A Series of Kitchen Experiments

Migrated to Wordpress

2011-04-14T22:22:00.001-04:00

Hey all,

I've migrated http://kitchenexperiments.net to a Wordpress platform.

Follow me there for the latest, yummiest updates!

Goodbye, Blogger - you have served me well and I will remember you fondly. It's just me, not you. I need more modification pow-wow now

*MUAH*

The Overnighter Braised Pork Belly

2011-02-21T19:59:00.002-05:00

I had 1lb of pork belly in the freezer and I had no idea what to do with it. So I hit up my foodie bestie, Kwok Mun, and one of his braising suggestions kind of hit a home run. Well, it didn't help that I had Diners, Drive-ins and Dives playing on the TV as well. It was decided that the pork belly will be braised. Overnight. Yep, you heard me alright. I braised my pork belly overnight in my oven for over 8 hours in a slow and nice heat - 240F to be exact (approx. 120 C) - in a fragrant pool of dark liquid made up of similar ingredients to my other braised pork dish. The end result was delicious. Meat falling off the bones scandalously with an oh-so-tender, melt-in-your-mouth goodness.

You will want this recipe.

The Overnighter Braised Pork Belly

1lb of whole pork belly (get the cut where it's closer to the ribs)
Spice rub (2 tsp powdered coriander, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp sweet paprika, salt and pepper)
1 cup of water
3 tablespoon of soy sauce
1/4 cup of Chinese cooking wine
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 star anise
1 whole cinnamon stick
3 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon oil

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 400F.

Make incisions into the skin of the pork belly. Don't cut all the way through but about 1/4 way through so you can rub the spices in.
Take your spice rub and massage your pork belly with your hands, make sure to insert every bit of that spice rub into the incision cuts. Set aside.
In a large enough heavy steel pot (or a deep baking tray cover with aluminium foil if you don't have one that's big enough), add 1 tbsp of oil and heat it on the stove. You want to sear the pork belly first so that it is browned on both sides. I do this to also toast the spice rub around it for more smokiness.
Add water, soy sauce, cooking wine, brown sugar, star anise, cinnamon and garlic in and let it come to a simmer.
Reduce oven heat to 250F.
When the pork belly starts to come to a simmer, turn off your stove and pop the pot with the cover on into the oven.
Go to sleep.
8 hours later, you will be awakened by the aroma of something magically delicious brewing in your kitchen. Your overnight slow braised pork belly is ready and the meat should fall off the bone easily but still hold its shape.

How you eat this is entirely up to you but I personally like reducing the jus until it thickens and then pour it over a pulled apart pork belly before serving it with some sesame buns. And a cup of green tea, that's what I call breakfast. Or brunch. Or supper.

I am going to have leftovers for a week.

Chinese New Year: 9 Chinese Recipes Roundup

2011-02-01T22:53:00.003-05:00

Happy Chinese New Year to all my readers who celebrate it and happy holidays to those of you in Malaysia. May this year of the Rabbit be a prosperous one by leaps and bounds.

This is my second year celebrating Chinese New Year away from Malaysia. During this festive season, I tend to miss home quite a bit but there is always next year (and I've already had an early family reunion dinner with my parents and brother who came to visit in Dec/January).

I've compiled 9 Malaysian Chinese recipe roundups of dishes for this occasion. Just click on any of the 9 images below and be swept off to its respective recipes page.

Enjoy!

xoxo,
Elaine

Penang Prawn Noodle (Hae Mee/Penang Hokkien Mee)

2011-01-23T12:31:00.015-05:00

The first post of 2011. I do apologize for the long absence, it has been such a crazy year-end last year I had no time to properly craft a post but there has been a lot of eating. My parents and brother were here for Christmas and New Years, if you can imagine all the restaurants I wanted them to try on top of all the sight-seeing.

Now that they've gone back home and we're about 10 days to Chinese New Year, I wanted to start the first post of the year with a lot of "Har". So, I made Penang Prawn Noodles or Penang Hokkien Mee. "Har" is prawn/shrimp in Cantonese and auspiciously it sounds like "Ha" of "Hahahaha". I am originally Hokkien and we call prawns/shrimps "Hae", you could say it sounds like "Heh" of "Hehehehehe" too. And so my point being, eating a lot of "Har/Hae" would induce a lot of happiness, one of the auspicious traits you want in your house during Chinese New Year!

Penang Prawn Noodles is a bowl of happiness in my eyes. Its rich broth is made from simmering pork bones and prawn heads until every ounce of their flavour is extracted. And then a necessary blend of spice paste carefully pounded with dried shrimps, chilies, shallots and garlic, which is then sauteed in peanut oil until fragrant and aromatic is added into the broth. It is an absolute delight to slurped on because the marriage of flavours from the prawns, pork and the slick red oil floating on every bowl dances in your mouth like sex.

The most time consuming part of cooking Penang Prawn Mee is the broth, it's an element that will either make or break the dish so take the time to clean the pork bones and use the freshes prawns you can get. You need A LOT of prawns/shrimps for this dish. Usually, I would used 1500 grams worth of shrimp shells and 700 grams of pork bones for 1.5 liters of broth. If you cannot get as much shrimp shells, you should get a sachet of Tean's Gourmet Prawn Noodle Paste from your Asian grocery store for a bit of help in boosting the flavour of your broth. You may use other brands but I won't be able to guarantee how the flavours will turn out.

Penang Prawn Noodles (Hokkien Mee)

We will divide the ingredients into three parts -

A: Pork + Prawn Stock	B: Spice Paste	C: Noodles + Toppings
700grams of pork rib bones (more instruction on this later) 1000 grams of prawns (more instructions on this later) 10 shallots, sliced thinly** 1/2 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns 1 star anise 4 cloves 2 tablespoon of brown sugar (or gula melaka/palm sugar if you have any) 2 teaspoon of salt to taste	We are going to blitz all these ingredients in a blender. Or if you feel like pounding, use a mortar and pestle. 2 tablespoons of Hae Bee (dried preserved shrimps), soaked for 5 minutes and rinsed 30 dried chilies, soaked and deseeded 20 shallots, peeled 6-7 cloves of garlic 2 tablespoons of water to get the paste going 1 tablespoon of soy sauce 1/4 cup of peanut oil	Yellow egg noodle, cooked Rice vermicelli, soaked and scalded Shredded pork meat Cooked prawns, sliced length-wise 6 hard-boiled eggs Crispy fried shallots Kangkong (Water convulvolus - if you can't find this vegetable, regular spinach or water cress will do too), scalded Bean sprouts, blanched quickly in boiling water

Method:

To start off, you will need 1 large pot, 1 medium large pot, a fry pan and 1 large basin for any rinsing and tempering jobs.

A: Pork + Prawn Stock

1. We'll first clean the pork bones by boiling them in water for 10 minutes. You'll see all the gunk floating on the surface of the water and that's what we want to get rid off for a cleaner tasting broth. Pour the water off and rinse the pork bones, get rid of any dangling fats and white membranes under the running water. Set them in the large basin, while you clean up the pot well.

2. Add about two tablespoon of oil in the same pot, fry up the shallot slices until crispy and golden brown. Scoop them up and onto a paper towel to be used for topping later.**

3. In the same pot, with the oil, add the black pepper, star anise, cloves and the pork bones in and cover the bones with water. While you're waiting for the pot to come to a simmer, peel the prawns and reserve the shells and heads.

4. When the pot comes to gentle boil, add all the prawn heads and shells in with the sugar and salt. Reduce the heat to a medium low and let it cook for 1 hour. Important: Skim the orangey red foam off the surface every now and then.

B: Spice Paste

While your stock is cooking, it's time to make your spice paste.

5. In a blender, add all the ingredients in column B, except for the oil, and blitz until fine. Add a tablespoon or two of water to get the paste going if it's too dry.

6. Once the fresh spice paste is ready, heat up your pan with 1/4 cup of oil and saute the spice paste on medium heat. I sauteed mine for approximately 15 minutes until the paste turns into a dark ruby red and the fragrance of chilies and shrimp permeates the air so thickly you could choke. But all is forgiven when you give it a taste.

7. You will get almost a cup worth of spice paste, set it aside.

Interlude

8. After one hour, you get a rich autumny color stock you want to sink into - it smells wonderfully porky and prawny. The pork bones are cooked through and the prawn shells are a bright fiery orange. Remember the prawns you peeled earlier? Now is the time to cook them. Throw them into the pot and crank up the heat. Add the eggs in as well. Let them cook through - approximately 2 minutes for the shrimp. Reserve them for topping later.** And another 3 minutes for the eggs to become nicely hard-boiled. Peel them and halve them as topping.**

9. Fish out all the pork bones, prawn shells and spices from the pot of stock. They've done their job. Discard the prawn shells and spices. For the pork bones, pull and shred as much pork off the bones as you can with a paring knife and use them for topping later.**

10. The stock is now ready for the spice paste to be added in. Take half a portion of the spice paste and stir it in. From there, you will find that the stock graduates into a broth. It transforms into a rich, emulsified, full-bodied life. Spicy oils from the spice paste floats over the top with a nice red sheen, as if it is a protective layer of the deliciousness below. Your broth is now ready. Keep it heated through and piping hot in a low heat.

C: Noodles + Toppings

We pretty much got most of the toppings done while the soup was cooking. All that is left are the noodles, Kangkong and bean sprouts.

11. In a medium sized pot, boil water and scald all the bean sprouts, kangkong and noodles separately and it is best in that order. Why? Because if you cook the noodles first, you'll starch up the water and leave strands of rice vermicelli in it, which will stick to the vegetables when it's their turn to cook. However, if you don't mind bits of noodles sticking to your veggies, I give you permission to cook it in any order you want. :)

12. Set the toppings and noodles to get ready for assembly.

Assembly:

In a bowl, take a bit of rice vermicelli and yellow noodles and add the piping hot broth over them. Add the toppings and an extra spoon of spice paste, if you'd like.

Serve.

Braised Minced Pork with Chinese Five Spice

2010-12-11T23:10:00.004-05:00

A bowl of fragrant deliciousness

This is the ultimate comfort food after a long and hectic day at work. Like everyone else, there are more days than I would like to admit where I was too tired to be bothered to cook. And on these days, I fall back to recipes that are simple, comforting and reminds me of home. This braised minced pork with Chinese five spice powder is easy and so delicious served on rice or even on noodles.

How easy can this recipe be?

Because the pork is all minced up, it doesn't take too long to braise this dish at all. Go for a shower and by the time you're ready, dinner is ready too - you just need to remember to also cook the rice before you hop into the shower. If you don't like pork, this recipe also works well with minced chicken. Or turkey. You can even jazz it up with some vegetables too; preferred vegetables for this dish includes shitake mushrooms, carrots, green beans and potatoes, cut into the smallest pieces you can muster.

Here's the ridiculously easy recipe:

Braised Minced Pork in Chinese Five Spice

200grams of minced pork
1 small knob ginger, minced

3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon of soy sauce
2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
a few drops of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of five spice powder
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
salt and pepper to taste

200ml of water

Garnish: 2 stalks of green onions, chopped finely

Optional: carrots, green beans, shitake mushrooms, and potatoes cut into smallish cubes

Method:

Heat pan with oil and sesame oil under medium heat.
And when the oils are hot, add the ginger and garlic in and saute for about 1 minute or until the garlic bits look slightly whitish.
Add the minced pork in together with the vegetables and cook until the mince meat changes color from red to gray. At this point, add the rest of the seasonings in and water. Stir and cook until the meat sauce comes to a simmer. Lower heat and let the meat sauce simmer with the lid on for about 20-30 minutes (or however long it takes for you to take that shower).

Serve on white rice or on any kinds of noodles/pasta.

Le Boucan - A Review

2010-11-02T21:03:00.005-04:00

We headed to Montreal's Griffintown for BBQ at Le Boucan on Friday night, all 11 of us including one vegetarian. Most of us arrived 15 minutes early for our 8pm reservations, but we had to wait 25 minutes for our table because the establishment only sits, at most, 35 people now that their terrace is closed. All 11 of us waited outside, patiently, mingling with each other while our tables got set up. The temperature that night was a stiff reminder of the cold wintry days to come. BRrrr!

At exactly 8.10pm we headed in and were seated with extremely loud music playing in the background. It was quite annoying but the hint of smokiness wafting in the air reaffirms that this was not a dive bar but a smokehouse. Loud music aside, Le Boucan's decor was nice and casual, it's feels like a place you want to chill and have a good mug of beer while enjoying some nicely smoked ribs. So, what's my verdict on the food? Let's just say that I didn't exactly go into Le Boucan and expect gourmet style meals but I did expect to have properly seasoned food at the very least.

I decided to go with their 'Pit Boss' platter to share with a friend. The 'Pit Boss' comes with half a bbq chicken, pulled pork, and 1/2 smoked ribs and all the sides; coleslaw, potato salad and fries. This is The platter at Le Boucan because it comprises everything that a smokehouse would stand for. The best part of this platter was actually the pulled pork, it was tender and tasty and I would go back for more if I was in the neighborhood. However, I was not impressed with their 'famous smoked ribs' or their bbq chicken because they were a little overcooked, aka dry. It wasn't horrible but I can make ribs like that at home and better tasting bbq chicken. The chicken was under seasoned, which is my biggest, biggest peeve. If it wasn't for the bbq sauce slathered all over the exterior of the poultry, it would have no taste. When food is not seasoned properly, no amount of sauce can mask that fact, and that is quite a shame. On the bright side, there are the side dishes. I really liked their coleslaw and potato salad. Both had a really nice zing that cuts into the heaviness of the meal. I really wished my friend and I had better tasting fries. Ours came in the shape of an old-style cone that propped up vertically on a stand, it was cute, but fries tastes like it had been left on the counter for hours - they were wrinkly and flaccid and tepid. Oddly enough, our other friends who ordered ribs with a side of salad and fries were pretty happy with their taters. Maybe it was just our fries, which begs the question "Why?".

Here's the quirkiest thing: The vegetarian, none other than my beloved P, absolutely LOVED his poutine. He declared that it was the best poutine he has ever tasted that is vegetarian, if it was truly 100% vegetarian. He lamented that the mac & cheese had potential but was under seasoned. Call me a snob if you want but I think being served under seasoned food falls under the worse-food-crime-category for any restaurant - how can you not season your food well and still open a restaurant?

Overall, I thought the BBQ at Le Boucan was mediocre and my dinner was saved by the pulled pork and their side dishes. The cause for concerns brought up by Chef Adjey when they were showcased in his show, The Opener, are still there, unfortunately. It is a possibility that they haven't completely mastered their smoker's temperature or ease into the right rhythm yet. But under seasoning their food is really unacceptable by my books - if I wanted to eat under seasoned food, I would much rather cook at home and my food is rarely under seasoned unless it is intentional. Service at the restaurant was acceptable, our glasses were always filled and the wait staff was tentative enough.

I honestly think Le Boucan deserves a second chance but I am not sure when that second chance will materialize after this meal. I am still interested in their 5-napkin burger, however, but maybe I'll ask one of my dining guests about it instead.

A Dreamy Lemon Cream Cake

2010-10-17T17:19:00.005-04:00

When life throw you lemons, you make lemon cream cake with them.

This is the most divine cake I have ever had. It is creamy, lemony and perfectly satisfying. It tastes like lemon cheesecake except it is without cheese and it is light and fluffy like clouds in the sky on a blue summer sky. A bite of this cake makes you feel like you're skipping barefooted through a field of flowers with lemon trees all around you...in a dreamy kind of way.

And the best part? I invented this recipe...

Well, I didn't invent it entirely...Believe it or not, this cake was modified from Laura Calder's Chocolate Cream Cake, which is equally divine I'm sure. It was quite the gamble modifying this recipe into a lemon version but I figured it wouldn't hurt. It only hurt when P got the last piece!

Lemon Cream Cake Recipe

1 1/2 cups of Lemon Curd (for recipe click here)

My friend Kwok Mun and I made some lemon curd while I visited him in Chicago, so refer to his blog for some delectable pictures. Lemon curd is great as spreads too!

6 large eggs
1/3 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of flour, sifted twice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup of heavy cream, whipped till stiff peaks

Icing sugar to powder over the cake

Method:

Heat the oven to 350F and grease a 10-inch cake pan. Prepare a large tray big enough to place the cake pan because you will be adding hot water into the tray while the cake bakes.
Create a bain-marie by putting a large steel mixing bowl on top of a simmering pot of water.
In the mixing bowl, add the 6 eggs, sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk the mixture on the bain-marie until it tripled in volume. This will be a constant mixing of approximately 10 minutes. If you have an electric hand mixer, count yourself lucky - I whisked this by hand!
On different bowls, whisk the heavy cream until stiff peaks form and mix the flour mixture in with the lemon curd until well combined.
Now you technically have three products ready to be assembled; i) Lemon Curd ii) egg mixture that's tripled in volume 3) whipped heavy cream. To assemble, pour about 1/4 of the egg mixture in the lemon curd and mix it well to temper. Then pour the lemon curd into the egg mixture and gently fold it until it's semi combined (the mixture looks streaky). Then, at this point add the whipped cream in. Gently fold the mixture until it is evenly combined.
Pour the cake mixture into the cake pan and place the cake pan into a large tray. Add hot water into the tray until it is comes up to the middle of the cake pan. Bake for 1 hour or until the skewer comes out clean.

Let the cake cool completely before serving. And don't forget to dust some icing sugar over the top!

Breakfast: Omelette and Greens with Preserved Figs

2010-10-11T15:36:00.003-04:00

This is what happens when I have a long weekend.

I have time for proper breakfast.

Usually I have a mug of coffee with a cereal bar or a fruit but this morning, it's eggs and a bit of salad. Wow. ;)

As smug as I might sound, this omelette is not harder or more time consuming than say making my coffee. It just makes more dishes to wash up but that's what the dishwasher is for! The time it takes for my water to heat up, my omelette can be cooking in the pan. This omelette is dressed up with chives, 1 small dollop of cream cheese, slices of tomatoes and pieces of black oily olives. Then it's topped with some mixed salad greens, a drizzle of fig molasses*, preserved figs* and olive oil.

Now, isn't that easy?

Breakfast Omelette (serves 1)
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon chives
1 tablespoon of cream cheese
3 olives, pitted and torn into uneven pieces
1 tomato sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 garlic, sliced into slivers
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Add the cream cheese, olives and chives into egg and stir to combine well. Set aside and do not over mix the egg mixture.
Heat non-stick pan with some oil and sear the tomato slices with garlic until nice and brown around the corners. Season with some salt and pepper.
Pour the egg mixture in and around the eggs. With a spatula, move around the egg mixture, making crevices and watch the crevices fill with egg mixture again. Making these crevices makes for a fluffier omelette - and that's your tip for the day. Go about doing it until you see that crevices gets filled up slower, at this point lower the heat to low.
Cook covered for 1 minute and your omelette is done. Don't have a cover for your non-stick? I just use a plate.

** The fig molasses and fig preserves came from the same jar. I bought a crate of fresh figs one day at the market because I couldn't resist how plump and voluptuous each purple figs were. Cutting through them revealed this lovely blushing flesh that makes you want to eat them all day. I couldn't finish the whole crate so what did I do with the rest? I preserved them in balsamic vinegar. I let the preserving liquid reduced into a thick and glossy syrup and left the figs in it. This wonderful condiment is sitting in my fridge and I use it for salads or as an accompaniment to meat or omelettes.

Leeks and Potato Soup, Savoy and Cashew Topping, Cream Cheese and Chive Toasts

2010-10-10T20:58:00.003-04:00

This is my version of comfort food.

A creamy liquid silk of leeks and potatoes topped with a buttery medley of browned savoy cabbage, cashew and hickory smoked ham - food for the soul on Thanksgiving eve. And I'm especially proud that I whipped this up on a whim this evening, all it took was a bit of inspiration from the cold weather and the picture of P laborious waxing our car through our kitchen window.

This tremendous soup was accompanied by a tremendously easy but delicious toasts made from day old Calabrese bread.

Leek and Potato Soup
3 cups of leeks, quartered and chopped into loose dices
2 cups of potatoes, cubed into medium chunks
1/2 cup onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
pepper
2 tablespoon of olive oil

Method:
1. Heat a large pot (make sure it's big enough to carry everything) with olive oil and add the leeks, onions and garlic.
2. Add salt and sweat the vegetables until they are wilted and translucent. At this point, add the potatoes in along with the rosemary and add 1250 ml of water.
3. Let the soup come to a boil and then lower heat until a simmer. Cook covered for 30 minutes and stir occasionally if you remember.
4. When the potatoes are soft and crumbles at the merest touch, it's time to turn the soup into cream. If you have an immersion blender, use it if not blend the chunky soup in a blender until smooth.
5. Pour the smooth silky soup back into the pot and keep the heat on low until ready to serve.

Savoy and Cashew Topping
1 cup of savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
1 onion, sliced thinly
1/4 cup of smoked ham, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup of cashew nuts
2 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Before preheating your pan, roast your cashew nuts until fragrant and lightly brown. Set aside.
2. Pre-heat pan and melt butter in the olive oil.
3. Add the onions and garlic and saute until translucent. You want to add the ham now and then cook it until it turns brown around the sides for maximum flavor.
4. Add the savoy cabbage in and cook until wilted down and maybe throw in a tablespoon or two of water to help the cabbages cook down.
5. Saute the vegetables until slightly crispy around the corners and toss in the cashew nuts.

Use as a topping for your leek and potato soup.

Cream Cheese and Chive Spread (for Toasts)
1/4 cup of cream cheese
3 tablespoon of softened butter
3 tablespoon of chives, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of red chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon of salt
pepper

Method:
Mix all the ingredients together well and let it sit in room temperature for 30 minutes. Spread it over bread and toast until golden brown.

The Awesomest Salad in the Whole Wide World

2010-08-29T17:39:00.000-04:00

does not exist.

But this one comes pretty close to awesome for our morning brunch. It's a hot and cold salad with mushroom and potato hash, on top of salad greens in balsamic orange vinaigrette and a few nice gratings of aged Parmesan cheese.

This is the perfect hangover salad that hits the spot and is pretty good for you.

My Awesome Salad Recipe, serves 2

For the salad:
2 handful of salad greens. Use a melange of salad leaves and leave the romaines and iceberg salads out of this mix. They are boring.
4 small tomatoes, quartered
1 large navel orange, peeled and segmented with a knife (watch a video on how to segment an orange without peeling it with your hands), juices reserved
olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Mushroom and potato hash:
3 cloves of garlic
6 small mushrooms or any of those wild kinds you want, chopped into small chunks
2 medium sized potatoes, cut into small dices
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:
Start with the mushroom and potato hash first.
1. Heat pan with one tablespoon olive oil in medium heat. Make sure the pan is well heated. Add mushroom in and cook it until all the moisture from the mushrooms are gone, approximately 5 minutes and mushrooms are slightly browned in the corners.
2. Add garlic in together with the potatoes and saute until potatoes are browned and cooked through, approximately 15 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare your salad. Divide the salad greens on two plates, scatter the tomatoes around, toss in the orange segments and drizzle the orange juice all over the salad.

3. Once your mushroom and potatoes hash is ready, add it into the salad. Drizzle olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Finish off with some grated parmesan cheese, be generous with the Parmesan cheese.

And eat.

It is completely vegetarian too. The mushroom and potato hash really hits the spots so you don't care if it's vegetarian.

Very Easy Malaysian Chicken Curry

2010-08-02T17:57:00.009-04:00

There are many kinds of curried chicken in Malaysia and while I am not sure which kind this is, it is the kind that is served in my mother's and grandmother's kitchen. If it spanned two generations, I can assure you that this recipe works.

I used to over-think this recipe when I was in my university days because I want, so badly, to replicate the taste from home. And the result is a curry that tastes like it was over-thought, if that made any sense. I put too much curry powder, too much cumin, too much coriander, too much of everything. While it was good, overbearingly spicily good, it was perhaps quite heavy handed. I've learned that it is crucial to understand balance when handling spice.

This curry feels, tastes and smells very much like home and it is a keeper. It is like the curry served during Chinese New Year's reunion dinner along with all the other yummilicious dishes. The spice is just right and it is downright addictive.

