Saturday, December 19, 2009

Challenge and Adventure: Fruit Tarts



Your other poster, Helen, decided that she want fruit tarts because the kids in Harry Potter were eating tarts. So she presented to me a challenge to make some tarts. Any kind of tart. I don't know anything about tarts. I consulted my friends for ideas. I found an apple tartelette recipe with ricotta cheese and no crust. However, Brendan, decided that it was too easy and he challenged me to make "traditional tarts" with crust. I'm afraid of crust. Very afraid. However, I accepted the challenge because, the hell with it, the worst that could happen is a batch of terrible tarts in the trash. Because my sister loves raspberries, I decided to make berry tarts. So this one is for you: Helen, Brendan, Baotran.

The making of this dessert also included an adventure for me. Please bear with me...

Monday, December 14, 2009

Shaking Beef & Garlic Noodles


Yes, I noticed that this is supposed to be an "International Food Adventure Blog," but I just can't seem to get out of Southeast Asia.

Whenever I hear "Shaking Beef," I always imagine a really cold cow shivering... inside my apartment (because it's really cold!). Anyhow, I decided to make some "famous" dishes from some restaurants: Shaking Beef from The Slanted Door and PF Changs' Garlic Noodles. For those who have not heard of The Slanted Door, it's a local San Francisco Restaurant (a kin to Out the Door).

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Molasses Cookies



It has been rainy, windy, chilly, and everything winter-y lately. The chipotle shrimps and Mexican rice are going need some help to combat this cold dampness. In addition, my friend said that we don't have any dessert on this blog. So, this one is for you, Nur, something sweet rather than savory.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Chipotle Shrimps and Mexican Rice



They lied about global warming because it's freaking cold! Why is it that San Francisco temperature dips down into the 30's?!? The thirties!!! I decided to make something spicy and south of the border to help me cope with this cold front. What says spicy and warm better than some chipotle shrimps and Mexican rice?

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Thai Pad See Ew



Pad See Ew is one of my favorite Thai dishes. Move aside Pad Thai, you're over-rated! This is one of my more complicated dishes, with exotic ingredients that you will have to venture into an Asian supermarket for. Epps! Scary!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Sweet Potato Gnocchi



I realized that gnocchi is not something that people make from scratch normally for dinner. It's like me trying to make egg noodle from scratch just for one dinner. But, sweet potatoes were on sale and then I read the recipes and it sounded easy enough: sweet potatoes, flour, salt, and pepper. That didn't sound like a lot.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Baked Scallops

Garlic Shrimp Curry


Baked Scallops


Mixed Green Salad


Thursday, December 3, 2009

Simple Chicken Salad



So I don't know about you, but most place's chicken salad is very goopy and tastes only like mayonnaise - or perhaps I should hang out at better delis. Today I decided to do my own (lighter) take on the very simple chicken salad.


Thursday, November 26, 2009

Chez Pim's Roast Chicken



Can't you tell already that I like to peruse food blogs? This dish is a result of hours and hours of reading through more than 60 food blogs. I know, I know, I'm crazy sometimes. Pim from Chez Pim is living my dream life. Travelling all around, meeting all sorts of people (mostly awesome people), and eating extraordinary food. Who can say no to that?

Recently, Pim posted this roast chicken recipe which she learned from her friend, Laurent. One look at it and I decided that I had to make it!

Elise's Onion Potato Gratin



Since I have only had potato gratin once before in my life, I'd like to try out different variations of this dish to familiarize myself with it. Last week, it was Kay's potato gratin with bacons. I want to try to make a vegetarian potato gratin, so Elise's onion potato gratin fits the bill.

If you don't know who Elise is, you need to go her food blog Simple Recipes ASAP!. Not only the recipes are wonderful and super easy to make, most of them are family recipes.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Kay's Potato Gratin



I've been following Kay's cooking blog for a while now. This potato gratin recipe is the first one that I have decided to try to make after so many days of oogling at Kay's drool-worthy food photos and recipes. You can find the original recipe for this dish here and then follow my adventure in making it below.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Weekend Misadventure

For weekday culinary activities, we do not want or have time for lengthy recipes or experiments. However, for the weekend, the lab is wide open for all sorts of culinary adventures.

