Eventhough the weather we are experiencing in the mid-west suggests otherwise. But the abundance of asparagus that comes with Spring is unmistakable. This week, I have the good fortune of getting some reasonably priced asparagus from the grocery store. Oh, asparagus is one of the many reasons I look forward to Spring. If I could, I wouldn't mind eating them everyday.
OCT on the other hand, couldn't apprehend my passion for asparagus. He would be perfectly happy eating broccoli whole year round.... Well, I am fine with that too. It only means I get to eat most of my favorite veggie.
On Monday night, I decided to dress my otherwise simple roasted asparagus up with roast garlic aioli. My review maybe bias because of my liking for asparagus, but OCT thought that the dish was pretty awesome! I like the subtle, slightly smokey roast garlic in the aioli. The flavor of garlic wasn't as pungent and assertive as it was before roasting. Incidentally, the aioli also went well with the roasted cauliflower we had for dinner. Maybe I will try it on the roast green beans next.
Other than roasted vegetables, I made us some New England Chowder. Bad choice! Experience taught me that our one and only one soup pot is not suitable for sauteeing flour or rather anything in that matter. But sauteeing is the crucial part in my chowder! So I went ahead, and followed the recipe to saute whatever necessary in the pot. Everything seemed well, up to the point after I added the cod and scallop. Feeling like a patient who suddenly regain her sense of smell, I detected a fainted burnt smell in the air. It wasn't until we shovelled the chowder into our mouth that I was sure of what had happened. And dejected at the prospect of what lay ahead of me....In case you wonder, the bottom of the pan was covered with stubborn burnt flour. Such a thick layer that even the strongest detergent couldn't penetrate. Later, I poured in some vinegar, which the acid did the trick to dissolve most of the burnt stuff. However, it wasn't without some muscle work....
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Spring is in the air!
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Lemon Spaghetti with Smoke Salmon
Home alone means I can take a long bubble bath without worrying about meeting dinner time.
Dinner alone means I get to try out my new recipe that I am not completely sure OCT will buy.The recipe in point is lemon spaghetti, which I remember seeing somewhere before. It is the perfect solution for someone who needs to shed off some new-gained weights and yet, still craves for something delicious. To make it extra special, I decided to add some smoke salmon. Afterall, I need the protein after working out in gym right?
The meal comes together in a flash, almost as fast as cooking instant noodle. All I have to do is tossing the cooked spaghetti with olive oil, lemon juice, smoked salmon and chopped parsley. And voila, a simple and delicious dinner for one! 
With something as healthy and simple like this, who needs to eat the instant noodles loaded with MSG!
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Blessing in Disguise
This is the first Friday treat since we got back from Singapore. I wanted to bake something simple yet breakfasty. After going through my to-try-list, I decided to make a coffee cake, a recipe I copied sometime ago from Martha Stewart Living magazine.
The recipe is fairly straightforward, just a simple cake batter, with filling made up of espresso powder-sugar mixture.The first complication came when I misread teaspoon as tablespoon. As a result, I added in more espresso powder than I should. But this wasn't too bad. I could rectify this simply by using lesser filling mixture and reserved the rest for future use.
Minutes later, after the batter was poured into the pan, I saw half a cup of sugar lying on the bench. Behind my back all this while. The portion I should have added into the batter long ago. I have no idea how I could make such silly mistake, twice in such simple recipe, but things happened nonetheless. There's nothing I could do than optimistically hoping for the best.
After waiting anxiously for 35 minutes, I took the cake out of the oven and cut a slice to try. It was not as bad as I had anticipated. However, it could use some glaze to make up for the sweetness I left out in the dough. 
I made a simple coffee glaze for the accident cake, and with so many modifications, I now proudly claim this to be MY coffee cake.
Accidental Coffee Cake
All ingredients at room temperature:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
filling:
4 tsp espresso powder
3 tbsp granulated sugar
4.5 tsp Dutch Processed Powder Cocoa Powder
Coffee Glaze:
5 tsp strong brewed coffee
1 tsp espresso powder
1 cup powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Buttered and floured a 10 inch bundt pan. In an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time until just combined.
Mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with sour cream. Add vanilla extract, mix until blended.
Spread 1/3 batter into pan. sprinkle half of the filling, spread another 1/3 batter. followed by filling/ Cover with the rest of the batter. Run a thin knife to marbelize.
Bake for 35-38 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean. Let cool for 30 minutes.
Stir together coffee, espresso powder and powdered sugar. Pour over inverted cake.
Serves 10-12.
Fried Rice
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Finally back into the kitchen
As most of you have already known, I went back to Singapore, in order to renew my re-entry permit. While I was at it, I decided to fly back to the land below the wind- KK, to celebrate Chinese New Year with my family.
Before we flew back, I was very ambitious and set out a long list of "Food to eat" and "friends to meet". Unfortunately, I ate some raw spikey arugula one week before we departed which eventually caused some ulcers on my upper mouth cavity and led to a full bow of inflammatory actions. Because of that, I couldn't fully enjoy the local foods on my first few days in Singapore. And also because of that, I missed a few friends. Especially those who had made plans to leave Singapore for CNY.
As for myself, I flew back to KK a week before CNY. With a year of baking experience, I finally got mum's approval to use her oven. Eventhough we acquired the oven since I was 9, I was not allowed to go near the oven until I went back this CNY. Mum always worried that I would injured myself. She still did, when I baked my first batch of cookies this CNY. But after a few batch of cookies, she let me to do whatever I wanted, as long as I followed her rules. That is to bake only in the morning. Yeah, mum only allowed me to bake in the morning. According to her, morning is the best time to make pastry, because afternoon is too hot and at night, the noice of the mixer would disturb our maid who sleeps in the room next to the kitchen.
We managed to bake quite a lot of stuff actually. A few successful ones included the Oatmeal Chocolate Cranberry Cookies, which mum likes; Chocolate Pistachio Cookies, which dad thought could be served in hotel; Chocolate Almond Biscottis, which everyone approved and Snowball Cookies. And a few unsuccessful attempts to make cakes.
Even with the nice local foods and mum's home cooked meals, I missed my own cooking. OCT shared the same sentiment, and told me that he missed my food, in spite of his mum's home cooked food. I am not saying that I am a better cook, I guess I simply miss the freedom of cooking whatever I wanted. However I wanted.
Now that we are back, I have resumed my role as the cook and can't wait to cook and bake up a storm in our tiny kitchen!
A new recipe I tried yesterday- Kielbasa, Golden Onion and Apple was a simple and unexpectedly delicious dish. The savory kielbasa, sweet caramelised onion and the soft and tart granny smith made the plain looking dish a pleasure accompanist of a bowl of steaming rice.
Kielbasa, Golden Onion and Apple
Adapted from Gourmet December 2006
2 lb smoked kielbasa (preferably beef and pork), cut crosswise into 3-inch lengths
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large onions, chopped (6 cups)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
1 large Granny Smith apple
1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (14 fl oz)
*I halved the recipe*
Lightly score each piece of sausage in several places with a sharp paring knife. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then brown half of sausage, turning occasionally, until golden, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cover to keep warm. Pour off fat from skillet and wipe skillet clean. Add remaining tablespoon oil to skillet and brown remaining sausage in same manner, transferring to bowl as cooked.
Wipe skillet clean again, then cook onions with salt and pepper in butter over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, peel, core, and finely chop apple. Stir apple and broth into onion mixture and simmer briskly, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until apple is tender, 6 to 7 minutes. Add sausage and simmer, stirring, until heated through, about 1 minute.
Makes 6 (main course) servings
A batch of delightful treats
The last treat day before we flew back to Singapore, I made OCT's colleagues a batch of chocolate raspberry cupcakes. They were absolutely delicious even though the taste of raspberry puree was undetectable. They weren't too sweet but had a sophisticated chocolate flavor. Certainly the kind of chocolate cake recipe that's worth keeping and making over and over again.