Home-style Malaysian Chicken Curry
serves 6

6 chicken legs, drumsticks and thighs separated.
1 star anise
1 stick of cinnamon stick
1/4 cup of curry powder
1 teaspoon garaam masala (optional)
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 large potato, cut into large chunks
2 large tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup of coconut milk
250ml of water
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Curry Spice - to be pounded/blended
2 medium sized red onions, chopped into chunks
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon dried whole coriander
1 teaspoon dried whole cumin
4 pods of cardamom seeds, discard pod after extraction

Method:
I like to pound my spices with a mortar and pestle but go ahead and use a blender.

Toast the coriander seeds, cumin and cardamom seeds on a pan until it is fragrant. Add the spices into the mortar and pestle and grind until powdery.
Add the red onions and garlic in, bit by bit, pounding as you go until you get a spice paste.
Set aside until ready for use.

Add in the cinnamon stick, star anise and black mustard seeds into the oil. Once the mustard seeds starts popping, add the spice paste in and saute for about 8 minutes.
When the spice turns translucent and fragrant with oil seeping out on the sides when your stir through, add the curry powder and garaam masala in. You'll get a nice soft paste. Quickly add the coconut milk in and stir well.

Now it's time to add the chicken pieces in along with the potatoes, cover and let the curry come to a boil. At this point when it is a rolling boil, reduce heat to a simmer and add the tomatoes in.
Let the chicken curry cook, covered, for 30minutes before turning off the heat.

This chicken curry tastes better the next day and is great eaten with rice and breads, especially the South Asian kind like Naan bread. The end result of this dish can be rather oily, don't be alarmed, the red chili oil that surfaces actually helps cook this curry better. You could always scoop the excess away after you're done cooking or get rid of the chicken skin.

It's been such a lovely weather lately, hot without much humidity, an excellent reason to crank up the kitchen. *rubs hands together*

Also, on the 31st of August will be Malaysia's independence day. My fellow foodie blogger from Malaysia, Babe_KL is hosting an open house on her blog collecting family favorite recipes for our 53rd Independence Day. The theme is Food From Our Hearts, an excellent theme for a recipe that's spanned two generations. :)

Corn, corn, corn!

2010-08-01T21:16:00.001-04:00

Two-toned, sweet corn on cob with a slather of butter and a pinch of salt on a warm summer evening is best eaten with your hands outside on a porch drinking a light lager in your shorts and jandals.

I told you there's been some simple eating at home but this simple good eats is definitely worthy of a post and I'll tell you why. Every summer in Quebec, there is a period where it's corn season and you get these luscious two-toned corns that's the sweetest in the world. I grew up knowing corn was available all year round in Malaysia but I never appreciated the unctuousness of a good cob until I came Montreal. The natural sweetness of ble d'indes are so delicious when eaten with butter that the crispness of the fresh kernels is unparalleled to any fruit or vegetable. And it is a complete meal when you're too lazy and warm to cook in your kitchen. :)

Begging your pardon

2010-07-30T22:37:00.000-04:00

...with a tray of sweet, roasted Campari tomatoes.

I've been exceptionally busy with work and physically tired these days. I just moved to a new kitchen and my new oven is just begging to be used. There's been a lot of simple eating going around but nothing spectacular I want to document. But soon, there will be blog posts coming soon.

Btw, roasted tomatoes and garlic is crazy good with some pasta or the bbq. Mmh!

12 campari tomatoes
5 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil to coat

Method

Slice campari tomatoes in halves width-wise and arrange them on a tray. Toss in the garlic.
Sprinkle generously with salt and freshly cracked black pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
Bake in a 300F oven for 45 minutes and then use it on top of pasta or your favorite grillade foods.

Malaysian Steamed Fish Custard (Otak-otak)

2010-06-26T17:29:00.003-04:00

Remember a few posts back, I was posting a bunch of Malaysian recipes because I was having a ginormous Penang food cookout at home? This is one of those recipes and the last of the recipes from that event. Otak-otak is a Malaysian fish custard steamed with a spice paste wrapped in banana leaves. The type of fish used are usually white meat and firmer so they do not fall apart too easily; monkfish, halibut, cod, seabass and the likes. There are also variations of this recipe using other types of seafood - this is one of those variations using shrimps.

The spicy custard is key in making this delicious and also a certain kind of leafy herb called Daun Kadok or Piper sarmentosum. The locals in Malaysia sometimes substitute this herb for mint leaves because Daun Kadok has a rather minty profile but by substituting it with mint leaves, the minty profile is pretty much all you get because Daun Kadok also has a lemongrass and a green herbaceous profile that cannot be replicated. But in the event that you could not find this herb, go ahead and use mint. It would still be pretty good.

So, the French have their pates and terrines, the Malaysian have their Otak-otak and it is absolutely delicious to eat when spread on toasts, crackers and even with a steamy hot bowl of rice. To make otak-otak, there are basically three steps 1) POUND 2) ASSEMBLE 3) STEAM - and on we go.

Malaysian Steamed Fish Custard (Otak-otak)
makes 8 pouches

To be pounded:
10 shallots3 slices of galangal root
2 inches of turmeric root
5 dried red chilies, de-seeded
5 fresh red chillies, de-seeded
2 cloves of garlic
2 stalks of lemongrass, cut into small manageable pieces
1 tablespoon of fish paste, also known as belachan

Custard ingredients:
1 cup of coconut milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoon of rice flour, can be substituted with cornstarch or regular all-purpose flour
4 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt to taste

The filling of the custard:
150grams of shrimp, chopped into small chunks
Other options: Any firm fleshed white fish, shredded chicken breast, shredded beef and scallops
16 Daun Kadok or Piper sarmentosum

Method:

Pound the spices with a mortar and pestle until a paste is formed. You can also blend it in a blender but I am partial to hand pounding my spices simply because it just tastes better than mechanical blending. Something about synergistic transference of energy from the cook to the food and I do believe in that shit, don't laugh. :)
To assemble - mix the pounded spice with all the custard ingredients very well. A creamy, rich yellow batter will result from all the mixing and you're one step away from steaming.
To steam - take a sheet of banana leaf, softened in boiling water first, and lay 2 daun kadok at it's base. Add some shrimps or fish in the center of the leaves and ladle approximately 1/4 cup of the custard batter. Slowly bring the sides of the banana leaf up and form a pouch, tucked safely with a toothpick. Repeat until the batter is all used up. If you do not have banana leaves, you can also use aluminium foils as well - just oil it a little bit before assembling all the ingredients in. Steam the banana leaf pouches in a steamer for 15 minutes.

It's ready to eat with some rice or with a slice of toasted baguette. Mmmm....

I made otak-otak before 3 years ago but this is definitely the better version. I gather it's because I put a lot of love into it. :)

Vegetarians - you can omit the fish paste in the custard and also substitute shrimp with medium soft tofu. It is equally delicious.

A new look - temporarily

2010-06-16T20:52:00.001-04:00

What do you know, Blogger has this really awesome feature implemented that made revamping the look of your site a jiff. People who are not html/css savvy need not fret now since the combination of templates, background images and colors gives an almost endless variations to the customization. Well, the background is a ~~chopping board - how original but it's one of my favorite things in the kitchen after knives and Kitchenaids~~ wallpaper of forks and spoons. How delightful. ;)

Back with more soon!

Dining at Alinea, the mecca of my culinary world

2010-05-31T20:20:00.010-04:00

Experience. I don't think I will ever get over the fact that dining at Alinea has changed something in me. It's good, bad and hungry. I will never looked at food the same way again. I looked at my bowl of ramen yesterday and thought to myself, "What would Chef Achatz do this bowl of piping hot instant noodles?" and instantly fall into a slight depression because I would never know the answer. Antigriddle it, maybe?

It's been a week since I sat in that restaurant today. It's been a week, too, that I've been talking, thinking, and longing to go back. The feast we had at Alinea struck a momentous chord in my stomach, er..mind and reinstated my love for food and cooking. That was the good part....

Now, the bad. I miss the experience at Alinea. Like homesickness. It hurts. Like having a long distance relationship. And I am counting the days until I am back again in my food mecca. October, perhaps. If I can get reservations. Since coming back, I've read everything I could about Chef Achatz, his restaurant and even ordered their cookbook of the same name. And I would pay a small fortune to have a small stainless steel table for me and my beloved in a corner somewhere in their kitchen. Wishful thinking, of course. You know you've got it bad when all the other restaurants you've tried in the past now pales in comparison and it seems like nothing else would do but Alinea.

"What kind of food is served at Alinea?", I was asked. I didn't know how to answer that question. I don't think it would justify it because food in Alinea is unique, it's not really molecular gastronomy, it's not anything... it's more like a summation of everything. It's Food done well that pushes the envelope, and yet it does not lose it's dignity nor does it lose any of it's identity. It's pure and tasty. Boy, was it tasty! If I had to summarize my experience, it would be in the form of pictures.

Click below to view all images from our dinner at Alinea.

Food. Every plate was carefully detailed and every flavor is immense, pure and delicious. I will never forget the taste of that small piece of sugarcane infused with flavors of shrimp and mint. It was divine. Never once during our experience did I feel that I was eating something made out of a sterile laboratory. Molecular gastronomy is only a medium used to channel Chef Achatz's creativity so that we could experience the profundity of his cuisine. Apparently most of his ideas were created when he lost his sense of taste during his radiotherapy treatment for tongue cancer. I have only great respect for him after learning all that I could about him and his restaurant. And as I toured the tasting menu that night, it struck me how I was very emotionally touched by his food. It makes sense because food like that can only be created with a lot of heart and hard work.

Service. Never have I experience a class of wait staff so dedicated and enthusiastic, so knowledgeable and observant, so friendly and wonderfully warm. It was a wonderful experience. The level of professionalism surpassed any fine dining establishment I've experience and has definitely set new standards for service in my books! To Emily and her crew (I wished I had asked all of your names), you guys are rockstars.

If you ever get the chance to visit Chicago, eat at Alinea. It a mecca for all foodies and unsurprisingly more people are starting to notice. I would go to Alinea again at any moment's notice, if I can get reservations. So before they take out the 1 year waiting list form, I suggest you try to get a spot before the herd flocks over.

The staff at Alinea are very generous in sharing what they know and how the dishes are created, you can learn more about their work and get updates on their upcoming project (nextrestaurant.com) by following Chef Achatz's Facebook and Twitter pages.

Alinea
1723, North Halsted,
Chicago, Illinois 60614

A life changing experience at Alinea

2010-05-28T09:01:00.002-04:00

...but how do you put that into words? Hanging by a thread here.

Savory Taro Cake (Orh Kueh)

2010-05-02T11:58:00.007-04:00

Taro cake has never really been a favorite snack of mine. I didn't hate it nor was I extremely crazy about it back in Malaysia but recently, I've been craving for a plate of diagonally cut taro cakes topped with dried shrimps, fried onions doused in sweet and spicy sauce. It's like one of those things that's innately sitting inside the Malaysian side of me and god knows, what else is there? I wasn't big on durians either back in Malaysia.

So, to satisfy my Malaysian craving of the tuberous kind in the form of a kueh I've decided to make some. It's surprisingly easy to make, you just need to buy some taro root. For those of you in the US, or some parts of Canada, I think you call the taro root yam, which can be confusing because it's two different root vegetables. In case there are any confusions the picture below will give you a good idea what a taro root looks like.

You can treat this taro cake as an appetizer or even as a meal in itself because it can be quite filling! Here's a recipe I took from this book Nonya Flavors: The Complete Guide to Straits Chinese Cuisine, which was a gift from my dad. A lot of the recipes in that book is pretty authentic but some are a bit different from what I remember but that's just because of personal preference from how my late-grandmother made some of the dishes. I highly recommend you get a copy of this recipe book if you ever encounter it, here's a link to a Malaysian bookshop who will ship it overseas if you order it from them. Other Nyonya cuisine cookbooks.

And on to the recipe!
* Vegetarians: You can easily make this into a vegetarian dish by omitting the dried shrimps. It is just as tasty!

Savory Taro Cake (Orh Kueh)
350g rice flour
1 Tbsp green pea flour
1250ml water
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped finely
2 shallots, peeled and chopped finely
600grams of taro root, skinned and cut into 1 cm cubes
1 Tsp of Chinese five spice powder
2 Tsp of salt, or to taste
1 Tsp white pepper, but black pepper works too
50 grams of dried shrimps, soaked in water for 10 minutes and chopped

Topping: Fried shallots, kecap manis, Sriracha chili sauce, chopped green onions, chopped dried shrimps (soak in water for 10 mins first).

Method:

First prepare batter by mixing rice flour, green pea flour and water into a nice and smooth batter. Strain if there are lumps and set aside.
Heat oil and fry chopped dried shrimps, garlic and shallots until fragrant and lightly browned, about 5 minutes on medium high heat. Make sure you don't burn the garlic. Add the taro cubes, five spice powder and pepper in to stir-fry for a few seconds.
Turn the heat to medium low and add the batter in. Cook, stirring continuously until the batter thickens.

The batter will look like a messy clay but it's okay just stay with it for a little while.
Once the batter thickens, pour it into a greased 9x5inch or a 9 inch cake pan with the height of at least 3cms. Steam over high heat for 40 minutes or until it is set. You will know it is set when you try touching and it no longer feels like you can sink your finger in without some resistance.
Cool completely for 2 hours before serving. Top the taro cakes with fried shallots, kecap manis, Sriracha chili sauce, chopped green onions, chopped dried shrimp.

Eat with a cup of coffee or your milk tea - my favorite combination of all time!

Onde-Onde (Sweet Rice Dumplings filled with Palm Sugar and rolled in Shredded Coconut)

2010-04-18T23:16:00.008-04:00

And a week or two later, the onde-onde recipe is finally here!

Onde-onde is a sweet rice dumpling that most Malaysians enjoy as a part of their tea time snack. I'm not very sure what its origins were, but onde-onde is a must as part of Malaysian tea time snacks. It is probably my favorite form of sweets and it has been a long time since I've had any of these soft, chewy green bursting balls of coconuty goodness. MMm!

I never thought I would miss palm sugar. Making onde-onde at home in Montreal, the land of poutine and Schwartz's smoked meat, it cannot get any better than this. The sweet pop of palm sugary sweetness from this sweet dumpling was just too much to bear, too nostalgic, too good. And it's an easy recipe to make too, I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing but before I digress -

Onde-onde Recipe

200grams of glutinous rice flour
100 grams of ruby sweet potatoes, peeled and steamed till soft
1 tablespoon of pandan leaves extract, mixed with 200ml of water to make juice
a pinch of salt
150 grams of palm sugar, chipped into small 1/4 inch pieces - try to get those darker ones but the Thai palm sugar would work just fine too
2 cups of grated unsweetened coconut

Method:

Mash sweet potatoes well will a fork.
Mix glutinous rice flour and pinch of salt in with the sweet potatoes and slowly add pandan leaves juice into the flour mixture and knead into a dough.
The pandan gives this recipe that required flavoring. The extract comes from pandan leaves, or otherwise also known as screwpine leaves. The fragrance has a fresh green scene with an overtone of florally flavor that nothing really compares to it. It's a very Malaysian flavor.
You will have a green smooth lump of dough that is slightly wet but not sticky. Pinch a small piece away and roll the green dough into a ball. Flatten it with your palm and put a piece of palm sugar in the center of the flatten dough. Close the dough over the sugar and roll into a ball. Repeat this process until all the dough is used up.
Boil a pot of water. And when the pot is in a rolling boil, plop the green glutinous rice balls in and when they float to the top, you know they are done. Fish them out with a slotted spoon and rid them from as much liquid as possible.
Roll the hot and cooked glutinous rice balls into the grated coconut and repeat until all glutinous rice balls are done.
Eat, really. Gobble one up while it's still warm and experience that soft pillowy texture followed by a pop of sugary explosion in your mouth.

Oral explosion experiences may vary from one individual to another depending on how the palm sugar is nestled into the dough. But even without it, onde-onde is still a pleasure to eat.

Chicken Gulai (Chicken Curry with Kaffir Lime Leaves)

2010-04-06T08:56:00.001-04:00

I love Kaffir lime leaves. They impart a wonderful citrusy flavor and when they're sliced finely and added to chicken curry, it brings the dish to a whole new level. The lemony scent it gives off in this chicken gulai dish opens up the appetite of even the pickiest eaters.

In case you're wondering what gulai is, it essentially means curry. But in my understanding when gulai is made at home by my family, it usually has a citrusy tone to the curry with the addition of Kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and/or juice of pineapples. This chicken gulai, besides the Kaffir lime leaves, I've also added pineapple juice to round off the flavor. It tastes very much like home. Actually this entire weekend has been like a trip down memory lane for my taste buds.

Chicken Gulai (Chicken Curry with Kaffir Lime Leaves)

A good curry starts with a good base. Pounding the spice in a mortar and pestle releases the flavors and meld them together better than blending it with a blender. When possible, try to pound your spice instead of blitzing them. There's more love when you hand pound your spices. ;)

250grams of chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch slices
6 Kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced (Tip: Roll the leaves together into a long tube and slice)
250ml of thin coconut milk
50ml of thick coconut cream
50ml of pineapple juice
5 tablespoon vegetable oil
salt to taste

Spice paste (ground)
10 shallots
5 cloves of garlic
1-inch thick of galangal
1 stalk of lemongrass
1-inch thick turmeric root/ 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tablespoon curry powder

Method:

Heat oil in a pan and saute the spice paste until fragrant, 2-3 minutes.
Add your chicken pieces in and stir first for a few seconds before adding the coconut milk and pineapple juice in. Let the concoction come to a simmer until chicken is cooked.
Add Kaffir lime leaves and coconut cream. Season to taste with salt and mix well. As soon as the gulai starts to come to a boil again, turn heat off.

***If you wonder why there are carrots in the gulai, the pictures are showing you the vegetarian version of the gulai during cooking period. The spices are exactly the same. Oh, this is also P's first experience eating proper Nyonya food too.

I've also made some onde-onde, a cousin to the mochi but it's coated with grated coconut and stuffed with palm sugar that bursts in your mouth with sweetness. It possibly my favorite childhood Nyonya kueh, a Malaysian tea time snack. That recipe will come next!

Nasi Ulam ( Nyonya Herb Rice Salad)

2010-04-04T12:53:00.001-04:00

Happy Easter everyone!

I'm celebrating my long Easter weekend by cooking Nyonya food and the first on my list was Nasi Ulam, or loosely translated as rice salad in Malay. Nasi Ulam is incredibly healthy and unbelievably addictive. It's delicious with the aromatic herbs, richness of the toasted coconuts and pungent spices. Like most Southeast Asian recipes, Nasi Ulam is a little tedious with a lot of preparation work because the herbs are required to be carefully and finely sliced. A sharp knife would be necessary in this case.

We use many different types of herbs in Nasi Ulam, it's the herbs and the other dry condiments that makes this dish absolutely mouth-watering good. When my late-grandmother makes Nasi Ulam, my mother would eat large portions of it almost as if she has a bottomless pit because it's so good with a bit of sambal belacan. I was lucky enough to have found a place where they actually sell the herbs I needed to make Nasi Ulam in Montreal! March Hawai you da bomb. I've found wild betel leaves (daun kadok), Thai basil (daun selasih), Vietnamese mint (daum kesom), mint, fresh lemongrass (serai), fresh kafir lime leaves, fresh turmeric, toasted grated coconut (kerisik) and whole bunch of unrelated ingredients for other Nyonya dishes. I was like a child in candyland. I was unable to find torch ginger flower (bunga kantan) and galangal leaves (daun cekur) but even without these two herbs, the Nasi Ulam was still delicious.

Making Nasi Ulam requires patience because there is a lot of preparation work. All the herbs need to be sliced finely by hand and no machinery or magical tools can do the job for you. But the effort will be well worth it in the end when you are paid off with a huge bowl of Nasi Ulam that you can never seem to get enough of.

The ingredient list is longer than the method for this recipe. Let's get to it:

Nasi Ulam (Nyonya Herbed Rice Salad)

Ingredients A:
4 cups of cooked rice
100gms dried shrimps (soak, dice, fry & cool)*** not used
100gms salted fish (cut small thin slices, fry and cool)*** not used
1 teaspoon belacan (shrimp paste)*** not used
4 tablespoons of toasted grated coconut
1-inch fresh turmeric (chop finely)
Salt, sugar and grounded black pepper to taste

Ingredients B (FINELY SLICED):
6 shallots
1 stalk lemongrass (serai – use the thinner end only)
1/2 stalk torch ginger flower (bunga kantan)*** not used
5 kaffir lime leaves (daun limau purut)
3 stalks polygonum leaves (daun kesom/laksa leaves/Vietnamese mint)
3 stalks mint leaves (daun pudina – chop finely)
3 stalks basil leaves (daun selasih)
4 galangal leaves (daun cekur)*** not used
12 wild betel leaves (daun kadok/Piper sarmentosum)

Garnishing:
Some wild betel leaves (optional)
Some mint leaves (optional)
Toasted grated coconut (optional)

Cook's note: This is the full recipe of Nasi Ulam, I've omitted some of the ingredients so that it would suit a vegetarian. Items omitted are marked with ***

Method:

Cook rice until it is al dente and let it cool slightly.
Combine all the ingredients in and mix well.

Word of caution though, if you have manicured nails, you might want to book another appointment with your manicurist. All the slicing of these herbs, especially the turmeric, will dye your finger nails into the most unsightly colors. It's no wonder I've never seen my late-grandmother with manicured nails, it just wasn't practical.

This Nyonya rice salad is a perfect side dish to go with meats, fish and seafood. It is also good on it's own with some sambal belacan or your favorite curry. I had my Nasi Ulam with some Chicken Gulai and Pineapple Kerabu.

Opera Cake

2010-03-16T20:30:00.000-04:00

Last night, I had an intense urge to bake an Opera cake. I have never baked an Opera cake before but last night I yearned to make layers and layers of joconde, coffee syrup, coffee cream and chocolate. And I did.

Out I went to the grocer after I did a quick recipe search. Found one from Epicurious and decided to set my sight on making this cake a reality! For those of you who have never seen or heard of Opera cake before, here's a wiki page of it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_cake.

In the end, after glazing it and frosting it with coffee cream and chocolate ganache, I had a 5x4inch cake - albeit a little lopsided. You see, at the end I was really tired. It took me about 3.5hours to build that cake from scratch, whipping, stirring, and whisking and I couldn't be bothered anymore about symmetry.

All the effort was worth it. The first bite of my own Opera cake was worth the late night clean-up. *takes another bite of her Opera cake*

Definitely a cake to make again, and next time, I will make it with green tea. And remember to add my chocolate layers.

Opera Cake Recipe.

Hainanese-style Chicken (Rice and sauce recipe below)

2010-03-07T14:07:00.000-05:00

Today, I would like to share with you a curious method of preparing chicken that at a glance would seem like a case of food poisoning waiting to happen. But, it's been done a gazillion times before by cooks like my maternal grandmother, who is half Hainanese anyway. She got this recipe from her grandmother.

You will never say boiled chicken is boring ever again after you try this recipe. The chicken is perfectly cooked through, soft, luscious and of course, delicious to eat. This is something that my mother would even make on a regular basis for dinner because it's so easy. I am sure all of you would agree that most Chinese cuisine's preparation time is always a drag. Long and tedious. But this is an exception to that. The only catch is you would need to plan this a little bit ahead of time, about 2 hrs ahead of time if your chicken is fresh and defrosted.

I did not make the rice to go with my chicken because I didn't feel like having rice with the meal, strange as it sounds. But the recipe for the rice is below, for those of you who want to try the complete Hainanese-style Chicken Rice meal. Oh and before I forget, the chicken is usually served in room temperature.

So let's get cooking.

Hainanese-style Chicken

1 1.5kg Chicken (cooking time do not vary, this method works with even a larger chicken)
2 cloves
1/2 star anise
8 garlic cloves, crushed slightly
1 onion, peeled and halved
2 sprigs of spring onions, tips cut off and left whole
2 big slices of ginger
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns
2 teaspoon of salt

Enough water to cover a whole chicken in a very large pot.

