Beef Canape

Previously, I used a few pieces of slow cooked braised beef ribs, pulled, shredded, and stuffed them in my crazy tortilla turned chinese sesame pancake wraps. Check out the flickr slideshow here. Now what to do with the leftover beef ? It's still sitting in the freezer as I recollect that I also have some old bread ! Hmm..perhaps some cute bite-sized hor d'oeuvres filled with deli style beef, sliced, and served with a dollop of ginger and green onion dressing and some cut five spiced tofu. Yes, I'm bringing some tempting Canapes with beef to Melecotte at the Deep Freeze Challenge table.

Speaking of Deep Freeze, how do you store cooked meats safely ?
To store in the refrigerator, you simply wrap the cooked meat in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, or store it in a tightly covered container and use within two to three days. For frozen storage, wrap the cooked meat in heavy duty aluminum foil or freezer paper and use within two to three months. If you may have kept the food refrigerated for too long, throw it out. Never taste food that looks or smells strange to see if you can still use it.

How about defrosting cooked meats ?
You can thaw the wrapped cooked meat in the refrigerator. Allow about 24 hours for every 5 pounds. Of course, small packages of cooked meat will take less time to thaw and can be taken out of the freezer and put into the refrigerator at a later time. Once the cooked meat is thawed, plan to eat them within 3 to 4 days.

Reheating cooked meats ?
Frozen cooked meats may be eaten cold or reheated. Only reheat previously cooked meats once. Be sure they are thoroughly reheated to a temperature of 165F or until boiling hot. If you've no time to thaw your cooked meats, alternatively, you can just reheat them in the oven.

Back to the canapes..the recipe is easy. To build a good canape, simply top them with your favorite ingredients, and and these eye-catching hor d'oeuvres will never be seen again. With all the layers of flavors, these bite-sized canapes are inviting enough for a simple breakfast or as an appetizing snack to sizzle up any cocktail party.

So, are you ready to dig into some canape while lounging on your favorite canape ? (Canape also means couch in French)

Beef Canape Recipe

Ingredients :
thin slices of beef ( For Braised Beef Ribs recipe, read below Recap )
ginger and green onion dressing
stripped chinese five spiced tofu
sliced cucumber
cut bread slices for canape base ( For instructions, read below Recap )

How to prepare the Ginger and Green Onion Dressing :
Ingredients :
minced ginger
chopped green onions
sesame oil

Method :

1) Mix ginger and green onions in sesame oil and allow to marinate for at least an hour to bring out the flavor. Store in an air-tight glass jar and refrigerate until ready for use.

Other Use Of Ginger And Green Onion Dressing :
Check out tigerfish latest invention, Soba Noodles With Mushrooms.

Recap :




Braised Beef Short Ribs






Bread for canape base and use of chinese five spice tofu







Cookbook : Canapes And Hor d'oeuvres

Tortilla Wraps For Sesame Pancake

There are a few variations of Asian/Chinese wraps that I crave for from time to time. The Nanjing crispy scallion pancake, Taiwanese pancake beef roll ups, and the ever popular Chinese Moo Shu wrap. I guess today was one of those days when I needed an escape from rice and noodles, so some kinda pancake wrap it is. Well I certainly didn't really feel like going out and getting something too greasy nor did I feel like rolling out some pancake dough. Maybe a simple chinese pancake recipe to conveniently finish up some leftover tortilla wraps will suffice.

For the health-conscious, there are actually low-carb tortilla skins (which are the kind I used). This isn't exactly the traditional way of making Asian pancake wraps, but after a light coating of egg white wash and toasted seame seeds and a quick pan-fry, I definitely find myself preferring this over the thick chinese sesame pancake bread or the fragile thin Moo Shu wraps.

As for the filling, I went with some slow-cooked boneless beef short ribs. Slow cooking or braising enhances the exchange of flavors between the meat and the sauce and is a great way to soften the meat too, especially if you are using a tougher cut. For this chinese-style braised beef recipe, I used aromatic spices like cloves, cinnamon and star anise. They are the traditional spices used in stewing beef flank ("Ngau Lam") chinese-style. If you have leftovers, you can even serve it with egg noodles. Braised beef flank with egg noodles is actually quite a popular Hong Kong dish. Lastly, I added a few szechuan peppercorns for that extra punch.