The only complaint, was the tedious part of straining the raspberry puree over my small fine-mesh sieve in order to remove the raspberry seeds. It must have taken me almost an hour just to get the 1/2 cup the recipe required. Well, I am glad that the end result justified the effort involved. And a simple chocolate swirl on top of the cupcakes dressed them up, making them ready, even for an elegant affair.
Raspberry-Laced Chocolate Cupcakes with Marbled Glaze
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup seedless raspberry puree (from frozen unsweetened raspberries or from 3/4 pint fresh raspberries)
3 tbsp brandy or rum
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
10 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softenend
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 large eggs
powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze
(makes about 1 cup)
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into several pieces
1 tbsp corn syrup
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Line the muffin tin with fluted paper liners.
Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl, then sift onto a sheet of wax paper. Set aside.
Combine the raspberry puree, brandy and vanilla in a small bowl, set aside.
In a medium to large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed for a few seconds, until creamy. Add the sugar in a steady stream and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes.
Break the eggs into a cup or small bowl and whisk to combine the whites and yolks. Take a full 2.5 to 3 minutes to dribble the eggs gradually into the butter mixture, beating constantly.
Stop the mixer and add one third of the flour mixture. Beat on low speed only until no flour is visible. Srop the mixture and add half of the raspberry mixture. Beat only until absorbed. Repeat with half of the remaining flour, all of the remaining raspberry mixture, and finally the remaining flour. Scrape the bowl as necessary and beat on low speed only enough to incorporate the ingredients after each addition.
Scrape the batter into the paper liners, and bake for 20 minutes. When the cupcakes are completely cool, make Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze.
Place the chocolate, butter and corn syrup in a small heat proof bowl set in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir frequently and gently with a spatula or wooden spoon until the chocolate is almost completely melted. Remove the glaze from the water and set aside to finish melting, stirring once or twice until the glaze is perfectly smooth. Or melt in a microwave on Medium (50%) power for 2 minutes. Stir gently until completely smooth; do not whisk or beat. Let the glaze cool, without stirring, until nearly set and the consistency of easily spreadable frosting.
Melt one ounce each of milk chocolate and white chocolate into individual bowls.Dip one cupcake top (or bottom) into the glaze. Turn the cupcake glaze side up/ Dip the tip of your finger or rubber spatula into the melted chocolates and drizzle a little of each on the glaze. Swirl a skewer or toothpick through the wet glaze to marble the chocolates. Let the glaze set at room temperature.
Read more...
Friday, February 02, 2007
Pizza night
The cold weather is making me lazy. I have no desire to tackle any complicated recipes than to simply sit in a warm place, with a cup of hot coffee and a book. But there's OCT I have to feed. And I can't possibly dish out the instant noodle with frozen dumplings on a weekday night. No, that is too irresponsible.
But I am still feeling lazy. So I made pizzas. I would have used the store bought dough in a heartbeat, if there's any in the fridge. But there is none. So, I made my own pizza dough. No big deal. It's not remotely difficult at all. All one needs, is plenty of time, and patient, to wait for the dough to rise into something that can eventually be baked and devoured.
One thing I like about homemade pizzas is the absolute control of all ingredients used. For our dinner, I made one with pineapple chunks, pepperoni and mushroom, and another one with green peppers, roasted onion, pesto,mushroom and pepperoni. Both have been topped with "reasonable" amount of monterey and mozzarella cheese.
And because I have problem making the crust into perfect 12-inch round, I decided to make them into rectangular. I believe that shouldn't affect their taste. 
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Something healthy
Like a salad, is perfect for a lazy Sunday night when I don't feel like cooking up a storm. Besides there are too many distractions from TV on Sunday night!
So, here's what we had on Sunday night: Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia Salad.
Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia Salad
Adapted from CL Jan 07
4 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into 1/4-inch strips
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon chili powder, divided
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (about 1 ounce)
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon onion flakes, crushed
4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
7 teaspoons canola oil, divided
6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 1/2 cups chopped red bell pepper (about 1 large)
1 cup halved grape tomatoes
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup preshredded reduced-fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese
Preheat oven to 425º.