This week, my culinary adventures led me to make apple chutney. So I peeled,



sliced,



and diced apples.



Then I chopped onions and gingers...



...and added the necessary spices and sugar.



I even went and found a bottle of red wine vinegar for the purpose.



Then everything went on the stove to boil and simmer. It was going great for a while and then...I smelled something odd. That "odd" smell turned into a "burnt" smell the closer I approach the stove. Well, whaddaya know? I went and doggoned burnt my apple chutney. The sugar has become bitter caramel and stuck to the pot. Therefore, I have no recipe for you. I'm sorry. If you still want to make some awesome apple chutney for your next roast pork meal, please go see Elise at Simply Recipes. (Hint: click on the words "Simply Recipes")

What about you? What sort of culinary misadventures you've recently been through? Please share!

Jap Chae



Back in college (it feels so weird saying this because some times I still think that I'm in school), my friends and I would always go to Steve's Korean Barbecue for some bi bim bap or jap chae (also spell chap chae). Steve's Korean Barbecue means a huge plate of rice, vegetables, kim chi, and a mean pile o' meat! Well, unless you get the vegetarian bi bim bap, then there's no mean pile o' meat. After moving away from school for a few years, I was craving for some jap chae a.k.a. Korean glass noodles with beef, but I was too lazy to deal with the lack of parkings and seas of pedestrians near Steve's. So I decide to make my own jap chae! Hah! Let me confess this, I failed miserably the first time around. Like epic fail. The noodles came out too dry, the shiitakes too chewy, the beef was tough, basically the whole thing was a mess. Since the downfall of the first try, I hit the books and studied the art of making jap chae and this time, it was a success! Wanna know how I did it?

Monday, November 9, 2009

Baked Apples



It's November. In northern California, the temperature is starting to drop into the 60's and the 50's at night. For the tough folks out there, it doesn't mean much. But for a girl originally from the tropics, it's darn right cold.

Fall means...

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Baked Chicken with Potatoes and Brussel Sprouts



I thought of how to cook this dish all on my own. I said "Baked chicken, pshaw, I don't need a recipe for that, I'm too hip!" And for once in my life, it turned out that I am able to create a dish without a recipe that did not turn out to be a disaster. However, I'm sure during my years of eating and perusing through recipes, I probably have came across this type of baked chicken before. So, I'd like to say that this recipe was inspired by all of those other baked chicken recipes in the world! I love being inspired.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Roasted Portabello Salad


Sorry for the lack of postings, but I was such a clutz and forgot the camera USB cable at my parents' house. Therefore, no photos can be transferred from the camera to the computer.

I made this salad after I finished the Nike's Women Half Marathon while my body was uber sore and I was limping everywhere. Basically, I was house-ridden, I couldn't go anywhere for lunch so the matter of going grocery shopping was also out of the question. But I was starving. What a girl to do? A girl is to raid her fridge and eat whatever she could find, of course, and she found:

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Eggplant Parmesan















Eggplant Parmesan


1 Italian Eggplant
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 clove garlic
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp rosemary
1 26 oz can marinara sauce
1 3-4 oz can of sliced olives
1/2 bell pepper, sliced
1 stock of green onion, chopped


I love eggplant. I think it's my inner yearning to return to vegetarianism. But, I know from experience and past doctor visits that -- no matter my love of cooking-- I make a rotten vegetarian. So unless or until I get better I am resigned to my current, if infrequent, exploration of vegetarian dishes.

Veggie-filled sauces are my favorite. This is no wimpy sauce and it is quite filling. Other than the canned items (naturally) I found all vegetables at the local Farmer's Market. Fresh (mostly), healthy and yummy!

Eggplant Parmesan:

Preheat oven to 400

Slice the eggplant.
In a bowl pour the white wine.
In a separate bowl mix the breadcrumbs, rosemary, basil, 1 clove garlic and Parmesan.

Dip eggplant in the wine, be certain to soak both sides. Next press the eggplant in the bread mixture. Place on an oiled oven safe roasting pan or rectangular casserole dish. Lay slices side-by-side, and avoid layering if at all possible. This helps it cook faster and more evenly.

Spread marinara sauce over the top, then green onions, the second clove of garlic, olives, mushrooms and bell pepper.

--Usually I would mix these before hand, but I didn't this time. It turned out well, so I think I will layer the veggies for this dish from now on.

