fish sauce, pepper, sugar, mushroom powder.

Garlic (optional)

Directions:

Wash and cut the tomatoes into small chunks.

Break the eggs into a bowl, mix it up with fish sauce, sugar, pepper and mushroom powder. Season the eggs to your liking.  

Stir fry the tomatoes first. Flavor it with fish sauce, sugar, pepper and mushroom powder.

Pour the egg mixed over the tomatoes.

Lower and heat and cover the frying pan with the lid. It's done in about 5 minutes. It might be a little drippy but that's just the juice from the tomatoes.

The whole process should not take you more than 20 minutes and it serves two people. Well, maybe after your second try then it will take less than 20 minutes. It's good enough just to eat this with plain steamed rice but I went a little further. I ate it with the following plus a fresh chilli from my chilli plant...oh yeah!

I guess I just like veggies. But be careful about eating too much veggies, it may give you high cholesterol. No? It gave me high cholesterol. Ok, I am kidding. That was a joke from one of my coworkers. You have to know the whole story for it to be funny. More on the cholesterol at another time though. Enjoy!

******Tips******

If you don't mind garlic then it's a good idea to fry some chopped garlic to golden brown first before adding the tomatoes. This will give you an extra flavor and better aroma. Between the time I covered the frying pan with the lid, in the last step above, those five minutes, I washed and cleaned all the equipments that were used to prepare the ingredients.
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The habanero plant I "stole" from another of my coworker's office. 

This was when I first took it home.

I guess this was about 2 weeks after.

This was about 1 month later. It looks like it's growing pretty well...maybe it needs a better pot.






More on my chilli plants later. I am excited!!! There's going to be lots of chillies this summer.