Place tortilla strips on a baking sheet lined with foil; lightly coat tortilla strips with cooking spray. Sprinkle strips with 1/2 teaspoon chili powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bake at 425º for 10 minutes or until crisp, and set aside.
Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, cornmeal, onion flakes, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon chili powder in a shallow dish. Sprinkle fish with 1/4 teaspoon salt; dredge in cornmeal mixture.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned and fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.
Combine romaine and next 4 ingredients (through cilantro) in a large bowl. Combine juice, mustard, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add remaining 4 teaspoons oil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Drizzle juice mixture over lettuce mixture; toss gently to coat. Place 1 1/2 cups salad mixture on each of 4 plates; sprinkle each serving with 1 tablespoon cheese. Place 1 fish fillet on each salad; top with 5 tortilla strips.
Yield: 4 servings
Some cookies for the sweet tooth
Last Friday I baked a batch of chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies with some new twists for a special guest. Unfortunately, the inner shopaholic had gotten the better of him, and he ended up lugging more than what he was allowed on a long haul flight, and decided to leave the full batch of cookies behind....
I remember the last time I baked these cookies, I made them huge, using the 1/4 cup as a guide. This time however, I wanted to make them small. So small that they can be squeezed into the festive containers, and passed around during Chinese New Year (I opted to use the teaspoon as a guide in the end).Yes, I have developed a serious craving for new year goodies after our friend passed us some that she brought back from Singapore. I would have been making pineapple tarts or peanut cookies, if I had the necessary ingredients. But I digress. I was thinking of making these small cookies as goodies for new year. So this batch was actually an experiment. To give it a festive flair, I added the colourful kisses on the little mossels. For some, I added the Andes peppermint pieces on top; which you can't see from the photos above, unfortunately.
Both types with the new size turned out well. I have even took the liberty to reduce the amount of sugar and added in some milk chocolate chunks. With so many modifications, maybe I can claim it as my own recipe. Maybe not. I shall wait until others have tried, and give their approval. Then I will casually add that it's my own recipe. If not, I will say it's OCT who made them. Sounds like a plan!
Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (6 1/4 ounces)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 1/4 cups rolled oats , old-fashioned, (3 1/2 ounces)
1 cup toasted walnut(4 ounces), chopped
1 cup dried cranberries(5 ounces), chopped coarse
1/2 cup chopped 72% chocolate
1/4 cup chopped milk chocolate
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool
1 cup plus 2 tbsp packed brown sugar, preferably dark
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Andes Creme De Menthes Baking Chips
Hershey Kisses
1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large (18 by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. In second medium bowl, stir together oats, walnuts, cranberries, and chocolate.
3. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until no sugar lumps remain, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula; add egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low speed until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl; with mixer running at low speed, add flour mixture; mix until just combined, about 30 seconds. With mixer still running on low, gradually add oat/nut mixture; mix until just incorporated. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed.
4. Use teaspoon as a guide to scope out dough and place them on2 baking sheets, spacing them 1.5 inches apart.Press one kisses onto each cookie dough, or a few pieces of Creme De Menthes. Bake for 6 minutes, rotate them front to back and top to bottom, then continue to bake until cookies are medium brown and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will seem underdone and will appear raw, wet, and shiny in cracks), 5 to 8 more minutes longer. Do not overbake. (the baking time is just a guideline, check your cookies often for your desired doneness.)
5. Cool cookies on baking sheets on wire rack 5 minutes; using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.
More Thai Cuisine: Thai Seafood Noodle
I think I am hooked on Thai food. Fish sauce, to be more specific. Yes, I know it's weird, but I am afraid I have fallen in love with fish sauce. The complex taste that I savoured in so many Thai dishes, but could'nt pinpoint what was THAT ingredient that contributed to the exciting taste. Now I know. It's fish sauce.
Thais are clever, because they use fish sauce in place of salt. With fish sauce, they can achieve more sophisticated flavours with fewer ingredients.
