I couldn't believe that I haven't jotted down anything we ate for the week. Time just flies with lightning speed, and I really didn't do much this week. Procrastinating is bad. Now I can't remember exactly what I made for the week.
Let see. We had roasted chicken thighs with root veggies for dinner on Sunday night. 
Monday, we had an excellent spicy turkey cake with horseradish aioli and potato, corn and leek chowder.
Tuesday, I started to get crazy about bread making and made a loaf of thyme focaccia.Dinner was a self invented, non picture worthy ham and pepper pasta with white wine sauce.
Wednesday, after a little success with my first focaccia, I went wild and made 2 loaves of pumpkin and walnut focaccias. Nevermind that both OCT and I don't like to eat pumpkin at all. Dinner was an old recipe of teriyaki chicken from Cook Illustrated. It wasvery good. I made a mental note to remember to make this fast and easy teriyaki chicken more often. Probably we can have a Japanese theme dinner and we can pair it with Japanese short grain rice. I could make some sushi too. But I think I need more than these two items to substantiate my Japanese theme dinner. Something to ponder about.
Thursday, we have enough leftover, so I didn't cook. But I baked some Chockablock cookies (from Nov issue of Bon Appetit)for OCT's lab meeting on Friday, some apple strudel turnovers and my self-invented nutella, mango and kiwi in phyllo cups. I have high expectation on the apple strudel turnovers, but my first encounter with the phyllo dough turned out to be a disaster! They were oh-so-delicate to handle, and didn't seem to be able to cover my apple filling. The end products were pretty horrendous. 
I was discouraged after making a dozen of these and decided to give up. But I was supposed to bring a dessert tonight, so I cut the phyllo sheets into small squares and make them into phyllo cups. Then, I added the very sinful Nutella on the bottom of the cup as glue, and top them with mango bites and golden kiwis. Voila! Tasty and simply. I should have done this instead of the time consuming apple strudel turnovers! These easy treats proved to be a hit when everyone took a second pieces after the dinner. 
Thursday, October 26, 2006
A week worth of dinners
Apple picking on Saturday
Something was wrong with blogger and the whole entry I typed about apple picking was gone. To keep the long story short, it was a fun day for us! The trip was initially cancelled because Dilip's son was running a high fever. After a few hours of rest, the fever subsided, and he called to tell us that the plan was still on.
It was my first encounter with apple trees. And I was suprised by how short apple trees are. We were led to some Fuji Apple trees. It must have passed the peak apple picking season, as we didn't see many apples on the trees. Nevertheless, there were enough for everyone to munch, and pick for later consumption.
While we were there, we saw many apples being discarded on the floor. In fact there were more apples on the ground than on the trees. OCT and I were thinking on the same thing : How nice if these apples could be recycled and send off to countries where food is scarce and people are dying from hunger every second....
Let's hope that someday food would be distributed evenly in the world.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Apple picking!
Do you believe in one good turn deserves another? I do!
Just when I am hoping that someone will organise a apple picking trip, OCT's colleague Dilip asked if we would be interested to go this Saturday! It was so nice of him to offer, as he knew we don't have a car and definitely won't be able to go on our own. I am excited about the new experience, as usual. I must start to pull out all the apple recipes so that I will know what to do with my fresh, hand pick apples!
By the way, Dilip is the guy whom I made a birthday cake for last week, while testing out a workable recipe for my friend Gerrie.
Anyway, I guess I will bake him something again this weekend.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Bacon, Spinach and Feta Quiche
If you think you are eating healthier by eating at home, think again. Yes, you are cooking your own meal and have perfect control on the amount of ingredients used. But, there are certain food that just scream : "FATTENING". Tonight's dinner is a good example.
I made a quiche, using all the sinful ingredients I can ransack in my fridge. It was delicious. Because it was so, I started to worry that it may not be enough for both of us. So I went ahead and baked some frozen "beer-battered fish" because that seems to be the easiest thing to do when time is of the essence.
Of course all these were on top of the pot of rice I cooked and the oily chinese style chicken soup on the stove. I don't see what's healthy in this meal. But I will take note to make something lighter for tomorrow's dinner. I will try...
Though fatenning, this quiche is tasty and easy to make. I like to indulge in it once in awhile, or make it when we have guests over for dinner. There are many possible combinations in quiche, which is something I love about it. Versatility is important as far as budget is concerned. One thing that I like in my quiche is spinach. So I make sure I use spinach in every quiche I make. That's the only healthy ingredient in my quiche I guess.
Bacon, Spinach and Feta Quiche
the original recipe is here
1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 tablespoon cold vegetable shortening
1 1/2 tablespoons ice water plus additional if necessary
6 oz bacon, cooked and coarsely cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups packed fresh spinach leaves, trimmed and washed thoroughly (about 5 ounces)(I used frozen spinach)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream or milk (I use half cream and half non-fat milk)
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 to 2 tablespoons of light cheese spread
Preheat oven to 425°F.
