What's for dinner, Ma (Part 2)

Anton Ego -  The Imperious Food Critic

When I told my friends that cooking is now my latest passion, they rolled their eyes. "Didn't you once say that given a choice, you'd rather scrub toilets than prepare a meal?", they reminded me.
Admittedly, I did say that but that was long before I started blogging and before Pinterest came along. Thanks, pallies! It's your tantalizing recipes that you share on you blogs that inspired me!
My closet-size kitchen is now my playground and I have so much fun trying out new recipes and snapping pics of them. The biggest pleasure of all is seeing Rodney, my picky 13-year old son asking for seconds these days. Menu-planning used to be such a challenge with him. Even Anton Ego would have been easier to please!

Keepers from last week's menu to share.....

TAU YU BAK (Translation in Hokkien - Belly Pork Braised In Soy Sauce)

This dish gives me warm fuzzies! Totally a childhood home-cooked comfort food at its best!  Remember the scene in Ratatouille when Anton Ego was instantly transported to his childhood at the first bite of his ratatouille? I can so relate to that! Yau Yu Bak always brings me back to Grandma's kitchen where a bubbling pot of this hearty family favourite would always await us whenever we visited.The rich woody aroma of cinnamon, star-anise seeds and cloves would permeate the entire house.  As kids, we loved our rice swimming in the dark flavourful gravy, not so much the pork pieces but the hard-boiled eggs that came with it. You can always tell when a neighbour cooks this stew!
recipe @ http://kuali.com/recipes/view.aspx?r=1843

GOBI PAKORA - A yummy south Indian recipe that will get your kids to eat up their veggies. Florets of cauliflower deep-fried in a batter of chickpea flour. Serve as a snack or side dish.
recipe @  http://chefinyou.com/2012/02/cauliflower-bhajji-pakora/

HASSELBACK POTATOES -  There are so many variations of these Swedish roast potatoes floating around but we love ours drizzled with thick cream and smothered in cheese and butter. After polling with Hubs and the boys, these  accordian-like potatoes are now the #1 fave. It's crack to us!

Tip :   Placing the potato on a wooden spoon as you slice along the length of the potato will keep your knife from slicing all the way through the potato.

recipe @ http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2011/10/scalloped-hasselback-potatoes/

CUSTARD POWDER PORK CHOPS - I don't know what else to call them! They were originally intended for my Lemon Pork recipe but I ran out of flour and substituted with custard powder. They tasted so good on their own that we skipped the lemon sauce! The custard powder gives them a beautiful golden yellow colouring and crunch. And don't get me started on the taste! This one is a keeper!
Just marinate your chicken/pork with your favourite seasonings, dip in beaten egg, coat with custard powder and pan fry in a mixture of butter and  margarine/olive oil. Yummmmmm! You are welcome!
Curious, I googled to find if anyone else does this and learned that the Viets love their corn done this way! Ngô chiên bơ” (literal translation: deep-fried corn in butter) is a snack that's really popular with kids and adults.

Recipe @ http://anhsfoodblog.com/2010/07/delicious-vietnam-3-recipe-buttery.html/

It's not even 5.00 PM yet and Josh asks, "So what's today's special, Ma?"