Chinese tea eggs 茶叶蛋 -- great breakfast for on the go

A great beat-the-heat recipe because you can cook an
entire week's worth of breakfasts in one pot.

The first place I found these little gems mentioned, I thought the recipe book referred to them as Japanese tea eggs, but a friend from Japan says he never heard of these before.

Then I saw eggs just like them in the book Culinaria Southeast Asia: A Journey Through Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. They were called cháyè dàn (茶叶蛋 ), pronounced chah-yay dan where the marks represent rising or descending tone respectively. You could think of it like saying chah? yay! dan!

The Chinese tea eggs were prepared exactly the same way as the other cookbook had specified. So I think these really are Chinese. Not Japanese, as I had been thinking all this time.

In any case, these marble eggs have become my go-to summer breakfast. They look very elegant no? But they are so seriously simple, a child could make them. And they are a great beat-the-heat recipe. You can cook an entire week's worth of breakfast in one pot in just 20 minutes! They are Super fast! Super easy! What's not to like?

Shelby's Rainy Day Potato Chowder

Hot sauce is the secret to the
zing in this potato chowder.

Today I came home from work to find a delicious lunch of soup and cheese sandwiches awaiting me, created by my daughter, who is visiting for Christmas break. It was a gray and rainy day, but I confess the soup certainly brightened things up! That's the power of good soup. It just does something good for the soul.

You'll enjoy this dish. It's so easy to prepare and healthy and delicious to boot. A definite keeper!

Seriously Addictive Cranberry Christmas Salsa!

Warning! Super addictive salsa!
More festive Holiday Sides here
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Part of the #letslunch series. 

Have you seen the price of tomatoes in the store lately!?

Ridickerous ain't it?

Cranberries on the other hand ...

Cranberries are fresh and in season.

Cranberries are festive and feisty.

Cranberries are 48 cents a bag and will do quite nicely!

Pick up a bag, heck take two. You're gonna need a double batch of this stuff. It is seriously addictive! This salsa has a sweet-tart tang and a smoky, chipotle bang that keeps you coming back for more. One bowl ain't gonna be enough, trust me!

Turkey Faux Pho — an Asian inspired soup

There is just one problem with a batch of good broth. Those little bitty tiny bitty bits of meat on the bones! Now I belong to the waste not want not school, so I have to pick the meat off the bones and use it somehow. But what do you do with 3/4 cup or so of teeny tiny pieces of meat?

I had been experimenting a bit with making some sort of meatballs but most of my test versions fell apart, oh well! Back to the drawing board!

But this time, I turned the idea on its head a bit. Instead of a meatball, why not a wonton? This turned out quite well. Delicious, fairly easy, healthy and frugal. All the right stuff. Here's how to make it ...

Hot Chicken Salad — Roman chicken on China Romaine

Our romaine lettuce, as it happens, is a vegetable of ancient Rome. It was eaten cooked as well as raw, and believed to have medicinal properties. There's no doubt in my mind that Romaine does have medicinal properties! It's packed with vitamin A, for one thing, which is needed for good eyesight, and it has many antioxidants.

As it would happen, Romaine is also very close to a Chinese vegetable, Ei-A vegetable. More about that is explained at this delightful blog http://asiabyfrida.com/2011/10/26/easiest-chinese-stir-fry-recipe-–-romaine-lettuce/ which served as the inspiration for this little cooking experiment. That and the package of Romaine lettuce past its prime in my recently cleaned out fridge.

So having that neglected package of Romaine lettuce and a craving for some chicken diavolo ... a fusion of tastes came together in my mind ...

Bit of magic for 69 cents a pound

Chicken reminds me of a black Magician's hat. Because a chicken, like the magic hat, can provide so many meals from one small bird. Every savvy cook knows this and has an array of recipes that take full advantage of the 69 cents per pound magic whenever it appears.

Chicken stirfry, center, spiced with sage,
lemongrass and red pepper.

My boss for example buys three such chickens and cuts off the wings for her first round of endless meals. That's 12 chicken wings which can be served with a nice salad or pan-fried potatoes for a Friday night wing deal. I love this idea and have copied it a few times.

From there we depart ways a bit ...