In a bowl with a pastry blender or in a small food processor blend together flour, butter, shortening, and a pinch salt until mixture resembles meal. Add water and toss until incorporated, adding additional water if necessary to form a dough. Pat dough onto bottom and one half inch up sides of a 7 1/2-inch tart pan with removable fluted rim or a 9-inch pie plate and bake shell in bottom third of oven until set and pale golden, about 7 minutes.
While shell is baking, in a large skillet sauté spinach over moderately high heat until cooked. Remove skillet from heat and season spinach mixture with salt and pepper.Try to squeeze out as much excess liquid from spinach as possible and stir in one to two tablespoons of cheese spread. This helps to loosen up the spinach.In a small bowl whisk together eggs and cream.
Sprinkle feta over bottom of shell and arrange spinach mixture on top, follow by crumbled bacon. Pour cream mixture over spinach and bake quiche on a baking sheet in middle of oven 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350°F. and bake until set, about 10 minutes.
Serves 2.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Mango Mousse Cake
the shepherd playmobil featured here is OCT's current favorite. He is posing with the present our friends gave him for his birthday. Initially I asked him to pose with the present, but he refused. Instead, he sent his playmobil buddy to represent him...
This is the first birthday cake I make for OCT. I am a bit nervous, because I never made a mousse cake before. To complicate things, the mangos I bought on Saturday were not fully ripe by the time I need them. So I was not too optimistic about the outcome eventhough I really wanted to make this perfect.
In the end, I pureed some fresh mango with some frozen one for the filling. Ironically, the inexpensive frozen mango was sweeter than the fresh one. I think I will use the frozen one next time should I need to make a mango cake again. I suddenly miss home, where we never run out of juicy, sweet mangos. I am sure the mousse will turn out ten times nicer using those mangos.
No wonder I don't see many places offering mango related desserts in their menus. The mangos here simply do not make the cut.
Anyhow, OCT was touched by the gesture and ate 2 big pieces of the not-very-tasty cake.
This is how the interior of the cake looked like
For dinner, we had sesame chicken chow mein, something that symbolizes longevity, according to the Chinese tradition. OCT has noodle every year on his birthday. It's a little tradition he keeps. Because we have run out of the chinese longevity noodle he usually eats, I used thin spaghetti instead. Both of us like this version of chow mein very much, this is going to be in my repertoire. Please pardon its appearance, I guarantee that the photo doesn't do my chow mein justice.A quiet evening for the birthday boy, just the two of us eating a simple home-made dinner followed by the birthday cake and candle blowing. Just the way OCT wants it. Happy Birthday OCT!
Read more...
Monday, October 16, 2006
Sunday Dinner
Nothing spectacular. We had a simple focaccio sandwich with roasted vegetables for dinner. The nice foccacio was store bought though. With the cooler temperature now, I intend to try out some bread recipes soon! And foccacio is definitely on my to-try-list.
Pumpkin Scones
I have a copycat recipe of Starbucks Pumpkin Scones for quite sometime. Since I am not a big pumpkin fan, and have never tried the real thing before, I decided to wait until I sampled the real thing.
On one lazy Tuesday morning, while waiting for my cup of coffee, I saw the pumpkin scones on the fridge display. That was my first pumpkin scone from Starbucks. It was light, with just the right touch of pumpkin flavor. Pumpkin is relatively new to me, and I find myself needing more time to get use to its flavour. Anyhow, after trying the real thing, I decided to whip up a batch on Sunday morning. And it tasted just like those from Starbucks. OCT who doesn't like pumpkin had one, and told me that he liked the texture of the scone.
Although the recipe used canned pumpkin puree that's readily available all year round, Starbucks only have the pumpkin scones around this time of the year! Maybe pumpkin is inseparable from fall, just like pears and apples. Speaking of apples, I haven't seen an apple tree yet! I hope we will get a chance to go to an Apple Orchard before we go back for good...
Copycat recipe of Starbucks' Pumpkin Scones
It has been a while ago when I first gotten this recipe, so I can't recall its origin.
2 cups all purpose flour
7 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3 tbsp half and half
1 large egg
6 tbsp cold butter, cut into cubes
Plain glaze:
1 cup + 1 tbsp confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp whole milk
Spiced Icing:
1 cup + 3 tbsps cofectioners'sugar
2 tbsp whole milk
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of ground ginger
pinch of ground clove
Preheat the oven to 425F, and combine all purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder salt, nutmeg, ground cloves, ground ginger together in a large mixing bowl.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half and egg.
Cut butter into the dry ingredients, using a pastry cutter, until it resemble coarse meal. Fold in wet ingredients in the medium bowl and form dough into a ball. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle that is about 9-inches x 3 inches. Cut into 6 triangle slices of dough. (Freeze dough for 30 minutes or upto 1 month if it's too soft and hard to handle at this point)
Bake for 14-16 minutes or until scones turn light brown.
While scones cool, mix ingredients for plain glaze, using mixer on medium speed, until the mixture becomes smooth. Brush glaze over scones, when they are cool.
