Pasta Salad

This pasta salad meant to be easy and flexible. Feel free to replace or take out anything that you don't have. For the vegetables, I like to pick three different kinds of color.

Besides the ones listed, you can also use, yellow cherry tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli rabe, cucumber, any types of bell pepper... so many combination!

Herbs and cheese are optional.

Ingredients:

8 ounces fussili pasta (or shell-shaped or penne)
10 olives, pitted

1 gold zucchini
10-15 red cherry tomatoes
10 asparagus (pencil asparagus preferred)

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, cooked with pasta for 5 minutes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

juice from 1 lemon
handful fresh basil
cheese (Parmesan, feta, blue...)

Serve two


Instructions:

Cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, put in a large bowl. While cooking the pasta, also cook the garlic for 5 minutes then take it out.

Cut the vegetables. Cook zucchini and asparagus. Cut olives into small pieces. Also chop the basil. Put all these in the same bowl as the pasta.

Pour vinegar into a small bowl, whisk in the oil. Mash the garlic with a fork and add to the mixture. Add salt and pepper.

Add sauce and lemon juice into the bowl, mix well.

Serve on plate, add cheese, or more pepper if desired.

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

I had baked this cake several times. Great for afternoon snack with coffee or tea. Also goes well with ice cream! :)

Recipe:

For the streusel filling:
2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tbsp all-purpose (plain) flour
1/3 cup (2 ½ oz/75 g) firmly packed golden brown sugar
¾ cup (3 oz/90g) chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the batter:
2 ½ cups (12 ½ oz/390 g) all-purpose (plain) flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt

¾ cup (6 oz/185 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (8 oz/250 g) granulated sugar

4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (12 oz/375 g) sour cream


Position a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 350 °F (180 °C). Butter and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan (or tube pan).

To make the streusel filling, combine all ingredients and mix until crumbly. Set aside.

To make the batter, in a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, set aside.

In a standing mixer*, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-low speed until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches alternately with the sour cream and mix on low speed just until the batter is blended and almost smooth.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with the rubber spatula. Sprinkle evenly with half the streusel filling. Pour in the remaining batter and sprinkle with the remaining streusel.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40-45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out of the pan and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.


* Can also use hand-held electronic mixer or by hand.

Green Tea Cheesecake

Friday, 2009.06.26

I love cheesecake and also love green tea flavored stuff, so it's only right to combine the two.

The original recipe called for 1/2 cup of fromage blanc, but I accidentally put in 1 cup. It seemed fine, but I will try 1/2 cup next time. It also called for 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar, I thought 1/2 cup is good is enough. Will keep that.

I found putting the cake in a water bath was too much a trouble, so I didn't. But I did put an aluminum foil in the bottom just case if there's any leaking.

I thought it turned out well! Some "tasters" want more green tea flavor. Maybe will add more next time. I used a premium matcha powder!! Wonder if it is necessary.


Recipe:

CRUST
See crust recipe here.

FILLING
1 cup (generous) ground shortbread cookies (about 6 ounces)
2 8-ounce packages (original) cream cheese, room temperature (cut into 1-inch chucks)
1/2 cup fromage blanc
1/2 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons Japanese green tea powder (or 2 teaspoons finely ground green tea from about 4 tea bags)


First make the crust. Keep the oven in 325°F. After the pan cooled down, wrap outside of pan tightly with 3 layers of heavy-duty foil.

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, fromage blanc, and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until incorporated after each addition. Beat in green tea powder until smooth.

Pour batter over prepared crust in pan. Place cake in roasting pan; add enough hot water to roasting pan to come halfway up sides of springform pan.

Bake cake until set but center moves very slightly when pan is gently shaken, about 1 hour. Remove cake from roasting pan; cool 1 hour at room temperature. Refrigerate uncovered overnight. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)

Cheesecake Crust

After few failed tries, I realized I must use a parchment paper on the bottom of the pan to successfully keep the crust together when lifting the cake from the pan. The crust was delicious!!

If you like, you can mix in one tablespoon of sugar, but I find it unnecessary.


For a 9-in springform pan.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (1 tablespoon for the pan)

8 whole graham crackers (4 ounces), broken into rough pieces and processed in a food processor to fine, even crumbs

• Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees.


• Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper a little larger than the bottom.


• Brush the parchment paper, the bottom, and sides of a 9-in springform pan with melted butter (about 1 tablespoon).


• Combine the graham cracker crumbs with the reminding 5 tablespoons of melted butter. Mix well with a fork until evenly moistened.