Method:

Clean your chicken with running cold water. Make sure to not poke any holes in the skin.
Bring a large pot (big enough to hold your chicken) of water to boil. You need enough water to just cover over the chicken. A good way to do this is fill your pot with water with the chicken in it. Once you've got the right amount of water, take the chicken out and proceed.
Before water starts to boil, add all the ingredients in.
Once the pot starts into a rolling boil, put the chicken into the liquid slowly. The water should stop boiling when you do this. Close the lid of the pot and let it come to a boil again. When your lid starts shaking with huffs of steam angrily spouting from the corner like the picture below:

Do not open the lid, do not stir, do not shake, do nothing.

After 1.5 hours, your chicken is ready. Prepare a large sink filled with icy cold water. Lift the chicken gently into the cold water, careful to not break the skin as it is very fragile at this stage, hot out of the pot.

To serve, my grandmother usually prepares a yummy sauce filled with herbs to go with this chicken; I will too because I can't get enough of it. It goes extremely well with the chicken and with rice.

Recipe for sauce and authentic Hainanese-style rice below.

Sauce for Hainanese-style Chicken:

2 tablespoon of Oyster sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seed
2 cloves of garlic, minced finely
2 tablespoon of shallots, minced finely
1 stalk of spring onion, chopped finely
1 sprig of parsley, chopped finely
2 tablespoon of garlic oil and golden garlic bits (minced garlic + enough oil to cover in a small bowl + microwave 2-mins till golden brown)
3 tablespoon of chicken broth (from cooking the chicken)

Method:

Mix everything together well.

Hainanese-style rice
Feel free to double or halve the recipe to feed more people.

2 cups of jasmine rice
1 tablespoon of butter
3 cloves of garlic, whole
2 stalk of spring onions, ends trimmed and kept whole
2 slices of ginger
2 Cloves
3 1/4 cups of chicken broth (from earlier)

Method:

Rinse the rice with cold water until the water runs clear. Strain the liquid as much as possible.
In a pan, melt butter and saute garlic until fragrant. Add rice and roast the rice with the butter and garlic. This will add a dimension of nuttiness to the rice when it's cooked.
When the rice turns slightly translucent while toasting, transfer it into a rice cooker and add the rest of the ingredients in until cooked.

If you don't have a rice cooker, you can also cook this in a pot. Just make sure you lower the heat to a simmer/low when the rice starts boiling. Cook for 10 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed and turn off the heat completely. Wait 5 minutes before serving the rice.

The left over cooking liquid from the chicken makes a good soup base to go with the meal. Add some carrots, shitake mushrooms, Chinese cabbage and/or other root vegetables you like to eat and it'll be a great accompaniment to the Hainanese-style Chicken Rice meal. :)

Now that is a potato.

2010-03-05T19:39:00.000-05:00

This gigantic russet potato makes a mammoth amount of mashed potatoes to feed an army of 2 very hungry people and still have enough leftovers to make gnocchi!

The post about Brownies with Walnuts

2010-02-15T19:36:00.000-05:00

Dark and delicious brownies were baked at home today. Thanks to Jules from thestonesoup.com. Her brownie picture on Tastespotting tugged at my heartstrings and I knew at first sight, I had to make these brownies.

After mixing through the batter, I knew this was a recipe to keep. The batter was rich and dark, glistening with goodness. I couldn't wait for it to finish baking! And while it was baking, it was sending magical wafts of deliciousness in the air. Again, I just knew, these brownies were going to rock my socks off!

They did. *licks chocolate off fingers*

Even P was completely enamored and was commenting on how good it smelled while it was baking. After the first bite, he had another, and another. And another.

These are possibly the best brownies I have ever eaten in the whole wide world! They are so simple to make, there is no fuss about melting chocolates and what not. Just make sure you use good quality cocoa powder and butter for this recipe, you're all set to make the best ever chocolate brownie. Simplicity for the win.

The recipe is taken off Jules' blog, and she adapted this recipe off Deb of Smitten Kitchen. I used a rather tall 8-inch pie plate as my baking vessel. The only thing I did differently in the recipe was add a 2oz of rum into the batter.

Liquor + Brownies = V.V.V. Good

Brownies with Walnuts, or any kind of nuts you love to eat in a brownie

150g (5oz) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup (255g or 9oz) sugar
3/4 cup (80g or 2 7/8 oz) cocoa powder
pinch salt
1teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature please
1/2 cup (75g or 2 1/2oz) plain flour
2oz Appleton Estate Rum (optional but highly recommended)
1 cup chopped nuts, such as hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts or pecans, optional

Method:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease your pie plate/brownie pan/etc with some butter and dust with flour. Or you can just line it with grease paper like what Jules and Deb did. Set aside until ready to use.

1. Melt butter in a saucepan and stir in sugar. It's okay if all the crystals are not dissolved, you just want to wet them in the butter. Add in the cocoa powder in and mix until there are no lumps left.

2. Add eggs, vanilla extract and salt to the batter and mix thoroughly.

3. Gently fold in the flour until it is incorporated into the batter but do not over mix it. You don't want to disturbed the gluten too much. Add the nuts in and 2oz of rum.

4. Pour it into the baking vessel and spread evenly. Bake for 50 minutes. If you are using a smaller baking vessel and want a taller brownie, increase baking time and test every 10 minutes with a skewer, until the skewer comes out clean.

The brownie is really good eaten on its own. This recipe really hits the spot.

A Chinese New Year wish from our resident pet

2010-02-14T10:25:00.000-05:00

Chap Chye Th'ng (Nyonya-style mix vegetable soup)

2010-02-12T00:09:00.000-05:00

This is not your regular vegetable soup, this was my grandmother's vegetable soup. Made exclusively on Chinese New Year's Eve reunion dinner, among many other things. Chap Chye Th'ng or Nyonya mix vegetable soup is uniquely a Penang dish. The flavor base of this soup is made out of cabbage, jicama bean, carrots, dried cuttlefish, pork bones and fried garlic oil, which gives it an aromatic and rich flavour. My grandmother makes her homemade bak wan/ meatballs to go with this soup. She steams them separately before serving them in the soup so that the meatballs do not lose its flavor or overcooked in the pot. This soup is especially comforting to drink on a cold day in February.

Like most Nyonya cuisine, it is not the most photogenic of foods. It's extremely hard to take pictures of this soup, and to make it look at least presentable for this blog took me about a day. By the time I was done, the soup was stone cold but luckily I have more in my cast iron pot.

Preparation for this soup may take longer than the cooking time. I said "may" because it depends if you want to cut the carrots and jicama bean into nice patterns. The good thing about this vegetable soup with meatballs is that absolutely nothing goes to waste. And you'll see why.

Chap Chye Th'ng with Bak Wan (Nyonya mix vegetable soup with meatballs)

Chap Chye Th'ng:
2 lb pork bones
2 piece of dried cuttlefish, washed and steeped in hot water
2 medium sized carrots, cut into quarter inch slices
1 large jicama bean, sliced
2 onions, cut into quarters
3 cups of cabbage, cut into 2 inch squares
3 slices of ginger
1 teaspoon of whole white peppercorns
10 dried Chinese mushrooms, re-hydrated and halved
2 tablespoon of garlic oil (minced garlic + enough oil to cover in a bowl + microwaved 2mins till golden brown)
soy sauce to taste

While you're preparing your carrots and jicama bean, do not throw away excesses - keep them for the meatballs

Method:

In a large pot (with steamer attach would be extremely convenient), fill it with 8 cups of water and bring it to boil with the pork bones, dried cuttlefish, ginger slices, onions and white peppercorns. Let it cook for 30 minutes.
Add the jicama bean and mushrooms in, and cook for 15 minutes before adding the cabbage and carrots in.
Cook the soup for another 30 minutes and then stir in two tablespoons of ginger oil, lower heat to a low simmer until ready to serve.

Bak Wan (Homemade meatballs)
15 large shrimps
200grams minced pork
2 tablespoons of minced carrots
2 tablespoons of minced jicama bean
1 stalk of spring onion, chopped
3 Chinese mushrooms, re-hydrated and chopped finely
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon garlic oil + fried garlic bits
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 egg

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl with your finger tips.

Shape the meatballs into large two inch balls and steam them over the top of the soup pot (that comes with a steamer) for 15 minutes.
Serve it together with the soup

I remember eating just this over a bowl of rice as a kid. And while I did not appreciate the intricacy of this soup and the effort put into it, I do now. I stood at my kitchen counter for 2 hours chopping and shaping meatball. It was worth it and a most satisfying meal. :)

Szechuan Roasted Chicken with Fennel and Apple Pickle

2010-02-09T19:02:00.000-05:00

Bee Yinn of RasaMalaysia.com invited me to guest post for her Chinese New Year roundup on her blog. Why, woman, I thought you'd never ask! :)

I've decided to share a roast chicken dish with her and her readers because roast chicken is a chockful of prosperity goodness to eat on Chinese New Year. This is unlike the traditional Chinese roast chicken fare, I've supped it up with some Szechuan peppers and vanilla. You're going to call me crazy but that vanilla powder I've included in my recipe gives a special savoriness to the roast chicken. It's like all the spices melded together in perfect harmony. On the side, I served my chicken dish with a fennel and apple pickle and cashew nuts.

This Szechuan Roasted Chicken is absolutely wonderful and so simple to make. I won't be going back for Chinese New Year this year but this roast chicken made me feel a bit better. I made it for my family in mind and I know they would love it as much as I know you would too. :)

Happy Chinese New Year guys! For full recipe, visit Rasa Malaysia for the full post of my Szechuan/Sichuan Roasted Chicken Recipe!

DNA Restaurant in Montreal

2010-01-31T23:01:00.000-05:00

It is the honest truth when I say the only way to enjoy a restaurant is through their tasting menu.

We've been to DNA restaurant in Montreal twice (three for me) now and we are in love. In love with the food and with the ingenuity of its chef Derek Dammann and his crew. I am going to write this post in the most haphazard manner possible because I cannot remember the different courses I had (it changed the second time i was there) except for the orgasmic swing DNA's food gave me along with the most pleasant service we have had in a while. A shout out to Sebastian, who served us so well and made us feel extremely comfortable in his cute, cheeky and professional, extraordinaire demeanor. This is going to be a post that heralds the restaurant, its chef and the experience more than anything else. Pictures and description are in no particular order.

For the uninitiated, DNA actually stands for Derek and Alex; the two head honchos of the restaurant, chef and sommelier, Remus and Romulus, yin and yang and I could go on and on. Nothing to do with the human genome, thankfully. But we have yet to experience Sommelier Alex's recommendations in both our trips because we are not seasoned wine-drinkers. But we have promised ourselves to give wine-pairing a try in our next trip to the restaurant.

Many restaurants we've been to have accommodated us very well but nothing like how DNA has accommodated us, especially for P's vegetarianism. In this restaurant, we truly felt that the chef wears his passion on his sleeves and that's highly commendable. He has personally told us that his kitchen loves a challenge. And creating a 9-course tasting menu for a vegetarian is a pretty challenging feat for a chef whose stronghold is influenced by Mediterranean/Italian-style meats and seafood.

I heard about DNA a year back when it first opened its doors on Marguerite D'Youville and I am just glad that we finally decided to give it a try after reading and hearing so much good reviews.

Dining both times at DNA was a joyful experience with their 9-course tasting menu and impeccable service. I knew Chef Derek worked under Jamie Oliver before opening DNA and the JO influence were inconspicuous but definitely there. The rotolo stuffed with ricotta and butternut squash with sage butter was a familiar face. P had it as part of his tasting course and it blew him away. How much? Well, get a load of this, even though he was already full to the brim, he left nothing of the rotolo on his plate at the end of the course - ate every morsel on his plate. And I'm just skimming the surface of the 9-course vegetarian tasting menu as the selection offered to P has been nothing less than stellar. Most of the other restaurants' accommodation for P's eating habits feels like a larger portion of a side dish. In DNA, P's main course actually feels like a proper main course.

While the vegetarian course is outstanding, the non-vegetarian tasting menu was equally mind blowing. I had the pleasure of eating King Manfred's Ravioli the first and second time around and in the ravioli contained all the finest parts of the duck. Duck testicles, anyone? The gonads of a duck, along with its other bits like tongue, foie gras cooked in a meaty brown filling in a ravioli topped with crispy chicken skin. How delectable is that? I never thought I'd say I enjoyed eating duck testicles but I did. It was DELICIOUS first and second time around. I love every plate served to me especially the wild striped seabass and porchetta (in my prev tasting menu, no pic) - they were cooked to perfection - and I apologize for the lack of words to describe Chef Derek's representation of the tasting menu. I am tongue-tied, the food in general was just...divine.

If there was something I dislike at DNA, it would be the Veal Sweetbread in Agro Dolce. I wasn't too crazy about the caper sauce that accompanied it as the flavors did not jive at all. But then again, maybe sweetbread is not for me, it is definitely an acquired taste.

Dessert was amazing, chocolate pot de creme may seem like a heavy ending. It was surprisingly light but rich with chocolate. Our second dessert course varied, I had pig's blood chocolate pudding the first time, which was ...different. It wasn't bad it was just different. It felt like it was inspired by boudin or blood sausages but chocolaty. I loved how they streaked the red raspberry sauce around the pudding that it looked like blood but not in an unappealing way - it was just artistically done. The second time, I had a bay leaf panna cotta. I never thought bay leaf would flavor the panna cotta so beautifully...it was delightful! But the star of the dessert, in my opinion where the lemon tart and the pine nut tart with ginger ice cream..

We finally got to visit the kitchen and pantry that lies in the belly of the restaurant in our second visit. Cured meats hang in rows in the very same room that houses all their wines. I was surprised that there's a chef's table and a private room that seats 12 next to the kitchen. We are definitely getting a spot there next time. Sitting on the chef's table and watching Chef Derek work in the kitchen would be a great experience to have; never mind that the reason for chef's kitchen is sorta like having a cctv camera in the kitchen. Ever watchful, anticipating and serves to ultimately unnerve the kitchen staff. ;)

We've had the pleasure of meeting Chef Derek face to face, and more than once too. He's such a down-to-earth guy who just wants to share his passion in the food he creates. I hope it stays this way. One more thing that makes this restaurant different from the others is that the chef is a frequent face on the dining floor.It is refreshing to see and know that the chef is in, working in his kitchen, cooking your food unlike some restaurants where their chef is almost never around. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

DNA restaurant is definitely a restaurant that's yet-to-be-discover and Chef Derek Dammann is a chef waiting to be discovered. The food, the ambiance, the service and dare I say, the location(?) of DNA restaurant is like a ticking bomb of awesome. It's all just waiting to explode and before you know it, you're on a 2 month long waiting list for reservation.

A notable thing about DNA Restaurant: Sebastian, our gracious server, explained to us that everything in DNA is created with the environment and sustainability in mind. With that, after watching Food Inc. and watching videos of mistreated animals, I felt a lot better knowing that my piece of meat came from an animal that had the best life it could ever have before fulfilling its duty in the food chain. It makes dining at DNA Restaurant a responsible choice, in my opinion. :)

DNA Charcuterie platter - all cured in-house

Kamouraska lamb carpaccio

Chef's salad created on the fly, according to one of our servers, for the vegetarian on the table

Lovage spaghetti alla chitarra

Ravioli “al sole” - with the best parts of the duck

Pork cooked in milk until melt in your mouth tender

Duck egg with black trumpet mushrooms on polenta

DNA Restaurant
355 Marguerite D'Youville
Montréal, QC H2Y 2C4
(514) 287-3362

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Blueberry Cheesecake Recipe, my childhood memory

2010-01-17T12:46:00.000-05:00

Thank god for frozen summer berries! Otherwise, there won't be any blueberry sauce on this cheesecake, not that it would make this cheesecake any less delectable. :)

I would like to share with you a cheesecake recipe from my childhood. It's a tried and proven recipe that will always be really, really good to eat - dressed up or otherwise. When I was in my early teens, I got this recipe off my aunt in Penang. It was the first time ever that my baked goods were more than just passable. It was delicious! I baked this cheesecake many times over, for parties, for neighbors' housewarming, for weekends, for the heck of it and it was always successful. I baked this cheesecake till I memorized the recipe by heart.

The original recipe for this cheesecake called for a cup of sour cream and a 125grams can of reduced cream on top of 500grams of cream cheese. Needless to say, this cheese cake is extremely rich, creamy and can make your thighs look ghastly if eaten on a daily basis. I am not someone who is bothered by the health aspect of food as long as we eat in moderation but even I thought this was a little too crazy. So over time, I've created a lighter version of this cheesecake without compromising the taste or texture.

Here's my recipe.

(Blueberry) Cheesecake Recipe from my childhood
* Note that the "blueberry" part can be exchanged with strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, peaches and/or whatever your favorite fruit compote is.

Cheesecake base:
2 cups of crushed graham cracker (I used tea biscuits this time because it was what I had, so I used less sugar because those tea biscuits are sweet)
1/2 cup of softened, room temperature unsalted butter
1/4 cup of sugar
a pinch of salt (if you're using regular butter, you don't need this pinch of salt)

Cheesecake filling:
2x 250grams Philadelphia Cream Cheese

3 tablespoons of flour

1 cup of granulated sugar

1 cup of 2% fat yoghurt

5 eggs, separate 4 egg whites into a different bowl

1 tablespoon lemon rind

1 tablespoon vanilla extract / 1 vanilla bean, scraped

Method:
Preheat your oven to 350F or 180C. Grease your 9-inch cake pan with some butter. I used a 9x6-inch tray pan.

1. Make your base first by combining all the cheesecake base ingredients together. Mix it well with your fingers until the biscuit crumbs can form a ball.

2. With that greased pan, press the biscuit crumbs on the base of the pan to form a nice base. Once that's done, let the cheesecake base chill out in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

At this point, I started with my blueberry sauce to get it cooking. Start by adding 2 cups of frozen blueberries into a small pot and 1/4 cup of sugar with juice of half a lemon. When it comes to a boil, bring it down to a simmer and let it cook for until it reduces into a shiny, thick sauce. Let it cool in the fridge until ready to use.

3. Now to make the filling; Using an electric beater or your trusty standmixer, cream the cream cheese, flour and sugar together until it all comes into a thick creamy spread. Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl every now and then to ensure even creaming.

You can use a whisk and beat the cream cheese by hand but you will have to make sure the cream cheese is really soft before you do that. Otherwise, you're going to give up at this point and throw a fit on your kitchen floor like Julie Powell.

4. Add the 4 egg yolks + 1 egg, one at a time until it is evenly incorporated. Now I asked for 5 eggs, and I asked you to separate 4 eggs whites out of that. Please don't add the egg whites in here yet - you'll see why. Now you can add the yogurt, lemon zest and vanilla extract/scraped bean in and mix well.

Set this mixture aside while you whisk the egg whites.

The egg whites are an important step because they give your cheesecake a light texture. It's like how souffles work...but it won't be as fluffy as a souffle but it definitely gives a nice fluffier texture than the usual dense cheesecake. This is the *secret* behind all those raves. ;)

5. With your egg whites whisked till stiff, fold it gently into the cheese batter until it is incorporated. Don't worry if there are small lumps, they're the magic.

6. Take the cheesecake base out of the fridge and pour the filling in. IMPORTANT: Bake in a 350F for 15 minutes and then reduce the heat to 250F / 120F (approx) and continue baking the cheesecake for another 1 hour or until the cheesecake is firm around the sides with a slight wobble in the middle. Take the cheesecake out of the oven and let it cool completely before serving.

It is important that you let your cheese cool before topping it with anything. The flavor of this cheesecake improves with time and will continue to "mature" up till 5 days before it starts to get a little stale.

To serve, warm your knife in hot water to get cleaner slices.

Las Vegas: Alex at the Wynn

2010-01-10T00:14:00.000-05:00

Dining at Alex at the Wynn summed up our trip to Las Vegas very well. This is the last of the food series in Vegas - and it was also the most memorable one because it was the first true fine dining experience I've ever had! When compared to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Alex's atmosphere is very classy and high end, everything in the restaurant were cover in gold weaves and a large crystal chandelier - it just screams Fine Dining. Although, the food in both food establishments are comparable - both were equally very good. P preferred Alex over L'Atelier and I vice versa. It's not that I don't think food at Alex isn't great, far from that, it's just a little bit too rich for my palate. I enjoyed the conventional pairing of flavors tremendously.
P and I both had tasting menus. As P is vegetarian, the staff printed a new menu just to accommodate him. If that isn't five star service, I don't know what is. The regular tasting menu fare changes from time to time. Thank god for the fact that the good waiter gave me a copy of my menu tied up in a brown ribbon, otherwise I would have forgotten the names.
So, on to the courses.

To start us off, the waiter swooped to our table with two platters and told us that it was from the compliments of the chef. It was an array of amuse bouche that we were told to start from left to right. P had almost the same thing except his was without the beef tartare opening.

Next came the first course from our tasting menu. Mine is Santa Barbara Prawn Carpaccio with Osetra Caviar, Giant Clam and Celery Salad. This is very similar to L'Atelier's langoustine carpaccio but with the caviar, there is a rich and nutty flavor to it, a stark contrast to L'Atelier's fresh and clean flavor.

P's was a savory warm panna cotta, I think it's flavored with Parmesan. Smooth and creamy, just as good as his corn and truffle cream at L'Atelier. :)

My second course was Butter Poached Maine Lobster with Sea Urchin Linguini, Lime Zst and Brussel Sprouts. The linguini was black as it was made with squid ink - it is my first time eating squid ink pasta and I must say, it tastes exactly like any other pasta except that it's black. The whole dish was delicious. I loved how the sea urchin gave the pasta a very butter flavor - as if the poached butter lobster wasn't buttery enough. It was sinfully good.

P's was a gnocchi dish. The gnocchi was so soft and pillowy, it almost melts in the mouth. With the buttery cream sauce over the top, P swore he'd never look at gnocchi the same way again. Oh yea, ricotta was a main ingredient in those gnocchi!

The richness just kept on coming. The next non-vegetarian course was a thick slice of sauteed foie gras. Oh. My. God. It was so rich, when I put a piece in my mouth, I could have swore I ate butter but then this subtle flavor of the dried fruit mostarda cuts through along with the refreshing Hakurei Turnips really made this dish. I won't order foie gras but I would order this foie gras dish.

P's dish was a medley of vegetables - unfortunately, I don't remember what it was anymore but I remembered him enjoying every bite on this plate.:)

Next was Dover Sole with Gem Lettuce, Chanterelles, Oven Dried Tomatoes and Red Wine Reduction. Lovely sole was coated with Parmesan, which gives it a very salty and creamy flavor.

P's course with mine. It was a roasted tomato relish over chives pancake. Simple but effectively good.

Last of the savory course was the Wagyu Beef with Parsnip custar, Bordelaine Sauce and Crispy Bone Marrow Fritter. God this is crazy. That beef was so tender, I don't think I can eat regular beef ever again. Which is a good thing because I don't cook beef at home anyway. The wagyu was beautifully marbled and melts in your mouth with every bite. Notice how everything here melts in your mouth like butter?

P's course was a slice of meaty mushroom. I think it's rabbit's foot but I could be wrong. Now, P is not a big mushroom fan but he Loves truffle...this dish was so good, he couldn't believe it was just straight up mushroom.

Our dessert was the most wonderful of all. We had three desserts and mini cake even though there was only two dessert items on the menu. Compliments from the chef, according to the wait staff - we won't complain. Maybe it was because we were celebrating our anniversary. ;)

However at the end, we were SO full we could no longer take a bite but we trudge on with the first and second dessert.

Coconut Tapioca with Tropical Fruits was the most ridiculous tasting thing we have ever had. How do they expect us to go back to our lives the way it was before after we've tasted this?? This wonderful dessert was a beautiful balance of flavors and so light, but at the same time ...rich? I can't fully explain it without my head getting a bit fuzzy. It was that good.

Second dessert item was the toasted vanilla brioche with butter poached apples and maple ice cream. This is perhaps the weakest link of the dessert. I liked the poached apples but everything else were just okay. And oddly enough, Mr. Sweettooth agreed.

By this time, we were really, really full. We want to just crawl out of this majestic dining room to catch Phantom of the Opera when the waiter swooped by again with two platters of desserts. 5 different options on each plate...AND a miniature cake with a "Happy Anniversary" written on a white chocolate marzipan (forgot to take a picture of that one). Goodness.. we decided to take the desserts away because we really had to go, and quite frankly we didn't want to further test the limit of our stomach. On our way out, we were given a box of macarons courtesy of the reception. Food was delicious but there's only so much deliciousness one can take. The desserts as we attested the next day were delicious, the macarons were te most delightful thing to eat.Ever. Perfect breakfast, imo. Though, I wished we had the time gone back to Tableau for a quick lunch before heading back to Montreal.