As the white glaze firms up, prepare spiced icing, with mixer on medium speed, mix until well combined. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scones and allow the icing to dry before serving.( at least 1 hour)A squirt bottle works great for this, or drizzle with a whisk.
Note: I find the scones having enough sweetness from the white glaze, without the spiced icing. Hence this step is omitted.
Make 6 large scones.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Weekend breakfast : buttermilk pancake
Nothing speaks weekend to me more than pancakes for breakfast. This is one of the new "tradition" we intend to keep in our young family! I like the idea of cooking or baking up something hot for a leisure morning. This is the kind of thing we can only do on weekends, when nobody is rushing anywhere.
We have tried a few pancake recipes but nothing beats Ina Garten's version. Today's recipe comes from Gourmet magazine. It is a basic pancake recipes, and I think it's not too bad. Nice with maple syrup and a cup of hot coffee.
Basic Buttermilk Pancake
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
Vegetable oil for brushing griddle
Preheat oven to 200°F.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, egg, and buttermilk until smooth.
Heat a griddle or a large heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot enough to make drops of water scatter over its surface, then brush with oil. Working in batches and using a 1/4-cup measure filled halfway, pour batter onto griddle and cook, turning over once, until golden, about 2 minutes per batch. Transfer to a heatproof plate and keep warm, covered, in oven.
Cooks' note:
Batter keeps, chilled and covered, 3 days. Thin as necessary with additional buttermilk or water, 1 tablespoon at a time, before using.
Makes 14 (3-inch) pancakes
Creamy Cajun Shrimp Linguine
I like Friday, because I can cook whatever I want without worrying about the next day lunch. From Sunday to Thursday, I have to make sure I cook enough so that OCT can bring the leftover for his next day lunch. Normally, I like to cook pasta or make pizza on Friday night.
Tonight's recipe is something that caught my eyes for almost 2 months now. But one thing leads to another, I haven't got a chance to try it until tonight. I will give it 3.5/5. It was spicy and creamy, but with plenty of room for improvement. It was ok, but we probably won't cook it again.
Time to plan for next week's menu. Hopefully this time round I can stick with my plan. One thing for sure, I need to make a mango cake for OCT birthday.
Creamy Cajun Shrimp Linguine
Adapted from Cookinglight Sep 2006
1 cup water
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
6 ounces uncooked linguine
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
1 large red bell pepper, cut into (1/4-inch-thick) slices
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Combine 1 cup water and broth in a Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Break pasta in half; add to pan. Bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 8 minutes. Add shrimp to pan. Cover and simmer for 3 minutes or until shrimp are done; drain.
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and pepper to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until moisture evaporates. Add flour, seasoning, and salt to pan; sauté 30 seconds. Stir in half-and-half; cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add pasta mixture and parsley to pan; toss.
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Pizza my way
OCT is working late tonight, so I get to play around with some pizza dough.
I made a ham and pesto pizza, top with gouda and feta cheese. I like it a lot. But I have a feeling that OCT prefers something more conventional..
Friday Treat : Oreo Truffle
This is really irresistible! And super easy. All you need is a pack of Oreo cookies, a block of cream cheese and a block of good quality chocolate.
First the Oreo cookies are crushed to fine crumbs, and mixed with softened cream cheese. Roll them into 1-inch round. I got about 36 rounds. Then, melt the chocolate in microwave, and roll the cookie balls in the chocolate. Use a stick to take out the chocolate coated balls, and dry on wax paper. I added some chopped almond on top before the chocolate dried.
This is really a treat....
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
The second birthday cake in a week
I made another birthday for our friend Gerrie's birthday. Alright, I need to make a confession. The first one I made for Dilip, was meant to be a test for Gerrie's. I wanted to be sure the recipe works before giving it to her. Somehow, the first batch didn't turn out the way I liked and I was suddenly stucked with 3 9-inch cakes. OCT suggested that I frosted them and he would bring it to the lab October birthday party. I am glad I did! According to OCT, his colleagues liked it a lot!And my cake was the only cake they had for the party. Can you imagine if OCT didn't bring the cake, the borthday party would be one without a cake? That would be very strange!
On Saturday night, I repeated the recipe, and paid more attention to the detail this time. The cake turned out lighter than the first one, which was good. Sunday afternoon, while OCT busied himself with work, I whipped out a batch of chocolate ganache to fill the cake. I think I like the whipped chocolate ganache better than the cake. It was just the way it was described by the author : light and dense at the same time. I then frosted the cake with a rich chocolate frosting. And OCT helped to decorate the cake.
I hope Gerrie likes it. The next cake will be for OCT!
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Sao Bao
I made a batch of sao bao for our Mid-Autumn Festival gathering yesterday. I remember mum used to make these for gatherings too. But the filling of mum's version was slightly different from mine. I intended mine to be more like BBQ pork bun. Of course it didn't turned out the way I wanted. But it wasn't too bad for a first attempt either.