• Empty the crumbs into the pan, press evenly into the pan bottom.


• Bake until fragrant and beginning to brown around the edges, about 13-15 minutes.


• Cool on a wire rack while making the filling.

Beans With Olive-Shallot Butter

Saturday, 2009.05.09

Easy to make vegetable dish. I love the olive flavor.

(Will add recipe... hope so...)

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Saturday, 2009.05.09

A classic pasta dish. It supposed to have traces of egg, but... will try again. I used twice as much of pancetta as instructed. I want more meat.

Recipe:

2 eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup (1 oz/30 g) grated pecorino romano cheese
¼ cup (1 oz/30 g) grated parmesan cheese
1 lb (500 g) spaghetti
¼ cup (2fl oz/60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
¼ lb (125 g) piece pancetta, cut into small cubes
2 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
½ cup (4 fl oz/125 ml) dry white wine
salt and coarsely ground pepper
generous handful of fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley leaves, coarsely chopped

serve 4.

(Will add instruction later.)

Roasted Pork (Cha Shu)

This is the Chinese style roasted pork, aka, cha shu.

I'm still trying to perfect this recipe. Here's what I have so far:

1 lb of half-fat-half-lean pork
10 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons molasses (or honey)

In a large bowl where can comfortably hold the pork in one layer, mix sugar and soy sauce together. Add the pork, marinate for at least six hours. (Flip the pork in half of the time so the entire pork can get to evenly marinated.

Roast marinated pork (with some of the marinate mixture) in 400 degree, 15 minutes each side. Brush molasses all over the entire pork, roast for another 5 minutes.

Cut roasted pork in thin slices and serve.


Note:
The key is to have fatty meat. Lean meat will tend to be dry and rough. The proportion of sugar to soy sauce should be 5:3. It's a little off for this recipe but for easy measuring purpose, this will do. For 5 lb of meat, use 2.5 cup of sugar and 1.5 cup of soy sauce. How much you are going to use doesn't have to be exactly, but do try to keep the sugar to soy sauce ratio correct. You will just need enough to marinate the meat well enough.

Molasses can be replaced by honey, but I do find molasses taste better. The amount of molasses should be enough to cover the meat.

Simple Cauliflower Soup

Saturday, 2009.05.09

This is really an easy-to-make soup that requires no stock and minimal ingredients. It's creamy and has a lot of cauliflower flavors to it. I love it and make it often!!

I first saw this soup on Simply recipe, then found another recipe over at Becks & Posh, and like the latter one better. I think it's easy enough to add an onion and should be sweeter. (So if you don't have onion on hand, it probably can do without.)


Recipe:

1.5 lb of cauliflower, separated into florets (tough core of cauliflower discarded)
1 small white onion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons of salt
3 cups of hot water
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
(serve 4)

• In a heavy pan (that has a lid), melt butter over low heat.
• Add onion and cook gently until softened, (not brown,) 15 minutes.
• Add Cauliflower, salt and 1/2 cup of water. Raise the heat to medium-low, cover tightly with a lid and cook for 20 minutes.
• Add remaining water and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes more.
• Leave to cool sightly before blending until super-smooth. Thinning with a little more water if the soup is too thick for your taste.
• Add few drop of truffle oil and freshly grounded black pepper if desired.

Roasted Cauliflower

Wednesday, 2009.05.06

Recipe:
1 head of cauliflower
2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely minced
Lemon juice (from half a lemon)
Olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut cauliflower into florets and put in a single layer in an oven-proof baking dish. Toss in the garlic. Squeeze lemon juice over cauliflower and drizzle each piece with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. If the oven hasn't reached 400°F yet, set aside until it has.

Place casserole in the hot oven, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is lightly brown. Test with a fork for desired doneness. Fork tines should be able to easily pierce the cauliflower. Remove from oven and sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

+ Recipe from Simply Recipes +

Smoked Salmon Egg Benedict

Saturday, 2009.04.25

I like to use smoked salmon instead of Canadian Bacon, one less thing to do. :) (If using Canadian Bacon, you have to saute it.) And it's tastier.

Ingredients:
4 large eggs
4oz smoked salmon
2 biscuits (halved)
Hollandaise sauce
(serve two)

To poach egg:
Fill a large sauce pan with about two inches of water. Add one teaspoon of salt and two tablespoon of white distilled vinegar. Bring to boil.

Add eggs. Cover and remove from heat. About four minutes for half cooked eggs.