Las Vegas: Breakfast and Brunch at Tableau

2010-01-01T12:11:00.000-05:00

One of the nicest, most memorable experience we had in Las Vegas was having brunch at Tableau. This establishment is located at the Wynn, and serves only breakfasts/brunch and lunch; each with a slightly different menu selections. What makes this place special is the 5-star treatment you get despite looking like the worse mother-hangover in the morning. Not that we were hung over or anything, maybe a bit giddy after L'Atelier. The food was unworldly delicious, everything on the menu was made in-house, from sausages, to their danishes, breads and even their ketchup!

While P and I poured through their one page breakfast menu, we had a hard time choosing what to eat. So many things to try and in the end we settled on two choices; for her, the Tableau Breakfast and for him, a White Chocolate and Orange Bread French Toast.

That morning we were in a silent and content mode, after L'Atelier the night before. Our conversations were peppered with previous night's meal when our our extremely proper and appeasing waiter, Peter, arrived with my basket of hot breads and three breakfast condiments. Instantly, we knew it was going to be a very good morning. The basket had three types of confections, all freshly made that morning and jams were strawberry, and marmalade and freshly whipped butter.

When our main meals arrived, our eyes glued to P's White Chocolate and Orange Bread French Toast. It was a sight to behold, I tell you. Thick golden bread with crispy edges, powdered with icing sugar sends wafts of orange flower perfumes over to my end of the table. I almost fainted with delight.

And my plate was a very typical breakfast fare of homemade sausages, eggs over easy and potato cakes with some wheat toast. Not the prettiest, but definitely hearty. I don't really like sweet foods for my mornings except for my coffee.

I did try a bite of the French toasts and it was really as good as it looks. Peter did say we can never find this served anywhere else but here.

Peter was an excellent waiter, he had a regal to him that makes you feel like he's your personal butler. Every conversation ended with a prim and proper nod, "sir", "ma'am", "very well, sir", "wonderful choice, ma'am", "an excellent pick, sir" and so on. And he served us so well, we felt pampered. The beautiful English-style decor was a little intimidating at first because of it's grandness but after a while, it grows on you and it becomes as comfortable as sitting on your grandparents' table having breakfast; rich grandparents.

We loved Tableau so much we went back a second time. This time it wasn't Peter who served us but a nonchalant waiter who did not tell us that huckleberries were not in season and our pancake came with blueberries instead.

And next, proper pictures for Alex, by Chef Alessandro Stratta.

Read about my other dining experience at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon.

Las Vegas: Dining at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon

2009-12-30T00:54:00.000-05:00

This was the first proper dining destination for our Vegas trip. L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon is the sister establishment of Joël Robuchon, which incidentally was fully-booked until New Year's eve. It was a very memorable experience eating at the casual L'Atelier and a stepping stone for our taste buds to rest of this culinary trip. Never have we been wowed like that by poncy food propped atop of each other but we are getting it now. Poncy food only works well if the food is at the very least excellent, anything less can only be considered as stacked food with foam that reminds you of something unappetizing. For the uninitiated, Chef Robuchon has been named as Chef of the Century by Gault Millau so eating at any of his restaurants is indeed a privilege!

L'Atelier Joël Robuchon served us masterpieces of beautiful, intricate and delicious plates of food. P and I were delighted that the staff were so accommodating as well. P is vegetarian; and despite the little snafu made by the hostess who lead us to believe that the L'Atelier had a separate vegetarian-friendly menu like its fine dining counterpart, the wait staff quickly and ingenuously accommodated P's preference by crafting a 5-course vegetarian menu for the evening. It was very much appreciated despite it being last minute; and it did not disappoint. I had the holiday tasting menu, which had 9-courses from an amuse bouche to dessert(s as there were two for me). And bless the restaurant for they gave me a copy of their menu - I don't have P's menu however, so my dishes will have proper names while P's vegetarian courses will be identified as we go along.

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon's Menu

*** Please forgive the low quality photos, the lighting at the L'Atelier was pretty dim and I was using our old Fujifilm F10 camera to take these pictures. I know, and if it's any consolation, I took my DSLR to Tableau and Alex so expect better pictures in those reviews. :)

Appetizers

L'Amuse Bouche:

Foie gras parfait with port wine and Parmesan foam.

This was the perfect amuse bouche for me because it made me even hungrier than when I started. Good thing I still have 8 more courses to go. At first, I wanted to drink the glass like a shot then I was told by the waiter I should perhaps use the spoon because there are surprises at the bottom. Of course, a piece of foie gras swimming at the bottom of the glass with the rest of the parfait.

P's savory cream of corn with champagne gelee and white truffles

This is a vegetarian course that is not on the menu. It was created on the fly by the excellent chef at L'Atelier. You should have seen P's face when he first tasted this. He was engulfed in so much pleasure, I never thought he'd be so affected by a cup of savory cream of corn. "It's the white truffle", he said. Corn and white truffle, I'm putting that on my list of things to stock in my pantry.

La Langoustine: Langoustine carpaccio with roasted poppy seed dressing

I have had fish and beef carpaccio but never shellfish carpaccio. I missed out, obviously. I loved the fresh flavors of the sea in this dish and the poppy seed dressing was so yummy with the langoustines.

P's Les Legumes: Mediterranean vegetables layered with buffalo mozzarella with green pesto.
Vegetables are like gems in the rough. When cooked properly, it can be the most delicious stack of food you can ever put in your mouth. Evidently. The buffalo mozzarella with the green pesto is like a marriage made in heaven.

Les Huitres: Poached baby Kussi oysters with French echiré butter
This was perhaps my favorite course of the evening because I LOVE OYSTERS. These kussi oysters were lightly poached and while I would be happy with it being completely fresh, I absolutely adored how the oysters were so perfectly plump and juicy and soaked in butter. My mouth salivates still every time I look at this picture.

P's La Cebette: White onion tart with ~~smoked bacon~~ parmesan and asparagus

Nevermind the bacon, P thought it was going to be something of a filler-course but the white onion tart was utterly delicious. It was probably the least fancy looking thing but flavor-wise, it more than made up for it's lack of aesthetics.

L'œuf: Steamed egg in a macaroni ring with black truffle and parsley coulis

When I first saw this dish, I didn't know what to make of it. I don't exactly like foamy sauces and I could not see the steamed egg. But let me tell you that this dish spoiled me and I can never eat an egg the same away again. Nestled within the foam and macaroni ring, lies an egg, round and pure. The whole egg was like a soft, pillowy cloud - and when I cut into it, a beautiful golden stream flowed out and envelopes the dish into a beautiful and tasty mess.

P's La Courgette:Roasted zucchini with eggplant caviar and Parmesan crisp

"So beautiful", we said in unison. This roasted zucchini was absolutely delicious and surprisingly rich. The eggplant caviar gave this dish a different dimension to it with a nice tartness that cuts into the richness of it all. P was raving, and raved some more the next day, about it.

La Sole: Dover sole fillet, baby leek with ginger

Who would have thought fish could taste this god-awesome good? I believe it was the lemon oil and combination of the sweetness of the leek that did it for me. It was the perfect palate cleanser for what is to come.

Main Courses

La Caille: Foie Gras stuffed free-ranged quail with truffled-mash potatoes

OR

Le Chevreuil: Venison with sweet and sour cranberry and chestnuts - I picked this one because I didn't feel like foie gras

The venison was cooked to medium rare and when I sink my knife for a bite, I gasped in surprise at how tender it was. It was like cutting into butter, and it melted in my mouth. The venison was not gamey as I thought it would be either, it was just utterly delicious.

P's Les Spagetti: L’Atelier style spaghetti with truffle oil

Do not let this unassuming pasta dish fool you, it was perfumed with truffle oil and bathe in a rich tomato sauce.

Dessert:

La Passion: Fresh passion fruit in a coconut meringue, Champagne brut - P's menu did not have La Passion, which was a pity. But thankfully for him, I shared.

This dessert was the most divine pleasure at L'Atelier. As everything else was perfectly delicious, the sweet and tartness of the passion fruit ice cream enclosed in a cloud of crispy meringue atop a wafer atop a brut was the perfect ending to our meal. But in the spirit of hedonistic decadence, our waiter brought us our final blow....

La Noisette: Hazelnut dacquoise, gianduja crunch and chocolate ice cream.

Decadent, rich chocolate ice cream on hazelnut dacquoise a nutty crunchy wafer deck with a gold leaf. The entire plate was powdered in gold circular patterns - yes, it is real powdered gold on our plates.

Overall, it was an excellent experience from food to service. L'Atelier Joël Robuchon was an exciting experience that opened up our gastronomical horizons leaving us hankering for more. And thankfully, this is just our first stop.

Next, I'll write about Tableau (the best breakfast and brunch spot in the whole of Vegas).

A Wish

2009-12-23T09:02:00.000-05:00

*** Edit [29th Dec 2009]: Las Vegas was a culinary adventure. I can't wait to share with you my experiences at Alex, L'Atelier Joel Robuchon, Raku (who said sushi and ramen were the only things Japanese ate?), Stratta, Pizza Place and Tableau (best brunch and breakfast). And because I stayed at the Wynn, most of these restaurants are located within the vicinity. Wynn is by far, the best hotel experience I have ever had and that is saying a lot because I've stayed in Many hotels (granted most of them are in South East Asia with a sprinkling in the south island of New Zealand, and Canada). The service at the Wynn was top-notch and full of class, even the casual dining places had very commendable service. This is it for me. The Wynn, Las Vegas has spoiled me rotten and the seductive gastronomical and fine dining experiences has left me wanting me more. Even my first experience in Au Pied de Cochon paled in comparison - no, APDC is out of their league.

A Series of Kitchen Experiments would like to wish all of you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

I won't be updating this blog till the New Year, I'll be in Vegas and hopefully I'll get to try ALL the restaurants I want to go to. Joel Robouchon, Michael Mina, et. al. here I come!

xoxoxo,
Elaine

Christmas Gift Idea: Biscotti - three kinds.

2009-12-13T12:11:00.000-05:00

It's almost that time of the year!

I have three biscotti recipes to share and they do make wonderful gifts. Shipping them overseas is not a problem at all because biscotti last for weeks! I don't know about you but I like to give things that are made instead of bought - at least, for me, I appreciate gifts like that a bit more because of the personal touches put into it.

So, back to the biscotti recipes, I have three that I'd like to share;

1) Pistachio and cranberry biscotti,

2) Orange-flavored Chocolate chip and hazelnut biscotti and

3) Japanese Green Tea and chocolate chip biscotti.

All three are delicious and goes extremely well with coffee and tea.

1) Pistachio and Cranberry Biscotti

This is a very cheerful and colorful biscotti, perfect for the Christmas season, it also has the holiday colors with the green pistachios and red cranberries studded in every golden bite. Imagine receiving a package of these colorful biscotti at your door steps - it would warm even the coldest days. :)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of butter, unsalted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
Rind of 1 lemon
1 vanilla bean, scraped and pods discarded - or use 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract.
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 cup of pistachio
1 cup of dried cranberries

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F or 180C. Spray baking sheet with some oil/coat with butter. Sift, the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

1. Cream butter with sugar until it turns into a pale creamy consistency. Add eggs, one at a time and mix well.

If you have a stand mixer or a hand mixer this would be a breeze but to be quite honest, it is very doable by hand too.

2. I like adding my flavoring in the butter mixture, I feel that it's better incorporated that way. So, add your vanilla and lemon rind in here and stir to perfume the butter mixture.

3. Now it's time to add the dry ingredients; I like to add the flour mixture and the pistachio and cranberries alternately into the butter mixture so it gets incorporated well.

At the end, your batter will have a chocolate chip cookie batter consistency. If it's too sticky, chill the batter in the fridge before baking for 30 minutes.

4. With your spatula, half the batter and shape it into logs on your baking sheet. Flatten it until it's about 1 inch thick and approximately 9-inches in length. You will have two logs from this one batch of batter.

5. Bake for 30 minutes in the oven. After that, cool the batter for 30 minutes before slicing with a sharp knife. Slice the biscotti logs into approximately 3/4 inch thick cookies and bake for 15 minutes minutes in the same oven temperature.

Let the biscotti cool completely before storing.

It's simple, isn't it? :)

Next biscotti recipe!

2) Orange-flavored Chocolate and Hazelnut Biscotti

This is a very traditional take on flavor. Orange and chocolate? Can't go wrong with that :)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of butter, unsalted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
Rind of 1 large orange, grated
1 vanilla bean, scraped and pods discarded - or use 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract.
1+3/4 cups of flour
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 cup of hazelnuts, whole

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F or 180C. Spray baking sheet with some oil/coat with butter. Sift, the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

1. Cream butter with sugar until it turns into a pale creamy consistency. Add eggs, one at a time and mix well.

2. I like adding my flavoring in the butter mixture, I feel that it's better incorporated that way. So, add your vanilla and orange rind in here and stir to perfume the butter mixture.

3. Now it's time to add the dry ingredients; I like to add the flour mixture and the hazelnuts alternately into the butter mixture so it gets incorporated well.

4. With your spatula, half the batter and shape it into logs on your baking sheet. Flatten it until it's about 1 inch thick and approximately 9-inches in length. You will have two logs from this one batch of batter.

5. Bake for 30 minutes in the oven. After that, cool the batter for 30 minutes before slicing with a sharp knife. Slice the biscotti logs into approximately 3/4 inch thick cookies and bake for 15 minutes minutes in the same oven temperature.

Let the biscotti cool completely before storing.

3)Japanese Green Tea and Chocolate Chip Biscotti

This is a very unique flavored biscotti. The flavor of the green tea powder gives it a very pleasant bitterness, almost like dark chocolate with a hint of floral tea leaves that green tea imparts. And with chocolate chips, it's quite delicious with a glass of cold milk! Here's to all the green anti-oxidant goodness in a bite! :)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of butter, unsalted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 vanilla bean, scraped and pods discarded - or use 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract.
1+3/4 cups of flour
1/4 cup of green tea powder, also known as Matcha
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 cup of chocolate chips

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F or 180C. Spray baking sheet with some oil/coat with butter. Sift, the flour, matcha powder, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

1. Cream butter with sugar until it turns into a pale creamy consistency. Add eggs, one at a time and mix well.

2. I like adding my flavoring in the butter mixture, I feel that it's better incorporated that way. So, add your vanilla beans/extract in here and stir to perfume the butter mixture.

3. Now it's time to add the dry ingredients; I like to add the flour mixture and the chocolate chips alternately into the butter mixture so it gets incorporated well.

4. With your spatula, half the batter and shape it into logs on your baking sheet. Flatten it until it's about 1 inch thick and approximately 9-inches in length. You will have two logs from this one batch of batter.

5. Bake for 30 minutes in the oven. After that, cool the batter for 30 minutes before slicing with a sharp knife. Slice the biscotti logs into approximately 3/4 inch thick cookies and bake for 15 minutes minutes in the same oven temperature.

Let the biscotti cool completely before storing.

Steamed tofu with meat sauce

2009-11-29T10:28:00.000-05:00

This is a very Chinese-style dish that often made it to my family's dinner table back home in Malaysia; steamed silken tofu with meat sauce garnished with ginger-garlic oil and scallions. I made this on a work night to go with some rice and simple stir-fried veggies and that's dinner in less than 45minutes.

You can use vegetarian "meat" as a substitute for this dish as I had done. I bet you couldn't even tell the difference from that picture! Feel free to use minced chicken, pork or shrimps in this recipe, it would still be very tasty.

Steamed Tofu with Meat Sauce Recipe:

250g of silken tofu block, handle with care

Sauce:
150 grams of minced chicken, pork and/or shrimps
1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 scallions/green onions - chopped and used only the white part, reserve the green ends for garnish
1 teaspoon of chopped ginger
1 tablespoon of goji berries (optional)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
2 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine
1/2 teaspoon of sesame seeds
1/4 cup of water
salt/pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of oil

Garnish:
Green scallions (green part of the stalk)
garlic-ginger oil (recipe below)

Method:
1. Carefully remove tofu out of its package and pat it dry with a paper towel. Wrap paper towels around the tofu and set it over a plate, cover with another plate and put some weight over the top. This is to draw the extra water out of the tofu. I used canned vegetables as my weights. Do this for 10 minutes and prep the other ingredients.

2. To make the meat sauce, pre-heat a pan over medium high heat until hot. Add oil and sesame oil and add in garlic for a saute, do not burn the garlic. Add your minced meat in and cook the meat for 5 minutes, until it is nicely infused and fragrant with the oil.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients in and let the meat sauce come to a simmer. Once it is slightly reduce, the meat sauce is ready. Set aside.

4. Remove the paper towels off the tofu, and place the silken tofu in a plate. Add the meat sauce over the top of the tofu and steam it in a steamer for 10 minutes.

5. To serve, garnish with chopped green scallions and ginger-garlic oil drizzled over the top.

Ginger-garlic oil
(makes about 1/4 cup of ginger-garlic oil)
2 tablespoon of garlic
1 teaspoon of ginger
1/4 cup of vegetable oil

Method:

There are two ways you can do this, by frying the ginger and garlic in oil in a pan on your stove top until golden brown or via your microwave. I did it in the microwave because it's simple and does not compromise the flavor of the oil.

1. Mix the ginger and garlic with oil in a microwavable bowl and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes. If the garlic and ginger still looks a bit pale after two minutes, cook for another 30 secs until it is golden brown.

Very Easy Roasted Duck Breast

2009-11-21T14:21:00.000-05:00

Honestly, this duck dish does not have a name. But it is the duck dish for all duck dishes because this is a basic duck preparation that anyone can use and then customized to their liking.

I love duck. It's one of those meats that I can't get enough of. Have you had Chinese roast duck? That crispy brown skin and gray flesh nicely imbued with Chinese spices and herbs? It is to die for. But I do not have time to dry and blow a whole duck's skin up before roasting for that Peking goodness so I make do with a nice slab of duck breast from Lac Brome Ducks.

Why are ducks from Lac Brome Ducks special? I just know that this is the oldest duck-breeding farm in Canada that breeds Peking ducks - and knowing that their ducks are not forced-fed for foie gras is good enough for me.

It's really easy to get duck at the market, your everyday grocery stores carries frozen duck breasts in their freezer sections at the very least. And cooking duck breast cannot be any easier. Duck is probably the only poultry you can eat a little raw. You treat it like steak and cook it to your desired done-ness; I like mine medium. There are two ways to finish cooking this duck breast, on the stove top or in the oven. This is the stove top method.

A Very Easy Roasted Duck Breast
serves 2 people

1 Duck Breast, with skin intact
salt & pepper

Optional seasonings:
1 teaspoon szechuan peppercorn
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Chinese Five Spiced Sauce:
1 teaspoon five spiced powder
1 star anise
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1/2 cup of chicken broth
2 teaspoon of duck fat, reserved from duck breast
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1 clove of garlic, crushed
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Crush the Szechuan peppers with cumin until powdery fine. Use a pepper mill to do this. Mix it with the garlic powder to combine well and set the seasoning aside.

2. Make small slits on the duck skin, in a crisscrossed manner - be careful to not cut through to the meat.

3. Season with salt and pepper throughout the duck breast. Rub the seasoning spice you had milled on the meat of the duck and not the skin. Let the duck breast sit for about 15 minutes so the flavors of the spice get a chance to work its magic through. It would be best if you could let it sit in the fridge overnight.

4. Heat a skillet on the stove - there is no need for any oil. Once the skillet is really hot, put the duck breast in skin side down and let it roast in the pan for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium.

At this point you'll be seeing a lot of oil gathering around the pan, save two teaspoons for the sauce later. Or save it all and use it as you would with olive oil, just remember to store it in the fridge so it won't go rancid.

5. After 5 minutes, pour the excess oil out into a small bowl. Turn the duck breast over and cook for another 4 minutes.

6. Remove duck breast onto a cutting board to let it rest for 10 minutes - cover with some aluminum foil.

To make the sauce:

7. In the same skillet, add two teaspoon of the duck fat and the crushed garlic. Saute until the oil is fragrant and then add in the chicken broth, star anise, brown sugar, five spiced powder and thyme. Scrape the fond off the skillet and let concoction boil until it is reduced by half.

8. To serve, slice the duck breast as thin as you want, serve with some sauce.

I served mine over some left over butternut squash puree. MMm!

You can make changes to this duck recipe to suit your taste. Duck a l'orange? Sure, follow the recipe for the sauce and drizzle it over the duck breast. Duck is a very tasty meat on its own and while you pay premium price in restaurants, you can easily make it at home at a fraction of the price!

Back soon

2009-11-18T08:37:00.001-05:00

Oh boy, has it been that long?

I need to get my ass back to posting! Sorry, readers - I've been very bad in the kitchen, eating toasts with peanut butter for dinner and opening cans of tuna with a drizzle of ketchup with some hard-boiled eggs for dinner. AND I have 5 beautiful Lac Brome duck breasts in my freezer waiting to be thawed, roasted, basted, sliced and served with a nice spicy sauce.

Gotta get cooking...soon!

The open-face smoked meat sandwich for breakfast

2009-11-01T15:18:00.001-05:00

Have you ever had one of those days when you just don't know what to eat? I've been having a lot of those days lately.

I stared at my fridge for 5 minutes thinking about what I could make for brunch. And after a long halloween night (yay, Montreal Canadiens won!), I was famished.

Thankfully, I had some left over smoked meat from Schwartz's so I made an open-face breakfast sandwich with some pan roasted cherry tomatoes. Topped with a lot of pepper, a sprinkle of salt and it was just scrumptious! I know, it's perhaps not the most healthiest of breakfast but I wanted some greasy grub, yo. Ok, it wasn't that greasy but I shoulda added some home fries to the mix, drizzled with some maple syrup for a little more kick!

Sorry for the lack of food postings, there's been lots of eating but not much of them are blog-worthy. I seriously need to cook up a storm.

enRoute's Food Issue 2009

2009-10-27T22:03:00.001-04:00

And here we have it:

Canada's 10 Best New Restaurant 2009

This might come as a little surprise to some of you. I have never blogged about this before but it's such a pity that not many people know about this because it's really an homage to food and good eating. I'm talking about enRoute Magazine's Food Issue that comes out every November. It's in its 8th installment this year and this year, it's our sexiest food issue yet. Okay, okay...every year is sexier than the other but I digress.

With pictures like these - how can you resist not wanting to feast your eyes on them?

Taken from CBNR 2008 No.1 restaurant: Nota Bene

Taken from CBNR 2008 No.2 restaurant: Le Local

Taken from CBNR 2008 No.10 restaurant: Stage

I feel that all of you should know about this magazine's food issue because it used to be a magazine that was made for a certain select group, a certain group that flies with a certain airline. But that is all changing now that the monthly content of enRoute Mag is published in http://enroute.aircanada.com - everyone can have access to their monthly publication online.

So on November 1st, enRoute's 2009 Food Issue will be published online for all to see. And because I work with the magazine; you will have to take my word for it that this issue is going to be a very yummy one! It's more than just a Canadian centered magazine, it's a magazine that is true to its travel and lifestyle stories, it's international.

For all you who are interested in the restaurant scene in North America, Canada's 10 Best New Restaurants 2009 will be announced tomorrow at Canada AM at 9am. The list will be made available online then as well.

Check out the previous years' #CBNR list (click on the magazine covers):

Bing Cherry Jam for Binging

2009-10-18T11:27:00.001-04:00

Bing Cherries has to be my favorite fruit during summer, after watermelons and grapes. There was an abundance of cherries in my home too, at one point, I didn't know what to do with them after I made that lovely Apple Cherry Pie and Cherry Cake. Then, I decided to make jam with them for the winter months by canning them.

Yeah, right... the jam didn't even make it till Autumn!

We binged on the jam like there was no tomorrow because ..well, it's delicious. These succulent fruits made an excellent preserve. The Bing Cherry recipe is the simplest you'll ever see and there might be more pictures than words for this post.

