I am happy to announce the winner of our Cooking Contest.
Teoman Alemdar, with his Tender Mint Pork Loin with Vegetable Bulgar Rice and Sauteed Cherry Tomatoes.
Such a Mediterranean and healthy dish!
He sent me the a pdf file of his recipe and pictures so I’ve taken screen shots of that. Here is Teoman’s dish. Cook it!
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This last Sunday I was invited by Expression to give a short presentation about expatcucina and my cooking activities in Shanghai.
A small crowd of women gathered to list to my story. We had an animated Q&A session from which I noticed that most people are very much intimidated by the idea of opening up their fridge, grab what they have inside it and come up with a dish to serve for dinner.
Thus I had this idea of running a cooking contest here on Expatcucina.
Every month I will select a few ingredients that you will have to use into one single recipe. You can add any other ingredients you would like and make a main, or a starter or a side dish. That’s totally up to you!
Participants can email me their recipes with a picture of their final dish, from today until June 11th, then I will select one winner who will receive one free cooking class!
This month ingredients to use are:
– shallots
NOTE: this cooking contest is partially sponsored by epermarket.com – you can buy the necessary ingredients (and more) on their website, enter the org code: expatcucina and receive a free bottle of wine (only for new customers)!
Here is what I made with them, just to give you an idea!
Ingredients (serves 2):
- 350 g pork tenderloin
- 1 cup brown rice
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons red wine
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- 2 shallots, sliced thin
- 300 gr asparagus
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced or 1 tsp ginger powder
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp chopped green onion
Place the pork in the freezer for 20 minutes while you prep the rest of the ingredients. This helps make it easier to slice
When ready, slice the pork into strips
Grab 1 cup of brown rice
Put it into a pot with 2 and 1/2 cups of water and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook the rice until water is absorbed. When done, remove from heat, fluff with a spoon, and leave partially covered until ready to serve.
While the rice is cooking, prepare the veggies! Clean off the snow peas and rinse them with cold water
Grab the shallots
peeled and slice 2 of them
Cut the asparagus into 2 inch pieces
Now prepare the sauce, gather all the ingredients you need: soy sauce, red wine, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and corn starch
Whisk them together and set them aside
Heat 1 teaspoon of the canola in a large skillet. Saute pan over high heat. Add the pork and cook, stirring and turning strips
Cook until edges begin to brown and they are just cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside
Add the other teaspoon of oil to the pan, and cook the shallots until they have softened
Add the asparagus and the snow peas. Pour the water into the pan, and scrape the bottom of the pan. Saute the vegetable until asparagus and peas for about 5 min. Add the garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes and cook for another 30 seconds
Stir in the sauce and the cooked pork. Continue stirring until the sauce has thickened and the meat and vegetables look glazed
Serve immediately over rice sprinkling some green onions on top!
I will be waiting to receive many, many, many recipes!
CONTEST RULES:
1. you have to use all the ingredients assigned (see list above)
2. you can make any type of dish, from any country
3. you can add any ingredient you would like
4. email your submission to expatcucina@gmail.com from May 27th to June 11th
5. ONE single winner will be selected by me and announced on June 15th
6. the winner will receive a voucher for a free cooking class with Expatcucina (to be used before December 2014)
Love
– LittleDani