Hollandaise Sauce:
2 egg yolks
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, in room temperature
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
4 tablespoon of water
1 teaspoon of salt
pinch of cayenne (optional)
fresh ground black pepper (optional)

Whisk egg yolks with lemon juice and water. Set on top of a double boiler with simmer water. Whisk continuously until thick. Off heat, whisk in one tablespoon of butter at a time. Season with salt, cayenne, and black pepper. (Add more water if too thick.)

Note:
Perhaps this is the difficult but key part of a good egg benedict. I had seen recipes where use 4oz (1 stick, 8 tablespoons) of butter per one egg yolk!! That's pretty crazy!! There are recipes that call for 2oz per egg yolk. I tried to follow it but putting 1 stick of butter (for two people, need two egg yolks) was a bit painful so I ended up only using 3/4 (6 tablespoons) of a stick. Maybe 2 tablespoons per egg yolk might be enough.

Tiramisu

Saturday, 2009.02.14

Valentine's Day

Saturday, 2007.11.17

I made this for a friend's bridal shower. I tried something new! I shaved chocolate on top instead of using cocoa powder. I like this version better. The shaved chocolate gave a very good texture contrast.

Instead of using a glass container, I used a 8x8 metal cake pan. I also put an aluminum foil in the bottom, so that I can lift up the Tiramisu, then when I cut it, it can look nicely.

But the problem with this was:
1. this pan needs 26 lady fingers; the glass container needs 24, which is perfect because a pack comes with 24.
2. the metal cake pan is too shallow, it barely fit. It won't fit the chocolate on top. I added the chocolate after I took it out of the pan

I think it's better to stick with the glass container.

Friday, 2007.05.04

I had some friends over for dinner last night. I made tiramisu for dessert.

This time, I thought I would try something different. I used ice cream cups (instead of a 8x8" glass pan) as containers. It was a little bit tricky to layer the lady fingers. And I ended up used only 16 (instead of 24) lady fingers but with the same amount of egg & mascarpone mixture. Next time, I should put more lady fingers.

+ See more photos of the process of making it. +

Wednesday, 2006.11.22

I made Tiramisu again, for tomorrow's family Thanksgiving dinner. It's probably one of the easiest dessert to make.

Sunday, 2006.01.15

on my second attempt to make the tiramisu, it turned out great! and i figured out what went wrong the last time i made it. i didn't let the coffee cool down before adding it to the mascarpone mixture, probably causing it to melt a little so the mixture turned out too liquidity.

this is not a very good photo... i need to take a better one.


Recipe:

8 oz Mascarpone cheese
3 eggs (separated), at room temperature
1 tablespoon Caster sugar or regular cane sugar
1 cup Strong black coffee, cold
½ cup Kahlua or other coffee-flavored liqueur
pinch of sugar and cream of tartar (optional)
24-30 Italian sponge fingers savoiardi or lady fingers
2 tablespoons cocoa powder or 3 oz shaved bittersweet chocolate


Put egg yolks, sugar and mascarpone cheese in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until evenly blended and creamy.

Add 2 tablespoons of kahlua and coffee into the mixture and blend well. (The proportion of adding how much coffee or kahlua can be varied from the preference of the maker.)

In another bowl, whip egg whites to soft peaks, add pinch of sugar and cream tartar (optional) then whip until stiff peaks.

Fold egg white into the mascarpone mixture until evenly incorporated.

Mix the remaining coffee and kahlua together in a shallow dish. Dip the lady fingers in the mixture one at a time for about two seconds. Place the soaked lady finger in the container until it covers up the base. Pour the mascarpone mixture on top of the lady fingers layer.

Make another layer of lady fingers then top another layer of mascarpone mixture. (Total of four layers.)

Sprinkle cocoa powder or shaved bittersweet chocolate on top of the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Serve chilled.

Gingery Gingersnaps

Saturday, 2008.11.1

I used to think that I don't like this type of cookies. Until one day, my coworker baked them and asked me if I want some. Out of courtesy, and honesty, I said to her, "I usually don't like them, but since you baked them, I'll try some..."

Well, the next thing I know, I was hooked to them!!! Yummy!!

Lately I have been craving for them so I decided to bake some.

They turned out pretty good, though the top didn't crinkle. I baked them for 13 minutes. I used a hand mixer, but I think it should be fine without one. I thought 48 cookies were a lot, but they were gone so fast! I need to bake them again soon!