Bing Cherry Jam recipe:

1500 grams of pitted Bing Cherries, this is the weight of the cherries without their pits.
150 grams of granulated sugar
1 Tahitian vanilla bean, halved
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
a pinch of salt

Method:

1. Pit the cherries and put them in a large heavy pot. Add the rest of the ingredients in, stir to combine and turn on heat.

2. Let the cherries come to a boil and then lower heat to a low. Skim off any scum that will appear on the top. This an important step so that your jam do not turn cloudy.

3. Cook the jam down to about half, it should be thick and be able to coat the back of your wooden spoon. And don't forget to toss the vanilla bean out after you're done. It took me about 45mins - 1 hr of cooking with the occasional stirring.

Can your jam using the traditional canning process and it will last for up to a year. Honestly, I don't think it will last that long.

This recipe makes approximately 4 cups of jam. This Bing Cherry jam is great on toasts, making pastries and sauces. I think it would be a great replacement for cranberry sauce on Christmas too!

I am also enrolling this jam recipe to Aimee's UtHC Virtual Jam Swap!: http://www.underthehighchair.com/2009/06/announcinguthc-jam-swap-09.html

Kneading to Make Brioche Bread

2009-10-10T23:43:00.000-04:00

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

I personally do not celebrate Thanksgiving, so no turkey for me! But I know a lot of you do. I would like to dedicate a post about a certain kind of bread I like for this day, the Brioche.

I've always been fascinated by Brioche, unfortunately, I have yet to find that rich, yellow loaf sold in any bakeries here. Even the formidable varieties in Premier Maison failed to include fluffy brioche loaves as part of their offerings - their brioche are slathered with sugar and looked a lot like monkey bread.

I want a lovely loaf of brioche baked into the shape of the proverbial bread, and when sliced is beautifully fluffy, rich and sponge-marked. A slight steam of freshness permeates the loaf with buttery goodness and when spread with a bit of jam sends you to heaven with a bite. This can only be realize, and I realized, if I made my own brioche bread.

Admittedly, it wasn't how I had envisioned it but it's close - delicious smelling, rich and buttery to the taste. It just wasn't fluffy enough but only because I did not let it settle overnight in the fridge to rest and rise. I believe it would have developed a better brioche in terms of texture and flavor if you do that so follow Laura's recipe.

Who's Laura?

I found this recipe after scanning through a series of recipes, I decided to settle for Laura Calder's brioche recipe from the Food Network; from French Food at Home.

Brioche recipe:

2 envelopes dry active yeast (about 16 g)
6 tbsp warm water or milk
1-1/2 tsps salt
2 tbsp sugar
4 cups flour
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup butter
1 x egg yolk
Milk for wash

Method:
1. Stir the yeast into the warm water (or milk), with the salt and sugar. Set aside for five minutes to dissolve. Put the flour in a bowl and make a well in it. Put the eggs and the yeast mixture in the well. Mix it, drawing in the flour, to make a soft, sticky dough.

2. Work the dough, lifting and slapping, until it becomes soft and very smooth and elastic (this process is a long and difficult job by hand. A mixer with hook attachment is great if you have one). Knead the butter to soften it to the same texture as the dough. Now, work in the butter a piece at a time, again to create smooth, sticky dough (again, the mixer will make that easy). Let the dough rise at room temperature in a covered bowl for two hours.

3. Punch down the risen dough. Put it back in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight to double. Shape the bread; let it rise 1 1/2 hours in the pan. Glaze with yolk and milk wash. Bake the loaves at 425ºF/220°C for 40 to 45 minutes.

The brioche was made at my old apartment. And I ate a warm slice of brioche with my homemade Bing cherry jam (recipe will come in one of the next few posts!).

P.S. On the 10th of October, I had the pleasure to meet with a few Montreal food bloggers at one of our local Korean eateries. It was delightful to eat on a table with like-minded people. I'll be writing a sort-of review of Atti Korean restaurant on Rue University in Montreal, QC and the experience of sitting on a long table full of foodies eating mediocre Korean fare in my next post!

What to do with leftover risotto?

2009-09-26T00:01:00.000-04:00

Risotto balls.

Quite simply, risotto when left overnight will solidify enough to for you to form a ball if you wet your hands enough. This is thanks to the starch that the rice imparts along with some dehydration. And the rest is quite simply rolling the individual balls on some breadcrumbs - do use Panko because they are crispier than traditional breadcrumbs - a bit of salt and pepper.

Since your risotto is tasty to begin with, you don't really need much seasoning to make risotto balls. Deep fry the breadcrumb dredged risotto balls until golden brown and use marinara sauce as dip. Simple, delicious and quite hedonistic. A cup of left over risotto will make about 6-8 risotto balls depending on how big you make them to be.

Once they are deep fried in golden delicious balls, serve them over a bed of greens. Risotto balls are also very good as appetizer. Too much carbs? Don't worry about it, walk that extra mile tomorrow. ;)

Risotto balls recipe

Left over risotto, shaped into 1 inch diameter balls
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
enough oil for a deep fry

Marinara sauce for dipping
Or
Your favorite green salad mix, tossed lightly with some basic dressing

Method:

1. Mix the panko breadcrumbs with a pinch of salt and some cracked pepper. Roll the risotto balls into the breadcrumbs to dredge.

You don't need eggwash for this because the breadcrumbs will stick very well to the balls, thanks to the starch.

2. Deep fry the risotto balls until they are a crispy golden brown. Transfer them to rest on paper towels to and season with some salt over risotto balls.

3. Serve with marinara sauce as a dip or over a bed of greens as a salad. Lemon wedges would go very well to squeeze over the top before serving.

.

For recipes on risotto, check out my Roasted Cauliflower Risotto and Peas and Broccoli Rabe risotto.

There will be dog treats in the near future

2009-09-24T21:04:00.000-04:00

Here is a short post to announce a new addition to our household - Morgan, the Golden Retriever. He is 7 weeks old and is a pee and poo machine. We are crate training him so hopefully, he would be completely house-broken in a few weeks (or months), or there will be no puppy treats for him.

Look at him. I am glad I get to come and squeeze the little bugger everyday, that is, until he gets ginormous then the roles would be reversed. We have a feeling he's going to tip on the end of the large scale for Goldens judging from the size of his head and his chunky paws. I want to gnaw them.

Making Crêpe for Breakfast

2009-09-23T23:35:00.000-04:00

How do you like your pancakes?

Flapjacks fluffy or thin and crispy?

I like them both but P has a preference for Crêpe because it's light and crispy, and when filled with fruits and drizzled with maple syrup can be extremely heavenly. My recipe for crêpe was adapted from BBC food site.

So one fine Sunday morning, I woke up early to make breakfast for ourselves. Crêpe with strawberries and maple syrup drizzle.

Crêpe with Fruits and Maple Syrup
4oz of all purpose flour, sifted
200 ml of milk + 75ml water
2 large egg
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
50g of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Maple syrup
Fruits of your choice

Method:
1. Combine the sugar, salt and flour in a bowl and whisk the dry ingredients together.

2. Moving on to the wet ingredients, make a well in the center of the bowl and crack the eggs in and pour the liquids in. Mix until smooth.
3. Heat up pan and melt butter completely, spoon two tablespoons of the butter into the crêpe mixture and reserve the rest to oil the pan as you make your crêpe.

I use a 10inch diameter pan. So I pour about 1/8 to 1/4 cup of batter to make a one crêpe.

4. Heat the same pan you melt your butter in and oil the pan with the melted butter using a piece of folded paper towel. Pour enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan by swirling the batter around.

5. Cook the crêpe 2 - 3 minutes on the first side and then finish off another 1 minute before taking it off the heat.

I like to fold my crêpe into triangles and then topping them with fruits, maple syrup and maybe a dash of powdered sugar.

This crêpe recipe is a tried and tested one if you want crêpe that has crispy edges with a light texture.

Chicken Braised with Garlic and White Wine

2009-09-13T15:12:00.000-04:00

Hold your breath, this recipe requires 50 cloves of garlic.

No. It's not a typo.

This is a very Portuguese-inspired meal where the food is braised to cook with simple supplemental flavorings. I know you probably think that 50 cloves of garlic seem like an overkill but trust me, it is lovely. The garlic flavor was just right, and not overpowering at all. Actually, cooked garlic has a very sweet and mellow flavor and in this dish, it's really an ode to the garlic. I figured that with the season changing and a piggy bug going around the globe, a little boost to the immune system with some garlicky goodness will do everyone some good. Garlic is high in antioxidants and has natural anti-viral properties that helps us ward off the nasty cold and flu.

So, before I digress further into a health charade, this chicken recipe was taken from Epicurious. I made a little tweak to it by adding a bit of shallots, carrots and instead of fresh thyme, I used what I had; some dried rosemary. It was delicious and simple to make. And it is a crowd-pleaser recipe that I think you ought to give it a try.

Here's the recipe for Chicken Braised with Garlic and White Wine.

Ingredients:
7lb whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces (you can buy any cuts you want, but I like to dismantle my own chicken)
50 cloves of whole garlic, peeled
2 shallots, minced
2 cups of dry white wine, any brand you like (I picked a mid-level bottle, just don't buy the extremely cheap wine that tastes like crap. Use wine that you would drink that is not too expensive for cooking. And if you'd like, you can use a Portuguese wine to keep to the theme.)
2 carrots, chopped into large chunks
4 tablespoon of olive oil
salt and pepper

Method:

1. Season your chicken pieces with salt and pepper, generously.
2. Heat a large lidded pan with 2 tablespoon of olive oil and sear your chicken pieces until they are browned on all sides. This browning stage is rather important because it gives a lot of flavor.

3. After all your chicken pieces are browned, set them aside and in the same pan add the remaining 2tablespoons of olive oil and throw in your garlic cloves, saute them for a minute on low heat until they are slightly browned.

Add your minced shallots in for a saute until they become translucent.

Oh those 50 cloves of garlic is in there, under the chickies releasing all it's garlicky goodness.

4. Add the 2 cups of white wine in, and let the liquid come to a simmer. Transfer the chicken back into the pan, throw in the rosemary and carrots.

5. At this point, you have the option to finish the cooking on stove top or in the oven. I popped it in a 350F oven for another 45minutes covered and then another 15 minutes uncovered and i increased the heat to 450F. If you want to cook it on the stove top, cook it covered under low heat for 1 hour.

To serve, I made some greens and mash potatoes to go with it. Spoon the chicken and garlic pieces over the mash potatoes.

Here's to all it's garlicky goodness!

The simplest of pleasures, bruschetta

2009-09-07T11:59:00.000-04:00

Honestly, I can live off this for weeks, if not months. The simple flavors imparted by the simplest of ingredients, marinated tomatoes on a nicely toasted bread is unprecedented. Who said you need to spend hours standing in the kitchen for a decent meal? I say make Bruschetta. Bruschetta comes in many forms in Italy, this one is all about summer flavors - so tomatoes it is.

First, you need to make sure that you use only the best ingredients you can find. Juiciest, sweetest tomatoes, good olive oil and a good loaf of baguette. I dislike the usual baguettes because they can sometimes be too thin. Try other European style baguettes, something with a bigger girth so it can carry a good amount of topping when you slice them. I personally like the Parisienne-style breads for this.

Bruschetta with Marinated Tomatoes

1 loaf of Parisienne bread (or baguette), sliced twelve rings off it (keep the rest for bread salad, maybe)
2 cups of ripe tomatoes, chopped into cubes, reserve juices as well - do not worry about uniformity.
1 teaspoon of good balsamic vinegar - or any liquid with acidity, like lemon juice and other vinegars.
10 large leaves of fresh basil, torn into pieces (use 1 teaspoon dried basil if you don't have any fresh)
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 clove of garlic, grated
1/4 teaspoon of chili flakes (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. First, prepare your marinated tomatoes. They need at least 15 mins to marinate after combining with the rest of the ingredients to be ready. In large bowl, add your tomatoes, and everything else in (except the bread). Mix well with a spoon and let it sit in the fridge while you prepare your bread.

2. I like to pan toast my bread with butter. You can put them in your toaster but I like that my bread tastes a little buttery, and not just crispy. Spread some butter on each side of the bread slices. Heat a large round pan until hot and pan fry your bread until they are golden brown on each side.

You can prepare these two ingredients a day in advance and serve them for immediate consumption when you're ready.

3. To serve, spoon a heap of tomatoes over the toasted bread pieces. You must eat these immediately before the bread becomes soggy.

I used yellow and red tomatoes for this recipe. Feel free to use any kinds of tomatoes you want. I find that mixing different kinds of tomatoes is best for this recipe.

Now, isn't Bruschetta simple to make? In just three easy steps and you have dinner on the table - yes, they are filling. And if you do have some Parmesan cheese, grate them over the top of each Bruschetta before serving. The cheese gives a very bold, salty flavor to each bite!

TIP: Do not throw away the leftover juice from the marinated tomatoes, this is actually the tastiest bit of it all. Save them as a salad dressing or toss them with some pasta. And if you like your bloody mary's, use this juice and top it up with some vodka. ;)

Our First Sweet Peas and Tomato Pasta In Our New Condo

2009-08-30T20:58:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the little hiatus. I have been itching to cook for weeks but was unable to because I was packing up my kitchen. We have moved to our new condo, furniture and boxes arrived, safe and sound - with everything intact except for my pride and my ankle. I sprained my ankle today while biking to explore the surroundings with P. A bad footing on an uneven spot had me crumbling in my own weight, landing butt first on a patch of wet grass!

I am fine now. P has been taking care of me well - instructing me to soak my feet in hot and cold baths to get the swelling down.

But I did get to cook after two week of non-cooking. I made us something simple for dinner on Saturday after we had A&W Papa Burger and a pretty awful A&W poutine. It was pasta with fresh tomatoes and good frozen peas. It's simple and so comforting after a hard day's work. It was a blessing to have P's parents over to help us move and put the TV furniture together - otherwise, I don't think I'll be able to have the space to cook or sit in my newly installed living room typing this post still! :) We are very grateful.

The pasta is pretty much as straightforward as it sounds.

Peas & Tomato Pasta

Fettuccine (or any kinds of pasta, really), cooked till al dente
1/2 cup of frozen peas
2 red and ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
2 tbsp of chopped basil
1/4 cup of marinara sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoon of olive oil
salt & pepper
1/4 tsp of dried chili flakes (optional)

Method
1. Cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water. Read the direction on the pack, i like to under cook my pasta by 1 minute so I can finish cooking it off with the rest of the ingredients.

2. In the last 2 minutes, add the frozen peas into the boiling pasta pot and let it cook for another minute (remember we're under cooking the pasta by 1minute) before draining the water off completely. Turn off the stove into the absolute low.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients into the still piping hot pasta pot and mix it on top of the stove until all is well combined. Serve with some nice rustic bread.

I'm really a fan of pasta. The Italians (and Chinese, inventors of pasta) have it all figured out with noodles - the possibilities and versatility of it is endless!

P.S. I took these photos with my old Fuji F10 camera. It still does a pretty good job, I think. :)

P.P.S I have to say, the new place is (to borrow P's term) pretty ballin'.

Revisiting Au Pied de Cochon - 5th time and not charmed

2009-08-09T11:51:00.000-04:00

Maybe this will be my last post before my short hiatus, it is necessary -- and a responsibility, in my opinion -- to write a revisited review about Au Pied de Cochon after my 5th visit.

But let's start with the pretty before I move on to the ugly.

I am the biggest fan of this restaurant, if not the most loyal. People whom I've met or spoken to, our topic of conversation would ultimately be reverted to me recommending them to this restaurant; should they ever come to Montreal. To me, APDC is the ultimate class of its own when it comes to Quebecois cuisine. Chef Martin Picard's bold flavors and buttery foie gras dream is indeed a success with the locals and visitors alike.

My first experience at APDC was a sweet one. It was the best dining experience I have ever had with food and service bar none. It raised my expectations on what a proper dining experience should be and to this day, I haven't been able to be completely happy with any restaurant's service since then. And that rings true for my subsequent visits to APDC too. Service and food in Au Pied de Cochon have not been great since my first visit - and I have given them 4 chances since then.

My second visit was still very much influenced by the charm of my first visit but I was not impress with my 3rd, 4th and 5th. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Chef Martin Picard was not there in all the other four times and service became slack. Our table was ignored for a full 15 minutes or more before anyone came to ask about us and take our orders. Never mind that despite reservations, we always had to wait 20-30mins to be seated. I suppose fame comes at the price of willing diners' time - however, I am willing to forgo this bit.

Food has been good but incomparable to the first time we were there. One of my companions had an overly salty sword fish stew, but to the credit of the waiter, that feedback was taken seriously. Their infamous Duck in the Can's foie gras was too soft the 2nd, 3rd and 4th time around; it was almost like eating a blob of uncooked chicken liver. The bold flavors of the food in APDC is becoming a little boring as well. It's missing something despite its velvety richness and tasty reductions - in my mind, food needs a certain balance to make you want to eat more. And it's becoming more apparent that food in APDC feels like it's being churned out by drones, lacking a certain depth or je ne sais quoi. Chef Picard needs to pay more attention to what's being churned out. Arrival of our meals takes approximately 30mins - 1 hour every time, regardless if it was full house or not. I can wait but the food has to be worth it; and it hasn't really been worth the wait since the first time we were there. No one came to check on us in the middle of dining like they used to on our 5th time there either (and there's a reason for this too, if you will read on), and so we couldn't really tell them how we felt.

I have always had high regards for APDC's waiters' level of professionalism but that is becoming marred by a picture of our waiter having drinking sessions with the table next to ours on our 5th visit. I understand the friendly atmosphere APDC wants for its customers but downing shots of alcohol with a guest while other tables need waiting is not professional.

Dining at Au Pied de Cochon has been a very bittersweet one; maybe more bitter than sweet. I felt that after my 5th visit with their service taking a little dive each time, I am beginning to wonder if they are becoming too complacent, too comfortable in their throne.

APDC is still my favorite restaurant and I would still recommend it to anyone who comes to visit Montreal as part of their cultural experience of the city. Don't get me wrong when I say this, but "Buck it up, guys".

It would be a waste to start slipping in standards and losing your loyal, non-alcoholic, clientele.

A very short post

2009-08-08T00:12:00.000-04:00

I am expecting a very small hiatus this month, mostly because I am planning on using up whatever I have in my pantry before moving. Yes, we are moving my kitchen to a new place P and I found that is lovely and big - the kitchen however is not vast but strategically build with all the proper equipments and space. And we are finally, hopefully, expecting a new family member this mid-November.

No, I'm not pregnant, silly! We are expecting a four-legged friend! :)

P and I have always wanted a dog to be a part of our family and we are both excited at being new parents to a Bernese Mountain puppy!

[pic source]

We are not sure if it's going to be a male or a female yet, but regardless, I am pretty sure we will love it just the same. We will know for sure about the puppy by the end of September *crosses fingers*

I am excited at the prospect of making doggy treats. :)

The Spanish Connection: Alfajores de maicena

2009-07-31T01:26:00.000-04:00

Alfajores is a popular Spanish confectionery made up of two shortbread cookies held together by a dollop of delicious dulce de leche or jam. It looks like a delectable French macaron but it's a different type of sweet altogether. I have not heard about Alfajores before but this Spanish delight is quickly an inspiration to my taste buds. For instance, it has given me the idea of using corn flour (or corn starch in some continents) into my cookie recipes for a light, crumbly biscuit. I cannot forget my first bite of this sweet sandwich, the biscuit that held it together is so light it almost melts in your mouth with every bite!

Alfajores de maicena is a version that uses dulce de leche as the center of the sweet sandwich; and this is the recipe we used. I have to thank my friend, K for introducing this cookie sandwich to me and his diligence in making dulce de leche with a can of condensed milk while watching Office Space. :P

We picked a recipe that was written in Spanish and neither of us understand that language much. Thank god for Google, translation cannot be easier.

So this is a translation of the recipe, taken from the blog of Martiniano Molina.

Alfajores de maicena:

250g butter
150g sugar
3 egg yolks
300g corn flour/corn starch
200g super fine flour (we just used all-purpose flour)
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon
1 can of dulce de leche (made from double boiling a can of condensed milk)
200g shredded unsweetened coconut

Method:
The recipe did not include a temperature for the oven, so when in doubt use 350F.

1. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add yolks and lemon zest in and mix well.
2. Mix the corn starch, flour, baking soda and baking powder into the butter batter until a smooth dough is formed.

3. Knead the dough slightly and form it into a flat disc, flatten it with a rolling pin until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Use extra corn starch while rolling if the dough sticks.

4. Use a round cookie cutter and cut the dough into circles and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

5. Once the cookies are baked, let them cool for about 15 minutes before spreading a dollop of dulce de leche on one biscuit and sandwich it with another. Roll the biscuit sandwich's corner on the shredded coconut so that it sticks to the dulce de leche.

Wrap your alfajores in plastic wraps after it's made and store them in the fridge. They keep quite well and is delicious cold or in room temperature.

I think we did pretty well from our own interpretation of the translated recipe. ;)

You should try Alfajores, they are unlike their cousins, the French Macarons where the biscuits are crispier. But these two recipes do share a similar trait; sandwiching delicious sweet condiments with cookies can never go wrong.

Apple Cherry Pie with Decorative Lattice Crust

2009-07-24T20:23:00.000-04:00

Everyone is just cherry these days. It's cherry season and Bings are popular because they are big, juicy and delicious eaten on its own. However, Bing Cherries are also especially good when used in baking.

The other day; about a week and 3 days ago, around 4.30pm in the afternoon, I decided to make an apple cherry pie and a whole lattice crust design for fun. Those pretty lattice crusts are easier than I thought, it's just cutting the dough into strips and weaving it over each other on the pie until the effect is achieved.

And because I had half a puff pastry in the fridge at the time, I decided to use it to make my lattice top. And it's decidedly the best decision because after the pie's baked, the lattice was a beautiful crispy crust.

The Apple Cherry Pie is a very simple recipe.

Filling:
4 Apples - I used Macintosh apples, cut into chunks
1 cup of fresh Bing cherries, pitted
3/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract/ 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
a few scrapes of lemon zest
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of corn starch

Crust:
1/2 pack of puff pastry, de-frosted
1.5 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup very cold butter, cut into small cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2-3 tablespoon of cold water
1 egg for egg wash
sugar for sprinkling

Method:
1. Combine all the ingredients for the filling in a large bowl, mix, and let it sit in the fridge until ready to use.

2. Make the bottom crust first by combining flour, salt and sugar - mix well. Add butter cubes in and rub the butter into the flour with the tip of your fingers until the flour resembles wet sand. You can use a food processor for this but i prefer using my fingers. The flour should be able to hold it's shape when you clump some in your hand.

3. Add 1 tablespoonful of cold water at a time and mix until the dough come together. Knead the dough into a ball and then flatten it into a disc shape. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

4. Pre-heat oven at 350 F and grease your 9-inch pie pan with some butter.

5. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out until it is 1/4 inch thick with a roller. Bring it to the pie pan and mould the dough to the pie pan. Don't trim off the excess dough yet.

6. Pour the apple and cherry filling into the crust. Now roll out the defrosted puff pastry until it's 1/4 inch thick and cut it into 1.5cm strips. Create a lattice design by weaving the strips of pastry over the pie. You can always forgo the lattice work and just put the puff pastry over the pie for a conventional top crust as well. After that is done, use a fork and crimp the edges. Trim off the excess dough. Brush some egg wash over the top of your pie crust and sprinkle some granulated sugar over the top, this will give you a nicely browned crust.

7. Bake your pie at the lowest rack in your oven for 45 minutes. This will let your pie crust at the bottom brown up nicely - it's a great tip from Alton Brown.

Once your pie is done, let it sit for at least 3 hours before cutting it. This is an important step if you want your pie to look like the picturesque slice that it can be. :)

That lattice crust makes the pie look like it's out of an Enid Blyton's children's book, doesn't it?

Sun dried Tomatoes and Cheese Souffle + a rant.

2009-07-19T11:54:00.000-04:00

Who said it's too much work to have a nice fancy souffle for Sunday brunch? I whipped this up in 40 minutes, and if you can work faster than me, maybe even less time. Like all things in life, you need to put a bit of time in what you do. None of those instant gratification BS because it desecrates the enjoyment of eating together and making food. And it's Sunday brunch, the most important meal before the week's grind - you owe it to yourself and your family to eat well. Nothing like a bit of family bonding and togetherness over good souffle to tie the week up.

