A teaser (more to come)

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Hello everybody!
SO I have now made it to Beijing, where I have been living for the past month with my brother and his wife, Liu Lan. I am way behind on telling my stories, so don't be surprised if in the next couple of days you receive lots of 'will has posted a new blog' emails from me. This is just a short one---I took notes on one of the many wonderful meals Liu Lan has cooked for me and my bro while I have been here. Give the recipes a try! I hope you all are well.

much love
Will

PS******This meal is not as complicated as it looks!! Give it a try. Really--the whole thing from beginning to end (including cutting the veggies) took us about 1 hour.


Tonight's (Chinese) Meal:

total preparation time: 1 hour


Lima beans with pork and peppers
cook time: 15 minutes

1 ½ cups rice
2 cups dried lima beans
1/3 cup minced (small little pieces) pork
1 teaspoon salt
3-4 teaspoons peanut oil
2 spicy, long green peppers (or one regular pepper)
2 red peppers-long small ones (or one regular red pepper)

Preparation:

-dice (cut) the peppers into small pieces.
-boil water, once it is boiling put in lima beans. Boiling should stop, then when it begins to boil fully again turn heat off. Take lima beans out of water and put on plate.
-in a pan, sautee (cook) diced green peppers in peanut oil.
-after a few minutes, add minced (chopped) pork.
-once pork has changed color, add lima beans (green beans).
-let cook approximately ten more minutes for veggies to absorb meat flavor and oil.
-Eat!


Eggplant with peppers and sautéed garlic
Cook time: 15 minutes

3-4 teaspoons peanut
1 non-spicy green pepper
1 red pepper (more or less peppers as you like)
2 small eggplants, or 1 large eggplant.
5 or 6 pieces of garlic (use a lot of garlic)
3-4 teaspoons soy sauce

Preparation
-In another pan, sautee (cook) chopped garlic pieces in peanut oil until slightly brown/cooked.
-next add in slices (round and flat) of eggplant laying them on top of garlic.
-add sliced mushrooms and peppers to pan. Cook for several minutes.
-next add soy sauce.

Beef soup/dish
Cook time: 15 minutes

Butter (enough to sautee/grill the mushrooms, maybe 2cm cube)
1 carrot
a dozen mushrooms
¼-1/2 head of Chinese salad (‘head’ means ‘whole’)
1 teaspoon salt (this is not needed if cheese and beef are already salty).
Milk (as needed, maybe 1-2 cups).
Thin slices of marinated beef (12 or so).

Preparation:

-melt butter in wok or pan (about ¼-1/8 cup).
-add chopped mushrooms and carrots.
-next add chopped Chinese salad (like the Lithuanian ones). Add these second cause they cook faster. Add also one spoon salt (salt is not needed depending on how salty cheese/beef is).
-next add milk (about two cups, or however much fills to the level of the vegetables. This will be a cream sauce for the meat).
-Next add parmesan cheese (or other type of cheese you want). Let this simmer (cook/boil), reduce down. For 5-10 minutes.
-next in a separate pan, add peanut oil. Then add thin slices of marinated beef (however you want to marinate it). Grill the beef as you like it.
-add the beef to the top of the cream sauce, and douse with (pour on top) beef juice/oil.


Other
Rice ( 1 ½ cups dried rice)
your favorite beverage (i recommend beer--a great compliment to all chinese (spicy) foods).

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Photos

John and Liu Lan!
Aren't they cute......:)