Two Penny Chinese

It seems that going out to eat at a nice restaurant with friends is a rare occurrence these days. Let me clarify that. Nice, as in full service, not rushed, and finer dining. Not a compressed lunch date at a fast casual place, or a food court, or chain restaurant with my toddlers.

I was curious about Two Penny. My general perception of authentic Chinese restaurants is that the food is good, but the service is very subpar (read rude) if one doesn’t speak the language. Now before you get on your high horse and criticize me for my politically incorrect point of view, let me say this. I am Cantonese by heritage; and I do speak the language reasonably unwell enough to be spoken to in English when I was in Hong Kong. It’s refreshing to have good Chinese food with much better service.

I ordered jasmine tea to go with my meal. The tea service was quite fancy. It was steeped in a wine pitcher, strained into another wine pitcher and finally poured into a tea cup. I loved the hand selected tea as I could really taste the flavour of the jasmine flowers.

I’m not a fan of traditional dim sum. It’s mostly greasy with this its-still-sitting-in-my-bloated-stomach-hours-later-feeling. But I like the idea of dim sum, and the steamed dishes. We started off with a traditional soup dumpling and some char siu bao (steamed BBQ pork buns). I like traditional and I was happy that it was prepared that way. They were both very tasty.

Our next course was beef and broccoli. This is not your ho-hum Chinese takeout dish. The beef is Wagyu brisket. Melt in my mouth good.

The drunken fish was a nice twist on the traditional steamed fish. Less oily, but retaining the freshness of the spring onions with citrus undertones. Very elegant. The rice did a nice job of soaking up the sauce.

A little arm twisting was required to try an additional dim sum dish. The crispy mushroom dumplings had a subtle flavour which were perfect on their own. However, the accompanying truffle mayo was overwhelming. It might have been nice if it  was paired with a stronger dumpling.

I found that all the dim sum options were portioned well for three people. I don’t know if that was intentional, but with three in our party it worked out really well.

Even more arm twisting was required to try the dessert course, a mandarin creamsicle as we were stuffed from the previous courses. It was built on three layers. I only had the one bite so I couldn’t truly appreciate all the tastes. I did however, enjoy the cardamom meringue.

I would love to try more of their dishes.

Jasmine tea
xiao long bao
xiao long bao
Steamed BBQ Buns
Steamed BBQ Buns
Drunken Fish with Beef and Broccoli
Drunken Fish with Beef and Broccoli
Crispy Mushroom Dumplings
Crispy Mushroom Dumplings
Mandarin Creamsicle
Mandarin Creamsicle

Two Penny Chinese Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Chili Cranberry Meatballs for the Instant Pot or Crock Pot

I needed some inspiration for some snacks for my New Year’s Eve party. Meatballs in the slow cooker have always been my go to. What could be better than cranberries with a kick of chili? I raided my cupboards and found some spicy chili jelly and leftover cranberries. Then there was that huge bottle of sweet chili sauce my Mom bought last summer sitting in the fridge door. Condiments never spoil, right? Also, I always keep a pack of frozen meatballs in my freezer. This time I used Compliments lean turkey meatballs.

I used my Google-fu and found a recipe that I could use, although it was for a crock pot. Who needs a crock pot when I have two Instant Pots? One for the meatballs and the other for the hot mulled cider. We’re good to go!

The meatballs were a hit. A wall of spice tempered by the tartness of the cranberries. I used the fresh cranberries with 1/3 cup of sugar. Next time, I will dial down the sugar as I prefer my cranberries a little tart. I should have added the leftover orange juice from making orange zested cranberry sauce earlier in the week. That would have been divine.

Chili cranberry meatballs in the Instant Pot
Chili cranberry meatballs in the Instant Pot

Print Recipe
Chili Cranberry Meatballs
Prep Time 10-15 minutes
Cook Time 5-20 minutes attended
Passive Time 10-360 minutes
Servings
people as an appetizer
Ingredients
Main
Choice of:
Or
Prep Time 10-15 minutes
Cook Time 5-20 minutes attended
Passive Time 10-360 minutes
Servings
people as an appetizer
Ingredients
Main
Choice of:
Or
Instructions
Instant Pot
  1. Add 1 cup water to the Instant Pot.
  2. Place a steamer basket in the Instant Pot and add frozen meatballs.
  3. Pressure cook for 5 minutes on high pressure.
  4. * When timer beeps, release the pressure with a quick pressure release.
  5. Remove steamer basket and meatballs from the Instant Pot.
Sauce (Instant Pot)
  1. Discard cooking water and add all the sauce ingredients to the cooking pot.
  2. If using cranberries, select Sauté and cook, stirring frequently, until cranberries have fallen apart and the sauce is heated through.
  3. If using cranberry sauce only, cook until sauce is combined and heated through. Add heated meatballs and stir to combine.
  4. Switch to keep warm setting until ready to serve.
  5. *It will take about 15 minutes to reach pressure in addition to the 5 minutes cook time. Also 10-15 minutes to cook cranberries
Crock Pot
  1. Add all the sauce ingredients to a sauce pan or stove top friendly crock pot liner.
  2. Cook on stove top, stirring frequently, until cranberries have fallen apart and the sauce is heated through.
  3. Add meatballs and stir to coat them well. Put in crock pot on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 2-2 1/2 hours.
Recipe Notes

Adapted from: https://spicysouthernkitchen.com/crock-pot-cranberry-meatballs-2/

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