And before I digress further, souffles are incredibly easy to make and a joy to eat. It goes both ways, savory and sweet. They encompassed all food that is fancy and highly priced plastered with a delusional idea that it's hard to make. Well, my foodie friends, souffle for brunch is not a folly, it's a pleasure. :)

My recipe incorporates sun dried tomatoes, spring onions and cheddar cheese.

Sun dried Tomatoes and Cheese Souffle Recipe:
100 grams of all-purpose flour
100 grams of butter
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites, beaten stiff
250 ml milk
2 tablespoons of chopped sun dried tomatoes
2 whole green onions, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 450F. Heat up a full electric kettle of water. Grease 6 ramekins with butter and dust with flour.

1. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. When you turn the bowl over, the egg whites should stay in the bowl and not fall on your head. If it does, shampoo and start over. You'll need approximately 8 minutes of whisking by hand, non-stop or set it in your trusty stand mixer on high. Set the egg white aside for later.

2. In a medium size pan, melt butter completely and add the flour in. Stir until a soft doughy batter forms. Turn off heat but leave the pan over the burner. Add milk, little by little and mix until the dough resembles more of a thick roux. Add the sun dried tomatoes, green onions, garlic, cheese, salt and pepper. Mix well.

3. Temper your roux by adding 1/4 of your egg whites in first, mixing it well. Add the rest of your egg whites into the roux and gently fold them in. Once that's done, pour the batter evenly into all 6 of your ramekins.

Clean the edges with your thumb so spillovers are cleaned up. This ensures that your souffle rises nicely vertically and not lopsided.

4. Set the ramekins in a baking tray filled with hot water up till the middle of the ramekins and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes. Your souffle should rise and brown nicely over the top.

5. Serve immediately with your favorite salad.

I made a tropical slaw with honey and balsamic dressing.

Tropical Slaw with Balsamic Dressing
1/4 cup of mangoes, cut into small dices
10 leaves of romaine lettuce, julienne
dried currants (optional)
2 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon lime zest + a squeeze of juice
1 tablespoon of honey
salt and pepper

Method:
Mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, salt and pepper together really, really well.
Add it over the salad and toss lightly.

Dinnervibe Featured My Vegetarian Paella Recipe!

2009-07-17T17:49:00.000-04:00

Say hello to DinnerVibe, folks! A new weekly e-newsletter that sends simple, delicious dinner recipes to your email box. It caters to the family and cooking for the family, so all you mommies and daddies out there should subscribe to their weekly newsletter to cure your mid-week kitchen nightmare.

Subscribe to Dinnervibe.

Dinnervibe does a weekly feature of recipes. My Vegetarian Paella recipe is one of the featured recipes this week and I am glad they picked that. It's one of those one pot wonder recipes families can enjoy that is both delicious and affordable.

Vegetarian Paella

Pop on over and check out the other recipes they have on their site and check out the contest they currently have if you submit a family favorite recipe. You stand to win a nice sexy pair of earth-friendly wooden spoons from EcologicProducts.

Roasted Cauliflower Risotto

2009-07-14T18:00:00.000-04:00

Bad weather on a summer day is noticeably gloomier. Maybe it's the fact that we expect sun instead of dark clouds. To me, a rainy day is the perfect day for comfort food. A day like today warrants eating food that warms the soul.

I've decided to make risotto again. After all, my arborio rice is not going to last forever, there are beetles and bugs waiting to make babies in them and I hate it when that happens. The last time I made risotto was a time when the season was still cool. This time I want to make a summer inspired risotto. I had a bunch of ingredients to use but I decided to close my eyes and pull one out of my fridge -- a cauliflower!

Not a entirely a summer vegetable but it'll have to do. Roasted, they are delicious. That's right.. I'll make a roasted cauliflower risotto!

The inspiration for this risotto is to make it look like a roasted cauliflower. The color, the flavor and the accompanying ingredients should resemble that fact. And I must say, it does have a nice golden roasted look to it, the specks of red and green simple represents the fresh herbs and spices I use while roasting the vegetable. :)

Here's my Roasted Cauliflower Risotto recipe:

Roasting the cauliflower:
1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

The rest of the ingredients:
1.5 cups of arborio rice
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
1 onion, diced finely
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 stick of celery, finely diced
1/2 cup of diced zucchini
2 red chillies, de-veined and chopped finely
1 cup of white wine
1 cup of vegetable broth
1 and 1/4 cup of water

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 400F. Mix white wine, vegetable broth, water into a measuring cup.

1. In a baking tray, combine the cauliflower, olive oil, paprika, parsley, salt and pepper together. Toss them well to evenly coat the cauliflower florets.

2. Bake for 40minutes. Reserve aside for later use.

3. In a pan, heat olive oil and butter together until it melts, let the butter brown slightly for that nutty taste. Add the onions, garlic, chilies and celery and saute them until they become soft. This will take approximately 5 minutes.

4. Add the rice into the pan and saute it until it becomes slightly translucent. The rice grains will have a translucent ring around the edges when this happens. Roasting the rice like this gives it a nice base flavor. Now add 1/2 cup of the broth (you mixed earlier) in and stir to cook the rice. Add your zucchini into the pan as well.

Making risotto requires patience and lots of love. You need to keep stirring the pot as it cooks so that it doesn't burn the bottom.

5. Keep adding the liquid and throw in a handful of roasted cauliflower florets in, alternately, to cook and keep stirring until all the liquid is used up. The cauliflower will cook down as you keep adding liquid in and will incorporate itself beautifully into the risotto.

Your risotto should technically have the consistency of an creamy oatmeal porridge when it's done but each individual grain of rice still holds together for that al dente texture. Taste your rice for the right texture, if it's still raw in the middle add a bit more water and cook for another 10minutes.

Serve your risotto immediately. Now doesn't that look like a roasted cauliflower in a risotto? It tastes nutty and deliciously good too!

Leftovers can be made into risotto balls, and that would another post of its own. ;)

Mussels, Champs and a Plate of Mixed Roasts are Best Eaten with Friends

2009-06-29T17:19:00.001-04:00

True to my title, a feast is not a feast without friends. Round it off with a nice beer or two and we had ourselves a jolly good time. Sorry of the lack of postings, there wasn't any lack of eating just a lack of time!

A couple of friends are over for the week. One of them is an old friend since college, and a foodie through and through. Born with a Malaysian palate and a passion for cooking, K and I make an excellent team in the kitchen. Have a look:

We've been planning to cook together for... years! And when the day came, shopping at Marche Atwater could not be any better. For the lack of a better word, it was like Christmas all over again. As we shopped, two of our companions tagged along and were sometimes forgotten as K and I poured over our list of ingredients to buy. Poor fellas. All was well again after we rewarded them with a feast. :)

What did we cook? Well...

...even though I said that we've been "planning" to cook together for YEARS, it took us about 1 hour to put what we wanted to cook together the day before. With Jamie Oliver's help and two cookbooks later, we decided to cook the mixed roast on a bed of cauliflower puree, the strawberry and haloumi salad, champ potatoes with peas, and a big pot of mussels inspired by the HopLeaf Bar in Chicago.

I have made the mixed roast platter before, here and here, so I am going provide you with the recipe for Champ Potatoes with Peas, and Hopleaf's Mussels. Jamie Oliver's Strawberry Salad with Speck and Haloumi can be found here.

We did not use the speck mentioned in the recipe and it was still the best salad we've had in a while. A little tip, if you only have a generic brand for balsamic vinegar, I suggest adding 1 tablespoon of honey to balance the flavor out. Otherwise, it might be a tad tart.

Hopleaf-inspired Mussels:
Mirepoix (finely chopped (1) carrot, (1) onion, (2-3 stalks of) celery)
3lb of fresh mussels
2 red chili, de-veined and chopped finely
2 bay leaves
2 cloves of garlic
375ml of beer, we used a Hoegaarden
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper

Method:
1. In a large saucepan, saute mirepoix, chili, bay leaves, garlic in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and cook until wilted.
2. Add mussels in and toss them together before adding the whole bottle of beer in.
3. Cover and cook for approximately 8 minutes or until all the mussels are open. Discard the unopened ones because that's one dead shellfish you don't want to be eatin'.

Serves 2-3 gluttonous persons.

Champ potatoes with peas
Champ potatoes is like a cross between boiled and mashed potatoes. There is still a bite to them and with peas, the extra burst of sweetness gives a nice flavor and texture.

6 medium sized russet potatoes, cut into large 2-inch chunks
1/2 cup of frozen peas
3 stalks of scallions (green onions), chopped finely
2 tablespoon of sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup milk

Method:
1. Boil potatoes in a large pot of salted water and cook in a rolling boil for 25 minutes.
2. In the last minute of cooking, toss the frozen peas in.
3. When cooked, the potatoes will fall apart easily, which is perfect for this. To test, insert a fork in and it should break the potatoes apart rather easily. Reserve 1/4 cup of the potato water and drain the potatoes.

Combine the 1/4 cup of potato water with milk.

4. Add sour cream, scallions, milky potato water, salt and pepper into the potatoes and peas and with a large serving spoon, mix them together until the potatoes are combined well.

The end result of champs should be somewhat smooth and yet chunky from the bits of potatoes, peas and scallions.

It was the most satisfying dinner we've had in a while and there were leftovers. Our mixed roast had quails, a cornish hen and ginger and orange sausages and there are still quails and hens in the fridge for munching in the evening if we're feeling a little snippy.

:)

Pavlova, a beautiful mess

2009-06-19T21:51:00.000-04:00

What happens when you have a new Kitchenaid Standmixer? Well, you make foods you would otherwise think twice of making. Like pavlovas.

A light and fluffy dessert made from the simplest ingredients is a treat to eat but a bitch to make. It's not a complex process to make pavlovas, it's just tedious as hell. Repetitive whisking of the egg whites and sugar until stiff, glossy peaks are achieved can cause carpal tunnel syndrome. And that is an almost true story. But the efforts are worth it as soon as you take your first bite.

I love my meringues with fruits, especially berries. Although, I don't mind if it's drizzled with passion fruit compote as well. Here's a relatively simple pavlova recipe for the hot and wet days of summer.

The catch-22 of this recipe is that it does not keep well. It must be finished the very day you make this. And it can look quite a mess; a beautiful mess.

Here's what you would need:

4 egg whites
1 cup of superfine granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon of corn starch

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 250F, or 120C. Prepare a baking tray lined with parchment paper, do not grease.

1. In a Kitchenaid Professional Standmixer with a whisk attachment *grins*, add your 4 egg whites into the mixing bowl and turn the power on to 7, or medium speed if you're using an electric hand beater. Add salt into the egg whites.

2. Gradually add sugar, as the machine whisk the egg whites into a frothy mountain. After adding all the sugar, turn the power up to 10 and leave it to whip for 5 minutes or until the egg whites are glossy, triple in size and has stiff peaks. Turn off the machine.

You now have a meringue. The consistency of the egg whites should remind you of a very soft marshmallow cloud. Very light and fluffy, almost like cream.

3. Toss the corn starch in and gently fold it into the meringue. Corn starch helps absorb extra liquid and prevents the meringue from sweating. it also gives the meringue more body.

4. Pour the meringue over the baking tray in a large dollop and with a spatula, shape the meringue into a 7-inch diameter disc.

5. Bake in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes or until a light eggshell color tints the outer layer of your meringue. Once it's done baking, keep the oven door ajar and let the meringue cool in the oven. This will prevent it from collapsing.

Once it's cooled, you can top it with some whipped cream and berries. If you want to make this in advance, keep the cooled meringue in an air tight container or wrap it tightly, but gently, with saran wrap and keep it in a cool, dark place for up to 3 days.

And before I forget, this is my new Kitchenaid Standmixer. It's in sexy black. It will be my favorite kitchen gadget after my Shun knife.

Eggs in the basket

2009-06-15T14:31:00.000-04:00

I don't know why it took me so long to make this. Ever since I saw it on V for Vendetta, I've always wanted to make my own egg in the basket. Whoever invented this must be Captain Practical - you get a nicely toasted bread with a nice eggy center. What is there not to love?

It's perhaps the simplest thing to make for yourself on a weekend when all you want is a cup of coffee and a nice eggy toast.

Eggs in the basket is the perfect breakfast with a nice little dollop of ketchup!

1 slice of bread
1 egg
butter
salt
pepper

Method:
Heat a skillet on the stove until hot.

1. Spread butter on both sides of the bread.
2. Use a round cookie cutter, approx. 2.5 inches in diameter, and make a hole in the center of the bread.
3. You can toss the bread center away or just munch on it as a side. Put slice bread on the hot skillet and crack and egg into the hole. Don't worry if it spills over a little.

Make sure your heat is not too hot at this point. Lower it to a medium low heat once the egg hits the bread hole.

4. Cook on one side for 2-3 minutes and then flip over. And cook for another minute before serving.

Depending on how you like your eggs - runny, stiff, over-cooked - adjust your cooking time. I don't like my eggs overcooked so when I flip it over, I just let it cook for less than a minute so that the center of the yolk remains runny.

5. Serve with a dollop of ketchup or drizzle with your favorite honey or maple syrup.

I picked the latter. :)

I Heart Vanilla is finally here!

2009-06-10T14:34:00.000-04:00

After months of working on this project, I am happy to say that my new small business venture is finally, and officially, up and running!

Say hello to ♥ I HEART VANILLA ♥ , a store for all vanilla lovers and a source for all your vanilla needs! If you ever wondered about how to use, store or buy vanilla, our site offers not just the products but also the information on how to use vanilla in our Vanillapedia^TM.

Maybe you've seen that not-so-little advertisement on the right; that lovely brown banner that's been there for well over a month? Now that brown banner actually leads to our full website! I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself!

Let me give you the low-down of our business...

***Update*** About Shipping & Handling cost: It's included in the price you see on the site. If you're not from N. America (US/Canada), you must pick the Int'l (International) option because a different pricing group applies.

I Heart Vanilla only sells quality beans that has been hand-picked to ensure that every bean is plump, moist, and highly aromatic. To make sure of this, we have (well, I have) used these vanilla beans repeatedly to test for their quality and unfailingly, they surprise me with their flavor. It gives cakes, cookies, desserts a very beautiful, well rounded flavor, wafting with the scent of vanilla. I also use it as a flavor smoothing agent in recipes where many strong spices are used to blend their flavors together.

We carry two kinds of vanilla: Bourbon (v.planifolia) and Tahitian (v.tahitensis).

Both variation are excellent to use for baking and cooking. And yes they do smell different! While the overtone of vanilla is evident in both variation, Tahitian vanilla has a more floral and anise-like flavor to the bean. Many pastry chefs are always looking out for Tahitian vanilla because they are excellent in pastries and desserts! Bourbon vanilla on the other hand is that classic vanilla bean that we all recognize in vanilla ice cream. It has a very creamy and smooth flavor, perfect for creamy concoctions, baking and cooking.

We also sell vanilla products like our Vanilla Infused Sugars, Syrups and Extracts. Our extracts are not ready yet and won't be until December! Christmas gift ideas, anyone? ;) Also check out our recipe's page and join our Facebook group to get first dips on our promotions! We are TWITTERING TOO, so follow us!

If you don't already know, Shipping and Handling is included in the price of the products you see. Thus making our product one of the most affordable, high quality vanilla beans out there in the market.

I Heart Vanilla was founded by me and my father, while I was in KL enjoying the sweet tropical climate in Jan 2009. It happened pretty quickly when we decided to start a small-business on vanilla beans. And so we began our hunt for the best vanilla bean growers around that continent.

After searching high and low, we finally found our grower who harvest and cure vanilla beans the traditional way in the beautiful land of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Every vanilla pod is sun-dried for up to 6-8 months to carefully develop that flavor of vanilla we love and use! We are very lucky to have found a grower who has high respect for his vanilla orchids in both his farms at Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. No pesticide or preservatives are used, our vanilla orchids are naturally grown and cultivated on acres of pristine soil, cured, handpicked and bundle up.

May I interest you with a bundle? :)

Tau Yew Bak (Braised Pork in Soy Sauce)

2009-05-31T11:15:00.001-04:00

I don't cook enough Malaysian dishes in my kitchen.

This is my mother's/grandma's Tau Yew Bak recipe that I grew up eating as a kid. This braised pork dish is comfort food to me as a big bowl of osso bucco are to the Milanese. The meat is braised for an hour or two in an aromatic dark sauce flavored with star anise, cinnamon, black peppercorns and a whole head of garlic.

It's a very Penang Hokkien dish. And in Penang, this dish is eaten with white rice and a dollop of sambal belachan.

There are many variations of this dish because it's really a provincial dish that went on a national scale. So every Chinese grandmother has their own way of making this dish but the basics are pretty much all the same - star anise, cinnamon, garlic and pork.

Traditionally, pork belly is used in this recipe. The lard is what makes Tau Yew Bak good but other cuts of pork are permissible as well. My mom likes to use several different cuts for more variety.

I used a meaty cut of pork ribs, and I asked the butcher to cut them into 1.5inch chunks for shorter braising time. You can put in big chunks of ribs in and cook it country-style, too.

Tau Yew Bak or Braise Pork in Soy Sauce
This recipe feeds 2-3 people

670g of pork ribs, cut into 1.5 inch chunks
1 head of garlic, papery skin peeled off
1 teaspoon of black peppercorns
1 star anise
1 stick of cinnamon, 3 inches in length (or if you can get your hands on some cassia, it would be the best)
1 teaspoon of Chinese 5 spice powder (optional)
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
2 tablespoon of soy sauce
2 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of oil
3 cups of water

Optional but commonly used ingredients: Potatoes (big chunks), bean curd sticks, fried tofu pieces, Chinese mushrooms, canned button mushrooms, eggs.

You may also use chicken in place of pork as well. It's equally delicious in a chickeny sort of way.

Method:
1. Pre-boiled the pork ribs in boiling water for 5 minutes to get rid of any impurities.
2. Drain water from the pot and heat it up with oil. Add the pork, garlic, star anise, black peppercorns and cinnamon in. Saute until aromatic.
3. Now, add the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar in. Saute until the pork is completely covered by the dark sauces and the sugar began to caramelized a little.

Be careful not to burn the sugar. As soon as you see that the bottom of the pan begins to stick, add the 3 cups of water right away.

4. Add water as soon as caramelizing of the sugar begins. Scrap the bottom of the pan a bit with your spoon and let pot come to a boil.

If you are adding any of the optional ingredients listed above, you may add them right now. Make sure your potatoes are in big pieces so they are able to withstand long the long cooking time. I usually put them whole, if I'm using them. If you're using eggs put them in just before serving if you don't want to overcook them. Usually, overcooked eggs with gray rings around the yolk is not uncommon in this recipe. The star of the show is the fall-off-the-bone delicious meat and it's flavorful sauce.

5. Once it starts to boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook covered for 1.5 hour.

Serve hot on steamed white rice and a dollop of sambal belachan. I served mine on some thick rice noodles because I had some on hand. Now, I cannot explain how wonderfully aromatic the meat is once cooked. It's simply the most nourishing smell for the soul. Don't waste any of the sauces, bread makes for a good vessel for soaking up the goodness!

The Cherry on the Cake

2009-05-28T12:54:00.001-04:00

You know the saying "The cherry on the cake"?

Eating this cherry cake is like the cherry on the cake to a perfect pre-summer evening meal. Never mind that it rained a little.

Fresh Bing cherries are used to make this dessert. It is a very moist cake with a balance of sweetness and a hint of sour. But first, you need to temper the cherries with some sugar to get rid of excess moisture. Failing this, you will have cherry craters within the cake because fresh cherries shrivel up during baking time.

You can go ahead and use sour cherries or a combo of cherries for this recipe but please don't use maraschino. They can be too sweet!

Cherry Cake Recipe:
1 and 1/2 cup of fresh cherries, halved and pitted (canned whole cherries can be substituted for fresh cherries).
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
3/4 cup of butter, softened
3/4 cup of sugar + 2 tablespoon of sugar
Rind from 1 lemon
1 vanilla pod, beans scraped.
2 Eggs
1/2 cup of milk
1 tsp Kirsch (optional)

Method:

1. First you need to temper with your cherries. Add 2 tablespoon of sugar to the cherries, mix to combine and set them in a colander for all the excess liquid to drip. This process will take about 1 hour. After one hour, flavor the cherries with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and set aside.

Pre-heat your oven to 350F. Grease a 10-inch cake pan with some butter and set aside.

2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy with an electric beater. Add in eggs, one at a time, and beat to combine.

I suggest not using the electric beater anymore from this point onwards so that you don't over beat your batter.

3. Add the lemon rind, vanilla beans (and kirsch if you're using) into the batter and mix well.

4. Mix the all the dry ingredients together; flour, salt, baking powder.

5. Alternately, add the flour and milk into the batter and mix well to combine.

6. Add the cherries in at the end, fold the batter until cherries are mixed through.

7. Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until the skewers comes out clean in the middle of the cake.

It is imperative to let the cake cool completely before cutting. Otherwise, it will be a crumbling, albeit tasty, mess!

This cherry cake is very simple to make and it is extremely delicious. It would keep well for 3-4 days before it starts to get stale. Keep the cake wrapped in saran wrap to preserve its moistness.

The Perfectly Seared Sirloin Steak with Lime Dressing

2009-05-24T12:29:00.000-04:00

A warning to the vegetarians, this lengthy post is about cooking the perfect meat.

I am not much of a red meat-eater. But every once in a while I see a lovely, perfectly marbled sirloin at the butcher, I just cannot help myself. So this is a nice sirloin steak I got from one of the butchers at Atwater Market. Specs of the sirloin steak is 670g cut into the thickness of a 1-inch slab. I would not go for anything below 1 inch thick for a steak cut.

The sirloin is a very tasty cut of meat. Not quite as tender as a tenderloin, but not tough like chuck. Tenderloins are a little overrated, in my opinion. It's quite a tasteless cut despite it's exorbitant price tag. I would pick a sirloin any day.

My sirloin steak is cooked pretty simply. It's seasoned with salt, pepper and a little bit of garlic powder.

This recipe feeds 2-3 people.

670 grams of sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch slab
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Method:
1. Heat skillet with 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil until smoky hot.
2. Season steak with salt, pepper and garlic powder generously on both sides and sear the meat in the skillet. Do not move it around or touch it. Sear for 4 minutes and then turn over, sear for another 3-4 minutes.

A word of caution, if you have a fire detector installed in your home, it would be wise to disarm it or turn on your cooker hood on high. This will be a smoky event.

3. Take steak off the pan and onto a cutting board. Let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Lime Dressing
Juice from 1/2 lime
Steak fond (What's a fond?)
1/4 cup of red wine (or any broth you have in hand)
salt
pepper

Method
1. In the same skillet, add lime juice and a bit of butter. Scrap the bottom of the skillet to get the fond out. This will make your sauce tasty.
2. Add the red wine/broth and let it simmer down to half. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour over steak as sauce.

It's imperative to not cut the steak while it's just off the pan. The juices will run out and you'll be left with a very leathery, dry steak. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes. The thickness of the steak is equally important. The thicker the better, thin steaks will dry out faster than you say sirloin, so I recommend 1-inch and above.

Here's my cooking time for different steak thickness to achieve that pretty pink center in medium and rare.

Medium done:
1 inch cuts - 4 minute on each side
2 inch cuts - 7 minutes on each side

Rare:
1 inch cuts - 2 minutes on each side
2 inch cuts - 4 minutes on each side

Note: It is definitely worth it to get a cut thicker/bigger than you can finish. Extra steak can be used as sandwich meat the next day. It's better than any cold cuts you get at the grocery store.

That Mother-ship tomato salad is a great topping for the steak as well when it's all chopped up. :)

The Squash That Got Curried Away

2009-05-22T21:41:00.000-04:00

Oh I don't believe it! Remnants of winter in my pantry, a lone butternut squash leans quietly at the very back of my sack of rice and onions. A sneaky one.

Pacing to and fro the fridge and cupboard, I realized that I also have a lot of unused curry powder from Malaysia too. I've been making my own curry spice when I needed some. I bet that pile of pre-packed curry powder have been feeling rather lonely too.

