THE REAL CHEF WOO

This recipe was one of the first recipes I posted back in December 2011! Look how terrible the photo quality is?! Even though this is 9 years old, you can see how the general tao sauce has been my go-to since the beginning of time! These delicious meatballs are perfect for potluck parties, as an appetizer or part of a complete meal! An asian twist on the traditional meatball will be a sure crowd pleaser! Meatballs: Part 1: 2lbs lean or medium ground beef 1/2 onion minced or pureed 1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced or pureed 1/2 cup panko crumbs (or breadcrumbs of your choice) Part 2: 2 eggs, beaten 2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce (VH brand) 2 tbsp ketchup  1 tsp sesame oil 1 tbsp worcestershire Dash of garlic salt Dash of onion powder Black pepper to taste White pepper to taste Salt to taste (2-3 tsp approx) Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl (or kitchenaid mixer with paddle attachment), combine all ingredients in Part 1. In a small bowl, combine all ingred...

I really enjoy making this recipe at home. It was a popular dish at my old job, and I always had extra sauce in a squeeze bottle for drizzling on steamy rice! You can decide for yourself if you want the healthy or non-healthy version by either sautéing the chicken before adding the sauce, or deep-frying the chicken first. Either way is absolutely delicious! TRCW recipe: Ingredients: Sauce 3 tbsp water 3 tbsp soy sauce 3 tbsp rice vinegar 2 tbsp grated ginger 2 cloves minced garlic 2 tsp sesame oil 1/2 tsp paprika 1 tsp sambal oelek (or ketchup for a mild sauce) 2 tsp cornstarch 3 tbsp water 1/2 cup sugar In a small bowl, whisk together the first ingredients. Set aside. In a sauce pan, bring 3 tbsp of water and 1/2 cup sugar to boil without stirring. Simmer till the mixture turns a light amber. Remove from the stove and pour in the soy mixture, being careful as it may splatter. Return saucepan back to medium heat and whisk till caramel is completely dissolved. Do not overc...

Avocado on double-toasted Ezekiel bread with spicy mayo, wasabi fumi furikake and sesame seeds I hadn't had a good avocado toast since leaving my old private chef job at the marketing company. I used to pick up Ezekiel bread for the staff to have as a breakfast option. Admittedly, I thought this was just another fad diet food, and turned my snobbish nose away from it. One day though, I reluctantly gave it a try, and was floored.  This thin, healthy AF bread was like a slice of double-toasted heaven, especially with fresh avocado smooshed all over it! I was hooked!  Fast forward to Covid-19 summer, and I'm placing my weekly Walmart curbside pickup order. I ordered a bag of avocados and it struck me that they have Ezekiel bread in their freezer section! *adds to cart* If you aren't familiar with Ezekiel bread, it is a flourless, low glycemic bread made from organically grown sprouted grains. I'm not going to start selling you this bread like I'm a nutri...

Since I finally got my hands on a large bag of yeast, I've been finding new recipes to put it to use! We are brioche bread lovers, so it only made sense to make some hamburger and sausage buns! The original recipe by The Clever Carrot was widely shared in a food inspiration group I was part of on Facebook, so obviously it was a great place to start! After my initial trial making hamburger buns, I made my own adjustments to the recipe to successfully pull off these sausage buns!    TRCW Recipe: Ingredients: 1 cup warm water 3 tbsp warm milk 2 tsp active dry yeast or instant yeast 2 1/2 tbsp sugar 1 egg, beaten 3 1/3 cups of AP flour 2 tsp salt 3 tbsp butter, softened 1 egg plus 1 tbsp of water, beaten for  egg wash sesame seeds, steak spice for topping In a small bowl, mix together water, milk, sugar and yeast. In a separate bowl, beat 1 egg. In the bowl of a stand mixer and paddle attachment, mix together flour, salt and butter till butter is the size of crumbs....

This isn't exactly the meal I thought I'd be craving during a heatwave! However, sweating in front of a barbecue in 35 degree weather was not quite my idea of a fun dinner either! Thank goodness for A/C for keeping the house cool enough to make this meal comfy and cozy! The star of this show are the mashed potatoes! If you don't know me personally, you won't know that I am legit a potato whore. I love potatoes in pretty much any way. I particularly like yellow-fleshed potatoes for their golden colour, sweetness and smooth texture. I always add sliced onions to my potatoes when they boil for a really nice flavour. Make sure you slice the onions along the equator (east to west, NOT north to south) as this will allow them to disintegrate right into the mash! If you want them to stand out, cut north to south so they keep their shape. Golden Mashed Potatoes: 6-8 medium yellow-fleshed potatoes, peeled and halved 1 small onion, halved and sliced along the equator  Milk...

I love making use of the frozen spinach puree I make when I have too much fresh spinach going wilty in my fridge. It is versatile to have on hand for sauces, soups, and our favourite fritattas.  Simply sauté the spinach in some olive oil and chopped onions. Throw it into a blender or processor and add a touch of water to help move it along. Freeze in ice cube trays, and pop out a few cubes every time you need some.  Stay tuned for more spinach recipes!

There is nothing more pandemic than baking banana bread with all those ripe bananas making fruit flies in your kitchen! I, of course, always need to do one better than a standard banana bread, right?  We had just made s'mores cookies, and while they were delicious, I needed to use up those bananas instead of adding them to the pile in my freezer. Also, between u and me, I feel they just don't give the same results after being frozen.  After a google search, I come across this Delish  recipe that seemed pretty easy. The original recipe called for sour cream, which I didn't have, so plain Greek yogurt it is! I also always cut the sugar just a bit and add slightly under what they usually call for. Just something I do normally for any dessert recipe, plus I can just imagine how sweet the topping is as well! It turned out very good! A nice moist bread with a loaded s'mores topping! Amazing! Give this recipe a try! You won't regret it! {cook.love.enjoy}...

This meal brings me back to my days working as a private chef at an online marketing firm. It was hands down the most loved rice side dish I've ever made my staff! I came across this recipe on a HIIT Facebook group and obviously jazzed it up over the years!  Check out the original  recipe   and add your own flare! I love sautéing some chopped onions in olive oil before adding the spices! It brings out the lovely aromatics and makes the rice extra special!  TRCW recipe: 1 small onion, finely chopped 2 tsp curry powder dash of ground cardamom dash of turmeric 3/4 cup canned coconut milk 1 cup water 1 cup of jasmine rice, rinsed well and drained 1-2 tsp salt to taste Saute chopped onions in olive oil till translucent. Add spices and allow them to heat through till fragrant. Add the salt, water and coconut milk and bring to a light boil. Be very careful not to let this boil over, as the coconut milk can actually start a fire! Trust me, ...

My current obsession is making fresh homemade soft pretzels! The recipe is adapted from an online recipe shared in one of my Facebook food inspiration groups. I tried it out last week and well, we basically scoffed them all down within minutes! I made regular pretzels the first time, so this time, I decided to treat Miss 5 and Miss 7 to some pretzel dogs for lunch! MAJOR PARENT WIN!  After making the original recipe, I realized it just didn't work out for me and had to make some personal adjustments.  I found kneading the dough till smooth really made a much nicer texture make your ropes 24" long to wrap around a standard hotdog 450-75F (4mins, rotate pan, 4mins) depending on your oven optional egg wash for more colour, like these pretzel dogs mandatory to reserve some dough for cinnamon sugar pretzel bites! TRCW recipe: Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 tbsp instant yeast or dry active yeast 2 3/4 cups of AP flour Dip: 3 tbsp baking s...