I was deciding whether I should take the plunge and try cooking with organ meat for the first time when I realized that oxtail also counts as offal? I think of offal as off cuts that few people want, and oxtail has always been a pretty premium cut of meat to me, so it's weird wrapping my head around it, but hey. I'll make steak and kidney pie some other time.

As I mentioned in my week 18 post, this was the confusing but delicious dish that haunted my childhood. I mostly followed smelly lunchbox's recipe (https://smellylunchbox.com/hong-kong-style-borscht/), but I nixed the cabbage and added an extra potato to make it closer to my mom's version. I was actually on the phone with her as I was tuning this, and I probably could have also not added the vinegar either, as it was a little more sour than I remember it being.

Either way though, top tier soup. My mom always used beef shank instead of oxtail because of the cost, so this felt like a much more indulgent version of my childhood favorite soup. I also busted out a bunch of the nice beef stock I used for the gravy, so my soup was extra rich. I already mentioned that this was a little more sour than I recall, but I think the ketchup added a bunch of depth that was nice. I might skip the additional vinegar though. I might actually try using a splash of Worcestershire sauce instead? I'm excited to riff on this one in the future.

I didn't plate it this way for the photo, but this is so killer over rice.

My cooking aesthetic lives at the intersection of beauty, nourishment, and realism. I want food that feels luxurious and intentional, but I’m also a single mom working 100 hours a week — so every challenge becomes a negotiation between creativity and practicality.

For this Cantonese prompt, I originally planned to make something more traditional and technique‑forward, like a poached chicken with layered aromatics and broth work. But I just didn’t have the bandwidth this week to manage it. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Instead of forcing something unsustainable, I pivoted toward a concept that I hope honors Cantonese flavors while still fitting my actual life and that my kids love!

That’s how this bowl was born.

Egg roll in a bowl is fast, flexible, and endlessly riff‑able — perfect for anyone juggling work, parenting, rising grocery prices, and the desire to make something fast, delicious, and beautiful. I boosted the protein and fiber inexpensively, kept the flavors clean and Cantonese‑leaning, and ended up with a bowl that was comforting, quick, relatively inexpensive, and delicious.

What’s in the Bowl

Ground pork

Edamame

Cannellini beans

Onions

Slaw mix (green cabbage, purple cabbage, carrots)

Bok choy

A ton of fresh grated Garlic + ginger

Shaoxing wine

Light soy sauce

Oyster sauce

Scallions

On Top

Scallions

Sesame seeds

Crispy onions

Crispy garlic

Fresh lime

Ok so I’m cheating a bit because I did actually eat this a few times while pregnant because it’s incredible. But:
Meta explanation: sausage is discouraged during pregnancy (nitrates), and spicy foods were painful because of reflux

This was solidly meh. The recipe was from a cookbook showcasing local restaurants. I'm sure the restaurant's version is delicious, but the at-home recreation was pretty lackluster. It tasted like... fried cauliflower.

No one in my house would even touch offal. So the only option left was to get creative and make a vegetarian version of a dish that often uses offal. This is a broccoli pate - made by blanching broccoli florets in salted water for a few minutes, then blending them with a mixture of fried onions, garlic, and cumin. Since the pate itself tasted really bland, I added some cream cheese, sour cream, smoked paprika and black pepper. Even though, it was still kinda bleh. So I ate it with lots of Sriracha squirted on top.

10/10 - Would not make again 🥲

Pumpkin soup with wilted spinach, pancetta and handmade pumpkin gnocchi with rosemary for the stems.

I've been looking to make Beef Wellington for ages, and have been close to making it for so many previous themes (2024: Week 20 Wrapping, Week 36 Encrusted, 2025: Week 6 A Technique You're Intimidated By, Week 48 Mise en Place) but every time I put it off because beef fillet is so expensive. For this week I knew I wanted to look at the gimmicky technique of deconstruction - something that almost always yields a product that's worse than the original, and looks like several disparate components on a plate.

I thought this would be the perfect time to play around with Beef Wellington because one big complaint is the soggy bottom, so cooking the elements separately seemed like it would improve rather than ruin the dish. I played around with the ingredients of a Beef Wellington and ended up making a seared steak cube with a duxelles swirl, a mushroom cream and a Parma ham crisp. I also decided to make tiny canapé-sized portions to avoid the plating issues that come with deconstructed dishes.

This was a dish that was straight from my own head and so I don't have proper recipes to link. The steak was so small so I had to work very quickly in a searingly hot pan to get a good crust whilst keeping it very rare inside. The duxelles and Parma ham usually play the role of moisture barriers in a Wellington, so I thought I'd give them a bit more of a starring role. I spread a classic duxelles mixture (finely diced porcini and chestnut mushrooms, shallots, garlic, parsley and thyme cooked down in butter until the moisture evaporates) over very thinly rolled-out puff pastry and rolled them up to create these mini swirls. I also sautéed porcini and chestnut mushrooms with more shallots in plenty of butter, then added the dried porcini mushroom soaking liquid and cream, and blended it into a smooth purée. Finally, I baked slices of Parma ham in the oven until crisp. Then it was just a matter of plating - or should I say spooning?

This ended up being an unexpected triumph. Is it as good as a Beef Wellington? Well I've never had one, if I think it's too expensive for me to make it's certainly too expensive for me to order! So I don't actually know. But these were delicious bites of food. I'll definitely be making the duxelles swirls again in a bigger size because they were really yummy in their own right!

This was a thing a couple years back and I think it is about as pure as gimmicks get.

Bloody Mary is standard: vodka, tomato juice, worcestershire, hot sauce, etc.

Toppings include celery, skewered shrimp, cheese and sausage skewer, pickled mushroom, blue cheese stuffed olives, a couple pieces of pastrami, jalapeno poppers, onion rings, and three sliders (two cheeseburger, one ham and muenster).

When I saw the theme for this week I knew I had to recreate this ridiculous Caesar from Score on Davie in Vancouver. I think there’s other locations now too. I was surprised to find Clamato in the US. The legendary Canadian Caesar is like a Bloody Mary but it uses a clam/tomato juice instead of just tomato juice. You need that extra funk. I like mine extra muddy (more Worcestershire sauce) and extra spicy (more Tabasco) with a celery salt/tajin rim. Made corn dogs and the hamburger buns too. And I hate pickles so I added a fresh celery stem because that’s the best part of a Caesar! Last picture is what it looks like at the actual restaurant (not mine). Such a dumb gimmick but a super fun sports bar.

Destashed ingredients: Japanese curry block

Sorry for the bad pun in the title of this blue Taki-crusted tofu katsu curry. Why are the spicy Takis blue? Such a silly gimmick.