Malisa's Food Blog

Green Chiles

2011-11-20T20:24:00.007-07:00

I'm still on break from blogging bit the wedding planning has slowed down somewhat. I have most of my vendors booked. Now we just have to wait until it gets closer to finalize everything else. I'm still quite busy at work but last weekend I actually didn't work so I drove out to west Denver and bought some green chiles. (I made it just in time because green chile season is nearing an end.)

I bought two bushels. I usually buy a few at a time during green chile season and when they’re out of season, I usually cook with poblanos, jalapenos or anaheims. I bought a pork loin the other day and decided to cook it with chiles. I had a few anaheims in the fridge so I roasted them in a cast iron skillet.

I thought they tasted fine but not as flavorful as when I make it with green chiles. I even added a roasted jalapeno. (This last batch of jalapenos I roasted was extremely hot.) I then came across an ad for the chili guys. I live in Colorado. Green chile is roasted at Whole Food and about every farmers market. Why am I not buying it by the bushel? Folks from out of state have it mailed to them at outrageous prices. I decided it was time to make the trek and pick up some green chiles.

I guess I didn’t realize how much I was committing to when I said two bushels. I justified my purchase of two bushels for $25 with the fact that without the coupon, a bushel started at $23 for some of the varieties. With the coupon I could choose two bushels of any variety.

I had the chiles roasted for me. Some people prefer to take them home and do their own roasting but I didn't feel like watching over a barbecue grill. Plus chile vendors have a really cool roaster designed especially for roasting chiles. One the drive home, the chiles steam in the bag and are ready to peel shortly after you get home. Wait a little bit since they get pretty hot. Remember to invest in some plastic gloves. I never keep plastic gloves around the house but I remember seeing a few pairs in my cake decorating kit.

I asked for a mild chile. I said maybe Big Jims. (Honestly Big Jims are the only variety I am familiar with.) The nice man suggested the Hatch Mediums. I also saw Hatch Milds but they only had about half a bushel left so I went ahead with the Hatch Mediums. The varieties were arranged from mildest to hottest. The Hatch Mediums were only one variety away from the mildest. It looks like most people opt for the extra spicy varieties such as the Sandia.

I’m not sure what exact variety he sold me because I don’t believe Hatch Medium is a variety. Hatch is the name of the region most green chiles are grown in. The mediums are probably a mix of NuMex Joe E. Parker, NuMex 6-4, and NuMex Big Jims because I noticed the chiles in the batch were slightly different shapes and sizes. The shop also had the Dynamite variety that is locally grown in Brighton, Colorado. I’m not sure if the Dynamite variety is mild or hot.

I am a wimp when it comes to spiciness. I love the flavor but I hate the heat. That’s why I love poblanos so much. I know they are consistently mild without any surprises. As I was peeling and seeding the chiles, I noticed a few in the batch were extra spicy. You can tell when a chile is spicy when you cut into it and starts to burn your eyes and nostrils. As I cleaned those, I made sure I removed all seeds and membranes and rinsed out the capsaicin really well.

Some people prefer to simply freeze the peppers as is but I don’t like having to wait for my chiles to thaw so that I can peel and seed them. Plus leaving the seeds in, allows for the capsaicin to penetrate the flesh of the chiles, making them spicier. I don’t mind some skin so I peel as much off as possible but leave the stubborn pieces on. I don’t like the seeds mainly because of the heat so I remove as much as possible along with the membranes. I don’t go too crazy about removing everything because with two bushels, I could be working all day. I finished two bushels in about three hours. After processing, I lost about a third of the volume. I didn’t take the time to pre-chop the chiles. Chopping is pretty easy to do right before adding to a recipe.

I bagged them up and froze them flat. (I should have used smaller bags.) I just pulled out a bag today to add to the crock pot salsa chicken I'm making tomorrow. I also took a chile out and sliced it into thirds lengthwise to use in the three breakfast burritos I will be eating for breakfast this week.

The burritos were inspired by an Einstein Bros. breakfast wrap called the Spicy Elmo but I opted to use turkey sausage instead of bacon and I skipped the cream cheese. I cooked up three eggs, topped them with shredded cheese and then heated up some precooked turkey breakfast sausage, put them on top of the eggs and then heated the green chiles to remove the excess moisture and put that on top. The filling is in one glass snapware container. In the morning, all I have to do is grab a multi-grain wrap and fill it with a third of the filling and heat in the microwave at work. I made enough for three breakfasts this week. I really like doing make ahead breakfasts because sometimes I get tired of eating Greek yogurt all the time.

Yes, that's a crock pot int he picture. I told the bf that I will probably be working late the next few months so either he does the cooking or we get a crock pot.

The roasted chiles were placed in this bag. It started leaking in the trunk.

Currently on Break...

2011-06-17T20:39:00.003-06:00

...from food blogging

I'm getting married!!! So I've been busy with wedding planning. I thought I would be able to do both but this wedding planning is taking a lot longer than I expected. First we had to find a venue. We looked into places in San Diego and then places in Denver. After having a little panic attack because the thought of hosting a wedding for 500-800 guests almost threw me over the edge, we decided on a much smaller wedding (200 guests) in Las Vegas.

So far I'm ahead of schedule with a lot of the planning. I have two dresses hanging in my closet, three pairs of shoes, jewelry, veil, the venue, photographer, dj, cake designer, officiant...the save the dates came in today. I'm knee deep in invitation samples. I still have a lot to do but I feel really good about my progress.

Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash and Roasted Poblanos

2011-01-16T21:05:00.005-07:00

The inspiration from this stew came from one of my coworkers. She loves roasted poblanos and uses them in many recipes. She makes a stew with lean ground chicken, acorn squash, and roasted poblanos. I texted her one day and asked her what sesasoning she used for her stew. She texted back and said she varied the spices depending on her mood. Some days it's herbs de provence and other days it's jerk seasoning and rosemary. Sometimes she adds parmesan cheese and other days she uses white wine vinegar and tobasco.

I went ahead and I used whatever I found in my spice drawer. I didn't have ground chicken so I just chopped up some chicken breast.

Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash and Roasted Poblanos

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound chicken breast (fine-medium dice) or 1 pound ground chicken
1 clove garlic
1 shallot, diced
1 tablespoon Jerk Seasoning
1 tablespoon Essence of Emeril
black pepper, to taste
sea salt, to taste
1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
water, to cover
1 teaspoon Better Than Buillion
1 to 2 poblanos, roasted and diced

1. Heat olive oil in a medium dutch oven over medium heat. Saute chicken breast, garlic, and shallots. Cook until chicken is lightly golden.
2. Add jerk seasoning, Essence of Emeril, black pepper and salt.
3. Add butternut squash, water and Better Than Buillion. Bring to a boil and cook until squash is soft.
4. Add poblanos and return to a boil.

Homemade Yogurt -- Two Methods

2011-01-16T12:08:00.032-07:00

I've been experimenting with homemade yogurt over the last few months. This is a rather strange post for me because although I do like yogurt and I eat it. I don't think I can say that I LOVE it. I go through periods where I feel like I should eat yogurt because it's good for me. I mainly purchased Yogplait because I preferred it over Dannon and then I started eating Activia because of the digestive health claims and the non-traditional prune flavor. I tried other brands like Brown Cow cream top and I gagged. I hated the taste of Horizon and Mountain High had a strange grainy texture.

I knew I should be eating a different brand that wasn't loaded with high fructose corn syrup and various thickeners but they were all pretty expensive. It wasn't really the price that deterred me from purchasing the other yogurts. It was the fact that I only had a like relationship with yogurt so it wasn't really worth it.

On a whim, I tried making my own yogurt. I remember trying this a long long time ago with milk and an acidophilus pill. I think the milk was either too hot or not hot enough. I know I didn't use a thermometer. It never turned into yogurt so I tossed it.

I went out and bought a half gallon of Horizon whole milk and a four pack of Stonyfield YoBaby yogurt. I used a quart mason jar and an Igloo insulated water jug and four hours later, I had the yummiest yogurt I had ever tasted. It was a bit whey-y and a bit separated but I drained off the whey and mixed in a spoonful of homemade jam and drizzled a bit of local Colorado honey and tasted pure heaven.

So over the last several months, I've been making yogurt at least once at week (sometime as much as 4 times week), trying out different milk and different yogurt starter cultures. So far, I think whole milk with Yogourmet or Activia yogurt make the best texture yogurt. The Stonyfield yogurt as starter is delicious but a bit grainy.

So what do you need to do before getting started? You need to decide on the method, milk, and starter to use.

First off, you will need to decide on whether or not to purchase a yogurt maker like one of these things.

or use something you have around the house like this insulated beverage jug.

I started off making yogurt using the jug and then I went out and bought a yogurt maker for the convenience. Some people report great results using a crock pot but I find that most crock pots run a little too hot even on the keep warm setting. There are also other methods using an electric blanket, an oven, a warm place abov the fridge...but all these methods require way too much brain damage for me.

Next you want to choose your milk. I tried various brands of milk and with various fat percentages. I find whole milk the most decadent but 2% also produced nicely thickened yogurt. I prefer using milk from a local dairy. It comes in reusable glass bottles. Some people use skim milk and add powdered milk. I tried a batch with powdered milk but the taste really bothers me so I make mine without.

Finally, it's time to experiment with yogurt starters. Using plain yogurt from the grocery store is the easiest way. I think Stonyfield Yobaby is a great starter with lots of strains of good bacteria. But for the best texture, I prefer either Activia or Yogourmet freeze dried starter. Amazon sells three boxes with 6 envelopes in each box for about $13.

The method described below makes the yummiest, thickest, and creamiest yogurt ever. It doesn’t need any thickeners such as pectin, gelatin, or starch. It doesn’t require any straining and is still as thick as Greek yogurt. This makes a half gallon of yogurt. Double or halve the recipe as necessary for your needs.

Equipment Needed:
Double Boiler or large bowl and pot
Thermomether
2 quart mason jar (if using insulated cooler) or 2.5 to 3 quart glass or stoneware bowl (if using yogurt maker)
ladle
insulated water jug or cooler
or
yogurt maker (incubator)

Ingredients:
2 quarts milk (whole or 2%)
2 packets (10 grams) Yogourmet yogurt starter or 8 ounces plain yogurt

Method:
- Heat milk in a double boiler to 185 degrees and keep the temp between 185 and 190 degrees for 30 minutes. This denatures and unravels the whey protein, resulting in a thicker and less whey-y yogurt.

- Cool milk to 110 degrees. Pour yogurt starter into a small clean bowl and thoroughly mix with a small amount of milk. (I find that if using yogurt as starter, it's easier to mix the yogurt directly into the milk and use an immersion blender to thoroughly mix. This helps create a smoother yogurt.) Add mixture to milk.

- Incubate at 100 to 120 degrees for 4 to 12 hours. Once yogurt is thicken, cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours.

- You can go ahead and strain the yogurt and use the whey for something else but I find it unnecessary. My yogurt comes out as thick as Greek yogurt without any straining.

Incubation Methods:
You can use any incubation method that works for you. I started with an igloo water jug. I filled a quart mason jar with the yogurt mixture and filled the water jug with 120 degree tap water. I monitored the temp the entire time and after 4 hours, the water temp was at 104 degrees. You will have to add more hot water if you plan on incubating for longer than 4 hours. I find that with the water bath method, my yogurt thickens up faster. Maybe there's just better heat circulation. I bought a yogurt maker to make life easier. The yogurt maker kept the heat constant for the entire duration of the process.

Method in pictures:

Heat milk in a double boiler to 185 degrees.

Keep milk between 185 to 190 degrees for 30 minutes.

Cool milk to 110 degrees and then add yogurt starter.

Incubate yogurt for 4 to 12 hours between 100 and 120 degrees. This shows temp of water after 4 hours using an insulated water jug.

Refrigerate until cool.

...and then spoon into individual containers.

Yogurt Toppings and Mix Ins:
I applaud those who are able to eat plain yogurt without any sweeteners or flavorings. I mix in a spoonful of homemade jam and drizzle some local Colorado honey on top. This is how I eat yogurt and it’s yummy. The bf likes to eat his topped with fruity granola.

Yogurt Maker/Machine:
I read reviews on the Waring Pro yogurt maker, a Yogurt maker that retails for approx. $90 but read that many people bought it at Tuesday Morning for $29. I decided to drive over to Tuesday Morning and check it out. They had three in stock. I bought it and made a batch of yogurt to test it out. The nice thing about this yogurt maker is that it comes with six 8-ounce containers and two 16-ounce containers. Not all the containers will fit in the machine at once but it's nice to have options. You can even use your own mason jars, bowls or whatever will fit in the machine. I like the flexibility of not being stuck using only the provided containers. It is basically just a device that keeps the temp between 110 to 120 degrees. (I took the temp by sticking the probe of my thermometer in the machine and it registered exactly 120 degrees..)

It is convenient but totally unnecessary. The $8 igloo water jug worked great. I think the water bath did a great job of circulating the heat.

If you’re looking at purchasing a yogurt maker, I really like the large canister type machines that make 1 or 2 quarts in a removable bucket. The Yogourmet maker uses a water bath system. I think water does a great job of incubating yogurt. If you want the flexibility of incubating one large batch of yogurt or small individual containers of yogurt, find a machine with a flexible jar configuration like the Waring Pro or the Yolife machines. Both machines come with individual containers with the option of using your own container. Some people use 4 quart mason jars in the machine but I prefer using one large glass or stoneware bowl.

Yogurt Starter Cultures:
I started with Stonyfield YoBaby whole milk yogurt as my starter. I was very happy with the results. Stonyfield yogurt contains the most bacteria strains I’ve been able to find in any commercial yogurt. 365 brand plain yogurt was also good. The smoothest and most custardy yogurts were made using Activia yogurt and Yogourmet freeze-dried starter. I use Yogourmet mostly now because I like the flavor and texture. The only downside is that the regular Yogourmet that I’m able to get doesn’t include l. casei bacteria. Yogourmet does make a starter with l. casei but I haven’t tried it yet.

Some people save a little bit of yogurt from a previous batch to culture the next batch. I don’t like to take chances of introducing the wrong bacteria. Good milk is not cheap and the number of hours involved to incubate a batch of yogurt is too numerous to take chances. Plus yogurt starter is not all that expensive. Yogourmet is a bit expensive but not by much. It works out to $.83 per one-quart batch for me. Stonyfield Yobaby is about $.67 and Activia is about $.50 when I buy the four packs. It could be less if I bought the larger container and froze the yogurt in an ice cube tray. I don’t do this because the savings are not worth the headache. If I bought the 32 ounce tub of Stonyfield plain, I would get approximately 8 starters and at $3.99 per tub, the starter would cost $.50 per batch. I haven’t priced out Activia large tubs but I would guess that a price per batch is probably slightly less. And of course I could use Dannon plain as the starter.

My goal here is not to make the cheapest yogurt because with just the two of us, cooking is usually not about quantity. If we wanted to make economically friendly yogurt, we could use powdered milk and any plain yogurt. Many people swear that yogurt made with powdered milk tastes pretty good but I cannot stand the flavor.

Freezing Starter:
Yogurt bacteria do survive freezing but I’m not sure if every strain survives and how much of it survives. I used previously frozen Stonyfield YoBaby and it took longer to set than the batch made with fresh yogurt. The finished yogurt was also slightly slimy. It wasn’t very slimy but I could definitely tell a difference as I spooned the yogurt into individual containers. The sliminess went away after about a day.

Milk:
Whole milk make the thickest and creamiest yogurt. I tried cream top milk but the texture of the separated milk fat bothered me. The first time I made yogurt, I used Horizon brand whole milk. Be careful when you buy organic milk because a lot of brands ultra-pasteurize their milk. I hear ultra-pasteurized milk does not work very well for yogurt milking. Horizon sells both regularly pasteurized and ultra-pasteurized organic milk. I know a lot of people who will not buy organic milk because of this. Raw milk would be ideal but it seems like you have to be part of an underground cult in order to purchase raw milk. So the next best thing for me is to buy milk from the local dairies. Grocery store milk is perfectly acceptable.

I heat my milk to 185 degrees and keep it between 185 and 190 degrees for 30 minutes. This helps to denature and unravel the whey proteins. I know some yogurt makers only heat to 110 or heat to 185 and immediately cool. I find that keeping it at 185 degrees for 30 minutes, helps with the whey separation issue. When I didn’t heat my milk, I ended up pouring off or straining the whey from the yogurt so one quart of milk only made about 3 cups of yogurt.

The easiest way to heat milk is in a double boiler (or big bowl over a pot of simmering water). I've tried microwaving in a quart-sized glass measuring cup and heating in a thick bottom enamel pot with mixed results. It's hard to sustain the 185 degrees for 20 minutes using a microwave and I've managed to scorch milk in the Le Creuset.

Yogurt Containers:
I dislike most single serve yogurt containers that come with most yogurt machines.
So most of the time I culture the yogurt in a large bowl stoneware or pyrex dish and then spoon into single serve containers when the yogurt is cool. I could just leave it in the bowl but there is a convenience factor with single serve portions. I spoon them into cute glass containers. The containers are by Gurallar Artcraft, a glass company based in Turkey. I bought 16 of them from Ross. They hold 9.25 ounces each but I usually leave room for jam and other mix-ins.

Since the bf’s prefers his batch of yogurt with gelatin added, I make his batch separately and I culture it directly in Ball freezer jelly containers. Many folks like using the Ball and Kerr 8 ounce glass jelly jars (and I have about 5 dozen of these jars at any given time) but they are a bit too bulky and unless you purchase the one-piece plastic lids, the two piece lids are annoying to use

Commercial Yogurt:
If you're too lazy to make your own yogurt, I think Stonyfield is a great brand if you are looking for what us Americans think of as yogurt. I highly recommend another brand called Noosa. I think Noosa is slightly better than Fage. The only problem I have with Noosa is the powdered milk.

Noosa yoghurt is a local yoghurt made using Morning Fresh Dairy milk and an Australian culture. I liked it but I didn't care for the powdered milk. It was thick but not nearly as creamy as the yogurt that I make. They add cream, which makes it really decadent. Below is the ingredient list. I thought that in order to be labeled yoghurt or yogurt, it must contain both Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus salivarius ssp. thermophilus
Noosa Yoghurt: Milk, sugar, cream, skim milk powder, honey, pectin, milk proteins live cultures: acidophilus, bifidus, l. casei

Batch of yogurt cultured in a wide mouth quart size canning jar:

A batch of chilled yogurt. You can see the whey leak out as I spooned the yogurt. You can strained your yogurt to remove the whey but I just stir it back in. The yogurt is still thick enough for me even with the whey stirred back in.

Yogurt spooned into individual serving containers.

One the left is the bf's yogurt made with Activia as the starter and 1 package of gelatin to set the yogurt. On the right are my containers of yogurt.

Dutch Oven Pulled Pork

2011-01-12T19:09:00.014-07:00

Sometimes when I go through my old food photos and recipe drafts, I end up finding something I meant to blog about but never got around to doing it. Below is one such recipe. I made this back in August.