This recipe that I have choosen for our weeknight meal is an " all-in-one-wok winner".Although OCT may not be the most picky eater, he insists on having a balance meal everyday. With balance, I mean the inclusive of carbohydrate ( any type of grains, preferably rice), protein (in the form of meat, definitely not TOFU, we consider tofu a vegetable dish. weird, i know) and fibre (which is vegetable). The Thai Seafood Noodle I have selected, consists of all of the above. And it tastes great. 
(Recipe will be uploaded soon)
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Pineapple Fried Rice and Onion Mustard Monkey Bread
I made more rice the previous night so that I could have enough to experiment on another Thai recipe - Pineapple Fried Rice. Although we have been making our version of Pineapple Fried Rice for quite some time now, I decided to follow the recipe and see how different would it turn out compared to ours.
According to the book, this recipe uses only fish sauce and soy sauce to flavour the meat and rice. My usual version normally include sesame oil, oyster sauce, ketchup and rice vinegar. But the simple version from the book actually yields a more authentic Thai flavour. The taste and smell of fish sauce is more distinct here, without the distractions from other sauces.
The original recipe called for cashew nuts, but I used peanuts, because that's what I have on hand. The marriage of crunchy nuts, soft tangy pineapple chunks, juicy prawn and chicken with rice make this Oriental Fried Rice a destined crowd pleaser.
The cold weather also make me crave for some warm fresh bread. As a result, I made half a recipe of Onion and Mustard Monkey Bread from Food and Wine magazine. It would be the perfect side dish with roast chicken or pot roast. But we were too engrossed with the fried rice and ended up not eating much of the bread. I kept 4/5 of the bread in a paper bag, hoping that it will not turning into an inedible rock the next day. It looked absolutely stunning when it first came out from the oven. From the little piece that I ate, I know that this is going to be a keeper. As for OCT? He prefers RICE over any other types of grains anytime. He will be very grumpy if he didn't get his RICE fix every few days.....
Onion Mustard Monkey Bread
adapted from Food and Wine Magazine
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 envelope dry active yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
Salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
2 tablespoons snipped chives
1 teaspoon chopped thyme
In a saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter. Add the milk and sugar and heat just until warm. Transfer to a large bowl, stir in the yeast and let stand until foamy, 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt until a sticky dough forms. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, 5 minutes. Oil the bowl and return the dough to it. Cover with plastic and let stand in a draft-free spot until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Butter a 10-inch tube or Bundt pan. Punch down the dough and divide it into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a 12-inch log and cut each log in 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat until softened, 6 minutes. Stir in the mustard, chives and thyme. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter; stir until melted. Season lightly with salt and transfer to the large bowl to cool slightly. Add half of the dough balls and turn to coat with the onion mixture. Arrange the balls in the bottom of the pan. Repeat with the remaining dough balls. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let stand until risen to the top of the pan, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 425°. Bake the bread in the lower third of the oven for 25 minutes, or until golden. Cover the pan loosely with foil, reduce the oven temperature to 375° and bake for 30 minutes longer, or until risen. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Set an inverted plate on top and turn the bread out onto it. Set another plate on top and invert the bread so it’s right side up. Break into rolls or cut into slices.
MAKE AHEAD: The bread can be prepared through Step 3 and refrigerated overnight.
Note: I halved the recipe, and make it in a 9-inch loaf pan.
Thai Pineapple Fried Rice ( Khao Phad Suparod)
2.5 cups cooked rice
4 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast
8 large shrimps, shelled, deveined (5 oz/150g)
1/2 cup pineapple chunk
6 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp chopped garlic
2 eggs
3 tbsp soya sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup roasted unsalted cashews
2 stems green onion, thinly chopped
strips of red pepper
fresh coriander leaves
slices of tomato and cucumber
Slice the chicken into 1/4inch/5-mm strips. Reserve along with the shrimps.