I think I must have been spending 2 hours on the pastry rolling and enveloping the fillings into the pastry. It was such a time consuming project. And I didn't remember mum spent so much prep time.....I must ask her next time.
Here's picture of my sao bao. I forgot to take a picture of the filling.But I am sure I will make it again soon.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Happy Birthday Dilip!
I made a birthday cake for OCT's colleague. It's a super chocolatey cake. I hope he will like it.
On a healthier note, I spent 35 mins on treadmill this afternoon! I am sure I didn't burn much calories, but at least it's a good start. A few friends had asked if I gained weight after I showed them my vacation photos. I guess the answer is pretty obvious. After all the feasts in Disney, it's now pay back time.
Cheddar Green Onion Muffins
I cooked too much for Tuesday dinner that I actually didn't have to cook on Wednesday night. This gave me a reason to try a new recipe : Cheddar Green Onion Muffins, which was a savory side dish. I figured that it would go well with the leftover tomyam soup.
I was a bit hesitated initially because of the mixed reviews on this recipe. But I went ahead nonetheless. It was ok. Not something outstanding. I like the way it soaked up the tomyam soup. Now that I get it out of my head, I don't think I will make it again. And I certainly discourage you to try this so-so recipe. I am not posting the recipe for this. In case your curiousity get the better of you.
The curious incident of the missing bay leaves
I am sure I have it somewhere. Because I used it not long ago to cook beef stew. But I just couldn't find it anywhere in the kitchen when I needed it on Tuesday night. I have searched through all the cabinet for 3 times and there was no sight of the bay leaves.
Strangely, all the recipes I read now seems to use bay leaves. Have you ever have the same experience? When you are sure you have certain ingredients, and go ahead to prepare the rest of the recipe, then find that you couldn't find one of them? It's frustrating. I went ahead to cook my beef stew without the bay leaf. It was not a make or break ingredient. But I know the stew would taste better with it. Distracted, I forgot to add another ingredient, which I have - crushed garlic. Luckily the beef stew turned out nice. Even without bay leaf and garlic......
I also made a seafood pancake for dinner. But it wasn't noteworthy. I will post the recipe when I master the dish. Meanwhile, this was how it looked:
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Back to the kitchen
Everything is back to normal after our return. I cooked a simple meal which comprised of Indonesian Chicken and stirfry root veggies. Even after all the good food in Walt Disney World, we find comfort in our simple homecook fare.
I am back!
We are back after spending a week in Walt Disney World! The experience for a huge Mickey fan is beyond words. Everything in Walt Disney World didn't fail to amaze us. I came back inspired. Been to Disney was like a brainwash. It made me believe all dreams are possible, if I firmly believe in them. Some people said Disney World is for kids. I must beg to differ. It's really a place to show people with imagination and those who are young at heart that , with knowledge, imagination and optimism, dreams do come true.
I did some research before we went, so we went prepared, with full plan of where to go and what to eat in mind. (ok, I am obsessed with research and knowing everything about the place I am going to visit) The effort really paid off. OCT and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience! Because we were on the dining plan, we had the freedom to choose whatever restaurants that strike our fancy. As a result, we sampled German, Italian and African fare. And all of them exceed our expectation! We also had 2 character meals, where Mickey and his friends, and Pooh & friends dropped by our tables to interact with us!
Check out the food!
There were more than these, which we forgot to take the pictures before we digged in. After all the walking, all we thought of was to stuff all the yummy food into our mouths! Read more...
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Irish Cream Brownies
I just received the latest Cookinglight magazine today and this is the first recipe I make! Irish Cream Brownie is a combination of 2 of my favorite things together: Irish Cream + Chocolate. Do I have to say more? I know I have to make it, eventhough I was really tired,and I have already made some goodies for OCT's Friday lab meeting.
One thing I like about making brownie is its simplicity. You don't have to take the butter out in advance, and mixer is absolutely not required.
Compare this to the Nancy Baggett's Fudge Brownies Supreme I made sometime ago, this has a pronouned Irish Cream flavor, more to adult liking come to think of it. I believe children or people who do not like alcohol would prefer Nancy Baggett's version (eg OCT).
I slightly overbaked the brownie. Not on intention, but it was already fully baked at 15 minutes. According to the recipe, it should be done around 20 minutes. Maybe I will shorten the baking time to 12 to 13 minutes, if I ever baked this again. I doubt....not that it's not nice. But they are so many other tempting recipes out there!
I have just bought 10 blocks of cream cheese which was on sale, so I guess I will tackle some cheesecake recipes soon. That will be after I get back from our " Happiest Celebration on Earth" vacation of course.
Irish Cream Brownies
adapted from Cookinglight Oct 2006
For truly fudgy treats, be sure to cook the brownies until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. If you wait until the pick is clean, the brownies will be overcooked. Garnish the plate with a sprig of mint.
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup Baileys Irish Cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.