I don't pretend to be the expert on barbecue. I grew up in San Diego and I'm Asian. Despite these facts, I think my pulled pork ain't bad. Well...at the very least I can tell you what I do and do not like in my limited barbecue experience. I like KC style barbecue sauces...a little sweet but not overly sweet like Sweet Baby Rays.

The barbecue sauce that I've been using lately is Head Country. It hails from Oklahoma. And yes, that's a 1 gallon jug of the sauce. One of my coworkers is from Oklahoma. She gave me a sample. I loved it so much, I ended up getting a gallon. Before I discovered Head, I really like the sauce from a local barbecue joint called Brothers BBQ. It is a nice thick sauce with a lot of celery seed flavor. Another sauce I buy is Famous Dave's Rich & Sassy. The other sauce in the squeeze bottle is a North Carolina vinegar sauce. The recipe is at the end of this post.

I'm using a dutch oven but I've successfully made this using a slow cooker. The next time I cook pork shoulder, I'm going to try a Hawaiian style Kalua pork using my stash of Alaea sea salt.

Dutch Oven Pulled Pork

6 to 8 pound Boston Butt or Pork Shoulder (mine was 6.38 pounds)
4 cups water
4 ounces pickling salt
2/3 cups molasses
2 bay leaves
your favorite rub (I'm using Savory Spice Shop's Red Rocks Hickory Smoke Seasoning)
your favorite barbecue and vinegar sauces (recipe below)
buns

1. Combine water, pickling salt, molasses, and bay leaves. Pour over pork and brine at least 8 hours or overnight. (Some people like to use extra large ziploc bags. My pork shoulder fit perfectly into one of my plastic beverage pitchers.)

2. Remove pork from brine and pat dry. Cover the entire pork shoulder with rub.

3. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

4. Heat a large dutch oven on stove. Sear the pork shoulder on all sides. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and place in preheated oven. Roast for 5 to 6 hours or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Let meat rest about 30 minutes to 1 hour and then shred using two forks.

5. Moisten meat with some of drippings. Serve with barbecue and vinegar sauces.

Recipe in Photos:

Brine:

Rub:

Sear:

Roast:

Shred:

Moisten:

North Carolina Pulled Pork Vinegar Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ketchup
1 teaspoon Texas Pete’s Hot Sauce
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:
Heat everything together to dissolve sugar. Store and serve in a squeeze bottle.

Apple Pie Filling

2010-11-17T21:06:00.010-07:00

Be prepared for a series of posts about my adventures in canning. I've spent the summer and part of fall learning about water bath canning.

One of my coworkers had an abundance of apples so after spending a weekend making apple butter and apple jelly, she left me a box of apples for pie filling. After doing some research, I discovered that I needed something called ClearJel in order to safely can the apples. ClearJel is difficult to find in stores so I ordered it.

My order took longer than expected to ship. By the time I got the Clear Jel, the apples from my coworker were pretty mealy so I abandoned the whole canning pie filling idea and made apple sauce instead. It was a great idea because the apples were perfect for apple sauce. I used some for pie and the flavor was too one dimensional. I prefer apple pie made with a combination of different types of apples.

After making apple sauce, I went out and bought apples for the pie filling. I used the trusty Granny Smiths and combined them with some Braeburns and Jonathans. I wished we had Gravenstein, Spy, Macoun, and other great pie apples out here but we don't so I had to make do. We do get Honey Crisps and Pink Lady apples but those are my eating fresh varieties.

Here are the apples from my coworker. I don't know the name of these apples but I assume they're probably a variety that does well in Colorado.

I used one of those nifty apple peeler/slicer/corer thingamajig to save time. I wish I was able to adjust the thickness of the slices because I wanted them to be a little thicker.

The peels and cores from when I made apple sauce and when I made apple pie filling. I boiled them down and made pectin. The first batch with the mealy apples made a poor pectin.

This recipe uses a product called Clear Jel sold under the brand name ClearJel. Clear Jel is a modified corn starch and is the only USDA recommended thickener for canned pie fillings.

Clear Jel is used in almost all commercially prepared fruit pie fillings and used by many home canners who care about safe canning. I’m a safe canner. (I’m HACCP certified. It was part of the food safety and sanitation class we were required to take.) I know many people swear that they have been using the same recipe for 30 years without any ill effects. But I don’t want to be the person who poisoned or killed a friend or family member with strawberry jam.

The reason why it is not safe to use regular cornstarch or tapioca starch is because the thickeners thicken the product while it is being heat processed and therefore inhibiting the product from reaching the correct temp to kill the bacteria. I never cared for cornstarch as a thickener because to me, it is considered an inferior thickener. It produces clear sauces that break down with prolonged (ten minutes) heating. That’s why gravies separate and become watery when reheated. Tapioca and arrowroot are better thickeners but also not safe for canning.

I pretty much followed the recipe on this website. I think they know a thing or two about canning. http://www.pickyourown.org/applepiefilling.htm

The only thing I did differently was use all water instead of apple juice and used a baking spice mix from my local spice shop supplemented with some freshly grated nutmeg instead of the list of spices they used. I also tripled the amount so instead of the 7 quarts, I got about 20 quarts and one half liter. (I'm mixing quarts and liters because I used a Bormioli Rocco Quattro Staglioni jar because I didn't have enough apples to fill a full quart.)

Canned Apple Pie Filling:
5 gallons of peeled, cored and sliced apples (use a variety of apples)
9 cups sugar
6 tablespoons baking spice mix
freshly grated nutmeg
22.5 cups water (just over 5 and a half quarts)
4 cups Clear Jel (I used slightly less because I didn't want the filling to be too thick)
1 1/2 cups bottled lemon juice (use more or less depending on the tartness of your apples)

1. Wash and sterilize jars.
2. Prep apples by washing, peeling, coring, and slicing. Soak apples in a mixture of water and citric acid or lemon juice.
3. Blanch apples in batches for about one minute. Reserve blanching water and use for making your filling liquid.
4. Make the filling liquid by combing water, sugar, spices. Heat the liquid. When it comes to a boil, combine Clear Jel with lemon juice to make a slurry. Add the slurry to the boiling liquid. Boil one minute and remove from heat.
5. Fill the sterilized jars by alternating layers of apples and liquid. (I tried filling with apples and then with liquid. It doesn't work. The liquid is thick enough that it doesn't really seep nicely.) Pack the jars tighly with apples. Who wants a mostly thickened liquid pie? Leave about half an inch to and inch of space. There will be some expansion while processing. Remove air bubbles. Clean rims (and in my case outsides of jars) and place lids and bands.
6. Process in a water bath for 25 minutes. (I processed for an additional 10 minutes because I live 5,280 feet above sea level.)

What I learned:

- Triple batch of apple pie filling takes a long time and should not be tackled on a school (work) night. I was up until 1 AM and making pie filling and baking two cakes for class.

- Wide mouth jars are my friend.

- Italian canning jars are strange, especially when you fll them too much. The lid almost exploded off. It was nicely rounded when I took it out of the canner. I thought I would have to use the jar right away because there was no way it would properly seal. I woke up in the morning and the lid was nicely flat and sucked back in and it sealed. Yay!

- Large quart size jars probably will not all seal right away like little pints and half pints. I went to bed thinking that after canning over a hundred jars of jam, this was my first batch with less than 100% sealing success rate. (The unsealed jars were Kerr brand. All of the Ball jars sealed within half an hour.) I woke up in the morning and the two remaining jars were sealed. Yay for maintaing a 100% sealing success rate!

I think the jars of apple pie filling are just gorgeous. The apple slices are nicely suspended in the Clear Jel -- No floating apple pieces above a layer of sauce. The Clear Jel is supposed to last indefinitely so I have a number 10 can of it plus a smaller can of instant Clear Jel. I'm excited to try a fresh strawberry pie using instant Clear Jel.

Cake Classes

2010-11-17T19:52:00.017-07:00

I completed my second cake class a few weeks ago. (Actually, I didn't make it to the last class because I came down with a respiratory infection.) I took the first class at a specialty cake supply store but decided that $80 was a bit too much for a cake decorating class. The second course, the fondant and gum paste course, was $20 at Hobby Lobby.

A few cakes from my the first course: Decorating Basics.

This one was the cake we had to bake for the second class. We were supposed to learn about torting, icing and some basic piping. The icing we used was a special recipe that the instructor came up with. She called it Helen's "buttercream" for fondant look cakes. The icing tastes like Crisco and powdered sugar but does create a very smooth icing that mimics the smooth look of fondant. I'm not posting pictures of the cupcakes for the third class. We learned shaggy mums and were supposed to decorate the cupcakes with them. I thought they looked like cousin It.

This was the final cake. I made the roses the weekend before class using royal icing. I made over 50 roses that weekend for practice. When I showed up to class, the instructor watched me make my roses and said I did them the wrong way. I was supposed to go counter-clockwise instead of clockwise. Well...after 50+ roses done the wrong way, my brain cannot be re-trained to do them the correct way. (This cake sat on my counter for about five days before I took the picture. The icing does not rot or melt. Gross!)

The shell border that we learned in class.

Cake for the Fondant & Gum Paste Course:

And this cake was for my fondant and gum paste course. We only had to bake one cake for the last class. Weeks 1 through 3 were all about learning to make the various gum paste flowers and designs. I made the cake, covered it with fondant and then stuck all the flowers in place. My plan was to give it the finishing touches in class. I got sick so I sent the cake to class with my friend. She finished it with a rope border and covered up the fondant cracks with cut outs using the calyx cutter. (She took the two photos below and posted them of facebook. I never actually got to see the cake because it was served to my coworkers.)

It took about two weeks to complete all the flowers. I didn't work on them each night. (I had to take a break when I sliced my thumb with my Asian vegetable peeler.) I spent about an hour or two each night making the flowers. I made a total of 25 mums and averaged about 5 mums per night. Some nights were spent making and coloring the gum paste and fondant.

It took a lot of tools. I took over the kitchen table. I covered it with a vinyl tablecloth and had tools everywhere.

Some Recipes:

Buttercream for Fondant Look Cakes
2 pounds powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons meringue powder
1 teaspoon popcorn salt
1 cup Crisco shortening
1/3 to ½ cup water (lukewarm)
2 teaspoons vanilla or flavoring of your choice

Combine powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt together. Add remaining ingredients and mix at low to medium speed until smooth. Enjoy!

Royal Icing for Piping
(Stiff consistency)
yield: 3 cups

3 level tablespoons Meringue Powder
1 lb. icing sugar
5 tablespoons lukewarm water

Make sure all utensils are grease free (containers to store the icing, too!)

Place icing sugar and Meringue Powder in a bowl. Stir or mix at low speed until blended. Add water and mix 7 to 10 minutes at low-medium speed until icing loses its sheen. To prevent drying, be sure to cover the bowl with a damp cloth while working with icing.

Store in an airtight grease-free container (stainless steel bowls with airtight lid are ideal) for up to 2 weeks (room temperature). To reuse, beat on low to restore original texture.

Classic Rolled Fondant
yield: 2 lb.
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water* * or, 3 tablespoons cold water, and
1/2 cup Glucose* * 1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon Glycerin
2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
2 lbs. Icing sugar
2 to 3 drops liquid food colour and flavoring, as desired

• Combine gelatin and cold water; let stand until thick.
• Place gelatin mixture in top of double boiler and heat until dissolved.
• Add glucose and glycerin, mix well.
• Stir in shortening and just before completely melted, remove from heat, add flavoring and colour.
• Mixture should cool until lukewarm.
• Next, place 1 lb. Icing sugar in a bowl and make a well.
• Pour the lukewarm gelatin mixture into the well and stir with a wooden spoon, mixing in sugar and adding more, a little at a time, until stickiness disappears.
• Knead in remaining sugar.
• Knead until the fondant is smooth, pliable and does not stick to hands.
• If fondant is too soft, add more sugar; if too stiff, add water (a drop at a time).
• Use fondant immediately, or follow the direction for storing rolled fondant.

Storing Rolled Fondant:
Rolled Fondant dries out very quickly, so keep it covered and store properly and promptly.
If stored properly (and promptly), it will keep up to 1 month R room temperature.

1. Roll it into smooth ball, disc, or log shape.
2. Coat it with solid white vegetable shortening.
3. Wrap with plastic food storage wrap (microwaveable), twice.
4. Wrap with aluminium foil.
5. If freezing, put it in a resealable plastic food storage bag or airtight container.

Gum Paste
This recipe is the one on the back of the Wilton can of Gum-Tex (with minor modifications to make life easier). The texture of is really nice. I like to mix the gum paste with equal parts fondant when making flowers or bows.

1 tablespoon Wilton Gum-Tex
4 cups (1 pound) sifted powdered sugar
1 heaping tablesspoon Glucose or light corn syrup
4 tablespoons warm water

In a large bowl, combine Gum-Tex with 3 cups of powdered sugar. Make a well in the center and set aside. Combine water and glucose in a glass measuring cup. Heat in microwave on high for about 30 seconds. until mixture is clear. Pour into well of sugar and mix until well blended. Slowly knead in the last cup of powdered sugar.

Wrap with plastic wrap and place in airtight container. Allow gum paste to rest at least 8 hours. Keep well wrapped. Knead in shortening to keep gum paste soft and pliable.

Vegas

2010-10-07T19:15:00.037-06:00

I'm so behind with my blogging. I've been taking cake decorating classes for the past month and a half and I was out of town three times in the last four weeks.

The bf and I decided to take a short trip to Vegas around Labor Day. We booked a room at one of the new hotels in the new City Center. We were originally looking at Aria but then we found Vdara -- a smoke-free hotel. I'm allergic to cigarette smoke and since we wanted a quiet Vegas trip, it was the perfect retreat from the busy strip.

The hotel does not have a parking garage so we had to valet the car each time we took the car. The other option was to park in the Bellagio parking lot and take the short walk back.

This is a view from the Rio parking lot. Vdara is the shiny, crescent shaped building to the right of the Bellagio.

This is the covered walkway connecting Vdara to Bellagio.

Here's a view from our room of the escalator connecting the walkway to Bellagio.

Here's a view of the Bellagio pools from our room.

View of the Bellagio fountains at night. The fountain shows were as frequent as every 15 minutes at certain times of the day and we could hear the fountains from our room. I sorta like the crazy squiggly lines as a result of my unsteady hands.

Vdara charges a $15 per day resort fee that includes two bottles of water, internet and pool access. The pool area is now considered a dangerous zone. Here's a sample headline: "Vdara Hotel 'Death Rays' burns tourist." Apparently, the crescent shape of the glass hotel concentrates solar rays in the pool area. The media is referring to this as "death rays" while MGM is prefer to call it a "solar convergence phenomenon."

Here's the entrance to the hotel room.

The tiny kitchen is to the right.

Continue walking and you reach the little living area.

A flatscreen in the living area. There's another one just like it on the other side of the panel. I think it's kinda stupid. Who would have both tv on at the same time without a real wall dividing up the room?

Here's the second tv in the bed"room" area.

I really like the simple decor and the dark wood furniture.

The bathroom wasn't huge.

I loved the Aveda products.

This feature is pretty cool. It controlled the shades.

Here's with no shade.

Here's with the sheer shade drawn.

And the "blackout" shades drawn.

I stopped by the Bouchon right outside of the Venetian Theatre after picking up our Phantom tickets.

I think mine tastes a lot better.

The bf has never eaten at a buffet in Vegas before so I purchased a 24 hour buffet pass. We ate at the Planet Hollywood buffet (I think it was called Spices) after watching Phantom. I forgot to take a picture. The buffet is alright. I don't think I will go back. There are better buffets out there.

Breakfast buffet at Paris. The Paris buffet is a joke. I don't know who rated this as one of the top buffets. We had dinner there during one of our trips out to celebrate my future sis in law's graduation from law school. We hated the food and the service was terrible. I decided to give the buffet a second chance. The French are great with breakfast foods right? Wrong. The food was still terrible and the service was just a tad better. We even paid extra to cut the three hour line.

Lunch at the Lago buffet at Caesar's Palace. I think this buffet is one of Harrah's hidden gems. We had lunch at Lago so the selection wasn't extensive but the quality was great. The service was superb and the best part was probably the lack of a crowd. I tried a little bit of everything but my favorite were the corn, the crab legs and the mashed potatoes. Crab legs are served at almost all the buffets but these tasted fresh.

Our last buffet was at the Carnival World Buffet at the Rio hotel. The Carnival buffet was huge. The food area was the size of a football field. The food was not too bad considering the thousand or so items offered.

They have a nice gelato bar. I think this is the coconut gelato.

If you want to eat at a buffet off the strip, I recommend Lao-Thai Kitchen. They are located at:
1000 N Nellis Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89110-5318
(702) 453-9188
I think the lunch buffet was $6.95 and although the selection wasn't vast, the quality of the food was superb. The food was made in very small batches so it was very fresh and it tasted like the cook put a little bit of his/her heart into each dish. I had the pad thai, larb, fried chicken wing, sticky rice, papaya salad, oyster sauce napa cabbage, and tom kha gai soup. The papaya salad was made very gringo style but still had great flavor.

Another favorite off-strip places to eat is at Hue Thai on Spring Mountain Road. I really wanted Lee's Sandwiches but they were still not opened. They were supposed to have their grand opening in the Summer of 2010. Maybe next time. I ordered a grilled chicken banh mi and a pork flower roll plate.

And a random picture taken at the Encore hotel. I love the color combination at Encore.

The two pictures below were taken at the Crab Hut in San Diego.

I promise to post a recipe next time.

Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Cupcakes (Altitude Adjusted) with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

2010-09-28T19:19:00.020-06:00

I haven't been posting much lately. September has been a crazy month. I've been out of town three times in the last month. I hate airports =(

The recipe below is the result of about two and a half months of experimenting. I've been tinkering with this since July. The last batch I made was on September 18. I'm finally satisfied with the results. I'll probably try it as a cake this coming weekend and use it for my final project for my final cake decorating class. (Don't tell the instructor that I'm not using her doctored cake mix recipe.)

It is my favorite cupcake recipe at the moment. Cake recipes with buttermilk always give me the most trouble but I was able to make it work. The texture is not quite as pudding-like as the original recipe but it makes beautiful slightly domed cupcakes. Top it with swiss meringue buttercream and it is cupcake heaven.

Barefoot Contessa Chocolate Cupcake (Adjusted for Altitude)

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups minus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 ¾ cups sugar
¾ cups dutch cocoa powder (Valrhona, Guittard Cocoa Rouge or Droste)
2 teaspoons baking soda
scant teaspoon baking powder
scant teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
½ cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with paper liners. Fill each well halfway with batter. Makes approximately 36 cupcakes.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream for Cupcakes

Makes about 9 cups, enough for about 28 cupcakes (The recipe says 28 cupcakes but I was able to frost all 36 cupcakes with extra. Maybe I'm a little stingy with my frosting.)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups sugar
10 large egg whites
4 cups (8 sticks or 2 pounds) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Place sugar and egg whites in the heat-proof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, and whisk until sugar has dissolved and egg whites are hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Test by rubbing the mixture between your fingers; it should feel completely smooth.

Transfer bowl to mixer stand. Using the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until mixture has cooled completely and formed stiff and glossy peaks, about 10 minutes.

Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated after each addition. Don't worry if the buttercream appears curdled after all the butter has been added; it will become smooth again with continued beating. Add vanilla, and beat just until combined.

Switch to the paddle attachment, and beat on the lowest speed to eliminate any air pockets, about 5 minutes. If using buttercream within several hours, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature in a cool environment. Or transfer to an airtight container, and store in the refrigerator, up to 3 days. Before using, bring buttercream to room temperature, and beat on the lowest speed with the paddle attachment until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Original recipe - creates a moist, pudding-like cake with sunken centers.

Adjusted recipe but too much flour - It has great flavor and the texture was not bad but not as moist as the original recipe. The crackled tops indicate too much flour.

Perfected recipe - This is the recipe posted. The crowns are perfect and the cake is moist.

Frosting the Cupcakes - I experimented with two different tips. The huge 16" bag on the left holds a ton of frosting. I am also using a 12" disposal bag. I like to use cups to hold my bags when I fill them. These Rockies souveneir cups are perfect.

Tips: Wilton 1M (Open Star (it's bent so it looks more like a closed star)), Wilton 2D (Drop Flower), and Ateco 847 (Closed Star). For the cupcakes, I used the Wilton 2D and the Ateco 847.

This was frosted with an Ateco 847. The large closed star tip produced large soft serve swirls.

My favorite tip for frosting cupcakes is the Wilton 2D. It produces nice ruffled swirls.

Ingredient/Equipment Notes:

Cocoa: I like the darker dutch processed cocoa for this cupcake. I tried the recipe with Valrhona, Guittard Cocoa Rouge, and Droste. I think they all worked really well. Use your favorite premium dutch cocoa.

Buttermilk: I tried both reduced fat and full fat cultured buttermilk and it did not make a difference.

Eggs: This is a Barefoot Contessa recipe. She likes to bake using extra large instead of the typical large egg. I'm not sure when she made the switch but I read her notes in one of her cookbooks.

Coffee: I brew Lion Coffee's Toasted Coconut coffee but I'm sure any brand will do. I just happen to drink Lion brand at home.

Cupcake pans: Buy the heaviest pans you can afford. I usually use heavy aluminum for my cakes but since I line my cupcake pans, I bought the cheaper heavy nonstick at Sur la Table.

Cupcake liners: I like cute cupcake liners and have a whole collection of them but most of the time (and especially for dark cupcakes), I reach for the plain unbleached grease-proof liners.

Half or 2/3 full? I used to fill my cupcake tins 2/3 full but found that I get much better results filling them half full.

Kellie's Chicken Khao Pune (Laotian Curry Noodles)

2010-09-09T15:19:00.018-06:00

I was craving some Laotian Khao Pune (curry noodles) so I texted my friend Kellie to see if she could send me her “recipe.” She texted me back and said she will email it later.

I was craving these noodles after eating at the Lao Thai Kitchen restaurant in La Vegas. They serve the noodles on certain days. (The day we were there was not one of the days.)

I’ve never made this before. I thought it was really complicated so I’ve never attempted it. Kellie hasn’t made this for me in years so I decided it was time I learned how to make it myself.

It is one of those easy dishes for serving at a party with guests arriving at random times. It’s like pho or Khao Pek. Unfortunately, I’ve never attended an Asian party serving these curry noodles. We have a version that is served at all of the Lue parties. It uses the same noodles and toppings but the sauce doesn’t have curry or coconut milk. It has boiled pork innards, coagulated pork blood and a fermented soybean pork sauce.

The recipe below is pretty much Kellie’s version. It’s different from the version that my other Laotian friend Anna makes. Anna and her family make a fish version and it’s a little more pungent. The differences are probably regional because Anna’s family is from the south and Kellie’s family is from the north.

I use a whole chicken because it’s what Kellie uses. I think it makes a more flavorful broth. Some people simply use boneless breasts and augment with chicken broth or bouillon but I think the flavor payoff is well worth the extra step of having to pull the chicken from the bones. Kellie sometimes also adds chicken feet but not always. It’s another way to get a more flavorful and richer broth. I found it at the grocery store so decided to use it. (Chicken feet is also my secret ingredient for making the perfect matzo ball soup broth.)

As for the toppings, it is really pretty flexible. I think cabbage, cilantro, and green onions are a must. The ideal bean sprout for this dish is the shorter bean sprout but the store only had the regular mung bean sprout and the larger soybean sprouts. I was fortunate enough to find banana blossoms.

I season everything well enough that adding additional fish sauce or any other condiment is not necessary.

Laotian Khao Pune looks very similar to Malaysian Laksa noodles and Thai Khanom Jeen Namya noodles. I’m not sure how similar they are because I’ve never had laksa or khanom jeen namya.

Kellie's Chicken Khao Pune (Laotian Curry Noodles)

Ingredients for Sauce:
1 whole chicken
1 pound chicken feet (optional)
1 stalk lemon grass
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 knob dried galanga root
water to cover
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 shallot, finely diced
1 13.5 ounce can Chaokoh coconut milk
1 4 ounce can Maesri brand Namya Noodle Curry Paste
2 tablespoons red curry paste (or use about ¼ cup red curry and exclude the namya curry paste)
MSG, to taste
Fish sauce, to taste
1 disk palm sugar (or about 2 tablespoons regular sugar)

Ingredients for Serving:
Rice vermicelli noodles, boiled
Cabbage, shredded
Bean sprouts
Banana blossom, sliced (optional)
Long beans, finely sliced
Cilantro, chopped
Green onions, sliced

1. Cut up a whole chicken into pieces and add to a large stockpot. Add chicken feet (if using) lemon grass, lime leaves and galanga root to stockpot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer until chicken is cooked. Remove chicken pieces and allow to cool. Continue to simmer broth.
2. When chicken is cool enough to handle, separate out the chicken meat, discarding skin and bones. Pound chicken meat with a mortar and pestle until chicken is shredded. (I think you can use a potato masher is you do not own a mortar and pestle. The goal is a finely shredded/mashed chicken without getting it too pasty.) Set mashed chicken aside.
3. In a medium saucepan, sauté shallots in some oil. Add curry pastes and sauté a few minutes until fragrant. Add coconut milk and sauté a few minutes longer. (Kellie doesn’t think that this step is necessary but I went ahead and followed it since it’s the way Kellie’s mom taught her to make the sauce.)
4. Add the curry coconut milk to the simmering broth. Add the reserved mashed chicken, MSG, fish sauce, and palm sugar. Return to a simmer until sugar is melted.

Maesri brand namya sauce, coconut milk, an assortment of rice vermicelli noodles and banana blossom.

To Serve:
1. Boil the rice vermicelli. Soak the noodles in cold water and create little bundles of noodles by grabbing a handful and laying it down on a colander. (This makes it easier for everyone to grab a bundle or two when assembling their bowls so make small serving size bundles.)
2. Layer the noodles and the various topping in a large “pho” bowl and ladle boiling sauce on top. Enjoy.

Plate of vegetable toppings:

Layer noodles and vegetable toppings in a large "pho" bowl.

Ladle hot sauce over noodles.

Ingredient/Brand Notes:

Coconut Milk - I stocky my pantry with three brands of coconut milk/cream. For savory dishes I use either Chaokoh or Mae Ploy. I used to exclusively use Mae Ploy for savory dishes but decided on trying the Chaokoh because it is highly recommended by many Thai cooks. I use Savoy brand coconut cream for desserts.

Curry Paste - I'm using the Maesri brand Namya paste because I happen to find it when I was in the curry paste aisle. I usually buy Mae Ploy brand curry pastes in the plastic tubs but my mom has recently introduced me to the little cans of Maesri and I find the flavors very nice. The namya paste is not necessary. Most people simply use red curry paste. I think the Namya paste has fish, coconut milk and krachai root in addition to the red curry paste. I don't think it is flavorful enough so I added red curry paste.

Vermicelli Noodles - I keep several different brands of noodles. Most rice vermicelli noodles will do. They vary in thickness from thin to spaghetti thickness. I used the Three Ladies brand today.

Fish Sauce - I used the more pungent Three Crabs brand fish sauce. Most of the time I am fine with either Squid or Tiparos brands.

Palm Sugar - Palm sugar is less sweet and more complex than regular refined sugar. My mom loves using it for her desserts. I use it for my curries. I buy them in medium round disks and each disk is approximately 2 tablespoons. They also come in larger rounds and smaller disks. My mom buys the larger rounds but I think they're a pain in the a** to break off.

Lo Mai Gai or Nuo Mi Ji (Chicken and Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf)

2010-08-22T21:00:00.001-06:00

I’m happy to announce that my cake phase is over…for now. I'm taking a break from baking cakes at least until I start my cake decorating classes in a few weeks. I've move on to the food in parcels phase. To start off this phase, I made Lo Mai Gai or Nuo Mi Ji. I think food wrapped in leaves deserve their own little category.

I don’t usually get to eat Lo Mai Gai except for when we go out for dim sum. If I had to choose only one item to eat at dim sum, this is it. I can sit there and eat an entire parcel all by myself. I usually do not because I always feel bad about eating the entire thing. That's why we always order two or three.

A few years ago, I went to dim sum with a bunch of girls. We then went to the Asian grocery store near the dim sum restaurant. My friend asked me if I could help her find all of the ingredients to make Lo Mai Gai at home. Asian food is complicated in the sense that most Westerners do not possess the necessary equipment or ingredients at home. This dish requires at least one if not two different types of steamers. I’ve been able to get away with just one steamer but it took some experimenting to successfully cook sticky rice without a sticky rice steamer.

I prefer a higher proportion of rice to meat so if you like more meat than rice, decrease the amount of rice to two cups and the broth to one cup. I prefer my rice to not be mushy so I use less broth than other recipes I've seen. You can also change the proportion of types of protein. I like using boneless chicken thighs without any char sui because I never really have Chinese barbecued pork around the house. I think the best part of the filling is the Chinese sausage so I use a little more than what is usually found inside your typical dim sum parcel. You can also add diced shrimp if you’re feeling it. I don’t like the smell of shiitake mushrooms so I rinse them really well and use a measly four mushrooms for the 8 packets. Use more if shitakes are your thing. Asian food is very forgiving. Adjust the proportions to your tastes.

Chicken and Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf (Lo Mai Gai)

Ingredients:

4 dried lotus leaves

3 cups sweet glutinous rice, soaked 6 hours or overnight
1 tablespoons oil
1 ½ cups chicken stock (or 1 ½ cups water with 1 ½ teaspoons Better Than Bouillon)
1 teaspoon sugar

1 lb chicken, diced into small pieces
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon mushroom soy sauce
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
msg, to taste
2 tablespoon Chinese rice wine (Shaoxing) or dry sherry
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon sugar
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon peanut oil

3 Chinese sausages (Lop Chong), thinly sliced
1 shallot, finely diced
¼ pound char sui (Chinese BBQ pork), diced.
4 dried Shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
¼ cup of water
1 green onion, sliced

6 hours before – Soak the rice:
• Rinse the rice several times and cover with water. Set aside at least 6 hours or overnight.

One hour before – Soak the lotus leaves:
• Soak the lotus leaves in hot water.

Steam the rice:
• Drain the soaked rice in a colander.

• Prepare a sticky rice steamer. Like this: http://www.templeofthai.com/food/sticky_rice/

• Steam the rice in the steamer for 20 minutes then transfer to a bowl

• Mix the oil, sugar, and stock in a small pot and bring to a boil. Pour the hot stock over the cooked rice mixture and stir. Cover and let stand 10-15 minutes.

Prepare the meat filling:
• Marinate the chicken with oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt, pepper, msg, rice wine, cornstarch, sugar and garlic.

• In a wok, heat the oil and fry the Chinese sausage. Set the sausage to the side. Add shallots and sauté until light and golden then add the chicken and shrimp and cook until browned. Add mushroom and char sui. Stir everything together.

• Add ½ cup of water to wok. Stir until the sauce is thick and glazes the meat. Toss in the green onions and return Chinese sausage to mix. Taste and adjust seasonings. (This is the flavor that will be absorbed by the rice.)

Assemble the packets:
• Divide rice into 16 portions. Divide the filling into 8 portions.

• Cut lotus leaves in half, along the fold, and snip off hard stems. Place lotus leaf on a flat work surface, with rounded edges away from you and the straight cut edge closest to you.

• Place 1 portion of rice onto the center of the leaf. Make a well in the center. Place a portion of the filling in the well. Drizzle in any sauce from the meat mixture. Top with another portion of rice. Pack it tightly to make a small rectangle about 3 inch X 2 inch.

• Fold top side of the leaf over the filling, then take the bottom side and overlap like you are folding a business letter into 3. Then take the left side and fold it under the rice mound. Repeat with the right side side. Place the rice parcel, seam side down, on steamer.

Steam:
• Place lotus parcels in steamer basket over simmering water and steam for 20 minutes. Add water to the pot as necessary so that the bottom does not burn.

Notes:
Dried lotus leaves: They come folded in half. Cut them along the fold and snip off the area near the stem. It will make folding easier.

Freezing: The recipe makes 8 parcels. I usually eat one or two right away and then I wrap with heat safe plastic wrap and place in freezer bags and freeze. When I'm in the mood for lo mai gai without having to go out for dim sum, I take out a packet, remove from freezer bag and nuke for about 3 minutes.

Spring Fling Cake from The Market in Larimer Square

2010-08-15T20:36:00.000-06:00

This is a recipe for the Spring Fling cake sold at The Market at Larimer Square. It is a very unusual zucchini-based cake frosted with a whipped cream and cream cheese icing and topped with an abundance of fresh fruit. The first time I had the cake was for a celebration at work. I didn’t realize the cake cost $150 for the full sheet. This recipe is for the 10 inch round that retails for $50. When I lived in Lodo, I frequently walked over to The Market to buy a slice. A slice cost just under $7. I think it’s worth every penny.

The cake itself is not hard to make. It just requires gathering many ingredients together. The Market usually tops their cake with strawberries, mango, kiwi, black grapes and mandarin oranges. I omitted the blueberries listed in the recipe because I don’t ever recall having blueberries on my cake. I consulted the picture on The Market's website and I didn't spot a single blueberry. I also subbed blackberries for the black grapes because I was feeling it.

The recipe below was published by the Rocky Mountain News. It calls for a 10 inch round cake pan. I didn’t have a 10 inch round so I used a 10 inch scalloped pan instead. I’ve also successfully used this recipe for cupcakes by filling the pan about three quarters full.

Spring Fling Cake

Serves 12 to 14

2 ½ cups shredded zucchini
5 eggs
1 ¼ cups sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
½ tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (for frosting)
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
For frosting:
¾ cup cream cheese
¼ cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
½ cup heavy cream

Fruit for cake:
1 pint strawberries, cleaned, stemmed and sliced
4 kiwi fruit , peeled and sliced
2 mangoes, peeled and sliced
1 pint blackberries or black grapes
1 can mandarin oranges, drained (optional)
Apricot glaze, or apricot jelly thinned out with a bit of warm water (optional)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a round 10-inch cake pan.

• To prepare the cake: Shred the zucchini in a food processor. In a large mixing bowl combine shredded zucchini, eggs, sugar, oil, sour cream and ½ tablespoon vanilla.

• When thoroughly mixed, combine all dry ingredients and add to bowl; mix well. Batter should be fairly wet and easy to pour.

• Pour in the batter and bake for 50 to 70 minutes, testing with a toothpick in center.

• Cool finished cake on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove it from the pan and allow it to cool completely. (You can make the cake a day ahead and refrigerate.)

• To prepare frosting, whip room temperature cream cheese and butter until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing until well combined.

• In a separate bowl, whip the cream until stiff, and then fold it and the ½ teaspoon vanilla into the frosting. Do not overmix. (I think the frosting resembles sweetened condensed milk.)

• To assemble cake: Cut the cooled cake in half lengthwise, making two layers. (The Market cuts the cake into three layers, which you may do if desired.)

• Spread an even layer of frosting over the first layer, and then add a layer of the various fruit pieces (repeat if three layers).

• Put on the top layer of cake and evenly frost. The sides of the cake are not frosted; use extra to fill in, as needed.

• Arrange the fruit in circles all over the top of cake, slightly overlapping fruit pieces.

• To finish: Spread the apricot glaze over fruit on top of the cake with a pastry brush.

Nutritional information per serving: 496 cal., 20 g fat (10 g sat.), 116 mg chol., 73 g carb., 597 mg sodium, 4 g fiber, 9 g pro.

The batter looks like this:

The cake should be nice and golden.

The texture of the cake:

The Market doesn't surround the cake with strawberries but since I wanted more fruit, I went ahead stuck the sliced strawberries on the sides.

Taco Shop Shredded Chicken Filling

2010-08-10T17:59:00.000-06:00

San Diego taco shops usually have at least two different chicken burritos on their menus: a shredded chicken burrito and a grilled chicken burrito. The grilled chicken or pollo asado is usually seasoned diced chicken; grilled on a flat top and stuffed inside a ginormous flour tortilla with pico de gallo and guacamole while the regular chicken burrito is simply filled with stewed and shredded chicken. I enjoy both versions but I find the shredded chicken easier to replicate at home than the pollo asado.

Growing up in San Diego, these taco shops have a special place in my heart. They are unique to San Diego. The style is very different from Mexican restaurants found in other parts of the country. I think it is a regional development due to San Diego's proximity to Tijuana (TJ). Where else can you find carne asada fries? Most of the shops are independently owned (with a few chains thrown into the mix) but they taste very similar. (Of course there are standouts but you can pretty much walk into any taco shop in San Diego and walk out pretty happy.)

Looking for a great taco shop in San Diego? Below are a few of my favorites.

JV’s in Linda Vista/Morena: 1112 Morena Boulevard http://www.jvsmexicanfood.com/menu.htm
El Cuervo in Hillcrest: 110 West Washington Street
El Cotixan in Clairemont: 4676 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard

I came up with the recipe below in my attempt to recreate the shredded chicken. I use this as a filling for burritos, tacos and enchiladas. This recipe is really flexible. Sometimes I use boneless or bone-in breast, boneless or bone-in thighs or a whole chicken. Most taco shops use dark meat.

Taco Shop Shredded Chicken Filling

3 pounds chicken (whole, breasts or thighs)
1 cup water
2 bay leaves
5 cloves garlic
3 tomatoes or 16 ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 onion, diced
a few jalapenos or serranos, or a green bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
Salt
Pepper

1. Simmer chicken with water, bay leaves and garlic until chicken is cooked through. Allow chicken to cool and then shred. Discard bay leaves and garlic and reserve the cooking liquid.
2. Return shredded chicken to pot and add tomatoes, onions, peppers, cumin, chile powder, oregano, salt, pepper and the reserved cooking liquid. Simmer until tomatoes are broken down and liquid has evaporated. (Dark meat will benefit from a longer cooking time but don’t overcook breast meat.)

Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2010-07-30T23:21:00.000-06:00

This is the only way I make my carrot cake. To me carrot cake should be fully-loaded with raisins, pineapple, coconut, nuts, and carrots.

