And my first and failed attempt to make Parker House Rolls.

I have been eyeing the Parker House Rolls recipe from Colicchio & Sons' for quite a while when it was published in Saveur magazine few months ago. I bought all the ingredients and decided to make them for dinner. However, my dough never proofed properly and the rolls turned out dense rather than fluffy and buttery (but with more butter and salt added to the final product, I still stuffed myself until I went into a food coma).

I also came across a milk braised chicken recipe in River Cafe Cookbook. A hearty and rich braised chicken dish sounded like a winner on a snowy day. So that was my dinner - Milk Braised Chicken with Chard, and Not-So-Parker-House-Rolls.

I can hardly remember the last time I updated posterous. Having a rare 3-day off, I am going to make a rare appearance and post the latest lunch I made for Barrel.

I made a Trotter Pie, which I have been craving lately (craving a meat pie!). Ingredients for pie fillings are celery, carrots, Taiwanese sausage, and of course...trotters, which I braised for 5 hours in water with lemongrass (can hardly tell the flavor of lemongrass though). For pie dough, I use Thomas Keller's recipe from his Ad Hoc at Home. I still have a portion of pie dough left, any pies you'd like to see me make? (be creative...tired of pumpkin, pecan, blah blah blah pies)

After working in my first kitchen for more than 6 months...I have finally made a batch of gnocchi that I am fully satisfied.

Sent from my iPhone

It's not just another ordinary chili...Floral Szechuan flavor coats your mouth and lips, and gives you a mellow numbing sensation in each bite. Szechuan chili brings you to another world where ordinary ingredients are sexed-up by exotic touch and imagination.

Beet Risotto, finished with goat cheese and Parmesan cheese.

Shrimp risotto with saffron, sundried tomatoes, red peppers, and leeks.

Melanie and Peter invited me to go to Mel's parents' house in Pennsylvania for Xmas. We had hot pot for Xmas lunch, and prior to that, we opened a lot of presents! I got a nice Japanese cookbook, by Emi Kazuko, and a bottle of this season's new extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I am grateful to have great friends like Mel and Peter; they made this Xmas memorable while my family was away.

I made a Key Lime Pie (with regular limes...I admit it) for my Xmas lunch with Peter, Melanie, and her relatives. I topped the pie with meringue and pie crumbs, which gave the pie some texture in every bite.

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!

Szechuan food is one of my favorite Asian cuisines. I crave Szechuan food's bold flavor and tongue-numbing spiciness in winter especially. One of the classic Szechuan dishes is Ma Po Tofu. The dish gets its flavor from various ingredients: scallions, garlic, fermented black beans, black bean sauce, red chili (oil), soy sauce, saseme oil, and Szechuan peppercorn.

Making Ma Po Tofu is simple and quick. Use a wok (if you have one, and it's a great investment for any home cooks) or a sauteing pan, saute ground pork and season with salt. Drain the pork, and then saute blanched tofu (boil cubed tofu for few minutes in boiling water first to get rid of the raw taste), the herbs, black beans, sauce, flavored oil, and Szechuan peppercorn together. Be sure to cook with high heat and extract a lot of flavor without burning the ingredients, especially the delicate herbs. Once the ingredients are cooked, add the pork back with chicken stok (pork, beef, or veggie stock will do as well). Bring the stew back to boil, and then simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. While the ingredients are making love to each other, taste and season with salt and black pepper (a step that I still forget occasionally when I cook in the restaurant...what an important step/habit to have always!)

Does anybody have any other great Szechuan food recipes to share?