Place the chocolate chips and the butter in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 1 1/2 minutes or until the chocolate chips and butter melt, stirring every 30 seconds. Cool slightly. Add sugar and next 3 ingredients (through vanilla extract), stirring well with a whisk. Microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until sugar dissolves, stirring every 30 seconds. Fold in the flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spread batter in a thin layer into a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool on a wire rack.
Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 brownie)
Beef Carnitas
Having thouroughly enjoyed the pork carnitas last week, I can't help but wonder how the beef version measured to its predecessor? To me, the pork carnitas is already very very good. How could we possibly have something better? But the panel at cookinglight magazine apparently think that the beef Carnitas is more flavourful and hence selected it as one of the staff favorite.
Since top round roast was on sale last week, I have planned to make the beef carnitas this week. It's in our menu tonight, and I can form my opionion upon trying them both. Compared to pork carnitas, the beef version took only one and a half hour to cook. Because OCT doesn't want to eat it with tortilla, we paired it with rice. It was pretty tasty actually. Though the cooking method is similar to beef stew, but the lime juice added towards the end made the beef carnitas tasted refreshing. I have no doubt that this will make very nice filling for tacos.
After trying both versions of carnitas, OCT prefers the beef carnitas, while I like the pork's better. The beef was flavourful, but it wasn't fork tender. But it could be the user error while preparing the dish too. Anyway, with its short ingredient list, I have no doubt that the beef carnitas will return to our dining table soon. ( when beef roast is on sale again!)
Alright, I know. It doesn't look appetizing. But it's really tasty. I will continue to work on the presentation...
Beef Carnitas
adapted from Cookinglight Sept 2006
This simple recipe, which uses inexpensive beef stew meat, garnered our highest rating for great flavor and versatility. To freeze the carnitas, wrap them tightly in heavy-duty plastic wrap or foil, and place in a zip-top plastic freezer bag; they will keep in the freezer for up to three months.
This recipe goes with Beef Carnitas Empanada, Enchilada Casserole with Quick Mole Sauce, Spicy Beef Salad, Beef Carnitas Tacos
Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 pounds beef stew meat, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (I used top round roast)
1 cup less-sodium beef broth
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 large unpeeled orange wedge (I used one quarter of an orange)
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add beef; sauté 5 minutes or until beef is browned on all sides. Stir in broth, sugar, salt, and pepper; nestle orange section into beef mixture. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Remove and discard orange. Continue simmering, uncovered, 8 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates, stirring frequently.
Note: I served the beef carnitas with some diced plum tomatoes and fresh lime juice on top of the meat. Next time, I will remember to add some avocados to make this a real Mexican dish.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Hazelnut Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
I set out to make a batch of Chocolate Hazelnut Biscottis for our upcoming trip but change my mind last minute. Instead of biscottis, I make a batch of Hazelnut Chocolate Sandwich Cookies from my newly acquired Cookies Book by Nancy Baggett.
According to Nancy, this is a closely guarded recipe by a Oregon hostess, but she somehow developed a recipe that was close, if not better than the original's. I think chocolate pairs well with almost any nuts, especially with hazelnut. So this recipe got to be a winner.
As usual, I patiently followed the instructions, including grinding the hazelnut to fine powder, using my trust-worthy rolling-pin.And carefully roll out the dough to about 11-inch long and 1/8-inch thick after other mix in.They wre then freezed, and cut into 1.5 x 2.25 inches rectangles. Naturely, I detest the extra measurements required. But to make sandwich cookies, I need every cookies to be of the exact same size. I silently send a brain wave to Nancy Baggett that these cookies better be good. Almost at the same time, my heart sent me a signal to look for an easier way out. I followed my heart and cut out the remaining dough using the "heart" shape cookie cutter.
The end products are walnut shortbreads with 72% chocolate filling. They are good. But too sweet to my liking. Most cookies have been sent to OCT's lab. I hope they will like the little perk-me-up in their breakfast meeting.
With the amount of effort and time spent, I think I still prefer the lower fat chocolate hazelnut biscottis. I believe this recipe is not available on internet, so drop me a note if you are interested to try this out. Since the instructions are kind of long, I will not be typing it out unless someone needs it.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Pepperoni Pizza
I made a pizza from scratch today! Though I make a mess along the way, we both agreed that the end product was well worth it.
Because OCT doesn't like pepperoni, I spared a 1/4 dough to make him a ham and pesto version. I actually thought that's a nicer version. We will be making a whole ham and pesto version soon!
I followed the instructions on this month's Cookinglight to make the pizza dough, and it was really easy to follow. There are quite a few of other pizza recipes on this issue, I think I will try to make the seafood one next, with prawn and calamari! 
Friday, September 15, 2006
Curry Baked Rice
It's a yummy creation! OCT said it reminded him of the baked rice in Swanson and NYDC. Yes, baked rice has been our favorite entree in these 2 restaurants. I wonder why it took me so long to try this very simple and do-able entree at home. Anyway, better late than never.