Coconut Pineapple Carrot Cake

1 cup raisins, plumped by soaking in hot water (I usually use golden raisins but I didn't have enough golden raisins so a mix of golden and dark raisins went into the cake.)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon allspice
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 ¼ canola oil
2 ½ cups coarsely grated carrots
1 8 ounce can pineapple, drained and chopped
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 cup walnuts, chopped
½ cup toasted coconut flakes for decorating (optional)

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 9” round cake pans.
2.    Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3.    Beat eggs until foamy, continue to beat while adding vanilla and sugar. When mixture is thick, add oil. Mix well.
4.    Add flour mixture and mix just until moistened.
5.    Fold in raisins, carrots, pineapple, coconut and walnuts.
6.    Divide batter between pans and bake about 50 minutes or until wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean.
7.    Cool completely and level cake before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 pound powdered sugar
8 ounces (1 brick) cream cheese, cold

In the bowl of an electric mixture, cream together butter vanila and almond extract. Add powdered sugar and continue creaming until mixed. Add cream cheese and mix until light and fluffy.

Stir-Fried Water Spinach

2010-07-25T19:16:00.001-06:00

I learned how to make this dish from my friend Kellie. Her secret (or her mom's secret) is the lime juice.

Stir-Fried Water Spinach

1 bunch water spinach (about 1.5 pounds)
2 tablespoons oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound chicken breast, thinly sliced
2 Thai chilies, sliced
MSG, to taste
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
Juice from ½ lime

1. Prep the water spinach by cutting into 4 inch segments. Split the stalkier stems into halves or quarters. Wash and set aside.

2. Heat a large wok or saute pan over high heat. Add oil, minced garlic and chicken breast. Saute until chicken is cooked.

3. Add water spinach, chilies, MSG, fish sauce and oyster sauce. Quickly stir-fry until water spinach is wilted. Remove from heat and finish with lime juice. Serve with steamed rice.

High Altitude Red Velvet (and Aqua Velvet) Cupcakes

2010-07-18T17:58:00.000-06:00

Red velvet are the most problematic cakes for me. I can't get them just right at this altitude. I think it's a combination of leavening issues, flour structure issues, and weird chemical reactions of the acidic ingredients (vinegar, buttermilk and even natural cocoa powder) with the baking soda. I've been experimenting with a high altitude red velvet cupcake recipe and although I am not completely satisfied, it works (sort of) and tastes delicious. The cupcakes need additional experimenting but the cream cheese frosting is perfect.

I made a batch using my adjusted recipe from last year and then I made a batch subbing all purpose flour for cake flour. I had to remind myself why I wanted to make cake flour work at high altitude. The crumb is much better. The recipe below will still result in subtly sunken middles, but the trade off in texture is worth it. I'll experiment with mixing cake and all purpose flours next time. I cannot look at another red (or aqua) velvet cupcake at the moment.

High Altitude Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoons red gel food coloring
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
scant teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup cupcake tins with liners.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat together butter, oil and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in eggs, one at a time and then beat in vanilla and food coloring. Remove from stand mixer.
5. Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Using a spatula, fold until incorporated. Add half of the buttermilk, fold and finally add the last of the buttermilk and fold.
6. Mix vinegar and baking soda and add to the batter. Fold to mix.
7. Fill cupcake tins half full. Bake in a single layer on middle rack of oven for about 20 minutes.
8. Cool completely before frosting.

I used whole milk buttermilk this time but I've made it with low fat buttermilk and it worked fine.

The aqua cupcakes were made with all purpose flour. Note to self: Do not add the additional 3 tablespoons of flour. The cracked tops means too much flour.

The red cupcakes were made with cake flour. Cake flour + high altitude = craters.

So I broke down and piped the frosting on instead of my usual slather method. (See why I do not pipe? I'm not very good at it.) I wanted to test the bag-strip method from Wilton. I took a small brush, dipped it in the gel food coloring and brushed four vertical lines on the inside of a disposable piping bag. I then carefully filled the bag with the pipeable cream cheese frosting (recipe below). The frosting will come out striped. I think I used too much food coloring but the results were not too bad for my first attempt. I used a Wilton 1M tip (a favorite of many cupcake decorators). I picked it up at Hobby Lobby because I couldn't find a comparable tip in my collection of Ateco and Magic Line tips.

The cream cheese frosting recipe below is basically the Barefoot Contessa's recipe with a few adjustments to make it pipeable. The butter should be room temperature but the cream cheese should be cold.

Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting:
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 pounds powdered sugar
1 pound (2 bricks) cream cheese, cold

In the bowl of an electric mixture, cream together butter vanila and almond extract. Add powdered sugar and continue creaming until mixed. Add cream cheese and mix until light and fluffy.

Store frosting in refrigerator. Remove frosting from refrigerator about 30 minutes before piping.

Best Cocoa Brownies and the Quest for the Best Cocoa Powder

2010-07-07T21:33:00.013-06:00

How many batches of brownies can I bake over the course of a week? A lot. I've been testing different brands of cocoa powders.

Cocoa powder is something I have in my pantry but rarely give it a second thought. I buy the Ghirardelli because it’s the fanciest-looking cocoa powder on the grocery store shelf. Cocoa is (was) not something I would drive out of my way for.

When I was working on my icing for black and white cookies, the recipe specified Dutch processed cocoa. Interesting. That’s the Hershey’s stuff that I used to buy, right? I haven’t bought Hershey’s cocoa in ages but I remember it being Dutch processed. I found it strange when I saw a post on a cooking discussion board asking about where to buy Dutch processed cocoa. I thought Dutch processed was the common stuff.

After stopping by my local spice shop, to pick up some black onyx cocoa, I walked over to the grocery store to read the Hershey’s label. It was not Dutch processed! When did Hershey’s switch from Dutched to natural? I did find a Special Dark version next to the regular version. The Special Dark is a blend of natural and Dutched cocoas. I haven’t tried it but I hear it’s terrible.

So is natural better than Dutched? Some people seem to think so but in a blind taste test conducted by Cooks Illustrated, Dutched won in every single category. I found this pretty interesting. Apparently, by Dutch processing the cocoa, the cocoa tastes more “chocolatey.” The process neutralizes some acidic flavor notes and also produces a darker cocoa.

So in the taste test, Dutching was good but over-Dutching was bad. I read this after using the super-Dutched cocoa for my icing. I was very disappointed. I don’t know how to describe the flavor. It was flat, stale and burnt. I loved the color so my plan was to mix the black onyx with some Dutched cocoa. I bought a few different brands to test out.

I tested the cocoas using a cocoa brownie recipe by Alice Medrich.

Best Cocoa Brownies
By Alice Medrich BitterSweet

Yield: Makes 16 large or 25 smaller brownies

Cocoa brownies have the softest center and chewiest candylike top "crust" of all because all of the fat in the recipe (except for a small amount of cocoa butter in the cocoa) is butter, and all of the sugar is granulated sugar rather than the finely milled sugar used in chocolate. Use the best cocoa you know for these fabulous brownies.

10 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cold large eggs
½ cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Special equipment: An 8-inch square baking pan

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

Below are the cocoa powders I tried out. They were all Dutched except for the Ghirardelli . I prefer the Dutched over the natural. The Guittard and the Valrhona are very similar in color - both are a beautiful deep reddish brown color.

The color difference is very apparent between the Dutched and the natural. In the foreground is a batch made with Droste Dutched cocoa (the lightest of the Dutched variety) and in the background is the Ghirardelli natural cocoa.

Brownies made with Valrhona Dutch processed cocoa.

macarons on my mind

2010-07-07T21:31:00.001-06:00

I’ve been meaning to make and blog about French macarons for quite a while now but as with most of my cooking, I really have to be in the mood in order to do it well. How do I feel about making them after spending two days in the kitchen? They are not hard but can be a little finicky. I actually feel that macarons, like croissants and other laminated dough products, are one of those things that are worth buying. You make it once or twice to say that you can make your own. (And there’s a satisfaction about not letting the macaron get the best of you. Macaron, I’ll show you who’s the boss.)

Macarons can be made using endless “biscuit” and filling combinations. I think the most famous is probably the ispahan flavor by Pierre Hermé. It is a masterful and ingenious combination of three complementary flavors: rose, raspberry and lychee. (I’ll do a separate post dissecting and Americanizing the ispahan macaron recipe.)

I did a lot of reading and went with Not So Humble Pie’s very detailed instructions. She spent over 80 hours in the kitchen mastering the macaron and used a scatter plot to compare the various recipes before posting her technique. I really like the way she works. The macaron is about technique so her recipe may not work for you. I repeated the recipe several times and I got something a little different each time. I'm not perfect after all =(

Ms. Humble's Scatter Plot Macarons

120 grams blanched almonds
200 grams powdered sugar
100 grams egg whites, aged
pinch cream of tartar
30 grams granulated sugar
food coloring gel

One to two days before:
Separate egg whites into a metal or glass bowl, cover and store in refrigerator. Place egg whites on counter, at room temp, 12 hours before proceeding with recipe.

1. Prep two heavy aluminum half sheet pans by lining them with parchment or silicone liners. Prep your pastry bag and tips (if using).

2. Make your almond meal by weighing and grinding almonds and powdered sugar in food processor. Sift and set aside.

3. Weigh granulated sugar and set aside. Weigh egg whites and place in metal or glass bowl. Using a hand held beater or a whisk, egg whites on low speed until foamy. Add a pinch of cream of tartar. (Omit if using copper bowl.) Slowly sprinkle in granulated sugar as you whisk. Increase speed and beat until stiff peaks. You can tell by lifting the beaters or whisk out of the whites to see it the peaks stand up straight without a beak. Don't overbeat. It's easy to overbeat and once you overbeat, there's no going back. Overbeaten egg whites will form clumps and start to separate from the liquid.

4. Add food coloring gel and then add 1/4 of the almond meal. Gently fold until incorporated. Continue to add the rest of the almond meal in quarters, folding with each addition until you get a thick ribbon-like batter. This is where it gets tricky. The batter needs to mixed more than a sponge or chiffon cake batter but cannot be too runny or your circles will not hold their shape.

5. Pour your batter into a pastry bag (if piping) or drop dollops of batter on prepared baking sheets.

6. Let the batter dry for about 60 minutes on the counter. They should develop a skin and lose their tackiness.

7. Adjust oven rack to the second from bottom slot. Preheat oven to 310 degrees. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes. (Depending on the size of your macarons. Mine vary in size because I'm not very good about being consistent. I've have the most luck baking them one sheet at a time because I have a regular electric oven.)

8. Remove cookies from sheet once they are cool enough to handle. (This usually only takes about a minute or so. I have chef-fingers - they've been burned so many times with hot foods that they are pretty numb.) I find that when I get it right, the shells easily release from the sheet and when I screw up, the shells stick. Ms. Humble recommends placing them upside down on the rack to cool to prevent hollow shells.

Once the shells are cool, they are ready to be filled. They don't take very long to cool so it helps to have your filling prepared ahead of time. Pipe your ganache or buttercream if you are fancy but I'm not fancy so I simply use a spoon or knife.

Once filled, store them in the refrigerator in the refrigerator for 24 hours. (Hermé says to store them uncovered in a humid refrigerator but most people do not have a dedicated odor-free refrigerator so I say keep them in a container with the lid slightly loose.) This is called "maturing" the macarons. During this stage, the macaron shells will hydrate and absorb the flavors of the filling. Bring them to room temp before serving.

This macaron has not been allowed matured. I bit into it right after assembling it. Did I manage to get the macaron ideal? Thin, crispy, egg shell-like outside, yielding to a meringue-like inside. You can see that the inside has not had a chance to mature (absorb moisture from the filling).

Fillings:

There are endless fillings ranging from a simple fruit jam to fancy-sounding ganaches. For me, the goal is find that balance between sweet but not too sweet. I find the macaron shells are pretty sweet on their own (and I cannot lower the amount of sugar without affecting the structure).

The other goal is to get the moisture just right. I want a filling that is moist enough to help hydrate the shells as they mature, but not too moist that it over-hydrates the shells, drips out and creates a sticky mess for the eater.

I raided my stash of baking essentials and came up with three different fillings this time: coconut chocolate ganache, lychee white chocolate ganache and raspberry pate de fruit. Make the fillings ahead of time and store them in your fridge. You want your ganache to cool and thicken before using.

I’ve been doing a lot of jamming lately. I have jam coming out of my ears. I opened up a jar of my low-sugar raspberry jam for the pate de fruit. The jam has a nice tart bite from the citric.

Raspberry Pate de Fruit Recipe

This idea came to me when I accidentally over-pectin my mango jam. I read somewhere about combining two different thickening/gelling agents (gelatin and gellan) to take advantage of the different textures. I decided to combine pectin and agar agar powder.

Ingredients:
2 cups raspberry jam (recipe here)
1 envelope pectin
2 teaspoons agar agar powder

Combine jam, pectin and agar agar powder in a medium saucepan. Stir to dissolve pectin. Heat over medium-high heat and bring to a hard boil. Pour into a lined pan and allow to set. Cut into cubes.

Coconut Chocolate Ganache Recipe

I don’t know where I was going with this. I initially wanted to make a coconut meringue buttercream but I didn’t have coconut extract. I opened up my pantry door and found a can of coconut cream. Who said ganache had to be made with heavy cream?

Ingredients:
12 ounces semi or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 fluid ounces coconut cream

Gently heat coconut cream in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Pour over chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth. Allow to cool before use. Store leftovers in refrigerator and bring to room temp before using.

Lychee White Chocolate Ganache
(inspired by Pierre Herme and adapted out of desperation)

Ingredients:
1 20 ounce can lychees in syrup
½ cup heavy cream
1 ½ pounds couverture white chocolate or 1 pound white chocolate plus 8 ounces cocoa butter
rose water or essence

Drain lychees, reserving liquid. Puree lychees in blender. You will probably need a little lychee syrup to get the blender going. Bring lychee puree and heaving cream to a boil. Pour lychee mixture over chocolate and cocoa butter (if using) in three parts. Mixing after each addition to form an emulsion. Finish with rose water or essence.

I made a batch of violet shells with no plans for the filling. I had a pint of blueberries in the fridge so I decided to hide a fresh blueberry between the shells.

My Observatons and Ramblings:

Aged eggs:

Aged eggs bother me. The batches on the first day were made with eggs that were separated and refrigerated for one day and left out at room temp overnight. The batches on the second day were made with eggs that were simply left out overnight. I prefer the less-aged eggs because the first batch of eggs had a funny smell that made me want to gag. I wonder if it is possible to make macarons with powdered egg whites.

Almonds:

I use blanched almonds and grind them with the powdered sugar in my Cuisinart. I’m not completely happy with the Cuisinart because I cannot get a fine enough grind. I have almond meal that I ordered from Sun Organic Farm but the grind is not much finer. I’ll have to experiment with a different method.

I'm not happy with this batch. I processed the almonds several times and sifted (albeit not with a real sifter) and I still had large grains. Argghh!!

Food Coloring:

I use Wilton gel because: (A) it's easy to find, (B) comes in a wide array of colors, and (C) it's inexpensive. Food coloring powder is hard to come by and liquid will screw up your batter.

Flavorings:

The Asian store is a great place to find new and "exotic" flavors such as jasmine, pandan, jackfruit, durian and sala. Stay away from the mangdana flavor. It's a Thai water bug flavor. I'm not sure if it's imitation or real but I pretty sure I don't want either. I used the Koepoe Koepoe brand of pandan flavored paste and roosen (rose) flavored paste. I really like the pandan paste but wasn't too crazy about the rose paste. My other go-to source is a local spice shop. I am very lucky to have one in my neighborhood. They carry a great selection of extracts and waters. I just bought some orange blossom water.

Piping:

I think pastry bags and piping tips are for the weak. (I really do not. They actually scare me.) I took out my piping bags and tips and promptly shoved them in the corner. I have disposable and cloth bags and a plethora of tips but I decided to live on the edge and use a spoon to create the circles. Are the circles perfect? Hell no! But at least I didn’t have face my fear.

Italian or French method?

I read that the Italian method produces a more stable and reliable meringue. It’s the method that Pierre Hermé uses. I used the French method because I like a good challenge.

Remember to separate your egg whites carefully. I separate each white, one egg at a time, into a small glass prep bowl, and then pour the separated white into a larger glass vessel (such as a glass measuring cup). Why don’t I just simply separate the whites directly into one vessel? I want to isolate mistakes. Mistakes get rejected. The rejected white (and yolk) goes into a different container destined for the breakfast scramble. When whipping egg whites, fat is the enemy. Don’t let even a speck contaminate your whites. That’s why it’s important to only use glass or metal vessels. You will never be able to get all of the fat out of a plastic bowl so don’t even bother. Wash and dry your glass or metal bowls well. Copper bowls will help stabilize whites. Don’t worry if you don’t own a copper bowl. Use a pinch of cream of tartar and it should have the same effect.

Baking:

There are several methods out there and Ms. Humble lists her experience with the various methods. I just baked them at 310 degrees with the door closed as written in her recipe. It worked fine for me.

Mixer:

I know that the Kitchenaid is a piece of equipment that most serious cooks feel is an integral part of a well-equipped kitchen. And after shelling out hundreds of dollars and spending countless hours deciding on the right shade to match your kitchen, it seems that it should be used for almost every recipe that calls for whipping, paddling or kneading. I prefer to use the whisk attachment that came with my immersion blender for this task. My 6 quart Kitchenaid is very good with huge amounts of bread flour but is rather inept with 3 egg whites. 100 grams of egg whites is about 3 large egg whites (give or take a few grams).

Silpat vs parchment:

I prefer silicone liner because I hate waste. The feet on the parchment was slightly better than the feet on the silicone liner but the difference was negligible. I wouldn't mind so much if I was able to reuse the parchment for a few batches but I couldn't even get a second use out of a sheet of parchment.

This batch was baked on parchment. Not too much of a difference but slightly taller. If you do it right, parchment should produce taller and more compact feet.

This batch was baked on a silicone liner.

I think crinkly feet is better than no feet.

Top: Reusing parchment paper results is ripply bottoms that stuck. I guess the silicon coating doesn't last. Bottom: Silicone liner

Pandan-flavored macaron fail. I think I was too careful with the folding and didn't look for the flowing magma-like batter. (Maybe my problem is that I've never seen flowing magma before.) I was also a little impatient and didn't allow them to dry long enough. The second sheet were a little better but not by much. I think they actually look a little cute. They remind me of crinkle cookies. (But I wasn't trying to make crinkle cookies.)

Colors used: Koepoe Koepoe pandan paste in green, Koepoe Koepoe roosen paste in rose & Wilton icing colors gel in rose, Wilton icing colors gel in violet, and Wilton icing colors gel in teal.

Black & White Cookie Project Part I

2010-06-30T09:47:00.001-06:00

I’m working on perfecting the famous Black and White cookie. The first recipe I'm trying out is for the NYC version. This is not the upstate new York version. The upstate New York version is called the half moon (sometimes also called black and white) and I will blog about it at a later time. They are two distinctly different versions and each have their own dedicated fans. I’ve had both versions and since I am not from New York, I cannot say I have any loyalty to either version. I like them both.