Heat oil in a wok (or a large frying pan) until it is just about to smoke. Add garlic and stirfry for 30 seconds. Add chicken and shrimps and stirfry for 1-1.5 minutes, until the meats have turned white, then decrease heat to medium high. Break the eggs directly into the wok. Fry the egg without breaking them up for 2 minutes, until they are partially set.
Push the eggs and meat to one side of the wok, and add the rice to the other side. Add soy sauce and fish sauce on the rice and then using a shoveling motion, combine the 2 sides of the wok, tossing- stirring for 2 minutes, mixing the rice with the eggs, chicken and shrimp, working from the bottom up so that all the rice has a chance to fry in the oil and everything is integrated.
Sprinkle black pepper on the rice and add cashews, green onion and the reserved pineapple chunks. Toss-stir for 1- 2 minutes, folding the new ingredients into the rice and then remove fom heat. Transfer to a serving dish and top with red pepper strips and fresh coriander leaves.
Garnish sides with slices of tomato and cucumber. Serve immediately.
Serves 2-4
Note: Use the ingredient list as a guideline and season the fried rice as you cook. Read more...
Baking for some Very Important People
OCT is meeting with his graduation committees today for the last time before he prepares for his thesis and defense. After that, he will be called Dr Ong. Too bad there isn't any nice designation for the wife. Anyway, OCT requested some "not too sweet breakfast pastries" for the committee.
I read somewhere that blueberries are packed with antioxidant and vitamins but I rarely buy the fresh stuff. They are simply too expensive here. I used the frozen berries from Trader Joes instead. They have been chucked in the freezer since Summer, when I used them to make smoothies.
A healthy option for weekend breakfast. According to the recipe, these muffins freeze well. Too bad I run out of blueberries, or I could whip up another batch for another SUPER VIP coming to our place in less than 48 hours!Blueberry Streusel Muffins
adapted from Southern Living
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 cup uncooked regular oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup oil
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Pulse almonds 2 or 3 times in a blender or food processor until chopped. Add brown sugar and 1 tablespoon flour; process 5 seconds. Add butter; pulse 5 or 6 times or until mixture is crumbly. Stir in oats; set aside.
Combine 2 cups flour and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.
Whisk together buttermilk, oil, and egg; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened.
Toss blueberries with remaining 2 tablespoons flour; gently fold into batter. Spoon batter into greased muffin pans, filling two-thirds full; sprinkle batter with oat mixture.
Bake at 400° for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove immediately from pans, and cool on wire racks.
Note: Freeze muffins up to 1 month. Read more...
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Gochujang and Miso
Monday night dinner features a Korean condiment- Gochujang and a Japanese condiment- Miso.
A recent discovery of Gochujang has allowed me to include some korean meat dishes to my repertoire. The mildly spicy and sweet sauce pairs extremely well with pork. This time however, I want to try it with chicken breast, making it into Dakgalbi (marinated chicken stirfry in Gochujang sauce). I like the way in which many veggies can be incorporated into Dakgalbi, making it an all in one dish. For most Koreans, rice cakes and sesame leaves are added into the dish on top of slice onions, cabbage, carrot and green onion. Since I don't have rice cakes and sesame leaves, I simply add more cabbage to make up for it.
Another side dish- Corn with bacon and miso butter, is a nice twist on buttered corn. The flavour of miso in this dish is subtle, but we like the colour constrast of corn kennels and bacon. The combination of sweet corns and savory bacon is highly addictive. It keeps drawing me to go back for more. I now proclaim this one of my favorite side dishes in 2007.
What I crave on a cold winter afternoon
And some almond biscottis.
Almond Biscotti
Monday, January 22, 2007
The Most Ugly Friday Treat
Last week, I baked a batch of Lemon Scented Blueberry Cupcakes for OCT's lab meeting. Although they were healthy and yummy, they looked depressingly ugly. So ugly that I almost threw them out of the window. I thought my poor frosting skill didn't do the light and fluffy cupcakes justice. OCT didn't even try to console me, but to reaffirm my foreboding that the ugly cupcakes would be poorly received. 
Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups (about 6 3/4 ounces) plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
10 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 large egg
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed
Frosting:
1/4 cup (2 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Fresh blueberries (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°.
