Mango and Blueberry Yogurt Popsicles

中文菜谱：

芒果蓝莓酸奶棒冰

Houston has been known for its long and hot and sticky summer.  How do I prepare myself for it?  The answer is popsicles and ice cream! O(∩_∩)O~

Mango is a stable fruit down here in the south.  It is very juicy, creamy and sweet when ripe.  I love putting mango into drinks and desserts.  Not only the bright yellow color looks great and cheerful, more importantly it tastes fruity and awesome! 

Ingredients：

1/2 cup Greek honey yogurt
2/3 cup blueberry jam
1 large/ or 2 medium ripe mangoes
water as needed

Directions：

Peel the mangoes, and dice the fresh.  Add to vitamix along with some water.  Blend on high speed for about 10 to 15 seconds.

Add a couple teaspoons blueberry jam to ice popsicle mold, followed by Greek honey yogurt and mango puree.  Add more blueberry jam and yogurt on top.

Cover with popsicle’s lid and insert popsicle sticks

Freeze for 4 to 6 hours or until firm. 

To unmold the popsicles, just dip the mold in warm water for 10 seconds.  And then they shall be easily removed from mold. 

Here you go.  Here are some most beautiful and tasty popsicles ready to be eaten O(∩_∩)O~

Mango Orange Smoothie

中文菜谱： 芒果甜橙smoothie

Summer in Texas comes a lot earlier and faster than I thought.  The temperature bumps up from seventies to eighties, and then to nineties in merely a couple weeks.  It looks like we are going to enjoy all kinds of icy drinks for a really long time.

Mango and orange go really great together.  The combination is refreshing and very tropical-like.  

Ingredients：

1 ripe ataulfo mango
1 sweet orange
1/2 cup ice cubes
water as needed
1 to 2 teaspoons honey (optional)

Directions：

Peel mango and orange.  Cut into small cubes.

Add mango and orange, along with ice and water, to Vitamix  

The fruits are super sweet this time, so I leave out the honey.

Turn on Vitamix.  Blend on high speed until smoothie is smooth and silky.

Pour into a tall glass 

You have a glass of 100% pure fruit smoothie and 100% deliciousness!  O(∩_∩)O~

Chocolate Covered Figs with Chocolate Ganache

中文菜谱：

香醇甜糯的巧克力无花果

I was inspired by an episode of Unique Sweets on Cooking Channel to make these chocolate covered figs.  I had never thought about pairing figs and chocolate together before until I saw that episode about chocolate.  Figs and chocolate make such a great couple in flavors and texture!

Figs are very sweet and a tiny bit chewy and gooey while dark chocolate is fruity, earthy, bitter and nutty.  They complete each other in such a perfect way that makes each bit like an explosion of flavors in your mouth. 

Ingredients：

1/4 cup chopped 100% cacao chocolate (for chocolate ganache filling)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon coffee rum liqueur
8 to 10 dried but soft figs
1/2 cup chopped 100% cacao chocolate (for dipping)
3 to 4 tablespoons honey (use more if you like sweeter taste)

Directions：

Try to pick soft and large dried figs for this dessert.  Otherwise, it would be very difficult to fill figs with chocolate ganache.  

I bought mine from Central Market in Houston.  

Besides the golden soft figs, I also bought my 100% cacao chocolate there too.  They have Valrhona chocolate from 40% cacao all the way up to 100%.

Heat the heavy cream in a double boiler or in microwave oven until it gets very hot but not yet boiling.  Add to chopped chocolate.  Whisk until chocolate melts.  Add coffee liqueur and 1 to 2 tablespoons honey. 

Whisk until chocolate ganache is silky and smooth.  Cover with lid and refrigerate for a couple hours.

Spoon the chilled chocolate ganache to a piping bag.  Fill the figs with as much chocolate ganache as possible.

Melt the remaining chocolate along with 1 to 2 tablespoons honey together in a double boiler. 

Quickly dip each fig in melted chocolate.  Shake off excessive chocolate and set them on a board lined with plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for an hour until the chocolate inside and out are all set.

Bon Appetite！ O(∩_∩)O~

You don’t have to use 100% cacao dark chocolate here.  Any dark chocolate with more than 60% cacao would be perfect for figs. 