Well, that's it for my chi-mex chinese burrito gone wild episode. If you have any great wrap and roll ideas, don't hesitate to share them. Check out my other Tex-Mex tortilla wrap here.

P/S : Messing around with my wraps on flickr. Enjoy !:)

Melting Wok : Sesame Pancake With Beef Wrap.

Braised Beef Recipe

Ingredients :
4 pc beef short ribs ( boneless )
1 star anise seed
2 cloves
5 szechuan peppercorns
sliced ginger
shredded green onions
3/4 cups low-sodium soy sauce
1 cup water
2 tbsp ABC sweet soy sauce
3 pc rock sugar ( or regular sugar )
salt and white pepper to taste
shaoxing cooking wine
sesame oil

Method :
1) Dump all the ingredients into a crock pot and slow cook for 4 hours or until tender.

Pulled Beef Wraps

Ingredients :
Mission brand low carb tortilla wraps
toasted sesame seeds
egg white wash

Method :

1) Lightly coat one side of the tortilla wraps with egg white wash. Sprinkle some toasted sesame on it and pan-fry on that side until light golden brown.

2) Shred or pull beef and wrap.

Note : Hmm .. I have some leftover braised beef from this recipe. How should I make use of them ?

Big Burger Ballyhoo 2007 : Tofu Burger

I'm not really a hamburger connoisseur, but I've suddenly developed an urge to sink my teeth into a big, juicy burger with all the works after watching "Pink Panther", particularly this scene. Could this be a conspiracy by the hamburger industry to transform us into hamburger - chomping - special - sauce - dripping - from - the - sides - of - our - mouths junkies ?!? Haha ... no I'm not crazy. You know how when you have a song stuck in repeat mode in your head? In my case, it was that scene as I was whipping up this recipe for the Big Burger Ballyhoo 2007. Even as I was grinding the ingredients for my entry, I swear I could hear the food processor yelling, "I WOULD LIKE A HAMBURGER !" with a french accent each time I hit the pulse button.

For this burger recipe, I'll be going the m00-friendly route with a healthy hand-crafted meatless Tofu Burger variation. Instead of regular tofu, I've chosen to use Chinese baked tofu. They have a firmer texture than regular tofu and are available in two varieties: plain white pressed tofu and seasoned brown five-spice tofu. I went with the latter. Its convenient and I can use the leftovers in a cucumber tofu salad or a snack later.

As for the buns, I cut a few slices of multi-grain bread into 3-1/2 inch rounds, pan-fried them lightly with a dash of olive oil and added a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. Yummy ... I'm definitely saving some to make canapes later :)

Back to the tofu burgers, I have decided to pan-fry them but by all means, go crazy with the barbeque. These tofu burgers are definitely grill-friendly. I browned a couple of these tofu patties to a golden perfection, and smothered over some pan-fried crunchy sweet sugar snap peas, sliced button mushrooms and fresh cut cucumbers. I don't know if there's a magic dressing for a tofu burger, but a spread of my Spicy Pesto Sauce mixed with honey dijon mustard and my taste buds are ready to do the Conga :)


Tofu Burger Recipe ( for 2 patties )

Ingredients :
4 blocks baked five-spice tofu squares, cut into 4 quarters
( each block is 2x2 inches and 1/2 an inch thick )
1 tbsp chopped green onions
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp Sweet Chili Sauce ( I used a Thai brand : Mae Ploy )
2/3 cups dry breadcrumbs
1 egg
2 tsp sesame oil
black pepper, salt and sugar to taste

Method :
1) Blend all ingredients ( except breadcrumbs ) in a food processor until a smooth texture is formed.
2) Pour mixture into a large bowl. Add breadcrumbs and mix well.
3) Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Shape mixture into 2 patties. Freeze the tofu patties for 5 minutes.
4) Place patties on skillet or grill ( oiled ) and cook for 3 minutes on each side until browned.

Burger Buns :
4 slices of multi-grain bread, cut into 3-1/2 inch rounds, lightly pan-fried with a dash of olive oil with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds ( or use regular burger buns )

Burger Dressing :
Spicy Pesto Sauce
Honey Dijon Mustard
Paprika
Cayenne Pepper

Note : Regular firm tofu may be substituted if five-spice tofu is unavailable. An alternative to sweet chili sauce is Asian Teriyaki Glaze or Sauce. It will then be a Teriyaki Tofu Burger :)