Place 12 decorative paper muffin cup liners into muffin cups.
To prepare cupcakes, lightly spoon 1 1/2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Measure 1 tablespoon flour; level with a knife. Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour plus 1 tablespoon flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Combine melted butter and egg in another large bowl; stir with a whisk. Add buttermilk, milk, and 1 teaspoon rind to butter mixture; stir with a whisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Toss blueberries with remaining 1 tablespoon flour. Fold blueberries into batter. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.
To prepare frosting, place cream cheese, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon rind, vanilla, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed just until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar (do not overbeat). Stir in juice. Spread frosting evenly over cupcakes; garnish with blueberries, if desired. Store, covered, in refrigerator.
makes 12 cupcakes Read more...
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Exploring Thai Recipes
With dishes like these, it's no surprise that we each had an extra bowl of rice.
Sweet and Sour Pork (Moo Preow Waan)
10 oz trimmed pork tenderloin
1/2 tsp tomato paste (or 2 tbsp of ketchup dissolved in 1 tbsp water)
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp rice (or white) vinegar
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 small onion, roughly chopped
1/3 medium red pepper, cut into 1 inch/2.5 cm squares
1/2 small tomato, cut into 1 inch/ 2.5cm chunks
1.5 inches english cucumber, cut into 1 inch/2.5 cm wedges
1 cup pineapple, cut into 1/2 inch/1 cm pieces
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water
pinch black pepper
strips of red pepper
fresh coriander leaves
Slice tenderloin into strips that are 1/4 inch/5mm thick, 2 inches/5cm long and about 1 inch/2.5cm wide. If you find it difficult to cut thinly through fresh meat, leave it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to harden slightly, then slice. Reserve.
In a small bowl mix together tomato paste, water, fish sauce, vinegar, lime juice and sugar and beat until blended. Reserve.
Heat oil in a wok (or a large frying pan) until it is just about to smoke. Add garlic and stirfry for 30 second. Immediately add reserved pork and stirfry for 2-3 minutes until all th pork has fried in the oil and is turning white. Add onion, red pepper, tomato, cucumber and pineapple as well as soy sauce and black pepper and stirfry for 2 minutes, unitl all the vegetables have begun to wilt.
Add reserve sauce (tomato paste etc, stirfry for 1-2 minutes until everything is integrated and shiny. Dissolve cornstarch in water, add to work and stirfry for less than a minute, until the sauce has thickened somewhat. Take off heat.
Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with black pepper. Top with stips o red pepper and coriander leaves. Serve immediately, accompanied by steamed rice.
serves 4.
Shrimps with Green Beans in Chili Sauce (Phad Prik Khing Goong)
4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp red curry paste
2 lime leaves, cut into quarters
1 cup water
16 large shrimps, shelled and deveined (10 oz/300g)
14 long green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch/2.5c.m pieces
1 tbsp sugar
strips of red pepper
fresh coriander leaves
Heat oil in the wok (or a large frying pan) on high heat until it is just about to smoke. Add the red curry paste and stir to dissolve for 30 seconds. Turn heat down to medium low and stir cook for another 30 seconds. Add lime leaves and stir fry for 1 minute. Turn heat back to maximum and add 1/2 cup/ 125ml of the water and stir cook for 1 minute.
Add shrimps, green beans and sugar. Stir fry for 1 minute. Turn heat down to medium heat, and add the rest of the water (1/2 cup / 125ml). Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until shrimps are pink white and springy. Take off heat.
Transfer to a serving dish and top with red pepper strips and coriander leaves. Serve immediately, accompanied by steamed rice.
Serves 3 to 4.
Pasta & Mushroom with Parmesan Crumb Topping
And yes, I am blaming the one who develops this recipe. It looked all promising when it came out from the oven. I have such a high hope on this.
But it was really bland!