That lone butternut squash will be good for a vegetarian squash curry. On a bed of rice. With a cold lemony slaw.

I don't know about you but curried squash can be so delicious and yet so simple.

Check out the recipe after the jump!

I toasted some spices to go with the packet curry powder from Malaysia. I like my curries to pack a nice aroma with a spicy punch.

Butternut Squash Curry
2 cups of butternut squash, cubed
1 small carrot, cubed
1/2 cup spinach
2 onions, chopped finely
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon caraway
4-6 pods of cardamom
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 star anise
3 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 dried chili, deseeded
1/4 cup yogurt
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

Method
1. Toast the coriander seeds, cumin, caraway and cardamom until aromatic. Be mindful as to not burn the spices.
2. Pound the toasted spices in a mortar and pestle until all the spices are crushed.
3. In a same pan, heat oil and toss in the mustard seeds and star anise. When the mustard seeds starts popping, add the onions and garlic in. Saute until the onion is translucent.

4. Now, add the pounded spices and dried chili in. Saute for a minute or two and then add the squash and carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the vegetables for approximately 8 minutes or until the squash is slightly opaque on its sides.
5. Add the curry powder and turmeric powder in and saute to combine well. Pour the yogurt in with the spinach and cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve the curry hot a bed of basmati rice and a side of lemony slaw (recipe below).

Lemony Slaw Recipe
1 pre-packed coleslaw vegetable mix (cabbages, carrots)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
50 grams of raisins (optional)
a big pinch of chili flakes
salt and pepper

Method:
1. Mix the lemon juice, mayonnaise, chili flakes, salt and pepper in a bowl until well combine.
2. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Chill before serving.

The Mother-ship Tomato Salad on Roasted Salmon

2009-05-18T13:22:00.001-04:00

This is a summer dish. Another homage to the sun.

And the tomatoes are faithful sun-worshipers, whose flavor will only ripen into a sweet, juicy goodness under the yellow heat of the universal fireball. What better way to showcase my displeasure over the cold, uneven weather that has plagued Montreal in the past week? A plate of sunny flavors is in order! Jamie Oliver's mothership tomato salad is my favorite summer recipe to make because it has more than one uses.

On other days, I would toss a bit of linguine into this tomato salad and finish off with some good parmesan cheese. This time I am using the tomato salad over a nicely roasted salmon dinner. The bright flavor of the tomatoes go extremely well with fish or seafood.

And I am sick of the autumn-like weather in spring!

More after the jump...

The mothership tomato salad is a vegetarian/vegan dish. It is good eaten on its own, with a bit of crusty bread, with a plate of pasta or simply chopped up as a salsa dip. So, it is your prerogative.

This Jamie Oliver recipe gives us a lot of room to expand. You can add whatever herbs you like but the most important ingredient in the recipe are the tomatoes - the rest just works itself out in the end. Get good tomatoes for this recipe, and get a variety of them. I used approximately 4-5 different kinds of yellow, orange, red, cherry, ox-hearts and medium sized tomatoes for this recipe. If you can grab some heirloom tomatoes, add it in as well. It will only add to it's deliciousness.

I made some changes to the recipe, adding whatever fresh herbs I had at hand. And this is how it goes:

The mother-ship tomato salad:
1 lb of tomatoes, different varieties
1/4 cup of good olive oil
1 garlic, minced finely
1 fresh red chili, mince finely - this is optional (you can sub with dried red pepper flakes)
2-3 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
10 basil leaves, torn
1 teaspoon of thyme, plucked
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Wash your tomatoes and cut the big ones into quarters and small ones into halves - bring them into a deep bowl.
2. Add the rest of the ingredient and toss them to combine and every tomato is coated with the herby goodness.
3. Let it sit for 15 minutes before serving. Store in the fridge until needed.

This tomato salad keeps well for up to 2 days.

Roast Salmon
1 whole salmon fillet
salt
pepper
olive oil

Method:
1. Rub salmon with salt, pepper and olive oil evenly.
2. Pan-sear the salmon, skin side down in a hot pan for 4 minutes until the skin is crisp.
3. Roast the salmon in the oven at 350 F, for another 8 minutes.

You can also pan sear your salmon until done for this dish.

The Quick and Easy Meatballs Pasta

2009-05-10T20:38:00.000-04:00

There's something just so delicious about biting into rotund, meaty, spiced balls cooked in a rich tomato sauce. MM mm! It's just so satisfying.

My mom would make soup with meatballs and we'd eat it with rice. It was so yummy and so simple. Granted there are some difference between the Chinese meatballs and Italian meatballs but they are equally good. My meatball and pasta is Chinese-inspired as my mom's Chinese meatball recipe includes ginger. So, I added ginger and my own, home-grown, basil leaves as flavoring. And if I may say so, ginger juice and meat goes hand-in-hand too. You can't go wrong there.

This is a very quick and delicious meatball recipe that goes with any pasta. I used Fusili because it is fast to cook. Check out the recipe after the jump!

Quick and Easy Meatballs Recipe
This recipe feeds 2-3 people, recipe can easily be doubled.

250grams of chicken breast, minced. You can use pork, beef and/or veal, if you please.
1 tablespoon of parmesan
2 tablespoon of breadcrumbs
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated ginger and juice
10 leaves of basil, chopped
a pinch of flour
1 egg
dried red chili flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste

Sauce:
1 cup of marinara sauce

Any shape of pasta, follow the cooking method on the package.

Method:

1. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together very well.
2. Shape the meat mixture into 1-inch balls.
3. Heat pan with some olive oil and sear the meatballs. Turning them over too cook evenly.
4. Once the meatballs are browned evenly on all sides, add the marinara sauce in and cook the meatballs with the marinara sauce on a simmer for about 5-10 minutes.
5. Pour meatballs over your pasta and serve hot with some crumbly bread.

You can easily make this a very sumptuous meal by adding a bit of red wine to the marinara sauce while the meatballs bath in it luxuriously. And try using a different pasta or maybe sprinkle the pasta with some parmesan shavings. Or better yet, bake the meatballs in the tomato sauce with a nice chunk of mozzarella on top of each meatballs and serve when the cheese melts.

Yea..that sounds pretty good to me too.

Slowly but surely...

2009-05-03T12:31:00.000-04:00

I'm almost done with the tabs on this site. I've finally completed the About Me section and I'm slowly putting together the recipes A-Z. Maybe I'll arrange it in alphabetical order or maybe I should arrange it in the form of genre. Slowly but surely getting there - just like my plants. :)

From the left: Cherry tomato, oregano, green peas (experimental), rosemary, and at the back stage some red chili plants.

I'm not sure if my ox heart tomatoes would grow well, it didn't the last time but here's to crossing my fingers. I got some pot-friendly tomato types this year, cherry tomatoes, pomodoros and speckled romans and they are flourishing. In the pictures the plants are in 6 inch pots but I am going to transfer them to 12 inch pots or bigger once I get more soil.

From the left: Silver thyme, radicchio and spinach (experimental), bay plant, speckled roman tomato, ox heart tomato, basil.

My herbs are growing splendidly. Since the demise of my basil plant mid-last year, I've bought a new one and this time I am going to make sure it lasts me at least 2 years. I have been reading a lot on planting vegetables and herbs and I'm trying to get the best out of limited space I have in our apartment and so far so good. I have a bay leaf plant, it suppose to grow into a tree but it's stunted due to the pot it's in. Can't wait to plant it on a cut-off barrel. I'm learning as I go and it's been quite satisfying. Oh yea, I talk to my plants too...they grow better that way. :)

Has anyone tried growing their tomato plants upside down? It looks really pretty and curiously functional. I might try it.

The Matahari Rhymes with Calamari

2009-05-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

Matahari means sun, in Malay.

The beautiful weather affects my mood is a very positive manner. Like my growing pots of herbs, vegetables and tomatoes, I felt like reaching my arms high for the sky. So, I am celebrating the return of summer with a calamari dish marinated with a coat of paprika seasoning, sauteed with some good olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon to finish. I name it Matahari Calamari. I have never made this dish before, I only followed what I felt like eating, so began another kitchen experiment...

The recipe for this Matahari Calamari is very simple. The star ingredient is the squid, so get the freshest you possibly can.

1lb of fresh squid, cleaned
1 teaspoon of paprika powder
1 clove of garlic, minced finely into paste
a pinch of flour
1/4 teaspoon of dried oregano
a few scrapes of lemon zest
a pinch of dried chili flakes
salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
a handful of yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
fresh lemons wedges

Method:
1. Slice the squid into 1/2 inch thick rings.
2. Add the garlic, paprika powder, pinch of flour, oregano, dried chili flakes, lemon zest, salt and pepper into the squid rings and mix to combine. Let it sit for about 10 minutes.
3. Heat the pan until very hot and add the tomatoes. Saute for a few minutes before adding the marinated squid. You want to have small brown bits crisping up along the sides of the squid when it is cooked so keep sauteing and tossing until the squid is cooked through and the tentacles curled with crispy bits.

I don't like overcooking my squids. When cooking with squid there is a point where the squid becomes toughen and only more cooking time will soften them again, so it's best to not overcook. I like to cook my squid for no more than 5 minutes, so that they are soft and chewy but not rubber ducky chewy.

4. Serve with a generous dousing of lemon juice.

The Matahari Calamari is so yummy with the lemon juice, you feel like you're sitting under the sun eating this delicious squid you could swear that you could taste the sea breeze in your mouth. But that's what buying extremely fresh seafood does to anyone ;)

Peas and Broccoli Rabe Risotto

2009-04-23T18:51:00.000-04:00

I was not been a big fan of risotto. My naivety in the past lead me to think that risotto is no different from rice porridge Chinese mothers cook for their sick child. What a bloody fool, I was. But no longer do I feel that way about this precious Italian home-style grub. It's simply the best comfort food in the world that can be cooked in so many ways.

My way is done with fresh peas and broccoli rabe. The burst of sweetness balanced by a mild green bitter flavor just MAKES this risotto. This is an absolutely ~~vegan~~ vegetarian meal...and I am no vegan, let alone vegetarian.

If you have tasted broccoli rabe, you would notice a slightly bitter green taste to the vegetable. It tastes very much like kailan or Chinese kale. When cooked, they become bittersweet and imparts a very deep and robust flavor to any dish. It was quite delightful paired with sweet peas.

It's important to not take shortcuts with risotto. It needs to be creamy and perfectly al dente in each grain of rice. That means you must lovingly stir the pot for 30 minutes until the rice becomes a creamy risotto - no cheating with adding any cream. And please use arborio rice for this recipe, normal rice just would not do.

Peas and Broccoli Rabe Risotto
serves 2-3 persons

1 cup of arborio rice
2 cups of vegetable broth, more if needed
1 cup of white wine
2 shallots, minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of peas, frozen is fine
1 cup of chopped up broccoli rabe, reserve the chopped up stalks because you're going to use that first
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 cup of grated parmesan,
salt and freshly cracked pepper

Method:

1. In a medium size pot, heat olive oil, garlic and shallots together and saute them until the shallots become translucent.
2. Add in your arborio rice and saute the rice with the garlic and shallots for about 3 minutes.
3. Now add in your chopped up broccoli rabe stalks in to cook with the rice, season with a pinch of salt. Add the white wine in and stir to make sure that no rice sticks at the bottom.

There is nothing fancy with risotto, just a lot of stirring and making sure that the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pan. And this is what we will be doing in the next steps.

4. Stir in the vegetable broth bit by bit into the rice until it is all used up. Continue stirring as you cook the rice for another 15 minutes. As time goes by, you'll find that the risotto becomes thicker and creamier but each grain of rice are still nicely holding their shape. In fact, you will notice that the outer layer of the rice is becoming more translucent with a white bit in its center grain. Continue to stir frequently, it is imperative.

5. After 15 minutes of constant stirring, add the remaining broccoli rabe in and resume stirring. Add a bit of broth if you find that your risotto is too thick. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes more, don't forget to stir.

6. Add your peas in and cooked for a few more minutes. Take it off heat, and add your parmesan cheese in. Mix well and season with a bit of freshly cracked black pepper and salt.

Before serving, drizzle a little bit of good quality extra virgin olive oil over the risotto for a nice finishing.

Seat back and admire that little plate of creamy, rich risotto that smells irresistibly out of this world.

My shrooms' post got an award

2009-04-22T01:17:00.000-04:00

My first award ever!

I am extremely honored by this award.

Thank you Jessi of Mushroom Council for awarding me Mushroom Recipe of the Week! The aforementioned recipe was for my Marinated Mushrooms with Balsamic Vinegar and Shallots post and it will be featured The Mushroom Channel blog for the world to see.

Do check out the Mushroom Council's website for an extensive collection of recipes and tips on how to cook, use and ignite your passion for this delicious fungus family.

Quick Chicken and Scallop Carbonara

2009-04-18T18:05:00.000-04:00

I came back feeling famished. I wanted to slurp something quick and filling because I skipped breakfast that day. Pasta is in order, but with tomato sauce? I felt like something creamy so I decided to make myself a fettuccine carbonara with some chicken and scallop (and a handful of peas and spinach for color!)

Who said you have to eat bad when you're in a hurry?

I need to give Nigella a kiss for creating the shortcut way to carbonara. It's as easy as 1 egg and 1/4 cup of milk for that creamy sauce that spares none of the flavor. Usually, carbonara calls for bacon fat and bacon bits to flavor the sauce but because I did not have any at hand at the time I decided to use chicken and scallops (they were frozen but nothing like a quick zap in the oven won't help).

So here's what you need to make a quick carbonara pasta for two, even though one greedy person could probably finish this up in no time!

Chicken and Scallop Carbonara

150gram of chicken breast, cubed
50 grams of frozen baby scallops, defrosted (if you're using large scallops, I would suggest you don't waste it on this dish)
1 sundried tomato, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 shallot, chopped
a handful of frozen peas
3 cubes of frozen spinach
1 tbsp of olive oil
1/4 cup of milk
3-5 tablespoon pasta water
1 tablespoon of grated parmesan (I used padano, but you can go ahead and use reggiano or romano if you like)
1 large egg
Salt & Pepper to taste

Pasta
1 bundle of fettuccine (about a quarter diameter of a bundle
1 pot of boiling water, salted well

Method:

1. Cook your pasta in water that in a rolling boil. Make sure you salt the water well, I suggest 1 heaping teaspoon for every liter of water. While your pasta is cooking, you can start cooking your sauce.

2. In a hot pan, heat up your olive oil and toss in your shallot, garlic and sundried tomato. Toss to combine and saute. Once you smell the garlic, put in your chicken pieces and saute until chicken is cooked through. Season with some salt and pepper. Let it sit on the pan to brown the sides a little bit.

Give your fettuccine a stir to see how it's doing.

3. Go back to your pan and saute the chicken pieces a bit more, add your baby scallops in and saute the pan again. Add your frozen spinach in and scoop a few tablespoon of your hot pasta water into the pan. Cook until the spinach is wilted and water dissipates from the pan.

Check your pasta, it should be almost done. Take 1 strand of fettuccine and test it by eating. It should not taste floury at all. If it's one, scoop the pasta out of the pot and into the pan.

4. Now that your pasta is in the pan, toss the pasta with the other ingredients for a quick saute. Throw in your frozen peas and saute the pan again. Season with some salt and pepper, add pasta water and milk in. Let the pan come to a simmer.

5. Once the pan is heated and starting to simmer, add your parmesan in and crack the egg into the pan. Now, you have to work very quickly - stir the pasta as soon as the egg touches the pan and lift the pan off the heat. The heat in the pan should be enough to cook the egg and milk through into a creamy sauce. If you think it's not quite done, put the pan over the stove again and let it heat a bit more, while stirring vigorously.

Do not over-cook, you don't want a scrambled egg carbonara.

Once the sauce has reached an off white creamy consistency, your pasta carbonara is done. Serve it hot!

Marinated Mushrooms with Balsamic Vinegar and Shallots

2009-04-12T23:50:00.000-04:00

Store this in a sterilized mason jar and keep it in your fridge for an indefinite period of time. Top it on crusty bread and toasts, top it on fish and chicken or steak -- it is delicious! Marinated mushrooms with balsamic vinegar and shallots is the best all-in-one condiment/side dish that goes well with almost anything. Make A LOT if you want it to last. My 2-lbs of marinated mushroom barely lasted 9 days.

And it does not need to cost you a bomb... Would you believe me if I told you I made this recipe with less than $5?

I bought white button mushrooms at the 99cent basket at my grocery store. Sure, the mushrooms may look less than pretty with plenty of bruises and spots - but they were not rotten. They were just basically too bruised for consumers to want to pay premium price for them. And for this recipe you do not need pretty looking mushrooms. In fact, if you had used perfectly nice button mushrooms, you would not be able to tell the difference if it was cooked with bruised mushrooms. So 99cents x 3 for 2-lb's worth of mushrooms, $1 for 5 shallots (and I only used 3) and balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar that's already in my pantry costs $0 and the grand total for this recipe is $3.97. So enough convincing, let's grease it up.

Marinate Mushrooms with Balsamic Vinegar and Shallots
2-lb of white button mushrooms, cleaned with a damp cloth.
3 shallots, diced finely
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of pepper, more or less
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Prepare your mushrooms by slicing them width-wise simply. They do not need to be too thin, maybe about 1/2cm thick or so.

2. Heat pan on medium-high heat until oil is hot - I would suggest cooking your mushrooms in portions so it cooks evenly and not steam. Toss in your mushrooms, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and saute until the mushroom is completely wilted and slightly browned around the edges.

The key to this recipe is indeed in the method of preparation. Mushrooms contain a lot of moisture, which is one reason why they bruise easily. You need to get rid of the water in the mushroom by sauteing them for this recipe to work. And to do that effectively, do not overcrowd your pan. Cook your mushroom in batches - it is a little tedious but well worth it -- and your arms will thank you too.

3. Once your mushrooms are sauteed well, you will notice that they have reduced from a mountainous pile of mushroom slices into a modest, and delicious, looking mound. Add the shallots in and toss them together with a pinch more salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Give the mushrooms a few more toss before adding the sugar in.

4. Now it is time to add the balsamic vinegar in. Make sure your pan is still hot when you add your vinegar it. It has to sizzle and sputter. Pour the vinegar around the pan so that it will evaporate excess water as the vinegar flows to the middle of the pan; instant caramelization! Toss your mushrooms and vinegar concoction again and let them cook for another 2-3minutes.

They are ready....

They are delightful when eaten hot, warm and cold - on bread, crackers, chicken, fish and steak. These marinated mushrooms is really cool, easy-going, and yummy. It's almost like you're dating a surfer dude where anything goes and still sparks-a-flyin'. I'd recommend this to any first timer.

;)

That Ultimate Crispy Basil Butter Breadcrumb Salmon

2009-04-10T02:12:00.000-04:00

This is a Tyler Florence inspired recipe that I made for a dinner reception for 6! In my opinion, when you are having guests over for dinner, seafood is the best option for a main dish simply because it's fast and easy to cook. Salmon is such a forgiving fish; top it with a basil butter breadcrumb for that extra crisp, this is a meal that 1) won't screw up, 2) guarantees impressiveness and 3) pleases the crowd.

The recipe is even simpler, you can do most of the prep ahead of time....

Crispy Basil Butter Breadcrumb Salmon

1/4 cup Basil Butter + 1/4 cup for stuffing (recipe for basil butter compound below)
5 slices of stale bread, cut away the brown parts
6 x 4oz of salmon; in my case a slab of salmon fillet, cleaned and descaled that weighed around 700grams give or take
salt
pepper
lemon wedges, for a quick drizzle before serving

Method:
Preheat your oven to 500 F. You want your oven to be extremely hot when you put your fish in. Also, prepare a oven pan to cook your salmon on, nicely oil.

1. First, we will ready the basil butter breadcrumb that promises that ultimate crispiness. What you need is a food processor; tear the bread into smaller pieces and then blitz until they become crumbs.

2. Once that is done, add your compound butter in and blitz a the bread and butter a few time until they are well combined. You should have a golden crumb that is speckled green. Now set that aside and prepare your fish for application!

You can make the basil butter breadcrumb a day in advance as well, keep it in the fridge.

3. Your slab of salmon should be free from scales and bones. Put the salmon on cutting board and do diagonal slits vertically on the salmon, skin side, just half way through. You will be stuffing some basil butter along those slits after. Do make sure that your salmon is absolutely dry, the paper towel is your best friend for the next step to work.

You can ask your fish counter to help you clean your salmon or you can do so yourself; though it's not really recommended. Imagine fish scales flying all over the place, and yes, they do get in your hair. So, get the kind man or woman behind the fish counter to do it for you.

4. Once the slit is done, season with some salt and pepper. Use a spatula and scoop a goop of softened compound butter. Smear the butter against the slits first to get the butter within those pockets. After that take another scoop of butter and smear the butter along the slits to close them up. You will have a nicely buttered up salmon.

You can make this the night before, or the same morning. Keep the fish in the fridge until 1 hour before cooking time. The compound butter infuses it's basil flavor into the fish; it is just absolutely amazingly moist, tender and flaky - you will never thought fish could taste this good!

5. Now, that your salmon is all buttered up, it is the perfect vehicle for carrying the basil butter breadcrumb. Top the salmon with a layer of basil butter breadcrumbs and then shift the fish, carefully, to an oven pan that's been lightly oiled. Cook for 15 minutes, take the fish out of the oven and let it sit, cover with aluminum foil, for 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with some lemon juice and lick your forks clean.

I promise you that is perhaps the best salmon dish you would have ever tasted. The texture of the salmon is silky, moist and juicy with taste that has a nice hint of basil and lemon that melts in your mouth. It WILL convert none fish-loving people into a fish-lover. True story.

Basil Butter Compound
you can make this in advance

3 cups of fresh basil leaves
1 lb unsalted butter
juice from 1/2 lemon
pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Method:
Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until well combined. It's A LOT of butter so keep unused butter wrapped in a foil in the freezer. This basil compound butter is excellent on toast, fish, chicken and even to melt on steaks.

Soothing Vanilla and Cardamom Flan

2009-03-29T01:48:00.000-04:00

I love the combination of vanilla and cardamom. It reminds me of a gentle chai-flavor that soothes even the most unruly nerves. Real vanilla beans are an incredible spice. It has a very ethereal flavor that smooths out and blends with other spices and yet it does not lose its own identity. I could eat this flan everyday because it is just so delicious and not too sweet...

These days, I have been extremely busy. Busy with a new food-related project (I can't wait to share it with you guys!) and busy with life in general. I just wish it would be more fun, hopefully when the weather clears and summer arrives I will be able to go for another vacation! For now, it will have to make-do with something flan-tastic like this vanilla and cardamom scented flan.

It is very easy to do, as are most of my attempts at making sweet things. Here's what you need:

Vanilla and Cardamom Flan

1 Vanilla bean, seeds scraped and pods reserved
8 cardamom seeds, de-shelled and grind into a powder
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
2 tablespoon sugar
3 egg yolks
1 egg
a very small pinch of kosher salt

Caramel:
1/4 cup sugar

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 350F.

1. Pour your milk and cream into a sauce pan. Stir to combine them well and throw in your cardamom powder, vanilla seeds and pods. Heat the milk and cream until it is *almost* boiling and let it steep for 15 minutes. It is important that you do not boil the dairy.

2. While the milk and cream is steeping with the vanilla and cardamom, oil 4 ramekins with some butter. Set them on a roasting pan-filled a 1/4 way up with hot water. Set them aside.

3. Combine your egg yolks and whole egg in a mixing bowl and whisk until they are well incorporated.

4. After 15 minutes, start pouring 1/4 of the milk/cream mixture into the eggs for tempering. Whisk well as your pour. Do remember to remove your vanilla pods before that. You could run the mixture through a sieve for that extra velvety texture when it sets, but I just could not be bothered - this is suppose to be a soothing dessert, not a cumbersome one, and it tastes just well. :) Now, pour the rest of the milk/cream into the eggs and whisk to combine well. Set your flan mixture aside, while you make your caramel sauce.

5. On a pan, heat sugar on medium heat until it starts to melt. Once it reaches a light amber color, turn off the heat and pour the caramel into the ramekins to cover the bottom. They should start to set rather quickly.

