Maple Pork and Kow Neuw Mamuang

It's what we had for dinner last night. Maple glazed pork tenderloin with cheesy eggplant and garlic green beans.

For dessert I had some ripened mangoes in a paper bag so I decided to make one of my favorite desserts when my family would go to Thailand ... Kow Neuw Mamuang! Mango and sticky rice. Soooooo delicious. This recipe is very simple, so anyone can do it. Instead of sticky rice, I was using what I had on hand at the moment, which was, sushi rice! Just as soft and fragrant.

INGREDIENTS: (Serves 4)
1 cup sticky rice/sushi rice works too
1 cup water for cooking rice (or follow your rice cooker instructions)

2 ripe mangoes, sliced and chilled (important!)
1 can coconut milk
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds to garnish

I) I had cooked the sushi rice in the ricepot as usual.

II) While that was going on, I heated the can of coconut milk with sugar and salt until it boiled, then put on simmer for 5 minutes.


III) After the rice was cooked, I added in a portion of the coconut milk mixture until the rice became somewhat mushy and moist and folded it in so it was evenly coated.


IV) Next came toasting the sesame seeds, on low heat, make sure to stir often, or you can just buy pre-toasted seeds. I prefer toasting it myself because then you get the intense freshness of the seeds.

V) And finally, to put it all together on a plate! Voila~ I drizzled about a tablespoon of leftover coconut milk on the rice and mango, then dusted it with sesame seeds. Delicious!!!

Budget Salad

First you might want to start off with a base, say of baby spinach or the green mix I found at Walmart for only $2.00, and this bag will fill several bowls of salad! A bag of celery, $1 (last you awhile too as you simply use two stalks per bowl of salad) grab a can or bag of frozen beets, $0.97 to $2, a bag of brocolli, caulliflower and baby carrots mix vegetables for also around $2.73, you can leave out any of these of course, I went to Publix and browsed their sandwhich/cheese aisle and found a rather small but sufficient container of marinated olives for only $1.63, two plump tomatoes run you about $1.74 and a bottle of dressing or not will leave you $2 poorer. Now this may seem like a lot at first, but all of these can be eaten over a stretch, especially if you store them in containers. It's healthy, fast and perfectly wonderful for a warm summer day!

Liver & Onions

The good kind. My dad loves this dish so I decided for a kick why not make it? It was also because I saw some real good looking frozen beef livers he he ... However, you should get fresh ones for the ultimate taste. For people on a budget, frozen is the way to go.

Serves 2
3 Yellow Onions
4 calf livers
3 cups milk (whole milk works best, but you aren't going to drink it)
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
Vegetable oil

Secret Ingredient - Red wine (I used Merlot)

Flour dressing for livers (can also be used to fry fish and chicken!)
2 cups All purpose flour
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp onion powder
2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp Kosher salt
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tsbp oregano
1 tbsp basil

1. Before you start cooking, thaw the livers and then place in a large bowl and cover with milk. Soak for at least an hour or two to remove the bitterness from the liver. You do not have to wash it afterwards either!

2. Slice up the onions and separate into rings, toss with sugar and a pinch of salt. Heat pan to medium high and add 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Sautee until slightly transparent. At this point, you can add the red wine and cook for another 10 minutes or until onions are browned all over and softened. Remove from heat and transfer into a bowl.

3. Drain milk from liver and coat lightly with flour dressing. In the same onion pan, dribble some vegetable oil (about 2 tbsp) or butter and melt until hot. Reduce heat to medium and lay livers in like this.

4. This is what it looks like browned. Cook until the other side is browned as well. What you want to achieve is a pinkness in the middle when cut. You do NOT want to overcook livers ^_^

5. This is what you should strive for. Slightly more underdone is okay too, as long as it isn't dripping blood ha ha!

Customer enjoying my dish heheheheh!!! The darn flash on the camera made him shut his eyes, poor dear.