England

England (#2) Cauliflower Cheese

I found this wonderful recipe by luck after buying cauliflower on sale for 48 cents a pound.  I googled for recipes and found this one on YouTube by British chef, Rich Harris on Waitrose TV.   This is a classic gratin recipe served during cold winters.  The cauliflower florets are boiled until slightly tender, then arranged in a casserole dish and topped with a creamy mixture of butter, flour, milk, cheese and Dijon.  It’s then topped with a gratin made of fresh bread crumbs, melted butter and parmesan cheese that’s been whizzed in a food processor.  Bake for about 30 minutes and enjoy this hearty and healthy comfort food dish. 

China

China (#1) Jiaozi (Chinese Dumplings/Potstickers)

I love dumplings and always order them at Asian restaurants and buy them frozen at Asian markets or Trader Joe's.  Since today is the Chinese New Year (year of the monkey), and dumplings are traditionally eaten during the new year's celebrations, I decided to try my hand at making them from scratch.  As it turns out, they are so easy to make.  I searched on-line and found a lot of recipes and demonstrations on YouTube.  I settled on a recipe from chinesefood.about.com which is a mixture of ground pork, Napa cabbage, scallions, ginger, soy sauce, Shaohsing rice wine, and toasted sesame oil.  I made a dipping sauce of soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil.  There's a saying that a Chinese new year without dumplings is like a day without sunshine.