6. Pour the flan mixture over the caramel until it reaches 3/4 full in the ramekin.

7. Bake for 30-35 minutes in the oven. Once it's ready, loosen the flan and flip it over a plate and serve it piping hot... or cold, for that matter. It is delightful both ways

The very Quick Pasta Primavera

2009-03-24T20:29:00.000-04:00

Can you feel it? Can you feel that warmness in the air? That wet smell of melting ice, all the other things that unfreezes with it after months of winter cold never fails to bring out the joy in me. My pasta primavera is all about spring cleaning the fridge. I have a few bits of vegetables here and there that needed to be used so here goes.

This pasta primavera is extremely easy and is as easy as 1-2-3. You can use fresh mushrooms, spinach or even green peas but I used these vegetables because it was what I had in my fridge. I promise you this pasta recipe is quite effortless. You can start chopping your veggies while you wait for your pot of water to boil and your pasta is cooked. It's a time saving meal that is food of goodness and good for you.

Of course, if you have some bacon in the fridge, it doesn't hurt to pop that into the microwave for 4-5 minutes. When it's brittle, crumble the bacon bits over the top of your pasta and that does wonders.

Pasta Primavera ala Spring Cleaning @ No. 348
1 lb dried spaghettini
1 large ripe tomatoes, diced into big chunks
3/4 zucchini, diced
1 cup of diced green beans/string beans
3 sundried tomatoes, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 cup of shaved Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Boil a big pot of water heavily salted. When it comes to a rolling boil, add your spaghettini in to cook for 7 minutes and no more.
2. In the mean time, in a large bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients in well and heat it in the microwave for 2 minutes on high.
3. Once your pasta is cooked, add about 1/4 cup of pasta water into the bowl of vegetables and add the rest of the pasta in piping hot. Stir to mix well and serve hot!

This pasta is also very good to eat in room temperature. As I said, it is as easy as 1-2-3. See, that did not take much effort at all, did it? :)

Nuts about Natto, you?

2009-03-22T20:55:00.001-04:00

Recently, I started to develop a liking to certain sticky, off-smelling Japanese condiment. It started in Malaysia. Natto, is definitely not for big babies. The stickiness is enough to send any 200lb adult cringing and grappling for the exit.

There was the initial uncertainty as I swirled the bowl of Natto with my chopsticks. I had just finished an incredible Japanese meal at Shun. It's modestly decorated, but every bit traditional, Japanese restaurant nearby my Malaysian home in Subang Jaya. On usual days, Shun is a regular haunt for Japanese businessmen. They would sit in a line at the counter drinking their name-tagged sake. If the restaurant has a steady Japanese clientele, you know you're in for something good. But that's another story for another day.

As I was stirring my natto with my chopsticks, I realized in wonder that it gets even more viscous. It's stickiness drags in long stringy trails as I bring the soy-natto concoction to my mouth. It is not my first time eating Natto but this time around, I found that I actually enjoyed the taste of these fermented soybeans. Soy sauce gave it a nice flavor I can definitely start a craving for, and I do.

Time to stock up on some natto!

Chocolate Chip Mint Cupcakes with Minty Cream Frosting

2009-03-17T23:25:00.000-04:00

Mint is my favorite flavor. I think it goes very well with cream base desserts, which is why I would always pick mint on chocolate, milkshake, ice cream, booze and cakes. Mint always reminds me of my younger days chewing compulsively, deliciously on a Wrigley's gum or two. It was *the* gum then.

Sometimes we all need a reminder of something happy, something carefree and something deliciously innocent. On days like these, and I means days like when you feel like butter spread over too much bread, I like to make/bake food that reminds me of happier and carefree days.

Mint is my favorite flavor. Chocolate is my vice. I decided to make chocolate mint cupcake for tea, which turned out very nice.

Please use good mint extract for this recipe because it's worth every bit of it.

Chocolate mint Cupcakes with Minty Cream Frosting
1.5 Cups of Minty Cream Frosting (recipe to follow)
1.5 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 teaspoon mint extract
1/2 cup chocolate chip
1/2 cup of milk

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 350F or 180C.
1. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda together in a bowl. Set aside for later.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy and add the eggs, one at a time.
3. Alternately, add the flour and milk and mix well -- half way through the flour and milk, add your chocolate chips, vanilla extract and mint extract in. Combine well and continue mixing flour and milk until it is all used up.
4. Spoon the cake mixture into cupcake mould, three quarter way full.
5. Bake in the oven for 23 minutes. Let it cool completely before spreading your fresh cream frosting on with the back of your spoon and sprinkle with some colorful sprinkles, if you wish.

Mint Cream Frosting
1 cup of cooking cream
1/2 teaspoon of mint extract
3 drops of green food coloring (0ptional)
1/4 cup of powdered sugar

Method:
Combine the cream, mint extract, food coloring and powdered sugar together and whip until it creates stiff peaks. Spread over cupcakes.

This cupcake is a real pick-me-upper so do yourself a favor, have a minty cuppy cupcake ;)

P.S. Now I know the frosting is not green enough but that's my bit for St. Patrick's Day. Cheers, with Guinness and pot pies!

Vanilla Extract: Part Deux

2009-03-14T18:45:00.000-04:00

Here's my vanilla extract at 3 months old as compared to 36hours old. The color of the extract is significantly darker but with a hint of amber. It smells incredible. The harsh alcohol smell has mellowed down and is replaced by a sweet, steady aroma of the vanilla. Even so, at 3months, it is nothing more than vanilla flavored alcohol. It needs at least 6 months before the extraction process is complete. Although 1 year is preferable too.

On the left is the extract at 6 months, on the right is the extract at 36hours.

I can't wait until the 6th of June, when it's 6 months old. But it does not stop me from stealing a few drops here and there! By the way, vanilla extracts get better with time too. They turn into this deep, rich and full bodied liquid that only time can give. I think, this is my most prized possession in the pantry right now :)

A heartwarming bowl of Prawn Mee

2009-03-04T06:40:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite comfort food is Prawn Mee (or Hokkien Mee to Penangites) in Malaysia. While my mother's Pan Mee still top my list but a piping hot bowl of Hokkien Mee comes to a close second. It makes it even better when the Hokkien Mee is prepared by my mom on a rainy day.

When it's raining outside, as it has been for a week and a half in Malaysia, outdoor activities takes a rain check while indoors becomes a perfect brewing pot for interesting conversations. Imagine slurping noodles swimming in an intensely flavored broth made from pork bones, shrimps and spices, while talking about ...everything and nothing at all. :)

I need to ask mom for her recipe. Staring at that picture is just making me hungry all over again!

Easiest Tiramisu Recipe

2009-02-26T04:23:00.000-05:00

If you have been a long time reader of my blog, you will realize that I prefer making savory foods than sweet foods. I prefer cooking than baking or making desserts because I am not exactly a big fan of desserts or anything sweet...and I feel that the precision needed to make desserts to be a tad too tiresome. So the desserts I make are usually easy and good to eat - just like this Tiramisu.

There is no baking involved, which is an added appeal, only lots of whisking. I did not add any other flavoring except for vanilla extract and coffee. Surprisingly, after letting it set for a day in the fridge, the tiramisu tasted rather chocolaty with a coffee overtone. It was quite delightful!

While the tiramisu was delightful, I have to admit that I cheated. I could not find mascarpone in the supermarkets here in Malaysia where I live, and I did not want to drive downtown for a tub of cheese. Staying true to the simplistic nature of this recipe, I got Philadelphia cheese. But because it's got a heavier texture than mascarpone, i've added egg whites into the mix to lighten it up - and it worked!

Easiest Tiramisu Recipe

2 blocks of Philadephia cheese, soften
3 eggs, separate the yolks and whites
2/3 cup granulated sugar
200ml strong coffee (3 teaspoon instant coffee + 3 teaspoon sugar)
26 lady finger biscuits
2 tablespoon cocoa powder for dusting
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:
1. Cream the cheese and sugar until light and fluffy with a hand whisk in a large bowl. Add the eggs yolks in one at a time and mix well each time.

2. Now you can start beating the egg whites until they reach stiff peaks in another bowl. Make sure your whisk is clean and do not have a drop of oil all or your whites won't rise.

3. Next you want to fold the egg whites into the cheese mixture but first do a little tempering by mixing 1/4 of the egg whites into the cheese mixture first. This will aid the folding process. Once that is done, add the remaining egg whites into the cheese mixture and gently fold them together. Do not over mix.

4. In an 8x8 inch bakeware, dip each of the lady fingers into the coffee mixture and line the base of the bakeware. And then layer the ladies finger with the cheese mixture. Continue with another layer of coffee dipped lady fingers and layer it again with the cheese mixture. You should end with a layer of cheese mixture on the top.

5. Dust with cocoa powder and let it set in the fridge for at least 6 hours before serving.

But greedy me, i couldn't wait after 3 hours of setting to have a taste so my slice looks a little droopy. My next slice was eaten on the next day, and boy was I floored by the flavor. A little bit of time goes a long way in making a huge difference in the Tiramisu's texture and taste. Time allowed the cheese and coffee to marry into a perfect harmony. Oh, I love how it tastes more chocolatey than coffee! :)

This blog has hit 100,000 + visitors

2009-02-26T04:12:00.000-05:00

OMG, at the risk of sounding like a young nubile, easily excitable schoolgirl fresh out of highschool with lu-lus, I am happy to say that my blog has crossed it's 6 figure mark in unique visitors! I didn't even realize it till just now but it's true!

*does a little dance*

The Fantastic Pork Roast Dinner

2009-02-18T15:22:00.000-05:00

This recipe is every reason, every household should have an oven. This simple and fantastic pork roast dinner is quite effortless and not very time consuming at all. Preparation takes about 30 minutes and then the rest is finished off in the oven 2 hours (1.5hrs + 30 minutes of resting time) before serving time. I would call this the perfect dinner party meal where the host(ess) can play perfect host without fiddling back and forth the kitchen. I call this The Fantastic Pork Roast Dinner; because it's just superbly easy and a show stopper when you bring it to the table.

I made this for my dad's birthday along with some side dishes. You will realize a bit of a similarity with this dish to my Misto Roasto dish except that it is without quails or Cornish hens. The pork roast is lined with strips of bacon to keep it moist and flavorful, while the inside is spread with my spicy green pesto so that it perfumes and season the meat from inside out. I tossed in some chicken wings to roast too for a bit of variation on the plate.

So let's get on with the recipe.

For The Fantastic Pork Roast Dinner, you will need:
(this recipe feeds 8-10 people)

2kg of pork loin, divided into halves or into four parts and then butterflied (I cut my pork loin into four parts so it would fit my frying pan for browning.)
8 chicken wings (optional)
16 strips of bacon
2 large carrots, cut into chunks
7 cloves of garlic
2 onions, quartered
4 stalks of parsley, cut into chunks

To be blended:
8 shallots
1 bulb of garlic
1 cup of parsley leaves
3 slices of ginger
rind of 1 lemon
3 tbsp dried golden raisins
2 tbsp olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin powder
a pinch of cinnamon powder

Salt
Cracked black pepper
Butcher's string for tying
Olive oil for rubbing and browning

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 F/180 C.

1. Blend all the ingredients under the "to be blended" list until it forms a green aromatic paste. Set aside.
2. Butterfly your pork loin, you can ask the butcher to do it for you or you can do it yourself with a sharp knife at home.
3. Season the inside of the pork loins generously with salt and cracked black pepper. Divide the paste into four parts for each butterflied loin and spread a layer evenly on the inside of the meat. Roll it back up and tie it with a butcher's string, starting with the center of the meat and then on each end to hold the pork loin rolled up in place. Repeat for the rest of the butterflied pork loins.
4. Sprinkle salt, cracked black pepper and olive oil over the pork loins and rub gently with your finger. Now it's time to brown the pork loins on a hot pan to seal the meat and give it an extra layer of flavor.
5. Heat pan with some olive oil until very hot. Sear the pork loins for 1 minute on each side or until browned, set aside.
6. In a baking tray, toss the carrots, onions, garlic cloves and celery chunks in and toss with some salt, pepper and olive oil. Place the browned pork loins over the vegetables and cover each pork loin with 4 strips of bacon. Now you can keep this in the fridge until 2 hours before serving.
7. Roast the pork loin, along with the chicken wings if you are adding it, in the oven for 1.5 hours. When it is ready, let it rest for 20 minutes before serving.

To serve, take off the bacon bits and tear it into small pieces. Cut off the butcher's string and slice the pork loins into 0.5inch thick slices. Sprinkle the bacon bits over the top and with some chopped parsley.

I served my pork loins on a bed of cauliflower puree, which is just boiled cauliflower and a bit of water blended until smooth seasoned with 1 tsp of butter and salt. I did not add pepper into the puree because I wanted it to look white and speck-less. After arranging the pork roast over the bed of cauliflower puree, spoon the roasted vegetables and roast drippings over to glaze.

And there you have it, a fantastic pork roast dinner.

Make Mine Vanilla

2009-02-18T02:09:00.000-05:00

So, what's my resolution, albeit a little late, for A Series of Kitchen Experiments this year? Forget that you are looking at a bottle of 40% alcohol with some strange dark sediments for a moment, will you?! :P

I personally do not believe in making new resolutions on a yearly basis but I do believe in setting attainable goals.

One of those goals is to actually create my own small business with my line of homemade vanilla products.

I have been experimenting with different vanilla beans to create extracts, flavored sugars and syrups in my home. All have been successful attempts and they taste rather delicious. In fact, they are a staple in my pantry! I am currently talking to vanilla bean suppliers from all vanilla growing states of the world, and even the ones in Malaysia (yes, there are vanilla planters in Malaysia!) and researching the market. My aim is to make quality vanilla extracts and products for the foodies' soul! You know what they say, sharing is caring.

It is still a developing business plan and I will keep you abreast so stay tune. If I may, I would like to propose an advance engagement with you, dear readers and foodies, to try out my vanilla products before it hits the market. Please be my guinea pig! :)

I can't wait to finally get to picking a name for my products. Vanilla Ice does not cut it, I think. Don't worry, I already have a list of names at hand - some sounds a little kookie but hey, kookiness is needed for the creative juice to flow.

I am also getting bored with this blog's layout and I feel like it needs a little revamp to make up for it's lack of oomph.

Oh. Before I forget, I have extended my stay in Malaysia because we were having too much fun but it will not stop me from blogging (and ugh, working - all I need is my lappy), for sure. In fact, I have a fantastic pork roast and tiramisu recipe to share after this!

Pissed Drunk Ginger Prawns The Size of Your Palms

2009-02-06T08:33:00.000-05:00

This is one of the dishes served during our reunion dinner for CNY eve this year! I am proud to say that this dish was not prepared by me but by my dad who is quite a foodie himself. This is my dad's ginger prawns with Chinese Shiao Xing wine. The prawns were the size of my palms uncooked, I kid you not!

My dad went to the whole seller's market in the wee hours of the morning of CNY eve to get these prawns and they were sold for RM50/kg; 1kg yields approximately 15 shrimps so you can imagine the size of these mammoth crustaceans. I was quite impressed with them when my dad showed me his loot from the whole sale market. I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into them! And when I did, I was just in shrimpy heaven.

To cook them, my dad decided to let their natural flavors steal the show. And to lend a little helping hand, he only used some ginger, garlic and Shiao Xing wine to cook them with a bit of dried wolfberries/goji berries for color. The dish turned out reddish color in the end because some of the prawns' roe - it was divine. :)

Dad's Ginger Prawns with Chinese Wine
20 prawns
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of finely shredded ginger
1/4 cup of Chinese cooking wine (we use Shiao Xing)
1 tablespoon dried goji berries/wolfberries
a pinch of salt, pepper and sugar
1 tablespoon oil

Method:
1. Heat up the wok with 1 tbsp oil until it is really hot and do a quick saute on the prawns until it is half-cooked. This process takes less than 3 minutes in total and when it's done, put the prawns aside. The reason for this step is to give the prawns a little wok-hei before adding it into the ginger and wine mixture. You could also forgo this step but it does give another layer of complexity to the dish.

2. In the same wok, heat the remainder of the oil and saute the garlic, ginger and goji berries until fragrant. You need to work on very high heat and very quickly to avoid burning the garlic and ginger. Add the prawns back into the wok and season with a pinch of salt, pepper and sugar. Toss to saute the prawns for 3 minutes.

3. At the very end, add the Chinese cooking wine in by pouring it in swirls around the prawns. Add 3 tablespoons of water and cook on high heat for 1 minute and no more! If you overcook the Chinese wine, it will give a little bitter flavor to the dish. Serve it hot!

Two prawns was all it took to fill my tummy. I couldn't even finish my rice!

HAPPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

2009-01-26T22:25:00.000-05:00

I know this is not an Ox :P

This year of the Ox, A Series of Kitchen Experiments would like to wish you a happy and pr"ox"perous new year with many returns and luck! Don't let the global economic crisis get you down because there is still the good bountiful earth. Time to rethink how you can plant your own food instead of just relying on grocery stores for your produce. This year, for summer, I am going to think about planting my own tomatoes, runner beans and potatoes - AND create a root cellar(space) for storing gourds, roots and taters!

I am currently soaking up a lot of sunshine and getting a good tan in Malaysia. Things are great here, especially with the food. I have had nasi lemak, roti canai, banana leaf rice with a side of excellent fish, chicken and mutton cooked in veritable spices, yee sang, a 9-course vegetarian meal and many, many more!

Anyway,
Happy Chinese New Year
to all you Chinese foodies out there. May this year be a bountiful and hopeful one regardless of circumstances!

xoxo,
Elaine

ACK!

2009-01-08T08:32:00.000-05:00

Another week before I will land on my mother soil! I still need to do some shopping!

BTW guys, i have decided to get myself a Kitchenaid StandMixer. I want to solve this craving ONCE AND FOR ALL. But here's the catch, I got a Sunbeam Mixmaster Standmixer for Xmas that I am not too happy with. What good is a mixer that doesn't mix?

Will I be offending certain parties if I decide to sell that mixer to get my Kitchenaid, the one and only mixer I've always wanted but held back from buying because the series I want is $400++?

le sigh...

Family Recipe: English Sauce

2009-01-04T15:49:00.001-05:00

I have a very old recipe for English Sauce, otherwise commonly known as Worchestershire Sauce. It's strange, isn't it? It's strange that my family has a recipe for that and we are Chinese - Straits Chinese, I mean.

Since the British post-colonial war in Malaya different culinary cultures inter-mingling with one another is not uncommon, much less strange as it is a part of a daily meal. This sauce is best eaten with Enche Cabin fried chicken, a recipe I will post on this blog some day, as dipping sauce.

To show you how old this recipe is, I have a pictorial evidence of the recipe written haphazardly by my grandaunt, paternal-side, who is a pretty good cook. She's a very unique character; a feminist and a challenger of traditions as a young woman whose picture of her in a suit and tie brought cringes and sighs from the elders but chuckles today. Even so, her bold style did not deter her from the kitchen. Cooking has always been a skill she reluctantly takes credit for in a very love-hate manner. At 86, she's still as feisty as ever and her Sugee Cake is still pretty much sought after by our family. Anyway, she keeps her bunch of recipes in a biscuit tin circa 1950s in pieces of paper, written in blue, black and sometimes red ink.

The recipe uses mixture of old Southeast Asian Chinese measurements and since some words were written in how she would understand an ingredient, I will do some translation for you.

1 tahil = 37.799 grams
1 kati /catty = 500grams/1.1lb

To be grounded into a fine powder (use coffee grinder or buy these in powder form in your local supermarkets):

5 nutmegs
5 star anise
20 cloves
3 inches cinnamon sticks

I asked my grandaunt what 1 bottle meant, she said it's equivalent to the coca-cola bottles in "those days". Those days, my grandparents would order crates of soft drinks to store in the old house and the bottles all looked like these:Each of these bottles carry 240ml of liquid weight.

So to continue with our English sauce recipe, it's 240ml of water and 240ml of rice vinegar.

1 small tin of Colman's mustard powder: The smallest tin I can find was 4oz. My grandaunt did not tell me how small was small unfortunately but this is for a very large amount of English Sauce. So 4oz (1/2 cup) seems like a reasonable amount.

1 bottle of soy sauce - 240ml. I know it was written as white sauce but it's actually light soy sauce; direct translations don't always come out right.

500grams of sugar and..

this is where I think a self-supervised adjustment needs to be made. Two catties of black pepper do not sound right because that's 1kg of black pepper powder. We're not making gun powder here and upon asking my grandaunt, she admittedly said that we would need to adjust the pepper to our taste. So start with 1/4 cup worth and then add a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right bitiness.

When all these ingredients are ready, just mixed them in together well. Be careful when you add the mustard powder in though. It's like an atom bomb to the nostrils.

I've yet to try this recipe for myself but I will one day. I thought I should share first. :)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2008-12-22T08:12:00.000-05:00

Dear Readers,

With the way things are going, I can only wish that the day has more than 24 hours! So, I've decided to take a short hiatus from posting after the Vanilla Extract post and come back with more goodies for you. I will exponentially write more about my vanilla extract and perhaps cover more about the type of beans used, etc. I have always been very interested in making my own food and seasoning, I think I might have found a serious hobby besides cooking :)

So, A Series of Kitchen Experiments wishes you:

xoxo

Making your own vanilla extracts

2008-12-21T13:59:00.001-05:00

36 hours old

Vanilla is one of my recently acquired, favorite flavors. Ever since I discovered whole vanilla pods and use them in a variety of my baking and cooking, I have no regards for store bought vanilla essences or extract. It may seem pompous that I am making a bold statement such as this but I have no intention of discrediting any company that makes these vanilla extracts. I do think some pure vanilla extracts are very good products. I just think fake, imitation vanilla does not come close to the real deal. And, the real deal does not come cheap.

You can make your own vanilla extract at home and I promise you that is it extremely simple. I cannot stress that more. It's been 36 hours since I steeped my own vanilla extract and it looks and smells heavenly! So I urge you to try making your own bottle of vanilla extract at home as one 375ml bottle can and will last you years because it is more potent than the imitation. As for cost, let's just say the cost of one 125ml bottle of pure vanilla extract can buy enough pods to make 2-3bottles 375ml of vanilla essence. So, you can do the math.

To make vanilla extract you will need only two ingredients and some patience. Technically, the extraction process will take 6 months but you can start using the extract at 4 weeks.

Vanilla extract recipe:
1.5 cup of vodka (you should use a clear alcohol that is relatively flavorless and must be between 35% - 40% alcohol level)
8 vanilla pods, seeds scraped and pods cut into 1 inch pieces

Method:
Put the vanilla pod pieces and seeds into the bottle of vodka and shake. Let it sit in a cool, dark place. Shake daily for the first week, and then 2-3 times on the second week onwards. After 6 months, sieve the content.

You can either discard the vanilla pods and precipitations or you can dry it out on a few layers of kitchen towels and mix it with your sugar to make vanilla sugar. As you can see, the vanilla pods can really stretch its uses and it is very worth your while.

I used Absolute Vodka but you can go ahead and use any vodka brand you please.

Like wine, vanilla extract will mature over the years giving you a rounder and deeper flavor as time goes by. And because it is steeped in 40% alcohol, it will last forever and will never go bad. However, after 6 months of steeping I suggest straining the vanilla essence to rid the pods and seeds. The extract will continue maturing after as well.

Christmas Shopping Fumbling Frenzy

2008-12-16T08:06:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you but I'm done with shopping in mortar and brick stores. I am ALL for online shopping these days, especially during this festive season. Why? There are plenty of pros when it comes shopping online and one of them is that you can shop at your own leisurely time! Another pro would be that you don't have to cram in like a pack a sardines with schools of people shuffling around a store. Some people just like standing in the way, be it to scratch their chin or stare at stuff or look for their wallets.

I will be back in Malaysia in mid-Jan to mid-Feb next visiting my parents, visiting friends and relatives. The "talk" sounds pretty daunting isn't it? But it's not as daunting as the shopping list I have for gifts to bring back home!

I need to look for wakame slices for my mom, 2lb of Schwartz's smoked meat, some ice wines/ciders, maple syrups and the list goes on... fingers crossed on my luggage for not being overweight once I am done. I still want to go shopping for boxing day and in January 09 before l leave. Apparently with the economy in depression, things are foretold to be a lot cheaper to lure consumers.

Hmmm :)