I'm starting off with a recipe from Glaser’s Bake Shop. The recipe was published in the May 13, 1998 issue of the New York Times. Glaser's is a small family-own bakery and the recipe has been passed down for generations. I followed Glaser's recipe for the cookie base but I adapted the icing from Gourmet because my coworker wanted me to troubleshoot the Gourmet magazine recipe she has been using. She wanted me to help her “fix” the weird flavor. She said the lemon flavor was off and the icing tasted chalky. I found many of the icing recipes on the internet very similar to each other. They consisted of powdered sugar, water and light corn syrup. Variations included lemon juice and/or vanilla. Some recipes used cocoa powder and others used baking chocolate.
For this go around, I took the Gourmet magazine icing recipe and experimented a bit. I got a nice shiny icing that sets up really nicely and it was pretty good but I felt it could be better. I'm currently working on perfecting the icing. I read that the icing should be fondant-based so I made up a batch of fondant. It's sitting in the refrigerator, ready for me to turn it into a poured fondant icing. I will post results in the coming weeks.

Glaser's Bake Shop Black and White Cookie
makes 2 dozen large cookies

Cookie:
1 ¾ granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 large eggs
1 ½ cups milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon lemon exract
2 ½ cups cake flour
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. (I traced circles on the underside of the parchment paper as guides.)

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter. Mix until fluffy. Add eggs (one at a time), milk, vanilla and lemon extracts, and mix until smooth.

3. In a medium bowl, combine cake and all-purpose flours, baking powder and salt. Stir until mixed. Add dry mixture to the wet in batches, stirring well after each addition. Using a spoon, place heaping spoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake until edges begin to brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool completely.

I really like my local spice shop. They carry a huge selection of products including this Black Onyx cocoa. They also have several varieties of cocoas for sale.

Black and White Cookie Icing
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine

Icing:
¼ cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup water
5 cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon lemon extract
2 tablespoons black onyx cocoa powder
1 to 3 teaspoons boiling water

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring corn syrup and water to a boil.

2. Remove pan from heat and slowly whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla.

3. Divide half of the icing into a small heat-proof bowl.

4. Add lemon extract to one half of the icing and cocoa to the other half. You may need to thin out the cocoa icing with some boiling water. Cover the icings until ready to use.

To Frost:
1. Once cookies are cooled, flip them over so that they are resting on the rounded side. You want to frost the flat undersides with icing.

2. With a brush, coat half the cookie with the white icing. Repeat until all cookies are frosted. Allow the white icing to dry. Paint the other halves with chocolate icing. Allow frosting to completely cool and store in airtight container.

You may need to thin out the icings with more boiling water to make it spreadable. It also helps to keep the frosting warm over a pot of hot water.

I read the reviews on epicurious. Many people had issues with the icing. Below are some of them.

My icing tastes chalky (or just plain weird): I thought maybe the raw cornstarch in the powdered sugar had something to do with it. I changed the method by boiling the corn syrup and water and then adding the powdered sugar. I thought maybe the residual heat would help with the raw cornstarch taste. I didn’t want to boil the powdered sugar because I didn’t want to mess with the structure of the sugar crystals and lose the shininess of the icing. The heating of the powdered sugar helped a bit but it did not completely fix the weird flavor. (Water and powdered sugar makes a pretty unexciting icing but this shortcut version is a very good substitute for the real fondant icing.) The off flavor will mellow out over time (if the cookies lasts that long). If the chalky flavor really bothers you, you can try making your own powdered sugar, find a powdered sugar with tapioca instead of corn starch, or make a fondant icing.

Lemony Chocolate icing is just WRONG: Many of the recipes called for adding vanilla and lemon juice, dividing it and then adding the chocolate for the “black” icing. Many people found the lemon juice and chocolate “disgusting” so I only added the lemon flavor to the “white” icing, after dividing out the "black" half. I subbed lemon extract for lemon juice because I wanted the lemony notes without the tartness. Many people will say that this minor detail is not important because both icings ultimately end up mixed together in your mouth.

The “black” icing is too difficult to work: I think melted chocolate makes this icing a little finicky. Use cocoa powder and save the chocolate bars for something else.

My "black" icing is brown: Many of these icing recipes will either specify bittersweet chocolate squares or dutch processed cocoa. I won't get into the history of dutch processed cocoa now but it basically produces a darker cocoa powder than natural cocoa. Your regular Hershey’s, Nestle or even Ghirardelli will not give the icing the “black” color you are looking for. The icing will be more dull brown than black. I visited my local spice shop and bought Black Onyx cocoa. Black Onyx cocoa has been super-dutch processed. The problem with Black Onyx cocoa is that it taste more like charcoal than chocolate. Not a good thing. A compromise is to use a mix of both Black Onyx and dutched cocoa or you use whatever you have in your pantry if the color is not important. We're not baking a cake with the cocoa so the acidity of the cocoa won't affect anything.

The “white” icing is off-white: This can be attributed to the brown vanilla extract. You can use clear vanilla flavor if the color bothers you.

Cookie Base Rating: 9 out of 10. The cookie is pretty darn good. It baked up really nicely and the texture was perfect. I was skeptical about the 4 large eggs in the recipe. The end result was a bit egg-y but the texture was perfect.

Icing Rating: 7 out of 10. Again, the icing is not bad and for the amount of effort that went into making the icing, it was well worth it. I'm sure the poured fondant will taste better but it might not be worth the extra effort.

Glutinious Rice Balls in Caramelized Syrup and Coconut Water (Tang Yuan or Bua Loy or Khao Mauk Ma)

2010-06-24T20:02:00.012-06:00

My mom was never much of a cook but she knew her way around Asian desserts. One of my favorite desserts was something she called Khao Mauk Ma (the Lue name). I’m making the version that I grew up eating. The Thai Bua Loy dessert is very similar but the balls are usually smaller in size and served with gingered coconut milk syrup. The Chinese version, called Tang Yuan can be plain or stuffed with ground black sesame seeds or chopped peanuts and served with a sugar syrup

My mom always made larger sized balls of unstuffed dough It wasn’t until I was older that I discovered that Bua Loy is usually made in smaller pea-size balls. My mom is a fan of shortcuts and likes to make super-sized versions to cut down on prep time. My mom never had the patience to spend hours doing intricate work. To her, time meant money and she liked to work quickly and efficiently.

I think my mom’s version is a cross between the Chinese and the Thai versions. She like the fragrant caramelized sugar syrup featured in many Thai desserts and she also liked the coconut aroma but didn’t like the heaviness that the coconut milk added to the dessert. She wanted something lighter so she started using the water from fresh young coconuts to give the dessert the coconut-y flavor. She also scooped out the soft flesh of the young coconuts and floated them with the rice balls.
The “recipe” below doesn’t have measurements. Just measure out as much flour as you feel like making. I used a one pound bag of flour and ended up using about between a cup and a cup and a half of water to form a stiff dough.

Glutinous Rice Balls in Caramelized Syrup and Coconut Water (Tang Yuan or Bua Loy or Khao Mauk Ma)

Ingredients:
glutinous rice flour
water
sugar
young coconut (the husk should be white)
raw peanuts, roasted and chopped

1. Dump some rice flour into a bowl and slowly mix in water to form a stiff dough.
2. Bring a pot of water to a fast boil.
3. Form marble-size balls by pinching off a small piece of dough and rolling between palms. Drop balls into boiling water. Continue to add balls of flour to the boiling water. The balls will float to the top when cooked. Use a slotted spoon to removed cooked balls and transfer to a bowl of water.
4. Meanwhile, caramelize some sugar in a saucepan. When the sugar is a deep golden color, carefully add water and simmer until sugar is dissolved.
5. Pierce the "eyes" of the coconut with screw driver or ice pick then drain and reserve the water. Crack the coconut open and scoop out the soft flesh with a spoon.
6. Serve dough balls with caramelize sugar syrup, coconut water, coconut flesh and roasted peanuts.

Apple Butter

2010-06-19T20:17:00.014-06:00

I can’t remember the last time I made apple butter but it came to mind when we had an abundance of apples at work. We just had our annual team building event and my boss bought tons of apples for one of the challenges. We tried our best to eat the apples but there were still several left at the end of the week. Everyone preferred the Fuji over the Red Delicious so I took a sack of Red Delicious home with me.

Red Delicious apples are not ideal for apple sauce or butter. (But in my opinion, they are not ideal for eating either.) I had a few Fuji apples in my fridge so I added them to the batch to add more flavor.

I use citric acid because I wanted to increase the acidity without adding the lemon flavor. If you use lemon juice, the bottled stuff is recommended over fresh lemon juice because the acidity of fresh lemon juice varies.

Apple Butter:

21 apples (leave the peels and cores but discard seeds)
3 cups water
1 teaspoon citric acid or 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 ½ cups sugar (I used a mix of regular granulated and palm sugar.)
cinnamon, to taste
cloves, to taste (I couldn’t find ground cloves in my pantry so I used whole cloves and retrieved them after cooking.)
nutmeg, to taste

1. Cut apples into medium dice. In a large Dutch oven (mine was a 6.75 quart), combine apples, water and citric acid. Cover and bring to a medium boil. Cook a bout 30 to 45 minutes until soft. Allow apples to cool slightly.
2. Puree apples using either an immersion blender or regular blender. (It’s easier with an immersion blender.)
3. Add the rest of the ingredients. Slowly return the apple mixture to a boil on the stove.
4. Meanwhile, heat oven to 250 degrees.
5. Transfer Dutch oven to preheated oven. Bake several hours, stirring occasionally, until apples are thick and caramel in color.

You can store the apple butter in the refrigerator and use within a few weeks or can it for longer storage. It should last about a year if canned properly. It was my first time canning and I had 100% success rate. All of my jars sealed properly. I love the popping sounds as the jars cooled and created a vacuum. I made the apple butter a month ago and I've been checking the jars for spoilage. None so far!

Below are my instructions for canning. I'm not an expert. (My family believed in freezing as the preferred method for food preservation.) I know some people would gasp in horror with my oven sterilization method but I think it works since I am canning high acid/sugar foods and processing in a hot water bath for a longer period of time.

Canning:
1. Prepare canning jars by sterilizing jars and lids. (I washed with hot soapy water and then stuck the jars in the oven after turning it off and removing the apple butter.)
2. Prepare your pot of water for canning.
3. Fill sterilized jars with hot apple butter, leaving about half an inch of space. Remove air bubbles by running a wooden chopstick through the apple butter. Wipe lips of jars with a wet paper towel. Place lid on top and then screw on the bands. Do not over-tighten.
4. Place jars in boiling water and process for 10 minutes. (I did 20 because I live 5,280 feet above sea level.) Turn off heat and leave jars in water about 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Remove jars from water and place hot jars on counter lined with kitchen towels. Leave the jars alone and let them cool. Once cool, check lids to make sure they have sealed properly. Reprocess unsealed jars or place in refrigerator and use within one week.

Pho Fusion Restaurant in San Diego

2010-06-11T20:23:00.010-06:00

I flew back to San Diego a few weeks ago to see a friend's new baby girl. I co-hosted the baby shower back in February.

We all met up for lunch at Pho Fusion. The restaurant was very busy so my friend ended up going back to the kitchen to help cook. (It's her family's restaurant so she ends up helping out a lot.) I love the food at Pho Fusion. The restaurant started off as a hip boba cafe. (If I recall correctly, Fusion opened its doors around 2002. Prior to opening Fusion, the yummy food was served at the original Linda Vista Food To Go.) The menu was recently expanded to include pho. I didn't order the pho. My favorite items are the barbecued chicken and the barbecued chicken sandwiches (banh mi).

I had the bobo tea but someone else at the table order the Vietnamese coffee.

I ordered the barbecued chicken rice dish...

...and a barbecued chicken sandwich.

My friend ordered the barbecue beef (or was it pork) rice plate.

Stop by Pho Fusion if you happen to be in San Diego and craving delicious homestyle Vietnamese cooking. Everything served in the restaurant is prepared with care using high quality ingredients. My friend's mom believes that if the food is not fit to serve to her family, then it is not fit to serve to her customers. Remember the yummy spring rolls (goi cuon) that my friend made for the baby shower? All the ingredients (including the dipping sauce) was from Pho Fusion's kitchen.

Pho Fusion
8038 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92111-1615
(858) 278-1224

Khao Piak Sien (Laotian Fresh Rice Noodle Soup)

2010-06-09T21:38:00.022-06:00

It's been awhile but I hope this recipe was worth the wait.

I was craving some good Laotian Khao Piak Sien and then I remembered the stewing hens in my freezer. My dad sent me home with a few stewing hens and cocks during one of my visits home. I also asked my mom to pick up some homemade pho meatballs, som moo and isaan sausage from her lady. My grandpa packed a cardboard box for me. It was inspected by TSA. I wonder what they were thinking when they searched the box.

This is one of those dishes that really benefits from a tougher old chicken although, my mom has made it with regular old whole fryers because my sister didn’t want to eat her pets.

Khao Piak Sien is a great dish to serve a crowd. We took turns cooking the meals during our snowboard/ski trip back in February. My friend was in charge of dinner day 2 and was undecided between Khao Piak Sien or Pho. She decided on the Khao Piak Sien. Everyone was glad to have a steaming bowl of Khao Piak Sien after a day on the slopes.
I was looking for a “recipe” for the homemade rice noodles. I’ve never made it all by myself before. I’ve help with the rolling and cutting but someone else always prepared the dough. I knew it involved rice flour and hot water. My mom likes to add tapioca flour for chewier noodles. I called my mom but she didn’t call me back so I texted my friend Kellie. She said, “Ask Jenny! I suck at it.” I find it funny because my Laotian friend told me to ask my Vietnamese/Chinese friend. I text Jenny and she said to use one bag red and one and a half bags green. She meant one bag regular rice flour and one and a half bags tapioca flour (not glutinous rice flour because I usually refer to glutinous rice flour as green). She said I could do a one to one ratio but she prefers the noodles chewier.

The most painstaking part is to use boiling water to mix the dough and then the rolling and cutting of the noodles. I was reading the LaoCook blog and they used a pasta machine to roll and cut their noodles. Genius. How come I’ve never thought of this? I took my pasta machine out of storage.

Khao Piak literally translates to wet rice and usually refers to the Lao version of rice porridge but I like to use the term interchangeably. The correct name is Khao Piak Sien and translates to wet rice strands.

Step 1: Make the Broth

Ingredients for Broth:
1 stewing chicken or whole fryer
water, to cover
1 piece dried galangal
1 stalk lemongrass
3 kaffir lime leaves
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
MSG, to taste
Fish sauce, to taste

1. Cut up chicken and brown pieces in a large stock pot or dutch oven.
2. Add water and the rest of the ingredients. Slowly simmer for several hours (if using stewing chicken) or until chicken is cooked through (if using regular fryer). Meanwhile, go to Step 2 and make the rice noodles.
3. Remove chicken pieces and allow to cool. Keep the broth on a very low simmer. Shred chicken when cool enough to handle. Discard bones.

Step 2: Make the Rice Noodles

Ingredients for Noodles:
1 package (16 ounces) rice flour
1 ½ packages (21 ounces) tapioca flour
boiling hot water, enough to form dough

1. In a large bowl, mix together rice flour and tapioca flour.
2. Slowly stir in boiling water to flours until a lumpy dough forms. I use wooden chopsticks to stir everything. The dough will be HOT!
3. Form dough into a ball, turn dough on onto a flat surface and knead several minutes.

4. Now decide on the pasta machine method or rolling pin method. (If you do not have a pasta machine, proceed to the next step.) I use the thickest setting to roll out the dough and the thinnest setting to cut the noodles. I find the noodle strands too long so I cut them into approximately 5 inch segments. Dust the noodles with either rice or tapioca flour to prevent sticking.

6. The rolling pin method is a little more time consuming but this is the way I've seen most people make it. Pinch off a small piece of dough and roll it about 1/8 inch thickness. Use a knife or bench scraper and cut into 1/4 inch noodles. Make sure to use either rice or tapioca flour to prevent the noodles from sticking.

Step 3: Prep the Garnish and Serve

Garnishes:
Shredded chicken meat
Green onions, sliced
Cilantro, chopped
Bean sprouts
Fried shallots or fried garlic
Fried chili in oil
Soy sauce
Lime wedges

To Serve:
This is a matter of personal preference. Some people like to put the uncooked noodles and garnishes directly into the large pot of broth and ladle out individual bowls from the communal pot. This will result in a very thick soup. I like to do it pho-style and boil the noodles in a separate pot of boiling water and strain. I prepare each bowl separately by putting the boiled noodles in individual bowls, ladling the boiling broth over the cooked noodles, and letting everyone choose their own garnish. (Shorter noodles mean you only need to spoon. If you made longer noodles, you will need chopsticks.)

Vietnamese Avocado Shake (Sinh To Bo)

2010-05-26T17:54:00.007-06:00

This shake sounds very strange to those who have never had it. Most people who see this on a Vietnamese menu will usually order the strawberry version. I can’t even remember the first time I tried this. I believe it was at Phuoc Loc Tho (or Asian Garden Mall) in Westminster, California.

I get excited every time I see Sinh To Bo on the menu. However, I am disappointed most of the time when I order it. Most restaurants skimp on the avocado and all you get is milky crushed ice.

Here’s a list of some of the varieties:
Sinh To means fruit shake in Vietnamese.
Sinh To Bo = avocado shake.
Sinh To Dam = aloe vera shake.
Sinh To Chuoi = banana shake.
Sinh To Cam = orange shake.
Sinh To Dau = strawberry shake.
Longevity Brand sweetened condensed milk is my brand of choice. It's my daddy's favorite and it's my favorite. I use it in Vietnamese coffee, ovaltine and sometimes spread it on a nice Vietnamese-style French baguette.

Avocado Shake:
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pit removed, and cubed
1 cup ice cubes
¼ to 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
¼ to ½ cup milk (just enough to get your blender working)

Toss everything into a blender and blend until smooth. You want to use the least amount of milk to get your blender going. Serve in a glass with a long ice teas spoon.

Black Bean Soup

2010-05-19T18:18:00.004-06:00

The weather in Denver has been a bit strange lately. It snowed last Wednesday and the temps are still pretty chilly. I had a ham bone tucked away in the back of my freezer so I decided to make a bean soup. I checked pantry to see what types of dried beans I had on hand. I went with black beans but this can really be made with your choice of beans or even split peas or lentils.

To soak or not to soak? The soaking of dried beans is a controversial subject. Some people do it and some people do not. The other question is: To salt or not to salt? I salt at the end because my mom said so. I personally like the quick hot soak method. I sort and rinse the beans, boil for few minutes, turn off the heat, let them sit about an hour and then another rinse.

Some people simply toss the beans in with the soup stock. I would recommend at least rinsing and scrubbing the beans first. Who knows what sort of grime is stuck on the exterior?

Another method I’ve read about is the oven method. It involves preheating the oven to a pretty low temp, bringing the beans to a boil on the stovetop and then 90 minutes in the oven.