Bake for 30-45 minutes until eggplant is brown when cut, or soft enough to be cut by the side of a fork.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

"Jambalaya"


One of my favorite dishes to order of all time is jambalaya but it had never occured to me to make it. When I start making it, I started to break the rules by using angle hair pasta instead of rice and adding mushrooms to it. Hence, the quotes around "Jambalaya." Enough blah blah, on to the cooking, please!

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Vegetable Frittata

I had my first frittata one day at a hospital cafeteria. How come I've never heard of frittata before? I don't know. But I am sure glad I got to try. So, what did I do after enjoying such a meal? I googled it and decided that I shall attempt it.

Here is the result of my Friday experiment.

I stopped by the market on the way home to pick up:

1 portobello mushroom (medium size), 1 yellow zucchini, and 1 green zucchini. To collect the rest of the vegetables, I raided my fridge and got some white button mushrooms, a few spears of asparagus, and frozen spinach.




After washing and scrubbing clean the vegetables, I sliced them all like mad. Check it out.







The slicing continued with 1/4 of a red onion.



Mince 3 cloves of garlic. I love fresh garlic.



Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan. Cook the onion slices until they become slightly translucent.



Add the rest of the vegetables, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper.



Saute until vegetables are somewhat cooked, about 5 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk 9 eggs. Add to the whisked eggs 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper.

In an oven safe pan, I use an 8x8 pan, layer on half of the vegetables. Pour on top of that half o the whisked eggs. Then layer on the rest of the vegetables and whisked eggs.





Pop the pan in the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

While waiting for the frittata to finish, I have a few suggestions:
1. Clean up the mess that was made to prepare the food up to this part.
2. Read a magazine.
3. Finish that chapter of a book you started.
4. Dance around in your apron.
5. Watch an episode of The Office.
6. Play with your cat(s)/dog(s).
7. Do the crosswords.
8. Set the table?

Ding ding ding! 30 minutes wait period is up! Remove frittata from oven and serve with rice. Have you notice that I serve everything with rice? That's what you would do, too, if you have spent at least 23 years of your life eating rice at each meal.






Ingredients:
(Printable recipe)
1 yellow zucchini
1 green zucchini
1 medium portabello mushroom
4 oz of white button mushrooms
5-6 spears of asparagus
1/4 red onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 cup of spinach
9-10 eggs
salt
pepper
olive oil

Direction:

Slice the zucchinis, mushrooms and red onions.
Cut the asparagus in 1" pieces.
Mince the garlic.
Whisk the eggs in a bowl with 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of black ground pepper. Set aside.
Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan.
Cook the onion slices until they become slightly transparent.
Saute the rest of the vegetables.
Add 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of ground pepper to the vegetable mixture. Stir.
Cook vegetables for 5 minutes.
Layer half of the vegetables in an oven safe pan.
Pour half of the whisked eggs on top of the vegetables.
Layer on the rest of the vegetables.
Pour the rest of the eggs on top of the last vegetables.
Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Chicken Satay

I had a mad craving for some aromatic chicken, so I made chicken satay for dinner. Let's get down to business.

Take 1 lbs of skinless and boneless chicken thighs, trim all fats.


Saturday, August 29, 2009

Minced Beef With Egg

College was a time for food exploration for me. Before that, I rarely get to eat anything outside of home prepared food. The first time I encountered minced beef with egg was during one of those quick dinner after class in one of the restaurants at the "Asian Ghetto" on the south side of UC Berkeley. Of course, I was too chicken to order it because the dish came with a raw egg over some slimy beef! All of the boys I know love that dish and they all ordered it one time or another. Once, I managed to get a taste but then decided to stick to my own food. I finally overcame the look of the dish and decided to make it myself. It was very hard to find a recipe for this dish for some reasons. Perhaps because it is too simple...kinda like how it would be hard to find a recipe to fry an egg. I did have to use a recipe/direction from a cookbook the first time I attempted to fry an egg, mind you.

Ingredients:
(Printable recipe)

1 lb of boneless beef chuck
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of salt
ground black pepper
1 tsp baking soda
4 tbsp corn starch
1 cup green peas
2 eggs

So, on to the cooking:

Take about 1 lb of boneless beef chuck. Trim the fat. I have the piece somewhat frozen so that it'll be easier to slice.