I am glad I made something else too, because I won't be able to eat this pasta alone. On the scale of 1 to 10. If eating boiled pasta without any sauce was rated 1, then this pasta & mushroom casserole would rate 3, at most 4. Definitely not pass as a stand-alone dish. This leads us to the next dish that I made, which savaged the dinner.
I made a simple fish dish - Tilapia with Balsamic Butter Sauce. Lucky for us, the balsamic butter sauce has an intense flavor, that paired well with the pasta. With the help of the tilapia, we managed to finish half of the pasta. As for the other half, I am still thinking what to do with it......
Tilapia with Balsamic Butter Sauce
adapted from Bon Appetite
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 4- to 5-ounce tilapia fillets
Simmer vinegar and garlic in small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to thick syrup, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in each of 2 large skillets over high heat. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Sauté fish until golden, about 2 minutes per side.
Rewarm balsamic syrup over medium-low heat. Whisk in 1/2 cup butter 1 piece at a time.
Drizzle sauce on Tilapia.
So simple and so gooood....
This is so yummy and the preparation couldn't be simpler. I am talking about Monday's dinner, when we had crispy chicken wings, mustard roasted potatoes and Caesar salad.
After my recently discovery of oven roasted chicken wings, I decided to make another batch, together with the mustard roasted potatoes. Perfect food on a cold winter night. Plus it doesn't need much attention. After 40 minutes of roasting, all food appeared on the table like magic. And OCT said it was better than eating out. I couldn't agree more.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Friday Treat -Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake
In the continuation of a healthy treat theme this month, I baked a Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake for OCT's Friday lab meeting.
This cake, which is full of vitamin C (from orange) and antioxidant (from bittersweet chocolate) comes from Barefoot Contessa Parties. My favorite cookbook author, Ina Garten. So far, every recipes I tried from her series of cookbooks have been nothing short from excellent. I really like her style of using the simplest ingredients and turning them into showstopping kind of dishes.
This cake is no exception. In this recipe, Ina incorporated lots of orange zests and semisweet chocolate into the cake. I took the liberty to switch the semisweet chocolate to bittersweet, because I simply like bittersweet chocolate better! And because oranges are in season and plentyful, I know I have to make this cake. I did add one secret ingredient into this cake though.
Instead of cutting up chocolate chunks, guess what I use?
After the cake was cooled, I couldn't wait to cut a small piece to try. And needless to say, I love it! If you like citrus fruit and chocolate like I do, this is for you. It's a perfect with a cup of coffee or tea, for breakfast, tea or just anytime of the day.
Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake
1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1/4 cup grated orange zest (4 large oranges)
3 cups all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4 cup buttermilk at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups good quality semisweet chocolate chunks
FOR THE SYRUP
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
FOR THE GANACHE
8 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the orange zest.
Sift together 3 cups flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the orange juice, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures, alternately in thirds to the creamed butter, beginning and ending with the flour. Toss the chocolate chunks with 2 tablespoons flour and add to the batter. Pour into the pan, smooth the top, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the syrup. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, cook the sugar with the orange juice until the sugar dissolves. Remove the cake form the pan, set it on a rack over a tray, and spoon the orange syrup over the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely.
For the ganache, melt the chocolate, heavy cream and coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Drizzle over top of the cake.
Note: I omitted the chocolate glaze for a healthier version and used bittersweet chocolate. Also, I think 2 cups of chocolate chunk is too much, I will use 1.5 cup next time, and reduce the syrup by half. Plenty of citrus flavor and sweetness even with half the syrup. Read more...
The end of a series of extortion and the beginning of a new chapter
5 brand new cookbooks!
And a new Pentax DSLR with image stabilizer!!!!!!
Of course, all of the above were bought at a bargain price. But buying the DSLR is a major decision that we have thought, discussed and monitored the price for months. In the end, we bought it at $502.99, after rebate. Just 2 days before the rebate ended, and 100% sure that the price couldn't go any lower than this. I can't tell you how excited I am to finally own a DSLR. Hopefully, I can take better food photos with this new gadget. But, I am not putting my old Canon, which has served me well for over 4 years to retire yet. Not until I master the new DSLR.