Black Bean Soup

1 pound dried black beans
1 teaspoon oil
½ onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup sofrito
¼ cup recaito
water
1 ham bone or 2 ham hocks or 1 smoked turkey drumstick, remove meat from the bone and set aside
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon Mexican oregano
salt
pepper
cilantro, chopped

1. Sort through beans and discard any debris or stones. Thoroughly wash beans with cold water. Transfer to a medium pot and cover 2 inches with water. Bring beans to a boil, boil 2-3 minutes and turn off heat. Allow to sit, covered for 1 hour.
2. Heat a medium dutch oven; add oil when hot. When oil is heated - add garlic and onions. Saute about a minute. Add sofrito and recaito. Saute another minute.
3. Drain and rinse soaked beans.
4. Add water, ham bone, beans and bay leaf to dutch oven. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a medium boil. Cook until beans are soft.
5. Remove ham bone. Add ham and season with salt, pepper, cumin and oregano. Serve with cilantro.

Thai-Style Roast Chicken (Gai Yang)

2010-05-15T18:06:00.012-06:00

I eat a lot of chicken. I went through a long semi-vegetarian phase and just started eating red meat not too long ago. I still have an aversion to red meat that tastes like meat. Because I eat a lot of chicken, I am always looking for new ways to prepare it. I usually like my chicken marinated with lemongrass but the bf hates lemongrass. I still wanted an Asian marinade so I decided on Thai gai yang.

Authentic Thai gai yang is usually made with a whole bird that has been spatchcocked or flattened and cooked over a charcoal grill. I looked in the freezer and found a tray of chicken leg quarters. I marinated the leg quarters in a Thai-style marinade and then I roasted them in the oven.

Thai Style Roast Chicken

3 pounds chicken leg quarters or whole chicken
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons coriander root, minced
2 tablespoon fish sauce
½ cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon ground tumeric
2 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon maggi sauce
MSG
black pepper

1. Marinate chicken in marinade at least 6 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange chicken in a single layer on baking sheet. Cook until chicken is golden.

We visited the Paint Mines Interpretive Park last weekend. It is located east of Colorado Springs. It was beautiful out.

These structures are called hoodoos and are the inspiration for Big Thunder Mountain ride at Disney.

Who can resist taking pictures of wild flowers?

A close up of one of the clay-like rocks.

Cucumber Kimchi (Oi Sobagi)

2010-05-10T18:42:00.010-06:00

I've been tinkering with a couple different pickling and fermenting recipes lately. One of my coworkers loves pickles so he has been testing out a few batches of my refrigerator pickles and pickling brines. He said the last batch was perfect. (I'm hoping to have a recipe perfected by summer. My spice drawer is currently filled with juniper berries and mustard seeds.) We even tested a few different types of cucumbers. As a joke, I pickled a few whole English hothouse cucumbers and mixed in a few Kirby cucumbers. Since Kirby cucumbers are still a little difficult to find, we've been mostly using English cucumbers.

I had a few English hothouse cucumbers in the fridge so I decided to try a cucumber kimchi. Cucumber kimchi is one of my favorite types of kimchi. I cannot decide whether I like cucumber or cabbage kimchi more.

Cucumber Kimchi

2 English hot house cucumbers
5 cups water
½ cup pickling salt

Stuffing:
½ cup shallot greens or garlic chives (I used shallot greens.)
¼ cup green onions
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
1 carrot, shredded
2 tablespoons water
½ cup to 1 cup Korean red chili powder (I used the medium-fine ground)

1. Prep cucumber by cutting into 2 inch pieces and then cutting the pieces into quarters, without cutting them all the way through.
2. Heat water in a large stockpot. Add the salt and stir to dissolve. (You want the water to be pretty hot without boiling.) Add the prepped cucumbers and soak about an hour.
3. Combine the ingredients for the stuffing and set aside.
4. Rinse cucumbers with ice cold water and soak about 15 minutes. Drain.
5. Stuff the cucumbers with the chili mixture, rubbing the stuffing around the entire cucumber piece.
6. Transfer to a storage container, leave cucumber on the counter overnight and then refrigerate.

Saffron Israeli Couscous Salad

2010-05-05T20:37:00.009-06:00

The inspiration for this salad comes from Udi’s Foods, a local bakery/caterer. Udi’s bakes some of the most wonderful breads in Denver. My favorite is their cranberry walnut. They also make delicious sides to go with their sandwiches and salads. Their sides include: Saffron Israeli Couscous salad, Cranberry Quinoa, Taboulleh, Crab Artichoke Pasta and other various pasta and potato salads. My favorite side is the Saffron Israeli Couscous.

Although it is my favorite, I can’t seem to remember the last time I actually had this salad. I haven’t attended any meetings where they served Udi’s and the Udi’s Bread Café in Stapleton doesn’t include the salad on their menu.

I had some Israeli couscous in the pantry and I wanted to try making the salad but I couldn’t recall the ingredients. I decided to just toss a few things together and it ended up tasting pretty darn good.

Israeli couscous is a toasted pasta that is pretty pale in color. I infused the water with saffron threads. The saffron turns the couscous a beautiful yellow color.

Saffron Israeli Couscous Salad:
1 ¼ cup water
pinch of saffron threads
1-8.8 ounce bag Israeli couscous
2 tablespoons light tasting olive oil
¼ cup onions, diced
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup yellow bell pepper (or any color)
salt
pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup flat leaf Italian parsley, chopped

1. Boil water in a medium saucepan. Add saffron and the couscous. Return to a boil, lower heat and cover. Stir occasionally. Cook about 8 minutes. Turn off heat and allow couscous to absorb the water before fluffing.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat light olive oil. Add onions and mushrooms and sauté until tender.
3. Fluff couscous and transfer to a larger bowl. Add sautéed onions and mushrooms and the rest of the ingredients. Toss everything together and refrigerate several hours before serving.

Stir-Fried Rice Cakes (Chao Nian Gao)

2010-05-02T17:58:00.013-06:00

The first time I had rice cake ovals (Nian Gao) was at Luong Hai Ky Restaurant on Convoy in San Diego. It is simply called pan-fried rice cake on the menu. My brother and his fiancée ordered it as our appetizer. I didn’t know what to expect but I ended up really liking the chewy texture of the cakes. I forgot about the cakes until the last time I went to Mr. Dumpling with them. They ordered it again. This time, the rice cake ovals were stir-fried like chow fun noodles. The char flavor from the hot wok and the sweetness of the cabbage and onions made the dish really tasty.

I bought a huge bag of the rice cakes from the Korean market. (Apparently, there isn’t much difference in the Chinese and the Korean versions.) I had a huge bag but I really didn’t know much about them. I did some reading online but there is very little information on these tasty little morsels of goodness. To further confuse things, they are called Nian Gao, the same name for other types of sweet and savory rice cakes. Most of the blogs I found simply had pictures of Chao Nian Gao ordered at a restaurant. I couldn’t find a recipe for the version I had at Mr. Dumpling so I looked at the picture I took and attempted to recreate it. How difficult could it be? Isn't it basically chow fun?

I think it was a success. The bf took a few bites, looked at me and asked, "how much of these noodles do we have left?" He wanted to make sure we had more rice cakes for another meal. I assured him that I only used 4 cups and we still had quite a bit left.

Stir-Fried Rice Cakes (Chao Nian Gao)

4 cups rice cakes (rice ovals or ovalettes)
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound chicken breast, thinly sliced (or pork or beef)
½ onion, sliced
½ head green cabbage , shredded
1 carrot, shredded
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon Shao Xing wine
1 tablespoon sugar
MSG, to taste
Salt , to taste
Pepper, to taste
Green onions
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (or other seafood)

1. Prep rice cake according to package directions. (It may take some advance planning if using dried rice cakes.) I’m using semi-dried refrigerated rice cakes. The directions on the package is for soup so I just went ahead and boiled them for about a minute, drained and set aside.

2. Prep the rest of the ingredients. This goes really quickly so mise en place is everything.

3. Heat a large wok or stir-fry pan on high heat and add oil. When oil is hot, add garlic and onions. Sauté a few minutes.

4. Add chicken breast and sauté until cooked through. Add cabbage and carrots. Cook until moisture has evaporated. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, wine, sugar, MSG, salt and pepper. Toss everything together and taste. Adjust seasoning.

5. Add boiled rice cakes, green onions and shrimp. Toss to coat. Cook a few minutes until heated through. If the pan gets too dry, add a little water or chicken broth.

Feel free to use less meat and seafood. My version is protein-heavy since the bf likes a lot of chicken and shrimp.

I love it when I take pictures of food and capture the steam from the food. Someone once asked how to take pictures of steaming food and not fog up the camera's lens. The answer is simple: stand back and zoom in.

Puerto Rican Style Pink Beans and Rice (Habichuelas con Arroz Blanco)

2010-05-01T15:32:00.006-06:00

We often place lunch orders at a small catering company called House of Plantain. The owner of the company makes this delicious side dish she calls Arroz Blanco + Habichuelas. This version of rice and beans is different from any version I have ever had. The beans are slightly sweet and creamy in a tangy tomato-based sauce. I can never decide on the side dishes so I usually skip the entree and order a few of the side dishes instead.

I had a craving for this pink beans and rice dish but unfortunately, House of Plantain requires at least 24 hours notice. I talked to a coworker and she described her method for making Puerto Rican rice and beans. She has stashes of homemade sofrito in he refrigerator. I went out and bought a jar of Goya brand sofrito. I couldn't find the Goya brand sazon with coriander and annatto so I had to subsitute with coriander, cumin, annatto and garlic.

I ended up serving this on the side of some grilled chicken breast seasoned with Goya adobo seasoning.

Pink Beans:
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 green chile pepper such as cubanelle or green chile, finely diced
¼ cup sofrito
¼ cup recaito
2 15.5 ounce cans Goya pink beans, rinsed and drained
1 8 ounce can Goya tomato sauce
½ cup water
1 potato, peeled and cubed
salt
pepper
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon Mexican oregano
¼ teaspoon ground coriander seeds
¼ teaspoon ground annatto seeds (optional - I don't think annatto has much flavor. It does give dishes a nice orange-red color.)
cilantro, chopped

1. Heat a medium dutch oven over medium heat and add oil. Add onion, garlic, chile, sofrito and recaito. Saute until fragrant.
2. Add beans, tomato sauce, water and potato. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer.
3. Add salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, coriander, annatto and cilantro. Continue to simmer until sauce thickens and potato is fork-tender.

Rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups long grain white rice
4 cups water

1. Heat a medium dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil and rice. Saute rice until rice is opaque white in color and very slight golden on the edges.
2. Add water and bring to a boil. Allow to boil about 5 minutes and then lower heat to a low simmer. Stir rice, cover with a lid and cook for another 15 minutes or until rice is soft. Let rice sit 15 minutes and fluff using bamboo rice spatula.

Chicken Rice Porridge...

2010-04-27T20:03:00.019-06:00

This is all I’ve been able to stomach the last few days:

The reason for my ailment was too much of this:

The weekend started off with some eating, shopping, drinking and then checking-in at our hotels. The other girls stayed at Bellagio and TI while we stayed at THEhotel.

A few of us entering XS at Encore.

The club is really beautiful.

We immediately started drinking. (Drinks were expensive!)

Then it started raining money on the dance floor.

Guess what we were planning on doing with our new-found wealth?
(...and yes, I am holding my heels. I ditched them for flats.)

Buy more drinks of course.

At the end of the night, I discovered that I left my debit card at the bar. The Vegas lost and found system works pretty well. We picked up a shirt left by someone who attended the bachelor party two weeks ago and we picked up my debit card from Wynn the next day. On the taxi ride to the airport, I spotted a sign in the cab about noting the cab number just in case you leave something. The Las Vegas Taxicab Authority has a pretty good lost and found department.

Isn't he a cutie? He's the bride's twin brother. (Notice how sober everyone looks during the ride to the club.)

Just left JET and on our way to eat pho at the 24 hour pho restaurant. Apparently my friend and my future sis-in-law wheeled and dealed a drop-off and pick-up at the pho restaurant. I also have a very silly video of us talking about our cute driver, Unga. (I'm not sure if he was really cute.)

I won't post any pictures from the restaurant. It was my last real meal. Here's a picture of me waiting outside the restaurant. I'm holding two bags full of heels.

***Pictures are courtesy of my friends. I'm a terrible photographer. I borrowed the bf's point-n-shoot camera and I didn't know how to operate the darn thing.

To make the rice porridge:
1. Rinse and boil some rice until soft. Add coarsely minced chicken breast. Bring to a boil and simmer until chicken is cooked.

2. Add salt and pepper. If you're really ill, you may want to stop here. Add MSG, maggi sauce, chili in soy bean oil, fried shallots or garlic, sliced green onions and chopped cilantro when you're feeling better. Enjoy!

Cashew Chicken

2010-04-18T10:00:00.007-06:00

This is my version of a dish served at many of the "Thai" restaurants in Denver. They call it Royal Chicken but it is simply Cashew Chicken.

Cashew Chicken:
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cloves garlic
1 pound chicken breast, sliced
1 onion, diced
2 bell peppers (mix or red, yellow, orange and green), diced
1 zucchini, diced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoon Maggi sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
MSG
2 tablespoon tapioca starch
1/2 cup chicken stock
black pepper
one bunch green onions, sliced
2 cups cashews

1. Heat a wok or stir-fry pan, add oil. When oil is hot, add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add chicken and saute until cooked through.

2. Add onions, bell peppers, zucchini, fish sauce, oyster sauce, Maggi sauce, sugar, MSG and sugar. Toss everything together. Cover and allow to cook about a minute. Meanwhile, make a slurry by combining tapioca starch and chicken stock. Add the slurry to the pan, stir everything together and allow to cook a few minutes until the sauce thickens.

3. Remove from heat, add black pepper, green onions and cashews. Stir to combine and serve with hot jasmine rice.

Challah French Toast Casserole with Macerated Berries

2010-04-06T21:08:00.012-06:00

If you read my blog, you may (or may not) notice my love of French Toast. I have posted several variations of French Toast. (And most variations involve challah.)

This variation was inspired by one of the brunch dishes served at one the many baby showers I hosted. One of the other hostesses was in charge of the menu and she made a dish she called “French Toast Casserole.” We briefly discussed the dish and I asked if she used maple syrup. To my surprise, she said the dish did not contain a drop of maple syrup. The syrup was made with brown sugar and corn syrup.

I forgot about getting the recipe from her so I tried to recreate it from memory. I know she mentioned that she used challah and I recall the challah was cubed. (I’m not sure if she removed the crust. I ended up leaving the crust.) She also mentioned Grand Marnier so I stuck with the Grand Marnier. I think Cointreau, Curaçao or regular old triple sec will work.

This version of French Toast is very good. It is reminiscent of a good bread pudding. Since I was in testing phase, I decided to start with a smaller quantity. The amount was perfect for the two of us. (It was actually enough for breakfast on both Saturday and Sunday.) I’m sure it can be doubled and baked in a 2.5 quart baking dish instead of the 1.25 quart dish I used.

I worked backwards when I made this. I cubed the bread and placed it in the baking dish until it was almost full. I then transferred the cubed bread into a large measuring cup. (That’s how I discovered the baking dish held just over 4 cups (1 quart). I wanted about a cup and half of liquid so I started with ¾ cup of half and half. Each egg is approximately 2 ounces or ¼ cup. The other ingredients’ volumes were negligible.

The macerated berries side was a last minute decision. I like fresh fruit with my breakfast so I picked up some strawberries and blueberries. I discovered that the strawberries were tasteless on their own. (I realize it is not strawberry season.) Out of desperation, I had to find a way to rescue them. I decided to macerate them and booze them up. The berry-boozy syrup is heavenly with the French Toast.

Challah French Toast Casserole with Macerated Berries

¼ cup (half stick) unsalted butter
½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
4 cups challah bread, cubed
3 large eggs
¾ cup half and half or heavy cream
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier (Cointreau, Curaçao or Triple Sec)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
freshly grated nutmeg (about a pinch)
pinch of salt

1. Combine butter, brown sugar and corn syrup in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave about 30 to 90 seconds to melt sugar. Stir to combine and allow to slightly cool and then pour in a 10.5" x 7" x 2" (1.25 quart) rectangular pan. (I measured my pan and my measurements were 9" x 7" but the manufacturer lists 10.5" x 7". Who am I to argue?)
2. Place bread cubes in baking dish.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. Whisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and Grand Marnier. Pour mixture over bread cubes. Let stand until oven is preheated.
5. Bake about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden.

Macerated Berries:

- 1 pound berries (I used 1 pound of strawberries and a half pint of blueberries)
- ¼ to ½ cup sugar (depending on the sweetness of your berries)
- 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier

Wash, hull and slice strawberries. Mix everything together and allow to sit while the French Toast is baking. The berries are ready when the sugar turns syrupy. (Some people like their berries to sit a while longer but I don’t like mushy berries.)

Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake (Banh Bo Nuong)

2010-04-05T19:37:00.007-06:00

I had a craving for a pandan dessert so I decided to make Vietnamese Honeycomb Cake. My two aunts have both mastered this cake and I think they secretly have honeycomb cake competitions.

This cake is very good but different. It is not as sweet as many western desserts and the texture is a bit chewy. The coconut and the pandan is just heaven. I think the two flavors were made for each other. The cake is also gluten-free. I have a coworker who is on a gluten-free diet. I gave her a piece because she is always searching for baked goods made without gluten. (Unfortunately, I made the cake during Passover and it is leavened. She decided to make a one time exception.)

I prefer eating the cake when fresh out of the oven, when the browned parts are still crispy, but it is still pretty good the next day. Nuke it in the microwave for about 10 seconds.

Vietnamese Pandan Honeycomb Cake

Ingredients:
7 ounces coconut cream (I used Savoy brand. I tend to use Savoy for desserts and Chaokoh or Mae Ploy for curries)
1 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
pandan extract (The amount varies depending on the brand you use and the viscosity and potency of the extract.)
8 ounces tapioca starch
5 large eggs
1 package (2 1/2 teaspoons or 11 grams) single-acting baking powder (I used Alsa brand and it comes prepackaged)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix coconut cream, sugar and salt in a microwave safe container. (I really like my glass measuring cups for this.) Microwave about 30 seconds to a minute. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add the pandan extract and mix well.
3. With a wooden spoon, slowly and gently stir together tapioca, eggs and baking powder. (I read that over mixing interferes with the development of the desired honeycomb tunneling.)
4. Put a 9x9 square baking pan in the oven.
5. Add the coconut-sugar mixture to the egg-tapioca mixture and gently fold everything togther.
6. Take the baking pan out of the oven and spray with cooking spray. Spread the mixture in the pan and bake in oven about 30 minutes. (Do not open the oven door.)

Ingredient Note: The recipe calls for single-acting baking powder. Most baking powders sold in the grocery stores are double-acting. What's the difference? Single-acting works once. It starts producing carbon dioxide when it gets wet. Double-acting works twice. It starts producing carbon dioxide once when it gets wet and second when it is heated. You want single-acting for this recipe. Alsa is a French brand (now made by the Unilever Group) and is sometimes called "levure alsacienne." I haven't tried it with double-acting because I'm too afraid to waste ingredients so I do not know if you can sub double-acting for the single-acting. My aunt uses Alsa brand single-acting baking powder so I'm sticking with it. I think there are recipes out there for making your own sinlge-acting baking powder. It is basically baking soda and cream of tartar (sometimes cornstarch is used to help keep the powder dry). I don't think it is worth it to make your own since cream of tartar on its own is pretty pricey. I use it to stabilize my egg whites.