Present to you, my latest fusion creation :
Curry Baked Rice
4 chicken drumsticks, skinned and boned; cut into bite size
1/2 red onion, minced
1 red pepper, diced
1 cup green pea
1.5 cup pineapple chunk
cooked and cooled rice
shredded mozzarella cheese
shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Marinate for chicken: ( marinate for at least 20 minutes)
ground coriander
curry poweder
salt
white pepper
mirin
cornstarch
Preheat oven too 400F.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a hot nonstick skillet. Add the marinated chicken to the skillet and cook until chicken is no longer pink. Remove to a plate.
Add red onion and red pepper to the same skillet and cook until fragrant. 2 to 3 minutes. Add green peas, followed by chicken and pineapple back to the skillet and stirfry for another minute. Add rice to the skillet, and mix all the ingredients well. Add extra curry powder, soy sauce and salt along the way, until desired taste is achieved.
Arrange the curry chicken rice on a 9 inch baking dish and sprinkle sharp cheedar cheese on top, followed by another layer of shredded mozzarella cheese.
Baked in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the cheese melts.
Serves 4
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Lemon Curd Marbled Cheesecake
This is another typical case of trying to use up the almost expiring stuff. This time, the items include 3 blocks of cream cheese and half a tub of sour cream. After some research, and some mental struggling of whether to make something new or follow a T&T recipe, I decided to try the Lemon Curd Marble Cheesecake, featured on Gourmet magazine.
There were mixed reviews on this recipe. But I decided to bake it anyway, since Gourmet has never disappointed me before. 2 of the common complaints were cracks on top of the cheesecake and the wobbly center when the cheesecakes were pulled out from the oven. Crack, is something I am familiar with. I am famous for forgeting how long the cake has been baking. So mine always come out a tad too dry, with cracks on top. They were still delicious (most of the time), but never presentable. So, crack is not an issue for me. Since overbake is my specialty, I don't see why my cheesecake will have the wobbly center, as some encountered. In fact, it will be a challenge for me to remember when to pull the cheesecake out when the center is still wobbly....
Anyhow, I proceeded to make the lemon curd, which proved to be very time consuming. Because I only have a tiny sieve. It took forever to force the residue-less curd through the sieve. After that was done, I took out a pack of graham cracker, and carefully crushed them into crumbs. Did I tell you that I get the lemon zest for the curd by first peeling the skin, and then cut them into tiny bits? Yes, everything here is pretty primitive and hence time consuming. But I believe once upon a time, this was how our ancestor did it. I should be thankful that I have a kitchen-aid blender to do all the mixing and beating.
After all these work were done, making cheesecake was a breeze. I baked mine for 1 hour, as suggested by others, and it was a bit wobbly in the center. And yes! I remembered the time! The cheesecake firmed up just as the recipe described. I am also thrilled that there's no crack for the first time! ( ok, there were some small cracks initially, but they somehow patched back as the cake firmed up.)
OCT brought a big piece for his collaborator who is leaving St Louis on Friday. It would be nice if we had time to dress the cake up a bit or wrote something meaning on the cake. But I guess, it's the thought that counts? Nevermind that he didn't contribute any effort in making the cheesecake.
I had a piece with OCT and another piece later for morning snack. They were delicious! I probably didn't add enough lemon curd to the batter. Because I didn't see the distinct line formed as described in the magazine. No matter, they still taste yummy. And I really like the tangy lemon curd in the cheesecake. I guess I like everything with lemon. Now, I must think of a way to use up the rest of the lemon curd...
Lemon Curd Marbled Cheesecake
(adapted from Gourmet July 2006)
For lemon curd
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
For crust
1 1/3 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs (5 oz)
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For filling
3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Special equipment: a 9- to 91/2-inch (24-cm) springform pan
Accompaniment: blueberries
Make lemon curd: Whisk together zest, juice, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Add butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubbles appear on surface, about 6 minutes.
Force lemon curd through a fine-mesh sieve into a wide shallow dish, scraping bottom of sieve, then cover surface with wax paper. Cool completely, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
Make and bake crust: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Invert bottom of springform pan (to make it easier to slide cake off bottom), then lock on side. 3Stir together crust ingredients in a bowl, then press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of springform pan. Place springform pan in a shallow baking pan and bake 10 minutes, then cool crust completely in springform pan on a rack.
Make filling and bake cheesecake: Reduce oven temperature to 300°F.
Beat together cream cheese and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add eggs 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in sour cream and vanilla until combined.
Pour two thirds of cream cheese filling into crust, then spoon half of lemon curd over filling and swirl curd into filling with a small knife. (Avoid touching crust with knife to prevent crumbs getting into filling.) Repeat with remaining filling and curd.
Bake cheesecake until set 1 1/2 inches from edge but center trembles when pan is gently shaken, about 45 minutes. (Center of cake will appear very loose but will continue to set as it cools.) Transfer springform pan to a rack and immediately run a knife around top edge of cake to loosen. Cool completely, about 2 hours, then chill, uncovered, at least 4 hours. Remove side of springform pan before serving.