Dice it up in approximately 1/4" cubes.

Pull the cubes together in a pile and roughly give it a nice chop. The end product doesn't need to be so fine, some rough pieces should be okay.

Put the minced beef in a bowl and set aside. Mince 3 cloves of garlic.


Combine the garlic with the beef in a bowl. Add about 1 tsp of salt and as much ground pepper as you'd like. Sprinkle in 1 tsp on baking soda (to tenderize the beef). Toss in 4 tbsp of corn starch or enough to cover all of the beef pieces with a thin layer of corn starch. As you can see in the picture below, I did not add enough corn starch (only 3 tbsp) which will not ensure a satisfying gravy-ish end product.



Use your super clean hand and give it a good mix.



Heat about 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a pan. Add the beef mixture and proceed to push the beef around for 1 minute.



Turn the heat down to medium high. Add 1/4 cup of water. Let it cook until the beef is turning brown.



This is what it looks like if you don't have enough corn starch. No gravy. :(

No matter, I hope you learn from my mistake. Next up, throw in 1 cup of peas. I got mine frozen and had to run it under the tap for 30 seconds.



Another mistake! My hand got a little too happy and actually dumped in a lot more than 1 cup. Sad face again!

Cook for another 2 minutes or until the peas are nice and tendered. Scoop some steaming hot rice to a bowl. Top the rice with the minced beef and peas. Be sure to make a little well on top of the beef and peas. Why, you ask? Because your truly here darn forgot to do that and it resulted in unhappy end product as seen below. When I proceed to crack an egg over the dish, the egg just slid off the mountain of beef and peas and made a happy home at the SIDE of the bowl rather than perching at the center.



Serve IMMEDIATELY!

How to eat such a dish: Quickly use a spoon/fork to scoop up the steaming hot rice and beef mixture and drape it on top of the raw egg. Break the egg and use your eating utensil to let the egg mingle with its hot hot neighbors. Eat the gooey goodness.

If you do not want to entertain the idea of a raw egg, quickly fry an egg in your still hot pan.



Then transfer it to the mountain of rice, beef, and peas.



Lessons learned:

1. Add enough corn starch to cover beef with a thin layer.
2. Don't go trigger happy and add too much peas.
3. Remember to make a small well at the top of the mountain of beef so egg won't slide pathetically to the side of the bowl.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Pan Fried Tilapia

For a simple lunch with my sister, I made pan fried tilapia fillets and serve it with rice. I love tilapia! The juicy fillets have a very light taste and yet very filling at the same time. All the while, tilapia are very cheap and easy to obtain. I usually get the frozen ones to save for a quick and easy meal.

Ingredients:
((Printable recipe))
4 medium fillets of tilapia (a little more than 1 lb)
4 cloves of garlic - minced
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of ground black pepper
1 tbsp of dried parsley
(if you're using fresh parsley, chop up about 3 tbsp)
olive oil
approximately 1 tsp of lemon juice

Directions:

Defrost the tilapia fillets if you got it frozen like me. Pat dry with some paper towel.
Next up, mince the garlic. I like to use the knife blades and press down on the whole garlic cloves so that it's semi flat. This makes it easier to peel the last bits of skin off. Mince away!

Sprinkle on the salt and rub on both sides of the fillets. If you accidentally sprinkled a bit more salt on one fillet than the other, feel free to carefully rub the two fillets together to distribute the salt. Rub rub rub.

Sprinkle on the ground black pepper and rub. Give those fillets a good massage.

Rub on the minced garlic. Yummmssss. Are you tired of rubbing already? Don't worry, the next step is the final rubbing phase. Having said that, rub on the parsley. One time, I used freshly chopped cilantro and it very yummy as well. My sister actually prefers the cilantro over the parsley.

Are you done with the rubbing? Yes? Yes?

Time to hit the stove! Heat about 2 tbsp of olive oil on a pan. Lay the fillets in one single layer like so:



Cook on medium high heat for about 3 minutes on each sides or until fish flakes easily.
While it's cooking, squeeze or sprinkle on the lemon juice. It doesn't have to be a lot, just a hint of lemon is good.



Remove from heat and serve with steaming hot rice!



Have fun cooking!