Happy Easter! Our Easter Dinner for Two

2010-04-04T17:08:00.017-06:00

We actually had dim sum planned for today but plans were canceled so the bf and I decided on an impromptu Easter dinner. I picked up a ten pound ham. (Hey the bone has got to weigh at least four or five pounds!)

I didn't want to go overboard so I asked the bf what were some of his Easter must-haves. His only request was deviled eggs.

Our Easter Menu:

- Smithfield Country Ham
- Deviled Eggs
- Gratin Dauphinois (aka Scalloped Potatoes)
- Green Beans
- Pomelo and Shrimp Salad
- Bread (I had french baguette and the bf had sourdough.)

It was a no fuss dinner.

Gratin Dauphinois, Au Gratin Potatoes or Scalloped Potatoes

The first time I had Gratin Dauphinois, I thought I was eating really special potatoes fit for a future king. I assumed it was a dish made in honor of one of dauphins of France. It reminded me of Pommes Duchesse and Pommes Anna. I don’t know details of the history behind these dishes. I remember reading about these potato dishes, with fancy sounding names, in Larousse Gastronomique and Escoffier.

I don’t have a recipe for this dish. It is one of those things that I just eyeball because it all depends on how much potatoes I have to work with. My three potatoes may be four of yours. This is what I do.

I take a couple potatoes, wash them, peel them and then slice them thinly. (Do not rinse the sliced potatoes because you want to retain the starch.) I put the sliced potatoes in a pan and eyeball the milk, half and half, or cream. (I like to use a mix of milk and half and half because heavy cream is a bit too decadent.) I then grate just a bit of nutmeg into the pot and then season with salt and pepper. I cook it on the stovetop for a few minutes to get them started. (Stir them frequently so that they don’t burn.) The milk/cream will thicken up with the help of the potato starch.

Then I prepare a baking dish. (My au gratin dishes are usually too small for the quantity I am accustomed to cooking.) I take a clove of garlic, cut it and rub the cut sides all over the baking dish and then coat the dish with butter. Pour the simmered potatoes in the baking dish and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven until it is all bubbly and golden on top.

True Gratin Dauphinois does not include onions or cheese but you can add it if you are feeling it. I sometimes like caramelized onions with my potatoes. Layer and top with gruyere cheese (or even parmesan or cheddar) if you like. If you do choose to stray and add onions or cheese, be prepared to call your dish au gratin potatoes or scalloped potatoes. I decided to keep it simple and authentic today so I can call mine Gratin Dauphinois. Try it without the cheese. I promise you won't miss it. The potatoes are creamy and rich enough on its own.

Thai Pomelo Shrimp Salad

I bought a really delicious pomelo last week so I went out and bought 8 more. I love pomelos but I hate grapefruit. If you are like me and hate the taste of grapefruit, you should give pomelos and try. The taste is similar to a grapefruit but without the bitterness or acidity. I usually eat my pomelos plain but I was reading a few of my favorite food blogs (rasa malaysia and wandering chopsticks) and both blogs have posts for pomelo salad. The one of rasa malaysia was a guest post by the author of the shesimmers blog. I have to admit that I've never tried pomelo salad before so I didn't know what to expect.

I couldn't decide on the Thai or the Vietnamese version of the salad. I love both Thai and Vietnamese food. Initially I was planning on doing the Vietnamese version found on Wandering Chopsticks blog but I didn't have any Vietnamese coriander so I went with the version found on rasa malaysia. I have to admit that I was a little lazy with the prep. I cheated quite a bit. I skipped the coconut milk because I didn't want to open a can of coconut milk. I used fried shallots from a jar and I poached the shrimp in the microwave. (I feel I must apologize to the author of the recipe.) Fortunately, I did have some raw peanuts that I toasted a few weeks ago.

These pomelos were on the smaller side. I usually get volleyball-size pomelos at the Asian grocery store. I scored the pomelo to make peeling easier. I then used kitchen sheers to help cut the pith and then carefully remove the segments.

If you take prescription drugs, you may notice the grapefruit and grapefruit juice warning label on your prescription bottle. Grapefruit contains a compound that interacts with certain prescription drugs. (There's a long list of prescription drugs affected and they range from allergy meds to cholesterol-lowering meds.) The compound inhibits an enzyme called CYP3A that breaks down the drug, resulting in more of the drug being absorbed by your body. Controlled Release, Sustained Release and Extended Release drugs are also affected by the compound - causing the entire dose to be absorbed at once. Does this mean a possible overdose? I'm not sure. Pomelos are not as popular or as widely available as grapefruits. (Although they are gaining in popularity and several of my local groceries are now carrying them.) There's not much information about pomelos and prescription drugs. I'm sure many pharmacists and doctors have never even heard of a pomelo and when you say "similar to a grapefruit," the advice would probably be to err on the safe side.

The Barefoot Contessa's Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

2010-04-02T18:51:00.007-06:00

I was planning on making Bandera Grill's skillet cornbread but I didn't check my pantry before going to the grocery store so I didn't have all the ingredients. I hate it when that happens.

I had to come up with a Plan B because the bf wanted cornbread with his turkey chili. The kidney beans were already simmering on the stovetop and I didn't want to go back to the grocery store. I searched for a different recipe using cheese and jalapenos.

I found the Barefoot Contessa's recipe for Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread. The recipe looked really good but I did change the quantities for the white flour and the cornmeal. Ina's recipe has a high white flour to cornmeal ratio. I wanted more cornmeal in my cornbread so I went ahead and used 2 cups each of white flour and cornmeal instead of the 3 cups of white flour and 1 cup of cornmeal called for in the original recipe. It turned out really well. The cornbread was still very soft and fluffy but had a very nice corn-y flavor. I prefer Hodgson Mill yellow cornmeal over Albers or Quaker cornmeal because I find both Albers and Quaker too gritty.

I also left out the scallions because I just wasn't feeling it.

The recipe makes a huge 9x13 pan. I baked the batter in two small cast iron skillets and in a 9x9 square pan.

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
(Adapted from the Barefoot Contessa)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups milk
3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease the pan
8 ounces aged extra-sharp Cheddar, grated, divided
3 tablespoons seeded and minced fresh jalapeno peppers

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the lumps are dissolved. Don't overmix! Mix in 2 cups of the grated Cheddar, and jalapenos.

Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking pan.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining grated Cheddar. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into large squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Shrimp Corn Chowder

2010-03-30T21:07:00.006-06:00

I found a shrimp corn chowder recipe in this (next) month's issue of Real Simple. It looked fine but it didn't look quite as good as my trusty lobster corn chowder recipe from Williams-Sonoma. The recipe can be found on the Williams-Sonoma site.

This chowder ideally should be made at the height of summer when both corn and lobsters are plentiful but I did not want to wait for summer so I decided to make a few substitutions to the original recipe. I used frozen sweet corn kernels and shrimp instead of the ears of corn and lobster. The chowder still tasted pretty good without the corn cobs and lobster. I made the stock using homemade chicken stock, shrimp shells and the legs from the lobster I bought for the curry.

I served it with a nice crusty sourdough.

Lobster in Prik Khing Curry

2010-03-28T19:53:00.021-06:00

I don’t know why but I’ve been craving lobster all week. March is not a great time for craving lobster because it ain’t lobster season and I do try to eat what is in season. (I’m eating tons of citrus right now.) Although it is not lobster season, you can still get lobster pretty much all year round at the Asian store. I was not disappointed. They had a tank full of live lobsters. I paid $10.98 a pound. Not the cheapest but not too bad. I asked the guy for one of the larger ones. It was just over two pounds.

Initially, I was planning on making ginger scallion lobster but I wasn’t up for the deep frying part so I decided to cook the lobster in a Thai curry sauce. It is my favorite way to cook crab so I figured it should work well with the lobster. I’m not too fond of the typical steamed and served with clarified butter route. I don’t usually order lobster at American restaurants because they are often prepared this way but I took the bf out for his birthday dinner and ended up adding a rock lobster tail to my entrée.

Lobster in Prik Khing Curry:
2 ¼ lb lobster
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 ounces prik khing curry paste(half of the small can)
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ onion, sliced
7 ounces coconut milk (half can)
2 kaffir lime leaves, torn into smaller pieces
1 stalk lemon grass, cut into 2 inch pieces and smashed
MSG, to taste
Fish sauce, to taste
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ red bell pepper, sliced
1 egg
handful cilantro, roughly chopped
handful Thai basil leaves
5 stalks green onion, cut into 1 inch pieces

Mise en Place:
1. Cut lobster into 12 pieces. Using a heavy cleaver cut the body into four pieces, the tail into two, and the claws into three pieces each. Crack each piece.
2. Prep all vegetables.

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large wok. Add prik khing paste; fry until fragrant. Add garlic and onions; continue to cook until onions are soft. Add coconut milk; fry until fragrant. Add lime leaves, lemon grass, MSG, fish sauce and sugar. Simmer for a few minutes.
2. Add lobster pieces, red bell peppers and egg. Toss to coat lobster with sauce. (Add a little water if the bottom of the pan is scorching.)
3. Cover and cook until lobster is red. Turn off heat, add cilantro, basil, and green onions.

Say hello to Lenny the lobster. I have been trained to quickly and humanely kill lobsters but every time I do it, I still freak out. It's really hard to kill a living thing. Lenny was very much alive and active when I took him/her out of the fridge. I stored the lobster in a paperbag and covered the gills with strips of wet newspaper. I was sure the lobster would die in the fridge. It flopped its way on the counter and even sent the spice container across the room.

I chose Prik Khing Curry Paste but any Thai curry paste will work. The dark green stuff in the lobster body is called the tomalley. The tomalley is considered a delicacy but recent reports show high levels of toxins and pollutants in the tomalley of lobsters from the Maine/New England areas.

Veggies are prepped and the lobster has been hacked into small pieces and the the claws have been pre-cracked.

Cooking method in photos:

I know I've been MIA lately. Many food lovers go through blah periods, where nothing tastes good. I haven't been craving anything until the lobster. I cooked regular (uninspiring and unblog-worthy) meals.

Dinner at Oceanaire Restaurant. I ordered the mahi mahi and I debated between getting it Oscar style or adding a lobster tail. The lobster tail won. The bf ordered salmon. We "shared" the fried green beans with the aoli. I ate two bites of the fish and ended up giving most of it to the bf. I filled up on the yummy sour dough bread.

Here's a picture of baby Jack's first birthday birthday cake. It was Hungry Hungry Caterpillar theme.

And the birthday boy after enjoying the green frosting from his cupcake.

Challah French Toast

2010-03-27T16:02:00.007-06:00

My favorite bread for french toast is challah (my second favorite is brioche). Whenever I find challah french toast on the menu of a hip breakfast joint, I always have to order it. I think I make a pretty darn good french toast. (I used the same recipe but with a soft french baguette during out snow trip earlier this year. I ended up feeding 30 adults plus several children.)

2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup milk
pinch salt
1 extra large egg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon brown sugar
6 thick slices challah bread

1. Mix all ingredients (except bread) together. Whisk together.
2. Heat a skillet or griddle. Coat with butter and oil. Dip each slice of bread in mixture and fry each side until golden brown.

I usually buy my challah at the Whole Foods in Cherry Creek. They usually carry the braided loaf most of the year and the braided crown around Rosh Hashanah.

Chinese Sesame Balls (Jin Dui or Jien Duy)

2010-03-18T21:30:00.015-06:00

I've been feeling a little tired and uninspired lately. However, I did manage to do some cooking over the weekend. I had leftover adzuki beans from a different recipe and decided on the sesame balls instead of red bean dessert soup. I used dried adzuki beans to make the red bean paste. (This took a very long time.)

The recipe can be found here. These sesame balls are very similar to those found at dim sum restaurants. (I also like the Vietnamese version called bánh cam or bánh rám. The Vietnamese version is usually filled with sweetened mung bean paste.)

The pictures are not the best. The sesame balls happen to be one of the last items I cooked. It was already dark by the time I started the recipe. (It was cloudy most of the day so even the pictures I took during the day were crappy.)

The dough is slightly tan because of the dark brown sugar. The recipe calls for glutinous rice flour. If you buy a Thai brand, then it's the bag with the green writing. I always get confused between the red and the green writing. Green = Glutinous rice and Red = Regular rice. The red bean paste was made from dried adzuki beans, sugar and a pinch of salt.

Napa Cabbage Soup

2010-03-03T18:42:00.004-07:00

My mom made this really simple soup when I was home a few weeks ago. She bought about fifty pounds of napa cabbage because she found a great deal on it (5 pounds for $1). When I returned to Denver, I sent the bf to get some napa cabbage from the store.

Chicken (Use bone-in chicken for more flavor. I used drumsticks.)
Napa cabbage, sliced
green onions, sliced
ginger, cut into matchsticks
salt
MSG
fish sauce

Method:
Simmer chicken in a medium pan. Add the rest of the ingredients. (I'm sorry. It's not much of a recipe.)

Enstrom’s Style Almond Toffee with Matzah

2010-02-26T20:52:00.009-07:00

I made Enstrom’s style almond toffee but with a matzah cracker base. I should call it “Enstrom’s Gone Jewish Almond Toffee.” I started off making Enstrom’s almond toffee but then I remembered my 7th grade home ec teacher used to make a shortcut toffee with saltine crackers and melted toffee and chocolate chips. I didn’t have any saltines but I did have a case of matzah crackers. Matzah crackers are great because they are thinner and crisper than saltines.

The toffee was a hit but we hardly made a dent so I packed it up and took it to work. I had to get the yummy toffee out of the house. Every time I sat down, I had a small piece in my hands. The toffee disappear in a matter of hours. I even got a request for the recipe. You know when something is good when someone asks you for the recipe.

Enstrom’s Style Almond Toffee with Matzah

1 pound salted butter
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 ¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup water
1 ½ cup whole almonds
3 to 4 matzah crackers
12 ounces chocolate chips

1. Heat a 3 to 5 quart heavy bottom pan over medium heat. Add the butter and to melt slowly. Add the salt. Add the sugar and the water. Stir slowly with a wooden spoon.

2. Continue to cook about 7 minutes. The water will evaporate and the sugar will slowly melt and combine with the butter. Add the almonds.

3. Continue to slowly stir the mixture for about 10 to 15 minutes or until it reaches the hard crack stage (about 290 degrees F on a candy thermometer). The sugar will turn a dark caramel color. (Do not undercook the sugar or you will get chewy toffee. Don’t overcook the toffee or you’ll end up with burnt sugar.)

4. While the toffee is cooking, prep a half sheet pan and line with foil or a silpat or both. Lay the matzah crackers on the lined sheet pan. You will have to break the crackers and piece them together. Put the sheet pan on trivets or cooling rack to protect your counter from the heat of the toffee.

5. One the toffee mixture has reached 290 degrees; pour it over the matzah cracker and spread to evenly coat.

6. Sprinkle the toffee evenly with chocolate chips and let sit about five minutes (or until chips are shiny) and then spread the melted chips to evenly coat the toffee.

7. This is optional but you can also sprinkle some sliced almonds (or crushed powdered almonds like they do at Enstrom’s) on the chocolate layer.

8. Allow toffee and chocolate to cool completely and then break into smaller pieces.

I used mini chocolate chips.

Goi Cuon (Vietnamese Spring Rolls) with Peanut Hoisin Sauce

2010-02-21T18:46:00.018-07:00

My friend made Goi Cuon (or Vietnamese Spring Rolls) for the baby shower the other weekend. I was amazed by the way she rolled them. She is a master goi cuon roller. They looked so professional. It is not surprising because her family owned/owns several restaurants and they make some of the best goi cuons in San Diego.

I watched her roll them the morning of the shower. She used 1½ skins for each roll. She had a stack of very large round skins and a stack skins that were cut in half. I asked her why she had the half circles. She told me that it is trick used to help the rolls stay fresh for several hours. The trick worked.

There is quite a bit of prep work that goes into making these rolls. It is an exercise in mise en place. Once everything is prepped, you can either roll them all or wait for your friends to come and everyone can roll their own. Rolling spring rolls is another exercise of self-control and moderation. One must possess enough self control to not over-stuff the rolls. It is tempting to want to jam-pack all the yummy ingredients in the roll but one must remember that we are making spring rolls and not burritos.

Ingredients for 20 large rolls:
30 extra large shrimp
1 pork loin, poached, and cut into thin slices (I don’t like pork in mine.)
1 head Green leaf lettuce, washed and torn into pieces
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch mint, leaves only
2-3 cups bean sprouts
1/2 package vermicelli rice noodles
green onions or chives (I think this is optional. It makes the rolls pretty but I always pull it out before eating.
30 large rice paper wrappers

Mise en Place:

1. Shrimp – Put shrimp (with shells on) in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Add about 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoons vinegar and 2 teaspoons salt. Boil until pink. Drain and allow to cool. Once shrimp is cool, carefully remove the shells. (Also devein them. I buy already deveined shrimp.)
2. Poach pork loin, cool and then slice.
3. Mix lettuce, cilantro, mint and bean sprout. Wash and drain.
4. Boil vermicelli noodles.

Vermicelli Rice Noodles:

After cutting the shrimp, I arrange them to make it easier to use the same side shrimp for each roll.

I watched my friend roll them but I couldn’t remember so I emailed her. She responded using her phone. Her response is below.

"I cut the wrapper in half dry with scissors

place half sheet in middle of whole sheet, hold together and then wet

I always use the larger wrappers with the three girls on it (my fav wrapper it's hole proof lol)

I like all my veggie and meat on the edge close to me like 1/4 the ways up then line shrimp in front of veggie pile

roll bottom wrapper over pile just enough to enclose stuffing then sides one by one and finish rolling up

if it's unclear call me"

I'll do the assembly instructions using photos. (This is my interpretation of my friend's method. It is not her method.)

1. Count 10 wrappers and cut them in half. (You will need a total of 30 wrappers to make 20 rolls.)

2. Hold the half skin in front of the whole skin and dunk in warm water.

3. Place on large plate.

4. Arrange veggies and noodles centered on lower edge of skin. (This is also the time to add the sliced pork loin, if using.)

5. Roll up and arrange the shrimp pieces.

6. Fold the edges.

7. Tightly roll.

Peanut Hoisin Dipping Sauce

This is not my friend's recipe for peanut hoisin sauce. I got this recipe from an old coworker named Daisy. It is so yummy. I think some of my friends use the spring rolls as a peanut hoisin sauce delivery device.

I like to make the sauce (and prep the shrimp and vegetables) the night before.

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon oil
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter
MSG
1/2 cup water
Huy Fong Foods Chili Garlic Sauce (aka cock brand chili garlic sauce) - to taste

Method:
Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add oil and garlic. Cook until garlic is golden. Add the rest of the ingredients and allow to slowly melt together.

Pizza Lue

2010-02-18T19:24:00.009-07:00

The reason why I am posting about this is because my dear brother commented on my blog. He said I post about too many western recipes. I should focus on more Lue recipes. I told him that it would be impossible for me to only blog about Lue recipes because I know approximately six Lue recipes and I'm not certain all six are authentic.