Cooks' Notes:
• Lemon curd can be made 1 week ahead and chilled, covered.
• Crust (without filling) can be made 1 day ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.
• Cheesecake can be chilled, loosely covered, up to 2 days. Cheesecake must be completely chilled before covering to prevent condensation on its surface.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Monday Dinner : Beef and mushroom pasta nest
It is just another Spaghetti Bolognese recipe. Had I knew it earlier, I would rather make something different. By the way, it doesn't taste nicer than my own version, using chipotle chilli. OCT and I added lots of Asian chilli sauce to make this boring dish more appetising.
Oh, this is a recipe from Rachel Ray's 365 No Repeat book, a variation from the tomato and basil pasta nest we had last week. I love it so much to give this variation, printed next to my favorite one a chance, hoping that it's something extraordinary as well. I am definitely wrong this time.
I also tried another recipe of oven baked corn dog from the book. It tasted ok, but the dough was runny beyond believe! I doubt how RR got her hotdog covered with the dough! Anyway, it was too ugly, so I didn't take any picture of my corn dog.
Quite a depressing night when everything comes out from the kitchen didn't taste nice.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
It really bothers me
When I went into the magazine website and checked my personal detail, the yearly rate offered to me was $13. Feeling confused, I wrote an email to their customer service to clarify the matter, and following were our correspondence:
--- Original Message ---
From: novice baker
Received: 9/6/2006 2:10:12 PM Eastern Standard Time (GMT - 4:00 )
To: wes.ck@customersvc.com
Subject: Cooking Light Billing Inquiry,
On Wed Sep 06 14:18:46 EDT 2006 novice baker wrote:
Subject : Billing Inquiry
SubType :
Comments :
On August 23, I received a letter to remind me of the automatic renewal program. However, the rate offered was $18. It was different from the $13 per annum I see when I log into my customer service page online.
As my subscription is ending in Nov 2006, I am currently exploring various options to renew my subscription.
I look forward to your clarification on the subscription rate before I make any decision to renew my subscription.
thanks.
Keina F
Dear novice baker:
Thank you for contacting COOKING LIGHT Customer Service.
Please understand that testing different rates is a common marketing
practice. The offer you mention is targeting new subscribers. The offer
enables potential customers to review the magazines at that low rate to
decide if they would like to continue with a subscription. Because we
value your business, we will be happy to extend your current
subscription with that offer, if you like.
You may visit our website and renew your subscription from there. Or,
if you prefer, you may return this e-mail with your full name, complete
mailing address (including city, state, and zip code), and account
number. Please include your order and billing instructions.
We apologize for any confusion and look forward to hearing from you!
We appreciate this opportunity to be of service.
COOKING LIGHT Customer Service
www.cookinglight.com
--- Original Message ---
From: novice baker
Received: 9/7/2006 2:23:58 PM Eastern Standard Time (GMT - 4:00 )
To: KXXXX F
Subject: Re: Cooking Light Billing Inquiry,
I am afraid you didn't read my email clearly. Let me reiterate. I received a mail from Cookinglight to remind me of the auto renewal program. Under the program, I have to pay $18 per annum.
However, in my customer service page on cookinglight.com, the rate is $13!!!!! Why would I want to accept the $18 offer which is much higher than the rate quoted on the website?
Anyway, I just found out that I can renew the subscription at ebay for only $9.00. I may as well do so, since all the reply I got from your customer service is a "cut and paste" formal reply without even a close look at my inquiry.
From: "RXXXXX C OQ"
To: novice baker
Subject: Re: Cooking Light Billing Inquiry, <<#!$%^$#@!#$%#>>
Date: Fri, 08 Sep 2006 01:11:35 GMT
Dear novice baker:
Thank you for contacting COOKING LIGHT Customer Service.
Please understand that testing different rates is a common marketing
practice. The offer you mention is targeting new subscribers. The offer
enables potential customers to review the magazines at that low rate to
decide if they would like to continue with a subscription. Because we
value your business, we will be happy to extend your current
subscription with that offer, if you like.
You may visit our website and renew your subscription from there. Or,
if you prefer, you may return this e-mail with your full name, complete
mailing address (including city, state, and zip code), and account
number. Please include your order and billing instructions.
We apologize for any confusion and look forward to hearing from you!
We appreciate this opportunity to be of service.
COOKING LIGHT Customer Service
www.cookinglight.com
I feel stupid to even bother to drop them a second email, for all I got in return was another thoughtless cut and paste reply like the first one. I wonder why they even have a link on the website for subscribers to inquire about other issues.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Friday breakfast treat : Iced Lemon Shortbread Fingers
This is another recipe from Nancy Baggett's The All American Cookies Book. I personally like it a lot for the lemony taste. Trace of lemon zest could be found thoughout the shortbread and in the icing. You will like this if you are a lemon sucker like me. I saved some for myself to indulge (with coffee of course) while packing most for OCT's Friday lab meeting.