Sichuan Style Pickled Chili Peppers and Chicken Feet

中文菜谱：

泡椒凤爪

The NBA games between Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors are going on!  We instantly transform into coach potatoes when the game starts.  Plus cold beers and good snacks make the game night more fun!  O(∩_∩)O~

Our favorite snacks for game night are chicken wings, popcorns, roasted peanuts, roasted sun flower seeds, hot and spicy duck necks, and pickled chicken feet.  Some of them sound exotic and bizarre?  Not at all!  They are all widely popular in Asian countries for a really long time.  You have to try them yourselves to see how tasty they can be.

For chicken feet boiling：

2 packages of chicken feet (weighs about 4 lbs; sold in Asian grocery stores)
1 to 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1 large piece of ginger root, smashed
3 to 4 star anises
1 teaspoon Sichuan pepper corns
1 black cardamom pod, smashed
4 to 5 cloves
3 to 4 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried ginger
a handful of dried red chili peppers, cut into pieces

For pickling：

1 bowl of Sichuan style pickled chili peppers
1 cup of pickle juice
2 to 3 cups of icy water
granulated sugar to taste
rice vinegar to taste
sea salt to taste

Directions：

I make my own Sichuan style pickled peppers from scratch.  They taste better when they are homemade together with a variety of vegetables and spices.  But you can always find them available in Asian grocery stores.

Finely chop the peppers and set aside for later use.

Add star anises, Sichuan peppercorns, cardamom, dried ginger, cloves, bay leaves, chili peppers to a piece of coffee filter paper.  Wrap and tie it up to be a spice bag.

Rinse chicken feet under running water.  Remove nails with a sharp knife or a pair of kitchen scissors.

Add to a soup pot, along with water, spice bag, ginger root and rice cooking wine. 

Cook over high heat until the water boils.  Reduce to medium heat and continue to cook for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Discard the spice bag and ginger.  Rinse chicken feet under running water again for a few minutes.

With a sharp cleaver, cut each chicken into halves. 

Add chicken feet to a large bowl, along with pickle juice, vinegar, sea salt, sugar, icy water and chopped pickled peppers. 

Mix well with a large spoon.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Just like regular pickles, it will take a couple days for pickled chicken feet to taste best.   

Remember to stir the chicken once in a while so that every chicken foot will be pickled and seasoned more evenly.

Don’t forget it will take a couple days to pickle.  Feel free to make them ahead of time.  The longer they sit in the fridge, the better the flavors will be. 

I buy some beers made in Czech from Central Market.  They taste mild and smooth, just like a regular American beer.

Interested in more Sichuan style pickles?  Here are some more：

Stir-fried Sichuan Style Pickled String Beans and Ground Pork

SICHUAN STYLE PICKLED JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE

SICHUAN PICKLED VEGETABLE AND MINCED PORK

Grilled Asparagus Wrapped in Bacon

中文菜谱：

烤培根芦笋卷

If you love to shop at local farmers’ markets like I do, you would agree with me that asparagus is a messenger for spring.  It is earliest vegetable coming out of the ground.

 When I was living back in Michigan, winter was really cold and long.  We had to wait until May when it finally warmed up.  And asparagus is always the first seasonal vegetable appearing at farmers’ markets, followed by strawberries in June. 

Asparagus can be cooked in so many ways that I can never get tired of it.  One of my favorite ways is to grill with bacon.  Oh, yes, bacon makes everything so much better! O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients：

1 bunch asparagus
1 package of bacon (1 lb)
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Directions：

Try to pick the asparagus that is short and thick with tender and juicy texture.

Remove the tough bottom by bending each asparagus near its bottom until it snaps. Discard the tough bottom parts.    

Wrap each asparagus with one slice of bacon.  Secure both ends with bamboo toothpicks. 

I also wrap the bacon slices around some enokitake mushrooms and garlic chives. 

Preheat grill to 400F/ 204C

Quickly brush the griddle with some oil.  Add bacon-wrapped vegetables.

Excessive dripping fat from bacons may cause the grill to flare up.  Keep a close eye on the grill.  Flip them frequently if necessary to prevent burning or over cooking. 

Sprinkle salt and black pepper on top while grilling.

Bacon turns amazingly golden brown.  The vegetables are ready.

You can also bake asparagus in the oven with bacon.  But I think grilling is a better way because it adds extra smoky flavors that cannot be produced in a regular oven.