I made a conscious effort to make a "Lue" dish over the weekend. I had leftover sticky rice in the fridge. I took the leftover rice and made one of my favorite breakfast recipes. We call it "Pizza Lue." The name is made up but we've been calling it "Pizza Lue" for so long, I'm not sure I know the real name. I'm not even sure if it is a real dish eaten by the Lue folks in Sipsongpanna.

I don't expect anyone to read this blog entry and then feel inspired to make "Pizza Lue." I know the ingredients do not make this dish sound very appetizing and I'm not sure anyone outside of the Lue community would be able to get their hands on the fermented soybean paste. It is not sold on the shelf of your local Asian grocery store. I got my little jar from my aunt. (Note to self: I must learn how to make fermented soybeans.)

Start off by reheating your leftover sticky rice and form the rice into one large circle (about the size of your frying pan) or into smaller circles.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a nonstick pan. Fry both sides of rice until crunchy and slightly golden.

Spread fermented bean paste sauce on one side of the rice.

Dip rice in eggs mixture (eggs, water, fish sauce, black pepper and MSG) and fry until eggs are cooked.

The Last Few Weekends and a Recipe for Cafe 222's Peanut Butter Banana Stuffed French Toast

2010-02-12T21:37:00.032-07:00

I spent the last two weekends with my family and friends. (Weekends with my family and friends are not exactly relaxing. It involves a lot of drinking and very little sleeping.) The first weekend was a snowboarding/skiing trip in Breckenridge/Copper Mountain. The second weekend was a baby shower in San Diego.

We planned a day of eating and shopping for one of the days I was in San Diego. We started the day off with brunch. My friend Kellie wanted to try a restaurant featured on an episode of Bobby Flay's Throw Down. The five of us met up and walked over to Cafe 222. (We were looking for Cafe 211. Don't ask. It's a long story.)

The restaurant is really close to the convention center and the convention center hotels. I could see the Marriott from where we were sitting. As I sat there, all I could think of was the day I was standing on one of the Marriott's balconies, looking out towards downtown San Diego. And as I was typing this post, I remembered taking pictures from the balcony. I searched through my gmail account for the pictures. I have a picture of Cafe 222 in one of my pictures. The pictures were from August 2005!

We walked by Lion Cafe on the way to the restaurant. (I think it is the only Lion Cafe on the mainland.) I had to grab a cup of my toasted coconut coffee. When we arrived at the restaurant, the girl told us the wait was 20 minutes. We waited 25 and went to ask if it would be much longer. We were hungry. The girl told us it would be another 20 minutes. We ended up waiting over an hour for a table.

By the time we sat down, we had memorized and mentally reorganized the menu. We even memorized the daily specials. When our waitress came by to take our drink orders, we were ready to order our meal. Kellie wanted to try the peanut butter banana french toast because it was Bobby Flay's favorite. I don't ever think about ordering stuffed french toast. I like my french toast unstuffed and made with either challah, brioche or soft french baguettes. The peanut butter banana french toast was delicious. I'm glad Kellie ordered it.

When I returned to Denver, I decided I wanted to make it so I looked for the recipe. I was in luck. The recipe from the restaurant is posted on the food network website. I printed it out and made a shopping list.

I did, however, make a couple minor changes to the recipe. I thought heavy cream was a bit too decadent so I compromised by using half and half. (I use 2% milk for my usual french toast recipe.) I also added a tablespoon of flour to the dunking mixture because a few reviewers said their french toasts turned out too mushy. It is trick I use to ensure I get fluffy and not mushy french toast. I used both wheat and white bread to see if it made much of a difference. (Our french toast at Cafe 222 was made with wheat bread.) Both tasted great.

Peanut Butter Banana Stuffed French Toast from Cafe 222

6 slices day-old white or wheat bread (I used four slices of wheat and two slices of white.)
1 to 2 ripe bananas
8 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
Honey, for drizzling
4 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream (I used half and half instead of cream.)
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon dark rum
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Dash salt
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
Butter or oil, for frying (I used a combination)
Powdered sugar, for topping
Maple syrup, for topping

Directions

Remove crust from bread. (I didn't remove the crusts. The restaurant didn't either.) Lay bread out on counter and spread a thin layer of peanut butter on each slice. Peel banana and slice enough to cover every other piece of bread. (You will be making 3 complete sandwiches). Drizzle a small amount of honey on each piece of bread that does not have banana on it. (These are the tops). Place honey drizzled piece of bread on top of a piece with bananas on it to make a sandwich. Repeat until you have made 3 sandwiches.

In a shallow medium sized bowl, gently whip, by hand, the eggs, cream, vanilla, rum, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and flour.

Heat skillet to medium heat, around 350 to375 degrees F, or until butter melts and begins to sizzle. Dip 1 sandwich at a time into rum batter and place into skillet. Cook until golden brown (about 3 to 4 minutes before turning) on each side. Remove from skillet and cut in 1/2 diagonally. Top with powdered sugar, butter and maple syrup.

I took tons of pictures and then realized I forgot the powdered sugar.

I love the melted peanut butter, the runny honey and the sweet bananas. It is so good you don't even need syrup.

The three pictures below are from Cafe 222. I took them using my phone. I love eating with my girl friends. They kept rotating the plates in front of me. I ate whatever was placed directly in front of me.

The potato pancakes served with applesauce and sour cream.

The All-American is in the foreground, the spinach and swiss scramble is on the green plate on the right and I think the cornmeal waffles are behind the waters.

And this is the the famous peanut butter banana stuffed french toast.

Pictures from Cordelia Ann's Shower:

I didn't take pictures of all the food. There were three tables overflowing with food.

My friend is so creative.

My chocolate dipped pretzels.

My creative friend also made two trays of these yummy spring rolls.

And more eating: Mr. Dumpling Restaurant

My brother took me out to lunch before dropping me off at the airport. He wanted Shanghai-style dumplings at Dumpling Inn Restaurant but they are closed on Mondays so we went to Mr. Dumpling Restaurant instead. The restaurant was very nice but the service was slow and the food was just so so.

For a restaurant with "dumpling" in its name, I expected little packets of heaven. I didn't get what I was expecting. We ordered several varieties of dumplings to try. The dumplings came out in a tower of stacked metal steamers. The server did not identify the tiers of dumplings for us so it was like picking from a box of mixed chocolates. Each dumpling was a mystery. The texture of the dumpling dough was thick and gummy. The fillings were underwhelming. They were not offensive but just underwhelming.

My brother and his fiancee loves this Chinese Stir-Fried Rice Cake dish. It is very good. I think it is better than rice noodles because they are thicker and chewier.

The Chinese doughnuts (You Tiao) were not very good.

The steamed and pan-fried pork buns were huge!

We ate most of the dumplings before I remembered to take pictures. The soup dumplings were very interesting.

Candied Pumpkin

2010-02-09T18:59:00.009-07:00

This is another stock post that I keep for those periods when I am too busy to cook and blog. (I was out of town for a baby shower. I'll post pictures from the shower after I download them from my phone.) I made this back in early December when I had an extra sugar pumpkin from Thanksgiving.

The recipe is pretty simple and straightforward. I didn't use the exact same method as my grandmother but her cooking is very forgiving. I used a sugar pumpkin instead of a pumpkin from grandma's garden. I also substituted granulated and palm sugar for the piloncillo sugar cones.

Candied Pumpkin

1 sugar pumpkin, butternut squash, buttercup squash or kabocha pumpkin
1 ½ cups granulated sugar (or two Piloncillo cones)
2 cups water
2 disks palm sugar (about ½ cup)
pinch salt
½ cup coconut cream

1. Cut pumpkin in half and scoop out the insides. Wash thoroughly and then cut into 2 inch by 2 inch pieces. Set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, caramelize granulated sugar until golden brown. Carefully add water and palm sugar and allow sugar to dissolve. (If using piloncillo sugar, skip the caramelization step but cut the cones into smaller chunks and dissolve in water. Omit palm sugar.) Bring syrup to a boil.
3. Add pumpkin pieces and cook until soft. Turn off heat and allow pumpkin to soak in syrup for about 30 minutes or longer.
4. Meanwhile, make coconut sauce by heating ½ cup coconut cream with about ¼ cup pumpkin cooking syrup.
5. To serve: Place several wedges on a plate and drizzle with coconut sauce.

Awesome Meatloaf

2010-02-03T20:09:00.004-07:00

Ugh, I've haven't been around much to do any cooking or blogging. This last weekend was the ski/snowboarding trip in Breckenridge/Copper and I'm leaving for San Diego tomorrow evening.

I did manage to find pictures of this meatloaf I cooked sometime last week. I always make this meatloaf at night so the pictures are always terrible because of the terrible lighting.

Awesome Meatloaf

1/2 onion
2 carrots, peeled if you want
3 whole cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 red bell pepper, seeds removed
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
1 1/2 pounds bulk pork italian sausage
3/4 cups bread crumbs (I use homemade bread crumbs that I toast is the oven and run through the food processor)
1 cup finely grated jack or mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon anhco chile powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme

For glaze:
1/2 cup ketchup
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Dash of tapatio hot sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.

2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine onion, carrots, garlic and bell pepper. Pulse until the mixture is fine.

3. Place mixture in a large bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and gently combine thoroughly. Do not squeeze the meat mixture.

4. Divide the mixture and form two loaves. (You can use a loaf pan to shape the loaves.)

5. Line a baking sheet with non-stick aluminum foil or parchment paper. Place loaves on lined baking sheet. Place on center rack of preheated oven.

6. Combine the ingredients for the glaze. Brush the glaze on the loaves after they have been cooking for about 10 minutes.

7. Bake loaves until internal temperature reaches 155 degrees (about 1 to 1/2 hours).

8. Allow to stand for about 15 to 30 minutes before slicing.

Mom's Crab Rangoon and My Wonton Wrapped Shrimp

2010-01-28T18:13:00.016-07:00

The bf loves crab rangoons (aka crab cheese wontons). You can only imagine his excitement when my mom made them for my friend's baby shower. He ate three dozen. He told me to get my mom's recipe since her wontons were better than the ones served in restaurants.

I called my mom and asked for her "recipe." She told me the ingredients. Her secret ingredient is Knorr chicken bouillon powder. She also adds frozen peas or frozen mixed vegetables to the filling.

I made the platter above to take over to dinner at a friend's house. It was a dinner for four.

Mom’s Crab Rangoons (Crab Cheese Wontons)

1 package 8 ounce cream cheese
2 stalks green onions, finely diced
3 sticks imitation crab meat, finely diced
½ cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
freshly ground pepper
1 package square wonton wrappers

1. Mix cream cheese, green onions, crab meat, peas, bouillon powder and ground pepper.

2. Fill wonton wrappers and shape. I use water to seal the edges. (I'm not wrapping them the same way they do it in the restaurant. My mom doesn't either. She says it is a pain. I make them more like tortellinis.)

3. Freeze them and then fry. (I don't know why but I always like to freeze my wontons and egg rolls before frying them.)

Place a spoonful of filling in the center (or off-center like me) and fold to form a triangle. Bring the two tips of th folded end together.

I also left a few as triangles to store in the freezer. I took the rest over to dinner at a friend's house. She also loves crab rangoons.

I think they look like little pudgy pokemon puffs.

And now the Wonton Wrapped Shrimp.

This is really not a recipe. One of my classmates in middle school showed me a very simple way to cook shrimp. We used small egg roll wrappers instead of wonton wrappers but I think both wrappers work well.

What you need:
Shrimp
Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce
Wonton or small egg roll wrappers

Method:
Peel and devein shrimp but leave the tails on.
Dip shrimp in Mae Ploy sauce and coat well.
Wrap the shrimp.
Fry.

I told you it was easy.

Yunnanese Khao Soi

2010-01-25T19:01:00.010-07:00

This is not the more popular Chiang Mai style khao soi noodles – egg noodles in a curry sauce. This is the khao soi version that I grew up eating. Chiang Mai khao soi is said to have originated from versions from the Shan region of Burma and the Yunnan region of China. Learn more about the Khao Soi here.

Since my family is from Yunnan, I grew up eating this version. Unfortunately, I do not have a recipe. I’ve been meaning to learn from my aunt or grandma but haven’t gotten around to it.

The meat sauce is the base for the soup. It can last for months in the refrigerator or freezer. I'm not sure why the sauce doesn't go bad. Maybe because the liquid is completely removed during the cooking process or because the meat is suspended in oil or because of the special preservation properties of the fermented soy beans.

Khao Soi is a quick and delicious weeknight meal. I combine boiled rice noodles, boiling water, shredded cabbage, green onions, coriander leaves, soy sauce, fish sauce and a heaping spoonful of the meat sauce.

The sauce is usually made with pork but because I decided to stop eating red meat, my brother decided to stop eating pork and my sister decided to stop eating meat entirely, my grandmother made a ground chicken version of the sauce and even made a vegetarian version using chopped up mushrooms.

The sauce is made with ground pork, tomatoes, fermented soy beans, dried red chilies and a lot of oil. I think the key is to have really good fermented soy beans. Fermented soy beans is a real project that I have never attempted. I get jars of it from my grandmother or aunt.

This is the meat sauce. It is packed with tons of flavor.

You put all the ingredients in the bowl and then add the boiling water. I usually use green cabbage but the store was out so I bought the red cabbage instead.

I usually do my blog cooking during the weekends but this weekend was a bit hectic. On Saturday we went to Rockies Fest. The bf happened to score some tickets to this event. The event was awesome. I've seen a lot of Coors Field but with these tickets, we had access to rooms that even the media are not allowed to enter. I got tons of autographs. I even got Clint Barmes to autograph my baseball in red ink. (I was coached on the importance of color and placement of autographs.)

The diamond is covered in snow.

Todd Helton's stuff in the Rockies' Club House.

Tulo's stuff.

Ryan Spilborghs, answering a question during the interview session. One of my coworkers (who was part of the 2004 Olympic team) went to school with him at UC Santa Barbara. I really love the Rockies club. The guys are all very down to earth and they all seem to get along. I think my new favorite player is Dexter Fowler.

I took more pictures of more players, the batting cage, the umpire's area, the museum, the massage room and even the urinals in the visiting team's club house. Those pictures will be uploaded on my picasa page.

Chicken Posole

2010-01-17T20:59:00.014-07:00

I'm only posting pictures tonight. I was almost done typing up the recipe when Word froze on me. I suppose it's fair since I'm running Microsoft Office on a Mac. I'm surprised Outlook works so well on my phone, considering it is an Apple product, when my sister had a hell of a time getting Google Apps to work on her iphone. (Her work uses Google.)

I had to do a Command+Option+Escape and although it did auto recover my documents, it didn't save the recipe I just typed up. When I'm working up a new recipe, I usually will sit down and write the ingredients down on a piece of paper. I will then write the amounts I use and notes on my method as I cook. I have the "recipe" scribbled on a piece of paper. I just need to type it up.

**Edit** 1/19/2010
I finally got around to retyping the recipe after that catastrophic Microsoft crash.

Chicken Posole

1 3 to 4 pound chicken (cut up) or bone in thighs, breasts or drumsticks
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 pound frozen posole, rinsed well
8-15 dried chiles (New Mexico or Guajillos), stems and seed removed
½ teaspoon Mexican oregano
½ teaspoon cumin
salt
pepper

Typical Garnishes:
Sliced cabbage
Sliced radishes
Cilantro
Sliced green onions
Diced avocados
Cheese
Lime wedges
Reserved chile puree

1. Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken pieces and brown. If using skinless chicken, coat the bottom of dutch oven with oil or lard before browning.

2. Add onions and garlic and cook a few minutes until onions are translucent. Add bay leaves. Cover with water, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer about an hour or until chicken is cooked. (Breasts will take less time than thighs and drums.)

3. Meanwhile, bring rinsed posole and water to a boil and cook 1 to 2 hours, or until soft. Strain and set aside.

4. Toast chiles under broiler. (Be very careful because it literally takes seconds. Some people like to toast them in a cast iron skillet but I find the broiler easier.) Once chiles are toasted, place them in a saucepan and cover with water. Cover pan with lid and simmer about 20 minutes. Leave the lid on and allow the chiles to cool. Once chiles are cool enough, pour chiles and liquid in a blender and puree. Strain the puree to remove seeds and skins. Set aside.

5. Once chicken is cooked, remove from broth, allow to cool and shred. Set shredded chicken aside. Strain the broth to remove onions and garlic. (This step is not necessary and most people leave the onions and garlic but I felt like removing them. Sometimes I will puree the onions and garlic with the chiles but I wanted a pure chile puree.)

6. Bring strained broth back to a boil; add cooked posole and shredded chicken. Season with Mexican oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. Add about half to three quarters of the chile puree, depending on the level of spiciness you desire. Save the rest of the puree to add when serving.

7. Garnish with toppings.

Dried chiles from my two potted Big Jim plants.

Rinse and boil the posole.

Toast, boil, puree and strain chiles.

Remove cooked chicken and then strain broth. Return strained broth to a boil and then add shredded chicken, cooked posole and half of the chile puree. (I wasn't sure how spicy my chiles were so I only added half. I ended adding more chile puree to my bowl because the puree was pretty mild.)

Garnish and eat. I only garnished with cabbage, cilantro and green onions. I don't like radishes and I wasn't interested in the other topping options.

Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-01-14T20:27:00.006-07:00

The recipe for the Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies used to be posted on the Top Secret Recipes Site. I think it is still available but for a fee. I looked through my recipe book and I found a print out from November 2000. I also found a printout of the Neiman Marcus recipe from around the same time. (The Neiman Marcus recipe is posted below.)

I used to make these cookies with See’s semi-sweet chocolate chips. See’s chocolate chips are larger and flatter and back then it was the only readily available baking chips of this shape and size. The chips are dark, almost black and taste just as wonderful as See’s chocolates. I just discovered that Guittard supplies the chocolate for See’s.

Unfortunately, in Colorado, See’s cannot be found in every mall like in California. We do have a See’s distribution store but it means I have to intentionally drive there and right now they are in the process of moving. A coworker went over to the shop before Christmas and they were out of certain items because they were moving into their new store. I wasn’t sure if the chips would be in stock so I didn’t make the trip. I think both Doubletree and Neiman Marcus use plain ole semisweet chocolate chips. You can be fancy and use the good stuff if you desire. I’m using semi-sweet chocolate chunks and 60% dark chocolate chips.

It had been so long since I made these cookies that I decided to make both the Doubletree and the Neiman Marcus cookies at the same time to compare them. Which one do I like? They are both really good. The Neiman Marcus cookies bake up really nicely. I love the shape. They look almost like the Keebler Soft Batch cookies. The Doubletree cookies, because of the ground oatmeal, have a very nice taste and texture.

Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
½ cup rolled oats
2¼ cups all purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
¾ cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla
½ teaspoon lemon juice
2 eggs
3 cups semi-sweet, chocolate chips
1½ cups chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine. Combine the ground oats with the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

3. Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in another medium bowl with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix until smooth.

4. Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are well blended.

5. Spoon rounded 1 ¼ cup portions onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the scoops about 2 inches apart. You don’t need to press the dough flat. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle. Store in a sealed container when cool to keep soft.

For the best results, chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator before baking the cookies.