I made a mess cutting the iced shortbread. The icing just stick to the knife eventhough I wiped the knife after every cut. Maybe I should use some hot water to clean the knife next time. It works for cheesecake, so I guess it may work for pastry with icing too. I think the shortbread will appear more appetising if I cut them neater.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a single review from his colleague. But they did finish the whole tray that he brought. So maybe it's not that bad. Afterall, everything taste nice with icing right? However, on a health conscious note, this is certainly not the kind of dessert I should indulge on a daily basis. Maybe I should make myself a batch of biscotti. The yummy yet low fat biscotti. Anyway, I am thinking of baking a batch of chocolate pistachio biscottis for OCT's next lab meeting, but that will be later..
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Pork Carnitas and sauteed root veggie
Believe it or not, the pork carnitas took 2 days to prepare. First day, it was baked slowly for 1.5 hours in the 350F oven and refrigerated overnight to remove the solidified fat. Second day, the pork carnita was sauteed in a heavy skillet until most liquid had evaporated.
The end result totally justified the time and effort involved. For the pork was fork tender. OCT and I liked this dish very much, not to mention it used the very affordable pork butt! Definitely a keeper.
On the side, I sauteed some root veggies, a good accompaniment for the pork carnitas. OCT ate them with rice, while I went with the Mexican way.With the corn tortilla that is. Excellent both ways!
Because the pork carnitas didn't need much time to prepare on the second day, I have some time to kill. I decided to make some corn pancakes. Nice addition to our dinner. Though it can hardly be counted as a dish. Nowaday I pretty much cook anything I feel like eating at the moment. 
Pork Carnitas
(adapted from Cookinglight Sept 2006)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 garlic cloves, peeled
2 1/4 pounds boneless Boston butt pork roast, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine first 5 ingredients in a large Dutch oven; pour broth over pork mixture. Cover and bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until pork is very tender.
Transfer pork mixture to a 13 x 9-inch baking dish, and cool to room temperature. Cover and chill for 8 hours or overnight.
Skim the solidified fat from surface; discard fat. Let pork stand at room temperature 30 minutes to soften. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork; cook 8 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in juice.
Seared Tofu with Gingered Vegetables
Dare I say this looks pretty appetising? It was indeed a very appetising dish. Maybe it's the rice wine vinegar. It goes well with the sweet peppers. I think the only complaint was the lack of sauce.
I will add more liquid when I make this dish again next week.
Seared Tofu with Gingered Vegetables
(adapted from Cookinglight Aug 06)
1 pound reduced-fat extrafirm tofu
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil, divided
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, finely minced
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup sliced green onions, divided (omitted)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
Cooking spray
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
Place tofu on several layers of paper towels; let stand 10 minutes. Cut tofu into 1-inch cubes.
Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger, and bell pepper to pan; sauté for 3 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup green onions, vinegar, and soy sauce; cook for 30 seconds. Remove from pan. Wipe skillet with paper towels; recoat pan with cooking spray.
Place pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle tofu with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Add tofu to pan; cook 8 minutes or until golden, turning to brown on all sides. Return bell pepper mixture to pan, and cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Drizzle tofu mixture with remaining 1 teaspoon oil; top with sesame seeds. Serve tofu mixture with rice; top with remaining 1/4 cup onions.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Deviled Chicken Divan
This is a variation of the chicken with mustard sauce I made last week. OCT didn't like the mustard sauce but I think it has room for improvement. Hence, I decided to give it another chance. With some disguise of course, by adding broccoli, hot sauce and Gruyere cheese as Rachel Ray suggested.
A brand new chicken dish was born! Without OCT noticed they were one of the same dish. 
Chicken with Mustard Sauce
4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves, chopped (from 4 sprigs)
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
3/4 cup chicken stock or broth
3 super-heaping Tbsp. good quality Dijon mustard
3 super-heaping Tbsp. sour cream
Season the chicken with the thyme, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat with the EVOO. Add the seasoned chicken breasts and cook for 5 to 6 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover with the foil. Turn up the heat on the skillet to high and add the chicken stock and mustard, whisking to combine. Bring up to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 3 minutes.
Whisk in the sour cream and continue to cook until slightly thickened, about 2 more minutes. Serve the sauce over the chicken and accompany with a simple salad and something to sop up the sauce, like couscous or bread.
VARIATIONS:
Deviled Chicken Divan
Add:
2 10-ounce boxes frozen broccoli spears
A few pieces of lemon peel
2 tsp. hot sauce
2 cups shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese such as Emmentaler
Cook the broccoli in boiling water in a shallow pan with the lemon peel. Cook to just heat through—you want the broccoli spears to retain their bright color. Drain well.
Preheat the broiler.
Prepare the chicken and sauce as directed in the master recipe, adding the hot sauce to the finished sauce (to "devil" it). Place the cooked chicken breasts and broccoli in a shallow casserole and top with the deviled sauce and the cheese. Broil until the cheese is brown and bubbly. Serve with crusty bread.