Recipe:
2 cups (10 oz/315 g) all-purpose (plain) flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¾ cup (6 fl oz/180 ml) vegetable oil
½ cup (5 ½ oz/170 g) ligh molasses
1 cup (7 oz/220 g) firmly packed golden brown sugar
1 large egg
½ cup (3 oz/90 g) chopped crystallized ginger

Position a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 350°F (180° C). Line 3 rimless baking sheets with parchment (baking) paper.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, and cloves. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the vegetable oil, molasses, brown sugar, egg, and crystallized ginger. Beat with a wooden spoon (or mixer on low speed) until well blended. Add the dry ingredients and beat until incorporated.

Drop the dough by level tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until the tops are crinkled and feel firm when lightly touched, 10-13 minutes.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Makes about 48 cookies

Fruit Salad

I saw this recipe today, looks quite simple and delicious! Will try it out some time!

Recipe:

1 large mango, peeled and diced
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 bananas, sliced
2 cups fresh strawberries, halves
2 cups seedless grapes
2 nectarines, unpeeled and sliced
1 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced

honey-orange sauce:
½ cup unsweetened orange juice
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 ½ tbsp honey
¼ tsp ground ginger
dash nutmeg


1. Prepare and combine the fruit
2. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce and mix
3. Just before serving, pour the sauce over the fruit

Yield: 12 4-oz servings; 96 calories/serving
1 g total fat, less than 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 4 mg sodium

Potato-Leek Soup with Fennel and Watercress

Friday, 2008.07.04

Made a simple soup last night. Um, quite good.



Recipe:

1 ½ tbsp olive oil
1 leek, including tender green parts, coarsely chopped
1 fennel bulb, about ½ lb, thinly sliced, leaves reserved for garnish
1 baking potato, about ½ lb, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
½ bunch watercress, stems removed
salt and freshly ground white pepper


In a soup pot over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the leeks and sauté, stirring occasionally, until soft, 4-5 minutes.

Add the fennel and potato and continue to sauté, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 10 minutes longer.

Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Partially cover and cook until the vegetables are completely softened, about 20 minutes. Add the watercress and cook until the watercress is wilted but is still bright green, 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat.

Purée soup with a handheld blender in the pot until smooth. (Alternatively, use a blender or food processor.) Season to taste with salt and white pepper.

Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and garnish with fennel leaves. Serve immediately.

Serve 4.

Panna Cotta

Saturday, 2008.05.24

Strawberry Panna Cotta


I tried two things different:

1. Made the panna cotta strawberry flavored by adding about a cup of strawberry puree. (4:1 milik & cream to puree)


2. For half, used ice cream cups instead of ramekins.

Inverted panna cotta can be decorated nicer; in glasses can have a different feel... Hmm... which is better?!



» See recipe

Wednesday, 2006.10.17

I had few girls over to watch "When Harry Met Sally" together last night. I made panna cotta for dessert.

panna cotta with fresh strawberries & strawberry coulis

Recipe:

1 cup whole milk
3 cups heavy cream
2¾ teaspoons gelatin (use 2 5/8 if overnight)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
5 tablespoons sugar (the recipe calls for 6)
pinch of salt

[For strawberry flavor, add 1 cup of strawberry purée]

Makes 8 (4-oz ramekin)


Pour the milk into a medium saucepan; sprinkle the surface evenly with the gelatin and let stand 10 minutes to hydrate the gelatin.

Meanwhile, prepare a large bowl of ice water. [Make strawberry purée: Blend strawberries until very smooth; then pour through a very fine sieve into a medium bowl, pressing hard on solids. Discard solids.]

Heat the milk and gelatin mixture over high heat, stirring constantly, until the gelatin is dissolved, about 1 ½ minutes. Off the heat, add the sugar and salt; stir until dissolved, about 1 minute.

Stirring constantly, slowly pour the cream into the milk. Then stir in the vanilla extract.

Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and set it over the bowl of ice water. Stir frequently until the mixture thickens to the consistency of eggnog and registers 50 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 10 minutes.

[Stir strawberry purée into the mixture.] Strain the mixture into another bowl. Divide evenly among 8 4-oz ramekins (or 6 6-oz ramekins; or wine glasses).

Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate until just set (the mixture should wobble when shaken gently), about 4 hours (or up to 2 days).

To unmold (if use ramekins), prepare a bowl of boiling water. Dip the ramekin into the water, count to three. Lift the ramekin off the water. With a moistened finger, lightly press the periphery of the panna cotta to loosen the edges. Dip the ramekin back into the water for another three counts. Invert the ramekin over your palm and loosen the panna cotta by cupping your fingers between the panna cotta and the edge of the ramekin. Gently lower the panna cotta onto the serving plate.

Serve with Strawberry coulis if desired.